Here you go, folks - the very last chapter. I hope it wraps everything up to your satisfaction. :)

Epilogue

"Yes!" Glinda shouted. "I win!" She turned her chair around and beamed at Myah, who just arrived at the same spot, panting and clutching her side. "I won!" the blonde said again and Myah glared at her.

Elphaba laughed. "Who could've guessed you'd get used to that chair so well, huh, Glin?"

"Mostly thanks to you," said Glinda, wheeling her way over to her friend. "I mean, you helped me." Her smile faded and Elphaba knew what she was thinking.

"I just miss that free feeling that comes with being able to go anywhere, you know?" said Glinda, trying to muster up another smile, but failing this time. "Sometimes it feels confining."

Elphaba looked at her and then at Myah. "Help me, will you?" she asked the princess and together, they managed to get Glinda onto Elphaba's back, clutching the green girl's neck as she lay between her wings, which unfurled. Elphaba flapped them a few times and they rose up into the air, Glinda squealing.

Elphaba chuckled. "You always did say you love it when I take you up because it makes you feel free," she said and Glinda squeezed her arms a little tighter around her best friend.

"I do," she said. "Thank you, Elphie."

Rationally, Elphaba knew that Glinda's predicament wasn't her fault, but it was hard not to feel responsible nonetheless. Anything she could do to make the blonde feel better, she would do. Glinda was her best friend. She hated seeing her unhappy.

Thankfully, mostly because of Glinda's optimistic, perky nature, she wasn't unhappy very often; she'd gotten used to her chair quite quickly and although she sometimes still did feel sad about it, and probably always would, she bore it remarkably well.

It probably didn't hurt that a childhood friend of hers, who lived just down the street from the Uplands, had recently come to call on her more often. To someone like Glinda, a boy being interested in her proved that her chair and everything that had happened didn't make her undesirable and hadn't changed who she was, deep down inside. Elphaba was pretty sure this particular boy fancied her blonde friend and she hoped it would blossom into something more over time. Glinda deserved that much.

When some of Glinda's old friends had come by to visit and expressed their horror and regret at what had happened, Elphaba had heard her friend say, "It's not all bad. For example, it takes a lot longer for my shoes to wear out when I'm not walking on them!", which was so typically Glinda that it had brought a lump to her throat. It was true, she realised, what she had thought a while ago, right after she and Fiyero had been reunited. Despite everything, deep down, they were all still the same. It was a comforting thought. Not everything changed.

She returned Glinda to her chair after a short while, being unable to carry anyone for long, and then pushed her chair back to her parents' home. Glinda twisted in her chair to look back at her friend. "Elphie, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

There was a mischievous twinkle in the blonde's eyes. "Have you and Fiyero talked about starting a family?"

Elphaba abruptly stopped walking. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you heard me! It's not such a strange question!" Glinda fluttered her hands. "He loves you, you love him… it's been almost two years. You've settled into a normal home now, so what else is stopping you?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Elphaba sarcastically. "You do remember that tiny little problem I have, don't you?"

Glinda's eyes widened. "Still? Oh… I guess I just assumed that… I don't know." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Elphie. I know that's not something you get over easily, but… after so long, and you say you trust Fiyero…"

"I do," she said honestly. "I guess I just don't trust myself. We've been… getting closer." She blushed, which made Glinda squeal. "But not that close – not yet. And besides," she added, "I don't know if I really want children, anyway. You know my views on marriage, so why do you think my views on starting a family are any different?"

"Because a family is not just about paperwork," said Glinda matter-of-factly. "Marriage is, I'll grant you that, but children are people. It's entirely different."

"Perhaps." Elphaba shrugged. "But right now, I don't think I'm ready for either of them."

"That's okay," said Glinda confidently. "Fiyero will win you over in time."

Her friend stared at her.

"What?" Glinda asked. "Are you denying it? You know he'd like kids. He's patient. He'll wait until you're ready."

Elphaba had to admit that that was probably true. He'd waited until she was ready for everything else, after all.

Glinda wasn't the only one to nag them about marriage and children. Myah was just as bad. Almost every other day, she'd bounce up to one or both of them and demand when she was going to be an aunt, if she could be a bridesmaid once they got married, or if they thought this-and-that was a good name for her niece or nephew. It drove both Fiyero and Elphaba crazy.

Still, the girl did bring a lot of liveliness to their small home, which was indeed located in a village only a ten-minute walk away from the Uplands' home. They often went over there to keep Glinda company, since Geoffren and Leora were both still busy helping the other members of the nobility and the king to get Oz back on track and repair the damage Morrible had done to the best of their abilities.

