A/N: Happy Lurlinemas and a happy new year everyone!
Tell me it's not true
Elphaba and Fiyero didn't leave the hospital for two days. Liir was given the all-clear by the doctors, and neither twin left their parents' sights or their brother's bedside. Ashender had the bullet removed from his torso and the infant was on a slow road to recovery.
Glinda came to see them on day three, and the two women shared a tight hug.
"Oh, Elphie..." Glinda wiped her friend's tears. "How is he?"
"Stable... But he hasn't woken up yet... They want him to wake up before they will let us take him home."
Glinda nodded, looking at the other two children who were asleep sharing a chair. "I bet they just wanna go home now..."
"We all do..." she sighed. "I just feel so useless sitting in here!"
"I know-"
"No, you don't! You don't know! How can you have any idea of how this feels?!"
Glinda didn't respond, she didn't have an answer, because her best friend was right. Instead, she hugged her again, not letting go even when she fought against her.
"Just... just tell me the bastard was caught... please, just... I need to know that."
"He was... Fiyero caught up to him that day... he doesn't want a trial here."
"He wants to take him back and have him face trial in our own lands..." Elphaba guessed and nodded. "Makes sense, I guess..." She laughed humourlessly. "He'll be torn apart. Quite literally."
"I'd have never guessed Fifi to be the violent type..."
"It's to send a message to anyone still supporting that piece of scum. If they come for my family, and that includes my friends, I will come for them." Fiyero explained when he entered the room.
Glinda sighed and dragged him into the hug with her and Elphaba, and he hugged them both close.
"He's been sent ahead and will be locked in a cell until we return. They're also preparing to send Gia on..."
Elphaba looked up at him. "She'll travel alone?"
He shook his head. "There will be someone with her to prepare her body on the way, and they'll stay with her the whole time." He kissed her head when she cuddled closer to him.
"Where will she go?" Glinda asked.
"I sent word back home and I've asked my mother to take her in at Kiamo Ko until we return home. I guess a written statement will be prepared for me to deliver, explaining what went on."
Elphaba pulled away from the hug when she heard a child's cough and a cry and she rushed back to her son's bedside. "Shh... it's okay, I'm here, my baby, it's okay," she told him gently and smoothed down his hair, and saw Fiyero the other side in her peripheral vision.
Glinda dashed out for a doctor, coming back with one a few minutes later.
The doctor checked him over and assessed his breathing. "He's back with us," he spoke.
Elphaba, for once, couldn't speak, she just held him close to her.
"When can we leave?" Fiyero asked.
"He should be fine to travel, but only short distances while he heals."
He nodded.
By the end of the week, they were able to leave the hospital and make their journey home.
"I don't care if you don't like it. You're being guarded to the outskirts of the city, and that's that! Our family is not losing anybody else!" Glinda told Fiyero firmly when he complained about the guards. "We've rounded up most of the Loyalists, but who's to say we got them all."
"And who's to say the minute you're out of sight they won't -"
"Because I've already spoken to them."
He looked up to see Elphaba walk to them. "Fae?"
"I was able to find a spell that revealed their true intentions... And when Glinda and I questioned them, I used it. It will only be for the day's trip, we're on our own then until we get to Kiamo Ko..."
He sighed. "Fine. How many?" he put his arm around her waist.
"Four," Glinda answered. "All on horseback. They will have your carriage surrounded, and that should protect against any further attacks."
"I wouldn't have them either, Yero, but just this once, we have to..."
He nodded. "Where are the kids?"
"Playing. They're almost ready to go home. Come on, let's get out of here."
Within the hour, they had said their goodbyes to Glinda and were safely in the carriage and heading out of the city. The residents of the Emerald City were not told of their departure, which meant no crowd watched them leave.
Ashender and Leila-Rose were seated with Elphaba, Liir stuck to Fiyero's side like glue.
"I think we should leave it a while before returning back there." she sighed. "They're scared and they're quiet and I don't like it."
