A/N: A big thank you to my reviewers! Thank you so much for your kind words, I really do hope that I can do these characters justice. This was the longest chapter I've written so far. Enjoy! xX

A Million Dreams

The following morning Elphaba awoke to the sound of rainfall against the window, the predicted storms must be on their way, she'd guessed. She glanced over at the mess of blankets on the bed on the other side of the room, a wild array of curls poking out at the top against the pillows and she smiled. She loved her best friend, really, she did. Galinda felt just like a sister to her. That was why she had to ignore Nessa's words. That was why she could never let anyone know of her feelings for Fiyero. Loyalty to her friend far outweighed the loyalty to her heart - in her mind anyway.

It hadn't escaped her notice that he had barely taken his eyes off her for most of the night, and Nessa had more or less stuck to her side like glue until they'd all retreated to their beds.

She kicked off her blankets and got up off the bed, yelping softly at a sudden crash of thunder. "Oh, get it together, Elphaba!" she scolded herself, though even as she gave herself a pep talk, quickly padded to the bathroom for fear of another sound or the lightning that was due to follow. Turning on the tap, she quickly brushed her teeth and splashed her face with the cold water to help her to wake up properly. She looked at herself in the mirror after she dried her face. "It's just a bit of thunder, Elphaba. It can't hurt you." Even as she said it, she winced at the sound of another rumble.

"Elphie?"

Elphaba hadn't heard her friend as she reentered the dorm.

"Elphie. Come over here."

She looked up to see Galinda, eyes still sleepy, pushed up against the wall, the pink blankets pulled back. She knew her friend hated the storms.

Elphaba gave her a grateful smile, heading over to her and she got into the bed, the blanket was immediately thrown over her and arms wrapped tightly around her as her friend pressed her face into her back.

"It's okay now, Elphie." The blonde's voice was muffled, but she heard her anyway.

"Thank you," Elphaba said softly.

Galinda soon fell back to sleep, her arms wrapped protectively around her friend. But through the storm, Elphaba couldn't settle.

She no longer had a meltdown, but that didn't stop her shaking, or her heart rate accelerating. She concentrated on the heavy weight of Galinda's arms, the soft, even breathing in her ear to keep her somewhat calm.

When the blonde woke up again a while later, Elphaba had managed to drift off to sleep, the storm had passed, for now, leaving behind the rain. She looked at her friend, seeing that even in her sleep, she still had a concerned look on her face, her brow furrowed. Galinda knew that Elphaba was in the midst of a troublesome dream.

She looked up at a soft knock at the door and she sighed quietly, slowly climbing over Elphaba, taking care not to wake her, and she walked to the door and opened it. "Fiyero. I wasn't expecting you this morning." she smiled, stepping aside to let him in.

"I got bored, so I thought I'd come and see my two favourite girls." He grinned, entering the room, seeing the green witch asleep amongst the pink blankets.

"She got woken up by the storm a couple of hours ago." She said sympathetically when she followed his eye line.

He nodded. He'd seen the muted reactions to storms from her during their classes together and guessed she wasn't a huge fan of them. It was why he'd started to distract her, trying to take her mind off it. Sometimes it worked. And sometimes, however, she got herself so worked up that she would barely feel the gentle touch of his hand on her shoulder, and she would be the first to flee from the room as soon as the lesson was over, and he wouldn't see her for the rest of the day. "I guessed she wouldn't be up for going anywhere. So I brought food."

It was only then that Galinda noticed the bag full of food and snacks, enough for the three of them to last the entire day. He'd forgotten refreshments, however. "Oh, that's so thoughtful!" she gushed, taking the bag from him, leaving him to walk over to Elphaba and sit on the edge of the bed, being careful not to wake her just yet.

Elphaba shifted as the mattress dipped at her feet, but she didn't wake, the lines of worry now gone, leaving behind a peaceful Elphaba.

"How do you do that without actually doing anything?"

"What?" He looked confused.

"It's like... she knows you're there and instantly she's calm."

He shrugged in response. "I don't know. She's not like that when she's awake." He smiled.

"That's because it's usually something you've said. But she does get like that when she's awake too, very rarely. You barely notice it because you're too busy bickering with her." She smiled back.

He nodded. He couldn't argue with such logic. He did usually say something brainless, and it was usually to purposefully antagonise her.

Elphaba woke up an hour later, finding Galinda curled up behind her again, and Fiyero perched at the foot of the bed, talking with the blonde.

The prince's face lit up with a grin upon seeing her. "Hey, you're awake!"

"How very observant of you." The raven-haired witch spoke dryly.

