For the nth time, Fiyero inspected his reflection on the mirror. He was Fiyero Tiggular, known as the scandalacious Winkie prince in his college days, so he was never nervous or heavily conscious of his appearance – except now.

Early in the morning, he spent almost three hours fussing over his clothes, face, hair and the small cottage that served as his study place and secret hideout since he was ten years old. It was a gift from his grandparents on his birthday.

The idea of bringing her to his little hiding place came to him a few days ago. He secretly spent a few hours of those days in cleaning up and decorating the cabin. After sweeping the floor, removing the cobwebs, replacing some busted light bulbs, cleaning the toilet, and organizing his old books and toys into their respective shelves, the small space looked satisfyingly homey. There were only a few pieces of furniture – some stools, a couch and a small table – in the cabin so he prepared two sleeping bags, in case he and Elphaba decide to sleepover.

He blushed as he recalled a few of their moments while they were on the run in the Great Gilikin Forest. Due to the lack of materials and warmth, in most of the nights, they had to share sheets and cuddle together – without doing anything inappropriate, he hastily added to his thoughts. Although they had become accustomed to physical contact with each other, he decided that he would let her have her space if she would want to.

Finally, he took a last look at the most important part of his preparations. Opening the backdoor revealed to him a bed of snowflowers in full bloom. Various shades of purple and yellow peeked through the snow's white. It didn't have as much vibrance as the colors of spring but it had its own beauty. Just like Elphaba.

He smiled in satisfaction. Everything looked perfect.


Elphaba initially planned to continue making potions in the hospital, but the laboratory is closed on national holidays. With nothing else to do after the opening ceremony and lunch, she found herself in her room in the castle, browsing through the pages of Grimmerie.

Resting her eyes a bit, they landed onto the folded paper on her dresser. It was a note from Fiyero, reminding her of their date in the evening. She blushed, recalling how handsome and regal he looked dressed in princely clothes earlier in the ceremony. Not that he didn't look good in any other day – he would look good even in beggars' clothes, she thought.

She walked towards the dresser, thought about the handsome prince and sighed at her reflection at the mirror. From that moment with him and the Lion Cub, she confirmed that there was more to him than his beautiful face.

I wish I could be beautiful for you...

She also wished Glinda was there to help her get dressed. Her appearance never was a huge concern for her until now.

Nonetheless, she started brushing her hair, which, she observed, was plainly straight and black. Why Fiyero seemed to be so fond of it, she didn't understand.

After putting on a dress and combing her hair, she picked up a hand mirror, which slipped from her hands. At the sound of shattering glass, images flashed before her. Her breathing became labored and her sweat felt cold as she tried to interpret the vision.

Gathering herself, she hastily went out of the room and looked around for something until she found an old broom.


When Glinda the Good says she is bad at directions, she really means it. While it took her and her companions less than half a day to travel from Emerald City to the Thousand Year Grasslands in Vinkus, it took her two full days to get back on her own.

Recalling Boq's words of caution, she sighed. So much for getting back to Emerald City as soon as possible to avoid getting caught…

She landed on the Emerald Palace courtyard in the evening of Sunday, to her relief. Not many people work on weekends so, to her relief, there were less people in the palace complex that she should hide from.

After slipping past the palace gates, Glinda sighed in relief and internally rejoiced over the mission accomplished. From there on, she walked normally and hailed a cab, looking forward to a nice warm bath and a decent meal.

From the doorstep of her apartment, she heard something that sounded like a mechanical device with gears similar to a clock. It was the last thing she could remember before everything went black.


As promised, Fiyero stayed near the fountain in the town plaza at eight. Luckily for him, the festival's street bazaar was open the whole night, so the place was well lit and people still flocked the area all throughout his time of waiting.

The alarm for the night's tenth hour sounded too soon to his liking.

Despite his outward calm, every minute that passed by added more and more to his anxiety. He was starting to accept that Elphaba might have changed her mind and decided not to come anymore. Why would someone as smart and beautiful as her choose to be with someone as brainless as me, anyway?

He recalled their moment yesterday at the lab, especially the part where she accepted his promise with a smile that took his breath away. That image was all it took to make him stay. He would do anything to make her smile like that again.

Two more hours passed. The crowd subsided and the vendors in the bazaar started to pack up. Fiyero remained seated by the fountain until all that lit up the area were the streetlights.

Snow fell.

He told himself to wait for a few minutes more, but he was getting cold and worried. What if something happened to her? Unwelcome thoughts flooded his mind, so he stood up.

He stopped midway when he felt a hand on his shoulder and something sharp pointed to his back.