The Witch paced back and forth on the forest floor, glancing up at the sky every few seconds. Subconsciously, her fingers twirled the loose strings on her dress, pulling on them nervously.

She was waiting for the return of a few Birds sent to spy on the Gale Force. They were supposed to be back hours ago and terrifying thoughts swirled inside her head as she waited. Perhaps they were captured and silenced by the soldiers, stuffed into cages and stripped of their freedom. Maybe even killed. It would be all her fault, she should have gone instead of them.

Minutes ticked by and the sky began to darken. She grabbed her broomstick, intending to find out what happened to, and possibly rescue, the group. Just as she was taking off, there came a rustle of wings from above.

"Lady Fae!" cried a high voice. Elphaba looked up to see them all coming towards her, completely unharmed.

"Thank Goodness! I was about to come and rescue you lot from the Gale Force." she breathed a sigh of relief and leaned her broom against a nearby tree. The Birds landed next to her and the leader, a Hawk named Ruflin, gave a dramatic, sweeping bow with his wing.

"Many apologies for the lengthy delay, my lady. We, in fact, did have a little run in with the Gale Force." Elphaba felt herself pale and did a quick double-check to make sure none were missing.

"Fortunately, we had luck on our side and nobody was captured." said a smaller Bluejay, seeing her distress.

"Yes," said Ruflin, "none of the Guard actually saw us except for one man. He was obviously an Animal supporter, though. Knew who you were and everything!"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, "Ruflin, is there a single soul in Oz that doesn't know who I am?"

"This man was different. When he saw us, he directed all the soldiers in the opposite direction and started to talk to us. He asked if we knew an Elphaba Thropp."

"Did he?" Elphaba looked towards the West. "What did you say?"

"I said we did. The man told me to tell you 'Hello' and give you this." From under his wing, Ruflin extracted a neatly folded piece of paper.

Elphaba took it, her hands trembling slightly. "Ruflin, tell me quickly before you leave, did he say what his name was?"

The Hawk thought for a minute, "Yeah, something with an 'F'. Was it Feyiro? Something like that."

Her heart skipped a beat, "Thank you for everything, all of you. Go home and get some rest now, you deserve it." and with many fluttering wings and chatter, they were gone.

Elphaba slid to the ground, leaning against a tree. Slowly, hands still shaking, she unfolded the paper.

My Dear Elphaba,

I hope to find a way to send this letter to you, but it might be difficult considering Witches don't exactly have mailing addresses, do they?

(There was a lot of scratched out lines here) I love you. I have for a long time, ever since that day that Dr. Dillamound was fired, and the poor Lion Cub we rescued. You remember that, don't you? How you told me that I was unhappy and not as shallow and self-absorbed as I thought?

You changed my life, Elphaba, in ways that I could never have imagined. You taught me to think for myself and stop caring so much about what others thought. I learned that I did have a brain after all and when I debated and talked with you, I felt as though I was really me.

I can't seem to stop thinking about you, everything I do is with you in mind. I've never truly loved before this and I feel as though I now have a purpose in life. I love you, Elphaba Thropp. I love you, I love you, I love you.

With much love,

Fiyero

Elphaba closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She re-read the letter several times then held it close to her heart. Looking up at the stars, she smiled in a way that was completely foreign to her face, it was almost dreamy. For a while, she let herself forget that she was the Wicked Witch of the West and Fiyero was a Gale Force soldier and Glinda's boyfriend. For a while, she let herself be in love.

What elaborate lives they lived.

D'awww, how sweet. Sorry for bad love-letter writing, I can't say I've really practiced before...

This is a very special story written in celebration of two milestones:

-This is my 50th story

-Today marks my one year anniversary on Fanfiction!

So Yippee! Party time! Bring out the cake and showtunes!

Anyone who caught a Broadway musical reference in there gets to have some of my celebration cake, any flavor, icing, and topping!