I'm sure you guys will be happy with this update!

17. The Blonde's Help

Galinda, meanwhile, was trying her hardest to save her friend from the pain she knew awaited her.

"Please," she pleaded with the other girls, who were just having breakfast in the common room. "He'll hurt her!"

"What can we do?" Nalenne asked logically. "If we try to interfere, Morrible will hurt us."

"We've all been hurt at some point or another, Galinda," Shenshen said. "Don't get me wrong, I don't approve of this, but... Nalenne is right. Interfering won't do us – or her – any good."

"I say it serves her well," Pfannee commented, only to shriek in shock and anger when Galinda suddenly lashed out and yanked at her hair. She leapt to her feet, going for Galinda, but Shenshen and Olia held her back even as Falin tried to stop the blonde from hitting Pfannee across the face.

"Let me go," Galinda snapped at Falin. "I'm not going to hurt her again. She's not even worth it. You all make me sick," she spat at the others before whirling around and running from the room, straight out into the streets. There was only one place she could think of to go to for help.

Even from a distance, Galinda could see movement both inside and around the house, which reassured her somewhat – at least someone was home. She ran down the country road and pounded on the front door, biting her lip until she tasted blood as she waited impatiently for the door to open.

When it eventually did, she all but tumbled inside, gripping the arms of the woman in the doorway. "You have to help me!" she cried. "Please! It's Elphaba!"

The woman – Calinne, Galinda knew, Fiyero's grandmother – instantly looked worried. "What about Elphaba?"

"We tried to escape last night, only Madame Morrible caught Elphaba when she was trying to steal our savings from her office; and then she locked her in her room and now she set this man on her who is going to "punish" her, and I can't just let him do that to her and please," Galinda took a deep breath, gasping a little, "please, help."

Another person suddenly brushed past her, fingers closing around her arm in passing and pulling her along. "Let's go!" the man said urgently, never stopping his movements, and Galinda could only gape and run at the same time as she followed this newcomer.

"Fiyero," she said, repeating his name a few times as if unable to believe it. "What... what are you doing here? How... I mean… you went back home!"

"I did," he agreed, hardly even out of breath despite the running. "And then I came back."

"For Elphie," Galinda realised. "Because you love her. Oh, Fiyero, she loves you, too – she was just a little scared, and then Morrible told her she had to get rid of you or she'd never let Lulu leave –"

"I know," Fiyero cut her off and Galinda slowed.

"You know?" she echoed, dumbfounded. "How?"

He tugged her along. "She told me."

"She told... what? Told you when?"

"A few days before I left," he said, only now starting to pant a little. "She was withdrawing and I kept asking her why. She told me in the end."

Galinda gaped at the prince. She'd urged Elphaba so many times to be honest with him and the green girl had constantly refused... yet she had told him in the end. "But you left!" Galinda protested. "I don't understand!"

Fiyero shook his head in frustration. "I'll explain later." They rounded the corner into the village and Fiyero stormed through the door of the brothel, ignoring the surprised noises the girls made. He flew up the stairs and down the hallway, breaking down Elphaba's door easily and hurtling inside with Galinda right on his heels. What they saw made them stop dead in their tracks.

A man was slumped against the wall next to the door, unconscious. Elphaba's arms were tied to the bed above her head and she was wiggling around on the bed in an attempt to get free. There was a bleeding gash on her cheek and it was horribly clear what the man's intent had been.

Fiyero dashed over to the bed, quickly untying the ropes and freeing Elphaba from them. He cradled her in his arms. "Are you all right?"

"Peachy," she croaked.

Fiyero hugged her gently to his chest. She closed her eyes for a moment, sagging against him as the erratic emotions from the past fifteen minutes or so left her.

"You came back," she murmured and he shook his head, chuckling a little.

"Obviously. For Oz's sake, Fae."

Galinda suddenly cried out and both their heads whipped around, only to find that the man had regained consciousness and pushed Galinda aside. He advanced on Elphaba again menacingly, the whip still in his hand. He raised it, ready to hit either Elphaba or Fiyero with it.

Before he could, though, the prince advanced on the man with a slightly exaggerated battle cry and punched him in the face. The man reeled for a moment and Fiyero managed to snatch the whip away from him, but he recovered quickly, starting to fight with his fists instead. Fiyero tried to take him, but the man was both taller and stronger than the Vinkun prince. Punches flew back and forth until Fiyero's fist flew into the other man's face with a satisfying crack. He stumbled back and Galinda stuck out her leg, sending the man tripping over it and falling to the floor; and then Elphaba was upon him, gripping his hair and slamming his head so hard into the floor that he instantly lost consciousness again.

"That's for hitting me with a whip," she told the limp body and pushed herself to her feet again, stumbling a little. Fiyero was right behind her, however, his arms coming around her; and she leaned back against his chest, exhaling slowly. It was over now.

"Elphie," Galinda said quietly. "Did he...?"

"No," said Elphaba quickly, feeling Fiyero's arms tightening around her at the implications of that question. "He was going to, but he didn't. Not yet."