A part of Elphaba had wanted to help, but a larger part of her had wanted to stay out of it completely. She'd done her part; this wasn't her fight anymore. Besides, not everyone believed that she hadn't actually been Morrible's pawn and some of them didn't take too friendly to her. She was tired of being judged, tired of being involved in political games, and tired of pretending. Before, she'd never thought she'd say this, but she really just wanted to remain in that quiet village and spend time with Fiyero and her friends – even though Fiyero had already knowingly predicted that she'd get tired of that, too, before long, and she'd be eager to make a difference again. She had to admit that that was probably true. He knew her well.

"Do you want children?" she asked him that night when they were getting ready for bed.

He stilled, turning to watch her. "What?"

"Glinda was nagging me again this afternoon," she said, shrugging as she ran a brush through her long, raven hair. "I was just wondering."

"I do," he admitted. "I think I'd like to have kids. If you don't want them, though…"

"No," she said. "I do. Or, well… I don't know. Not yet, anyway. But I think I could be open to the idea… someday."

He grinned. "All right. Someday." He came up behind her and rested his chin on the top of her head, looking at their reflection in the mirror. "Do you remember that day in the dungeon?"

"It feels ages ago, doesn't it?" she murmured, leaning into him. "I guess we were both right, even if we didn't know it then."

"You were right," he corrected her. "I'd already given up. You were the one telling me I wouldn't spend the rest of my life in Southstairs. You were the one vowing to bring Morrible down one day. And you did."

"We did."

He smiled, nuzzling one of her wings. "Fine. We did." He let go of her and helped her to her feet. "Let's go to bed."

She turned to look at him, tilting her head a little to the side and studying him closely. Then she stepped forward and kissed him.

It turned out that love-making was one of the things that could still cause Fiyero to change involuntarily, although much to his relief, he maintained control and he didn't change completely. As per usual, it made him feel a little insecure; but, also as per usual, Elphaba soon made it clear that she didn't mind at all.

It also turned out that her wings got in the way slightly, which she eventually solved by wrapping them around them both, creating a cocoon for them, their own little world. What was more, it turned out that, aside from the initial apprehension, it didn't scare her anymore to be with him like this.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Fiyero asked her quietly when she voiced that thought aloud afterwards, but she just nodded against his shoulder.

"I'd expected it to be worse," she admitted. "But I guess I shouldn't have. I knew that I love you, and I trust you. I was just scared."

"I know." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "But not anymore?"

"Not anymore," she agreed, curling up against him, her wings once again coming around him. She reached out to trace his facial features with her fingertips. He still hadn't changed back completely. "Maybe Myah was right," she said, smirking at him. "I guess I am into this kind of thing."

He growled, which made her laugh, and she kissed his nose before nestling her head under his chin and closing her eyes. Perhaps, she thought drowsily, there would be children one day. Handling Myah could certainly be like handling a child, sometimes, and they managed that, didn't they?

In Southstairs, they'd never thought they'd see each other again. Years after that, in Kiamo Ko, they'd been convinced theirs was a relationship that was doomed from the start and they'd only have weeks, months at most, before they'd both be killed. She'd always lived on borrowed time, but every single time, they'd made it through – not without damage, but still. Surely, after everything they'd already been through, raising children couldn't be that hard. Maybe, if he really tried, she'd even let him talk her into getting married. She was pretty sure he could talk her into doing anything, if he really set his mind to it.

"What are you thinking about?" he whispered, idly running his fingers across her wings and through her hair.

"You," she mumbled. "This. Us. Everything."

He chuckled. She could feel the vibrations in his chest. "That's quite a lot to think about. Good thoughts?" he asked, sounding a little apprehensive, for which she couldn't blame him.

"You know what?" she said, a smile curling the corners of her mouth. "For a change… yes."

"Well, it was about time," he muttered and she elbowed him between the ribs, but they both knew she wasn't very serious about it. "I mean it," he said. "Don't you think the Witch and the Monster deserve to live happily ever after?"

"You're not a monster," she said sternly, but his remark made her smile again, because it reminded her of what she herself had thought so many times. She didn't believe in happily ever after, but at least right now, she was happy. She was pretty sure he was, too. Whether they deserved it or not, there they were – and she wouldn't have it any other way.

- THE END -

I intend to not make you wait as long for my next fic as you had to wait for this one (oops). It's called Journey to the Past (which is VERY cliché) and loosely based on both the movie and the musical Anastasia (nooooo, really? I bet you hadn't guessed that yet from the title!).

I've got a couple of chapters written, I'm working on the rest, I'm hoping it won't be long until the first chapter's up but I can't be sure, because we all know what happened the last time I said that, haha. Until then, so long! (Farewell! Auf Wiedersehen! Good night!)