Chapter 11

A/N Thank you for all the reviews!

JCBoLt, thank you for LOVING this story :)

LittleMissDelirious, FTLOAD is ending, please write something else! How can you be insecure about your writing. I have just finished WSWF and it is great (though I am so sad with the ending)! And what rebellion (sniff air but smell nothing)?

LittleMissDelirious,BookWorm0001, so this is the Malky hate group :P Just to let you know that this Malky is not a bad Malky. I just need the name of a spy Cat so I took that. The other option would be Princess Arjumand (I am currently reading To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis) which will be hilarious because the Cat is male.

ChaoticSymphonyofDarkness, James Birdsong, thank you for your review too. I am surprised that Chapter 10 is so well received.

Highlight of my work week - when IT systems decided that they should work like Grimmeries (that is, does not work the way they are expected to).

And…. Thank you to all those who nominated me for Best Romance Author, and Changing Fate for Best AU & Best Fiyeraba, and Wicked In the Library for Best Oneshot. I love you readers :) :) :) I know I am up against the best so I am not hoping for anything. But do excuse me while I go off and do a five minute snoopy dance. And please forgive me for my shameless advertising in the summary page. I will zip my mouth from now on.

"Elphie," Galinda whined. "You have been spending too much time with Fiyero."

It was a Friday afternoon and both girls were in their room as they did not have any class. Malky was with them. Galinda had loved the Cat so much that she had bought a pink cushioned basket with pink blanket to entice the Cat to stay with them. Galinda thought that all that pink worked, since the Cat was spending a significant amount of time in their room, but Elphaba knew otherwise.

"Does she know that I am male?" he asked Elphaba once, when she was in Fiyero's room.

"Nobody ever said that males cannot like pink. Look at Crope. He wore pink sometimes," came Elphaba's reply. And Fiyero had grinned in agreement, though he did not openly take sides.

Galinda absentmindedly scratched Malky behind his ears, not noticing that one of his eyes opened the moment he heard the Prince's name. She had tied a pink ribbon with a bell round his neck again, the sixth pink ribbon so far. Each time, he had taken it off the moment he went back to Fiyero's room and had buried the ribbon and bell somewhere so deep that Galinda would not be able to find it again. There was no way he was going to move around the campus with that attention-seeking ribbon and bell, announcing his arrival to everyone. To further add to his humiliation, some of the Birds that he had befriended had laughed at him when they saw him with the ribbon. He would have admired Miss Upload for her persistence, if he was not the object of her infliction.

"What do you mean?" Elphaba asked, her mind engrossed in the book she held in her hands. "Am I not here with you now?"

"Elphieeeeeeee!"

Elphaba put down her book and counted on her fingers.

"I was with you on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I was with Fiyero. Thursday with you, and now is Friday afternoon, and where am I now?"

Galinda pouted. She stood up suddenly and Malky jumped off her lap.

"But I missed you on Wednesday, Elphie!" She went over to Elphaba's bed and hugged her best friend.

Elphaba laughed and untangled herself from the blonde's arms.

"But you are in class. You should be paying attention."

"I would rather spend my time missing you than to pay attention to that boring old fool," Galinda told her as she sat down on her bed. "So tell me, how far have the two of you gone?"

Elphaba's raised her eyebrows. "So that's what this is all about."

Galinda blushed as she twiddled her fingers.

"Well, not really. You see, well, don't tell this to anyone, butttttttt Pfannee had gone out with some baronet's son just twice and the guy was already expecting her to jump into bed with him, and she was just asking me on how far did Fiyero and I go on those two dates because wellllllll, everyone have heard of his reputation, and she thought that all these people with titles just had different expectations compared to the rest of us."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows. "Expectations?"

Galinda blushed even further. "Oh well, you know what I mean. So I told her no, and she just … oh well," Galinda flopped her hands onto the bed. And then sat up again and continued.

"So it just made me wonder… and… well.." Galinda hemmed and hawed.

"It's personal, Lin."

She wrapped her arms around Elphaba.

"Come on, Elphie. I always tell you what happen with my dates."

"That is because I am your therapist, your relationship counsellor and your mobile confessional."

"And I am yours!" Galinda argued.

"Do I look like I need any advice?"

Galinda pouted again. "This is no fun. Best friends shared their secrets. So ... are you all doing it yet?"

Elphaba did not reply, but she felt her own face burning up, which Galinda noticed.

