The day had finally come for the school board's meeting to decide Sophia's punishment for fighting with her classmate. It was held at 5 p.m. at the school, when it should be largely empty. Tifa noticed that there were quite a few groups of teens that seemed to be hanging around outside the entrance of the school. She noted that despite Sophia's mean girl demeanor at times, she seemed to be genuinely popular.

When Sophia's main group of friends arrived, She pulled Tifa and Marlene to introduce them.

"Hiya girls", she said happy to see her besties. "This is my older sister Tifa and this little cutie is Marlene who she helps take care of"

Marlene looked excited at the girls "Wow you guys look like so pretty."

The group that Sophia ran around with were the most elite in their grade. "You're a pretty girl, yourself! Glad I don't have to compete with you when it comes to boys!" Stassi Villanova was one of four sisters who's father was top banker and mother ran a fashion and accessory empire. She was always dressed the fanciest to every event which you wouldn't think because her favorite pastime was watching and playing sports.

"Eww, daddy says no boys until I'm at least as old as Tifa."

"Your dad's got the right idea. Grow up to be a strong woman on your own who doesn't need to rely on a man." Ariana Worthington's parents ran a billion dollar medical device and pharmaceutical company. Their family had a tradition of being accepted into the Seoul army's elite team called Terra. Ariana and her 10 year old brother both planned to follow their older sister in that tradition.

"I want to be like Tifa when I grow up! Sophia is pretty and smart but she gets in trouble too much." said Marlene which made Sophia wince a bit. When compared to Tifa, the younger Lockhart had always felt a bit inferior.

"Well Marlene you are pretty smart already to know what a good role model should be like. " Isabelle Castile was a princess from a small kingdom in the Mideel area. She was second in line for the throne after her older brother.

"Are you really Sophia's sister? I mean you two look alike, but seems like Sophia got all the bad traits." Madison Huff was a gifted student whose family was from the middle class and attend Seoul Academy on a full scholarship. Both of her parents were high school teachers that encouraged her and her two older brothers to excel in education.

Tifa could only chuckle back as an answer, "We are definitely sisters. Sophia's talented at causing trouble and I'm the one that pulls her out when she's in a pinch" Sophia glared at her, pretending to be hurt. Over the past few days, they had gotten closer although still had tightly locked their emotions towards each that had festered for five years.

"Well, hopefully we can show you that its not your sister's friend group that's influencing the bad behavior", Ariana said measuredly.

"What the heck is the point of enemies when I got friends like you all to talk bad about me?" Sophia waved her hand dismissively.

Madison put an arm around her friend. "To keep you humble, queen of the Academy. Your in the wrong for starting a fight with Lana. But nobody wants to see either of you expelled next year."

Sophia's friends continued talking, trying to get to know the mysterious older sister. The way that she spoke about Tifa to others was in a way that was easy to tell the admiration and endearment she had for her. Tifa didn't know her sister held her in such high regard. It made her feel insecure to be held to that standard after being largely absent from her life these past years.

At the corner of Sophia's eye, she spotted the tall, athletic figure of Nicholas Connor Brice. He was a scholarship kid too who's father passed away six years ago in an accident. Conner lived with his mother, aunt, grandmother, and two female cousins aged five and six. His brother was the only other male presence in his life was the same age as Tifa and was accepted into Terra, where he hoped to to join as well.

He had both of his little cousins with him which Marlene had already noticed as the only other kids there. As he walked up to the group, her friends took notice. "Hey Conner, that was a great game you played the other day.", acknowledged Stassi. "Sophia make sure you introduce Conner to your sister", she said with a wink.

"That's our cue to get lost!" Ariana said with a wink. Madison and Isabelle giggled as they knowingly walked away with the others.

"Going to have to seriously consider new friends if I don't get kicked out of here."

"They're about the only ones you can't completely walk all over." He said smiling.

"My name is Nicholas, but everyone calls me by my middle name Conner. " he extended out hand to Tifa.

"I'm Sophia's older sister, Tifa. Its nice to meet you." He was incredibly attractive and dashing, with piercing blue eyes and shaggy brown hair and a chiseled face. A well muscled body was obvious despite the school uniform of loose-fitting trousers and jacket. His physical presence would intimidate even a group of Sector 7 troublemakers. But he gave off the energy of having a gentle, calm nature even if he didn't have two little girls with him. Jessie would totally be all over this guy. She thought before realizing she wouldn't blame her much despite him probably being around 16. He was obviously someone special to Sophia.

