Disclaimer: Final Fantasy is property of Square Enix

Hello everyone! This is a story based on Final Fantasy VII but very AU with lots of twists to the original plot.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Moving on

It was pretty calm on the train heading for Midgar, which had surprised her. Tifa had always thought those trains were packed with businessmen and SOLDIERS, but on second thought, she supposed they used better and fancier transportation.

She sighed as she leaned back into her seat, staring at the empty gray seats in front of her. Was this the right decision? Wouldn't she miss home? What if she didn't find a job out there? Tifa shook her head, this was no time to question her decision, she was already on her way and there was no turning back. This was it, she had nothing left in Nibelheim anyway. A long sigh escaped her mouth when she started thinking about Nibelheim.

When the train suddenly slowed down and came to a stop, she looked up. The doors opened, creating an annoying creaky noise and only 3 other passengers got in. She followed them with her eyes until they sat down and then her gaze was once again fixed on the empty gray seats in front of her. Midgar shouldn't be too far by now. She was getting tired of sitting down and shifted her weight to get more comfortable. Then she look up to the display above her.

20 minutes, I'm almost there.

Her lips formed a small smile. Finally she would be able to leave the past behind and to do something with her life.

To move on.

She had to move on, if she had stayed any longer in Nibelheim she would have gone insane. The past would always come and haunt her and she couldn't stand it anymore. It was time to go and to start a new life, to forget about the past that had scarred her for life and that had taken away her father from her.

It had been already 3 years since the death of her father. It had also been 3 years since the respect she had for Shinra and SOLDIER was washed away. Tifa winced at the thought of the bloodied face of her father, his hand trembling in an attempt to reach out to her as she screamed at the sight of his broken body. That day, her father died in the mountains, near the reactor. He had been torn apart by wolves and when Tifa had looked to the side she had seen him walking towards the reactor, not even reacting to the death of her father, not even trying to help him.

He could have saved him. Papa...

Tifa clenched her fist until it was trembling and then she calmed down. She never forgave herself for being too late that day, but at the same time and more importantly, she never forgot how he had left him to die. His long silver hair disappearing into the reactor, pursuing his selfish goals, not even caring about the others.

I hate them, I hate them all.

She cleared her throat and reached for the bottle of water in her bag. The train was slowly coming to a stop and Tifa saw how the word Midgar flashed by. She heard the other passengers getting up, their heels clacking. In a hurry she swung her bag over her shoulder and pulled at the two suitcases. She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath.

I'm here.

Tifa strolled through the city, dragging her luggage with her. She looked at everything. Every building, every person, every car passing by, every crack in the street. It was so different from what she was used to in Nibelheim. Everything was so gray and boring and yet there was life everywhere.

When she looked up, she saw tall pillars and some of them were letting out some sort of glowing green gas surrounding the city. She followed the large construction with her eyes to the heart of the city and she narrowed her eyes.

Shinra.

Tifa scoffed when hey eyes took in the grand structure of the building. She hated to admit that she was impressed by it, but it was rather imposing. She continued to stare at the building until someone accidentally bumped into her. She was about to start yelling, but shrugged instead when she saw that the person was long gone. With one last look to the Heaquarters, Tifa decided to shake off the thought of Shinra and continue her search for a place to stay. She could explore the city another day, she needed a room for now. As she passed through a narrow alley she found herself in a more calm street. She noticed it was getting dark so she picked up the pace and frantically looked around for an affordable hotel, but then it also started to rain.

"Just my luck!"

While cursing, Tifa ran into the first building she could find. It was a bar.

Seventh Heaven... That's a nice name for a bar.

She let out a sigh of relief when the warmth of the bar hit her skin. She rubbed the rain out of her eyes and then looked around and noticed she was drawing a lot of attention to herself with her two suitcases. With a sheepish smile she sat down at the bar and sighed.

"Rough day?" a soft voice said.

Tifa looked up at the woman behind the bar and smiled. She was cleaning some glasses while smiling friendly at Tifa. She was young, around Tifa's age, and her brown hair was tied up in a playful ponytail.

"Kind off. I've just moved here." Tifa says while taking off her black coat.

"Well you didn't choose the right time, winter here can be quite the nightmare."

Tifa chuckled and stretched out her arm, offering her hand.

"I'm Tifa."

"Jessie."

Tifa nodded as Jessie put the glasses away and helped out a customer. When she returned she asked what Tifa wanted to drink.

"I'll have a cup of coffee."

"Sure thing."

While Jessie was preparing the coffee, Tifa looked around the bar. It wasn't anything special, just an ordinary bar, but what stood out to Tifa were the many pictures on the wall. It definitely cheered the place up and gave the costumers something to look at.

