Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy 7 I would be rich and Vincent would have had his own game come out LONG ago. Which his game isn't out yet and won't be out for awhile so there you have it, I don't own squat.

Chapter 1: Nibelheim

Tifa shifted nervously in the back seat of the buggy they had all recieved from Dio upon being released from the desert prison. I can't believe we're almost back... she thought to herself. It had been 5 years now but she was finally returning to Nibelheim. I wonder when I should or even could tell him that he never came back 5 years ago, and that it was Zack who came with Sephiroth.

Before Tifa could continue her train of thought she heard a giggle from the front two seats of the buggy and started to feel tears prickling at her eyes as she sifted her view to her other two companions. She saw Cloud sitting there showing Aeris how to drive the buggy and he was guiding her with his hands wrapped around hers on the steering wheel.

"Cloud, stop doing that," Aeris whined playfully, "it tickles."

Cloud shifted his face close to her ear again and whispered softly to her, "What... this?" he said as Aeris could feel his breath tickling her ear.

"Yes..." she said as she smiled up at him.

Cloud looked down on at her smiling face and felt a smile of his own starting to show when all of a sudden he heard a shuffle of clothing and what sounded like a muffled sob from the back. Aeris frowned knowing her and Cloud's flirting had just ended for now.

"Tifa...?" Cloud asked dumbfoundly towards the back of the buggy.

"I'm fine," she lied, "just some bad memories I can't stop thinking about." Tifa hoped Cloud would come back there and comfort her but was fully disappointed when all she heard was an "Ok" from him, and heard him sit back down in the passenger seat next to Aeris.

"We'll be there soon Teef so if you're feeling ok now go ahead and start getting ready," Cloud said in that leadership tone he had, "something's wrong with Nibelheim, I can just feel it."

Tifa sighed and sat up silently chiding herself. Come on girl, you're stronger than this, he was just teaching her to drive, that's all, now pull yourself together.

Tifa then sat up and straightened her clothes, chancing a glance at Cloud. But her eyes never focused on the man they were searching for, they were glued to the sight outside the buggy.

There stood Nibelheim in all its old glory, as little as that was. Tifa couldn't believe her eyes though as she looked at her hometown, when all of a sudden she felt the buggy jerk to a stop. Cloud and Aeris climbed out of it first with Tifa slowly coming along.

As the trio aproached the old town Tifa's mind was being ransacked by hundreds of questions and thoughts, but only one word escaped he lips as she walked through into the little town. "What---!"

She was standing right before the well that her and Cloud had sat and talked on long ago, but her mind couldn't register that good memory as it was preoccupied with too many questions already. She then turned to Cloud and asked him, "This was all supposed to be burnt down, right?"

He nodded to her before opening his mouth to reply, "... I thought so."

Aeris then glanced at Tifa as she spoke again, "Then why...? My house is still there too..."

"... something's strange?" Aeris asked Cloud seeing as she's never been here before and therefore could only believe that the town had been built back with new houses and everything.

"I'm not lying!" Cloud said defensively, feeling that the other two were somehow blaming him for the town looking exactly as it did before it was burnt down. He then let his gaze fall to the ground and shook his head, "I remember... the intense heat of the flames..." he said slowly letting the subject drop.

Tifa glanced the towards the closest building near her, the inn. If someone was there she would get answers. Looking at all of this even made her question whether the town was burnt down or not. But her fingers rubbed acroos the scar running from her right shoulder to her left hip and she knew... just KNEW that something was indeed wrong with this picture and that the town was burned down all of those years ago.

Cloud followed Tifa's gaze towards the inn and had some question's he was waiting to ask of his own. Then he turned and headed for the inn as he noticed Tifa and Aeris slowly following behind him.

As the three entered the inn they noticed a man dressed in blue behind the counter look up and smile at them, "Hi, welcome." he said slearly hoping to do some business.

Cloud then walked brusquely up to the counter and looked the man square in the eyes, "This town was supposed to have been burnt down five years ago. What the hell is going on?" he asked hiding the anger he felt.

