Hey, Chapter 10, aren't you excited? I'm not. And I can't tell if you are, either, because no one reviews! (Except you, MCLBLUE) I want some reviews, people! I see people who get 14 reviews on one chapter..and I get...one. Ouch, that's cold. R&R people, because as I said in my profile...I really actually hate this fic..and I will gladly end it for another one (I've already started one, no one reviewed on that one, either). Sorry if I sound like I'm evil (I am) I'm just kinda mad :)

Li

So it had begun. It seemed that no matter how hard either of us tried, the Wizard would end up with one of us in his clutches. If he wanted someone, he could have me, but I would over my dead body let him have Elphaba and Tale.

"He what?"

"He hit her! Over the head with that blasted green bottle!"

"She said he wouldn't harm her!"

"Yes, well, the Wizard is beyond the point of craziness now, so I doubt that that information is credible now."

"Please, Glinda, shut up!"

She shrank back as if my words had slapped her, "I'm sorry, Fiyero, I thought you'd want to know!"

"I do want to know! Is she still alive? And Li?"

"She's alive, of course, I got hit twice and.."

"Glinda." I gave her a warning glance.

"Oh, sorry. She's alive, but unconscious. He hasn't hurt your daughter, but he has her. And I'm assuming that that's enough."

"That is enough." I walked down the hall toward the door that contained Elphaba and my daughter. "I'm sorry, Elphie." I muttered under my breath, "I know you don't want me to get hurt, but I don't want you hurt. Please, forgive me if this is wrong." I added after a moment. Even though I knew what I was doing was right.

I put my hand on the doorknob and turned. Locked. "Glinda, you primp, did you lock the door?" I stared at her, angry.

She shook her head, "No! It was open when I escaped! He must of locked it when he found out I was gone."

I looked around for anything I could use to bash in the door cleanly and easily. Nothing. "Damn."

"What, are you looking for something?" Asked Emir.

"Yes! I need something to bash in this oz-forsaken door. Got anything on you?"

He smiled. "No, but I have keys."

"Those will work just as well."

Emir handed me his keys. I lodged the first one in the door, it didn't fit. Neither did the next five I tried, but the seventh key I tried fit perfectly. I swung the door open into the Wizard's office. "Elphie?" I called softly.

"There!" Shrieked Glinda.

I winced when her high-pitched squeal reached my ears. "Please, could you keep it down?"

The Wizard was no where to be seen, and for that I was grateful. Sort of. The only problem was that he had my daughter. Elphaba was lying on the floor near behind a couch.

I watched her for a moment. She was so beautiful when slept…or lay unconscious. I bent over her, trying to figure out the best way to get her to awaken. Before I could, though, she jolted awake. She immediately began to talk, "Where are you! What have you done-"

I clapped my hand over her mouth. "Shh. I don't know where he is. I'd like to keep it that way for now."

She nodded and I removed my hand. "He's got Li, Yero my hero." She said softly.

"I know, we'll get her back."

"What if he hurts her?"

That was so unlike Elphaba, I thought. She looked..well, weak. "He won't. We won't let him." She nodded. "You alright? Can you walk?"

She started to nod, but then stopped halfway through. "I don't know." She clutched my arm, and I pulled her up. "I'm good."

I touched side of her face, just above her cheek. She was bleeding. "You're bleeding."

She winced when I touched her, so I jerked my hand back. "I know. That bastard.." She clutched her fists. She turned to look around the room, when she saw Glinda. "Glinda!"

"Elphie!"

The ran to each other and hugged. Elphaba was different. She was very different. I didn't know if that was a bad thing or a good thing.

"Uh, guys? I'm glad that Elphaba finally got what she wanted..but can we go? I'm not feeling very..well, safe." Said Sahlah. Her eyes drifted warily over the blood-stained carpet.

"Sahlah, I never get what I want." Said Elphaba.

Well, maybe she wasn't that different. "She's right. We should go."

"Fiyero, what about Li?"

"Don't worry, Fae. I'll get her. Go, I'll meet up with you when I get her and set some things straight with Mr. Stuart."

She walked to me, and hugged her to me. Something inside me told me that I would never see again, but I ignored it. She seemed to sense it, too, because she said: "Yero, you really are my hero. You know that, right?"

"I do now." I kissed her quickly on the lips and gently nudged her away from me. "Go. Be careful. I love you."

She stared into my eyes a minute longer, then softly said, "I love you, too. Please get her back."

I nodded, then watched her, Glinda, Sahlah, Tasi, and Emir walk out of the Wizard's office, closing the door behind them.

I hoped that that wouldn't be the last time I them. Or her.

I walked, sadly, behind the rest of the pack. Something inside me told me that that would be the last time I saw Fiyero. I hoped that it was just me being paranoid, that it wasn't true..

"Elphaba, are you alright?" Glinda dropped back and walked next to me.

I smiled softly. "Yea, I think so. Just a little shaken.. And pissed!"

"Don't worry. I remember Fiyero. He'll get her back."

"Oh, I know he will. I just hope he makes it out alive."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know. It's just…something tells me he won't. He sensed it, too. I don't know if I could go through losing him again. You remember how I was that first time."

She nodded, "You were…distraught-"

"Don't put it so lightly."

"I'm not. I just can't think of any other word to describe you. I'm not even sure if one exists." She smiled.

