[Synopsis: Almost a year after Elphaba's departure from the Emerald City, Fiyero finally tracks her down. What begins as a reunion quickly becomes something far deeper when he confesses the truth he's carried since their days at Shiz:
He chose the wrong girl.
As they plan Elphaba's return to expose the Wizard's lies, they must navigate a dangerous double life. With Fiyero accepting the role of Captain of the Gale Force to protect her, the two of them work in secret to change Oz from within - even as the risk of discovery grows higher every moment.]
Click here to read on AO3
Or you can keep reading here under the cut!
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Loosening his collar for what could quite well have been the hundredth time that morning, Fiyero sighed to himself as he looked down at the map spread out on the table in front of him in the command tent. It was littered with red marks on the western side – each one of them indicating a reported sighting of the wicked witch of the west over the past year – and it was almost laughable how inaccurate the majority of them were. Half of them were in the complete opposite direction to where Elphaba’s hideout actually was, and the other half of them were so far-fetched that he couldn’t understand why they had been followed up on to begin with. He had already begun to lose count of the amount of reports that had come in lately. Each one had been just as ridiculous as the one before, but he kept reminding himself that he needed to play the part. He needed to at least pretend to take each ‘sighting’ of her that was brought to his attention seriously. He needed them to believe he was as set on bringing her to justice as they were.
It had been three days now since Madame Morrible and The Wizard had officially made him Captain of the Gale Force, and he was slowly beginning to realize that this was going to be slightly more difficult than he’d first anticipated. Not because the responsibility in itself was too much of a challenge – Oz knew he could lead these idiots with his eyes closed if needed – but because each move he made and each command he gave had to be calculated carefully. He needed to appear dedicated enough that no-one felt the need to question his commitment to the cause, but not so dedicated that he ended up leading them anywhere near her true location. One wrong move could raise suspicion and, were he to be found out, it would cost him everything. More than that, it would cost her everything, and he refused to be responsible for that.
“Captain Tigelaar?”
He was pulled from his thoughts when a voice broke the silence, and when he turned in place he found one of his men – Brennan, he tried to remember, one of the younger ones – standing there in the entrance of the tent with one hand raised in salute. He straightened slightly with a clear of his throat, clasping his hands behind his back and shifting his expression into something that he hopes was a bit more serious.
“What is it?” He asked.
“We just received word from one of our patrols, Sir,” Brennan told him as he ventured further into the tent, closing the flap behind him. “They’re reporting movement in the west. Near the border to the Vinkus.”
He felt his chest tighten slightly at his words, his fingers twitching nervously behind his back as he stood there in silence for a moment, maintaining eye-contact with him. He realized that the chances of there being any accuracy in the report were slim – Elphaba was clever and she was cunning and she’d proved over the past year that she knew exactly what she needed to do to evade detection – but there was always a chance and he was well aware of that. Eventually, he forced himself to turn back to the map and he traced the line indicating the border of the Vinkus with his finger. Thankfully, it was miles from her hideout. It couldn’t have been her the patrol had seen, but he knew he couldn’t dismiss it outright. If he didn’t follow up on the lead, there would be questions, and he couldn’t be too sure that he’d have all the answers.
“Movement could mean anything,” He said, lifting his gaze back to the guard. “It could be nothing more than travellers passing through. Animals leaving Oz, maybe. Are they certain it was her? Did they see her?”
Brennan shifted in place. “They can’t be 100% certain, of course, but they said they saw a dark figure. It was there one moment, then gone the next.”
He shook his head with a sigh. “So, they assumed that it was the witch based on nothing more than a shadow. Is that what you’re telling me? Remind me, Brennan, of how many reports have come through in the past three days alone. Seven? Eight? And how many of those reports led to us finding anything substantial? How many of those reports were nothing more than paranoid Ozians seeing things that weren’t there?”
“The majority, Sir…” Brennan admitted, averting his gaze for a moment before forcing himself to look at him again.
“Exactly,” He replied. “Look, I’m not saying that we ignore this completely. I’m not saying that we do nothing because we can’t give people the impression that their concerns aren’t being taken seriously. But I refuse to waste time by chasing down every rumour that comes out way, especially when the majority of them don’t even warrant further investigation. Here’s my proposal. Send a small group out to the border to take a look. No more than four guards. They report their findings back to us by nightfall. If there is, in fact, any truth to this sighting then we’ll pursue it further. If not? We move on from it. Am I understood?”
Brennan gave him a stiff nod. “Understood. Leave it with me, Sir, I’ll see to it right away.”
Neither of them exchanged another word after that and, after the guard had exited the tent and he was alone with his thoughts once more, he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as he let his shoulders finally relax. Reaching up to run a hand wearily through his hair, he turned back to the map spread out on the table. Four guards. That would be enough people, surely, to make it appear as though he was taking the report seriously, while also not being enough to pose any real threat to Elphaba and her safety even if they were to find anything with merit. Not that they would. He knew the exact location of her hideout now, and it was miles from the border. Not only that, but it was in an area so secluded that you couldn’t even see it off the beaten track. The chances of them actually discovering her were slim-to-none.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t worried though.
He knew what she was planning, and that alone was keeping him in a constant state of unease.
The sound of familiar footfalls approaching outside the tent broke through his thoughts a second time, and it wasn’t long before the tent flaps were all but thrown open and Madame Morrible came sweeping in. She was dressed in her usual finery, her hair pinned back out of her face, and the way she rolled her eyes as she looked around the interior of the tent before finally focussing on him didn’t go unnoticed by him.
“Captain Tigelaar,” She greeted him, forcing a smile. “I thought I’d come and see how you’re settling into your new role. How are you finding it so far?”
He bristled slightly at the insincerity in her tone, but he somehow forced himself to push those feelings down and reluctantly show her the respect that her very presence demanded. “It’s a privilege, truly, to be at the helm of something as important as this. I’m incredibly grateful to you and to His Royal Ozness for entrusting it to me, and I’m eager to prove myself worthy. I’m certain that, soon, we’ll see some results.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” She replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. “The Wizard and I have high hopes for you. We trust you’ll do your best to keep the people of Oz safe from that…wicked creature.”
He was more grateful than ever in that moment for the deep self-control he possessed. Should he have been lacking in that department, he would have lunged at her the moment those words left her mouth and he wouldn’t have had any regrets. She was the one responsible for all of this in the first place. If it weren’t for her, Elphaba would never have been summoned to the Emerald City by the Wizard. He would never have known about her and the great power she had. If it weren’t for her, Elphaba never would have ended up in the position she had and she would never have felt as though she had to flee for her own survival. It was her fault that she was perceived the way she was by the Ozians. It was her fault that she was living in a state of constant fear. It was her fault that, more than likely, she would never be able to come home.
But again, he had to force himself to internalise the rage knowing all of that caused to burn in him.
He had to – outwardly – loathe her as much as she and the rest of the people of Oz did.
And so he nodded.
“I will,” He lied through his teeth. “I assure you, I will not rest until she is captured and brought to justice for her actions against the Wizard.”
The corner of her mouth curled. “Good. Well, I’ll leave you to get on with the rest of your morning. But you should know – Glinda has been looking for you. She has something she needs to discuss with you.”
“Of course, she does…” The voice in his head muttered before he replied aloud: “Thank you. I’ll go and find her once I’ve finished up here.”
Without a word in reply to that, she turned on her heel and gave him her usual finger-wave as she sauntered out of the tent almost as quickly as she’d entered, leaving him standing there shaking with irritation. He waited until he was certain he was gone before running a hand over his face with a groan. With one conversation, this whole thing had just been made a hundred times harder for him. She was watching him. The Wizard was watching him. Every person in Oz, for goodness’ sake, was watching him. Waiting for him to strengthen the Gale Force and – in doing so – bring results that he truly had no intention of bringing.
Nothing about this was going to be simple, but he was going to make this work.
He had to.
For her.