The man fidgeted nervously and then glanced behind him before he brought his eyes back to the one before him, "Sir, don't say such awful things. I was born and raised in this town, what you say never happened." He then heard a scoff from the girl behind this man accusing him of lying, and saw anger burning in her eyes.

Tifa thought to herself, That bastard, I've never seen him before and I was born and raised here. She then approached the counter to the left of Cloud before speaking. "You're lying," she then said through gritted teeth.

The man then turned around once again fidgetting before looking back at them and once again speaking, "EXCUSE ME... that's so rude... If you're going to talk like that to me, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He said pointedly looking in Tifa's direction. She scoffed once more and then headed for the door throwing it open and then slamming it behind her.

What the hell is going on here! She paused in her thoughts as Cloud and Aeris then emerged from the inn.

"I'm going to my house, you two talk to the people in the item shop and I'll meet you back out here." Tifa then said heading off towards her old house.

Aeris and Cloud didn't argue with her as they headed off for the item shop. Aeris smiled, she was just happy to be with Cloud, alone.

Tifa walked through her door and was immediately surprised as she saw a man in a black cape right beside her door mumbling something about getting something to Sephiroth and then becoming one with him. Tifa caring not for his random mumblings shouted at the man, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!"

The man didn't even acknowledge her presence and just kept to his rumblings. "Hey, answer me!" She then said to him just a little quieter this time. After a couple of seconds she stomped off towards the kitchen looking for anyone else. As she walked past the door she then saw that there was indeed someone else in there. She walked up to the man and grabbed his shoulders slightly shaking him.

"What's going on here?" she asked him not expecting an answer, when all of a sudden she heard something drop to the floor and bent down then to pick up an ether that the man had dropped.

As she walked away she noted that this man here kept mumbling something about 'Reunion' whatever the hell that was. She then decided to head up the stairs. As she was about halfway up she was able to hear a shuffling of cloth and feet and something was moving around. From where she was at on the stairs she could tell it came from her parent's room, of course if it weren't for her martial arts training she wouldnt have heard anything at all.

As she approached the door she couldn't see anything, but she could still hear something moving around. She then looked inside and saw another cloaked figure near the window. She walked over to it, but this time refrained from speaking and instead just looked at it. It was holding one of her old gloves in its hands just mumbling incoherent words. Tifa immediately grabbed for the glove and expected the cloaked figure to fight back, but it didn't even seem to notice what she'd done. She looked at the 'Platinum Fist' she'd just got back and stored it in her pack. She then headed off to her room to see if there was anything she could find.

She then walked over to her old desk and saw something sitting there. When she got close enough she noticed that it was a report of some sort. As she was reading it she discovered that all the townspeople where lying about living there, they were just actors hired by Shinra. Tifa then threw the piece of paper down and decided to go and meet Cloud and Aeris outside in front of Cloud's old house.

When Tifa walked out the door her heart dropped, there was Cloud and Aeris walking arm in arm from Cloud's house with Cloud shaking his head and Aeris was seemingly comforting him. Yeah that's it, just comforting him... Tifa told herself. She then called out to them.

"Hey guys, I'm over here." Cloud and Aeris looked up then at the sound of Tifa's voice, then Aeris started walking towards Tifa after letting go of Cloud's arm and Cloud followed soon after.

"All the people in this town are actors, and they rebuilt the place to look just like it was five years ago so that no one could know what happened here." Tifa said to them as they reached her.

"I'd believe it," said Cloud casting his glance towards the ground, "they all seem so nervous and fidgetty when I talk about what happened 5 years ago and then they say it never happened."

"Yea, well what about that mansion over there?" Aeris asked, "one of those cloaked guys said Sephiroth was it, want to check it out?"

"Might as well," Tifa said heading towards the old run down building.

As the three entered the mansion the smell of death and decay entered their noses, then before Cloud went any farther he called the others on the PHS.

"Hello?" It was Barret, "damnit Yuffie leave that old man alone, Cloud, why the hell did you leave me with the cat, the dog, and the damn brat!"

Cloud only sighed as he heard Nanaki on the other line state clearly that he is NOT a dog. "Where are you all at?"

