DISCLAIMER: I do not own FFX or FFX-2 or any of the characters or places associated with it. I do, however, own the twisted idea for this story.

DO NOT COPY MY STORIES!!

If anyone wants to post my stories anywhere else, please just ASK and then give me credit for writing it. Email with any requests.

I have had problems with my fics being stolen. Reviewers of the Silver Wings trilogy know all about the situation. Please keep an eye out for this story or any of my others posted on any other sites. I only post here and I only use the name "akksgurl". If you think my story has been stolen, please contact me so that I can look into the situation. Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Author's Notes: Okay folks. I'm sure by my subtle hints in this chapter (and previous chapters), you'll figure out who the surprise guests are before I get to them. I won't say any more than that. Oh, and yes, the title is from that old TV show of the same name.


TWISTED DESTINY
by akksgurl
Chapter Three: Family Ties

"Home sweet home!" Tidus announced happily, "Oh yes, he brought my car back!"

"Car?" Yuna asked as Tidus led her up the final hill in their seemingly endless trek from Mt. Gagazet into the heart of Zanarkand. She followed his gaze and point until her eyes rested upon a…boat. Her mouth dropped and she immediately forgot about her question as she squeaked, "That's your house?" She wrinkled her nose in confusion. She had never known someone to live in a boat before. Yet, with his love of blitzball and the water it shouldn't have surprised her.

Tidus switched hands on his purchases and grinned at her, "Trust me, it's really nice on the inside." He pointed over to the pier jutting out from the dock his boat was currently attached to, "You get a great view of the sunrise from over there. I'll show you sometime."

"I'd like that." As she followed Tidus the rest of the way down the street toward his home, Yuna realized how much she meant that statement. He wasn't nearly as threatening and creepy as she had originally thought he was. He was genuinely nice and had made her laugh on several occasions. She had never thought she'd laugh again. He was a really nice guy…and cute.

Very cute…

Tidus stopped ahead of her and threw his packages onto the deck of the boat and then turned around, "Give me your hand. It's a little tricky." She extended her hand and he grasped it in his own. Although he was wearing leather gloves, she could feel the heat of his palm against her own and had to fight a blush creeping into her features. There was no reason to be embarrassed. It wasn't like she'd never held hands with anyone before. She had.

Just not someone so cute…

Tidus braced himself on the edge of the dock and motioned with his free hand, "You need to jump, but don't worry. I got your hand in case you fall."

"Won't your hand hold me back?"

He laughed, "No. It's not that far of a jump. Less than a foot."

Yuna didn't know about that. It looked a lot farther than that. Then again, she had always been a terrible judge of distance. She squeezed his hand a little harder as she took a leap and, to her surprise, landed on the deck very easily.

"See!" he teased, releasing her hand and jumping over to join her, "I told you."

Rolling her eyes, Yuna watched him as he retrieved his bags, "Why don't you build a bridge or something?"

"I've been meaning to for the longest time." He admitted, motioning for her to follow him the rest of the way along the deck and toward the door that obviously held the rest of his living space, "I just don't have time. My brother and I want to get it done soon. His girlfriend hates jumping too."

Yuna's mind recalled the question she had asked earlier, "Is your brother the one who returned your…um…car?"

He nodded, "Yeah. His is in the shop and he needed to pick his girlfriend up today." Tidus stopped in mid-stride and pointed toward a bright red sports car parked casually in the street, "That's the love of my life, right there. Isn't she a beauty?"

Yuna didn't want to explain to him that she had no idea what a car was – or, for that matter – why it was female. Nobody in her world had one – female or otherwise. She figured – from the looks of it and from what Tidus had said – that it was a type of machina that let its user travel from one location to another. She suppressed a grin. Maybe it was a teleporter like she had read about in those old books about space. Maybe Tidus would show her how it worked later if she asked.

She decided that she would.

He was staring at her, waiting for a response, and Yuna nodded dumbly, knowing nothing else to say besides, "Sure is."

His smile spread from ear to ear as he gazed lovingly at the car, "I bought her when I was 16 with the money I had saved from blitz. Best 250,000 gil I have ever spent."