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Her hair whipped wildly in the wind as she navigated her way through the western skies on her broom, her gaze scanning the woodland down below as she kept an eye out for any Animals in distress or any Gale Force activity. She had been informed earlier – Fiyero had sent Evring, the messenger pigeon they were using to communicate, with a note – that four guards had been sent to the border to look into a report and so she needed to be careful and keep her distance. So far, there was no sign of them, but she knew that they would be coming soon enough and she had to remain vigilant lest they caught sight of her. Reaching up, she moved her hair out of her face and tucked it back behind her ear before changing direction. There wasn’t anything untoward taking place here, not that she could see, and so it was time to go elsewhere.
She remained airborne for a little while longer, her eyes moving quickly this way and that across the ground as she listened out for any sounds of distress, and that was when she heard it. The tell-tale sound of a trap closing, followed by a feeble little cry. She began to descend almost immediately before coming to a halt not too far above the trees, her grip on her broom tightening as she sat there in complete silence and waited for another sound to direct her. She didn’t have to wait long. Within seconds, she heard the sound of a female voice pleading and she moved slowly in the direction the sound was coming from until she spotted the Animals in the undergrowth. It was a Bear Cub with whom she assumed was its mother, and it had gotten one of its paws caught in one of the horrendible traps dotted around the woods by the Gale Force. Descending to the ground, she landed a few metres in front of them and dismounted her broom before leaning it against the trunk of one of the trees and beginning to make her way towards them.
When she crouched down in front of the Cub, she noticed it trying to back away from her – no doubt fearing she was as dangerous as all the rest and not to be trusted – but she shook her head, taking hold of its leg to keep it still. “You don’t have to be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you,” She said, keeping her voice low and soft. “But you need to keep still. You’re only going to end up hurting yourself if you try to fight it.”
“She ran ahead of me,” The Cub’s mother told her when she looked her way and met her gaze. “Can you help her? Help her, please.”
She nodded, letting her hand fall from the Cub’s leg and getting to her feet before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. It was at moments like this that she had to remind herself of the words that Madame Morrible had once said to her. She needed to harness her emotions. She needed to take all of the anger and all of the frustration she felt toward the Wizard – toward him and Madame Morrible and all the others who believed Animals should be seen and not heard – and utilise it properly. She stood there in silence for a long moment, allowing the feeling to grow within her, and before too long the trap around the Cub’s paw began to rattle. It only weakened further the more frustrated she became, and eventually it fell apart completely. The second the Cub was free; she ran to her mother and tucked herself behind her forelegs.
“Thank you,” Her mother said, nothing but sincerity and gratitude in her tone. “I don’t know what I would have done if those monkeys had come before you got here.”
She shook her head with a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to thank me. But you can’t stay here, it’s not safe. You need to head toward the Outer Vinkus. It’s safer there; the force hasn’t gotten that far yet.”
“But how can you be sure it’s safe?” The mother Bear asked her.
She hesitated for a moment before responding. “Because I live near there. And, believe me, they’re as desperate to find and capture me as they are all of you. I went against them. And they won’t forgive that.”
“Well, I’m glad you did,” The mother Bear stepped forward and held a paw out toward her, waiting for her to take it. “Oz knows, this place needs more people like you around.”
She gave her a little nod before stepping aside and waiting for the mother Bear to lead the Cub away from her, venturing deeper into the woods, and only once they were out of sight did she return to her broom. She took off again moments later, ascending into the sky before straightening up and beginning to survey the ground below in case any more Animals were in need of aid. This latest interaction had just been a reminder to her – not that she was in need of one – of why she was doing this. Of why she needed to get the word out to the people of Oz about their precious Wizard sooner rather than later. This had to stop.
The Animals couldn’t be forced to go on living this way – terrified to leave their homes for fear of entrapment and capture.
They deserved their freedom.
They had rights, for Oz’ sake.
And she was never – never – going to stop fighting for them.
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Once tea had been laid out for them on the balcony and the two of them had been left alone, Fiyero cleared his throat as he leaned back in his chair and brought his teacup to his lips to take a sip. He looked at Glinda over the rim as he did so, watching her stir the sugar cube into her own drink before she took a sip and set the teacup back down on the saucer. There was something she needed to say to him, he could tell. She was never normally this quiet – not for this long – and so whatever it was had to be important, but he didn’t want to force it out of her. He didn’t want to seem to eager, and so he just said and waited.
“So, um…” She finally spoke up after they had been sat there in silence for several long seconds. “Is the training going well?”
He set his own teacup back down on its own saucer before clasping his hands together in his lap. “It’s going as well as can be expected.”
“Good…” She nodded, the corner of her mouth quirking into a smile. “And the force…things are progressing?”
He gave her a stiff nod. “They are.”
“I-”
“Glinda, what was it you wanted to speak with me about? Madame Morrible made it sound urgent.”
She blinked at him for a moment before smoothing her hands down the skirt of her dress beneath the table and reaching for her cup of tea again, taking another little sip before preparing herself for what she needed to say. “Great progress has been made on the Yellow Brick Road recently. It’s been said that it’s nearing completion now, and the Wizard has ordered things be sped up. He wants the opening ceremony to be held in Munchkinland in a week’s time. No later,” She revealed to him. “Of course, with me being a public figure now and Elphie taking all these risks, I’m expected to stand up there with Madame Morrible on the day and give a speech. Something about spreading encouragement and lifting peoples’ spirits, I don’t know. The reason I wanted to speak with you is because I wanted to ask you to stand with me on the day. To support me. If the people of Oz are going to take us seriously, then we need to be seen as a united front. Even more than that though, just think of the benefits it’ll have for our image. Our…popularity.”
He exhaled deeply through his nose, reaching up to push a hand through his hair. “You know I don’t care a fig about the opinion those people have of me.”
“Well I do,” She retorted. “They look up to me. They expect me to be encouraging, and I’m not going to do anything to change that. Fiyero, they look to you for protection. For security!”
“Protection and security from what?” He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at her. “For Oz’ sake, Glinda, you know full well there’s no threat. She’s not dangerous. But you’re happy to pretend as though she is.”
She shook her head at him. “Don’t say it like that. Don’t sit there and try to make out that I don’t care about her. She’s my best friend.”
“And yet you let them spread those lies about her,” He scoffed. “You sit there and you let them drag the name of your best friend through the dirt just so these empty-headed people will continue to adore you. You know just as well as I do that if the shoe was on the other foot, she would have told them the truth – consequences be damned. She would have cleared your name in an instant and told them everything.”
She stood abruptly. “Well, I’m not Elphie! Oz knows, I’m nowhere near as strong as she is. I’m sorry to be such a disappointment to you, but I can’t change who I am just because you want me to.”
Just as she turned to storm back inside, he stood from his chair and caught her by the wrist to keep her from walking away before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose with the fingers of his other hand. “I didn’t say you were a disappointment to me,” He forced himself to calm down when she turned back to him, a pang of genuine guilt hitting him when he saw the hurt in her eyes. “Look, I apologize. I just hate the way they talk about her. I hate that none of us know where she is. I hate that I can’t do anything to protect her and I hate that I’m living a lie myself, joining the Gale Force. Really, I…I’m no better than you.”
She reached up with her free hand and laid it on his cheek at his words. “You joined to have a better chance at keeping her safe. That took so much braverism. But, you know…you might never find her.”
“I know,” He lied through his teeth. “But I can’t just give up. If someone else finds her before I do, you know what’ll happen. And I can’t let it.”
She shook her head. “And I wouldn’t want you to. I just want you to be careful. You know what’ll happen if they catch on. If they work out that you’re more on her side than theirs. That…that’s the other part of the reason I want you up there with me at the ceremony. If you say a few words – all you have to say is that you’re determined to find her, because that’s not even a lie – then there’ll be no reason for anyone to doubt you. You have to play the part. Even if you don’t believe in it. Because if you don’t? You won’t be protecting her, you won’t be protecting me, and you won’t be protecting yourself. We’ll all be in danger.”
He knew she was right.
Right now, the responsibility was resting entirely on his shoulders.
His loyalty laid with Elphaba, that much was true, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care for her and what happened to her at the same time.
