DISCLAIMER: The characters of Wicked that you recognise here are the property of Stephen Schwartz and the producers and creators of the show. I'm just borrowing them for my leisure.

AN. I'm pretty sure this is my favourite chapter in this whole story.

Chapter 3: The Tour

Fiyero was waiting for her when Elphaba came around to the front of the hotel after finishing her shift and had changed quickly into her street clothes.

"Do you have anywhere in mind?" he asked her.

Elphaba shook her head. "Not really."

"Great. I know this awesome place," he said easily, and placed a hand on the small of her back to lead her away.

He insisted on paying for the coffees, and nagged her until Elphaba ordered a piece of cake with her latte.

"So."

Elphaba looked up from her latte at him.

"Conversation starters aren't your thing, are they?"

He blinked at her. "What makes you say that?"

"Because so far, I think you've led with 'So' and 'Huh'."

"Huh," Fiyero remarked, and then his face cracked into a grin as Elphaba raised her eyebrow at him. "Sorry."

Reluctantly, Elphaba smiled faintly.

"Am I… am I supposed to address you as 'Your Highness'?" she asked suddenly, remembering exactly who she was talking to.

Fiyero grimaced. "I would really, really prefer that you didn't."

Elphaba's smile was more genuine this time as she relaxed a little.

"How long have you been in the City for?" Fiyero asked her.

"About three weeks. You?"

He shrugged. "Almost two and a half years, but you know, that was with college and everything."

"Do you like it here?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not home, but there's heaps to do here. Don't you think?"

"I haven't really done much besides work," Elphaba confessed. "I joined the library?" she added, at the look of shock on his face.

"The library?" he said sceptically.

"I like the library," Elphaba said defensively.

"Fair enough," he returned dismissively. "But there's so much more fun stuff to do!"

"From what I've read in the papers over the years, you and I have very different ideas of fun," Elphaba said dryly.

Fiyero leaned over the table towards her. "Give me one day," he said solemnly. "And I bet you anything that you'll have fun."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I work five days a week, and why in Oz's name do you want to drag me all around the City?"

Fiyero shrugged. "I find you interesting."

"Because I'm green?" Elphaba frowned.

"It's a factor," Fiyero admitted. "I don't know. I just thought I'd like to get to know you. I mean, you've already seen me in my underwear," he grinned and Elphaba blushed in embarrassment.

"That suggests a level of closeness, doesn't it?"

"I- I…" Elphaba was flustered, not sure what else to say.

Fiyero laughed at her, not unkindly. "I like playing tour guide," he said. "And I really do just want to get to know you."

Elphaba took a sip of her latte slowly. The Emerald City was just full of new experiences, it seemed.

"I suppose I can spare you one day," she said slowly.

"Great. Are you free this weekend?"

"I'm off on Sunday…"

"Sunday it is then," Fiyero said decisively. "Where should I pick you up?"

Elphaba tried to hide a wince at that idea. "Why don't we just meet somewhere?" she suggested in return.

They mostly talked about the city as they finished their coffee. Elphaba was reluctant to say anything beyond her cover story that she had moved to the city from Gilikin to "gain some independence"; and Fiyero didn't seem to want to discuss the Vinkus or what he was doing in the city, besides doing "royal stuff" on his parents' behalf.

Finally, Elphaba took her leave.

"I guess I'll see you on Sunday, then. Nine am?" Fiyero said.

"You might see me before that. I do clean your room," Elphaba reminded him.

"Right," Fiyero grinned. "I knew that."

Elphaba bid him farewell, and left to return to her room. She had to admit that the stories about Fiyero Tiggular were right- he was handsome and very charming. But she couldn't help but be wary, remembering all the other stories she'd heard about him. Yes, those stories had been few and far between the past few years; by all accounts his father's illness had made him settle down.

But Elphaba was well aware that the media did not always get things correct, and just because a person appeared to have changed, didn't mean they truly had.

Yet she wasn't afraid of him, or worried about being alone with him. If the press saw them together and made a story of it, that was something that worried her- if only because the news would most likely eventually make it to Munchkinland.

