The annual sports day at Vinkun High School drew to a close when the sun was setting in the summer sky. The school headmaster, looking proud at the makeshift platform, stood behind the tables filled with prizes. The games had ended half an hour again. Some of the children (and their parents) stayed back because the children had won some of the competitions and would be called up to the stage to receive their medals. Others stayed back because they wanted to cheer when their friends went on stage to receive their prizes. There was a festive atmosphere in the air. The people walked around, as the sweaty children called out and ran to their friends while their parents chit chatted. The school's administrative head tried to get the crowd to go near to the stage so that they could start on the prize giving, but the people ignored her.

Among the crowd were Fiyero and his family. On this day, he was not a prince, but just a proud father. Both Nor and Liir attended Vinkun High School, but only Nor had participated in the matches. The two younger children – Irji and Manek – would attend the same school when they were older.

Nor tugged at her parents' hands and pulled them towards the stage. Elphaba had tied her hair into a braid, but now her hair was a mess, the tendrils either sticking to her hair or forming a halo around her face.

"You see that silver medal on the third row?" Nor asked her parents. "That is mine. And the other one is …. " she counted the number of medals. "Should be that one. The gold one on the second row. Isn't it the prettiest thing you have ever seen?" She beamed with pride.

"Yes, you killed your boyfriend for that little bit piece of metal," Liir replied sarcastically and hid behind his father the moment Nor lunged at him. Elphaba pulled her back.

"Nor!" she chided.

"I didn't kill Geram! It's just a tiny cut. And it's not my fault that he's so slow."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Liir sang. Elphaba chuckled as she looked at his two children. They were so often at loggerheads outsiders thought that they hated each other. But whenever someone bullied one of them, the other would come to the rescue, and there were many peaceful days when the children would play and read together harmoniously.

Nor crossed her arms. "And he's not my boyfriend."

This time Fiyero laughed louder. Nor and Geram were not dating, but it was obvious how sweet he was to her. Geram was a Glikkus prince, distantly related to the current ruler, and Fiyero would not be surprised if one day his father would approach him and proposed a match between the two teenagers.

"Like mother, like daughter," he said, and Elphaba shot him an annoyed look.

"How badly is he wounded?" She asked her daughter.

Nor shrugged. "I don't know. I've won, and that's all that matters." But an uncertainty crept into her voice and she gripped her sword tighter.

"Do you think he will be alright?" she asked for a while.

"I'm sure he'll be alright, but it wouldn't hurt to visit him. He's your friend, after all."

Nor nodded. "Do you think he's angry with me? For hurting him?"

"He won't. He knows that it's a competition and he could get injured," Fiyero assured her.

"But I think he'll be happy if you dropped by."

Nor wrapped her fingers tightly around Elphaba's green hand. "Will you go with me, Mama?"

Elphaba nodded. "Of course, I will. Come on." She led her daughter to the first aid camp without saying goodbye to Fiyero.

Fiyero brought up some fruits. Elphaba was unusually quiet during dinner when Nor entertained her younger siblings with stories on how she won her two matches and the match she lost. She had excused herself the moment dinner was over and left the table.

Fiyero entered their bedroom and he knew what she was doing the moment he heard the sounds.

Elphaba was seated on the couch, her back to him. There was a glass of wine at the table next to her, half drunk. But the green girl's attention was not on the wine. Her head was rested on the back of the couch and her eyes were closed. Her skirt was pulled up to her hips, and her hand was between her legs, touching herself. And the frustrated noises that she made told Fiyero that she was not getting what she wanted.

He put down the tray and went up to her quietly. Without a word, he wound a hand around her neck. His other hand went down, joining her hand at her clit. He sucked the side of her neck, two fingers gently rubbing her sensitive nerves between her legs, and he heard her whimper. His other hand caressed the tight skin around her throat and she moaned.

"Fae," he called her name as his fingers pressed harder on her clit, rubbing in circles. Her fingers clamped around his wrist, guiding him as she spread her legs wider and lifted her hips to meet his fingers. His fingers slipped lower, slipping into her easily, in and out again as he went to her clit again, spreading her juice over her skin.

