A/N: I know, I know, I'm sorry! Things have been unpredictable lately, and therefore so has my posting schedule. Forgive me? Still reading? If so, thank you!

And they left the fair and its owner behind.

They rode in silence for what seemed like hours, as Fiyero concentrated on finding a safe place to rest for the night. His previous camping ground was much too close to the now-empty fair tent and its owner for comfort.

It wasn't until Elphaba's head fell against his chest that he realized she had fallen asleep. He reached in front of her and rested his hand on the Cub's soft fur, ensuring its security atop the saddle while she slept.

Finally, he arrived at a clearing that seemed secluded enough to be safe. Reluctant to wake her, Fiyero gently shook Elphaba's shoulder.

She jerked awake. Her response was more than startled—it was that of someone who rarely had a peaceful slumber. Who was always, by necessity, alert.

The sudden movement caused the Cub to squeak in protest.

"Hey, it's okay…it's me, Fiyero, remember?"

There was a pause. "Oh."

"Um, I wanted to get us a good distance away from there…here will be safe, I think. For the night, I mean." He said awkwardly.

She nodded, but said nothing.

Fiyero slid off behind her, then reached up for the Bear Cub, and a second time for Elphaba. He lowered her carefully to the ground, mindful of her ankle, and supported her as she hopped over to a grassy spot where he helped her to sit.

"I saw a fresh stream a few yards back. I'll go get some water for everyone. Then I'll get a fire started and try to find some materials to splint your ankle."

The corner of her mouth turned up in a small smirk. "You really are a boy scout, huh?" Her tone was mocking, but gently so.

He grinned, relieved and delighted that she was poking fun at him. "Um…well, yeah," he responded. "I'll be right back."

"This will probably hurt," Fiyero said apologetically. True to his word, he had taken Milo back to the stream to water him, and brought back several canteens, as well as some fruit and fish, for the rest of them. Now he was positioned in front of Elphaba, preparing himself to reset her ankle. He couldn't remember whether he'd learned how to do this as a Wilderness Scout or while in Gale Force basic training, but he was sure he knew how to do it.

Pretty sure.

"I imagine it will," Elphaba responded grimly, eyes closed and teeth clenched in anticipation.

Fiyero took a deep breath. "Okay. One…two…" He quickly snapped her ankle back into alignment, then splinted it with two slats of wood and the sleeve of his extra shirt.

"Not so bad, huh?" He asked hopefully.

"Easy for you to say." She did look a bit ashen. But then she smiled. "Thank you. Again."

He shrugged. "It's nothing."

"That's a lie," she argued quietly, her eyes darting away from him. "It's a lot. You knocked out an angry, armed drunk and rescued some freak and two Animals you don't even know."

"You're not a freak."

"Sure, because lots of people will pay to see perfectly normal kids in cages," she said, her sarcasm tempered with sadness.

Before he could respond, she caught him off guard with a question that he still wasn't exactly sure how to answer. "Why did you do it?"

He hesitated for a moment, then wondered if he could hedge her question for the time being with a simple answer. "Because you needed help."

Apparently he couldn't. "Yeah, well, I've 'needed help' for a while now, and you're the first to offer any," she said shyly. "So why?"

"Because I'm a good guy?" He tried. "You know, 'boy scout' and all that."

But she wasn't buying that, either. "Fiyero," she said, finally meeting his eyes, "you knew my name. How?"

He was running out of ideas. "I…I think the owner said it."

She was nonplussed. "He didn't. He doesn't even know my name."

Fiyero sighed. "Why does it even matter why I did it?"

Elphaba frowned. "Because…I…I want to know. I need to know."

He studied her carefully and then it hit him. She didn't trust him, and she was afraid. He was hurt for a moment, but then realized how ridiculous that was. Of course she didn't trust him. Not too many people in her short life had proven themselves trustworthy. Or kind.

He sighed. "Look, I do know you, okay? And when I found you…well, I'd been looking for you. But if I tell you why, and how, there's no way you're going to believe me."

"Try me." She said stubbornly. Once again, he recognized her in that stubbornness, and had to work not to smile.

"Well…I knew you in the future." He paused, studying her reaction. She seemed surprised, but not yet totally disbelieving, so he went on. "We went to college together. We were…friends. But this awful teacher, a sorceress actually, had it in for…some of us." There was no point in telling Elphaba that Morrible hated her especially. "So she went back in time and screwed up our childhoods. I found out what had happened to you. And a mutual friend—also a sorceress—figured out how to send me back in time to try to fix it." He shrugged. "So…yeah…here I am."

She was silent for a long while. Finally she said, quietly, emotionlessly, "Time travel? Maybe. Someone like you being friends with me? Less likely. But where you really lost me? My father would never, in a million years, pay money to send me to college." She turned away from him. "Nice try, though. I'm going to sleep."

She lay down, and Fiyero sighed, at a loss for what he could say to her to prove himself. He had expected that if—no, when—he had rescued Elphaba, that would fix everything. She would know him—or, if not, they would become fast friends, they would grow up together, and then…well, the whole "happily ever after thing."

But then, when had Elphaba ever been predictable?