Hello everyone! Welcome to my new story "A Beautiful Mind" I sort of came up with this story in a dream with a combination of my art skills XD I do have this story thought up in my head and I gotta say is that shit will be going down in the future so please continue reading any future updates!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasy characters that are shown in this story, all rights go to their rightful owners.

Let's get started shall we~

P.s

Please excuse any spelling errors or miss used words in here, my brain is a dum dum sometimes, hehe ^^;;

A Beautiful Mind

Chapter 1

" Try making those lines just a bit bolder, it's a tiny add on but it will make the drawing stand out more…" A spiky blonde explained as he pointed to an area on the girl's sketch pad. She let out a sigh and pulled her long dark brown her back.

"It's no use; I'm no good at this Cloud." She whined and pushed the sketch pad away from her and leaned into the leather couch; trying to get rid of her back pain. "Drawing makes my back hurt" she continued. Cloud pulled off his reading glasses and smiled.

"You were doing well so far and the back pains are something that you gotta deal with if you want to become an artist Tifa." He said as he also leaned back on the couch, his back was hurting also but he was used to it and didn't even notice it half the time. He looked to the brunette and giggled.

"What?" She asked; confused by his sudden laughter.

"I still remember when you came up to me and demanded me to teach you how to art." He laughed at the memory. It happened their sophomore year of high school, Cloud was eating lunch in his usual spot when one of the most popular girl in school ran up to him and demanded Cloud to teach her how to 'art'. 'She could of said to teach her how to draw or paint but no she had to go all out and say art.' Cloud thought.

Tifa blushed in embarrassment. "W-whatever! I have my reasons!" she defended herself.

"Oh really? What are they then?" This was something Cloud was curious about; Tifa never struck him as an artsy type. Tifa's face turned into a darker crimson.

"W-well.."

"Go on." Cloud encouraged.

"There…was this guy who went to our school, he was a senior…I'm in love with him…" She said. This got Cloud's full attention. Tifa was in love with someone, no wonder he never saw her with a boyfriend. "I had heard he was going to one of the best school of arts and-"

"And you want to get in that school so you can be with your love." I finished for her. She looked down and nodded, her cheeks where still tinted red.

Cloud knew she would get in the school. Yes, the school was extremely expensive but that's not something that Tifa's father couldn't handle. Tifa's family are very wealthy, he remembered that he had became very worried when he found out that she was rich because he was afraid that the family was going to think that he was some kind of gold digger and was only getting close to Tifa because of her money but it turned out that her parents knew the situation and had actually taken a liking to Cloud.

"So, how long have you and this guy been dating?" Cloud asked, though this caused Tifa to jump and tense up.

"D-d-dating?! W-well…ummm…" She started scratching the back of her head. "…well the thing is…" Cloud was beginning to worry on what her answer was going to be, "I sorta…kind of…never spoken to him." And Cloud has very, VERY good reasons for feeling worried.

" So you're saying…that he doesn't even know you exist?" Cloud asked. Tifa quickly nodded in embarrassment though Cloud was surprised, Tifa is a very popular girl in school so it was almost impossible to not know who she was. "Well, maybe he does know who you are; maybe he was too scared to talk to you. So it's possible that he likes you as well." He stated. Tifa looked up with hope in her eyes.

"Really, you think so?"

"Well sure, I have high hopes that this mission of yours will succeed." he said, he wasn't lying. Tifa is a very attractive girl, he even had a crush on her for a little while but it soon turned into a close friendship, Cloud cared deeply for Tifa as if she where his own sister.

"Oh Cloud you're too nice for your own good!" Tifa screamed as she threw herself on him to give him a super tight hug.

"Ugh! C-can't breathe!" He gasped. After a few more seconds she finally let him go while giggling. After catching his breath he joined in the laughter.

"Okay let's finished this drawing!" He said.

"Guuhh!" She groaned.

"Its summer vacation and we are going to practice every day until it's time for you to go to that fancy art school!"

"I'm surprised that you're not going to try and get in with me Cloud." Tifa said as she grabbed her sketch pad.

"Eh, not interested." He simply stated. That was a lie though, he would love to go to a school for art it's just that he has no money like Tifa does and he is not too interested in getting a student loan.

"Okay let's do this!"