Jessie's voice abruptly broke Tifa's daydream and she smiled, thanking her as she took the cup of coffee in her hands, enjoying the heat spreading through her cold fingers.

"Where are you from?" Jessie asked, curiosity clearly visible on her face.

Tifa put down her coffee and swallowed before she spoke the name.

"Nibelheim... It's far from here."

"I bet it is, I've never heard from it."

"Yeah, it's just a little village."

Jessie gave her a comforting smile when Tifa got nervous.

"So, it must have been a long trip. Did everything go well?"

"It was okay, mostly boring." Tifa let out a soft laugh and Jessie nodded. "I can imagine!"

After a few minutes of silence and a few sips of her coffee, a loud shattering of glass sounded behind her and Jessie sighed, shaking her head. She swung the towel she had in her hands over her shoulders and reached for a broom, she turned to Tifa.

"Excuse me while I clean up these children's' mess." she said, the irony clearly detectable in her voice.

Tifa chuckled because it was a group of SOLDIERS who dropped the glasses. She could easily recognize them because of the trademark glow in their eyes. When Jessie returned and rolled her eyes, Tifa couldn't help but to smile. To her great content, it seemed that she wasn't the only one against Shinra and SOLDIER;

"Truly, they're even worse than a bunch of toddlers crying for attention." Jessie said, her eyes fixed on the group of SOLDIERS, almost glaring at them.

"I can see that."

Both women started to chuckle and when Jessie finished cleaning up the mess she turned to Tifa.

"So why did you move here of all places?"

Tifa gazed at Jessie for a while and then forced a smile and concentrated on her cup of coffee.

"Just for more opportunities you know. It's a big city, there's many people... Just for a change in my life."

Before Jessie could ask anything more Tifa gestured to a picture behind her she had been staring at for a while. It was truly a beautiful photo of a smiling, elegant woman.

"Is she your mother?" she asked, staring at the picture and unaware of the soft smile on her face.

"Yeah... She passed away 2 years ago." Jessie's voice was quiet and somber and Tifa immediately regretted ever asking for it.

She peeled her eyes away from the photo and looked down in shame.

"I'm so sorry..." Jessie shook her head, a sign not to worry about it. "My mother died when I was little. I don't remember much, but she was so beautiful."

As Tifa talked about her mother she played with her teardrop shaped earrings. Sometimes she noticed she always did that when thinking about her mother. She supposed the earrings made her feel connected with her, even after all these years. After their conversation, Tifa finished her coffee and thanked Jessie for everything.

"No problem, come get a cup of coffee sometimes."

Tifa slid off the barstool and smiled, nodding.

"Definitely."

"Where are you staying again?" Jessie asked the question as if she had asked it before.

"Actually I'm looking for a place to stay... and also to work."

Jessie's lips instantly formed a smile, catching Tifa off guard. "Really?" She then wiped off her hands with her apron. "Then I have good news for you, I've been looking around for help around the bar for a while now."

Tifa's eyes grew wide and she let out a laugh in a rush of breath when she knew what Jessie was going to ask.

"So if you're interested, I have a room you can use if you want to help me with the bar."

Tifa clasped her hands together and nodded, too excited to actually speak and also relieved she didn't have to go out in the rain right now. "Thank you so much!"

After a week, Tifa had gotten used to her small, but comfortable room at Seventh Heaven. She had a roof window and her bed was placed beneath it. Sometimes she would lay in her bed and imagine a sky full of stars above her, like she was used to see in Nibelheim. But this wasn't Nibelheim and there weren't any stars, only dirty clouds blocking the moonlight and bringing darkness to the entire city.

Daytime wasn't any better, she had found out. It had been just a week and she already missed the bright sunlight shining on her face, or the songs of birds or even the sound of the wind rushing through the grass.

But she forced herself not to think about it, to forget about Nibelheim and to think about the future.

I'm so lucky.

She was lucky. Lucky that she met Jessie and that she offered her a job. She had already noticed the many unemployed people roaming the streets for work. Their eyes didn't hold any hope, only despair.

Working at Seventh Heaven wasn't a walk in the park, but it was nice. She got to hang out with Jessie all day and she got to observe the many SOLDIERS that came in regularly. Tifa loved how she could crack jokes about them with Jessie. She had expected everyone in the city to worship them like gods; she couldn't have been more wrong.

On a cold Wednesday evening, Tifa was cleaning the tables before closing time and she was in deep thought. She wondered how a certain blond chocobo haired guy was doing. Was he really happy being in SOLDIER, working for Shinra? What would he look like now? The last time Tifa had seen him, he had been a skinny teenager.

Where are you Cloud?

That was the first and introductory chapter! I apologize for it not being so eventful, but I first have to set the stage.

Please do leave some feedback! It would make me really happy!

Next chapter: Old Friends