"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."
He loved her. He hadn't realized it for a long time, far too long a time. Once it came though, there was no denying it. He couldn't bare the thought of being without her. He didn't even want to consider it.
How vain he had been in the past! He had been so enraptured with the outsides of things, exteriors. He had immediately fallen in 'love' with Galinda, the classic beauty. And, although, she was sweet and innocent to match her beauty, she did nothing for him. The two of them could easily be paired together, looking like everyones dream Prince and Princess, ready to live happily ever after, like an illustration from a book of fairy tales.
But ever after is rarely so happy. They snipped at each other in private, and couldn't speak to each other about anything of substance. At the first sign of a conflict they would both retreat to their corners. It would ruin their precious balance. If one of them pushed too much either way, it would all come crumbling down. He loved her, in a way, but not in the way that really mattered.
How he had loved the pretty outsides of things. The perfect, calm facades everyone wears to mask their real views and opinions. He marveled at how much ugliness beauty would hide. But the outside only revealed what we wanted it to. And how much beauty could be hidden from the outside!
He thought of his Elphaba, idealistic, smart, fiery Elphaba.
He thought- no, he knew she was beautiful. He hadn't been able to see it before. He had originally only seen her harsh exterior. But then, oh then, he had seen past that. He had been able to see her mind working, her passion.
And that allowed him to see her physical beauty.
He studied her as she sat in the opposite corner of their cabin, gazing out the window, her dark eyes sparkling with mischief. Her black hair had been brushed until it was glossy. Her skin gave her the appearance of a dryad or some woodland angel.
She was an angel, a goddess to him, and perhaps to him alone. And that was all that mattered.