Tifa wanted to talk to her sister alone. But first she had to get through a somewhat awkward lunch. Sophia latched on to Marlene immediately, talking to her about all the fun places around Seoul they could go. She was still very child-like in a lot of ways so kids always seemed attracted to her aura. But this time it was an obvious attempt at having as little dialogue with Tifa as possible.

After finishing lunch, Cristal took Marlene by the hand to meet the daughter of one of their live-in maids, Sammi who was around her age. Blake gave Tifa the keys to Sophia's Jeep and the access code to their fleet of cars stored in one of the other buildings around the home.

"Sophia, why don't you take Tifa to her bedroom and show her around the house." Blake said as he got up from the chair. "You're free to spend the afternoon however you want as long as Tifa's with you. Otherwise, be ready by six. We'll be going out for dinner downtown tonight." He patted his adoptive daughter's shoulder before making his way out of the dining room. Sophia signed in response.

"Well, I guess we should start the tour by heading to where you and Marlene will be staying." The younger Lockhart lead her out the dining room into a hallway. On the way to the "West Wing" as Sophia called the area where the bedrooms were, she stopped to show Tifa the sunroom, family room, and theater. The mansion was just over 20,000 square feet, not including the Chocobo stable, gym, beach house, and garage. This is unbelievable. I never dreamt that people in this world other than President Shinra lived like this. Tifa knew that her godparents were well off, but she never imagined how rich they were. They had always seemed so down to earth in her interactions when they visited Nibelheim and when accompanying Sophia on visits.

"Hey, just so you know..." Sophia started to say, snapping Tifa out of her thoughts, "don't go in this bedroom here. It's Bryson's old room and even though Blake and Cristal don't ever go in there, unless they give permission it's best to stay out." Tifa nodded, understandably. She remembered playing with Bryson when they came to Nibelheim. He was the same age as Tifa but was killed accidently in a skirmish involving Shinra army and deserters that took place in the middle of Mideel. This happened almost two years before their town had been burned to the ground.

"Ok, so here is your room just down this way and right across from mine." She pointed at the door on the opposite side before turning the knob to the door that would belong to Tifa. Her eyes grew in amazement as Tifa entered the room. The room was just like the rest of home, really big. A king size bed with a red and grey comforter sat in the middle of the room. There was a nightstand on both sides, a large dark brown dresser on the far left wall that had a matching vanity next to it.

Three ladder style bookshelves filled with books, candles, framed art, and other forms of décor were on the far right wall. A small, but cozy couch was nearby providing the perfect place for a leisurely read. There was a huge writing desk with three large drawers across it with plenty of pencils and stationary sitting atop it. The one real photo that was framed sat atop it as well – One of the two sisters from about two years ago at a shopping mall on the upper plate of Sector 7.

As Tifa walked further into the room, she noticed the bay window seating that hid in a sitting area. On the opposite side of this seating was a baby grand piano and violin. Tifa was absolutely amazed. "Did you decorate this room?" It has everything I've ever wanted.

Rubbing the back of her head, Sophia nodded. "Yeah, I tried it fill it up with everything that I thought would make it feel like home to you. I even gave you the better room. Mine doesn't have a balcony like this one." Tifa looked at her sister with guilt as she realized that Sophia had always been hoping that she would stay with them for all these years.

"You did a great job, Sophia. Thank you. As long as I have you, I always have a place to call home."

"Right." She looked down at her feet now as the emotions started to well up. "So what do you want to do til dinner?"

"Why don't we talk for a bit. I haven't had a long chat with you in a while." She ushered Sophia to sit in the couch and took a seat next to her. "Have you been able to keep up with your studies ok now that you're taking your classes at home?"

"Yup, they just send me the assignments and I finish them. Actually takes me less than half a school day usually to finish." Sophia fidgeted with her hands on her lap. It was obvious to Tifa that she didn't want to talk, but she couldn't take any more of this.

"So want to tell me why you hit that girl? Did she do something that caused you to react that way?"

