Love Through Different Eyes

by X.x.Try.Defying.Gravity.x.X

Playverse/Fiyeraba. What would have happened if Fiyero and Elphaba met by accident late one night on the Yellowbrick Road while Fiyero and the others were on their way to the Emerald City?

Authors Note: So um, I just wanted to take the time to thank you for reading the story. It's co-written by me and my own darling Fiyero. We hope that you enjoy it. Please if you like it send us a review and let us know. Thanks a lot! Scene not seen in playverse in which The Scarecrow and Elphaba reunite.

Snap!

Crunch!

Rrrrriiibbit!

WHO WHO WHO!

The statue suddenly moved, her head snapping up at the strange, new sound. It had been the first movement she had made in several hours and had you been watching her you truly might have thought that she was the statue. Aside from the slim moving of her shoulders with her breathing every few seconds, she made not a movement. She was more still than life, more still than almost seemed humanly possible. Could a living person truly sit as still as this one had been for the past couple of hours? She shivered slightly as the draft of cold air worked its way up into her somewhat ripped clothing like cruel fingers reaching into warm covers. It did not help that the figure was drenched to the skin. The cold air did nothing to dry the clothes that she still wore despite that the occurrence which had made them wet, the figure falling into a nearby river, had happened two hours previous. She was still as wet as when it had first happened.

Now, her head raised and her black hair fell slowly around her shoulders with the movement she made. Her hair was falling in wisps around her face because it was beginning to dry a little bit simply from her body heat- which wasn't much given that she was wearing soaking wet clothes. However, she could hardly risk lighting a fire and undressing to allow the clothes she wore to dry. It would mean losing track of her prey and it would mean risk of being caught, a risk that she, now a revolutionist and an outlaw, couldn't and wouldn't take. She shivered in the cold night air. It was only fall but a cold nip of the winter winds was already filling the air at night and in the early morning. The Witch was dressed warmly to avoid this chill but it didn't exactly help when one had taken a tumble into the river. She lifted her hands to her mouth and slowly blew into them to warm them. Even her joints felt stiff in the cold and she could see her breath come out of her fingers in whisps of smoke like condensation.

WHO WHO WHO!

She shivered- this time not from cold and looked around her. "Who's there?" the Witch croaked. Her voice cracked from disuse. She hadn't spoken very much in the last few weeks. She had no companion aside from Chistery who had insisted upon accompanying her. She had tried to push him back to the castle but the blasted monkey had gotten into her ruck sack and damn him if he wanted to come that much she wasn't going to stop him anymore. Luckily, Chistery seemed to understand that she didn't feel like conversing and kept quiet as well. However, the little monkey was currently foraging somewhere in the trees for the last of the fall berries to eat. It was a concern to her what they were going to eat when snow flew- if they were still running around out here in the middle of Oz looking for their quarry. She shivered again. Her deep eyes- a brown so dark they looked almost like black- roved the tree tops above her to see if she could deduce what was making that sound. That sound that sounded like someone literally saying "WHO?!" She bit her lower lip hard- so hard it bled. She brushed the blood away without care and shivered again still looking around her. She wondered if this was the way it felt to lose ones mind.

Elphaba had been stalking after that idiot Dorothy child and Co. ever since they'd left the Emerald City, however, they always managed to stay just one step ahead of her and falling in the river, getting soaked, and spraining her wrist and now sitting her in her soaking wet clothes certainly didn't help! She tried to move but her wrist pained her too much. For the first time in her travels she actually did wish Chistery was with her. At least he would provide some kind of comfort in this exile she'd forced herself into. Of course when she did want the blasted monkey he had disappeared. Figured! Elphaba simply couldn't count on anyone. That was the way life worked most of the time she'd discovered.

