AN: I'll just do a very short rant about Flashdance: it was amazing. They were all great, I loved sitting in the front row and I could see everything so incredibly well, the orchestra was wonderful, the dancing was perfect, the singing and acting were fantastic, and I had an amazing time.

Fae the Queen & Elphaba'sGirl: ... I can't remember ever promising a happy ending... for GoGGP, yes, but not for this one... O:)

Hi, Sander! Nice to see that you're still reading! ^_^

Chapter 10. The news

"You. Over there." Galinda jabbed a finger into Gazilon's face.

The boy blinked. "Galinda?"

The blonde girl glared at him. "Could you please explain to me why I had to stay over in Milla's room last night because my roommate refused to open the door?"

He frowned, confused. "Elphaba isn't opening the door?"

"She won't even talk to me," said Galinda. "She's locked the door and she's not responding. I was worried at first and I told her so, but the only thing she said was 'go away' and I could tell by the sound of her voice that she had been crying. So, tell me. What's that all about?"

Gazilon shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea, Galinda," he said honestly. "I spoke to her yesterday and she was fine then. We agreed to meet for brunch today at eleven – I was supposed to pick her up at her room and we were going into town. That's actually where I was headed now. To her room, I mean."

Galinda was still eyeing him suspiciously. "So you guys didn't have a fight or something?"

Gazilon shook his head. "No. Not at all. We're perfect, actually," he said. "Or, well, we were, last time I saw her. Which was right before she went to meet up with…" His eyes widened as realisation dawned on him. "…Fiyero," he finished.

Galinda frowned. "She was meeting Fiyero?"

"She, um… wanted to see how he was doing," Gazilon lied. "You know, what with his family and all. You know El – she always thinks about everyone but herself and she wants to be there for all of her friends."

"She does," Galinda agreed readily, much to Gazilon's relief. "So she went to talk to Fiyero?"

"For as far as I know, yes," said Gazilon. "I don't know – maybe they got into a fight. He's pretty emotional right now, with everything going on…"

Galinda sighed. "I could see him saying something stupid," she muttered. "Fiyero is the type of person that crops up his feelings and then releases them all at once. Trust me, it's not pretty. If he did that to Elphie… I wouldn't be surprised if he went all crazy on her about the way their relationship ended. He tends to drag happenings from the past into the conversation when he gets mad." She looked up at Gazilon. "Can't you try and talk to her?" she asked pleadingly. "You're her boyfriend, she loves you. She'll listen to you."

"Maybe," Gazilon conceded. "I can try."

And so ten minutes later, he found himself outside the door to Elphaba and Galinda's dorm room. Galinda had wanted to come with him, but he had asked her to give them a few minutes, which she had accepted.

"El?" he called through the door. "It's me."

No reply.

"Are you alright? We're worried about you."

Nothing.

"Elphaba, please," he said. "What's going on? Is it Fiyero? Did he do something?" He lowered his voice. "You tried to break up with him, didn't you? I take it it didn't go well?"

Suddenly the door opened, revealing Elphaba. Gazilon was shocked at her appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy, with bags underneath them. She was strangely pale, which made her face look almost grey. Her hair was tangled and she looked like she had slept in the dress she had been wearing the day before – if she had slept at all.

"No," she said quietly. "No, it did not go well. Can you please just…" She shook her head. "Just leave me alone," she whispered and she closed and locked the door again.

Gazilon rested his forehead against the wood. "I'm sorry."

She didn't answer and he sighed and went back downstairs to find Galinda.

"Hi, guys," Fiyero greeted them when they entered the classroom. He didn't look much better than Elphaba had, Gazilon noted. There were bags under the prince's eyes as well.

Fiyero's eyes drifted over the small group that found their seats and he frowned. "Where's Fae?"

"As if you wouldn't know!" Galinda said snippily. "For your information, princey boy – I had to sleep in Milla's room last night because Elphie wouldn't open the door, and for as far as I know, that's your fault! You're the last one that talked to her yesterday!"