Yuna choked, coughing heinously on nothing but air, "250,000 gil…?!" she had never even come close to that amount of money. In fact, no one in Spira had that much. Not even Maester Mika could boast that amount of money. It was considered one of the sins of Yevon for one person to have that much money. Yet, if he could spend it so easily he must have much more than that. She looked up at him, "That's quite a bit." She stated it calmly, trying to hide the fact that she thought it was the biggest understatement she had ever uttered in her life, "How much do you usually make from blitzball?"

He thought for a moment, scratching his chin with his free hand, "Well, depending on what my agent does during contract negotiations next month, I could make more, but right now I'm making about 10 million gil a year."

The look on Yuna's face must have said it all because Tidus broke into a fit of hysterical laughter. Clutching his stomach, he uttered, "I know…I know…it doesn't look like it from the house." He calmed and took in a deep breath, "I happen to like living in comfort and to me, comfort is not living in a 500 room mansion where search parties are formed to find you if you don't return from the bathroom in three days."

Yuna had to agree. That certainly didn't sound like fun to her either. Tidus gave her a wink and a smile and turned to lead her into the boat's cabin. He turned the knob and stuck his head in slowly, "Everybody decent in here?"

"Decent?" she asked, trying to sneak a peak around his arm, "What do you meant?"

He smiled at her, but continued to block her view, "My brother lives with me. Since his girlfriend is here, I don't want to bring you in while they're…ah…getting reacquainted."

Yuna blushed profusely and turned away from him. Reacquainted, huh? So that's how they refer to premarital relations in Zanarkand. For Yuna it wasn't so much embarrassment at the fact that Tidus' brother and brother's girlfriend were having sex. It was the knowledge that they did it in plain sight of others from the front door.

"We're in the kitchen, dingbat!" came a man's voice from inside the boat.

They're doing it in the kitchen?!

"Want a grilled cheese?" came a female's voice, "I'm getting ready to us make some."

Yuna felt herself relax. They were cooking. They weren't doing anything naughty on the counters. Tidus touched her shoulder, "You like grilled cheese?"

"Yes."

He smiled and kicked the door open, "Make two. We got a guest."

Yuna followed him slowly. The cabin was different than what she expected. The entryway and most of the cabin itself was carpeted. The walls were painted an off white. At the center of the room was a large circular sofa and a table in the center of that. Tidus dropped his packages and walked into the adjoining room. Yuna could smell the food and figured it was the kitchen.

"Who'd you bring over?" came the man's voice from the kitchen. Yuna wanted to join them but was overcome with shyness. She didn't know them and she barely knew Tidus. What was she doing there?!

Tidus stuck his head around the corner and peered at Yuna for a moment. She made a move to go toward him when…

Tidus stuck his head around the corner…

Yuna froze in place, staring at the identical heads as they looked back at her. Two sets of bright blue eyes set off by tanned and attractive faces and shaggy blonde hair. Her mouth opened and closed several times. Even though her mind knew they were twins, the occurrence was so unique in Spira that she had never actually seen any in person. Why hadn't Tidus told her?

The other handsome blonde seemed to be thinking the same thing as he rolled his eyes at Tidus, "Seems like you neglected to tell her about your better half."

"No reason to," Tidus quipped, "She was with me."

The other snorted and crossed the room in two swift steps, extending his hand to Yuna, he said, "I'm Shuyin." He gave her a questioning gaze and then smirked, "I recognize you. You're that girl from the airship station that didn't have any money.

Yuna let out a stifled gasp. That was Shuyin? So Tidus hadn't been following her. She felt so ridiculously stupid she wanted to die. Instead she nodded stiffly, "Yes. My name is Yuna."

An attractive female with long brown hair came out of the kitchen then. In her hands was the tray of sandwiches and four small plates. She grinned at Yuna and then said to the boys, "I'll get the drinks in a sec. I figured you'd want to eat out here."

The girl put the plates down and then vanished back into the kitchen only to return a moment later. Yuna watched her and recognition dawned upon her. She was dressed differently, but the girl was obviously the same one from the cover of the magazine she'd seen in Besaid, "Lenne Fetmar…" Yuna whispered.

Lenne smiled, "Yep. Nice to meet you. It's Yuna, right?" she giggled and pushed her hair behind her ears, "It's hard to hear in there sometimes."