~2 months later~

At the end of the month everyone was going to start school and college, even Tifa was going to be leaving him soon to peruse her dream of being an artist with the man she loves, or something like that, he wasn't sure if the man she likes is even a painter, he could be a dancer or in a choir as well which would have made more sense if she started going to the school for singer, she had quite the singing voice.

Cloud was at Tifa's place but not to hang out or anything. It was the oddest thing, her father had called him up saying that he needed to talk to Cloud about something important. It's not like Cloud didn't get along with the man or anything, in fact the man was quite fond of him but they never really 'hung out' in any kind of way.

He had made his way to Mr. Lockhart's office door and gently knocked on it. He had gotten an immediate response for him to enter.

"Come in." The man had a booming voice that could scare anyone.

Cloud slowly entered the room; he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. The man looked up from his desk and smiled; seeing that it was Cloud, he gestured to a chair that sat in front of the chair for Cloud to sit down. Cloud sat down on the seat to the right, while he waited for Mr. Lockhart to speak he observed his office, he mostly had family pictures, he even had some that where just Tifa but at a younger age.

Once Mr. Lockhart was done typing something down on his laptop, he pushed it away and smiled to Cloud.

"Now Cloud, as we both know, my little girl will be leaving soon to Midgar School of the Arts…" He started, Cloud nodded; already knowing this information. "Now the reason I called you up is because…I don't want my daughter running around in Midgar…alone…" Cloud started to feel a bit confused, not knowing where he was going with this. "I also don't feel that drawing and painting is meant for my daghter…" He said. That sort of pinched at Clouds heart, Maybe Mr. L though that art was a waste of time…The hurt that Cloud felt in the inside must have been showing on his face as well because Mr. L quickly held his hand up in defense. "Not that I think art is a bad thing! It's just that…" He brought his hand back down and frowned. "She always had this shine in her eyes when she sang, I don't see much of it when she tries to draw or paint, I don't feel like she's making the right decision with this…" He became quiet as if he was in thought. After a few more seconds of silence, Cloud decided to break it.

"Uh, sir?" He said in a quivering voice, this knocked Mr. L out of his thoughts, he looked up to Cloud and smiled once more and said.

"So I would like you to watch over my daughter in Midgar!"…

"W-wait what?" Cloud was confused, the man wanted him to watch over Tifa, as in go to Midgar with her?!

"Yes! I trust you the most out of all of Tifa's friends, besides you love to draw, don't you? Attend the art school with Tifa then!" He said in a carefree happy tone, though Cloud felt anything but...

"B-but Mr. Lockhart…I… I don't have that kind of money…" Cloud finally stated, hearing all this made him feel worse about not being able to go to any art school.

Mr. Lockhart didn't stutter hearing this news. "It's covered." He simply said. The response made Cloud freeze. Covered, as in already paid for, as in he can go to an art school?!

"C-covered?" Cloud asked to make sure; he didn't want to get his hopes up.

"It's been paid for, though it was quite hard to get you in since the school year is so close to starting but I pulled a few strings and managed to get you in." He said with a smile. That's when it all sank in and Cloud allowed himself to smile.

"W-wow…I…" Cloud was about to thank him but then remembered the real reason he was going. "I'll take good care of your daughter Mr. Lockhart!" Cloud said as he stood up straight from his chair as did Mr. L.

As they both shook hands there came a quick knock at the door then Tifa coming through it.

"What's with all the noise?" She asked confused and became even more confused seeing Cloud here. "Cloud, what are you doing here?" Cloud didn't know how to respond, luckily Mr. L did; he came around his large mahogany desk and put an arm around Cloud's shoulder.

"Cloud here decided to go to Midgar with you!" He said with a huge grin. Wait, did Tifa know that Mr. L wanted to do this?! Tifa's face brightened up and she squealed.

"Yes! We are going to have so much fun Cloud; this is going to be great!"

~3 weeks later~

Cloud had his two bags packed and ready to go, he and Tifa were finally going to head out to Midgar. He wasn't going to lie; he is going to miss Nibelheim. His mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, probably trying to distract herself from bawling her eyes out. Of course it didn't work too well because once Cloud was ready to go she had ran up to him and wrapped her soapy fingers around him, yes Mrs. Strife is who Cloud is going to miss the most.

"I'm only going to be gone two years mom, besides I'm going to visit on the holidays…" He tried to comfort her but she just tightened her hold and cried some more.

"You better call me! Like a lot!" She whined. Cloud laughed.

"Yes mom I will, I'll make sure to call you…" Cloud wanted to hurry up and leave, he didn't want to end up being the one crying too.

