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!!

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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: sniff


TWISTED DESTINY
by akksgurl
Chapter Twelve: It Doesn't Hurt Anymore

Lenne wished they had told somebody where they were going and what their plan was. It just didn't seem right to run out on everybody and just leave a little three word note. She understood that Shuyin didn't want to involve anybody else in this plan just in case something went wrong and they got caught. They would need someone available to bail them out of Bevelle prison. Yet it still just didn't seem smart to not let anybody know where they were. Tidus would kill Shuyin when they got back.

"Shu…" she whispered, "…maybe we should have left a more detailed note. Tidus is going to worry."

Shuyin paused in his steps and motioned to their surroundings, "It's a little late for that now, babe. Don't you think?"

It was a little late. They'd made great advances in the few hours they'd been traveling and were now entrenched deeply in Macalania Forest. The only reason they had managed to get passed Nagi and the full-on fighting going on there was thanks to Perchik and his fellow Ronso. They had led the duo through an underground Ronso tunnel that led directly into Macalania.

Macalania was surprisingly serene at this point. She'd thought it would be teaming with Bevelle troops trying to get to Zanarkand but aside from a few posted soldiers they had snuck past, there had been no one. Instead of making her comfortable, it made her nervous. If the troops weren't here…where were they?

Shuyin started moving again and Lenne followed a few steps behind him, taking great care to be as silent as possible. She felt like something out of a bad spy movie, sneaking around like a criminal in the same place she used to play with her friends as a child. She had learned to swim in the spring to her left and had climbed her first tree near the entrance from the Thunder Plains.

Shuyin placed his forefinger against his lips to tell her to remain silent as they crept through the wooded area near the path leading straight into the heart of Bevelle. They hadn't thought through much of how they intended on getting into the temple. They were probably the most well known Zanarkand residents in all of Spira. It wasn't going to be easy for them to slip by unnoticed.

Yet Lenne trusted Shuyin's judgment and his plan and kept her concerns to herself as Bevelle came into view ahead of them. With just a few feet between them and the Bevelle lines, Shuyin stopped and leaned casually against a tree. Lenne stared at him quizzically, "What are you doing?"

"Act naturally…" he muttered between his lips as he motioned faintly to his right. Lenne glanced in the direction he pointed and saw a young Bevellian couple heading their way. She glanced back at Shuyin and saw him smirk devilishly at her.

"You wouldn't!" she hissed in shock.

"I would."

Shuyin winked at her and he held her still with a hand on each of her shoulders until she could see the couple was within easy reaching distance of them. Shuyin lifted a hand off of Lenne's shoulder and touched the man's shoulder, "Excuse me." He said, "My sister and I seem to be lost."

Sister? Lenne shot him a nasty look but neither of the two Bevellians seemed to notice.

"Where were you trying to get?" asked the man. He didn't look much older than Shuyin but he was wearing the typical Bevelle clothing as was the girl.

Shuyin sighed, "Well, we were trying to find our way into the temple. What with the war and all, we thought it'd be best to pledge our loyalty to Bevelle now instead of waiting until later." He plunged his fists into his pants pockets, "Damned Zanarkand idiots…"

Lenne would have normally been impressed with Shuyin's acting abilities but under the circumstances she didn't think that would be appropriate. She just listened intently and didn't say a word.

The Bevelle man smiled, "Glad to know more people are for our cause." He pointed in the direction that he and the girl had just come from, "The temple is straight up that pathway and on the left. If you get lost, the priests will show you where to worship."

The girl was eyeing Lenne suspiciously and then looked at Shuyin, "Where're you guys from?"

Lenne instantly wished she had worn something a little more modest than what she had on. Her blue performing dress showed off much more leg than Bevellians would have even considered. Shuyin wasn't much better off in his modified blitzball shorts in which both pant legs were the same length and shirt unbuttoned down his chest. They only wore clothes like these in Zanarkand and…

"Kilika." Shuyin replied with a smile, "Just came in from the Moonflow today actually."

"That's quite a trip." The girl said again, still not quite believing what she was hearing. The man with her was a little easier to fool.

