A/N: I do not own Final Fantasy 8.

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II. Irvine

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A scream of power shook the air hovering in the corridor before the Training Center. Irvine shuddered, a sharp chill streaking down his spine, and waved two students fleeing from the center over to himself. "What was that?" he asked sharply, one hand on the butt of his gun, loosening it from its holster.

"That...um, that was Zell. He's...pretty pissed about something, and taking it out on the poor trees and pipes and concrete walls in the training center," a pale girl answered him; Irvine had the sneaking suspicion that she was not fair-skinned due to lack of sunlight.

"Can you talk some sense into him?" the boy asked, looking slightly put out in a way that a man would be put out that a Chimera would decide to make a new home in his front yard. "He's gonna demolish the whole place, and then we'll have nothing to work in."

Irvine nodded, willing his fingers to uncurl from the handle of his pistol, and, steeling himself, marched into the training center, fists clenched anxiously at his side as he tread past giant trees with foot-diameter holes in their trunks, smashed concrete, and random chaos obliterated in an obvious fit of complete and utter rage. Zell was unhappy.

Irvine happened upon the blonde standing freakishly still in a man-made clearing, said clearing made by said man. With the artificial sunlight spotty on the muddy grass and the martial artist's fists balled tightly at his sides, leather gloves squeaking indignantly as he shook, Zell appeared ready to explode. Something was wrong, Zell was temperamental and emotional, but never had Irvine seen the SeeD so angry-

The sharpshooter blinked; Zell's skin was heavily flushed, as if he had been sunburned badly all around his body-

Irvine was forced to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from screaming an oath. Berserk Curse; someone or something had placed a Berserk Curse on Zell. A Berserk spell enhanced the victim's physical abilities, but gave them only a one-track mind of 'kill, kill, kill.' Couple that dangerous enhancement with Zell's already limited rationality, lightning speed and incredible strength, and one had a very lethal opponent. He could even attack allies, if he were angry enough, which, judging by the grisly landscape and the many Grat carcasses littered about him, was very much the case. Course of action: approach with extreme caution, and one hand inside your pocket on that last remedy, praying it would work.

"Zell?" Irvine began, remaining at the edge of the clearing, his left thumb already unscrewing the cap of the small glass bottle containing the all-healing powder. The powder that, obviously, had to be ingested to work. As if life wasn't hard enough.

There was a twitch in the shoulders of his friend, but Zell did not dare to face him. "Irvine, it would be a very good idea for you to leave right now."

"I know. Trust me, it's a good idea to me too. But I've got a remedy here for you, if you'll just come over here and take it."

"Can't," Zell grunted, and Irvine heard fury and hatred -not directed towards him, of course- lacing his very tightly controlled voice. "If I move, it'll probably be to kill you."

Irvine took a cautious step past the brush. "Then stay there, and I'll come to you-"

"Irvine." Zell's voice was warning, and Irvine saw the tightly corded muscles in Zell's calves pull impossibly tighter. "The spell will wear off."

"You might hurt yourself or someone else. Just stay there-"

"Irvine. If you say one more word there is a very good chance that you'll unfortunately be the one I'm going to hurt." The leather again squealed as Zell's fingernails bit into the palms of his gloves, his knuckles straining against the constricting material.

Irvine gulped, and noticed that he never had noticed before how big Zell's muscles could get; of course, all those other times he had been rather relaxed, and had a shirt on. Without the aforementioned article of clothing, Irvine could see each and every muscle in the blonde's powerful back quivering as he attempted to restrain himself from tearing at something else, whether it be living or not. He supposed, were he 'that way' and not interested in Selphie, then he would be extremely turned on...but instead of seeming sexy, Zell was more like a wild Blue Dragon or something else more dangerous. Staying here could be hazardous to his health.

Then again, leaving could be hazardous to everyone else's, or even Zell's.

In the worst cases of the Berserk Curse, the victims eventually turned onto themselves as prey, having nothing else nearby and going temporarily insane with anger. With Zell's ability and knowledge of all the muscles and bones in his body, he could do very much damage to himself should the brunette leave him alone.

"Zell, I-"

"Dammit, Irvine!" Somehow, with impossible agility, Zell's hands were already clenching Irvine's collar, lifting the cowboy straight up into the air, and Zell seemed even shorter than usual to Irvine- but a great deal more frightening. "When I tell you to run, you fucking run!"

Irvine took the moment to gratefully dump the contents of the remedy bottle into Zell's open and furious mouth, clapping his other hand over his lips to keep the fighter from spitting the bitter concoction onto the soil below. Zell's eyes widened, and he choked, dropping Irvine and wrapping his hands around his own throat. Swallowing hard, gagging soon after, Zell fell to his knees and struggled for breath. Irvine, panting slightly, knelt on a single knee beside his friend and patted his back, soothing him; remedies were nasty things when there was a frame of mind to overcome, such as the result of a Berserk or Confuse curse.