She sighed and managed to stand, walking over to her ruck sack trying to ignore the sounds of what she had now deduced to be merely an owl in the trees. She took a piece of what muslin from the bag and wrapped it around her arm and tied it into a make-shift sling to hold her wrist from moving and aching even more. Luckily it was her left one and thus didn't cause her too much trouble. She closed the ruck sack and put it with her things, shaking to try to dry more of the water from her clothes. She glared when she pulled her peaked black hat off and found a lily pad in her hair. Her face might have caused giggles when she realized it and pulled the plant off and threw it away from her. Annoyed enough to keep anyone who would have laughed from doing so.

She headed off in the other direction and suddenly heard something. It didn't take much walking to discover that the something were voices. She hurried on seeing a glow in the distance that was fire. Elphaba wasn't sure why she hurried towards the flames- no matter what caravan of travelers was there, she couldn't very well materialize in their midst and ask to warm herself. It would only inspire panic and get her caught. However, hurry she did up until she could see the scene lay before her but they could not see her. Elphaba was good at hiding when she wished to- not that she normally did. She leaned forward into the bushes the better to see and discovered that sitting with her back to Elphaba was a girl in a blue and white checked dress and a white puff sleeved blouse. Her feet were folded to the side of her and, Elphaba gasped, Nessarose's ruby red slippers were on her feet. So. This was Dorothy hm? Her first thought was to jump right out into the clearing and steal the shoes off of that girl's feet. It wasn't that she really hated Dorothy at all.. it was merely that the idea of the Wizard having those shoes was so awful to her.. and they were Nessa's after all...

Elphaba stopped when she saw the girl's traveling companions- the annoying (tiny) grey dog with her, a tin woodman.. She swallowed recognizing Boq immediately. And then there was the lion, twitching his tail nervously. Elphie had to hold back a giggle as she heard the lion say something about the trees catching fire and maybe they should put their campfire out. Cowardly as ever he had been. Across the circle was the most arresting face.. the scarecrow. He wore denim overalls and a plaid shirt, he had hands formed of soft cloth and a face of cloth and straw stuffed. He had button eyes too and a straw hat that looked as if it'd seen better days. However, Elphaba knew that face anywhere.. "Fiyero!" She whispered- and of course it came out louder than she intended.

Her heart gave a heavy heave of misery and jealousy all at once. Jealousy was an emotion she was very familiar with. She'd been so jealous it would have turned her green if she hadn't been born that way to begin with. She'd been jealous of other people most of her time growing up. Of Glinda and her popularity - even though she'd looked like she didn't mind being pushed out of the circle it hurt more than she cared to admit, of Nessarose and their father's adoration and caring simply because her sister couldn't walk. Oh yes, Elphie knew jealousy but never before as strong as she felt it now when she saw them relaxing together. He had a guitar- Fiyero had always loved music, and was strumming some Quadling song she recognized briefly from her youth. The misery was almost as easy to place as the jealousy. After all, Fiyero was the man she'd given her heart to.. the one she loved.. and here he was.. with her greatest enemy- why was he not with her? With Elphie? When all she wanted was his arms around her, holding her..

Suddenly, she realized she'd been too loud as the others turned to look to see who had spoken. Elphie swore- this time silently and disappeared from hiding spot, anxiously backing away as quickly as she could.. she only made it about 20 or 30 feet before she tripped over a tree root and went sprawling backwards into the grass unable to catch herself and let out a wince as she rolled over and sat up. Her eyes stung with tears that she tried to hold back...

It had been a long journey already, although they were still only a fraction of the way to the Emerald City. Fiyero was curled up, wondering if it was normal for straw men to sleep, and wondering why he felt so tired if it wasn't. He was the furthest away from the fire, of course. He didn't know exactly how far the protection spell went, but he was rather unwilling to test whether or not it included some kind of shield from flames.

It seemed like he'd been lying there for hours, his mind racing over the same few things. In fact it had probably only been a few minutes. Everyone else seemed to be asleep. Even Boq. Well... if tin people could sleep, then surely straw people were able to. He closed his eyes, trying to force himself to start snoring.

