A/N: No, I haven't forgotten about this story, I promise! I am very committed to it, but my life seems to only have two speeds lately- super insanely crazy and completely calm and boring. Luckily, I've had a little calm lately so I've had the time to write. So here you go. I hope it was worth the wait. I'm trying to get better about these updates, I swear. And hey, I at least gave you a long one!
Chapter Twenty-Six: She Turns Her Collar to the Wind
The Dominion reminded Elphaba of what their trek through Ev would have been like had the temperatures not been frigid. There were stretches of forest that lasted for miles and miles, which provided not only good cover, but also shade should they ever need to travel partially through the daytime. Fiyero had explained to her at one point that he'd chosen this route not only for the woods, but because the other half of the Dominion was filled with mountains that would be nearly impossible to travel through, despite the fact it was the most direct route to the Nonestic Ocean.
Elphaba was relieved when Daveny dozed off earlier than normal and slept through a good portion of the night. It wasn't until around four in the morning when she woke, crying for her feeding. Fiyero recognized the cry easily and informed Lionus they had to stop for a bit. Elphaba positioned herself behind the large base of a tree for privacy and Fiyero allowed her a few moments before he went to sit with her. He took the time to assure himself that she and the baby were holding up well thus far before he simply settled his arm around Elphaba and allow her to silently lean into him until Daveny was finished.
They continued on until sunrise, when they deemed the woods dense and secluded enough to set up camp for the day. They had a single tent which they could just barely all fit into together, but it was as much as they were able to carry with them. Fiyero and Lionus had it pitched in no time.
"Why don't you two take the baby inside and get some sleep? I'll take the first look-out shift," Lionus volunteered.
Fiyero nodded, wanting to accompany Elphaba inside to make sure she went straight to sleep. "Thanks. I'll relieve you in a few hours."
"Forget it. I don't want to see you out here until midday at the earliest. Now go on," the Dog replied firmly. Fiyero offered him a grateful smile before guiding Elphaba inside of the tent.
They both sat on the floor of the tent and pushed their packs to the corners to afford them as much space as possible. Fiyero reached out and gently removed Daveny from her carrier so that Elphaba could easily slip it off her shoulders. The baby had been wide awake for the last hour or so of their trip and Fiyero soon found himself pulling faces to amuse her. She cooed at him softly and reached out to grab at his face with her tiny hands. He laughed and looked up to find Elphaba watching him with a hint of a smile.
"It's a good thing I made you human again. You would have scared the poor child to death making those faces as a scarecrow," she commented dryly.
"Well as we wouldn't have been able to conceive her had I still been a scarecrow, I don't think it would have been much of an issue," he joked back.
"Fair point," she conceded, her smile growing slightly.
"Why don't you get some rest? I'll sit with her until she's ready to nap," Fiyero offered.
She sighed and nodded. "Will you wake me when it's time for my shift?"
Fiyero gaped at her for a moment. "Elphaba, you're not taking a shift."
"Fiyero, I'm perfectly capable of keeping guard for a while," she argued.
"No one's doubting that. But you're not healthy, Fae. You may feel okay right now, but the doctor told you repeatedly that this trip is going to wear you down. You need to rest as much as you possibly can," he said gently, trying to reason with her.
"I may as well help while I'm still feeling up to it, don't you think?" She asked in a tone that told him she didn't really want his opinion at all.
"I know it's frustrating for you, but we specifically planned this trip so that Lionus and I could take all the shifts and still get enough rest. Anyway, if you were keeping watch, one of us would still have to stay up with the baby. You have enough on your hands having to feed her and care for her through the trip. Just let us worry about the rest, ok?"
She stared at him defiantly for a moment before her gaze shifted down to her daughter, still cradled in Fiyero's arms. Finally, she sighed in defeat. "Fine. But if you coddle me this entire trip, I swear I'll find a way to turn you to straw again."
Fiyero couldn't help but chuckle, despite the fact that she had used her most threatening tone. "Okay, okay," he conceded. "Now will you please lie down for a while?"
