Disclaimer: Not mine.
In the black heart of the night, Elphaba awakened.
Rumbles of thunder coerced her back into consciousness. A flash of lightning illuminated the room. Beside her, Fiyero slept on. The lightning gave her a glimpse of his body, the outline of his form lingers in her mind, the image reverberating as if by flashbulb. He slept contentedly, unaffected by the growing storm. A tiny smile tugged at her lips. So like him – undisturbed, taking life in stride, changing to be whoever and whatever he needed to be.
She loved him for his mutability. She hated herself for forcing it upon him. Had it not been for her, he would never have undergone all the transformations he'd been subject to. From human to scarecrow, and then to human once more – each time unaware of what her spells would do to him. Yet he had never complained. Goodness knows he had a right to – especially after all she'd taken from him, all she'd not been able to give in return for the love he so selflessly lavished on her. He had never complained – not once. If anything, he had continued to repay her – kindness after kindness, good in return for the evil she had brought upon him.
Ashes for beauty, tears for smiles, wickedness for happiness.
Happiness. She'd never believed that she would ever say to herself that she was happy. And yet, she was, well and truly happy.
Goodness knows, I don't deserve it.
A wry chuckle escaped her throat and he stirred. The sound of her voice was foreign in the heart of night and the unfamiliarity of it roused him. A smile bloomed on her lips. He could sleep through a thunderstorm, but the soft sound of her voice awakened him every time. Paradoxical.
"Fae?" his voice fell rough and heavy from his lips.
"Shh," she soothed him, passing her hand over his arm that lay atop the quilt. "It's just a storm."
"You couldn't sleep?" he asked, shifting in bed, seeking her eyes. A flash of lightning. Her lovely face before him. Darkness.
"I was listening to the storm."
"For someone who is supposed to hate water," he leaned up and kissed her shoulder. "You do find substantial enjoyment in the rain."
She hummed her agreement, a soft rumble in her throat. "It's a calming sound. Pretty, even…"
"Beautiful…" he murmured.
"The power in the storm…"
"A tempest…" He swept her hair away from her neck.
"You're not talking about the storm anymore, are you?" she asked, catching his eyes in another burst of lightning.
Fiyero grinned. "Was I that obvious?"
"Don't think you play the fool with me, love…" Elphaba chuckled despite herself, leaning over and brushing her lips over his.
Fiyero sighed into her kiss, wrapping his arms about her waist and pulling her to his chest. Elphaba smiled at him in the darkness, barely able to make out his face. She reached her hand out to his jaw, fingers curling over the swell of his cheek, exploring in the dark.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"Nothing… just being here with you."
He made a noise low in his throat and turned his face to press a kiss in her palm. His hand came up and mirrored hers, resting on her face, his thumb caressing her cheekbone.
"Come on now, Fae. Let's go back to sleep…"
"Okay." She kissed him one last time and eased herself off of him to lie back down. He wrapped his arm around her protectively, pulling her into the curve of his body. She rested her head on his shoulder and draped a slender green arm across his torso, feeling the beat of his heart and the breath of his lungs.
"Fiyero?" she whispered his name in the darkness.
"Mmm?"
"…I love you."
He hummed in the back of his throat, the buzz resounding so she could feel it in his chest as he placed a kiss to her forehead. "Love you too, Fae."
Lightning flashed again, illuminating a picture of two lovers intertwined and at rest.