Title: Captured

Rating: K+

Pairings: ElphabaxFiyero

Summary: What would have happened if Elphaba and Fiyero had been caught before they'd made it out of Oz at the end of the musical?

Well, I've decided to write yet another fanfic. I saw the play for a second time on Wednesday (which I won't go into because I already wrote a very long and spazzy author's note in a chapter of one of my other stories) and the idea for this popped into my head while I was bawling my eyes out during the finale. This one is fairly short at three chapters, and it really doesn't have a long and involved plot line. Its purpose is really just to show how Elphaba felt after being "melted" and to tie things up between Elphaba and Glinda. It's already finished, so I'll probably just post a chapter a day for three days.

Well anyway, not much more to say here. Here's the first chapter, I hope you enjoy it.

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Elphaba felt that she could finally breathe a sigh of relief. After all she had been through, and all of the pain, lies and suffering she had endured, she was finally going to escape it all. It made her even happier to have Fiyero, the only man she had ever loved, at her side. It all felt too unreal. Since when was she allowed even the slightest bit of happiness? How was it possible that their incredibly risky plan had worked? How was Fiyero beside her, made of straw but no worse for the wear, when only hours ago she had believed him dead? Elphaba kept her eyes trained on the ground as they pressed forward. She was afraid that if she thought too hard on the matter she would awake to find it was all a dream and she was still lying alone in the cold stone walls of Kiamo Ko.

It wasn't as though everything was sugar and rainbows now though. Thoughts of Glinda found their way into Elphaba's mind and she sighed sadly. Glinda believed her dead, Elphaba had seen to that. She knew there had been no other choice, but Elphaba still felt guilty to leave her best friend this way. Glinda was all alone now, Elphaba's sole supporter in a sea of cheering Ozians. Elphaba smiled bitterly. How ironic that the girl with whom she'd once shared such a mutual loathing would be the only one left standing up for her in the end.

Elphaba finally looked up as a beam of moonlight illuminated her face. They were nearing the end of the forest now. She drew her cloak closer around herself. From here on in they had to be especially careful. They were out in the open, and even though she was doing the best to keep her skin color hidden, her face was still uncovered. She drew a shaky breath, her nerves now getting the better of her. They still had a good distance to walk, and Elphaba was not even entirely sure about where they were going.

Elphaba trained her eyes on the ground again, and she did not look up again until Fiyero spoke.

"You alright Fae?" he asked gently. Elphaba looked up into his eyes to find them shining with concern.

Elphaba sighed, "I'm fine Yero. It's just, where will we go from here? Where can we possible hide without fearing that someone could discover us at any moment?"

Fiyero wrapped an arm around Elphaba, smiling sadly, "We'll figure something out Fae. We can leave Oz and start over. We'll go far away where no one's ever even heard of the 'Wicked Witch of the West'."

Elphaba said nothing, but instead looked down at her hands. She knew Fiyero was just trying to make her feel better, but the thought of leaving Oz did not lighten her mood at all. She would've thought she'd be grateful to get away from a place that had caused her such misery, but yet she could not bring herself to hate Oz. She hated the Wizard and Morrible, she hated the lies and she hated that nothing had turned out the way she'd planned.

And yet, despite all of that, she found that she still loved her homeland. She'd devoted her life to trying to help its people, and though they were horribly misinformed about her, she knew that she would jump to help them again without a moment's thought. This was the only world she'd ever known, and she'd had good times here as well. She sighed as memories of her days at Shiz University came to mind. Those days seemed so long ago now. How she wished she could turn back the clock. She tried to hold back a sob as she felt tears begin to burn behind her eyes, but she was unsuccessful. She choked out a hiccupped sob, and Fiyero stopped walking to embrace her tightly.

She buried her face into his straw chest and tried to slow her breathing to normal. She hated this show of weakness, even if it was only in front of Fiyero, but she couldn't hold it in anymore. She'd been strong for so long and become so accustomed to hiding her feelings that she had all but forgotten that she had any. Now here, safe in the arms of her lover, everything she'd been feeling for months was finally released with her tears.

After a few minutes she regained her composure and turned away from Fiyero. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took another deep, shaky breath. Fiyero, seeing that Elphaba was still distressed, released her but kept one arm slung loosely around her shoulder. He was unsure of what to say now, so the two kept on in silence.

After walking for a while longer, the two passed on the outskirts of a town. Sounds of rejoicing met their ears, and Elphaba bit her bottom lip to keep from crying again. She knew what they were celebrated all too well. They were rejoicing in the face of her death. She thought ruefully of the prophecy she'd made back at Shiz, back when she was still so young and naïve, with so much hope for the future. Well, her dream had come true; there was now a celebration throughout Oz, all to do with her.

