AN. Wow. It is always the chapters you don't expect that get the biggest reactions! I was completely amazed at the response to the last chapter and thank you all so much! It was so great to hear from everyone, and I'm glad you liked the kids :) There'll be more of them!

29

When she had been at Kiamo Ko during the last of the summer, it had all been somewhat of a blur. Between her nervousness over teaching, her concern for Nessa and her grief over Mena; it hadn't sunk in that she was living with Fiyero.

So it was now, in their beautiful Emerald City apartment, that Elphaba really experienced what life would be like with Fiyero once they were married. And Elphaba had to admit, life was good. She still missed her sister desperately, and not a day went by she didn't think of Mena, but Elphaba was happier than she'd ever been.

"The kids at the orphanage are just wonderful," she told Galinda sincerely, when her friend came to the Emerald City for the weekend late in October.

Galinda smiled. "Fiyero told me the kids now call you 'Miss Fae'. He thinks its adorable."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "That's all his fault," she sighed. "But the kids… all love him. The girls, the boys…"

"Sounds like the problem he had at Shiz," Galinda nodded seriously. "All the girls want him and all the boys want to be him."

Galinda couldn't help but giggle as her friend glared at her. "Sorry, Elphie. What's it like… living with Fiyero, I mean?"

Elphaba sighed thoughtfully. "Well… it's really good. I mean, we still argue… Fiyero hates doing dishes and getting up before seven, and I have a tendency to use all the hot water and can't stand any mess," she admitted with a faint laugh.

"But I love coming home to him," she added softly and Galinda beamed.

"Oh, Elphie. I think your own wedding could be closer after the end of these two years than you once thought," she teased lightly.

Elphaba blushed, but didn't argue.

The wedding plans for Galinda's own wedding were just about finalised, and Galinda was impatient for the day to arrive.

"I thought six months would be enough time to plan the wedding. But everything's going so well… I almost wish things were falling apart, so at least I'd be distracted."

Elphaba grinned. "I find it hilarious how mad Fiyero is with you."

Galinda giggled. Micah had asked Fiyero to be his best man, which meant Fiyero would be paired with Elphaba. Whilst he was thrillified by that, he'd been pestering Galinda for details on the maid of honour dress his girlfriend would be wearing. Galinda was keeping that as firmly under wraps as her own dress and it was driving Fiyero crazy.

"Although I don't see why it has to be such a big secret," Elphaba added. "Don't forget, you're going home, but I still have to live with him."

"I want to see his face when he sees you in it!" Galinda explained.

"Galinda, I'm the maid of honour, you're the bride. You enter after I do. You won't see anything!" Elphaba replied in exasperation.

Galinda only beamed. "I have a plan, Elphie."

Elphaba groaned inwardly. Galinda's plans never boded well.

The biggest change that had occurred in the four months Elphaba and Fiyero had been living together in the Emerald City was the third occupant of the apartment. Kefir was a lovable, beautiful, affectionate dog that Elphaba had found lost and starving in the streets one cold night in early October, only two weeks before Galinda's visit. She had insisted on giving him a good meal, a clean bill of health, and a warm place to sleep and Fiyero had known immediately that the dog was here to stay.

He was a beautiful tawny coloured little animal, and as Fiyero had watched Elphaba fuss over him that first night, it had reminded him of the day with the Lion Cub. So, Fiyero had begun calling him Kefir, an old Vinkun name meaning 'lion cub' and it had stuck.

One day in November, Fiyero got home late. He was surprised to see Elphaba sitting on their bed in the dark.

"Fae?" he asked cautiously, entering the room slowly.

He turned on the light and noticed she had an odd expression on her face. "Elphaba?"

She met his eyes when he kneeled down in front of her. "I got a letter today. It was waiting at the front door when I got home from the orphanage."

"Who from?"

"Nessa."

Fiyero's eyes widened hopefully. Nessa had been unable to write directly to her sister since leaving Shiz, instead all communication had been via Boq.

"Your father changed his mind? He's letting you talk to Nessa?"

For all that Fiyero hated Frex, he knew how much Elphaba had missed her sister.

Elphaba's mouth quirked slightly and she shook her head.

"Fiyero, my father's dead."

Fiyero was stunned into silence. "What? What happened?"

Elphaba sighed heavily. "I- I don't know. Nessa couldn't say… I think she must be in shock or something. The letter made almost no sense."

Her heart ached for her little sister, wondering if she was okay, if she was alone and how she had discovered the news.

"How do you feel?" Fiyero asked softly.

Elphaba ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know," she burst out in frustration. "I mean…. He kicked me out of home, he fractured three of my ribs, he kept me away from Nessa… you know what my childhood, my whole life was like, Yero."

"I know," Fiyero murmured.

"But… he was my father," Elphaba continued. "I just… I don't know. I just feel… numb. And Nessa, I don't know if she's okay. I don't know what happened, or if she's alone, or if something really bad happened and she was injured too. I don't know anything!"

Fiyero took her hands in his and rubbed them soothingly. "Ok, ok," he comforted her. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to go to Amala and my captain, tell them what's happened. I want you to pack us each a bag, okay? We'll leave for Munchkinland first thing in the morning. Why don't you write a note to Galinda as well, and express post it? I'm sure she'd want to know as well."

