Wow! I've officially been writing/posting fanfics on this site for 8 years! Go me! Thank you to giuggiulu on Tumblr/Twitter for the beautiful Fiyeraba commission (It's from 'Threads of Truth', but I still wanted to use it for this).

This is a bit of a songfic, but without actual singing.


Fiyero smiled as he cradled a warm mug of herbal tea to his heart as he walked the halls of the castle. He paused in the doorway to the sitting room, silently beholding his beautiful wife reading by the fireplace embers. He loved watching her when she was in a peaceful state like that. With all the stress of ruling a country, rare moments where she was relaxed were few and far between.

He quietly approached, placing the mug on the side table, and sat on the arm of the chair, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm reading."

"I want attention."

"But I'm reading, and now your arm is blocking my view of my book."

He gently took her glasses from her face. She blinked, the words now blurry, but when she looked up at her husband, he was crystal clear.

"Yero, I –"

"I haven't seen you all day, Fae. We've both been in meetings, and I've missed you."

The green woman melted into the gentle hug, a slow smile curling onto her lips. "I've missed you, too."

"So give me attention."

She wrinkled her nose, but allowed Fiyero to pull her up and take her spot, and she sat on his lap. She let out an uncharacteristic giggle as he caressed her, brushing a raven curl from her face.

"Mama! Father!"

The couple looked up at the sound of hurried footsteps running down the stairs. They contemplated getting up, but weren't fast enough as their teenage daughter skirted into the room.

"How do I look?"

"You look beautiful, Enneh," Elphaba smiled, rising to her feet and smoothing out her daughter's blouse. "Are you excited?"

"Yeah." The seventeen-year-old's distracted response was still frantic. "Will Yan like it?"

"I'm sure he will."

"You're positive?" The young princess started pulling her ponytail. "I wanna look perfect for my first date."

"If he likes you for you, it won't matter what you wear," Fiyero smiled, sharing a knowing glance with his wife as she fixed their daughter's hair. "But if he's just using you to try and get his family's land taxes reduced, then we'll have to have an altercation conversation in the dungeons."

"Father!"

"Excuse me, Your Majesties, but Master Yan has arrived," a steward said as he bowed from the doorway.

"Thank you, Qurik. Send him in, please," Fiyero nodded.

"Yes, sire," he bowed again and nodded down the hall.

The monarchs stood as shuffled footsteps came from down the hall. Fiyero set his best stern face, and almost broke character when he noticed his wife's raised eyebrow.

"Don't scare the poor boy, Yero," she whispered. "Or give him a hard time."

"I have to. I must be the intimidating father who has the power to throw him in the dungeons if he hurts my daughter. I've been waiting for this moment."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, but smiled as a nervous-looking teenage boy came in. Enneh brightened and hurried over, wrapping him in a tight hug, which he returned before turning his attention to the rulers of his country.

"Y-Your Majesties," he bowed deeply, his eyes darting between the monarchs and his date.

"Young man," Fiyero began in the voice he used for government meetings, and Elphaba shot him a sideways glance. "You wish to take Her Royal Highness, Princess Enneh Jolanra Tigulaar, out to a movie tonight?"

"Yero, stop it," the queen quietly chided, pinching his arm.

"Y-Yes, sire," the boy stuttered, his face reddening, clearly trying to compete with a tomato.

Fiyero found himself unable to keep up with the façade and chuckled. "It's alright. You don't need to look so worried."

Enneh looked surprised that her father wasn't as strict as she thought he'd be. "Father –"

"I should warn you that Enneh knows the five weakest points on the human body," Fiyero said, turning serious. "You promise to take care of my little girl tonight, Yan?"

"Father!"

"I do, sir," Yan nodded confidently. "She's in good hands."

"Hopefully not too handsy."

"Fiyero, stop it!" Elphaba chided.

Yan stammered. "I…"

The king laughed and clapped his shoulder. "Good man. You two go have fun. Be back by ten."

"Bye, Mama! Bye, Father!" Enneh grinned, grabbing Yan's hand and hurrying out.

Elphaba rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "They'll be alright. And they'll have fun."

"Of course they will. I have Juians secretly watching them all night."

"I'm not surprised."

"I'm more worried about Yan. Along with first date jitters, there's a lot of pressure that comes with dating the heir to the throne."