It would be nice to see the city with someone who knew the city, she reasoned. The other girls at work were friendly and polite, but none of them ever invited Elphaba to socialise with them more than a coffee in the break room at work.

She saw Fiyero only briefly over the next few days, he was always either out of his room when she came by to clean, or stepped out just after she arrived. On the Saturday morning, he was there, but busy. He kept popping into whatever room she was cleaning, just to ask random questions like,

"How do you feel about fudge?" and then he'd disappear again, leaving her completely bewildered and bemused.

On Sunday morning, as arranged, Elphaba met Fiyero at the gate to the park at nine am.

"Are you ready for the most fun day of your life?" he greeted her.

Elphaba regarded him warily. "From the stories and rumours I used to hear about you, I'm not sure that I trust your judgement on 'fun'."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fiyero asked in an injured tone.

"Didn't you once get drunk and jump in the river in the middle of a blizzard?"

Fiyero held up a hand in protest. "That is not what happened, ok? That got totally blown out of proportion."

Elphaba raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"We went ice fishing and had a few drinks, and it was snowing and some of us may have fallen into the water," Fiyero admitted. "There was no blizzard and we didn't purposely jump in the river. We weren't that stupid."

"Right. And the story about you running around some university campus in a dress and bonnet?"

"That's true," Fiyero said cheerfully. "It was for a bet. Totally worth it."

"So my point stands," Elphaba replied.

Fiyero rolled his eyes. "Give me the benefit of the doubt, will you? I don't do that stuff anymore."

"Did you forget how we met?"

He grinned at her. "I'll never forget that," he said with a wink, and making her blush. "Come on, let's get going."

Elphaba allowed him to lead her to a waiting carriage, not entirely sure that this was a good idea.

When the carriage came to a stop, she peered out of the window with trepidation. All she could see outside was a restaurant.

"What are we doing here?"

"Breakfast," Fiyero answered as though it was obvious. "What? It's the most delicious meal of the day."

"Don't you mean important?"

"No, I mean delicious," he said lightly. "Let's go, I'm starved."

She blinked at him in amazement. "How old are you?" she asked.

"Twenty-two," Fiyero replied easily. "Come on, I'm not kidding. Food awaits."

Fiyero insisted on paying for Elphaba's meal as well as his own, and when she dug in her heels and refused to order more than toast, his response was to load half of his own food onto her plate.

"What, like I'm going to eat all this by myself?" he said, gesturing to his heaped plate.

He'd ordered the restaurant's "big breakfast", which contained a mass heap of toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, mushroom, fried tomato and hash browns. Even with the food he'd dumped on Elphaba's plate, it was still full.

Elphaba was reasonably sure that he could have eaten the plateful on his own, but she hadn't had enough coffee yet that morning to argue with him.

"Do you like being a maid?" he asked her as they ate.

Elphaba blinked at him over her coffee mug. "It's my life's dream," she deadpanned and Fiyero laughed.

"I meant-"

"I know what you meant," she interrupted. Then she sighed and shrugged. "It's decent money, and it's not a bad job. It's good enough to get me where I need to go."

"Where do you 'need to go'?" Fiyero asked in interest.

Elphaba hesitated. "I'm not exactly sure where the end point is," she admitted. "But this job is a step."

It wasn't a lie, she reasoned. She didn't know where she would end up after Shiz- Oz, she couldn't even decide what she wanted to major in when she got to Shiz. But the Pinnacle was a step.

"Where are we going first?" she asked when they had finished eating.

"Well, I figured it's important that you see some of the famous tourist sites. I can't believe you haven't already."

"I saw the park!" Elphaba defended herself.

"It's a park. It doesn't count," Fiyero retorted. "Alright, let's get going."

"You still haven't told me where we're going," Elphaba pointed out to him.

"I know," he grinned and led her to the carriage.

From the stories she'd heard, Elphaba wasn't sure what kind of things Fiyero would plan. Their first stop, however, was the Wizard's palace in the centre of the city.

"It's the most cliché thing, I figured we'd get it over and done with," Fiyero shrugged.

"You're not in the City for the culture, are you?" Elphaba asked dryly, even as she readily followed him out of the carriage.

