So I accidentally spoilered a bit of this chapter on Twitter because I thought I'd already posted it. Oops. Well, here you go, anyway, haha. Tying up some more loose ends and working towards the final epilogue-ish chapter!

20. The Wounds' Healing

Approximately seventeen hours and twenty minutes later, Fiyero found himself cradling a tiny human being, bundled up in soft blankets, to his chest. Lulu, exhausted after giving birth, had fallen asleep at last. Of course she had gotten to hold her son first, but then she had insisted on Fiyero holding him for a moment, since she claimed the prince was part of the reason her baby was born in a safe place – or born at all.

It was miraculous, Fiyero mused as he looked at the delicate features, that something so distinctly human could grow in a woman's body. Nature was an incredible thing. Feeling sentimental, he almost found himself growing jealous of women for being able to carry babies for nine months; but then he looked at Lulu's sleeping face, remembering the pain and discomfort he'd seen her in, and he quickly stopped that train of thought.

He looked up at Elphaba, who was sitting on Lulu's other side and was watching him with a strange expression on her face. He laughed softly. "What?"

She shook her head as if to clear it and gave him a small smile. "Nothing." But she kept looking at him, her expression almost wistful.

He carefully held out the baby. "Do you want to hold him?"

She looked startled, but then she thought about it for a moment and nodded. He rose to his feet and walked around the bed to reach her, gingerly placing Lulu's son in Elphaba's arms.

Just then, the baby opened his eyes, blinking up at her. She held her breath, afraid he would start crying or fussing, but he just looked at her and she slowly let out her breath again, her smile returning. "Hello," she murmured, gently touching his face with a single finger. He grasped it with his tiny fists and her smile widened, but Fiyero could see the sadness lying underneath.

"You'll have that someday, too, you know," he told her, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

She gave him another small, but radiant smile. "I know." She sighed. "It's just a strange idea that I could have had it in a couple of months already if..." She trailed off, but of course Fiyero knew what she had wanted to say. If Morrible hadn't made her end the pregnancy.

"But it was probably for the best," she continued quietly. "It wasn't my time yet and you're right. I'll get my chance." She looked down at the baby boy in her arms. The feelings washing over her were entirely new and she suddenly felt like crying, but it wasn't a bad kind of emotion. Sitting here like this, she could imagine having a baby of her own, being a mother... having a family.

Seeing Fiyero holding Lulu's son just now had almost been enough to make her blurt out that yes, she wanted to marry him. Seeing him like that, imagining him as a father, she couldn't imagine him as the father of anyone else's child but hers. She could see the wonder in his eyes, the love when he looked at her – the love she saw now as he watched her take her turn holding the baby – and she knew she probably looked the same way. She did love him. He had never given her any reason to doubt his love for her or his devotion to her; he'd never said or done anything to make her believe he wasn't serious about all this. She would always be scared, but maybe it was time for her to stop letting her fears rule her life. She'd always wanted a family and this was her chance. She could have one, if she wanted it badly enough to risk getting hurt for it.

The door opened and the midwife came in, smiling widely when she saw Elphaba sitting there with the baby. "Hello there! How is the little one doing?" she asked cheerfully, keeping her voice down for Lulu's sake.

Elphaba chuckled nervously. "Fine, as far as I can tell." She handed the baby over to the midwife, who quickly looked him over and nodded in satisfaction.

"I'll put him in the bassinet now so he can get some rest as well," she said, pausing for a moment. "Unless either of you wants to keep holding him?"

"No, thank you," Fiyero said, suppressing a yawn. "I think I might go and catch some sleep myself. We've been up all night, too, and I'm pretty tired."

"Good idea," the midwife said, still smiling. She nudged Elphaba with her elbow. "You should go and rest as well. Lulu and her baby are both fine now."

Elphaba nodded and allowed Fiyero to help her to her feet, not protesting when he kept his arm around her waist. Instead, she slipped her own arm around his waist as well, squeezing softly and laying her head against his shoulder.

"You okay?" Fiyero asked her in mild concern once they'd left the room.

She nodded against his shoulder. "Just realising what's really important in the world, I guess," she said with a small laugh. "Something like that puts everything else in perspective, doesn't it?"

"It does," he agreed.

She fell silent. When they reached the doorway to her room and he made to move away, she stopped him, holding his hand. "Wait."

He looked at her questioningly and she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry for... for holding you off, and for not trusting you despite everything you've done for me. I'm sorry for being so difficult when you've been nothing but wonderful."

He was already shaking his head. "Stop," he told her. "You have nothing to apologise for, Fae. Nothing at all. Please don't do that."

She bit her lip, but she nodded. His reaction only strengthened her conviction. She had to do this. Now was the time. "I just... I really need you to know that it's not because of you," she said. "It was all because of me, and my own experiences in the past. You did nothing wrong. I hope you know that."

"What are you trying to say, Fae?" he asked her gently.

