I'm glad you guys liked Iroh. I wasn't sure how he would be received, but it seems I had nothing to worry about. Speaking of Iroh, though, I imagined him riding a chocobo...it was hilarious.

Castalia is still a reflection of what I believe my own reactions would be, but she's starting to become her own character as time goes on. If you were to place both of us side by side, we'd still be pretty similar, but there would be differences now too.

Don't let me keep you. Please read on and hopefully enjoy.

[Edited on 4/23/20]

This chapter has been updated with new information that's come out since I first posted it. If you feel up to it, you can reread it. If not, you can read the main changes at the end or in the latest chapter (11).

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Chapter 5

Cloud was looking at me strangely, but I really didn't care.

"Why can't I open the door again?"

"Because it's Mrs. Graham, and I don't want to talk to her."

"...Why?"

"You don't want to know," I grimaced. "And even if you did, I don't think I could stomach telling you."

I sent a glare at her from where Cloud and I had been watching from the window. I had been expecting it, but not on my birthday! That woman wasted no time, did she?

"It's kind of rude to just leave her out there, though, isn't it?"

"It's even more rude of her to try and force her son on me," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

To my continuing misfortune, it seemed Ma had heard the knock. "Who's at the door?"

"No one!/Mrs. Graham!"

"Cloud!"

"What? I'm curious."

This new Cloud was a little troll, I thought while directing my glare at him. He'd remembered a few more things that had let him be more at ease around me, but our relationship was still different than before. He'd even started teasing me! Cloud never used to tease me before! Well, not nearly as well as he was now, anyway.

...At least he was still honest. Nosy, but honest.

"Guess you'll find out soon enough," I sighed as I watched Ma open the door, resigning myself to the upcoming conversation.

That's definitely one thing I missed about my old life. I never had to worry about arranged marriages.

"Berlinda, what a surprise. What brings you here?"

"I came by to wish Castalia a happy birthday!"

Ma looked completely nonplussed but nodded. "Castalia, Mrs. Graham wants to tell you something."

"I hate you so much right now, Cloud," I hissed before reluctantly making my way over.

I really had to force myself not to make a face at her grin.

"Castalia! How wonderful to see you!"

"Hello, Mrs. Graham. How are you?"

"I'm doing just fine, dearie, thank you for asking. Anyway, I hear today is your birthday! Thirteen is a significant age in Nibelheim for young women, you know."

I knew the exact moment Ma realized Mrs. Graham's intentions, as I felt her tense behind me. That made me feel infinitely better. At least I wasn't the only one who found her ploy unwelcome.

"I know...but, with all due respect, Mrs. Graham," even though I really didn't want to give her any respect right now, "I'm not interested in your son. I'm pretty sure he's not interested in me either."

"Don't be silly! Travis adores you-"

"I punched him in the face."

My lips twitched when I heard Ma snort behind me, and I bit back a laugh when Mrs. Graham's grin became notably strained.

"Yes, well, he is a forgiving boy. He's quite fond of your spunk."

My spunk? Seriously? Of all the words to choose from, she went with spunk.

I almost felt sorry for her. I might have been more sympathetic if it wasn't me she was talking to.

"Err...thank you, Mrs. Graham. I'm flattered." Not. "But, I'm not interested."

To my surprise, she nodded, but I could only gape when I found out why.

"Oh, I understand. These things take time, of course. I'm sure after you spend some time together, you'll get along wonderfully."

"That's not-"

"I'll be sure to send him by later! You have a nice birthday, dear!"

Ma and I stared as she shuffled off, and I felt my brow twitch when I noticed the other women who were out and about with sons around my age send me appraising looks.

"...Well, fuck."

"Castalia!"

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Cloud frowned as he watched Castalia and his mother come back inside. Since he hadn't sensed anything truly distressing, he had been amused at her not wanting to open the door.

Now, he wasn't really sure what to think.

He hadn't had to deal with this in his last life. He vaguely remembered that the town boys had started hanging around Tifa more a bit before he left Nibelheim, but he hadn't made the connection until now. No wonder they were being so friendly and complimenting her all the time- they wanted to be the family that Castalia married into. It would definitely be a benefit to whoever managed it...

