Sorry, the first bit of this chapter is bringing you up to speed on what happened the last 6 months to Elphaba and Fiyero in my little universe, so please bear with it. Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on Fae, just another 20 minutes, then we will stop for the night" Fiyero said in frustration.

That frustration evaporated as Elphaba shot him a look that stopped him in his tracks. "You're not the one carrying a baby!" Elphaba yelled,

Her hands were on her belly and suddenly Fiyero felt guilty, it was true, he wasn't carrying a baby and didn't have the slightest clue as to how difficult it was to travel all day while pregnant.

"I'm sorry Fae, you're right."He walked over to her, put his hands over hers and rested them on her belly.

"We'll stop here for the night, and tomorrow we'll relax."

Elphaba looked up at him and smiled, "I'm sorry, my temper got the best of me again, that sounds wonderful."

They had been traveling for six months, and were far past the borders of Oz. They had discovered that the desert surrounding Oz was only about 100 miles deep, and although it had taken a month to cross it, Fiyero had brought along enough supplies to keep them alive, if not completely full and hydrated.

However he had only brought enough for Elphaba for about 4 or 5 months, because as a scarecrow he had no use for water or food. Fiyero admitted to himself their plan was actually quite dumb, setting out into the desert with only limited supplies, no clear idea of where they were going, and no idea what to expect. He also admitted to himself though, that they really didn't have any other choice, staying in Oz was out of the question, as the risk to Elphaba was far too great. They had to have faith that there was something else out there.

During this time every waking moment that Elphaba had where she was not on the move she had been trying different spells to try and turn Fiyero back into a human. Elphaba had been able to memorize many of the spells in the Grimmerie, and for the ones she didn't memorize she had written them down, with special care to one spell which she had kept secret from Fiyero, she clung to that spell as it might be the only chance of ever seeing her friend again.

It had taken almost 2 months but finally Elphaba succeeded in reversing her spell on Fiyero. It wasn't until after he was human again that he realized that now he would need food and water, thus cutting the supplies they had down to enough for only 1 more month. However that day they didn't let it bother them, and instead simply concentrated on the moment and enjoyed their time together. It was that first night together, where their pent up love and passion for one another was expressed, that their child was conceived.

After crossing 100 miles of desert, they began to notice that the climate was becoming more temperate and they were beginning to see trees and fields of green. The famed "endless" desert of Oz was actually just a thin barrier that no one had ever summoned the courage to cross. They were puzzled as to why no one had ever bothered to explore it, but then they realized why risk your life in a seemingly endless desert, when Oz was such a green and beautiful place to be? Had it not been for the need to escape from Oz, neither of them would have ever considered travelling into the desert.

The landscape changed from a searing desert, to a lush setting of valleys, rivers, and lakes more beautiful than Oz. Many times both of them considered settling down near a stream or lake and building a home to raise their child and live out their days, but for some reason both Elphaba and Fiyero had a desire to keep going, to keep exploring this uncharted land.

Their travel had become slower now, due both to Elphaba's pregnancy as well as the now constant need to stop and collect food and water. Elphaba was 4 months pregnant and was just beginning to show, Fiyero swore he could feel the maternal glow coming off of the beautiful green woman.

The thing both of them feared however, and what neither one talked about, was raising their child in total isolation from the world. With no one to be friends with, no one to play with, except maybe a brother or sister in the future, both of them wondered what kind of upbringing that was for a child.

That night as they lay together under the stars, Elphaba couldn't help but think about the best friend that she had left behind. It still amazed her how two people as different as herself and Glinda could become the closest of friends. She regretted having to deceive Glinda about what her plans were, but she knew that despite the pain that Glinda would feel because of her "death" it was the only way to keep Glinda safe.

Elphaba had been hesitant about leaving a note in the Grimmerie for Glinda, but she knew that only Glinda would have access to the book, and leaving her best friend in the dark about her fate was too much for Elphaba. She decided to leave a simple note with no identifying characteristics, in order to ease Glinda's pain over Elphaba's supposed death.

Fiyero could sense that Elphaba's thoughts were elsewhere as they lay together. "Fae, what are you thinking about?" he whispered.

"I was just thinking about how much I miss Glinda, Yero."