Elphaba found the palace amazing, but somewhat intimidating. She drank in everything that their tour guide was telling their small group, about the history of the palace and all the different rooms and the valuable objects that filled them.

Fiyero appeared uninterested, but he listened politely all the same.

"Have you ever met the Wizard? Or have your parents?" she asked him as they exited, forty-five minutes later.

Fiyero shook his head. "Nah. My parents have had letters from him though. But the Vinkus is pretty independent. If they have any business with the Emerald City, it's usually through the Wizard's Grand Vizier."

"And that's what you're doing here, isn't it?" she asked him. "Handling your parents' business matters in the City?"

"Mostly," he shrugged, but didn't elaborate.

"Where to next?" she asked.

He led her back to the carriage, not telling her anything about their next destination save that it was one of his favourite places in the city. They drove across the city, and ended up not far from the hotel where Elphaba was staying.

It was a small square that when Elphaba had passed by it previously, it had always appeared empty. Today, however, it had been transformed. About two dozen carts had sprung up across the square and there were amazing smells drifting through the air.

"What's this?" Elphaba asked Fiyero.

"They have markets here every Sunday," Fiyero explained. "It's got great food and stuff from all across Oz."

Elphaba was intrigued by this, Munchkinland didn't see a whole lot of produce and wares from the other provinces of Oz; they did more exporting than importing.

As they began to explore the market, Elphaba was cautious initially, wary of any Munchkins who might be there to recognise her. However, as she didn't recognise any faces and no one expressed a glimmer of recognition towards her, she began to relax and look around in earnest.

Despite her lack of loyalty towards her homeland, Elphaba's first stop was at a cart selling Munchkinland's signature treat- hot corn on the cob with butter and garlic.

"What is it?" Fiyero asked, appearing at her side.

"It's corn, what does it look like? Do you want one?"

Fiyero appeared to give the question more thought than Elphaba thought was really necessary.

"Seriously, it's a simple yes or no," she said in exasperation. "It's only corn."

"I don't really see corn as a snack, that's all," Fiyero said doubtfully. "But sure, I'll try some."

Elphaba handed him his cob, and watched him as he took a bite.

"Ok," he said finally, after chewing thoughtfully. "That's pretty good corn. This is a Munchkinland specialty?"

"Yeah. The only specialty."

"I thought you were from Gilikin. How'd you find out about this?"

"I've got family there," Elphaba lied swiftly.

"Really? Close family?"

Elphaba faltered briefly. "Not really," she answered vaguely. "Come on, let's see what else there is."

They spent two hours exploring the markets, a feat made even more impressive considering it wasn't particularly large.

If Elphaba hadn't been limiting her spending as much as possible to ensure money for Shiz, she knew she could have spent a small fortune on the different wares in the marketplace. Fiyero pointed out much of the food and carts from the Vinkus, and Elphaba did treat herself to a small green crystal cat.

"These are made in the Vinkus?" she asked Fiyero, as the cart vendor carefully wrapped it up for her.

"Yeah. In the Outer Vinkus," Fiyero told her. "Oh, hey, over here, Fae."

Elphaba barely had time to tuck the wrapped figurine in her bag before Fiyero was dragging her over to another food vendor, this one of-

"Ice cream? Fiyero, I've had ice cream before-"

"Not like this you haven't," Fiyero cut her off.

Elphaba peered forward, frowning slightly. "It's green."

"Yep. This is the Vinkus' specialty. Spearmint ice cream."

As he spoke, he held two fingers up to the vendor, who obediently scooped out two cups of ice cream and handed them to Fiyero. He gave one to Elphaba, and immediately scooped a mouthful into his own mouth.

"My mother used to take me for this ice cream every week when I was a kid," Fiyero told her. "She used to tell me that if I ate too much, I'd turn-"

He stopped suddenly, and looked to Elphaba guiltily.

"Green?" she finished for him.

Fiyero looked faintly sheepish. "Try it," he pressed her.

Elphaba did so, taking a small spoonful.

"It's nice," she agreed. "Minty. Is the rest of this day going to involve food?"

Fiyero blinked at her. "Would that be a bad thing?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, and then he broke into a grin.

