Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.

Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)

Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.

Author's Notes: I hope no one was waiting for a confrontation with the Wizard this chapter, because, really, if there was, the story would end, and we don't want that, do we? Anyway, fluff ahead, you've been warned. Also, anyone who doesn't understand Nissa (and who does?) should read my one-shot "Misunderstood". Apt title, I'd like to say. But don't read the AN there, because I wrote that before I wrote the story, and I was going to have it set during "Entertaining Destiny", but now it's set during the epilogue of the aforementioned story. Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated and adored (my friend is getting annoyed with my constant forcing him to read the reviews you guys give me) and since they do push me to work on this story, please take the time to review and thank you in advance. (Phew!)

Chapter Ten: Planning

Nissa didn't know how she had done it, but on the trip to the bar, she had managed to talk headstrong and angry Fabala out of barging into the bar and letting all Hell break lose with Diggs. She had talked her into talking to Destin, who was taking a course on strategy, and so they were now back at Shiz.

It was a beautiful day; warm post-summer sun beat down on the buildings, warming the air enough to be comfortable without being stifling. Many of the upperclassmen were doing homework on the University lawn, and near the back was a small blanket where a contemplative Fabala sat, looking at the clear blue sky.

"I wish I could have just gone in there and told him what on my mind." She said grimly.

Aran sighed as he turned to her, shaking his head. "I've seen you when you're mad, Fae. Even Lurline herself wouldn't want to stand in the way of you when you're angry." He teased. She let a small smirk through, before scowling again.

"But it's not fair!" She huffed.

"You sound like a spoilt child."

Fabala was scandalized. "I do not look like Nissa." She said. Aran had to laugh at that.

Aran lay down on the blanket, closing his eyes as he faced the sun. He felt Fabala moved closer to him, and put an arm out, wrapping it around her. "Promise me one thing, Fae."

"What?" She asked.

"That, whatever happens and no matter what the reason, you won't turn me into a scarecrow." He said. Fabala laughed, moving away from him to look up and make sure he was actually serious. He scowled at her. "Well?"
"I promise." She said, putting her hand over her heart, before she couldn't hold it in anymore, and started laughing hysterically. Aran bit his lip to make sure he didn't start laughing, too.

Their laughter died down, and they slipped into companionable silence. Fabala looked up at the sky, before rolling over and sending Aran a Cheshire grin. "What?" he asked, wary.

Fabala looked at him, and the grin became more secretive. Aran started to panic, but Fabala touched his arm, tracing patterns lightly on his tanned arm with the pads of her fingers, watching the contrast between their skin tones. "Let's play twenty questions." She said, delicately. He turned to her in surprise, and she kissed him chastely. He blinked in surprise, before grinning.

"Why not?" he said, smiling at her, "but who asks the questions?"

She shrugged. "I'll start." He nodded, and she thought about a question for a few moments. Then she moved her fingers away from his arm and put her index finger near her mouth. "What's the weirdest word you've ever heard?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Picnic." He said.

She nodded. "That is an odd one." She said. "Let's see...what word would you eliminate if you could?"

"Hate." He said, blushing. She touched his arm again, and he looked over at her.

"So would I." she whispered. He nodded in understanding, before cocking his head, waiting for more questions. "Okay, if you don't want to turn into a scarecrow, what would be the inanimate object of choice for the picky Quadling?" she teased.

Aran flicked her arm lightly, making a face, before putting serious thought into the question. "I don't know." He said at last. "Maybe some piece of jewelry."

"Why?" His smile flickered.

"That'll cost you a question." She huffed, but waved a hand in the air to signify that she would allow it. "So I can always be with you." She blushed, looking away, slightly uncomfortable with the testimony. She turned only when Aran grabbed the hand she had left dangling in the air. "Sorry," he muttered. Fabala turned to him, sending him a quick, though slightly bemused, smile.

"It's fine, Aran. Just...let me get used to it." She said quietly, the blush fading lightly. She cleared her throat and went back to her train of thought, brows furrowed in thought.