Yuna followed in stunned silence as the three others motioned for her to sit first. Shuyin and Lenne together on one side of the table. Tidus next to her – though not nearly as close as Shuyin was to Lenne. While the group small talked, Yuna watched the twins carefully. She could understand why she had mistaken both of them as Tidus. There wasn't much different about them, yet Yuna noticed almost instantly that Shuyin lacked the charming dimple that Tidus had. Why she noticed such a trivial fact, she didn't know. She just told herself that she was in a foreign place and needed to notice the small facts. She didn't want to admit that it was because she found Tidus' face irresistible to look at.

At least, not yet…

"So what did you tell coach about me?" Shuyin was asking Tidus when Yuna tuned back into the conversation.

Tidus took a drink and shrugged, "I told him you had contracted Dengue Fever and weren't expected to make it through the night."

His brother rolled his eyes, "And what is going to happen when I walk in there tomorrow?"

"You made a miraculous recovery!" announced Tidus, clasping his hand to his heart, "Oh thank the gods! My brother will live!!"

Lenne laughed at their banter and Yuna couldn't help but join in. Tidus seemed even more attractive when he laughed. His eyes danced with merriment and Yuna felt her heart skip a small beat when he cast that gorgeous smile on her.

She groaned inwardly. Now she was acting like a ninny. Rikku would freak if she could see her reserved cousin getting all a flutter over some guy.

Shuyin took a long swig from his glass and looked pointedly at Tidus and then Yuna, "So, how'd you guys meet?"

"He hit me with his blitzball." Yuna admitted.

Tidus smirked, "Only because you were unconscious in the alley."

"You were unconscious in the alley?!" Lenne squealed, leaning forward and staring at her with concerned brown eyes, "Were you hurt?"

Well, she might have been. She certainly didn't feel hurt, but considering the fact that Sin was above her and the Final Aeon about ready to kill her when everything went black, Yuna couldn't rule anything out. Yet she didn't see the need to alarm anybody. She shook her head, "No, I just…" she tried to think of an excuse and finally settled on the one Tidus had given her, "I drank a little too much at Irvine's…"

Tidus lifted a brow at her, obviously confused by her admitting something she had so vehemently denied before. She hated letting these people she barely knew think she was a lush, but she also didn't want to get into explaining what had actually happened. She hadn't even explained it to Tidus yet. She couldn't even explain it to herself.

"Oh you poor dear." Lenne said, "I've done that myself a few times. Hangovers are horrible." She looked at Tidus expectantly, "Don't you think you should let her rest a little bit?"

The words directed at him made Tidus jump a little and turn away from Yuna. He nodded at Lenne and stood, "Come on, Yuna. You can rest in the guest room."

Rest…

It was the most beautiful word Yuna had heard in a long time. She had almost forgotten how tired she was. She stood, thanking Lenne for the meal and nodding to Shuyin, before following Tidus down the short hallway into the bedroom on the right. It was a really nice guest room and Yuna briefly wondered if it had always been a guest room.

"You weren't really drunk." It wasn't a question and Yuna turned to find that he had shut the door quietly behind him and was leaning against it, "Why'd you tell them that you were?"

Yuna turned from him and slid her boots off of her feet, putting the leftover money from Vic into her bra like she'd read some women do in books. Only then did she gaze over her shoulder at him, "You thought I was."

"But you weren't." he stated again, coming slowly toward her, "You denied it so passionately, like the thought insulted you and yet you lied right into the faces of the two people I love most in the world. Why'd you do it?"

Yuna hadn't considered the fact that he might be angry that she had lied. What would he do? Suddenly she felt very vulnerable. She didn't know any of the people in this house. She didn't know this man and yet she found herself alone in a bedroom with him only feet from her. She took a step back and he took a step forward. This dance continued until Yuna found herself backed up against the edge of the bed.

"Just tell me."

Yuna swallowed hard and replied quietly, "I just didn't want to get into what had actually happened."

"And what did happen?" he asked, stepping toward her again.

Yuna squirmed to the right and pulled away from the bed, "I'm not quite sure. Everything's a little convoluted."

"Try me."

