AN: Wow. I feel like I haven't been on here in forever, while in reality, it was just two days (three since I last posted anything). Well, that's still an eternity for me :P.

The thing is, last Saturday I didn't feel well, and then I started throwing up, and my Mom joined me later that night... it turned out to be food poisoning, most likely. We both had chicken the day before that apparently wasn't entirely... um... safe. Yeah. So I spent all Saturday afternoon, evening, and night throwing up (about twelve times in just over twelve hours) and all Sunday and Monday just feeling nauseous. I'll spare you further details, but it was gross and horrendible and I'm really glad it's over.

Anyway, sorry if this chapter is crappy; I didn't really have my usual inspiration boost, but I wanted to post something today, because I'm going on vacation this afternoon (Italy, yay!) and I'm not sure when I will post again. I'll probably have wifi there, but I'm not 100% sure, and even if I do, I don't know how much time I'll have to write. So... if you don't hear from me for two weeks, there's no wifi :P. You'll find out soon enough.

Thank you all for your continued support and your lovely reviews, and I hope I can come up with something better next time! Although, this is mostly fluff... I don't think many of you will object. But still :P.


Chapter 29. Worry-free

'We're taking a day off.'

Startled, Elphaba turned to face the Vinkun prince. 'What?'

Both Glinda and Cohvu were eyeing him warily as well. 'Oh-oh,' said Cohvu, and Elphaba's head snapped towards him. 'What?' she said again.

He made a face. 'I've known Yero since we were children, and believe me when I say that that look he has in his eyes right now, doesn't predict much good. It usually ends badly.'

'No it doesn't!' protested Fiyero, and Cohvu started counting on his fingers. 'One time when you looked at me like that, you said we should sneak into the palace kitchen to steal some cookies. It earned us both a beating from the cook.'

'That was years ago!'

Cohvu ignored him and turned to the girls. 'Some other time, when we were in high school,' he continued, 'he came up with the brilliant idea to stand on each other's shoulders to peek through the window into the girl's dressing room. When it was my turn, we heard someone approach, and our dear Yero here just dropped me on the floor and fled, leaving me to get busted by the teacher. That one got me grounded for three weeks – my father didn't really like that stunt.'

Glinda was trying hard to stifle her giggles, but failing horribly. 'Serves you right for spying on naked girls!'

'It was one gorgeous sight, though,' said Fiyero with a mischievous grin, and Elphaba punched his arm. He grimaced. 'Ouch.'

Elphaba just smirked.

'And some other time,' Cohvu went on, 'when he looked at me like that, he wanted us to play a game. We climbed a tree and the one that dared to go the highest would win.'

'What happened?' asked Glinda curiously, and Cohvu grinned. 'Fiyero fell out of the tree and broke his arm.'

Elphaba chuckled and Glinda giggled.

'I did win!' Fiyero protested, which only succeeded in making the girls laugh harder.

'After hearing all that, I'm not even sure I want to know what he has in mind right now,' muttered Glinda, and Elphaba chortled. 'Let's find out, shall we?'

'Yeah, Yero, what's your master plan?' asked Cohvu teasingly, and Fiyero sat down opposite them. 'Like I said. I think we should take a day off.'

'Meaning?' asked Cohvu, one eyebrow arched, and Fiyero replied immediately, 'Meaning no travelling, no worries, and no creepy Shadow business. Just fun.'

Elphaba scowled at him. 'Fiyero-'

'Fae,' he interrupted her gently. 'We all need this. We've been through so much lately, and it wouldn't hurt any of us to just take a day to relax. Just one day, that's all I'm asking. We can continue our way towards the City tomorrow, but I just want to spend some time with you guys right now. Please?'

Glinda hesitated, then gave in. 'He's right,' she said. 'We could all use a worry-free day. I'm in.'

'Me, too,' said Cohvu enthusiastically. 'For once, I think you're actually having a good idea, Yero.'

Fiyero scowled at him and whacked him in the back of the head. 'Some friend you are.' Then he looked at Elphaba, who had remained oddly silent. 'Fae?'

