AN: Wow. Your reviews seriously blew me away! 28 reviews on two chapters! O.O I think that's a new record for me - thank you all so much!

Vinkunwildflowerqueen: Still can't stop grinning every time I see that you reviewed :). But to answer your questions: no (and that goes for you, too, Musicgal), it's not weird that you're thinking of Tarzan now. I, um... I might have been listening to the soundtrack when I was writing the previous chapter :3.

And yes, I kept expecting Frex to do something horrendible in CWM, too. First I expected him to just, you know, not care, so that Fiyero would have to pay for all her medical bills; after that, I was still wary of him, but now I'm slowly starting to believe that he has a heart after all ;).

No, Elphaba'sGirl, she's not the daughter of Lurline and she's also not American xD. Keep guessing! (Just keep guessing, just keep guessing... I'm sorry, I've watched Finding Nemo too often.)

Anny-Rudolph: Thank you so much! :) And I promise you, that Yero my hero sequel will come... hopefully somewhere in the near future ;).

To my guest reviewer: I'm really sorry, but I've really hit rock bottom with that one :(. I'm not even sure I'm going to finish it, because I'm not a huge fan of it myself. Thanks for the review, though! :)

MidnightReadingAddict: I completely agree with you! ;)

Yeah, sorry about the way too long AN again. Just skip it if you want to - I'm always so thrillified about reviews that I start replying to them all, I just love them so much :).

Anyways, this is mostly a filler chapter, to take a closer look at the Fiyero-Galinda-Cohvu friendship :).


Chapter 3. Love is…

'Auntie Lori, Auntie Lori!' Galinda was running through the castle, panting slightly when she ran into the library. Lori looked up from her paperwork. 'Hi, sweetie,' she said when she saw the blonde girl. 'What's going on?'

'Well…' Galinda hesitated. 'Fiyero and Cohvu were playing this game…'

Lori removed her reading glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes for a moment. 'Oh, dear,' she said drily. 'What happened now? Did they fall into the pond? Are they lost in the forest?'

Galinda shook her head. 'They're stuck on the wall surrounding the garden.'

Lori sighed. 'Of course they are.'

'Well,' Galinda corrected herself, 'Fiyero is. Cohvu chickened out halfway. Fiyero challenged him to climb up on the wall via the tree next to it, but Cohvu nearly fell out of the tree and he was too scared to go up again, and then Fiyero climbed up onto the wall and called Cohvu a coward, only now Fiyero's the real coward because he can't get down again and he told me to go and find you.'

Lori went with the petite blonde girl and indeed found her son on the rough stone wall that surrounded the gardens behind the castle. 'Fiyero Hamold Tiggular,' the Queen said sternly. 'What in Oz have you done now?'

Fiyero looked decidedly uncomfortable, not to mention slightly scared. 'I can't get down again,' he said in a squeaky voice, and Lori crossed her arms. 'Well, then I suppose you're going to have to spend the night there, don't you?'

Now he looked panicky. 'Mom!'

'Aunt Lori?' Cohvu tugged at Lori's dress. 'You're not really going to leave him up there, are you?' he asked her, his gray eyes worried.

Lori laughed. 'No, Cohvu, of course not. Don't worry.' She climbed into the tree, almost getting the skirt of her dress stuck on a branch a few times, and reached out for Fiyero. 'Come here, Yero.'

He hesitated and spluttered for a bit, but finally, he gathered all his courage and slowly inched towards his mother. She grabbed him and she set him down onto a thick branch, climbing down herself first before lifting him off the branch and putting him safely with both feet on the floor.

He hugged her quickly. 'Thanks, Mom.' Then he, Cohvu, and Galinda dashed off again to play.

Lori sighed, shook her head, and headed back inside.


'Galinda, Galinda! Ga-linda!' Fiyero grabbed a handful of blonde curls and yanked, making the girl screech as if she was being murdered. 'Fiyero!' she cried. 'That hurts!'

He stuck out his tongue. 'Sissy.'

She immediately turned beet red. 'You take that back, Fiyero Tiggular!' she shrieked, jumping to her feet. Fiyero stuck out his tongue again before quickly dashing off, running for his life.

When he had lost the blonde, he decided to go and find Cohvu instead. He had some good news that he had wanted to share with Galinda, but since she was being a priss, he was going to tell Cohvu instead.

Fiyero and Cohvu had been best friends even before either of them had met Galinda. They had met in kindergarten; Fiyero had cried and yelled and begged his parents to not send him there, but Lori and Hamold had thought it would be good for him to interact with other children his age, rather than being cooped up inside the castle all day. The first day, Hamold had literally had to push Fiyero into the building. The King had planted his son down into a chair and hurriedly left; and much to Fiyero's horror, just after that, a boy his age had walked up to him, declaring in a threatening voice that he was sitting in his chair.