"I know." he sighed. "I know, I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully, with a bit of time, once they're back home and back with their friends, it should start going back to normal. I know they'll take some time to get over what happened to them."
She nodded. "It just... it all happened so fast..." Her arm tightened around Leila as soon as she started whimpering in her sleep. She saw everything... She thought sadly. "This shouldn't have happened to them. I should be telling them to be quiet right now, not wishing they'd laugh and shout over each other."
Fiyero sighed, shuffling Liir against him and he switched to the empty seat beside his wife and he put his arm around her. "They'll be okay. They're strong, just like their mother. I know, they shouldn't have to be."
She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. "Either I'm cursed or that damn city is! I swear every time I'm there something bad always happens! And yet, I still call the stupid place home!"
He stayed quiet while she ranted, hating the fact that he couldn't do anything to stop it. He hated feeling helpless.
By the time they reached the Vinkun border, they hadn't got much sleep, and the three children had woken up from nightmares more times than either of them wanted to count.
Eleanora ushered them all inside as soon as they reached Kiamo Ko. "You two, go and sleep, your bed is made up already. I will take care of the children." She watched the pair go, clearly too tired to argue with her and she sighed.
"Gamma, someone tried to hurt mama and I'm scared." Leila clutched at her grandmother's skirts.
"I know you are, angel. You're safe now, all of you are," she said in a gentle tone and followed a maid who had taken the boys and took them to their bedroom.
"I don't want her to go back there," Liir told her. He wanted his mother unhurt, and in his mind, she would be if she went back to the city.
Eleanora nodded, she had a feeling that Elphaba felt the same way, it didn't matter now that people knew the truth. She stayed with them that night, Liir crying out for his mother only once before he was soothed back to sleep.
Elphaba jolted awake the following morning as she woke from a nightmare of her own, she looked around the room, panicked as she didn't recognise her surroundings. As soon as a pair of arms wrapped around her she tried to fight against them.
"Fae! Fae, it's okay. It's only me."
She stopped and looked behind her to Fiyero and she held on to him tight. She tried to control her sobbing while he whispered in her ear and brushed his hand through her hair. "I... I'm sorry..."
"Shh... Don't say that." he chided.
"But..."
"But nothing." I should have been able to protect them!
Any further words died on her tongue as she cried on his shoulder and he held her close until she calmed down. She looked up when she heard the door open and immediately shuffled slightly back to make room for her two eldest, who wasted no time in barrelling over to them and held tight against them.
"They wanted to be sure that you were alright," Eleanora explained gently. "Ashender is being checked over by a doctor. Fiyero, I know it's a bit sudden-"
"But you need me to address what happened, don't you."
She nodded. "I'm sorry, son. But you know just as well that it will come as a shock to the people when young Gia's funeral is to be announced, and I'm sure it will make the papers all the way over here. The Yunamata tribe will call for blood."
"And they'll get it. We sent him ahead, he should be locked up at the cells in our home right about now," he told her. "Glinda managed to round up the rest and they will be tried in the city, but since he's the only one who attacked, we get to put him on the stake."
"With that in mind, what does Miss Glinda hope to try them with?"
"Conspiracy. And whatever else she sees fit."
"How is she...?" Elphaba asked in a quiet voice.
"She's safe. Little dear looks as if she's sleeping."
She nodded, not taking her eyes off her children in her embrace.
"Fae-"
"We'll do it together. We've done everything else so far together."
He nodded. "If you're sure."
"I am." she looked up at him. "I have to do this for her. For them."
"Alright." he kissed her head.
"We're still safe in these lands, aren't we?"
"Of course, you are. Nobody will blame you for what happened." Eleanora told her. "You are still their queen and they will love you still."
"Exactly. Fae, we took a small family holiday to see our friend, and we were shot at, they will see that we have the man responsible for the attack and they won't be so forgiving to him. I don't see how they can blame you for that."
"It wasn't just a family holiday, was it?"
"A good portion of it was. Yes, we had some small official business at the end of the trip, but it was some time away for the kids, for us to spend time with Glinda again."