"Sweet Lurline, Elphie!" the blonde squealed with excitement, "I would never have guess!"

Elphaba looked around, in time to see the end of Malky's tail as he jumped out of the opened window.

Just then, the girls heard a knock on the door.

Galinda stood up and opened it to find an unexpected guest.

"Madam Morrible! Good afternoon!" She said, surprise on her face.

"Good afternoon Miss Upland. Is Miss Thropp around?"

"Yes, she is in. Elphie? Madam Morrible is looking for you."

Elphaba stood up from her bed, mentally thanking Lurline that Malky had left the room.

"Good afternoon Madam Morrible."

"Good afternoon Miss Thropp. I come bearing good news."

"Good news?"

"Yes. Remember when I told you that I will write to the Wizard about your talent for sorcery?"

She nodded, her mouth dry.

"Well, this morning, I had received news from the Emerald City. The Wizard wanted to see you."

"The Wizard wanted to see me?" This would be her chance, to tell the Wizard that he had been misled about the intelligence of the Animals. Clearly he would understand the truth and reverse the Banns.

"Yes," Madam Morrible confirmed. "And as we all know, the Wizard is a very busy man. But he is so considerate, that he has arranged for the meeting to take place during the school holidays so that it will not disrupt your studies." She gave the date. "You will be there for one week. All expenses will be paid by the Wizard. You will be residing in his palace, and you will have the chance to show him your talents. And also to discuss whatever you have in mind. I have, to the best of my knowledge that he will be doing the same for talented students from other Universities, though it seems that you are the first one that he will be meeting. His current Grand Vizier is getting old, and I will not be surprised if he intends to choose one of you to be groomed as the next Grand Vizier."

"The school holidays. That is so far away." Elphaba said, mostly to herself.

"It is just a few weeks away, Miss Thropp. I am sure that you will continue to work hard in your studies and in your sorcery class. As a matter of fact, I would like to give you extra coaching on sorcery. I understand that you are free on Wednesday afternoons. This is a chance of a lifetime, I dare say, and I hope you will not disappoint me." With that, Madam Morrible bade them good afternoon and left the room.

"Grand Vizier!" Galinda squealed the moment Madam Morrible left the room as she grabbed her roommate around her shoulders and jumped up and down. "Sweet Lurline! Think of that, my Elphie is going to be Grand Vizier!"

Elphaba saw stars with all the tugging and pulling and had to pull Galinda's arms off her and sat down.

"It's just to visit the Wizard. As for the position of the Grand Vizier, it is most probably a rumour or something that Madame Morrible came up with."

"Do you know that the Grand Vizier will have to stay in the Emerald City, Elphie? Can I move in with you then?" Galinda batted her eyelids at her roommate. "Now, what should you wear when you are the Grand Vizier…."

Everyone was happy for Elphaba when Galinda announced the news over dinner. Boq even managed to find some Munchkinland champagne (drinking was forbidden on campus grounds) for them to raise a toast to her. So the friends sat on the grass patch next to the Suicide Canal after dinner (Nessarose remained on her wheelchair) had a celebration. Nessarose had declined to drink of course. It was the first time Elphaba had tasted alcohol, and Fiyero had poured half a glass for her, but she declared that she did not like the taste after two sips. Galinda then took over her glass and down it before anyone could react, and then finished her own drink. Crope and Tibbett ran off halfway, supposedly in search of more alcohol. They waited, but the duo never came back. Most probably they had gotten drunk at the source of the alcohol supply, Boq grumbled, as they gave up waiting and prepared to leave.

"My head hurts, and I think I am going to throw up," Elphaba told Fiyero and Galinda on the way back to her room as they took a shortcut by walking across the field. Boq had offered to bring Nessarose back to her room, leaving Fiyero with the two girls (since Boq knew that he was not tall enough to support Elphaba). She was leaning heavily on his arm, and Galinda had her arms around him on the other side, singing some tuneless song about going off to see the Wizard.

"Are you okay, Elphie? You looked abit … green," Galinda asked, and then giggled. She was obviously tipsy, and Fiyero hoped that she would not pass out as he definitely could not handle an unconscious person and a sick person at the same time.

He ignored Galinda, focusing instead on his girlfriend.

Just then, Elphaba turned away from him and threw up on the grass patch.

Fiyero pulled her braid back and rubbed her back for comfort. Galinda sat on the grass, and then suddenly fell backwards with a "Goodnight Elphie".