Fiyero gave Elphaba's shoulder an encouraging squeeze, knowing how she must feel right now. Even in school she'd tried to act indifferent to the taunting of the other students, but he knew that it had always affected her more deeply than she would ever admit. A round of firecrackers went off and the cheers grew louder. Elphaba's steps quickened and now Fiyero was practically jogging to catch up. She didn't stop until they were at least a good mile away from the town, and then she leaned against a tree to catch her breath, still feeling extremely distressed.

She'd known things like this would be going on tonight, but seeing one of those parties actually taking place had made the situation all the more real. She knew that she was hated and feared, but to have countries celebrating her death? What had she done to deserve such a thing? All she'd wanted to do with her life was make good.

However, she did not dwell on her own self pity for long. She should be grateful to be alive at this point, and to have Fiyero beside her. She had no reason to mope right now. All she could do was count her blessings. What had happened was in the past, and the only thing left to do was hold on to hope for the future.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Elphaba finally stood up straight once more and, disregarding the fact that the celebrations were going on, continued forward determinedly. Fiyero fell into step with Elphaba once more, still extremely concerned about her. The sooner they got away from all of this the better. Fiyero could tell by Elphaba's face that she did not want to leave Oz, so perhaps they could just move to the outskirts of a country. After all, there were parts of Oz that were good as forgotten. Perhaps they could move to the edge of the Vinkus, close to the desert. Fiyero knew the area well and hardly anyone ever went out that far.

But Fiyero could tell it wasn't just Oz Elphaba didn't want to leave behind. Fiyero wasn't sure what had gone on between Elphaba and Glinda right before Elphaba had faked her death, but it was obvious that the two women had made up. Apparently Elphaba had even left her large spellbook, the Grimmerie, with Glinda along with a request that Glinda make good in her place. Fiyero knew it was very hard for Elphaba to leave Glinda behind thinking they were dead. However he was adamant that no one know that they were alive. If even one person knew then it meant they would never be completely safe.

It was now very late into the night, and Fiyero knew Elphaba was probably feeling extremely fatigued, though she was obviously trying her best not to show it. The sounds of celebration floated on the wind once more as the pair came close to another town. Fiyero looked over to Elphaba to see how she was faring, only to find that she had frozen in place. Confused he followed her gaze toward the town, and it soon became evident what had caught Elphaba's attention.

There, hovering above the cheering crowd, was a small blond figure in an unmistakable pink bubble. Even from here Fiyero could practically see her smiling and waving to her public, filling her usual role as public figurehead. He sighed, of all of the towns they could have passed by; it had to be the one that Glinda was in at this very moment.

Elphaba felt torn as she watched her best friend. Glinda believed her dead, there was nothing that could drag the thought from her mind as she mentally repeated it over and over. If only her friend could know that Elphaba was watching her now, that she and Fiyero were both alive and well. Elphaba suddenly felt a strong urge to run straight into the town and explain everything to Glinda, but she stayed rooted in place. She was not stupid, and she knew how disastrous that would be. Tearing her eyes from the scene, she once again continued forward, grabbing Fiyero's hand and squeezing it tightly for strength and support.

Fiyero decided to try and comfort her, "I know how hard this is for you Fae, but it's better that Glinda doesn't know."

Elphaba smiled sadly, "I know Yero, but that doesn't make the urge to tell her the truth any less"

The pair walked on in silence for a bit longer, before there suddenly came a sound like a twig snapping from behind them. Elphaba stopped walking immediately and Fiyero could see her muscles tensing. She whipped around, but there was no one there. Still wary, the two began walking again, their pace a bit more hurried. For a few moments it seemed as though it had just been there imaginations, when suddenly, with a loud shout, someone tackled the pair from behind.

Elphaba was caught completely off guard as she was knocked to the ground, and she could hardly fight back as her hands were bound behind her back. Glancing to the side she saw the same thing had happened to Fiyero. She immediately recognized their captors as Gale Forcers, four of them. Undoubtedly they'd been patrolling the area to make sure no one got too out of hand with all of the excitement and celebrating that was taking place tonight. Elphaba supposed she should have expected as much. After all, things had been going far too smoothly.

The leader spoke, trying to sound menacing, but Elphaba could easily hear the quiver of fear in his voice, "So you really aren't dead then are you Witch? Move. We'll make sure you're taken care of accordingly." He prodded Elphaba in the back with the barrel of his gun, and she had no choice but to be lead forward into the city. She swallowed hard as she felt panic begin to overtake her. This did not bode well.

And there we have the first chapter. So what do you think? I know it was relatively uneventful. The main purpose of this one was to show Elphaba and Fiyero as they tried to make their escape. The next one is probably a bit more interesting. Anyway, please leave me a review if you have the time, because that would be very much appreciated.

S.P.