AN: So here it is! The long awaited (cough, cough) sequel to Witches, Bubbles, & Broomsticks. Did I torture you with the long (cough, cough) wait? Two entire days, how in Oz did you stand it?

...

So, yeah. I'm impatient :P. When I write, I want to share; so the moment I finished writing this, I put it up here. Yay.

I think it's only fair to give part of the credit for this story to Silvine Fae Graycin for her amazing ideas for this sequel. Where I had this very faint and general idea of the direction I wanted to go in, she filled in all the details and came up with some pretty amazing ideas I intend to use here. So if you like it, don't just thank me - thank her as well!

Hope you like this!

Disclaimer: ...

Open up your eyes

Then you'll realise

Here I stand with my everlasting love

The first thing Elphaba became aware of when she awoke, was the feeling that someone was watching her.

'Stop staring at me,' she murmured, not even bothering to open her eyes, her voice husky with sleep.

She heard the smile in Fiyero's voice. 'Only if you stop looking so incredibly beautiful when you're sleeping.'

She opened one eye and glared at him. 'That is so cheesy.'

'But you love me for it,' he said lightly, winking at her, and she laughed and rolled over so that she was half on top of him. 'Yes, I do,' she admitted, bending down to kiss him. Her long hair tickled his chest as she did so, a sensation that sent shivers down his spine.

She pulled back a little to look at him with those enormous dark eyes. 'What?'

'You,' he moaned, rolling over again so that she was lying underneath him now, her arms pinned to the mattress by his hands. 'You're driving me crazy.'

She gave him an innocent look. 'You've been crazy your entire life, love.'

He started tickling her, making her squirm and wriggle beneath him, giggling hysterically, until she was gasping for breath. 'Stop it!'

'Only if you tell me I'm not crazy.'

'Not really crazy,' she said, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and he started tickling her again until she was finally begging him to stop. 'Fine, fine, I surrender! You're not crazy!'

He grinned at her and kissed her. 'Yes I am. Crazy about you.'

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. 'You're being cheesy again.'

'Then punish me for it,' he suggested with a meaningful lopsided grin, and she smiled and pulled him closer. 'Oh, I will.' Then she noticed the time and she reluctantly pulled away. 'But not now.'

She laughed at his crestfallen face. 'Why not?' he asked, pouting.

'Did you forget what today is?'

He cringed his brow in thought. 'Saturday?'

She laughed again. 'Glinda's birthday.'

His eyes widened. 'Oh, no. Oh, Oz, I can't believe I forgot that. I didn't buy her a present! She's going to kill me! How could I forget to buy her a present?'

Elphaba chuckled. 'Relax, Yero. I got her a present from both of us.'

He looked utterly relieved. 'What would I do without you?'

She didn't answer that because she wasn't really sure of the answer herself. In the past, she would have bitterly said something like 'Have the life you really wanted' or 'Marry a girl that isn't a green, wanted criminal', but somehow, in the past year since he had left Glinda to be with her, he had managed to convince him of his unconditional love for her. She only had to think of the way he had been in the week she had spent in the afterlife, temporarily dead, to know that he would be devastated without her – a concept she found unbelievable, terrifying and incredibly sweet and amazing at the same time.

She shook off her thoughts and got up, collecting clothes from her wardrobe and disappearing in the bathroom a few moments later. She heard Fiyero rummage around in the bedroom, but when she entered again, fully dressed and ready to go, he was still in bed, having pulled the blankets over his head. She stifled a laugh at the sight and pulled away the blankets mercilessly. 'Get up, you lazy prince, we're going to be late!'

'But the sun isn't even up yet!' he whined. In response, she pulled open the curtains and let the waves of sunlight flood the room. 'It's midmorning, Yero.'

He whimpered theatrically, hiding his head underneath his pillow. 'It's so bright!'

She rolled her eyes. 'If you don't get up now, I'm going by myself!'

He grumbled on for a bit longer before finally getting up to gather his clothes and get dressed. In the meantime, Elphaba fetched the present she had bought her friend – a beautiful set of jewellery Glinda had been drooling over in the shopping mall the week before, but hadn't had the money with her to pay for it – and waited for Fiyero to get ready. She practically dragged him out of the guest rooms and through the hallways on their way to the ballroom where the party would be.

'I didn't even have breakfast yet,' Fiyero kept whining, and Elphaba gave him a pointed stare. 'The invitation said there would be a brunch, Fiyero. Have you even read it?'

His face lit up. 'Brunch? As in… lots and lots of food?'

She sighed and dragged him along. As soon as they entered the ballroom, Glinda came hurrying over to them, her face beaming. 'Elphie! Hi!'

'Happy birthday, Glin,' the green girl said warmly, handing her friend the present. She quite roughly nudged Fiyero, who was staring at the buffet on the other side of the room, between the ribs and he blinked a few times before grinning sheepishly at both his lover and his blonde friend. 'Right. Happy birthday, Glinda.'

