AN: Because with the fighting going on in Wonderwomen and the separation and drama in Shadows, I was in desperate need of some fluff - Fiyeraba and otherwise. I was reading a bit of MTBB and came across a line, and a oneshot poofed into my head. As said above, this a companion piece to Made to be broken.
'Don't peek!' Cyara warned her, and Elphaba rolled her eyes, even though no one could see it. 'How could I possibly peek when you're covering my eyes with your hands?' she wanted to know in mild exasperation.
She heard Cyara giggle. 'We're almost there.'
'Almost where?' She tripped over a loose cobblestone and a stab of pain shot through her not yet fully healed ribcage. She gasped softly. 'Ow.'
'Careful, Cy!' Fiyero warned his sister from behind them. Cyara looked back at him. 'I am careful, Fiyero, stop trying to-'
'Cyara, that's a wall!' cried Glinda, stopping the blonde princess from leading Elphaba right into a wall just in time. 'Would you be careful?'
Cyara grimaced. 'Sorry.'
'Please, someone, save me,' begged Elphaba in a mock desperate voice, and Glinda giggled. Fiyero scooped her up in his arms. 'Keep your eyes closed.'
She did – she trusted him – and she felt him carry her through the streets of the Emerald City. 'Would someone please tell me where we're going?' she demanded, and she heard Cyara giggle beside her. 'You'll see.'
Glinda was giggling, too, which only made the green witch warier of her friends' intentions. 'I don't like all the giggling. It usually means you're up to something.'
'It's a nice surprise, Elphie, I promise,' Glinda assured her. 'I think you'll love it! I know I do!'
'That really doesn't say anything,' said Elphaba drily, eliciting yet another excited giggle from both blondes.
Fiyero looked down at the woman he loved, cradled safely within his arms. With a pang, he realised how many times he had held her like this before; times when she had been hurt and unable to walk herself. Times like right after she had defeated Morrible for good – right after he had thought she had died…
But times like those would never come again, he knew. Morrible was destroyed and his Fae was safe. He gently kissed her forehead and she cracked open one eye. 'What was that for?'
'I love you,' he told her seriously. A smile broke through on her face and she reached up to kiss him properly on the lips. 'I love you, too.'
'Now close your eyes again,' he said. She rolled them first, but then did as he had said and they walked along, Glinda and Cyara chattering excitedly. Elphaba rested her head against Fiyero's chest, feeling tired, and she felt him tense a little. 'You okay?'
'Fine,' she muttered. 'I'm not made of glass, Fiyero. I won't crack the moment you let me out of your sight.'
'Sorry.' She could imagine his face right now – slightly sheepish, but not apologetic. 'It's just… If it's too much, just say so, okay? You were only even allowed out of bed a week ago, and I don't want you to strain yourself.'
She snorted. 'That I was only allowed to get out of bed a week ago, doesn't mean I actually got out of bed only a week ago.'
It took a moment before the implication of her words dawned on him, but then he said, sounding slightly shocked, 'Fae! You've been out of bed before?'
She opened her eyes again to smirk at him. 'Aw, come on. You know better than to lock me in a bedroom.'
'But one of us was either with you or in the hallway the entire time!' They had taken turns watching over the green girl to make sure she got the rest she needed, but after a while, their constantly being in the room, hovering, had drove her crazy and she had told them to back off. They had then resorted to taking turns sitting outside in the hallway, so that they would be sure she at least didn't leave the room.
She snickered. 'I climbed out of the window.'
Glinda gasped. 'Elphie! You climbed out of a window with cracked ribs? Are you insane?'
'Some seem to think so,' Elphaba said innocently, and Fiyero shook his head. 'It's a good thing I didn't know about that.'
'I made sure of that,' she said with a grin. 'If you'd known, you would have never left me alone again.'
He laughed. 'True. Now close your eyes again – we're here.'
She obeyed and he gently put her back on her feet, covering her eyes with his hands. 'Ready?'
'Ready,' she said, and she felt him leading her through a few doors. Glinda squealed and she heard Athul mutter a soft, 'Wow,' behind her, but Fiyero was still covering her eyes, so she couldn't see a thing. 'May I?' he asked his sister, who nodded excitedly. 'Show her.'
