Waking up to loud banging emanating from the front door was not the typical silent morning Tifa enjoyed. Especially when the knocked happened to be Reno and Lazard was right behind him. Tifa pulled her robe closer, working the rollers out as she followed them into her home. Reno's eyes darted around the apartment before he turned around to look at Lazard who, relaxed at the top of the three steps that led down into the living room, nodded his approval.

"To what do I owe this honor?" Tifa grumbled from the coffee pot. The filter cup snapped shut at an odd angle.

Lazard glanced over his shoulder at her, "your friend Miss. Lockhart." Tifa slowed her mug of coffee to a stop, brows knitting together then to Reno who shrugged offering a solemn expression full of repentance and remorse.

"Friend?"

Lazard inhaled then let out a strangled breath, "Tifa, please don't play stupid with me."

Tifa's eyes narrowed and she took a swig of her coffee. "Go ahead and look, Lazard, you won't find anything." Lazard nodded turning to Reno. Reno, tapping the top of a side table began his search. Twenty minutes later the entire apartment was turned upside down, clothing littered the hallway, the replacement moogle clock skewed on the wall. In short, it looked like a tornado had gone through the entire abode, a tornado named Reno. Tifa kept her composure standing behind the sink counter that looked over the living room with a mild disinterest at the appalling scene before her.

"There is no one else here Director."

"Did your friend step out?"

Tifa groaned as she stood up, setting her mug on the only clean counter space. "No Lazard," she could bore the dead to a new plain of existence with the tone of voice. "There was just me here." She gave him a small smile to hide her irritation. "If you guys are done destroying my apartment I would like to get dressed for work."

Silence fell on the apartment for a brief second till Lazard nodded his head, "yes, Reno lets go."

Reno rolled his eyes after Lazard had turned around and mouthed 'sorry' to Tifa. Her tight-lipped smile and nod was a mutual understanding that she wasn't mad at him, but Lazard had better stay away. Darting to the door as the latch clicked she watched them from her peephole till the pair rounded the corner at the far end of the hall. Exhaling she flipped the deadbolt, sliding to the floor with her head on the cool wood.

"Is everything alright Tifa, your room is naturally a mess by today your home is absolute," Tifa glared at the djinn an effective way to quiet him down.

"Sephiroth, you can't stay here."

The djinn snorted crossing his arms, "why not?"

"Your little escapade last night caught the eyes of two of the four most powerful men in Midgar, not to say a third hasn't caught wind of you, but the fourth hasn't shown up yet…you can't stay here." The look of confusion reminded her of the husky puppy from the night before. Pushing her self up from the uncomfortable kneeling position, we need something other than the hardwood in the hallway, Tifa brushed a hand through her roller filled hair. "You can't…" The cloud of black disappeared, the home returned to it pre-Reno condition as the words tumbled in a soft whisper.

Sighing, Tifa closed her eyes trudging down the hall, through the kitchen, a left, down another hall then to her room where the dahlia vase sat. The morning light split through the vase turning the floor where its shadow should be a light blue. Tifa peered into the flute of the vase her sight searching the black void for a flicker of silver but found nothing. With a sigh, she moved away leaving the stopper to rest beside it on the bedside table.

Cloud frowned tapping his foot on the ground, Rufus peered over his templed fingers to the youngest son. Cloud, growing tired of this cat and mouse game, looked at the middle brother, "What Rufus?"

"You have no idea who this guy is? Aren't you the one that fancies Tifa?"

"I don't stalk her! Look, I told you the guys name is Sephiroth."

Rufus hummed looking away from his brother to Tseng as the man offered a worn tome to his boss, "yes Sephiroth, he seemed to recognize Genesis instantly."

Cloud stilled, "Genesis, you mean that red-headed magician- "

"Infritrian," Rufus corrected earning a snort from Cloud.

Cloud stood shaking his head, "you believe that Genesis is some sort of mystical being." The carnation pink hue of Rufus' cheeks told him all he needed to know, "oh sweet Shiva's tits, Rue. You can't, seriously, believe this crap. That's like dad believing Aerith is some Cetra, ancient being that communed with the Planet."

Rufus looked up from the worn book, "Cloud, just be careful. Genesis is a powerful being, Corneo just got to him before we could. Your closest to Tifa, try and talk to her. Try to get a meeting with this Sephiroth."

The office door opened, Lazard stepping in with Reno on his heels. Cloud twisted leveling Lazard with a menacing glare. Like the eldest sibling, Lazard brushed it off as nothing more than one of Cloud's attempts to assert his authority. "Any luck?"

Lazard shook his head, "No, we found nothing."

Tseng's eyes flicked to Reno who seemed to shrink away, what had he found?

"Oh, Tifa!" Yuffie whined on the other side of the line, "I heard what happened at the Battle Arena, are you alright, I asked daddy if I could come and visit, I'll be there tomorrow morning!"

Tifa blinked trying to process the word tsunami that Yuffie thrust through the phone, "tomorrow?" She quirked a brow, dropping enough gil for the two hotdogs in her palm, "I'm sorry Yuf, what is tomorrow?"

"I'm coming home! I can't wait, oh Tifa we need a girls' night out! I can't wait, you, me and Aerith. I need to get my hair done and oh!" She stopped, a giggle erupting from the ear speaker, "I can't wait to surprise Rufus," the naughtiness in her tone forced a flare of red to Tifa's cheeks. "Anyways, I'm gonna go, girl. I can't wait for this babe, we are going to paint Midgar red, like Reno's hair."

Tifa sat fish mouthed on the bench, hotdogs steaming beside her. Having worked out Yuffie's rapidly spoken words Tifa reached out for a hotdog and picked up nothing. Patting the bench, she looked down finding the hotdogs had quiet accurately went to the dogs. A familiar pup stared up at her, a half-eaten hot dog sticking from its maw.

"You again?" The pup gobbled the remaining half of the hot dog then licked her hand. "Don't you have a home?" A soft whimper was the only answer as the puppy looked like she had personally injured him. The same look the djinn had briefly shown that morning. Although Tifa knew he had a different reason as Sephiroth was forced to live with her, much like this dog had been forcefully abandoned by its owner.

If guilt had a physical form, it had just smacked Tifa in the face as the pup continued to look at her with shame. Looking down at the ground, Tifa's eyes roamed the crumb-covered cobblestone path, Sephiroth didn't want this any more than the abandoned pup wanted to beg for scraps. "Hey boy, why don't you wait here, and you can come home with me tonight, after work?"

The rapidly beating tail was more than an answer, it was a promise. As Tifa walked down the park's path towards the furthest section of the downtown city she looked back, the puppy sat there, tail picking up it's beating wag as she smiled at him then waved. What a sweet dog.