In Who's Name? Chapter 11: Hero, a final fantasy viii fanfic

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Characters and universe borrowed from Final Fantasy VIII. Not owned by Gold.

My warmest thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially people who made the effort to review every chapter. It's nice to know people liked this. ^_^

I'm not going to tell who did the firebombing just yet. You can all keep guessing. Why did Seifer attempt suicide? What did Rinoa mean when she said Quistis rescued him? And remember Quistis said that he nearly drowned in the sea during a storm (see part 2)? Also, how did Hyperion save Seifer (See part 3)?

And, of course, the biggest question—how is Gold going to tie all these loose ends up, plus a few more loose ends still unrevealed? Heh heh. It's Gold's secret, and boy, has she tied it up! *huge, self-satisfied grin*

Title: In Whose Name?

Part 11: Hero

Thick black plumes of acrid smoke twisted in the air, spiralling upwards and painting their surroundings with a fine layer of black dust. There was a whole line of houses on fire, about ten of them or so, and the street milled with people fleeing the scene as well as braver folk trying to help put out the fire. From a safe distance, news crews watched and waited for an opportunity to interview someone—anyone. The local police had just arrived and were busy cordoning off the area and shooing away the curious, who were there mainly to see something exciting. Sirens wailed through the air as an ambulance tried to plough its way through the crowd, which persisted in hanging around despite repeated police pleas to stay away and not hinder rescue efforts.

Seifer Almasy wiped his sooty face with a filthy sleeve as he surveyed the scene. He and Zell had organised most of the men on the street into a human chain, filling pails of water and passing them along a long line, to try and limit the spread of the fire, since no other help seemed to be forthcoming. They had spent the first half hour dashing in and out of the houses, helping to pull people out, and restraining many from attempting to go back to retrieve their possessions. Ma Dincht had been slightly hurt in the explosion that took place when the firebomb hit her home, and was in shock for the moment.

"Where the bloody hell is the Hyne-damned fire engine, Dincht?" Seifer bellowed across to Zell.

Zell grabbed a pail from the man next to him and shoved it to Seifer. "Twenty miles away at another fire! It's on its way here, keep your pants on!" he shouted back grumpily. Then he turned his attention to his dazed mother, who was in the protective arms of a neighbour. "Ma, you hang on, okay? I'll be with you in a second, I promise."

Seifer scowled. "Stupid fools," he muttered to nobody in particular, and resumed hauling buckets of water. He wondered whether Quistis was there yet.

A shriek rang out. Then some women began to scream and others cried out. The head and shoulders of a figure had appeared amidst the smoke and flames that surrounded the whole of the second floor of one of the burning houses. Then it disappeared. Above the hubbub and tumult, one small, elderly woman shot out of the crowd and headed towards the house, screaming at the top of her voice. A soot-streaked policeman darted in front of her and grabbed her, but she continued to scream, and kicked and struggled.

"My daughter's in there! Let me go!" she half-sobbed, half-screamed, near hysteria by now. "I tell you, my girl's in there, and she's blind and in a wheelchair, she can't get out…"

"Almasy—Almasy?!" Zell turned around angrily, a full pail in each hand. Then his eyes widened. "Great galloping hot dogs!"

"Zell?"

He turned and promptly spilled half the water he was carrying. "Quistis! And—" he shot a glance at the silver-haired, garnet-eyed girl with Quistis. "Fujin?"

Quistis grabbed one of his pails. "Where's Seifer? Is he all right? Are you all right? Is Ma Dincht all right?" she asked nervously.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Zell answered. His face sobered. "My ma's had a bit of a shock. She's over there—keep an eye on her for me, will you, Quisty? I gotta help Almasy."

Fujin grabbed the other pail. "SEIFER," she demanded.

Zell swallowed. "He went into a burning house to rescue a girl. That one." He added with honest admiration in his voice, "He moved so fast that I didn't know he was gone. I guess he'll need help. Here." He thrust the pails at Fujin and then raced off without another word.

Quistis' face was a ghastly white. She flung a glance at the suddenly stiff Fujin. Gently, she said to the other girl, "He will be all right." Her voice was steady, although tight with strain, and her chin shook a little. "You go on. He'll want to see you. I'll help out here."