As the blood drained from Zell's skin, leaving it still slightly but healthily flushed, recovering its more comfortable tanned look, Zell moved, rocking back onto his heels. "Th-thanks," he sputtered, making a face. "I think."

"Definitely thanks," Irvine assured him, straightening the collar of his duster and shirt with a tinge of annoyance. "You coulda ripped my head off."

"I wanted to," Zell admitted remorsefully. "Wow, I've forgotten how much I hate being Berserk."

Irvine chuckled, plopping down next to Zell and plucking at the grass. "Sure is a lot different from when you were a little kid back at the orphanage. Wasn't a day that'd go by when you wouldn't cry."

Zell sighed, tugging his gloves from his palms and rubbing them against his shorts to rid them of sweat. "Was I really such a whiner back then?"

Irvine shot him a curious look, having removed his hat to fix his ponytail. "I thought you could remember."

"Well, spots here and there. Nothing to detailed. Some words, some faces...a couple of instances. Did I really cry every day?" Zell looked disappointed with himself.

Irvine saw this and slapped his hat back on the crown of his head, tilting it down in his signature gesture of amiability. "Kind of. But we all cried back then; you just voiced your unhappiness more often back then. Besides, you were Seifer's outlet for his anger back then, I'm pretty sure I'd cry now if I were in your position."

Zell chuckled, ducking his head. "It felt so great to deck him in the face after remembering all the horrible things he said and did to me."

"Well, there was one time when Seifer didn't make fun of you for crying..."

"Oh? When was that?"

Irvine smiled sadly. "One of the worst days of our lives. The day you got adopted."

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"Who'zzat?" Irvine whispered to Selphie, who shrugged, clinging tightly to her friend's hand and chewing on a lock of her hair.

"Children, I have someone to introduce to you," Matron told them kindly, gesturing to a plump, kindly-looking woman with brown hair pulled back from her face and a flower printed dress. "Her name is Emily Dincht. She would like to meet you and maybe make friends with each of you."

The children looked around at each other uncomfortably. "Make friends?" Selphie asked timidly.

"Yes, hopefully," Matron said, although her eyes were sad.

The children weren't quite sure of what to think of this. They all exchanged glances again, moving into a tighter pack and gazing at the woman with wide, curious eyes. Zell clung tightly to an odd, worn, stuffed teddy bear, burying his face up to his nose into its plush head.

Emily smiled at each of them. "Maybe I should start by telling you about myself, and then you can all tell me your names, okay?"

The children conferred with each other silently, then, as one, nodded in agreement.

"Well, as you all know, my name is Emily. I have a nice little house in Balamb, which is an island north of here. I love to cook, and I like the beach and going horseback riding. A few years back, my husband died...of a disease. I've been very lonely, and I would like a friend to keep me company in my home. That's why I came here. Would any of you like to stay with me at my house?"

The children bunched together, frightened about being separated, but then a small voice in the back spoke up. "You...alone...?"

Emily nodded, unable to discern who had spoken, but grateful. "Yes. I'm alone. And I'm very lonely all by myself."

The children parted in surprise to let the smallest of them all pass through, the said toddler clinging warily to his bear. "An' you...jus wanna friend?"

"Yes...I would like a friend very much." Emily smiled warmly, lowering herself to one knee, holding out her hand for the tiny blonde to shake. "What's your name?"

"...Zell." With that, little Zell ignored her outstretched hand and walked straight up to her, attempting to encircle her in a hug but unable to reach completely around. Emily, greatly surprised and touched by this gesture, hugged him gently back, tears pricking at her eyes as she patted his hair down. She sent a meaningful glance up at Edea, who nodded, smiling regretfully.

"Zell has always been our little giver. He can cry and scream-"

"A lot," Seifer broke in, causing the other children to murmur their affirmatives and Zell to shoot a tearful glare over at the young bully.

Matron cast a stern look at the eldest blonde, who silenced himself. "He can cry and scream pretty well, but you'll never find a sweeter boy."

Emily looked at the youngster -the boy was so small!- who was currently burying his face into her skirt, sniffling and mumbling something about Seifer being a 'meanie,' and nodded up at the Matron again. "Yes."

Matron appeared troubled. "Are you sure? You've only just met them, and it's such a big decision. There are many other children here..."

"I know. I know it's very soon, but I know he's the one. I..." Emily glanced down at Zell and patted his head, standing to talk to Edea. "He needs me. He needs someone. Face it, if no one else comes for these children, he would be the one to suffer the most."

Matron could not argue, and regretfully nodded with a slow, deliberate motion, turning to her children. "Kids...I have something to speak with you about. Could we go to your room?" She lead the procession into the orphans' collective bedroom, and sat each child on the bed nearest to the one she herself settled onto. Emily stood nervously in the doorway, Zell not leaving her side, hanging onto her skirt and looking on in confusion and a bit of wariness.

"You all know that...there would come a day when one or more of you would have to leave to be with your own families, right?" When she received a full round of nods, she plowed ahead, determination strengthening her voice. "Well, when Ms Emily came here, she wasn't just looking for a friend...she was looking for a new child that could be her family. She decided...that she would like Zell to be her new family."