"Papa, will the bad man hurt Auntie Linny now we're not there?" Liir asked.
"No. No, the bad man is locked away where he belongs, he won't hurt her or you or anyone again." he hugged his son close again.
More tears stung Elphaba's eyes when she heard him and she sighed shakily. "No... He won't... because he'll have to get through us first before he gets to you three," she told him and wiped her tears away.
"Your mother is a very powerful witch. And she's a very good witch, like Auntie Linny."
"But he made a big mistake coming for you and causing Gia's death. He has hurt people whom I love very much and I'll make sure he doesn't get away with it."
"Don't want him to hurt you, mama." Leila pouted.
"He won't, my sweet. He won't."
A few hours later, Elphaba managed to sneak away to the room Gia was being kept in. "Oz, you really could just be sleeping..." she muttered, looking at the once light brown face so vibrant and shiny now paler and devoid of life. Never again would she look into blue eyes that seemed to shine hazel when she was happy. Or hear melodic singing when she would walk past the nursery as the girl would sing songs from her own childhood to the twins.
"If only you were just sleeping... I'm sorry this happened to you, Gia... You should never have been caught up in the crossfire. The man who did this to you won't get away with it... even if I have to give him the so-called wicked witch he wants... God, you're just a kid! Just barely out of college! And you would have gone back... in a year or so, you'd have gone back to college and you would have graduated... that's what you wanted." She stayed a minute longer before she left, and was immediately swept up in an embrace, a small, sad smile on her lips at her husband's familiar scent. She closed her eyes and put her arms around his neck.
"I thought I'd find you up here." he kissed her.
"I... I had to..."
"Shh... I know. You had to make your peace."
"When are you meant to give your speech?"
"Tomorrow... we can announce her funeral at the same time, but his trial won't begin until we get home."
She nodded. "I can't wait for this whole thing to be over."
"Me neither." he sighed.
"I want to question m-... the Wizard too... I need to know if he knew something was going to happen."
He nodded, though he doubted very much that he would know anything. "Come on, you don't need to worry about that right now." he guided her away and they returned back to their children, who, for the first time in a few days, hadn't even noticed they had gone as they played at their grandmother's feet.
Ashender was returned back to his mother and Elphaba immediately sat down hugging him close. She smiled, watching them. "They seem happier now to be back home."
Fiyero nodded again with a smile of his own. "Yeah, they do, don't they." He sat beside her, hoping the happiness lasted and that their nightmares would go away. But he knew from experience that a trauma like that never fully goes away, that more sleepless nights were ahead of them for at least the foreseeable future. He sighed and put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.
Elphaba looked up at him, holding his hand in hers, her thumb brushing over his wedding band. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Hmm?"
"I can tell when you have something on your mind."
He groaned. He should have known he would never be able to hide things from her. "Can we do it later?"
She nodded and kissed him lightly. "Of course."
He smiled a little and looked over at the twins, still playing and acting like their usual selves.
Eleanora glanced at her son and daughter-in-law, watching their interactions for a moment. She knew that Fiyero had always been very closed off about saying how he truly felt about something, it was how she missed the now obvious fact that he had been depressed for a long time, how crushed he felt under the weight of his responsibilities. The drinking, the partying, the girls... They had all been because he was acting out, that he just wanted to be like everyone else and nobody was willing or able to listen to him.
She'd known from his letters from Shiz that there was one woman who saw through that happy facade, who saw the real him and had gotten him to open up for a short time. She had seen him sink back into that shell when Elphaba had left, and she had seen him break free of those restraints and emerge from that cage when she returned to him. And now... now that wall was going back up brick by brick. She only hoped that Elphaba could help him through it again before he sunk even further.
If Eleanora could do her time again, she wouldn't have spent so much time away from him. She wouldn't have distanced herself from her only living son because she was told it was the right thing to do. She wouldn't have neglected him or made him feel alone in his own home.
The old woman looked down when she felt small fingers touch her face, and she smiled at Liir.
"Don't be sad, Gamma."