He helped her fold up some of the spare clothes they'd brought to serve as a makeshift pillow and breathed a sigh of relief when she finally settled down. He moved closer so that her head rested right next to his hip. With his free hand, he reached down and gently brushed her hair back away from her face before tracing his fingers through the raven locks. He swore he heard a small sigh of contentment and it made him smile. It wasn't long before her breathing had evened out and he knew instantly that she'd been more tired than she'd let on, as usual.
It took Daveny less than an hour to settle back into sleep and Fiyero finally allowed himself to lay back as well, settling the baby against his chest.
It felt like mere minutes later that the sound of cries filled his ears and jolted him back into semi-consciousness. Before he could even take in his surroundings, he felt Daveny being lifted off of him. He opened his eyes to see Elphaba already sitting up and cradling the baby, unbuttoning the front of her dress. He was awed at her immediate alertness as he attempted to blink the remnants of sleep away.
"Oz, how do you even think that fast, let alone move?" He questioned.
She gave him a small smile and he suddenly noticed that she barely looked awake herself. "I suppose we'll have to stop using those sort of expressions soon, won't we?" She pondered.
His still-hazy brain took a moment to realize she was referring to his use of the word 'Oz.' "You're probably right. It's going to be a hard habit to break, though."
"Sweet Aquaria just doesn't have quite the same ring to it," she joked.
"Well I'm sure we'll catch onto whatever expressions they use quickly enough."
"The baby's been sleeping more than usual," she blurted suddenly after a moment's silence.
"Really? Because we can't have slept more than a few hours," Fiyero replied disbelievingly.
"I mean last night. She slept almost six hours without waking for a feeding. That's not typical of her," she explained.
"Well she seems to be back to a normal schedule now. We should probably count our blessings. Maybe she'll start sleeping through the night more often."
"If she's not getting at least six feedings in a day, she's likely not getting enough nourishment. And since we're wandering through forests and such for another week or so, it's hardly a good time for her to start having health problems," she reminded him.
"Which is why we gave her all those vaccinations before we left. She was probably just tired from all the movement and excitement. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Oz, I hope so," Elphaba muttered, yawning.
"We need to start pinching each other or something whenever we use any Ozian expressions so we can start breaking the habit," he suggested.
"Oops," she murmured, realizing what she'd said. "Do me a favor and save the pinching for next time. I at least deserve a warning."
"Fair enough," he conceded with a smile.
Daveny finished nursing and Elphaba took a few minutes to burp her, but soon felt the baby dozing against her shoulder. Fiyero still had a few hours before he was to trade with Lionus so the family of three settled back into sleep.
Elphaba slept through most of the day, joining Fiyero outside every few hours or so to nurse Daveny, as she felt uncomfortable doing it in the tent while Lionus was sleeping there. Though the baby's desire to nurse through the day and sleep at night was convenient for travel, Fiyero quickly began to worry that it would wear on Elphaba. It would be difficult for her to get a decent amount of rest when she was waking this frequently. He also remembered reading that women who breast-fed were burning an enormous amount of calories every day. He therefore made sure that Elphaba finished every last bite of food that was rationed to her for that evening's dinner.
They set out again after sunset and traveled a good portion of the night without stopping. Again, Daveny seemed intent on sleeping through the night, but Elphaba insisted on waking her to feed somewhere in the early hours of the morning. They once again found somewhere to settle just after sunrise and Fiyero and Lionus shared the day's shifts. It didn't take long for their schedule to grow repetitive, though Fiyero was careful not to let that fact lull him into a false sense of safety.
It wasn't until the fourth day that Fiyero began to notice that Elphaba was weakening. She appeared to be growing slightly sluggish, stumbling more than usual. When they settled for the day, he watched her obviously struggle to choke down the food he'd given her. The doctor had informed him long ago that loss of appetite was a symptom of poor kidney function. Daveny was still waking her every couple of hours during the day for feedings and he feared things would only start to get worse. She of course never mentioned any of this and claimed to be feeling fine whenever he asked. He promised himself, as they packed up for the night, that he would keep a close eye on her and force them all to slow down if necessary.
