Here it is - the final chapter! After this, as said before, you can expect a drabble and a three-shot... and then I'll hopefully be able to start posting my next story, which will not be To Protect and Serve after all, but Fairest of Them All.

21. The Girls' Freedom

All three girls ended up staying at Adurin Iir for quite a while longer after that. Lulu had to stay because she and her son had no place to go until she could find both a job and a way to juggle that job with motherhood, Galinda didn't want to leave by herself, and Elphaba… well, the green girl had no idea what she wanted to do now that she finally had options. She did want to stay with Fiyero, but there were so many other things she'd like to do. She'd debated trying to find a job as well, perhaps even go to university if she could – she'd love to learn something and she could still marry Fiyero afterwards, right? Then again, the prospect of studying at a university whilst simultaneously working to be able to pay for that study for another three years didn't seem very appealing to her, especially not since that meant leaving Fiyero for that period of time. She just… didn't know.

At some point, Elphaba suggested to Galinda to try and get back her family's things that were rightfully hers – the house and the money, mainly.

"Your aunt did steal from you, after all," the green girl reminded her friend. "She had no right to claim everything as her own. Now is your chance to take it all back, especially if Lori, Hamold, or Fiyero were to help you."

Galinda paused in the middle of running a hairbrush through her curls. "I hadn't even thought of that," she said in wonder. "I've been wondering about what to do next."

"We all have," Elphaba told her. "But I know what you should do. Reclaim your inheritance – you told me how rich your parents used to be, Glin. You'd never have to worry about money again. And when that's done," she added, "you should go back to that handsome guy in the village and try to talk things out with him."

Galinda stared at the other girl.

Elphaba chuckled. "Don't look at me like that. I know you liked him, Glin," she said, sobering. "And I know why you broke things off with him – you were scared. We all are," she admitted. "But you told me how much you liked him and how kind he was to you… I think you should give it a chance. We all need to learn how to trust people again and I think that would be a great start for you, if nothing else."

"Just like Fiyero is a great start for you?" Galinda asked innocently. "Or is he also going to be the ending? The happy ending," she added, giggling as Elphaba tossed a cushion in her direction.

Not much later, Galinda did indeed discuss the matter with Lori; and although it took a while for everything to be arranged, the queen came to find Galinda a month or so later to inform her happily that everything was taken care of. Her aunt had been apprehended for maltreatment and theft and the house and money were Galinda's again. Lori also offered the blonde a chance to see her aunt, but Galinda declined. She had no desire to relive that part of her childhood. It was behind her now; all that mattered was that she had her parents' things again and she instantly ordered Lulu and her baby to move in with her.

"It's a big house," she explained. "I'd get lonely. And besides, you need a place to stay, too. I can provide for the both of you now and even if you insist on finding a job to earn your own money, you could do that from Gillikin and the baby could stay with me! Or I could hire a nanny… please? I don't want to leave by myself."

Lulu, although slightly overwhelmed by the offer, accepted it gratefully, glad to have a more definite place to live now. Galinda took Elphaba's advice about the village boy, too, and made up with him, agreeing to stay in touch through letters after she moved to Gillikin and to see where things would go.

Of course Elphaba was thrilled for her friends, especially once the three of them plus Lori and Fiyero travelled to Gillikin for a week or so to see Galinda and Lulu's new house and to help them clean everything up and adapt it to their style. At the same time, though, the green girl felt a little sad. She hated seeing her friends go after having spent so long together. Besides, she still didn't know what she wanted to do; although when she had brought that problem to her friends' attention, they had both scoffed at her.

"You know what you want to do," Lulu had informed her matter-of-factly. "You've known for a long time already."

"Why do you think we didn't ask you to move in with us?" Galinda had added. "You'd have said no, anyway. No matter the way you keep protesting, Elphie, you're not going anywhere. Your heart is here."

There was very little she could say to argue with that.

Lori and Hamold helped out by offering Elphaba a private tutor, so she could take some classes in topics she found interesting. She gratefully took that opportunity. If she was going to be Fiyero's queen one day, she wanted to be well-educated and to know everything there was to know about the Vinkus. She already had enough factors against her that could make the people wary of her – her skin, her background, her lack of education in the past – so she would do everything in her power to become the best queen she could be. Once her friends had left, she had even more time for her studies and she liked them, too.

