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Author's Notes: I wonder how many will be surprised with the turnaround in this chapter…


TWISTED DESTINY
by akksgurl
Chapter Twenty-Four: Devil with a Handgun

Shuyin grabbed her by the hair, pulling her to her feet roughly, "If you don't stop struggling one of us is going to be shot." He held her wrists behind her back roughly and bent to retrieve the gun lying on the ground, "You're lucky it didn't happen already. I think that bullet knicked me."

"It only knicked you?" Yuna replied smartly, "Too bad."

"Now, now, now…be a good girl. You wouldn't want to hurt Tidus' body."

He was right about that. Although Yuna wanted to stop Shuyin, she didn't want to kill Tidus in the process so she was secretly glad that the bullet hadn't hit him when the gun had gone off in her hands. It had been fortunate, she might add, that she hadn't been shot herself. Shuyin had managed to turn the barrel of the gun away from both of them before it had gone off.

Shuyin kneed her in the rear, "Get moving. The sooner you move the sooner it'll all be over."

Yuna felt him press the barrel of the gun into her back and frowned. It wasn't like she had much of a choice in this matter. She started to move when her eyes caught on the curtained doorway and, more importantly, on a bullet sized hole in the blue fabric. She hissed at him, "Look what you did! You shot through the curtain!"

She felt his breath on her neck as he laughed softly, "Oh no! Call the interior decorator immediately! The beautiful ambiance of this lovely…hut…is ruined!"

She turned her head as much as possible considering her position and frowned at him, "Have you no shame? You could have hurt someone by firing out the door!"

As if on cue, a pained moan came from just outside of the building as well as the sound of shouts and cries from the townspeople. Yuna gasped. The only person she knew that was standing near the exit of the hut before the gun went off was…

"Baralai!" she let out a startled shriek and twisted in Shuyin's grasp, "Let me go! I have to see if he's all right!"

"What do you care about him for?"

She glared at Shuyin, "Nobody deserves to die like that. You, of all people, should know that."

This seemed to register something human in Shuyin and he released his hold on her slightly giving her just enough time to slip away from him and out the curtained door. She expected to see Baralai laying on the ground covered in blood from his wound. She expected Gippal to fret over Baralai's health. She expected Wakka and Lulu to work to keep the prone blonde alive until more help could arrive. She expected the other residents to be worried or concerned, but nothing more than that.

What she didn't expect was utter bedlam the moment the curtain opened.

It seemed as though all the residents of Besaid were surrounding Baralai and Yuna couldn't see past them to ascertain whether he was okay or not. Rikku was sobbing in a corner with Gippal consoling her. Wakka and Lulu were off to the side watching in befuddlement as several other residents worked on Baralai. Yuna could see his feet now as Auron rushed toward her.

"Yuna! I must speak with you." Yuna frowned, her eyes focused on Baralai's feet. She didn't remember Baralai wearing sandals when he'd visited her earlier. Auron grabbed her shoulders and spun her to him, "Yuna! It's imperative that we speak privately for a moment."

His manhandling shook Yuna from her daze and she pulled herself free from his grasp, "Shuyin is somehow in control of Tidus' body. He's the one that shot the gun off." She pointed into the hut, "Hold him off. I'll see what I can do for Baralai."

Auron grabbed her shoulder again, "Yuna! Wait! It's not B…" but his voice was carried away by a breath of wind as Yuna kept going until she was on the outskirts of the group surrounding Baralai. She tapped a few people on the shoulder so that she could get closer, "Excuse me. Excuse me." She said until she could finally see the prone figure on the ground.

The world stopped spinning. The birds stopped chirping. Maybe her heart even stopped beating. It was like she was inside of a bubble, completely cut off from the outside world when she first saw the person who'd been shot by the stray bullet.

"Daddy…?"

It had been so long since she'd called him that, that Yuna wasn't even sure if she'd ever done it before. It didn't really matter, though. That's what he was. Yet she couldn't quite wrap her mind around the fact that he was back. She knew how, of course, and she knew why and yet it still didn't seem real. Especially since he was lying on the ground in an unceremonious heap, felled by the bullet she and Shuyin had accidentally let fly from the hut.

"Yuna…?" Auron's voice was tentative behind her. She felt his presence closing in on her right shoulder and she shot back to reality.

"I thought I asked you to keep an eye on Shuyin." She snapped sharply, hissing between her teeth so as not to alarm the residents by shouting.

