Chapter 19.

A/N. It's here! On time and everything ;)

Thank you so much for reviewing! I hope you enjoy.

She stood by the windowsill. Her hat covering most of her face and her cape billowing around her. Her posture defiant.

She looked every inch the Wicked Witch.

She did that on purpose, he knew. He didn't know how long she'd be able to stay there like that but it wouldn't surprise him all that much if she managed to stand there for the rest of the day by sheer force of will. She wanted to prove him wrong.

He felt his mother stiffen beside him and he fought the urge to turn towards her, to beg her not to fall for it, to explain what this was about, that Elphaba needed this to regain her footing. However, if he did, she'd win. He could only win this if he kept his mouth shut.

On the other side of the room, Raina watched the younger woman draw herself up to her full height. She lifted her chin and looked the Queen straight in the eyes. Neither of them spoke, but Fiyero knew, without having to look at his mother that she would not back down. She would rise to the challenge. She was Queen, after all. She knew how to deal with people, and she knew not to show weakness in times of battle.

He, however, had had enough. They didn't have time for this.

"Okay. You've both made your point. Elphaba, would you at least take off the hat? You're not helping. Mom, you haven't called the guards yet, so I am going to presume you won't do so in the next few minutes. Can you please try to relax enough for me to introduce you?"

His eyes went back to the woman by the window, who had taken off her hat and her cloak and was standing, arms down her sides, dark hair whipping around her face.

Raina watched as the green woman fidgeted with her hands a little and just like that, the creature of the flashing posters was gone. In her place stood a woman in a dress that was too big on her and had clearly seen better days. She was tall, much too thin and her hair, that had been bunched up under the hat, now fell down to her waist and the wind coming in through the open window, blew it softly around a face that looked tired, unsure and weary. There was a layer of sweat on her forehead, her lips were dry. Her skin was green. It almost glittered.

Raina took it all in without a word.

Green skin.

It was a curious thing. She would not have thought it pretty under any circumstance, but with all the posters and propaganda..the wild stories and even wilder rumors...the image of the green-skinned witch had developed into a truly despicable and ugly one. So now that the woman actually stood before her...In comparison to what she had imagined the Wicked Witch to look like, being faced with the real thing was almost comical. Ridiculous.

For a moment, as she watched the wind pick up the strands of black hair and made it dance all around the green woman's thin frame, she could see why her son had gone with her. What he'd seen in her. Just for a moment.

But the moment passed and what was left was the woman that was hunted for all across the land, standing in her son's old bedroom. She didn't know anything about this woman. Only that her son cared enough to follow her and to bring her here. And that he insisted on calling it love.

What hold did this woman have on her son?

There was only one way to find out.

She took a step forward. She watched as Elphaba flinched and almost retreated. Almost. But Fiyero had made his way over to her and his hand enveloped a small green one. He had a hold over her, too. That was obvious. It made Raina feel a little better about the whole situation.

"Elphaba. My son tells me you are in need of some help."

The young woman seemed a little shocked to be addressed with her proper name, but she rearranged her face within seconds and when she answered there was no emotion to be found, save for impatience and frustration.

"I told him, I'll be fine but..."

"You're not fine." He looked to his mother, "She's not fine. She was shot and it won't heal. She's getting worse."

A huff followed Fiyero's words.

"She is right here."

Raina looked from the woman to her son. His arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her up. Protectively.

He was protective of the Wicked Witch.

She didn't laugh.

"Fiyero. Why don't you go find your father. Tell him to get Drakin out of bed. We will probably need him. And send for some soup. In the meantime. I will take a look at that wound."

They both looked at her now. Apprehension clear on both faces, but one held more caution than the other.

She bit back a sigh of impatience.

"I haven't called the guards yet, Fiyero. I doubt I will need them in the ten minutes that you'll be away. I promise you will find her as she is now. Or better."

He clasped Elphaba's hand for a moment and murmured something Raina could not make out.

"I'll be right back."

A promise to one of them, a warning to the other.

Raina took a few more steps, until she was standing right in front of the green woman.

"Why don't you lie down. It will make this easier."

She sat down on the edge of a chair. It was all she would give. Raina took it.

"Alright."

She sank down to her knees in front of the chair.

"So you were shot?"

Elphaba's eyes were trained her every move, but she answered with a calm voice.

"On my way back from Munchkinland."

"Can I see it?" She paid no heed to the mistrusting look on the young woman's face and continued the conversation.

