In this world, there are many kinds of people. But, they all share a core truth. That is the fact that they are all guided by the hand of fate. Some have greatness thrust upon them, others tragedy. The key to defining a life worth living is finding a balance between the two.

This is the story of two souls. Twin lives, brought into the world together. The hand of fate dealing them tragedy and greatness both. Light and dark. But, finding their balance will not only define their lives, but shall shape the future.

This is a story of trials, friends, and above all else, family. Because, for these siblings, family is what matters most. Family is forever.

Date: October 19, 2028

Location: Franklin Memorial Highschool in Starling, Ohio

"So, all in all, they're great kids. But, Joel could try to keep his head up and his eyes open more. I know he's not actually asleep, but still." A teacher in a lavender two piece suit said.

"Yeah, you're the third teacher I've heard that from. And then, on the flip side, some have said that Joanne is too attentive. Like, she snaps her hand up and answers a question so fast that nobody else has a chance. Boy, for twins, they sure are polar opposites." Said a woman with black hair and blonde highlights.

"Yes, they are. But, despite Joel seeming to be asleep all the time or Joanne hogging every question, they are both still two of my top students."

"Well, that's good to hear. Guess i won't have to ground them when i get home. I threatened i would if i got bad reports. But, all their teachers sounded just like you, Ms.Parton. Guess i'll have to come up with a reward now."

"Good luck with that, Mrs. Narciso." Ms. Parton said.

"Thanks. Well, their only other teachers were the gym teachers and they aren't here. So, i guess it's time to head home." Mrs. Narciso said.

"Um, Mrs. Narciso?'

"Yeah?"

"Before you go, there is something I'd like to ask you about your kids. Something I heard that i'm hoping you could clear up. So, could we speak off the record for a moment?"

"Sure. And if it's off the record, you can just call me Irene."

"Okay. And you can call me Rebecca. So, now, what i want to know about is their nickname. They have two of them. One is the jojos. That's not hard to figure out. Both have Jo in their name, so it's an easy thing to come up with.But the other one is the tragic twins. Where does that come from?" Rebecca asked.

"You must be a fairly new teacher if you haven't heard about that one."

"I'm fairly new to Starling in general. I moved here from Akron to take this job late in the last semester."

"Ah, I see. Well, welcome to Starling. Now as for that nickname, sure. I can explain it. It all comes from how i got my kids. I'm sure you've noticed by now that i look nothing like them and neither does my husband, Annakiss. That's because Joel and Joanne are adopted. How we got them is a tale made for a movie. See, after our first anniversary, Annakiss and I had to move here from Florida for work. We were made the chiefs of the local branch of Rogue, the fashion magazine."

"Really? Wow. I've only ever skimmed over an issue or two, but i have liked what i've seen."

"Well, thanks. If you get the chance, pick up this month's issue. I personally oversaw the cover story."

"I think I will. So, you moved here for work..."

"Yeah, and we worked our butts off for a good long while. We finally got some time to ouselves around my birthday. So, needing to get away from it all, we went camping in the woods. Our second morning out there, we hear this horrible screeching noise, followed by a loud boom. We immeadiately assumed it was a car accident, so we went to see if we could help. What we saw i will never shake out of my head. It was a car accident and the car had slammed into a tree. Two people were in the car. A man and a woman. The man was slumped over the center console, bits of shattered glass stuck to him everywhere. But, the hardest thing to look at was a tree branch piercing into his chest. There was no doubt he was dead. Meanwhile, the woman had relatively minor damage and was alive. But, she still looked like she was in pain. We soon discovered why. She was pregnant and in labor. They had been rushing to the hospital and lost control on the wet road. It had rained heavily the night before. Naturally, we called nine one one and we even went to the hospital with the woman. And we stayed the entire time she was in labor. Hours went by and we never moved from the waiting room. Something in the backs of our minds just told us we were needed there. Eventually, the doctors came and told us that Anna, the woman, had sucessfully given birth to her twins and they appeared to suffer no ill effects from the crash. But, Anna herself hadn't made it. She had survived that wreck just to die from the oldest killer of women ever, child-birth. The doctors then said that Anna and her late husband had no immeadiate family to send the children to. But, during the delivery, Anna had stated that we were to be the twins' godparents. Because we had been there when she needed someone the most. So, there was an option open for us to take them. We just looked at each other, stunned. All we could think to say was that we wanted to see the babies. And once we saw little Joel and Joanne in the nursery, our hearts melted. We just couldn't say no to taking them. And that's how we ended up adopting them." Irene said, wiping away tears.