Fujin jerked her head round and looked sharply at Quistis. The latter met her glance briefly before bending down and making herself very busy with helping to pass pails of water. The silver-haired girl frowned and then turned back to the fire. She did not move, but her face was very thoughtful, and she looked back now and then at the blonde SeeD instructor.

A shout went up. Quistis froze for a moment, her heart beating wildly. Was he all right? Would he and Zell be all right? If her hands hadn't been occupied, she would have been wringing them. As it was, they were icy cold with terror and their grip on the pails was so tight and shaky that her knuckles went white and the pails swung hard against her legs. It was all she could do to keep hold of the pails.

Then she heard wild cheers sweep through the crowd.

"He's saved her!"

"Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! They're out!"

"The girl is safe! Hark, look to the man, he's going to faint!"

Quistis stopped breathing and dropped the pails. Should she go to him? If she did, he might guess that she cared, and she couldn't afford that. The why of it wasn't important—she just couldn't afford it, that's all. Fujin was already heading towards the direction of the accolades Seifer was receiving—

"Quisty!"

She jumped and nearly fell over the pails. Selphie and Irvine had arrived, with a couple of SeeD candidates in tow and a first-aid kit. Selphie peered at her anxiously, exclaiming in horror.

"Quistis, you're as white as a ghost! Even your lips are practically colourless! What happened? Where are Zell and Seifer? Are they all right?"

Quistis opened her mouth, but Zell's enthusiastic shout interrupted then.

"Hey! Selphie! Irvine! So you guys got here! Guess what—Seifer here saved a girl from a burning house! Plunged right in without telling anyone and the house was burning as fierce as any Firaga spell, maybe even worse!"

Seifer, sooty-black, was supported on either side by Fujin and Zell, and followed by an delighted crowd of people, as well as several flashing cameral lights and news journalists, who were all waving microphones, tape recorders and pens at him. Nobody appeared to be paying attention to the arrival of the fire engine.

"Was it very hot inside?"

That, thought Seifer, through hazy, smoke-clouded thoughts, was an incredibly dumb question. He wanted to howl with derision at the clump-headed donkey who had asked that question, but instead, he began to cough and choke, the smoke having clogged his lungs. Still the questions flowed in a never-ending stream.

"Can you tell us anything about how the fire was started?"

"What's your name?"

This last was answered by a shout from the crowd.

"I knowed him, I seen him many times on TV, he's Seifer Almasy!"

The hubbub increased instantly, but Seifer's only thought was to hand that loud-mouthed idiot a few grammar lessons.

"Are you really Seifer Almasy?"

"Is it true you're Ultimecia's Knight?"

"Are you really, really Seifer Almasy?"

The sound of a sharp, ear-piercing whistle shot through the air, and most people put their hands to their ears to shut out the sound, while a few dogs howled. Satisfied, Selphie took her fingers from her lips and clapped her hands to get attention.

"ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE," she hollered. Those nearest her kept their hands over their ears and started edging back slowly, except for Irvine, who had the benefit of experience, and had calmly made use of the earplugs he always carried handy about his person. "EVERYONE, OUR HERO NEEDS IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION. DON'T PUT HIS LIFE IN DANGER. GIVE WAY! GIVE WAY! IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED, I WILL TAKE QUESTIONS ON HIS BEHALF. THIS WAY, PLEASE!"

Quistis caught hold of Fujin as she passed with Zell and Seifer. "Tell Zell to record all expenses to my name under SeeD. Take care of him. Make sure he's okay. Contact me as soon as you can." She would much rather be with Seifer, but Selphie had appointed herself spokeswoman, and Quistis decided that it would be wiser to stay behind.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Then to Quistis' surprise, Fujin patted her comfortingly on the shoulder. "SEIFER'S FINE."

Quistis stared as the silver-haired girl moved away. Then Irvine plucked at her sleeve. "Er, Quisty, I think you'd better take over now. Selph's doing great, but we have to restrain her a bit. I think she's getting a mite over-enthusiastic."

Quistis ran. If Irvine thought Selphie was getting too enthusiastic, there was trouble brewing.