"Dearest Elphaba,

Miraculously, I've managed to escape, thanks to the spell you've cast on me. I've had to pay a great price, but my love is still strong for you. I only hope that you will still want me when we next meet.

I have a plan for us and I will come to you and explain it.

Tell no one I am alive.

My only hope – our only hope is for all of Oz to think I'm dead."

Elphaba felt her fingers go cold as the shock of the letter set in. She read the words once, twice, three times, stumbling back a few steps as she did so. The world seemed to melt away around her. There was only one person this letter could be, even though it was unsigned. He was alive. Her spell had worked.

What in Oz name does he mean by 'a great price'? she thought. Nevermind that, he's alive. Fiyero's alive.

She wanted to hold the letter to her chest, smile like a maniac, but she was suddenly aware once more of the other person in the room. Glinda was still awaiting an answer to her question. Keeping her expression neutral, Elphaba simply replied, "We've seen his face for the last time."

Deftly folding the letter and stuffing it up her sleeve, the rest seemed to go in a blur. The green witch hoped that she gave nothing away. Pushing Fiyero from her mind momentarily, she focused on Glinda. Elphaba knew this would likely be the last time she would see her greatest and first friend. Deep down, Elphaba knew she could no longer safely remain in Oz. And yet she loathed leaving Glinda behind. She wanted to tell her everything, read her Fiyero's letter, but she could not take Glinda from Oz. Knowing Fiyero was alive, that Elphaba was leaving, would just hurt her more. And so she said her final goodbyes, apologised for all she had done, and was about to do, and all too soon those friends of that infuriating child arrived.

How peculiar how quickly she could slip back into the role of the Wicked Witch, and so easily. It had become just another facet of her personality by that point. Naïve school girl, faded criminal on the run, Wicked Witch. All were her. While considering this, she was checking every face, trying to find the one, the one that haunted her dreams and waking hours, alongside that of her sister, and all the others she had failed in her life. But she couldn't see him.

Could the letter have been a hoax? A trap to get her to let her guard down? It wouldn't be the first. As time passed, she was becoming more and more certain that it was nothing more than a fake, one last cruelty in her life.

Then she saw them. Those eyes. She'd know them anywhere. All at once she became aware of what she was about to do. She had gotten carried away in the act. Her broom was alight, pointed at the scarecrow with Fiyero's eyes. She momentarily let her broom droop, not noticing it set the hem of her dress on fire. It was the smell of smoke that alerted her. She fell back, trying to stamp on it, to get it out. The flames were nearly licking the skin of her legs and all rational thought seemed to leave her.

Unnoticed by all in the chaos, Fiyero had pulled a trapdoor open and Elphaba felt one of her feet fall down the hole onto a cold, stone step. As Dorothy picked up the nearby pail of water, Elphaba saw Fiyero's plan. She would 'melt'. There had been many a rumour about her in Oz, and melting if water touched her skin was one of them. After being splashed with the water, she managed to make quite a show of it, mumbling a simple spell to create a waft of smoke around herself, carefully stepping out of her large dress and leaving her hat perched on top of it. The stiff fabric luckily covered the opening to the trapdoor, concealing the green woman below, shivering in her thin under-dress. It was pitch black and Elphaba heard something slide into place and reaching one hand up, slender fingers met stone. Kiamo Ko seemed to be much more technologically advanced than she had thought. Some minutes later, she heard the wooden panelling replaced. All they would find would be another flagstone. She was safe.

Settling herself on the steps, not daring to venture further into the inky blackness, Elphaba waited. It did occur to her that it might still have been a trap, and she could well starve down there. Wrapping her arms around herself, she somehow eventually managed to doze off, despite the cold. She was unsure just quite how long she had been awake, several days by that point. A little bit of sleep couldn't hurt.

A loud banging awoke her, some time later. She jumped awake, confused by the darkness before her memories came rushing back. The stone above her head moved and the wooden cover was lifted away, shining light down. Squinting, Elphaba climbed up, using the stone bricks of the wall as handholds. Finally, she pulled herself out of the hole, and found herself staring into the face of the scarecrow that had travelled with Dorothy.

"Fiyero?"

Her voice was far too loud to her own ears after the silence she had been surrounded by. His smile confirmed her suspicion and a great relief filled her, tears pricking in her eyes. She wanted to embrace him, never let him go again, but instead she took his hand in hers. The other she subconsciously moved to cup his cheek, not quite touching it. All of a sudden she noticed that his hand was actual straw stuffed in a glove.

So this was the great price. He was not merely in a scarecrow costume, he was an actual scarecrow. Of course, it fit all the criteria of her spell and they had been in the cornfield. What had she done to him?

"It's all right, you can touch," he murmured, pressing his lips to her palm.

"You're still beautiful," she said, fully believing it. She ducked her head down to catch his eye, smiling softly.

A quiet laugh escaped his lips. "You don't have to lie to me."

Elphaba kissed him gently, the burlap sacking coarse on her lips.

"It's not lying," she finally said, "it's looking at things another way."

A/N: I knew having a picture of the letter Elphaba receives would come in handy one day! I've been in a Fiyeraba mood/angsty mood, so why not combine the two?