A couple years before Cloud Strife was born, a young woman from Nibelheim worked tirelessly at the inn. as it was the only place of interest besides the Shinra Manor. It was off limits to the villagers; some however were granted special permission be it for services, or favored guest for of those who inhabited the manor. She had only been privileged enough to enter the grounds beyond the gate for a festival which her services as a waitress were required. It was an art festival of some unknown artist from Midgar. It was that event where fate had decreed she would meet her match. The oil paintings were of the various points in the village, the jagged foreboding mountains with and without a sunset, and one of a terrifying green dragon.

Claudia had never seen a dragon in her life nor had her folks, but her grandfather had told her stories of magnificent yet terrifying creatures that lurked in the wild that had always captured her imagination. Claudia remembers the construction of the Nibelheim reactor deep in the mountains which Shinra always had the most bizarre individuals show up. Not all were lucky enough to stay in the manor and were forced to stay at the inn. While she was at the festival she caught the glimpse of a young stocky and tall buffed blond haired man with the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. She could not look away.

"Excuse me! I'm talking to you! I need another glass of wine!" one researcher almost yelled waving his wine glass in such a manor that he might actually throw it at her.

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry, right away!" Claudia said taking the glass to refill it keeping her eye on the young man who just happened to be walking through the grounds almost as if no one had noticed him. She dashed back to the kiosk further away to get another bottle of wine. She refilled the glass and quickly returned to her whiny patron.

"Here it is, I'm sorry"

"About time... I swear these people..." the researcher went on ungratefully sipping his wine with his colleagues.

Claudia quickly glanced back where the young man was wandering, but he was no where in sight to her disdain. She looked around almost in a panic hoping to get one more glance but it was not to be. She ran back and forth for mostly ungrateful researchers with the exception of two, and then she was relieved. She walked home with a couple of the other girls from the village. The town watchmen always had look outs at the edge of both sides of town for wandering monsters which were slowly increasing in frequency. Many had theorized it had to do with that strange reactor in the mountains while others said it was the strange experiments in the Shinra Manor.

Claudia returned back to her other job at the inn relieving the owner who had graciously allowed her to earn some extra gil by taking on a couple of the jobs Shinra had offered to the villagers. The pay was a lot higher than almost every job within the village.

"You look a little tired Claudia, are you going to be ok?" the owner asked with a bit of concern as she entered the inn.

"I'm fine, just a litle frazzled after dealing with those folks"

"I understand completely..." the owner, a young man in his early thirties and long sandy blond side burns agreed.

"We have one last room available and I think someone will claim it before we close our doors at eleven tonight" the owner said looking at the guest book.

Claudia joined the owner looking at the guest logs reading the names of no one she recognized.

The monotonous hum-drum life in the village had no zest and Claudia longed for a change in scenery, a little adventure, and a little romance.

"I think you should be fine, if you need anything you know how to reach me" then the owner left Claudia alone at the desk with nothing but the bell and the guest log book.

Claudia stared out the windows into the dimly lit streets. The town was very quiet tonight and the more she thought about it, the more she thought of leaving Nibelheim and trying her luck in Midgar. She could be a seemstress? A cook? A maid? Maybe even a dancer? Then she changed her mind about being a dancer, her modest personality would not allow it. She had thought about where in Midgar she would live thinking about somewhere up on the plate. Maybe she would meet a man in a suit who worked for Shinra who made a generous salary.

"Na..." she shook her head thinking she did not want to be obligated to any man just so she could be in a prestigious position.

"Don't worry Claudia, you'll know it when the right one comes, you'll feel butterflies in your tummy and feel light as a feather" Claudia's mother would tell her on a couple of occasions. Claudia felt a little anxious as two of her friends were already engaged to be married. At 17 years old, the girls in the village were already seeing steady young men planning on getting engaged. This was life in the country, you followed in your mother's or father's footsteps and began your own family. Life was not easy as many responsibilities were given to the children growing up forcing them to grow up faster than most kids in the city with the exception of those who lived in poverty.

Claudia Strife couldn't think of a boy in the village she really liked. The only one she even had an inkling for left for Midgar two years previously leaving those whom she was simply not interested in. Her father was a hunter and carpenter and was a big stocky man with calloused hands and a strawberry blond beard. Sometimes she felt her father frightened off anyone who may have wanted to pursue her which to her was a not a bad thing.

"Whoever it is you decide to go steady with, I want to meet" her father would say sternly at the dinner table.

"Father, you know you would frighten them away" Claudia would laugh.

"I want my daughter to wed a man, not a boy who needs a nursemaid to look after him. I want to look him in the eye and see if he is man enough" he would answer gruffly.

Claudia thought about the strict flannel life she lived in Nibelheim with the spice of Shinra coming in and actually making things a little more interesting. She knew her father would never allow her to go to Midgar as a single young woman so she began thinking about how she would leave until the door to the inn shook her out of her musings.

"Good evening...how are..." Claudia choked as she realized it was the young man from the Shinra mansion with the bright blond hair and electric blue eyes.

"Excuse me miss, but do you have any rooms for the night?"