Chapter 6
Tifa nodded. "That's the spirit." She thought for awhile. "And since none of the people you met in Reeve's office use the gun-blade… it's going to be even harder to learn…"
Bernice looked up at Tifa and Tifa saw sheer determination in her eyes. "I can do it, I know I can."
"Alright, I'll talk to the others and come up with a conclusion. And, you can hold on to your weapon. Try getting used to its weight."
"Yea! Thanks Tifa."
As they walked together towards Bernice's room, Bernice fingered her new weapon. The blade and the trigger looked like they were made out of silver; the rest was a snowy white colour. Flowery patterns were engraved upon the blade. Bernice asked, "When does training start?"
"When the others and I come up with whose going to train you and figure out the timetable," said Tifa with a chuckle. Tifa admired the girl's enthusiasm for learning. She has no idea what she's in for.
ooOoo
At the end of the day, Tifa escorted Bernice to her room. Tifa reached in her pocket and pulled out a flip hand phone. It was silver and white in colour. "Here, the others and I thought this might come in handy. All our numbers are on speed dial but avoid calling unless it's very important." She hand the beautiful phone to Bernice. The phone had familiar markings on the cover, she took out her gun-blade. The markings were identical.
"But how did you…" she started.
"Call it a lucky guess," said Tifa with a sly wink. "You better get a good night's sleep, training will probably start tomorrow morning. Take a shower, the guest wardrobe has been filled a little for you." They said their goodnights and Tifa left.
Bernice stood in her room, looking at the two new items she was given today she felt a sudden urge to try them out. But, she decided against it. The commissioner wouldn't appreciate holes in the wall and furniture.
She sat down on her bed and placed her gun-blade beside her and flipped open her new phone. The setting was beautiful. Semitransparent buttons and a slick design. Well, she'd never seen this model in the states before but she loved it.
She opened her phonebook. Tifa was right, she did have all their hand phone numbers, even Shelke's. She closed her new phone and placed it on her bedside table. She, now, turned her attention to her gun-blade. Bernice decided that she had better take Tifa's advice and start getting used to its weight. She picked it up. There were no bullets inside, so she taught it would be safe to practice it a bit. She did so for about half an hour, until her muscles started screamed in protest.
As she sat down heavily on her bed again, she wondered how she would be able to use her gun-blade in battle if she could not even lift it for more than half an hour! She bitterly reminded herself that her weapon wasn't even loaded.
She took a quick shower and looked in the wardrobe that was located not far from the bathroom. She donned a simple nightgown and lay down to sleep. Her gun-blade glimmered in the pale moonlight that shone through her window, on her bedside table next to her phone.
ooOoo
A WRO soldier appeared outside her door long after she had taken her breakfast and changed into her usual attire. The soldier informed her that the commissioner wanted to see her in his office.
She pocketed the new phone Tifa gave her last night. Bernice knew that she should probably bring along her gun-blade, though she not very sure where to pocket it. It would be terribly ill at ease for her to simply hold it in her hand as she walked. She finally decided to put it in one of the big pockets in her sleeveless coat. Looking in the mirror and patting her coat down to make the weapon beneath as unnoticeable as possible.
Having good and accurate memory since childhood, she soon found herself walking towards the double door Tifa had taken her to the other day. On one of the doors, there was a bronze plate that said: Commissioner Reeve Tuesti. On either side of the door, two WRO soldiers stood guard. Seeing Bernice approaching, one of them announced her arrival and a familiar voice was heard, "Oh, good, we've been expecting her. Let her in."
Bernice reached the door after the guard had come out again. They stood to one side and saluted as the two doors slid aside, bidding her entrance. She had to admit, she felt awkward at being saluted by the soldiers.
The doors slid close and Reeve stood up in greeting and said, "Well, good morning Bernice. I hope you slept well."
"Good morning, Commissioner, and yes, I did sleep well." Bernice looked around the room. This time, only five people including her were present. Three figures who stood on the left side of the room nodded to her in acknowledgement. She recognized them. Tifa was standing in between two men, both which Bernice had already met. Cloud Strife stood on Tifa's right hand side and Vincent Valentine stood to her right.
All of a sudden, Vincent's gazed narrowed. Feeling very uncomfortable under his gaze, Bernice shifted her weight uneasily.
In a swift movement, Vincent threw a black item at Bernice, which she caught easy enough. In the deep, coarse voice, he said, "Continued using your pockets as holsters and you'll saw a hole in your coat."
Bernice blushed slightly and took a closer look at what Vincent and thrown her. It was a black, leather holster with a matching leather belt. She took out her gun-blade from her coat pocket and saw that Vincent was right. The thread was being cut as she walked. She then deposited it in the holster Vincent gave her. She pulled the belt around her waist, letting her gun-blade hang limply beside her. It was a perfect fit.
"Thanks," said a still slightly scarlet Bernice.
"Bernice," said Reeve. "We have become aware that you have chosen the gun-blade as your weapon. Are you sure? There's no turning back after you've started your training."
"I'm sure." Bernice said firmly, in tone which reminded Cloud of Tifa.
Tifa was next to speak. "In that case, Bernice, meet your new instructors! I'll be instructing you in hand-to-hand combat and since none of us use the gun-blade, you'll have to learn the two functions separately. Cloud will be teaching you the art of sword-fighting and Vincent will take care of target practice."
Bernice stood, stunned for a moment. For the first time, Cloud spoke, "You object?"
Then, realizing how obvious that she was dumbstruck, she shook the feeling away. "No, it's not that. It's just that… I didn't think that I'd be trained by the heroes of the previous three wars."
Raising an eyebrow, Reeve asked, "You know about the three wars?"
Before Bernice could say anything, Tifa stepped in. "Reeve, if you didn't want people to know we were the heroes of the previous wars, you shouldn't have made those big, golden plates with our names on em'."
At this, everyone (except Vincent, that is, who merely shook his head) laughed.
Tifa continued, "I'll be teaching you hand-to-hand combat every morning from now on at 7 o'clock sharp. After lunch, you'll have a two hour break, and then in the afternoons, you'll have lessons with either Vincent or Cloud. Vincent on odd days—that is, Mondays, Wednesdays and so forth; and Cloud on even days. Is that clear?"
"Transparently!" replied Bernice enthusiastically. I can't wait, bring it on!