This is my first ever upload ^_^ I hope people like it. I rarely write Stories so this is kinda the first attempt at writing a serious Fanfic.

Must Clarify!! I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY VII OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS. JUST MY CHARACTERS.

Summary: A new friend of Yuffie's, Starla (OC) has recently moved to Edge from Gongaga. She meets all of the gang, gets along with everyone. But, what's happened to Cloud all of a sudden? He begins to smile a lot more when Starla is around. Has he found "The One"?

CloudxOC

Chapter One - The Grumpiest Person I've Ever Met…

I lay on the wooden floor, staring at the nothingness underneath the sofa as I heard the slaughtering. A tear slipped down my face as I saw the blood creeping towards me, coming through from underneath the sofa. It wasn't long before it came towards me, my small 7 year old body drenched in blood. I couldn't make any noise, I didn't want to bring attention to myself from the strange man who had broken into my home.

"Right…" The stranger murmured, dragging the body past me and into his truck.

"Mommy…" I whispered to myself, breaking out into more tears, laying there in her blood.

***

I opened my eyes slowly, looking around the room before sitting up in my bed, noticing I had been sweating quite a bit.

"Another dream…" I murmured, shaking my head slightly and getting out of bed. I thought these recurring nightmares had gone away 10 years ago. Why have they come back during these past two weeks? Getting over what happened to me so long ago was hard, re-living it is worse. I sighed to myself, getting out of bed and getting ready. Going into the bathroom and taking a shower, brushing my teeth. I got dressed into some black shorts, my knee-high white, flat boots, laces running up them, and my black turtle neck, short sleeved sweater.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard the family beeping noise of my phone ringing. Placing a hand on my heart, I picked up the phone, and checked who was calling. The screen displayed "Yuffie Kisaragi calling".

"Hey, Yuffie." I answered, smiling at myself - Yuffie always managed to make me laugh.

"Hey! Starla! Meet me at the end of the road. We need to go shopping!" The younger ninja girl exclaimed, sounding very excited.

"Alright, I'll be there in five." I replied, flipping down my phone and putting it in my bag. I pushed my long blonde hair in a quick pony tail, leaving my fringe to cascade down my face. Rushing out the door, I grabbed my keys, locking the door. I paced down the street, noticing the clearer figure of Yuffie as I got closer. The dark haired girl raised her arm and waved frantically, jumping up and down with a big grin on her face. I noticed there was another girl with her. She had long black hair.

"Hey Star!" Yuffie shouted, pulling me into a tight hug as I reached the two. "This is Tifa!" She exclaimed, pointing at Tifa as she pulled away from the hug.

"Oh, hey, Tifa. I'm Starla…" I murmured, widening my eyes slightly as I noticed her large breasts. "Oh…" I whispered out loud, feeling slightly jealous yet sympathetic for the girl.

Yuffie let out a small giggle. "I know right…Tifa, don't you ever get back pains..? "She asked curiously, tilting her head slightly. I felt a light blush crawl onto my cheeks, feeling embarrassed that I was actually wondering the same thing too.

Tifa rubbed the back of her neck nervously, letting out a small, breathy laugh. "Um…w-well…"

"So, anyway." I interrupted to ward off any more embarrassment for Tifa. "Where are we going again?" I tilted my head, making sure my claws were safely in place beside me, just in case some fiends came along to ruin my day. "Did you say there was a new weapon shop opening today?"

"Yeah, it might be a little packed, but apparently it has everything from swords to…well, it has everything, lets just say that." Yuffie grinned excitedly, rubbing her hands together.

"Okay, cool, well, shall we go the-"

"I think they also sell Materia…" Yuffie interrupted, an evil grin enshrouding her face. I swear she started salivating at one point…

"Yuffie…Hello?" Tifa murmured, waving a hand in front of Yuffie's face. "Anyone in there..?" She asked again. "Earth to Yuffie!" She shouted, slapping Yuffie around the face lightly to wake her up.