"Don't worry, I've got this all under control," he reassured her.

Elphaba had to admit that she was enjoying herself. If she had been able to plan her perfect day in the Emerald City, she wasn't sure if any of this was what she would have planned, but she was glad she was here.

It was one o'clock in the afternoon when they left the markets. Elphaba was more than a little bewildered when their next stop was revealed.

"Why exactly are we at the train station? Are we going somewhere?"

"No. I just want to show you something cool."

Fiyero led her into the bustling station, and directed her to an archway.

"Just stand there," he ordered.

Elphaba watched in confusion as he walked away and positioned himself under a diagonal archway across the room.

"Hi," he said, and Elphaba heard it as clear as though he was standing right next to her.

She laughed, and when he grinned at her, she knew he'd heard the same phenomenon.

"That is amazing!" she exclaimed. "How does that work?"

Fiyero crossed back over to her. "It's the ellipsoidal dome," he explained. "The sound waves cling to the walls, and travel around the circumference of the circular room."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, impressed. "I didn't take you as the kind to be interested in physics," she confessed. She hadn't exactly taken Fiyero as the kind to have any academic interest.

"I'm not exactly," Fiyero admitted. "But I'm interested in architecture, and you'd be surprised how often physics comes into that."

"Architecture? Really?" Elphaba said, her tone coloured with genuine interest.

Fiyero nodded. "Yeah. It was actually my minor in college. I would have done my whole degree in it, if not for the whole point of college being that I had to learn how to run a province. But I like to think if I wasn't royal, that's what I'd be doing. Are you interested in architecture?"

"I know nothing about it," Elphaba replied readily. "But I loveold buildings."

"The Vinkus has a lot of that," Fiyero told her. "It's the oldest province in Oz, you know. But the Emerald City has some good features, like this. They call it 'the whispering walls'. It's fun to come here sometimes, and stand in the right spot, and just eavesdrop on people who don't realise you can hear their conversations," he grinned and Elphaba had to laugh.

"I knew I had reason to doubt your idea of 'fun'," she said teasingly.

He chuckled. "No, really. Come here."

He moved them back to the archway, and Elphaba waited expectantly. Sure enough, as people passed under the diagonal archway across the terminal, they could hear snatches of conversation.

They didn't hear anything particularly interesting or scandalacious, but it was still fascinating to Elphaba and Fiyero looked utterly delighted with himself. Elphaba made sure to step out from underneath the arch before she spoke again.

"I have to admit, that's amazing."

She turned to him. "What other buildings do you love in the City?"

Fiyero shrugged thoughtfully as they headed towards the station exit. "The Pinnacle has some great features. That's why I'm staying there, instead of one of the fancier hotels."

Elphaba had wondered about that, but she never would have expected that answer.

"Anyway," Fiyero changed the subject rather abruptly. "How do you feel about fudge?"

Elphaba chuckled. "You asked me that already during the week."

"Because there's a place here that does the best fudge in Oz," Fiyero continued as though she hadn't answered.

Elphaba shrugged slightly. "Fine. Fudge sounds good," she agreed.

She wondered why he'd suddenly changed the subject so quickly. But she let it go as they tried fudge samples, bought some and then retreated to the park to eat it in the afternoon sun.

"Can I ask how you got interested in architecture?" she asked him.

Fiyero looked to her for a moment before answering.

"The royal family has about six residences throughout the Vinkus," he began. "Three castles, two manors and a house in the city."

"Three castles?" Elphaba interrupted in disbelief. Her knowledge of the Vinkus was restricted to some history and a little politics, she'd never really thought about where the royals lived.

Fiyero nodded. "Kiamo Ko, Chorimall Irr, and Werillah Ev," he ticked off on his fingers. "Beria Fa and Croome Gal are the manors, and the house is Dunn Mor."

"And where exactly do you live?"

"Werillah Ev in Kellswater," he replied. "No one's lived in Kiamo Ko in a century except the sentries who watch over it, it was built as a fortress. It's like it's there in case of war or emergencies. Chorimall Irr is the oldest one, it's like seven hundred years old or something."

"Why don't you live there?"

