AN: Here it is, guys, the final chapter! I hope you like it.

Nia: Omnomnomnom... wait... what do you mean, I have to give him the whole pie? *pouts* *shrugs* It's too late now, anyway. Omnomnomnom...

12. Blue Skies and Sunshine

The door at Fifi's swung open and a handsome prince stepped in, announcing, "A table for two, please!"

"Prince Fiyero!" Lairan cried out in surprise, while Galinda at the same time shrieked, "Elphie! You're here!" Before anyone could even move, the blonde had already thrown herself at the prince's companion, hugging her so tightly she could hardly breathe.

"Oh, Elphie, it's so good to see you again!" she gushed. "Writing letters is just not the same! How is Shiz? Are there handsome boys there? Does everyone there wear pastel colours, too, because I've heard it's all the rage in all of Gillikin, but a girl can never be sure, you know? And ooh, Elphie, how are you and Fiyero? Hi, Fiyero!" she chirped, hugging him as well. "It's good to see you again, too!"

She had to pause to take a breath after that and Elphaba rolled her eyes at her friend before smiling. "It's good to see you, too, Glin."

She was next hugged by Lairan and the other waitresses who had worked with the green girl until a couple of months ago. They were all happy to see her and asked how she was, if Shiz was as great as she had imagined it to be, and how things were between her and Fiyero.

"What are you even doing here?" Neomi demanded at some point. "If I were you, I would have left this Oz-forsaken place and never come back!"

Elphaba smiled. "Oh, but Pertha Hills will always have a special place in my heart," she said, indicating Fiyero with a slight nod, and the waitresses giggled. "And of course I came to see Galinda and you girls again. I've missed you. My colleagues at the Primrose Café are nice, but I've known you all for years – it's not the same."

"We've missed you, too, darling," said one of the older waitresses. "And that handsome prince of yours, of course."

"Don't you have to study now?" Lairan asked curiously and Elphaba shook her head.

"I've got three weeks off for Lurlinemas break," she explained, "and Fiyero insisted on me coming to the Vinkus. His father had some business to attend to here, so we decided to come with him."

"You came back to the place where you first met," Galinda said dreamily. "That is so romanticifying."

Everyone laughed at that and Fiyero moved closer to Elphaba, slipping his arm around her waist. She looked up at him with a smile and Galinda squealed softly. "You two are so cute together! I told you two that you loved one another, didn't I? Why didn't you listen to me right away?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes again and Fiyero chuckled. "Yes, Galinda, you're very wise."

"All hail the great Galinda," Elphaba said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Galinda huffed indignantly.

"So how are you?" one of the other waitresses asked and Elphaba started talking about Shiz, her classes, the people she'd met and the job she had there, as well as the fact that she and Nessa were writing a lot now that they were back in touch.

Lairan cut in when Elphaba paused for a moment. "Come on, you two – sit down." She ushered them to "their" table in the corner of the coffeehouse. "What do you want to drink?"

Elphaba grinned at Fiyero, who deadpanned, "Black coffee."

"Should've known that," Neomi chuckled, patting Lairan on the shoulder as she passed by. Lairan sniggered and looked at Elphaba.

When they had both ordered, Elphaba looked around the place with a wistful expression on her face.

Fiyero took her hand across the table. "It's strange to be back, isn't it?"

She nodded. "It is. I've spent so many years working here... I know every person working or coming here, every corner of this room. And this is where it all began. We kissed for the first time just a few steps outside of those doors."

Fiyero grinned at the memory. "I remember."

She cast her eyes heavenward. "Of course you do."

He laughed and leant over the table to kiss her gently.

When she left for a moment to chat with the cook, whom she also knew from when she'd been working here, Galinda came bouncing over to the table. Her eyes were shining and her cheeks were red with excitement.

"Fiyero," she said, smiling widely. "I'm really glad you came to your senses and asked Elphie to be your girlfriend. Now, I know she still has two and a half more years to go at Shiz and you two don't see each other all that much, but I also know that you love her and she loves you..."

He frowned. "How –"

"We write," she informed him. "Elphie tells me everything."

He raised an eyebrow. Knowing Elphaba and how much she usually kept to herself, he found that hard to believe.

"Okay, no, actually she doesn't tell me all that much at all," the blonde admitted with a dramatic sigh, plopping down in the chair Elphaba had vacated. "I want her to, but everything I know I've had to pull out of her. She did keep me informed about how it's going between you two, though. She told me she sometimes travels to the Vinkus when she has a few days off lectures and work and that you often come to visit her at Shiz. She also told me how hard you are trying to make this work, and that she's trying, too, and that it's going well, which I think is very sweet of you and her and I'm very happy for you."

"Okay," he said slowly. "Thanks, I guess. Did you have a point?"

She glared at him, eerily reminding him of Elphaba somehow. "Patience, Fiyero, I was getting there. I was just wondering if you already have any plans for your proposal."

Fiyero was glad he didn't just take a bite of his food or he was sure he would have choked on it. "My what?!"