"What happened?" Nessa asked him softly.

He gave first her, then Gazilon a helpless look; and they both understood that it wasn't something they could discuss in the middle of the classroom.

Luckily for them, Galinda didn't notice – she was fuming. "Well, whatever happened," she said, gritting her teeth, "you're going to have to make it up to her. I need my clothes! I mean, I borrowed Milla's this morning, and I suppose I could do it again – she has quite the fashion sense, even though it's not as perfectified as mine…"

"I tried," Fiyero said softly. "To make it up to her, I mean. She won't talk to me. I was thrown out of the room by a magic blast."

Nessa, Gazilon, Galinda and Boq all stared at him in shock.

"Whoa," said Boq, impressed, and Galinda closed her eyes for a moment.

"If she got so mad that she lost control of her magic," the blonde said slowly, "then I don't even want to know what you've done."

Fiyero buried his face in his hands.
"You've got to fix this, Fiyero," Nessa insisted, and the prince sighed.

"I know," he said tiredly. "I know, okay? I'll try. I'll do my best. I promise."

That was good enough for them – for now, anyway – and they turned around to focus on the lecture.

Fiyero couldn't concentrate, however. It was hard for him to concentrate on a lecture at the best of times; but now, he literally didn't hear a word the professor was saying.

Elphaba always went to class. Always. For her not to come to class today, locking herself in her room instead and not even allowing Galinda in… that fact, more than anything, made him realise how badly he had really hurt her.

He didn't wait for the others when the bell rang. Instead, he immediately grabbed his bag and ran over to the girls' dorm building.

He went up to Elphaba and Galinda's dorm room and knocked on the door.

No reply came.

"Elphaba?"

Elphaba, on the other side of the door, had just been about to move to the door and open it – after all, she couldn't keep locking Galinda out, since it was the blonde's bedroom as much as it was Elphaba's own - when she heard Fiyero calling out to her.

She froze.

"Fae, please talk to me."

Elphaba turned around and crawled back into her bed, the place where she had spent the past day and night. She pulled the blankets over her head.

"Elphaba…" Fiyero sighed and rested his forehead against the door. "I'm sorry."

She scoffed softly from underneath the blankets.

"I'm so, so sorry. Please open the door, Fae. Please."

He heard something inside the room. Then her muffled voice. "Don't call me that."

His heart leapt up – at least she was talking to him now. "Elphaba, what I said was mean and stupid and I'm so, so sorry. Please, just… come out. Talk to me. Please."

She huddled deeper in her blankets, hugging her pillow. "No."

"Elph-"

"Just go away, Fiyero. I don't want to talk to you."

"Will you talk to Galinda, then?" he pleaded. "Or Nessa, or Gazilon? They're worried about you, Fae."

Elphaba didn't reply. She felt guilty knowing that her friends were worrying about her; but she really didn't feel like talking to anyone right now.

"Okay," Fiyero said after a while, defeated. His shoulders slumped and he turned around. "I'll send Galinda up to talk to you later."

He ran into the blonde outside, accompanied by Nessa, Boq and Gazilon.

"And?" asked Galinda. "Did you make it up to Elphie yet?"

Fiyero sighed and shook his head. "She doesn't want to talk to me," he muttered.

Gazilon and Boq gave him sympathetic looks. Nessa narrowed her eyes and Galinda glared at him.

"Why are boys always so stupid?" she said in exasperation.

"Hey!" Boq and Gazilon protested in unison.

"It's true," Galinda insisted, and Nessa nodded.

"I never made Fabala so upset that she hid away in her room for two days," the wheelchair-bound girl pointed out. "And Galinda hasn't, either."

"That might just be Fiyero," Boq protested. "Just because he said or did something stupid, doesn't mean boys in general are stupid!"

"Touché," Galinda acknowledged.

Fiyero was too sad and tired to even protest.

Nessa looked at him in concern. "Fiyero?" she asked softly. "Are you alright?"

"Sure." He didn't sound very convincing. "I'm just… going back to my room, I guess."

