A/N: Well, I'm not sure whether or not Tifa dies, but I'll sure as hell try and make it look good if she does. I love my reviews. Thanks, Princess of the Knight and lilalou, for sticking to my story. This is for you.

Princess of the Knight: I don't mind Tifa that much…I just don't like her. It's probably because of Aeris. Ah well.

lilalou: No, I'm not making Tifa a total bitch. It is too easy. I'm keeping the characters pretty similar to how they are in FF7.

Chapter Three

"This is the mansion?" Laura asked, tilting her head. They stood just outside the big building. There were broken windows, the roof was falling in, and the stairs had all but fallen apart.

"Yeah," Brandon replied. "It used to belong to an old, rich guy, but he died and left it to his son. The guy tried to sell it, I heard, but no one would take it because anyone who lived there ran away. They say it's haunted. Let's go back."

"Wait," Laura said. She was smiling. "Let's go inside."

"No way," Brandon said. She opened her mouth to argue, so he said, "We'll come back in the morning. Then we can check it out."

"There's no fun in that," she said. "Come on, bodyguard. Are you scared?"

"No," he said.

"It's settled, then," she replied, smiling. "Let's go inside."

The rusty hinges on the front door squeaked loudly when Laura pushed. They slipped in and looked around. Once-fancy paint chipped on the walls and the staircases, which probably were polished to perfection by a dozen butlers years ago, were now dusty and falling apart. Laura immediately started up the stairs, testing each one before putting weight on it. With an exasperated sigh, Brandon followed her. They ended up in a hallway with a ton of doors leading to different rooms. Laura looked thrilled. He could tell she was an adventurer at heart.

"Which one do we go in first?" Laura said, more to herself than Brandon.

"Let's check the right side first and then go to the left," Brand suggested.

Laura immediately went to the nearest door on the right. Brandon waked up behind her, and they entered. As soon as they were in the room, they rushed back out and closed the door. Raccoons inside began to scratch at the door.

"I think we should leave now," Brandon said.

"But we just got here," Laura complained. "Come on, just five more rooms and we're out."

"Just five," he agreed.

"I get to choose, tough," she said and ran off before he could disagree. He chased her down the hallway and nearly bumped into her when she suddenly stopped and put her ear to a door. He did the same.

There were footsteps inside. It was unmistakable. Someone else was in the mansion that night. Brandon could practically feel his heart beat faster. Laura put her hand to the doorknob despite the danger and opened the door.

The shadowy figure turned as soon as he heard the door squeak. Red eyes narrowed in the darkness, and he put his hand on his gun. The two intruders didn't see the motion, however. He dropped his hand when he saw that neither of them were the person he was looking for.

"Get out," he said, "while you still can."

"What?" Laura asked. "Who are you?"

In the moonlight streaming in from the window, Brandon could barely make out his face. "You're…Vincent, right?" he asked.

Vincent didn't reply. His red eyes burned into Brandon's blue ones.

"Didn't you get arrested?" Brandon asked.

"I didn't do what they thought I did," was all Vincent would tell him.

"You didn't murder Cid?" Brandon asked. Frank Cid was one of the major people involved in making the FF7 online game. He was found dead, not long after the game came out. Vincent also helped create the game, and he was the last seen with Cid. They'd been arguing about John Shinra, the producer of the game.

"I know who did it," Vincent said. "I'm just…not sure who he really is."

"Is that why you're here?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I heard from Seth Cait that he was nearby."

Brandon shook his head. This was more FF7 than he liked. Seth was known for making some of the best minigames in FF7. Something fishy was going on, and it was going on in his town.

"We could help," Aeris said, interrupting Brandon's thoughts. "If we find out anything about him, we'll come to you.

Vincent nodded. "Thanks."

(A week later in Tifa's POV)

Tiffany frowned as she watched Laura and Brandon talk. They seemed perfect for each other and sometimes gave each other special looks when they thought no one was looking. They just hadn't noticed it. It was only a matter of time, though, before they became a couple. She really liked Brandon, too….

"Hey, Tif?" Garret asked. "Can ya help me with this problem?"

Tiffany looked down at her own worksheet and sighed. She hadn't done a single thing, and class was almost over. Garret groaned when he saw her paper. "Well, what about that guy? When're ya gonna fight him?"

"Today," she said. "As soon as I get home."

"Good," Garret said. "I'm still grounded from my computer, but I can come over to your house."

Tiffany looked at the back of Brandon's blonde head. Maybe this would impress him. She had to fight and beat the guy, even if it was Sephiroth.

Cloud and Aeris's POV (I didn't do this in the other chapters and it's hard to tell it apart.)

"Today's the day of our date," Aeris told Cloud once she found him. He was in the desert region again.

"Where are we going?" he asked. It was a reward for being her bodyguard, but he knew he had no choice in the matter.

"You'll see," she replied. "I bet you'll like it."

"How are we getting there?" he asked.

"I'll pick you up at six," she said, grinning at the look on his face. It was yet another reminder of their age difference.

Deciding it was time to change the subject, he said, "Have you heard anything of Cid's murder?"

Aeris shook her head. "No," she said. "I went to see Vincent yesterday, but he wasn't there. I'm worried about him."

"We'll go back tomorrow, on Saturday. It's the beginning of the weekend, so we'll have plenty of time," he said. This seemed to make Aeris feel better. She smiled.

"Dress casually. We're going to have a lot of fun."

Tifa's POV

Tifa showed up at the volcano region at six, just as they'd planned. Garret was watching all of this over Tiffany's shoulder. If he couldn't get on, he'd at least see it for himself. After all, this sounded an awful lot like those stories about Sephiroth challenging random people.

A tall man with long, silver hair and cold eyes approached them. He pulled his long sword out of its sheath and pointed it at Tifa without a word.

"Are you Sephiroth?" Tifa asked, putting up her fists.

A cold smile spread across his face. "You found out," he said and attacked.

A/N: Tifa does die, but does Tiffany? Review, please. Reviews make my world go round and definitely put me in the mood to continue my stories. This is my first story without an OC, and I was surprised at the change in my amount of reviews. Please, you guys, review with comments or suggestions about my summary and story. I'd really appreciate it.