A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic, so reviews would be awesome!

Chapter One

She had been so tired all day. She was finally going back to the Shiz University campus after a long day out. She sat down, legs feeling relieved. She sighed. But she wouldn't let herself fall asleep on the train – how embarrassing that would be! She didn't want people to notice her. There was enough to notice and stare at already, having green skin.

She relaxed and opened her new book. The doors opened and someone got on, but she didn't bother to look up. The person sat next to her, and she turned to see her new train acquaintance.

The first thing she saw surprised her – his brilliant blue eyes. She felt something drop in the pit of her. He had dark skin, not commonly seen - well never seen – anywhere in loyal Oz. Especially not in Shiz! Shiz was one of the most judgmental cities in all of Oz. It was make it or break it there, so it was better to fit in, which didn't always work in people's favour – evident for both herself and this man.

Wow, someone whose skin was different, just like hers…

On the right side of his neck, there was what looked like a tattoo. Yes, it was blue diamonds tattooed - a tribal marking from the Vinkus; she had read about the subject. The diamonds continued down his neck and looked like on his chest, too. How far down did they go...?

Oh no, she thought. She was staring. That's embarrassing.

She looked up into his eyes again and that dropping feeling occurred in her stomach again. She quickly looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes for too long - She never liked people to look into her eyes because she felt it revealed something about her, though she was never quite sure what.

"Hi, I'm Fiyero." he said in a cool, soothing voice.

"I-I'm Elphaba..." she stuttered. What was this? Stuttering? She had never stuttered before in her life! What was going on?

"May I sit here?" he asked calmly and friendly.

She tried to straighten herself and seem firm and strong like she usually was. "Of course." He sat down.

She continued, "You must be new around here," she said, judging by the unfamiliarity of his skin tone in this area. But who was she to be talking? She was green! Her skin tone was unfamiliar in every area.

"Yes, I'm starting to attend Shiz University this week," he replied.

"Oh, that's where I study, too," she said.

He replied coolly, "Then I guess we'll be seeing each other around then?"

"I suppose so." she tried to keep her deep green eyes from meeting his mesmerizing, blue ones. She ducked back into her book.

A few minutes passed until he said, "What book are you reading? It seems interesting."

She was startled by his sudden diction. "Oh, it's 'The Nature of Literature.' by Jacob Glickman. It's my favourite."

"Sounds thought provoking, I've never heard of this... Glickman. It looks very long, is it?"

"It's dreadfully long, but I enjoy every word in it. The man's a genius! And he's got a sense of humour, too." She said with a smile.

"I think I'll get a copy next time I go into town."

"Uh... Y-You can borrow mine if you'd like..." she said awkwardly. Stuttering again? Get a hold of yourself!

He smiled. "Why, thank you Miss Elphaba," he teased.

"It's my pleasure, Master Fiyero," she teased back. They were getting along swimmingly. This was the first time someone had attempted to be social towards her in a long time. People were generally disgusted by her, and she wasn't too fond of them either. Anyhow, she liked the peace of her own company. But why was this boy, this man, even trying?

She soon remembered how tired she was and felt her eyes droop. She closed them for just a moment, not letting herself fall asleep...

After a few minutes with her eyes closed, focusing on the bumps and jumps of the train's motion, she began to doze off.

Fiyero had been taking glances at the sleeping green girl... Elphaba... How beautiful and elegant she was. Her long dark hair flowed down her back gracefully, in waves, ending in small curls. She was smart, and he liked the way she spoke. There was something about her that interested him – made him want to know more about her. How peculiar - that her skin was green. But, hey, how peculiar - his skin was dark with blue diamonds. He liked that they had this in common. Maybe a discussion topic for when they met next?

The train shook, and caused Elphaba's sleeping form to slide over and lean on Fiyero. He did not move away – he didn't want to wake her. Frankly, he didn't mind that she was leaning on him. He didn't mind at all...

The train came to a stop and jolted, causing her to wake up. She noticed her head was leaning on his shoulder. She quickly lifted it and rubbed her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. – Literally."

"It's alright. I didn't mind. We're friends now aren't we? That's what friends do," he replied warmly, with a grin.

"Yes," she smiled, "yeah, I guess we are friends..." she quite liked this idea – a real friend. Not her perky roommate, Galinda. No – someone who enjoyed her company and was actually interested in what she said; someone who wasn't forced to get to know her. And he was a guy. Not that this mattered to her in the way that it would matter to most girls. Men are just less understanding than women are. A woman would open the book, instead of looking at its strange cover and throwing it away. Or at least the women in her family were that way. Galinda had been that way, though, too – she figured since she was stuck rooming with Elphaba, why not get to know her? Judging people isn't very nice, especially if you were going to be living with them.

And thus, Elphaba and Galinda became friends. Well, Galinda was Elphaba's only friend so far, and Galinda had other friends, but she liked the intellectuality of Elphaba. It was a good escape from the frilly, gossiping world of her friends. Elphaba quickly found that when Galinda was away from her "posse," she was quite interesting and suitable to talk to – for a short while.

The fact the Fiyero was male made her have second thoughts on the gender.

So, now she had two friends – Galinda and Fiyero. There was something about the boy she couldn't quite put her finger on. His eyes made her stomach churn, and his exquisite diamond markings trailing down his body intrigued her.

They got off the train and collected their luggage. They decided they would walk to short distance to the campus together. They were close to the archway to outside, when they noticed it was raining. "I can wait here until the rain stops," she said. "You can go if you'd like."

"It's just a drizzle. Are you sure you don't want to go?" he hoped she wasn't being a typical girl, worrying about her hair getting damp. She seemed better than that.

"Oh I'm sure. I can't."

"Why not?" he asked trivially – now wondering the real reason why.

She sighed. "Water burns me. Ever since I can remember, I have hated water. And it leaves burns on me, scars too. If small amounts do that, I'd imagine maybe a bath would kill me."

He had a puzzled, intrigued, and concerned look on his face. "Hmm." He opened his suitcase and pulled out a large, men's overcoat and an umbrella. "Here, put this on." Fiyero helped her into the coat, like a gentleman, and pulled the hood over her head, so that no skin was exposed to the rain.

Elphaba giggled at the largeness, and innocently looked at him. There was something about her... She made him smile.

Just to make her feel even more secure, he opened up his big umbrella and hovered it over them, the majority of it on her. He took her arm and they stepped outside.

"How's that?" he asked playfully. "Any water touching you?"

"It's just perfect," she giggled. "Thank you very much." She looked up at him and smiled. She was very grateful that she didn't need to wait for the rain to stop, and that someone actually cared. Fiyero gave a warm, grinning look back.

His eyes were just begging her to stare into them, but she broke the trance and looked down, hiding a blush.

Elphaba shifted slightly closer to him, hopefully unnoticeably, so not just their arms, but their hips touched.

He noticed, but he realized she didn't want him to notice, so he didn't acknowledge the movement in any way, other than to not move away and make sure they stayed touching like that.

Fiyero really enjoyed Elphaba. Not just talking to her, but just walking silently with her. He hoped she felt the same.

Did she move over because she wanted to feel safer from the rain, or did she just want to have her body beside his? - This was something they were both wondering.