Elphaba took a deep breath and gave a small nod. "Ok. Thank you," she whispered and leaned forward to kiss him.

Fiyero smiled and held her tightly for a moment before releasing her. "It's what I'm here for, Fae."

He turned back just before he left. "What do you want to do with Kefir? See if Amala will mind him staying at the orphanage while we're gone?"

Elphaba paused and shook her head as the little dog in question came scampering into the room.

"No. Let's take him with us. Nessa will love him," she decided and Fiyero nodded.

Fortunately, Amala and Fiyero's captain were both understanding of the circumstances, and had no issues with the couple leaving at the last moment. The whole journey from the Emerald City to Munchkinland, Elphaba was tense and impatient to get to Nessa and learn what had happened.

Boq met them at the front door.

"Boq! Oh, thank Oz you're here!" Elphaba sighed in relief, surprising the Munchkin boy by hugging him tightly.

"How's Nessa? Is she okay? Where is she?"

Boq grimaced slightly. "She's… upset. She's very shaken by what happened."

"What did happen?" Fiyero asked him.

"Where is she?" Elphaba repeated at the same time, more insistently and Boq pointed.

"In the living room."

Elphaba entered the room slowly and sighed to see her sister, completely dressed in black, sitting in her chair by the window, looking over the back garden. Her face was pale, drawn and tear-stained.

"Nessie?"

Nessa whipped her head around, saw her sister and promptly burst into tears. "Fabala!"

Elphaba hurriedly drew her little sister into a warm hug and held her sister as she cried.

"Shhh," she murmured soothingly, laying her head atop of her sister's and rubbing her back.

Fiyero watched sadly as Elphaba tried to comfort her little sister- the only family, he realised in that moment, that she had left. Well, blood family, he amended. They both knew there was more than one kind of family.

"Nessie, can you tell me what happened?"

Nessa choked on a sob and shook her head wordlessly. To the surprise of both Elphaba and Fiyero, Boq stepped forward and tightly took hold of Nessa's hand, caressing the back of it with his thumb.

Elphaba was completely stunned by this intimate gesture. Eventually, Nessa cried herself into submission and Elphaba could see her sister was exhausted, and she wondered if Nessa had slept since their father's death.

"Come on, Nessie. Why don't you have a rest?" she suggested softly.

Nessa shook her head. "No. I have too much to do… plans have to be made."

"I can handle that," Elphaba assured her and Nessa knew her sister was right.

"Ok," she agreed quietly.

Elphaba wheeled her sister in her room and helped her into bed, quickly falling into the familiar routine.

"Fabala? I'm so glad you came," Nessa whispered sleepily as Elphaba tucked her in.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well… you and Father…"

Elphaba sighed. "I came for you, Nessa."

"But you still came."

When Elphaba left her sister's room, she returned to the living room where Fiyero was introducing Boq to Kefir.

"So," she announced her presence, leaning against the doorframe. "Where do you want to start? With my father, or my sister?"

Boq pretended not to understand. "Nessa's been devastated. My mom and I are making sure she eats, but she's not sleeping very well."

Elphaba smirked. "And you know that how?"

The Munchkin flushed. "I- I er…"

Elphaba strode over to him, and leaned down into his personal space, her face hard. "My sister is a gentle, loving girl who is in a lot of pain right now. Anything to do with me aside, she doted on our father and he adored her. She's already been hurt by you once, when she was led to believe you cared about her for any reason beyond wanting to impress Galinda. You break her heart again, and I won't let her talk me out of breaking your nose again. Understood?"

Boq paled and Fiyero supressed a grin.

"I- I… yes," he managed to splutter out and Elphaba leaned back, satisfied as she took a seat.

"Good. Now, what happened to Frex?"

Boq grimaced. "It was awful. Everyone in Munchkinland is talking about it."

"Boq!" Elphaba cried in exasperation. "What happened?"

He took a deep breath. "He was out in Upper Applerue six days ago," he began.

"What is Upper Applerue?" Fiyero asked.

"It's the closest thing Munchkinland has to a mountain range," Elphaba explained. "It's up near the Glikkus border. Go on, Boq."

"It was some kind of business… Nessa didn't know the specifics, but he was away overnight. While he was there, it rained."

"Ok," Elphaba prodded as Boq paused.

"There was a rockslide as he was coming back through," Boq continued quietly. "A boulder hit the carriage and knocked it down a hill. Your father… Frex, was thrown from the carriage and landed on a fallen tree branch."

Boq's wording was peculiar and it took Elphaba a moment to understand what he was saying.

"He was impaled on a tree branch?"

Boq winced and nodded. "Yes. Through the stomach. The- the coroner said he would have bled out… slowly."

"And the carriage driver?" Fiyero asked.

"Died on impact from the boulder. When they didn't return as expected, Nessa grew worried. We sent out search parties and… found them. Four days ago."

Fiyero watched Elphaba carefully. She was paler than usual and very still.

Abruptly, she rose to her feet and left the room. They heard her leave through the front door and walk away.

"Should you go after her?" Boq asked in concern, but Fiyero shook her head, scratching Kefir behind the ears as he replied.

"No. She wants her space right now."