Fiyero's voice was shaking a little when he said, "I don't even want to think about what could have happened."

Galinda shuddered.

Fiyero quickly used the rope to tie the man up securely and then they gave themselves a moment to calm down. Fiyero studied the cut on Elphaba's cheek. It didn't seem to be as bad as he had first thought it was – it was mostly superficial – but it still angered him to know that someone had slashed her face open with a whip, of all things. He had to refrain from getting up to punch the unconscious man again. He could tell she'd have bruises later, and some more whiplashes had cut open her nightgown in some places, but thankfully it didn't look like any of those injuries would scar.

Elphaba, for her part, reached up to gently touch Fiyero's jaw, which was already starting to swell and discolour a little. He flinched away from her with a hiss and she shook her head sympathetically. "Does it hurt very badly?"

"I've been through worse," he replied, trying to make light of it, but she just raised an eyebrow at him.

"When?" she asked mockingly. "When you were growing up in a pretty palace with servants at your back and call? I'm sure you must've endured a lot of pain from those satin pillows you slept on every night and the beautiful girls you seduced."

He grimaced, then quickly neutralised his face, because grimacing hurt his jaw. "Touché," he admitted.

She chortled at him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I love you," she murmured. "You're ridiculous, but I love you."

He nuzzled her hair. "I love you, too."

Galinda was beaming at them from across the room. "You two are so cute!" she gushed, which made Elphaba sigh and cast her eyes heavenward. Fiyero just gave the blonde a goofy grin and then winced again when that, too, hurt his jaw.

Suddenly Elphaba asked, "Where's Morrible? She must have heard the commotion up here."

Fiyero's lips quirked up into a wry smile. "She's probably arguing with my father right now," he said, amused. "He was right on my and Galinda's heels, if I'm not mistaken."

"Your father?" Galinda queried, baffled. "I didn't even notice him. He's in Reins, too? What has been going on? I thought you, Elphie, had broken things off with him and he'd returned to the Vinkus... but then you, Fiyero, just told me that you knew about Morrible's threats, and... I don't understand," she declared.

Elphaba smiled faintly and opened her mouth to explain, but Fiyero cut her off before she could. "We'll explain that later," he told Galinda. "Right now, I think I should go help my father and inform him about the man lying up here." He glanced at the unconscious guy for a moment.

"Good idea," Elphaba agreed and she couldn't help the warm feeling that spread through her when Fiyero tightened his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her hair, gently guiding her over to the door with Galinda trailing close behind them. He was here, he still loved her, and he wasn't going to let Morrible take control of her life again. It was all over now.

Fiyero and King Hamold explained everything to the girls once they were sitting in the living room of Kevon and Calinne's farm house together, a couple of hours later. The man Morrible had brought in had been apprehended by the royal Vinkun guard and Morrible had been forced to change her policies. She'd spluttered against Hamold at first, insisting she was well within her rights to punish one of her girls for being disobedient; but the king had then pushed a paper under her nose.

"We wrote a new law," Fiyero explained proudly. He was sitting on the couch with Elphaba leaning against him, her head on his shoulder and a blanket covering her. "That's what I've been doing in the Vinkus after I left. It was Grandma's idea," he admitted. "We talked about it a bit when I was still staying here and I talked about it with Mum, too, while she was here. I already told her the full story about you, Fae – and about Morrible and the brothel, about the stories I've heard about the girls working there – a while ago and she'd decided that she agreed with me and something had to change. She wrote to Dad and he agreed as well. We wanted to improve the situation of the poor in the Vinkus. We've been in council meetings almost every day for the past weeks, convincing the council members of our case, and we eventually succeeded."

"Many things will still need to change," Hamold took over, "but the basis is there now. As for young girls like yourselves," he smiled at Elphaba and Galinda, "we cannot prohibit the existence of brothels entirely, but we can manage them. From now on, all brothels in the Vinkus have to be checked and approved by a representative of the royal family on a regular basis to prevent young girls from having to live in prostitution out of poverty again. On top of that, we're going to make sure more money goes to orphanages and we'll try to improve those as well so that even children without parents can feel like they have a home. I won't bore you with all the details now, but if you want, Elphaba, you can read the proposition when you get back to Adurin Iir with us. Fiyero already told me how smart you are, so you're probably interested in that."

"Adurin Iir?" Elphaba repeated quietly and Fiyero squeezed her closer.

"You're coming home with me," he told her. He looked at Galinda. "You, too, if you want," he offered. "We could even track down Lulu and have her live in the castle with us." Upon noticing his father's raised eyebrows, he said defensively, "Dad, it's a huge castle and we have more room than we know what to do with. You always said I could invite any friends I'd like, remember?"

Hamold nodded and laughed, shaking his head. "Sure, Fiyero. Don't worry," he assured Elphaba and Galinda. "You're both more than welcome at the castle – and your friend Lulu, too."

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty," Galinda gushed, sounding genuinely relieved and grateful.

