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A/N: Hm. I wanted to say something, but I can't remember what it was at the moment. Whatever, It'll come eventually. Anyways, please read and review.

Part 2 chapter 8

There's a Storm Gathering Li. It's collecting its winds, its rain, it hail, its snow. It's going to hit soon and not everyone is going to survive it.

Rhonaraye's words followed her brother echoed ominously in his mind. The two of them had called it a night after she had said that and the young man had found himself being lead out of the room and into the smaller apartment next door.

Perhaps it was such dark and pessimistic predictions that conjured up one of his more frightening recurring dreams…

He was never positive whether or not this particular vision was of the past, or the future. It couldn't be the present; it had recurred too often over too long a period of time. He was never sure whose perspective this one was from either these days.

He was running, searching through the wreckage for someone he loved. Where was she? He felt certain that if he didn't find her, she would die! He couldn't let that sadistic creep hurt her again! She'd been through too much.

He ran through the halls of the old castle. Where were they? He didn't know what was going on, or even who he was looking for, just that he had to stop something…to save someone…

Finally he flung open a door…and was tossed backward like a rag doll in the explosion that met him…

Dream-logic—He was stumbling through the wreckage, still looking for someone. There were bodies, but not as many as should be expected for such an explosion. One he passed without caring, not even checking if it was dead.

Another body, on the other hand seemed to break his heart. He tried to make it wake up; refusing to accept that it was a mere corpse now. No. This person would never, could never be a corpse! He cared too much for that to happen, as did others. He placed his hand under the motionless shoulders and lifted the still form from the ground. The head lolled back unpleasantly and something warm dripped onto his trouser leg. It was blood.

Liir awoke with a strangled cry and then cursed himself. That dream became less and less clear all the time, which made him fear it all the more.

The next morning he found Raye "indisposed" (Probably in that council meeting) and decided to explore. He found that his injuries weren't as stiff as the day before, though he couldn't explain it. What he didn't know was that Rhonaraye and Akota had worked together on an additional means of assisting his rapid healing process by combining magic and medicine in his drink. Though even if he had known, he probably wouldn't care too much since it meant he could move without ache.

The stronghold was incredible. They had actually hollowed out a mountain, it was ingenious. His thoughts frequently drifted back to how changed his sister was, he particularly wondered about that scar on her cheek. Nevertheless, in spite of his more brooding thoughts he could still appreciate the architecture and the beautiful Mountain View.

He was just admiring said view from a window when he ran into a certain acquaintance.

"So." A Feline purred, "The Princeling has made his way to our humble abode." The white Tigress Muhlama chuckled.

"Your Highness." He said, giving her a bow. The Cat laughed at this.

"Well this is refreshing. What a gentleman you are." Though she chuckled, he somehow could tell that she was serious.

"Well, I did find out that you are a Princess, my lady." he said in friendly mock-flirtation.

"Oh. That." Muhlama said with a roll of her large golden eyes. "It's not something I relish, personally." She told him as she turned away. "The council will be finishing its session momentarily. I was waiting for Raye to come out. Follow me if you want to meet her as well." He nodded and followed her.

"This place is like a maze." He commented as they turned their 4th corner.

"A maze? This place? Oh no. Your palace, now that is a maze!" she replied playfully. They arrived at the same door Liir had entered the night before, only it was closed now. A dog was lying down just outside it, watching the motionless oak doors expectantly. Charlane chuckled.

"You can always tell when a meeting is nearly over." she said, "Killyjoy is ever faithful, although, where is your charge, Killyjoy?"

Just then the lanky Colt that Liir had met the day before jumped out from behind a curtain.

"BOO!" he cried before breaking down into a fit of giggles.

"Hello again!" The young man said as the little Mule rolled around on the floor. He remembered that he had seen a Horse sitting in the assembly and asked "Zachariah, right? Is your mum or dad on the Council too?"

Behind him Muhlama stiffened and moved forward as though about to say something when the Colt himself cocked his head as he considered for a moment and then replied

"Well…no. My auntie is though." He replied

"Well, what about your parents?" Liir asked. Muhlama slapped her forehead with her paw as Zach's expression faltered a little

"They're not here anymore. They're…gone."

"Oh." Liir said uncomfortably, finally understanding what he meant a little guiltily. "I'm…sorry."

"Zach?" A familiar voice asked from behind them. Both human and Mule looked round to see Rhonaraye standing there.