Fiyero removed his hands and Elphaba blinked a few times, then looked around her. When she saw what was inside the room, she gasped softly. 'Oh…' She walked up to one of the paintings and touched it gingerly. 'Cyara… How… Where did you…'
Cyara wore a beaming grin as she went to stand next to her friend and pointed at the first painting. 'This one I made when you fell asleep in Glinda's chair, right after we first defeated Morrible. That one I painted after you defeated Morrible the second time, and the others, well… let's just say I snuck into your room quite a few times at night.' She looked at the green girl anxiously. 'Do you like them?'
Completely speechless, Elphaba slowly turned around, taking in the entire room. It was an art exposition, an entire room filled with paintings - Cyara's paintings... and all of them were of a sleeping Elphaba.
She was everywhere. Curled up in a chair, lying in her bed, stretched out in the grass or on the couch. Sometimes Fiyero was there, too, watching her with a loving look on his face or sleeping next to her, with her snuggled up against his chest, but she was on every single one of them.
'Oh, Cyara…' To the blonde girl's complete surprise, the dark-haired witch suddenly turned to her and hugged her tightly. 'They're beautiful.'
Cyara beamed at her. 'Really? You really think so?'
Elphaba trailed her fingers down her own painted face. Cyara really was talented; every single picture was like a real image, as if she had frozen the scene and somehow transferred it to the canvas.
Glinda was bouncing behind her. 'They're amazifying, aren't they?' she beamed, cuddling into Athul's arms.
Elphaba turned to face Cyara. 'You're really talented, kid,' she said honestly. 'I love them. You… You did what I didn't think would be possible.' She moved her fingers away from the painting and studied her own face intently, smiling softly. 'You made me look beautiful.'
'Yeah, well,' Cyara poked her side playfully, 'the paintings are just reflections of the real thing.'
Elphaba winced, and Cyara scowled at her. 'Oh, come on. I know you can't stand people telling you you're beautiful, but you are, as you can see for yourself here, so don't argue with me. And you don't have to wince. Don't be overdramatic.'
Elphaba glared at her. 'That's not why I'm wincing, Cyara. You just poked my ribcage.'
'Your ri- oh.' Cyara grinned sheepishly. 'That's about the fifth time in the past days I poked your hurt ribs, isn't it? I'm sorry.'
'It's okay,' Elphaba assured her with a slightly breathless chuckle.
Fiyero gingerly wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. 'She's right, you know,' he said quietly in her ear. 'Although – and I'm really sorry, Cyara – the paintings aren't anywhere near as beautiful as the real thing.'
Elphaba blushed furiously. 'Shut up.'
Cyara chuckled. 'Oh, I won't take it personally, Yero. I would be worried if you thought otherwise.'
An elderly woman, who had been studying the paintings carefully, now approached the Vinkun princess, having overheard some of their conversation. 'Excuse me, little lady… did you paint these?'
Cyara fidgeted a little. 'Yes, I did.'
The woman reached out and squeezed her shoulder. 'You have a talent, girl,' she told her seriously. 'These paintings are beautiful… though that might partly be because of the subject,' she said with a smile in Elphaba's direction, causing the green girl's blush to deepen.
The old woman turned back to Cyara. 'Are these for sale, dear?'
Cyara's eyes widened. 'You… you would be interested in buying one of them?' she stammered, and the lady laughed merrily. 'Oh, no, not one of them! If you're willing to sell them to me, I would like to buy them all!'
Cyara's jaw dropped quite literally and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. 'You… You want to buy…'
'Here, take my card.' The woman pressed a small card into the blonde's hand. 'If you're interested, let me know.' With a wink, she left again.
Cyara was squealing and bouncing in a very Glinda-like fashion, and the other blonde joined her, both of them jumping up and down. 'She wants to buy my paintings!' Cyara exulted, and Glinda screeched back, 'I know!' The others watched them in amusement.
Elphaba leaned back against Fiyero, taking in each and every picture Cyara had painted. They really were beautiful; and for the first time, it was like she could see herself through Fiyero's eyes, through the eyes of her friends. Was this what they saw when they looked at her? She touched another painting.
As if he was reading her mind, Fiyero whispered in her ear, 'Do you see it now?'
She looked up at him, her eyes huge and a bit uncertain. 'Is that really what you see when you look at me?'
He shook his head and pulled her closer, kissing her temple. 'What I see is way more beautiful than any painting could ever be.'
