After about an hour of walking together, the Lion had finally seemed to relax to their presence and by now had stopped wringing his paws together nervously. Now as they walked the group made small talk, but Fiyero still could not take his mind off of Elphaba. He was worried about her and wondered how she was holding up. He knew she was probably hiding out in Kiamo Ko right now, but the question was how to get there without the others coming along. After all, he couldn't exactly explain things to Elphaba with three people who feared and hated her standing right behind him. He supposed he'd have to wait until they went to see the Wizard to figure that out. Surely it would be easier to slip away once the others were distracted.

Finally, at about noon, the group stopped off by a clump of berry bushes so that Dorothy could eat. It turned out that the Lion, being too afraid to hunt, was a vegetarian, and he too accepted the berries eagerly. Once the two had eaten their fill, the group continued on their way once more.

A short while later the Emerald City finally came into view. It loomed proud and tall, sparkling marvelously on the horizon. Dorothy all but leapt for joy as they grew closer and, unable to contain her enthusiasm, sprinted ahead of the small group. Straying off of the road, she began to take a short cut through a nearby poppy field. Her companions sped up, not wanting the girl to get too far ahead. However, after only a few moments, Dorothy and the Lion stopped moving altogether. Boq and Fiyero turned to look at them curiously.

"Wow," Dorothy yawned, rubbing her eyes, "I suddenly feel so sleepy. I think I'll lie down for a little while."

"Dorothy, what are you doing? Don't stop now, we're almost there!" Fiyero said, pointing a cloth finger toward the Emerald City skyline. Had the girl lost her mind? They were so very close to the city! Now was most certainly not the time for spontaneous napping.

However, Fiyero began to worry when the Lion too began to teeter dangerously on his feet. "Come to think of it, 40 winks doesn't sound like a bad idea," he yawned, falling forward as Boq and Fiyero rushed to steady him.

"Not you too," said Boq as he moved over to Dorothy. Grabbing her under the arms he tried to help her back up, "Come give me a hand, maybe we can carry her," he called to Fiyero. Fiyero left the Lion, who was already out cold, and tried to help Boq wake Dorothy. It was no use, she had fallen asleep as well.

"Something's not right," said Boq, panic beginning to creep into his voice, "There's some sort of spell at work here. It's the Wicked Witch of the West; she's trying to stop us again!"

As much as he hated to admit it, Fiyero too felt that this was Elphaba's doing. If that was the case then there was nothing they could do to stop it. Elphaba's magic was far too powerful and there was no way any one of them could even hope to break the spell. But they had to get out of here. If Elphaba hadn't calmed down yet and came to this field looking for them…. Well, Fiyero had a feeling it wouldn't be pretty. However, his panicked musings were cut short when he noted that something fluffy and white had begun to fall from the sky.

"Look it's snowing," Boq shouted, his awestruck gaze fixed on the sky. Indeed it was. In a matter of moments the ground was covered in a fluffy layer of snow.

All of a sudden Dorothy and the Lion stirred, obviously awakened by the freezing blanket of snow that now covered each of them. Both woar looks of utter confusion as they stood up, but Boq and Fiyero understood. Obviously the snow flakes had successfully countered whatever spell Elphaba had placed on the poppies.

Dorothy and the others immediately assumed that Glinda was behind the snow, but Fiyero was not so sure. After all, Glinda had really never had much talent for sorcery, and a weather spell took a lot of power and concentration. He did remember, however; that whether spells had been a specialty of that horrible woman who had been their headmistress and was now press secretary to the Wizard. Yes, it would not be beneath Madame Morrible to cast a spell to make Glinda look good. After all, Glinda was currently acting as the Wizard's main puppet. However, Fiyero was once again forced to keep the truth silent. He was beginning to grow disgusted with the fact that he could not say anything to counter the lies his friends kept coming up with, but he knew he could not say anything about it, at least not until he found Elphaba.

"Come on then," said Dorothy, shaking the remaining snow flakes out of her hair, "Let's keep going. We're almost there!"

The others followed behind Dorothy obediently, Boq and the Lion looking just as excited as the young girl. The three were so focused on the Emerald City ahead of them that not one of them caught the troubled look on Fiyero's face, and they simply continued merrily on their way.