"Auntie Raye!" The Mule exclaimed joyfully as he clambered to his feet and bounded over to her "Can we go to the meadow now? Can we? Can we?" he cried, Killyjoy joining him in his cheery little bouncing circles around the young woman who was looking at the stunned expression on Liir's face. She opened her mouth and closed it several times before looking away from her brother and down at the Colt. She smiled.

"Alright." She said, nodding in the direction of the corridor "Come on." She held out a hand to him. The motion made Liir stiffen, not for the act, but for the hand. It was the first time he had gotten a clear look at it. Rhonaraye's right hand had seemed a little odd before, but he couldn't place why and hadn't thought anything to it, assuming it just to be the light but now he saw why.

Her fingers and palm, always slender and long like the rest of her, gave off the impression of elongation by the absence of the pinky. Where the smallest finger had once been there was now a long, ugly scar. Not even the knuckle remained by the look of it. It was as though someone had taken a cleaver to the side of her hand.

Zach didn't seem to think twice about the maimed appendage though. He let out a cheer and stood up on his hind legs to hold the offered hand as he and Killyjoy followed her at a jaunty trot.

Liir was left confused.

"What?" he asked in a daze.

"Well, obviously she isn't his blood-aunt." Muhlama said

"Still! What?" he repeated. The Tigress sighed.

"She's his Godmother." The Princess explained gravely "Zach's parents, Jack and Mirisee, well," (Liir felt the blood drain from his face) "They died a year or two ago. She is Zach's Guardian now."

"She didn't tell me." Liir said, "I mean, we spent hours talking last night and she didn't bring it up once."

"Of course not." Muhlama said with a dismissive shrug "She just doesn't completely trust you."

"What?" The young man exclaimed incredulously.

"Oh don't take it so personally. She doesn't trust anyone as far as she can throw them, especially if she wants to…except maybe for those two Bears and the Goat."

"I guess not." Liir muttered.

()()))(())(()))

Elphaba felt a mixture of exhilaration and fear as she waited for the South Stairs Guard to arrive. For the last few weeks she had secretly been making contact with this particular corrupt guard via crystal ball. She was, of course, wearing a disguise, as she had been through each communication: a scarf and hood covering her face and a shapeless robe that could be for either sex. What could be seen of her skin was meticulously dyed purple and her eyes had been darkened using drops.

Even though she was aware that it was she who was early, the Witch fumed at the amount of time she was made to wait! At long last, they arrived, but too many of them. She had contacted only one and there were four escorting the prisoner. Well, no matter. She had expected treachery. It had become a part of her life long ago. In fact, the fools had actually contacted the Vizier about it and it had been she who suggested they bring the actual prisoner with them to the exchange. Too bad they had decided to 'outwit' her. Now instead of payment they would go home with nothing but bruises.

"We agreed on you only." She said to the Guard she had talked with in her scratchy, disguised voice

"Well the deal has changed."

"Pity. You would have profited more from the old one." She rasped as she threw pellets to the floor which exploded into brightly coloured smoke. Through the confusion that ensued, Elphaba snatched up the scarecrow from his captors and leapt backwards with her lover.

"Elphie?" Fiyero whispered. She said nothing but dropped part of a page from the Grimmerie for them to find, as well as a defective smoke bomb. All the pieces would come together in the right order. If she had learned anything from her years in the Court of Oz, it was the art of deceit. With the smoke still obscuring the Guards' vision she pulled her lover into the woods and then twirled on the spot, transporting them both to a secret place she had prepared just for this occasion.

It was still dark and windowless, but she had managed to make it warm and airy without using any form of fire and everything from the floor to the ornaments was inflammable. She laid her pitifully light burden on a soft, specially-woven blanket. Fiyero barely had the strength to move, he had lost so much stuffing. She didn't remove her disguise, but went to the loose stone in the wall which was connected to a small chamber that held plenty of the finest straw. Withdrawing a sac of it, she approached the scarecrow and filled in some of the places where his stuffing had been let out. There was a hole in his sleeve. She should mend that. But first, Elphaba didn't think she could wait much longer even as she lit the torches with magic, white fire that didn't burn.

