Thanks again. You guys are wonderful. :)

Wanli8970: Not intentionally! I haven't even seen that musical (yet).

Vinkunwildflowerqueen: To be honest, I always did find her a bit Umbridge-like, so I guess I write her a little that way, haha.

Magic to Do

She spent the next couple of hours poring over the spell book, not even touching the food he had set down for her. He watched her until he finally had enough. "Elphaba, will you talk to me?" he demanded.

She finally looked up from the Grimmerie, clearly disturbed. "What? About what?"

"I don't know," he said. "Anything. I'm worried about you."

"Don't be. I'm fine." She returned to her reading.

He sighed. "You haven't even touched your food, Fae. Talk to me."

"I don't want to talk," she said, gritting her teeth. "I want to find a spell to stop – oh!"

"What?"

"This is it!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining. "Well, not it," she amended, "but it's certainly a step in the right direction. It's a spell to shield one's mind!"

Even he could see that was indeed a step in the right direction. "If she can't control you," he said slowly, "then you could take her, couldn't you?"

She sighed heavily. "No, Fiyero," she said in a tone that suggested he was being incredibly dense. "Of course I can't. I told you how much better she is at magic than I am." She shook her head. "We'll need more, but it's a start."

He knew that meant she probably had to steal more spell books, putting herself in danger in the process after all, and for what? What did she and Glinda think they would find? "Can't you just stick a knife in her back?" he wondered aloud.

She gave him a look and he shrugged. "Yes, well, why do you need magic? Why not do it the old-fashioned way? Use this spell to shield your mind, and then the next time you see her…" He trailed off when he saw her shaking her head.

"She's much too smart for that," she explained. "She's got magical protection in place, not to mention her actual guards. I could never get close enough to her to kill her 'the old-fashioned way', as you call it, let alone do so and also escape." She tapped the book. "I need this, and any other books I can get my hands on, to find a way around the spells that protect her. I explained this to you already, Fiyero. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring her down." Her eyes flashed and he understood. After what that old hag had done to her…

At the same time, though, he was grateful that she kept looking for a safer way. Even if the means to find such a way were dangerous, he was glad she was trying to find a way that wouldn't get her killed alongside Morrible.

She looked at him. "Besides," she said, her voice softer now, "there might be a spell in one of these books that could help me… well, help you."

He sat up straighter. "Wait. What?" he asked, unable to keep a hopeful note out of his voice. "Really?"

"Don't get your hopes up," she said, her voice almost pleading. "I don't know for sure if there is any spell that can reverse or undo the one she originally cast on you, and I don't want you to be disappointed if I don't succeed…"

Sighing, he moved closer to her to draw her into his arms, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I could never be disappointed in you, sweetheart," he said, and he meant it. "But I'd love for you to try."

He knew she was right every time she said their relationship couldn't last, but in his mind, he had already planned out their entire future together – marriage, children, a home of their own in a free Oz or maybe in a different country... The only problem – well, the most important problem, in his mind – consistently popping up was him. His curse. Because how could he ever live among other people if he could turn into a beast at any given moment? What if his children saw him like that and they became terrified of their own father?

Scratch that – could he even have children with Elphaba? If kissing her made him change already, then what would more do? Even assuming she'd eventually process the trauma Morrible and her guards had inflicted on her and allow him to touch her, he would be a huge problem. If they tried to make love and he lost his head, could he lose control? It had happened before. Never because he was excited in a good way – always because he was either extremely scared or extremely angry, or because Morrible had manipulated him into shifting – but that didn't mean it couldn't happen. If he lost control, anything could happen. He'd never dared to try to find out about the things he'd done during such spells, but he was fairly certain, from his nightmares afterwards, that it wasn't pretty. Elphaba may have some murders on her conscience that she didn't voluntarily commit, but he knew the same could be said for him.

He confessed that to her, but she just nodded. "I know."

He blinked. "You know I killed people?"

"You told me," she reminded him. "In the beginning, when I asked you why she cursed you. You told me she kept you to execute and scare people. Besides, given how scared you always are of losing control, I figured that had happened before and I can imagine what must have happened then." The corner of her mouth twitched. "I mean, I of all people know what it's like to have no control over your own body."

He nodded, understanding, and smoothed her hair away from her face before planting a kiss on her lips. "If you found a way to undo the curse, that would be wonderful," he told her honestly. "If you don't, though, I won't blame you. I promise."

She leaned into him, but only for a moment before she pulled away again. "I have to go," she said. "I need to see Morrible to keep her from getting suspicious and I need to cast this spell on myself – not to mention Glinda and I need to plan on how to get our hands on those other spell books."

