Torchakaywrites: Don't worry. We still have lots more Fiyeraba to go before the end of the story… and a lot of angst, too. *Smirk and cackle*

So, apparently, Doglover645 has decided to create the hashtag #NiaHasNoChill on Twitter, because of the cliffy in the last chapter. I must say, I agree with this and love it WAY more than I probably should be.


Everything that happened next was a blur for the prince. He remembered catching Elphaba in his arms as she collapsed. He remembered seeing her chest stop rising and falling, and hearing someone, probably Nessa, scream and shout for someone to get help. He remembered the EMTs taking Elphaba from his arms and placing her on a stretcher. He watched as they hurriedly pushed her away back to the Shiz infirmary. He was faintly aware of people staring and whispering, but he didn't care.

"Fiyero, what happened?" Nessa asked sharply as she quickly wheeled over to the prince, tears in her eyes.

"I don't know. She was fine, then all of sudden, she just collapsed," Fiyero said gently.

"I knew this was a bad idea. I knew I shouldn't have let her come."

"Nessa…"

"This is all your fault!" she yelled at him. "If you hadn't thrown this stupid party, none of this would have happened!"

"Nessa, I…"

The younger Thropp ignored him and wheeled away, back to Boq. Part of Fiyero felt guilty. He began to feel like it was his fault. Then again, he told Elphaba to tell him if she was feeling sick. So it wasn't his fault. But it wasn't her fault, either. So who's fault was it?

"I'll go after them," Fiyero said, turning to Galinda, who had appeared next to him. "Just to make sure she's alright."

"I'll come with you," Galinda said, her tone making it clear that arguing was not an option.

"I'll make sure Nessa gets back to her room safely," Boq said from somewhere behind the group.

Fiyero nodded and he and Galinda hurried out, ignoring the girls calling him back. He had to check on Elphaba. He hurried to the infirmary, but was forced to wait in the waiting room until the doctor was finished making sure she was okay. Finally, after two hours of waiting, the doctor came out.

"She's fine. She's asleep now."

"What happened?"

"She had an attack. Her lungs were inflamed and weren't taking in as much air as they needed."

"Can we see her?"

The doctor paused, then nodded and told them the room number. Nodding his thanks, the prince hurried away, the blonde close behind him. He quickly found the room and slowly pushed the door open, his eyes immediately falling on the sleeping green girl in the bed. As Fiyero slowly approached her, a sense of déjà vu came over him. This was just like the last time he had visited Elphaba in the Emerald City hospital. The doctor had said she was sleeping, but he was still allowed to visit her, as long as he was very careful and gentle and didn't touch or wake her. It was the last time he had seen her, and he couldn't even have a conversation with her. He did talk to her quietly, but she didn't respond. He left the city the following day, knowing that he would probably never see the green girl again, but secretly hoping that he would. His chance had come a few years later when he went with his father back to the Emerald City for business. He had talked his dad into visiting the hospital, but when they went, Elphaba wasn't there. There were many new staff members there who had come after Elphaba had left and they said that the never saw a green girl. Elphaba's doctor also said that she hadn't been back to the hospital since her procedure.

A soft moan snapped the prince from his daydream and both he and Galinda turned their gazes to Elphaba, who was beginning to wake up. The green girl slowly opened her eyes and looked at them.

"Glin… Yero…" she whispered, her voice hoarse.

"Shh, Fae, it's alright," Fiyero whispered, stroking the back of her hand.

"You'll be alright, Elphie," Galinda said, taking the green girl's other hand.

The three stayed together for a few moments, not saying anything to each other, until the doctor came in and said that it was time for them to leave. After saying goodbye to the green girl, the two friends begrudgingly left with the promise that they would visit the following day.

The next day, on their way to class, Galinda and Fiyero stopped by the infirmary, where they found Elphaba sitting up in bed, eating breakfast with her sister.

"Hi, Elphie. Hi, Nessa," Galinda smiled, stepping into the room.

