Fiyero walked the halls of the Governor's Mansion, dressed in his pajamas and a robe. He couldn't sleep, so he took to wandering the halls. The only noises were from downstairs from the maids and servants cleaning the bedroom from the parlor. He had just finished a novel Elphaba had lent him. It was a fictional novel about the Munchkin civil war. He never thought he would enjoy reading a book about a war (or reading in general), but he had liked it.

He knew that he could have waited until tomorrow to give it back to her, but part of him wanted to check on her. He knew how hard this day was from her and just wanted to make sure she was okay. He didn't know what brought on these sudden feelings of caring for the governor, but he figured that if they were going to come to an agreement, they should at least have a good relationship.

He reached her room and knocked on the door. "Elphaba? Are you awake?"

Silence.

"Elphaba?"

Still no response.

If someone were to ask Fiyero today why he went into the governor's room, he still wouldn't be able to tell them. But he went in, and for some reason, feared the worst. What if something had happened to her? What if she was kidnapped? What if someone had snuck into her room and stabbed her and she was currently slowly dying as she lost blood and…

Okay, he had no idea where that last scenario came from, but it started to feel real to him when Elphaba's room was empty and the window was open.

"Elphaba?"

"Fiyero? Is that you?"

Fiyero blinked. It sounded like Elphaba's voice was coming from outside. He hurried to the window and looked out, but didn't see her.

"Up here."

He looked up and saw Elphaba sitting on the roof, looking down at him. "Elphaba? What are you doing up there?"

"I think a more appropriate question would be what are you doing in my room?" Elphaba asked, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"In my defense, I knocked, but you didn't answer," Fiyero said as he held up the novel. "I came to return your book."

"That could have waited until tomorrow."

Fiyero blinked, then sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I'll just go back to my –"

"Wait," Elphaba interrupted him. "I… I'm sorry."

The prince smiled softly. "What are you doing on the roof?"

Elphaba shrugged. "Just… thinking."

"Are you alright?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because… you're thinking… on the roof. And it's just that… Nessa's birthday also means the anniversary of your mother's death and…" Fiyero could tell that judging by the look Elphaba was giving him, he wasn't supposed to know about that… much less say that to her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

"Nessa told you that, didn't she?" Elphaba sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. She did."

"I'm fine. I got through it, just like I do every year."

"Would you… like some company?" The question slipped out before Fiyero's brain had a chance to fully process it.

Elphaba looked down at him, surprised, before she smiled softly and nodded. "Sure."

"Um… how did you even get up there?"

"I flew," Elphaba said seriously.

Fiyero blinked at her, and Elphaba tilted her head back and cackled.

"I climbed up that tree," Elphaba said, nodding her head behind Fiyero.

The prince turned and saw said-tree and used it to climb up (as naturally as a monkey, Elphaba noted) to the roof and sat next to the green girl.

"It's a beautiful night," Fiyero commented.

"Yeah, it is," Elphaba hummed.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing much. Just… things."

Fiyero nodded. He wanted to start a conversation with Elphaba, but he wasn't exactly sure how to do it to get her to talk to him. "So… what made you want to go to Shiz?" was what he finally decided on.

Elphaba looked at him briefly before reverting her gaze to the horizon. "It wasn't exactly that I wanted to go. My father told me that if I wanted to go to college, I would have to go to Munchkinland University, since it was close and I could still care for Nessa. But then Nessa declared –and I do mean declared– that she wanted to go to Shiz University, but it would be slightly harder for her to be accepted since she was homeschooled. Since Shiz has a policy where they favor the siblings and children of alumnae, my father told me to apply for Nessa. I did and I got accepted, so that's where I went."

"So… you didn't want to go?"

"I… It wasn't my first choice, but... I was interested in it. It had a wonderful history department and…" She trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.

"Does… Nessa know?"

Elphaba chuckled softly. "Does she know that I was practically forced to go to Shiz because of her? Of course not. She doesn't know about that, nor does she know about how –" Elphaba stopped short. "She… she doesn't know about why I went to Shiz." She gave the prince a look. "And I would like to keep it that way."

Fiyero nodded his understanding. "Of course." He paused for a moment before asking, "Did you like it there?"

"I did, even though my father made it very clear about the real reason I was going to Shiz. The only reason I was there was to make it easier for Nessa to be accepted, but that didn't mean I couldn't at least try to have a good college experience."

