A/N: My profile lied. I'm writing a non Harry Potter/STAR WARS fic.

It was easy to hate her. All Oz hated her.

But.

He had seen her at her softest, her most vulnerable, and it was hard to forget. He knew that she was trapped in the moment that he called her beautiful. That much was crystal clear. But what he wouldn't even admit to himself was that a part of him was too.

And as she devolved from a sweet young schoolgirl to a terrifying dictator, and he was forbidden from even leaving the mansion, he grew to hate her. But in a way, he grew to pity her too. Because behind those wild eyes, he knew that that desperate schoolgirl was trapped, and… and…

He didn't know. He didn't understand it himself. Was his… feelings… for her based off of pity? Pride, that someone adored him? Stockholm syndrome? None of the words that he came up with felt right. All he knew was that it was easy to hate her.

And he did.

But somehow, he loved her too.

It was easy to love her. All Oz loved her.

But.

He was no longer enamored by her as he was when he was young, she was no longer his perfect idol. He saw now that the smiles that she had given him had never been real, Oz, she had never even learned his name. He saw how she had manipulated him earlier, callously, without regard for His feelings, or Nessa's. He also knew that she hated him. She hadn't at Shiz, then he'd just been an annoying bug. Not that he had- accepted that at the time. But a lot had changed since Shiz, and there wasn't a single student that had gone to Shiz that could completely understand everything that had. But in a way, it seemed like a betrayal… that she had been so far from perfect...

She wasn't just a pretty face anymore- or was she? In a way, she had been a symbol, during those long years in Munchkinland, of everything the woman he was "with" was not, of the hope of a better future. Was that the root of his lingering feelings for her? He felt there was more than that, but, just like with Nessa, he couldn't explain it to himself. It shouldn't be that hard. She was his Queen. He knew that she worked hard, especially to help the animals. And he was grateful, one of his best friends was a Lion after all, and even though he was hardly a victim of speciessism now, he knew that he had been in the past. There was also the way that she seemed to light up the world when she walked into it… Yes, it was easy to love her.

And he did.

But somehow, he hated her too.

Love. Hate. Hate. Love. They were opposites, and yet, they seemed to feed off of one another, so he couldn't tell which was which anymore. The only two women whom he loved, loved…

Were also the two people in Oz he hated most of all.

A/N: Please review.