"Miss Galinda," the brunette nodded, but frowned when her gaze fell on the prince.

"How are you feeling, Elphaba?" Fiyero asked, trying his best to ignore the brunette's hard gaze.

"I feel better now. Thank you," Elphaba smiled, taking a sip of her juice.

"Are you going to be coming to class?" Galinda asked. "Of course, if you don't feel up for it…"

"I'm going," Elphaba said, ignoring the look Nessa gave her.

"Fabala," Nessa sighed. "Surely that's not the best idea."

"I feel fine," the green girl insisted. "Plus, you know how much I hate missing classes."

"I also know how your body gets after an attack like this."

"It wasn't that bad."

"Thank the Unnamed God that it wasn't!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes and pushed herself out of bed, ignoring the look her sister gave her. "I'm going to class today and that's final. The doctor said I could leave, anyway."

"He also said that it would be better if you stayed here."

"Then he shouldn't have told me that I could leave."

Nessa frowned. "One of these days, you will regret not listening to me." Huffing, she turned and wheeled out of the room, not caring that she almost ran over Fiyero's feet in the process.

Elphaba sighed as she got her things together. "She worries too much."

"She's not wrong, Elphie. You should rest more," Galinda said gently.

"I'm going to class," Elphaba said as she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked past her friends. "But first, I'm going back to the dorm to change. I'll meet you in class." She was gone before Fiyero and Galinda had a chance to respond.


"What are you looking at?" Elphaba asked as she studied with Fiyero (well, she was studying), realizing that he was looking up at her.

"Nothing," Fiyero said quickly, trying to sound casual, and failing.

Elphaba narrowed her eyes, glaring at him over the rim of her reading glasses. "What were you thinking about?"

"Just… when you were in the hospital, it just reminded me of something."

Elphaba slowly closed her book. "What?"

"The last time I saw you in the Emerald City."

Elphaba blinked. "You came back?"

Fiyero nodded. "I did. Twice, actually. The first time was the next day, but you were asleep and I was told not to wake you."

"And the second time?"

"It was a few years later. I went back to the city on a trip with my father and stopped by the hospital, but you weren't there."

"I never went back to that hospital after that. I didn't really need to," Elphaba said quietly. "I was afraid you had forgotten about me."

"How could I forget the green girl in the hospital?" Fiyero asked gently, giving the green girl a lopsided smile.

Elphaba let out an amused sigh. "You never wrote."

"Neither did you. But the mail is very iffy in the Vinkus sometimes. If I wrote to you, and the letter had to travel across Oz, there was no telling where it might go. Plus, I didn't know the address to the Munchkinland governor's mansion."

"And I didn't know the address to the Vinkun royal castle."

"Point taken. But I still never forgot you."

"I didn't forget you, either."

Fiyero smiled and reached over the table, taking Elphaba's hand. Elphaba startled slightly and looked at their joined hands. In truth, the prince didn't know what caused him to want to take her hand, much less actually do it, but he didn't regret it. As soon as their hands made contact, he felt a jolt of energy rush up his arm. He almost pulled away in shock, but he didn't. He looked into Elphaba's eyes and simply stared at her. Elphaba stared back, not wanting to break their contact, or not knowing how to take it.

"Fabala!" a voice called, causing the two to pull away quickly.

"Nessa!" Elphaba gasped, seeing her sister wheel up to them.

"It's almost time for our next class," the younger Thropp said, acting as if Fiyero wasn't there.

Elphaba looked from the prince to her sister and slowly got up. "Of course, Nessa. Bye, Fiyero."

"See you later, Elphaba," Fiyero said, watching as the two sisters left. Even though she made no inclination to his presence, Fiyero was sure that Nessa only came over to break them up. He wasn't sure why the younger Thropp didn't like him. What had he ever done to her? Or better yet, what did Elphaba tell her about him? She couldn't have said anything bad. They only spent two days together. And they were children back then. Surely he hadn't done anything wrong. He pulled his schedule from the bottom of his bag and realized that he also had a class to get to.