From the poppy field the group reached the Emerald City in about an hour. Dorothy hastened her pace as they grew closer the gates, obviously excited at the prospect of finally meeting the Wizard. She rang the bell and, after a misunderstanding with a rather incompetent guard, they stated the reason they had come. The guard had rather rudely refused them entry, and had been about to slam the door in their face when Dorothy had explained their situation with 'The Wicked Witch of the West'. She showed the guard her rather unique footwear and he recognized the slippers, having heard the story of the Wicked Witch of the East from a Munchkin who had been present at the time the house had fallen onto her. After that he had ushered the four of them inside eagerly.

One they were inside the Emerald City, the four of them were led to a small salon. There they were stuffed, shined, primped and combed until their travel worn appearances disappeared, leaving them looking rather clean and presentable. However, as they exited the building their good mood was shattered by a sudden uproar of panic and confusion taking place on the streets outside. They looked around for the source of the upset, and Fiyero was the first to realize what was wrong. There, hovering high above the city on a rather beat up looking old broomstick, was Elphaba. He was glad to see that after all of this time she still caused a commotion wherever she went. Correction, she didn't cause the commotions, she was one.

However, Fiyero was broken out of his musings as he realized Elphaba was writing a sort of message in the sky using a line of smoke that was trailing from the tip of broom. She twisted and looped until she finished her message, and then she flew off, cackling madly. Her finished message read 'Surrender Dorothy'.

These words seemed to send a fresh wave of panic through the already frantic crowd. "Dorothy? Who's Dorothy?" someone cried, looking at the message in the sky with wide eyes. People were running every which way, even though Elphaba had already departed, and Fiyero was nearly separated from the others in the confusion.

However, before the situation could get out of hand a tall Gale Force guard appeared outside of the entrance to the Emerald Palace. Speaking in an authoritative tone, he declared, "The great and powerful Wizard of Oz wished me to inform all of you that he has this situation completely under control. All of you return to your homes." He shooed off the remaining Ozians, who by now had begun to calm down, and soon only Fiyero and his three companions were left standing before the palace.

"Please sir," said Dorothy shyly, looking down at her shoes, "we need to see the Wizard right away."

The guard did not seem affected by Dorothy's childish manner, and stated quite firmly, "The Wizard is accepting no visitors. Go home."

Fiyero felt bad for the poor girl, and though he knew that seeing the Wizard would do no good anyway, he felt that he should at least do his part to try and get them inside, "But you don't understand. She's Dorothy!"

This finally seemed to change the guard's demeanor. His eyes grew wide and he now actually seemed interested in the visitors, "The Witch's Dorothy?" he asked, whispering as though he suspected Elphaba would hear him. When the four of them nodded the guard spoke again, suddenly looking very excited, "Well that makes a difference! I'll announce you at once!" With that, the guard disappeared inside, his coattails nearly getting caught in the heavy oak doors as they swung closed behind them.

The four companions looked at each other, not quite sure what had just happened. After what seemed like an eternity the guard returned, his expression somber, "The Wizard says 'go home'. He refuses to see any visitors right now and that's final."

Dorothy seemed shocked for a moment, and Fiyero knew she had gotten her hopes up only to have them crushed. When the guard disappeared back inside, Dorothy sat down on the steps looking rather disheartened. After a few moments she began to cry, much to the obvious dismay of her three male companions. They sat next to her and tried to look supportive, while really they were just hoping she would stop soon. The situation was making them feel rather awkward. Fiyero especially hated it when girls cried. That was why he'd never used to break up with his girlfriends back I high school. When he got tired of one girl he'd simply start dating another. Then when his first girlfriend found out she usually just shouted, threw things at him, and then never spoke to him again. Shouting he could deal with. Fiyero shook his head, that had been back before he'd met Elphaba, when he'd still been completely shallow and self absorbed. Fiyero still marveled at the way the green girl had changed him.

However, while Fiyero had been letting his mind wander, Dorothy had been babbling something rather unintelligible. Though the three men could not understand her, the guard, who had apparently been eavesdropping for the past few minutes, did. He came out of the palace blubbering, his face streaked with tears. Fiyero felt embarrassed for him.

Through his sobs the guard managed to choke out, "That's so sad! I had an Auntie Em myself once! I'll get you in to see the Wizard, just stop crying!" and with that he scurried back inside. He reappeared a few minutes later, this time bearing good news, "The Wizard will see you now!"

Dorothy's tears dried at once, and in a matter of moments she was back to her usual cheery self. Fiyero just breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that she wasn't crying anymore. He really couldn't handle tears. Dorothy grabbed his hand and pulled him through the large doors, practically skipping with glee as they were lead inside. The three men behind her exchanged nervous glances as they entered the chamber, the large doors instantly slamming shut behind them.

Thanks for reading.

S.P.