Chapter Six:

At five o'clock that evening Fiyero arrived promptly at her door bearing a bouquet of freshly picked roses that were stained a brilliant crimson. Elphaba was a bit shocked by the gesture when she opened up her door until Fiyero spoke his reasoning for them.

"For your help and willingness to stand with me," Fiyero explained, ever the gentleman, as he handed them to her.

She lifted the flowers to her nose and breathed in deeply, she always had loved the smell of roses.

"Thank you," she said with a wane smile as she quickly hurried the flowers into a vase with water.

Grabbing her purse and straightening out her slim but form-fitting black dress and hair, she assessed herself as suitable to go out on this date. Fiyero differed from Elphaba in the style of his attire for the evening. He was much more relaxed in his jeans and buttoned-up tan shirt while Elphaba was more reserved and elegant in her dress.

Her heels gave her a few more inches on him but Fiyero was still taller than Elphaba, much to her dismay. She was rather fond of using her height against people in certain situations, mostly to intimidate customers and investors of the bank.

"So what exactly do we have planned for this evening?" asked Elphaba as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, not attempting to look at Fiyero in the eyes as they walked down the hallway to the elevator.

Immediately she was regretting her decision of dress, this dress was way too pretty to give off the impression that this was a friend type date. She cursed herself for not going with her simple jeans and blouse that she had originally picked out.

It seemed as if the 'Galindafication' process she had gone through in college had been instilled in her brain so much that now she couldn't revert back to the homebody type girl she had been. Damn Glinda and her fashion sense for turning her into some sort of classy woman who wanted to look nice.

"Well I do have something in mind, but…" he looked her over and she resisted the urge to sneer at him and/or slug him. Elphaba loathed people giving her the once over look.

"What?" her voice suddenly turned irritated.

"I don't think you're really dressed for it," he tried to stifle his laughter with his hand as the elevator rang and the doors open.

Oh God, where in the world was he taking her?

Fiyero took a step to get on the elevator but Elphaba snapped out a hand and pulled him back.

"Fiyero I swear to God if this place is some sort of stupid bar or club I will personally hunt you down and kill you," she hissed.

"I promise," Fiyero held up both hands in surrender, "I think you're gonna like it… but you probably should change…"

With a load sigh and moan escaping her lips Elphaba angrily stormed back to her room, leaving Fiyero in a fit of laughter by the elevator.

"Is this better?" she sought for his approval on the new attire she had put on as she met him up at the car in the front of the hotel. She gave him a little pageant twirl as she walked up to the side of the car, showing off her jeans and purple blouse topped off with a high ponytail and heels.

"Much more suitable," said Fiyero with a shake of his head, the corners of his mouth twitching.

She stopped still, one hand on the car door and just looked at him. She could see how much Glinda's death was wearing on him. He looked even older than he had yesterday. Even still, Elphaba couldn't help but be her critical self.

"You just think life is a big joke, don't you Tiggular?" she remarked as she saw that he couldn't hold in his laughter. She gave him a tiny smile. She knew exactly why he was laughing, it was a common stage of grief but she found that she couldn't be as sympathetic as she had been in the past, not since she was trying not to send him the wrong message. She didn't want to appear to get too close, too caring or he might seize the opportunity.

"I believe that you have to laugh with the punches, Miss Thropp otherwise how in the world are you supposed to see the good in this world?"

Her mouth puckered and yet she nodded at him in approval. He wasn't as dumb as he looked, that had been the biggest understatement that Elphaba had had about him when they were younger.

Each of them slid into a seat in the car, Fiyero on the driver's side while Elphaba on the passenger-side.

"So are you going to tell me where we're going or do I have to guess?" she asked as she leaned her elbow against the window, her chin against her hand.

"Guess, it will be fun for me," said Fiyero as he started the car and they began their drive to wherever they were headed.

Elphaba just rolled her eyes… she hated guessing games…

...

"Are we going to Apple Incorporations?"

"You think I have connections to Apple?" Fiyero laughed heartily at this guess, "You think way too highly of me, Elphaba."

"Alcatraz then? What better place to take me than an old abandoned prison? She laughed at this one.

"No, not Alcatraz, you don't want to go there at night," Fiyero sounded as if he was going to go on a tangent about that but he didn't and Elphaba was left to fill in the empty silence.