"You know, if you're stumbling on your fifth question, I don't want to know how long we'll be stuck out here waiting for the next five." Aran said. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, then. If you want, you can ask me a question." He smiled, nodding.

"Okay, then. If you could change your appearance, who would you want to look like?"

Fabala sighed, looking away. "Nissa." She said quietly. Aran blinked several times. Fabala had never been one to measure anything by looks – she herself was darker than any Winkie Aran had ever seen, and her mother was...well, green, as had been her brother – but by the newfound redness rising on the near ebony skin, he could tell that she had put a lot of thought into that question before.

Clearing his throat, he let the subject drop. "What is the weirdest word you've ever heard?" he asked.

Fabala frowned at him. "That was my question." She said, slightly offended by the plagiarism.

"I'm borrowing it. Now, answer the question."

Fabala shrugged. "Love." She said. Aran looked at her curiously.

"Love?"

"Mmmhmm." She said, eyes lazily half-lidded. She was suddenly tackled, and laughed as she looked up at Aran, who was now over her. "A bit forward, aren't we?" she teased, trying to push him away. With one hand, he grabbed her wrists and put them down on the blanket. With the other, he held his weight.

"I'll let go of your hands if you promise not to try and push me away, again." He said simply. Fabala nodded, letting her hands go limp. Aran smiled and let go of her, using the fingers of that hand to gently push her face towards him. "Why is that such a hard word to understand?" he asked quietly. Sapphire eyes flickered into brown, before they looked anywhere but at him. He sighed lightly, touching her face again to make her focus on him. When she did, eyes carefully unreadable, he continued. "You've had love all your life; family, servants, even the Animals in the Badlands. Why can't you understand a word you've lived?"

"Well, you don't understand the word 'picnic', and I know you've been on plenty of those." Fabala barbed. He chuckled at that, before focusing again.

"Well?" she sighed.

"I've experienced love, but...the only person I really cared for...died." She shrugged, starting to push him away again. He grabbed her arm and put them down solidly on the ground. He looked down at her, his brain slowly processing what she had said. He shook his head, letting nearly brown strands of hair fall into his eyes.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." He promised.

"Good." She said quietly. She reached up. Instinct told him to grab her arm again and make her listen to him, but when only one hand reached out hesitantly; he decided to see where she was going with it. Gently, she brushed the stray strands of hair out of his eyes, head cocking to the left as she put the strands behind his ear carefully.

He laughed, eyes closed. "You really do have a pet peeve about hair, don't you?"

"What makes you say that?" she asked blithely. He picked up his hand and went to touch her hair. She slapped his hand away.

"Well, your braid being compulsively perfect was my first clue." He teased. She smiled at him, and he leaned down, kissing her lightly.

"Really, you two need to get a room." Kade said, interrupting the tender moment. Both flushed, and Fabala pulled herself out from under Aran, who fell onto her side with an audible groan.

"You really know how to ruin the mood." He muttered. Kade just shrugged, rubbing a paw through the fur, before he scratched an ear.

"Well, believe me, it's not fun being the one to walk in on the escape, either. Really, did you two have to go at it in broad daylight outside?"

Fabala scowled as she stood, brushing her skirt off. "We were not 'going at it'; we were talking."

Kade bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "Really? That was talking? I don't think I want to see what you two do when you make out, then."

Aran picked up the blanket and rolled it but, glaring at the Red Panda, who had a wicked smile playing on his lips. "Why did you have to barge in on us, then? You could have walked away."

Kade shook his head, fixing his glasses back around his ears. "No can do, Destin's come up with a plan on how to get information out of Old Man Diggs, and we figured – okay, Sheika, for some bizarre reason figured – that Fabala should be there because it is 'her endeavor we are embarking on'." Kade shook his head, imitating his roommate perfectly. "Sometimes, I wonder what that Winkie's on." At Fabala's raised eyebrow, Kade held up his paws to protect himself from the dry comment he knew Fabala would make, and shook his head. "I didn't mean to offend anyone, really, it just...came out." He winced. "I'm doing a lot of unintentional coming out, aren't I?" he laughed.