And, he supposed, there was no harm in him standing up there on the day of the ceremony with her. Certainly not when – he’d just begun to realize – that was more than likely the moment the engagement was going to be announced. It made sense. The crowd would already have been established, and she and Morrible and the Wizard knew that he wouldn’t be able to argue about it in front of so many people. He was going to have to accept, even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. The pieces of his and Elphaba’s plan would fall perfectly into place. The crowd would be having such a good time and be so fixated on them and the celebration that Elphaba would be able to fly in and give her message before a soul could stop her. She could do it safely and, even if a problem did arise, then he would be there to immediately lead the charge and – unbeknownst to them – throw the rest of the guards off her scent before they got too close. She would be protected and able to get to safety and that was the only thing that truly mattered to him.
“Alright…” He pretended to admit defeat, taking her gently by the arms. “If you really want me to, I’ll stand up there with you on the day. You’re right. We can’t give them any reason to suspect.”
She gave him a smile. “I knew you’d come around. Now, can we stop fighting about this and get back to our tea?”
“Of course.” He replied.
And, when she moved out of his hold and sat back down at the table, he very begrudgingly did the same.
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Engagement announcement to be made a week today at the opening ceremony for the Yellow Brick Road, Munchkinland. Further information to come tomorrow.
The note he’d sent with Evring was brief – simple enough that had it been intercepted at any point, no-one would be able to determine the sender nor the recipient – and yet it held so much meaning. They had a date now. In just one week, she would be making her way to Munchkinland and finally making those that lived there see the truth. Granted, her message wouldn’t reach as many people as it would have done should the ceremony have been held in the Emerald City instead, but she supposed it was better to start small. If she got just one person to believe her, then the news would spread and probably make it to the city before she did. It would be safer then for her to come out of hiding. She would have people on her side. People would stand with her and fight with her and the Wizard would have no choice but to admit the truth to all those he had spent years deceiving. She was certain that she had the power to do this – the power to pull something of such magnitude off with a little planning – and now the time was approaching.
She couldn’t help but smile to herself, sitting there beside the firepit in her hideout, as she read the final part of the note for a second time.
Further information to come tomorrow.
She knew full well that that was his way of letting her know that he would be going out ‘searching’ for her again the moment the sun came up in the morning and he wouldn’t be leaving again for a good two or three days. She could hardly wait to have him all to herself. She’d known she was going to miss him when he left to return to the city, but she hadn’t realized just how much. The silence had been louder than it had been the entire time she’d been in hiding. She hadn’t known what to do with herself, and her own company had irritated her to no end. She needed to see him again – touch him again – and she didn’t have much longer to wait. She wondered if he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him in the time they had been apart. If he’d been craving her company and her closeness the way that she had been craving his.
Again, she would find out soon enough.
In less than twenty-four hours, he was going to be back by her side and she was determined to make the most of every moment the two of them had together.
[Synopsis: Almost a year after Elphaba's departure from the Emerald City, Fiyero finally tracks her down. What begins as a reunion quickly becomes something far deeper when he confesses the truth he's carried since their days at Shiz:
He chose the wrong girl.
As they plan Elphaba's return to expose the Wizard's lies, they must navigate a dangerous double life. With Fiyero accepting the role of Captain of the Gale Force to protect her, the two of them work in secret to change Oz from within - even as the risk of discovery grows higher every moment.]
Click here to read on AO3
Or you can keep reading here under the cut!
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It was the sound of sizzling and the smell of eggs being cooked that pulled Fiyero from sleep the next morning. Cracking one eye open, he shifted beneath the blanket and smiled when he caught sight of Elphaba kneeling beside the firepit in the middle of the room. She was still clad in her nightdress, her long hair hanging freely down her back, and she was pushing the eggs she must have come across in the woods around a makeshift pan with a spatula she must have carved herself. For a moment, he said nothing. He took the time to admire her in the morning light that came in through the entrance of the hideout, tucking an arm lazily beneath his head as he laid there in silence, but before too long the urge to make her aware he was up won out.
“You know, I was joking about the whole breakfast thing.” His voice was still rough with sleep.
She glanced over at him at the sound, her hand stilling for a second before a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and she turned to look at him properly with the spatula still in hand. “Yeah, but the journey back is probably going to take you a while and you shouldn’t have to go all that way without eating something first,” She pointed out with a shrug. “Complaining?”
He shook his head with a smirk. “I’d have even less to complain about if you came over here and gave me a proper good morning.”
Rolling her eyes at him, she glanced at the eggs still cooking in the pan to make sure they weren’t burning before turning her attention back to him and crawling back across the dirt floor to where he was lying. She laid down beside him on her front when she reached him, her eyes falling closed on instinct when he brought a hand up and grazed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. He was still looking at her when she opened her eyes again, nothing but pure love and admiration in his eyes as he laid there, and after bringing her own hand to rest upon his chest, she leaned down and captured him in a soft and slow kiss. She felt his hand bury itself in her hair as they settled into it, his other hand sliding around to her lower back through her nightdress so that he could pull her closer. The kiss remained innocent enough for a time, but then he touched his tongue to her lower lip and she parted for him without hesitation and it deepened in an instant. She moaned softly into his mouth when his tongue found her own, her hand venturing up his chest to the side of his neck as he used the arm wrapped around her waist to roll her beneath him. They parted for a moment then, chuckling breathily, before she stretched up and captured him in another kiss as her leg worked its way up around his waist.
He had forgotten all about the breakfast she was in the middle of cooking for him if he was being honest. The only thing on his mind as he began trailing his kisses away from her mouth, across her cheek to her neck, was her. Reaching down, he let his hand slip beneath the hem of her nightdress as his lips brushed against the hinge of her jaw, and the way that her breath caught and she arched into him when his fingers danced across her bare thigh made him smile against her skin as he started trailing soft, open-mouthed kisses down the side of her neck.
“Tell me not go to back,” He murmured, his fingers still tracing idle patterns against her thigh. “Tell me not to go back, and I won’t. I’ll hide out here with you for the rest of my life.”
His words, along with the sound of the eggs popping in the pan, were enough to break the spell for her and she brought a hand up to his chest before pushing him away from her slightly. “You know I would if I thought I could,” She sighed. “But you have to go back in order for this to work. You have to act as though nothing has changed. If they catch on, they’ll come looking for me and then you’ll be in as much danger as I am. We only have to do this until the engagement announcement, remember? On the day of the announcement, I’ll make them listen to me about the Wizard and – if it goes the way I’m hoping – we won’t have to live in hiding. We won’t have to keep this a secret. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to live that way.”
He looked at her in silence for a time before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her temple. “No. No, neither do I.”
When he moved from over her, falling onto his back again among the blankets, she returned to the fire-pit and took the pan off the heat before using the spatula to move the eggs onto a wooden plate. She waited for him to sit up before she handed his breakfast to him, moving to sit back down next to him when he began to eat and smiling when he put an arm around her shoulders with ease. She couldn’t believe how easy this was. How natural it felt. They hadn’t seen each other in almost a year now, but time hadn’t changed anything. They were still just as – if not more, given this new turn of events – comfortable with one another as they had been all that time ago and that was something she gave thanks for. It just made this so much easier.
“So…” She said eventually. “Do you know the date for the announcement yet?”
He swallowed the mouthful of egg he was eating before glancing her way. “Not yet. But I think Glinda and the Wizard would prefer it to be sooner rather than later, so I’d say it’ll be about a fortnight or less. When I get back, I’ll try to find out more. The next time I come, I should have a date. Then we can plan things properly. Do you even have an idea in mind yet? What to do?”
“I’ll have to do it by air,” She said, more to herself than to him as she pieced the idea together in her own mind. “It would be too dangerous to do it in person – to make myself a part of the crowd – not just for me, but for you too. Maybe I’ll write it. Use the clouds or something. That way, if things end up going sideways, I can get out of there quickly enough to get back here.”
“I still don’t like the idea. You know that,” He tightened his hold of her, his thumb brushing gently against her arm. “If anything were to happen to you, I-”
“I know,” She soothed. “But I know what I’m doing. I’ll plan things properly, I promise. I’ll even do a practice-run beforehand if it’ll make you feel better. I just need you to trust me, Yero.”