"Umm... we were just about to come into Nibelheim when all of a sudden Yuffie started harassing some poor old man that was walking by."

"Ok, well get over here to the mansion, and meet me at the door, I don't like the feel I'm getting from this place and I'd prefer for all of us to stick together in here."

"Alright, we'll be there soon." After that Cloud heard a click and then hung his own phone up.

He turned to his two female companions and stated clearly that everyone was on their way and that they'd explore the place as soon as everyone got there.

After about five minutes Tifa heard the door open and turned to look at the other four who had just entered the old mansion. "Finally, I'm tired of just standing here." She exclaimed heading towards a room on the left.

As Tifa entered the room she heard the other's follow after her. She saw a letter sitting on the ground and picked it up to read it. "I must get rid of all those that stand in the way of my research. Even that one from the Turks. I scientifically altered him, then put him to sleep in the basement. If you want to find him, then search the area. But... this is merely a game I thought of, it is not necessary for you to participate, if you don't want to." She read aloud . Afterwards Tifa saw another letter and decided to open it too. "Move the dial on the safe carefully, but quickly. You have 20 seconds. You can not go past the number while turning. The four hints for the numbers are..."

Tifa then saw a list and looked up to see everyone looking her. So then she began, "Dial 1, the lid of the box with the most oxygen; Dial 2, behind the Ivory's short of tea and ray; and Dial 3, the creek in the floor near the chair on the second floor... then to the left five steps, up two steps, left nine steps, and up six steps."

After she finished Cloud spoke up, "Ok, so who wants to search for which numbers? I want two people to a number."

Yuffie said she would search for dial three and Cait Sith said he would go with her, then Barret and Nanaki said that they would look for dial two, and then Cloud looked at Tifa and told her to look for the safe while he and Aeris looked for the number for dial one.

Tifa silently waved them off not really paying attention because she was too busy wondering about the guy they might find hidden in the basement and where the fourth hint was. When she looked up she noticed she was alone and decided to head up stairs in search of the safe, all the while wondering about that fourth clue.

As she reached the top of the stairs she saw Yuffie and Cait to her right and decided to go left. Then she saw Aeris jump up for joy as she found the first number on the lid of a box in a room filled with flowers.

Aeris looked at Cloud and smiled happily, "I just knew it had something to do with plants talking about oxygen like that, and I was right." She let another big smile grace her lips and Tifa was happy for the girl, but then when Cloud started to speak Tifa felt her heart drop again.

"Good job Aeris, I bet we were the first to find one of the numbers, now we just need to find Tifa and the safe, and then maybe sometime later we can go on that date you promised me." Cloud then winked at her and that's when Tifa decided she would go into the room on her right not really caring what was in it.

As she went through the doorway she looked down at the piece of paper in her hands and noticed something when it hit just the right light, she looked again and saw that in invisible ink whoever had wrote the note wrote down, Dial 4 is Right 97 She thought about going back and showing Cloud what she found out but when she heard that familiar giggle she thought against it and decided to look for the safe. She didn't have to look for long though because right there in front of her was... the safe.

Tifa then called out for Aeris and Cloud and anyone else that might hear her, "Hey guys, I found the safe!"

Aeris and Cloud then walked in through the door soon followed by Yuffie, Cait, Barret, and Nanaki. They all looked smug as everyone had found what they were searching for. Cloud then stepped up to the safe and asked for the numbers as he began turning the dial.

"Ok. people, what was first?"

Aeris then spoke up, "Right 36."

"Second?"

Nanaki was next, "Left 10."

"Third?"

Last was Yuffie, "Right 59."

Cloud then tried to open the safe and was dissapointed when it didn't open up, "What the he--" he started as Tifa spoke up.

"It's Right 97, it was written on the letter in invisible ink." She finished with a slight smirk expecting to get a 'good job' like Aeris got but was crestfallen when all he said was, "Ok, thanks Teef."

Then Cloud heard a click and was knocked back as a creature jumped from the safe and attacked the group of seven. Tifa no longer had the time to be depressed over Cloud's attentions to Aeris as she readied herself for the upcoming fight.