She didn't even know. She opened her mouth to reply, but she had no idea what she wanted to say. What eventually came out was, "I love you." She tried to blink away the stupid tears starting to fill her eyes. "And I don't want to be scared anymore. I know I want all those things you want of me, too – I want to marry you, and I want a family and a future with you, and I think... I'm not ready, but I probably never will be. I think I'm as ready now as I'll ever be."

His eyes were wide as he tried to process her words. "Elphaba..." he breathed. "Are you saying...?"

"I'm not saying I want any of those things right now," she warned him. "I'm just saying I'll be open to them in the future. The not-too-distant future. I'm saying that if you were to propose, in a while, I... I'd say yes. And you probably know by now how hard this is for me, but I think that if I don't do this, I'll be trapped in my own past and fears forever and I told you so many times already that I wanted to break free of that."

Part of her couldn't believe she was doing this; but deep down, she knew it had been building for a long time already, probably since the day they had met. Every time she'd warned him, told him about her fears, or pushed him away, he had been nothing but understanding and patient and kind... and it had only caused her to fall even more deeply in love with him. This was what love was and after seeing Lulu giving birth to her baby today, after seeing Fiyero holding the tiny boy and holding him herself, seeing what was possible... she finally felt ready to take it.

Fiyero was still watching her intently, listening without interrupting her even once; and she took another deep, shaky breath. "To be as cheesy as you sometimes like to be... this is me giving you my heart, Fiyero. And I might regret it, because I'm still not one hundred percent sure you won't break it into a thousand tiny little pieces, but I see now that I won't ever – can't ever – be sure of that. So I guess I'll just have to trust you and take a leap of faith."

She looked at him expectantly, but he had to take a moment to gather his bearings. Finally, he cupped her face in both his hands and rested his forehead against hers as he looked deep into her large, chocolate brown eyes, which were filled with insecurity, but also with love and determination. "I swear on everything I hold dear that I will never hurt you if I can help it," he promised her solemnly. "I'd rather die. I know how big this step is for you, Fae, and you have no idea how much it means to me that you've decided to trust me to this extent. I won't let you down."

She smiled slightly, blinking against the tears again. "I know."

He smiled, too, and traced the dimples in her cheeks with his fingertips before kissing her; and she allowed herself to get lost in his embrace.

It took them all a while to heal, emotionally, from everything they had been through in their lives. Sometimes Elphaba thought they might never fully heal at all. That was okay, though. The most important thing was that they were moving forward.

Upon awakening in Fiyero's arms the next morning, Elphaba felt at peace and she knew she had made the right decision. They talked a lot about everything in the days after that. Elphaba confessed her fear of what the Vinkun people might think about her marrying Fiyero, if it really came to that, and Fiyero took the matter to his parents.

"I know you don't like to hear it, Fiyero, but she's right," his mother told him. "You're not required to marry a princess, or even a girl of high status; but if word got out about her having worked at a brothel, it might pose a bit of a problem."

Fiyero crossed his arms. "I'm marrying her anyway," he declared stubbornly, which made Lori roll her eyes at him.

Hamold stifled a laugh. "I don't think that's what your mother was saying, son," he said in mild amusement. "We're not saying you can't marry Elphaba. We're just saying we need a story for her."

"You want to lie about where she came from?"

"Not lie, per se," Lori said, pursing her lips as she thought about the matter. "Stretch the truth a bit, yes. Where did you say her real family is from?"

"Munchkinland," Fiyero replied. "She's the eldest daughter of the governor, actually – Governor Frexspar Thropp? He always hated her because of her skin and that's why he brought her to the orphanage. He still lives in Munchkinland with Elphaba's younger sister, Nessarose."

"A governor's daughter would actually be a wonderful match in everyone's eyes," said Lori, her eyes lighting up. She frowned. "Although I don't like the implications of that. What a horrible man her father must be, to cast her aside like that – literally. Who could do that to his own child?" She perked up again. "Perhaps we could help Elphaba reclaim her title as heir to the governorship?" she suggested. "Do you think she would want that?"

Fiyero shook his head. "She's having a hard enough time coping with the idea of becoming a princess, Mum," he said wryly. "There's no way she'll want to become a governor, too. I'll ask her, but I think I can predict her answer."

He was right about that, too. Elphaba fervently declined Lori's suggestion, although she appreciated the sentiment behind it.

"I have no desire to become governor to a province I don't even know," she said. "Really. It's fine. Well, not fine, I guess, but I'm over what my father did to me. I've handled it in the best way I knew how and although I can't deny the fact that I hate him a bit for what he did, deep down, I don't want revenge on him or anything. Honestly, I'd prefer it if I never had to see him again."

"I can understand that," Lori assured her. "Still, we could use your true parentage in our advantage. We can simply present you to the people as the daughter of the Munchkinland governor and gloss over all the rest."

Elphaba bit her lip and Hamold asked her gently, "That doesn't sit right with you, does it?"

She sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "It just... it feels wrong to pretend like I just grew up with my father in Munchkinland, you know? And I think the truth about it would come out sooner or later, somehow, and then things could get messy."

Fiyero put his arm around her shoulders and said, "How about we do present her as the governor's daughter, but also tell the people the truth about what he did?"

"Then we'd be presenting him as some sort of monster who gave his own daughter away," Lori pointed out. "And he is, don't get me wrong..."

"...but it would have all kinds of political implications for you as monarchs of the Vinkus," Elphaba filled in. "I understand. I wouldn't want you to do that."

"Why not?" Fiyero demanded hotly and Elphaba gave him a look.

"Because it might result in war between the Vinkus and Munchkinland," she pointed out to him, "and no matter what you might think, I'm not worth starting a war over."

He opened his mouth to protest, but Hamold cut in first. "She's right, son. That's regardless of how much you might love her or how fond we might be of her," he added, giving Elphaba a smile. "We're not just people and we're not just your parents – we're also the ruling monarchs of a province and we need to think and act as such."

Fiyero grumbled and Elphaba kissed his cheek. "I love you," she said, smiling when she saw the way his face softened at that. She was still amazed at the impact those three little words could have on him. "Your parents are right, though."

"I know," he said with a sigh and she laid her head against his shoulder and squeezed his hand consolingly.

"However," Hamold continued, "we could also portray the governor differently. Instead of painting him as a monster, we can always make the story that he was grief-stricken by the death of his wife and couldn't care for Elphaba by himself, which is why he brought her to the orphanage. We can keep the details fairly vague – Vinkuns are pretty private people, so they wouldn't know all the details about a story about the governor of Munchkinland from sixteen years ago. Then we wouldn't be lying, exactly, and we'd still be able to use Elphaba's father's position to our advantage, but without the implications it might have for our relationship with Munchkinland."

Lori nodded slowly. "That might work," she agreed. "Yero?"

"I guess," he said and then they all looked at Elphaba, who looked lost in thought.

Finally, she nodded as well. "I think that could work, too," she said. "But what about my history at the brothel? What if Morrible tells on me, or one of the other girls – or a client, for that matter?"

Lori and Hamold both grimaced, but Fiyero said smugly, "Well, it's not like the Vinkun people can change anything about it if we're already married."

They all stared at him.

"Excuse me – what?" Elphaba asked and he grinned at her, but his grin faded when he saw the mild panic on her face.

"I don't mean right now!" he hurried to reassure her. "Or anywhere in the near future, for that matter. It's like Dad said, Fae – the Vinkuns are pretty private people. We'll let them know I'm in a serious relationship with you, but it's not like they're going to be prying all that deeply into your personal life."

"They'll probably just fall to their knees to thank Oz that Fiyero has finally found himself a girl," Hamold muttered and they all laughed except for Fiyero, who glared at his father.

"Thanks, Dad," he said sarcastically. "I love you, too. Anyway," he continued to Elphaba, "once you and I have been together publicly for a while, we'll announce the engagement and get married shortly afterwards. Then we'll tell the people more about you and once they know you're a governor's daughter and they get to know you a little as their new princess, they won't mind your history so much anymore."

"You hope," Hamold added and Fiyero scowled at him.

"I hope," he conceded. "But I'm pretty sure they won't. Especially not once they realise they're really going to need her to keep me in check or I'll plunge the entire province into chaos after all."

"You have a point there," Hamold said drily.

Fiyero put a hand over his heart. "Ouch."

Elphaba just rolled her eyes at him and he pouted. "One of you was supposed to say 'you'd be a great king by yourself, too, Yero, don't talk yourself down'."

"We could tell you, Yero," Hamold said to his son. "But then we would be lying, and didn't your mother and I always teach you to be truthful?"

"He's joking, Yero," Lori said, shooting her husband a look. "We're very proud of you, you know. You did change, we know that, and we do believe you'd be a wonderful king even without Elphaba by your side."

"We just also think you'd be a better one with Elphaba by your side," Hamold added helpfully and Lori gave him another look, but Fiyero just chuckled.

"I do, too," he said, grinning down at the green girl. She was blushing a little, but she did roll her eyes at him again.

"It's not a perfect solution," Lori said, thinking over Fiyero's suggestion. "Far from it. But you're right in that the Vinkuns aren't all that interested in Elphaba's background, anyway. If we introduce her straight away as an orphan who was forced to work as a prostitute, we'll definitely rub some people the wrong way, especially some high leaders and officials; but if she can first prove that she's a kind and intelligent young woman, by helping out with royal duties and appearing in public, the people won't care nearly as much."

"That's how we'll do it, then," Fiyero said proudly. He gave Elphaba a beaming smile. "So…" he said hopefully. "If you don't want to get married right now, when would be a good time for me to ask you? Just so I have some idea, you know."

She merely gave him an exasperated look and didn't reply.