"I have to go," Elphaba muttered, fleeing the room.
She ran outside, and looked around wildly. She had to escape Galinda's bubbly personality.
She collapsed under a tree, drawing her knees to her chest in an attempt to shut everything and everyone out.
"Mind if I join you?" came a kind voice from above her.
"I'd rather you didn't, Fiyero," Elphaba whispered.
"I'll only be a minute," he promised her. "I couldn't leave you sitting here all alone, now could I? It's not safe at night and besides, I want to know what's troubling you."
"Why would you care?" was Elphaba's snide reply.
"Because I like you," he said softly.
"As what?" she asked, genuinely curious. "A friend, a freak that you can laugh at, someone to copy your notes off of…"
She would have gone on, except for Fiyero silencing her with a kiss.
"No, I like you as in, I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he said, breaking their kiss.
Elphaba's eyes were shut, a slight smile gracing her features.
Fiyero's eyes were also closed as they held each other. "Je t'aime," he whispered in her ear.
Feeling Elphaba tense, Fiyero translated, "I love you."
"Oh Fiyero," Elphaba gasped. "I love you too."
And then, they were kissing again.
Elphaba's reason, however, soon took over. "Fiyero, what about Galinda?"
"She's too perky for me," said Fiyero, all while kissing Elphaba's neck and ear and any other part of her that he could reach.
"For me too," agreed Elphaba. "That's why I ran out just now. She was giving me a make-over and I just couldn't take her bubbly, perky personality anymore."
"I must say, for being Galindafied, you look good."
"Thanks, I think."
"Oh, that's a compliment. Trust me," he said, pulling her into his lap.
"I trust you," she said, her conviction surprising Fiyero.
He wrapped his arms around her waist as she placed her arms behind her, positioning them around his neck. They stayed this way for several minutes, enjoying the companionable silence.
"Elphaba," Fiyero said, breaking the silence.
"What?" she mumbled, distracted by the warmth of his arms around her.
"If you merely ran out on Galinda because her personality was too much for you, why did you look so..broken when I found you?"
He pushed her away from him only to turn her around so that they were facing each other. He took her hands in his.
"She was so…nice. I'm not used to nice. I'm used to taunts and jeers. My father ignores me as much as possible and my sister, Nessa, treats me more like her servant than her sister. So, first Galinda and now you being nice to me is a change that I'm having trouble accepting."
"Why should you have to accept that someone is being nice to you?" asked Fiyero.
"When my mother was carrying Nessa, Father made her eat milkflowers to ensure that the baby wouldn't turn out green, like me. But the milkflowers made Nessa come too soon. Her legs were all tangled and our mother never woke up. That's why he hates me. And he's absolutely right. If I hadn't been born green, Father wouldn't have made Mother eat milkflowers and Nessa would have been fine. If it wasn't for me, Mother would still be alive."
Elphaba broke down crying. "It's my fault," she sobbed, over and over again.
Fiyero could only stare. He wasn't used to seeing Elphaba so vulnerable.
He held her, offering what comfort her could, until her tears ran out.
"It's not a crime to be loved," he said, thinking out loud, for once in his life. "And it isn't your fault that Nessa is the way she is or that your mother died giving birth to her. Maybe your mother did something while she was carrying you, something that caused you to be green, something that you don't know about. In which case, it's your mother's own fault that your father made her eat milkflowers to prevent Nessa from having beautiful emerald green skin like you. So don't blame yourself."
Elphaba, whose head had fallen into Fiyero's lap after her meltdown, looked up at him. "When did you get to be so smart?" she asked.
"I guess some of you has finally rubbed off on me. I think I can honestly say that being around you has made me want to try harder so as to impress you. So, I've started thinking more and it's wonderful!"
They gazed at each other for several moments.
"Kiss me," Elphaba's quiet command broke the silence.
"With pleasure," said Fiyero, bending down to meet Elphaba's lips in the middle.
"Fiyero," Elphaba murmured against his lips, breaking the silence again. "We have to tell Galinda. This isn't fair to her. We were sharing secrets tonight, now that we're friends, and hers was that you two are going to be married."
"WHAT?" Fiyero sat up very quickly. "I…never…" he stuttered.
"It's alright. When I asked her about it, she said, 'He doesn't know yet.'"
"I should say 'he' doesn't!"
"Come on," said Elphaba, making as if to stand up. "We should go tell Galinda how we feel."
"Wait," said Fiyero, pulling Elphaba back down into his lap. "Let's wait a few more minutes. We should enjoy the quiet before all hell breaks loose."
Elphaba gave out a melodic laugh then paused, as she felt Fiyero's eyes on her. "What?" she asked.
"I like your laugh," he whispered down to her.
"Fiyero," Elphaba began.
"Yes, love?" Fiyero smiled down at her.
"Will you sing to me?"
"Certainly."
Dancing through life/ Skimming the surface/ Gliding where turf is smooth/ Life's more painless/ For the brainless/ Why think too hard?/ When it's so soothing/ Dancing through life/ No need to tough it/ When you can slough it off as I do/ Nothing matters/ But knowing nothing matters/ It's just life/ So keep dancing through…
Fiyero's voice trailed off as he realized that Elphaba had fallen asleep.
Careful not to wake her, he picked her up and carried her back to the room she and Galinda shared.
As the door opened, he was greeted by Galinda's worried face.
"Oh, Fiyero. I was so worried. She just ran out. I didn't know where she would have gone so I didn't follow. I figured she'd come back when she wanted to. What happened?"
"I found her under a tree, with her legs tucked up to her chest. At first, she didn't want me to join her, but I did anyway and she seemed to enjoy my company after a while."
By this time, Fiyero had laid the sleeping Elphaba down on her bed. He now turned to face Galinda, making sure to keep between her and Elphaba as he was unsure of how Galinda would react and he wanted to avoid a catfight.
"Galinda, there's something we have to tell you. Tonight, Elphaba and I realized that we love each other."
"I see," said Galinda, surprisingly calm.
"That's it?" Fiyero was amazed. "No tears, no tantrums, no nothing."
"I'm surprised myself," admitted Galinda. "I'm trying to figure out why I'm not feeling what I normally feel when a guy breaks up with me. I think…I think it's because deep down I knew that even though we were perfect, we weren't perfect for each other. But you and Elphaba, you two are. Perfect for each other, I mean."
"Thank you, Galinda. Thank you for understanding." Fiyero engulfed Galinda in a bear hug, sweeping her off her feet and spinning her in a circle. "I couldn't be happier!"
At that moment, Elphaba woke up.
Fiyero knelt by the bed.
"Fiyero?" asked Elphaba, obviously confused. "Where am I?"
"You're back in your room. You fell asleep so I carried you back up here."
"Oh."
"Elphaba, I told Galinda about how we feel."
Elphaba peered around Fiyero, who had been blocking Galinda from her view, and was surprised to see Galinda smiling at her.
"You're smiling," she directed at Galinda.
"Yes. I'm so happy for you."
"What?" Elphaba looked between her and Fiyero. "What did I miss?"
"She realized that even though she and I are perfect, we aren't perfect for each other. You and I, however, are perfect for each other."
"So, does that mean we have her blessing?"
Galinda nodded furiously.
"Oh, Fiyero."
Fiyero scooped her up in his arms, hugging her and kissing her all the while.
Galinda clasped her hands, enjoying the happy scene.
"I just love happy endings," she thought to herself.
