DISCLAIMER: The characters of Wicked that you recognise here are the property of Stephen Schwartz and the producers and creators of the show. I'm just borrowing them for my leisure.

Chapter 25: Tea, Lemonade and Champagne

June 1945

"Mom, can you do me a favour?"

Kasmira looked up from the newspaper to see her son standing in the doorway of the parlour.

"What's the favour?" she asked warily, staring at Fiyero as though he were a teenager again and not a man in his early thirties.

He rolled his eyes slightly, knowing that look. "Don't look so worried. You're having lunch with the aunts today, aren't you?"

Kasmira chuckled quietly. "Yes, I am. Why? Do you want to come?"

"Actually, I was hoping you'd take Arora with you."

The dowager queen quirked an eyebrow at him, and Fiyero continued with a little shrug. "Come on, Mom. You've been hinting- not too subtly I might add- for at least five years, about wanting to have grandchildren to brag about. Now you finally have one, your sisters haven't seen her yet, and you have your chance. Won't the bragging be more effective if they can actually see her? Exhibits A through E, you know?"

Kasmira smiled. "I'll ask Arora if she'd like to come meet her great-aunts," she agreed. "If you spill on what exactly you'll be doing that you need Arora distracted for."

Fiyero looked faintly sheepish.

"I need to talk to Elphaba," he said simply. "I just… there's some stuff we need to talk about."

His mother nodded without question. "Alright."

"Thanks, Mom," Fiyero replied gratefully.

Arora had no problem with going to meet her grandmother's sisters, and as she and Kasmira headed out to the carriage, she was already asking Kasmira a thousand questions about the entire family tree.

Feeling a little relieved his mother had to deal with them, and not him, Fiyero went to see Elphaba.

"She's in the library, doing her homework," Arora had said when he had asked her about Elphaba's whereabouts before she left.

That made no sense to Fiyero, but the library was as good a place as any to start. He rang for a maid and asked her to bring a tray of tea to the library before making his way towards it.

His steps halted as Elphaba came into view, she was sitting at a table in the library with books and papers spread around her, her hair pulled up into a bun out of her face and she had her reading glasses on. For a moment, Fiyero was transported back a decade ago, watching her in their hotel suite working studiously on draft after draft of her Shiz application essay, insisting it had to be perfect.

"Fa- um, Elphaba?" he announced himself, mentally cursing himself for almost slipping up.

She looked up from her books and met his gaze.

"Can we talk?" he asked, feeling a little awkward.

They hadn't really had a conversation since after Galinda and Fiyero had taken Arora to dinner two days earlier, and things were a little strained. As Elphaba had predicted, the paper the next day had been full of photos of the three of them leaving the restaurant; accompanied by stories of how well Fiyero and Arora were getting alone, and that surely Galinda's presence and "bond" with the little girl was a sign that an engagement announcement wasn't far away. Perhaps, they had theorised, this was why Fiyero had suddenly chosen to announce his daughter's existence and bring her into the spotlight.

Fiyero hadn't actually spoken to Elphaba about it, but he was sure she wasn't happy about it.

"I guess," Elphaba answered shortly.

Fiyero slowly crossed the room and sat down opposite her at the table.

"What are you working on?" he inquired politely, trying to ease the tension.

"Homework."

Fiyero frowned slightly. "That's what Arora said, but… I don't understand."

He thought he detected Elphaba's lips curve slightly.

She sighed and restlessly tapped her pen against the table while biting her lip, clearly deciding if to answer him or not.

"I'm studying," she finally said, not looking at him. "I'm doing a Business and Hospitality degree from Shiz through correspondence. I started in the fall, and I'm taking summer classes so I can graduate sooner."

She could feel him staring at her, but she didn't look up. And then she heard his chair move back and his footsteps moved away. Elphaba looked up to see him walking away from her, and she frowned in bewilderment.

"That was weird," she muttered to herself.

She went back to the assignment she was working on, but a few minutes later he returned with an envelope in his hand, just as the maid was leaving after delivering the tea.

"What's that?" she asked, pouring herself a cup of tea and nodding towards the envelope.

He sat down opposite her again and handed her the envelope, going to make his own cup of tea. Elphaba's brow furrowed as she saw that the letter was addressed to her.

"I didn't know where to send it," Fiyero explained quietly.

The envelope had been opened, and Elphaba carefully drew the letter inside out. It was from Shiz University, dated April of 1935, confirming her acceptance to start that fall.

Elphaba drew her breath in sharply, staring at the letter in shock.

"I got in," she breathed. "I got in?!"

"Of course you got in," Fiyero said as though it were obvious.

She lifted her eyes to look at him, still wide-eyed with disbelief.

"You kept this?"

Fiyero shrugged. "You got in. It didn't feel right to throw it away- don't forget, I saw a thousand drafts of that application, I know how hard you worked on it. I- I was really proud of you," he said quietly.

Elphaba definitely smiled then. "Thank you," she replied softly.

She re-folded the letter and returned it to the envelope, handling it carefully.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked him.