"Elphie-fae?" Fiyero whispered. He had managed to pull himself into a sitting position and was looking at her intently with hope, fear and longing in his eyes that called to her. With a deep breath and trembling hands, she pulled off the scarf covering her face and lifted the hood. As she turned to face him with eyes that reflected a lifetime's worth of tears left unshed; he felt his heart break and soar at the same time. It was her. She had rescued him and now they could be together again. This lifted his spirits, but at the same time, even though to most she would look pretty good for her age, he could see how the years had taken their toll on her. The black hair now had strands of silver and there were crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, which in themselves held the look of long-borne weariness and sadness, except that now they shone with something else as well.

He didn't know how long they stayed staring at each other. It felt like an eternity and it felt like no time at all. But then, all of a sudden, they were in each other's arms and holding one another tightly.

"I'm sorry…I took…so long." Elphaba said joyfully in between kisses.

"It's been so long…I can't…believe I'm actually…holding you." Fiyero replied in turn, kissing her face as well. They were both crying by this time.

"Look at you!" Elphaba sobbed, pulling back a bit and reaching for the pouch of straw. He touched her emerald cheek with one glove-hand and wiped the tears away as she smiled at him and started re-stuffing him. She then conjured up a needle and spool of thread to start repairing the holes.

"Does it hurt?" she asked anxiously when she pulled the sharp point through his burlap body.

"I haven't felt physical pain years, Elphie." He reminded her. Suddenly, a strange look crossed his face "Elphie-Fae, what year is it?"

She told him. His cloth jaw dropped.

"Wow."

"How long were you in there?" Elphaba asked

"Nearly 4 years." He said with surprise. The green woman's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it, looking down at her stitches. Gently, the scarecrow lifted her chin and kissed her again.

"You did the best you could to save my life. My only regret is that I couldn't spend the last 20 years of it with you." She tied off the thread and he took her into his arms again.

"But we're not being at all corny are we?" she asked him in a strained voice.

"Ouch. Not a good pun." He replied, thinking of the field in which he had been tied in.

"Sorry." She chuckled as she held him tighter. "I have to go for now. But I promise you, I'll find out how to free you from this curse!"

"Elphaba," he began but she cut him off

"Rest, you're safe here. Including me there are only 3 people who know this place exists, and all of us are willing to die before giving away where you are. But just in case you need to get out, there is a trick stone beneath your mattress that leads to a wood. I must go now." Then with great reluctance she extracted herself from his arms and disappeared before he could say another word. He wondered who else it was that knew his whereabouts.

(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)(8)

Liir spent the better part of the day trying to think of what to say to Rhonaraye. He should have figured it out; he was an Oracle after all!

On the other hand, how was he supposed to have known? Why the hell did she keep so many secrets, anyway? And if it happened two years ago why the hell was she still so sensitive about it? Soon anger overcame guilt as these thoughts took over, mainly in self-defense. Not only did he not like being wrong, he wasn't overly fond of guilt either.

"She could have told me." He muttered to himself resentfully in his room later that day. He'd discovered that Raye had taken Zack to this 'meadow' or whatever. Now all he was sulking and brooding on one of the chairs in the hallway "He was my friend too."

"Re-e-eally?" An unfamiliar, bleating voice inquired from the other end of the room. Liir sat up and looked at the doorway, in which an ancient-looking Goat stood. He was walking shakily with a cane, his spine bent with age. He hobbled in.

"Good Morning, my name i-is Dr. Dillamond." He said in a voice that quavered slightly. He sat down in the chair by the window, his front hooves still resting on his cane as he looked at the young man in front of him with (what looked like to him) a critical eye.

"Dr. Dillamond? You mean- you mean you're…"

"Yes. I was your parents' teacher and your sister's."

"You raised her." Liir said. The old Goat nodded

"I raised her, ye-e-es. Come young man, walk with me." The professor said as he hobbled down the corridor away from the window Liir had been gazing out of, leaning heavily on a walking stick. The young man followed him.

"Dr. Dillamond, can I ask you one thing?"

"Only one thing?" Dillamond teased "Why, if that is the case it appears that you didn't inherit your mother's curiosity."

"Okay, maybe more than one thing, but can I?"

"I'm a teacher. Of course you may."

"What's happened to Raye? I mean, she was never a bundle of laughs, exactly, but now…"

The old Goat's face fell.

"Ah. Yes." he said with a sigh "Well, if you a-a-ask me, she had to grow up far too fast…and I don't think that I helped in this case. It has been coming on for a while.

