AN: One of you wondered in a review what Fiyero would do if Elyssah would ever start dating. Well... this is it :D.


Elyssah opened the door to the library. 'Mom?' she whispered. 'I'm going now.'

Elphaba looked up from her book and smiled, rising to her feet and walking over towards her daughter. 'Is he waiting outside?'

Elyssah nodded, a radiant, dreamy smile lighting up her face. Elphaba couldn't help but smile herself when she saw it, recognising that expression from her early days with Fiyero. 'You really like him, don't you?'

'I do,' the sixteen-year-old admitted. 'I mean, I've dated other guys before, but Caelan is different.'

'Why don't you bring him home someday?' suggested Elphaba. 'I'd like to meet him.'

Elyssah made a face. 'Yes, well… there's one problem with that,' she said a bit sourly. Mother and daughter looked at one another for a moment, then both agreed at the same time, 'Dad.'

'I just don't want him to scare Caelan away,' Elyssah sighed. 'Remember the last boy I dated?'

'Roín?'

'Yes, him,' said Elyssah. She shook her ebony hair back over her shoulders. 'And remember Dad's reaction to him?'

Elphaba grimaced at the memory. Roín had stayed over for dinner, and Fiyero had spent the entire meal questioning the poor boy about his intentions towards the Crown Princess. He even went so far as to drily ask over dessert whether Roín and Elyssah were sleeping together, at which Elyssah had flushed bright red and Roín had stammered a denial, before fleeing the castle as quickly as possible. Elyssah had been furious with her father and even Elphaba had reprimanded him for it.

'She's sixteen,' she'd told him sternly. 'I know she's your daughter, and you want to protect her, but she's just dating. Or do you need me to remind you of what you used to do when you were sixteen?'

That had shut him up, since they both knew that his dancing-through-life stage had started at that age.

Elphaba shook off the memory and focused on her daughter again. She squeezed Elyssah's arm. 'A chiste, if you want Caelan to meet us, then just bring him over and I will take care of your Dad for you.'

Elyssah grinned at her mother, quickly kissing her cheek. 'Thanks, Mom.'

Elphaba smiled and shooed her daughter away. 'Now go. Have fun. And make sure to avoid your father on the way out.'

'I'll try,' Elyssah promised, and Elphaba called after her, 'And your Aunt Galinda too! The moment she finds out you have a date, she'll squeal so hard that the whole household will come running, including your father.'

Elyssah smirked. 'Thanks for the tip. Bye, Mom.'

She sneaked out of the library and into the hallway, peering around the corner to make sure it was clear before rounding it and moving towards the front door.

'Where do you think you're going?'

She froze.

She slowly turned around, flashing the man behind her a sheepish smile. 'Hi, Dad.'

Fiyero crossed his arms, glaring at his daughter. 'Elyssah?'

She sighed and gave in, her shoulders slumping. 'Fine,' she grumbled. 'I'm going on a date.'

'A date?' His eyes shot up. 'I don't think so.'

She groaned. 'Dad,' she sighed, walking closer to him and making googly eyes at him, knowing that always persuaded him into relenting about pretty much anything. She looked up at him imploringly. 'Please?'

'Who is this boy?' he demanded gruffly. 'Do I know him?'

His daughter cast her eyes heavenward. 'Dad, he's just a boy from school. Not a serial killer.'

'I certainly hope not.'

'Or a rapist, a delinquent, an ogre, a kidnapper-'

A flash of something unidentifiable crossed his face, and she immediately felt guilty. She knew how sensitive the subject of kidnapping still was with her father after everything that had happened so many years ago, and she hugged him. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.'

'No, it's fine.' He sighed. 'And you're right,' he admitted reluctantly. 'He's probably not dangerous. Just adolescent. And hormonal. And-'

'Yes, Dad, I get the point!'

He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. 'I'm sorry, princess. But it's late, and I don't know the boy, so I'm not going to let you go.'

'It's a double date, so I won't be alone. A friend of mine will be there, too.'

'What friend?' he asked suspiciously.

She sighed. 'Daeni.'

'Daeni,' Fiyero echoed sarcastically. 'The daughter of the man that held you captive.'

'That was ten years ago!' she protested. 'Graydon is nice! Mom thinks he is!'

'Elyssah-'

'And besides, what does Daeni have to do with the fact that Graydon held me captive? She's my best friend, can't you just accept that?'

'Fine!' Fiyero held up his hands in defeat. 'Not another word about Daeni,' he promised. 'But you're still not going.'