"That is quite a trip! I'm happy that you believe in the cause enough to travel that far for it."

Shuyin nodded and casually circled behind the couple as he spoke, "Yeah, see Brandina and I just thought that Bevelle has done so much for everybody and all Zanarkand has done is make a mess of things. Bevelle is where loyalty should lie."

Lenne tried not to roll her eyes at her new name. Brandina…? Where did he come up with that stuff?

Shuyin put his arms around both the people and put his head between theirs, "I'm just glad to meet nice folks like you. It tells me we made the right choice." He looked up at her, "Right Brandina?"

"You said it Earlvin." Lenne replied with a devilish smirk of her own. If she got stuck with the horrible 'Brandina' then he was going to get stuck with one that was even worse.

Shuyin gave her a look but just nodded and quicker than Lenne could react, pulled his head back and slammed the couples' heads together. They slumped to the ground unconscious and Shuyin stepped over them, "Earlvin? What the hell is an Earlvin?"

"Not that it's any worse than Brandina!" she hissed back, throwing her hands in front of her, "But never mind that. What did you go and crack their heads against each others for?"

"What was I supposed to do? Ask them to take their clothes off?"

"Well we apparently are from Kilika." Lenne replied angrily, "We could just offer to sell them our bodies! That'd get them out of their clothes fast enough!"

Shuyin snorted and pulled Lenne against him, kissing her and then holding her at arms length, "I love you, Brandina."

"I love you too, Earlvin."

He grinned, "Okay then. I guess it's time to get you out of those clothes." He winked and made a move to grab at her dress when she pulled out of his reach, "What?"

His disappointed look was honestly amusing and Lenne giggled, "We really should just put their clothes on over top of our own. Bevelle citizens wear robes so it's very easy to do that and this way it'll be easier to change back when we need to."

Shuyin sighed, "I suppose so. But later will you…"

"Later." Lenne agreed, "Much later…"

"I can deal with that." Shuyin replied with a wink as he and Lenne made their way over to the unconscious Bevelle citizens, "I can deal with anything as long as I know you're at the end of the road."

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"Hey Shu!" Tidus shouted as he struggled to keep the door open and maneuver the crutches into the doorway at the same time, "Shuyin! A little help please!" Tidus kicked the door with his good foot and pushed it fully open but that only managed to get he door to slam hard against his rear end and force him into the room the hard way…face first onto the carpet.

He instantly regretted letting Auron take Yuna home. He should have just taken Shuyin and Lenne up on the offer to take them all home instead of saying no and letting the two of them go off without him. That left Tidus having to take a cab, which he hated, and leaving Yuna in much the same boat probably. Besides, if Shuyin wasn't there, which was becoming increasingly obvious as the rug burn in Tidus face began to increase, that meant Tidus was in for a really lonely evening.

Struggling against his own injury, Tidus managed to prop himself up on his good knee and swing his bad knee out in front of him. The war had moved from inside of Zanarkand to the outskirts near Nagi but he was still worried and that was why he'd wanted Auron to take Yuna home. He'd be of more use to her than Tidus would be in his particular state. He'd heard that Yunalesca was back at the Presidential Palace with Zaon and that Lenne was back too. The summoners were going to be called the following week, therefore it surprised Tidus that Shuyin and Lenne weren't here making the most of the few days they had before she shipped out.

Maybe they were at Lenne's house?

That was a possibility. Tidus struggled to his feet and propped his crutches beneath his arms as he struggled into the kitchen. He and Shuyin had long ago started a tradition of leaving a note on the kitchen table if one was going to be out. Tidus figured it was rooted somewhere in their psyche as a good thing to do since their father had never told anyone where he was going or what he was doing and that had made finding him impossible when he had disappeared.

There was a note on the table as Tidus made his way slowly across the linoleum. He lifted it and frowned, "Out. Back later." He read to himself. What kind of message was that? Shuyin usually left in depth messages concerning things he was going to do that Tidus didn't want to know about. This was totally out of character for his brother.

"What are you up to Shuyin?"