She barely had the time to finish her sentence before he leaned in to kiss her softly, letting it linger for several long seconds before he pulled back again. “I do. I trust you implicitly…”
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence after that, her head against his shoulder while she watched him eat, and – far sooner than either of them would have liked – the time finally came for him to get ready to leave. She remained there on the bed as she watched him get to his feet and find the shirt he had removed before coming to bed last night, her eyes fixed on him as he pulled it back on and buttoned it up. She knew he had to leave. She was the one telling him to do so when he’d made it quite clear he had no desire to. But that didn’t make the thought of him being gone – of being all alone again here in exile – any easier for her to bear. She was going to be reminded of just how lonely it was out here, just her and the Animals.
“Promise me you won’t stay away too long?” She asked him with a raise of an eyebrow.
He chuckled under his breath as he tucked his shirt into his pants before holding a hand out in offer to her. “Come here.”
She got to her feet in an instant at his words, making her way over to him and slipping her hand into his before he pulled her close and wrapped both arms around her to keep her in place. “I’ll be back before you know it,” His voice had a tenderness to it that made the love she already had for him deepen tenfold. “I’ll have to wait a few days so as not to draw any suspicion, but then I’ll just tell Glinda I’m going out searching again. That’ll give me two, maybe three days before anyone expects me back in the city and, believe me, neither of us are leaving that bed.”
“Mmm…” She ran her hands up and down the front of his chest. “I guess the thought of that will be enough to keep me going until then.”
He shook his head good-naturedly at her teasing before stooping to brush a slow and soft kiss against her lips. “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yeah…” She managed to keep her voice from shaking despite how much her heart was racing at his admission. She still wasn’t used to hearing those words. “I love you too.”
With one final kiss to her forehead, he took his arms from around her and led her by the hand to the entrance of her hideout before stepping into the morning. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
She watched him walk away from her then and make his way down the little embankment to Feldspur, and within moments he was gone – riding back off into the woods in the direction he came. The second she was alone once more, the silence engulfed her as she had known it would and she sighed deeply to herself as she crossed her arms and leaned against the dirt wall.
Now, she waited…
----------
It was late in the day by the time he returned to the Emerald City, and the first thing he did was make his way to Glinda’s headquarters as he always did after returning from another search, She liked to be kept in the know, and he had promised Elphaba that he would act as though nothing had changed for the time being. It was the only thing he cared about, protecting her and helping her reveal the Wizard for the fraud he was, and so he’d go along with it until the time came for them to put their plan into action. When he reached Glinda’s door, he knocked and he only had to wait a moment at most before she opened it from the other side. Her face broke into a smile when she saw him and when she threw her arms around him, he made himself draw her close. He felt an instant pang of guilt, knowing he was going behind her back and this was all just an act, but he couldn’t let on to her what was happening. He couldn’t let on to anyone.
“You were gone for days.” She said when she released him at last and stepped aside to let him in, closing the door behind them.
“I know.” He replied, reaching up to run a hand through his hair as he approached the couch and sat himself down on the edge.
She sat down beside him when she reached him, resting a hand over his on his knee. “Did you have any more luck this time?”
“No,” He shook his head, the lie rolling off his tongue with surprising ease. “I tried changing my tactic this time, doing most of my searching at night in case she’s been lying low during the day to protect herself, but there was nothing. No sign of her. I’m beginning to think I can’t do this on my own. There’s way too much ground to cover, and she’s too smart. Smarter than all of us,” He paused for a moment before turning his hand over beneath hers and lacing their fingers, his thumb running over her knuckles as he looked her way and met her gaze. “I’ve been thinking. I know you don’t like it when I do that, but this time I think I have a good idea. What do you think the Wizard would say if I approached him about being made Captain of the Gale Force? I know what I’m doing. I have leadership qualities, and the others are bound to listen to me and take orders given my status. I just think that – were we to eventually find her – I’d be in a better position to protect her. I know that’s what we both want. Neither of us wants to see any harm come to her, so convince the Wizard to let me lead the charge. He doesn’t have to know we’re doing this to keep her safe. All you need to tell him is that I’m – we’re – as set on finding her as the rest of them are, and we think we’ll have far more success doing it this way.”
She thought for a moment, her gaze falling to their hands as she tightened her hold on his. “I suppose I could try. I’m supposed to be having a meeting with him and Madame Morrible this evening. They want to talk to me about our-” She cut herself off, giving him a smile as she looked at him again. “About things. I’ll mention it. It’ll be better if both of them are in agreement.”
He wasn’t stupid.
He knew full well that the words she’d been about to say were ‘our engagement’ and she’d slipped up – still, of course, thinking he had no idea about what he was being forced into – but he bit his tongue. He kept his expression neutral. He couldn’t give her the slightest indication that he knew what was being planned, else he risked throwing the whole plan off before it began.
“She’ll be safer with me at the helm,” He told her, bringing his hand up to tuck her golden curls back behind her ear before running the back of his palm down her cheek in a tender caress. “I don’t know if we’ll even find her, but if she did come out of hiding at some point and someone noticed her then I’d be the one leading. I’m smarter than all those fools put together. I’d only pursue for so long before suddenly ‘losing sight of her’ and telling them to turn back again. I wouldn’t risk anything happening to her. I know how much she means to you, even now.”
“She does,” She nodded. “I hate hearing those horrendible words they say about her. None of it’s true. It’s all lies. She did nothing wrong that day.”
He gave her a look. “You could come out and say that, you know. Tell everyone the truth about what happened. Wouldn’t that be better than living a lie? Letting them make up these things?”
“You don’t know what you’re asking me to do,” She retorted. “I can’t. I’ll lose the Wizard’s faith in me. I’ll lose Madame Morrible’s respect. I…I’ll lose all of this. I’ll lose my privileges.”
He sat there in silence for a second before scoffing softly. “Your privileges…they really matter more to you than Elphaba having her name cleared? You’d rather her spend her life in exile?”
“Fiyero, I never said that.”
“Didn’t you?”
He released her hand then and stood from the couch, but she followed him up and caught his hand before he could take so much as a step away from her.
“Where are you going?” She asked, a hint of something along the lines of desperation in her voice.
“I’m tired,” He told her. “I haven’t stopped in days and I need to freshen up. I’ll come and find you again later, alright? You can tell me how the meeting with Morrible and the Wizard goes.”
She seemed reluctant to do so, but she gave him a little nod in response and he stooped to brush his lips against her cheek in a soft kiss before slipping his hand out of hers once again and making his way across the room to the door. Once he was out in the hall again, the door closed behind him, his hands clenched and unclenched and he had to take a breath to calm himself down. He couldn’t believe how unchanged she was by all of this. Still, after all this time, the opinions of other people was what mattered the most to her. Material things were what mattered most to her. Elphaba was out there living off the land, scared for her safety every waking minute – he didn’t care how much of a brave face she put on, he knew there was a part of her that was constantly on edge – and still, she wouldn’t speak up for her. If he was being truthful, the conversation that he had had with her just now had only helped to strengthen his conviction.
He was definitely making the right decision.
----------
It was late that night when Elphaba finally closed the Grimmerie and carefully blew out the candle, pushing back her chair and getting to her feet so that she could make her way to bed. It had been the longest day she’d had in a while. She’d made her way down to the lake not long after Fiyero had left and she had sat there for a while with some of the Animals, making them aware of their plan and what it would mean for them if things went as she hoped they would. Her plan would expose the Wizard for what he was. A fraud. A man who cared more about his own fame then he did about the people – and the Animals – of Oz. When people learned what he was doing to the Animals – when they learned that he took pleasure in breaking their spirits and stripping them of their rights – surely, they would turn against him. They would join her in her fight against him and, one day, the Animals that had left could return to Oz and live their lives in peace once more. It was the only thing she hoped for more than she hoped that they would finally see that he was the real monster in all of this, not her. She was trying to do good.
Sighing to herself as she pulled back the blanket and climbed into bed, she laid back and tucked an arm beneath her head before gazing up at the scattered stars she could see through the little holes in the roof of her hideout. She loved this place. It had become home to her in the time she’d been here. It had provided her sanctuary and given her shelter when she’d needed it the most. It would be hard, strangely, to say goodbye to it at some point, but she knew that she didn’t belong here. She belonged out in society. Not this society – not under the control of the Wizard – but true society. She belonged with Fiyero and she belonged with Glinda and she belonged with all those who had changed her in one way or another, but that would take time.
