Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the Final Fantasy VII characters or any Final Fantasy characters in general. Square Enix and VII's creators Yoshinoti Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura, Hironobu Sakaguchi do, thank you.

Note: These characters are all in college so a lot of the styles and what not will be similar to our own with some similarities to FF7AC and even with Japanese fashion.

Chapter 1: No Surprises

When she looked into the mirror she saw a nineteen-year-old girl who was, in many ways, lost. New town, new people, new life; all thanks to that new job Barret got to support her and her little brother Denzel. She was still beautiful of course with her dark brown hair down to the middle of her back with all the other facial features she garnered. She dressed well in a navy blue tunic (modern tunic) with a black belt over it at her waist and dark blue jeans with black boots. Since it was winter, she wore a black coat and white scarf as well. Even though she was dressed well, she lacked confidence in herself. She got into the prestigious Midgar University for art, but still, she had doubts about her ability.

"TIFA!!!" Shouted a deep voice in the distance in obvious frustration. That caused her snap her head away from the mirror and deep thought.

"What?!"

"You're gonna be late for your first class! Hurry up!"

In a hurry, Tifa grabbed her things then rushed down the stairs into the kitchen where Denzel sat at the table enjoying a full breakfast. As he enjoyed his bacon, eggs, biscuits and hashbrowns, Tifa reached into the cabinet and grabbed a cereal bar. Quite the tasty meal Denzel had in comparison to herself, and she knew it. Munching down on the bar she pulled a water bottle out of the fridge and began drinking that in a rush as well.

"Tifa, your breakfast looks pretty damn good." Denzel sarcastically comment before he started eating his bacon.

Tifa looked at him as she drunk the water and shook her head slowly. Once she had her fill, she slipped the bottle into her satchel then smacked Denzel lightly in the back of the head. "Hey, you aren't supposed to be talking like that." She replied ruffling his hair. "Besides, its best you eat a good breakfast anyway. You are still growing." She kissed his forehead gently then walked off finishing the cereal bar.

When she got to the door Barret waited for her and blocked the way; he tilted his head to the side and asked, "Do you have all your things?"

"Yeah…"

"Your I.D. card…?"

"Yeah…"

"Your map…?"

"Yes…"

"Your writing materials?

"Yes, Barret…I have everything I need."

"Good, just take 3rd train and you'll get right to the University. You be careful alright, I promised your dad I'd make sure you didn't get hurt." He said sincerely as he stepped away from the door to let her by. Now, Tifa was allowed to get through and allowed to go out and experience a new world.

The city passed by in a flash, bits and pieces slowed down in view—the large Shinra Corp. building was one and the many reactors. Everything moved much faster than what she was accustomed to in her home of Kalm. The people were in such a rush to get work done and to get paid it seemed as if they didn't really enjoy life as much. However, Tifa knew that those thoughts were just assumptions; she didn't have a real ideal of what this city would have in store.

When Tifa's stop came along not that many people had entered the train with her, it was sparsely populated and there were plenty of seats available. That all changed when the next stop came, a flurry of people rushed in taking all the seats from one another. They pushed and shoved one another to get the best spot they possibly could. One of these people, an artsy looking girl, managed to sneak her way into getting the seat near Tifa. She wore a tan colored coat with an orange scarf around her neck and yellow turtleneck along with blue jeans and boots. Once she was settled, she looked at Tifa and smiled gently greeting her with, "Hello, I'm Rikku. It's nice to meet you."

Tifa smiled somewhat nervously in return and replied, "Hi, I'm Tifa."

In the ensuing conversation, Tifa found out that Rikku, like herself, was an art major specifically in the field of photography. That became fodder for conversation for the two of them. They joked and laughed about the train and the people that were on—which were mostly university students. Rikku asked about how she felt about her first few days in Midgard and Tifa responded with mixed views mainly dude to that fact that she didn't know that many people here. When the train arrived at the university they both exited together.

Tifa paused to stare at the large gothic structures of the universities older buildings before she followed Rikku to the art building. On the way there, she noticed a string of buildings around the large fountain in the middle of campus. They all had large gargoyles perched on the edges of the roofs, large oak doors with stone siding. It looked like a castle in her eyes since it was all so very majestic. In a way, it made Tifa feel that she was in over her head when it came to where she was going.

The art building was one of the newer ones; it had bright lights and a modern architectural frame to it. Most buildings on the upper east end of Midgard University were new and shrouded in a beautiful landscape of trees and flowerbeds. This side of school was beautiful, peaceful, and completely calming for Tifa.