And then he heard a noise. A soft, almost distant gasp and a shuffling of feet. He instantly sat upright, eyes darting around. There was a movement in the trees... and a flash of green. He stared for a second, frozen to the spot wondering if he'd fallen asleep after all. He had to be dreaming. "Elph..." He whispered, instantly breaking off as his stomach twisted in pain. Without giving a second thought to the girl on the other side of the fire, he scrambled to his feet and stumbled after her. It -had- to be her. Surely there couldn't be more than one green woman in Oz. They would have heard something about it.

It was a while before he caught up with her. He heard a splash and forced his legs to move harder. He couldn't bear to think of her getting burned by water. not again. He skidded to a halt beside a stream, pebbled flying up under his feet. He only hesitated for a split second, his subconscious mind forcing him forward to help her out of the water while his conscious mind struggled to understand how she could be here now.

Falling is a strange sensation if one thinks about it. The sensation of just flying through midair down, down, down.. into blackness in most cases, into the unknown sometimes, into pain. Falling used as a metaphor or as a real thing. In this specific instance it was the real thing. It was scary and strange for Elphaba. At first she had been running, her black laced shoes weren't really good for running. She wore high black shoes that laced up the front with a small hook. The shoes had half an inch of heel and a wedged toe in the front that narrowed though not into a complete point. All in all, they were probably more dressy than would be considered wise for running through the woods in the middle of the night and tripping over branches and tree roots and such. However, it was what she had to work with at the time and so she ran and ran through the leaves. There were tears streaming down her face. They burned her skin with extreme pain and caused more tears to come. Her tears always worked that way- the second that some came the pain from the first was so excruciating that it just caused her to cry even more. Her vision blurred within a few moments and she couldn't see a thing except blurred shapes and shadows in the darkness of what little light there was.

She winced in the resounding WHO WHO of the owl again and shuddered, not taking the time to stop to analyze it anymore. Emotions were rushing through her still as dangerous and strong as the current of an ocean in a storm over the sea. She let out a fierce gasp of pain as a tree branch smacked her across the face leaving two bleeding slashes across her cheek. She recoiled from the pain of the slap the tree branch had given and ducked forward. At that exact moment she felt the ground give and her footing slip. Suddenly she was sliding forward with no ability to control her movements at all and she tried to dig her toes in to stop the sliding but the whole underground of leaves and dirt was loose now and was propelling her forward. She tried to grab branches as she passed trees but they were too small and snapped one after the other scratching her hands and ripping her black dress. "Damn!" She whispered, the tears still stinging her eyes and blurring her vision as she catapulted forwards unable to stop herself picking up momentum in the trip down the side of the hill face until she came over the edge.

Suddenly she was falling through mid air. Her legs and arms flailed crazily as she fell. All she could see below her was black sparkling, the sparkling of water at night and that was what terrified her the most. She braced herself for the impact as she fell, braced herself for the pain. And then she was under it, burning.. burning.. Oh dear sweet unnamed God it HURT!! She felt arms wrap her waist and then nothing but black...

He wrapped his arms around her, the ghost of what used to be his heartbeat suddenly ringing in his ears. He didn't know how it was possible, only that it was there. He lifted her from the water, dragging her instantly to the dry, grassy bank. He pulled her hat and clock from her, trying to get the soaked up moisture away from her skin. He didn't know what to do about the dress. It looked like only the bottom half was wet and all he had with him was what he was wearing himself. He took a deep breath and peeled off his thin shirt, scrunching it into a ball and gently dabbing at her face.

Elphaba was only dimly aware of the goings on around her. She couldn't see anything and the darkness was pressing lightly on her to the point that she couldn't even move, she could just lay there. She realized that she was not alone, but she didn't know who was with her. She only knew that her face was being wiped.. that she was burning .. her face and hands.. any part of her that had been exposed to the water. She wasn't sure what it was .. she didn't understand.. What had happened? It was as if her mind was surrounded by a thick fog and she couldn't see through it or get through it She snuggled into the arms. They were warm as if she was pressed against someone's body but no.. they felt scratchy.. different- still strong though. She allowed the arms to hold her simply because she could not manage to move. She was too weak.. she hurt too much. There was a fiery pain across her face that was not caused by tears but an injury.