Fiyero studied the green girl as she spoke. He was captivated by the way her voice seemed to float with the passing breeze, the way the moonlight reflected off of her emerald green skin, the way her chocolate eyes seemed to sparkle, the way her long, raven locks of hair danced in the breeze, the way her…

"Fiyero?"

The prince blinked. "Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"… Okay?"

"You were staring at me. Is something wrong?"

Maybe the evening air was playing with his brain, or maybe it was because he was sitting on the roof of the Governor's Mansion with the teenage Governor of Munchkinland, or maybe his hormones were imbalanced, but what came out of Fiyero's mouth was, "You look really beautiful." He sounded like a teenage boy, and honestly, he felt like on, too. Especially when he started blushing as soon as the word "beautiful" left his mouth.

Elphaba gaped at him. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly ajar. It was clear that she didn't know what to say or how to respond.

"Sorry, that was a stupid thing for me to say."

And that was the wrong thing for him to say. Elphaba immediately frowned and looked away, finding a leaf floating in the wind very interesting.

"Wait… I didn't mean it like that, Elphaba. Oz, that was embarrassing. I know that came out of nowhere. I didn't mean it, but –"

"It's okay, Fiyero," Elphaba said softly. "I… I know you didn't mean it."

"I… I…" The prince took a deep breath. "I… did mean it."

Elphaba looked at him skeptically and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"You do… look really beautiful, especially right now. The way your hair flows in the breeze, the way the moon is reflecting off of your skin, the way your brown eyes are shinning… it's… beautiful."

Elphaba was still looking at him with a look the prince couldn't identify. She looked at him for a clock-tick before she turned away again. "You don't have to lie to me."

"It's not lying," the prince said immediately. "It's… looking at things another way." He could tell that Elphaba really wanted to believe him, but something was stopping her. Unbeknownst to him, it was a lifetime of being ignored, ridiculed, and called 'ugly', 'mistake', and 'abomination'.

Silently, Fiyero reached out and gently took Elphaba's hand in his own. The green girl looked at their joint hands, trying to ignore the spark that just shot up her arm, before looking into the prince's eyes. That was a big mistake. She immediately found herself getting lost in those piercing, yet soft, blue orbs. She saw the care and concern he had for her in them, and another feeling she couldn't identify. It calmed her, yet it also scared her at the same time. She looked back down at their joint hands.

"Thanks," she said softly, gently pulling her hand away.

Damn it, Tigulaar, Fiyero cursed himself. Now you've made her uncomfortable. She'll probably never want you to talk to her ever again. You'll probably have to start calling her 'Governor Thropp' again.

"I… I should get back to bed now," Elphaba said, uncurling her legs from her chest.

"Oh… yes… I probably should, too," Fiyero said as he inched closer to the tree and climbed down back into Elphaba's room.

The green girl followed him and the two looked at each other.

"Well… um… good night, Elphaba," the prince said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good night, Fiyero," Elphaba said, fighting a blush.

Fiyero didn't know what came over him, but in that moment, he really wanted to kiss Elphaba. They were perfectly set up, and all he had to do was lean down and capture her lips in his. But instead, he nodded and turned away to leave.

"Fiyero?"

He turned. "Yes?"

"Could we… keep this conversation just between the two of us? I don't want Nessa freaking out because I was on the roof… with you… unchaperoned."

"But… we didn't do anything. We were just… talking."

"I know that, and you know that, but Nessa doesn't. And she's a horrible gossip. The last thing I need is for her to know and the next thing you know, all of Munchkinland is talking… even more than they already do."

The prince smiled and nodded slightly. "Of course."

Elphaba nodded. "Good. Thank you. Good night."

"Good night," the prince said as he left the room, closing the door behind him.


Fiyero smiled as he neatly signed two copies of the trade document on the governor's desk. Elphaba stood across from him, smiling slightly as she watched him.

"I'm glad we have come to an understanding," Elphaba smiled, nodding to one of her advisors, who took the paper and with a slight bow, left the office.

"I am as well," Fiyero smiled. He was very proud of himself that he was actually able to negotiate a trade agreement with the Governor.

"In all honesty, despite the rough patches you had in the beginning, this was one of the more enjoyable trade agreements I've done so far."

"What do you mean?"

"A lot of the older rulers think that they can manipulate me because I'm young. They try to come up with trading agreements and tariffs that are unfair to Munchkinland and are surprised when I catch on," Elphaba said with a slight smirk.

"I actually would have thought you would do the same thing to me," Fiyero said.

