Strength

A.N. Thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters

The next morning, Glinda didn't bother waking Elphaba up to go to her first class. While she knew that Elphaba would be upset, she also knew that there was no way Elphaba would be able to get there anyway and it was better if she at least got some extra sleep.

Elphaba slowly opened her eyes, and bolted upright upon seeing the clock. Next to it was a note from Glinda:

Elphie, I didn't bother waking you up. You would have never made it to class with your leg anyway. I'll explain to the professor what happened and catch you up when I get back. Fiyero should stop by later; remember your promise!

Glinda

Just as Elphaba was setting the note back on her nightstand, she heard a knock at the door. She attempted to stand up and answer it, but found it impossible and reverted to yelling "Come in"

At first, she was relieved to see Fiyero come in. "Hey, Elphie. I would have thought you'd be in class right now."

She smiled. "Usually I would, but with this thing", she said pointing to the cast on her leg, "I'm not exactly mobile. Glinda's getting the work for me."

"You should get some crutches or something. You can't stay in this room for six weeks."

"Crutches wouldn't help me either. You need to hold one in each hand, and with my arm in a cast too I wouldn't be able to do that."

"Well you still can't stay in here for six weeks. Come on, let's go somewhere for lunch. It'll be our first real date."

Elphaba considered saying no, but instead just nodded. "Ok. I just need to get dressed first."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, Fiyero. I'm a big girl. I can dress myself, thank you. Now turn around."

Although Fiyero knew that there was no easy way for Elphaba to get to her closet, never mind dress herself, he obeyed. He amused himself by looking at the large number of posters on the wall by Glinda's bed. Occasionally, he would hear a crash of some kind and ask "You ok over there?" to which Elphaba would always respond "Yes."

Dressing herself was not as easy as Elphaba thought it would be. She managed to get to her closet by pulling herself up on the bedpost. She grabbed the first garment she could get her hands on and threw it on the bed. She then threw herself back onto the bed, knocking over the contents of her nightstand in the process. After assuring Fiyero that she was still alive, she started to take off the dress she had been wearing yesterday, only to be stopped by her broken arm, which was tied up in a sling. She managed to undo the sling and let the cast fall free. The weight of the cast shocked her at first and she leaned a bit to one side. She began to struggle with the dress again, only to find that it was impossible to get it off while she was sitting down. She pulled herself up on the bedpost again, this time using the hand on her broken arm to grab it. She then used her free hand to undo the fasteners on her dress. Instead of trying to pull it over her head, she allowed it to drop to her feet. Still clinging to the bedpost, she attempted to step out of the dress, but ended up on the floor instead.

The noise of Elphaba falling to the floor prompted Fiyero to quickly turn his head. He looked at Elphaba and said, "Come on, Elphie. We've been here for ten minutes already. Are you sure you don't need a little help?"

Elphaba took a moment to survey her situation before responding, "Ok, I guess I could use a little help. But for the record, if I hadn't fallen down I would be done by now."

"Uh-huh. Sure, Elphie." Fiyero crossed the room, lifted Elphaba off of the ground and sat her back on the bed. He took the dress that she had gotten out earlier and slipped it over her head. Elphaba was able to get her good arm through the sleeve, while Fiyero struggled with the broken arm. He then stood her up and allowed the dress to fall the rest of the way. Elphaba grabbed one of her boots from the floor by the bed and put it on her un-broken foot. "Now, don't tell me that you're going to tie the laces on that thing with one hand."

Elphaba sighed as she lifted her foot so Fiyero could tie her shoe. He then tied the sling back around her arm. "Ok, I'm ready. Let's go." said Elphaba as she extended her arms, inviting Fiyero to lift her up. Fiyero lifted her off of the bed and the two left on their first date.

Given how Elphaba had just skipped a class, they decided it would be for the best if they did lunch off-campus so no faculty would see them. They ate at a small restaurant, far away enough that no one from Shiz would conveniently walk in on their own lunch hour but close enough that Fiyero was able to carry Elphaba there without much difficulty. Of course, carrying her anywhere was never that difficult. That was one of the reasons Fiyero had decided to make their first real date a meal. He wanted to make her eat something while he was with her, just to prove to him that she did eat. The two of them had a really good time together. For at least a couple hours, Elphaba was able to laugh and almost forget about all that had happened to her.

