1"What in the name of Oz was that?" Fiyero was too busy talking to himself and righting the chair he was in to notice Breena and Elphaba picking themselves up off the floor. "Did you feel it?" He still didn't look at them. "It was like a big gust of wind or something. Blew me and the chair right back against the wall. Of course it doesn't take much to blow straw around, does it?" He knew he was rambling but he couldn't help it. He had a tendency to do that when he was nervous.

He told himself to stop being ridiculous. He didn't have anything to be nervous about. He was with the girls. Elphaba and Breena would never hurt him. At least not intentionally. So what if they were, if Yackle was to be believed, two of the most powerful witches ever to exist? So what if they could conjure a wind like that merely by chanting some gibberish sounding words?

He told himself to stop again as he turned to face them. The looks they were giving him did nothing for his state of mind. "What?" His eyes flicked back and forth between them. "It didn't work did it?" He sighed. "Even so it was a fine last ditch effort." He gestured with his hand. "At least you…" Not a straw filled hand, a real hand. "Tried."

The word was drawn out as he held both hands out in front of him, flipping them from front to back. "I have skin." He quickly reached for his face. "I'm human again!" He hurried toward the girls and grabbed a shiny pot off the work table, holding it at eye level so he could see his face as he turned his head in several different directions. "And I'm still damn handsome!"

He threw his arms around the silent girls, loving the feel of his muscles moving against the fabric of his shirt. "You did it!" He drew them to him in a bone crushing hug. "You did it!!"

"Yippee!!" He kissed each of them on the check before letting them go. "I've gotta go show everyone else!" With that he ran out of the room.

"He… He was…" Elphaba stammered.

"We did it, Elly." Breena turned toward her sister, her face splitting into a lopsided grin. "We reversed a spell."

"We reversed a spell." Elphaba echoed her words, her voice still devoid of emotion. "What does that mean?"

"It means Yackle was right." Breena gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "Together we can do anything."

Elphaba shook her head. "Doesn't that scare you?"

"No." Breena answered truthfully. "But it does make me certain that we're sisters."

"You doubted it too?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, but yes, I did. I mean neither one of our mothers is around to confirm or deny it. And Frex would never be willing to admit you weren't his."

"No, he wouldn't." Elphaba confirmed. "And the Wizard isn't exactly a reliable source of information either. But everything keeps adding up."

"And the connection we share." Breena blew out a breath. "It goes beyond anything I've ever imagined."

"Me too." Elphaba smiled. "We're sisters, Bree."

"Yes we are."

"And we reversed a spell."

"Yes we did."

Elphaba pulled her into a hug. "We did it!"

Breena chuckled. "We sure did. But we better go make sure Fiyero let everyone know we're all right. He probably scared them by running into the living room like an idiot."

It was Elphaba's turn to chuckle as she let go of her. "Can you imagine if Glinda or Betak had to come looking for us?"

"That's what I'm trying to avoid." Breena led the way out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been three hours since Breena came to get Fiyero. At first everyone was excited by the prospect of her and Elphaba making some progress in their quest to help him, but as time went by and no one came to tell them what was going on things changed. It was amazing how much tension could build up in one hundred and eighty agonizingly long and incredibly uneventful minutes.

"I don't like this." Betak shook her head as she paced in the middle of the room. "I don't like this at all. It's…"

"Let me guess, taking too long?" Yackle snorted. "These kinds of things take time."

Betak shot her a look. "And just how would you know? Have you ever seen someone reverse a spell?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"More like definitely not."

"It's none of your concern."

"No one asked you whose concern it was!" Betak hissed.

"No one asked you either."

"No one has to ask me!"

Yackle shrugged. "Then why would they have to ask me?"

"Would you two stop?" Glinda frowned.

"Thanks." Lion, who had been looking back and forth between the two of them as they argued, sighed gratefully. "They were making me dizzy."

"We're all worried." She pointed out to them.

"I'm not." Yackle corrected her.

"Fine, everyone but Yackle is worried. Is that better?" The blonde's frown deepened.

Addena put her arm around her sister's shoulders. "How about if we all just shut up and wait to see what happens?"

A loud knock on the front door startled them all.

Yackle pointed. "Or one of you could answer the door."

"I'll get it." Betak gave her a dirty look as she left the room. A few seconds passed as she made her way to the door and opened it. "What the hell do you want?!"

"I came to see my daughters."

Glinda sighed when she heard the Wizard's voice. "Great. That's all we need."

"I'm sure Betak will be able to handle him." Addena assured her.

"They're busy right now." Was Betak's curt response. "And they wouldn't want to see the likes of you even if they weren't."

"You can't keep them from me."

"Don't touch me!" Betak growled. "No one said you could come in!"

