Chapter 4

It didn't take long before Reeve Tuesti and the others who were present in the meeting room to arrive where Tifa held an unconscious 18-year-old in her arms.

The commissioner was first to speak. "How…"

"She passed out." Tifa replied, sounding worried.

Reeve nodded "Hmm…I expected as much." He signaled for two WRO soldiers and instructed them to take Bernice to the ward. When they had left, he continued. "In theory, the different worlds which exist vibrate at different wavelengths. She'll be feeling disoriented until her body can adjust to our wavelength. I should think you experienced similar symptoms when you first arrived at her home world, Tifa?"

Tifa nodded. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Cloud shifting uncomfortably. As she got up, she crossed her arms and said, "Ya know, you could have warned me about that before I left…"

The commissioner shrugged. "Like I said, I only knew that 'in theory', not for a fact. Anyway, I heard from Vincent that you saw Deep Ground while you were there…"

Just then, it hit Tifa like a ton of bricks. "Reeve, they didn't seem the least bit disoriented when I saw them. And he was with them…Weiss. He looked a bit scared and mangled, but he's alive." At this, Vincent shifted involuntarily.

"Yes, well, it looks like DG beat us to inter-dimensional travel. The point is, now that she's here, we may as well teach her to defend herself. It's the best way to protect her, after all. I'll leave the arrangements to you lot. I'm counting on you." Then, before anyone could make any 'further contributions', the commissioner turned and left.

When the others had gone, Cloud approached Tifa. "So…you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Told you I could handle it!"

Several days later, in the WRO headquarters' ward, the teenager awoke with a start. Shaking the fuzziness away, she saw that she was lying on a hospital bed. She sat up and glanced around. At the far end of the ward, a young woman with long, black hair sat snoozing in a chair. Hey, I think I know her. Then, she remembered the night in the park, the chase and… Oh boy, I don't think I'm in the States anymore… She took a moment to weigh her options. Well, she did save my life back there. She drew her thoughts to a conclusion. She gathered up her courage and got out of bed.

Bernice walked calmly (well, as calmly as she could, anyways) towards the dozing woman and gently tapped her on the shoulder. She stirred.

"Well, hello there. Look who's finally up." The young woman greeted her with a smile. She held out her hand and said, "I'm Tifa Lockheart. Welcome to Gaia."

"Gaia?" Bernice cocked her head in confusion. She shook Tifa's hand. "Hi, I'm Bernice. Thanks for saving me before. How long have I been out?"

"A few days. Say, you still feeling dizzy?"

"I'm fine. Just a little groggy from sleep, that's all."

"Great! In that case, shall we go meet the others? They've been waiting for you to awaken."

"Waiting…for me? Why?" asked Bernice, feeling more puzzled than ever.

"Never mind that for now. Shelke will fill you in later. So, how bout' it, wanna take a tour of our WRO headquarters?"

"WRO?"

"Yea, the World Regenesis Organization."

Not really sure what to say. Bernice nodded. "Ok. And um, who is Shelke?

"Don't worry bout the details, we're going to meet them now."

Tifa led Bernice out of the doors of the vast ward. Outside the door, two WRO soldiers saluted to Tifa as they walked past. Bernice cast a backward glance. Wow, Tifa must be some kind of commander...

Bernice looked around. As far as she could tell, they were on the ground floor. She gazed upwards and saw that the WRO headquarters consisted of many floors. Soldiers in the same uniform patrolled the building and they would occasionally past a few who would instantly stopped to salute and continue with what business they were on after Tifa returned their salutes.

Tifa led her past three golden plates which caught Bernice's eye. She stopped and read the words the capital letters on the first plate. Heroes of the Jenova War. Bernice looked down on the long list of names. Reeve Tuesti, Cloud Strife, Yuffie Kisaragi, Nanaki (Red XIII), Cid Highwind… Tifa Lockheart…

Whoa! Wait a minute! Tifa… Lockheart…?

She continued reading the second gold plate.

Heroes of the Reunion War.

Cloud Strife

Barret Wallace

Yuffie Kisaragi

Tifa Lockheart

…

Bernice rubbed her eyes for a second, and then stared at the plate again. There was her name again. Bernice tore her eyes away from the second plate and glanced at the last plate.

Heroes of the Dirge of Cerberus

Vincent Valentine

Reeve Tuesti

Cait Sith

Shalua Rui

Shelke Rui

Yuffie Kisaragi

Cloud Strife

Tifa Lockheart

…

Bernice stood, dumbstruck. Whoa, hero of THREE wars. She sure has been busy.

"I'm glad all that is over, our world is currently recovering from the last one." Tifa said, suddenly appearing beside Bernice, making her jump. Bernice could only nod in amazement. Apparently, she had somehow fallen in with important company… "Shall we continue?" Tifa's voice pierced through her thoughts.

All of a sudden, Tifa's phone rang. She flipped it open and answered it. "Hi. Yea, she's awake now, I was thinking of introducing… hmm… sure, we're on our way. Meet you guys there."

She replaced her phone in her pocket and said to Bernice. "Come on, we'll be meeting the others in the commissioner's office." Tifa led Bernice towards the elevators which were located across the hallway.

They entered the neat, spacious office, where a small crowd gathered. The man who sat behind a desk stood up. I guess that must be the commissioner. Bernice tried her best to muster a sweet smile as she shook everyone's hand. Meanwhile, Tifa introduced each member present.

"This is Commissioner Reeve…" Tifa started.

"Tuesti?" asked Bernice.

"Yes…" Replied the stunned commissioner. "How'd you…"

Bernice shrugged as Tifa introduced the second person that was present. "Cloud…" Tifa said as she indicated a man with spiky hair.

"Strife." Bernice finished for Tifa. "Whoops, sorry…force of habit…" She blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"No problem," said Tifa as she moved on. "Yuffie Kisaragi, Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind…" As Tifa gestured towards a small figure who sat on Reeve's desk, Bernice's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Awesome! That is the most adorable plushie…" Bernice said as she picked the small figure up. To her surprise, the figure started to struggle.

"Plushie!" yelled Cait Sith. "I happened to be a very…" Bernice jumped backwards, dropping him in the process. "Whoa!" she exclaimed.

At this point, Tifa rolled her eyes heavenward and gave Cloud and Reeve her 'I-told-you-so' look.

As Bernice attempted to kneel down and apologize, a big furry creature strolled out from behind the crowd. It said, "Calm down, friend. I'm sure she didn't mean to insult you."

At the sight of Nanaki, Bernice fell backwards, and she stared fixatedly at him. "Whoa…you're the biggest dog I've ever seen! ... Did you just talk!"

Nanaki turned to Tifa, thoroughly puzzled. "What's a 'dog'?" he asked.

Tifa shook her head. "Never mind." She helped the still dumbfounded teen to her feet. She indicated the small cat/ plushie-like figure, "This is Cait Sith, and that…" she indicated the massive creature, "…is Nanaki. He's not a dog, and yes, he can talk."

Bernice nodded, "Sorry bout' the mix-up." She blushed once more.

After that, Tifa noticed something. "Where's…"

Cloud said, "He had some business to attend to."

When they had finished 'properly' getting acquainted with each other, Reeve spoke. "Well, Bernice. We welcome you to our world and hope that you'll be able to make the most of your time here with us…Tifa, why don't you take her to see Shelke and fill her in on what's going on? Then perhaps she can go and meet with her new er…instructors."