A/N: Thank yo to those who reviewed! Hopefully I can keep writing to your liking :) I know I'm thoroughly gonna enjoy exploring this couple!

Idiots Don't Go to Heaven

Ch.1: Good and Bad People

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Sorako." A bright smile and a small hand were offered to her.

Tifa quickly took in her appearance, naturally reading the younger woman.

Sorako was shorter, with bright brown eyes and an easy smile. Her thick brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with stubborn wisps framing her face and an outfit meant more for movement than anything: shorts, a salmon colored tank top, simple necklace, and black sneakers. The few accessories she had on her otherwise implied more work than fashion statement.

Even with this harmless demeanor though, her grip was firm. It wasn't until she leaned a little on her right leg that Tifa noticed the guns strapped to the back of her belt.

"I'm Tifa." She replied, already gaining more respect for the other young woman.

"Seeing as you need a room, you'll be staying with me until further notice. We don't have the inn totally built yet, sorry."

"Oh, that's fine." Shrugging, the fighter followed the smaller woman through the streets, noting all the construction equipment and unfinished buildings surrounding her.

"As you can tell, the darkness got a hold of this world too. It's just that now, the survivors have banned together and are trying to rebuild what we can. Even the children have been put to some extent of work."

It didn't surprise her anymore. What few towns she had seen all were in different stages of repair--or lack thereof.

It didn't really take long to cross to the other side of the town where Sorako's home was. In that short time Tifa had also gotten a basic rundown of the town, areas she might want to avoid, and other tidbits of useful information.

"Oh by the way, the guy who brought you here is Leon." Flicking a glance over her shoulder, Sorako took out her keys and inserted them into the door they were currently in front of. "He doesn't talk much, if at all, and he can be a bit of a stiff but he means well."

Grinning, she held the door open for Tifa, who hesitated for a moment.

"Something wrong?" The taller of the two frowned then, sighing as her brow furrowed.

"I've never had anyone just take me into their home so easily. It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything but. . ." She couldn't help the chuckle at her own awkwardness. "Its hard I guess for me to understand-"

"Why I'm letting you sleep under my roof when you could stick a knife in my back?" Sorako finished, smiling.

No one in the whole of her life had ever offered Tifa a place without a second thought; it caught her completely off guard. Always, always there was doubt, there was a quick glance back, a careful scrutiny of her being as she offered the gil for her stay.

And not once did she blame them.

But the girl before her had done nothing to buy herself time, hadn't ditched her, didn't even look at her in anything of a hint at suspicion.

Tifa shrugged then. "Yeah, I guess that's it."

Sighing, Sorako leaned back onto the door frame, looking into her house with a shrug.

"Since I was little, I always looked at people's eyes. Don't know why, but I've always been able to tell a bad person from a good one that way. Of course, I could be wrong--I have been before--but it was Leon who brought you to me." At this, her deep gaze fell on Tifa. "That alone means more than you think."

And leaving her to contemplate that, Sorako ducked inside. Following closely behind, Tifa noted that the younger of the two didn't place her weapons down when she passed the dining room table. Instantly she recognized the habit--after all, Vincent had always done the same. Only someone who had fought for a long time kept a weapon within easy reach at all times-it was one of the first things one learned the hard way. And though she barely knew the girl, the bar maiden's heart ached to see such a frame of mind already anchored in her.

"There's two bedrooms. The guest one is the one down that hall by the kitchen and to your left. Well, I guess it's your room now, for as long as you choose to stay. All I ask is that if you can, to help me just keep it tidy around here. Don't worry about rent. The place was a gift to me and I see no need to be stingy with a guest."

"I appreciate it, really. If there's anything you need. . ."

"If you really want to be helpful, if you honestly have nothing pending, then the best way you can pay us back would be by just helping out wherever you can. I'm not gonna ask you for any money, for anything as long as you promise me that you'll pitch in a bit as long as you stay here. News spreads fast around these parts. I'm sure the others already know you're here. So just, I dunno, make yourself useful?"

Nodding, the fighter relented then. "Alright, sounds fair."

"Well, sounds like a plan. I have something I have to tend to so if you will excuse me, make yourself at home. I'll be sure to get you a duplicate key sometime soon too." Sorako started heading towards one of the doors and then hesitated again. "I'll make dinner for us at around eight or nine so if you decide to explore, just try to be back by then. See ya, Tifa."

She nodded a goodbye to her, watching Sorako go into (what she assumed was) the other bedroom and softly close the door behind her. And though she found it odd to see someone locking themselves in their room for what she implied would be quite a while, Tifa figured it had something to do with the work the girl did in the town.

Being left like that was awkward. It didn't take her long to start squirming and trying to find something to do. It was early still, she'd guess somewhere around maybe two or three in the afternoon (if that) and the routine she had mastered in search of Cloud (find a safe hiding/resting place, scout out surroundings, search for Cloud) somehow began to fall apart as she quietly opened the door to her new bedroom.

It wasn't anything special really, just a bed with a honey colored wood frame and a semi-attempt at matching through the light blue blankets. The matching curtains were drawn over the windows, and there was a lamp sitting neatly in the corner beside the nightstand. Even though it was spotless, Tifa could tell no one had lived in the room in a while--possibly even never.

Sitting on the edge of the bed she slipped off her boots and sighing, forced herself up to open the curtains. Her fingers tugged on the light fabric as she winced in the sudden flow of light. Blinking, she began to make out the cobblestone street that faced her window and smiled as she watched children run past.

She could adjust to a life in a place like this.

But as the thought formed in her mind, the smile that had accompanied it faded.

