Disclaimer: I don't own these characters but the plot is all mine!

Catch My Falling Star

Chapter One: The Filled Corner

Tifa looks into the mirror and smiles confidently at her reflection.

"I look pretty good if I do say so myself. Halfway decent at least."

She grins again. She was wearing a knee-length dark grey dress with long white sleeves underneath. It gave her a sophisticated look and made her feel special though a nagging feeling made her think that maybe she would just look like a child. She wasn't especially classified as one of the rich kids and though Aeris was her best friend, she still felt a little unworthy being invited to her party. Tifa sighs, her confidence now lacking as she takes one last look and speeds out through her bedroom door, her dark hair flying loosely from behind her. Rushing down the stairs, the echoes of her footsteps reach across the house.

"Dad, I'm going out now!" She calls out, ever the responsible child.

Her father, tall and regal, comes out from the living room and looks his young daughter over. Tifa just stands there, hoping for his approval so that she wouldn't be late for Aeris' party.

"Well…"

Tifa gives him a look of utter annoyance, one that said "Give me a break…" she could already read the answer off of his face.

"Jeez Papa…" Tifa shakes her head. "Can I go yet?"

"Of course you can my dear. But won't you bring a jacket with you in case it rains?"

Tifa cocks her head at him and sticks out her tongue, "But Papa! It's not even raining or anything. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

He sighs at her refusal and then replied, "I will always be worried…But I guess you can go now. Have a nice time."

"Nice? Is that the best you can do Papa?" Tifa asks jokingly, her behavior now more uplifted at his consent. She doesn't wait for an answer and turns around, moving towards the door.

Mr. Lockhart smiles after his daughter as she puts on her shoes and walks out the door.

"Bye Papa!"

"Bye." He continues to stare at the door, his mind now wandering off to something else.

"She takes after you, doesn't she? Always on the move." He looks up to the ceiling and envisions his wife's face, grinning down at him from her final resting place. He takes a deep breath as he looks back down and returns to the living room, hoping that his daughter would have a great night.

Meanwhile…

Tifa walks down the street making her way to Aeris' house which was only a few blocks away from hers. She started to hum a song that she had heard on the radio and in no time arrives at the entrance gates. She gapes at the mansion that lay just behind those gates and rang in through the speaker phone stationed outside.

"Hello?" She mummers quietly as she presses the button. In an awed state, Tifa takes in the lush gardens, the paved driveway and luminous skylights surrounding the house.

'Am I at the right house?' The thought arises in her mind in disbelief.

"Tifa? Is that you?" Aeris' loud voice erupts from the speaker as music in the background nearly pop her eardrums.

She cringes at her friend's voice, feeling less confident by each passing second. "Yeah, it's me." Her quiet voice arises.

"Yay! You're finally here! What's up?" She asks curiously. Tifa could hear the smile in her tone and could only grin as well.

"Uhhh, Aeris? Can I tell you when I get inside?" She replies, shivering a little as a cool breeze brushes past her slim figure.

She could hear Aeris laughing. "Ha-ha, sorry Teef! Just give me a sec." And then there was nothing as their conversation ends with a press of a button.

The gates suddenly fling open, startling Tifa who just lifted a hand over her heart. "Oh God…couldn't it have opened any slower?"

She strides through the gates and walks up the driveway to the door. She knocks and a tall man, even taller than her Papa, answered.

"Heh heh…Hi…? I'm here, for the…party…" She could see now that he was the butler, judging from his black and white attire that made him look like an overstuffed penguin. She grinned at him, biting her lip to refrain from laughing at the random thought. It made her feel better at her ability to smile even as her other emotions clashed with each other.

The "penguin" nodded his head though she could see by his upturned nose, his "beak", that he thought her of lower heritage which was indeed true. She was starting to feel bad about herself but a spark of anger had entered her heart at his judgment. He could think whatever he wanted of her, but he did not have the right to give any negative thought about her family heritage. Her Papa had worked his hardest to give her everything she had and she would not let anyone put them down. With this thought, she walks past the overbearing butler and enters the house.

"Where are they?" She asks in an imperious voice though on the inside, she was a little scared as to how he would react to her sudden attitude change.

He did not answer immediately, which only raised Tifa's suspicions that he had just decided to ignore her but it surprised her slightly when he lifted a large hand. Unlike other young girls at the age of 16, she did not feel the need to close her eyes and wait for a slap across the cheek but instead, she kept her eyes wide open and lifted up her own hands, ready to act in self-defense. But his hand only pointed to the right of her and Tifa felt embarrassed as she felt heat rise up her cheeks.