"Because it's seven hundred years old," Fiyero grinned. "Anyway, the winter when I was ten we had the biggest snowfall in recorded history, and this major blizzard. Chorimall Irr suffered some damage, and I went with my dad to go inspect the damage and talk about repairs and stuff."

He ate another piece of fudge before continuing. "So, Chorimall Irr is built in the style of the time, right? So, it's very gothic- flying buttresses, gargoyles, vaulted ceilings, the works."

That meant nothing to Elphaba, but she nodded nonetheless.

"My dad and the Royal Architect and the Director of the Vinkun Historical Society… or something… I forget. Some boring history person. But they're all poring over the blueprints of the castle, trying to figure out how to fix the damage and keep the architectural style and not damage some priceless artefact."

"And you're ten, and bored?" Elphaba guessed and he nodded.

"Exactly. So, I glance at the blueprints, and I keep asking them 'what's this room?' 'what's this bit', etc. Just bugging them," he admitted. "And then I say 'what's that?' and none of them know. It wasn't in the damaged wing, so we went to go have a look at this room. But there was no door."

Elphaba's interest was piqued. "A secret room?"

Fiyero nodded again, and she could almost see him as an excited little boy. "We ended up finding that one of the panels in the door opened. I was fascinated. I wanted to know how it happened, and why. My dad made me bug the Royal Architect with all my questions, and he showed me all this stuff. And I guess I got hooked."

"That's a nice story."

"What about you? You said you like old buildings, right? Why?"

Elphaba let out a breath before answering. "I'm one of those 'boring history people'," she said and Fiyero grimaced slightly.

"Oops. Sorry."

She chuckled. "It's fine, really."

"Why history?" he asked with a frown. "I mean, it's all just dates and names."

"I love old buildings because of the history," Elphaba tried to explain. "You've got a castle that is seven hundred years old. Think of everything that's happened there- the births, deaths, weddings. The battles. People lived there. If those walls could talk, imagine the stories they'd tell."

Fiyero blinked in surprise. "Huh."

"That's what history is. It's not just dates and names, it's people's stories of their lives and how they lived."

Fiyero said nothing, he just watched her. Elphaba couldn't discern his facial expression. She felt somewhat self-conscious and adjusted her position on the grass, shifting her eyes away from him.

"There was this travelling exhibit that came to the museum when I was twelve. It was nothing big, just about life in Oz across the past century and how it had changed. And they had this letter in the exhibit, that was eighty years old. Not an important letter, and not from anyone important. It was just a letter that a man had written to his fiancée while he was away at war. Except he never mentioned the war, he was just writing about how much he loved her and missed her, and all the dreams he had for their life together. And the little plaque next to the letter said that he never came home from that war."

Elphaba shrugged one shoulder. "I wanted to know her story. I wanted to know what happened to her after that. The letter had been found in a box in someone's attic. I kept thinking how he probably went to war thinking or hoping that he might be remembered for glory in battle. And I wondered if anyone remembered him."

She lifted her eyes and met Fiyero's gaze steadily. "I'm known as the green girl," she said simply. "In eighty years, I don't know whether people will still remember me for being green; or whether I'll become some myth or urban legend."

"You'll always be known, because you're royalty," she continued. "Of course, your reputation has left you somewhat famous, or infamous," she smirked slightly. "Give it a generation, and people will say 'In King Fiyero's reign' and talk about what you did as king. Another generation or two, and you'll become a name and dates that students frantically try and remember during history exams. But you're guaranteed to leave a mark on history, for better or worse."

Fiyero was still staring at her. Elphaba was used to that, but Fiyero's gaze unnerved her.

"I've never thought of it that way before," he said finally.

Elphaba hastily changed the subject. "Why is it such a big secret that you like architecture?"

Fiyero grinned. "Architecture geek doesn't really fit my image."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I think finally graduating college ruined that image for you already, I'm sorry to say."

Fiyero sighed. "Yeah… I guess I had to grow up some time, right?"

It was Elphaba's turn to say nothing.

"Where are we going next?" she asked finally.

Fiyero glanced at his watch. "We're a little ahead of schedule. Want to get a drink? I know a place."