He found that he didn't really like that idea.

The longer he spent in her company, the more he enjoyed it. She had a more mature personality than the other village kids; something he was grateful for as he had yet to wake Vincent. It made conversation a lot less boring. Snippets of memory that had returned also showed that she'd been a very devoted sister to his younger self, always looking out for him and showering him with affection. He had to admit that he'd been both stunned and touched at how much she seemed to care for him. So, he found himself slowly trusting her, smiling at her and even daring to tease her sometimes, knowing she would understand he wasn't being serious.

It was...fun.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd really had fun- not without worrying about several different things at the same time, anyway. With her, though...with her, he could forget what the future held, even if it was just for a little bit. She was someone new. Someone who didn't remind him of the ways he had failed and the hardships he had faced. She represented the good things that awaited him with this second chance, and he would do his best to protect her. Which meant that she would most definitely not marry Travis Graham

...Or Hector Johnson.

...Or Dennis Baker.

...In fact, it was probably best if she stayed away from the Nibel boys altogether.

"CLOUD STRIFE!"

He stiffened and quickly made his escape. Hero of the future or not, he was an adult in a child's body that had no prior training. He was not going to take his chances with a girl who was not only angry with him but had had training from Zangan as well.

He'd learned his lesson from Tifa.

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Midgar Plates Near Completion. A Revolutionary Way of Life.

I scowled as I read the headline of the latest newspaper. It was already bad enough that Cole asked me to come in today, therefore making me more accessible to the village women, but now I had to be reminded of the events that were steadily approaching. Cloud was nine, which meant Zack was around eleven, right? That meant he would be leaving for Midgar in a little under three years, which meant Cloud might leave in a little under five. Where in the world had the time gone?

"I don't see why you bother havin' the paper from Junon delivered all the way out here, Cassie. Kind of pointless if you ask me."

"It's good to know what's going on, Cole," I sighed. This conversation was not a new one.

"And I say it's distracting you from things that are happening here. You're at courting age, and you're more concerned over some metal plates a continent away than of all the nice young lads who have come by to see you today."

'Nice by whose standards? The demon from the ninth dimension?'

Nibelheim was in the middle of nowhere, there was no getting around that fact. The rural lifestyle combined with the fact that life expectancy was also lower due to the dangers of living on a mountain and the threat posed by mutated monsters meant that people tended to marry young. Like, way behind the times sort of young.

The youngest official marriageable age in Nibelheim was fourteen, and it was considered good luck if it happened, but luckily it was actually rare. Most of the time, the couple would court each other for a few years, then tie the knot at around sixteen or seventeen. Unfortunately, because people could get married at fourteen, courting could start the year before, and it was considered just as important. A young girl was definitely expected to at least consider a future partner around that age, and if one was chosen, she would then spend the year with him as much as possible before deciding whether or not to continue the relationship. If, for some unfathomable reason (probably brain damage of some sort), they decided they did want to get married at fourteen, it was usually done on the day of the bride's birthday. Apparently, having the birthday celebration and the marriage on the same day was considered even better luck.

At best, I would say I was getting fewer presents. I doubted anyone would want to hear my worst thoughts on the matter.

Cole shook his head and walked away when I didn't reply. I was grateful that he, at least, was considerate enough not to push the subject. I wondered what would happen to our family's reputation when they eventually got it through their heads that I wasn't going to marry any of the boys. Nothing good, probably, but we'd been through it once, and we could do it again.

'It's like Harvest Moon in reverse. All the boys are cringe worthy...I wonder if that would make the secret bachelor the nice one instead of the nightmare they usually are in the game. Seriously, who would want the Kappa?'

I was jerked out of these thoughts by a sharp sting. Looking down, I noticed with a sigh of annoyance that I'd gotten a paper cut. This was turning out to be one of the worst birthdays ever.

...Or maybe not.

"The Future of Mako Engery: An interview with Reeve Tuesti, creator of a new mako reactor design."

"Huh, I didn't know he came up with a reactor design...Darn it, he's actually really good looking..."