"Probably not." I turned and looked up. We were outside by now, and I was greeted with the eerie glimmer of the green bricks. I saw someone at one of the windows. Fiyero? The person lifted his hand in a casual wave. It was Fiyero. I gave him the one hand salute, and he did the same. "I love you." I whispered. And I swear I saw him mouth something back to me.

I searched behind every door in the Wizard's office, looking for a trace of where the old bastard might of gone. Nothing. "Where did you go, old man?"

I heard a creak behind me, and I turned, expecting to be greeted with a blow to my head. There was no one. "Stop being so paranoid, Fiyero." I told myself.

I stepped out of the office, and looked down the long hallway. Where could he be, really? Elphie hadn't been out that long, from what I gathered; so he couldn't of gone far. "Ohhh Wizard! Mr. Stuart! Where are you?" I called, in a vain attempt. Maybe it was a bad idea- well, it probably was- but as I told Tasi: had any of this been a good idea in the first place? No. I knew I was risking my life by doing this, but I didn't care. Or, if I did, it wasn't much. All I cared about was getting Tale back. I hadn't been a very good father to my first three kids, I knew this much. But Li was different; she was Elphie's, she was ours.

I heard a door slam. So he was here! Not a smart move to be slamming doors, if I do say so myself.

I ran towards where I heard the slam come from. One hundred feet from where I had started, and I stopped in front of a door that was slightly ajar. "Ah-ha!" I flung the door open all the way, and at the end of the room, stood the Wizard, holding a fussy Tale. "Hand over the baby and no one but you gets your ass whupped."

"No! She's mine." Glinda hadn't lied when she said that he was crazy.

"She's yours? Need I explain the birds and bees to you? Did you carry her for nine months? No, I believe that Elphaba did, which makes her the mother. Did you ever have sex with you daught- Wait, no, don't answer that. But no, which makes me the father. You have no rights to Tale."

"I am the Wizard, and I can do anything I want."

"You are seriously abusing your position."

He clutched Tale to him closer, and she screamed. He dropped her. Luckily, Elphaba had wrapped her tight enough that she had a very cushioned fall.

I dove on the floor for her, and scooped her up in my arms. I glared menacingly at the Wizard. "You should quit, now. Actually, you should of quit about a year back, but I'm willing to let that slide."

"Fiyero.." He walked towards me, smiling. His smile made my blood run cold.

"Yes?"

"Fiyero Tiggular. Ever the hero-"

(Yero my hero)

"You're willing to do anything for my green daughter, aren't you?"

(he's not my father)

"Yes. I love her."

(please don't say it)

"How sweet. You love your daughter, too, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"What about your other children? Manek, Irji, and Nor, is it?"

I narrowed my eyes, "How do you know about them?"

"You forget-"

"Yes. I know. You're the Wizard of Oz. I think we've established that."

"Therefore, I know about everyone, and everything. Wouldn't it be unfortunate..say, one of them had an accident?"

(I don't want to be the cause of anymore pain)

"What have you done!"

"Nothing, yet, my dear Fiyero. But Now that you've said something.."

"You leave my kids out of this! Leave my wife, leave Elphaba, leave Emir, leave Sahlah and Tasi, leave them all out of this! This is between you and me now, old man."

"You want to play like this? So did the one you call Fae, better known as Elphaba. Fine. You won't come out of this alive, so don't say I didn't warn you."

"I don't need any warning. You are going down, with my help or without. It's called Karma, and it hits us all in the end."

"I'm sure. Well, this turning into quite a nice little plan, isn't it? After you death, Elphaba will come back. I'll be able to force her into helping me rule Oz, with the threat of me killing her daughter hanging over her head."

"No! You want me dead, so be it! But don't you dare touch Elphaba or Tale."

"I dare."

"You're a real bastard, you know that? You should've quit while you were ahead but..I guess that doesn't appeal to you."

"No. It does not."

"So be it." I put Tale down, and prepared for a fight.

(I won't push him away)

We stopped in a clearing just as the sun was setting. I sat on the dirt and began to idly draw shapes in the soil.

"Please, Elphie, don't be so depressed!"

"How can you say that, Glinda? The man I love is alone in the Emerald City, I don't know where my daughter is, and on top of all that, my father is the Wizard himself! And only Oz knows, but he wants Fiyero dead!"

"He told you, huh?"

"Yes. I didn't believe him, at first."

"It's unfortunate, but true. You really love him, don't you?"

"Of course I do." I put my head in my hands, wishing for the warmth of Tale, or better yet: Fiyero.

Glinda sat next to me, and wrapped her arms around me, trying her best to comfort me. I shrugged her off, "Don't. You make me want."

She smiled sadly, understanding exactly what I meant.

"Should it be taking this long?" I asked, beginning to become impatient.

"Who knows." Said Tasi. "Who knows where the Wizard went."

"Thanks, Tasi." I said dryly, "that reassures me so much."

"Sorry, Elphaba, I was only trying to help."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so snippy."

"It's alright. I guess I understand."

Sahlah, for once, tried to be helpful. "Look, Elphie, he made it through the Shifting Sands alone-"

"So did you."

"So? I got lucky-"

"So did he."

"Please, Elphaba, I'm trying to be helpful. It doesn't really work when you're being so negative. Look, he did it all by himself. He never stopped. It just shows, when you want something bad enough, you can get there. He wanted you, Elphaba, and he still does. He'll be fine."

I hoped she was right.

Please, don't leave me high and dry, people! Rate, because I will stop writing this damned fic. I don't even like it that much..non-reviewers: I know you're out there, and I don't like you.