"Your proposal," Galinda repeated calmly. "Come on, Fiyero. We all know it's coming."

"We've been together three months!" Fiyero retorted. "What do you mean, proposal?"

She pouted. "You're not going to marry her?"

He fell silent, thinking about that. The truth was that he had thought about their future as a couple a lot in the past months, but he had never really known what said future would look like. It was true that he loved Elphaba, but he wasn't sure if that was enough for him to completely overcome his fears and ask her to marry him.

"Maybe," he finally said. "I... I don't know yet, Glin. Between us not having been together for that long and us having spent most of our time as a couple away from one another, we're not at that stage yet." He looked at the blonde. "But it's definitely a possibility."

Galinda squealed. "That's good enough for me! If you ever do want to propose," she continued, looking at him seriously, "then please, come to me. I can help you plan the perfect proposal. Scratch that – I can plan the perfect proposal for you and you won't have to do anything but execute it the way I tell you to!" She squealed again. "Oh, you two will have such beautiful babies!"

This time, Fiyero had actually taken a bite of food and did nearly choke on it. He burst into a coughing fit and Galinda had to smack his back hard in order to get him to breathe normally again.

"For Oz's sake, Galinda," he gasped after drinking some water Neomi had hurriedly brought him. "We've been together three months."

She dismissed him. "That doesn't matter, Fiyero. What matters is how much you love her."

Elphaba returned, stopping on her way back to the table to talk to some of the regular customers that recognised her and asked her how she was doing. Fiyero smiled involuntarily when he saw the way her eyes lit up when she talked about Shiz. She was so passionate about everything; that was only one of the many things he loved her for.

"See?" Galinda said smugly. "That smile, right there, is proof that I'm right. But I won't bug you about it anymore." She rose to her feet and blew him a kiss. "Contact me when you need a proposal planner, a wedding planner, or a godmother. Or all three. And of course I want to be the maid of honour, too." With that, she skipped off to talk to Lairan and some other waitresses.

Fiyero felt a little overwhelmed by the blonde's enthusiasm, but he smiled when Elphaba returned. "Hey."

She returned the smile. "Hey yourself."

"So Galinda is wondering when she's going to be a godmother," Fiyero said casually and Elphaba stared at him.

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Well, you know her. She tends to be a little overenthusiastic."

"A little," Elphaba echoed and Fiyero laughed.

"She did make me wonder, though," he said, looking at her seriously now. "We've been together for three months now and it's going well, right? I was just thinking about what's going to happen to us later."

Elphaba shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "But if there's anything I've learnt, it's that you can't control everything, no matter how badly I always want to. I think we should just wait and see." She tilted her head a little to the side. "Why? Do you know something I don't?"

Her tone was light, but he saw the slight anxiety in her eyes and he was quick to reassure her. "No, of course not." He took her hand again. "All I know is that I love you and that, even though I'm not sure about anything yet... I'm not ruling out any possibilities regarding our future."

"Any possibilities," she echoed sarcastically. "So you could see us getting married and live happily ever after; or you cheating on me, me punching you within an inch of your life, and us never seeing one another again."

"Why would I be the one cheating?" he asked, pretending to be indignant.

She chuckled mirthlessly. "Because no-one but you would ever be willing to do anything with me."

He softened, squeezing her hand. "That's not true. There are people who see past your skin, Fae. People who think you are the most beautiful girl in the world, like me. And those who don't... well, they're not worth being in your life."

She gave him a genuine smile and he leant in to kiss her again, though he kept the kiss relatively chaste due to their audience.

"What do you say we go out for dinner tonight," he murmured, "and then we go to that park near your old home to watch the stars?"

Her smile widened. "I'd like that."

The waitresses and Galinda waved them good-bye when they left a while later, after promising they would be back a few times before they'd return to the Vinkus. When they'd almost reached the end of the street, they saw Fiyero stopping Elphaba and pulling her in for a kiss.

Galinda gasped and shook Neomi's arm. "That's the spot where they kissed for the first time, isn't it?"

Neomi nodded. "I think so."

Galinda squealed. "Oh, sweet Oz, this is way better than any romance story I've ever read!"

"Do you think things will work out for them?" Neomi asked.

Galinda nodded fervently. "Of course! They're in love." She smiled. "They may not know it yet, but they're going to be married and have lots of cute babies. Just you wait and see."

As the waitresses watched from behind Fifi's windows as Fiyero kissed Elphaba's forehead and the two of them walked away, her head on his shoulder, they somehow believed Galinda to be right.

-THE END-

That's it. Some final favourite lines? And one last time: from what Princess and the Frog songs were the chapter titles of 9, 10, 11, and 12? :)

I'm working on my next story. It's called In the Dark, post-DG, and the ones who came up with/liked the idea of Fiyero being possessed by an evil spirit will be pleased... although I'm not sure this was exactly what you had in mind :3. I will start posting that soon.

Until next time! (And if you miss me before that... you can always go buy my book! :D)

Maddy