Sorry again for the delay! I promise I'll try and make these faster in future :). Oh, and thankyou again to my beta, 0Verdigris0 (read her fics if you haven't already!) for telling me to make Doctor Dillamond more Goat-like xD.

The sun was not long risen when Elphaba awoke, and yet she could sense instantly that something was not right. Perhaps it was because the pillow beneath her head felt much fluffier than what she was used to, and the blanket distinctly softer. Or maybe it was the sensation of something feathery and soft tickling her cheek. Or, failing both of those, perhaps her predicament felt so strange for the reason that her body was completely tangled around that of another. A wave of panic beginning somewhere in her stomach and rising upwards, Elphaba turned as inconspicuously as she could to survey her bed mate.

Galinda's head was rested peacefully on the pillow beside her, her eyes closed as snugly as those of a doll. In fact, she looked distinctly like a doll in more ways than one; her cheeks rosy in her early sunlight and her blonde curls fanned out around her on the pillow as perfectly as if somebody had arranged them that way. Definitely a doll, Elphaba thought with a wry smile as her eyes remained on her room mate: one of those beautiful porcelain dolls with soft features and ringlet curls that young girls received on their birthday but were never allowed to play with. Instead they were sealed in a glass case and placed on a high shelf out of harm's way.

Elphaba had never owned one of those dolls as a child, but she knew that if she had done, she would have been too afraid of spoiling its perfect newness to have laid a finger on it. She felt the same way about Galinda now. Much as she longed to stroke her hand over those blonde curls, place her lips onto a pink cheek to awaken the blonde beauty, Elphaba knew it was fatal. Just as fatal as being in bed beside Galinda in the first place.

Elphaba unravelled herself from the blonde slowly and carefully, doing her very best not to wake Galinda in the process. At one point Galinda made a small movement, and Elphaba froze anxiously. However, the blonde did nothing more than to let out a contented sigh and turn onto her back, thus granting Elphaba her desired freedom.

Strongly relieved, Elphaba slipped out of the bright pink bed and dressed silently in the semi-darkness of the early morning. She hadn't the slightest idea where she intended to go- all she knew was that she needed to be free of that room for a while. She couldn't just let herself act on instinct as she had the night before- she needed to think things over properly, and that was impossible if she remained in the same room as the sleeping beauty she had just disentangled herself from. Rational thinking was always that much harder for Elphaba when Galinda was in the vicinity.

She slipped cat-like from the room and down the nearest staircase, hoping she wouldn't be spotted. It was still extremely early- Elphaba would have chanced a guess at around five 'o'clock, though she didn't care enough to confirm this- and she was perfectly aware that her wandering about at this time might appear suspicious.

It took a while for the green girl to realise that her walking was not in fact aimless, but had some direction to it. She was heading for the room in which her first class of the day- History- was to take place. Ridiculous really; as the class itself wasn't due to start for another three hours. But with no better ideas in mind, Elphaba continued to walk in the same direction, hoping her reasons for going there would become clearer in due course.

As she neared her destination, Elphaba slowed down and approached the door cautiously. What did she expect to do now; simply walk inside and sit in her assigned seat for three hours until her classmates arrived? She didn't even have her books with her. But since this option seemed a slightly better one than hovering in the hallway, Elphaba placed her hand on the door handle, turned it as quietly as she could; and then pushed. The door didn't budge. It was locked. Of course.

Groaning softly, Elphaba allowed her forehead to drop forward so that it was resting on the door in front of her. Part of her wished she had brought her books with her, so that she could take advantage of the good, solid facts they contained in order to distract her from the abstract, buzzing thoughts which were now filling her head. Thoughts about what had happened the night before; what should have happened; and what could or would happen now that she was thinking straight once more.

"Miss Elphaba?"

She jumped horribly as the soft voice penetrated the silence, before composing herself and moving back into an upright position, embarrassed at the vulnerable pose in which the speaker had found her. When the rogue colour had shifted from her cheeks, she turned to see who else was roaming the corridors at five 'o' clock in the morning, and consequently found herself face-to-face with a very surprised-looking Goat.

"Doctor Dillamond?" she replied blankly, just as surprised to see her professor as he seemed to be to see her.

"You're a little early for class, Miss Elphaba?" the Goat said, using his hoof to unhook a ring of keys from his waistcoat and working his way through them until he found the correct one to open the door. His words were a question- he was enquiring as to what she was doing here so early- and Elphaba knew she had no answers to give.

