Glinda studied the boring document in front of her and sighed as she glanced out the window. Spring had arrived early, and she would much rather be out in the blooming gardens than in her office handling the new bill that she had drawn up with her advisors. Giving the Animals their rights had started out as a slow process, but now that two years had passed since the Wizard had abdicated, she was able to move more quickly without offending the rest of the populace. One thing that did bother her was that a lot of Animals were already settled on the outskirts of Oz and were not interested in assimilating back into the country. Biting her lip, she focused on one clause that had been giving her trouble, glancing up when she heard a knock on her door.

Eager for the distraction, she hurried over to the door and opened it, saying, "What do you need?"

A guard held out a small piece of paper and said, "There is a visitor from the Vinkus here, my lady. He refuses to go away, and he has a letter from the king that says he has been sent as an ambassador."

"Send him in," Glinda sighed, disappointed that she would be saddled with a diplomat on top of the work she still had to do.

The guard nodded his head curtly and left for the chamber she had set aside for her visitors as she straightened the stacks of papers on her desk and moved to the other half of the room where she had arranged a few couches and chairs in order to entertain important guests. A tall man appeared in the doorway, his appearance a little bedraggled for an ambassador from the Vinkus.

Smiling, she held out her hand and said, "Welcome to the Emerald City, sir. I hope you had a pleasant journey."

He took her hand and brushed his lips over it as he glanced back at the door, "I don't mean to sound too forward, my lady, but I was hoping that we might close the door in order to have some privacy."

Her smile wavered for a moment as she considered his request before simply agreeing with a nod of her head. He didn't smile in return, but he quickly closed the door and turned the lock as she watched with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. He seemed so familiar, though it was hard for her to remember if she had met him before because he seemed determined to avoid eye contact.

"Would you care to take a seat?" she asked lightly as she glided to a couch and perched on the edge, arranging her skirt around her legs.

He chose the chair closest to him and said gruffly, "I'm not really sure how to say this, so I think I'll just tell you right now. Glinda, I've been lying to you for the past two years."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how that is possible since I'm sure I've never met you before," Glinda replied politely, her smile disappearing.

"You know me better than you think you do," he said bitterly as he raised his head and met her gaze. She gasped at the sight of his piercing blue eyes, and he continued, "I might as well explain this all at once. Yes, I am Fiyero. I've been in hiding with Elphaba for the past two years, but she…she died a few months ago. I came back here because I don't know of anyone else who would understand, and I felt that you deserved to know what had really happened to us."

Glinda opened and closed her mouth as she struggled to breathe and figure out something to say at the same time.

"You've been alive all this time?" she asked faintly, the color fading from her face. "And, Elphie? What happened?"

"I…well, this isn't easy," he said in a low voice, ducking his head as he closed his eyes. "She got sick with pneumonia, and because we were afraid that seeking out the medicine would alert the traders who visited the village to our presence, we decided that it would be best to not take the risk and see if she could beat the sickness on her own. However, when we realized that she wasn't getting better, we tried to get the medicine. But, it was too late."

His voice broke off, and Glinda looked down at the floor, feeling that she was intruding on his personal grief with her own emotions.

Clearing his throat, he continued in a thick voice, "I…, I buried her and left, eventually wandering to the Vinkus where my family took me in. They forgave me instantly, but I decided that I should come to see you. I'm sorry, Glinda. I wish I could have done things differently, changed something, somehow."

"I can't believe it," she whispered, shaking her head. "How could you?"

"What?" he asked.

"How could you leave me here to rule Oz by myself while you were off getting your happy ending?" she said angrily, latching onto the emotion in order to keep from crying. "How could you lie to me like that? Do you know how guilty I felt about both of your deaths? Do you know how many nights I cried in my room, alone, because I can't let anyone else know how I really feel?"

"It wasn't fair," he murmured.

"No, it wasn't," she agreed as she stood and walked over to his chair. She slapped him and spat out, "You both abandoned me, and you didn't even have the decency to let me see my one friend before she died. I will never forgive you for that."

He touched his stinging, red cheek gingerly and said, "I'm sorry. We tried to send you a messenger in time, but she died the day after we sent the letter, so I destroyed it after I hunted down the messenger myself."

Tears started to form in Glinda's eyes, and she let them flow unchecked down her cheeks as she told him, "I don't ever want to see you again, Fiyero, so go back to the Vinkus and play the part of the prince."

He bowed his head, and as he started to leave, she turned her back on him, her shoulders shaking with her sobs. He glanced back at her, and when he saw her trembling form, he crossed the room in two strides and pulled her into his arms.

"I hate you," she whispered as she buried her face in his chest and cried.

Tightening his embrace around her, he smiled sadly and said, "I know."