"Fiyero said you'd gone to see your sister? She lives in Munchkinland?"

"She's the Governor."

She said nothing else but pulled her dress up to reveal her thigh. It didn't look good but Raina had seen worse. Or at least she thought so. Drakin would be able to say.

"I need to clean this a little." She didn't. She could wait for Drakin, but she wasn't ready to walk away yet. Neither of them spoke until Raina had fetched some water and returned to her spot by the chair. She felt some hesitation as she reached out to press the cloth against green skin, but she didn't show it.

"So your sister is the Governor...Nessarose Thropp?"

"Yes." She winced when the water came into contact with the wound.

"She's your older sister then?"

Small talk was meant to distract the patient, but Raina got the feeling that this particular patient would have preferred the pain.

"No. But I am the Wicked Witch, so I would have been ill-suited for the job."

Sarcasm. Raina got the feeling this woman used it often. Lovely.

"So Elphaba Thropp then."

"That's me." She winced as Raina probed the tender flesh around the wound. "Or was me."

It was strange how this young woman, barely more than a girl to look at, could look at her with mistrust and skepticism shining so clearly on her face one moment, but sound so calm and indifferent the next. The older woman pulled back and looked up into huge brown eyes that gave nothing away.

Maybe she was wrong.

Who was this woman?

Honestly, Raina couldn't decide whether or not she was crazy or complicated or just tired and ill. Either way, there was no harm in her today, so she pulled the dress back down and looked back up at her again, but this time she made sure there was no hostility in her eyes.

"That would be up to you to decide, wouldn't it?"

"Well, at least we know that water does not melt her."

Both men whipped around to face her as Raina entered the room where her husband and her son had been waiting, both obviously on edge.

"What?"

"Mom!"

The Queen had to stifle laughter at her son's indignant tone.

"Relax, Fiyero. She is fine. Drakin is with her."

Drakin was both the head of the household and the all-round answer to every question. At least, as far as household and nursing duties went. The man had been there since Fiyero was little. Having lost his wife when his children were young, he'd moved into the palace and Fiyero remembered his son and daughter fairly well. He was a nice man, and he knew how to take care of people, even if they didn't want it. Fiyero seriously wondered though, whether or not he'd be able to deal with Elphaba. Drakin was a good man but, as custom to men with jobs like his, he did not have patience for nonsense.

And neither did Elphaba...nor did she have patience for what she considered molly-coddling. And she would not take kindly to being considered nonsense either.

His mother must have noticed, because suddenly her hand was on his shoulder and she smiled up at him, her eyes kind and calm.

"Don't worry. I told him to be as brief as possible. He didn't like it, but well...I'm the Queen." She laughed at the last part and he felt some of his anxiety pass.

"How is she?"

"Uncomfortable. She's very...twitchy." She couldn't help the small smile as her son's brow once again furrowed in worry.

"She doesn't like to be touched." He couldn't fight the blush as she stared at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Except by me, that is...and even then sometimes..." His voice trailed off and his cheeks flamed.

The Queen could only stare at him in wonder. What had happened to her son?

Her son, the eternal charmer. The boy that had been in so many newspapers and magazines with so many different girls that she'd very seriously worried about him until he'd met Glinda. When he'd met Glinda, she'd never seen him with anyone else any more. She'd never heard about bad grades, or bad behavior. Gone were the disgraceful photo's in trashy magazines. He'd graduated from Shiz and he'd become Captain of the Gale Force.

They'd been so proud of him. He'd seemed so different. He'd changed.

But not in all aspects.

He'd brought the blonde back home a few times and both her and her husband had been taken with her. She was a lovely, sprightly girl with a knack for lively small talk, who clearly cared deeply for their son. Still, even with her Fiyero had been...not rude nor inattentive, but...slightly careless. Indifferent.

He'd seemed empty, at times. She just hadn't been able to name it until right now.

Because now, even with Elphaba not in the room, the whole of his attention was on her.

Right then, a knock sounded and a man, looking weary and sleep-deprived, entered the room.

The King stepped forward, but Fiyero cut off whatever he'd been about to say.

"Is she alright?"

He received a disapproving look at this rudeness.

"She will be. Provided she cooperate."

The purse of his lips told Fiyero all he needed to know.

"I'm sorry if she was...well...herself, really, but she's just.."

"Master Tiggular. I can assure you, I am perfectly able to deal with stubborn patients, no matter how difficult. For what it may mean to you; she was not that difficult. She didn't like having me there, that's for certain. But she did what I asked of her. Although absolutely no more than that."