By midnight, he had been so busy paying attention to Elphaba's every move that he hadn't taken much notice of his daughter's restless behavior. It finally came to his attention when he saw Elphaba struggling to get her to fall asleep. She would normally have been out for hours at this point, but she was emitting small whiny noises and didn't seem to want to settle. When her whines finally turned into full-out screams, Elphaba reluctantly suggested they stop for a minute. She gently lifted Daveny out of the carrier to cradle her closer.
"What is it, baby?" She murmured, sounding slightly exasperated. "What's going on?" She pressed her lips to Daveny's forehead to help comfort her, but Fiyero saw her whole body suddenly go still as her eyes went slightly wide.
"Elphaba?"
She looked up at him. "She's sick, Fiyero. She's burning up."
Immediately, he felt the same fear that he could see written all over her face. He stepped closer to her and reached out to feel the baby's forehead himself, nearly yanking his hand back in shock when he felt how hot it was.
"Do we have any sort of medicine that could help?" He asked desperately.
"Um, there's the medications the doctor gave me for my kidneys. Most of them would probably be useless, but he did give me a small dose of antibiotic just in case. It could help if it's an infection, but if it's viral, we'd just have to wait it out."
"What do you think?"
She pondered this for a moment, still trying to settle her crying daughter. "It can't hurt. We can crush up a pill and spread it along her gums so she'll absorb it. Even so, it probably won't have any effect for another day or so."
"Are you sure you won't need it?" He questioned, concerned.
"I certainly don't right now. And I'm not going to risk her health over the hypothetical situation that I may need it later," she insisted.
Fiyero knew instantly that it was an argument he'd never win, so he simply nodded his permission. Elphaba quickly handed Daveny to him so she could rifle through her bag. When she found the pills she was looking for, she immediately removed one from its small container.
"I need something flat to crush it on."
"In my bag," Fiyero replied quickly. "I have your journal." He turned so Elphaba could open the bag he still wore on his back and locate the book. She removed it quickly, laying it on the ground and then standing to search out some kind of tool. After a moment, she settled on a small stick with a rather flat end. Placing the pill carefully on top of her journal, she then began to work on it with the stick. When she was satisfied that the pill was nothing more than a fine powder, she scooped as much as possible into her palm. She stood and leaned close to Daveny, placing her hand on the baby's cheek and taking advantage of her cries to gently spread the powder along the inside of her mouth.
"She gonna be okay?" Lionus asked from behind them suddenly, reminding the preoccupied couple of his presence.
Elphaba sighed. "I think that's the best we can do for now. We'll just have to hope it's something minor, a 24-hour bug or something… At any rate, we should keep moving. I'll just hold her while we walk, try to settle her."
She gently lifted Daveny from Fiyero's arms and settled her against her shoulder, rocking and shushing her gently. Fiyero repacked the few supplies they'd removed from their packs and they once again began to move. It was over an hour before Daveny finally quieted and dozed off. Elphaba eased her as gently as possible back into her carrier to give her arms a much-needed reprieve. They continued on most of the night in silence and Elphaba didn't wake the baby for her normal middle-of-the-night feeding, feeling it was better that she rest for the time being.
Two hours before sunrise, it started to rain. Within fifteen minutes, the light rain had turned into torrential downpour. Daveny was awake and crying once again and they were all quickly getting soaked. Though they were not scheduled to stop yet, Lionus spotted a small cave in a large rock formation and they eagerly took refuge inside of it. Dripping and panting, they all sat upon the cold rock floor. Elphaba immediately went about drying the baby off. Once that was accomplished, she retreated into a darker portion of the cave to see if she could get Daveny to nurse.
By the time she was finished, Lionus had moved to the mouth of the cave to keep watch as best he could without soaking in the rain. Elphaba dropped down beside Fiyero, trying to ease Daveny back into sleep.
"How is she?" He asked.
"About the same, as far as I can tell. It's just hard to make her comfortable, because she can't tell me what's wrong," she explained, sounding slightly frustrated and exhausted. "I was going to soak a piece of cloth and try to cool her head with it. Maybe that'll help her sleep at least."
"Why don't you let me do that?" He offered. "You should get some sleep."
