Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted!

So I kind of struggled with this chapter. The second half mostly. I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to do it like I ended up doing it. I'm not sure how you all will take it either...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Twenty Eight

I laid on the edge of the clearing and stared up at the forest ceiling that shielded the place that brought back so many memories. Liir was safe back in the shelter we had claimed for the past few days. I didn't feel it was necessary to wake him up if I was just coming here and then back. I did leave the locket with him, though. If he woke up and all traces of me were gone, he'd have a heart attack. So I nestled the locket in a way I wouldn't have been able to if I had been taken. He was smart. He would understand. I just needed to be here. We had been so close to it for the past several days, and it wouldn't have felt right if I hadn't come. I would have constantly wished I would have, and I don't do too well with missed opportunities. Just the idea of not acting on an impulse is absurd to me; but I always come back to get what I want. History clearly shows that.

There was a bush to my right. In the spring it's full and lush, but in the dead of winter it would easily give my position away. It was early spring when the Lion Cub happened. I was well hidden. I was here. Watching her. I know that sounds like I was some sort of stalker, but how was I supposed to leave? How was I supposed to go running back to her best friend when that had just happened? I only made it this far before I crashed to the ground. Sure, thinking back on it, it was probably my jelly legs that brought me down. Back then, though, I was sure it was fate. So I sat there sorting out my feelings as she tried repressing hers. I sat trying to come to terms with my emotions while she tried denying hers. We were so close, yet we were so far. Just like now. I was sure we were within earshot, but if I called for her, she would only hear the wind in her ears.

A wetness in my ear startled me up. It had been so unexpected that I didn't know what to think at first. But it was just me. I almost felt ashamed that I didn't know, and that it even happened, what I had been doing. I shook my shoulders out and sat back into the shadows, facing the clearing. Maybe the past weeks we'd been in Oz had made me numb, maybe that's why I didn't know. Who knows. Maybe it had happened more than once. In my sleep. Liir did it in his sleep all the time, who's to say I didn't do it. Anything was possible in the time between complete consciousness.

"It's when you're most sincere." She had told me once. "You're too detached from reality to focus on what reality is supposed to be."

It made sense, but she clearly didn't understand that it should only be applied to certain circumstances. Finding out a cheating partner. Yes. Who made the mess in the bathroom. Yes. Little things like that. Having children, no. Lucky for me, my brain was not made of straw when she brought that up. And I have a knack for remembering everything that comes out of that pretty little mouth of hers.

"Yero," She had whispered so softly that if she had used any less effort, I wouldn't have heard her. But it had been just the right amount to wake me up. "my hero?" I had moaned in response, letting her know I was up. "What kind of legacy do you want to leave?"

"What?"

"When you die, what do you want to be remembered by?"

"You must have left some straw up there, my love." I had teased. "Give me an example."

Even now, I remember the sensation of her running her fingers aimlessly across my chest as she tried putting her thoughts into words. I brought a hand to my chest absentmindedly. If I closed my eyes I could feel the warmth of her green fingers.

"The Wicked Witch of the West. It's my legacy. I'll always be remembered in history as the Wicked Witch of the West." She had mumbled finally.

"No," I had turned on my side to face her, keeping my head propped up. "To hell with Ozians. What we build here is going to be the legacy that matters. You'll be remembered as the woman who saved a man from living his life as a scarecrow. You'll be the woman who saved the lame horse from being butchered. You'll be remembered as the woman who does more in less time."

"Won't I ever be the mother of your child?" She had said with a light tone.

"No," I remember the frown on her face when I told her that. "Because that's going to be my legacy. The father of your child."

"Even if the baby's green?" Rolling of the eyes.

"Especially so."

"Well," She had patted my chest so nonchalantly that I had thought that was it, and the conversation was over. So I had plopped back down before shooting up after she finished: "We'll see how true that is in several more months."

It was so casual. I laughed out into the night. It was so her.

There was a soft rustling somewhere in the leaves behind me. I probably should have paid more attention to it, but I was so lost in my own memories and thoughts that it seemed like nothing. I passed it off as nothing more than a woodland animal scurrying around. If I had been more alert, though, I would have remembered that the woodland animals didn't populate this place. Not in this weather. It wasn't until something hard collided with the side of my head, sending a shooting pain through it, that my senses came back to me. I yelped but scrambled forward away from whatever had attacked me. There was a new wetness in my ear, and I knew it wasn't tears this time. I winced when I brought my hand to my ear and felt the broken flesh. Fantastic.

I don't know how far I made it before something smacked me dead center in the back. It knocked the wind out of me and had me on all fours, coughing and sputtering. Last time I would ever come to this damned spot alone. Bucking up, I started to get up but a pressure on my back floored me. The cool feeling of a rifle on the back of my neck kept me from trying to escape.