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"Shouldn't we be heading back to my house?" Yuna asked Auron as he directed the cab driver to take them down the road on which his home was situated. She frowned as she squirmed in her seat against the belt buckle that was driving its way into her hip.

Auron shook his head and leaned in to slide the glass divider between them and the driver, "I told you that we need to move on Vegnagun tonight. We're going to get the info that I have stored and then we're going to head out."

"That's impossible. I told Tidus I'd call him later to let him know I'm okay."

Auron shot Yuna a look and frowned, "Forget what you told him. He no longer exists in your world, Yuna. If all goes well we'll be back in our Spira by sunrise."

"Maybe I don't want to go back!" she yelped suddenly, surprised by the passion in her own voice. With the passing seconds, Yuna began to realize just how much she meant that statement, "If going back to our world means leaving Tidus behind, I'd rather take my chances with Sin and the war!"

"You don't mean that." Auron stated simply as the cab pulled into the street across from his house. He opened his door, sliding a handful of bills at the driver through his open window before turning back to Yuna, "You may think you mean that, but you don't. Not really. Besides, what is there here for you? Tidus doesn't love you." Auron sighed and patted her head softly, "He doesn't love anybody, Yuna. Except maybe Shuyin."

Auron turned and began the walk toward the door and Yuna slid out quickly from the car, chasing after him in anger, "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know how Tidus feels!"

"And you do?" Auron asked with a condescending tone in his voice. He unlocked the front door and walked in, putting his keys on the hook by the entrance and slipping his shoes off, "Has he ever told you that he loves you?"
Yuna frowned at the doorway, "Not in so many words…" she admitted before announcing proudly, "But he doesn't have to. It's what he doesn't say that tells me best."

Auron sighed and pointed to her feet. Yuna self-conciously slipped her shoes off and the taller man said, "Yuna, Tidus absolutely hated Jecht. He despised him with every fiber of his being and Tidus blames Jecht for his mother's death. And he blames the fact that Sophie loved Jecht for the reason that she couldn't get better after Jecht disappeared." He turned her back to him and went to the sofa, "Shuyin's been worried about him for years. Tidus is dead-set against love. Shuyin said it's like he's turned off that emotion entirely. He likes you. I know that. Anybody can see that. But he doesn't love you. He never will."

Yuna clenched her fists and set her jaw as she searched for the right words to combat Auron's diatribe. Even if Tidus did feel that way, it didn't make it right for her to just run out on him and never come back. He deserved better than that. She raised her nose regally in the air, "Quite frankly, Sir Auron," she began, summoning all her courage to defy the only paternal figure she'd ever had aside from her own father, "Quite frankly I think you're jealous that Tidus and I found something you've never had."

Auron had leaned over to lift a sofa cushion, but stopped in mid movement to turn back to Yuna, "Jealous?" he asked as if to clarify what she'd just said. Auron shook his head, "No, Yuna. I'm not jealous. I know exactly what it is that you feel for Tidus. I had it once too…with a young lady named Hannah." Auron frowned and shook his head to clear his mind of the memory, "It wasn't worth it. She was furious with me when I agreed to go with your father and died shortly thereafter. Our love affair ended in pain."

"Sir…Auron…"

He shook his head and waved her away from him, "Never mind that." He said, turning back to the seat cushion and lifting it, "We've got to get the…" he stopped in mid-sentence and Yuna watched in confusion as he threw the two other seat cushions to the side and began digging in the crevices by the arm rests.

"What is it Sir Auron?"

Auron turned to her, "You didn't move the information, did you?"

"Why would I?" she asked, "I haven't been here since the night you showed it to me."

"That's what I thought…" he muttered to himself, plopping down on the arm of the sofa, "The information is gone, Yuna."

"Gone?"

"I know where we need to be. That's not what's important. What's important is…where is the envelope?" he rubbed his temples roughly, "Who would have taken it?" he stopped all movement for a moment and connected eyes with Yuna, "Did you tell Tidus?"

Yuna shook her head, "Absolutely not. He would have been completely against it. I still am to a degree."

