《■ Helpless ■ Gilbert Blythe ■》Great fires of.. Avonlea?

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Victoria was sound asleep in the middle of the night until she was woken up by frantic shaking. Still confused, Victoria turned around with her eyes half-closed. Hamilton grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet.

"What's going on?" She asked and tried her best to stifle the yawn. "There's a fire in town. Get dressed we have to leave this instant."

When Hamilton mentioned the fire, Victoria was suddenly aware of the loud bells coming from the town.

Hamilton was long gone when the realization hit her and she shook off her tiredness and went to put on some boots.

She was the last of her family to arrive downstairs and hopped onto the carriage that her father was driving.

Victoria looked around and tried to see whose fire it was but they were too far away to be sure.

"Do you have any idea where the fire is?" Edward asked as he snuggled closer into his blanket and at his brother's side. Hamilton saw that his little brother was shivering and placed an arm around his shoulders.

Caroline shook her head. "Your guess is just as good as mine but we're almost there. Hamilton darling, make sure to go help the other men put out the fire as soon as we arrive."

Hamilton nodded his head and although it was clear that he didn't want to do it, he didn't want the fire to get worse or for anyone to get hurt.

The carriage stopped when Benedict came across a sea of panicking people. He stopped the carriage and a mere few seconds after he did, Hamilton sprinted away from the carriage and towards the fire.

"I'll go help them," Benedict stated as he also ran towards the upcoming crowd. "Stay safe you three!" He shouted as he continued running.

"Victoria!" Victoria turned around when she heard her name being called and saw Diana walking her way.

As Victoria smiled and looked at Diana's usual neat hair which was currently slightly out of place.

Victoria thought of her hair which must be a monstrosity and subconsciously tried her best to tame it.

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"Diana! Are you all right? Whose house is this?" She exclaimed as she hugged the girl tightly. Diana let go after a few seconds and looked into the other girl's eyes.

"It's the Gillis house." Victoria gasped slightly. "Gillis? As in Ruby?" Diana nodded her head yes. "Oh, that poor thing."

Victoria witnessed Diana's eyes widen and Victoria thought that the fire must have got worse, so she looked at the house. But then she followed the girl's gaze towards the carriage that just arrived.

Victoria smiled slightly at Anne as she hopped down from her carriage. "Anne! Anne! Oh, I've missed you so much!" Diana shouted towards Anne, who quickly came running to them.

Diana and Anne hugged each other and then Anne turned to look at Victoria. Victoria went to hug Anne who quickly returned the motion.

The three girls heard someone shout and their gazes quickly snapped back towards the burning house.

Victoria panicked slightly when she saw Hamilton trying to put out the fire from the top of the ladder he had.

Victoria stared at him as she made sure that he was alright when she noticed something. "Why are all the windows and doors open? It's only making the fire worse!" Victoria stated.

Both Anne and Diana looked at where Victoria was staring. While Diana looked at the girl in confusion, Anne looked at her with understanding.

"My god, Victoria, you're right!" Anne started and then instantly took off running. "Anne! Don't! Get back here!" Both Diana and Victoria shouted at her retrieving figure.

"She's going to die!" Diana shouted. Victoria was about to tell Diana that she was being ridiculous but decided that she better not waste her time.

She grabbed Diana by the hand and pulled her with her, where the Marilla Cuthbert was currently at.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Marilla stared in panic when she saw the two terrified faces in front of her. "It's Anne," Diana stated. Marilla's face simply looked mortified. "What's happened to Anne?"

Caroline, who stood next to Marilla, looked at her daughter in confusion but still urged her to continue. "We tried to stop her but it was to no avail. She ran inside." Victoria explained.

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Marilla didn't hesitate and started to make her way towards the house. Caroline was quick and held the woman back. "No! No, let me go! I need to get Anne!" Caroline held her by the shoulders. "Please, Marilla, you'd only be putting yourself in danger." Caroline tried to reason with her.

Caroline, Rachel and Mrs Barry stayed with Marilla as they tried their best to comfort the distressed woman.

Victoria felt herself get more nervous by the second. She kept telling herself that Anne was going to be fine but the more seconds that passed, the more terrified she got.

Her increasing panic came to a halt when she saw two figures walking towards where the group of women were.

Marilla rushed forward to reach Anne who was being supported by Hamilton. "I'm sorry, I'm alright," Anne reassured as Marilla took her in her arms.

"What were you thinking?!" Marilla stated as she glanced down at Anne.

Hamilton looked at the group of women in awkwardness as he felt himself being out of place. He, along with Anne, also had his face splattered in ash although not as badly as the latter.

"Fire.. fire needs oxygen. Closing windows and doors deprive it." Anne answered in between coughs. "Oh, my word! How do you even know that?" Marilla asked both shook and impressed.

"The Fire Manual in the orphanage. There wasn't much else to read." Victoria along with the rest of the group laughed slightly.

Victoria laughing is what caused Anne to look at her. "And I can't take all the credit, it was Victoria who realized that the doors and windows were all open."

Victoria shook her head. "Don't you dare pin this on me?" Victoria explained with a proud smile. "I wasn't the one who bravely ran in there to save the day, was I?"

Anne removed herself from Marilla's grasp and walked towards Victoria. Victoria was quick to pull her friend into a hug although she was careful to in no way hurt her.

"I'm so glad that you're alright," Victoria whispered with a relieved smile which when Anne pulled away, she found that she was wearing an identical one.

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"And of some have compassion making a difference, others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hastening even the garments, spotted by the flesh."

Victoria tried her best to fight the overwhelming urge to yawn. If she did she would look disrespectful and get a slight scolding from her mum.

She stood between both her brothers, with Edward's hands tightly grasped into hers. After the fire stopped, the majority of the town listened as the minister gave a speech in the early morning.

Her attention quickly went to Hamilton as he suddenly burst into a fit of coughs causing a couple of other people to look at him as well.

Victoria reached out and hit Hamilton's back gently. "Is everything good?" Victoria asked underneath her breath.

Hamilton coughed one final time before nodding his head. "Great." Victoria raised her eyebrows as she looked at his slightly red eyes from his lack of sleep.

Hamilton was delicate in that way, he needed all the sleep he can get or otherwise he doesn't function properly.

"Why did you go into that building?" Victoria asked as she glanced at his ash-covered face.

Hamilton didn't answer at first as if he didn't want anyone to know about what he did.

"Gilbert said that he saw Anne in the building, and I was worried about her and when I saw that she didn't come out, I went to get her. I would have felt bad if I didn't. I'm a 'doctor' it's my 'job' to save lives."

Hamilton avoided his sister's gaze. "Avonlea better watch out. It appears that they have a hero in their midst."

At that, Hamilton did turn to look at his sister with a slight smirk on his face but he quickly looked away again.

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