Strength

A.N. Thanks for the reviews! Unfortunately, my mood has not improved as I failed my drivers test yesterday. So bear with me if the sadness continues for this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

"It's all my fault." Elphaba repeated her statement, her voice beginning to quiver as she spoke.

Fiyero took her face in his hands, letting the tissues drop for a moment. He turned her face towards him and said "Fabala, listen to me. None of this is your fault. You did not cause Frex's death. He caused his own emotional stress by not accepting you. Anyone who wouldn't want you, as a child, as a friend, as a girlfriend, whatever, is crazy. And it was Nessa's decision to come up here to get you. As sad as it is that she didn't get to say goodbye, it was the result of her own decision. And, for the record, nothing else that has happened to us in the past few weeks is your fault. Your mother, the Wizard, your leg and arm, none of it was your fault. You are going to get better, Nessa will of course be sad but she will move on eventually, and everything will get back to normal around here."

"Well, not quite everything…did you ever find out about, you know, your position?" Glinda asked. She hated to bring this up, just as Fiyero was on the verge of calming her down, but it had to be said.

"What position?" Fiyero asked. Glinda then realized that Fiyero hadn't been there when Elphaba told her about becoming the governor.

Elphaba, her face still in Fiyero's hands, said, "Well, now that my…now that Frex is dead, I'm kind of the governor of Munchkinland."

"What? How is that possible? You're 19 years old!" Fiyero said.

"I know, I know. But there's no way out of this…"

"Oh, yes there is. It just so happens that we are friends with someone who could help. A little Munchkin boy, perhaps you remember him. His name is Boq?" Fiyero said, stressing Boq's name in hopes of Glinda actually getting it right one day.

Glinda rolled her eyes at Fiyero's sarcasm. "What could he do?"

Elphaba's eyes widened. "No, he's right. Since Boq is of legal age, he could start a petition of some sort to put someone else in office in place of me. It wouldn't be that hard, no one in Munchkinland really liked my family anyway. But I don't know if Boq would do something like that, especially for me. We aren't really close friends or anything."

"True." Fiyero said. "He may not do it for you. But he would do it for someone else…"

An hour later, the three of them had come up with a plan. Glinda stood outside Boq's room, while Elphaba and Fiyero hid around a corner. Elphaba felt a tad of guilt about being in the boys' building. Glinda, however, didn't seem to have any problem with it. Fiyero crouched down, keeping Elphaba in his arms in case the need arose for a quick getaway, and listened intently as Glinda knocked on the door. Thankfully, Boq was there. Even more so, his roommate was not.

Boq was overjoyed at seeing Glinda at his door. "Oh, Miss Glinda! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"

"Well, Boq, I have a teeny, tiny favor to ask." Glinda said, turning on the "popular girl" charm.

"Of course. You know I would do anything for you. What is it?"

"Well, Boq, I'm sure you heard about Miss Nessarose and Miss Elphie's father."

"Yes, he is gravely ill."

"Oh, you didn't hear? He died the morning Nessarose left Shiz after returning for a few days. It's terrible, I know."

"Oh, that's awful. Poor Nessa." Boq said, his voice showing actual concern for Nessa for the first time.

"Well, I'm sure Nessa will be fine eventually. I'm more worried about our Elphaba."

"What about her? I heard she was hurt, how's she doing?"

"Well, she's doing well enough for the circumstances, but she cannot walk or stand so Fiyero has been her main transportation system. Anyway, she is petrified about what will become of her now that her father has died. Her father was the governor, right?"

"Yes, he was…oh, sweet Oz! That means that Elphaba is the new governor!"

"That is where I need your help. Elphaba doesn't feel equipped to take on this position. Since you are a citizen of Munchkinland, I need you to draw up a petition to keep Elphaba out of power and send it home, to circulate around."

"I don't know, that would be very…"

"Please, Boq? For me?" Glinda said, batting her eyes.

Boq suddenly began to stutter as he spoke. "Oh, well…of…of course I'll do it for you Miss Glinda. I'll drop by to let you read it when it's done."

Glinda thanked Boq, adding in some more eye batting as she did so. She then quickly turned the corner and informed Fiyero, who was still holding a now sleeping Elphaba, that their plan had been a success. Well, at least the first part anyway.

They went back to Glinda and Elphaba's room and, after putting Elphaba in bed, made small talk for awhile. It was a relief, knowing something had gone right for a change. Yes, they knew that there was still much more to be done. Boq had to write the petition, and write it well for that matter. Then he would have to send it to Munchkinland, and then it would have to collect enough signatures to actually have any effect. During a break in the conversation, Glinda looked across the room to her sleeping friend. No matter if this worked or not, they were not taking her away. Not only did Glinda not want to lose her only true friend, she was also convinced that Elphaba would have a very difficult time being alone. Not that public officials were ever alone…no, she couldn't think like that. The petition would work. It had to work.

As Glinda focused on Elphaba, Fiyero did the same. He couldn't help but notice how calm she looked. After seeing the worry that was constantly in her eyes over the past few weeks, it was nice to see her look so peaceful. But underneath that peacefulness he could see something else. He could see a kind of defeat, as if Elphaba had been trying so hard to deal with all of this and her body had finally beaten her by making her fall asleep in the hallway.

Glinda shifted her gaze from Elphaba to Fiyero. She studied the intense gaze on his face, as if he was searching Elphaba's expression for something that she could not see. She stood up and excused herself from the room, sensing that Fiyero might have wanted some time alone with Elphaba.

Elphaba stirred at the sound of the door closing. She didn't wake up completely, but she blinked her eyes a few times and gave Fiyero a weak smile upon seeing him.

"Hey" was all she said.

Fiyero reached over and brushed his hand over her face. "Hey, Fabala."

Elphaba looked around the room and asked "Where's Glinda?"

"She had some things to do. She'll be back soon. Why don't you go back to sleep? Glinda told me you've been awake at night these days." Fiyero replied.

"You're going to stay here, right?" Elphaba asked.

Fiyero smiled at her and resumed stroking her face. "Of course, Fabala. I'm not going anywhere. Just relax."

Without even thinking about it, Fiyero began humming a lullaby that he had heard as a child. He was well into it before he had even realized he was doing it. He didn't stop, though, because he saw how Elphaba's face relaxed even more. He continued humming the melody until she had fallen asleep again, now looking more peaceful than before. There was no way any Munchkin tradition was going to take her from him, he decided.

"Boq, you better write a damn good petition…" he said to himself.

A.N. Aww, wasn't that sweet? I feel a little better now. Please review! Also, due to the demons known as midterms the next update might take a little bit longer…just wanted to warn you.