Several weeks had rolled by since Cloud Strife had left. He had left to pay his respects for AVALANCH's fallen comrade. Aeris Grainsbrough. Why does such a trip take several weeks? Why wasn't he back yet? Why did Cloud leave behind his phone, his only source of contact?

These were the exact questions that kept rolling around Tifa's head. She knew that he was planning to leave, he even told her about it. What she didn't understand was why he left the way he did.

Was calling her downstairs in search of his phone, a way to distract her from worry? Did he think that giving her a fake sense of security, the illusion of being able to find him , would make his leaving easier on both of them?

It was just one big confusing mess.

Another loud thud went through the silence, the sledgehammer's shock vibrated dully through her arms, as she made impact with the wall that separated the spare room and the storage unit. Tifa had decided that the 'seventh heaven' bar held to many old memories, and was a dream of the past. The new renovations that were taking place were for her new inn called the 'traveler'. Now that Midgar was getting a complete overhaul in construction, due to the plate's fall, she figured that tourism would pick up and that people would be looking for a place to stay.

Bits and pieces of the white drywall flung from each swing and settled on top of the beauty's raven hair. It looked like flakes of snow, or misshapen stars in a black carpet of sky. Today Tifa had changed from her usual garb and donned a pair of simple green cargos pants and longer, fuller white tank top.

She huffed and set the sledgehammer down on the floor beside her and stepped back to inspect how much more work needed to be done. While pulling down the red scarf that covered her lower face, the only thing that she could find to stop her from getting debris in her lungs, she could see that she had done a surprisingly decent job. The crossbeams were gone and all that was now left of the wall was its frame. A small amount of self pride bubbled within her. Why hire someone if you can do it yourself?

After messily throwing back her long hair into a low pony tail, Tifa took a break from the task at hand and flopped down onto the of edge of the bed that cloud had use to sleep in. She had decided that it would still be here for him when and if he ever came back. While she laid and stared up at the colourless ceiling that she contemplated painting, she let the daily whirlwind of wonderings, worries, and daydreams fill her mind. It was still early, and the july sun had brightened the once dreary settlement. Now that the sun was actually able to reach its rays to Midgar's ground, trees, grass, and other vegetation had begun to spread rapidly just outside the city's limits.

Sense Tifa's time no longer revolved around bar keeping, and due to the new renovations for the inn, she was able to come and go as she pleased. She had accomplished more than she had expected to for the day, and on that note, decided to leave the slightly messy makeover project, and head out for some fresh air.

"hmm...it's so bright out, I bet the 'hill' would look amazing at this time of day.." Amidst the mindless fluff of her thinking, an idea had popped into her head. After eagerly hopping from the bed, and crossing the hallway to her own room, she rummaged through a large cardboard box that was starting to accumulate 

dust in the corner of her small closet. A few sneezes' and eye rubs later, Tifa triumphantly hauled out an affectionately tattered sketchbook, and several short pieces of charcoal.

Unknown to others, Tifa had a hidden talent besides fixing a mean drink; she was a artist of sorts. Ever sense she was little she would sketch, draw, and even paint. At the time it was just something to feign off boredom, but as years passed it became a part of her.

With her supplies in hand, she set off, locking the door behind her.

The 'Hill' was what Tifa referred to as her own getaway. It was a small hilly terrain that was surrounded by the ticket of a nearby wood.

She bent her knee's and stretched out her right arm behind her to help settle herself down underneath the shade. "...I bet she would have loved this place...all the green, the flowers, the pink..." she paused, only slightly, as the thought of the flower girl came and went again, like a lazy breeze. Even with Cloud obvious affection and devotion to the departed female, Tifa could hold no ill will for the planets savoir

Just as she started to sketch in the magnificent tall oaks by a lone weeping willow, peeping between its swaying branches and the sunlight, her wine irises settled on a peculiar sight. Not far off in the distance, about a half a mile where she sat, there was an odd clearing. The top of several trees where horribly bent, or snapped off completely. It was as if something shot out of the sky and made a crash landing.

"I wonder...it couldn't be a Shinra chopper..." Curious and excited by the slight aspect of adventure, Tifa gathered her sketchbook under her arm, and began to jog over to the bizarre clearing.

Little did she know that somewhere in the mysteries of the planet, form the Ancients that watched above,

that there would be great responsibility thrown upon her.