Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.
Elphaba woke up when the sun was high in the sky with the blonde sleeping in her arms. It was nice to wake up in an actual bed. Although her joints still ached a bit, she felt more refreshed than she had in quite some time. She couldn't believe how lucky she was that they found the house of Glinda's old headmistress from Shiz University. Maybe luck was finally on her side. Maybe things were going to get better. All of a sudden, Morrible came rushing into the room she let the two women stay in. She had opted to take care of the baby for the night so that Glinda could rest up. Elphaba remembered the bruises that she never knew of on the blonde's porcelain skin due to the lack of light where they had been imprisoned. "I don't know how, but Frexpar found you. He must know you're here because he's refusing to leave despite the fact I told him that I never saw you two, and I must say, I am not a terrible liar."
"Please tell me this is a cruel joke," Elphaba said as she went to sit up, waking up Glinda in the process.
"What's going on?" Glinda asked as she squinted while her eyes adjusted to the sunlight.
"He's here," Elphaba said.
"Please tell me it isn't so, Elphie," Glinda said as she clung to her lover.
"I'm afraid it is," Morrible said and handed Glinda the baby. "He already broke into the house. You must get out of here while you can," she insisted.
"But what about you? You have an important position at Shiz. You can't just give yourself up. He'll hurt you," Glinda cried.
"I used to be the headmistress of Shiz. Ever since the Wizard decided that women were incapable of…never mind. I shouldn't let my anger get the best of me, should I? Now get out of here before he comes up here and finds you!"
"Where will we go?" Elphaba questioned.
"You can hide in the forest. You can see it from the window. Good luck, girls."
"I owe you my life, Madame," Glinda said. Elphaba thanked her as she climbed out the window- luckily, it was only one story, so it wasn't too difficult to reach the ground. Glinda handed the baby over to Morrible as she climbed out, but Elphaba had to help the shorter girl. Finally, the older woman handed Glinda the baby. Elphaba rushed towards the forest, making sure Glinda was either in front of her or beside her. Elphaba saw Frex in the corner of her eye. He would surely find them if they kept running out in the open, so Elphaba crouched in the bushes. Glinda followed suit. The green woman watched as Frex entered the house.
Were her eyes diseaving her, or was that Fiyero, Shell, and some older man going in after him? She wished she could hear what was going on, but she was almost positive two out of the three men were Shell and Fiyero. "Elphie," Glinda whispered. "Are they who I think they are?"
"I think so. But I don't know who the older man is," Elphaba squinted, trying to see more clearly in the distance.
"That's Sir Chuffrey," Glinda said quietly. "I didn't know he'd be part of the search party."
"Come on," Elphaba said as she stood up. "While Frex is distracted, let's go into the forest." She helped up the blonde who silently agreed with her. They rushed into the forest. Elphaba ignored the sticks and rocks that pressed into her feet. Glinda, on the other hand, had tears going down her cheeks because of them. "We're almost in a good hiding spot, my sweet." Glinda merely nodded and attempted a smile. Elphaba couldn't believe how much this girl endured for her. Finally, she came across a large quoxwood tree with a hole in it, making it look as if it was a cave. Elphaba crouched down and checked it out. Seeing that it was okay, she gestured for Glinda to crawl in with her. It was large enough for three adults, Elphaba noted. Perhaps this was how the primitive people of Oz had lived. It was tall enough for Elphaba to sit in. She was grateful for this because of her tallness. She was actually surprised she wasn't short due to being malnourished half the time. She sometimes wondered how tall she would have been if she had eaten enough.
"I didn't know how short-lived our freedom would be," Glinda sighed as she gave in to the fussing infant and began to let him feed.
"You know, he is a very good baby. I would think babies were harder to take care of than this."
"I know he's good," Glinda said. "I've seen much worse. You barely make a fuss, don't you my handsome baby boy?" Glinda cooed.
As the sun began to set and spending the day in the forest, Elphaba decided she'd go check out Morrible's place. Glinda, of course, told her to stay put and wait, but the green woman felt if she waited too long, the others might be gone and attempt to find them again. She hated leaving Glinda behind, but she had to keep the blonde and that adorable little baby safe.
When Elphaba approached the house, it was too quiet. She cursed, thinking that she had missed them. She knocked on Morrible's door politely, hoping she was still there. She was probably the first person who didn't display any shock at her skin color. "Oh, I'm so glad one of you came back. Master Fiyero is here, but he's in a terrible condition," Morrible said as she led her into the house and into the guestroom. Elphaba wanted to cry (but she didn't) when she saw how horrible he looked. Morrible explained he was bleeding internally and there was nothing nor the local doctor could do. She assumed he only had a few hours left. The Vinkan prince looked incredibly weak. Morrible left the room, knowing that the two probably wanted some alone time before the inevitable happened.
"Elphaba, you're safe," Fiyero said weakly as he smiled at her. Elphaba found herself taking his cold hand in her warm green one. She gave him a small smile.
"For the time being," she stated simply.
"You're lucky he left just an hour ago. Shell and Sir Chuffrey finally got the upper hand and chased him out of here."
"They're still going after him?"
"They are," he nodded. She noticed he wasn't asking about Glinda. It seemed as if he didn't care about her, or he simply didn't care as much about her as he did for Elphaba. The green girl realized a while ago that he did like her. But she didn't like him that way. She wouldn't tell him that, of course. He was on his deathbed after all. He risked his life for the two women, and a baby he didn't know about. His baby.
"Fiyero, there's something you need to know. Glinda had a baby while we were locked up," Elphaba said, wanting to get to the point.