She had yet to tell Fiyero about the note, it had been his idea to leave even Glinda in the dark about their deception, and he wouldn't have understood Elphaba's need to leave Glinda with closure and reassurance about her fate. She decided that tonight however, she would tell him. After all, they were far beyond the reaches of Oz, and she had been careful to word the note carefully so as not to leave any indication that it was from the Wicked Witch of the West.

"Yero, there's something I need to tell you, before I gave the Grimmerie to Glinda, I wrote her a short note insinuating that I'm alive, I couldn't leave her with the impression I was dead when I really wasn't. There is no way to tell it is from me, and only Glinda would see the note." Fiyero sat up and Elphaba saw fear and anger flash across his face .

"Fae, that was really not a good idea, what if someone finds the note and brings Glinda's whole government down? What if they accuse her of conspiring with the Wicked Witch and execu—

"YERO!" Elphaba snapped, "It's me, I thought about those things, and I was very careful. You could find that note and wouldn't have any idea I wrote it.

Fiyero still didn't look convinced, but there was no use arguing about it because what was done was done, and no amount of fighting or arguing was going to change it.

"All right, what's done is done, I'm not happy about it, but I guess there is nothing we can do about it now. And trust me, I understand why you did it, every day that goes by I wish I could have left a note to my parents telling them that I was at least alive."

"I knew you would understand Yero, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"It's ok Fae, I love you."

Fiyero was about to lean over and kiss her when a distant light caught his eye.

He instantly sat up and was on his guard, it was the middle of the night and the only light that there should have been was the moon and the stars. This light however was definitely on the ground and looked to be only a couple miles distant.

"Yero, what's wrong?"

"Elphaba, look over there," and Fiyero pointed to the light that he saw in the distance.

As Elphaba turned her head to see what Fiyero was pointing at, she immediately was nervous about what she was going to see, any time that Fiyero used her real name it meant there was a problem.

Her eyes came to rest on the same light that Fiyero had seen, and Elphaba was immediately on her guard as well, fearing that her note had caused the downfall of Glinda's government, and that the light was a group of witch hunters that were coming to kill her once and for all.

"Yero, what is that? You don't think it's the witch hunters do you?" The fear was obvious in Elphaba's voice, they had travelled so long and so far in the hopes of building a new life, and she feared it was about to be destroyed.

"I don't know Fae."

Fiyero moved closer to her, putting one hand on her cheek, and another on her belly, "but I promise that I won't let anything happen, to either of you."

"Whoever they are, if they are building a fire, they have settled down for the night. You need to stay here, I'm going to go find out who or what that is."

"No, I'm coming with you Yero."

Elphaba knew it was futile to argue with him over this, if she hadn't been pregnant she would never have considered staying behind, but knowing that another life was in her hands had made Elphaba much more cautious and level headed than she ever had been. This had struck Fiyero as ironic considering pregnancy usually made women more emotional than ever. Still, she had to try, she was never the one to give up.

"Don't even think about it Fae, if it is the witch hunters they will kill you on sight, they won't care that you're pregnant. I'm going alone, and if I'm not back by dawn, I want you to go north, and follow this river."

He motioned to the river that they had been following and getting water from for the past week.

I'll catch up with you; after all, there are two of you, and one of me. I'll be able to move quicker" He said with a smile.

"I love you Yero, be safe." Elphaba leaned in closer and gave him a passionate kiss.

"And I love you both, very very much." Fiyero replied after they had broken away from the kiss.

With that, Fiyero got up, packed enough food and water for a quick trip, and set off into the night. Elphaba watched him until she couldn't see anything but dark countryside.

Fiyero made his way through the country, careful to keep as low and as quiet as possible. He was angered by the possibility of the witch hunters tracking them.

"Can't they just leave us alone, we have left Oz, just leave us be for Oz sake." He mumbled to himself.

Fiyero continued sneaking through the countryside, until finally; he was within a few hundred yards of what he had figured out to be a camp. What Fiyero saw took his breath away, this wasn't a camp, this was a settlement, there were houses, a well, what appeared to be a meeting hall, these people were clearly not the witch hunters.

Fiyero was so deep in thought as to how there was a settlement out in the land beyond Oz that he never heard the people sneaking up on him, the first and only indication he had that someone was behind him was when the sensation of being hit from behind, then everything went black.