Fiyero had almost forgotten about that. "Oh, right. Well, I just… the other night-"

Elphaba lowered her eyes and shifted in her seat. "You don't need to say anything," she interrupted.

"Actually, I do," Fiyero returned. "I need you to know, that when I said people do dumb things when they're young, I wasn't talking about us, I was just talking generally. I wasn't thinking about meeting you."

Elphaba said nothing.

"I don't regret us," she said quietly. "I can't, because it got me Arora and she's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Fiyero nodded slowly. "I don't either," he agreed. "Although I still can't work out how Arora happened. I swore we were so careful…"

Elphaba chuckled, even as she blushed faintly.

"What?" Fiyero asked, intrigued by her reaction.

Elphaba took off her glasses again and rubbed her eyes. "We were careful," she concurred, avoiding his gaze. "But I know when it happened."

She glanced up to meet his inquisitive frown, and cleared her throat faintly. "It was the afternoon of- of your father's funeral."

Fiyero blinked at her, the memory coming back to him. "Oh."

Elphaba chuckled again. "If I was going to get pregnant, I'm glad it happened then," she confessed. "It just seems…"

"Ironic?" Fiyero finished and she laughed outright at that.

"I was going to say 'fitting'," she corrected.

"That too," Fiyero allowed. "Dad would have spoiled her rotten," he said wistfully.

"I think my father spoils her enough for everyone," Elphaba replied dryly.

Fiyero smiled faintly. "I've been thinking," he began hesitantly. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak…"

Elphaba quirked an eyebrow at him as he hesitated, and Fiyero pushed on.

"I wondered what you thought about changing Arora's last name?"

Elphaba froze, unable to help herself.

"Change her surname?" she repeated. "To- to Tiggular, you mean?"

"Thropp-Tiggular," Fiyero hastily corrected her.

Somehow the idea had never crossed Elphaba's mind since they had come to the Vinkus. The logical part of her brain was reasoning that it made sense, and that Fiyero was well within his rights to request it. But the part of her that had raised Arora alone her entire life was mildly panicked, although she wasn't sure that she could say why.

"Oh. Well… I think that would be up to Arora, ultimately," she finally answered. "It's her name, after all."

"That's fair," Fiyero agreed.

Elphaba's face must have revealed something of how she was feeling then, because Fiyero got up and moved seats to sit next to her, taking her hand much to Elphaba's surprise. Apart from when she'd arrived and almost fallen apart, she didn't think he'd touched her since… well, since before she'd left.

"Elphaba, I don't think I've told you before, and I should have. But, you're a great mother," he told her earnestly. "I see you with Arora, and honestly, a part of me thinks it's a good thing I wasn't around," he confessed. "Because she's all the best of you, and I probably would have messed her up somehow."

Elphaba met his gaze as he grinned faintly, but her expression was solemn.

"You wouldn't have messed her up," she said softly. "She has more of you in her than you know."

"Well, she does have my nose," Fiyero grinned.

"She has more than your nose," Elphaba admonished gently. "She's annoyingly optimistic, for one thing. She certainly didn't get that from me."

Fiyero's eyes lit up. "Has she always been like that?"

Elphaba nodded thoughtfully. "Pretty much."

She took a deep breath. "I am glad that she has you now, but… it's not easy for me to share her. It's been just the two of us for so long…"

"I understand," Fiyero said. "We'll work it out, right?"

Elphaba smiled weakly in agreement. Yes, they would work it out. Somehow.

"Are you happy?" he asked her quietly.

Elphaba stared at him for a long moment before answering. "I'm content," she said. "I have Arora, and my work… what about you?"

"I think so," Fiyero agreed, but he didn't sound too sure.

"What happened with us, Fae?" Fiyero murmured, looking into her eyes.

Neither noticed the slip that time, or that his hand was still holding hers.

"We had the whole fairytale thing happening for us, your Cinderella moment. What happened?"

Elphaba had to fight to get her tongue to work. Words appeared to have deserted her.

"The clock struck midnight," she whispered faintly. "The spell broke. It just wasn't meant to be."

Fiyero's brow creased ever so slightly and then he opened his mouth.

"El-"

"Hello!"

Elphaba and Fiyero both jumped and whipped around to stare at the doorway at the sudden arrival.

"Galinda!" Fiyero exclaimed, jumping to his feet and hastily dropping Elphaba's hand. "I- I'm sorry, did I know you were coming by? Did we have plans?"

Galinda giggled. "Do we need to have plans for me to come see you, dearest? Oh!" she stopped, her eyes widening and she looked between Elphaba and Fiyero.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"No," Elphaba said quietly. "We were just talking about Arora. Parent things," she added with a tight smile as she looked to the blonde.

Galinda smiled back just as tightly. "Well, you wouldn't mind if I steal my boyfriend away, do you Elphie?"

"Galinda," Fiyero began but Elphaba cut him off.

"No, not at all. I have work to do anyway."

Fiyero hesitated, looking between the two women. There was still so much more he wanted to talk to Elphaba about. But she had already put her glasses back on and was bent back over her books.

"Alright," he said finally. "We, uh, we won't disturb you then."