In a strange way, the doctor seemed to understand her silence. He directed a gentle nod towards her, before locating the right key, slotting it into the lock and pushing the door open. Quite how he could handle a key that way with hooves was beyond Elphaba, but she supposed he had had a lot of years to get used to them.

"I was looking to do a little pre-breakfast research," he explained, indicating for Elphaba to go into the room ahead of him, "You wouldn't care to join me?"

"I-" Elphaba began, before glancing into his gentle face and nodding. "I'd like that."

"As would I." Doctor Dillamond waited for her to step into the room, before following behind her. When inside, he moved straight to his desk, taking a series of books from a shelf and opening them on select, pre-marked pages. As he began to read, one hoof lightly pawed the floor in an agitated manner. Timidly, Elphaba moved to the Goat's side and examined the material over his shoulder.

"You're researching the origins of the rumours you were telling me about?" she asked finally, "The ones involving the poor Animals in Munchkin Rock and in Quox?"

Doctor Dillamond nodded, pushing up his spectacles so that they sat higher on his muzzle before squinting back down at the papers in front of him. "Animals were most highly regarded at one time, Miss Elphaba," he proclaimed sadly, pushing a page listing great historical Ozian names towards her with one front hoof, "See these names? These were all Animals of some sort. All looked upon most highly in their time, and now- all forgotten. Things change, Miss Elphaba. People change. So do their views and feelings."

"I'll say," Elphaba muttered, in what she assumed was too quiet a tone for the professor to hear. But it seemed the Goat had sharper hearing than she'd imagined, as he turned questioningly towards her as the words left her lips.

"Something on your mind, Miss Elphaba?" he asked gently, the professionalism he had used in association with his research vanishing as he looked to his favourite student with concern.

"You could say that," Elphaba replied softly, turning her face away from the professor to prevent him from finding any clues in it.

But Doctor Dillamond seemed to understand that too. Removing his glasses, he stroked his beard thoughtfully as he regarded Elphaba. "Relationship troubles?" he asked finally, raising his bushy Goat's eyebrows, before gently adding, "Or lack thereof perhaps?"

"Well, yes- I mean, no!" Elphaba said quickly, horrified by the confession she had almost made. "Only, yes," she added after a beat, cheeks burning furiously as she kept her gaze firmly on the floor. She couldn't believe she was really admitting that much- to a teacher no less- but then again, Doctor Dillamond was no normal teacher in her eyes.

"Well men can be tricky beings to deal with," Doctor Dillamond replied with a low chuckle, drumming his front hooves on the desk as though to emphasise his point, "Particularly at your age, Miss Elphaba. They think they know exactly what they want, but really they haven't the slightest idea. We could learn a lot from you women. Women at least know how to follow their hearts without looking back."

Elphaba chanced a glance at her professor before shaking her head slightly. She had been wrong; he didn't really understand at all. "Right. Well. Thank you for the advice," she said quickly, inching around the desk and towards the door, "I- I'm sorry, but I've just remembered something I need to do."

"Then you should go ahead and do it," Doctor Dillamond replied, nodding in agreement, and trotting over to the door to hold it open for her, "Remember; I'm always here if you need help with anything. The only people who know how men's minds work are other men."

But what if there's no man in the equation? Elphaba thought, nodding her thanks to her professor as she made a hasty departure. Would she still be encouraged to follow her heart then? And did she really care whether she had any encouragement or not? She'd always acted alone in the past; why now should she begin to follow the advice of others?

There were no many questions, and so few answers that Elphaba was half-tempted to run back to the classroom and give Doctor Dillamond some more information so that he could make a better judgement. She'd never been given any advice before, and now that she'd experienced it, it seemed addicting.

But would Galinda take kindly to that kind of information being passed on to a teacher? And did Elphaba herself really trust Doctor Dillamond to keep it secret? And most importantly: in her heart of hearts, Elphaba already knew the answer before anybody told it to her. She had to go back to her sleeping beauty- who would surely be awakening soon- and let her know that falling asleep in each others' arms the previous night had been no accident on her part. That slipping out of the room in the early hours had been no desertion. And between them, she and Galinda had to decide their logical next step. Elphaba could see that something new was definitely growing here; and instead of stamping it out like a weed, she wanted to embrace it for once in her life.