She looked at him, then at Cohvu and Glinda. All three of them were staring at her with huge, puppy-like, begging eyes; and though she wasn't sure if this was a good idea, she couldn't really refuse them anything when they were looking at her like that, now could she? She threw her hands up in defeat. 'Alright, fine! But just one day,' she warned them. They all started to grin broadly and Glinda bounced up and down, pulling Cohvu with her in a happy dance around the room. 'Yay!'

Elphaba had to laugh at that. 'So… what's the plan?' she asked.

'How about we spend the morning together, all four of us,' suggested Cohvu. 'I don't know, there's a park nearby – we could go there and have a picnic, or something… and then after lunch, we could do couple time? Glin and me spending time together, and Yero and Em?'

'Sounds good to me,' agreed Elphaba, and Fiyero nodded. 'Sure. Let's go to the park!'


After having bought some food for all of them at a small grocery shop, they settled in the park on the grass, dividing the food among them. Glinda lay back in the sun with a content sigh, closing her eyes. 'I feel like I haven't done this in forever. Just lying in the grass and doing… nothing.'

Cohvu nodded, munching an apple. 'I know what you mean,' he said with his mouth full, and Glinda scowled at him. 'Coco, that's gross.'

Elphaba chuckled and stretched out next to Glinda, gazing up at the sky. 'You guys were right,' she admitted. 'We could use this.'

Glinda sat up again and started braiding Elphaba's hair into some complicated haircut, picking wildflowers and waving them through the raven tresses. 'You have such beautiful hair, Elphie,' she sighed, running her fingers through the strands of hair enviously. 'I wish I had hair like yours.'

'Trust me, it's not all it looks like,' muttered Elphaba. 'It's too long, it gets hopelessly tangled all the time and-'

She was cut off when Glinda smacked her on the head with her hand. 'Elphie, I'm complimenting you about your hair. You're supposed to accept the compliment and say 'thank you', not start complaining.'

The boys had been talking and fondly recalling more childhood memories of the plans they'd carried out and the punishments they'd received for their actions. They heard Glinda's remark and laughed. Elphaba rolled her eyes, but she was grinning, too. 'Thank you, Miss Upland.'

'Of the Upper Uplands.'

'Right.'

Satisfied, Glinda went back to playing with Elphaba's hair, while the green girl herself read on in the book she'd brought. Cohvu stretched out lazily. 'We should do this more often.'

'We will,' promised Elphaba without even looking up from her book. 'After we defeat the Shadows.'

'You make it sound so easy,' said Cohvu, and the green girl rolled her eyes at him. 'Well, you know as well as I do that it's not,' she said. 'But I believe we'll be okay. We've pulled through so far, haven't we?' Her face grew a little worried. 'I just hope Nessa and the others are okay, too…'

'Hey,' Fiyero cut her off gently, squeezing her leg. 'No worries today, remember?'

She smiled gratefully at him. 'You're right.' She rested her head on Fiyero's shoulder.

Glinda was eyeing the food they had brought, looking like she really wanted to do something, but thought it better not to. 'No worries, right?'

Fiyero looked at her, a bit wary of the tone of her voice. 'No…'

'No worries about Shadows, or no worries at all?'

'None at all,' decided Cohvu, and Glinda nodded slowly, gaze fixed on the food. 'So…' She swallowed. 'No worries about…' Her face twisted into an expression of pure repulsion. 'About getting fat?'

Her three friends exchanged a few glances. Then they all burst out laughing.

'Is that what this is about?' asked Cohvu, clearly amused. 'About getting fat?'

Glinda pouted. 'I'm usually on a strict diet!' she defended herself. 'But this food looks so good, and…' She shook her head, sending her blonde curls flying. 'Ah, who cares. No worries today!' She grabbed hands full of food and started stuffing them in her mouth, making the others laugh even harder.