"I'll to try and talk to Elphie," Galinda decided.

"Maybe I should talk to her instead," Nessa offered. "I mean, if this is what I think it's about…"

"What do you think it's about, then?" Boq asked curiously.

Nessa completely missed the warning look Gazilon shot her – she was looking at Fiyero instead. Sympathetically, she said, "She tried to break it off with you, didn't she? Because it was too dangerous to go on with what the two of you were doing. I talked to her about it yesterday morning."

Gazilon closed his eyes for a moment. Fiyero gaped at the girl in the wheelchair. Galinda and Boq just looked confused.

"Break what off?" Boq asked. "Am I missing something? I thought they already broke up?"

Nessa clamped both hands over her mouth in horror when she realised what she had said.

Gazilon quickly looked around to see if anyone else had been near who might have overheard. Thankfully, he didn't see anyone.

Galinda's eyes were wide as she stared at Nessa, then at Fiyero. "Wait. Are you saying that… that the two of you… Behind his back…" She motioned to Gazilon.

"Actually, I was involved," said Gazilon drily.

Galinda gaped at him.

Nessa looked up at Gazilon, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know you didn't," Gazilon reassured her. "It's fine. Besides…" He took a breath. "I guess it's not a bad thing for Galinda and Boq to know about it as well." He looked at them. "As long as the two of you can keep a secret."

Despite himself, Fiyero snorted. "This is Galinda we're talking about."

Nessa bit her lip. "True."

"Hey!" Galinda exclaimed. "I can keep a secret!"

She was met with three sceptic looks from Boq, Nessa and Fiyero. Gazilon just shrugged a bit sheepishly.

"We should go somewhere else and talk," said Gazilon. "My dorm room?"

The others agreed. Only Fiyero shook his head.

"You go," he said. "I know everything already, and I just… I need some time to think."

Nessa gave him a sympathetic smile and she, Boq, Gazilon and Galinda left. Fiyero stuffed his hands in his pockets and wandered across campus for half an hour or so, just walking without really going anywhere. He only looked up when he heard someone calling his name.

"Prince Fiyero!" Morrible came rushing towards him, waving something about. Fiyero froze when he saw what it was.

A letter.

Morrible was panting slightly when she finally reached him. "This just came for you by express post," she said, waving her hand in an attempt to cool off her face. She handed him the letter. "I was told to find you and bring this to you immediately."

Fiyero thanked her quickly and practically ran off to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. He tore open the envelope and his eyes flew over the words in the letter, drinking them in as he prayed for good news.

Your mother is doing well, considering the circumstances, the general wrote at some point. She is currently still staying at the hospital, but she is recovering and she will be able to leave the hospital soon.

Fiyero slowly breathed a sigh of relief. His mother was alive. She would be fine.

Unfortunately, your sister, Princess Cyara of the Vinkus, is still missing. Her body has not yet been discovered among the remains of the royal castle, Adurin Iir.

Fiyero closed his eyes for a moment, but then he quickly opened them again and read on.

We are very sorry to inform you that your father, His Royal Majesty King Hamold Jonesto Tiggular of the Vinkus, has passed away last night.

Suddenly it felt like all the air had disappeared from the room and he couldn't breathe. He stared at the letter wide-eyed as he slowly sank down onto the floor, his back against the wall, clutching the letter tightly as he tried to read on, but he only picked up bits and pieces of the general's words.

…doctors tried everything they could, but they could not save him…

…when the castle collapsed…

…covered in rubble…

…injuries…

…too much blood loss…

…very sorry…

The room started spinning around Fiyero.

His father was dead.

He dropped the letter, his hands shaking. He rose to his feet, trying to support himself by gripping the wall, but he felt dizzy and disoriented. This wasn't happening. This could not be happening.

My father is dead…

He screamed and punched the wall, clenching his fist and ramming it into the panelled wood over and over again, until there was a dent in the wall and blood was trickling down his fingers.

Then he sank down onto the floor, crying.