Fiyero had protested that he was new, but Cohvu had wanted to hear none of it. They had been three years old at the time and that had been the first time Fiyero had ever gotten into a fight – or, well, a fight… they had tried to kick and smack one another, and pull at each other's hair, but it wasn't even a minute before the teacher pulled them apart, telling them both to stay inside during lunch break and make up. As all the other children had gone off to play outside, Fiyero and Cohvu had remained inside the classroom to 'talk it out'.

By the time his mother had come to pick him up at the end of the day, he and Cohvu were best friends and that hadn't changed ever since.

Since that day, Cohvu had visited the castle so many times that he had grown to feel at home there, calling Fiyero's parents his aunt and uncle and happily plotting games and adventures with his friend.

Fiyero knew that Cohvu's parents were rather poor; they had five children, two younger than Cohvu and two older than him, and so his mother had to stay at home and care for them, especially the younger ones. Cohvu's father worked as a guard at Adurin Iir, but most of the money he made with that job was spent on food, clothes, and other necessities. Fiyero's parents sometimes slipped him something extra, so that they could buy something nice for their children, or make a trip somewhere, but Fiyero still felt bad for his friend sometimes.

He himself was an only child, which he hated. He was often bored, always playing alone – which was why he didn't mind at all that Cohvu spent so much time at the castle. To the prince, Cohvu felt like a brother.

'Hey, Cohvu,' Fiyero said happily when he found his friend in the main sitting room. 'Guess what?'

'What?' asked Cohvu, and Fiyero grinned broadly at him. 'My parents want me to teach Elphaba how to speak.'

Cohvu gaped at him. 'What?'

Fiyero nodded gravely. 'Because I was the one that first got her to speak, and Mom thinks she trusts me the most, so she and Dad told me to give it a shot. Isn't that awesome?' he gushed.

Cohvu didn't seem too impressed. 'You think everything is awesome,' he pointed out, and Fiyero faltered for a moment when he realised his friend was right. 'Yeah…' he said. 'But this really is awesome, don't you agree?'

'It is pretty awesome,' Cohvu admitted. He looked curious. 'When can I meet her?'

Fiyero sighed and plopped down onto the couch. 'Not yet,' he said disappointedly. 'Mom says she's still very shy and a bit scared of people, so she doesn't want to add any more strangers to the list of people having access to her room. She wants to limit it to her, Dad, the doctor, a teacher that will measure her… her…' He wrinkled his nose. 'What was the word again? Process?'

'Progress,' Cohvu offered helpfully, and Fiyero nodded. 'Yeah, that. So that teacher… and me. I think it's super cool.' He looked at his friend. 'But I'll show her to you as soon as she gets a little better,' he offered.

Cohvu thought about that for a moment, then nodded. 'Okay.'

'So… what now?' asked Fiyero. Just then, Galinda came storming into the room. 'What are you doing?' she demanded. 'Are you talking about something behind my back?'

Fiyero stuck his chin in the air. 'Yes, well, I would have told you, too, if you hadn't started chasing me like a wicked witch!' he sneered, and Galinda crossed her arms indignantly. 'You're mean.'

'You're stupid.'

'You pulled my hair!'

'And you immediately started crying,' Fiyero retorted. 'You're such a sissy.'

Again, she went red. 'Now you're saying it again!'

'Sissy!' Fiyero yelled, jumping to his feet and dancing around Galinda. 'Sissy sissy sissy sissy sissy!'

Suddenly, Galinda grabbed his arm, burying her way too long – not to mention pink - fingernails in his skin, making him yelp. She smirked at him. 'What?' she asked sweetly. 'Does that hurt?' Her blue eyes were cold as she looked at him. 'Who's the sissy now?'

Fiyero stomped on her foot. Galinda cried out and went to grab a fistful of his hair, but he was quicker, smacking her arm. 'That hurt!' she cried, before starting to slap him with the little pink purse she was carrying with her. 'You' smack 'stupid' slam 'brainless' whack 'prince!'

'Galinda!' someone cried, horrified, and the three children looked around to find Lady Upland, Galinda's mother, standing in the doorway. Galinda immediately lowered her purse, staring down at her feet guiltily, as her mother reprimanded her. 'Galinda, a lady never hits a gentleman,' she told her.

Galinda's head snapped back up and one finger jabbed in Fiyero's direction. 'But Momsie, he's not a gentleman!' she protested. 'He pulled my hair!'