For the next few hours, they did nothing but have fun. Instead of parting after lunch, they decided to stick together for a while longer; they lazily laid down in the grass, telling each other stories or – in Fiyero's case – taking a nap. No one minded – Glinda had told the green girl that Fiyero had barely slept at all for the past few days, because he had been so worried. Elphaba thought that might also explain why she hadn't been able to contact him in her dreams, since they both needed to be asleep for that.

They chased each other all throughout the park, laughing and giggling as if they were small children, which, for a moment, they were. No worries, nothing to get worked up about – just four friends spending time together, having fun. They all loved it.

Right now, the boys were chasing the girls, and Glinda was screaming as if her life depended on it. 'Elphie! He's trying to get me!'

Elphaba, who was racing away from Fiyero, yelled back, 'Can't help you, Glin!'

Glinda squealed when Cohvu finally caught her around the waist, pulling her to him. 'Got'cha!'

She pouted. 'Now what?'

Cohvu grinned at her. 'Now I get my reward.' She cocked her head questioningly, but before she could ask, he dipped his head to kiss her. She wound her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, smiling against his lips. 'Hm,' she said when they broke apart for air. 'And what about my reward for staying out of your hands for almost ten minutes?'

His grin widened. 'What's that?'

In reply, she gripped his shirt, pulled him to her and kissed him again.

Fiyero, meanwhile, was still chasing after Elphaba, who was lithe and flexible and managed to dodge him time after time. Finally, he unexpectedly leapt out from behind a tree and practically jumped on her, causing them both to fall down into the grass, rolling over until he was on top of her. He rubbed his nose against hers lovingly. 'Now I've got you.'

She giggled. 'And what are you going to do with me, now that you've got me?' she asked teasingly. He pretended to think about that, before his face brightened. 'Tickle you!' he exclaimed happily, after which he brought his fingers to her sides and started tickling her like crazy. She squirmed in his grip, laughter and more very uncharacteristic giggles escaping her lips as she tried to get away from him. 'Yero, don't!' she gasped, but he just smirked at her, never stopping. 'Ticklish, aren't we?' he grinned, and she tried to punch him somewhere – anywhere – to get him off of her, but to no avail. He kept going until she finally cried out, 'Okay, okay! I surrender!' and he smiled down at her. 'Now, was that so hard?'

She was breathing hard, still laughing, trying to catch her breath. He leaned down to capture her lips and she gave in easily, melting into his kiss like she always did. When he pulled away again, she was still breathless, but for an entirely different reason now.

'I love you,' he told her breathlessly, and she kissed him again in reply, pulling him down with her. He drew her into his arms, planting soft kisses on her face before lying down next to her. She closed her eyes, basking in the sunlight and stretching like a cat, and he couldn't help but admire her. She was so beautiful, almost ethereal – an emerald angel.

He could watch her forever.


After a while, Fiyero had fallen asleep, and Elphaba had picked up her book again. Glinda and Cohvu had eventually left to go for a walk and get some dinner, and they agreed to not wait up for each other; the other couple then left and Elphaba put aside her book and rolled onto her stomach, resting her chin on her hands as she studied Fiyero's features. She still couldn't believe that a boy – or, well, a man – as handsome as he was, could ever love someone like her. It just didn't make sense.

Yet he did – or, well, he claimed he did – love her, and she knew she loved him, too. She still couldn't admit it out loud – she could barely even admit it to herself – but deep down, she knew, and it scared her.

She lowered her head, resting her cheek on the back of her hands now, as she kept on watching him, a soft smile playing around her lips. She really, truly was happy to be back with him, and with Glin and Cohvu… it had been awful, being locked up in that tiny room, with nothing to do but think about what she had left behind, what she might find when she got out, what could have happened to them while she was gone. She was so glad that they were okay – well, except for Cohvu, she thought with a grimace. She really hadn't meant to punch him in the face – again – but she had been scared and vigilant and on edge, and she had honestly thought that he was a Shadow, while he had just come to look for her. She felt kind of bad about it, though she knew he didn't blame her.

She sighed and picked a flower, pulling off the petals one by one. He really loves me… he loves me not. He loves me… he loves me not. He loves me- what in Oz am I doing? She mentally kicked herself and threw away the flower, shuddering. She was acting like Glinda.