"Wha-? Oh…sorry…I wasn't…daydreaming about jumping into a pool of Materia…or anything…" Yuffie murmured, shaking her head and then beginning to walk off, leading us to the shop. It was a little while before we reached it, Edge was a big place. I learned that when I moved from Gongaga to here.

"She's strange…" I murmured to myself as I walked by Tifa. She turned her head and smiled.

"Yeah…she is a little…" She replied, thinking the comment was directed at her, when really, I wasn't paying any attention to anything around me.

"Okay! Here we are! The new Weapon Shop!!! Wheee!" Yuffie bellowed, cart wheeling into the shop, barging past everyone in the doorway. "Weapons! Armour! And the most important of all…MATERIA!" The young ninja shouted as she ran around the shop like a small child in a toy shop. I shook my head, smirking to myself.

"Come on, Tifa. Lets go get control of that mad girl…" I chuckled, walking into the shop, seeing a large, dark skinned man behind the counter.

"YUFFIE! WATCH WHAT YA DOIN' KAY?!" The man behind the counter bellowed, waving his arms around in the air getting paranoid that she was going to break something.

"That's Barret. He lives with me, but he opened this shop. He has a special area for Gun-Arms…" Tifa leaned in to whisper to me. I just nodded in understanding. "Pretty much everyone I hang around with is in here. There's Vincent…" She murmured, pointing the a dark figure with a long red cape and a metal hand. "Oh, there's Red XIII and Cait Sith…" She pointed again. My eyes widened as I saw them. Red XIII was, well, red, and Cait Sith looked like a cat. I'm not sure what they were, but they seemed cool. "Oh!" She shouted walking over to a blonde, spiky haired man. "This is Cloud…" She murmured as he turned around to see who it was.

"Tifa…stop harassing me…" He mumbled, smirking ever so slightly.

"Cloud! Be nice…" Tifa raised her voice slightly, slapping his arm gently. "This is Starla…" She smiled happily after letting out a sigh.

"Heya, nice to meet you." Cloud spoke softly, putting out his hand to shake.

"H-hey…" I murmured, stuttering my words. I took his hand and shook it - His grip was strong. "N-nice to meet you…" I whispered, smiling slightly, looking pathetic. Why I was acting like this, I didn't quite know. "I like your hair…" I pointed at his hair a little, nodding my head and then scrunching up my eyes.

"Th-…thanks…" He grinned. "I like getting compliments about my hair.

"Hmm…" Tifa murmured, taking Cloud's arm and dragging him out of the shop. I watched as she took his arm, following his every move. Oh dear…

~~Tifa~~

"You're not usually happy!" I shouted, pointing at Cloud with a stern look on my face. "The last time I saw you smile was…hell, I can't even remember the last time you smiled!" I shouted, getting angry at him. I don't even know why I did…

"W-well…I dunno…maybe I'm just having a good day…" He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hm…" I grunted, walking back into the shop and smiling at Starla as I went to talk to Barret.

~~Starla~~

I wondered what it was about, but I decided not to ask Tifa just in case she flew off at me too. Looking at the new types of claws and materia, I spotted Cloud in the corner of my eye walking towards me. I took in a deep sigh, tapping my foot slightly. "Just act natural…" I whispered to myself, hopefully quiet enough that nobody would hear.

"Uh…hey…" Cloud murmured as he reached me, holding up his hand and waving slightly. "You need any help? Barret said I could help…" He rubbed the back of his neck, looking nervous.

"Oh, um, I think I'm alright, thanks for offering though." I just smiled along, pretending I was fine. "What was all that about? With Tifa?" I asked curiously. "Sorry if I seem like I'm being nosey…"

"Oh, uh…I have no idea…she complained cause I smiled…I know it's a rare thing…but come on…you can't accuse me of silly things just because I smile…" He rambled, lifting his arms up to help him prove his point. "So…you fight with claws, huh?"

