Part I

Somewhere along the way – after he had stolen the lantern from the front of a house just outside the City, but before they had entered the forest – Fiyero had taken her hand and he had been surprised at how small it felt in his.

She'd always been so strong, armouring herself with sarcasm and witty comebacks. She was constantly fighting; she had been ever since he had first met her. She fought for recognition at first, for just a little bit of kindness from someone, anyone, around her. She fought for her sister, for Dr Dillamond, and for a caged Lion cub. After that, she fought for the Animals and for what she believed was right, no matter the cost. She'd put on a brave face and acted tough even as a schoolgirl and he could only imagine how much worse that had to have gotten over time.

Her hand felt so small, though.

Cold, too, even after he had encased it in his own, which was much larger and warmer than hers. Despite that fact, her fingers still felt like ice. The feeling of her hand in his was, more than anything, what made him realise she was really still just a girl. More of a woman now than she had been when she'd left, but still a girl, not even twenty-five yet. He thought she had to be an old soul, if one believed in such things, and she acted much older than her age, but none of those things could change the truth. She had only barely outgrown her teenage years. A girl on the run from the authorities, a girl chased around the country by Oz's strongest soldiers, a girl inspiring terror in the hearts of people without ever having done anything to warrant such a reaction. She did what most people didn't have the courage to do: she fought for what she believed in and she was punished for it in the worst possible way.

He looked back at her and saw the dark shadows in her face, the tiredness she was trying to hard to hide. He gently tugged her to a halt.

"Let's stop here," he said quietly. "We've come far enough for tonight."

She protested, but he shushed her. "Fae, I know the way my men operate. They won't find us here tonight."

She pulled her hand out of his. She instantly missed the warmth of his fingers, but she had to think clearly. "Don't call me that."

She wanted to yell at him for being so stupid, for leaving Glinda and becoming a fugitive for her. She wanted to shake some sense into him and shout into his ear that he didn't love her, he couldn't, and that he had to go back. She didn't want to believe he loved her, because it would be such a foreign concept to grasp that that in itself scared her more than she was willing to admit. Until now, he had been off-limits and therefore safe; just a dream she knew would never come true. Now, though, he had become much more than that.

She watched warily as he knelt on the forest floor and placed the lantern there before looking up at her, his face uncharacteristically open. She was used to him putting on the mask of a happy playboy prince, but there was no trace of that mask now and that was why she couldn't say any of those things to him. She could see the truth in his eyes. Silently, he held out his hand to her; and she found herself approaching him. She slipped her fingers into his and he smiled as she sat down on her knees across from him, taking him in without saying a word.

He cupper her chin, gently brushing some stray strands of hair away from her face with his other hand, and he brought her closer. She breathed his name right before their lips met and she knew then that she was lost. If she'd read him wrong, if what she'd seen in his face had been wishful thinking rather than the truth, he might just be doing this in order to get close enough to be able to plunge a knife into her back. She found she didn't even really care if he did. At least she'd have had this one moment of utter bliss with him.

He didn't reach for a knife, though, nor did he push her away and laugh at the cruel prank he'd played on her by making her believe he loved her. He just slowly deepened the kiss and pulled her closer, his fingers digging into her waist almost urgently. She shuddered a little and he drew back just enough to be able to look into her eyes, his forehead against hers and his one hand still on her face.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, concern clouding his usually so bright blue eyes. "Are you cold? We can't make a fire, but I could –"

She shook her head and pressed a finger to his lips, cutting him off. "I'm fine," she told him. She sighed, sitting back a little. "Yero…"

"Don't," he said, so fiercely it almost made her jump. "Elphaba, don't you dare start telling me that I shouldn't be here, or that I don't know what I'm doing, or that I can't love you – or whatever crap you were about to tell me."

She opened her mouth, but he wasn't finished yet. "I'm done pretending and I'm too tired of constantly explaining my actions to everyone to sit here talking with you for hours as I try to convince you that I really am serious about this. I've searched for you for almost three years. I left Glinda for you, I made myself a fugitive for you, and then I kissed you in a pitch-black forest in the dead of night knowing we'll be hunted in the morning; and do you know what? I've never been so happy. I think I've made my intentions towards you pretty clear. So unless you don't want me here…"

The uncertainty in his voice made her pause and with a start, she realised that he was serious. "You think I don't love you?" She couldn't help it – the mere thought was so ridiculous she laughed out loud. "Silly man," she murmured, leaning in closer. She was shivering, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the cold rising from the damp forest floor or because of all the emotions warring inside of her. "I suppose you always were a little brainless."

A hopeful smile broke through on his face and she studied him, looking deep into his eyes.

"I won't bring it up again if you don't want me to," she said softly. "But I need to be absolutely sure that this is what you want, Yero. You can't go back. You've lost Glinda now and everything you had." She winced a little at the mention of her best friend, but Fiyero just took her hand in his and squeezed it softly.

"I've never been sure of many things in my life," he confessed, pulling her closer again and enfolding her in his arms. "But I'm sure about this. Fae, I've searched for you from the moment you left. I was in love with you even at Shiz."

