Fiyero's alarm clock clicked over to the hour, and he threw on his jogging clothes. Despite his sleepless night, he felt exploding with energy. The club with Avaric and his twins had made a welcome distraction, though he'd sent both girls home with his friend. Instead, he'd spent the night with memories of how Elphaba smelt, tasted, felt pressed against him. How could sleep compare with that? He couldn't wait to see her this morning. Straighten out whatever had gone wrong.

He reached Crage Hall to find it deserted. He checked the time. He wasn't that early. She should be stretching. He waited a few long minutes for her to appear, but when a group of girls opened the door to leave, he took the opportunity to slip in.

Luckily, he had quite a bit of practice sneaking into girls' dormitories over the years. He made it up the stairs to her room and knocked twice. No answer. Another sharp knock, and he called, "Elphie, it's me. Open the door."

A clatter sounded, and the door swung open. Half awake, Galinda glared at him from beneath a ruffled mess of hair. He took a step back. "She's not here. Try the library."

He thanked her, but she slammed the door shut. Galinda was not much of a morning person.

He trekked to the library, only to find the large building locked and dark. Even the courts were empty at this time of morning. Out of options, he headed back toward his room.

Halfway back he saw Boq headed in the same direction. He called out to the munchkin, who gave a surprised jolt. Fiyero jogged to catch up. "Hey, Boq, right?"

The boy sighed. "Yes."

His reaction drew a frown from Fiyero. "What?" Boq studied his feet. "It's not Biq, is it? Have I been calling you the wrong name after all? Geez, Galinda would never let me live that down."

The kid's cheeks couldn't possibly be redder without serious biological harm. "No, it's Boq."

"Then-"

"You do realize that you've asked me that same question every time we've run into each other for as long as I've known you. Months, now."

He rubbed his neck self-consciously. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I…won't ask again." Though knowing him, he probably would.

"It's fine." Boq started toward the dorm again, and Fiyero fell in step beside him. "What're you doing out here this early? I thought you were working with Elphaba on weekends."

"I can't seem to find her. Hey, you're her friend. Know where she might go?"

Boq shrugged. "Library, I'd guess. Or class. You'd know more than I would."

"How's that?"

"I haven't seen her outside class in ages."

"Oh. Well, if you see her..."

"Yeah, course." Boq slipped away as quickly as he could. Fiyero didn't think to ask until the boy had already left where he had come from so early. Maybe he hadn't known the library would be closed, though Boq seemed the type to know the hours. Maybe his break-up had messed with his mind more than – Oh, Nessa! He was such an idiot. Elphaba probably just needed to see her sister for something.

But he didn't exactly know where Nessa lived, and rumors were that her roommate was Morrible herself. No way he'd chance sneaking into that dorm. He considered asking Boq, but the munchkin seemed really annoyed with him already.

He spent a large portion of the morning trying to come up with any other idea, but brainstorming was not his forte. Noon hit, and he decided he might as well get some lunch. He was far more likely to run into her or her sister in the cafeteria than in his bedroom at least.

But neither Thropp decided to grace the room with their presence, and Fiyero didn't feel like any other company. He took the table by the window to stare out at the tree, trying to come up with any other options.

"Twins, man." Avaric plopped into the seat beside him and started in on his fries with gusto. "Oh, man, is there anything better?"

Fiyero stared at the tree moodily, all too aware of his answer.

"What's with you, lemon lips? You regretting your night alone?"

He turned to his friend, ignoring the genuine concern buried in the casual tone. "What's with you and food nicknames, anyway?"

Avaric leaned back. "Artichoke campaigning?"

"Her name's Elphaba."

He stared a moment before turning back to his fries. "Yep."

"That's it? No off-color joke? No quick insult?"

"Okay, first of all, 'off-color joke'? Are you trying to make this so easy?" Fiyero glared. "And second of all, of course I'm not going to insult your girlfriend, no matter how worthy I may find her. It'd be a waste of a perfectly pretty face - mine."

"What makes you think she's my girlfriend?"

Avaric gave him a shrewd look. "So she pissed at you or something? You're not your usual new-relationship rainbow-faced self."

"I don't know. She didn't show up this morning, and I haven't been able to find her." Fiyero fought to keep his voice even, but the frustration leaked in.

"Try the library or class or something. Isn't that where she always is?"

"Thanks, Avaric. A ton of help. I'd never have thought of those obvious places without you."

"I see her sarcasm is rubbing off."

Fiyero ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just-"

"No worries." Avaric stood up and collected his empty tray. "Well, seeing as the Arti-she and I aren't besties, that's the best I've got for you. Good luck."

"Thanks. And she's not exactly my girlfriend." He wanted to add the yet, but he didn't want to jinx it.

"Thank Oz. I'd never last a week calling her by her name."

After an hour of waiting, and moping, Fiyero decided to go back to her room. Wherever Elphaba had gone, surely she'd come home at some point. He knocked on the door softly, reluctant to shatter his last shreds of hope.

Galinda answered the door. "Again?"

"She hasn't come back?"

The blonde stepped back with a heavy sigh. "Did you ever think maybe she doesn't want you to find her?"

"Why? Did she say something to you?" She shot him a look. Even if her roommate had confided in her, Galinda would never tell anyone, especially Fiyero, what she'd said. "All the more reason for me to find her."

Reluctantly, she uncrossed her arms. "Fiyero, honestly, you should let it go."

He could tell the advice cost her, and he appreciated that. But he couldn't follow it. "At least tell me where I can find Nessa."

"Why do you want to talk to her sister?" He knew he didn't need to answer. Galinda sighed again and jotted down a room number on a piece of paper. "This isn't going to do you any good."