He had managed to back her against the wall now and he braced himself by placing both of his arms on either side of her to deny her escape. He was inches from her and she could feel his breath on cheeks. She knew it should scare her and yet it didn't. She felt safe having him so close to her. She briefly wondered what he'd do if she kissed him then, but just as quickly pushed the thought from her mind. He'd probably kissed hundreds of girls. He'd laugh at her inexperienced attempt. She had too much pride for that.

She took a deep breath, "Look, I'm not sure entirely what happened myself. Once I figure it out, I'll be happy to let you know but until then I'd really like to get some sleep."

Tidus sighed and backed away. Yuna watched in fascination as he ran a hand through his floppy hair and groaned, "Fine." He said, more in annoyance that anger it seemed. He marched to the door and put his hand on the knob, turning one final time to stare at her, "Just one thing, Yuna. Don't ever lie to my brother or Lenne. They don't lie to me and I don't lie to them and I sure as hell am not going to let you lie to them either."

The door slammed behind him as he left.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000


The woman was insufferable. Insufferable, annoying, condescending, arrogant, and…

Damn, who was he kidding? She was absolutely the most beautiful, adorable, attractive thing he'd ever seen in his life and all he'd wanted to do when he had been inches from her was kiss those red lips and…and make his brother and Lenne wait a while for his return.

A few hours…

Maybe all night…

Tidus hadn't meant to slam the door. He'd done it in a fury of annoyance and now he was going to have to field even more questions that he knew he'd have to answer before. He could almost see the questions forming in Lenne's mind. Not to mention what his brother must be thinking. Tidus could usually read Shuyin like a book, but not this time and that only meant that the thoughts his brother was having weren't something to be discussed in mixed company.

He regretfully walked down the hallway to join the other two in the living room. Blue eyes and brown eyes wide with anticipation awaited his return. Tidus spread his arms in mock surrender, "Fire away. I know you're both anxious."

Lenne grinned and leaned over to pat the seat across from her, "Sit down. I want to know everything."

"First I want to know why she was sleeping in the alley." Shuyin said, his eyebrow arched in question, "She doesn't look like the drinking type."

"She's not." Admitted Tidus as he sat down, "She was really pissed when I suggested it. I don't know why she was there really and she wouldn't tell me. She just said she's still trying to sort stuff out herself."

"And what's with the outfit?" was Shuyin's next question as he leaned in, "That bow is big enough to signal airships."

Lenne nodded, "She looks like some wide-eyed innocent."

She was. Tidus could tell. He'd known more than his fair share of experienced girls - most of whom had spent quality time with him in the backseat of his car. Yuna certainly wasn't that type. If she had been, she wouldn't have kept backing away from him in the guest room. She would have fallen back on the bed and welcomed him happily.

Surprisingly, Tidus was glad she hadn't. Knowing Yuna wasn't something every other guy had sampled was, shockingly, more appealing than a girl he could easily get a lay from. He had thought Shuyin was crazy when he said the same thing about Lenne, but now he understood where his brother was coming from. Yet, he wasn't about to admit it. He wasn't even about to admit that Yuna intrigued more than his baser instincts. She was probably the weirdest person he had ever met…

But he liked her.

Shuyin stretched lazily and laid his arm around Lenne's shoulders, "She acted really weird when I saw her in the airship station. She didn't have any money so when I gave her some she glared at me and asked why I was following her." He smirked a little, "I didn't even think it was because she thought I was you."

Tidus nodded, "She asked me the same thing when I saw her in Nagi."

"She was in Nagi?" Shuyin asked, "She was buying a ticket to go to Besaid."

Tidus let out a sigh and leaned back on the sofa. Until Yuna was willing to tell him something, guessing would only waste all their times. Yet he couldn't stop himself from wondering just what was wrong in that girl's life that caused her to wander around like she'd never seen anything before. Tidus replied to his brother, "I don't know why she was in Nagi. All I know is she was there and then proceeded to try and cross Gagazet alone."

"I bet Perchik didn't like that." Lenne stated with a grimace. Perchik had accused her of spying too when she was returning from a performance in Kilika. Thankfully Shuyin had been with her and straightened the whole thing out.

"No, he didn't." admitted Tidus, "But what's weird is that she was acting like she'd crossed Gagazet a hundred times and that Perchik's behavior was out of the norm."