Her eyes filled with tears and she flung her arms around his neck, kissing him. 'I love you, Yero my hero,' she whispered, and he nuzzled her cheek. 'I love you, too, my Fae.'
Glinda was still bouncing. 'You will continue to paint, won't you, Cyara? Will you try to get another exposition of some of your paintings?' she asked excitedly, and her fellow blonde looked at her with a mischievous glint in her eyes. 'Actually,' she smirked, 'I'm currently working on a new series, which I'm planning on calling 'Athinda'.'
Glinda squealed again. 'Athul and me?'
Cyara grinned at her. 'Yes. I would do a Fiyeraba series, too, but someone,' she glared at Elphaba, 'refuses to sit still every time I try to paint her.'
'Which doesn't keep you from doing so, apparently,' chimed in Elphaba, arching her eyebrow and gesturing towards the paintings in the room. Cyara gave her a radiant smile. 'Of course not.'
Fiyero laughed. 'Don't worry, little sis, I'll make her sit still so that you can paint her sometime.'
Elphaba chuckled. 'Don't be so sure.'
He quirked an eyebrow at her. 'Is that a challenge?'
'Only if you consider it one,' she said, kissing his cheek lightly. She yawned and he lifted her up in his arms again. 'Time to get you back.'
'I'll come with you,' said Cyara. Glinda and Athul decided to stay a little bit longer.
The three of them were silent for a while, until Elphaba said a bit sleepily, 'Cyara?'
The Vinkun princess, lost in thought, looked up. 'Hm?'
Elphaba looked at her over Fiyero's shoulder. 'Do you really thing I'm as beautiful as your paintings are?'
Cyara sighed and went to walk next to her brother. 'Elphaba,' she began, 'Fiyero doesn't keep telling you that just because he loves you, you know. He would never lie to you.'
'He wouldn't lie,' Elphaba mumbled, smiling a little. 'He just looks at things another way.'
Fiyero chuckled and Cyara smiled. 'Elphaba… do you really think my paintings are beautiful?'
Elphaba nodded solemnly and Cyara playfully swatted at her shoulder. 'Then just think about those every time someone says you're beautiful, because that's what we see.'
Elphaba was scowling at her and Cyara frowned, too. 'What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?'
Elphaba shook her head. 'You did it again.'
'Did what again?'
'You just slapped my shoulder.'
Cyara looked at her questioningly. Elphaba clarified, 'My shoulder that was dislocated not too long ago.'
The princess immediately looked guilty. 'Oh! Elphaba, I'm so sorry!'
'It's okay.' Elphaba sniggered. 'You're just really… enthusiastic, I suppose.'
'I'm not doing it on purpose, I swear!' Cyara said, and Elphaba reached out to pat her head. 'I know, kid. It's okay. And thank you.'
Cyara cocked her head, confused. 'For slapping you?'
Elphaba chuckled. 'For what you said, kid.'
'Oh. Yeah. That makes more sense.' Cyara grinned sheepishly. 'Anyway, you're welcome.'
They walked in silence for a while. Then Elphaba asked, 'Do you have a name for this series of paintings, too?'
Cyara smiled. 'I do. A very fitting one.'
Elphaba quirked an eyebrow. 'Wicked Witch of the West?' she suggested. 'Snoring green girl?'
Cyara chuckled and Fiyero frowned at the dark-haired witch. 'Fae!'
'Oh, come on, Yero, I'm joking,' she said, grinning at him. Then she frowned a little. 'I didn't snore, did I?'
Now it was Fiyero's turn to chuckle. 'No, you didn't. You're adorable when you sleep. You don't drool, you don't snore, and your mouth is generally closed.'
'Thank Oz, or those paintings would have turned out a whole lot less charming,' she muttered. The others laughed.
She yawned again and closed her eyes, leaning her head against Fiyero's chest. Within no time, she was drifting off to sleep. 'Cyara?' she murmured sleepily. 'You didn't answer my question.'
Cyara smiled mysteriously. 'You want to know the name of the exposition?'
Elphaba nodded, eyes still closed. Fiyero kissed her hair and Cyara leaned forward to whisper in the green girl's ear.
'Sleeping Beauty.'
Hope you liked it - fixed this up in half an hour or so :3. Review and you'll make me a happy person! :)