"Oh…thanks." That was all she could say in return for his help. She turns away from him and sheepishly walks up to the twin doors that she was sure led to some kind of grand room. She had never been inside the house of such means before, meaning that she didn't even know what to expect or even imagine of what was behind them.

Tifa took a deep breath and checked her dress to look for any crinkles or anything like it that would ruin her image. She glances behind and realizes that the butler had left already.

"Ok, I'm ready for this. Party time!" She exclaims to herself as she pushes open the door and peers inside. Tifa gasps and stares at the many people and dare she say it, even more "penguins" inside!!!

There were rows of tables, a frickin' buffet in the middle and a dance floor!!! A dance floor!!! This whole room was the size of her HOUSE!! No, maybe even larger. And the people. Oh, the richly-dressed people, with their handkerchiefs and their little poodles stuffed in their designer-brand bags. On that thought, she looks down to her own and sighs. At home, it had made her look so cool and chic but here…you get the point. It's like that saying, "Objects are closer than they appear" in mirrors, except that it now says something like, "Things seem better than they actually are." But back to reality….

"Tifa!"

She looks up and furrows her brows together. Had someone just called out her name? Hmmm….Maybe it was her imagination…

"Tifa!!!"

There it was again. Who could it be?

"Tifa!!!!!!"

Suddenly a light weight slammed against her from the side and nearly chokes her to death in a fatal embrace. Tifa looks down as she tries to breathe and manages to capture a glimpse of a braid and a pink gown. The recognition of who it was made her even redder in the face as other people turned in her direction to see what the problem was.

'Aeris….get off of me!!!!' She thinks in her mind, all of her efforts concentrated on breathing and staying alive.

And as if by some kind of miracle Aeris seemed to get the mental message. "Oh Tifa! You actually came!"

Tifa was trying to catch her breath though as she leaned against a low pillar that was holding up a statue she didn't even know existed.

'Oh my…god…I'm alive…but if I wasn't…this…would be…heaven…' She adds the last part, wondering how she had even been invited to such an extravagant event. Self-consciousness started to arise and Tifa began to feel awkward.

Maybe this was all just a dream…? A possibility, yes! Maybe she wasn't even supposed to be here. It was all a fluke. Aeris wasn't her friend, a best friend let alone. It was all a joke. She was sleeping at home, having this awesome dream that no one would ever know of. She was going to wake up any moment now.

'Wake up, wake up, wake up!' She mutters in her mind, closing her eyes tightly to block this wonderful hallucination from her vision. But when she opened those wine-coloured eyes again, all she could see was Aeris looking at her weirdly and the crowd of people who had gathered to see her nervous breakdown.

Why wasn't she waking up? Maybe it was time to try the pinching technique, that would work wouldn't it?

Here it goes….

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" She exclaims, gathering skin in between her thumb and her forefinger and pinching hard. Afterwards, when her fanatic pinching session stops, she looks up and blinks. There, still standing, were the same people who had just been there a second ago.

"Tifa," Aeris starts, concern emitting from her emerald eyes. "Are you okay? Do you need a second to lie down or something?"

Her eyes widened as a thought flashes through her mind, 'Wait…this isn't a dream? This is real…? Oh…my…god…'

She had just acted like a complete fool in front of every one of Aeris' single friends. The only thing that was left to do was to just cover herself in tar and wait for the feathers to arrive for complete and total humiliation.

But in an attempt to save face, Tifa replies in a weak voice, "Uh, yeah Aeris. I'm fine. Heh heh…as fine as can be. Will you give me a sec?"

She turns on her heels and starts to walk towards the exit, fully knowing that everyone's eyes were on her.

"Wait, Tifa! Where are you going?" Aeris calls aloud, following after her mortified friend. She could see her pause at her words but instead of stopping, Aeris sees her friend's pace quicken as she strides out of the silent hall.

"Aeris, what's going on?" She looks behind her and sees Zack, all calm and collected though also there was a touch of concern present in his voice.

"Nothing." She replies, wanting to handle this situation by herself. "Tifa's just a little…well, weird right now for the lack of a better word."

Zack nodded his head, understanding Aeris' predicament. "I'll take care of your guests okay? Be quick…or else these people will start to miss their host." He adds roguishly with a special wink especially for her. He turns around and heads towards a group of people whom Aeris knew were the most gossipy girls in the whole world. She hoped desperately that her friend would handle this situation in the right way. Not that she cared about her own reputation, which was the least important thing to her right now. Right now, her focus was all on Tifa who had just left her. She was her best friend, her only real friend who knew everything about her, even her heavily guarded secret crush on Zack.