"I could have," Elphaba pondered, tilting her head slightly to the side. "But that wouldn't have been very fair. And besides, if I had done that, I'm pretty sure your parents would have sent you right back here to fix it."

"They wouldn't have been mad at you. They would have been mad at me for failing to realize the unfair trade agreements."

"Then I'm glad all of that has been avoided."

"Me, too."

"Well, Prince Fiyero, you still have the rest of today and tomorrow in Munchkinland. What would you like to do?"

"Well, you've never given me a tour of the mansion," Fiyero said with a slight smirk.

"A tour of the mansion? You're leaving in a less than forty-two hours and you want a tour of the mansion?"

"Well, you never offered me one."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, but chuckled. "Of course. Follow me."

Fiyero beamed behind the governor's back as she led him through the mansion, starting on the ground floor.

"And this," Elphaba said as they walked through the dining room and stopped in front of a swinging door, "is the kitchen."

She opened it and led him inside and her eyes immediately fell on a bowl of chocolate sitting on the counter. Looking around, she went to the drawer and grabbed two spoons. Heading back to Fiyero, she held one out. "Here. Try the Munchkin chocolate."

"Are you sure no one will mind?"

"I'm the governor," Elphaba pointed out. "Of course not."

Fiyero smiled and the two filled the spoons with the chocolate mixture. Elphaba moaned in contentment as soon as the chocolate touched her taste buds. Fiyero smiled, loving the taste of Munchkin chocolate.

"What do we have here?"

The two stiffened and whipped around, seeing a middle-aged woman in an apron standing behind them, a smirk on her face.

Elphaba swallowed the chocolate in her mouth, wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. "Um… hello, Madame Javits. I was… um… just showing Prince Fiyero -"

"How old habits die hard," Madame Javits chuckled, clearly amused.

Fiyero looked between the two and figured that this wasn't the first time Elphaba had snuck into the kitchen to sample the chocolate. His eyes rested on Elphaba and he realized how she was blushing. She looked really cute when she blushed.

The cook looked at the bowl and chuckled. "I see that I have returned before the bowl was found empty."

"Prince Fiyero wanted a taste of Munchkin chocolate."

"Why are you blaming this on me?" Fiyero asked.

"Because you did, did you not?"

"Well, there is no harm done," Madame Javits said before the two could get into an argument. "But if you want chocolate cake for dessert, I suggest that you leave the 'sampling' for after the dessert is served."

"I take it you like chocolate," Fiyero said as they were shooed out of the kitchen.

"I love chocolate," Elphaba said with a little laugh.

"And I take it that wasn't the first time you have snuck into the kitchen."

"No, it's not. I used to do it all the time when I was younger. My father never found out, of course. It was just one of the many secrets I've kept from him."

Fiyero put that last statement in his back pocket for later and let Elphaba lead him through the rest of the mansion. He got to see the music room, gallery, library, an old nursery, drawing room, sewing room, and Elphaba's private study. Once they were done inside, they went to the gardens and settled for a leisurely stroll.

"You have a really beautiful home, Elphaba," Fiyero said casually.

"Sometimes I forget that it's mine," Elphaba said. "I suppose it's going to be a while until I really get used to being governor."

"What's that?" Fiyero asked when they reached an oak tree with a rope and a thick plank of wood attached to it.

Elphaba smiled softly. "It's a swing. My aunt said she and my mother used to swing on it all the time when they were children. It also became my special spot when I wanted to get out of the house and… think."

Fiyero smiled as he gently took Elphaba's hand and led her towards the tree. Figuring out what the prince wanted, the green girl allowed herself to be lead and sat down on the wooden plank.

She felt Fiyero position himself behind her and gently began to push her. Elphaba smiled as the gentle breeze whipped past her face and through her hair. A soft chuckle slipped past her lips as she flew back and forth on the swing, smiling slightly when she felt Fiyero's hand press against the small of her back as he pushed her into the air.

Slowly, he began to pull the swing to a stop and Elphaba got off, gesturing to the prince that it was now his turn. Fiyero shook his head, not wanting a turn, but Elphaba was persistent and persuasive and somehow, he found himself sitting down on the plank and Elphaba pushing him into the air.

The moment he heard his laughter mix with Elphaba's was when he knew. Of course he had feelings before, but now, he really knew.

He was falling in love with Elphaba Thropp, the Governor of Munchkinland.


Ahh, yes. Sweet, sweet Fiyeraba. So nice.

Also, I realized that I haven't made anyone angry yet. Hmm… that'll change in the next chapter. *Cackle*