Fiyero resisted the urge to curse as yet another tree limb he tried to shove out of the way hit him in the face. Being made of straw sucked. He wasn't strong enough to move the branches very far or bright enough to get out of the way when they came back at him. At least it didn't hurt when he got smacked.

He was starting to think cutting through the woods wasn't such a great idea. The ever present towers of the Wizard's Palace reassured him he was going in the right direction, but he wasn't making very good time. Then again he hadn't made any better time on the main roads. Traveling with Dorothy and bearing witness to the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West made him a celebrity of sorts with Ozians. It seemed like someone was stopping him every few minutes to chat or offer him a place to stay. They didn't realize he no longer needed to do things like eat or sleep. They were just slowing him down.

So he switched to the back roads. He still ran into the occasional farmer or traveling merchant who recognized him, but he was moving a little faster. That was until he ran into the seemingly harmless little old woman who wanted a piece of straw for her keepsake book. It might not have seemed like much of a request to her, but he had been steadily losing a piece of straw here and a clump there in his travels to the point he was in almost dire need of restuffing. Not to mention he wasn't in the mood for tea and crumpets or whatever it was she was bound to offer in return for his kindness. He tried as graciously as a scarecrow could to deny her request but she grabbed his arm and snatched not just a piece but a whole handful of straw before he could stop her.

That's when he said to hell with the roads all together and headed into the trees. At first he liked the solitude. It gave him a chance to start rehearsing what he would say when he saw Elphaba again. But that quickly gave in to frustration and now he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Keep going the way he was or hop onto the next road he saw.

Movement in his peripheral vision to his right had him turning in that direction. The same blur just as quickly reappeared to his left so he turned again. When it didn't reappear for a third time he spun in a circle to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him. He knew all too well from his time spent with Dorothy that there were odd things in the forests around Oz. The last thing he needed was to be caught unawares.

"Is that some kind of new dance or something?"

He jumped when he heard the voice behind him and twirled in a semi circle, straw arms at the ready to defend himself. "Lion!" He could hardly believe his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking a run." The oversized cat walked toward him. "It's good to see you again old friend." He offered his paw.

Fiyero grinned for the first time in far too long at the gesture. "You too." He shook the proffered paw, giving the feline a once over. "You've grown."

"Aw." Lion gestured with his now free paw as he looked away bashfully.

His grin became a smile. There had always been something almost infectious about Lion. Yes he was incredibly backward and could cry at the drop of a hat, but he was still fun to be around.

"So what are you doing here? No one's seen you since Dorothy left."

"I'm looking for Elphaba." The truth slipped out before he could stop it. He didn't think Lion would know her as anything other than the Witch but opened his mouth to try to explain.

"Then you're in luck." Lion beamed. "I just so happen to know where she is."

"What?!" Fiyero could hardly believe what he was hearing. "How the hell do you know Elphaba?!" He mentally kicked himself when he saw the feline flinch. "I'm sorry, Lion. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well you did."

"I know. And like I said, I'm sorry. It just shocked me, you saying you know Elphaba and where to find her. You two hardly seemed like friends when we were with Dorothy."

"That's because we weren't." Lion gestured with his paw. "She was scary back then. But Breena set me straight and…"

"Who's Breena?"

"Her cousin."

Fiyero frowned. "Fae doesn't have a cousin."

Lion furrowed his brow. "Who's Fae?"

"Elphaba."

"But you said Fae."

"I know."

"That's not Elphaba."

"Yes it is." Fiyero shook his head. "Let's just go back to you telling me who this Breena is."

"She's Elphaba's cousin."

"But Elphaba doesn't have a cousin."

"Hold it." Lion narrowed his eyes. "We just had this discussion."

Fiyero resisted the urge to growl. "Look, why don't you just show me where Elphaba is and I'll get the whole story from her."

"I don't know." The oversized cat's tail started twitching.

"What do you mean you don't know? I'm her friend. She'll want to see me."

"We thought Boq was our friend too and look how that turned out."

"Boq?" Fiyero was becoming thoroughly confused. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"He was with us for a while and then he ran off only to come back and stab Elphaba. That's what he has to do with it."

"Elphaba's been stabbed?!" Fiyero's heart would have fallen to his toes if he had one. "Is she all right? Where is she? Take me to her right now!" He grabbed Lion's shoulder. "Do you hear me? Right now!"

"All right, geez." Lion pushed his hand away. "There's no need to be so demanding." He made a face as he rubbed his arm. "And you better calm down before we get back to the cavern. Breena's feeling like her old self again."