"Anybody home?!"

Auron and Yuna both turned to the door and Yuna opened it slowly to reveal Tidus standing behind it, propped up on crutches and a cab waiting out in the street, "Tidus…"

He grinned at her, "Hey babe. I thought I might find you here."

He pulled her into a kiss, "I was lonely and thought since you weren't at the house that you guys might be here."

"Lonely? Why were you lonely?" Yuna asked, ushering him into the living room, "Aren't Shuyin and Lenne keeping you company?"

Tidus leaned against the arm of the chair just inside the doorway and sighed, "They aren't home. Don't know where they are. Last time I spoke to them, Shu said he was going to see about talking to you Auron. Did he see you?"

Auron's eyes got wide and he glanced down at the empty sofa and then at Yuna. She read his thoughts entirely and her mouth dropped open. She shook her head softly but Auron nodded his belief. Tidus took in the scene and the cushions, "Redecorating, Auron?"

Auron didn't answer Tidus. He directed his diatribe to Yuna, "It's the only explanation, Yuna. They had to have taken it."

"But what would they do? Surely they wouldn't try to do it by themselves."

"Why not? Shuyin thinks he can do anything and Lenne will follow him and never question."

Tidus cleared his throat, "Just what the hell is going on? What did my brother take?"

"Come on, Yuna. We've got to hurry." Auron made a grab for her wrist but Tidus was faster and pulled her to him.

His eyes connected with hers, "Tell me what's going on. It sounds serious."

"Come on, Yuna!" Auron shouted.

"Yuna…"

Yuna was torn. She didn't want to tell Tidus. She didn't want him to worry. But then again, if Shuyin and Lenne were going after Vegnagun themselves, maybe he should worry. Auron was silently pleading with her to stay quiet. Tidus was loudly pleading with her to tell him. His blue eyes won and Yuna spilled everything she knew.

Tidus dropped her hands when she finished and swallowed hard, "You're telling me that my brother is going after a giant weapon that can destroy Zanarkand with a single shot and he's doing it with just Lenne's help?"

Yuna nodded.

Tidus motioned frantically at Auron, "And you're telling me this dimwit actually thought using the damn thing was a good idea!"

Yuna nodded again.

Tidus grabbed up his crutches and slid them back under his wrists as he glared at Auron, "You're damn lucky I need these things to walk, otherwise I'd smack your ass with them."

"And where do you think you're going?" Auron asked as Tidus stormed passed him and out to the waiting taxi.

"I'm going to save my brother and my friend." Tidus announced proudly, "Come along if you want to. Otherwise just stay the hell out of my way."

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Shuyin felt like a fool dressed up in a Bevelle robe, but knew there was no other way to get to the underground. He made his way casually across the main bridge toward the temple and into the giant building. Lenne was close behind him the entire time. He could tell she was nervous. The feeling was radiating off of her and he silently begged her to remain as calm as she could. He didn't want them to be caught.

The elevator to the underground was directly in the middle of the main hall of the temple and was surrounded by numerous priests, all involved in prayer of all fashions. Shuyin turned to Lenne and whispered, "Casual…very casual."

Lenne nodded her understanding and he proceeded to lead her to the elevator as if he'd done it a hundred times before. A few quizzical eyes turned to them, but no one stopped them as they climbed aboard the elevator and Shuyin pressed the down button.

The elevator stopped in the middle of a large hallway with another elevator to the front and several dead ends on all other sides. Lenne glanced around their surroundings carefully, "That was almost too easy, Shu. I have a bad feeling about this."

He shrugged out of the robe and folded it, placing it carefully into a shadowed corner, "Don't worry about it, Lenne. It'll just be easier from here on."

"How do you know that?" she asked, shedding her Bevellian attire too, "Wouldn't they have a lot of guards for something as huge as that weapon?"

Shuyin motioned around them, "There are no guards here and we're only a little bit away from where the map says that thing is stored." He shrugged, "No reason to think they'll be any more than just a light guard. I mean, nobody else even knows it exists Lennie. No reason to protect something nobody knows about."