After they had finished their meal, Fiyero carried Elphaba back to her room. Elphaba had decided not to go to any of her afternoon classes either. She didn't want to make Fiyero carry her all the way there. When they got back to her room, Elphaba saw the note from Glinda on the floor and the line "Remember your promise" seemed to jump out at her. Even though she hated to break the happy mood, she had to tell him now.

"Yero, we need to talk.", she said.

"Haven't we been doing that for the past two hours?"

"Well, this is different." Elphaba took a deep breath, trying to organize what she had to stay. "Remember back in the Emerald City when we had that argument about the Wizard?"

"Well, from what I remember it was more about being supportive."

"Fiyero…I'm so sorry." Elphaba's voice started to choke up again, and Fiyero rushed from across the room to her side. "I was completely wrong. The Wizard…wasn't what I expected at all. He's just some man who got blown into Oz in a balloon and decided to become the leader. You were right, I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I should have known better."

"About what, Fabala? How could you have known that?" Fiyero put his arms around her shoulder. "It's alright, it's nothing to get that upset over."

Elphaba turned her head towards him and said, "I'm not done. I'm not really that upset over the Wizard being less than I thought he was…I'm upset over the Wizard being more than I thought he was."

"Care to elaborate on that?", said Fiyero.

"The Wizard had an affair with my mother 19 years ago. The Wizard is my real father, not Frex."

Now Fiyero understood Elphaba's reaction to this whole situation. It was as if she had lost both parents in the same month. He wasn't sure what to say, so he reverted to rubbing her back as she continued speaking.

"I just feel different now. I feel weaker. Before, I was strong. I didn't have a lot going for me, but at least I was strong. That's who I was. But now, I don't know who I am."

Now Fiyero knew what to say. "What do you mean, you don't know who you are? You're still Elphaba. You're a little distraught, yes, but anyone would be in a situation like yours. You're still just as strong as you were before."

"Fiyero, if I'm so strong why did I curl up on the ground in an abandoned alley after the meeting and completely lose it? Why did I allow some drunk guy to throw me into a wall and why did I allow myself to pass out? And why did I allow myself to believe that meeting the Wizard would make everything better?"

"Well, let's see. I think, and remember, I'm no professional at this, that you went into the alley because you didn't want to bring your problems to us back at the hotel, because you didn't want us being upset as well, so since you're so caring you decided to deal with this on your own. As for the drunk guy, I don't really think you allowed him to throw you into the wall. I'm sure you tried to defend yourself, didn't you?"

Elphaba nodded. "I bit him."

Fiyero appeared confused by this, but shrugged it off and kept going. "See, you tried to get away. You fought back. Being strong doesn't mean winning all the time. Now, as for you passing out, I really don't think there was much you could have done about that either. And as for believing in the Wizard, I just have to say that during those few days after you got that invitation, you were more beautiful than you had ever been."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I saw hope in your eyes, Elphie. I'd seen you be sad, angry, scared, but never hopeful, never truly happy. When you saw that green envelope, your eyes had a look in them that I'd never seen before. That's why I was so worried about you meeting the Wizard. The truth was, I had heard rumors that he wasn't all that he claimed he was, and I didn't want you to get hurt again. I didn't want you to lose that look."

"I'm sorry I got so mad at you."

"That's ok. I'm still alive, so you couldn't have been too angry. And, just for the record, I can think of one more example of how you're still the same as before."

"Really? And what would that be?"

"Well, you're just as stubborn as you ever were. You insisted on trying to dress yourself this morning and we both knew that wasn't going to happen."

Elphaba smiled as she pulled Fiyero into a hug. "I love you, Yero."

"I love you too, Fabala."

Just then there, was a knock at the door. Thinking it was Glinda, who had since learned to knock if she suspected Fiyero was in the room, Elphaba yelled "Come in."

But it wasn't Glinda at the door. Instead, Nessarose wheeled herself in.

"Elphaba, I have terrible news."

A.N. Ooh, a cliffhanger! Don't worry, I'll try to be fast. I'm on break so that pesky little thing called school shouldn't be getting in my way this week. Please review!