After 3 more attempts to get away from his mother he was finally able to leave his house and got a nauseating drive to the airport where he had met Tifa who was sitting at a bench reading a magazine. She had about five bags piled up next to her.

She was wearing a white t-shirt with red spandex and tethered jeans with a pair of black boots, her outfit was different from what she would usually wear but what made it more odd was the thick rimmed glasses she was wearing, from what Cloud could recall, Tifa had perfect vision.

"Tifa?" Cloud called out in a questioning tone, he was just trying to make sure that the woman he was looking at was not some doppelganger or something. Tifa looked up from her magazine and jumped out of her seat once she saw who it was.

"Cloud!" She began to wave.

Tifa began to pose for her new outfit but Cloud was just confused.

"Well what do you think? Perfect for the occasion, right?"

"I don't think I understand your outfit Tifa." Cloud said, unsure. Tifa dropped her pose and pouted

"I'm dressed like an artist, ya know?! I did a lot of research on this!" She sounded insulted and Cloud held up his hands to defend himself.

"S-sorry Tifa but you look like some hipster." Cloud said, breaking into laughter after Tifa's pout turn into a frown.

"I tried real hard on this outfit!" She said in a stern voice, Cloud stopped laughing and apologized.

"Sorry Tif but not all artists don't dress the same; we just dress in whatever makes us comfortable. You could have just worn your normal clothing and you still would have been dressed as an artist." He smiled.

Tifa had actually taken what Cloud said to though. She smiled and agreed.

"Yeah, art isn't an outfit; it's a life style or something…" She said. Cloud laughed and nodded.

'Flight 297 to Midgar is now boarding, Flight 297 will be taking off in 30 minutes-

Cloud and Tifa heard the announcer and quickly started to gather their things.

"Midgar here we come!" Yelled Tifa as they made their way through the airport

Cloud didn't really think of how hot it would be in Midgar in the summer, yes he knew that Nibelheim was hot as well but they still got that mountain breeze. Though summer or not he would always continue to wear his blue sweater, it just suited him better that's why he wore it all the time. Some people even though he was just too poor to buy any other clothing. Stepping out of the airport Cloud immediately pushed his sleeves up to his elbows.

"It's hot here…" Tifa complained.

"Yeah" Cloud agreed.

"There are so many Taxies that I don't even know which one is ours." Tifa said as the both wondered. Cloud came to a stop as soon as he saw a man holding up a sign with his and Tifa's name written on it. Cloud took hold of Tifa's shoulder to stop her from walking.

"I think we found our ride."

Cloud and Tifa showed their I.D's to the cab driver to confirm who they were before jumping into the taxi. Cloud had just about enough of transportation; it made him nauseous, the plane ride was the worst. He had to run to the bathroom a few times to puke his brains out and now he was back in a death trap.

The 20 minute ride to Midgar's art school wasn't so bad, Tifa kept him occupied with conversations so it distracted him from his car sickness. Though they both became quiet once the saw the large school, it was magnificent. It had a large building in the middle with a large Clock in the center of it. They where guessing that, that's where the main offices where but behind it they could see that there where multiple other buildings, those where probably the different classes.

The cab came to a stop at the front gates of the school. Once he and Tifa had gotten all their belongings out, the cab drove off. Cloud and Tifa just stood there in awe at the beautiful school. Cloud looked to Tifa who was now trembling.

"You nervous?" Cloud asked. Tifa jumped a little and looked to cloud with worry on her face. Cloud smiled and held out his arm, she smiled back and wrapped her arm with his and they made their way to the large clock building.

"Hello we are Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart." Cloud greeted the front desk woman. She had her blonde hair in a pony tail and wore bright red lipstick that complimented her red button up satin shirt. She looked up to them with the look of boredom on her face.

"Oh, the last minute students" She muttered and she started to dig through some files. After finding the files she opened them up and read through them, checking if they where the right ones. "Okay will you sign here please?" She said as she put the two opened folders in front of them. Tifa and Cloud nodded as they took a pen and started to write their signatures into their folders. Once they were done the lady took their folders and sat them down in front of her on her desk, she then took her desk phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah, we need two escorts for a Cloud Strife and a Tifa Lockhart, yeah, yeah, alright." She sat the phone down and gave them both her fakest smile. "Well you both are ready to go, welcome to Midgar's Institute of Art and Technology!"