First, she needed to get the word out about the Wizard.
She needed to get people to listen and she needed people to take her seriously, and then she could really get things in motion.
She had always said there was strength in numbers, and when an entire city stood up against its leader and fought together for what was right?
[Synopsis: Almost a year after Elphaba's departure from the Emerald City, Fiyero finally tracks her down. What begins as a reunion quickly becomes something far deeper when he confesses the truth he's carried since their days at Shiz:
He chose the wrong girl.
As they plan Elphaba's return to expose the Wizard's lies, they must navigate a dangerous double life. With Fiyero accepting the role of Captain of the Gale Force to protect her, the two of them work in secret to change Oz from within - even as the risk of discovery grows higher every moment.]
Click here to read on AO3
Or you can keep reading here under the cut!
----------
The surface of the lake rippled as she knelt at its edge in nothing but her slip, her hands submerged in the cool water as she washed her dress. She moved the dark fabric back and forth carefully, watching as the dirt and dust that had gotten caught up in it the past couple of days came away. The setting sun in the distance painted the sky in the most beautiful shades of orange and pink – colours that reminded her so much of Glinda even after all this time – but she did her best not to think too much about that. Glinda was her past. Friendships were her past. She had made her choice after her confrontation with the Wizard that fateful day, and now she had to live with that choice.
She had settled on this place for its isolation. The dense woodland provided the cover she needed and the Animals surrounding her little hideout had become her early warning system. They were quick to alert her to any potential threat, meaning she had time to prepare her defences or go into hiding, and she was grateful to them not only for their support but also for the companionship that they offered her. They were the closest things she had to actual friends out here in exile. The only beings in the world that she was certain she could trust.
Once she was certain that her dress was clean, she wrung out the fabric before laying it out across one of the sun-warmed rocks to dry. She sat back on her heels then, giving herself a moment to just sit and look out across the surface of the water. It was so much quieter here. Quiter than it had been back at Shiz and in the Emerald City, but that was one of the things she loved so much about her home. Everything in her life had always been so loud. She had always been involved in some kind of chaos. Once, she had told Fiyero that she didn’t cause commotions, she was one, and she’d meant it. It was just nice that, way out here, things were quiet for once. Peaceful.
Moments later though, for the first time since she’d come out here, that peace was broken.
It was the rabbits nearby she noticed first.
They way they had paused mid-chew, their ears up and their bodies tense and alert.
She noticed the sparrows in the trees next.
The way the songs they had been singing all day suddenly cut off, replaced instead by sharp warning calls.
When she looked around, it seemed that every Animal in her vicinity was looking in the exact same direction. Toward the thicket of trees.
She felt her heart begin to race as she rose to her feet, her hand reaching for her hat next to her on the grass as though it would offer her some kind of protection. Deep down, she knew that if the Gale Force had succeeded in tracking her down then it would be over for her. They would have her surrounded and her broom was back inside, so it wasn’t as though she would be able to fly away from them to avoid capture. She would be taken back to the Emerald City by force, and there was no doubt in her mind that they would kill her immediately.
She took a tentative step forward, her eyes flitting back and forth as they scanned the shadows between the thick trunks.
That was when she heard it.
A voice that – even after all these years – she still knew so well.
“Hey, it’s alright. It’s just…just me.”
It was in that moment, as he stepped out from behind one of the trees with his hands raised, that she released the breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding. It was Fiyero. He looked different from the last time she’d seen him. Slightly more aged, tired, his hair unkempt as though he’d raked his fingers through it more times than he could count. His eyes though…they were the same. She’d know them anywhere. They still held the exact same intensity that’d given her butterflies in their Shiz days. That had made her feel seen.
“Fiyero.” His name came out softer than intended. Part of her wanted to run to him, but her feet refused to let her move from her spot.
“I’ve been looking for you,” He told her, his hands still raised as he took another step towards her. “Every waking minute since you left.”
Suddenly remembering her state of undress, she wrapped her arms around herself – self-conscious – as a crease formed in-between her brows. “You have?” She asked him, keeping her gaze fixed on him as he lowered his hands and continued to advance toward her. “Why?”
He scoffed. “Why do you think? I had to make sure that you were alright. That you were safe. We all heard it back at Shiz. What Morrible said about you. I didn’t believe it for a clock-tick, of course, it was a load of…well, it was nonsense. I started searching for you that night and I didn’t stop. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it would take this long to track you down, but that’s on me for underestimating you.”
Despite herself, she chuckled softly, dropping his gaze for a moment as she shifted on her feet. “You know you can’t stay. It’s not safe.”
“Which only makes me want to stay more,” He replied as he closed the remaining distance between them, coming to stand in front of her. He waited for her to lift her gaze back to his before continuing. “You don’t need protecting. I know that. You’ve proven that - being alone out here all this time. But I…I want to protect you. Elphaba, the Gale Force is increasing in number. They’re covering more ground every day, and soon enough? They are going to find this place. I don’t want you here alone when that time comes, and I don’t want you moving on again. It was difficult enough for me to find you as it was,” He fell silent for moment then before, after hesitating for a time, bringing his hand up and hooking his finger beneath her chin. “I can’t lose you a second time. I can’t turn my back on you now and go back to…”
“Back to the city,” She finished for him, letting her arms fall to her sides as she looked up at him. “Back to Glinda. How is she?”
He exhaled deeply through his nose. “You know what she’s like. As long as she’s adored by everyone? She’s fabulotious…”
“They have her under their thumbs, don’t they? Morrible and the Wizard?” She asked him. “There’s no way they’re letting her get away with knowing the truth about what happened at the palace. They’re keeping her silent, aren’t they? How? With status? Gifts? What is it?”
“She has her own headquarters,” He explained. “And the Wizard officially made her Glinda the Good.”
She nodded slowly. “So she’s working alongside him now. I know why she’s doing it…I mean, I can understand it…I just don’t-”
“Hey…” He directed her attention back to him. “You don’t need to worry about what she’s doing. About what any of them are doing.”
“But nothing’s changing!” She huffed, frustrated. “It’s been almost a year and nothing is any different for the Animals now than it was then!”
Without him even thinking too much about it, his hand moved to the side of her neck and he sighed gently as he ran his thumb along the underside of her jaw. “I’ve missed that,” He murmured, his eyes never leaving hers. “That fire in you. Your constant need to better things for everyone. Oz, it’s refreshing after so many months of…well…that. It’s probably one of the things I love the most about you, honestly.”
Her breath hitched in her throat at his words and she reached up, covering his hand with hers on the side of her neck. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” He frowned. “It’s the truth. It’s the first truthful thing I’ve said or done since this whole thing started.”
She shook her head. “You can’t. You can’t love me. You’re supposed to be in love with her. You chose her, Fiyero, remember?”
“Yeah, when I was young and stupid and thought that looks were all that mattered,” He retorted, stepping further into her so that the two of them were almost chest-to-chest. “I’m a different man now than I was back then. I look at the world differently, and you’re the reason for that. That day with the lion cub, I knew I’d chosen the wrong girl. I kept telling myself to just come out with it and tell you, but there was never a good time and then you left for the Emerald City and I didn’t want to do or say anything to hold you back from that. Then you disappeared, and I thought I would never get the chance to tell you. Now that I have, you’re not going to tell me not to say it.”
She had no idea what to say to that and – for the next few minutes – the two of them just stood there staring at each other in silence, the only sound to be heard being the sparrows in the trees and the rippling of the river. The next thing she knew though, he was leaning in and she wasn’t stopping him. The hand covering his at the side of her neck tightened its hold when she felt his warm breath against her face, and her eyes were barely closed a moment before he captured her lips with his. It was something of a foreign feeling for her at first. She’d never been kissed before – not once – and so she wasn’t quite sure what she was meant to do. Before long though, instinct began to take over, and she found herself kissing him back as her hand moved from above his and found its way to his waist through his shirt.