"So…" Rikku said as she spun around to look at Tifa who stared at the building because of the large mural that was drawn on the side of it. Rikku laughed and placed her hands on her hips then shouted, "Tifa!"

Tifa jumped slightly then looked back to Rikku. Her brow rose slightly and a smile slipped onto her face. "Yeah?"

"So, you think you're ready?" Rikku asked still with a smile on her face.

"I think I'll be fine, it shouldn't be too hard…its only the first day of my first semester here." Tifa shrugged then looked back to the mural. "Yeah, I think I'm going to like this place."

"You better, it's the best university in the world for us artist. Us, and the annoying rich kids whose daddy's can buy them a degree, right?" Rikku grinned leaning forward toward Tifa who leaned back away from her.

"I haven't meet them yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to find them around a place like this." She responded.

"Ah yes, well, theres a few…you know, bitches around here. I try to avoid them but it seems like, even though theres twenty thousand students here, you can't seem to do anything but run into them." Rikku shrugged then looked to her watch on her wrist before looking back up to Tifa and sighing. "You have my number, if you need anything just give me a call. Remember its on the second floor and its to the right, you can't miss it."

With that, they parted ways and Tifa was walking up the stairs to the second floor of the building. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside of the building. Student and alumni's artwork garnished the long hallways and since this was the best art school, many of the alumni's were famous renowned artist. From paintings to sculptures, they all lined the halls in a myriad of wonderful colors and moods. When she made it to her class, other students stood outside near the door smoking and chatting along about things she didn't wish to comprehend. Also, when she passed by to enter the class the man and woman stared at her as they watched her go by to enter the room.

Inside the large studio gallery, there were no seats available, all the canvas holders and art horses were taken except for the one in the far corner near a young man who, in Tifa's eyes, was very attractive. When she sat by him, she didn't look at him; she just stared at the drawing board infront of her waiting for the instructor to begin class. The instructor was obviously an older artist that had been in the business for quite sometime.

He wore a black French style military frock coat with a crimson blouse underneath along with black pants and boots. His hair was a beautiful long silky black, which made him appear to be vampiric in a way; he had color in his skin but it was faint. This young man glanced at Tifa thinking that she was another one of those girls that enjoyed chasing him. However, unlike the others, she didn't stare at him or annoy him in any way. She minded her own business, which was nice in his mind.

When class began, the students had settled and the instructor stood in the middle of the class watching them all. "Ok students, I want all of you to take out a pen…"

Immediantly when the instructor said to take out a pen, she lifted the satchel she had in her lap and began shifting through it for a pen. Books, paper, I.D., more paper, all of those things were found but she couldn't find a single thing to write with in her bag. Also, she didn't know anyone around so she could just ask; Tifa was too shy to ask the attractive man by her side. Then, she felt something tap her forearm and when she looked, it was a pen. The young attractive man held it out to her.

"T-thank you." She said as she took the pen and paper and began writing her personal information on it for the teacher. Tifa didn't dare to look at him too long, especially with those red eyes of his. It was somewhat frightening but still attractive.

"Vincent."

"Huh?" Tifa looked at him confused.

"My name is Vincent."

A smile slowly appeared on her face. "Tifa, its nice to meet you."

After class, Tifa and Vincent left the room together walking to head to their next class that was in the same building. Tifa became more comfortable with him and even laughed when the random girls all stopped and giggled to look at her tall attractive friend.

"You have a lot of fans." Tifa said jokingly as they passed another bunch.

"Yeah…" Vincent mumbled before continuing to say. "Unfortunately for them, I'm a taken man and I intend on staying that way."

"Really?" She was surprised to hear this somewhat. Why wouldn't he be taken after all?

"Yes, she's a science major at Nibelhiem College." He replied somewhat sullenly.

"So you're not from here…just like me."

They went to the next class together and there they went through the typical first day of class routine. The instructor handed them their syllabus then told them to leave. Their day was short and sweet as they both got a chance to know eachother in this new university for Tifa. Once the day was done, Vincent and Tifa parted their ways with numbers exchanged and a new friendship begun. On Tifa's ride back, Rikku was there to keep her company. She wasn't alone, and she had nothing to worry about. Everything was fine and she felt like she belonged.

Next Chapter: Lone Wolf

Its Cloud's turn to be introduced into the University of Midgard and hes in a situation you really wouldn't see him in often.