It took several moments of things slowly starting to return to her, bit by bit, before she managed to somewhat understand. Slowly her eyes flickered. Elphaba had very dark eyes with thick lashes and when she managed to open them and look up through half opened eyes she saw a strange face... it looked like ... it was made of tan material with ... button .. eyes and a patchwork mouth... and... but there was something familiar about the face. There was something she recognized about it. "F... 'Yero?" she whispered softly.

He smiled, as far as he was able to. He hadn't seen her in so long. Even though he knew the moisture in her eyes were simply un-spilled tears, the way they made her eyes shine still took his breath away. "Yes..." He said quietly. "It's... me. Sort of." His smile stretched for a moment. "How are you feeling? Your clothes are still a little wet but I didn't think you'd like me to..." He trailed off, frowning slightly. "You're hurt." He whispered, tracing one finger across her cheek, just below the gashes.

"It's you.." She whispered softly. She looked up at his face with a gentle smile. She tried her very best to get her eyes open and finally managed to open them all the way. And when she did get her eyes open it was as if a bit of her sense had returned. "Fiyero!" She whispered softly, her eyes going much wider than they were before. She immediately used all of her strength to pull from his arms and sit up on her own, pulling loose from his arms. She angrily brushed her hand across her face at the bleeding cuts that the tree had left there, seemingly in retaliation from her running through the forest in such a manner. "I'm fine." She said, trying to keep her voice firm, but it cracked in the middle of what she said, giving not quite the desired effect.

"Just.. leave me alone." She whispered, dragging herself away and crawling up onto her knees and attempting to move that way. She didn't get very far on her hands and knees with a wet, ripped dress. "I'm not hurt." She muttered harshly.

At this exact moment there came a squeaking from above and a strange shadow that slowly came into clear view, dropped from the trees. It looked to be a monkey of some sort, and then when the shadows cleared it became obvious that it was a monkey- a small furred creature with large wings growing from his back. Chistery. He let out a surprised squeak when he caught sight of Fiyero, obviously recognizing the man even with his scarecrow-ified face. He chattered pointing and crawling onto Elphaba's shoulder.

"Why do you go on back to that fool headed little girl who's been assigned the task of killing me?" she whispered, her eyes sharp with pain her voice filled with a flinty painful edge.

"Killing you?" He whispered. "No..." His brow creased in worry. It was an odd expression for a scarecrow to wear. "She doesn't want to kill you. She wants to say sorry.." He stood slowly, trying not to alarm her. "For Nessa.. and the shoes. She didn't ask Glinda to stick them to her feet." He sighed softly. "I'm so sorry, Fae. I couldn't resist the chance to see you again. I knew you'd be looking for the shoes..." His voice trailed into a lower volume as he spoke, until he finished almost in a whisper.

"Fiyero! Get away from me!" She whispered, reaching out and taking his upper arms in her small hands and pushing him away. "Don't you understand! I Don't WANT you here! Get back to your little camp with Dorothy and her little friends. Boq the idiot and the Cowardly lion. Get!" She exclaimed, her eyes welling up with awful tears as she struggled to her feet. "It's better for you." She whispered the last sentence, sagging her weight back against a tree and wincing as she pulled her wrist closer to her. It was hurting even more than before and she held it against her body, trying not to cry anymore. "Fiyero get away from here please!" She whispered, looking up at him and in the instant that he could see her face there was clear pain written all over it. "You've made your choice. You chose her." She whispered, the hard emphasis on the word her. She said it as if it was a bug she'd squished under her shoe. "I thought you cared for me!" She finally erupted. She hadn't been planning to explain herself but now she just couldn't seem to stop. "I thought that you loved me, 'Yero!" She exclaimed, wrapping her good arm around her sore one and trying to walk away.

Chistery ran across the forest floor and clambered up Fiyero's clothes and landed on his shoulder, chattering crazily. "'Yero!" Said the little monkey, obviously pleased to see him.

