A/N: So this was a hard chapter to write, so it'd be awesome if you could review. I'm also thinking about rewriting this chapter because I don't know if I necessarily like it. It follows ALAYM pretty well so let me know!

It was a cold, starless night. I watched the smoke gently rise from the swamp, dancing around the moonlit path that shimmered on the water. I felt Fiyero's arm snake its way around my waist. I didn't know if I'd ever get used to the fact he had as much of a crush on me as I had on him, or to his touch for that matter. I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder. He combed his fingers through my hair absentmindedly.

"What are you thinking?" he murmured into my ear. I smiled. "I'm thinking that I should enjoy this moment before it's gone," I said softly, more to myself than to him. "Well," he said, using his hand to turn my face until I was looking at him. "I'm thinking..." I smirked at him. "You should enjoy that before it's gone too," I teased. He smiled and playfully pushed me away. "Shut up for once Elphaba and listen." he said, pretending to be hurt.

"I'm thinking," he started again. "that this is just the first of many moments." Fiyero cupped my chin in his hands and gently moved my face to his until our lips touched. He held my face as he slowly deepened the kiss. Warmth flooded my body and I forgot about everything that had gone wrong. I let my mind go blank and grasped his shoulders, feeling him smile against my lips as we slowly pulled away.

Time began to flow again. He was mine, and I was his, even if it was just for this moment. Fiyero's hands massaged my back in circular motions, and I just stared into his brilliant dark eyes. I gently reached up and touched my lips, as if they were somehow transformed. Fiyero smiled at me, and I realized I had lost my resistance to my feelings for him. It felt so good after years of hiding them away. I returned his smile. "I sure hope that this is the first of many," I said slyly. He laughed and kissed me again, this time with more passion. He looked at me, still grinning. "What?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he replied, reaching up to stroke my cheek. I shivered as we made contact. "This is either going to sound really stupid or really good," Fiyero began. "Go on," I said. "Well, it's just...the day when we freed the lion cub. Beginning with that day, I saw everything differently. I began...to care. About my future, my family, my so-called friends, and about you," Fiyero smiled, and I blushed in spite of myself. "But now that I'm with you again, I don't care about what's going to happen tomorrow, I don't care if the Gale Force finds me, and I don't care if there's no future for us. Right now, I have you, and that's all that matters," he finished.

"You can't hide out with me forever," I replied softly. "We need to get you somewhere safe." "I know," Fiyero smiled sadly at me. "But as long as you're mine, let's just enjoy this." He pulled me in again, but this time it was more desperate, as if this would be the last kiss that we shared. I slithered my arms around his neck, pulling him closer until our chests touched. His tongue found mine, and I gasped and abruptly pulled away. Fiyero raised his eyebrows with concern.

"What is it?" he asked quietly. I looked away from him, trying to regain myself. He took one of my hands and kissed it. I looked back at him, not knowing how to answer. "It's just," I began. "For the first time, I feel...wicked." I said laughing. We came together again, but I couldn't push the guilty feelings out this time. It's as if Glinda was watching us, the two people in her life she cared about the most, betrayed and hurt. "I love you," he whispered to me cautiously, as if he was afraid of what I would reply. I had wanted to hear that from him for so long, but right now it just made me feel guiltier. "I love you too," I whispered back, knowing the words to be true. Fiyero nervously smiled in relief.

I loved Nessa, I loved Glinda, and I loved Dr. Dillamond, but with Fiyero it was completely different. He loves me, I repeated over and over in my head. Did he love Glinda? How many kisses has he shared with her? When he was with me, was he just comparing me to her? Of course not, I chided myself. There's no comparison. Glinda knows all the right things to say, you're always second-guessing your actions. I looked at Fiyero, wondering how it felt for him to be with the most gorgeous girl with all the right moves, to being with the most hideous girl, who can't do anything right. He deserves Glinda's beauty, I realized sadly.

"What's bothering you?" he snapped me out of my thoughts. "It's just," I said. "I wish...I could be beautiful. For you." "Elphaba," Fiyero said with a hint of annoyance in his tone, as he laced his fingers with mine. "No," I stopped him. "Please don't tell me that I am," I smiled at him. "You don't have to lie to me." "It's not lying," he replied. "It's...looking at things another way." Fiyero kissed my forehead and looked into my eyes.

He thought I was beautiful. I didn't believe him, I couldn't, not after years of being looked at strangely and being called ugly. I didn't believe him, not with my crooked nose, my sharp features, my skinniness, or my green skin. There were worse things to be in the world than ugly, but the way Fiyero looked at me made me realize that he loved the way I looked. Love is truly blind, I decided. Maybe that's what he meant.