Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII nor it's characters.

Midgar University

Chapter 1 - Getting Acquainted

~*~*~*~

The blond, spikey-haired 18-year-old walked down the path to massive dormitory. He walked through the double doors. Looking around through the main lounge, he noticed mainly two things; this place was very loud, and very disorderly. A massive crowd of at least three-hundred loud teenagers had gathered around a desk much too small for the task it was needed for. Mounds of papers were scattered on the desk and on the floor around it. This could take a while... the young blond thought.

He waited in that hall for at least an hour before he finally reached the desk. A young girl with an extremely tired look on her face greeted him with a fake smile. He handed her the slip he got in the main office. She studied it momentarily and then shuffled through the now much smaller stack of papers. "Let's see here... Stanley, Storm, Stratus... Ah, here we are. Cloud Strife." She handed him the paper. She flashed him another fake smile before he walked away toward the stairs behind her.

Cloud studied the paper. Room 3-AG. He walked down the corridor of the third floor, eventually finding his room. One thing he noticed that seemed both inviting and a turn-off at the same time was that it was a coed dorm. Oh well, I suppose I'll get used to be around girls more often. He took out the key from his pocket and unlocked the door to the dorm.

"..." Another young man sat silently in a chair at one side of the room. His long, dark hair hung over his face like a mask, giving Cloud the impression that he wasn't exactly welcome in his dorm. Except, it was now their dorm room. Cloud spoke the first words between the two. "So, I suppose we'll be living together. My name's Cloud... and yours?" The raven-haired man stared directly at Cloud, his eyes unmoving. "Vincent." His deep voice was plain, but yet it still resonated through the room with an undertone of morbidity. "Just make sure you don't mix your things with mine."

Cloud replied, "I don't think that'll be too hard." Vincent smirked and gave a short laugh. "Haha... I think I can get used to living with you."

~~~~~

Cloud took a seat towards the back of the auditorium. Everything is so different here... There's nobody to boss you around, telling you to do your work or anything like that... It's great, but it's gonna take some getting used to... Cloud was so deep in thought that he didn't notice that a familiar brunette beauty had come and sit down next to him. "Hey Cloud, it's me! It's been a year now, hasn't it?" she said as she poked him in the ribs. Cloud jumped a little, startled, and momentarily didn't recognize her. What the... OH! "Tifa! I..." She gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. Cloud was momentarily stunned once again, and started up once again saying, "... know you were coming here. So when is the orientation supposed to start?" Tifa shook her head and said, "Any minute now, I guess."

Tifa talked to Cloud about things back in Nibelheim for a while, until Tifa finally asked, "Cloud, where have you been for the past year?" Cloud turned and looked at the floor. "I... well, it's a long story." Tifa rested her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands. "I'm listening."

"Well, you see... After a while... I just felt like I had to get away from Nibelheim. I don't know why..." Actually, I know exactly why. It's because nobody wanted me around. No one ever liked me... They always picked fights with me. So why stick around? Cloud continued, "Well, I just traveled around, killing monsters for money, being taken in wherever I they would let me stay. Eventually I made my way here to Midgar, found about this school, and I decided to apply. I had just enough money to pay my way through."

Tifa shook her head. "But... why enroll here? If you had that much money, you could have easily bought a house or started a business or something." Cloud responded, "Well, actually, the Shinra pushed me into enrolling after a bunch of monsters attacked this family, and I saved them. I decided to go along with them since... well, I suppose being a part of SOLDIER is better than nothing." Yeah... and maybe because I've been lonely being a nomad all this time...

Cloud looked back up to Tifa, who was looking towards the door. Cloud turned his head and saw an extremely tall man with long silver hair entering the auditorium. Cloud smirked. Sephiroth... Long time no see. Tifa turned back to Cloud. "Look Cloud, it's Sephiroth! I'm gonna go say 'hi' to him, do you wanna come?" Cloud nodded and followed Tifa up the right side aisle to the door. She gave Sephiroth a hug and kiss on the cheek like she did to Cloud. Cloud shook Sephiroth's hand and said, "'Sup Sephiroth. It's been over a year now, hasn't it?" Sephiroth smiled. "Yeah. I was rather angry after you left. You didn't even say a word. What happened?" Cloud looked down to Sephiroth's shoes. "It's a long story..."

An important looking man stepped up to the podium and coughed lightly into the microphone a few times as a signal for everyone to take seats. "Okay, it is time for the orientation to begin."