His arms moved to wrap around her as the two of them sank into the kiss, one hand coming to settle upon the small of her back through her slip while the other came up to tangle in her hair. The kiss remained soft and slow for quite some time, but then he flicked his tongue against her bottom lip in a silent request for entry and she granted it without fully knowing what she was doing. The sound that he made when his tongue found hers made warmth pool low in her belly, and she let out the quietest little gasp that he swallowed instantly with another kiss. The longer it went on, the more confident she found herself becoming, and she pressed herself against him a little more as both her hands made their way up his front and into his hair. Her fingers threaded through the strands with ease, pulling ever so gently.
“Yero…” She panted between kisses. “I don’t-”
“I know.” Was his only reply as he nipped at her bottom lip before capturing her mouth with his once more.
She still couldn’t be completely sure that they were making the right decision here, but – at the same time – she was sure of one thing.
Right this second?
She didn’t care one bit.
----------
Inside her hideout a short while later, she poured some of the herbal tea she’d just made into a wooden cup and handed it to him before pouring one for herself and sitting down on the cushion opposite him. She said nothing for a few seconds, choosing instead to just sip at her tea as they shared little glances, but then she rested her cup on her knee through her dress and cleared her throat before speaking.
“You know, more and more Animals are leaving Oz every day,” She told him, her voice soft. “I try to stop them. I try to tell them that they need to stay and that there’s strength in numbers, but they’re scared and I don’t blame them. They know that the longer they stay here, the higher the risk. I just…I know what’s out there. Nothing. Nothing is out there for them in the Land Beyond Oz, and that worries me.”
He nodded, taking a sip of his own tea and running his thumb around the rim of his cup. “They don’t have quality of life either way.”
“Exactly,” She replied. “That’s why I need to do something. I need to try to make the people of the Emerald City realize that they’re being fed lies. They think he’s some saviour, but he has no real power. He doesn’t care about them. He doesn’t care about the Animals. The only thing he cares about is himself, and he’ll hurt and step on whoever he has to just to keep his little charade going as long as possible. I need to go back there. If I can make even one person listen to me, then that’s better than nothing. It’ll begin to create doubt, Fiyero.”
He shook his head. “No. If you go back there and they catch you-”
“They won’t catch me,” She assured him. “They couldn’t catch me at the palace, and they haven’t found and caught me in all this time. I know these woods like the back of my hand. Even if they did follow me, they wouldn’t get far before they got disoriented and had to go back. I know I can do this. I know I have what it takes to pull something like this off, but I need to time it properly for it to really work.”
“I think you’re being reckless…” He began, taking another sip of his tea. “But I know you well enough now to know you never listen to a word I say and no one can stop you once you have your mind set on something. If you really want to make a statement? I’m not meant to know this, but there are plans to announce my engagement to Glinda in a matter of weeks. I had no part in it – like I said, I’m not even meant to know that it’s in the works – and I was going to come forward and say I wanted no part in it, but if you need me to pretend then I will. I’ll go along with it, let the announcement draw a crowd, and then that gives you the perfect opportunity to put the message out.”
She felt her heart swell at his words. “You’d do that for me?”
“I’d do anything for you,” He chuckled, reaching out to stroke a strand of hair back behind her ear. “I just don’t want you putting yourself in danger. I already told you, the Gale Force is stronger now than ever and they’re out for blood. All they care about is capturing you, and when they see you at the celebration they’re not just going to let you get away. They’re going to come straight after you, you know that.”
“Of course, I know that,” She told him. “But I’m not worried.”
He sat there in silence for a moment, letting his thumb continue to run around the rim of his cup as he looked down into the liquid before turning his attention back to her. “What if I were to speak with Morrible and the Wizard? I could request to be made Captain of the Gale Force. All I have to say is that I’m as desperate to locate you as they are, and with my status? They’re not going to refuse me. If I’m there leading the charge, then I give the orders. It means that I can protect you without it being obvious to anyone that that’s what I’m doing.”
“And…and if you get found out?” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “If they figure out that you’re on my side, not theirs?”
“Then I’ll deal with whatever comes,” He shrugged before shuffling across the dirt floor towards her, coming to sit by her side as his arm went easily around her and he leaned in. “But I promise you this. No one will touch you. No one will hurt you. You’ll be safe. Always.”
On instinct, she leaned into him, letting her head find his shoulder. “I don’t like the idea of you putting your life on the line for me.”
“And I don’t like the idea of you putting your life on the line to make a point,” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “And yet, here we are.”
She smiled for a moment at that before it fell again as a thought crossed her mind. “What about Glinda? I…I don’t want to hurt her.”
“I know…” He murmured. “Me neither, but I can’t see another way for us to do this.”
Deep down, she knew that he was right. The celebration was the safest way for her to return to the Emerald City and get her message to the people there. With everyone so focussed on him and Glinda, she could fly in undetected and send her message before anyone really noticed she was there. By the time the Gale Force began to pursue her? She’d already be a safe enough distance away from the gathering.
“No, me neither,” She admitted. “This really is the only way, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I think so.”
“Then we’ll do it,” She told him. “It’s a plan…”
----------
“You should go back.”
“I already told you; they’re not going to miss me for a night. I’ve been gone days before now, looking for you, and no-one’s noticed.”
Settling down beneath the blanket, she sighed as she brushed her hair back behind her ear and watched him get himself ready for bed. He walked around her hideout with such casualness – as though he truly belonged there – and there was just something about it that made her smile. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he stood there near the entrance, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows and his suspenders loosened and the top few buttons of his shirt undone. He was gorgeous, he really was, and now? He was all hers.
Once he’d removed his shirt completely, she watched him make his way over to her little desk area and watched as he picked up one of the many propaganda posters that had been made about her and she’d collected. His expression darkened almost instantly and it didn’t go unnoticed by her, not even with the space between them as his eyes moved over the horrid words written on the paper.
“I will kill them for this, you know that, don’t you?” His voice was low and dangerous when he looked her way again. “They can’t get away w-”
“Don’t worry about it tonight,” She shook her head, bringing an arm out from beneath the blanket and extended a hand in his direction. “You look like you haven’t slept in days. Come here. Come and lie down, and then you can be as furious about it as you like tomorrow.”
He rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her, but he did as she’d said and set the poster back down before turning and starting to make his way over to her. It wasn’t long before he was getting beneath the blanket with her, his arms wrapping easily around her and pulling her close as he made himself comfortable. His fingers ran lazily up and down the outside of her arm as she settled into his embrace, his lips resting against her temple as he allowed himself to just bask in the moment for a while. He’d never been so comfortable, he was certain.
“I meant it, you know,” He broke the silence eventually, his lips grazing her skin as he spoke. “When I told you I loved you earlier on.”
Tilting her head back against his shoulder to look at him, she let her hand come to rest upon his chest and her fingers stroked tenderly against the thatch of hair there. “I know you did,” She almost whispered, a lazy smile playing at her lips. “And I love you too. I really do.”
“I know I have to go back tomorrow, but Oz if I don’t want to…” He groaned a little over-exaggeratedly, tightening his hold of her and snuggling further down beneath the blanket with her. “I’ll just have to slip away whenever opportunity knocks and come and see you.”
She laughed quietly. “You’ll hear no arguments from me.”
“I’ll keep you informed about any and all goings-on,” His tone became a little more serious as he ran his hand up and down her back in a tender caress. “And you should be able to worry less about the Gale Force once I’m at the helm. I’ll steer them away from you. This place.”
“The only thing I worry about in regard to the Gale Force is what they’ll do to you if they find out the truth,” She reminded him. “Promise me you’ll be careful? I don’t want anything happening to you. Not now, after all this time, and not because of me. Promise me, Fiyero…”
He silenced her worrying with a soft kiss, his hand coming up to cup her cheek in its palm. “I promise. I promise I’ll be careful. Alright?”
She nodded, tangling her leg with his beneath the blanket and nestling deeper into his embrace. Once she was comfortable, she tucked her head beneath his chin and felt all the tension in her body slowly melt away when he pressed his lips against the crown of her head.
“Get some sleep,” He mumbled into her hair, keeping her in place against him with the hand resting on her hip through her nightdress while he tucked his other arm beneath his head. “I’ll still be here when you wake up. You can make me breakfast before my trip back.”
“Mmm…” She hummed; eyes closed as a smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Keep dreaming, Tigelaar.”
Unable to keep from smiling at the sleepiness in her voice, he gave her a little squeeze.
