Little Girl

Minna sighed as she walked down the street. She had just spent another day looking for a job, and when she had gotten home to her apartment, she had found a box of her things on her doorstep-Minna had never had many possessions- accompanied by an eviction notice.

She had carried the box across town, looking for a place to sleep- a doorway, under an awning, somewhere. Minna looked down, blinded by tears, and spotted a 50-gil coin on the ground. She dropped the box and picked up the small copper coin. It was just enough money for a dinner and a drink. She looked around and spotted a nice-looking building with a lit sign above it, proclaiming it Seventh Heaven, Restaurant/Bar.

"Perfect!" Minna said to herself, picked up her box, and went inside. The bartender looked up. She was a very pretty woman with long black hair and a friendly face.

"Hi! I'm Tifa. What can I get for you?" she said, smiling.

"What do you have in the way of dinner?" Minna glanced around for a menu, but saw none.

"You look cold. How about some hot soup and a drink?"

"That sounds great, thanks. How about some milk?" Minna hadn't had milk in a long time; she couldn't seem to find any cheap enough. But the 50 Gil would be enough to cover that.

Tifa bustled around, dishing up the soup, getting a glass of chocobo milk. "You look down. What's with the box?"

"I… got evicted this evening. It's all the possessions I have. I can't seem to find a job." Minna looked down and examined her fingernails. "I work hard, but no-one seems to want to hire me."

"You work hard? Can you cook?" Tifa plopped the bowl of soup down in front of Minna. "Seventh Heaven could always use more help."

Minna almost choked on her soup. "Are you serious?" She managed to swallow without killing herself.

Tifa nodded. "The boys won't cook, so on busy days I'm overwhelmed, having to do it all by myself. I was just writing an ad for a job, when you came in." She held up a piece of paper "I think it was meant to be. I'll pay you well!"

Minna laughed. "YOU'RE begging ME to accept this job! Like I could turn down any job at this point! Yes, I will work here."

"Yay! You mentioned something about being evicted, maybe you could stay here for a while, we have an extra room…" Tifa said.

"No, I couldn't possibly accept that…" Minna shook her head. "I don't want to cause any trouble…"

"Just until you get another place to stay… and your food's free." Tifa said.

"But-"

"No buts. Finish your food, and I'll show you where you're sleeping." Tifa picked up Minna's box and walked off.

When Minna finished her food, she washed the dishes and put them away. She walked upstairs and looked into each open door. The first two rooms each had two teenagers , sleeping. The next she looked into was a bathroom. After that was a room with a spiky-haired boy sleeping in it-sprawled all over the bed- and then a neat room with Tifa and her stuff waiting.

"In here?" Minna asked.

Tifa nodded and handed her an alarm clock. "I set this for 7:45. I want you downstairs by eight, and we open at nine."

"Thank you so much for giving me this job and letting me stay here for now."

"Good night-- I never asked your name…"

"Minna"

"Good night, Minna."

Minna was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

A/N the first chappy! yay! i hope you liked it so far. I'm quite enjoying myself. NEXT CHAPTER: Minna meets the group.