Fabala chuckled, shaking her head, while Aran stood there blankly, not understanding. He shrugged it off, however, and raised an eyebrow at Kade. The Animal blinked deep black eyes, before it dawned on him that they were waiting to be told where to go. He let out a small noise somewhere close to a 'meep', and hung his head. "Um, we kind of have to go into the back room of Briscoe Hall's library." He said. "The other girls are already in there; Professor Agram was asleep when I walked by the last few times, since that's all he ever does because none of the boys use that library when they can use Three Queens or Ozma Towers libraries. Anyway, we can get past him, it's only Professor Timin I'm worried about, but he's usually at lunch right now and..."

Aran cleared his throat, and Kade cut off. "I was rambling again, wasn't I?" the Animal asked meekly, clearly still embarrassed about walking in on his two companions kissing.

"Yes, you were." Aran said, petting Kade on the back. Kade made a face.

"I'm an Animal, not a pet." He said, before leading the way to the library.

Professor Agram was, indeed, asleep. Kade shrugged, tail flicking proudly, before he led the way to the back room. Fabala looked around the library, fascinated.

"This isn't fair, it's ten times bigger than Crage Hall's library, and we can't use the other three libraries." She said, glancing around. Not only were there tens of thousands of books crammed into every possible orifice in the wall, but there were also paintings of respectable male teachers and Heads on the wall. Fabala caught sight of one labeled 'Dillamond', depicting a Goat on a dais, his teaching mannerisms similar to those of Professor Timin.

"Well, if you want, we can sneak you in again, but later." Kade said. Fabala shook her head.

"I don't want to risk it." She said quietly.

Aran looked at her skeptically. "Aren't you the girl who spelled a broom to fly, then went on an impromptu mission to the Emerald City with the daughter of the most powerful woman in Oz?"

"True." Fabala said, shrugging the accusation off.

"Fabi, over here!" hissed Nissa. The blonde girl appeared in the doorframe of a small archival room, waving frantically at the newly arrived guests. Fabala walked over to Nissa, who automatically pounced on Fabala and dragged her into the room. "Tin has finally made himself useful and has come up with an almost fool-proof plan to help you get Diggs to crack!"

Destin cleared his throat at the nickname, sending the blonde a quick, stern look. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he stood like a general with his strategists. "No plan is fool-proof, Nissa." He said.

Fabala gave Nissa a quick look, watching the girl deflate slightly. Fabala grabbed her sister's hand, giving it a quick squeeze of approval. Nissa looked up at Fabala, smiling lightly, before looking back to Destin, who looked rather gloomy.

"Here's our plan of attack; Fabala and Nissa will stand outside of the pub, waiting until Kade comes out."

"Why would Kade come out?" Nissa asked.

"Because Friday nights at the Nameless Pub are no-Animals-allowed nights." Said Destin calmly. Kade leaned against the wall, muttering something rather spitefully to himself. "Aran, Kade, and Sheika will come in together at seven thirty; Noelani will already been in there with a group of juniors."

"My 'friends'." Corrected Noelani, making quotation marks in the air. Destin shrugged.

"Right, well, after the freshmen boys come in, Riley will come in and everyone will go to the back table; when it's full, then Diggs comes up to get drinks and start conversations with the students; but first, he's going to throw Kade out, since he always does to Professor Timin. When Kade comes out, I want you girls to sneak in and listen to everything he says with what he asks him, we'll keep him busy. Now, any questions?"

"Just one." Asked Riley. Destin looked at her. "Just where do you come in, Captain?"

Destin looked down at the notes he had taken, rereading them carefully. He groaned, and put his head in his hands. "I knew I forgot someone."

"Great job there, Nokomyu." Noelani teased.