Eyes of Worry

"Elphaba! What are you doing here? I've been looking all over creation for you!" he cried.

She hushed him and pulled him through the doorway, locking the door behind him. "Fiyero. What are you doing her? Don't you understand anything?" she asked him, annoyed.

"Elphie, I've been searching for you for months. Don't you see? I've finally found you!" he said.

"And now what?" she asked him seriously, quietly, as they walked up a flight of stairs.

He had not really considered this question before. He had been so concerned with finding her. Would she come back to Shiz with him? No. And what if he lost her again?

"Why did you leave?" he asked her quietly.

"I couldn't return to Shiz—the school of Madame Morrible. I couldn't waste any more of my existence there. I had to get out and do something with my life. Something that mattered!" she sounded exasperated.

"Yes, but you didn't warn anyone. We'd no idea where you'd gone or what had come of you!" he said.

She sat down upon a chair and stroked her cat absentmindedly. "I knew you would try and persuade me to change my mind," she said seriously. "And it's dangerous. I love you all too much to expose you to the danger I'm immersing myself in. I can't just have visitors dropping by to wish me a Joyous Lurlinemas, or whatever it is people are celebrating these days."

"I just- had to know you were safe," he said, somewhat uncertainly.

"Well, now you know, so I'm going to need you to leave. And I can't have you running back to Shiz to tell everyone that you've seen me. If you do, I will not hesitate to move where you cannot find me. And this is the safest place I have found since I came here. Now go."

He longed to say more to her, to hold her in a tight embrace and tell her how glad he was to see her. But he didn't. He went down the stairs and left as she had told him to.

• • • • •

Elphaba sat upon the mattress on the floor and wrapped herself tightly in a blanket with her knees to her chest. She had not thought that anyone at Shiz was still looking for her. In her correspondence with Doctor Nikidik, he had made it sound as though everything at Shiz were fine. She sighed.

And Fiyero? He had been an unexpected visitor. She closed her eyes and remembered the way he had looked at her. It had been a long time since somebody had looked at her that way. His beautiful brown eyes had been filled with worry, for her.

Elphaba then laid down upon the bed and fell into an uneasy sleep.

Thoughts in the Morning

Fiyero awoke very late that morning. He was groggy and disoriented. He sat up in bed, trying to gather his thoughts. He had come in very late from the city the night before. He'd found Elphaba. He smiled.

"I see you're awake," Boq said as he glanced over at Fiyero. "You were out pretty late last night."

"Yeah, I know," Fiyero said dismissively as he stood and retrieved some clothes from a drawer.

Boq tore his eyes from the paper at his hands and focused his attention on Fiyero, willing him to tell him what had happened. To give him some news of Elphie.

"You know, just, lost track of time," Fiyero said, unconvincingly. In his mind he was replaying moments from the night before. Elphaba, half hidden in the shadows, telling him to leave. Her pale green skin shining in the candlelight. He shook his head and wondered briefly how many more times he would relive their meeting in the next few days. He wanted nothing more than to see her again.

• • • • •

Elphaba woke with a start. She had been having dreams over the past couple of days of the friends she had left behind at Shiz. Boq, Glinda… Fiyero. She sat up and shook her head, willing the images to stop flashing in her mind. She cursed herself silently. She'd had no intention of being found here. She closed her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest. She had too much to worry about already without the added problem of finding a new place to stay. Against her best judgment, she decided that she would just have to wait, and put up with Fiyero for now.

• • • • •

Boq sat near the window, gazing out upon the blossoming trees in the courtyard. He heard Fiyero stir and he jerked out of his reverie. He turned his gaze upon Fiyero and saw him roll over in bed and continue his slumber.

Fiyero had been acting strange and withdrawn ever since the night he had returned late from the city. Boq sighed. Perhaps the whole affair was beginning to take a toll on him. Before, he'd spoken briefly, mostly about Elphaba or his trips to the city. Now, however, he would hardly do his studies or speak to anyone. Boq was worried about Fiyero's high hopes of finding Elphaba. Perhaps he was finally beginning to realize he would never see her again- at least not soon, anyways. A part of him hoped so. Fiyero needed to stop blaming himself for her disappearance. Perhaps sometime soon they would have the old Fiyero back…

• • • • •

Fiyero awoke with a start. It was Saturday. He sat up in bed quickly. Finally.

He'd been anxious all week for it to be the day he was to see Elphaba again. He'd traipsed through the past week at Shiz, not listening in class and hardly taking notice when people spoke to him. He was slightly annoyed. How could everyone just continue on with their normal lives? He closed his eyes and envisioned Elphaba again. He left hours before he normally did.