"Time discovers truth."

-Unknown

Galinda was walking cautiously down the sidewalk, taking care to notice where she put her feet. She had fallen multiple times due to the fact that she couldn't concentrate on anything. She had so many things swimming within her mind that she couldn't work everything out as nicely as she wished, and tended to trip over something as trivial as a stick or root that latched onto her ankle.

She heard giggles thrown at her as she exposed her obvious clumsiness and screwed up her face. She sighed and pushed her way into the into the girls' dorm rooms. Elphaba sat there, staring at the wall. She wasn't reading, though, and that was why Galinda immediately came to the conclusion that Elphaba had already heard.

Galinda came into the room hesitantly, and her roommate turned to smile at her. "Hello, Galinda," she said, her voice controlled, and (maybe in Galinda's imagination) slightly tight.

"I presume you heard the new rumors about me?" Elphaba added on, almost as an afterthought. "Now everyone's saying all of these ridiculous things about me—more ridiculous than before. I heard that I guess now I have an extra eye on the back of my head." Elphaba took a deep breath, and turned her attention back to the wall. "But I'm perfectly fine with it; honestly."

Galinda opened her mouth, but decided against it. She walked silently over to Elphaba's bed, and hugged her roommate from behind. She wondered why, but she tears prickle against her eyelids "It's okay. Really. I mean, that's not true. You're just . . . hitting a bad time in your life, but you'll get through. I'll help you research, even."

Elphaba shook her head a bit fiercely. "I give up. I've done my best but I can't put up with this anymore."

"You don't mean that," Galinda whispered intensely.

"Yes, I do," Elphaba responded. "I do. I can't deal with this. No one person can take this kind of stress and put it in the back of their mind. 'Oh, I do think I'll deal with that later—I have time and patience.' No, Galinda."

"You're strong. You can do it."

"No," Elphie responded stubbornly, "no, I think I'll plead guilty and let my father do what he must to me."

Galinda scoffed angrily, and got up. She couldn't stand Elphaba's sour mood anymore, and made to storm from the room.

"By the way," Elphaba added bitterly as Galinda began to shut the door behind herself, "I don't melt when water touches me."

* * * * *

"Elphie's gone nuts," Galinda commented ruefully, sitting next to Fiyero later that day in the library. She ran a hand through her hair, breaking apart some of her curls into smaller ringlets. "Or maybe she's just talking gibberish—I can't tell."

Fiyero looked up from his essay about Quadling Culture and eyed Galinda thoughtfully. "What do you mean?"

Galinda's facial expression melted into distress. "I don't even know, Fiyero, she's talking about all of this-this nonsense, concerning her pleading guilty at the trial. It's absolutely mad, of course—"

"Galinda," he said, hushing her, "Stop now. You know she didn't mean it."

Galinda gave him a terribly dark look. "No, I don't. Normally, I pride myself on interpreting people and what's best for them, but with her I can't. Her mood swings from one thing to the next—I'm almost keen on identifying the condition as Bipolar Disorder."

Fiyero rolled his eyes and looked back down to his paper—it would have been much easier to write it in his native tongue, but he had been personally told not to. ("Practice makes perfect, dearie," Madame Morrible, in her deep, rather mannish tone.) Fiyero still felt very foreign, though, even with the practice. Where he came from, women never babbled this much.

"She's thrown various flying projectiles at me!" Galinda continued scornfully. "One was sharp, mind you. . . ."

"Galinda," he said, as politely as possible. "Wait two minutes—concentrating."

Galinda promptly shut her mouth, but did put upon her face a quite fervent glare. When Fiyero looked up again, ready to continue talking, it scared him.

"Oh, please, you're acting girlish," she said tartly when he jumped. "I'm just frustrated, and you're not providing much help." And Galinda really didn't wish to go talk to Boq or Avaric about it, either, so Fiyero was her only comfort at the moment. (Besides, Elphaba had been avoiding Avaric almost obsessively as of late, and Galinda didn't want to tangle herself in the spat, too. She wasn't eager to talk to Boq for obvious reasons, his puppy-dog reaction when being around her still in effect.)

"I'm sorry," he told her sincerely, "I'm trying to help, but I'm afraid that I only end up being not much help. . . ."

"You mean you don't have any suggestions for me?" said Galinda huffily. "No advice, criticism? I don't get a hug?"

Fiyero hugged Galinda. She rested her head on his shoulder and said grumpily, "That's all you have, then?"

Pulling away, Fiyero grinned. "I'm afraid so." Then, on outlandish impulse, if anything, he kissed her slightly, but stopped short, afraid that he wasn't supposed to.

But Galinda looked pleased. She felt warmer inside, happier, and personally thought that was all she needed—much better than a lousy hug. They didn't kiss again, though. Instead, there was a simple, awkward silence that sometimes followed a first kiss.

"Why don't you invite Elphaba to a picnic tomorrow?" he suggested, sometime later. "We can all go, and it would be fun. We'll get away from the school and just enjoy each other and nature."

Galinda stared blankly at him, and a blush crept up Fiyero's cheeks. "Or there are other options—"

"I think that it is a wonderful idea," she told him with sentiment. "I mean, what better way to get her to relax and make peace with the Unnamed God, than take away books and buildings and teachers? Tomorrow's a Saturday, so it's perfect! Oh, Fiyero, I could kiss you again!"

Fiyero continued blushing. "I wouldn't mind that," he said serenely, keeping his eyes fixed ahead.

Galinda laughed, and turned his head gently so that it faced hers. She planted a peck on his lips and then straightened up, flinging her handbag over her shoulder. "Thank you, Fiyero!" she called after him, and then disappeared.

Fiyero didn't even try to finish his essay, and left the library.

Short, rather fluffy. Hope you liked it. Please review. . . . Pretty please?

Oh, and, by the way, I've decided that there willbe a sequel to this, and, if you haven't already noticed, there will also be a lot of varied pairings in this story and it's sequel. I won't say which ones, but they're either there/will be there/or will be implied. The reason is because of my toleration for many pairings in the Wicked section these days. I figure I'd happily read most anything. It just doesn't bother me anymore. So I'm going to toss people around. Fun?

Just to let you know.

-Faba