A/N: A shout out to Indy's Green Hat. Thanks so much for reading.

Epilogue

Needless to say, with the dragons and the Vinkus backing Glinda and Balfour, the people of Oz quietly went back to their homes after Lady Glinda's announcement. Privately, there were many who were celebrating. Others were, of course, outraged – first they had been forced to realize that the ideals of the Wizard and Morrible were wrong and now they were being asked to accept something that many found unnatural and against their religion. Glinda knew that the announcement would not go over well and Bonescraper offered to hold his position in the Emerald City. She gladly accepted his assistance and the dragon hung around.

In the following weeks and months, there was unrest. People protested in the streets, minding themselves to not become violent for fear of the wrath of the dragons. King Tahir had the Vinkun borders secured but the occasional violence did break out. From threatening letters to even a poorly executed bombing – Glinda and her royal court were under fire.

However, slowly but surely after reading material was released and new laws were enacted, the crowds of protestors grew smaller. Eventually, the protests stopped altogether. While Oz was certainly not a utopia of ideals, the tide did seem to be turning. A better life for all Ozian citizens was something that would take a long time to reach but the beginning steps had been made.

Finally the day came that Lord Arduenna announced the Gillikin was once again open for business and that it welcomed all walks of life to come and visit. It was a good day for the country and people flocked from all over Oz to see all the work that had been done. Dignitaries and regular people rubbed elbows to get a glimpse of the new capital city. Rather than go back to wood construction, many of the homes and business were built with brick or stone. The grand capitol building had been made of limestone with a balcony built for making announcements. The balcony was basically the only round surface on the building. The rest was rectangular, which would not have been very exciting, except that the outside had been painted to match the favorite color of Gillikin – purple. It was accented with dark blues, grays, and light greens, so amongst the other brown and red buildings, the new government building really stood out.

Lord Arduenna stood in front of the crowd that had gathered and made his quick speech praising all those who helped to rebuild after the disaster wrought on Gillikin. Then Bart stepped up to the balcony ledge, Nori, who stood beside him, grew very confused as he pulled her with him.

"Good people, I want to thank you for coming. So much has been done to rebuild not only homes but lives and during it all there has been one person that I have realized I cannot live without," he paused. The good people who had been working with the young future leader of Oz, knew what was about to happen. He dropped to one knee, pulled something out of his pocket, and asked,

"Nori, will you marry me?" The young woman almost passed out. Bart's weird behavior had obviously been because he was nervous. She steadied herself, never thinking that the future ruler of Oz would feel anything more than just friendship. The fact was, she'd hopelessly fallen in love with him but never acted on anything given their differing statuses.

"Yes!" Nori finally managed. Bart breathed for the first time in what felt like an eternity. He stood up and slid the ring on Nori's finger as the crowd cheered. She finally looked at the ring and was struck by its simplicity but also the care that had been taken to make it. One ruby was in the middle with two diamonds on each side of the red stone. A gold band kept the stones in place. The two hugged each other happy that they would forever be together.

Back in the Vinkus, Zara and Emir's public wedding had happened only two months prior. The young Yunamata man had taken up residence in the Palace while it was decided where they would finally reside until it was time for them to take over the leadership of the country they loved. Izzy and Derya had moved to Shiz, the school would be opening in just a few weeks.

"The halls seem so empty," Chistery commented to Elphaba as the two headed for a meeting with the King. The griffins had returned to Ix, weeks prior, and Feilong, Jiahao, and Shufen moved to the Gillikin. Now that things had calmed down in the Emerald City, Bonescraper had returned to the Vinkus.

"I would agree. Have you seen my husband?" She asked.

"I have not…" Chistery didn't get to finish his thought as Fiyero came rushing over to them.

"Yero?" Elphaba asked him as he tried to catch his breath. Zara and Emir were behind him, not running, but holding hands.

"Dad, you really must be careful to not hurt yourself," Zara commented.

"It's all of those pies he's been eating. I really need to speak to Amir," Elphaba said. Emir chuckled but stopped when his mother-in-law gave her daughter a look.

"You have news don't you?" The green elder woman asked.

"When did you learn to read minds?" Zara asked.

"When my husband starts running down the hall, like that. I saw it twice before. Zara are you and Emir…" Zara nodded before her mother could finish. Elphaba pulled them both into a hug.

"My baby is having a baby. Oh Zara," the duchess was young but very much in love.

"This is very exciting!" Chistery smiled.

"It is but we must keep it between ourselves until she is a little further along," Elphaba said.

"The press?" Emir asked.

"Yes. It is customary to wait until later to avoid any…" the Princess didn't want to even imply something bad could happen. Everyone seemed to understand.

"You didn't tell Semir did you?" Fiyero asked, finally having caught his breath. They all had a laugh at that one. The youngest Tiggular had almost spilled the beans regarding the private wedding a couple of times but everyone had managed to stop him.

"Maybe we'll wait," Zara teased before heading off to find her younger brother with her husband. Things were changing for the better in Oz and everyone was looking toward the future with fewer secrets between them.

THE END