She stomped her foot. 'Dad! I'm not a little girl anymore!'

'No, but-'

'Pretty please?' She pouted, and he grunted. 'You look like your Aunt Galinda right now.'

'I know,' she said, never dropping the pout. 'She's the one that taught me this look. She says it's effective in ninety-nine percent of the cases.'

She held his gaze, but when he didn't relent, she dropped the pout and sulked. 'Apparently you're the other one percent.'

He chuckled slightly. 'Now, Lys-'

'Daddy, I've known Caelan for over a year,' she reminded him. 'I've told you about him – he goes to school with me and Daeni and I hang out with him and his friends sometimes during breaks. Really, he's very nice, a real gentleman. I'm sure you'll like him. Just please let me go?'

He crossed his arms. 'Elyssah, I am done with this conversation,' he declared. 'You are not going, and that's the end of it.'

She made a move towards the door, but he blocked it. 'No, Elyssah!'

Suddenly, someone jumped onto Fiyero's back from behind and he stumbled away from the door, completely startled. 'Elyssah, go!' Elphaba called over her husband's shoulder, clinging to his back. She grinned at her daughter. 'I'll hold him back for as long as I can, but if I were you, I would go right now, because he's a lot taller and stronger than me and I can't hold him for very long,' she warned the girl.

Doubling over with laughter, Elyssah hurriedly fled the castle, calling, 'Thanks, Mom!' over her shoulder, while Fiyero tried to shake his wife off his back. 'Fae!'

She laughed and kissed his cheek from behind, then released him. She went to stand next to him and wrapped her arm around his waist instead. 'Oh, come on, Yero. I know you only want to protect her, but don't you think you're taking this a little too far?'

He sulked. She leaned up to kiss his lips. 'I love you. Now what do you say about a date of our own?'

As per usual, she managed to melt him within mere clock-ticks, and he complied, dipping his head to nuzzle her hair. 'But I still don't like it,' he muttered.

Elphaba turned around in his arms to face him, cupping his cheek. 'Yero, to us, she's still our little girl,' she said softly. 'But she's sixteen. What parent ever does like watching their children grow up?'

He sighed. 'You're right,' he admitted. 'It's just… it seems only days ago that she was still a bouncy little six-year-old, with her mother's brains and looks…'

'And mostly her father's character.' Elphaba leant into him. 'She's still that girl, Yero. She's just older now. She'll always be our little girl, in a way, but you have to let her go. You may not want her to grow up, but you can't keep her from doing so.'

'I could always lock her up somewhere,' he grumbled, and Elphaba cringed. 'Could you not joke about that, please?'

Immediately, he wanted to kick himself. 'Oh, Oz, Fae,' he muttered, drawing her into his arms and planting a kiss on top of her head, feeling awful. 'I'm sorry.'

She shook her head. 'It's fine,' she tried to reassure him, though it sounded a little weak. 'I just… don't like to be reminded of that time.' She managed a small smile. 'But I'm glad that you have processed it enough to be able to make jokes about it. At some point, I thought you never would. The way you always looked murderous whenever Frex was mentioned, and how you always avoided talking about anything that even remotely had anything to do with what happened…'

'I just…' He sighed. 'I guess I did,' he admitted. 'Process it. To some extent, at least. I told myself I had to, for you, and for Elyssah… because you were right – I'm not bitter, and I didn't want to become that.'

She leaned up and kissed him softly. 'Yero my hero.'

Those words never failed to make him smile. 'I love you, Fae.'

She leaned her forehead against his chest. 'I love you, too. And I'm proud of you,' she added, drawing a surprised look from him. She smiled up at him a bit shyly. 'I know how hard it was for you to move on,' she said softly. 'To be able to let Elyssah or me out of your sight without going crazy with worry, to make yourself believe that the past wouldn't repeat itself. No one could have blamed you for becoming bitter after all of that, but you didn't. I know I'm always saying it in a teasing way, but I hope that you know that to me, you really are a hero, a chroí. You're my hero.'

He pulled her tighter against his chest, resting his chin on top of her head, and she burrowed into him, melting into his embrace. 'I love you so much,' he said solemnly, and she kissed him in reply. 'So where did you want to take our date?'

'I don't know,' he murmured against her lips. He grinned down at her. 'I'm not sure why, but I can always think so much better when we're in the bedroom.'

She gave him an impish smile and wrapped her arms around his neck. 'Bedroom it is.'

With a laugh from him and a squeal from her, he scooped her up into his arms and the couple retreated to their bedroom, realising that they finally had gotten their happily ever after.