She couldn't possibly stay in a place like this. Not without at least trying to find Cloud. It wouldn't be fair to him if she wasn't there when he needed her most--contrary to what he believed. Nibelheim, Midgar, Gaia, the universe. . . she had been by his side through all of them.

And that wasn't going to change now.

It was with that thought in mind that she pushed off of the window ledge and got her boots back on, leaving the bedroom door slightly ajar so Sorako would notice her absence and not be alarmed that the front door was unlocked (though she did close it of course).

If Cloud's trail was still recent here, then information wouldn't be too hard to find. Seriously, how many humans had spiky blond hair like his and a blade bigger than most of his companions?

The streets were tidy, nothing like the ones she remembered in Midgar or even in the building of Edge. Everything was compact and packed together tightly enough that alleys at times seemed barely wide enough for one person to go through without brushing the walls with their shoulders.

People were nice. They answered politely and at times even offered suggestions as to places she should consider searching. Still, since the place was still growing it didn't take her long to ask most of the residents. By the time she began to consider quitting for the day, the clouds that had hung overhead were lit a dusty light blue that helped her estimate the time at about five or six at night.

Afterward, for a while she just walked.

It didn't take her long to find herself wandering into the outskirts. As the sky got darker and darker, Tifa stumbled upon the ruins that she had been escorted through that morning. It wasn't hard to recognize the half finished staircase and the new fountains jutting out of the stone walls, or the crude latticework of pipes forming a skeleton of the building that would soon be erected around them.

There were still puddles everywhere and it was darker out here without the aid of streetlamps. Everything still looked muddy from the rain that morning but it didn't take her long to climb down onto the pathway created between the rocky (and strangely colored) cliffs.

The sound of her sneakers on the wet rubble almost seemed as loud as gunshots in the silence. For a moment she wondered if she hadn't just stepped into a whole new realm. To confirm that she hadn't, she looked behind her at the building she had just climbed down from--which was still just as she had seen it moments before.

It was baffling how quickly everything changed: the feel of warmth, of life among the area.

Nothing existed here but the jutting indigo cliffs. The sky somehow seemed to magnify the effect of the landscape with its own shade of blue instead of prevailing in its own magnificence. For a moment she was breathless, staring out at the land with wide eyes and marveling for once at the sleeping giant before her. In her heart it felt as if there was something just waiting for her there, calling.

It unsettled her heart, sent a chill down her spine.

Here, standing in the ruins between civilization and the realms of nature and heartless, she couldn't help but feel small. To a certain point it almost made her feel powerless to be human.

The breeze left over from the storm kicked up then, whispering in her ear and toying with the edges of her long ponytail. But even so, the area before her remained soundless.

It . . . called to her.

"Didn't get enough of the heartless yet?"

Her reaction was instant. The offensive position she slipped into came as naturally as her heartbeat as her knees bent, ready to spring and her slack hands turned to hardened fists. The wine tint of her irises nearly glowed in the falling sunset as she scrutinized the shadows and her muscles tensed.

It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the near pitch black of the shadows created but the pose was near unmistakable, even if she had just met him.

"That's dangerous you know." Sighing, Tifa's arms came slowly down to her sides. She tried to ignore the relief that took over her.

Steely eyes turned to regard her own gaze.

"They get worse at night."

Tifa shrugged.

"This isn't my first day traveling alone, trust me."

The way she said it somewhat bothered him. Leon looked her over then for a moment, trying to find a hint at a lie, or at least something that said she was somewhat afraid.

He found nothing.

She in turn, just stared back at him.

"Sorako said to make myself useful during my time here. I don't plan on letting her down."

For some reason he couldn't even begin to fathom, his mouth moved quicker than his thoughts.

"You didn't find anything, did you?"

It came out more as a statement than a question.

Something flickered in her gaze then, surprising him. Trying to look deeper into it, his eyes narrowed as he unconsciously took a step forward.

But as he did so, just like it appeared it was gone.

Tifa half grinned, shrugging. "It isn't the first time."

There was something alarming about how she smiled in that moment. It confused him because he was sure he had seen her slip, if only for an instant, allowing something to show through strongly in her gaze. And try as he might to ignore it, there was a feeling akin to a sudden itch in him to know what he had just seen.

Leon tried hard to find a trace, anything to give her away in the silence and couldn't. Her face was calm, flawless even, staring back at him just as intently and without a hint of a problem in her wine tinted gaze.

For some strange reason, it began to trouble him more--she was astoundingly good at fooling people. It was the same as when he had first seen her. Without knowing he had been there, she had allowed something to leak through in her features, some frustration and anger to take over as she fought. And seeing her taking down heartless like that caught his interest. There was just something that seemed raw in her, some feeling that he didn't understand. But then, just like that she had changed when she saw him, seemed quiet, polite, a young woman out on a stroll. If it wasn't for her clothes and what his own eyes had seen, he would have believed it too.

But her fighting gave her away.

He didn't speak to her at first earlier that morning because of how fascinating it was to have seen the grace behind her movements, the almost dance-like quality to her kicks and jumps as she focused her feelings into every move.

That was all it was, he told himself. It was just the interest he had taken to her unique fighting ability, the oxymoron of grace and rough feeling.

"I'm not going to save you if something happens." He declared, more at peace with himself now that he had an explanation for his piqued curiosity.

She no longer held his interest.

Tifa in turn, just cocked her head slightly to the side as she watched him leave.

"Name's Tifa by the way!" She called to his back.

He stopped a few feet away, nodding as he turned to look over his shoulder at her.

"Leon."

Tifa smiled.