Chapter 16: Spice Girls and Operation Death

"Guardians don't forget to smile." Yuna said looking at each of us. Ha! I don't have a lot to smile about. I just told a guy I love him and he runs away. Well not run. More like walk briskly. But I can't really blame him. We've talked only a few times but I readily admit that I love him. We stepped out onto the Mi'ihen Highroad and really, I should be excited. I was a full time guardian and yet it felt like someone ran over my heart with a dump truck. I walked along sullenly, not noticing a fiend jumping out of the brush. It was a raldo. "Careful." Auron called out to me, "This one is tough."

I didn't care. I wasn't in the mood to be attacked by a fiend right then. I punched it hard only for its stupid shell to hurt my hand, "Huh?" I said shaking it a bit.

"I told you. Let me show you how it's done." Auron said and slicing through the shell and defeating the fiend quickly.

"Of course." I said with my hands on my hips, "Don't say it Wakka." I said looking over at him.

Wakka looked at me confused. "I know you were about to say See, Sir Auron's the best. To be honest, I really don't care right now." I snapped continuing on down the road.

"Geez who peed in her cheerios?" I heard him whisper.

We walked on in silence for several minutes. I was still very upset and apparently, Tidus finally noticed. "What's the matter?" he asked walking up beside me.

"Nothing…Why are guys so insensitive?" I demanded looking up at him.

"Not all guys are…"

"I mean if you tell him you care about him do they ALWAYS get up and walk away without saying anything?"

"Umm…"

"I mean honestly, how the heck is a girl supposed to know what you think if you just get up and walk away like that? It's really annoying. And it gets the relationship no where. Why do men think showing feelings make them sissies? Well I guess if you painted your room pink and had posters of the Spice Girls up some people might think you're a little fruity…but…"
"SIRY! Stop it. Number one: I don't know what a Spice Girl is. Number two: What the heck are you talking about? And number three: What the heck are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry, Tidy. I guess all my femininity has overloaded your asinine brain!" I snapped turning away.

"Dude…what did you say to her?" Wakka whispered.

"I don't know. She just flew off the handle."

I huffed angrily as we ran into Luzzu and Gatta. "Company Halt!" Gatta yelled stopping us, "We saw the game! You guys were so awesome."

"Congratulations Wakka. I'm sure Chappu would be proud." Luzzu said smiling and nodding.

"Thanks, ya." Wakka said scratching his head a bit.

"What's going on?" Yuna asked stepping forward.

Gatta looked around to see if the coast was clear then began, "We're not really supposed to talk about it with non-League members but…we're planning another operation on the Djose Shore. It's called Operation Mi'ihen."

"More like Operation death." I mumbled.

Tidus was the only one who heard and he gave me a weird look. "We're to use machina supplied by the Al Bhed to rid Spira of Sin once and for all." He finished proudly.

"It won't work ya know." I said stepping forward.

Luzzu looked over at me with a knowing stare. He already knew that. "Don't say that." Yuna said.

"She's right though, Yuna." Auron added, "They won't defeat Sin no matter what they use."

Gatta opened his mouth to protest, but a woman onboard a Chocobo approached us. It was Lucil, Captain of the Djose Chocobo Knights. We met her earlier on the highroad. "The Operation will begin shortly. We've no time to waste."

"But the Summoner Yuna and her guardians…" Gatta began.

"Yes ma'am." Luzzu interrupted and saluted Lucil. She nodded and rode off. "See, I told you to keep your head down and say sir a lot and you should get along fine. We had better get going." Luzzu turned to us and nodded. Then he looked over at me. His eyes saddened once again when he noticed I was still wearing the gloves. Dude, what was up with him? Why the heck is he happy about the gloves one minute then the next he gets all sad? It was weird. We walked on but stopped when we heard the protests of a woman with bad tastes in hats. The Crusader she was trying to beat some sense into simply walked away and she lowered her head in defeat. Yuna approached her, "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Oh my lady summoner?" the woman asked, performing the prayer.

"Yes, I am Yuna."

"My name is Shelinda and I am a disciple of Yevon. I am trying to stop this operation because they are going to use machina!"

Tidus looked around at us, "Is that really such a bad thing?"
Lulu sighed, "Yevon forbids the use of machina."

"It doesn't matter. They still won't defeat Sin." Auron repeated his simple statement.

"But still I have to try. Going against the teachings…But none of them will listen to me…because I'm just a lowly acolyte." Shelinda said looking over at Auron.

"Don't say that. I've only just become a summoner. But I can't always be down on myself whenever something goes wrong. I just have to try harder."

"Ohhh you're right, Lady Yuna." Shelinda said perking up, "I'll try harder too. Thank you." She said before running away.

Yuna smiled and turned to us, "Ready?" she asked.

We continued on down the road until we reached Rin's Travel Agency. "We rest here." Auron said walking toward the door.

"But this is an Al Bhed shop." Wakka protested.

"Is that a problem?" he asked turning to Wakka.

"Well…in Luca they kidnapped Yuna…"

"Where were her guardians?" he demanded.

Wakka fumbled for words as Yuna spoke up, "Come on Wakka. Sir Auron's just worried about your health."

"I'm not tired one bit."

"Well I am." Auron said. Well, Auron 100 points. Wakka, a big fat zero. Auron disappeared into the shop followed by the others. Wakka stood there sulking for a bit. "Oh come on Wakka. The Al Bhed aren't that bad." I said facing him.

"How can you say that? They don't believe in Yevon…and they…"

"You're so stubborn!" I interrupted. I cared deeply for an Al Bhed. I wasn't going to listen to him badmouth them, fan girl or not. Wakka huffed then disappeared inside. This just wasn't my day. I looked behind me and noticed the group of people walking toward me. Oh right…football. I can't believe they actually showed up. Maybe this day could be salvaged after all.