He nodded again and pulled her back for a kiss. He didn't want her to go, but he wouldn't say that. He knew she had to. He just hoped, as always, that she'd be okay and he'd see her again.

She'd been afraid that Morrible had noticed the Grimmerie missing by now, or she'd be otherwise suspicious, but she wasn't. She just acted the way she always did around Elphaba, taunting her a little before giving her her next assignment and sending her off.

The green girl had cast the spell by now that was supposed to protect her from Morrible's mind-control. Unfortunately, she realised belatedly that she had no way of testing whether or not it worked. She made a mental note of visiting Glinda after returning from her assignment to see if the blonde could help her.

"Perhaps," Glinda said slowly, "there's also a spell in the Grimmerie that allows mind-control. If there is, I could test it out on you."

Elphaba exhaled. "That sounds tricky. Especially since you'd have to return to Kiamo Ko again, because there's no way I can bring the Grimmerie here."

Glinda nodded. "I'll be there tomorrow evening," she said. "Make sure Fiyero doesn't eat me."

Her friend gave her a look and Glinda giggled. "I was joking, Elphie."

And so the two girls worked on a plan together. Fiyero sat watching them in interest as Glinda cast spells to attempt to control Elphaba and the green girl didn't budge at all, signalling the success of the initial mind-shielding spell. The two witches pored over their spell books several times, both together and separately. They discovered some very interesting magic, but nothing that could really help them.

"What about that invisibility spell you used to steal the Grimmerie?" Elphaba demanded, but Glinda shook her head.

"It only works for a couple of minutes," she said. "That was enough to sneak in and search quickly, but I was lucky that Morrible hadn't hidden the Grimmerie well after using it or I wouldn't have had enough time to find it. Her quarters are big and we have no idea where she keeps the books."

Elphaba nodded, understanding. They couldn't take the risk. If Morrible's protection spells detected them, they'd be dead. Everything they did was risky, some things more than others, and they needed to be as careful as they could be. They needed a different plan, but what?

Fiyero spoke up thoughtfully. "What if you write a spell yourself, based on the spells you found in the book?"

Both girls raised their heads to look at him in surprise.

He shifted, uncomfortable under their stares. "What? Did I say something stupid?"

"No," said Elphaba, letting out an incredulous laugh. She got to her feet and moved over to him, taking his face between her hands and kissing him, quite enthusiastically. "You said something very smart."

Glinda giggled. "I guess he does have his uses," she said, a teasing undertone in her voice. "I mean, I already knew from you that he is a nice conversation partner and a great kisser and that he makes a good pillow, but he's smart, too!"

Elphaba appeared to be blushing a purplish colour all the way up to the roots of her hair, which was interesting and made Fiyero grin. "Glinda!" she hissed.

"I didn't think you'd girl-talk about me with your friends," Fiyero said, still grinning.

"Friend," Elphaba corrected him absently. She narrowed her eyes at him. "And I don't 'girl-talk'."

"She does," Glinda informed Fiyero. "Only when pushed very hard, that much is true, but I know how to get her to tell me these things."

"I'll work on a spell," Elphaba decided, ignoring the other two. "Glin, you go back and don't come here for a while. It's safer. I'll come find you if I need any help or if I manage to finish a spell so we can go over it together."

Glinda nodded, serious again. "All right." She hugged Elphaba and then Fiyero, too, to his mild surprise, before giving them both a small wave, collecting her things, and leaving in her bubble.

Fiyero came up to the green girl, placing his hands on her shoulders from behind and massaging them gently. "You okay?"

She took a deep breath. It was as if a weight had suddenly dropped from her shoulders. Finally, finally, there was a light at the end of the tunnel – a solution that had a good chance of working. It was about time, after four years of torture under Morrible's command and even more years of hardship before that.

"Yeah," she said, smiling a little as she leaned into him, pulling her wings a bit to the side to give him better access to her shoulders. "I'm great, actually."

He dropped a kiss to her hair and she could hear his own smile in his voice as he said, "Good."

She allowed herself to relax, closing her eyes as he worked the tension from her shoulders and then put his arms around her with his chin resting on the top of her head, folding her own wings around her. "Fae?"

"Mmh?"

"I, um…" He hesitated, then asked, "Are you hungry?"

She was pretty sure that wasn't what he had originally been about to say, but she didn't call him out on it. "Not really," she said. "I'm tired, though."

He nodded. "Magic takes a lot out of you. You told me that before. Do you want to get some rest?"

"If you don't mind," she said and he smiled, letting go of her to turn her around and take her hand instead.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go to bed."