Galinda giggled. "How are you feeling, Elphie?"

"Better now the storm's gone... for now at least."

"Good. I'm glad." Arms tightened around the green girl in a brief hug before Galinda climbed back over Elphaba. "I can trust you two not to kill each other while I go and get some drinks, right?" she giggled, not waiting for an answer before flouncing out of the door.

"Did that just-"

"Happen?" Fiyero supplied. "Yep."

Elphaba shook her head with a smile, looking up at him. "You didn't have to check up on me you know."

"I know, but I wanted to. I wanted to see that you were alright. I knew you wouldn't come out of here all day so..."

"Thank you." she smiled.

"And, I've thought of the perfect nickname for you, since you banned me from calling you Elphie." He grinned.

"Oh, Oz!" she pulled the blanket over her head, causing him to laugh.

"It's not that bad! At least, I don't think so."

"That's not very reassuring!" The blankets retorted.

"Fae."

Green fingers emerged and slowly pulled the pink comforter away from her face. "What?"

"Fae. When I saw you that night, you had this glow about you... It made you look like a faerie. So... Fae." He explained with that stupid grin still on his face, as though he were proud of himself.

"Hm... Fae..." She spoke softly, as though testing the name on her tongue before she nodded. "I like it. The explanation's a little odd, but I like it." She smiled.

"Really? I mean, I could always think of something else."

"No, don't. What would you say to Galinda if she asks about it?"

He shrugged. "I'll think of something." He told her, "But I doubt she would."

Elphaba nodded and sat up in the bed slowly. "Thank you for being a good friend."

He didn't want to be just her friend. It was right there on the tip of his tongue. But he couldn't bring himself to say the words. Was he such a coward? The fear of rejection was so plainly evident in his azure eyes.

And there it was, that worry line in her brow that he just wanted to take away, as she looked up at him with concerned dark eyes. "Fiyero? What's wrong?"

Everything. "What? Nothing." He spoke softly, though he knew she wouldn't believe it.

"Do you want to tell that to your face? Because you look rather worried to me... like you're afraid of something."

"Sorry... I was just thinking about something."

She gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "About what?"

The door opened with a shrill call of "I'm back!" which prevented him from answering, and Elphaba dropped her hand as though she'd been burned, but Galinda hadn't noticed, or, pretended not to. She couldn't really tell right away.

Galinda busied herself with the bags in her hand, she had seen how close they were when she came in, she tried not to think about it, but she couldn't help it. She knew Elphaba was most likely providing comfort. She always cared for others before herself. But Fiyero? She found she couldn't read him.

Elphaba and Fiyero looked at each other for a moment in the tense silence. The way the blonde had started to hold herself, Elphaba knew she'd seen them. But had she heard them? It didn't really matter to her since they hadn't done anything wrong, but she still felt the twinges of guilt. "Galinda?"

"Yes, Elphie?" She turned to her with a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her ears. "Ooh, before I forget! I managed to track down some of that grape juice you're so fond of."

Elphaba forced a smile. "Great, thanks. Are you alright?"

"Never better!" The blonde kept a firm grip on her emotions, for now at least. "Fiyero, dearest? Can I talk to you for a clock-tick?"

"Of course." Fiyero jumped up and followed her out of the room.

"I need you to be honest with me Fiyero." Galinda looked up at him as she closed the door, leaving Elphaba digging into the bag for the biscuits she knew he'd bought for her.

He nodded.

"Is there something going on between you and Elphie that I should know about?"

"What? No, of course not! Not that there's anything wrong with her, because there isn't." He sighed, he was rambling. "But no, Galinda. There's nothing going on between Elphaba and I."

"Then why are you so distant and moodified?! Did I do something wrong?"

His eyes snapped up to her. At that moment he realised that leading her on this way wasn't fair to either of them. He did love her, but he wasn't in love with her, he knew now.

He hadn't said it, but she knew. Everything came together like a puzzle now. "You're in love with someone else."

"Galinda, I'm so sorry. I swear I never meant for it to happen."

She looked up at him again with tears in her eyes. "I...is it Elphie?"

He looked down at his feet, suddenly unable to look at her or answer her.

"Oh, sweet Oz..." She caught herself on the wall before she collapsed. "D-does she know?"

He shook his head. "No..." He forced himself to look at her, hating himself for the hurt and the heartbreak he was causing her, causing them both. "Do you think she'd let me anywhere near her if she did? All things considered, she loves you too much to do that to you."

She nodded. She knew Elphie. Of course, she did. She knew the best friend she'd just cuddled during a thunderstorm just hours before. He was right. Elphie would never do that to her. "I know... But..."

