Woo - Another chapter done!

So, we've reached the end of the musical now. But the story will contiue on for a little while longer - provided you wonderful readers want it to! How about you send me a little review and let me know what you think! I'd be most grateful, truely I would :o)

On that note, Thanks go to inkhandedlady, jenfalovesjaffas, Elizabeth, deeplyshallow, gilgrissomlover, Pernicia and Akasharogue for their lovely reviews for chapter 11 (and for the birthday wishes too - Thanks, I had a lovely day! 22 now...Crikey.)

I hope you all enjoy this next installment. It's (hopefully) less depressing than the last chapter - sorry about that one!! I'll stop rambling now and leave you to get on with the story...

Chapter Twelve

It took about a week for the Witch Hunters to find her. For that week Elphaba had barely eaten, only drunk when she had to and hardly slept. When she allowed herself to sit for a moment her eyelids would flutter shut and images of Fiyero and Liir flashed from her dreams and she would awaken in a blind panic.

So she kept herself busy doing the only thing that made sense in her sleep deprived mind. She pursued the child that had arrived in the house that had killed Nessa. She knew, deep in her heart, that the child was not to blame for her misfortunes, but she was an easy target and Elphaba was determined to get Nessa's shoes back. After all, with Nessa and their father dead, surely Elphaba was the rightful owner, no stupid little farm girl was going to get away with stealing them!

Elphaba followed them all over Oz as they slowly made their way towards the Emerald City, then again from the City towards Kiamo Ko, trying to make herself as visible as possible. She was striking terror into the hearts of everyone in the country and enjoying it too. The quicker they got to her, the sooner it would all be over and she and Fiyero would be reunited in the other world.

She would not give up on Liir and Nanny though. She had to find out where they were and if they were safe. Chistery had been delegated the task of tracking them and had been gone most of the week, returning only as Glinda turned up at the castle. Seeing her old best friend again had kicked something into gear for Elphaba. She knew Glinda was making sense when she told her to let the girl go, and was just starting to consider it when one of her trusted Monkey's had turned up with a letter.

Distracted, Elphaba had snapped and snatched the letter from his hand. "What is this? Why are you bothering me..." She gasped as she saw Fiyero's untidy scrawl on the page.

Fae,

I'm alive and I'm coming to you. We'll be together again soon, I promise.
Your spell worked by the way. You saved me. Now you have to save yourself.
You must have heard the rumours; they think water will melt you. Let them believe it.
I'll be there soon. Be safe. And make it look realistic. You can do anything you want to me, just no more fireballs – please? Straw doesn't react well with fire.

I love you,
Yero.

Elphaba felt her insides churn. Fiyero was....the scarecrow? Oz, the amount of times she had attacked him. She might have killed him – again! She was dimly aware of Glinda behind her asking her something.

"We've seen his face, for the last time." There, she hadn't deliberately lied to Glinda; it was up to her how she interpreted it.

She beckoned to Chistery to bring her the Grimmerie, and handed it over to her best friend.

"Elphie, you know I can't read this."

"Well then you'll have to learn." She pushed the heavy book into Glinda's arms, knowing she would keep it safe.

***

Elphaba felt like part of her heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders when she and Glinda hugged for the first time in years. They were friends again, no matter what had happened in the past.

Elphaba could hear heavy footsteps coming up the path to the castle. Panicking, she turned to Glinda.

"Hide." She pushed Glinda into the shadows. "No one can know that you were here." Glinda started to protest, but Elphaba silenced her "Hide yourself!"

She picked up a bucket of water and turned to leave the room. At the last second she paused and turned back towards Glinda. Raising a finger to her lips in a silent plea, and giving her best friend one final little smile, she left the room, Chistery following straight after.

She put the bucket down near her feet and began preparing herself for her big finale performance. She was not going to let Fiyero down by mucking up her final moment. She knew there was a trapdoor underneath her feet and made a mental note not to stray far from that spot.

The hunters were coming closer and closer. She could hear Dorothy talking with her friends as they neared the Witch. Among all the noise and mayhem she could hear a sweet sound. Fiyero. His voice was mixed in with all the others, but she could hear him like he was the only person there and her heart skipped a beat.

Elphaba turned to Chistery and rested a hand upon his cheek "Thank you. You've been the only one there for me recently. I'll see you soon. Stay safe." He chattered softly at her, then reached in his pocket and pulled out a slightly creased envelope. He pressed it into her hand, and then climbed the walls to watch from the roof beams. Elphaba glanced at the envelope, confused as to whom it could be from, but there wasn't time to open it and see. She pushed it into her pocket and waited.