Elphaba rolled her eyes and turned away from the two of them.

"I do..." He whispered. "I do love you... I'm only traveling with them to get back to you.." His throat suddenly seemed to develop a lump. "I haven't -chosen- her." He continued slowly. "I'd already chosen you. I chose you a long time ago and I'm never changing that decision." His jaw tightened for a moment in determination, and then as he realized she was crying again, he untensed, a softer look on his equally soft face. "Don't cry, Fae. You're already hurt enough."

"Fiyero..." She whispered, dashing her hand across her eyes and only spreading the stinging moisture further. "What do you want from me? I.. I don't know what you want.. I don't know what to do anymore." She whispered, sliding down the trunk of the tree and making a small mound of herself on the ground. She pulled her good hand over her head, still cradling the hurt wrist next to her. "I've given all of myself there's left to give to this and look where it's got me." She whispered, managing to look up at him. "Alone in the world, hurt, terrified. I haven't slept since .. since I don't know when.. not since Nessarose. The few times I've been lucky enough to find something to eat I'm sick over it. There's the Grimmerie but I've yet to find any spell that will fix the disaster that has been made of this world. In fact you might as well blame me for that too." The tears were running faster now and she couldn't help them she couldn't make them go away. "It is all my fault and I won't let you be party to it anymore." She whispered. The fact was that she'd sworn never to do good again.. and that included this she supposed. She was Wicked - just like everyone said and nothing could change that. The Time Dragon had shown her that much.. she was wicked. To her very soul- if she had one, which she highly doubted.

"Just.. please.. go back to Dorothy because you're safe with her. I couldn't bear it if something... something happened." She whispered, turning away from him and pressing her bleeding, tearful face into the bark of the tree.

"I don't care what happens to me." He said softly, walking slowly over to her. He crouched down next to her, brushing one cloth hand over her cheek. "If it weren't for you I'd already be gone.. I want -you-." He slid his arms carefully around her shoulders, trying to avoid her hurt arm. "That's all. I don't expect you to do anything or make anything or fix anything. I just need to be near you."

"Fiyero why must you be so stubborn?!" She demanded, turning to face him, her eyes blazing "Don't you understand me?! You might not care if something happens to you! But I care! I couldn't bear it if something happened to you.. let alone if I was responsible." She whispered. She stopped suddenly as she felt him brush his cloth hand tenderly across her face. She shuddered softly and looked up at him her eyes meeting his. His words surprised her. She wondered how long it had been - if ever- that someone wanted her around simply because they wanted her to be there. She sighed a bit and closed her eyes a tear burning its way down her cheek. "'Yero... don't do this don't beg me." She whispered. "Because you're the one person I can't say no to." She whispered.

He grinned suddenly, arms sliding further around her. "Please?"

"Please what?" She whispered, looking around at him over her shoulder.

"Don't make me go away." He said quietly, reaching up to trace a hand over her cheek.

Elphaba slowly lifted her eyes to meet his. "I'm sorry, Yero." She whispered, "I'm so sorry... all of this is my fault." She whispered softly, more tears squeezing from her burning eyes. "I'm so .. so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." He sighed, brushing away her tears. His new cloth skin seemed to soak her tears up just as well as his shirt had.

"I can't make you go away .. can I?" She asked, allowing him to wipe her tears.

"No." He smiled, "You can't. I'll always be here."

"Does that mean... I'm ... stuck with you?" She asked, her features arranging themselves into a smirk.

"I'm afraid so." He grinned, leaning forward and pressing his lips against her forehead.

Elphaba sighed a bit and pressed her face into his cloth chest. "Why?... What about me would ever possess you to want me with... with all the attachments I happen to come with?" She asked softly. "Perhaps I should remind you, Fiyero, that the Wonderful.." She stopped, putting excessive amounts of sarcasm onto the word. "Wizard of Oz.. just happens to have put a bounty on my head. Recall, he set an eleven year old little girl out to kill me because he's got a yellow stripe running down his back and can't or won't do it." She muttered, crossing her arms and wincing at the pain in her wrist. "You'll only find trouble with me Fiyero.. why don't you go and start fresh. Why don't you forget about me?"