After that one night, she had expected him to start treating her like she was made of sugar. Thankfully, however, he hadn't. Whenever she stayed the night, he still always attempted to pull her closer. Sometimes she let him; sometimes she didn't. Either way, he always respected her boundaries and he didn't try to touch her again beyond what was already established as acceptable. She wasn't sure if she was grateful for that or not. She just felt so frustrated that she couldn't give him, or herself for that matter, anything more.

He drew her to him now, too, and she curled up against him, closing her eyes and allowing her wings to wrap around them both almost instinctively. His arm was around her waist, his fingers against her stomach, and she wondered if she would ever dare let him get any closer than that.

Apparently sensing her restlessness, he started humming a song she didn't recognise, and she tried to concentrate on the sound. Soon it allowed her to drift off to sleep, but it wasn't a very restful sleep. She dreamt of that day again, of the men in the throne room of the palace; and she dreamt of blood and death. She awoke with a sharp intake of breath, almost a gasp, and it took her several moments to shake off the dream and come back to reality. She was safe – for now, at least.

Fiyero was gently rubbing his hands up and down her arms. "Fae?" he whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Just a dream." She hesitated for a moment, then said quietly, "Yero?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

She wondered when he had started calling her that, but she didn't say anything. She kind of liked it, even though it seemed a little juvenile. "I…" How could she say this without sounding like she was suggesting something she wasn't? She'd never been good at subtlety, though, so eventually she just blurted out, "I want you to touch me."

His hands stilled on her arms and she could sense his shock, so she quickly clarified, "Not like that! Just… More like that than we've been doing so far. You know?" She could tell that he didn't know exactly what she meant, so she huffed her breath out through her nose, frustrated with herself for being unable to explain what she meant. "You know what? Never mind."

"Don't say that," he murmured. "I think I understand. You want to try to work through it, step by step, right?"

"Step by very small step," she warned him and he chuckled, his breath warm against her neck.

"I know." He combed his fingers through her hair. "Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"No," she said honestly. "But I'm tired of being scared. It'll be one less fear for me to have to worry about. I just… I want to move on, and I want to see if I can. Move on, I mean." She was rambling a little, she knew, but somehow he seemed to get it, anyway.

He nuzzled her temple, pressing a kiss to her hair. "All right." He pulled away so he could look into her eyes. "Stop me whenever you want, okay? I don't want to hurt you and I don't want you to be afraid."

She nodded bravely and he caught her chin in his hand, kissing her softly at first, then slowly deepening the kiss. She responded easily, having gotten used to kissing him like that by now, and she tried to calm her racing heartbeat. She knew he would stop the moment she said the word and she knew he wouldn't go too far. She just wanted to test her limits a little. She trusted him; perhaps she even loved him. If she was ever going to do this of her own free will with anyone, she knew, it would be him.

He was very careful and gentle with her, slowly rubbing his hands up and down her back for a while, over the nightshirt she had borrowed from him, feeling her folded wings before moving his hands down to her hips, then up her stomach. She tensed at that, but he didn't do anything more intimate; he just let his fingers dance along her lower ribs, causing her to have to break the kiss because she was ticklish and she couldn't help the giggles that escaped her. Horrified at the sound, she clapped a hand over her mouth, but he just grinned. He had changed a little again, the way he always did when they kissed like this, but she didn't mind.

"You giggled," he stated, sounding like a smug little kid who just caught his sibling doing something forbidden he could report to their parents.

She gave him her best glare. "That information is never to leave this room," she said sternly and he chuckled, pulling her back against him.

"Your secret is safe with me," he whispered into her ear, brushing his lips along her skin. She shivered a little and he moved his hands back, running them down her arms, caressing her back, then resting them on her hips again. She was wearing a pair of his pyjama trousers as well, so she didn't feel too exposed, but still she couldn't help but stiffen again when he ran one hand a little lower, along her thigh and her upper leg over the fabric.

"Is this okay?" he whispered, searching her face, but she nodded. She needed to learn to trust him. She knew he would never hurt her; even if they did go further than this one day, she knew it wouldn't be anything like what she had already experienced. She didn't want to be afraid of something that was supposed to be so good, especially with someone as wonderful as he was.

He didn't push her, idly brushing his fingers against her upper thigh but not doing anything more than that; and slowly, she relaxed a little. She didn't tense when his hands wandered up again and he ran them slowly over her wings, caressing them. She was surprised to find that that felt almost more intimate than anything else they'd ever done before and she felt a shiver run down her spine. He smiled, gently pulling her to lie with her back against his chest, and he let his lips wander to her neck, kissing the soft skin there. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Yes," she whispered. She half-turned to be able to look at him. "Thank you."

