A/N: I know that in this Frex maybe a bit out of character but it had to fit into the story.

Chapter 2

Awkwardly...Yes!

The breakfast following the night before was quite awkward. Elphaba had never had breakfast with Frex before and now was definitely a first. Elphaba had made, as usual, eggs with bacon. Frex was holding a piece of bacon upside-down and twirling it around in a circle. Elphaba was poking at her eggs with a fork. Frex finally took a bite of the bacon he had been playing with, and tried to speak with it in his mouth.

"Lov-y bre-kfst!" he said.

Elphaba lifted her head from her hand and looked at him funny, as if to ask, did you just compliment me?

"Um thank you sir! I worked hard on it!"She said

"Well it sure shows!' said Frex taking another large bite of bacon, and smiling to the best of his ability.

"Thank you?" she said reluctantly, confused at her father's different behavior.

Frex put down his fork and finished his piece of bacon, then leaned in to ask Elphaba something.

"Elphaba I've been thinking... it not right to treat someone different just because you're upset and maybe slightly depressed..." he said fidgeting nervously. "Elphaba, I'm not sure how to put this, but I would like to start over! You're really so much like your mother, and if she was still here, well, she would be very proud of you!' he finally said, glad to get it off his chest.

Elphaba was staring at him with her jaw open and a blank look on her face. It took her a while to register that Frex had just complimented her.

"Uhh... Elphaba, you ok?" said Frex waving his hand in front of Elphaba's face.

She swatted it away, and looked slightly angry, "Oh so now you chose to love me, once Nessa's gone, was it all a show to you? Did you really love me but acted like you didn't so people would think you were a good leader? So when you walk by they would say when they walked past 'oh look there is the governor who has a green daughter that acts a servant', how do you think I felt all of those years, hated by my own father... it's not fun let me say that!"

Elphaba was standing up and had her cloth on the ground, the aftermath of her rant. Her face was slightly puffy and her eyes were encircled by red all from nearly crying. She had her finger pointed at her father and her face was red. Frex seemed like it was normal, as if he had expected this all along.

"Elphaba, feel better?" he said casually

Her finger still in his face she said, "Yes, I do feel better," she dropped her finger and wiped her hands on her frock; "now if you will excuse me, I have dishes to do!" she got up and walked away to the kitchen. Frex let his forehead rest in the palm of his hand, thinking to himself, what have I done?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Elphaba was in the kitchen taking out all her anger on the unfortunate dishes. She had broken at least two plates already and if someone walked in the room, it would have looked like someone assaulted the dishes. There was porcelain was on the floor and water everywhere. Elphaba dried and washed the same dishes repeatedly until it broke.

"Oh who does he think he is, the wizard, waltzing around telling everyone that I'm nothing and then the moment Nessa leaves he says he loves me! Oh! Crap! Broke another one!" she threw it on the ground not caring if Frex starved her for doing so!

Frex walked into the kitchen to find Elphaba assaulting the dishes. He grabbed her wrists and spun her around. Her hair was everywhere and her face was pure rage!

"Elphaba, I told you, I don't want to be a horrid father any longer, in truth, I never realized how much you are like your mother you have her looks!" he said his grip loosening, and his gaze falling. Elphaba could have sworn that she saw his eye water a bit. He let go all together and wiped a tear from his eye. Elphaba's gaze softened. Maybe he really did care. Elphaba awkwardly put her arm around her father. It was, well awkward to tell the truth.

"Elphaba? Do you want to be friends as much as I do?" said Frex wiping Elphaba's hand off his shoulder

"Awkwardly... yes!"

"Thank you! Now I can put my mind at ease." Said Frex, "So, what are we going to do about this mess?" he asked motioning around him. "I could help you clean it up if you want?" he asked.

"Um... I would like that sir... I mean, father!" Elphaba smiled and Frex grabbed a mop and a broom. He gave one to Elphaba and they cleaned the kitchen together, a new friendship created, an awkward one, but one nonetheless.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The morning had proven promising; Frex was finding it easier to love Elphaba than he previously thought, and Elphaba was beginning to like the new Frex. She wasn't yelled at as often, more likely never since his change of heart, but like any normal person, she still had chores, and since Frex wasn't very good at cooking Elphaba insisted on cooking!

Frex was waiting by the table while Elphaba cooked in the kitchen. He could hear everything sizzle and pop and found himself wondering what she was making. In a playful way he started to pound his fists on the table and started chanting, "Food, food!"

Elphaba came out with two plates on one arm; she struck a pose still balancing the food and said, "Ta da!"

Frex started to clap, and saw that the plates were covered with a silver bowl, so that he couldn't see what was on the plate, but he could still smell it! It smelled like... fish, no wait... breadcrumbs, yes definitely bread crumbs. Could it be fish drenched in breadcrumbs? With Elphaba, he would never know!

She set the plates down and got ready to display the masterpiece that they would call lunch. She opened the top of the fist plate and revealed exactly what Frex had expected, breaded fish! She did the same for the second to reveal the same thing.

"Ta da, again!" she sang.

"Wonderful!" commented Frex.

"Thank you, Bon appétit!"

Elphaba sat down and passed her father a fork and plate and then they began to eat, all the while talking and laughing about the things they missed from the past 19 years! Elphaba felt like she didn't have to hide anything from her father any more, she decided to tell him about the book she had bought against his will.

"Um, father, I have to tell you something!" she said uncomfortably

"Yes Elphaba," he said wondering why she was acting so peculiar.

"Remember how I was reading last night, well it wasn't like a fantasy book or anything like that it was a book I bought called THE MUNCHKINS GUIDE TO VINKUS, and I bought it because I wanted to be sure that Nessa was going to be ok in Vinkus." She said smiling weekly.

Frex's face turned slightly pink, he took a deep breath then said, "Elphaba, where exactly did you get that book?"

"Um at that tourist shop down the street!"

"And when did you have the time to go there?"

"Last week when you took Nessa birthday shopping, I snuck out. Go ahead yell at me!"

"Elphaba I'm not going to yell at you, I'm surprised that you take that much interest in Nessa's safety! So, dose it pass inspection?" he said the last part as a joke

"Yes it does, except the Arijki Prince; Nessa might fall for that one!"

They both laughed at Elphaba's remark.

The rest of the day went perfectly; Frex helped Elphaba clean up her room, and hang a snapshot of her mother on the wall next to her window. Frex noticed a horrid smell wafting from the window; he looked out of it and looked down, not surprised to find about ten past dinners in the bushes. He made a mental note to get rid of those bushes.