"Yes," Elphaba said, looking at the king, then up at Fiyero, and then at Hamold again. She could hardly believe everything she was hearing; it was a lot to take in. "Thank you."

Hamold smiled at her. "Fiyero actually wrote the proposition himself," he said. "You really have been a good influence on him, Elphaba."

The green girl looked up at Fiyero, who felt a little uncomfortable; but the pride in her eyes melted his discomfort away. He smiled a little sheepishly at her and she smiled back.

"Now you, Elphie," Galinda said, glaring at her friend. "Tell me everything you and Fiyero thought out before he left."

Elphaba sighed wearily, but obediently told her friend.

"At first I thought I didn't have a choice – that I had to make him leave," she said. "Then, however, I spent a lot of time thinking about what you and Lulu, and Fiyero himself, said – that he loves me, and he's serious about our relationship... I had a hard time believing that," she admitted. "But when I tried to push him away, he kept asking me what was wrong. He was just so... so hurt and sad, and I couldn't do it." She glanced up at him. He squeezed her closer and dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

"So then she told me," he took over, "about the threats Morrible had made if Fae wouldn't make me leave Reins. I promised Elphaba that I would leave with my mum, so that Morrible would agree to let Lulu pay off her debts and leave." He softly ran his hand over Elphaba's hair. Her eyelids were drooping a little and she looked like she was about to nod off against his shoulder, but she stubbornly blinked and stayed awake despite her exhaustion.

"I also promised her, however," Fiyero went on, "that I would come back for her – and you, Galinda – once Lulu was safe. Elphaba already told me by then about her plan to escape the place with you by stealing the money, so I told her to go to my grandparents' house if you two succeeded and stay there until I got back."

"Only I wasn't sure he actually would come back," Elphaba confessed, flushing a little. "I mean..."

"You were still convinced he'd change his mind," Galinda filled in knowingly.

"Realise what kind of 'mistake' I made by falling in love with you once I was away from you for a little while," Fiyero added wryly. "Are we right?"

Elphaba's cheeks darkened even further. "Yes," she mumbled.

Fiyero shook his head at her and nuzzled her hair, heaving a sigh. "We'll just continue working on that a bit longer," he told her, his breath tickling her hair.

She huffed a laugh. "At this pace, those tiny steps of yours will be going on for another ten years or something before we're finally where you want us to be."

"That's all right," he murmured. "I'm in no rush."

Galinda sighed happily, clasping her hands together. "You two are so adorable."

"Then, like I said, there were a lot of council meetings," Fiyero went on, ignoring the blonde, "and once it was done, Dad decided to come back here with me, along with some of his guards, to enforce the new law."

"And you got back just in time." Galinda squealed softly. "That is so romantic!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. Fiyero just grinned.

Galinda furrowed her brow a little. "Wait," she said. "What about that time I heard you two fight? The night Fiyero left The Fish's Lair and Elphaba was all upset?"

Elphaba grimaced slightly. "We, um… we faked that," she confessed. "We figured we had to make it convincing for everyone, so we pretended to fight and he left."

Galinda was shocked. "I thought you'd really argued and ended it!" she protested. "You seemed so upset!"

"I'm sorry," said Elphaba, biting her lip. "I didn't mean to lie to you, but I… well, like I said, I wasn't convinced Fiyero would actually return and I didn't want to take any risks. I figured it'd be safer if no-one knew the truth."

Galinda had to admit she could see where her friend was coming from. "It was convincing, though."

Elphaba yawned and Fiyero stroked her arm as they all sat in silence for a while, mulling things over. After a while, Calinne got to her feet. "Well," she said. "I'll go and make some lunch. I'm sure you could all use a bite to eat."

"I could," Kevon said eagerly. Hamold looked decidedly happy at the prospect of food and Galinda giggled.

"Men," she said.

Fiyero smirked at her. "That's exactly what Fae said the last time food was mentioned in my and Grandpa's presence."

The blonde giggled again and Calinne said pointedly, "Fiyero."

He glanced up at her.

"You might want to let Elphaba rest for a little while now."

He looked down at the green girl, only to find that she had finally drifted off against his side. He grinned at his grandmother. "I'll take her to the guest room."

He carried her to the room he himself had stayed in last time and tucked her into the bed, sitting beside her for a while. She turned and snuggled into the pillows and blankets with a small noise of contentment, but she didn't wake up. Fiyero smiled as he watched her, his smile turning a little impish when he remembered the last time they had been in this bed together. With a bit of luck, he thought, he'd share a bed with her for many more nights to come.

Of course he still had to convince her to marry him first. He sighed in defeat as he thought of that task lying before him. It wasn't going to be an easy feat. Then he looked at her sleeping face, though, and his resolve hardened. No matter how long it took, he'd do it, because she was worth it in the end.

Three more chapters to go now. The good news is that I don't think there'll be a hiatus after this fic; I have an ALAYM three-shot almost finished and I'm pretty far on To Protect and Serve, so I should be able to continue posting every two days straight away!