AN: To those whose hearts I broke: Sorry, not sorry *cackles*. To those who are protecting me: Thanks! :D To those who want to murder me: *runs off* You'll never catch me!

DemonCrowley: I didn't mention that, did I? The baby is a normal colour.

Here's some fluff in an attempt to mend your poor, broken hearts.

4. Marry You

One year earlier

"Married," Elphaba echoed flatly, staring up at Fiyero as if he had just told her he wanted to bounce around in one of Glinda's sparkly dresses.

Fiyero nodded, his sapphire blue eyes shining. "Yes!"

She kept on looking at him for a long time. Then she returned her attention to her book.

"No."

His face fell. "What? Why not?" He sat down next to her, trying to get her to look at him again. "Fae, why not?" he pressed on.

She sighed and closed her book, putting it on the side table as she sat up and crossed her legs.

"Yero," she said patiently, "just because we're back in Oz and Glinda is trying to clear my name, does not mean the Vinkun people will accept the fact that their Crown Prince is marrying the Wicked Witch of the West."

He looked angry. "Is that why you won't do it?" he demanded. "Because of the people? Fae, I don't give a flying monkey about the people!"

She scowled at him. "You know I hate it when you use that expression," she muttered, looking down.

Fiyero caught her chin and kissed her gently. "Sorry," he murmured. "I wasn't thinking."

"As per usual," she shot back, but she smiled. "And no, the people are not the only reason."

He looked at her questioningly and she sighed.

"Fiyero, everything about the prospect of a wedding makes me shudder," she said bluntly. "Can you see me parading around in a poofy, white dress, smiling and wearing veils and jewellery and flowers as Glinda dances around me and destroys my hearing with excited squeals? You're a Crown Prince – it would have to be a big wedding. I'd have to say marriage vows in front of a thousand people. I'd have to meet your parents, who will probably hate me for what I did to you…"

"Fae," he cut her off sternly. He took her hands in his own. "We can fix all that."

She eyed him warily.

"You'll meet my parents soon," he told her. "I want you to meet them, anyway, and if you've really been thinking all this time that they are going to hate you, then I'm going to take you to Adurin Iir to see them as soon as possible so that we can get that idea out of your head. They'll love you, Fae. Trust me."

She looked sceptical, but didn't say anything.

"And if the idea of a big wedding truly terrifies you that much," Fiyero continued, "then we're not going to have a big wedding. Crown Prince or not, it's still my wedding and I can do with it whatever I want. We'll go to a chapel if you want, just you and me, and I don't care if you'll be wearing a white dress or one of your black frocks. Wear a burlap sack, if you want to. To me, you'll always be the most beautiful woman in the world; and I just want to marry you, Fae, no matter what. I just want everyone to know that we are together and how much I love you."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no sound came out. He grinned at her and pulled her into his arms. "Any other reasons for you to not marry me that I can deflect?"

She flushed a little. "One," she confessed in a small voice. "But you'll be angry."

He frowned. "I could never be angry with you," he told her seriously.

"That's a lie," she chided him and he conceded.

"I can never stay angry with you, then." He squeezed her hand. "But I promise that whatever you're going to say, I won't be angry."

She sat up again and pulled away from him, though she wouldn't look him in the eye. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on her lap, where her fingers were playing with the hem of her dress.

She took a deep breath. "Yero… marriage is a big step," she said quietly. "And… if we make this official… us, I mean… it won't be so easy to back out anymore."

He was baffled.

"Back out?" he asked her in a rather high and panicked tone of voice. "Are you saying you –"

"No!" she cut him off. "Of course not! Not me, Yero!"

Then it dawned on him. He sighed and shook his head as he realised what she meant. "You still think I'm going to leave you." It was a statement, not a question.

She nodded, eyes still trained on her skirt. "Yes," she said softly. "I still think that sooner or later, you're going to realise your mistake. You're going to laugh at what a complete moron you've been for even thinking for a clock-tick that you loved me, and then you're going to go and never come back."

His throat suddenly felt constricted and he cupped her face in his hands so that he could look into her eyes. When he saw how sincere she was being, how genuinely she believed what she was saying, he made his decision in a heartbeat.

"That's it," he declared, rising to his feet. He took her hands and pulled her up as well. "Come with me."

"Come with you where?" she asked as he led her to the front door of the cottage they temporarily lived in and opened it, taking her outside.

"To the chapel in town," he said casually, as if he was telling her they were going to the market to get some fruit. "To get married."

She stopped dead in her tracks, freezing. "What?"

"I can't stand you thinking this way," he said as if that explained everything. "I'm not going to leave you, Fae. Ever. You are my world, and since you apparently cannot believe that, I guess I'll just have to prove it to you."

She let out a nervous laugh. "Yero –"

"I'm serious," he said, and he was. He would do anything to show her how much he loved her and to convince her that he was here to stay. Right by her side. For the rest of his life.

Her eyes were wide. "But –"

"No. Come." He took her hand again and led her down the road towards the chapel of the small town. She was completely flabbergasted, up to the point where she didn't even protest – she just followed him, feeling numb and slightly shocked.

Fiyero greeted the clergy with the words, "Can you marry us? Like, right now?"