"I swear to Oz, I hope they kill that bastard!" Fiyero exclaimed, but coughed as he tried to catch his breath from his outburst.
"She was pregnant before we were captured, according to her. Fiyero, the baby is yours."
"I'm a father?" Fiyero whispered.
"You are," Elphaba told him. "You have a son."
"What's his name?" his voice was becoming weaker.
"He doesn't have one. Glinda was waiting to be rescued for you to have an input."
"Take me to them. Please, take me to them."
"I don't think you are capable of getting to them. They're hiding in the forest."
"Please," he begged. Elphaba could see he was in terrible shape. He had the right to see his son before…well, Elphaba hoped it didn't come to that.
"I'll go get her. Just hold on for a little longer," she said. She noticed a dark spot forming around his abdominal area, indicating he was bleeding internally. Doctors wouldn't have been able to do anything without further damaging him, she knew. She had read too many medical books over the years not to know that death was inevitable.
"I will," he said, his voice reducing to a hoarse whisper. Elphaba nodded and ran as fast as she could to go fetch Glinda. She was glad it was safe at Morrible's for the time being, but she was so sad that Fiyero had to die. She refused to let her tears shed when she woke up the blonde from her nap as she explained her ex fiance's condition. Tears immediately sprung to blue eyes as she nodded and whispered to her baby.
"We're going to meet daddy."
Eventually, the two made it to Fiyero's side. Glinda sat in a chair beside him. She tried to keep her tears at bay, but she was failing. She looked over to Elphaba who opted to stay in the corner so the two of them could have some time to talk about things. Although he was weak, he was shocked that he really did have a son. Wordlessly, Glinda handed the baby over to him. "He's so small," Fiyero whispered hoarsely. Glinda nodded, knowing that her baby was smaller than average due to the fact he probably didn't get proper nutrients in or out of the womb.
"I'm sorry. I did the best I could," Glinda sniffed. She felt Fiyero grab her hand in his. He weakly ran his thumb over her small hand and smiled up at her, albeit he was in pain.
"I know. And I'm sure Elphaba took good care of you both. I hope she makes you happy."
"You know?" Glinda questioned.
"Madame Morrible told me when Elphaba left to go get you," he forced out. He shouldn't have been talking that much, but he needed to speak with the mother of his child before he died. She knew he was running out of time, but Glinda had to force herself to pretend he was just sick and he was going to get better in order to keep her emotions in check.
"I'm sorry I couldn't love you," Glinda said. "I really tried." She admired how he looked at the baby and then back at her. She was glad he didn't reject their son.
"If it helps, I couldn't love you, either," Fiyero tried to laugh, but his body wouldn't let him. Instead, he smiled and attempted to squeeze Glinda's hand.
"Sweet Oz, that makes me feel better," Glinda admitted. "I thought I would be breaking your heart or something."
"Nothing broken here," he joked, but nobody laughed. "I heard you didn't give him a name."
"Any suggestions? I've been going through names in my head, but I'll love something one day, but hate it the next."
"Give him my name. Name him Fiyero," he coughed, then looked down at his son. Glinda's tears fell, knowing that he would have been a great father if he was given a fair chance. Instead, Frex hurt him. Fiyero was trying to save both Glinda and Elphaba, and he let himself get almost killed because of it. He was brave, caring, and most of all, compassionate. Glinda hoped her son inherited his attributes. "But give him Elphaba's name."
"You mean my last name?" Elphaba spoke up, a bit confused.
"Fiyero Arduenna doesn't necessarily roll of the tongue, does it?"
"Are you sure you don't want little Fiyero to take your last name?" Glinda questioned.
"Name him Fiyero Thropp," he replied, giving her a stern look.
"Of course," Glinda choked back a sob.
"Come here," he gestured towards Elphaba, however, he never let go of Glinda's hand. She wondered why he wouldn't considering he didn't love her. But perhaps, they did love each other, but not in the way she loved Elphaba. She did love Fiyero, but moreso as a best friend. Maybe he loved her like that. Elphaba walked over slowly and knelt next to Glinda. "I want you to take good care of Glinda and my son. Can you promise me that?"
"I promise you I will take care of them," Elphaba vowed.
"And Glinda, I want you to promise me you will tell him I existed and make sure to tell him I love him and tell him who I was. I don't want him growing up without him knowing who his father was."
"I promise, Fiyero. He will know about his father. I will make sure of it," Glinda assured him.
"And you, Fiyero," he said to his son, "You have to take care of your mothers, especially Glinda because she can have her head in the clouds sometimes."
"I resent that," the blonde joked, attempting to lighten the mood.
"And please respect them both, because they love you so much," Fiyero said weakly. And then, he couldn't speak anymore. Glinda didn't know if it was too painful or he just lost his voice altogether. All the two women could do was sit beside him and try to make him more comfortable. He refused to give up baby Fiyero, for he wanted to spend as much time with his son as he could. A doctor had arrived, but claimed there was nothing to be done. In the meantime, the doctor suggested to keep him comfortable and handed Elphaba a sedative in case he was in too much pain towards the end.
When Fiyero breathed his last breath (the sedative was never used despite how much pain he was in; he wanted to spend as much time as he could with his son), little Fiyero cried. Glinda released Fiyero's hand after kissing it and picked up her son, holding him close. "I will take care of them," she heard Elphaba whisper. "I promise never to harm them in any way. I will make sure Fiyero grows up to be a strong, independent man with the right values and morals. You will be proud of him."