Auron nodded, "It's been taken care of. There's something else you need to know."

Yuna shook her head and lifted her hands to her ears like a petulant child, not wanting to hear anymore. What more could there be? Her father – who was suddenly alive again after being dead for ten years – was currently fighting for his life because of a bullet that never should have even been anywhere near her…or him…in the first place. Auron grabbed her arms and pulled her hands from her ears, "You need to listen to me. He's going to be fine, believe it or not. Seymour has offered to cure him."

Yuna lifted her eyes in surprise and turned back to where her father lay. Seymour was standing behind his head and gave her a sad smile. Yuna had been so focused on her father that she hadn't even noticed Seymour standing there. The maester's eyes caught hers again and it was almost as if he was asking permission to help her father – which struck Yuna odd for two reasons. First of all, Seymour would never ask permission for anything usually. And secondly, Seymour would usually never go out of his way to help anyone either. Then again, she thought, with her father back perhaps Seymour's past had changed as well.

She knew little of Seymour before she'd met him on her pilgrimage but she did know one thing. His mother had sacrificed herself to become an Aeon – his Aeon - and had left Seymour terrified and alone without her. She'd seen as much while journeying through the Zanarkand temple courtesy of the pyreflies. Yuna hadn't even considered the fact that, perhaps, by defeating Sin she'd be defeating the demons of Seymour's past as well and saving him from himself.

It was a gratifying thought.

But Yuna's mind needed to be elsewhere at the moment. She focused back on the situation at hand and nodded her ascension to Seymour who began the incantation to cure her father. Yuna wished she'd have been able to do it herself, but she knew she was unable to since she'd sacrificed her Aeon again against Sin. Besides, it was probably a good thing. If she had the ability to cast an Ultima spell, she knew Shuyin'd be her target…

Seconds passed by uneventfully as Seymour cast what Yuna recognized to be Curaga on her father's wound. She felt Auron pull her closer against him and she let her head lay against his shoulder. She didn't want to admit to herself that she was scared, but she knew it nonetheless. If this didn't work, she'd have to go the rest of her life knowing she'd destroyed her father's second chance.

Braska's first sound since Yuna had left the hut wasn't one of laughter or of general happiness at all. It was the sound of him coughing in the most painful way Yuna could imagine someone coughing, but it meant that he was alive and Yuna's face registered her delight as she ran over to him and hugged him fiercely. Braska was momentarily caught off balance by her enthusiasm, but he gingerly brought his arms around her back after a moment and hugged her back, "I'm fine, Yuna. I'm fine."

It was such an amazing experience to hear his voice again that Yuna felt herself starting to cry. She buried her face in his neck and let the tears flow as they needed, "I love you…I missed you…" she sobbed into his skin.

She knew her father didn't understand why she was going on about missing him. He didn't realize what had come to pass in the last ten years. History had been changed so in his mind he'd always been there. But at that point in time, Yuna didn't particularly care. She just was so grateful to be given a second chance.

"Well that's my cue to get outta here."

Yuna gasped and lifted her head in the direction of the voice. It shouldn't have surprised her and yet it did. He looked precisely as she'd remembered him looking. She wanted to be thrilled to see him, but part of her was wary. She remembered what she'd heard about him from Lenne, Shuyin, and Tidus. He wasn't as nice as he'd seemed originally. She gave him a small smile, "Jecht…" she dropped the 'sir' mainly because without Sin there was no reason to address him as such.

"Hiya, Yuna." Jecht replied with a nod, "Auron tells me that boy o' mine is the cause of all this trouble. I think I'm gonna have a word with him."

"No!" Yuna shouted, jumping up before realizing that she'd spoken a bit too forcefully. She just didn't want Jecht near Tidus – or Shuyin, she supposed. Jecht certainly didn't look like he'd been drinking, but Yuna didn't want to take a chance. She took a deep breath to calm herself and said, "I mean, I don't think that's necessary. It was an accident."

"An accident?" Jecht seemed less than convinced, "How was it an accident?"

Yuna bit her lip, "Um…well…I was showing him my gun…that…um…Seymour gave me." She motioned with her head toward the maester who was still standing behind Braska, "And…um…he wanted to see it…and…well…it went off when I handed it to him."