"Oh, you sweet child." she sighed and hugged him. "I'm not sad." she lied with a pang in her heart when Fiyero avoided looking in her direction. "I'm just remembering." she had a feeling the same thoughts crossed his mind. Liir, Leila-Rose and Ashender would all grow up knowing that their parents loved them. They would grow up hearing those words, and openly expressing those feelings. And just that alone made Fiyero a better parent to his children than she ever felt she had been to him. She let the child go and he returned to his sister's side.
"You need to talk to her," Elphaba told him quietly.
He shrugged, not answering her.
She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, Ashender found her hair fascinating and was playing with it and she checked the light green spot on his hand once more, finding no changes with it. Eventually, the child fell asleep against her chest, and she was able to relax her tired arms for a while.
"Gamma, I'm hungry," Leila spoke up an hour later. Her brother nodded in agreement.
"I can do that," Elphaba said before she could answer them, ignoring Fiyero for a moment while she stood up.
"Oh, you don't have to-"
"It's fine, it gives me something to do." the green-skinned woman smiled and only then did she look over her shoulder. "Talk to her." she mouthed before walking away with the children.
"Why does papa look so sad?"
She looked down at her daughter. "Because he's thinking about a few things."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, my sweet. Why don't you give him a hug when you go back to him?"
The little girl nodded. "Okay, mama. Is it because of the bad man?"
"Quite possibly." She felt her oldest son's small arms tighten just for a moment and she gently brushed her fingers in his hair. "You two have to remember something. I know you're scared, and that's okay, your papa and I are too... but that horrendible man is not going to hurt you again, that I can promise you."
"But you don't act scared, mama," Liir told her.
"That's because I know I have to keep you all safe. I'm only brave when I have to be. The city isn't so scary all the time, I hope to show you that one day. Maybe when you're both old enough." She took Ash for a nap and then headed to the kitchens with the twins to look for something to eat.
Eleanora remained quiet after Elphaba had gone.
"These last couple of weeks have made me think about something," Fiyero commented after a few more minutes of silence. "Would my own father have even noticed if something like that happened to me as a kid?"
"What? Of course, he would have! Nobody would have tried to-"
"In the Vinkus, maybe!" he snapped. "I didn't get out of these lands until I was fourteen."
"Fiyero, you were also a prince."
"And what would you call my children then?"
She sighed. "Alright, I see your point... But you know he wouldn't have let anything happen to you."
He scoffed. "Yeah. Sure. I don't think I need to remind you of the fact that I couldn't deal with everything and nearly drank myself to death. What was it my dear old man said? And where were you when I needed you?"
"If I could go back and change things, believe me, son, I would... I... you know you had a brother before you were born."
He shrugged. "So?"
"After he died and you were born... I was advised to keep you at arm's length. I was made to feel like I caused it and in order to make sure you lived, to keep you safe, I was kept away from you as much as possible, enough that you recognised me as your mother, but nothing else..."
"Who's stupid idea was that?"
"My mother-in-law."
"That explains why he was such a-"
"Yes, well... I know now that she was wrong. I realised it far too late, and I tried reaching out to you but you always pushed me away, understandably so... I was young and naive and perhaps I should have stood up to them both. I can't answer for him, I can't tell you why he wasn't there."
He shrugged. Despite everything, he loved his parents, he had grieved for his father, wished several times that he would be around forever, and had wanted to prove himself worthy of his parents' love more times than he cared to think about. But he also couldn't deny the fact that he had been emotionally screwed up by them and he resented them for it.
"Fiyero, look at me."
He blinked, shocked at the closeness of her voice to find her stood above him.
She knelt down as though he were a child again. "My son... My baby, I've loved you from the moment you were first laid on my chest. I was scared, in denial and grieving throughout the whole thing, but it became real then. I spent six weeks with you before that old witch intervened. She said initially it was because of the influenza outbreak. She played on the fear of losing another child." She knew even then that she couldn't have coped with another loss. There would never be another heir to the throne if she lost Fiyero too.
"...My brother... how, when?"