"Obviously not." Glinda climbed to her feet and hurried to help Betak, Addena hot on her heels. They didn't get very far away from the couch before the Wizard stepped into the room followed by Boq.

"Ah, Glinda my dear." The Wizard smiled at her warmly. "Where are those daughters of mine? I know something they'll want to hear."

"I already told you they're busy!" Betak shoved past Boq. "Move it you oversized sardine can!"

Boq meekly stepped aside, wondering why he had come with the Wizard in the first place.

"Is he giving you a hard time, Betak?" Lion was on his feet the instant he noticed Boq.

"Why, were you going to pommel him again if he was?" Yackle asked.

Lion narrowed his eyes at Boq. "Maybe."

"Then yes, he was." Yackle sighed when she felt everyone looking at her. "What? It's been boring as a nun's convention in here. We need something to liven things up."

"Look!" Fiyero dashed into the room. "I'm human again!"

Yackle grinned. "Never mind. He'll do."

"Fiyero?" Glinda turned when she heard his voice, shocked to see he was indeed, a man again.

"Boq!" Fiyero's jubilant smile disappeared the minute he saw the tin man. "What are you doing here?"

"He was…" The Wizard's voice trailed off as Fiyero marched over to Boq and punched him. "Oh my."

"Ouch!" Boq blinked his eyes.

"Ow!" Fiyero shook his right hand.

"Fiyero!" Glinda chastised him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Something I couldn't do before." He grimaced as she took his hand in both of her own.

"What, breaking your hand?" Addena joined them.

"No, getting him back for stabbing Elphaba." Fiyero answered truthfully.

"Is anyone ever going to stop being mad at me for that?" Boq sighed. "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry before you'll realize it wasn't something I plan on doing again?"

"What's not something you're planning on doing again?" Breena spoke as she and Elphaba came into the room. "And what are you doing in my house?"

"Stabbing Elphaba and he shoved his way in here with him." Betak gestured toward the Wizard as she answered.

"Damn straight you're never going to stab Elly again. Remember what I said about making you into Morrible's girdle." Breena frowned at Boq. "And what does she mean you shoved your way in here?" She switched her attention to the Wizard.

"Elphie!" Glinda forgot all about Fiyero when she saw her love. She hurried over to the green woman and hugged her tight. "Are you all right?"

"I wanted to see you." The Wizard furrowed his brow. "And why is Glinda asking if you're all right, Elphaba? Did something happen?"

"I'm fine." Elphaba buried her cheek in blonde curls as she returned Glinda's embrace, ignoring the Wizard all together.

"That doesn't mean you can just come barging in." Breena ignored his questions too. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe we don't want to see you?"

"I tried to tell him you were busy, but he wouldn't listen." Betak added her two cents worth.

Yackle had joined Fiyero and Addena. "Look at you. Such a fine young specimen." She didn't seem to notice Fiyero trying to shrink away from her touch. "I told you it would work."

"Hold still." Addena frowned as Fiyero squirmed. "I can't get a good look at this if you keep moving around."

"Don't stare like that." Lion growled at Boq.

"Everybody shut up!!" The Wizard's voice filled the room.

"What is wrong with you?" Breena glared at him.

"I will not be ignored, young lady." The Wizard met her gaze. "I am your father and I demand to know what's been going on here."

"Demand all you want." Betak snapped. "No one has to answer you."

"Yeah." Yackle agreed. "They just reversed a spell. Be proud of your daughters and stop yelling."

"Reversed a spell?" The Wizard looked at her like she was crazy. "But that's impossible."

"Anything is possible." The crone corrected him.

"Not that." He countered.

"Oh yes it is." Lion jumped in. "Fiyero was the scarecrow and now he's Fiyero again."

"The scarecrow?" The Wizard chuckled. "That's preposterous."

Yackle clicked her tongue. "You don't listen very well do you?"

"But he's a boy. A human boy. How did he become a scarecrow?"

"The same way I became a tin man." Boq answered, looking at Elphaba. "Magic."

"But..."

"He's right." Fiyero cut the Wizard off. "Elphaba cast a spell that turned me into a scarecrow."

The Wizard looked at Elphaba. "You did?"

"Yes." Elphaba nodded.

"It was a spell from the Grimmerie, wasn't it?" The Wizard was in awe. "But why? Why did you do it?"

"To save his life." Glinda kept her arms around Elphie.

"How in the world could something like that save his life?"

"The Gale Force would have captured Fae in the corn field after Nessa died if I hadn't stepped in." Fiyero flinched as Addena continued to look at his hand. "After she escaped they started beating me to see if I knew where she was going."

"What?!" The Wizard shook his head. "I never authorized anything like that."