Fiyero followed as he started walking, wondering who this Breena was and why he should care how she was feeling. All he wanted to do was get to Elphaba and make sure she was all right.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You're doing that wrong."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"I am not!"

"Whatever you think. It's going to be all messed up when you try to flip it."

"Who's the granddaughter of a cook here?"

"That hardly makes you an expert."

Elphaba frowned at the voices as her eyes slowly opened. It took her still sleepy mind a moment to catch up and fill in the blanks as to where she was. When it did she tightened her grip on Glinda, who was curled against her side, her head on her shoulder and her arm draped over Elphaba's waist. They had lain down to talk some more and must have drifted off.

"And what makes you think you know what you're doing?"

She glanced in the direction of the fire from the night before, not at all surprised to see Milynn and Breena sitting next to it with their backs to her.

"The fact that of the two of us, I'm the one who actually paid attention when Betak tried to teach us to cook."

"Sure you did."

"Ask her if you don't believe me."

"The whole point in us doing this is so she can sleep in, remember?"

"I didn't mean now!"

"Well it sounded like you did."

"Betak says they do that all the time. From what I've seen she's right."

Elphaba was startled to hear another voice join the fray.

"Sorry Elphie." Glinda's eyes twinkled.

She grinned at the blonde in her arms. "Good morning my love."

Glinda snuggled closer. "You can say that again."

"Which? Good morning or my love?"

"The my love part. Because this isn't just a good morning, it's the best morning ever. Well, at least so far." Glinda giggled. "Who knows what kind of mornings we'll have in the future."

"Oh no!"

They both jumped when Milynn screamed.

"Look at what I did! And don't you dare tell me I told you so!!"

"Shhh!" Breena was quick to shush her. "You're going to wake everyone up."

"But look what I did!"

Glinda pulled away from Elphaba to sit up, concern stamped on her brow. "What happened?"

Elphaba took it a step further and scrambled to her feet. "Are you two all right?"

"Now look what you did." Breena sighed. "You woke the lovebirds!"

"And me." Leto yawned as he joined them.

"Do I even want to know what kind of mess the two of you are making over there?" Betak spoke up.

"Great! Just great!" Milynn growled. "All I wanted to do was surprise everyone with breakfast."

"You surprised them all right." Breena grinned.

Milynn scowled. "It's not funny."

"Oh come on." Breena tried to comfort her. "Just toss them around a little in there and they'll be scrambled eggs rather than an omelet."

"You think that will work?"

"She knows it will." Betak spoke again as she walked toward them. "She's ruined more than her fair share of omelets learning to make them."

Breena nodded. "I told you I knew what I was doing."

The old woman stopped in front of Elphaba, who had helped Glinda up. The blonde had her arms around Elphaba's waist and Elphaba had her arm around Glinda's shoulders. "You two made up?"

"Don't you mean kissed and made up?" Breena teased.

"Was I talking to you?" Betak shot her a look but couldn't stop herself from grinning as she returned her attention to the women before her.

"Yes we did." Glinda was grinning too.

"And you're feeling well?"

"Good as new." Elphaba answered.

"Excellent." Betak stared at them for a moment, saying, "You make a beautiful couple," before walking over to the fire. She promptly grabbed Breena's shoulder and turned her around.

"Hey." Breena frowned at her.

"Let me have a look at you too."

"I'm fine."

"I'll be the judge of that." Betak gripped her chin, looking into her eyes before grabbing her left hand.

Breena's frown deepened. "You didn't poke and prod Elphaba."

"She has Glinda to do that." Betak rolled her eyes when Breena started laughing. "Don't be vulgar. I meant she has Glinda to watch over her. You don't. Left to your own devices you'd let yourself go completely. Now stop whining and hold still."

Breena did as she was told, raising her eyebrows when Betak finally let go of her. "Do I pass inspection?"

"I suppose." She smiled warmly at the girl. "But try to stay out of trouble for a while."

"I'll do my best." Breena looked at Elphaba when she chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"You staying out of trouble." Elphaba said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Like that's ever going to happen."

"You're lucky I have to help Milynn finish breakfast or I'd…"

"You may not want to finish that thought." Betak interrupted her. "I'd hate for you to have to make good on a threat when I say Leto and I will help Milynn with breakfast."

"We will?" Leto started to frown until he caught the look the woman was giving him. "I mean, of course we will."

"I don't care who helps me as long as it happens soon." Milynn interjected. "These eggs are starting to burn!"