It took a moment, but soon all the children caught on, and they all turned to Emily with horror on their faces, Zell mirroring their expressions. There was a flood, and all the children stampeded towards Zell, swallowing him up and pulling him protectively from Emily, who was at a loss, and nearly ready to cry herself for tearing these children apart.

"You can't have him! He's our famiwy!" Selphie protested tearfully, hugging the confused blonde tightly to her, attempting to drag the boy away and back to the bed.

"Selphie, we'll still have everyone else," Quistis pointed out in all her six-year-old wisdom. "She's lonely, she wants a family."

"He's not her famiwy!" Selphie snapped, still managing to look harmless and cute even when she was sobbing with anger.

"Le'him go."

Everyone turned to look at Squall, who had, up until then, remained completely silent during the entire ordeal, leaning against the back wall in an odd display of premature insight.

"Squaw! But we wove him! He shou'd stay wif us!" Selphie cried, clinging so tightly to Zell that the little boy was having trouble keeping his feet.

"He don't need us no more. Eve'yone leaves sometime." And with that bit of wisdom shared, Squall walked over to Zell and gave him a timid hug, pulling away as soon as he had embraced the younger child, turning and running outside.

"Squall!" Matron called after te distressed child, but started, shaking her head and sighing. "Leaving him alone would be for the best. He would hate to think we baby him."

The children now stared awkwardly at Emily, who shifted uncomfortably beneath their gazes. Then, with a mournful glance towards Zell, Quistis approached the boy in question. "We love you," she said, and then hugged Zell, who was beginning to appear as if he would like very much to burst into tears with the girl clutching him.

"We'll miss you," Irvine pitched in, giving the youngest blonde a wavering smile, hugging him quickly and moving to plop himself into a corner to play with a ragged set of blocks; everyone, however, could see his shoulders trembling violently.

Seifer walked over to Zell, giving him a glare, which his rival eagerly returned. Then, he did something surprising; he held out his hand for Zell to take. The younger boy did so, in confusion, and, even more bemused, allowed the taller blonde to shake his hand. " 'Bye," was all Seifer would offer before he ambled morosely from the house to the beach below, probably to taunt Squall, if he had any say in his actions.

Selphie glared long and hard at Emily, who tried to offer a cautious smile only to have it rejected. "He can't go wif you," she snapped, and, grabbing Zell's hand, began tugging him towards his bed.

"Sephie..."

Everyone present turned to look at Zell, whose usually shouting voice was now soft and unsure. He sniffled hard, a tear leaking from his eye, soon followed by another. "I sorry..." he offered, dropping his bear to pluck her hand from his. "But I...wanna go wif her."

Selphie jerked, hurt by his actions and words. "How come?! I though' you wan'ned to stay here! Wif us!"

"She don' have no famiwy," Zell tried desperately to explain, "an' you have lotsa famiwy right here, wif Matwyn an' Squaw an' Quis'is an' Irvy an' even Seifew...But she don' have nobody. She's lon'ey."

"But Zew'l..." Selphie hiccuped tearfully. "I wan' you to stay..."

Zell cast one last mournful look at her, scooped up his bear, and padded over to Emily, holding up his arms in indication that he wished to be picked up. When she obliged, and settled the child comfortably onto her hip, he began to cry, looking down at Quistis, Selphie and Irvine. "I wove you...but I wan' a momma..."

Emily herself began to cry, and hugged the young blonde to herself, kissing his hair and holding him tightly. "Thank you Zell...thank you very much..."

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"Huh..." Zell laid back on his arms, gazing up at the sky with an odd expression on his face. "Is that how it happened?"

"Yeah. You shoulda seen your mom; she was so happy she was bawling more than you ever did." Irvine smiled softly. "It sure was quiet there after that...kind of depressing for a while, too. Selphie refused to let anyone even think about touching your bed, even though all your things went with you to Balamb. And she made Matron set an extra place at the table each night, even though we tried to tell her your weren't coming back."

"Wow. I never thought she'd be such a clingy kid," Zell voiced, gnawing on his lower lip thoughtfully.

"Well. She was very protective of everyone, although you in particular. I think she liked to fancy herself as your big sister or something, even though you're a bit older than she is. She did the same thing when Quistis was adopted a year later, too."

Zell didn't know how to answer this, so his simply stood, stretching his muscles, rolling his shoulders and grimacing. "Ow. I really gave myself a workout destroying everything in sight."

"By the way," Irvine asked, rising to his own feet and towering over the SeeD, "what cast that Berserk Curse on you? I didn't think any of the Grats or even the T-Rexsaurs had that kind of spell in their arsenals."

"Oh." Zell offered Irvine a sheepish grin, cheeks flaring pink as he scrubbed at his hair. "I kinda...cast it on myself...by accident."

Irvine's eyes widened as he stared at Zell, then laughed and shook his head. "Okay, so maybe you aren't that different after all."

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