"You're the one who should sleep, really. You'll have to take over for Lionus in the afternoon," she said offhandedly, searching through her bag for something to use as a cloth.
"Elphaba," he said gently, reaching out and laying a hand on her arm to halt her movement. She looked up at him. "Please… I'm worried about you. And I'm worried about Daveny. And I'm not sure if I can handle you both being sick. I need you to be okay, I need you to help me with the baby, and because of that, I need you to let me have her right now so you can get some rest. Please."
She looked at him for a moment, a little taken aback by the sheer desperation in his voice. Finally, she sighed and held Daveny out to him. He took her eagerly, hoping his face didn't betray his surprise. Reaching out for the bag sitting next to her, he offered her a small smile to show his gratitude. She surprised him further by leaning forward and kissing him softly before bending to brush another kiss to Daveny's forehead. Without another word, she extracted a cloak from his bag, folded it up, and curled up on her side, using it as a pillow.
Still shocked at how easy his victory had been, he watched her for a moment to make sure it wasn't some kind of trick. When she didn't move and her eyes remained closed, he went about finding a cloth to try to settle the baby.
He woke in the early afternoon, having finally settled the baby and dropped off to sleep himself for a good six hours. He knew it was time to relieve Lionus and let him get some sleep as well. Lifting his head, he saw that Daveny was still sleeping soundly on his chest and Elphaba was sleeping just beside him. He hated the thought of disturbing either of them, but knew he somehow had to hand over the baby so he could take his shift. Holding Daveny against his chest, he slowly and carefully sat up, hoping not to wake her. Glancing down at Elphaba, he couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked and wondered if he might be able to achieve the task without actually waking her. He reached out to put slight pressure on her shoulder, attempting to push her onto her back so he could settle the baby on her chest. To his relief, she groaned and began to shift slightly and he used his free hand to further encourage her into the desired position.
As soon as her back hit the stone floor of the cave, she let out a small yelp and immediately shot into a sitting position, her eyes snapping open. Fiyero withdrew his hand in shock.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to settle Daveny with you so I could go relieve Lionus… What happened?" He asked, confused.
She scrubbed lightly at her eyes with the back of her hand and Fiyero got the distinct impression that she was avoiding his gaze. "You just startled me, that's all," she replied dismissively.
"Please don't lie to me," he implored seriously.
She looked up at him finally and, to her credit, looked at least slightly guilty. "I'm having some back pain," she admitted grudgingly.
"You mean your kidneys are hurting. It must be pretty bad if you can't put any pressure on your back," he said knowingly. "How long have they been bothering you?"
"Not long," she replied quickly. He gave her a pointed look to which she let out a small sigh. "A few days."
"Why didn't you tell me?" She could hear the hurt and anger in his voice.
"Because it's not significantly impairing me in any way," she insisted firmly, pausing for a moment. "And because you need me to okay," she added quietly.
"Elphaba," he said softly, her name coming out as a sigh. "You know that's not what I meant. I do need you to be okay, I always need you to be okay, but that doesn't mean you can help it if you're not. And it doesn't mean I want you hiding things from me. I need to know what's going on with you so I can make sure we do whatever is necessary to get us to that ship."
She studied him for a minute and Fiyero could see her features visibly soften. She reached for his free hand and laced his fingers through hers. With her other, she gently cupped his cheek. "I'm okay," she said slowly, carefully enunciating each word. "My back hurts and I'm tired and I have absolutely no appetite, but I'm okay. I can still travel and I can still handle this. If and when I can't, I will tell you."
"Will you?" He asked uncertainly.
She nodded. "I will," she said, sealing the deal with a kiss.
"Okay," he acquiesced, squeezing her hand lightly. "I'll pile up some clothes so she can sleep next to you."
"Thank you."
A/N: Okay, this is the point where you tell me you're still with me and let me know what you thought. I was feeling pretty stuck on an upcoming part in this story, but I've finally gotten through it so hopefully writing will speed up and updates will come sooner. Coming up next- the trip only grows more complicated and our travelers are forced to alter their plans. Thanks so much for sticking with this story, guys!