"I'm running out of places," she admitted sheepishly. She counted back at her guesses: San Francisco, The Golden Gate Bridge, a beach, Pixar, a zoo, a restaurant. All of them had been no's.

"Oh come on! It's easy," Fiyero chided her as he pulled out onto a highway and began to accelerate to the appropriate speed posted.

"Fiyero, I have no idea what is in California to go to!" she complained, "Now if you came to New York I could give you a list of places to go to in a second flat…"

His smile twitched and he just shook his head at her. She bit her lip and gave him her best 'I've got nothing left' look.

"I can believe you haven't said it yet. Are you even paying attention to where we're going?" he was giving her a clue.

Elphaba sat up in her seat, suddenly alert now that he had said that. She squinted her eyes at the various signs hung above their heads as they whirled past them. She hadn't even been paying attention earlier; she had been too absorbed at trying to get him at his own game.

Anaheim next right, one of them said. Her breath hitched. Elphaba knew what was in Anaheim, everyone did.

Her lips tightened into a thin line.

"You're taking me to Disneyland aren't you?" she said quietly. She didn't need to look at him to know that she was right.

The air in the car grew still and silent.

"I know you've never been and I thought it would be fun," Fiyero said softly.

She scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest, "I'm not a child anymore, Fiyero. I don't think I need a trip to Disneyland."

She had her reasons for not wanting to go to Disneyland, but she wasn't ready to share them yet. Glancing at him, she couldn't tell if Fiyero knew the reasons why or not. She had assumed that Glinda had told Fiyero all of her secrets between her former roommate and herself but maybe Glinda had been a better secret keeper than Elphaba had thought her as.

He gave her a bitter smile, "Glinda always told me how you've never been to Disneyland and how she thought that it would be fun if maybe the next time you came out we could all go together. I know she would have wanted you to go. She loved that place," Fiyero said gently.

Elphaba was biting her lip so hard she thought she was going to puncture it, "Yes, well Glinda was always a child at heart so of course she loved it," she said hastily. She was hiding her true feelings behind her grief for Glinda; which was a bad combination for her to make.

The silence in between their exchanges of dialogue was suffocating for both of them.

"I think it would be good, for both of us…"

Slowly Elphaba turned her head to look at him. He had a single tear running down his cheek but he hadn't bothered to wipe it. The water that was blooming in her own eyes stayed where it was but she couldn't help the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Fiyero…" she got out. No other words would pass her lips they just stayed there building up in her mouth until they congealed into one loud sob. She whipped herself towards the window, hating the fact that she was getting so upset over something as stupid as going to Disneyland but she could see from the little glances she gave Fiyero every now and again that he was just as upset as she was, but for different reasons.

Fiyero sniffled and finally wiped away the tear, gathering up his composure, "Come on, it'll be fun."

He didn't sound so convinced but Elphaba didn't say anything otherwise.

They drove on for a while longer, now in utter silence. Elphaba kept her gaze out the window, her eyes flickering every so often back to Fiyero and then hastily back to the window. She knew she never should have agreed to this date. This was a huge mistake. Fiyero and herself were a mess, heartbreakingly still grieving their friend's death among other things. They were in no fit to go to the happiest place on earth.

This date would end with someone in tears; Elphaba was calling it right now.

Even still, she couldn't be completely opposed to the idea. Fiyero looked so determined that this trip was going to fix everything, heal him in some way and Elphaba hoped for his sake that it would.

They needed to let go of the pain and hurt that this death was causing them. They needed to immerse themselves in something else for a while, a distraction.

In that way, Elphaba hoped this trip would a success for both of them.

While glancing at Fiyero Elphaba wished that she wouldn't mess this kind thing Fiyero was doing for her. She had a knack for ruining everything she was in or was affiliated with.

As soon as they drove up to the gates and Elphaba saw the sign DISNEYLAND, she held her breath and she thought she saw Fiyero do so too.

Though her heart was not convinced that this was a good idea, Elphaba put on a smile and went in with the attitude that maybe just maybe the illusion and happiness of Disney would work its magic on Fiyero and herself for just this one time…

Yay they're going to Disneyland! Should be some fun in store for them there in the next chapter! Hope you all have a very Happy New Years if you haven't already!

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