“Night, Fae.”
“G’night, Yero.”
And, with that, the two of them fell into the first proper sleep they’d had in a long while.
[Synopsis: Following their departure from the land of Oz, Fiyero and Elphaba find themselves in a run down cottage in the middle of nowhere. Finally free to live their lives the way they desire - together and far from those who seek to harm them - they begin creating a home for themselves and settling into their new normal.
That is, however, until an unexpected development takes them by storm.
Suddenly facing the unknown once more, can the two of them rely on one another and help each other realise that they are more than capable of taking this on? Only time will tell.]
Read here on AO3, or under the cut to stay here! 💚
Standing in the middle of the dark, draughty sitting room of the abandoned cottage she and Fiyero had found, Elphaba wrapped her arms tight around herself with a gentle sigh. The place was far from cosy — there was only a broken sofa and an old, threadbare rug on the floor by the fire and the other rooms were no better, she’d found — but at the same time it was a sanctuary. It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dense woodland miles from those who sought to harm them, and although the conditions were far from ideal, she doubted it would take them long to make it feel like home. If they swept away the cobwebs and dealt with the numerous little cracks in the walls, the place would look miles better.
She ran her hands down the front of her dress, still damp thanks to that wretched little brat, and turned to the fire she had built in the fireplace a little while earlier. The flames were higher now, hotter too, and the warmth from them pulled her in. Lowering herself onto the rug, she removed her hat and cloak and set them down at her side before warming her hands on the fire. It wouldn’t be long now until Fiyero returned, she thought. He only left to walk down to the brook they saw at the bottom of the embankment and get some water. What they would talk about when he came back, she had no idea. It mattered little to her though. If it came to it, she would happily sit there in silence with him, watching the fire.
He was back with her, that was all that mattered.
It felt like an eternity, sitting and waiting in the dark for him to return to her following her altercation with Dorothy, and she had to admit she began to doubt if he would even come back at one point, but he did. There were no words for the relief she felt at seeing him back in one piece. The happiness she felt at getting to hold him again after so long apart. Their next steps had been unknown to her at the time. The only thing she knew for certain was that they needed to get as far from Oz as possible and nobody could ever know they were still alive. Not even Glinda. That was the hardest part, knowing the pain she would be in, but Fiyero had been right in saying they would never be safe if she knew the truth.
The chance of their secret getting out would be too high and that was a risk neither of them could afford to take.
She was pulled from her thoughts when the door to the cottage opened and, turning in place on the rug, she smiled as she watched Fiyero enter the cottage with the bucket of water in hand. He shut the door behind him before making his way into the sitting room, his clumsy gait causing the water to slosh around within the bucket and spill over the side. She couldn’t help but chuckle. He was so adorable. She watched him take the final few steps towards her and the fireplace, but then she realised he was about to try and hang the bucket over the flames and she quickly reached out and grabbed his arm. “Whoa,” She said while reaching for the bucket with her other hand. “I think it would be safer for me to do that.”
He got her meaning and smiled, letting her take the bucket from him before she moved onto her knees and carefully hung the bucket above the fire so the water could start boiling. He held his hand out to her when she turned back to him and she accepted it, allowing him to help her to her feet before he walked her over to the broken sofa and they sat down together. It was far from comfortable and it dipped on one side, another thing they were going to have to see to, but they managed and she nestled into his side when he slipped an arm around her shoulders. They were silent for a while then, but eventually he turned his head in her direction and planted a kiss on her forehead. “You’re shivering.” He told her.
She hummed. “A wet dress doesn’t do me much good on a night like this.”
He sat there with her a moment longer before taking his arm from around her and sitting himself up a little so he could start unbuttoning his jacket. Once it was open, he began to shrug it from his shoulders before she took hold of it and helped him the rest of the way. When she handed the garment back to him, he waited for her to settle against him once more before covering her with the jacket and putting his arm around her again. “Better?” He asked her, rubbing her back tenderly through the jacket in an attempt to get her warm.
“Mmm…” She nodded her response as she reached up to brush her fingers against the straw peeking out from beneath his hat.
For a time, neither one of them said a word, but then she brought her hand to rest upon his cheek and let her thumb run across the burlap and moments later she was kissing him softly. It took him a second to catch up - he had little brains after all – but when he did the arm around her tightened and he brought his free hand to her hair as he kissed her back. He heard the sound she made in the back of her throat and it made him smile, the love he had for her deepening as he pulled her further into to him and her hand fell to his chest. They settled into the kiss with ease, neither of them eager to rush their way through it, for a while the rest of the world faded into nothingness as they allowed themselves to get lost in one another. Of course, life was never overly kind to either of them, however, and so it came as little surprise when the urge to come up for air arose far too soon for their liking.
Curling a hand into his shirt, she kissed him once more before pulling back and letting her head fall against his shoulder again.
“Not that I’m complaining because, believe me, I’m not,” He ran his fingers along her spine, unable to keep from stealing another kiss. “But where did that come from?”
She snorted with amusement. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
The corner of his mouth curled into a smirk as his hand ran down her back, settling at the base of her spine. “Are you alright?”
“I am,” She assured him. “I’m tired and I’m cold, but I’m alright. You?”
“I’m alright,” He replied before casting his gaze around the room. “We really need to get this place fixed up.”
She chuckled. “You think this is bad. You should see the bedroom.”
“Let me guess. The bed is a pile of hay in the middle of the room.” He teased, making himself a little more comfortable.
“A mattress, actually, but pretty close,” She grinned. “It’s not much, but it’ll do for tonight at least.”
He looked at her for a second before placing a kiss on her temple. “Maybe we should go up. Both of us need some sleep after today.”
She agreed silently, using the hand on his chest to push herself up before she stood from the sofa and made her way across the room to the little cabinet a candle was resting upon. She approached the fireplace then and carefully lit the candle with the flames, setting it down on the mantelpiece for a second so she could extinguish the fire in the hearth with some of the sand from the sand bucket. Once she was certain it was out, she turned back to Fiyero to see he had stood from the sofa himself and was waiting for her in the doorway of the room. He held a hand out to her and she smiled, making her way over to him before slipping her hand into his and letting him lead her out of the sitting room and up the stairs. It took them little time to reach the bedroom and she entered ahead of him, heading for the windowsill so she could set the candle down while he shut the door behind them. She began unbuttoning her dress then and once it was open she peeled the soaked garment from her body, grimacing at the sensation before she dropped it to the floor and it pooled at her feet. She could feel Fiyero’s eyes on her as she stood there in nothing but her slip and she failed to keep from smirking. “Seriously?” She asked, her hands on her hips.
“Can you blame me?” He shot back.
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him. “Well, you can keep those thoughts to yourself. We’re going to sleep.”
He let out an over-exaggerated groan at that and she shook her head at him as she approached the mattress on the floor and lowered herself onto it, reaching for the scrunched up blanket at the foot of it and pulling it up over herself as she laid down. She made herself comfortable and it was mere seconds later when she felt the mattress dip and the blanket move, her lips curling into a smile when she felt him against her back. He put an arm around her beneath the blanket, his hand coming to settle upon her stomach so he could draw her back against him, and she felt him kiss the back of her shoulder before he tucked his head into her neck. “You warm enough?” He mumbled, pressing a tender kiss to her skin.
“I am now.” She admitted while settling in his embrace.
He was quiet for a time then, but he soon found his voice again. “I love you, Fae.”
Her heart raced. The last time she’d heard him say those words was during their night of passion in the woods and that felt so long ago now. “I love you too.”
A comfortable silence fell over them then and she was unable to keep from closing her eyes as a sudden wave of tiredness came over her, her hand finding his upon her stomach before she laced her fingers with his and breathed a sigh of contentment. After so many years of running – so many years of living in fear – there was something about knowing she was truly safe that made her happier than she could put into words. Not only was she safe though, she was now free to live her life with Fiyero and live it the way she wanted. The days of feeling as though she had to pretend to be something she wasn’t in order to gain approval were behind her. She no longer felt as though she had to keep quiet because she knew he loved her and that he respected and wanted to hear her opinions on things that mattered to her. He had given her that freedom and she just loved him so much for that.