The other blonde shrugged, "Wouldn't Perchik have recognized her?"

"That's what I said." Replied Tidus. The whole thing just didn't make any sense to him. She was acting so recklessly. It was suicide to cross Mt. Gagazet without identification. Geez…it was suicide to cross it unless you had been formally introduced to Perchik at least 100 times before. He was a highly skeptical Ronso who had taken it upon himself to act as Zanarkand's protector.

"I showed up just in time. Perchik was ready to take her head off."

Lenne gasped, leaning in until her hair tickled her knees, "She's fortunate you were heading back when you did. Otherwise she would have been killed."

"I was following her, actually." Admitted Tidus with a sheepish grin, "She had acted so strangely since I met her. I mean, she actually ran away from me in Nagi. I saw where she was heading so…I followed."

He kept trying to convince himself that he was following her simply because she was in danger crossing Mt. Gagazet alone, but in actuality he knew he was following her because there was just something about her. It was like a moth to a flame. He couldn't deny this attraction he felt from the moment he'd first seen her. The way the sun had shimmered off of her hair and the brightness of her eyes. He'd never seen eyes like hers before. One blue, one green, yet both filled with a vivacious vitality and a determination that he'd never experienced before. He envied her. He admired her.

Oh gods above, he liked her.

It was as if Shuyin had read his thoughts and Tidus wouldn't have been shocked if he had. Shuyin had always been an excellent read of Tidus' moods and feelings. Nonetheless, his brother grinned like a Cheshire cat and said in a sing-song voice, "Tidus has a little crush…"

The object of his ridicule stiffened, "I do not. I'm just a little worried about her."

Shuyin obviously didn't buy his brother's denial as he lay his head on Lenne's shoulder and looked up at her adoringly, "Imagine it, Lennie. My little brother…he could get married before us!"

"Little brother?!" Tidus snorted, "Two minutes! Two minutes hardly makes me your little brother!"

It was a sore spot between the two. Shuyin enjoyed rubbing that bit of information in Tidus' face and it didn't help that their father seemed to agree, always treating Tidus like he wasn't as mature as Shuyin; wasn't as good. Maybe that was why when their father had died; Tidus hadn't been nearly as upset as Shuyin. Shuyin had lost a father and best friend. Tidus had lost an enemy.

Shuyin stifled his laughter by burying his face in Lenne's neck. Lenne giggled too, rubbing her hands on Shuyin's back. Tidus couldn't help but laugh himself. Shuyin loved annoying him and Tidus always rose to the occasion. Maybe one day he wouldn't. That'd give Shuyin some well deserved comeuppance.

"I'm sorry, Ti." Shuyin said when his laughter had stopped. He settled back casually on the sofa, pulling one of Lenne's legs over his own to rub her ankle, "I just love seeing the look on your face when I say that. You go all red!"

"Because it pisses me off." Retorted Tidus, still a little sore but getting over it quickly. That was the one thing that he loved about his relationship with Shuyin. No matter how angry his brother made him, it always dissipated quickly. They were each other's best friend. Tidus didn't want to ever think about a time when Shuyin wouldn't be around. He didn't know what he'd do.

"You actually do…"

All eyes spun to the hallway where Yuna stood, just barely in the main room. She'd taken that huge bow off and was in her bare feet. Her hair was slightly tussled, but the bags under her eyes had lightened tremendously. Tidus unconsciously scooted over to make room for her to sit. She noticed and accepted, sitting a little closer to him than she had dared to do before. Their thighs touched and Tidus forced himself to ignore that contact and focus instead on something decidedly less arousing…

Their overweight blitzball coach…in his altogether.

"You didn't sleep for very long." Lenne announced as she smiled at Yuna.

"I wasn't as tired as I thought." Yuna glanced askance at Tidus before looking back at Lenne, "I guess I'm running a bit on adrenaline."

Yuna squirmed a little in her seat next to him and Tidus struggled to maintain his cool. She smelled like lavender and the scent filled his nostrils. He cleared his throat and decided it was best to start a serious conversation so that his mind would be focused on that rather than on what color panties she was wearing under all those clothes. He smiled at her, "You ready to tell us what really happened to you?"