He bent down to look at Marlene. "And who is this pretty little girl?" He smiled gently. Marlene who was usually timid around strangers stuck out her hand "My name is Marlene Barret. I'm 4 years old and I live at 7th Heaven which is Tifa's bar in Sector 7. Sometimes I help her with customers."

Tifa started to giggle. I think Marlene is smitten already. Good thing Barrett's not here to see her talk so easily to a new person.

"Wow, well you sound all grown up. These are my cousins, Aston and Avery. They are around your age". The two girls who had been peering at Marlene behind each of Conner's legs came out in the open, excited to be introduced.

"Is your mom and aunt working tonight?" asked Sophia.

He nodded. "Yeah and my grand mom had a long day so I figured I would just take the girls and hang out in the rec room or park then take them out for ice cream later."

"Thanks for coming. I know you're pretty busy with the baseball season ending soon."

"Never too busy for you. Besides I figured it might be one chance to meet this sister you've always talked about but no one's ever met and make sure she's the real deal."

"It seems as though my little sister has talked quite a bit about me". This made Sophia turn a bit red in embarrassment.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the mouth run longer."

Blake was walking up with Cristal a little behind. "Conner….good to see you. They're letting us in now so we should go get seated."

"Can I go with them?", asked Marlene, pointing at Conner's cousins.

Tifa was taken aback by the little girl's request but before she could respond, Conner started talking "It's up to you, Tifa but I'd be happy to take Marlene along. I've been taking care of my cousins since they were born."

She still wasn't sure, but Sophia placed a hand on her shoulder. "Marlene's gonna get bored in there anyway. And Conner's really good with kids. She'll be in good hands."

"Ok, Marlene. But you have to listen to whatever Conner has to say."

"Will do!" She grabbed Conner's hand. "Will you take us to the park you were talking about?" They walked away.

"Let's go inside already. I'll go with you when you get Marlene later." Blake said looking at Sophia.

Tifa noticed that Blake seemed a bit irritated at the thought of Sophia interacting more with Conner. It seemed like the same protective attitude her Papa had when talking about Cloud, a boy from Nibelheim that she had favored.

"I don't get why you have such a problem with him. It's not like he's the only guy I talk to."

Cristal chuckled at her husband. "It's because he's the only one that you obviously like back. He's a good boy. Reminds me of the man I married."

Blake shook his head. "The last thing she needs is being distracted by a boy. You won't be dating until you're 25 at least."

"Wha? I can't believe I'm saying this, but lets head in already and drop this subject." Sophia said in an exacerbated tone.

"The subject is closed, no dating. Its not even necessary for you to talk to boys" This was the second time that Tifa had ever seen Blake this emotionally unsteady. The other time being when he came to Midgar to talk about Sophia. "Tifa, you aren't dating anyone right?"It seemed he realized that should have been asked that long ago.

Her face grew embarrassed and red. "Who me? Oh no, I'm not seeing anyone…."

"Enough, Blake! They are both going to run off if you continue being overzealous about keeping them from boys the rest of their lives. We're heading in now."

They went into the meeting room which was set up similar to the court room. The ten board members sat all in a long table in the front. There were two smaller sets of tables for each family to sit in. Sophia sat between Tifa and Cristal on purpose as she could see Blake was still fuming about Connor.

Looking at the other side, she saw Lana Jeffreys sitting by herself. She kept peering at the door as if hoping that her parents could show up. Sophia felt sorry for her. The two had been rivals since Sophia arrived in Seoul. It was always a battle of who could one up each other.

For Sophia, she simply had a competitive spirit and loved the challenge. But it seemed for Lana it was about meeting the high expectations of her parents whom barely took the effort to give her the time of day.

"Lana are your parents going to be here?" Asked one of the board members.

"They're running late, I'm sorry."

"We'll need to get started unfortunately so they can join us when they get here."

"The poor girl. The Jeffreys are busy I'm sure, but its their daughter for Gaia's sake". Cristal seemed upset by the situation. Blake nodded.

A board member began by going over the fight that the two girls were involved in and how the maximum punishment was permanent expulsion from the school. Next they went over each girl's track record at the Academy. Tifa had no idea her sister was among the top students, co-captain of the soccer team, vice president of her class, and the many awards. The other girl, Lana had some impressive accomplishments too which made her think that the two would probably make good friends though clearly chosen to be rivals.