If she'd delivered it without so many nervous pauses, she was sure Jecht would have believed it but because it was so obvious she was uncomfortable, he didn't. Instead the man gave her a condescending smile that Yuna wondered if he'd ever given to her before – back when she was too young to recognize it – and said, "I'm going to see my son anyway, Yuna. We need to discuss his inability to handle firearms properly."

Yuna made a move to stop him again when she felt Auron's hand on her shoulder. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "He won't try anything with everybody out here."

"Do you think he would if we weren't?" she whispered back, unable to keep the fear from her voice. Nobody deserved what Jecht was capable of.

Auron shrugged, "I'm not sure, but don't worry. He'll be fine." He pulled her a bit further away from the group still surrounding her father, "But I need you to tell me what you meant about Shuyin being in control of Tidus."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Auron must have been part of knot tying cult. That was all Shuyin could figure. He'd never seen knots so tight before. The sheets were practically cutting off his circulation at his wrists and he couldn't loosen them to even consider escaping. He twisted on the bed a bit to get a slightly better look at the knots keeping him tied to the headboard. Even if he used his teeth he didn't think he'd get the knots loosened before Auron got back – if ever. He sighed angrily. Just one more thing to add to his list of things he couldn't do right anymore. He used to be able to get loose from bindings like these easily. Lenne could attest to that. And now he was helpless. He was a joke.

He smiled as Lenne's beautiful face crossed his mind.

Then he frowned.

If he couldn't do this right, she'd never forgive him. He'd never forgive himself. He'd failed her once. He wasn't going to do it again. Spira needed to pay for what had been done to them. They were going to pay.

He squirmed again, feeling the sheets rubbing raw against his skin. It reminded him of the rugburn he'd gotten as a child when he and Tidus had taken turns pulling each other across the carpet bare-chested. It had been stupid, but at 6 it had been great fun.

"I tell ya, boy. Every day you just get stupider."

Shuyin's gaze shot up to see his father standing in the doorway, the curtain falling shut silently behind him. Shuyin felt a flash of anger at the insult before he realized that it was directed at Tidus. Then he felt fury.

He wasn't even going to question why Jecht was there. It must have had something to do with Yuna defeating Sin. It seemed to be affecting him as well. He knew he'd destroyed the Crimson Squad who had gone into the cavern to train for Sin, but suddenly that seemed more like a dream than anything else. It didn't surprise him. If Sin wasn't there then the Crimson Squad wouldn't have been either – it never would have existed.

Jecht didn't seem to notice Shuyin's growing anger, or his wandering mind. The older man took a few steps forward, his face a mask of smug indifference, "I always knew you were worthless. You just proved my point now. Can't even hold a gun without it going off. Stupid kid."

Shuyin was confused for a moment at Jecht's words. Then he realized Yuna must have lied to Jecht. If she'd told him the truth, Shuyin – and Tidus' body – would have been bloody pulps by now. It made him feel almost guilty for having to destroy her world – almost.

"It's a damn shame Shuyin isn't here. He'd knock some sense into your stupid ass."

"Shuyin would never hit me." Shuyin replied, doing his best Tidus impersonation. It was odd to refer to himself in the third person, but it had to be done. Just as he had to make sure his father knew that no matter what, he'd never lay a hand on Tidus. He'd never hit his brother and he never would. That was Jecht's place.

Jecht pointedly ignored Shuyin and continued, "Whatever happened to Shu anyway? Sin get him?"

Shuyin felt a sharp intake of breath fill his lungs. So his father knew about Sin? How?

"I guess that creature took you here too, huh?" Jecht continued, sitting down at the far end of the bed near Shuyin's feet, "I sure as hell wish he'd have done the same with Shuyin."

Shuyin sat there silently for a moment. He knew from what he'd heard that Yuna had defeated Sin shortly after he and Lenne…well, after his original plan to get Vegnagun failed. That meant that everything changed from the point she'd defeated Sin forward. Meaning Jecht's travel through Sin remained intact.

"I mean, I know I didn't imagine it." Jecht was saying when Shuyin's mind wandered back to him, "I just don't get why nobody here seems to know what that thing is."

Shuyin was tempted to explain the circumstances to his father but decided to keep his mouth shut. He quite enjoyed seeing Jecht stew in confusion. Especially after the insulting barbs he'd thrown at Tidus. Shuyin was many things – most recently, crazed and insane – but he was also fiercely protective of Tidus. He'd always said as a child that nobody could hurt Tidus but him. It's just a shame that his promise was going to have to come true.