"I see your point."

Shuyin grinned at her and grabbed her hand, "Come on. We gotta go up this elevator over here and then follow the path straight to the weapon."

In his mind, Shuyin was asking the same questions as Lenne but he didn't want to show that he was nervous. That would only make her more uncomfortable and he didn't want to do that. Besides, everything he said made sense. There was no reason to protect something nobody knew about.

Then why did he have this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach?

Maybe he should have clued Tidus in on his plan…

But what could Tidus do? Tidus could barely walk. It wasn't like Tidus could have come along for a third set of eyes. No…things were fine. There was nothing to worry about.

At the top of the elevator, Shuyin led Lenne down a narrow corridor and around a corner that led into another large and abandoned room.

"Did you want to get some lunch now, Stan?"

"Sure thing."

Shuyin grabbed Lenne by the waist and pulled her into a shadowed corner, clamping his hand over her mouth. Maybe the room wasn't as abandoned as he thought originally. The two voices continued chatting about lunch as they crossed the room. Two other men came from the other direction. They had been just minutes behind Shuyin and Lenne. Shuyin could tell Lenne realized how close they had come to being caught when he felt her tremble against him.

Shuyin pressed his lips against her ear, "Shift change." He whispered softly. She nodded and pressed firmly against his body until the room was silent once more. They waited in that position for a few more moments then Shuyin released his hold on her and carefully stuck his head out of their safety hole. There was no one within visible distance so Shuyin grabbed her hand and silently began to move forward toward the sound of mechanical whirring. The men in this room were all congregated in a corner on the far end and Shuyin led Lenne silently around the other side of the giant engine and through a side door without being noticed.

"Shit…" Shuyin muttered the oath under his breath as he and Lenne stopped at the entrance to Vegnagun's lair. The massive creation was bigger than Shuyin's mind had comprehended and suddenly he realized the precarious situation he was in. Why did he think he could do this by himself?

Lenne came to stand next to him, her eyes riveted to the giant machina, "What do we do?"

Shuyin slowly began to cross the bridge leading to the weapon as he tried to formulate a plan. What would Auron do? Shuyin scoffed to himself. Auron would have had a plan ready before getting there. That's what Auron would have done. The blitzer assessed the creature with his eyes, taking in every detail. There had to be something.

"What about that keyboard?" Lenne asked from behind him, pointing to the musical instrument nestled between the creature's horns, "That probably controls it."

Shuyin nodded, "Yeah." He quickly spied a way to climb up and turned to Lenne, "You stay here and let me know if someone is coming. I'll play it."

Shuyin hadn't played a piano since before Jecht disappeared. His mother had wanted him to learn so that he wasn't all jock. It hadn't really stuck with him, although he'd been a quick learner. Shuyin had never really liked it. Tidus had always liked it more. Then again, Tidus had always been more into the arts than Shuyin had been. That was one of the main reasons Jecht didn't like Tidus.

"Why am I thinking about that now?" Shuyin asked himself as he climbed slowly to the top of the weapon. He knew why, though. He was thinking about anything and everything except the task at hand. He hadn't been able to get rid of the sick feeling that was currently riding high in his stomach. Why was he having such a bad feeling about this? He was just going to turn the thing on and then Bevelle would surrender out of fear and everything would be fine.

So why wasn't he believing it anymore…?

Shuyin shook his head and took a seat in front of the keyboard. There was no reason to think about it. There was no reason to worry. In a few hours, he'd be at home with Lenne and everything would be fine.

There were a few notes carved into the keyboard and Shuyin figured that was as good a place as any to start. He slowly played the cords.

Lenne listened from her position on the ground before the weapon. It was a melody but it wasn't a melody she recognized. Yet maybe she could use it as the base for a song about this adventure when they got out. She was scared. Thinking about music helped.