It wasn't that I'd been expecting him to be ugly. It was just...well, I hadn't expected the games to fall so short, either. The picture was small, and a little grainy, but it still showed that Reeve was a very handsome man- more so than what I remembered he'd been. How old would he be right now? Oh, wait, there it was in the first sentence.

Twenty-three?

He designed these things at twenty-three?! Now this guy was a prodigy if there ever was one. I may not have approved of the reactors, but I had been struggling in my math class when I was twenty-three the first time around...I continued to skim through the article but felt myself grow uneasy as I read on. Reeve really believed he was doing something good here. You could see it in the responses he gave. Did he know about what mako reactors did to the Planet yet? He must have had some idea, at least...right?

"My design should increase mako production by fifty percent while decreasing the amount of damage done to the environment."

Well, at least he knew about the environmental damage, but still not the damage to the Planet...When had he learned about the Lifestream, dang it?! It was times like these I wished I'd played the game, maybe they said something about that in there.

"The damage around Midgar will take a long time to reverse, but I hope to prevent that from happening to the areas with older reactor models. That's why I will be joining a team of technicians to these reactors and overseeing their work as they upgrade them. We should be done within the next few years."

Wait...

"What?!"

...This was not good.

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"Vincent!"

The gunman was instantly on alert as he heard the panicked tone in Castalia's voice and the fact that she was there to begin with. He hadn't been expecting her today, as she'd planned to spend the day with her family. When he turned to face her, he grew concerned at her pale face and the white-knuckled fist that tightly clenched around a newspaper.

"What is it?"

"ShinRa-..." His eyes narrowed at that hated word, and he instantly knew this was serious. "ShinRa's coming to Nibelheim."

Very serious.

"What are we going to do, Vin?! They're going to see that the manor is clean and ask around, o-or what if they find out you're not in that creepy coffin, or-"

He gripped her shoulders and shook her once to snap her out of her panic. "Tali." She quieted, and he felt his gaze soften when he saw how truly frightened she was. "How did you find out?"

She handed him the newspaper. "T-The article on page five. Near the end."

Making a mental note to compliment her later for keeping track of current events, he took the paper from her and read the article himself. When he finished, he remained silent, thinking over what could be done.

"Vincent?"

"...Hojo will not allow work on the reactor without some sort of precaution."

"Will he come here?"

Vincent felt some guilt enter him at the nervous question. He had told her about the man not too long ago, thinking that she needed to be prepared in case he ever decided to return to Nibelheim. If he had known that ShinRa would be coming so soon, he might have reconsidered.

"I wouldn't put it past him, but there is no way to say for sure." He paused as an idea finally came to him. "Castalia, you are interested in Mr. Tuesti."

He blinked when she turned red. It had been meant as an opening to his idea, but the reaction was...interesting. He looked down at the article again, this time paying closer attention to the photograph of ShinRa's new head of Urban Development. Amusement bubbled up within him when he realized that the younger man could be considered attractive by most women's standards. It seemed the appeal reached mature, thirteen-year-old girls, as well.

"I don't think Mrs. Graham would approve."

"S-Shut up. I have no idea what you're talking about. He's like, ten years older than me." She faltered, as if considering something, then flushed deeper. "You're a jerk, you know that? Now are you going to tell me what you're scheming or not?"

He chuckled but dropped the subject. "What I meant by my previous statement is that you should send a letter to Mr. Tuesti expressing your interest in his work."

"But I'm not interested."

"He doesn't have to know that."

She crossed her arms. "Careful, your Turk side is showing."

"It is needed. If he is the sort of person his responses imply he is, he will write back. From there, it should be simple enough to keep track of ShinRa's position through frequent communication."

"Until he realizes he's way smarter than me and gets bored. Or even worse, decides he wants to recruit me into his department for some reason."

"I would not let that happen."

She stared up at him, biting her lip as she thought it over. He didn't stop her. Having to do anything with ShinRa was a risk, even if it was something as simple as exchanging letters with the head of a relatively new department. He was asking a lot from her, so the least he could do was let her make the decision on her own.