Now it was Fiyero's turn to look guilty, and Lori appeared in the doorway behind Galinda's mother. Having heard most of their conversation, she laid one hand on Lady Upland's shoulder. 'Don't worry about it, Neri,' she told her. 'Fiyero deserves a good whack on the head every now and then.'

'Mom!' Fiyero protested, but his mother just flashed him a grin before taking Neri back with her. Galinda looked at him, smirking. 'See?'

Fiyero glared at her. 'You're still stupid.'

Cohvu sighed. 'Can we do something else now?' he whined. 'It's boring to watch you fight. Well, it was interesting when Galinda started hitting Yero with her purse…'

Galinda immediately perked up. 'You think I'm interesting?' She batted her eyelashes at him.

'Okay,' Fiyero quickly chimed in before Cohvu could answer that. 'Let's go get some cookies!' he suggested brightly. 'The cook said she'd bake some today!'

Cohvu looked at him excitedly. 'Do you think she'll give us some if we asked her?'

Fiyero shook his head. 'No, of course not.' He grinned at Cohvu. 'We're going to play a game.'

Cohvu immediately jumped to his feet. 'I'm in!' he declared. 'What's the game?'

'You and I are soldiers in the Vinkun army,' Fiyero said in a low voice, almost whispering. 'The kitchen is enemy territory, and the kitchen staff are soldiers of the evil army. We're supposed to get the treasure – that's the cookies – back from the evil army.'

'So, basically,' Galinda commented drily from where she had perched in a chair with her embroidery in her lap, 'you're just making up a stupid story to give yourselves an excuse to sneak into the kitchen and steal the cookies.'

'You know,' Cohvu sighed, 'girls really are no fun.'

Fiyero shook his head. 'Not girls,' he corrected his friend. 'Blonde girls.'

Galinda glared at him.

'Come on, let's go.' Fiyero pulled his friend out into the hallway and down a flight of stairs, in the direction of the kitchen.

Galinda put her embroidery aside, smiling. She wouldn't go with them; they'd probably just get caught and punished, anyway, and she didn't want to be a part of that. No, she had a better plan.


Elphaba looked up when the door slowly opened, only to find a small head with blonde curls peeking around it. Galinda smiled broadly when she saw the green girl. 'Hi!' she said enthusiastically. 'I'm back, Elphie!' She closed the door behind her and jumped into a chair next to Elphaba's bed. 'How are you today?' she asked politely.

Elphaba was eyeing her with interest, but didn't reply. Galinda leaned forward. 'Do you remember who I am?' She pointed at Elphaba. 'Elphie.' Then she pointed at herself, and Elphaba immediately replied, 'Galinda.'

The blonde girl beamed at her. 'Yes! Amazifying!' she cheered. 'How old are you?' To punctuate her question, she pointed at herself again, then held up six fingers. 'Six.'

'Six,' echoed Elphaba, and the petite blonde nodded. 'I'm six.' She indicated first herself, then her raised fingers. 'Six.'

Elphaba counted the fingers silently for a moment, screwing up her nose as she clearly went over something in her head, but then her face brightened. 'Six!'

Galinda nodded. 'I am Galinda,' she said, slowly and clearly. 'I am six.' She gestured for Elphaba to try, and she did. 'I am Elphaba,' she said shyly. 'I am six.'

Galinda squealed. 'Oh my Oz, this is so swankified!' she gushed. 'Are you six, too?' She tried to express that question in gestures, and Elphaba nodded. She pointed at herself, then held up six fingers. 'Six.'

The blonde nodded again. 'Yes! You're learning quickly!' she said admiringly. 'Now for something more complicated.'

She spent the next ten minutes or so pointing at different objects in the room, or trying to portray certain things, and teaching Elphaba the correspondent words. The green girl indeed did learn quickly, and obviously liked their little game, for there was a small smile on her face now.

Suddenly, there were voices in the hallway, and Elphaba tilted her head to the side, listening intently. 'Hammy.'

Galinda frowned, puzzled. 'What?' she asked, but just then, the door opened and Hamold came in. Elphaba nodded, satisfied, and repeated, 'Hammy.'

Hamold laughed. 'I fear I'm going to be stuck with that nickname from now on.' He looked down at Galinda sternly. 'You, little one, are not supposed to be in here.'

Galinda shuffled around a little. 'But… but I'm Elphie's bestest friend!' she whined, and Hamold's eyebrows shot up. 'Elphie?'

Galinda nodded proudly. 'She's Elphie. We're bestest friends now, Uncle Hammy. I was teaching her some new words.'

Hamold laughed. 'Oh, yeah? And what are those?'