A small whirring and beeping sound caught her attention and Lenne turned around. There was nothing behind her. She heard the sound again, this time from her right but when she turned, no one was there. Thoroughly spooked now, Lenne tried to ignore the dread creeping into her stomach and focus on Shuyin's playing, but she couldn't. The whirring and beeping came again from behind her. Slowly, Lenne turned. It was a Watcher, buzzing around Lenne's head. It continued to stare at her in silence for a moment and Lenne thought briefly that it hadn't seen her.

Until it activated the alarm.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

Lenne spun and ran toward the weapon, "You must stop! That's enough!"

Shuyin turned toward her and leaned over. He saw the Watcher and Lenne's panicked face before he realized the alarm was sounding. His heart pounded in his chest and Shuyin jumped off of the monster's head and grabbed Lenne's hand, "Let's go!" he shouted, darting toward the main entrance and exit to the room.

"It's coming from Vegnagun!"

Shuyin stopped in mid run, causing Lenne to crash into him. Footsteps were coming from around the corner from the engine room. Thinking as quickly as he could, Shuyin caught sight of a side exit to the room. He and Lenne ran for it.

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"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

"Do they mean us?" Yuna asked in a panic as she found herself wedged in a corner between Auron and Tidus. It had been slow going although Tidus' knee was stronger and he had been able to go for certain distances without his crutches at all, He'd done surprisingly well and they'd made it to the Bevelle underground with no incident. Security was surprisingly lax and it didn't make any sense until they got to the base of the elevator and heard the alarm sounding.

"It doesn't seem like they are looking for us." Tidus replied to her.

"They're not." Stated Auron simply. The older man moved casually toward the second elevator in front of them.

Tidus' eyes widened, "Shu and Lenne!"

"Precisely."

Tidus sat his crutches against the wall and put all his weight on his injured leg. He winced against the pain, but was surprised to find that it was holding up better than he thought it would. He'd managed to limp without his crutches, but he'd never tried to walk – or run – normally. He realized that the time to try that might be coming soon. He was grateful that Lenne's Cure spells worked very well. He put the crutches back under his arms and turned to Yuna, "Let's go." He said. He didn't want to go without the crutches, but he was relieved to know that if he needed to, he could get around without them.

The trio rode the elevator to the second level of the Bevelle underground and crossed the narrow corridor that led, according to Auron, directly to Vegnagun. Footsteps could be heard coming toward them. His heart beat fast as the fear of being caught finally sunk in but just before panic could take over, Auron grabbed both Tidus and Yuna and pulled them into a side door that led to another hall.

Tidus looked around, "Where are we now?"

"There are tons of ways to get to Vegnagun." Auron hissed, "This is just a little out of the way."

Auron turned and led Tidus and Yuna down the darkened hallway until they saw a feint glimmer of light and heard mechanical whirring. Yuna leaned into Auron, "Where does this take us?"

"The hall just outside of the engine room's side entrance."

Tidus struggled with his crutches in the dark, smacking Yuna's calves several times as he made his way down the hall. Several times he almost gave up and left them there, but decided against it. They might come in handy to slap people with.

Panicked breathing, running footsteps, and an occasional yelp greeted them as their hallway crossed a wider and brightly lit hall. Tidus stuck his head around the corner and immediately pulled it back as a blur of blonde and brunette dashed passed them followed a few feet behind by no less than 10 soldiers, armed to the teeth with automatic weapons.

Yuna gaped, "Wasn't that…"

Forgetting anything but the fact that soldiers were chasing his brother, Tidus dropped his crutches and ran as fast as he could after them. The pain in his knee throbbed as he tried his best not to bend it and not to put too much pressure on it. Running with a severe limp wasn't something Tidus ever thought he'd have to do. Then again, having his brother being chased by armed soldiers wasn't something he'd have expected either.

He heard footsteps before him and behind him and knew that Auron and Yuna were chasing him and that he hadn't lost Shuyin and Lenne yet in the maze of the underground. As he entered the engine room he saw Shuyin and Lenne dash across the bridge leading back to Vegnagun with the guards on their tales just as his knee gave out and sent Tidus crashing to the floor. He heard a crack and felt as if his knee was breaking into thousands of pieces. Tears stung his eyes but he took a deep breath and fought the pain. Now wasn't the time to whine about a knee injury. He had to do something to help Shuyin and Lenne.