"Got anger issues. Mix that with being taught how to fight and that doesn't mix well." Sophia was also growing tired of this game. Her sister had always acted more like a mother than a sister towards her and she wasn't about to hear another lecture.

"You've always been a bit temperamental. But this is too far out of control for you."

"Nope, I think it's just part of my character to punch someone who pisses me off."

"Well, what about her upset you so much? I want to understand."

"A lot of things upset me. She just pissed me off at the wrong time."

"Why is it happening, Sophia? Something caused this, please tell me what it is so I can help." Tifa was started to plead with her sister which just upset Sophia more. She didn't feel the sister who left her had any right to ask what was bothering her.

"Teenage angst. Puberty's a bitch."

"Please stop deflecting, Sophia."

"We're just going to go in circles, so just leave it already."

Tifa was starting to feel upset by the exchange. "I'm not leaving it alone. You're throwing away your future that should be really hard to do considering the advantages that you have."

"I didn't earn any of the those advantages."

"No you didn't. You were blessed with them."

"More like cursed. We lost everything in exchange for me getting a fancy new, empty life."

The comment put Tifa over the edge to anger. "Blake and Cristal have done everything for you out of love. Don't ever let me hear you say anything like that. Thank Gaia that mom and dad aren't around to see you grow up to be so ungrateful and mean."

"They never shoulda had another kid then. You're already perfect and I was bound to be a fuck up."

Tifa shook her head. "That's not true at all. Does this have something to do with me, Sophia?"

"It's not all about you. But when you've been hurt it turns into anger at some point."

"What's hurt you? Please tell me so I can help. We can work it together."

"I already did. On some asshole's face and a classmate's. That will probably tide me over for a while."

"Stop it, Sophia. I can't believe I'm talking to my sister right now."

This time it was Sophia who shook her head. "Do you even know your sister? I've see you for a few days a month or less for the past five years. We're sisters by blood, obviously not bond or never would have left me. You're literally the last person who gets to have a say in anything that I have said or done since that day.

Feeling tears well up, Sophia started towards the hallway, not wanting her sister to see her cry.

Before she could leave the room, Tifa grabbed her from behind and pulled her in tightly in a hug. "I know that my sister, Sophia is headstrong, arrogant, impulsive." This made her squirm around.

"She can also handle herself a little too well in a fight, is definitely one of the popular girls in school, and has impeccable style. She can hack into any computer system in Gaia and has an IQ of a genius." Sophia stopped squirming.

"Sophia, I love you unconditionally. I left you here so you could have a better life and a chance at being happy. But I've obviously caused you a lot of hurt and pain. I miss you like crazy all the time, but I'm here now and I won't leave unless you want to. Please, forgive me." Tifa's voice was shaking as she shared her feeling with Sophia.

"Tifa…" She started to say. Gripping gotta her sister's forearms that were still wrapped around her, she continued her thoughts, "You don't have anything to apologize for. Neither of us were prepared for all of stuff that happened to us."

Letting go, she looked into her sisters eyes. "Sorry about the verbal assault. I don't want to fight with you. This is gonna sound clinqe teenage angst but I feel like its me against the world right now. I just need you here right now".

"You have me, always have. But will you tell what's been going on with you? Please, I promise that I'll be here to take it on together."

"No, I can't." She shook her head. "We've already gotten into a fight and you've barely been here an hour. That's its for our counseling session."

Putting a hand on each of Sophia's arms, Tifa nodded, with a smile she said "I think we made good progress. Let's go find Marlene . Then we can figure out where to go for maybe some sightseeing?"

"Hell yeah! I've been grounded forever! As big as this house is, after a while it still feels like being in jail when you can't leave!" Adding a grin and wink, "That's the other reason it's nice to have you here. Blake and Crystal pretty much handed you all the keys to Seoul and they are fine with me tagging along with the responsible, perfect sister."

Play punching her always mischievous sister, "Better watch that mouth and be nice! Me being here is definitely not going to be a hall pass for more bad behavior!"

Exchanging smiles, Sophia lead the way to get the little girls. I'm so glad you're here, sis. She thought guiltily.