"Move and I'll kill you." A raspy voice hissed. I put my palms flat on the ground.

"I have a family." I said lightly into the dirt. The rifle shifted slightly.

"What are you doing here? Who are you?"

"I'm just a visitor trying to clutch to my memories."

"What memory is here?"

"It's personal."

I let out a sigh when the pressure lifted from my back, and the rifle was laid to the side of me.

"Moramine." My attacker sat down next to me after I had rolled up into a sitting position. She handed me a cloth to put against my cut. "I thought you were my father."

My stomach turned a little at the thought of what she was intending to do to him. And from the fact that she mistook me for someone who had to be older than myself. I didn't look that old, did I? Maybe in the dark. I needed to work on my appearance.

"Ero." I offered her. I felt 'Yero' would be too easily identified. It was a common nickname in the Vinkus for Fiyero.

"You have a family, too?"

I nodded. "I have a son, Liir." Moramine made a small noise. "Your father's in a pickle?"

"He was," Moramine shrugged. "Now he's a dead man walking. Sorry again." I shook my head. Better to me bruised than brainless. Again. "He killed my mother." I dropped the cloth. Moramine stared at the blood-stained cloth at my right knee. "He'll be lucky if the Gale Forcers find him first."

"Has someone already alerted the Gale Forcers?"

Moramine dug through her satchel and handed me a fairly recent newspaper. I didn't even have time to flip open the newspaper to the section she had marked. The bottom of the front page had all the blood in my system draining. Moramine shouted lists of profanities at me after I shot up and sprinted through the forest. I had to get back to Liir. I had thrown an apology at her as I was getting up, but I almost felt like she owed this to me. I mean, she did almost kill me. A newspaper seems like something she could spare.

Liir jolted awake when I burst through the doors, out of breath and moving with all the grace of his mother. He stared wildly at me as I rushed around the makeshift shelter.

"Are you mad?" He finally asked as I gather our things. I tossed the newspaper to him. Liir squinted to read the tiny words in the dark. "What's South Stairs?"

"Remember that old bat who sold an exotic novel to your mama about a year ago?" Liir frowned for a second.

"Dante's Inferno?"

"Level seven."

"Mama was in South Stairs?"

"According to the article."

Liir turned back to the article and started to read aloud:

"Escape From South Stairs

WANTED: The Protegé

Ozians are warned to be on the lookout for a woman who we believe is the protegé to the late Witch. Gale Forcers arrested her at the Ozian border going into Quox, where it is thought she was trying to flee to. She has spent the last four weeks in South Stairs, but this morning her cell was empty. The grounds have been swept twice and are continuously being so until evidence of how her escape happened is found. Her escape should be enough to warn Ozians just how dangerous she is. No one has escaped South Stairs under its new administration.

It should be noted that she is highly trained in the black arts, and she is not above using her power to her preference. She can easily slip from authorities and hide in plain sight.

The Protegé was picked up a month ago on the Ozian border. She claimed she had never heard of the Witch in her life, but Gale Forcers had enough suspicion to arrest her. A witness reported that the Protegé had slipped from her constraints within the first week. She was then chased through the forest and recaptured. South Stairs' doctors conducted several examinations on her since her arrival and state that her stamina had wavered over the weeks. They assure Ozians that should you come in contact with her, there is no true worry. Dr. Ermergedah states, "The prisoner is weak. Between the miscarriage and rigorous South Stairs treatment, we have enough initiative to believe that any ordinary citizen can easily overpower her."

We will keep audiences posted as we receive information. If you know anything, citizens are encouraged to contact their nearest person of authority. No matter the state of the Protegé, no Ozians need to lose their lives again in her downfall."

"What does protegé mean?" Liir asked.

I leaned against the wall after everything was packed and ready to go. "It's like someone who takes over your job when you're done. Someone who is trained by the prior."

"Like a princess to a Queen?" I shrugged. Sort of. Liir looked back down. "Black arts?"

"Witchcraft."

"What's a miscarriage?" Liir watched me carefully as I shifted from the wall to the ground, picking up our things.

"Nothing you need to worry about, bug." I kissed his head and helped him to his feet. "We need to get moving. We might be able to find mama now that we're not too far."

"Well, it's bad." Liir stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." I nodded, leading him out of the room.

"But not bad enough to keep mama from escaping the seventh level."

"Yeah." I croaked out.

"So mama was in prison, but now she's out." He mused as we headed out into the night again. "Well, I didn't ask for anything for my birthday, but I think this news is better than any present."

The comfort of blissful ignorance.

Moramine won't be seen again, but she does play a big role in reuniting Fiyero and Liir with Elphaba. Any thoughts how?

That being said: We're almost there! Seriously. I just rewrote Elphaba's corporeal appearance.

Please review!

If you review, I'll reply with the day she arrives:)