I know, I know. This chapter is extremely late. I'm sorry!

Wanli8970: Morrible finding out any type of information is bad.

PocketSevens: I'm so glad Galinda enjoyed the chapter.

Rebbie444: Thank you for reading! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Morrible was getting impatient. And very angry. Which wasn't a very good combination.

She had to get that little witch out of the way in order for her plans to start. But there was no way to do that until she knew where and who she was. And that took time. Time she didn't have.

Grumbling, she slammed her fists on her desk. Panting, she rested her forehead against the desk and slowly rose to her full height. She would sniff her out. She didn't care what she had to do. A light bulb suddenly went off in her head and she knew exactly what she was going to do, and exactly how she was going to do it.

She hurried down the hallway, towards the princess' room. At first, she didn't know what drew her to Elphaba's room, but she had a hunch. She reached the door and knocked three times. Silence answered her, so she pushed the door open to find the room empty. With narrowed eyes, she scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary and her face brightened slightly when she found a loose floorboard.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the old woman asked as she hurried to the board and knelt. She pried it off and gasped at what she saw.

The Grimmerie.

"Hello, old friend," she smirked as she gently took the book out. "So this is where you've been hiding."

She placed the floorboard back and rose to her feet, the book clutched protectively under her arm. Now that she found her little witch, she could kill three birds with one stone.

As time went on, Fiyero and Galinda began to notice that Elphaba was becoming more distant. She would disappear for hours at a time and no one would know where she would go. She would then turn up and say that she had been in the library, or the gardens, or someplace else in the palace, but Fiyero didn't buy it. Something was going on. He would question the princess, but she would either brush him off or change the subject. Either way, Fiyero knew that Elphaba was never going to answer his questions.

Currently, the couple was taking a leisurely stroll through the gardens. The weather was beautiful, with a gentle breeze. Fiyero smiled as he watched Elphaba's long, raven hair flow behind her.

Their relationship had been progressing steadily during the past few months. The Vinkun had been working at the palace for a little over a year, and he knew for sure that Elphaba was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. In his pocket, he felt a small box that he had placed in his pocket before he had left his room in search of the princess. He had found her in the library and requested that she join him in a walk through the gardens. The emerald girl had quickly agreed, and now he just had to lead her to the spot where he planned to ask her a very important question.

"Yero?" Elphaba asked, looking up at the captain.

"Yes?" Fiyero asked, seemingly half distracted.

"Something's wrong. Tell me."

"Nothing's… wrong," Fiyero said slowly.

"Something's on your mind, then."

"Yes, well…"

"Yero…" Elphaba sounded scared, and Fiyero knew that he had to do this now, least he risk losing her.

"I… I have to tell you."

Elphaba waited, a scared expression still on her face.

The prince took a deep breath. "I… I love you, Fae."

"I… love you, too, Yero," Elphaba said, still unsure of where the conversation was going.

"I know this is kind of ill-planned and… not really rehearsed, but…" He took a deep breath, dropping down to one knee as he pulled the small black box from his pocket.

Elphaba stared at him with wide eyes. "Yero…"

"I… I like spending time with you, Elphaba. A lot. I love how I feel when I'm with you and I enjoy every moment we spend together. I… I want to make many more of those moments, so… Princess Elphaba Melena of Oz, will you marry me?"

Elphaba stared at him in silence. It was only a few seconds, but to Fiyero, it felt like a few days. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until Elphaba gently slapped his back, forcing him to breathe again. "Yero, I…"

The bell tower rang in the distance and Elphaba stopped short. She felt a cold wind whip past her, but something felt off. It felt like someone was using a lot of magic nearby. The cold feeling sat with her for a moment before growing stronger, almost overwhelming. Something was wrong. "I… I have to go."

"Wh-What?" Fiyero asked, thinking that the lack of oxygen to his brain was making him hear things other than 'Yes, Yero! Of course I'll marry you!'.

"I… I have to go," Elphaba repeated as she hurried back into the palace, leaving Fiyero alone, still on one knee, in the gardens, tears slowly beginning to form in his eyes.

"Elphaba, where are you going?" he called after her, but she was already out of earshot.

Elphaba ran through the palace, following the strange sensation of magic. She had never felt this feeling before, but she knew what it felt like to use magic, and the cold wind she felt was definitely magic.

"Elphaba!"

The green girl looked up and saw the blonde running towards her, looking distraught. "Glin, what's wrong?"

The blonde paused briefly to catch her breath. "It's… it's your father…"

Elphaba's eyes widened in fear as she rushed past the blonde. She saw guards outside the doors to her father's room and they immediately stepped aside with a bow. She went in and gasped, taking in the scene in front of her.

Her father was lying in his bed, his hands neatly folded on top of the covers. His eyes were closed, and his chest was still rising and falling, but it was barely noticeable unless someone was really looking. The palace doctor was standing over the Wizard, and when he noticed the emerald girl, he bowed and stepped out of the way.