My face lit up slightly as he showed interest. "Yeah…See…" I replied, tapping the claws packed beside each leg. My eye darted to the door as I saw Yuffie standing outside waving her arm at me, signalling that I should go. "Oh…I'm being called…" I murmured, pointing towards the excitable ninja girl. "I better run…I'll catch you round…Seeya." I walked towards Yuffie.

"Okay…S-Seeya…" Cloud spoke back just as I was walking away.

~~Cloud~~

I watched the new girl walk out the door, and then stormed out of the room, walking over to Tifa with a stern look on my face.

"Tifa! You made her think I was a moody ass!" I shouted, stopping before I reached Tifa.

She turned around, smiling slightly. "W-well…you are…" She replied.

"Not funny…"

"Why should you care anyway? It's only another person in the little gang, it shouldn't matter to you." She turned back around, looking in store room for more materia.

I sighed, trying my best to sound annoyed. "Because, I like making good impressions…" She chuckled.

"Since when, may I ask?" My best friend placed her hands on her hips, looking very unconvinced.

"Well…since…since I care about what people think of me!"

"Exactly. Never" She muttered sounding smart. "Do you want people to know the Cloud that wants to impress people, or do they want to know the real you?" She walked past me and back into the main part of the shop.

~~Starla~~

I wandered down the road with Yuffie, trying to block out her constant talking and bouncing.

"So, did you have fun? I bought a pile load of new Materia!" The young, dark haired girl from Wutai yelped, walking with a bounce.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I replied, smiling to myself. Even though Yuffie got annoying sometimes, she was one of my best friends. "It was alright, met some new people. They all seem really nice."

Yuffie grinned cheerily. "Oh, cool. Barret's pretty cool! I think he's done well to open a shop up on his own, with a child to look after too. Did you meet Cid?"

"No…I didn't meet Cid…What's he like?"

"He's cool I guess. Bit of a gramps, but he has the Airship so I might as well be nice, huh. What do you think of Cloud? Grumpy as anything, right?" She continued, seeming happier than a Chocobo with a lifetime supply of Greens.

"Would you…say he was grumpy? He seemed alright with me. Actually, he seemed kinda…happy." I replied, my face in a slight confused state.

"You think so? He's the moodiest person I've ever met! EVER!" She yelled, raising her arms up, almost dropping her materia. "I don't think the word 'Happy' is in Cloud's dictionary." Yuffie continued to speak, but I wasn't really listening. I was too busy wondering why Yuffie thinks Cloud is grumpy.

"Well, is he grumpy with everyone else?" I asked.

"Yep. Everyone. I can get everyone on the phone, all at once, and ask them" She took out her phone and started fiddling with it, several calls being transmitted at once. "Hey, guys. It's Yuffie. This is Tifa, Cid, Vinny and Barret right?" She asked, pretty much shouting down the phone.

There was a series of "Yeah" shouting down the phone.

"Good! Right, I wanna ask you all a question, and answer one at a time! Do you think Cloud is grumpy"

"As if you're doing this…I don't need you to prove a point Yuffie, I don't care…" I murmured, raising my eyebrows and rolling my eyes.

"Yep. Grumpiest person I've ever met." Replied Tifa down the phone.

"Hell yeah! That kid needs to smile a little more often…Actually, he needs to smile. Never seen those lips curving anything but downwards!" I thought that must be Cid.

"Yeah…" There was the long beep of hang up from this person.

"That skinny, blonde grump gets on my nerves! Makes me depressed just being around him!" Was Barret's reply.

"Thanks…See." Yuffie smiled, feeling accomplished. "So, he's a grumpy ass."

"O-kay…thanks for…clarifying that with me…" I murmured, continuing to walk. "Anyway…I think I'm gonna go home. I'll be back at 7th Heaven in about an hour. "Seeya later Yuffie." I waved walking off. It was an off moment, I wondered for a little while if Cloud really is grumpy. But it was silly, I didn't let it get to me.