Something made Fiyero wake up and he was glad of it. Nightmares had plagued him for the past few days and he'd suffer through them. Tonight however, he had woken up. He was cold and a layer of sweat covered his entire body.
Fiyero sat up, wiping his drenched face. He took in deep breaths, in and out, and repeat. He never remembered what he was seeing in his nightmares. Maybe it was better. They were no good if they terrorized him nightly.
"Night terrors?" He was startled by the feminine voice. He was sure that women were strictly forbidden in the men's tents. His eyes came to focus on his surroundings and he found himself not in a tent, but a home. And the woman, a green woman, was sitting in a chair drinking something.
Yes, he remembered. He was no longer serving in a pointless war. He was headed home.
The woman stared at him and he remembered she asked him something. He swallowed the stiff spot in his throat and gave her a small nod.
"Can I get the name of the stranger I invited into my home?"
"Call me Yero." He said immediately. Fiyero was the name of the man who he started out as, it was the name of a prince. He was not the same man, no, he was a killer, he'd seen blood. Fiyero was gone and this was what was left behind.
"Yero." She said carefully, almost appraising his name. "Would you like to eat, Yero?" She gestured to the food in front of her and his stomach grumbled. Everything he had been thinking was gone from his mind. It was all replaced with hunger.
"Yes, please." He looked around for his crutches and he found them leaning up against the door. A great distance away. Almost reading his mind, the green woman stood and brought them over for him, then went off to the table without another word.
He thanked her and she nodded, bringing a spoonful of something (that smelled absolutely incredible to Fiyero) up to her mouth.
He made his way over to the table and to the chair that was waiting for him. He sat himself down, setting his crutches next to him. The woman pushed forward a bowl of food and Fiyero inhaled the smell. He wasn't sure the last time he had a freshly prepared meal. When he first departed he was lavished with gifts and food from everyone, but when he was away it was all dry bread and hard cheese.
He took the spoon and scarfed it down, he didn't know what it was but it was wonderful and there was broccoli and a taste of cheese, but he didn't care to find out what it was. He finished quicker than she did and the green woman, covered under a cloak, pushed a cup in front of him. He wanted to ask her for more food but didn't want to make demands when she had let him sleep and eat there.
Fiyero took large gulps of the water and sighed, his stomach doing jumps at having actual substantial food in his system. He was looking at her in pauses, pondering over the many possible reasons as to why this woman was in the middle of nowhere—in a house no bigger than a bathroom in his parents castle— and he assumed it had something to do with the color of her skin. Skin tones had apparently been a wonderful reason to go to war in Oz. Whether it was red, yellow, green, or with spots, The Wizard and people like him had decided to revoke back on rights and that was something he didn't like. Many hadn't liked it. And instead of it being settled peacefully, the Wizard and his people thought them all wrong and treasonous and caused a civil war that could have been avoided. Now he was here, resting in a strange green woman's home and she didn't know it yet but he was going to repay her for her kindness towards him.
"What's your name?" He asked her after a while.
"Why do you need to know?" She replied without ever looking up.
"So I can thank you for letting me eat and sleep here."
She looked at him, searching for something in his face until she relaxed, "You can call me El."
El. He was sure it was short for something but he didn't have any right to ask her when he was hiding his own name from her.
"El," he said softly, trying to look at the woman who hid her face from him, but she wouldn't let him.
"Thank you," He said, "for sharing your home and your food with me. You have no idea what that means to me."
She turned down to look at her food, "You're welcome."
"Why do you hide yourself?"
El's hand wrapped tightly around her spoon and Fiyero wondered if the question was too personal. He saw that she was green but he wouldn't know why someone so unique would want to hide themselves now that the war was over.
"Why don't you stick to figuring out how you are going to find your way home with a useless foot?"
Fiyero felt as if her words should hurt him but he felt indifferent to them. Who in Oz cared now about appearances? He sure didn't, it was all the same underneath the skin.
"Slowly." He answered with a small smile not wanting to be kicked out of her home quite yet.
She had the smallest smile on her face and Fiyero's heart raced again like before. Her smile had been the first geniune smile he had seen in so long. It made him feel like a normal person again and not another faceless soldier. But he was just another faceless soldier to her and even so she allowed him to stay the night...after she had originally sent him away, but he was was here, in her home.
"Why did you let me stay the night?" He asked. His hands began to tremble but he couldn't help it. He placed them to his side to control them.
"Did you prefer to sleep outside with wild animals?" She said, stirring her spoon in her still full bowl.
"Well…no."
"Okay." She simply said, not answering Fiyero's question.
"Are you from the Vinkus?" He asked then. He had never heard of a green person in the Vinkus before. He was sure word would go around about a green Vinkun.
"No." She answered.
"Where are you originally from?" He guessed the Gillikin for how tall she appeared, but he wasn't quite sure.
"Why does it matter to you?" She responded harshly.
"I wanted to know if you were going to stay here or go wherever home is now that the war is over." And he wanted to know if she would still be there to thank her with gifts.
The spoon fell from her hands, "It's over?" She whispered.
He tilted his head, "Yes, you haven't heard?"