The bubbly blonde giggled and opened her present, squealing with delight as she saw the matching necklace, bracelet and earrings, all silver with pink gemstones. 'Elphie! This is so amazing – thank you so much! I can't believe you remembered that!'

'You're welcome,' Elphaba chuckled as her friend caught her in a giant hug. Glinda's husband joined them and they congratulated him as well, at which he smiled. 'I'm really glad you could make it here.'

Fiyero rolled his eyes. 'It seems to me like we spend more time here in the palace than at home. Not that I'm complaining – I love it here, and it's nice to be so close to you and Glinda… but my parents are starting to wonder when I'll finally move to the Vinkus permanently to attend to my duties.'

Corrin raised his eyebrows. 'Are they resigning yet?'

'Not yet,' Fiyero hastened to explain. 'But as the Crown Prince, I have some duties there.'

'He just likes avoiding them,' Elphaba added, smiling innocently at her lover. He gave her a stern look, but then laughed. 'Yes, I have to admit, that's true. I'm really not the settling down kind of person.'

'Well, some things change faster than you think, right?' Corrin said mysteriously, winking at Fiyero, before walking away to talk to his other guests. Elphaba turned to face the Vinkun Prince, eyebrows raised. 'What was that about?'

'I have no idea,' he replied innocently, but she narrowed her eyes at him. 'Fiyero Tiggular, you were never a good liar.'

He laughed and kissed her lightly. 'I think that's Boq over there, I'm going to talk to him.'

'Fiyero!' she protested, but he was already gone and she grumbled. She had no idea why he was acting so strange, but she was determined to find out.

Glinda came over to her with a radiant smile. 'It's a beautiful day, isn't it?'

Elphaba laughed. 'You really make too much out of your birthday sometimes, Glinda.'

She pouted. 'But today I've been in this world for a quarter of a century!' An expression of horror flashed across her face as she realised what she had just said. 'Oh my Oz! A quarter of a century? I'm getting old!'

Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'Sweet Oz.'

'Anyway,' the blonde continued, 'I didn't just mean it's a beautiful day because of my birthday, Elphie. It's just a really beautiful day. The sky is clear, the sun is shining… I hope the sky will stay this clear so that we can see the fireworks really well tonight!'

'Fireworks?' Elphaba repeated. 'For your birthday?'

Glinda gave her a look. 'I'm Glinda the Good, the ruler of Oz, and I'm turning twenty-five. If that isn't a good reason for a giant celebration…'

Elphaba held up her hands in defeat. 'All right, all right, you win. Fireworks. Great. Perfect.'

'You do like fireworks, don't you, Elphie?' Glinda asked anxiously. Elphaba gave her a strange look at the tense tone in her voice, but decided to ignore it. 'Of course. I love fireworks. I used to watch them every New Years' Eve when I was a child – from my bedroom window, of course. Father wouldn't take me into town to see them, he only took Nessa… but it was beautiful nonetheless.'

Glinda squealed with delight. 'Perfect!'

Elphaba looked at her friend suspiciously. 'Do you know something I don't?'

Glinda's face flushed and she giggled nervously. 'Of course not.'

'You're an even worse liar than Fiyero is – and that says something.'

Glinda folded her arms and stuck her chin in the air defiantly. 'Fine, I do know something, but there's no way I'm going to tell you.'

'Glinda…'

'Hey, there's Corrin's parents!' the blonde interrupted, giving Elphaba a quick wave goodbye before hurrying over to her parents-in-law. 'That wasn't as subtle as you thought it was, Glinda!' Elphaba called after her friend, but Glinda only looked back once with a mischievous smile. Elphaba sighed in frustration.

What in Oz was going on around here?

The rest of the day passed with Glinda dragging Corrin, Fiyero and Elphaba all around the Emerald City for numerous parties, buffets and balls that the people held in honour of their rulers' twenty-fifth birthday – returning to the palace after every single one of them in order for Glinda to change clothes for the next one. Glinda was utterly excited about it all, bouncing back and forth between everyone she knew – which were quite a lot of people – and chattering on about all kinds of things with all kinds of people. Corrin and Fiyero only seemed interested in the food, talking to a few acquaintances every now and then, which left Elphaba more or less on her own. Normally, she would have found herself a book and a quiet place to read while waiting for the others to finish up, weren't it the case that everyone seemed to be talking to her these days as if they knew her personally – which, for the record, most of them didn't. Being Glinda's best friend as well as the almost-Princess of the Vinkus apparently made people think that she was public property. She found herself talking to people she hadn't ever seen in her life, asking her how she was doing, if she knew anything about Glinda's new policies regarding Munchkinland, if she had any idea if and when Fiyero was going to propose to her, if she knew whether Glinda and Corrin were already talking about having children or not… It was quite weary and she was glad when they finally got back to the palace for the final ball, that would last until after midnight and would include the fireworks Glinda had been so excited about.

Fiyero only laughed at her when she complained to them about all those strangers talking to her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck. 'They love you, Fae. I know that's not a feeling you're very familiar with, but you'll just have to get used to it.'