"But what?"

"I... I don't know... Elphie deserves to know... Of course, she does... But..."

He nodded in understanding. "Galinda. I'm not going to do that to you. Or to her. Besides, I don't even know if she feels the same way."

Galinda sighed and wiped away her tears. "Fiyero, how could she not? Just look at you... You're perfect."

"No, I'm not. Clearly! Look at what I've done to you! That's not what someone who's perfect does. The idea that I'm perfect is just that. An idea." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So, no, Galinda. I'm not gonna tell her yet. Oz, I'm not completely heartless..."

She nodded. "At least tell her before we go to the Emerald City..."

"I'll try."

"Uhm... I need a moment... Tell Elphie I'll be back in just a clock-tick..."

He nodded and headed back into the dorm, Galinda walking away in the opposite direction.

"Oz, Fae... I think I screwed up." he sighed, nervously scratching the back of his head.

She chuckled softly. "What did you do now?" she asked and looked up from her desk, from an open book and an open packet of cookies in front of her. She blanched, seeing his worried look back on his face. "Fiyero? What happened?" she stood up and walked over to him.

"I think Galinda and I just broke up."

"What?! Why? Where is she?!" She couldn't help the spark of anger toward him, feeling overprotective of Galinda.

He groaned, closing his eyes for a clock-tick, and opened them again to look at her. "Because I... I couldn't lead her on when I didn't love her in that respect anymore. I felt that she had the right to know and the right thing to do would be to stop it now before it went too far."

Elphaba was in two minds. She felt for Galinda. She really did. The blonde had once told her she would marry him. But her own heart soared at his confession. She couldn't really stay mad at him when he'd tried to do the right thing. "Where is she?"

He shrugged. "She said she needed a moment by herself."

Elphaba nodded. "I'm sorry you two broke up... Is there anything I can do to fix things?"

"Unless my feelings for her suddenly switch back on, I don't think so." he sighed. "Do you want me to stay? If it's awkward now I can-"

"Please." she cut him off. "Please, stay. At least until she comes back. Then if she wants you to go..."

He nodded. Neither he or Galinda particularly liked leaving her alone during the storms. And she didn't really want to be alone. The thunder had gone for now, but it would return soon enough.

Galinda returned an hour and a half later, hearing laughter coming from inside the room. Pushing down a spike of jealousy, she entered, finding Elphaba and Fiyero on the floor immersed in a game of cards, Fiyero was trying to distract her and put her off.

"How many times? It's not going to work!" Elphaba stuck out her tongue and looked over at Galinda. "Hey."

Fiyero followed her gaze and froze.

"Oh, don't stop on my account! So I'm gonna guess that Elphie is winning?"

"Yes. And he's being a sore loser about it." Elphaba smirked. "So he's trying to cheat by distracting me."

Galinda flopped herself on the bed beside Elphaba and rested her head on her shoulder.

Elphaba smiled, tilting her head slightly to make gentle contact with the blonde before going back to the game.

"Fine. Last one. Then I'll leave you girls for a while." He fought to keep the smile on his face.

"You can say now it's the last one, but we both know who won."

He just rolled his eyes. "Your deal, green one," he smirked.

"Va te faire foutre," Elphaba smirked back.

He laughed at that.

With the game finished, Fiyero kept to his word and left the dorm, heading back to his own and leaving the girls to talk.

"Lin?"

"Mhm?" Galinda reached down and packed away the cards, before sitting up on her knees.

"Fiyero told me what happened... Well, I sort of... pried it out of him."

Galinda sat back, her shoulders deflating, tears spilling from her eyes again.

"Oh, Oz Lin!" Elphaba jumped up on to the bed, pulling the blonde into a hug.

Galinda clung to her desperately, sobbing into her shoulder.

Elphaba just whispered soothing words into her ear, hugging her close.

Eventually, all cried out, Galinda hiccupped and looked at her friend with those big sad blue eyes of hers. "He doesn't love me anymore Elphie..."

Her heart broke at her friend's quiet voice. "Well then, he's even more brainless than I thought. You, my sweet girl, you'll find a man who is worthy of you. And he's gonna know it too." She put both hands on either side of the girl's face, gently wiping away the tears. Her heart broke for both of her friends whom she loved for different reasons. Galinda, to her, was just as a sister should be. Fiyero... well he occupied her heart.

Galinda knew then that he'd kept to his word and not told her how he felt. She was grateful for that. But how exactly did she feel about him? She liked to think she knew her best friend. But right now in her heartbroken state, she was questioning everything. "Wh-what do you think about him, Elphie?" It was her way of asking how she felt without actually saying it, and hoped her friend knew that.

