Fiyero sat smiling at his one-year-old's first birthday party. There were newfound family and friends, and one friend Fiyero held near to his heart.
Glinda.
He had contacted her after the tragedy happened, nearly forgetting that she thought they were dead. When she answered, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Fiyero. Tigelaar.
They talked for hours, on and on about how he is and what's new and how's Elphaba doing and what she's up to and that's when the conversation got quiet. Fiyero knew he'd have to tell her eventually, he just didn't know how to say it.
When he broke the news, Glinda sobbed. He felt bad that he couldn't tell her in person. Elphaba was her best friend, she let her go once, and as soon as she thought she had her back, she lost her.
What happened was, shortly after Elphaba had given birth, she passed away. Her body couldn't handle of the stress, her first pregnancy being high risk. Elphaba knew facing her later months in term that she could lose her life, and that she'd rather lose her own life than her child's. She accepted it.
Fiyero, on the other hand, had not. He didn't want to lose his Fae. He wanted to have a mother for his child, simply because Elphaba herself didn't have a mother growing up. Though, Fiyero knew he'd never treat his child like Elphaba's father treated her- green or not. He didn't even know how to raise a child, let alone by himself.
When Glinda calmed herself down a bit, she agreed to come and help raise baby Tigelaar. She'd been here for him a little under a year, coming in only two months after the little one was born.
Elphaba's grave sat in the poppy field, not far from their home. Fiyero visited regularly, leaving notes and flowers and pictures of their daughter every week or so. When he'd come back, they'd never be there. He took it as a sign that she was still around, in spirit at least.
When Glinda first came into town, he took her to her grave sight. Glinda, ever so silently, knelt down in front of her grave stone and said her final goodbyes. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, only to let a few more roll over her eye lids.
It was a sad sight, for Fiyero had found himself tearing up as well. This is the saddest he's ever seen her.
With little Bellamy in arms, he wiped a tear from his eye. He let Glinda say goodbye as long as she needed.
It was after dark when they finally started heading back inside. Fiyero wrapped his free arm around Glinda's shoulders.
"It doesn't get any easier." He said, pouring Glinda a cup of tea.
"Believe me, I know." She replied. "After you guys 'died', I was a mess. I was alone, afraid and had no idea how to run a whole country. I fell apart. I was stuck in this... this state of denial. I would lock myself in my suite and I wouldn't come out for months at a time, Fiyero." Her eyes began to well up again.
He looked her in the eye, and grabbed her hand from across the table. He exhaled. "I'm so very sorry, Glin. I didn't know."
"Don't be." She said. "I get it, it was the only way you two could live. You couldn't risk me knowing. Oz, I don't even know how I let myself fall apart the way I did. Instead moping and wallowing in sorrow, I could've been keeping my promise to Elphaba."
Fiyero sighed. "You were upset. Sometimes grief gets the best of us."
"How did you keep yourself together?" She asked.
"Well," he began. "I had Bellamy. She may only be three months old now, but she's the reason for my sanity, crazy as it is."
Glinda looked at the baby. She smiled. "She's a blessing."
Fiyero grinned. "She saved me."