'I know,' she said, trying not to shiver with pleasure as his lips travelled down her neck in the direction of her collarbone. 'It's just… It's so strange, you know? I mean, I love that they love me… it's just, as you said, not something I'm very familiar with.'

'But it's something you deserve,' he said, planting kisses on her collarbone. She closed her eyes for a moment and reluctantly pushed him away. 'Please don't. We're in public.'

He mischievously quirked an eyebrow at her. 'So?'

She gave him a pointed look and he pouted, but eventually gave in. 'All right, all right, whatever you want. I'll save it for later tonight,' he winked, and she chuckled.

'Elphieeeee!' Glinda squealed, bouncing towards them, causing her dress to whirl around her feet and her tiara to nearly fall off her head. 'The fireworks are about to start! Come outside, quickly!'

The fact that Fiyero stared at Glinda for a long time, as if trying to convey a message to her, and Glinda smiling meaningfully and excitedly in return, didn't escape Elphaba and she looked suspiciously from one to the other and back again. 'What is going on?'

'Nothing!' Glinda hastened to reassure her, flashing her a brilliant smile. 'You're going to love the fireworks, Elphie! Let me give you a hint…' She bent over to her friend conspiringly and whispered, 'Pink goes good with green!'

Elphaba moaned. 'You did not make all the fireworks pink and green!'

Glinda blushed. 'Yes I did. As a reminder of you and me, and our friendship!' She looked so adorable saying that that Elphaba laughed and hugged her friend. 'Oh, Glin, it's really sweet that you did that, but…'

'No 'buts'!' Glinda said sternly. 'Now go and look at the fireworks, you two!' She smiled at Elphaba and winked at Fiyero, whispering 'Good luck' in his ear – although Elphaba probably wasn't meant to hear that. Fiyero offered her his arm and looked at her. 'Shall we?'

'You're hiding something from me,' she stated, taking his arm and walking with him towards the front of the building, where the numerous balconies were. He didn't reply; instead, he took her to a small balcony with room for only three or four people. There was no one else there and she looked at him questioningly.

He smiled. 'I figured a little alone time wouldn't hurt after such a busy day.'

She could tell that was not all of it, but decided not to push him and returned his smile instead. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she leaned into him as they watched the fireworks together. They were beautiful, all pink and green as Glinda had said they'd be, and Elphaba was so caught up in them that she didn't notice Fiyero nervously rummaging around in his pocket. She only looked at him when he cleared his throat to get her attention. 'Elphaba?'

She turned to face him, her face one big question mark, and he went a bit red. 'Fae? There's something I have to tell you.'

Hundreds of possibilities immediately shot through her mind at that moment, and none of them were really all that pleasant. I never told you, but I'm already married. I am terminally ill. I've been having an affair. I have children with other woman all around Oz. I've been thinking lately and I've finally come to my senses, realising that I have no idea what I see in you, and now I'm leaving you.

'Elphaba…' He took both her hands in his and took a deep breath. 'You know I love you.'

'Why do I sense a 'but' coming?' she asked, keeping her tone light in spite of the fact that her heart was pounding with anxiety. He had called her 'Elphaba'. He almost never called her 'Elphaba', except when he was being really serious about something – and that didn't really help calm her nerves.

He shook his head. 'No 'but'. I love you, and that's never going to change. You're beautiful, and witty, and intelligent, and altogether enchanting…' She smiled slightly at his choice of words, although her dread hadn't completely vanished yet. 'We've been through a lot together, but we made it, you and I. We make a good team together. I've loved you to death ever since we rescued that Lion cub together, and it took you dying to realise how much I really needed you. I can't live without you, Fae, and I never want to try it, either. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. Which is why,' at that point, he suddenly dropped on one knee, taking a small velvet red box out of his pocked and opening it to reveal the most beautiful ring she had ever seen, 'I want to ask you to marry me.'

She stared at him for a moment, completely dumbstruck, until he started shifting uncomfortably and awkwardly cleared his throat again. 'This is the part where you say yes.'

It was only then it finally got through to her that this wasn't a dream, that this was really happening, and a big, goofy grin spread across her face. 'Yes.'

He looked at her as if he didn't believe what she was saying. 'What did you just say?'

'Yes,' she repeated, beaming at him. 'I said yes. Yes, I want to marry you. Of course I want to marry you. There's nothing in the world I'd rather do than marry you.'

Now that same goofy grin broke through on his face as he carefully put the ring around her left ring finger. She immediately threw her arms around his neck and he whirled her round and round, both of them laughing with pure, utter happiness. After a long time, he lowered her to the ground and kissed her deeply. She closed her eyes and melted into his embrace, one thought bouncing through her head over and over again, making her smile against his lips. He just proposed. He proposed to me. Fiyero just asked me to marry him. Fiyero and I are going to be married!

She slid her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer to him as they shared another long, passionate kiss that left them both breathless, but they didn't care. Behind them, the pink and green fireworks kept on exploding in the air, causing a shower of pink and green sparks to fall down from the sky, and Elphaba was sure that this must be the most perfect moment she'd experienced in her entire life.

The review button loves you. Please love it back.