"ShinRa still scares me, you know."

"I know."

"But...I trust you, Vincent. I know you wouldn't want me doing this unless you were sure...and I know you would never let anything happen to me...I'll do it."

He wasn't surprised at the trust she showed in him, but he still marveled at it just like he did every other time. With a small smile, he placed his hand on her head and gently ruffled her hair- an action he would only permit himself doing to her. "Then we will get started tomorrow. For now, I believe you should head home. Your parents are expecting you."

"I did kind of rush over here right after my shift..."

"No doubt Mr. Tuesti's impending visit distracted you. Were he not with ShinRa, I might have approved the choice."

"Vincent!"

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'Honestly,' I almost huffed while opening my presents that evening, 'Who knew Vincent had it in him to tease someone like that?'

Was he really that comfortable around me now? He had finally told me about how he came to be at the manor shortly after I agreed to learn gun usage from him, but he had told AVALANCHE too, and he hadn't been that relaxed around them.

So, what made it different?

'Please don't tell me I'm turning into some sort of Mary-Sue. I'd rather suffer a painful and prolonged death.'

Then there were my recent thoughts to worry about. The most serious being the uncertainty of what was going to come from this. I had avoided changing anything mostly because I knew that, even without interference, things would turn out okay for the most part. But in my panic, I had gone to Vincent, and now I was traveling on utterly unknown territory. How was I sure that ShinRa's visit hadn't happen in the original timeline? If I had left it alone like I had been doing-

No, that wouldn't have been okay, either, since Vincent was awake. Last time, he had been sleeping, and last time, there had been no Castalia Allen to screw it up.

Why hadn't I thought of this before?

The most I could do now was trust that Vincent knew what he was doing and that this all came out okay. Which led to my other less serious, but just as alarming thoughts (at least to me).

My crush on Reeve Tuesti.

I thought he was so much older, and while ten years was still a large gap, it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. In my last life, I wouldn't have even thought about romantically pursuing a man more than five years my senior (and that was pushing it), but it wasn't like my situation was entirely normal. I was paradoxically younger yet older than him at the same time (strangely enough, by almost the same amount of years).

Nymphadora Tonks, I both sympathize with and hate you so much right now.

When talking with Vincent, I had remembered that she had been about thirteen years younger than Remus, and I had still found the pairing absolutely adorable. I had also had a friend in my other life whose parents were eleven years apart, so it wasn't like it was completely unheard of...

No, no, this was a dangerous train of thought. I was going to step away from it now, thank you.

Besides, even though he'd seemed like a decent guy in the game, this was reality now. Just like with Cloud, there was a lot I didn't know about him. He was a stranger who I had a passing knowledge of...and who I would soon be in constant contact with if Vincent's plan pulled through.

Damn it all to hell, there was just no winning in this situation, was there?

'I want a redo, Minerva. Let me go back to being five again, please. Preferably in an even more out of the way place this time.'

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo ~Chapter End

I would totally choose Reeve over the three Firsts. Just saying.

Don't get me wrong, they're cool, but they've got some serious issues. I don't know if I could deal with it in the long run. Plus...Genesis and Sephiroth are kinda feminine in appearance. No offense. This doesn't mean that Reeve will be the one. Anything can happen.

On a different note, writing this story has made me learn some new things about the FF7 world. I had no idea ShinRa paid a visit to Nibelheim before Cloud left, or that Reeve came up with redesign for the mako reactors. It's good for my story and for my brain.

Finally, one reviewer has asked what Castalia looks like. I was planning on integrating descriptions as I went on, but there's no guarantee that I would ever get the chance to do that. So...appearance. Dark brown hair that looks black, hazel eyes, and lightly tanned skin (which is currently not so tan from growing up in a mountain environment). Hope that helps.

That covers this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!

[Edited on 4/23/20]

Main change to this chapter: Reeve's age. I slipped a bit and had him as nine years older than Cassie, not ten.

Minor changes: I made it clearer that Reeve was just redesigning the reactors, not that he was the one who came up with them to begin with. Also some spelling error correction and sentence rearrangement.