Fiyero stirred a little, then opened his eyes. He blinked at her for a few moments before his eyes widened in horror. 'What time is it?'

She eyed him in amusement. 'Just after seven.'

He shot up. 'I slept for two hours?!' He moaned and buried his face in his hands. 'If I were you, I would break up with me.'

'Good thing you're not me, then,' she said with a small chuckle, knowing that he, too, was remembering the night she had slept outside his dorm room in the hallway, when he had said almost the exact same thing.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. 'Seriously, though,' he prodded. 'Why did you let me sleep?' He looked around. 'And where are Glin and Cohvu?'

'Off to grab some dinner,' replied Elphaba. 'And I let you sleep because you needed it.' She rested her chin in her hands again. 'Do you want to go out for some dinner, too? Or shall we just stay here? There's plenty of food left from the picnic.'

He cocked his head a little. 'Let's stay,' he suggested. 'We've got the entire park to ourselves now – everyone pretty much went home already.'

She smirked a little. 'What are you trying to say?'

He grinned at her and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 'Well…'

She laughed and punched his arm, before sitting up and pulling the picnic basket towards her. 'So… food?'

They ate the leftovers from the picnic and then they both lied down on their backs, Elphaba with her head on Fiyero's shoulder. She sighed. 'I wish we could stay here like this forever.'

He kissed her hair. 'Me, too.' He tried to wrap his arms around her, but she pulled away a little to look at him, her large brown eyes filled with uncertainty. 'Do you really?'

He propped himself up on his elbows. 'What do you mean?'

She bit her lip and as if he could read her mind, he drew her closer and planted another kiss on top of her head. 'Fae… a chroí, I love you. Okay? I really, really do. If I didn't, I'd tell you. Hey…' He gently wiped away the tears that suddenly started dripping down from her eyes. 'I understand that you're insecure,' he said softly. 'But there's no need for you to be. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met, Fae, and I'm lucky to call you my croí eile.'

She sniffled. 'Now you're making me cry again.'

He chuckled and drew her closer, kissing her lips. 'I love you, a chiste, and I always will. Okay?'

She nodded and he kissed her again. Then he suddenly jumped to his feet and extended a hand towards her, that adorable lopsided grin that always melted her on his face. 'Come on.'

She looked at his hand, then at him, then at his hand again, wary. 'What for, exactly?'

His grin widened. 'How about another dancing lesson?'

A little baffled, she blinked at him, and he laughed. 'Aw, come on. It's been a while, and we agreed that we needed some fun and distraction, right?'

Slowly, a smile spread across her face, and she accepted his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. 'Alright then, Mr. Dancing-through-life. What kind of dance did you have in mind?' She half-closed her eyes and pursed her lips, batting her eyelashes. 'A slow dance again?'

He blushed and she laughed. 'Well,' he said defensively, 'I would never say no to a slow dance with you.'

She smiled at him.

'But I was thinking that maybe I could teach you something new.'

'Like what?' she asked, and he shrugged. 'I don't know. Maybe a waltz?'

'Ah,' she said. 'Now that's a dance I do know.'

He blinked. 'You do?'

She nodded. 'I've always had two left feet, but my father insisted on teaching me a proper waltz. He said that every young lady should know her waltzes.' She rolled her eyes. 'Not that I ever actually danced it after those lessons… I've never really been one for parties. But I think I can remember it.'

Fiyero smiled. 'Good. Let's give it a try then.' He took her hand in his and placed his other hand on her waist, while she laid hers on his shoulder.

They danced quietly, falling into step with one another even without music. 'So…' He drew her a bit closer. 'Did you have fun today?'

She smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. 'I did. I think it was one of your better ideas – I don't think I've felt this calm and… well… almost happy in a long time.'

He smiled, too. 'I'm glad.'

She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes. 'I don't want this night to end,' she whispered, and he kissed the top of her head. 'Who says it has to?'

She leaned into him, perfectly content in that moment as they danced under the stars together.