"Fifteen months... consumption."
He winced. No older than his youngest son... "I'm sorry..." no wonder she was scared and just left him to his own devices practically since birth.
"It's no excuse for leaving you the way I did. You have nothing to be sorry for, it's me who should be sorry."
He sighed. "It... it doesn't matter now." He stood up and helped her to her feet, and they shared a hug.
"I know it doesn't make up for the past, but you're alright now. It was a long struggle but you're happy now and you won't make my mistakes."
He nodded. "Elphaba does enough worrying for the both of us."
"Look after each other, my boy. Keep supporting each other the way you do. You don't need me to tell you that, I know. But you're strong enough together to get through this horrendible ordeal. You just have to let her in."
He nodded again.
"And no blaming yourself for what happened. From the paper that I get sent, there was no way you could have prevented it."
"What paper?"
"I get the Emerald Journal sent to me. I've read everything you've come up with, I must say it's very clever-"
"Mother, please."
"Oh, o-of course, I'm sorry..." She bustled around the room and grabbed the newspaper from the last week and she handed it to him.
"Has anyone else read this?"
"Just me..." she lowered her head and sat down again.
He clenched his jaw and said nothing, turning his attention to the article, swallowing down the urge to throw up as the headline jumped at him.
Vinkun Royal Family Shot At As They Left The Emerald Palace
He shook his head as he skimmed it and he threw it to the table. "A young girl's life is just forgotten about?" he scoffed. "And the fact that Ash was wounded too? Are mine and Elphaba's heads worth more to them than the lives of our children?! When did you get that?"
"M-maybe a day or two after I got your letter."
"Right... okay..."
"I... I would have thought you knew about it... Thought Glinda may have..." she trailed off. "I'm sorry. I'll stop receiving them."
He waved his hand. "I'm not saying that. I'm not saying you should stop getting updates from the city." he sighed.
She nodded and chose to remain quiet.
"Fae can't see that," he told her after a few minutes. "If Glinda knew about this, she didn't tell us, more specifically her, for a reason."
"Alright... The... the doctor said that Ash would be well enough to make the rest of the journey home in a couple of days."
"Fine." he shrugged, he didn't even notice her walk out.
Eleanora sighed quietly and wiped her eyes when she was out of sight. Unfortunately, for her, her daughter-in-law was far too observant when she eventually caught up with her.
"Do I need to talk to him?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow.
"No... no, everything is as it should be..."
"Eleanora, you're upset, I know Yero's temper well enough, I-"
"No, we didn't exchange harsh words... Quite opposite... We talked and I explained things. I'm upset because of my own failings, not him."
Elphaba nodded. "Alright, if you're sure."
"I am. Thank you." she forced herself to smile. "You should be able to go home in a few days."
She knew, and she knew the older woman was looking for a distraction. "Thank you. I just want the whole thing to just go back to how it was before... but I know it can't happen. I wish they didn't have to go through that."
"I know. They'll be alright. They have you and Yero there for them."
She nodded. "Yeah..." She headed back to the dining room to her children with a smile. "Are you done?" they nodded. "Come on, let's go." She held out her hands as they hopped down and ran back to her, she looked around to find Eleanora had already left them and they made their way through the castle in search of Fiyero. They eventually found him standing outside.
Fiyero blinked and looked down, a small smile on his face at the sight of the twins hugging him and he held them close. "Thank you," he told them quietly.
Elphaba smiled and hugged him from behind, laying her head on his shoulder. "We're here for you, my love."
He nodded and lay his head against hers. "I know. Thank you."
"Papa, will you tell us a story when we go to bed?" Liir asked. "The one about the scarecrow."
"Of course." he smiled, brows furrowing in confusion when he heard a spell being muttered near his ear and a crackle in the air. "What are you doing?"
"You'll see," she smirked, moments later the sky lit up with sparkling lights as though they were at a fireworks display, and it made the children gasp and giggle at it. "It's a spell I've been working on, wanted to test it out."
He nodded again and looked up at the sky.