"Yero," she moaned his name, her eyes still closed.

Fiyero moved to the front of the couch, his hands spreading her legs so that he could go between them. He kissed her on her mouth, his tongue sweeping in, as his hand moved between her leg. His thumb rubbed against her nub, while a finger teased her opening and then he pulled away.

She growled to his delight, and she pushed him away.

"You're still angry with me," she accused as she opened her eyes.

"Angry?"

Her hand went to his left arm, to the old scar that did not fade after some many years.

"You think that I am not a good mother."

Fiyero was caught by surprise. "You? What made you say that?"

"'Like mother, like daughter.' You think that she is like a wild child, going around stabbing people with her sword. You think that she's like me."

Fiyero laughed. Now he knew what she had been mad about.

"It is a competition, Fae, and accidents are inevitable in swordplay. Geram will be fine, and he is not going to be angry with her for besting him. And I am not angry with you. I never was."

"Then why do you say that? Why do you want the children to know about what happened so many years ago?"

"I didn't say anything. I'm not going to tell them anything. Only you and I will know what happened so many years ago. It's our secret."

"But you said that she's like me." She pouted.

"Because she's like you – passionate and spirited. There's nothing wrong with that. I don't want a daughter who sits at home, plays a dozen musical instruments and sew. I love her the way she is. I love you the way you are."

"Really?"

"Really."

He was glad to see her smile.

"I love you, Fae," he told her as he kissed her.

"I love you too, Yero," she told him as he lowered his head.

He started with her kneecap, kissing it before he went up to her thigh. Elphaba sighed as he kissed her every inch of her inner thigh and sucked on her skin. His finger went to her clit, touching her there when he lapped at her entrance, tasting her sweetness.

Elphaba closed her eyes as he continued with his ministrations.

"Yero, yes," she hissed with pleasure as his tongue slid from back to front.

He switched position, with his tongue going to her clit. She spread her legs wider, presenting herself to him as his tongue explored the skin around her clit, when each stroke garnered a moan from Fae. He sucked gently on her thigh, and she shivered with pleasure, her hands clutched at his hair, pulling him back to where she wanted him to be.

"Yero, please."

Fiyero obliged, his tongue going back to her clit, tasting her. Two of his fingers entered her, stroking her inside, and she gasped at the sensation. Another finger went in, and her gasps turned into moans as he found her sweet spot, and Fiyero felt her tightened around his fingers as she shivered again. He was hard for her, but he pumped faster, his tongue coated with her sweetness as he drew circles with his tongue. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she shivered over and over, and her whimpers increased in frequency, until it was so high it was barely a squeak. She squeezed him tight with her thighs, and then she arched her back and the shudder that passed through her was so intense that he could feel in his bones.

He dropped onto the couch and kissed her. "Yero," she panted his name as she smiled at him. Her hand went to the budge of his pants and she stroked his crotch lazily, earning a groan from him.

"Bed?" he asked.

She licked her lips, and he could feel her lips around his cock, her tongue sweeping along his length the way he liked it.

"Bed."

Many, many years ago.

The bride sat on the bed. Downstairs, she could hear that the celebration was winding down. Someone cracked a joke, and everyone laughed. There was one last toast, and then there were footsteps going up the stairs.

She was still dressed in her wedding gown, with its fluffy sleeves and puffy skirt. She had lied to the maid serving her that the gown should be left on because it was a Munchkin tradition - the groom should be the one who took it off or else it would bring bad luck to the marriage. She reached under the layers of skirt and took out the scissors that she had strapped to her thigh. She hid it under the set of sleeping robes that the maid had left on the bed, just in case the groom came in with his boisterous friends. She would only take out the scissors when he was alone in the room with her.

The group of young men stopped outside the room. They shared another joke, cheered for the groom, and then the friends departed, going down the stairs again.

The groom entered the room alone.