Cloud and Tifa gave their polite smiles back and thank you's and went and sat at a nearby bench to wait for their escorts. After 5 minutes a girl with curled brown hair that was held up by a fuchsia ribbon came through the two glass doors, she wore a pink dress with a fuchsia cardigan.

"Cloud Strife?" She called out; she had a soft voice that complimented her looks. Cloud stood up and walked to her, he was a bit confused as to why he and Tifa couldn't just get the same escort.

"Hello." Cloud greeted. The young woman looked up to him and smiled,

"Shall we?"

"Um, yeah but what about Tifa?" Cloud asked, looking to his friend who still sat at a bench, looking just as confused as he did. The girl looked to Tifa and smiled

"Oh, you both are at a different level, someone who is at the same level as her will escort her, it makes things easier." She explained. Cloud somewhat understood. So was the girl going to be in the same class as he? He didn't even know that there where levels! Was that why he had to send them a few of his works, to see what level he was at? Cloud began to worry, what if he got the lowest level? Oh no, what if he wasn't good enough?!

Just then another girl walked in,well more like stumbled in, she wore a dress shirt and jeans, her blonde hair was cut and styled into a bob.

The brunette took hold of Clouds arm and lead him out of the building, Cloud looked back to Tifa who was being approached by the blonde girl.

"That's Elena, she's Tifa's escort, so you can stop worrying." The girl giggled. "I'm Aerith by the way." She greeted. They both made it to the circular court yard that was surrounded by greenery and white benches that a few students where resting on, others where sketching on the grass as other played their instrument in front of a group that where practicing a dance routine, this courtyard was filled with life and inspiration for anyone. This brought a smile to Cloud's face.

"This is the court yard, this where students go to let off steam and to relax as you can see it's quite lively right now." She giggled.

Aerith had shown him the large cafeteria and the huge gym and the glamorous computer room for students to use on their free time.

"Now we can head to our class!" Aerith said, giddy. Finally their class, he was pretty exited, he couldn't wait. But then it hit him, did lower level class rooms get not so special treatment, Cloud started to feel dull inside because he wasn't sure which level he had gotten.

"Hey,um, Aerith?" Cloud said as he followed her to their next destination.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, which level are we?" He asked with worry in his voice. Aerith giggled but kept walking.

"I thought you would have known, well are level A art students." She answered and looked to him with a smile on her face. "It's the highest and best level you can get to, congratulations Cloud!" Cloud paused for only a moment, only to resume walking along side her. He was in a state of shock. Highest level?! Cloud couldn't help but feel giddy himself at this news. He is most definitely going to tell his mother the good news; she's going to be so proud of him.

After a while of walking, Cloud was beginning to feel, impatient. Shouldn't have they gotten to their building by now. Cloud began to feel confused when they started to enter an orchid, yes it was pretty and all but he was too confused to even care.

His questions were answered when an isolated building sat upon a hill that had a metal plaque that read 'Level A Art Building' There were no other buildings around it, it was all alone.

"Our building is quite some ways away from everything else but the isolation and the peace is very relaxing and helps us concentrate on our paintings." Aerith explained.

"How many of us are there?" Cloud asked. That question made Aerith pause in her steps; she gave a nervous laugh and held up 4 fingers.

"Just four of us, and that's including you and our teacher…" She said. Now Cloud was in shock, he didn't know how such a small number class even existed! There had to be more artists like Aerith and him, right?

"People these days go for things that will make them famous, like singing or dance; you find that the poetic class has a small amount as well." She explained

"I see…" Cloud said in disappointment, well at least he would get more room to draw and paint.

"Well you won't be able to enter the class room until the school semester actually starts in one week so I'll show you to your dorm room-" Just then there came a continuing scream that seemed to be quickly getting closer and closer. Cloud turned to the hill and saw a figure running down it at full speed; he couldn't even make out who it was.

"AERITH SAVE MEEEEEE!"

He couldn't even dodge it…

END CH 1

A/N

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story!

I'm we can all guess who is running down that hill *cough* Zack *cough cough*
I am very excited for this story, it makes me feel so artsy so I am making a comic out of it, of course the written story will be way ahead and you guys will already know what happens but it will still be fun to see the comic version of it!

I will be uploading the comic on .com , I have yet to upload anything so there is no link that will direct you to the story but there will be one in future chapters!

Well that is all!

I thank you for reading my story, please come back for more!