'Pink,' declared Elphaba proudly, pointing at Galinda's dress. She played with the ruffles. 'Dress,' she said. 'Ruffles. Fashion.' She pointed at Galinda's hair. 'Blonde.'

'And what do you think of blonde, Elphie?' Galinda asked smugly. The green girl touched Galinda's curls. 'Blonde nice,' she said obediently, and Galinda giggled. 'And what am I, Elphie?'

'Pretty and smart!' Elphaba answered, remembering the correct reply to that question – according to Galinda, anyway - and Hamold laughed. He suspected that the green girl didn't really understand everything she had just said, was merely repeating after Galinda – particularly the latter part – but he was still impressed. Perhaps they could get her to speak, really speak, within a few weeks or so.

'Well done, Galinda,' he praised the blonde, who beamed at him. 'But I'm sorry,' Hamold continued, 'I'm still going to have to send you away.'

'We're leaving back home the day after tomorrow,' said Galinda, pouting. 'Can I please see her one more time before that?'

Hamold smiled at her. 'Sure, little one.' He softly ushered her out of the door, but she was barely gone for five minutes before Fiyero poked his head around the door. 'Hi, Dad. Can I-'

'Fiyero,' Hamold interrupted him sternly, getting up and taking his son outside. 'Could you kids just leave the poor girl alone for a few hours? Galinda just left, and now you're here again – for the third time today.' He looked down at his son. 'What are you doing here, anyway?' he asked.

Fiyero pouted. 'The cook threw us out of the kitchen,' he complained, and Cohvu, who was standing behind the prince, nodded earnestly, grinning. 'When Fiyero tried to steal the cookies.'

Fiyero elbowed his friend in the stomach. 'Shh!' he hissed. 'You weren't supposed to say that!'

Cohvu snickered. 'I know.'

Fiyero grumbled something. Then he looked back at his father, who was chuckling, and pouted once more. 'Dad, can I see her? Please?'

Hamold looked at his son more closely. 'You know what I think?' he said finally, smiling down at Fiyero. He ruffled the prince's hair. 'I think you, Yero, are a little bit in love with Elphaba.'

Fiyero looked absolutely horrified. 'In love?!' he echoed, making it sound as if that was the most disgusting thing he'd ever heard in his life. 'Of course not!' He shuddered. 'Yuck!'

Hamold laughed. 'Being in love isn't 'yuck', Fiyero. It's a very beautiful thing.'

Fiyero made a face. Cohvu, who was standing behind him, snickered again. 'Yero is in love!' he sang, and Fiyero stomped him. 'Shut up. I'm not.' A devious smirk crept onto his face. 'I know someone who is, though.'

Cohvu looked at his friend curiously. 'Who?'

'Galinda.' Fiyero grinned broadly. 'With you.'

Cohvu's eyes widened in pure horror. 'She can't be!' he protested. 'I mean… that's gross!'

'I know, right?' Fiyero agreed cheerfully. He sent another death glare in his father's direction. 'So no, I'm not in love,' he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. 'I just like Elphaba. She's nice. And I think she would be fun to play with – at least she doesn't seem to be a sissy, like Galinda.'

Hamold looked disapproving. 'Fiyero, you should really stop calling her that,' he scolded mildly. 'It's not nice.'

'But she called me stupid!' he defended himself. He huffed and crossed his arms. 'She's stupid herself.'

Cohvu asked in a frightened voice, 'Do you really think she's in love with me?'

Fiyero nodded seriously. 'Well…' He hesitated. 'I'm not sure if she's in love with you,' he admitted. 'But she thinks you're cute.' He wrinkled his nose again. 'That's so weird. I mean, you're not cute, are you? Puppies are cute, or baby turtles, or just babies, but you?'

Cohvu shrugged. 'I don't understand it, either.' He made a face. 'But I certainly don't think she's cute.'

'Good for you,' Fiyero said contently, but then Cohvu added softly, 'She's pretty, though.'

Fiyero stared at him with wide eyes. 'You're in love with her, too!' he shouted, almost accusingly.

'Am not!' the other boy snapped back. 'But I can still think she's pretty! You said she was pretty once, and you said that the green girl was pretty, too!'

Fiyero fell silent – his friend had a point there. 'Okay, fine,' he conceded reluctantly. 'Maybe she's pretty. But you're not going to kiss her, are you?'

'Of course not.' Cohvu shuddered exaggeratedly. 'Ew.'

Fiyero nodded, satisfied. 'Good.'

His father laughed and ruffled their hair. 'Oh, dear Cohvu and Yero,' he said, smiling broadly as he shook his head. He patted their heads. 'You two still have so much to learn.'

With that, he left, leaving the two young boys behind in utter bewilderment.