"I figured we'd end up in a pub at some point," Elphaba said with a laugh. "I just didn't expect it'd be in daylight hours."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on. You'll like this."

The pub he took her to was called The Duke's Footman. Like pretty much every other building in the Emerald City, the outside was painted green. Whenever you entered a building, the rush of colours that met you always took one by surprise.

The Duke's Footman was no different. Elphaba barely had a moment to take in the dark wood interior as Fiyero led her to the end of the bar.

"So, is this another one of the architecture places in the city you like?" Elphaba asked once they'd ordered drinks.

"Not really, they just have the beer I like. But this place does have a pretty cool history, which you'd probably be into."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. It used to be a brothel."

She choked slightly on the sip of wine she'd just taken. "What?!"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"So… do I even want to know where the name comes from then?" Elphaba asked, somewhat apprehensively.

"Ah," Fiyero nodded. "The name. Not totally unrelated to the brothel, but it's mostly to do with the ghost."

"The ghost?" Elphaba repeated. "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Of course there is," Fiyero said dismissively. "See apparently, when it was still a brothel, there was a Vinkun Duke travelling to Quox and he stopped through the Emerald City. It was a bitter February night and there was a storm blowing through, the Duke was… a little lonely."

Elphaba snorted, but Fiyero ignored her.

"The Duke has this footman, right? Now one of the ladies of the brothel was the footman's sweetheart. The most common story goes her family had fallen into debt and that's how she ended up at the brothel, but I've heard a few different versions. So, the Duke's off… visiting a lady," he said, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"The footman's sweetheart?" Elphaba interjected.

"No. The footman's sweetheart was with the footman outside. So, the sweetheart gets pulled away with a customer, and the footman's waiting outside for her. All of a sudden, he smells smoke."

"The brothel caught fire?!" Elphaba exclaimed.

Fiyero nodded, looking rather pleased to have an enraptured audience to his story. "Yeah. Again, I've heard a few stories as to how it started- conspiracies and that kind of thing. Either way, the footman's the only one who's aware of the danger yet. So, he runs inside and starts ringing the fire bell. Now, people start running downstairs and outside, all in various stages of undress," he grinned and Elphaba laughed slightly.

"By now the fire's bigger, and the footman's outside too, looking for his sweetheart. When he doesn't see her, he goes back in to find her. Unfortunately, she'd gone out the back way and was looking for him."

Elphaba could see where this was going. "He died in there, looking for her?"

Fiyero nodded again and took a mouthful of his beer. "Yeah. And now his ghost wanders the halls, looking for his sweetheart and ringing the fire bell to warn her and others of the fire."

It was a good story, Elphaba had to admit. But she was rather doubtful. "And how much of this is actually true?"

"All of it!" insisted Fiyero. "They've still got the fire bell hanging up in the corner, all burned and everything. Look."

He pointed behind Elphaba, and she twisted around to see. Sure enough, there was a large blackened bell hanging up off the wall near the door where they had come in. Elphaba still wasn't sure if that was proof, however.

She jumped a mile as something wet and cold touched her arm. With a gasp, she spun back around to see Fiyero grinning at her widely as he shook his hand dry.

"There's no such thing as ghosts, huh?" he said teasingly.

Elphaba let out a breath, her heart pounding in her chest. "You're an ass," she retorted, which made him laugh more.

"So, I'm guessing today's been kinda boring for you, right?" Fiyero asked her. "You'd probably prefer all that culture stuff. The history side?"

Elphaba shrugged faintly, staring at the bar and turning her wine glass slowly.

"No, it's been fun. I mean, it's not exactly what I would've picked, but it's been interesting."

"Ah, interesting," Fiyero nodded and Elphaba laughed.

"I mean that in a good way," she reassured him. "Would you tell me about the other buildings you like in the City?"

"It probably works better to show you…"

Elphaba shrugged. "That works too," she said, a little nervously.

Fiyero grinned. "Ok. It's a d- it's a plan."

Elphaba smiled faintly.

"So, tell me more about what you like," he urged her.

Elphaba haltingly began to tell him about herself. She was sure she was boring him, talking about history, books and all her "cultural" likes, but he listened as though he was interested, which she appreciated. No one in Munchkinland did that.