Since Lana's parents had yet to show up, everyone decided to take a short break. While Cristal, Blake, and Sophia talked among themselves, Tifa got up to talk to Lana. She had gotten up to go outside to wait for her parents.

"Hey there. I'm Sophia's sister, Tifa. " she said to the teen who was visibly upset. "I'm really sorry about Sophia. I only know the story we just heard and I know there's more to it."

"Yeah there is. But it doesn't really matter that much." She said without any more explanation.

"It really does matter though. Sophia hasn't told me a thing about it other than she punched you after a mock sword training class. I haven't been in her life much for a while so part of me thinks its kind of my fault for not helping her deal with her misplaced anger. Selfishly, that's why I want to know the whole story. But also I want her to apologize to you as well and move forward in a better place than whatever relationship you have with her right now."

Slowly, Lana opened up and told Tifa what happened. That the two had been rivals in high school and how both girls were competive with each other. Their mock battle ended with a draw which caused some choice words to be thrown between the two. That ended with Lana making a comment how despite how much Cristal and Blake had access to every resource, Sophia could only come up with a draw with her. "I didn't know that Sophia was adopted and your parents died so tradetly until after or how hard her life had been. She just snapped. It was me that was out of line with the comment."

Tifa took her hand. "It's still no excuse for hitting someone and she should know better regardless. Thank you for telling me. I apologize on her behalf and I'll work with her out of that stubborness she has." Lana looked at Tifa as if surprised at her sincereness. "I'll be happy to come sit by you for the rest of this if your parents don't get here in time. I know how stressful this is for her even with us here for support."

"Thank you, Tifa. I really appreciate it. I hope my parents will come in time, but if not then I'd be glad if you did." Tifa nodded at the teen before going back. She told everyone about sitting with Lana if her parents didn't come in time.

"You're always so nice to everyone, Teef. Enough for the both of us. " commented Sophia.

"Not enough for the both of us. But enough to take some of the responsibility that should be yours for this particular situation Sophia. " Tifa replied cooly. The comment seemed to hit a different way to Sophia who seemed to brood on it for the next few minutes. She finally got up. "I'm going to the bathroom for a minute. "

She got up and headed to the girls bathroom where she found Lana splashing water on her face, that appeared red from crying. "Hey." For once in her life, Sophia was not sure what exactly she should say.

"Hey." She replied, drying off her face with a paper towel.

"So, I just want you know that I'm sorry. It doesn't really matter what happens to me, but if they expel you from school, I'll tell my parents to appeal it."

Lana didn't respond for a few moments. "You know, I'm to blame too. I didn't know that you were adopted and what happened to your parents when I said what I did…."

"You wouldn't have known that. We're always too busy trying to one up each other to really get to know each other. But honestly, I want to try to change that moving forward. Maybe one day we can even be friends."

"That might be possible. I mean I already like your sister and known her for less than an hour."

"Oh, Tifa and I might be sisters but we're hardly alike . But she might be rubbing off a little on me." She said with a smile.

Laughing, Lana replied "Well let's hope she sticks around then. It will help out your rep."

The two girls exchanged smiless as they walked out together. "Your parents going to make it?"

"Yeah my dad said he'd be here in five. Mom's going to pick up my brother and head home though."

"Oh I see. "Ok, I'll see soon back in there then."

Lana's dad finally showed up right as the break was over.

The board restarted with a few other questions about the incident. They needed to excuse themselves for another 15 minutes to make a decision. Sophia interjected to address the board. "Before you guys go and decide, I'd like to say something please."

The board members looked at each before the head member nodded his head. "Make it quick, please."

Standing up, Sophia said "At the end of the day, I was the one that threw the first punch. Lana was just defending herself. I love going to this school. But I lost that privilege with my actions and should be the one who gets punished. So I'm asking that you don't make Lana pay for what I did. I'll take full responsibility."

"We'll take your words into consideration, young lady. Now please give us some time to make our decision."

Blake patted her shoulder. "I'm proud of you for taking responsibility, Sophia. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it as a family."

Tifa smiled at her little sister. Despite the circumstances that brought her here, she was felt a calm that she hadn't felt in a while. In Midgar, she had been feeling conflicted about saving the world by using violence and hurting others. It really felt like that was a completely different world from here. Maybe if she stayed in Seoul she could do more good somehow.

