Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Written: 2005 Found: 2017- Licia

Those eyes... they were breathtaking... and so... so... familiar...

He quickly snapped out of it when she tugged the cup and saucer out of his hands and quickly retreated back to her table. "Hey!" But she ignored him, taking a seat and returning to the newspaper on her table. He skidded to a stop before her table, hastily adjusting his coat and straightening his hat. "Do you mind if I sit?" Those same dark eyes that he'd been so entranced with a few moments ago slid up to stare at him over the rim of the cup.

Silence fell between them, before she set the cup down. "Why? I told you, this is my cup of coffee. I bought and paid for it on my own!"

"Whoa, whoa, there's no need to get so defensive." He held up his hands. "I'm Fiyero. I just wanted to know if I could sit down. We could... you know, talk?"

The girl studied him for several minutes, before gesturing for him to take the seat across from her.

"Fae."

He was taller than her, with sandy-colored hair and dark eyes, a dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck. They sat in silence for several minutes before he once again opened his mouth. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."

Her gaze moved from the newspaper she was reading to his face, and after a moment,

"I've never been here before."

"Oh." He glanced down at the newspaper heading, before returning his gaze to hers. "Well, where are you headed?"

The girl shrugged. "I... I don't know. I... I was kind of hoping I could find my family... or... discover if I ever even had a family." It was then that she removed her cap, setting it on the table beside her, and his eyes widened at the green diamonds on the outer edges of her eyes. She furrowed a brow, casting him a quizzical look. "What are you staring at?"

"I'm sorry Fee, I just... can't get over those markings near your eyes."

"Fae. F-ay." She pronounced slowly, hoping he'd understand. And then she registered what he'd said and reached up, brushing her fingers against the diamonds by her right eye, suddenly self-conscious. "You know about these?"

He shrugged, gently tugging the paper towards him to read the headlines. "I know of diamond tattoos because my people do them, but we don't tattoo near the eyes." His gaze skimmed the paper, coming soon to rest on the photographs of the royal children presumed left alive after the massacre of their family. Though the photo was grainy as most black and white copied photos were, it was evident who the papers were referring to.

The boy, the Samraatik Shell, and one of his sisters- the middle girl, Kauri Elphaba.

"And how would you know about tattoos?" She asked, unaware that his gaze was focused on the photo of the royal children.

"Simple," He whispered, studying the photograph closer. "I'm from the Vinkus." Unbeknownst to him, her eyebrows shot up.

"The Vinkus?" He finally met her gaze, nodding. "What's it like?"

A shrug. "It's... the Vinkus. Not much to tell."

"But... it's your home."

He snorted softly, turning his gaze back to the images in the newspaper. "It was a place I once lived. End of story."

"Well, don't you miss it?" He met her gaze briefly.

"Miss what?"

"The Vinkus."

"Like I said, it was a place I once lived."

"Oh." Her gaze followed his back to the newspaper. "I think... that I would like to to the Emerald City, but... I don't know how to get there."

"The Emerald City? Why?"

She shrugged. "I was... kind of hoping maybe I could find my family."

It was his turn to raise his eyebrows. "You don't have a family?"

"If I do... I don't remember them."

He leaned forward. "And you think they might be in the Emerald City?"

She met his gaze. "... maybe? I... I don't really know, I..."

"Hold on, let me get this straight- you don't remember if you have a family?"

"Not really. I've been thinking... if I could go to the Emerald City, then, I might be able to find them and..." She reached up, rubbing the diamonds beside her eyes. "And find out who I am."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Who you are? How do you not know who you are?"

She shrugged, wrapping her hands around her cup. "I don't. I... well, according to... to Mistress Morrible at the orphanage, I was found wandering in the fields around outer Munchkinland near her orphanage when I was about... fourteen or so with no memory of who I was or where I came from, who my family is or what my name is, and only these diamonds." She motioned to the four diamonds on her face.

"You showed up at an orphanage when you were fourteen?" She nodded. His gaze flicked back to the image of the royal children. He quickly did the math in his head; the Fliaanian revolution had been back in 1918, when the children were in their late to preteens. The middle daughter had been about fourteen at the time of the revolution. And if she had survived, like the newspapers were claiming, then that would make her about... "Twenty-four."

She furrowed a brow. "I'm sorry?"

"You're roughly twenty-four, right? If you showed up at that orphanage at fourteen, then now you're roughly twenty-four, the same age as that missing Fliaanian grand princess."

"I guess I am. I..." She lapsed into silence, staring into her cup before, "Would you be willing to take me?"

"Take you where?"

"To the Emerald City? So I... I could maybe find my family?"

He pretended to think a moment, glancing down at the article again before meeting her anxious gaze. There was a reward for the children being returned to their grandmother- over sixty-thousand kentals. That would be more than enough for him to make a good life away from the Vinkus, especially since he would no longer be considered part of the family anymore, especially if he didn't fulfill what was expected of him...

... and maybe, just maybe, if he could convince this girl, then he could convince the dowager empress...

"All right, Fae. I'll take you to the Emerald City so you can find your family, but you have to do something for me."

She lit up, reaching out to take his hand in a firm shake. "It's a deal, Fiyero!" He pulled his hand away, surprised at the strength of her handshake. "Wait, what do I have to do?" He glanced back down at the portrait of the missing children before looking back at her, a charming smile sliding onto his lips.

"Marry me."