The toughest moment so far had been when Governor Thropp and his daughter Nessarose came to stay at Adurin Iir for a couple of days on a state visit. Elphaba wasn't sure what she had expected from Frex. Realistically, she knew he wasn't going to come up to her and apologise for what he had done all those years ago; he probably wouldn't even talk to her.

He didn't, either, as it turned out. He did continuously sneak looks at her whenever he thought she wasn't paying attention, but he didn't say a word to her personally and she didn't seek him out, either. She didn't want anything to do with the man who had never wanted anything to do with her. She had people who loved her now; she didn't need his approval anymore.

She thought briefly about approaching Nessarose, but discarded that notion quickly. The girl in the wheelchair probably didn't even know Elphaba existed, judging from the curious way she looked at her father throughout the visit and the polite, but otherwise empty smiles she gave the green girl. That was all right. Getting to know Nessarose wasn't worth the trouble of having to deal with Frex – and besides, she didn't want to give the poor girl a heart attack by suddenly turning her world upside down. She looked frail enough already. Elphaba didn't miss a sibling, anyway – she already had a family and she knew Galinda and Lulu, despite the distance, were more like sisters to her than Nessarose could ever be; if only because of everything they had been through together. She'd found her family and neither Frexspar nor Nessarose were a part of that.

With a start, she realised that she was happy with her life the way it was now. She was learning the things she wanted to learn, she was with the man she loved and his parents, who treated her like a daughter the way her own family had never treated her. She wrote to Galinda and Lulu regularly and they visited back and forth at least once a month, too – the distance wasn't that great and Fiyero's family had carriages to spare, so the travelling was hardly a problem. She was just… happy. Maybe this was what it felt like to finally let go of her past.

Since Fiyero had usually had to leave her in the middle of the night when she'd still been with Morrible, Elphaba hadn't often experienced the pleasure of waking up in his arms before she came to Adurin Iir. After she'd, well, given him her heart, they had slept together more often than before and waking up beside him was something she had quickly come to love. They tried to spend the nights together as often as they could – sometimes sleeping together in that sense, but often just talking and sleeping without anything else happening. She liked listening to his heartbeat when she fell asleep and she knew he loved having her close during the night as well.

It was one rainy autumn morning, nearly a year and a half after Elphaba and Fiyero had first met and about a year after she had come to Adurin Iir, when she awoke like that; and a feeling of peace and happiness washed over her like she'd never known before, bringing a wide and probably quite silly smile to her face. There was a twinge of apprehension there, yes, but that couldn't compete with the joy of being here, in the arms of her prince. Her hero.

Her husband.

It had taken him another year of patience and promises before she'd finally given in. He claimed it was more than worth the wait; she didn't entirely believe him. Not until yesterday, when she'd walked down the aisle in a huge, puffy, white dress and she had seen the tears and the light in his eyes. He'd looked so awed upon seeing her like that, so genuinely happy… she had to believe him then.

She watched him sleep for a while now, burrowing into his arms. She felt warm and safe and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop smiling. Why had she been so afraid of this? This – lying here, next to her husband, knowing he really did love her – was the best feeling in the world.

She'd been presented to the people for the first time at their engagement party and although her skin had elicited some wary responses at first, she felt like her speech that night had won some people over at least. Over the course of their engagement, which lasted about a month, the Tiggular family had carefully leaked some information about her to the press, mostly positive things, and soon the Vinkuns had taken a liking to her. She hadn't been surprised when a tabloid had published an article about her being a former prostitute, even though Fiyero had been outraged.

"We knew this would happen," she'd told him. "It was probably Morrible, trying to take her revenge for what we did to her business. It's fine, Yero. It doesn't matter. I'm not ashamed of my past anymore – I want to be honest about my life."

She'd given another speech the next day, confirming the rumours and explaining most of her story. Again, there had been some wary and negative reactions, but the response had mostly consisted of sympathy and even the people who still had doubts couldn't deny the fact that their princess-to-be was a smart girl with good ideas for the Vinkus. By the time their wedding had rolled around, only yesterday, the entire province had celebrated with them and most traces of hesitation had been erased. She hoped the rest of it would resolve itself soon, too, once she'd appear in public a bit more.

Frex, much to her surprise, never contacted her or the Tiggulars in any way, not even after Lori and Hamold had given the people the story about how Elphaba had ended up at an orphanage. She knew he had to have heard about it by now, but apparently he didn't really care. That was fine, too. She'd have to face him again sooner or later in a professional fashion, but privately, there was nothing she wanted from him anymore.