"She's all yours." Breena clapped Leto on the shoulder as she walked toward Elphaba and Glinda. "She's right you know. You two do make quite the pair. The blonde beauty and the green beast."

Elphaba quirked an eyebrow as Glinda giggled. "Whose side are you on?"

"I have a feeling I need to stay neutral where you two are concerned." Glinda let go of Elphaba to throw her arms around Breena whispering, "Thank you still doesn't begin to cover it," in her ear.

"Glinda!" Breena gave Elphaba a wink before pulling away with a shocked expression on her face. "I could never do that to Elly."

"Is there something going on here I should know about?" Elphaba looked back and forth between them.

"No!" Glinda was quick to answer.

"Not on my part anyway." Breena clarified.

"What?" Glinda's mouth hung open. "I…"

"You two have spent a lot of time together." Elphaba nodded. "And the Thropp charm is pretty hard to resist."

"Elphie…"

"It's all right, Glinda. I understand. I really do. But if there's something between you two I need to know." She continued before the blonde could respond. "I'll step aside."

"Stop picking on her." Betak demanded from across the cavern.

"You two were…" Glinda looked at both of them. "Oh!" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sorry Glinda." Breena laughed. "I told you I don't do the mushy stuff. And that was too good an opportunity to pass up."

"It was her idea." Elphaba defended herself.

"Hey!" Breena gave her a playful shove. "You didn't have to go along with it."

"True." Elphaba grinned. "But it was fun."

"I'm glad you think so." Glinda glared at her.

"Oh come on, Glinda." Elphaba put her arm around the blonde's waist, pulling her close. "I thought you liked to see me have a good time."

"Not at my expense." She pouted.

Elphaba nuzzled her neck. "I'm sure I can find some way to make it up to you."

Breena rolled her eyes. "That's my cue to go help with breakfast."

"Not so fast." Glinda pointed at her. "I have a feeling Elphie has some things to say to you." She caressed Elphaba's cheek. "We'll talk about this more later."

"I can't wait." Elphaba gave her a kiss before watching her walk across the cavern.

"Hello." Breena snapped her fingers in her cousin's face. "Earth to Elly."

"Huh?" She blinked like she was coming out of a trance. "Oh, sorry."

"I should hope so." Breena's tone was teasing as she grinned. "I'm glad you finally told her how you feel."

"Me too." Elphaba blushed. "I still can't believe she loves me."

"What's not to love?"

"I thought you said you don't do mush."

"That was the truth. There's a difference."

"I'll keep that in mind." Elphaba gave her cousin a look. "Bree, I…"

"See." Breena interrupted her. "What you were about to say is mush."

"Well too bad because I'm going to say it anyway."

"You don't have to."

"Yes I do. Bree, I owe you…" Elphaba glanced at Glinda, who was talking to Milynn. "Everything."

"We're family Elly. You don't owe me anything."

"I think we both know the family defense doesn't really apply where the Thropps are concerned."

"Maybe not with some." Breena shrugged. "But we're not just any Thropps, are we?"

"You can say that again." Elphaba sighed. "At least let me say thank you."

"Now you sound like Glinda."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Elphaba pulled her into a tight embrace. "I love you. I hope you know that."

"I do. Just like I know I didn't do anything for you that you wouldn't do for me." Breena returned the hug. "And I love you too."

Glinda smiled as she walked toward them. "Is it safe to interrupt?"

Elphaba nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks as she pulled away from her cousin. "Yeah."

"You big softie." Breena elbowed her, blinking back tears of her own. "Is breakfast finally ready?"

Glinda nodded.

"Good. I'm starving." Breena looked at the blonde. "We're OK, right? From before?"

"We're more than OK." Glinda put her hand on the woman's arm. "Just as long as it doesn't happen again."

"Oh it won't." Breena grinned. "It wouldn't be nearly as effective a second time."

Elphaba chuckled as Breena walked away from them. "She's trouble."

"Betak warned me about that too." Glinda put her arms around Elphaba. "Did you say what you needed to say?"

"Kind of. She doesn't make it easy."

It was Glinda's turn to chuckle. "Trust me, I know." She wiped a stray tear off Elphie's cheek. "I, for one, like that you're a softie."

"Well I like you." Elphaba kissed her.

The blonde sighed as they parted. "I like you too." She pulled her into another lip lock.

"Elphaba!" Fiyero chose that moment to come rushing into the cavern. "Elpha…" His voice trailed off when he saw her kissing Glinda. "Get away from her!" He marched over to them, grabbing Glinda by the arm before anyone could react. "She's mine!!"