"Maybe not, but I have to try, don't I?"

Her neat script on the pink paper stung, a fond reminder of their days together. He didn't miss her, per se. But he hated her hating him. If only they could have stayed friends…

The neat cursive listed a room on the bottom floor, and he headed down to sweet-talk his way through Nessa. He knocked on the door and waited a long minute. He was about to knock again when the door flew open.

"Tiggular? What are you doing in the women's dorm?"

He gulped and looked up at Madame Morrible with his most innocent expression. "Morning, ma'am. I was looking for Miss Nessarose. Her sister and I are working on a project, and I needed some help finding her."

"A project?"

"Yes, ma'am. For Master Bidsk."

Morrible narrowed her eyes as if scanning his mind for the truth. "I'm not sure how Miss Thropp would help you find her sister. She has been here, working on her studies, all morning."

Fiyero felt a pang of sympathy for Nessa, trapped with Morrible for a roommate. "I just wanted a word to see if she might know where El-Miss Thropp might have gone."

As she studied him, he tried to come up with any other way to sneak in to see Nessa, but if Morrible had been keeping tabs on her all morning, he couldn't think of a realistic solution. "Miss Nessarose, you have a visitor." She turned back to Fiyero. "I'm afraid she can't talk long. She has been very weak this morning, and you mustn't wear her out."

"Of course, ma'am. Thank you."

Nessa wheeled to the door. "Fiyero? What are you doing here?"

Morrible hadn't been exaggerating. Nessa looked terrible. Her long dark hair hung limp, and her shoulders slumped as if they held the weight of the world.

"Hey, Nessa. Sorry to bother you like this."

"It's no bother." But she didn't attempt to smile. "What do you need?"

He thought of easing into it, but her depressed expression made him want to escape as soon as possible. "It's Elphaba. She's been missing all morning. No one seems to know where she went."

"Oh." He'd have expected a little more concern. "She's probably in the library or something."

Why did everyone think he was such an idiot that he'd not check the clearly obvious first choice? He fought himself into an even expression. "She's not. I already checked."

"Did you check her room?"

"Nessa, come on. Of course I checked her room."

The frail girl's shrug looked like it might topple her over. "No idea."

He wanted to shake her into some spark of caring. "Seriously? You're not even going to try to help me?"

"No need to be rude." Nessa rolled back, and the door inched toward him. "Look, I haven't heard from Elphaba, but I'm sure she's fine, wherever she is. You needn't worry."

He caught the door before it closed. "Nessa, I really need to talk to her. It's important."

She looked at him for a long minute. "What do you want? I don't know where she is."

"But surely you have some insight into where she might go. You're her sister."

"None. Sorry."

Fiyero stepped out of the door with a sharp breath. "Thanks for your help." He wanted to shake her, but Nessa didn't seem to care about anything right now. Oz, that was absolutely infuriating.

Desperate, he decided to try the library again. After all, that's where the universe expected her. But of course, no luck. After his third sweep of the library, the matron at the front desk eyed him as if considering expelling him. He sighed, admitting defeat. Unless she was hiding in the books themselves, she wasn't here.

"Hey." Tavon and Aeric fell in step beside him. The former nodded back toward the large building. "What're you doing at the library?"

As much as he didn't want to talk to either, he put it aside to ask, "Have you seen Elphaba?"

"I'm pretty sure I can find her," Aeric offered with a wicked grin, "…in my bed."

If Tavon hadn't caught his fist, Fiyero would have punched him. His eyes threatened murder, and the thick boy actually stepped back. "Lurline, just a joke. What the hell is your problem anyway?"

Tavon recovered first. "He can't find Elphaba," he said, as if that explained everything. "Need some help looking?"

Fiyero fought a frustrated sigh. "No thanks." They were the last help he needed. He ran a hand through his rumpled hair. "But if you see her…"

"Yeah."

He had to fight back a thought of how Tavon probably would see her, as he picked up Galinda for a date tonight. Or worse, after. But he forced that image out of his mind.

The weekend passed, and though he looked everywhere he could imagine she might have gone, he had no leads. Nessa and Galinda both refused to answer him any more, and even Boq had given him a pitying look. He'd waited outside Crage Hall for her so long, campus security actually interrogated him and sent him away. Where could she be? She might as well have vanished in thin air.

Monday found him outside her first class. She wouldn't miss class, even if she had been abducted. She'd fight her way free and hijack a train if she had to, just to make it to class. But time came and went. He doubled back to check the room number when he saw a flash of green.

He raced around the corner and there she was, plain as day. He blinked, half-afraid he imagined her. She shifted her bag on her shoulder, somehow both intimidating and endearing at once in the way that only she could manage. He called out at the top of his lungs, "Elphaba! Hey, wait!" Her hair swung over her shoulder as she looked back, eyes wide, and then slipped into the corridor on the right.

He stopped in shock and felt a person slam into his back. "Sorry," he muttered, edging out of traffic. She had seen him; he knew she had. Why had she turned?

She was avoiding him. He felt like Liam, some pathetic rejected suitor who didn't realize he was unwanted. He'd known, of course, at least in some part of him, that she hadn't been missing by accident. But the full reality of seeing her dodge him hit him like a sledgehammer.

He should have expected this. It was so like Elphaba to avoid the issue, and by association, him. He felt a twinge of annoyance that she wouldn't even give him the opportunity to defend himself.

So this was rejection. Real rejection, not the usual, "I can't, I'm joining the mauntery in the morning…alright, just don't tell anyone." Rejection sucked.

Well, he wasn't just some guy. He was a prince, famous and beloved, and he wasn't going to be shunted away as if he didn't even exist.