"What do you want old man?" Shuyin spat after Jecht shut his mouth. He'd heard Tidus refer to Jecht as that several times in the years following Jecht's disappearance so he figured it was as good a thing as any to say to the man sitting at his feet.

Jecht shot him a nasty glare, "Why'd it have to be you?" he spat, "Why couldn't it have been Shuyin?"

"Shuyin's dead." Replied Shuyin, a wicked smirk on his features. This was fun.

"He's dead!" Jecht shrieked, lunging forward and pulling Shuyin up by his shirt until his arms straightened and he was unable to pull him up anymore unless he wanted to rip his son's arms out of their sockets, "You killed him…didn't you! You were always jealous of him!"

Shuyin remained passive in Jecht's arms. After years of seeing Tidus struggle against Jecht's flashes of anger, Shuyin knew the best thing to do was not to move. Jecht seemed to cool down faster that way, and now was no different. It wasn't long before his father released him to fall back against the headboard.

"I didn't kill him." Shuyin replied.

"Then who did!" Jecht demanded, the murderous rage back in his eyes. It was then that Shuyin suddenly realized where he'd gotten his temper from. He'd never really thought about it before. Tidus had inherited their mother's temperament and Shuyin had gotten Jecht's.

He watched his father warily as the murderous glint changed into a desire to see whoever had killed his beloved son punished. Shuyin felt a small idea forming as he said, "Why did you always love Shuyin more than me?"

"I couldn't deal with you." Jecht answered – probably the only truly honest thing he'd said in all the years Shuyin had known him, "You were just so…so damned good. Such a damned goodie goodie. It made me sick. Shu was more like me." His father lifted his eyes back to him, "What happened to him, Tidus?"

"Bevelle soldiers murdered him in cold blood when he was trying to stop the war between them and Zanarkand." Jecht's eyes flashed that murderous rage again but instead of backing down, Shuyin jumped on it, "I needed that gun to get revenge. They wouldn't let me down into the underground where I needed to go without it."

Jecht leaned closer, "What were you going to do?"

"I was going to use Yuna to get down to a machina they have called Vegnagun. It was what Shuyin was trying to get to."

"And what were you going to do once you got it?"

"Take over Bevelle. Make them pay for what they did to Shuyin." He decided not to add the fact that he was planning on blowing up the planet with it. Even Jecht, for all his faults, would have issues with that.

"So you were going to take Yuna hostage?" Jecht's murderous glint faded a bit as he considered that, "You weren't planning on killing her, were you?"

Well…yes…indirectly he was.

Shuyin considered carefully how to word his reply before saying, "I wasn't going to shoot her. I was just going to use her to get down to it."

Jecht thought for a moment, "This is for Shuyin?"

"Of course." Shuyin replied, doing his best Tidus smile, "For Shuyin."

"And you're sure Bevelle killed him?"

"I saw it."

Jecht's eyes flashed, "You saw it and you didn't do anything!"

Shuyin took a short gasp. He was so close. He had to think fast. His father had always liked Lenne since she'd grown up so close with both him and Tidus. He stifled a smirk and formed it into a frown, "I tried, but I had to protect Lenne. The soldiers…they were going to…" he let the words trail off to allow his father to make his own conclusions.

It worked.

Jecht stood suddenly and made quick work of the knots around his wrists by pulling a small knife from his pocket. Shuyin rubbed his wrists once they were released. Jecht looked at him, "Do you still have that gun, Yuna gave you?"

Shuyin shook his head, "No," he replied. Auron had made sure of that. Reaching into the drawer in the table beside him, he smirked, "But she's got a spare."

Jecht frowned at the gun in Shuyin's hand and then glanced back up at him, "You're stronger than I thought."

Shuyin sneered at him as he stood up, "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" He'd heard all the horrible things Jecht had said to Tidus over the years and he assumed it was, but that didn't wipe away everything that man had done.

Jecht nodded, "I suppose." He replied, "It's just…I mean…I guess…" he stopped and sighed before saying, "I'm sorry for all the things I did, Tidus."

For some reason that infuriated Shuyin. Was an apology that was 10 years too late supposed to make up for all the stuff Jecht had done? All the times Tidus had been hurt – physically and emotionally – by that man.

Shuyin glared at Jecht, feeling for the first time the hatred Tidus must have felt for him on a regular basis, "Too little, too late old man." He hissed before lifting the gun to his father's forehead and pulling the trigger.