She was shaken from her thoughts when Fiyero stirred and opened his eyes, blinking. Then a goofy smile appeared on his face to match her own and his lips found her hair. "Please tell me I haven't dreamt yesterday," he murmured into her ebony curls.

She raised her left hand and wiggled her ring finger at him, which was now adorned with a white gold band. "Is this answer enough?"

She hadn't thought it possible, but his grin grew even wider and his lips found her own. She returned the kiss, her arms coming around him as he hugged her close.

He let his forehead fall against hers. "I can't believe this really happened," he confessed.

She shook her head at him, smiling. "I can't believe you finally talked me into this," she teased.

Fiyero looked panicked and worried, all of a sudden, and he sat up a little straighter. "You mean you didn't want…?"

Elphaba pressed her finger against his lips, effectively cutting him off. She rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant, Yero," she told him, her voice gentle despite the mild exasperation shining through. He didn't look convinced, so she kissed him again. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," she said. "And I was scared at first – that your motives weren't pure, or that you'd change your mind about me; but I love you. We've had this conversation before, remember? I wouldn't have married you if I really hadn't wanted to."

He nodded, giving her a lopsided grin. "Okay."

"Besides," she added, "I must say I quite like being your wife so far." She smiled a dimpled smile at him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Thanks for saving me, Yero my hero," she whispered, resting her forehead back against his.

He brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. "I love you so much," he mumbled, drawing her even closer. "I know you're scared, but I'll spend the rest of my life proving that to you."

She looked at him for a long time and then smiled again. "You know what?" she said. "I think you already have."

She was done being afraid. From now on, she would trust her instincts and she'd let go of her past; she'd be happy, because how could she possibly be anything else? After all she'd been through, she'd given up whatever hope she'd ever had of getting a happy ending, but life had always had a funny way of proving her wrong. This was her happy ending and only an idiot would let it slip through her fingers.

Elphaba Thropp was not an idiot.

So she snuggled up to the man she loved, kissing him deeply and feeling his arms come around her, enveloping her in his warm scent and making her feel protected and cared for. Happy ending, indeed, she thought, smiling a little against his lips.

She awoke like that another year later, too, in Fiyero's arms; only this time it was in the middle of the night and she had to gently push her husband away in order to be able to get out of bed. He shifted a little and half-opened his eyes. "Do you want me to go?" he mumbled.

She shook her head. "I've got it," she whispered and he nodded, watching her leave the room. She moved into the adjoining room, where her son of two months old was spluttering and crying in his bassinet.

"Hello, sweetheart," she murmured, picking him up and sitting down in the rocking chair with him in order to calm him down. Ever since she'd had to terminate her previous pregnancy, she'd hoped for a second chance at motherhood someday; and now here it was, right there in her arms. She'd been mildly shocked upon finding out that she was pregnant, so soon after their wedding, but she'd mostly been excited. Having her son had erased the final few traces of pain the terminated pregnancy had left. That baby would never have had a chance and it would always hold a place in her heart, but she'd gotten her second chance now and it was better than she ever could have imagined – even despite the smelly diapers and the midnight feeds.

She heard Fiyero's footsteps not long thereafter, following her into the nursery, and she looked up to find him smiling at the picture she made with their son. The baby had calmed down by then and she handed him over to his father so the prince could kiss him and then gently place him back. Elphaba came up beside him and he wrapped his arm around her. Together, they watched for a while as their son drifted off to sleep again.

Maybe, she thought as Fiyero led her back to their own bed and tucked in beside her, holding her close, maybe they'd have more children one day. Maybe she'd even be a good mother. She was a princess now, too, and she wasn't too shabby at that; maybe she'd make a decent queen as well. She'd always had so many fears, but they seemed based on nothing now. After all, she'd been scared of marriage and children, too, and look how that had turned out.

Fiyero murmured "good night" into her ear and she closed her eyes, relaxing in his embrace as she decided to just let life run its course from now on. If there was anything she had learned from her life so far, but especially from the past two and a half years, it was that anything was possible.

- THE END -

Thank you all for sticking with me throughout this story! Your support has been amazing, as always, and I'm very grateful for it ^_^. I do hope you'll stick with me for my next story, too - Fairest of Them All, which will feature a bunch of you guys in what is basically going to be Miss Congeniality - the Wicked edition!