[I apologise to I'mWickedThroughAndThrough for causing so much distress with my previous chapters, and I sincerely hope you didn't die... On another note, thanks to Emy for the utterly charming review and I'm sorry to hear your computer's giving you grief. I couldn't really crush Elphaba and Fiyero like that, I like my endings happy. Now, introducing, in its literary debut, Chapter 29 of See Me After Class!]


"Fae, darling," cautioned Fiyero, large hands resting on Elphaba's bony shoulders, "are you quite sure about this? I don't want this putting more undue stress on yourself." His brow creased in worry, the Arjiki Prince, rubbed his thumbs soothingly into his lover's prominent shoulder blades. Elphaba sighed in content, breath hissing out in one long breeze. Eyes closed, she protested.

"Yes, of course I'm sure. My class deserves to know why I'm disappearing so suddenly, and abandoning them halfway through the year." Voice firm. No second thoughts, no reconsidering. Pure Elphaba, Fiyero recalled affectionately. Still not convinced, Fiyero hummed a noncommital noise, before digging a little deeper with his massage, causing Elphaba's mouth to part in pleasure and her head to tip back, resting on Fiyero's broad chest.

"Just not quite right now," sighed Elphaba, leaning back for Fiyero to hold her upright. Fiyero chuckled, slowly replacing his hands with his mouth, before sliding fingers down fresh green arms. Supporting her body, he stroked and caressed along the surface of her arms. Planting generous kisses to her throat, Fiyero appreciated the pearlescence of his Fae's skin. Elphaba's colour had brightened considerably, and had returned to it's jewel-like shimmer. Although she was a little weaker since the bleeding, she insisted on performing every task herself, almost offended by the general consensus that she ought to rest a day more. She disregarded it, and went onwards with her plans to exit the hospital the following morning.

Elphaba shook herself free, righting herself with a ruler-straight spine. Fiyero, recognising the end of the argument, following her dutifully through the disinfected hallways. Reaching the door, Elphaba suddenly stopped, and turned to regard Fiyero with a half-smile playing on her lips.

"Aren't you going to escort me out, as a distunguished gentleman would?" Elphaba teased playfully, holding out a verdant hand. Fiyero smirked.

"I am no distinguished gentlemen, my love. I'm a savage barbarian, remember?" at Elphaba amused smile, he continued, "I'll throw you over my shoulder and carry out, if you'd like?" At that offer Elphaba released a real laugh.

"How undignified. I think I'll refuse." The pair linked arms neatly, Elphaba's hand looped around her lover, and Fiyero escorted her politely out of the hospital, holding the door for her, a sophisticated lady.


Drawing in a deep breath, Elphaba held it for a few seconds, before letting it all out in an instant. She was stood anxiously outside her once familiar classroom, but now it felt like entering a den of lions. Willingly. Stomach roiling, not helped by the vengerful re-emergance of morning sickness, hands shaking, a familiar notion of dread rising up her torso. Oh, Lurline, what had made her so delirious as to think that she could handle this?

Fiyero's reassuring hand pressed at the small of her back, following the curve of Elphaba's spine. She shut her eyes, focusing solely on that comforting sensation of simple, caring contact.

"You can do this, Fae." Fiyero whispered in her ear. Mildly irritated at his assumption that she was having doubts, Elphaba turned so that her body faced his.

"How utterly cliché. Of course I can do this." Snorting, her resolve - previously a bit shaky - hardened. She stormed determinely in, followed by a proud Fiyero, admiring her inner core of irrevocable, unchagable strength.

Thanking her rarely-lucky stars that she had a small class, Elphaba felt every pair of eyes follow her as she made her way to the rostrum for the final time. The silence was stifling, utterly uncomfortable. Taking in yet another deep breath (that seemed to be her favourite activity recently - deep respiration), the green woman faced her class. She was only vaguely aware of Fiyero's presence beside her.

"I must leave you," she began, meeting every student's eyes in turn, "and I am deeply and sincerely sorry for abandoning you halfway through the year, but not even I could forsee what happened to me this year."

"What did happen to you this year, Miss Thropp?" Avaric, curse his nosey streak. How to answer this without being immediately burned at the stake for wanting a lover like every other human being in this Oz?

"I fell in love." she said simply, baring what she supposed was her soul. Fiyero grabbed her hand and held it tightly. A few students shifted uncomfortable at this statement, giving each other awkard glances.

"If you can call it that," snorted Pfannee, "You are with child, out of wedlock, by your own student!" she continued, not believing the gall of the green woman to call her depraved acts of desperation love.

"Love is love, Miss Pfannee, whatever the circumstance!" Snapped Elphaba, hands slamming palms down on the desk, emphasising her instant anger. Fiyero had dropped her hand quickly, worried for his own extremity. Every pupil leaned back a fraction, and the green woman forced herself to calm down. No need to make any more enemies, she surmised.

"Love is love, Pfannee. Remember that." Echoed Galinda sincerely, voice clear and diction true. She, along with Boq and a nervous Milla had been the only three of the entire campus that refused to engage in a witch hunt for Elphaba Thropp, and still stood fast by her side.

"I agree with Miss Galinda," Boq announced loudly, and Milla nodded her agreement bravely. Cheered and encouraged by the acts of support, Elphaba and Fiyero listened carefully to Bog's next words, "may you both be very happy together." Galinda rose gracefully, tiptoed slowly down the stairs with a ladylike air, before lifting her skirts and running full pelt at Elphaba.

The green woman's panicked face disappeared behind a mass of blonde curls, as the Frottican embraced her tightly. Tentatively, Elphaba's arms rose to hug Galinda back, and the two incredibly different women held each other in a gesture of enduring friendship. Pink and green blurred again.

"Good luck with Fiyero, and your baby, Elphie." whispered Galinda softly to Elphaba. Nose wrinkling at the alltogether far too perky nickname, Elphaba decided to just go with it. Considering her untimely and unrelieableluck, an awful nickname was nothing in the scope of the whole universe. As they separated, the verdant woman smiled at the girl who had guarded hers and Fiyero's tryst without knowing the full details, had kept silent in the face of her discovery of the pregnancy, and had stayed stoically in support of Elphaba through the public disclosing of... everything.

"Remember to continue your points as strongly as you start them, Miss Galinda," advised Elphaba, to which Galinda cracked a smile.

"I will." she promised, and held onto Elphaba's slender hand, squeezing tightly one last time. Still holding the green woman's hand in hers, Galinda led Elphaba to Fiyero, and laid her professor's hand over her classmate's. The two lovers smiled at each other, and Galinda blessed them one last time.

"Godspeed, Elphie and Fiyero. Godspeed."


[I just worked out how to break the text with those lines! Oh, Lord, I'm so excited. Although that sounds like a final chapter, it's not! There will be more! And to I'mWickedThroughAndThrough, I really am sorry for putting you through all that.]