~~~~~

"All SOLDIER-Trainee Level S students are to stay in the auditorium, all other students are dismissed. Good luck in your studies at Shinra U." The speaker motioned towards the doors, which were quickly overrun by stampeding students bent on getting out of that auditorium as quickly as possible (not without reason, as the orientation speech was extremely long and boring). The remaining students moaned and sighed as they watched their colleagues leave to freedom. Before long, a short man in a white labcoat with long, jet-black hair and small, circular glasses stood before the podium.

He stood silently for a few seconds, and then began rather abruptly. "So, you all hope to join the elite of the SOLDIER? Hahahaha... I hope you realize what you're getting yourself into. Only the best make it to SOLDIER First Class, and only the best of the best will survive in SOLDIER First Class. You will be trained with the toughest regimens, you will go through rigorous tests and trials, and you will have things done to your body that may kill you or at least severely damage your body permanently. You must be strong, brave, and, above all, determined. If you do not have these qualities, then I will suggest you leave this room immediately and forget any dreams of joining SOLDIER in any form." He paused for a moment while three guys left the room.

He continued as if he had never stopped. "However, even if you have all of these qualities, it will still be very hard to get in. As you already know from your schedules, all SOLDIER candidates are in advanced subjects, and you have 4 hours of training every day aside from that. It will take your utmost dedication to make the grade, and it must take priority over everything else in your life. Classes do not start until next week, but your training starts tomorrow. Be prepared and bring your weapons. Dismissed!"

Cloud watched as the man walked out the door, with a permanently slouched back. That would be the famous... or should I say infamous... Professor Hojo. Not exactly the friendliest of people, it seems.

"So what did you think, Cloud?" Cloud jumped a bit as Sephiroth came from behind. "That was my father."

Cloud blinked. "...What?!?" Sephiroth gave a quiet laugh. "Yes, he's my father. Probably the strangest man I know." Cloud tried to find any kind of resemblance between the two and failed. "Umm, you don't look anything like each other." Sephiroth laughed audibly this time. "Thank God for that..."

~~~~~

He walked around in a very slow, deliberate way so as to take in the atmosphere of the place. It was a very big campus, taking up over a square mile of land. He was walking outside in the park. The sun was beginning to set in the West; the sky was a bright shade of orange, creating soft, red shadows on the clouds. Cloud sat at a bench and looked towards the horizon.

It's so peaceful here... It's nothing like I expected, since there were so many people at the orientation. Well, I suppose it's because everyone's unpacking. Cloud sighed. So what I hoped and dreaded at the same time has become reality. Tifa's here. My longtime childhood crush... It's so strange though, because she acted like we were best friends back at the orientation, but in reality, we were never really close at all. I rarely ever had the courage to talk to her, and I wasn't given much of a chance either, with all her idiotic friends in the way. They never did let me play with them or anything. Then we got older, went through high school and all, and they still refused to acknowledge that I was human just like them. Although, Tifa had always seemed to want to be my friend, but something held her back. But even still... now Tifa... Wait, I remember I wrote a letter to her before I left, and I threw it through her bedroom window. Did she actually read it...?

Cloud came out of his thoughts and noticed a girl walking in his direction. She was beautiful; her brown hair was in a lose braid down her back, and she had these incredibly deep emerald eyes. She caught his glimpse and in return flashed a smile at him as she walked by. He somehow managed to smile back, although very meekly. The girl seemed to giggle a bit, and continued walking on.

A few yards down, guy with black hair seemed to appear out of nowhere and suddenly hugged the girl. He moved in to kiss her... Shit. Screw this... Cloud got up and walked away in the opposite direction back to his dorm. Just my luck, eh? The one girl that I thought seemed interested in me has a boyfriend already. Oh well, I might as well put this past me. I have enough on my mind already. I might as well go get some sleep.