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and then turned her around again, allowing her to nestle against him comfortably.

"I love you," she said quietly.

She felt his shock as if it were a tangible thing, but he just tightened his grip on her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I've been hoping you'd feel that way for a while," he confessed. "I mean, I already told you how I feel, but I just… didn't want to get my hopes up when I wasn't sure how you felt. Especially after what you said a while ago, about not caring too much…"

She chuckled weakly. "I didn't really want to admit it, either, but then I figured that saying it isn't going to make it any more real than not saying it," she said logically.

He smiled. "You're right." He breathed in her scent and closed his eyes, holding her to him. "I love you, too," he whispered into her ear, his heart soaring at the sight of the small smile that danced around her lips as she drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Elphaba's next assignment was a rebel girl in Munchkinland and so she flew for a couple of hours and then landed at the edge of a forest in the eastern province. She marched over to the small cottage that was her destination and knocked on the door. It was opened by the girl herself – a skinny thing, nearly as tall as Elphaba, but clearly younger. She looked vaguely familiar, even though Elphaba was almost entirely sure she had never seen the girl before. The dark-haired witch estimated her at about sixteen, the same age the green girl had been when she'd joined the rebels. This girl, however, had dark blonde hair tied back in a messy bun, fair skin, and grey eyes that widened when she saw Elphaba.

"The Huntress," she whispered and her shoulders drooped. She stepped back into the cottage, allowing Elphaba to come inside. "I was wondering how long it would be before you'd come for me." She took a deep breath and pulled her shoulders back again, hardening herself, and she closed the door behind Elphaba and turned around to face her. "All right, then. Please, just… do me a favour and make it quick."

It pained Elphaba that this was how the people saw her – as Morrible most renowned killer. She drew her wings behind her and pulled down the hood of her cloak. "I'm not going to kill you."

The girl stared at her.

"I've been sent to kill you," Elphaba amended, "but I'm not going to. I know what you've heard about me and it's not entirely wrong, but it's not completely right, either." She met the girl's gaze. "I was once a rebel myself, you know," she said. "In a way, I still am."

The girl blinked, very slowly. "You… You're not going to kill me?"

Elphaba shook her head. "I'm going to pretend to kill you and help you escape instead," she told the girl, whose face suddenly lit up. Then, completely out of the blue, she threw her arms around Elphaba.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed jubilantly. "I couldn't believe it when I heard you'd gone over to Morrible's side, did you know that? After… well, after your identity was discovered, and after what happened to your father and sister… we all knew you were one of us. Fae, the green girl. When you started working for Morrible instead, I just couldn't believe it. You were my idol before, I wanted to be like you, and then you betrayed us… but you didn't, did you? You only pretended to!"

Elphaba was, to put it mildly, quite startled by this girl's behaviour. "I… I didn't plan to," she admitted, carefully prying the girl's arms from around her waist and taking a step back. "I didn't have much choice. And regardless, that doesn't matter now."

The girl, however, was not perturbed. "Your real name is Elphaba, right?" When Elphaba nodded, the girl smiled. "On behalf of all of us, every rebel in Oz, Elphaba… Thank you for saving so many of us."

"You're… welcome." Elphaba, a little bewildered and unsure of how to respond, simply continued her explanation. "You can't pack anything; it would look suspicious if your things disappeared. You'll have to wait until nightfall and then you'll have to slip away. I can help you, but you can't tell anyone you're leaving and you'll have to get out of Oz altogether, all right?"

The girl nodded. "I understand. There's no-one I would tell, anyway," she said quietly, glancing away. "Everyone I would care to tell is dead."

Elphaba could see the flash of pain in the girl's eyes and her heart went out to her. She knew what it was like to not have anyone left. Many people in Oz knew that, by now. It only strengthened her resolve to stop Morrible.

"Elphaba, how did you get wings?" she changed the subject, circling Elphaba and studying the dark grey feathers in interest. "You weren't born with them, were you? No-one ever mentioned them when they talked about when you were still a rebel…"

Elphaba shook her head. "That was Morrible," she said shortly. "As were so many other things. Come on, we should go."

"Can I really not bring anything at all?" the girl asked. "No-one would notice a photograph disappearing, right?" She moved over to the bed in the corner of the single room and pulled something from underneath the pillow, holding it close to her chest. "It's all I have left of my family," she explained, apologetic and hopeful at the same time.

Elphaba stared at the girl and then at the frame she was clutching to her chest. Even though she couldn't see the photograph inside, she knew. For the second time in the space of only a month or two, Elphaba was hit with a sudden realisation of where she had seen the person in front of her before.