"Tidus!" Yuna whispered loudly. She rushed over to him and helped him to his feet but Tidus didn't have time for thanks. He moved as quickly as he could, pulling his bad leg along behind him until he closed in on the entrance to Vegnagun's lair.

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There was no where else to go. It was a dead end. They were back where they started. Shuyin and Lenne reached the face of the massive weapon and stopped, turning back to look at the guards as they lined up into some sort of military formation. Shuyin didn't know what formation, but he knew that the cocking of rifles wasn't a good sign. He pulled Lenne against him and looked down into her eyes. Tears were forming. Tears of fear even as she forced a brave smile to her face.

Why did he do this? Why had he convinced her…and himself…that this was a good idea. Zanarkand and Bevelle were at war. Where normally they would have been thrown in prison for breaking and entering, they were now going to be killed. No questions asked. No appeals heard.

He'd failed her and now she was going to die because of him.

She smiled again, tears beginning to creep out from her eyes and line her face as she trembled in his arms. He returned her sad smile as best he could as he took in every feature of her face.

"Ready!"

Lenne took a shaky breath as the command rung out from the commander.

"Aim!"

The rifles were lifted and every one was aimed at them. They both slowly turned their heads to face their killers. It was the least they could do. One final defiance of Zanarkand against Bevelle.

"Fire!"

The bullets tore from the guns and into his flesh like a thousand tiny needles. He felt Lenne ripped from his arms and knew he was falling, spinning in the air, but wasn't quite sure why. It sounded like the world was in a tunnel. He couldn't think. He couldn't breath. He was barely aware of anything that was happening until he heard a sound tear through his darkening world.

"SHUYIN!!!"

He forced his eyes open and saw Lenne laying still beside him. Her eyes were open to him, but she wasn't seeing anything anymore. He tried to reach for her hand but he wasn't strong enough. He just wanted to sleep.

"Shuyin…!"

He heard footsteps and shouting but he wasn't sure where they were coming from. Struggling and screaming and shouting and fighting. What was happening? Did it even matter anymore? He could feel his blood pooling underneath him. Felt its warmth beneath his fingertips. His eyes started to slip shut when he felt hands on his back. Hands on his waist. He felt himself being turned over and lifted up. He wasn't strong enough to fight it. He wasn't strong enough to care. His head lolled back but was lifted slowly and cradled.

"Shuyin…"

That voice sounded so familiar and so far away. It was crying. Tears were in every word.

"I…it's…gonna…be okay."

Shuyin forced his eyes open again, struggling with his last ounce of strength. Familiar blonde hair dangled in tear stained, yet familiar blue eyes. Shuyin felt his hand gripped softly in another's and he opened his mouth slowly, "T…ti…du…s."

Tidus' eyes flew wide and he let out a happy squeal, "Shu! Oh…oh…you're…you're okay." He kissed Shuyin's forehead and cradled him, "I knew you'd be okay." Tidus turned to Yuna, "Please! Please do something!"

Shuyin took in a ragged breath and regained all of Tidus' attention. Shuyin smiled softly at Tidus, "Its….g…gon…na…be…ok…ay…"

"Of course it is." Tidus replied, talking between panicked breaths, "You're going to be cured and we're all going to go home and be safe and fine and happy."

Shuyin shook his head, "L…Len…ne."

Tidus looked as if he'd just noticed the brunette lying on the ground beside his brother. His face drooped but then brightened, "I'm sure Yuna can do something about her too! Yuna is a summoner after all."

"Tidus…" Yuna began, but Tidus didn't listen to her. He kept talking to Shuyin and stroking his hair.

Shuyin just let his brother weave those wonderful dreams. He always did love Tidus' imagination. Shuyin was so tired. So very tired. He could barely keep his eyes open even though Tidus was doing his best to keep him awake. Finally, Shuyin smiled, "Tidus…it…it doesn't…hurt…any…more…"

The last thing Shuyin heard as the darkness surrounded him was his brother begging him not to go.