The last part was murmured and the man looked at the King and Queen and that and plucked at his coat.

"Your majesties. Forgive my frankness, but I must ask...this woman...her skin..is she...she looks like..."

Raina threw a look at her son, knowing he'd get worked up over it, but he only stiffened and locked his jaws together.

"Drakin. We're aware of who she is. I ask that you trust our judgment until it has been proven faulty."

The man looked surprised as he looked at her, but he nodded.

"I have given her some medication. It will probably make her drowsy, which I think is a good thing. Her body needs to rest."

He turned to look at Fiyero, an indecipherable look on his face and left them.

Fiyero caught the door before it closed. The Kind had been silent all this time, as he had been since Fiyero's arrival, hours before, but now he stepped forward.

"Fiyero."

The Prince turned around. He knew he'd have to talk to his father about all of this. But first, before anything else, he had to go back upstairs.

"Later, dad. I'll come and find you later and I will answer any and all questions you may have. I have to go now. I promised her."

And he'd promised himself.

The Queen stood at the entrance of the library, where Fiyero and Elphaba had moved after Drakin had finished and Fiyero had left to find her. She'd wanted to follow him up the stairs, partly out of curiosity and partly because she didn't trust this woman. Her son had come home a changed man and with a woman she knew nothing about, save for rumors that didn't exactly inspire confidence. So yes, she had her qualms and she'd really wanted to follow them. She hadn't, because she knew Fiyero wouldn't appreciate it. When he'd come down to announce that he was moving her to the library because she was likely to be most comfortable there, she'd felt some relief. At least that was a room she could walk into without making excuses. She shook her head at herself. A true neurotic mother; Her son brought a girl home and she was about to bring tea into the room, just to have an excuse to spy on them. Still, in this case...but she couldn't bring herself to cross the threshold.

And yet she couldn't keep her eyes off of them.

She could see them clearly from where she hovered near the doorway and what she saw had made her stop. They were on the sofa in the middle of the room. She appeared to be sleeping, her head against his chest, while he held a book with his one free hand, the other buried in her hair.

It was truly a shock.

Raina had come to the conclusion, years ago, that maybe her son just wasn't made for the family life. She'd hoped, with Glinda...they'd been together for a while, a lifetime for Fiyero, and he seemed to love her, so they'd been waiting for the day to come, for the announcement to be made. They had hoped that it would be enough.

He was successful and admired. He had a great position, a beautiful girlfriend, a life he was envied for. She hadn't seen him smile much, but she'd told herself that he was busy. He was no longer gallivanting through life so, of course, he smiled less. The zest with which he'd always done every stupid thing he'd ever done had disappeared but even though both his parents had wondered what had happened to cause such a change in the boy, they'd also been secretly relieved.

They'd figured that, eventually, family life would grow on him. He' d come to enjoy it. In time. It was all they could hope for because he didn't have a real choice in the matter; Being the eldest of the children, Fiyero would have to take the throne some day and a King needed a Queen. He was going to have to marry someone and it had looked like he'd made his choice with Glinda.

But now she realized that it hadn't really been a choice; It had been something he'd settled for. Something he'd almost resigned himself to, and would have, had he not found this strange green woman now in her home, with her cape and her broom and her son's heart in her hands.

But the truth of the matter was, and she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before, was that his heart hadn't been in it. Not in any aspect of his former life.

Now, watching her son calmly read a book, while this strange woman slept propped up against his chest, she admitted defeat.

He knew how to love. He would make an excellent husband, father and King, but not with Glinda. Or any other woman, for that matter, it seemed.

How she got there, simply from watching him stroke her hair, absentmindedly it seemed, she wasn't sure.

But the thing was...it wasn't absentmindedly. He wasn't turning pages. His eyes were trained on the face against his chest, hiding in his shirt. He stroked her hair, her neck, her back. All of his attention was on her.

He loved her.

Real love. True love. And not true love in the fairy tale kind of way, but in the genuine, rough, unglamorous kind of way that meant knowing exactly what pain it could and would bring, but not caring a single bit, because living without the other is not an option any longer. All he'd done up until now, just to be with her, was proof of that, if nothing else was.

It made her curious about the green woman. It made her want to know about her. She was loved and adored by her son, after all. And Raina wanted to know why.

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(Okay, fine. The next chapter will be up Thursday...but please don't let that stop you from reviewing!)