"The Lion cub," she breathed and he looked down at her, startled, as he realised what she meant.

"You mean…? You, too?"

She blushed and nodded and now it was his turn to chuckle, even though he noticed she looked a little wistful. "What is it?"

"We could have had so much more time together," she said sadly. "I've been so stupid, Fiyero…"

"Not stupid," he told her firmly. "Never you. Don't do this, Fae, please." He nuzzled her neck, pressing soft kisses to the green skin there, and she tilted her head a little to the side to give him more access. "There's only now," he whispered against her skin as her eyes fluttered shut. "Let's make the most of whatever time we have tonight."

She nodded, her eyes still closed, and he smiled. She was still shaking a little, but as he gently rubbed his hands up and down her back and arms, her shivering slowly stopped. "You know?" she mumbled as her fingers started an exploration of their own, feeling the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders underneath his shirt and then trailing down his chest. She was smirking slightly. "You never actually did tell me you love me."

He stilled and thought about it. Realising she was right, he shook his head and wound his fingers through hers, bringing their joined hands up to his lips and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Well, I love you, Elphaba Thropp," he told her, cupping her face again and kissing her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, and finally her lips, whispering his adoration for her between kisses. "I love you," he sighed, her body so close to his now that he could feel her heart pounding even through the fabric of her tattered dress. He guided her hand to his own chest and laid her palm flat against it so she could feel how hard his own heart was beating. It made her smile.

"Say it again," she whispered, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

He kissed her ear. "I love you," he said into it, his lips migrating down to her jaw and then her throat before pulling away. "Wait. Are you just trying to get me to make a fool out of myself? Making me say it a thousand times and then do that creepy witch cackle in my face, tell me you don't actually love me back, and leave me here alone?"

He was joking – mostly, anyway – but her face softened and she cradled his face between her hands, kissing him softly. "I love you, too, Yero," she said, knowing that was what he wanted to hear. She kissed him a little harder. "How could I not?"

He grinned a goofy, lopsided grin at her and then hauled her back to him, kissing her deeply and fiercely and loving the little noise of surprise she made in her throat. They both knew it could all be over by morning, but for now they simply did not care.

When she eventually pulled away, he could see instantly that something was wrong. "Fae?"

She took a deep breath and attempted a smile, but failed. "I just…" She fidgeted with some loose threads on her dress. "I just wish I could be beautiful for you," she muttered, lowering her eyes. "And don't tell me I am," she added before he could say anything. "You don't have to lie to me."

His heart broke for her when he heard that and he scooted closer, taking her hands in his own. Glinda had told him once how insecure Elphaba had always been about her looks, mainly her skin, but he hadn't actually understood how deep that went. He supposed he'd never really gotten close enough to her for that, but he was determined to change that now. He shook his head at her, reaching up to gently stroke her cheek.

"It's not lying," he told her. "It's just looking at things another way."

She gave him a watery smile that clearly told him she appreciated the effort, but she didn't believe him for a clock-tick. He sighed and put his arms back around her. "Come here, you. And then you call me silly?" he asked her incredulously. "Fae, I promise you that you're the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen in my life."

She scoffed. "Then either you've never looked at another girl in your life, which I somehow sincerely doubt," she shrieked when he tickled her as revenge for that remark, "or you need to get your eyesight checked."

"Or you," he retorted, "need to look into a mirror."

She shook her head and he put his chin on her shoulder. "I'll show you," he promised her. "Someday, somehow, I'll show you exactly how beautiful you are to me."

She smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but then her face suddenly contorted and she doubled over, gasping as if in pain.

"Elphaba!" he exclaimed, startled and alarmed by her behaviour. "What's wrong?"

"Nessa," she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching her waist. "Nessa is in danger."

Fiyero was panicking – her face had paled and he could see the panic in her own eyes as well, which didn't reassure him in the slightest. "How do you know?" he demanded.

"I don't know!" she cried. "I just do!" She sucked in another breath and Fiyero rubbed her back, hoping that would help just a little bit. He had no idea how she could know that something was wrong with her sister, but he'd seen enough of her magic to know that he'd just have to take her word for it.

She struggled weakly against him. "I have to go!"

"I'll go with you," he said immediately, rising to his feet and pulling her up as well. He kept her hands in his even as she shook her head and tried to step back.

"No," she said. "It's too dangerous."

He nodded, recognising that arguing with her would be of no use, and he told her about Kiamo Ko – his family's castle where no-one would find her if she managed to keep the sentries from spotting her.

"Meet me there," he said, squeezing her hand softly. It felt warmer now than it had a few hours earlier.

She looked down at their hands and when she asked if they would see each other again, there was such apprehension in her voice, such fear and at the same time so much hope, that he could only reassure her. "We're going to be together always," he promised her, even though he knew as well as she did that even if neither of them got killed today, 'always' was a period of time they probably would not have together – or at all.

The small smile she gave him, though, lifted his heart and he returned it. She laid her hand against the side of his face for a moment. "Be careful," she whispered.

He turned his head and kissed her palm. "You, too."

A few minutes later, it was like she had never even been there; and he could only hope they would indeed see one another again.