A/N: Hi all!

I'm back with a one-shot. It's rather short, but I really wanted to write something. My best friend in the world HC247 is coming to my town and we're going to see Wicked! :D I'm telling you, I so can't wait! I'm so serious when I say that I've been counting down the days! Not only do I get to see my best friend but I get to see Wicked for the first time!

This story was inspired by her fic called, "Illuminations." Although you don't need to read it (but you should…), and it doesn't follow it Exactly, it just was kind of born from it. That and my twisted mind…

I hope you will enjoy this! All concrit and reviews are greatly appreciated! I'm sorry if anything is to repetitive I just didn't want to give too much away at first.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any part of Wicked. I never ever will. That is where fanfiction comes along!

Flames will be used to light firewood and candles.

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'Why am I awake at such an hour?'

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'What is the hour?'

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Perhaps it was the warmth of someone's body that was lying next to her own. Maybe it was the slight headache pounding throughout her head or the chiming of the huge clock in the downstairs hallway.

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It still could be the night before. Perhaps it was four or five in the morning and he had spent the night at a friend's house him being to drunk to get home unassisted.

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The young man gingerly sat up in the warm bed, his blue eyes blinking several times in order to help clear his jumbled mind of all thoughts.

A task that used to be so easy for him at a point in time that was now long forgotten and discarded.

As such were his clothes on the floor next to an empty wheelchair.

As the captain glanced down to his right, the reason for his tryst was clearly reclining on the pillow, her open brown eyes staring directly at him.

"Sweet Oz," he breathed as he started to get out of bed, a pale hand upon his arm stopping that action as two bewildered people gazed at one another.

One desperately longing for the ivory hand to be emerald.

The other wishing for the one to be shorter in stature and have lighter colored hair.

"When will he be back?"

"I suppose he'll be returning soon."

"Look," the young captain began as he ran a nervous hand throughout his hair, "I'm-"

"Don't say you are sorry if you are not."

A slight sigh left his lips, "Alright, I won't."

He was surprised as he didn't have to lie to her with that statement. There was a pause then as he got out of bed, putting on his clothes and pushing the wheelchair over to the woman's side.

"Do you need anything before I go?"

The man gently reached for her hand as a pretty smile graced her face. He allowed himself to fully gaze at her; he wondering if that had been the first real sober grin that he had ever seen on her countenance.

"A bath would be great."

The man nodded as he bent, lifting her nude body as if she weighed only ounces as he carried her to the tub in the large bathroom. The governor watched as he readied the water before placing her smoothly in to it.

"Thank you," she softly said as he silently handed her a cloth and a bar of soap. The governor relaxed in the hot water, the steam blocking any farther viewing of her body as she sighed.

"Thank you," she repeated as her brown eyes looked at him, "Thank you for last night Fiyero."

The governor arched an eyebrow as she heard a chuckle beside her, "I should be thanking you Nessarose; not the other way around."

She shrugged as she lathered up the soap on the wash cloth, "Take care Fiyero."

A warm hand on her cheek stopped the action as Nessa allowed herself to melt in to his kiss for the final time, "Take care Nessa."

The governor gazed on as she saw him walk back in to her bedroom, pushing the wheelchair in to the bathroom before turning and leaving her manor for good.

The two of them knowing that they would in no way see each other again. The night was an unspoken event, never to be relived again. Both knowing that they were not the one that the other truly desired.

Neither one questioning the other as fervent hands and lips accompanied with fast movements and aching passionate screams of release had culminated in the true reason for them seeking comfort from a familiar stranger.

For both the governor and the captain of the Gale force would do anything to help quench the longing for people who they knew they would never have.

The two people that filled their nights with vivid dreams of declarations of love and yearning filled touches.

Elphaba and Boq.

-…-…-…End of, "Substitution."-…-…-…-…-…-