"I could never forget about you." He smiled. "And if he's not careful the Wizard will be the one having to run for his life." He took a deep breath. "And... I love you. More than I've ever loved anyone or anything. I can't imagine how I could ever survive without you."

Elphaba snuggled against him and rested her head on his chest and then drew back, looking at him. "What do you mean the Wizard will be the one having to run for his life?"

"Eventually someone will get sick of his ridiculous orders. "Fiyero rested his head against hers. "And when they do... he'll probably have to start running."

"Or they'll just lay down and take it like they've always done... like when he threw out the Ozma.. like when he began suppressing the animals.." She sighed. "I tried so hard.. but in the end what good as it done.. what difference have I brought to our world, Fiyero? None." She whispered, snuggling against his chest.

"You have." He kissed the top of her head softly. "To Doctor Dillamond and his work.. to the monkeys.. to me.."

She sighed softly, yielding. "I can't say no to you, Fiyero..." She whispered softly. "You have my heart.. you always have had..."

His smile widened as his arms slid further around her. "And you have always had mine. I'm not sure that it -ever- really belonged to me."

She smirked, "Tell me, Fiyero Tiggular.." She whispered, "Who did it belong to before you nearly ran me over in the street hm?"

"To you." He said instantly. "Didn't you notice that you'd been born with two?" He grinned.

Elphaba laughed softly, "Ah perhaps that would explain the odd color of my skin and the strange water allergy." She said with a snigger... and suddenly looking up into his eyes she froze. "May I?" She asked softly, lifting her hand gently towards his cheek.

"Of course." He whispered, leaning into her hand.

She smiled and lifted her hand to his cheek, tracing it across the soft cloth that made up his skin. "I guess it's fitting... a green woman and a scarecrow." She whispered softly. She snuggled closer against him and rested her hand up and down along his back. "Tell me... " She whispered, staring up into his eyes. "Are men made of straw able to kiss?" She asked, a sparkling glint in her eyes.

He grinned. "I believe they are." He leaned down to press his lips against hers.

Slowly she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and snuggled close against him, pressing her lips gently back to his. The kiss lasted for several long moments in which the two of them simply held each other tight, relishing being together again. Finally, she pressed her forehead lightly against his own.. "You know.." She whispered with a breathless smile. "I'm pretty sure that.. your kissing expertise hasn't been affected too much by this little spell." She whispered, biting her lower lip with a smirk.

He laughed softly. "That's good to know. I was a little worried that you wouldn't like it."

She felt her face burn - this time not with tears but with a blush. "I'm pretty sure you don't need to worry about that." She whispered, grabbing his hand and pulling both of them to their feet as she adjusted the sling on her arm to hold her wrist firmly in place.

"Now what do you suppose your motley crew would say to meeting the Wicked Witch of the West in person?" she asked.

"The Lion will probably faint." He grinned. "But I'm sure Boq would want to."

Elphaba laughed softly and slowly cuddled herself into his chest. "Well as long as they don't meet the wicked witch of the west.. if they're scared of my normal persona... I'm rather afraid they really really wouldn't like that version of me."

He brushed his lips over the back of her hand. "I'm sure they'll love you. Not as much as I do, though. That'd be impossible."

She smirked slightly and slipped her hand into his. "I still thank you're beautiful.. scarecrow or not.. you'll always be beautiful to me, Fiyero.. never doubt it. It's just.. you taught me to see through .. different eyes. You looked at me and you said I was beautiful.. green skin at all.. and I think you are too." She whispered, squeezing his hand as he walked. "I'm just sorry I couldn't do any better." She said with a smirk. "I've dome to realize something.. love isn't blind, love sees all.. but because love sees all, I think it's also willing to see less."

"No one could do any better." He squeezed her hand gently. "And you are definately more beautiful." He leaned down to kiss her cheek as they walked.