The man merely stared at him, much like Elphaba had only minutes before.

"Right now?" he managed finally, and Fiyero nodded.

Elphaba tugged at his hand. "Yero, you can't be serious," she said. "Think about this. Glinda and your parents would kill us for not inviting them…"

"I don't care," Fiyero declared.

"…and it takes a day to get a wedding license," she finished drily.

Fiyero blinked. "What?"

"I'm afraid the young lady is right," the clergy said apologetically. "I could arrange a wedding license for you, if you'd like; but it would take at least a day. You could also go to the town hall yourself and see what they can do."

"We will," said Fiyero brusquely, before all but dragging Elphaba out of the chapel and back into the sunlight.

She tried to reason with him again, but he ignored her as he strode into the town hall and walked straight up to the nearest person he saw. "We need a wedding license right now."

The man looked irritated. "I'm sorry, sir," he said politely, "but it takes a day to –"

Fiyero straightened his back and gave the man a menacing look.

"I am Crown Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus," he declared haughtily. "If I want to get married today, I will get married today."

Elphaba would have rolled her eyes if she weren't still half in shock.

The man hesitated, clearly torn. He looked from Fiyero to Elphaba. "I…"

"And if you don't help us," Fiyero added threateningly, "I will tell my almost-wife here to hex you. You do know who she is, don't you?"

"Fiyero!" Elphaba exclaimed, horrified, as the man's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"But…" he stammered. "I thought… I thought Lady Glinda said she wasn't really wicked, and…"

"I'm not," Elphaba told him quickly. "I would never do such a thing." She glared at Fiyero. "You're really helping with the whole clearing-my-name thing."

He had the decency to look sheepish. "Desperate times call for desperate measures?" he tried, but she just fixed him with another death glare until he sighed and gave in.

"Please," he said to the now rather nervous man in front of him. "It would really mean a lot to me if you could get us a wedding license right now."

The man nodded quickly. "You… you weren't serious about the Witch, then?" he asked fearfully.

Fiyero shook his head. "She's not wicked," he assured the poor man. "She wouldn't harm a fly. Literally."

The man breathed a sigh of relief and nodded again. "I will see what I can do," he promised and made to walk away.

"Sir?" Fiyero called after him. "I wasn't joking about the whole Prince of the Vinkus thing, you know."

The man hurried off and Elphaba elbowed Fiyero in the side. "Oz, Yero!"

He grinned at her. "What?" he protested. "I'm just really eager to marry you!"

She shook her head. "This is madness," she said, but he just kissed her nose.

"This," he corrected her, "is me trying to convince you how much you mean to me. And I'm going to succeed, just you wait and see."

"You'll have to get that wedding license first," she pointed out to him.

He smirked. "Give it a few minutes."

An hour later, they walked back into the chapel with their wedding license.

"We got it," Fiyero announced. "Can you please marry us now?"

The clergy, still baffled, took the paper and looked it over carefully. Then he nodded.

"I still think it's a little strange," he conceded, "but since your papers are in order and there is nothing else you need… of course. It will be my pleasure to marry you."

Fiyero grinned at his soon-to-be wife as he took her hands in his own, standing opposite her and looking into her eyes. The clergy cleared his throat and spoke.

"Do you, Fiyero Tiggular, take Elphaba Thropp to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better and for worse, and do you promise to respect her, love her, and cherish her, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Fiyero said confidently, never once taking his eyes off Elphaba. She blushed and lowered her gaze.

The clergy repeated his question to Elphaba.

"This is ridiculous," Elphaba muttered under her breath. "Absolutely insane."

Fiyero grinned at her. "I know. Now will you please just say 'I do'?" he said lightly, even though his heart was pounding in his chest and he suddenly felt rather faint. What if she said no? He hadn't exactly given her a choice in this, after all…

But then she looked at him and said softly, "I do", and Fiyero's face broke into a grin again. By the time the clergy declared them husband and wife, Fiyero had already pulled Elphaba into his arms and was kissing her deeply, all but his wife completely forgotten.

"Congratulations," the clergy said with a smile before closing his book and walking away, giving the newlyweds some privacy.

Fiyero finally forced himself to break away so that they could breathe and he rested his forehead against hers, smiling when he saw the look of wonder in her eyes.

"Are you happy?" he whispered.

She nodded wordlessly and he kissed her again, feeling her relax against him. He swept her off her feet – literally – and carried her out of the chapel bridal style, walking all the way home with her in his arms and a huge, goofy smile on his face.

Hours later, when she was lying in his arms and he was gently stroking her bare back, smiling as he watched the way she shivered and stretched under his touch, he whispered, "Do you believe me now?"

She looked up at him with those beautiful, dazzling eyes; and just for this once, he could see all the love she held for him in those chocolate brown depths.

"I might," she conceded quietly, a small smile on her face.

He pulled her flush against his body and kissed her until she was completely breathless.

Did that help a little? *dodges pitchfork* Dang, I take it it was not enough...

Ohh, and I almost forgot: the cover image was made by TanyaKay on DeviantArt - if you ever read this, thank you for letting me use it; and thank you Humole for adapting it slightly to make it perfect for this story!