***

The water was cold, really cold. She used the shock of that to emphasize her screams. She remembered the words in Fiyero's letter "Make it look realistic". Muttering a spell under her breath she made the water turn into smoke which surrounded her enough that she could slip unnoticed into the trap door. She left her hat and cloak behind, hoping they would be enough to convince the hunters she had melted.

Once she disappeared into the trap door she looked around herself. There was a tunnel just big enough for her to crawl through. She followed it for a while, eventually coming out in some sort of chamber. There was nothing in there; it was just an empty space that she could stand up in to stretch her legs. She paced the floor for a while, but knowing she would be waiting a while before it was safe to come out she settled herself down on the floor. She conjured a little green fire to light the room and sat for a short time before she remembered the letter in her pocket. It was a little damp from the water, so carefully she opened the envelope, pulling the letter out slowly, making sure she didn't damage it. She laid it out on the floor near the fire, allowing the light to dance over the page. The writing was hard to make out. It looked like it had been written in a hurry and the water had caused some letters to smudge.

Dearest Elphaba,

A good start, she could read that bit.

Liir and I are safe.

Her heart jumped.

We had to leave Oz quickly, I'm sorry we didn't leave you any clues to where we would be heading, but there simply wasn't time and we weren't sure ourselves. I heard the Gale Force were heading back to us and with little Liir walking now I knew it would be hard for us to hide where we were.

Elphaba felt tears spring to her eyes. Liir was walking already. It seemed like only yesterday she was cradling him in her arms and singing him lullabies. A tear leaked onto the letter, smudging the words even more, so she hastily wiped her eyes and continued reading.

We went through the Vinkus and over the western border. We're currently in ..."

The rest of the letter was illegible. Elphaba could have screamed in frustration. She settled instead for slamming her fist into the floor. Why water of all things? Couldn't they have said she was allergic to feathers or something? Feathers wouldn't have ruined her letter for Oz sakes!

She took a deep breath. Liir was safe, that was all that mattered. Once Fiyero came and fetched her they could follow Nanny over the border and together they would hunt for their son.

***

She wasn't entirely certain how long she waited underground. She guessed it was over a day. She spent the time exploring the rest of the tunnels, and found a handy little tunnel that led to the storeroom of the castle, so she didn't have to worry about going hungry. From what she could tell the castle was deserted, apart from a couple of Monkey's flying around the place. Still, she wasn't going to risk leaving the safety of the underground until she was sure there were no spies around.

Finally, after hours and hours of waiting she heard soft footsteps above her head and Fiyero's soothing voice calling out to her.

"Elphaba? Fae? It worked!" he pulled open the trapdoor and she practically pounced on him.

"Fiyero? I thought you'd never get here!" she reached out to touch him, but he flinched away, staring down at himself. She took a moment to take in his appearance. Eventually he looked up at her and all she could see were his big blue eyes. They were still his eyes. He was still the man she loved, and that was all that mattered.

"Go ahead, touch. You did the best you could, you saved my life."

She lifted a hand up to cup his chin, "You're still beautiful."

He chuckled and looked away "You don't have to lie to me." She remembered his words from before and pulled his head around to look at her again.

"It's not lying, it's looking at things...another way" He smiled at her and stood up, a little clumsily. Offering out his hand, he pulled her to her feet and enveloped her in his arms. Elphaba couldn't keep the smile off her face. They were together again. Things were almost perfect.

She could hear cheering in the distance and went to look out the window. Darkness had fallen over the land, but she could see the twinkling lights of the Emerald City. Occasionally a firework would explode in the sky. Oz was celebrating the death of the Witch. She thought of Glinda, back in the Emerald city.

"We can never come back to Oz, can we?" she felt a little sad at that thought. No matter what hard times she'd been though here, it had still been her home. But her family would be safe if they weren't here. That's all that mattered. Almost.

"I just wish..."

"What?"

"I wish Glinda could know - that we're alive." She gripped Fiyero's hand in desperation, but he shook his head.

"She can't know. Not if we want to be safe. No one can ever know." She nodded sadly, knowing he was right. Fiyero moved to the door, "Come on." He beckoned to her. "It's time to go." She allowed herself one more glance back towards the city before taking his hand and following him out the door.

They had walked in silence for a little while, keeping to the shadows and shelter of the trees. The Vinkus wasn't massively populated but there was always a chance they could run into someone unexpectedly. Eventually Elphaba couldn't hold herself back much longer. She pulled them to a stop, sat down and leant against a tree, beckoning for Fiyero to do the same.

"What's the matter?" He asked her, puzzled. She turned to face him and pulled both his hands into her own.

"Yero?"

"Yes Fae?" he replied, even more confused.

"There's something you really need to know..."