They ended up eventually having dinner at the pub, and the conversation flowed easier as they ate.

Fiyero, it turned out, didn't mind history so much when it involved ghosts; and he reluctantly admitted that he did know a little history behind the architecture he liked and in some of the buildings. He was a good storyteller, and even if Elphaba didn't believe in ghosts, she didn't mind a good story.

By the time they finished eating however, Elphaba was beginning to tire.

"Would you be up for one more stop?" he asked her once he'd paid the bill.

"I guess so," Elphaba answered slowly. "Where?"

He took her to the Ozma Tower, the highest building in the Emerald City (actually in all of Oz). It had been the first thing built by the Wizard when he arrived in Oz, and stood at 925 feet tall – not counting the 121 foot spiral atop the building with 77 floors.

As far as Elphaba knew, it was used as office space by different companies. She'd seen it, naturally, towering over the City and dominating the skyline, all lit up at night. But she'd never even thought about going inside.

Fiyero, however, led her straight into the lobby. They rode the elevator up to the 77th floor, and then he led her outside past a sign for 'Observation Deck'.

"Wow," Elphaba breathed, as the full sight of the Emerald City from nearly a thousand feet in the air hit her. She had always referred to the city as beautiful in the past, but it really struck her now how true that was.

There were plenty of lights visible from above, and the buildings they were looking down on seemed to glow a brighter green than usual.

Looking up, Elphaba saw the view above was just as beautiful as the view below. She could see the spiral towering up to pierce the sky, and the stars seemed to be almost within arm's reach.

"This may have just become my favourite part of the day," she said softly, half to herself.

Fiyero overheard, however.

"This is my favourite place in the Emerald City- in terms of architecture, and overall."

Elphaba turned to him. "Why?"

He shrugged. "It always looks so peaceful from up here, I guess."

Elphaba could agree with that. "What do you like about the architecture?"

Fiyero hesitated. "Well, most of it is hard to see from up here in the dark," he acknowledged. "But… here. Look at the window."

Obediently, Elphaba turned and looked at the window he was pointing to.

"You see this? The sort of rough stones around the window frame?"

Elphaba nodded and he continued. "That's called rustification. These are just the window surrounds, but if you look at the building from on the ground, you'll see it's really heavy on the walls the closer you get to the floor. I just like the detail."

Elphaba was impressed and admittedly somewhat surprised to see him reveal his knowledge of architectural features, as he explained to her other features of the building and what they meant. She'd been a little wary that perhaps his claim was just a line to impress girls, but she didn't think even he could fake the enthusiasm she saw on his face as he spoke.

"You said this topped your favourite part of the day," he said suddenly, pausing in his speech. "What did it top exactly?"

"The pub," Elphaba answered.

Fiyero grinned at her in delight. "Really? Why?"

Elphaba chuckled. "I may not believe in ghosts, but I do like history and a good story," she responded.

They made small talk for a little longer as they enjoyed the view, but when Elphaba began to shiver slightly in the night air, Fiyero led her back to the carriage.

"Where are you staying? I'll drop you back," Fiyero said and Elphaba blanched slightly. She really didn't want Fiyero seeing her hotel.

"I'm around the corner from the park," she lied. "You can just drop me off back at the park gate."

Fiyero tried to argue, but ultimately gave in.

"Thank you for today," Elphaba said sincerely when the carriage came to a stop. "I really had fun."

He smiled at her. "I'm glad. I guess I'll see you around the hotel?"

"I suppose so," Elphaba agreed slowly. "I'm not sure what exactly is going to happen with the Housekeeping. But I hope so," she admitted quietly.

Fiyero bid her goodnight, and Elphaba hurried away towards her hotel in the dark.

AN. Just wanted to make a note on the Ozma Tower- I actually put a lot of thought into this. In my timeline, the Wizard would have come to Oz about 1913 so I found out what the tallest building in the world was at that time, and just made it taller than that. (FYI it was the Woolworth building in Manhattan).

But I figured the Wizard would want to assert his power and superiority by creating a tower bigger than anything in his world (at the time).