AN: Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! :)

Elphaba-WWW: Yes, those were the words I wanted to throw into the spell, just to give you a hint ^_^. You'll understand after this chapter.

Yes, Failey - sorry, Queen Failey ;) - Elphaba has given me magical writing and cliffie powers :P. I wish that would happen for real... that would be so cool :D.

I guess you'll understand a bit more of where I'm going after this chapter. If not after this one, then after the next one.

Chapter 1. The second time

When Elphaba opened her eyes, she found Fiyero looking down at her with a worried gaze. 'Fae?'

With a strangled cry, she flung her arms around his neck, clinging to him. 'Fiyero!'

He held her close, clearly confused. 'What's going on? Fae? What's wrong, love? Talk to me.'

She just buried her face in his shoulder, drinking him in, never letting him go. A single desperate sob escaped her lips, and he pulled back a little to look at her face. 'Fae…'

'I'm fine,' she sniffled, still trying to hold back her tears. 'I'm fine. Really, I am.'

'You don't look fine,' he said, concerned. He eased her back down onto the bed… no, not the bed, she realised once she was lying down with him. The forest floor, with only her cloak to separate them from the cold earth. She was wearing his shirt and wrapped in his jacket, but she was still shivering; he was only wearing his pants, pulling her close against his bare chest and enfolding her in his arms, allowing her to marvel in his body heat. As she lay there, so close to him, listening to his breathing and heartbeat and feeling his warmth, sensing everything about him that told her he was alive, she realised that it had worked. A sense of relief and joy washed all over her as she burrowed into his chest, unwanted tears spilling from her eyes, but this time, they were happy tears. Relieved tears. Good tears.

Her spell had worked. It had worked. He was with her again, alive and well; her spell had taken her back in time, to the night before he had died, the one night they had been able to spend together before they were ripped apart again… and this time, she swore silently, they wouldn't be ripped apart again. Not now, not ever. If she really had gone back in time, she would do things differently now. She wouldn't be able to save Doctor Dillamond, or Nessa, but she could save Fiyero.

'Elphaba…' he whispered into her hair. 'I'm worried about you. Please talk to me.'

She looked up at him and he gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs. 'I've never seen you cry before… Fae, you're scaring me. Tell me what's wrong, please?'

She shook her head, kissing his fingers. 'Nothing's wrong,' she whispered. 'I'm just so happy that you're here.' It wasn't even a lie, though she knew he would take it differently than she had meant it. He didn't seem to remember anything that had happened after this night, and why would he? She had been the one casting the spell, and so she was probably the only one in all of Oz remembering that there had been an alternate future for him.

He relaxed visibly at her reply and wrapped her in his arms. 'I'm here, a chroí, and I'm not going anywhere.'

'No,' she whispered against his chest, determined. 'No, you're not.'

She started awake after a while, hearing a howl, a cry of pain, of death, and she saw the now familiar vision of a flying house. She squeezed her eyes for a moment. 'Nessa, I'm so sorry,' she whispered, knowing that her sister had just been killed by the child's house landing on top of her. 'I couldn't save you, and I'm sorry.'

She knew she couldn't have prevented it. She also knew that this time, she wouldn't fly off to try and help her sister. Nessa was already gone, and so it was of no use for her to go out there; if she did, Fiyero would follow her again, and everything would happen the way it had happened before. She wouldn't let it. So she didn't go.

She allowed a few tears to roll down her cheeks, tears for her little sister, whom she couldn't even say goodbye to now. She knew Glinda would be there in no time, guiding the girl towards the Emerald City and saying goodbye to Nessa, laying down a bouquet of flowers; she'd be there with her golden curls and sparkling blue dress, in all innocence, pretending it wasn't her fault that Nessa was dead in the first place. Elphaba clenched her hands to fists for a moment. She couldn't believe Glinda had betrayed her like that. She couldn't believe Glinda had told Morrible how to use Nessa to get to Elphaba.

Well, she would like to see their faces once they'd realise that their plan had failed. They had tried to lure her out by using her sister, and though she had bought it the first time, she wouldn't fall for it again. This time, she was going to keep Fiyero far away from Glinda and from Gale Force soldiers. She almost smirked when she imagined Morrible's face. The old fish would be so pissed that her master plan hadn't worked…

She wiped away her tears and felt Fiyero stir beside her. 'Fae?' he asked sleepily. 'Are you awake? What's wrong?'

She gently kissed him. 'Nothing's wrong, Yero,' she whispered. 'Nothing at all. Go back to sleep.'

He wrapped his arm around her waist and she lay softly against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and breathing regulate as he fell asleep again.

She, however, stayed awake much longer, just gazing up at the stars visible in the inky black sky.

'We should get moving,' he said as they were both getting dressed. She sneezed and wiped her nose with her sleeve. He looked at her sympathetically. 'I knew we should have found a warmer place last night.'

She shook her head, walking up towards him and sliding her arms around his neck. 'It was fine, Yero. I don't need a bed or blankets or a fire. All I need is you.'

He smiled and lowered his head, kissing her softly. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, closing her eyes, silently thanking anyone who might be up above that she got this second chance with him. And this time, she wouldn't blow it. She wouldn't.

They broke apart and Elphaba went to collect her broom, her hat, and the satchel with the Grimmerie; Fiyero laced his fingers with hers and together they started walking, away from Munchkinland and the Emerald City, towards… yes, towards where?

'Yero?' she asked, letting her head drop onto his shoulder. 'Where are we going?'

He squeezed her hand softly. 'The castle I told you about – Kiamo Ko. We'll be safe there for a while.'

She nodded, her head still on his shoulder. 'Okay.' She was silent for a while. 'I love you.'