She had no idea what the future had in store for them now, not in the slightest, but there was one thing she knew for sure.
[Synopsis: Following their departure from the land of Oz, Fiyero and Elphaba find themselves in a run down cottage in the middle of nowhere. Finally free to live their lives the way they desire - together and far from those who seek to harm them - they begin creating a home for themselves and settling into their new normal.
That is, however, until an unexpected development takes them by storm.
Suddenly facing the unknown once more, can the two of them rely on one another and help each other realise that they are more than capable of taking this on? Only time will tell.]
Read here on AO3, or under the cut to stay here! 💚
Standing in the middle of the dark, draughty sitting room of the abandoned cottage she and Fiyero had found, Elphaba wrapped her arms tight around herself with a gentle sigh. The place was far from cosy — there was only a broken sofa and an old, threadbare rug on the floor by the fire and the other rooms were no better, she’d found — but at the same time it was a sanctuary. It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dense woodland miles from those who sought to harm them, and although the conditions were far from ideal, she doubted it would take them long to make it feel like home. If they swept away the cobwebs and dealt with the numerous little cracks in the walls, the place would look miles better.
She ran her hands down the front of her dress, still damp thanks to that wretched little brat, and turned to the fire she had built in the fireplace a little while earlier. The flames were higher now, hotter too, and the warmth from them pulled her in. Lowering herself onto the rug, she removed her hat and cloak and set them down at her side before warming her hands on the fire. It wouldn’t be long now until Fiyero returned, she thought. He only left to walk down to the brook they saw at the bottom of the embankment and get some water. What they would talk about when he came back, she had no idea. It mattered little to her though. If it came to it, she would happily sit there in silence with him, watching the fire.
He was back with her, that was all that mattered.
It felt like an eternity, sitting and waiting in the dark for him to return to her following her altercation with Dorothy, and she had to admit she began to doubt if he would even come back at one point, but he did. There were no words for the relief she felt at seeing him back in one piece. The happiness she felt at getting to hold him again after so long apart. Their next steps had been unknown to her at the time. The only thing she knew for certain was that they needed to get as far from Oz as possible and nobody could ever know they were still alive. Not even Glinda. That was the hardest part, knowing the pain she would be in, but Fiyero had been right in saying they would never be safe if she knew the truth.
The chance of their secret getting out would be too high and that was a risk neither of them could afford to take.
She was pulled from her thoughts when the door to the cottage opened and, turning in place on the rug, she smiled as she watched Fiyero enter the cottage with the bucket of water in hand. He shut the door behind him before making his way into the sitting room, his clumsy gait causing the water to slosh around within the bucket and spill over the side. She couldn’t help but chuckle. He was so adorable. She watched him take the final few steps towards her and the fireplace, but then she realised he was about to try and hang the bucket over the flames and she quickly reached out and grabbed his arm. “Whoa,” She said while reaching for the bucket with her other hand. “I think it would be safer for me to do that.”
He got her meaning and smiled, letting her take the bucket from him before she moved onto her knees and carefully hung the bucket above the fire so the water could start boiling. He held his hand out to her when she turned back to him and she accepted it, allowing him to help her to her feet before he walked her over to the broken sofa and they sat down together. It was far from comfortable and it dipped on one side, another thing they were going to have to see to, but they managed and she nestled into his side when he slipped an arm around her shoulders. They were silent for a while then, but eventually he turned his head in her direction and planted a kiss on her forehead. “You’re shivering.” He told her.
She hummed. “A wet dress doesn’t do me much good on a night like this.”
He sat there with her a moment longer before taking his arm from around her and sitting himself up a little so he could start unbuttoning his jacket. Once it was open, he began to shrug it from his shoulders before she took hold of it and helped him the rest of the way. When she handed the garment back to him, he waited for her to settle against him once more before covering her with the jacket and putting his arm around her again. “Better?” He asked her, rubbing her back tenderly through the jacket in an attempt to get her warm.
“Mmm…” She nodded her response as she reached up to brush her fingers against the straw peeking out from beneath his hat.
For a time, neither one of them said a word, but then she brought her hand to rest upon his cheek and let her thumb run across the burlap and moments later she was kissing him softly. It took him a second to catch up - he had little brains after all – but when he did the arm around her tightened and he brought his free hand to her hair as he kissed her back. He heard the sound she made in the back of her throat and it made him smile, the love he had for her deepening as he pulled her further into to him and her hand fell to his chest. They settled into the kiss with ease, neither of them eager to rush their way through it, for a while the rest of the world faded into nothingness as they allowed themselves to get lost in one another. Of course, life was never overly kind to either of them, however, and so it came as little surprise when the urge to come up for air arose far too soon for their liking.
Curling a hand into his shirt, she kissed him once more before pulling back and letting her head fall against his shoulder again.
“Not that I’m complaining because, believe me, I’m not,” He ran his fingers along her spine, unable to keep from stealing another kiss. “But where did that come from?”
She snorted with amusement. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
The corner of his mouth curled into a smirk as his hand ran down her back, settling at the base of her spine. “Are you alright?”
“I am,” She assured him. “I’m tired and I’m cold, but I’m alright. You?”
“I’m alright,” He replied before casting his gaze around the room. “We really need to get this place fixed up.”
She chuckled. “You think this is bad. You should see the bedroom.”
“Let me guess. The bed is a pile of hay in the middle of the room.” He teased, making himself a little more comfortable.
“A mattress, actually, but pretty close,” She grinned. “It’s not much, but it’ll do for tonight at least.”
He looked at her for a second before placing a kiss on her temple. “Maybe we should go up. Both of us need some sleep after today.”
She agreed silently, using the hand on his chest to push herself up before she stood from the sofa and made her way across the room to the little cabinet a candle was resting upon. She approached the fireplace then and carefully lit the candle with the flames, setting it down on the mantelpiece for a second so she could extinguish the fire in the hearth with some of the sand from the sand bucket. Once she was certain it was out, she turned back to Fiyero to see he had stood from the sofa himself and was waiting for her in the doorway of the room. He held a hand out to her and she smiled, making her way over to him before slipping her hand into his and letting him lead her out of the sitting room and up the stairs. It took them little time to reach the bedroom and she entered ahead of him, heading for the windowsill so she could set the candle down while he shut the door behind them. She began unbuttoning her dress then and once it was open she peeled the soaked garment from her body, grimacing at the sensation before she dropped it to the floor and it pooled at her feet. She could feel Fiyero’s eyes on her as she stood there in nothing but her slip and she failed to keep from smirking. “Seriously?” She asked, her hands on her hips.
“Can you blame me?” He shot back.
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him. “Well, you can keep those thoughts to yourself. We’re going to sleep.”
He let out an over-exaggerated groan at that and she shook her head at him as she approached the mattress on the floor and lowered herself onto it, reaching for the scrunched up blanket at the foot of it and pulling it up over herself as she laid down. She made herself comfortable and it was mere seconds later when she felt the mattress dip and the blanket move, her lips curling into a smile when she felt him against her back. He put an arm around her beneath the blanket, his hand coming to settle upon her stomach so he could draw her back against him, and she felt him kiss the back of her shoulder before he tucked his head into her neck. “You warm enough?” He mumbled, pressing a tender kiss to her skin.
“I am now.” She admitted while settling in his embrace.
He was quiet for a time then, but he soon found his voice again. “I love you, Fae.”
Her heart raced. The last time she’d heard him say those words was during their night of passion in the woods and that felt so long ago now. “I love you too.”
A comfortable silence fell over them then and she was unable to keep from closing her eyes as a sudden wave of tiredness came over her, her hand finding his upon her stomach before she laced her fingers with his and breathed a sigh of contentment. After so many years of running – so many years of living in fear – there was something about knowing she was truly safe that made her happier than she could put into words. Not only was she safe though, she was now free to live her life with Fiyero and live it the way she wanted. The days of feeling as though she had to pretend to be something she wasn’t in order to gain approval were behind her. She no longer felt as though she had to keep quiet because she knew he loved her and that he respected and wanted to hear her opinions on things that mattered to her. He had given her that freedom and she just loved him so much for that.
She had no idea what the future had in store for them now, not in the slightest, but there was one thing she knew for sure.