"What do you mean that was due today?" Galinda gasped as Elphaba and Nessa took out their essays.

"Galinda, Dr. Dillamond told us that the essay would be due today," Nessa said.

"We had two weeks to do it," Elphaba said.

The blonde sighed. "I didn't know working would involve this much… work."

Elphaba chuckled and handed in her paper to the old Goat, who smiled at her as he took it. He didn't look surprised when Galinda didn't have her paper, to which the blonde said she was almost finished and it would be handed in the following day. Elphaba bit back a chuckle, knowing that the blonde hadn't even started her research.

"I'll help you," the green girl whispered once the teacher was out of earshot.

Galinda gave her friend a grateful smile.

"Alright, let's see who's here," Dr. Dillamond said as he placed the essays on his desk and began to call the roll. Right after he called Nessa's name and was about to call the next one, the door burst open and Fiyero stumbled inside.

"Ah, you must be Master Fiyero Tigulaar. Right on schedule," Dr. Dillamond said.

"Sorry. I… got lost," Fiyero said, his eyes immediately resting on Elphaba. He smiled at her and she smiled back, trying to hide the blush creeping its way onto her cheeks.

"Yes, well, please find a seat so I can finish calling roll and we can get started," Dr. Dillamond said.

Fiyero blinked and nodded, finding a seat in the corner near the window. He stole one more glance at Elphaba, and was very pleased that she did the same, before Dr. Dillamond began his lesson. Fiyero tried to pay attention to the lesson, really he did, but he couldn't help but notice that Nessa would occasionally throw frowns at him and every time Elphaba looked back at him, she would take her attention by asking her a question or pinching her arm.

Before he knew it, Dr. Dillamond was dismissing the class. The prince quickly packed up his things and caught Elphaba right as she was leaving with Nessa and Galinda.

"Hey… Elphaba? Can I… talk to you for a sec?" he asked, grabbing her attention once they were outside the room.

Elphaba turned and blinked. "Sure."

"Fabala, we have to leave," Nessa interrupted stiffly.

"You go ahead without me, Nessa," Elphaba said.

The younger Thropp bit her lip, obviously not expecting that answer. "Elphaba, we have to leave!"

"I can take you to your next class, Nessa. Elphaba and I are free now," Galinda said, stepping behind the wheelchair.

"Elphaba is perfectly capable of taking me," Nessa said, turning so Galinda couldn't grab the handlebars. "Now, Elphaba."

"It's alright, Fae. We can talk later," Fiyero said, not wanting to anger Nessa.

"No, Fiyero. It's fine. What did you want to talk to me about?" Elphaba asked.

"Fabala…" Nessa huffed.

"Nessa, I will meet you when your class is over. Let Galinda take you," Elphaba said, signaling the end to the conversation.

The brunette gave her sister a look as if to say 'This isn't over', but allowed Galinda to step behind her and push her to her next class.

"I'm sorry," Elphaba said, turning back to Fiyero. "What did you want to tell me?"

The prince took a deep breath. "I… I'm sorry about what happened at the party. I had no idea you would –"

"It's okay," Elphaba interrupted softly. "I didn't know either. But I think that's the last party I'll be going to for a while. Nessa almost had a heart attack, though."

"And… does Nessa not like me?"

Elphaba sighed. "Nessa… she's very fickle. She doesn't like most of the people I talk to. She still doesn't fully like or trust Galinda yet. But that's probably because she and I were supposed to room together, but I got pared with Galinda and she's rooming with Madame Morrible."

"So… it's not just me?"

"You have been on the receiving end of her wrath lately… and you just got here. It's not your fault, though."

"There's nothing I can do?"

Elphaba smiled sympathetically. "I'll talk to her. She'll loosen up around you after a while. It just takes time."

Fiyero nodded. He gave Elphaba's hand a gentle squeeze and watched as she walked away to find Galinda. He knew getting Nessa to like him would take time. The question was… how much time?