Elphaba froze for a fraction of a clock-tick. "Well, he's a bit brainless, he's harmless... He's been a good friend to me."

"How good?"

The green woman shot the blonde a wounded look. "Lin! I hope you don't think I'm the reason you two broke up?"

'Oh, Elphie... if only you knew...' Galinda thought miserably. It wasn't her fault. Not really. She couldn't exactly control Fiyero's emotions. "Elphie... I didn't mean..."

Green fingers clasped her shoulders, brown eyes bore into light blue. "Absolutely nothing has been going on between me and Fiyero. I swear it, Galinda. On my mother's grave."

Blue eyes searched brown so desperately, the young blonde knew the truth. They'd both told her in almost the same way, that nothing had happened between them. "Oh, Elphie! I'm sorry!" she sobbed and hugged her again.

"It's alright, Lin... I would have thought the same if it were me."

The words of comfort did not have the desired effect, however, it only made her sob harder, cling to her tighter.

Elphaba felt her gut twist uncomfortably, guilt gnawing away at her. She thanked Oz that Galinda had only asked her what she thought, completely missing her friend's aim. Galinda hadn't asked her what shefelt outright. She'd never be able to lie directly to her face and say she didn't love him.

"Do you want me to go and talk to him? I can try and fix things. It's probably just a case of him panicking. Or... I don't know." She knew it wasn't the case, but she had to make sure he was alright.

Galinda shook her head, sniffling. "No... There's no point, Elphie. I saw it in his face, he's not in love with me." she wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her dress.

The words were the knife twisting in her stomach.

Galinda sighed, looking up at her, removing her hands from her shoulders, clasping them together in her own hands. "Promise me something, Elphie."

"Anything."

"Don't be mad at him... He l-...considers you a friend too. Don't let this come between you."

"How could it not? Oz, Lin you're upset. And he didn't let on while you were gone, but he is too. I'm not mad at him, his reasoning was very noble. He's right in saying you'd both only hurt for worse in the long run."

Galinda nodded.

"So. Here's what I'm going to do." She stated, removing one of her hands from Galinda's to wipe her friend's tears once more, and put her hand back into the pale waiting one. "I'm gonna go over there, find out exactly what is going on in that head of his. He's not as brainless as he makes out, far from it, actually."

"No!" Galinda gasped.

"Yes. Look, he doesn't have to tell me who the other woman is. Quite frankly, I don't want to know. Less chance of me hexing her." she smiled.

'Just don't look in the mirror then...' Galinda thought and managed a small smile in response. She did feel relief. Elphie was not about to run off into the stormclouds with her ex-boyfriend. "And when you come back can I give you a makeover?" Her voice was quiet.

Usually, Elphaba refused such a request. But her best friend was playing her heartstrings like a professional harpist. "Fine." She laughed as her friend hugged her, a glimpse of the Galinda she saw yesterday back, if only for a moment.

Untangling her long limbs from the blonde, Elphaba stood up. "I'll be back before you know it," she told her and exited the dorm, swiping Galinda's umbrella on the way, leaving the heartbroken girl to pick at the remaining food left in the bag Fiyero had brought earlier that morning.

Under the cover of the umbrella, the witch ran across campus until she reached the boys' building. Shaking off the rainwater from the umbrella, she walked up the stairs, ignoring the jeers and insults being thrown at her, she was thankful that they didn't follow her up. She knocked on the door when she reached Fiyero's door. "Yero, it's me," she spoke softly.

A moment later, the door swung open and her heart broke all over again when she saw that he'd been crying. She pushed her way inside, closed the door behind her, discarding the umbrella on the floor before she hugged him.

Fiyero felt her arms around him and he crushed her against him, inhaling her scent. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was distinctively her. He drew a shuddering breath and tried to calm himself.

Elphaba stood there in his arms until he finally managed to calm down.

"Sorry..." He mumbled into her hair.

"Don't be... You can mourn a relationship, Yero." she smiled softly, stepping back just a fraction so she could look into his face.

"I really didn't want to hurt her."

"Sh... I know." She looked at him. "And the fact that it's hurting you too shows that you do care. But the hurt would have been worse the longer you left it, you said so yourself."

He nodded. "Of course I care. I know I don't exactly act like it."

"Yero, it's okay. You're both sad right now, but you'll both move on and be happy. I care for you both too much to leave you both like this."

He didn't say anything else, just wordlessly pulled her into another hug, hiding a smile in her hair when she didn't protest. For now, this was the closest he'd get to being this close to her, and he didn't want to let her go.