"You se-e-e-e, Liir, I am a Univer-ersity Profe-e-e-essor. I-i-I am accustomed to young adults—some more mature than others of course, but a-a-adults nonetheless. Consequently, I treated my young student as an adult rather than a child more often and she lived up to it by acting responsibly and with respect. But then people from the Rebellion would often pass through our house when she was growing up and not all of them were very kind to her. They seemed to think she should grow up quickly, and many of them felt she owed them something and made no attempt to be subtle about it. She had a great amount of responsibility put on her from su-u-uch a young age, even a-a-at home. Oh, Ralmila and your father and I never intended for that, but she a-a-always knew when we-e-e were worried, which was often.

"None of u-us were pleased when the rebellion told her to apply to that school and start her work for them. She hadn't been exposed to her peers nearly enough, and that was our own fault but she wanted to go. And of course that blew up, the Rebellion reacted badly, she ran away, everything happened with that young man,"

"Young man?" Liir cut in, "What young man?" The Professor paused a moment, both verbally and physically. Then the young man changed his mind "Never mind. What else?"

"Well, then tha-a-at poor Donkey and his mate died and she wa-a-as left with the care of her Godson. I-I-I must confe-e-ess that I wa-as glad for more than one reason to ha-a-ave you hear, for I intend to enlist you as an ally."

"An Ally?" Liir asked in confusion. The Goat nodded.

"I-I-I fear that the stress of it all will do her great harm. I don't care how strong of mind or bo-ody or ma-a-agic she is, no one ca-an keep up the pace she is setting for long. Liir, she i-i-i-is the youngest me-e-ember on tha-at Council by several years, she might even have started that e-e-even earlier if Princess Nastoya had had her-er-er way and if Raye had not fled. Bu-ut no-o-ow, here she i-i-is. No-ot yet twenty and saddled with the magical defe-ense and offense for an entire, sca-a-attered organization, is up at all hours with that Council. She is often the fir-ir-irst one sent out on damage control when they ne-e-e-eed it since she is such a young and powerful member of tha-a-at Council, ha-a-as been on more missions to the outside world and ha-as gone to me-eet more potential allies, with or withou-ou-out other council members due to tha-at power of flight she has. On top of all tha-at she is trying to care for a-a-a young chi-i-ild."

"Conspiring against me again, Doctor?" Raye's voice echoed sarcastically as she rounded a corner with Jack and Killyjoy at either side of her. The little Mule looked very sleepy indeed, leaning against his godmother with his eyes closed, almost asleep on his feet. Raye's tone became a bit terse. "How many times have I told you that I can handle it? At least if you and Ralimla can help with Zach sometimes."

"Raye," Doctor Dillamond began

"And will you please stop blaming yourself?" she pleaded wearily. With a sigh she opened the door they stood outside and lead her sleepy charge inside, Killyjoy preceding them with his tail wagging slowly. Liir exchanged a look with the Goat and then followed.

At the sound of the door closing behind him Raye turned. She knew he why he was there and she knew that she owed him something. He had cared about Jack too.

"Let me put Zach to bed." She said quietly. It wasn't a request. He nodded and waited as she took the little Mule in through one of the doors to another room in the suite. Damn it was cold! It seemed that she had forgotten to light the fire. He saw her exit the room briefly to open a chest and retrieve some blankets and then returned through the same door, closing it behind her. The second time she exited she carried only one blanket, tossing it to her brother.

"Not a fan of fires?" Liir asked

"Not particularly. I had one for you last night because you were so cold. I put them on for Zach on occasion."

"I-I guess growing up with a scarecrow you didn't have that many fires." He supplied a little awkwardly.

"No." she replied shortly

"Just not used to it?"

"Just not a fan." Raye stated. Liir closed his eyes. This was getting him no where. He decided to cut straight to the point.

"I'm sorry about Jack. I know how much he meant to you and I'm sorry if I was…insensitive before."

"Wasn't and isn't your fault. You had nothing to do with it and you didn't know." She said, fixing her gaze on nothing in particular as she cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Zach's the reason you came back, isn't he?" her brother enquired

"Yes."

"Well, you and Jack obviously patched things up." Liir said hesitantly.

"It shouldn't have needed patching up. I didn't listen to him. Like I said, he had a good reason to stay. You see, Jack and Mirisee were together before he was sold to the school. It was his first year at the Academy too. By the time we went to the E.C halfway through second term, 4 or 5 months into the year, she was as many months pregnant. Jack didn't know until we busted her out. That's what he was trying to tell me when I asked him to with me after that first disastrous council appearance."