Fiyero gestured to Galinda and she linked her arm through his as they left the library.

"Where's Arora?"

Fiyero blinked several times before her words registered with him. "Oh, my mom took her to lunch with her sisters."

"That's nice."

Fiyero led Galinda to the parlour and they sat down on the couch.

"Do you want some tea?" he asked, a little vaguely.

"Some lemonade would be lovely," Galinda answered and Fiyero nodded, ringing for a servant.

They were quiet as they sat there, drinking their lemonade. Fiyero seemed distracted and Galinda was worried. Fiyero and Elphaba had looked very cozy and close together when she'd entered the library and it made her wonder just what Fiyero felt towards his former fiancée. Any conversation they'd had since he'd told her about Arora, it was about her. Galinda was hesitant to ask how he felt about Elphaba- if he still loved her. He had been known as 'The Hermit King' for most of the past decade, which coincided with Elphaba's departure.

Galinda took a breath and straightened her shoulders. She'd been waiting patiently for the last year and a half when it came to her and Fiyero's relationship, and she got the feeling the time for patience was over. This was a time for action.

"Yero, dearest?"

Fiyero didn't appear to have heard her, staring off into space.

"Fiyero," Galinda said loudly and he turned his head towards her, blinking blankly at her once again.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Galinda sighed in irritation, placing her glass of lemonade on the end table beside her. "Fiyero, am I wasting my time here?"

He frowned, confusion crossing his face. "Wasting your time? With what?"

"With us," Galinda clarified.

Fiyero was still puzzled.

"Are you ever going to marry me?" she demanded impatiently.

The look of surprise on Fiyero's face would imply that he'd never even heard of marriage, let alone considered the idea of taking that leap with her.

"Oh."

Galinda arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh?! Fiyero, need I remind you that I gave up my family, friends and entire life to move to the Vinkus for this relationship six months ago. We talked about it beforehand, and we agreed that this was a serious relationship. That it was going somewhere and we had a future together. Did you mean that?"

She couldn't discern Fiyero's expression.

"I meant it," he said quietly.

"So, you do intend to marry me? When? In a month, in a year?" she demanded.

"Is there some kind of deadline I'm not aware of?" Fiyero retorted, feeling a little put on the spot.

"Fiyero, I'm going to be twenty-nine next month," she informed him. "Next year I will be thirty. If we want children, we can't wait around forever. If you don't plan on this going anywhere-"

"Galinda, it's not like that," Fiyero said patiently, moving closer to her and taking her hands lightly.

"I take our relationship seriously, but marriage… it's not something I want to rush into."

"It's been a year and a half," she reminded him.

Fiyero sighed. "I know."

Galinda didn't look happy, and he wasn't sure how to comfort her short of proposing, which he wasn't sure he was ready to do.

"Galinda, I love you," he told her earnestly. "When I talk about our future, I mean it. You make me happy, and I wouldn't have asked or expected you to move here if I didn't intend to marry you eventually. I'm sorry that I haven't been more forthcoming on the subject, you deserve more than a vague promise of 'one day.' I promise you, our future begins now."

"Is that a proposal?" she asked, frowning slightly.

Fiyero hesitated only briefly. "Yes," he said.

Galinda's face lit up. "You mean it?"

Fiyero nodded. "Of course."

She beamed at him, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh, Fiyero!"

She kissed him happily. "Can we get married in the spring?" she asked eagerly.

Fiyero faltered. "If you want," he agreed dazedly.

Galinda sighed happily, her eyes shining. "I've always wanted a spring wedding," she sighed. "Oh, I can't wait to write to Momsie and Popsicle! They'll be so thrillified!"

Fiyero quickly intervened. "Do you mind if we wait a few days before we announce it?" he asked her apprehensively, sure she wouldn't approve of the idea.

"It's just, I feel I should prepare Arora for it a little."

Surprisingly, Galinda agreed with no hesitation. "Of course, dearest! Why don't we wait until after Arora and I have our shopping day?" she suggested.

Fiyero frowned slightly. "You really don't mind?"

"Not at all," she reassured him. "This gives you a chance to propose properly."

"Properly?" Fiyero echoed.

Galinda giggled. "Fiyero, you can hardly expect me to tell this story to my family and friends, can you? To our children? For Oz's sake, you don't even have a ring, do you?"

The question threw Fiyero more than he'd expected. "Um. No. No ring," he stammered.

"See?" she replied pointedly. "We'll make the announcement once it's done officially."

She leaned forward and kissed him again. "I'm so very happy," she said softly. "I love you, Fiyero."

Fiyero smiled. "I love you too."

"Ooh, we should get some champagne!" Galinda exclaimed excitedly. "Just because we're not announcing it, doesn't mean we can't festivate, right?"

She leapt to her feet and hurried to ring for some champagne. Fiyero rose to his feet slowly. He'd meant what he said to Galinda, he wanted the chance to break the news to Arora gently.

But then why was he more worried about Elphaba's reaction than Arora's?

AN. Before you review, keep in mind that I was at the hospital from 3am to 7.30am this morning with a massive anxiety attack. So... be kind.