She slowly turned to him and he was able to see her face, "I haven't been out recently."
Looking at her he felt a warmth course through him. Her face—although green—had sharp and beautiful features. Her nose hooked down, her eyebrows were thin but arched nicely, and her lips looked smooth and soft.
She was the first woman he had seen up front in a long time and she was absolutely gorgeous to him.
"Who won?"
He barely heard her murmured question, a part of her dark hair had fallen in waves in front of her face.
"We all did."
She looked at him slowly,"What does that mean?"
He shrugged, "That peace has been reached here in Oz."
"For who in Oz? Are we able to legally go to the other countries?"
"Yes, from the west to the east, north to south. Animals and humans together." The edges of his lips twitched up because it was a good thing, he just wasn't able to fully smile because of what it took to get it, "It only took blood for them to work it out, and our people's lives and their souls." His lips moved by themselves, "All wasted because one person decided to makes changes to things that should have been kept as they were."
He heard El's teeth chatter quietly, "If I had that man in front of me I would kill him."
Fiyero pressed his fingers into his palm one by one. His eyes on the table, "It's not as easy as you think to actually kill a person."
"I no longer consider that so called Wizard a person."
"We are in a new age in Oz. Personally after everything, a vendetta is the last thing I want. I just want to move on."
"Move on? I watched my little brother die in front of me because he helped a Rat and his family escape from captivity...I lost him...my family…I don't know where my family is…" She trailed off, her entire body shaking before him.
Fiyero's entire body froze watching her. With her fury the entire demeanor of the room changed, the hairs on his back and arms stood on ends. His eyes widened when the table in front of him rose from the ground. His hands reached for his crutches before they fell to the floor. The table slammed back down and the noise brought a flood of memories back. He no longer saw the green woman or the table. He saw people crying for help. Animals whimpering and screaming. Begging for their childrens lives, for their families to be let go.
He threw his hand forward but he couldn't reach them. He wouldn't ever be able to reach them.
He felt his eyes burn with tears and Fiyero left as quick as he could, hurting his foot in the process. He didn't care. He needed to breath, he was suffocating in that house.
He threw the door open and he only had a few steps in the grass before he fell to his knees. He covered his face and burst into tears.
It was the first time that he had done so.
He tried to muffle his cries but he couldn't. Who cared if he cried? Who cared what he did now? No one cared.
His head whipped up when he heard feet in the grass. El stood near him, her eyes wide open, confused but understanding at the same time. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. The way she looked at him, the pity in her eyes, and the pain... He couldn't take it. He began to heave, choking on his own air. She was beside him in a moment and when her hand touched his shoulder Fiyero yearned for her comfort. He twisted his body and wrapped his arms around her. He felt a rush of calm go through him, relaxing him. She didn't push him away, although she had every right to as he was a stranger.
He counted every second until it had been three minutes and he was composed enough to say something.
"I—" was what came out. He wanted to apologize for intruding into her home and her space in this way, but he wasn't able to. He inhaled her scent and let it overtake all his senses.
He didn't know this woman. He didn't know her age, her real name, or anything at all, but he knew that what she made him feel was something that he was going to need.
He wanted to get to know this stranger.
Wordlessly, she helped him stand up. Fiyero didn't want to let her go. He felt lost and broken, which he was, but somehow he knew that he could be helped by her in someway, somehow.
His arm never left her shoulder, and neither did hers from him (although that was more because she had to help him up than actually wanting to.)
El stopped when they were inside and Fiyero missed her warmth when she let him go.
She brought the chairs and placed one behind him, Fiyero sat down. She sat in front of him, "I wasn't trying to cause you distress. The magic—I've learned to manage it but sometimes it just does what it wants. Are you okay?"
He nodded, fisting his hands in his lap, "I'm fine, it happens. I haven't learned to control it yet. I should be used to it by now but I'm not. I don't know if I ever will." That had been the first time he said it. The first time he voiced the thought that he wouldn't ever be the same man as before.
El crossed her arms in front of her, sitting back.
He continued, needing to tell someone what he had been thinking, "And now I don't know how I am going to return home and pretend that I'm okay."
"You shouldn't have to hide it. " she said softly.
"No, I do. " As a Prince he had to. He was unrecognizable now but soon enough people would see him and congratulate him and he would have to smile and pretend.
And he couldn't do that.
"If you can't be with your family without pretending you're okay, maybe you shouldn't go back. Start your life somewhere else."
He shook his head slowly, "It's not that simple for me."
"Why not?"
"I have a few responsibilities at home that I can't just abandon."
"Do you have a wife and child? "
"No, just business to take care of, things my parents have for me to do. Things I can't just walk away from." Things that included a kingdom that he would need to lead.
"You don't seem too thrilled to go home and do them. "
He closed his eyes momentarily,"Would you if all that was in your head was the violence of the past years? How do you go home and act like it never happened? How do you make the faces of those that you've killed or those you couldn't help out of your head?"
His bit his tongue to keep his teeth from chattering. El lowered her head and shut her eyes too, looking as if she was trying to hold something back.
"I don't think you can," she whispered, "That's war for you. "
"I don't like it. "
"Who said you were supposed to?"