Liir nodded.

"If you don't mind my asking," He began hesitantly, "How did he die?"

There was tense silence. His sister looked all around the room, anywhere but at him until she finally settled on examining the hem of her dark blue dress.

"It was my fault." She finally confessed in a small voice, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "We were just coming home. I'd come back a few months previously and Princess Nastoya had asked me to join the Council. Mirisee had had Jack's Foal while I was gone, I missed it. For some reason they made me the Godmother anyway. I was in and out all the time, even those first few months back, but I still did my best to make time for my best friend. Mirisee and I quickly became friends too."

Liir suddenly received an image of a beautiful Black Mare and an all-too-familiar Donkey with what he could only assume was a younger version of the Mule Colt on long, spindly legs. He listened carefully as his sister continued.

"Jack wanted to come with me on a short trip, you know, some quality time with his old B.F." she gave a sort of teary laugh "Mirisee asked me to get him out of her mane. I was going to take her on the next trip." All pretext of a smile vanished.

"It wasn't a long journey. A few days at most, and I'd left everyone else in what I thought was good hands. On the way home we stopped by an empty safe house (she spat out the words) to sleep. I was tired, I was lazy, I didn't check for signs of a trap, I didn't check for anything lurking, I didn't look to see if it was booby-trapped…I just didn't. What did I do? I just passed out on the bloody couch! Next thing I know, Jack is trying to wake me up and there's smoke everywhere. The place is on fire and the door has been locked from the outside. I can't see, I can't breathe, I can hardly think. All I can do is hear Jack trying to get me to use my powers to stop the fire. I try, I can't. We try to open the door, no dice, like I said it's been bolted from the outside. Even the windows seem to be sealed. It It's the perfect murder. We can't get out, we die in a fire and the whole thing is passed off as an accident.

"But then a window does break from the outside and Mirisee charges in to the rescue. The rest is a bit of a blur. A beam falls between us. There's screaming, I try to pull it off them, searing pain, I black out." She said quietly, but clearly. Liir felt numb. It was hard to hear it, but it had to be harder to recount it. But he knew there was more.

"What else?" he asked. Her sliver eyes snapped up to meet his. Now it was his turn to do a little elaborating "Raye, I felt it. A couple years ago I woke up in the middle of the night screaming in pain. I was writhing for days. I got all sorts of images and scenes and emotions and thoughts….they were all jumbled and confused…Raye you're still not telling me everything!"

"And I'm not going to!" The red head told him with a vehemence that surprised both of them. "Liir, please don't ask me about that. Look, all you need to know is that it wasn't pretty. Nothing about this mess that doesn't even have the decency to call itself a war is pretty."

"I never said it was. I just want you to help me understand."

"I can't." She snapped, striding past him in a sudden huff "Pull up a chair, read a book, go look for someone to play cards with, do what you want, Liir. I'm going to bed."

With that, the redhead opened the door that presumably lead to her room and slammed it shut. Liir groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. Rhonaraye bottled things up too often and far too seriously, that much he already knew from their time together at school—but this was getting absolutely ridiculous.

"So this is what its like to have a sister." He muttered to himself sarcastically "Now I know why so many people dream of being an only child."

Please leave me a review. Speaking of...

twilighterj4eva: I really want to tell you, but that would give it away whether I said yes or no...so please, keep reading. You'll have your answer soon!:)

FriFro: Thanks! Here's some Elphie for you in this chapter;).

lizziemagic: thank You! South Stairs didn't really get updated that much, though I might even go back here AGAIN and do that over, but I'm not making any sort of promises there. If I do I will let you guys know, dont worry. I'm glad you liked the letter, it made the story flow better and I thought it would be better if the parents told their kids rather than just kind of having a random explanation/recap scene with Doctor Dillamond (I still love the old Goat, but I rather liked this conversation better. It does more to sort of advance things and delve into character motives and stuff).
Yes, the person she was proud of was Zach, the Mule. You'll find out who the romantic interest is in time, don't worry. I hope you had a good holiday too, thank you!

elphieT: Cybercookies are very cyberlicious, thanks! Would you like some cybergingerbread?;). Happy Holidays! There is definitely more to learn, and you got a little more here, right? It will be all unfolded eventually. Enjoy.

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!