An hour had passed since they had left Shiz. The four had hardly said a word. The cold night air got into their bones, and each pair stayed close together.

Ali looked down across the landscape of Oz. How beautiful it looked from the perspective of a bird, and how ugly it was up close, and even worse because of the changes the darkness had brought upon the land. She hadn't had time to put her hair back into its traditional braid, so it flew free, billowing behind her. The cool air let her mind flow freely, and she took the opportunity to just relax and enjoy life, for what could be one of the last times, at least, for a while.

Fae reclined, well, as much as was possible in a small bubble, in Blaise's arms. Everything always felt right there. That, and it was freezing! She secretly had many fears about the coming days. Nothing was guaranteed, not even their survival. But, she knew that Blaise would protect her. He didn't have to go with them, but he did, and she felt more love for him at that moment then any other time she could think of.

Blaise, meanwhile, had things on his mind as well. Why in Oz did his girlfriend HAVE to have chosen the bubble as her mode of transportation? Though it was better than what Amirio was on (and he inwardly laughed at the boy for having to be on it), it still wasn't comfortable standing for two hours. His brown eyes looked at the girl in his arms. He couldn't believe he was going to such lengths for her. Not that he didn't love her, he did. It was just that… this was going against his life long policy: do as little as you have to for the things you want. Yet, here he found himself, his tall, muscular figure cramped inside a bubble with his girlfriend. He would die if any of the guys had seen him like this. He was the tough guy. The one who would never shed a tear. He cared; he just didn't show it a lot (with the exception of Fae). He had a hard life. Though his family had been a well off one, he never really felt as if he 'fit.' So when the opportunity came to attend Shiz, well, let's just say it didn't take long to answer. He was a smart guy, well, when it came to some things. However, he didn't know when to admit when he was wrong. His pride was huge, and his ego could sometimes become even bigger. But, Fae was quick to bring him down. He needed her. She was the one thing that kept him sane, and kept him level headed.

Amirio and Ali sat there on the broom, Ali intent on controlling it, and Amirio intent on Ali. She just seemed so... in her element. Her hair blowing behind her like the wisps of a cloud on a summer day, her face so relaxed, yet intent on something. "She looks so beautiful," he thought fondly to himself, still not believing that this was his girlfriend. This beautiful creature was his. With a sigh, he looked out over Oz. "Why am I here?" he asked himself. In less than five minutes, he had come to look for his girlfriend, found her trapped, broken the window to the room, and flown off to who knows where? Yet, for some reason, it just felt right. Sure, he had plenty of questions, such as why Ali was flying a broom just like the Wicked Witch of the West, and why that had to leave so quickly from Shiz, but that didn't matter. He knew that what he was doing was what he needed to be doing. He trusted Ali and Fae, and knew that whatever it was going on, it must be serious for them to react as they did. He needed to be here, and that's what he knew was the right course. Even with all the trust he had in the two girls, his thirst for the answer to all the questions he was asking could not be quenched. He needed to know what was going on here.

"Ali?" he asked tentatively, unsure of what her response should be.

"Yes?" she replied, with her mind clearly on other matters.

""Why am I here? I mean, why me?"

"Why are you asking me? I assumed you're here because your mother gave birth to you-"

"No, not like that. I mean, why are we leaving Shiz and going somewhere that even you don't seem to be sure of, and why did you bring me along?"

Ali bit her lip and sighed. She knew he would eventually ask these questions, but she didn't know how to approach the matter. Was she to reveal her family's secret, or to respond in a very vague form? She'd barely known him for a week, but she already felt like she had known him for a lifetime. Could she trust him? With a deep breath, Ali explained everything to him. Her real parents, the darkness situation, the situation with Professor Siyamak, everything. He had so many questions, oh so many questions! She tried to answer him the best she could, but some were just unanswerable. And some questions just kept coming up, such as those about her parents.

"Your mother didn't actually melt?" he asked for the fifth time in a few minutes.

"No, did you not listen? She didn't melt, and is alive and well." "I hope," thought Ali. She or Fae hadn't heard from Glinda or Elphaba since they left their dorm room over a week ago.

"So, she wasn't really wicked?" he asked again, still trying to get his mind around the fact that the green witch who had been the ultimate personification of evil in his life was best friends with Glinda the Good and the mother of his girlfriend.

"No, she wasn't wicked! For the last time, Amirio, the Wizard was the evil one, and chose to depict her like that. All of Oz believed him, just as they had about everything else. My mother was doing the best for Oz that she could."

"I'm sorry," said Amirio meekly. He didn't want to bear the wrath of Ali, for he knew it was vicious.

"It's okay. I'm just sick of having to deal with all of this. I want a normal life. I don't want to have to deal with all of this danger and secrecy and just want to be... normal," Ali said with a small smile.

Amirio crept up closer to her on the broom, and encircled her figure with his arms. She put her head on her shoulder, and the two sat like that for a while, just enjoying the other being so close.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything, Amirio," Ali said with a small sigh. It felt so relieving to not have to handle all of this by herself, and to have someone's shoulder she could cry on, and he would know exactly what. Her life, for that small moment in time, was perfect. She didn't care about being normal, or having friends, or anything else. How could she want anything else? She had everything she found necessary to have a good life, and nothing else mattered. Her life, for that one moment, was seamless and unspoiled by anything.

Once again, though, her life remained like that for only an instant. The instantaneous snapshot of a flawless life she had just experienced was now gone. Instead, a gust of wind blew up suddenly. The wind caught the broom, and caused it to start a sudden descent to the ground.