"I didn't think it would be like this afterwards. I was told of the glory and pride I would bring by going. I was told of the parades and festivities that would be going on afterwards. I saw my childhood friends die, I had their blood on my face..." He choked on his words, unable to finish.
He cupped his face with his hand and held himself from shaking. He couldn't go off again.
"Well, we have to learn to live with our memories. There's not much else we can do about it." She shrugged, her hands falling to her knees.
She had light brown eyes, youthful and alive.
"You have lovely eyes." Fiyero said suddenly. El blinked and turned away so he couldn't see her. "You shouldn't hide them. There really isn't anyone here to hide them from."
"You should go." Her voice sounded hollow.
His face fell and he gulped, "Yes, I probably should."
She stood, walking off into what he assumed was the kitchen, "I can wrap up a loaf of bread and some cheese for you to take with you. How far are you going?"
"A couple days walk with my pace, maybe more. Depends on the heat, my foot, and if someone would stop and give me a ride. Athough that's doubtful unless people know you or you have money...they won't care otherwise. That needs to change here."
"That needs to change everywhere." She commented.
She was on her toes trying to reach for something. Fiyero got himself to stand, feeling a pain above his ankle.
He passed right by her and grabbed his bag, slinging it back over his shoulder. Fiyero looked through it and took out the empty bottles.
"Is it okay to fill these with water?"
She looked down at him and back to her cupboard, "Well unless you want to dehydrate before you get home it would be a good idea to fill them."
Fiyero felt himself smile as he looked at her.
What was it about this stranger that made him smile when he didn't want to?
"Will you be leaving too? To see if your family is home now?" He saw her clench her jaw at his question.
"I don't think my family will be at home."
"Why not? If you lost contact with them you don't know if they have returned home or not?"
"My family home was destroyed and ransacked. There is no home to return to." She said it bitterly.
"So you are staying here then?"
She snorted, "I eat and sleep here, but it is not my home and it never will be."
"So you'll be leaving here soon?" The thought saddened him.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, "It's likely. Why do you ask?"
"Because I do..." He did. He really did want to know, but he shrugged it off, "What do I know, maybe you're waiting here for your husband to return or something."
She cackled, making Fiyero jump a little. "A husband? Are you joking?"
"You're a beautiful woman. Why would I be joking?"
Her smile turned into a frown,"It looks like your foot isn't the only thing that was screwed up, Mister Yero."
"My eyesight hasn't failed me yet, though I've wished for the opposite for a while."
"I wasn't aware beautiful was in the Vinkun language. Maybe it means something different here than where I'm from."
He perked up. "And where are you from?"
"Don't worry about it." She brushed off his question yet again. She was good at that.
"You are very difficult to talk to."
"Have you considered that I simply don't want to talk to you?"
"I doubt that. This is your...place, I guess, you don't have to respond to anything I say, but you do. And you can kick me out whenever—"
"—I have," She interrupted, "You're just stalling by continuing to speak. "
"You'd understand me if you had a father like mine. You wouldn't want to go home right away either if all you would get is a cold shoulder from your father. "
She moved a bit closer to him, "He wouldn't proud that his son fought in a war and won?"
"He's more of the type of man that would rather have someone die in the battlefield than have them come home damaged. He wouldn't send me anything to help me get home. He didn't even write to me. " His mother had, but he had never had his father write one word to him.
He saw El face go through a mix of emotions, "He sounds like a terrible person." She said.
"He's not. Just a terrible father. "
She looked at him, confused, "Then I don't quite understand why you would want to return home?"
He shrugged, "It's all I have left."
"I'll repeat what I said earlier—start a new life. "
Fiyero shook his head," And like I said—I can't. "
"Then you're an idiot. "
There he went smiling again, "It's not the first time I've been told. "
"I'm sure it won't be the last either. "
Fiyero grinned, knowing it was true. "Thank you for making me smile. " He said, grabbing a slice of cheese from in front of her.
"Wasn't trying to... " His hand brushed hers and she stopped speaking. The hair on his arms stood and El was quiet but he didn't want her to be. He wanted her to keep talking, he wanted his mind occupied and he wanted her to be distracted. He didn't want to go home so soon.
"Tell me, how did you end up with an Ozian grade Sword?" He asked her about the sword he had seen her with. He just had to keep her going.
Her smile slowly slipped her face and she turned back around, gripping onto her wooden countertop.
"Are you feeling alright? " He asked, worried. He inched his hand closer to hers, barely touching it when she didn't respond to him.
Her hand went over his but she didn't shove it away like he thought.
His heart seemed to beat erratically. The feeling seemed to travel across his body, across his arms, his legs, and his stomach.
El leaned forward and she crushed his hand under hers. Her body slightly shook but he didn't hear her cry. She was far better at holding back his tears than he was.
He placed his crutches to the side and rubbed his other hand on her arm to comfort her. She turned and looked as if she was going to go but she went into Fiyero's arms. He should have been worried about falling back but it wasn't the kind of falling he was actually afraid of doing at the moment.
She didn't cry one bit. She just held on to him and Fiyero held on to her.
He didn't know if he wanted to let go.