I admit I thought this was going to be the case when I first started playing, too.
Though if you're honest, it would have been cheesy to have this as a real plot point. I much preferred the Paine/Nooj/Gippal/Baralai Crimson Squad backstory. It surprised me as I thought the Paine = Auron's daughter was going to come out.
Perhaps it was a deliberate red herring on Squeenix's part.