"Really?" Elphaba blinked. "I never experienced such pressure."

"You don't remember that one reporter who hid in the bushes at Shiz to try and get a picture of you?"

"I remember. I also remember that being the last incident after I turned him into a ferret."

He chuckled at the memory. "Do you still remember the details of our first date at Meadows?"

"That was twenty-five years ago, but yes." She glanced up at him. "Do you?"

"Of course. We met at nine."

"We met at eight."

"I was on time."

"No, you were late." Twenty minutes late. She was afraid he'd stood her up, and was about to go back to her room dejected when he appeared, out of breath and filled with apologies.

He turned thoughtful. "Ah, yes. I remember it well." He led her over to the sofa. "We dined with friends."

"We dined alone."

"A tenor sang."

Elphaba rolled her eyes with a casual sip of tea. "A baritone."

He snuggled closer and nodded. "I remember it well."

"Do you? You haven't gotten a single detail correct so far."

"How do I know you're not just changing it to throw me off?"

"I'd never do that. But keep going. You might remember something correctly eventually. What do you remember about the sky that night?"

"That dazzling, April moon!"

She shook her head. "There was none that night. And the month was June."

"Oh, that's right." He gave her a sheepish smile. "That's right."

"It warms my heart to know that you remember still the way you do." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "You remember it so well."

Fiyero thought harder. He still had a chance to redeem himself. "How often I've thought of that Friday –"

"Monday." She'd remember the rare occasion where she agreed to go out on a school night.

"– Night, when we had our first rendezvous. And somehow, I foolishly wondered if you might, by some chance, be thinkin' of it, too."

He was right about that. That beautiful night had lived, rent-free, in her mind all summer while she was stuck in Munchkinland with her father. That beautiful night when she felt truly seen for the first time in her life. She was sure he didn't think of that night as much as she did... as this conversation was proving.

"That carriage ride –"

"You walked me home."

"You lost your silk glove –"

"I lost Glin's purple comb." The blonde had started off the new school year by not speaking to her roommate for a solid month over the incident of the lost hair accessory.

"Ah yes. I remember it well. That brilliant sky!"

"We had some rain." She remembered getting wet and Fiyero holding his jacket over her head. Why hadn't he mentioned that? Had he forgotten how it resulted in him being sick for a whole week? She met his smile. Perhaps he didn't forget about the illness, but thought it wasn't important.

"Those Quadling songs."

"They were Quoxain." And a bit raunchy.

"Ah yes. I remember it well. You wore a gown of gold."

She sat up. "No, Yero. I was all in blue." She still remembered that short-sleeved blouse and pleated skirt she bought with Galinda the day before. The blonde had dragged her to at least seven different stores before putting together that outfit.

He frowned at his failing memory. "I didn't get a single detail correct, did I?"

"No."

"Am I getting old?"

She laughed. "Oh no, not you!" Sighing, she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll never forget how strong you were. How young and gay. A prince of love in every way." She pulled him closer, pressing her lips against hers, feeling the same way she did all those years ago.

"Ah yes. I remember it well."

The details didn't matter anymore. Even if he didn't remember the day, what the moon looked like, or what she wore, he remembered the feeling he had being with her. And she'll never forget that feeling with him for the rest of her life.

"You remembered the important thing," she whispered, staring at the dying embers.

"What's that?"

"That I have a secret weapon more powerful than knowing pressure points."

He stiffened, and she cackled.

"You remember how you felt that night, and I remember how you made me feel like I mattered, like I was important, like I was worth something." She held up her hand when he opened his mouth to interject. "I know what you're gonna say, and I know you think I was worthy of it before, and how you still wanna berate my father for his treatment of me, but that's all in the past now. I have you now. I can blame the wrong details on the fact you were clearly thinking just about me. That's all that matters to me."

He kissed her. "You had my undivided attention that night."

"And you have mine now."

The two passed the time waiting for their daughter cuddling on the sofa, reminiscing over their Shiz days, subsequent dates, and both of their hearts feeling as warm as it did that rainy, moonless, June night all those years ago. The setting sun on the horizon cast shadows of reds, oranges, and pinks across the sky.


The song is "I Remember It Well" from the musical "Gigi".