A/N: OK, so this is my new FFVII story, as promised. It's a bit AU-ish in the sense that Midgar's been rebuilt over the two years. It takes place after Advent Children and does reference the game in some ways. Unfortunately, I can't get past the snake in the actual game, so I basically used Wikipedia to help me out. Anyway, enjoy.

Edited on 7/5/13-Note: Much happier with this one this time around.

Prologue

Midgar was once a proud city, as it was the capital. Shinra Inc. assumed its presence there and became the reason why Midgar was so great and renowned throughout the world. Indeed, the company was its entire existence, or else it would have been relatively useless economy-wise. However, Shinra proved not to be as wonderful as the Midgarians claimed but crooked in its dealings. So, when a certain resistance group tried to stop them, the group ultimately ended up being blamed for a horrible plate collapse that was not their fault. It was just like diabolical Shinra to play the victim and blame those against them.

Now, two years had passed since that fateful incident, and Midgar had desperately struggled to get back on its feet. Granted, there were more slums than there used to be, but at least it was still alive even if it was only just. Shops sprouted up here and there, though many of them were of the black market variety. Crumbled remains of buildings near the former plant had been cleared up mostly with some ruins left behind. And a certain desecrated church overlooked everything, all the comings and goings of jaded citizens.

All in all, Midgar promised to get up and moving again, even if it couldn't recapture the glory it once had.

At one particular shop, a spirited young woman haggled with the shopkeeper over the price of bread. The price of it and other necessities had gone ridiculously up due to the inevitable economic downturn that had forced several owners to charge higher.

"50 gil for bread is way too high, sir. How about 10?" the woman suggested, tossing her light brown ponytail over her shoulder out of habit.

The man remained unconvinced. "You think I'm running a charity? 45 gil."

She scoffed, "45 gil? Are you kidding me? No! 15 gil."

"How about 20?" the shopkeeper asked exasperatedly. "It'll be my final offer."

With a long-suffering sigh, the woman slammed that amount of currency on the table. "Deal."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Sera," the man sneered, giving her what she could only assume was supposed to be a friendly salute.

"Yeah, yeah, you too, sir," Sera mocked before leaving the store in a huff.

Honestly, she hated living here in this barren wasteland. For seven long years, she'd been a resident of Midgar along with her grandmother. However, she was considered an outsider, an intruder, and was blamed for chaotic monster attacks that had happened mere months after the initial plate collapse.

The city resented her, and she resented the city back in kind for their disapproval. Harsh whispers floated constantly around her, pointedly gossiping about her eccentric ways.

These traits included her fierce independence, her dripping sarcasm, and the fact that she rode a motorcycle, though that was usually reserved for escaping to Edge whenever the fancy struck her.

A popular theory about her strangeness compared her, Serafina Ashcroft, with the quiet, mysterious Aeris Gainsborough. Sera was just too different and too odd, much like the dead flower girl had been. Frankly, she didn't understand why she would be put in the same category as Aeris, whom she'd never known. Oh sure, she used to see her on the street, carrying her basket of freshly picked flowers, but they'd never exchanged words. From what Tifa had said of her, though, Sera regretted not taking that chance to get to know her.

Maybe she would have gotten something out of that acquaintance.

She knew she couldn't change the past, so that was just one more "what if?" question she would never get an answer to. Not like she wasn't used to that. It was just annoying because it was part of this painful cycle called life, when people died around her all the time.

Currently irritated about this overpriced loaf of bread, Sera strode her way home, heaving the bag of groceries over her shoulder. Even the way she walked proved how strong she was. Around five foot seven, she was quite tall with imposing features, like a class bully who would taunt the shorter kids. Despite her striking figure, Sera was no bully. Just a loner for the most part, aside from the few friends she did have.

She lived in the roughest part of Midgar, the most disgusting, filthiest section of the infamous slums. Every now and then, she would hear gunshots go off that generally kept all the arsonists and the thieves at bay. Self-defense most of the time, but it didn't leave Sera any less perturbed. Who knew if self-defense could turn into cold-blooded murder one of these times? Otherwise, the area managed to stay safe, only less then desirable to inhabit. She certainly never asked to be in this part of the city. Or even in this city at all.

The house where she lived with her grandmother Rosemary was a bit cramped but comfortable. It had six small rooms, but that was plenty enough for the two of them. If there were some positives in her life, then good, Sera would take all that she could get out of that deal.

"Hey, Grandma," she greeted with a wry half-smile as soon as she came in. "I'm never shopping at Mr. Hallos' ever again if I can help it."

Her grandmother looked up from her crochet work at her place in the rocking chair in their tiny living room. "Why?"

"He wanted 50 gil for bread. Can you believe that? I managed to get him to sell it to me for 20 gil, but that was still too much. It ticked me off, too. I knew I should have gotten it at Mrs. Rosenbaum's," Sera sighed huffily, rolling her amber eyes, another customary habit. "That's where I got the beef and vegetables."

Rosemary sighed as well but for a different reason. "I should have warned you about Mr. Hallos, dear. He's raising his prices more often than he used to."

"That's because Mr. Hallos is a money-grubbing ba"—she saw Rosemary's slightly reproachful expression—"idiot. Sorry, Grandma."

She was somewhat mortified that she nearly cursed in front of her grandmother, even though she couldn't conceal her frustration at the changing times. Midgar seemed to improve, yet in other ways, it had worsened.

Also, Sera more often as not found herself losing patience with the injustice she came across, mainly against her. These people could never accept her for who she was, even after seven years of living here. She would ask them what their issue was with her if it wasn't so fruitless. She had tried many times to figure that out and came up empty, another unanswered question.

Rosemary stared up at her with her mild green eyes. "Serafina, child, I know you feel that this place has misjudged you. But, maybe, you've made your own unjust prejudices against the people here. Try to have more patience with them."

What? Was Grandma being serious? Amber eyes flashing in annoyance, Sera gazed down at her to check her expression. Indeed, her grandmother was being calm like always but solemn. Not joking at all? Huh, she should have known.

"Don't you think I've tried, Grandma?" she asked softly with the most subdued hint of anger. "I know they don't like me. I don't belong here. Maybe they're right."

She proceeded to pick up her motorcycle helmet from the coffee table set before the worn gray couch as well as the keys to her prized vehicle. "I'm gonna meet up with Tifa. I'll come back by suppertime."

More than anything in the whole world, Sera longed for a freeing drive. Away from these nasty people, in whom Grandma insisted on finding some good. As much as she wished to adopt that philosophy, she knew she couldn't. Trust no one except those worthy of her trust. That was a creed she tended to live by, always had.

Always would.

A/N: This story will pretty much have all kinds of elements to it, including mystery. It's going to be revealed after a while what Sera's past is, but it will take a long time.

Hm, apparently, Serafina is also the name of a character from Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I wasn't even aware of it until I read the first book. It was kind of weird but kind of cool. XD

I hope you find this story enjoyable, even if, yes, it is going to focus a lot on the OC. But, don't worry, Sera is far from a Sue in my opinion.