"You told Morrible to do whatever it took to get Elphie back." Glinda reminded him.

"But I didn't mean for them to hurt anyone."

"Maybe you should have made yourself more clear." Betak sneered at him.

"Elphaba, you have to believe me." The Wizard looked at her beseechingly. "All I wanted was the chance to talk to you again."

"What about Nessa?" Breena challenged him. "You didn't hesitate to use her to get to Elly."

"I had no idea Madame Morrible would drop a house on her." The Wizard defended himself. "I thought she would talk the poor girl into making a public plea for Elphaba to come see her."

"Seems to me you trusted the wrong people." Yackle clucked.

"Apparently." The Wizard sighed. "All I ever wanted was to get out from under the thumb of the Merchant Council so I could rule Oz as I saw fit. I never wanted any of this to happen."

Betak snorted. "Well it did."

"I know and I'm sorry." He looked at his daughters again. "Truly sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. All you ever did to me was abandon my mother." Breena gestured at Elphaba. "She's the one whose life you ruined."

"I wish I could just make this all go away, but I can't. All I can do is say I'm sorry and hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me someday. And maybe, just maybe, realize that I never wanted you to be labeled as wicked or hunted by the paranoid people of Oz. Madame Morrible overstepped her bounds where you were concerned."

"Ow!" Fiyero's hiss of pain interrupted the tender moment.

"Oh for Oz's sake." Breena grabbed his hand away from Addena. "You're such a wimp."

"I punched metal face over there to..."

"Prove what a man you are?" Breena couldn't help but grin. "There you go Mr. Macho. Good as new."

"Thanks." Fiyero flexed his now healed hand. "That felt really weird."

"Well obviously my apology is going to go unacknowledged so I might as well tell you what I came here for." The Wizard huffed. "Madame Morrible…"

"She doesn't like to be called that anymore." Breena interrupted him. "She goes by just Morrible now."

The Wizard frowned at her.

"She told us that at the palace when she was trying to have me thrown in Southstairs." Glinda confirmed.

"You were at the palace?" The Wizard's frown deepened as he continued to stare at his daughter.

"You don't want to know." Breena waved away his question. "What was it you wanted to tell us?"

The Wizard paused for a moment, desperately wanting someone to tell him what had been going on in his daughters' lives instead of giving him snippets that caused more questions.

"Morrible killed some of the Merchant Council." Boq blurted out.

"What?!" Elphaba finally rejoined the conversation.

"Sorry." Boq gave the Wizard a sheepish look. "But you were taking too long."

"He's right." The Wizard continued.

"About you taking too long?" Yackle asked.

"No." He snapped at her. "About Morrible. Apparently the Council went to see her and she attacked them. Seven died and three more are in pretty bad shape."

Breena gave him a look. "How do you know this?"

"I went into Munchkin Proper today." He explained. "I suspected you two were up to something when Yackle disappeared and I know neither one of you think much of me, but I worry about you. What kind of father would I be if I could sit around twiddling my thumbs while my daughters were up to Oz knows what? So I went for a walk. Everyone was in quite a tizzy over what she did."

"Can you blame them?" Breena clinched her jaw. "She's out of control."

"We have to stop her." Elphaba agreed.

"Not to mention getting the rest of the Grimmerie back from her." Glinda swallowed hard. "I would hate to think what she could do if she learned to read it."

"Rest of the Grimmerie?" The Wizard echoed her words. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Breena was quick to answer.

"She has part of the Grimmerie?" He pushed the issue.

"Me and my big mouth." Glinda chastised herself.

The Wizard sighed. "Would someone please tell me what she's talking about?"

"No one recognized you?"

He furrowed his brow at Betak's question. "What?"

"You said you took a walk into Munchkin Proper today." Betak reminded him. "No one recognized you?"

"It's not like I made a spectacle of myself."

"But you were the ruler of Oz for years."

"A reclusive ruler."

Betak looked confused. "Meaning?"

"Reclusive means he didn't get out much." Yackle supplied.

"I know what reclusive means." She hissed at her. "But he makes it sound like no one knew who he was."

The Wizard shrugged. "Very few people actually saw me. I'll admit in my younger days I was quite the man about town, but as I got older the responsibilities of ruling forced me to keep my true identity a secret. That's why I built the electronic contraption everyone dealt with when they came to see me."

"I remember that thing." Lion shivered.

"You made a pretty public spectacle of yourself by flying off in that balloon." Betak ignored the feline's comment. "Half of Oz was there to see you leave."

"Yes, but..." The Wizard narrowed his eyes. "If you're trying to insinuate I'm working with Morrible, you're wrong."

"Am I?"

"Yes." His voice was indignant. "How could you think such a thing?"