The board members didn't take long to come back with their decision. "At Seoul Academy we have a zero tolerance policy for violence. In fact, in our 40 year history there has never been a fight among students. So this is actually a unique situation and one that is obviously more complicated than meets the eye. Not everyone gets a second chance. But we're in a position to do just that in these cases. Therefore, Ms. Jeffreys you will serving in the military academy immediately after the school semester is completed for the entire summer. This time will not count towards the three years that every Seoul citizen must serve. Upon completion, you are free to return here. "

"Ms. Lockhart , you will complete the same service as Ms. Jeffreys and can return here for the fall semester. However, you are on a final warning for the rest of your high school career here. That means you can't afford to even skip a class without being permanently expelled. Is that understood?"

"That makes perfect sense. Thank you for your decision."

Blake begrudgingly allowed Sophia to go with Tifa to collect Marlene after the hearing. It was apparent that despite her tough girl act, she was relieved to be going back to school. "So what is this military academy that you'll be going to all about?"

"Seoul residents can start start enlisting once their at least 13 years old. The military academy is meant for enlistees under the age 18. They basically learn subjects and skills relevant to service, participate in drills, and go on missions lead by older recruits. It's more likely that Lana and I are going to be involved in drills and missions since the Academy already incorporates the learning and training."

"I don't like the sound of you going on missions. It's too dangerous." Tifa's mind started to worry.

"Relax, Tifa they only have the best enlistees oversee us. Besides, as a general rule every citizen in Seoul learns how to fight early on. Blake and Cristal have always been paranoid so I've had the best trainers working with me. I actually started going to the academy for six weeks every summer since coming to Seoul. This isn't going to be a big deal."

"Still…I just don't have a good feeling about this."

"It will be fiiine. Unfortunately I probably won't get to do any of the fun missions. Probably just patrolling for monsters." They reached Marlene and the others at the park nearby the school. Conner had bought each of the girls ice cream and they were all sitting on the bench. Marlene sat on Conner's lap while the other girls hugged at his sides.

"I have never seen Marlene warm up to anyone so quickly!" Tifa remarked.

He smiled widely. "My brother went to Terra four years ago so its just been me, my mom, aunt, grandma, and these two at home since. You could say I've been wiped into shape on how to treat females. Though I think ice cream will win almost any kid over."

"That is true. Thanks for watching Marlene. She definitely looks like she had more fun here."

"Tifa, do we really have to go already? I wanted to play some more with Avery and Aston more. And Conner was going to help me go down the slide." The little girl pouted.

Leaning down to meet her face to face, Tifa said "We're staying in the city for a little bit longer so maybe we can do that another time, ok?"

Marlene thought about it for a moment, but the little girl hugged at Conner. The two cousins looked like they were about to cry.

"Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend, Conner. And she's a little needy." Sophia said with a grin. "Tell you what Marlene, I'll take you and your new friends out to that amusement park that you saw a picture of the other day. It's called Magic Mountain. Avery, Aston you girls know it right?"

This got all three of the girls really excited. "Sophia, that's kind of expensive. I'm not sure —"

"Don't worry about it Conner, my black card still works so my treat."

Tifa just shook her head. Other than Seventh Heaven, she had never taken anything other than birthday and Christmas gifts from Blake and Cristal. Even that made her feel guilty. And here is her little sister who spends it on every whelm. But truthfully the Magic Mountain looked a little bit like the Golden Saucer which she had always wanted to visit.

"We got a deal or not, Marlene?" Sophia bent down and offered her hand. "We got a deal!" She shook her hand then put her arms out, which Sophia responded to by picking her out of Conners lap and carrying the little girl. "I'll text you later so we can figure out a time."

Conner nodded and then realized what he had been waiting on them for. "Wait, so how did it go?"

"Good honestly. Heading to the military academy for the summer then back to school in the fall. But we better talk later, we're all going out for dinner to celebrate. Though it's honestly a weird thing to celebrate, but I'm not gonna complain."

They made their back to Blake and Cristal. As they got into the car and started to drive to the restaurant, Tifa started to wonder what all of this meant for her. She knew Avalanche and her friends needed her. But her relationship with her sister had moved so much closer in the past few weeks, as it also did with Blake and Cristal. Tifa felt a happiness from a void starting to be filled that could only be from having a real family unit. And it was a feeling that she wanted to hold onto for a little bit longer.