Aeris looked back for a second just as she neared the hall exit and saw him standing there, laughing and talking with the crowds. A twinge in her heart made her even more aware of her feelings towards him but now was not the time for such sentimental feelings; she had to go find Tifa.

She rushed out the front door, her white heels clicking loudly on the pavement. Up ahead she could see Tifa's form leaning against the gates. Heaving a sigh of relief, Aeris hurries towards Tifa and grabs onto her arm lightly.

"Why are you leaving Teef?" She asks anxiously, her eyes pleading for her to return.

Tifa doesn't answer and only looks away from the pink-clad girl.

Aeris pouted and tugged on Tifa's arm, trying to make her friend face her. "Come on Tifa. It'll be no fun without you. I barely know half of the people in there. I would've much rather had a smaller party with my closest friends…and you'd be the first one invited!"

"Really?" Tifa casts an uneasy glance at her and shudders at the cool draft, thinking offhandedly, 'I should've brought a coat…'

Aeris smiled back brightly, she could already see Tifa's defenses and refusal turning to dust. "Of course! You're my best friend! How could I not?"

Tifa shook her head and then finally sighed. "Fine Aeris…Let's go back inside…"

Aeris started to pull Tifa with her, back up the driveway and into the house.

Tifa, even if she had wanted to, could not say no to the person who had stuck beside her all these years and secretly, deep inside, she wonders whether she made the right decision.

'Hey, it might actually be fun…' She tries to think positively though an apprehensive feeling followed her thought.

Five minutes later…

She was bored, so bored and left out and embarrassed about before that she had eventually gravitated to the corner near the punch bowl. But wait…there was someone there already…A guy? He had long black hair and such a blank face that she wondered whether that was a real person or not. Tifa shrugged and made her way to him, having nothing else better to do and nothing else to lose.

"Hey…" She greets the dark person in the corner as warmly as she could without sounding nervous. Had he also been watching just now? She watched his dark eyes lift and look her over. She smiles sheepishly and feels her cheeks grow red. But he looks away and seems to retreat back into his own little world.

Tifa arched a slender eyebrow at him, not used to being ignored so quickly even under these kinds of circumstances. She had said hi, couldn't he have at least said hello in return? Wasn't there this etiquette code that rich people followed or something? And it confused her even further that he was so smartly dressed and well-groomed but no one else was talking to him, not even Aeris and it was her party. So Tifa thought that she should give it another try to coax him to talk to her. Hopefully it would make time pass by faster.

With that small notion, she looks down to her leather watch and sighs as she notes the time. 'It's only six o'clock and it's been five minutes since I last checked…only six and when does this party end? Like twelve o'clock in the morning…great…I'm stuck here for another six hours…'

"So…having fun?" She observes the empty glass in his hand and mentally sighs. What a stupid question to ask when she herself had gone to the corner in an attempt to escape ensuing boredom. There was still no answer though, not even the slightest tilt of his head.

Annoyance tinted her voice this time as she asks another question. "Are you mute or do you just want me to leave because I can and will."

…

Nothing. Still nothing. Maybe he really was mute, or deaf, or maybe even both! She sighs again and then says, "Fine then. Nice meeting you."

She turns around and starts to walk off, fuming a little at her hopeless circumstances.

"Ha-ha…"

Tifa's eyes widen at the unexpected sound. It was coming from behind her. She paused and then turned around to see a ghost of a smile on his pale face. It made him seem more human than just a still mannequin and this caused her to smile a little as well. At least she had gotten some kind of response from him, even if it did seem like he was laughing at her.

"I'm not a mute." He stated as she walked back in his direction again. Her grin became more pronounced at his voice. It was a deep, yet strangely melodious voice that seemed to relax the tension that had risen between them just now. Well, that's what she thought anyways.

"Yeah," Tifa started, trying not to grin at that obvious point. He had talked! Yay!

"I can see that you're not a mute." She could see that her comment had caused his smile to grow larger and she felt a sort of tingling feeling in her chest as she watched his expression become less stone-like.

"So, does the non-mute have a name?" She asks coyly, feeling a little better that she had someone to really talk to right now. At least for a little while, she wasn't alone anymore.

The mysterious male gave a low chuckle and replied, "Vincent Valentine. And you are…?"

"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart."

"It's nice to meet you too Tifa Lockhart."