Betak snorted. "You're a lying, manipulative bastard. Working with that crazy woman would be right up your alley."

"I never worked with her, she worked for me." He corrected her. "And what could I possibly have to gain from coming here with this kind of story about her?"

"Power. Money. Who knows, maybe the two of you are shacking up."

"Ew!" Fiyero looked like he was going to vomit.

"We most certainly are not!" The Wizard bellowed. "This is ridiculous!"

"If it's so ridiculous, why are you getting upset?" Betak questioned.

"Because it's a lie! Because I find that woman morally reprehensible and would never help her in any way! Because you're making it sound like I'm trying to hurt my daughters!"

"You come in here spouting off some story about her killing people knowing these two are too damn brave for their own good and will want to do something about it. What am I supposed to think?"

"That I'm telling the truth."

"Ha! You wouldn't know the truth if it bit you on the ass."

"Stop!" Elphaba surprised everyone by yelling.

"Elphie?" Glinda gave her a concerned look as the green woman pulled away from her.

"I can't stand it anymore. Betak, I appreciate you watching out for Breena and I, but enough is enough. We're both perfectly capable of being suspicious of him without anyone's help." Elphaba looked at the Wizard. "And you. Acting like we're supposed to welcome you with open arms because you say you're our father."

"I am your father."

"Don't interrupt me!" Elphaba's eyes flashed. "You abandoned us for over twenty years. What kind of father does that?" She raised her right hand to keep him from answering. "As Glinda is so fond of saying, that was a rhetorical question. The bottom line is, you may very well be our father, but that doesn't mean we have to let you into our lives. We don't even have to like you. So don't act like you're our obligation."

"Elphaba..."

"Just shut up and go." She cut him off.

"Breena?" The Wizard looked at her hopefully.

"Don't drag me into this." Breena shook her head. "I'm the one who gave you hell for being here in the first place."

"So that's how it's going to be?" He looked back and forth between them.

"Yes." Elphaba met his gaze.

"What she said." Breena added.

"Maybe you should just go." Glinda tried to be the diplomatic one before things got any worse.

"I think you're right." The Wizard gave her a half nod. "But this doesn't mean I'm giving up." He directed the comment at his daughters. "I'm still your father." With that he walked out of the room.

"I... Um... I better go with him." Boq awkwardly skirted out of the room.

"Let me see you to the door." Betak trailed after him.

"Do you think she's mad at me?" Elphaba asked her sister.

"Nah." Breena shook her head. "She'll probably congratulate you for finally venting some of your feelings toward him."

"Good but that's really the least of our worries." Elphaba pursed her lips. "What are we going to do about Morrible?"

"Nothing."

Both Thropps frowned at Glinda's response.

"At least not right now." She continued. "You two have been at the whole magic thing all day. And you're barely recovered from the last time you faced her. You need to relax for the rest of the night and think about this tomorrow when you're more clear headed."

"She's right." Fiyero sided with the blonde. "The two of you reversed a spell today. We should be celebrating."

"That's a great idea." Glinda gave him an appreciative look. "A little party could be just what the doctor ordered." She wrinkled her nose. "Sorry, Dena."

"No, you're right. It is a good idea." Addena looked at Breena and Elphaba. "You both need to unwind after the day you've had."

"But..."

"Don't argue with them." Betak shut Breena up as she walked back into the room. "You know they're right so just go with it. Lion?"

"Yes?" The big cat waited for her to say something else.

"How would you and Fiyero like to pick out a couple bottles of wine while I whip up something for us to eat?"

"You have wine?" Fiyero's ears perked up.

"Are quoxwood trees tall? You're in Munchkinland. We produce some of the finest wine in Oz."

"It's true." Yackle climbed out of the chair she'd been sitting in. "Come on boys, I'll show you the wine cellar."

Betak frowned. "How did you know there's a wine cellar?"

"I got bored earlier and gave myself a tour of the house."

"That's just rude."

"How is it rude? I was already inside. Why shouldn't I have taken a look around?"

"I have better things to do right now than argue with you." Betak started toward the kitchen.

"That's doubtful." Yackle followed her, motioning for Fiyero and Lion to do the same.

"You keep an eye on these two." Adeena nodded toward the sisters. "I'll go try to keep Betak and Yackle from hurting each other."

Glinda gestured toward the couch as everyone else left the room. "You heard the lady. Have a seat."

"I guess they told us." Breena grinned.

"They certainly did." Elphaba grabbed Glinda as she sat down, pulling her into her lap. "I like when you're bossy."

"I prefer to call it taking control." Glinda giggled. "And I haven't decided if I like submissive Elphie yet."

"I'll show you submissive."

Breena rolled her eyes as they started kissing. This could prove to be a very interesting evening.