He stopped walking, and for a moment, she was afraid that he would laugh at her or run away. She loved him, she truly did, but she couldn't help but have doubts about whether he loved her back or not. Sure, he had ran away with her, but perhaps it had been a whim. Perhaps he didn't really love her and this was just an adventure to him; perhaps he would soon realise what he had done exactly and he would leave again, horrified with himself for his moment of insanity.

When he turned to look at her, however, and she looked into his sparkling blue eyes, she saw nothing that she should be wary of. On the contrary. All she saw was love, and joy, and hope. 'You mean that?' he asked hopefully, and she nodded, figuring she didn't have much to lose. 'Yeah.'

He surprised her by suddenly cupping her face with both hands and kissing her, fervently, hungrily, and she didn't hesitate to comply. She pressed herself closer to him and let him kiss her senseless before he finally pulled away a little, both of them out of breath by then. 'I love you, too,' he said breathlessly, and her heart fluttered in her chest.

He kissed her nose. 'Come on. Let's go.'

'We could take the broom,' she murmured, still in a daze because of that kiss. 'It would go a lot faster.'

He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. 'Sure. Let's take the broom.'

She climbed on it and he settled himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist to steady himself. 'Ready?' she asked him and he nodded. 'Ready.'

She kicked off and she felt him draw in his breath sharply, but when she steered the broom up higher and eventually managed to get it horizontal again, she felt him relax. She risked a quick glance over her shoulder and smiled when she saw the childlike look of pure awe and excitement on his face. 'We're flying!'

'Yes, Yero.'

'I'm flying!'

'You're flying.' A rare giggle escaped her when he slowly, carefully unwound his arms from her waist and spread them, closing his eyes, mirroring the position she had also often found herself in when she had just learned how to fly. She knew how he felt. The rush of it, feeling the wind blowing all around you… it was exhilarating. It was one of her favourite feelings in the world, and she was glad he could enjoy it, too. 'This is so amazing,' he said in wonder.

She leaned back to kiss him. 'You are amazing.'

He smiled and kissed her back before allowing her to direct her attention back to where she was flying. 'So are you.'

Suddenly, a loud bang shook them from their daydreaming, and the broom wobbled for a moment as Elphaba lost her focus. Fiyero tightened his grip around her. 'What's going on?' he yelled above the howling wind, and she steered the broom down, setting her jaw in determination. 'The Gale Force. Down there – they spotted us.' She swore under her breath. 'I should have been more careful.'

She could see them below her, the green uniforms, the rifles pointed at them. She moved her hand to cover his and squeezed briefly. 'Hold on.'

He did as she asked, and she steered the broom back upwards. She could hear shouting from below and suddenly, bullets were flying all around them, every Gale Force soldier from down there shooting at them, and she felt Fiyero tightening his grip even more as she flew criss-cross through the sky, dodging the bullets the best she could. She hissed when one of the things grazed her leg, but she didn't falter for a moment. 'You okay?' she yelled over her shoulder, and she felt Fiyero squeeze her waist briefly. 'Fine.'

'Don't worry, I'll get us out of here,' she said, determined, and he nuzzled her shoulder for a moment. 'I know you will.'

She steered sharply to the right, then ducked down, up again, jerking in all directions in order to get away from the bullet rain. When they finally made it out of the Gale Force's reach, she let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. 'That was a close one.'

Fiyero didn't reply, and suddenly, she was overcome by fear. She held the broom tightly with one hand as she looked over her shoulder. 'Yero?'

He was looking down at something, and when he looked up again, she could see it in his eyes. She shook her head. 'No,' she whispered, but then he shifted his hand a little and she saw the blood trickling from between his fingers, staining his shirt. One of the bullets had hit him in the stomach.

His grip on her weakened, and she steered the broom down, landing in a deserted meadow. She fell down on her knees next to him, pressing both hands against his bullet wound. 'Hold on,' she said, looking at his face, which was growing paler by the minute. 'Hold on, Yero. I won't let you die, I won't.' She tore a piece of fabric off her dress, using it to bandage his wound, putting pressure on it; then she pulled out the Grimmerie and started flipping through the pages frantically, looking for something that might be able to save him. She wouldn't let him die again. She'd done that once and she wouldn't let it happen a second time.

His hand on hers stopped her. 'Fae…' She looked at his face, saw him weaken with every drop of blood that left his body, and her own eyes filled with tears. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek. 'Don't cry, a chroí,' he whispered. 'You'll be okay.'

She shook her head violently. 'I don't want to be okay without you! Hold on, Yero! I'll find something, I swear I will!' She started looking through the Grimmerie again, but his hand on her arm stopped her. 'Fae... It's no use.'

'Don't say that!' Angrily, she wiped her nose with the sleeve of her dress. 'Don't say that! Oz dammit, Fiyero, you can't die on me now! Not again!' She brushed his hair away from his face, pressing her lips to his forehead, cradling his head. 'Don't leave me again…'

'I'll always be with you,' he whispered, and she knew it was the end. 'No! Fiyero!'

'I love you,' he said, his voice barely audible, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. 'Yero…'

His eyes fluttered shut, and she started shaking him. 'Fiyero? Fiyero! Don't do this to me, Fiyero! Yero, you can't… you can't do this!' She started pounding on his chest with her fists. 'Wake up, Fiyero! Oz dammit, wake up!'

He didn't, of course. She laid her head against his chest and a heart-wrenching sob ripped through her body when she didn't hear his heartbeat. He wasn't breathing. He was gone. He was gone once again, again she'd failed him, and she couldn't bear it. She couldn't bear that thought.

Her howl of anguish, of grief and loss, was the most horrendible sound that had ever passed someone's lips.

'Fiyero!'