~~~~~

When Cloud reached the dormitory building, Tifa was outside, leaning against the wall. "Hey, Cloud." Cloud walked over and leaned on the wall next to her. "Hey. Something wrong?" Tifa shook her head. "No, it's nothing." Cloud looked down at the floor. "Okay... so, umm... well..." He looked over at Tifa. A single, glittering tear was streaking down her face. "Just... that bastard Zack..." Cloud thought for a moment. Zack? Zack Mason? Cloud stood up straight. "Umm... Zack Mason?" Tifa nodded. "Do you know him?" she asked. "Yeah, I guess you could say I do," Cloud responded. I only dormed with him for half a year. "What the hell did he do to you?"

"He... he just brought back old wounds. I used to go out with him last year. Actually, it was a little after you left. I really liked him even if we were only going out for three months. Well, he cheated on me. I dumped him once I found out, and I was heartbroken. I hadn't heard from him at all until now. He... tried to kiss me... But I pushed him away... and he said, 'So that's how it is, huh?' and he ran off..." The tears were falling faster as she spoke. She hugged Cloud tightly and cried into his chest. Cloud put his hands around her and stroked her long, straight, dark brown hair. "Don't worry Tifa... It's okay..."

After a while, Tifa stopped crying and let go of Cloud. "Thank you, Cloud..." She turned away from him. "I'm sorry for all that..." Cloud scratched his head. "Ah, it was no problem." Tifa turned back towards him and looked at him with pleading eyes. "I know I wasn't all that great of a friend to you when we were little kids, but I hope it's not too late to start now..." Cloud lost himself in her wine-colored eyes. Her eyes... They're still a little filled with tears... They look so beautiful... "Huh... Oh, sure... It's okay. I'll be glad to be your friend."

Tifa gave him another hug and smiled at him. "Thanks, Cloud. You're the best. Hey, do you wanna go eat breakfast tomorrow?" Cloud replied, "Sure, as long as I get back by 10:30. I have my first day of training at 11." Tifa looked surprised. "You're a Level S Trainee?!?" Cloud chuckled. "Hehe, yup."

"So you must be pretty strong then, huh."

"I suppose so..." Cloud wasn't exactly sure why he was put in the Level S program. That's supposed to be for the extremely talented, something I definitely am not. "Well, I gotta go now."

Tifa waved. "I'll meet you out here at 9. Don't be late! Bye!" Cloud waved back.

~~~~~

When Cloud returned to his room, he noticed that it was empty. No sign of that Vincent guy. Oh well, whatever.

Cloud entered the bathroom. He stripped down and got in the shower. He turned the hot water on all the way up. Mmm... so relaxing...

He found his mind drifting as he relaxed with the steaming water running down his face and chest. Zack... Hmm, he used to tell me about having a girlfriend when we roomed... but that was only until a month ago, and Tifa said they were going out for only the first three months after I left...

He got out of the shower, dried himself, and put on a tanktop and boxers. He made for the bed, jumping in and settling as quickly as he could, trying to make himself fall asleep.

Despite his exhaustion after such a long day, he was unable to fall asleep. For a while, there was nothing at all. He could hear his own breathing. Then, something occurred to him.

Holy shit, was he the guy that kissed that girl that walked by me in the park today? I didn't even bother to notice it was him! But that's weird... He never really seemed like that kind of guy. Sure, he was confident, but whenever we went out, he was really respectful to girls and stuff... Ah, this is too much to handle right now. There's Tifa coming here unexpected, and Sephiroth coming along with her, and then now Zack. And that girl... Damn Zack, that lucky bastard. Bah, I need some rest...

Finally unable to withstand the fatigue any longer, Cloud fell asleep.

~*~*~*~

A/N: Yeah so, I wasn't sure about putting up a prologue first, but in the end, I decided not to. Things are starting off slowly, I know, just bare with me. Please review this!!!! Constructive criticism is always helpful.

Also, if you wish to flame me, then go ahead. ;) All you'll be doing is boosting my review count.