"Wow, that's an incredible story. I can certainly understand the nickname now. And I'm glad they have you, Irene. It's clear that you love them dearly." Rebecca said, fanning herself with her hands to keep from crying.

"You bet I do. I even gave them some of my blood."

"What? Why?"

"They got sick when they were still less than a year old. Turned out they had inheirited a blood defect from their birth father. It was treatable, thankfully. And part of the treatment required a blood transfusion. Turned out i was compatible as a donor. So, since the amount they needed wasn't really harmful to me, we just transferred my blood to them. Worked like a charm too, thank God."

"Wow. You are truly a great mother, Irene."

"Nah. Any good mom would've done that."

"Well, you are definitely a good mom. Thank you for answering my questions."

"No problem. Well, i'd better head home and see what my over grown rug rats are up to."

Meanwhile, at the Narciso household.

"Joel!"

A young man with brown hair poked his head out of his room. He was wearing a blue shirt with white z's going down from the right shoulder to the left waist and distressed black jeans.

"What, Joanne?"

His sister reached the top of the nearby steps. She too had brown hair, but a lighter shade. She was wearing a pink top with the word brainy written across the chest, a pleated red skirt and black stockings.

"I just remembered. I promised Yumi that i would bring her my notes from today's classes. She was out sick today."

"You know that she's just using you, right?"

"I know. I'm just too nice for my own good. Her house is only twenty minutes away. I'm gonna walk them over before it gets too late. But..."

"But?"

"Well, you know mom doesn't like us going out on our own. Buddy system, remember bro?"

"Good grief. Do i have to come with you? Mom's at the parent teacher confrences and dad's still at work. They'd have no idea that you went by yourself."

"Please, Joel. I need you to come with me. Please?" Joanne asked, putting on puppy dog eyes.

"Gimme a break. 'Sigh' Fine. Let's go."

The twins grabbed their shoes and jackets. Joel had black jean jacket with z's on it's back like his shirt and blue high tops. Joanne, meanwhile, had red pumps and a pink jacket with it's zipper running up the left side of the chest. On it's back was a large heart with an eye like symbol in the middle. Joanne also put on her favorite earrings, which also had her jacket's symbol on them.

Finally, Joanne shot a text to Irene to tell her where they were going and the twins were off. As they walked, Joanne kept fidgeting and glancing over her shoulder. Joel took notice of his sister's actions.

"What's wrong, Joanne?"

Joanne's eyes shifted from side to side before she pulled out her phone and texted Joel.

'Can't talk. He's following us.'

Playing along, Joel texted back.

'Who is?'

'Henry Swift.'

'That creepy, cliche goth guy from our science class?"

'Yes. He's moving from bush to bush, thinking he's being stealthy. He's about ten feet behind us.'

'Want me to say something?'

'No. It won't do any good. But this is why I wanted you to come with me. I spotted him in our bushes before I came to get you.'

'What?! The hell does he want?'

'Me. He wants me. He's been stalking me since we were made to be lab partners a month ago. All because I was nice to him when no one else was.'

'A month?! Why didn't you say anything?'

'Cause you, mom and dad would've killed him. I don't need that. I need to fight my own battles.'

"There's fighting your own battles and there's being crazy." Joel said outloud.

"Stay calm, Joel. Just follow my lead." Joanne said, glancing suggestively back to her phone.

'You know that he's almost eighteen, right? He got held back a year twice. He's almost an adult. Did you tell anyone at school?' Joel texted.

'I told our gym teachers, but they said nothing could be done unless I had at least one witness to back up my claim. I've been trying to set him up since then. Always making sure I'm near people who'll see him. But it hasn't worked so far. However, I know I can count on you, bro. So, stick with me.'

'I will, sis. It'll be okay.'

The two continued on and safely made it to Yumi's house. They were welcomed in by Yumi's mother. While Joanne went with the mom to hand over her notes, Joel was looking out the front window. Right at Henry.

Joel mouthed the words 'You'll never have her. I won't let you.' to Henry. He then flashed the I'm watching you signal to the older teen. Henry was able to understand Joel. He scowled at Joel and then pointed at him. Then he slashed a finger across his throat. Joel understood this meaning.

"Oh, I'm dead, huh? Bring it on, belt boy." Joel said, noting the leather belts Henry had tied around his arms and legs on top of his all black clothes.

Joel watched as Henry walked away. Joanne returned shortly and the twins were on their way home. Meanwhile, Irene was already home and taking a phone call.

"Sure, Emporio. We'd love to have you over tomorrow."