The princess slowly approached her father's still form, her eyes never leaving his face. "Father?" she whispered as she approached.

"He was found in the parlor," the doctor said as Elphaba looked down at her father.

"Is he..."

"He appears to be asleep, but we cannot wake him."

"What can be done?" Elphaba asked, gently taking her father's hand.

"I… I am not sure, Your Highness," the doctor said softly. "I don't know what caused it, therefore, I cannot remedy it."

As Elphaba held her father's hand, she felt the magic coursing through his veins. Someone had cast a spell on him; a very powerful sleeping spell. She just didn't know who had done this or why. But she thought she knew something that could help. She gently released her father's hand and stood, slowly striding out of the room. She walked down the halls and back to her own room.

"Elphie?"

The green girl turned around and saw Galinda standing behind her.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

In all honesty, she wanted her best friend with her, but she couldn't risk her seeing what she was hiding. It was much too dangerous. "No," she said softly, shaking her head. "I want to be alone right now."

The blonde gave her a sympathetic look and nodded. With a slight curtsy, she turned and walked down the hallway, disappearing from sight. Elphaba sighed softly and hurried to her room, closing the door behind her. She hurried to her loose floorboard and opened it, then gasped.

It was empty.

The Grimmerie was gone. The only thing in its place was a folded up piece of paper. She gently picked the paper up and read the cursive handwriting.

I know your secret.

That sentence sent shivers down her spine. Someone in the palace knew her secret and had stolen the Grimmerie. Without it, she wouldn't be able to help her father, or anyone else, for that matter. And whoever had the book would have extraordinary power. And when power like that fell into the wrong hands, the consequences could become catastrophic.

Fiyero ran into his room and slammed the door behind him. He couldn't believe Elphaba had just left him like that. He had been so nervous and hopeful. He just couldn't believe that she had hurt him like that. Grunting, he threw the box to the ground, watching as it bounced underneath his bed. He sat down and cried, loud sobs racking his body. He didn't hear the door open, and barely registered the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.

"Captain," a soft voice said.

The Vinkun looked up to see Galinda standing over him. "L-Lady Galinda."

"What happened?"

Fiyero frowned and shook his head. "Nothing."

"Something must have happened, or else you wouldn't be in here crying."

Fiyero paused before whispering, "I tried to propose to Elphaba."

The blonde's face brightened up and she squealed. "You did?! YAY! I knew you would! That's so Ozmazifying! Ooh, it must have been so romant- wait. Did she… did she say no?"

"She just ran away."

Galinda's face immediately fell. "Captain, I'm sure she didn't mean to –"

"She ran away when I proposed to her. She doesn't want to marry me, Galinda," Fiyero said, dropping the honorific, not completely by accident.

"Elphaba loves you, Captain. You know she does. If she didn't, you would have been turned into a toad by now," she said in an attempt to lighten the mood, which didn't work.

"She didn't even say 'no'. She just ran away, leaving me alone in the garden," Fiyero said, turning away from the blonde.

"Captain…"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Fiyero said, turning away from the blonde.

Galinda got the message and sighed, standing to leave. "Captain, I… I'm sorry. But… you should talk to her. She needs as much support as she can get… especially now."

Fiyero heard the blonde leave and dwelled on her words for a bit. What was she talking about? What could have possibly happened between when she ran away and now? It had only been around half an hour. Sighing, he rose to his feet and went in search of the princess.

He reached her bedroom and heard soft sobs coming from the other side of the door. He bypassed knocking and slowly walked in, seeing Elphaba crying in a similar way he had been. He sat down on her bed and gently pulled her into his arms, wordlessly trying to comfort her.

Elphaba looked up at the captain and immediately, what had happened between them came crashing back into her mind. "Yero, I… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to… I mean… I… my father…"

"Shh, it's okay, Fae. I understand," Fiyero said soothingly, trying not to sound as hurt as he still felt.

Elphaba leaned against him and snuggled deeper into his arms. "I want to marry you. I really do, but my father…" She paused, wondering how she was going to explain what had happened without actually explaining what had happened, "suddenly fell ill and the doctor isn't sure if he's going to make it and…"

"I'm so sorry, Fae," the captain said, realizing that Elphaba must have found out this out when she ran back inside, which didn't help explain why she ran back inside. "It's…"

"It's not okay. I shouldn't have left you like that. You didn't deserve that. I'm sorry, Yero." She started crying again, and felt Fiyero gently tighten his grip around her. He figured that since she was an emotional mess at the moment, it would be best to just sit and comfort her. The proposal could wait until after the Wizard gets better, no matter how long it took, and Fiyero was hoping it didn't take too long…

"I've already lost my mother. I… I can't lose my father, too," the princess whispered brokenly.

… for more reasons than one.