"Are you feeling better?" He asked her after she was done.

She nodded, but her face was more ash than green.

"I should carry you back," he said, half seriously and half teasingly, and was rewarded with a weak smile. But Galinda was there, and she needed help too. Fiyero contemplated leaving her there while he carried Elphaba back to her room, but decided not to the moment the idea came to his mind. He knew how guys think, and some Shiz student might think that a drunk Galinda incapable of defending herself was a godsend. So Fiyero pulled Galinda up to a standing position before he pulled Elphaba up with his other hand.

"Come on, Galinda. That is not your bed," the prince told her.

"It wasn't?" the blonde asked, squinting her eyes, and then went, "hi, Boq."

Fiyero groaned.

The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful as he balanced one girl on each arm and brought them back to their room safely.

Elphaba opened the door, and he put her down on her bed, and put Galinda onto hers. The blonde passed out immediately on top of her comforter.

Fiyero brought Elphaba to the bathroom so that she could rinse her mouth and brush her teeth. He then brought her back to bed where she lay down.

"You should change," he told her.

"Can you take care of Galina first?" she mumbled, her eyes closed.

Fiyero was flabbergasted. "Oz, you must be the only person in this world who encourages her boyfriend to disrobe her best friend," and thought of the half a dozen guys in Shiz who would most probably beat him up for touching the girl of their dreams.

She opened one eye warily.

"I mean take off her shoes. I don't want her to stab herself at night."

Fiyero went over to the other bed, and it was only then that he noticed that Galinda was wearing a pair of stilettos with metal heels that most probably could maim any attacker. No wonder Elphaba had talked about the blonde stabbing herself in her sleep. The injury would most probably be fatal.

After Fiyero had removed them, Elphaba added. "The extra comforters are in my wardrobe."

Fiyero rolled his eyes, but walked over to her wardrobe. He opened one side to see it overflowing with pink or pastel dresses. Galinda had most probably run out of space in her own wardrobe and had to use Elphaba's. Shaking his head, he opened the other side, to see the said comforters neatly folded in the bottom shelf. On the upper shelf were Elphaba's dresses and school uniforms.

Fiyero had noticed that Elphaba was always wearing the same few dresses, but he had thought that perhaps she just kept wearing the same few pieces that she preferred. But the emptiness of her wardrobe told him otherwise. He felt a slight pang in his heart. He loved her, but it was not until he saw the sight of her wardrobe that he realised how he had overlooked her physical condition, and how little material possessions she had (besides books). He took a comforter from the shelf, and told himself that he would bring her shopping that weekend. It was not that he wanted her to have a huge wardrobe to choose from, but rather, he thought that she deserved more, even when it was something like dresses, which he knew that she did not care much for.

Fiyero wetted a towel with warm water from the bathroom and sat on her bed. Without a sound, he propped her up and wiped her face before he removed her dress and wiped her limbs. It was the first time that Fiyero had removed a girl's clothes without intending to bed her, and he found that he did not mind at all. He just wanted to take care of her so that she would feel better. After that, he helped her with her nightgown before he undid her braid and ran a comb through her raven black hair. Baring the circumstances, he wished that he had a chance to do this more often.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay the night?" he asked when she was resting next to his body with her face lying on the crook of his neck and his fingers stroking her hair.

She shook her head. "And risked getting you expelled? I am feeling much better now."

"In that case, let's go to town tomorrow. I am going to bring you shopping."

She groaned against his skin. "The headache is coming back." Fiyero chuckled.

He stayed with her until she fell asleep. He then left her room and locked the door behind him before he slipped the key (still on the same black frayed rope that it was tied to when the key was given to her on her arrival to Shiz) under the door. He gave the door one last look before he walked away.

Malky was still awake when Fiyero reached his room. So he told the Cat about Elphaba's pending visit to Emerald City, and how they celebrated with champagne and that she threw up on the way back to her room.

"Pure stupidity," was the Cat's reply (the Pure sounded like Cure though, due to the oral formation of the Cat's mouth).

"What do you mean by that? " Fiyero asked, irritated by the remark that had spoilt his otherwise good mood.

The Cat ignored him and went to his litterbox where he promptly fell asleep.

A/N Please review! I'll see if I can post the next chapter this weekend (the drama queen in me is getting excited). I hope the turn of events in the next chapter will not disappoint anybody!