"You're going to think it's insane." Admitted Yuna.

Yeah, he probably was. There was no denying that. But at least it would be better than not knowing.

"Go ahead." Lenne insisted, leaning back and focusing all her attention on Yuna, "I'm really interested."

The lovely brunette by his side bit her lip as she launched into her spiel. Summoners, monsters, Yevon religion, Zanarkand destroyed. Tidus gaped at her with a wide open mouth as she went on and on about this world that was living in poverty due to a giant monster called Sin that went around killing everyone. She was a Summoner that would defeat Sin, die in the attempt, and give Spira the 'Calm' until Sin reappeared, "I chose my closest friend, a Ronso called Kimahri to be the fayth of the final summoning. When I called him he was supposed to kill Sin and me, but instead I woke up in the alley after being hit by a blitzball."

Silence greeted her tale. She settled back on the sofa next to him in obvious discomfort. Tidus didn't want her to feel uncomfortable but couldn't seem to force himself to form words. He had figured the tale would be a little strange, but he hadn't figured it would be as ridiculous as the one she had just spouted.

Farplane help them. The girl was nuts.

She grinned uncomfortably, "I told you that you wouldn't believe it."

"How do you expect us to?" asked Tidus, "I mean, you are talking about monsters and the destruction of the city we are currently in. And some religion based on the president of said destroyed country…"

Yuna put a hand on his knee and Tidus ignored the heat of it as she stared at him pleadingly, "It is exactly as I say to you. The only thing I can think of is that I somehow…" she paused and swallowed hard. It was obvious to Tidus that she was scared. Somehow she had convinced herself that this tale was true. Her eyes connected back with his, "I think I somehow traveled into the past, before Sin, before Zanarkand was destroyed, before the war with Bevelle. It's the only thing that makes any sense."

"Things with Bevelle are tense." Admitted Shuyin, "But there's no reason to think that there will be a war. We'd be crushed if we went to war with Bevelle. They rely on machina. We don't."

Yuna nodded, "Yes. That's why Zanarkand was destroyed."

Lenne sighed and ran her tongue over her lower lip in thought, "I'm a Summoner, but I've never heard of this 'final summoning'. Pilgrimages are common practice for someone to start in the Summoner's arts. I took mine when I was 13."

"Yeah, hon, but there wasn't some sort of 'final aeon' you had to get at the end and there certainly wasn't a monster you had to die fighting!"

Yuna tore her eyes away from Shuyin and Lenne and turned to gaze back at Tidus. She was pleading with her eyes for him to believe her, but he just couldn't. The entire thing was too ridiculous to comprehend. The tenseness between Zanarkand and Bevelle would be worked out through diplomacy as it had been for the last 20 years. There was no reason to think otherwise.

Yuna sighed in annoyance and rose to her feet, "There's got to be a way I can make you believe me." She said. The statement was directed to everyone, but her eyes were focused on Tidus the entire time. She began pacing around the room, coming dangerously close to sharp furniture edges in her haste. Even though Tidus now thought she was slightly out of her mind, he couldn't deny the fact that she looked absolutely adorable with her hair waving behind her as she paced hastily around the room in her bare feet and dress.

She stopped suddenly in front of the lowboy and gaped at the pictures situated there. They were from various stages in Shuyin and Tidus' lives. Baby pictures, toddler pictures. There were some from their first blitzball game on up through to the present day at celebratory parties. But the one that Yuna reached down and lifted wasn't one of those.

It was a picture of their parents. His beautiful mother, with her auburn hair gazed adoringly up at their father, with long black hair, who was wearing his blitzball shorts and nothing else. His body adorned with the massive tattoos that had been his trademark when he was the star of the Zanarkand Abes.

Tidus had taken that picture. It had been their anniversary and the only time his father had complimented him on anything.

"You take a good picture, boy. I'm impressed."

Yuna stared in wide-eyed shock at the photo for several seconds. It was as if she was trying to memorize everything about it. Her thumb traced the face of their father for a moment and Tidus rose, "What?"

She tore her eyes from the picture then, still obviously quite in shock. Holding the frame firmly in her left hand she pointed to the man with her right and said something Tidus hadn't expected.

"How do you know Sir Jecht?"