Fiyero roamed the Emerald City aimlessly. Here he was in the Emerald City; the good old City of Emeralds; EC if you were into short forms, and yet he was alone and completely useless.

He didn't want to go home because he was ashamed of what he had done in giving up his position as prince. From what he heard, the Vinkus wasn't in good shape either, but the thought of being responsible for so many others made him sick. That was something he could never do, not for the Vinkus, not for anyone.

Before he realized, Fiyero had wandered into the less dense part of the city, where all of the lesser citizens lived. In comparison to the main square, it was like the back alleyway hidden within a cluster of mansions. Old, rundown buildings adorned the pathways. They looked just about ready to crumble.

Fiyero walked around, fixing his eyes on strangers, trying to decipher their secrets. One man, he was sure wasn't a man, but in fact a Goat. Maybe Dr. Dillamond had freed himself...maybe Elphaba had freed him. He watched an old lady pass; sure she was carrying something beneath her cape. By the quickness of her pace, he was sure it was illegal.

Then his eyes rested on one last stranger, because she wasn't a stranger. He knew that face when he looked closer.

Elphaba was clutching a cloth bag at her side like her life depended on it. He wasn't sure what to think, as he was hit with a wave of emotion. Nessa had believed her sister dead; Galinda thought she was running away after being so grievously refused by the Wizard. It was Avaric and Boq who had devised the chronicles of Rebel Elphaba.

Against his better judgement, Fiyero followed her down the street into an even more deserted area of the city. But what he was going to do when he caught up to her, he wasn't sure.

Breaking into a run, Fiyero stopped when he was close enough so that he could catch her at a walk. By now, her head was bent and she was gripping the bag even tighter. He had to give her credit; she would have lost anyone else by now. "Elphaba? Is that really you? I can't believe it!" The tone of his voice was enthusiastic and shocked, but with an underlying seriousness.

Suddenly she stopped and whirled around. Fiyero almost collided with her. As she looked up she prepared to make a remark about green girls running rampant throughout Oz, her voice caught in her throat.

He stood there awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, this is a surprise."

"Well you know, surprises come around every once and a while." She choked on her words, wishing she could take them back.

"How are you? Where are you staying? What are you doing here?" He asked with sudden persistence.

The questions made her head spin and her heart pound, but she managed to avoid them. "I better be off before I have the lovely pleasure of meeting another ghost of eras past."

However Fiyero was determined to get more out of her and grasped her hand before she was out of his reach. When she turned around he shot her a charming smile. "We should catch up."

Elphaba flashed him a smile that didn't touch her eyes; trying to ignore the sparks that shot up her arm. "Maybe next time?" She tried to escape again, but he didn't let her.

"Are you in trouble?"

"What was your first hint?"

"But I can help!" Fiyero said defiantly. "Where did you go?" He pressed on.

"I have an emergency whistle and I am not afraid to use it!"

"Stay and talk to me," Fiyero commanded, seeing her anxiety increasing by the second. "Why did you leave Shiz, Elphaba?"

"Shhh!" She hissed. "That's not my name anymore!"

"So you are a rebel," Fiyero assumed.

"Shut up!" Elphaba cried. "Honestly, could you be any louder?"

"Answer my questions," Fiyero demanded impatiently. Elphaba looked around, aware that they were starting to catch people's attention. Fiyero took this as a chance to make a grab for the bag Elphaba was gripping so ferociously. With one swipe, he managed to knock it to the ground and pulled out the ancient book that had been hidden within. He turned it over in his hands. "You stole this from the Wizard! Elphaba, of all people to steal from-"

Elphaba snatched the book out of his hands and shoved it into her bag. "That woman no longer exists."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but she's right in front of me," Fiyero pointed out. He hadn't seen Elphaba so desperate since they had saved the Lion. "I can't leave you alone. Not when you act like this," he explained. "How do I know you're okay?"

"I've lived. I'm alive. Please."

Fiyero stepped in front of her. "Where are you staying?"

Elphaba prepared herself to argue and then saw the protective edge held in his eyes. "Can't you see I'm doing this for your own good?"

"Where are you staying, Elphaba?" He repeated.

"Call me Fae," she relented, "and it's just down the road."

She started moving away and Fiyero stayed rooted to the spot for a brief moment, dumbstruck by the absurdity of it all. "Fae," he said to himself, "I like it."

Fiyero looked around her apartment. It was dingy and small and not at all what he was used to, but still he liked it. "What should I tell Glinda and Nessa?"

"Don't tell them anything!" Elphaba exclaimed. "I worked so hard for this."

Fiyero's eyes widened. "Fae, this apartment is nice and all, but-"

"Not just the apartment! Everything I do. Fiyero I can't tell you, but I'm doing something I can finally be proud of."

"That doesn't make a difference," Fiyero commented. "You still deserted them."

"I had to!"

"You didn't have to, Fae!" Fiyero burst out angrily, setting down a crystal glass he had been looking through. "Everything is a choice."

"Are you angry with me?" Elphaba laughed hollowly. "Did I desert poor Fiyero too?"

"Yeah, you did."

"But you always seemed so capable of making such clever decisions yourself," Elphaba mocked, "like deserting the Vinkus. That was a really good move."

"I can't believe you," Fiyero stood up and levelled himself with her, trying to gage some interior reaction. "A rebel? Morrible said herself you were the most promising student in all of Shiz."

"It's going to change soon," Elphaba promised, "and then we can be friends again."

"And what if I want to be friends now?" Fiyero asked, noticing the instant change in Elphaba. She rocked back and forth on her heels and shifted her gaze out the window; towards the door; across the entire room, but not over him. "You're just going to push me away?"

"Thank you for understanding!" She caught him off guard and managed to push him towards the door, but he stood firmly.

"Don't you get lonely?" He asked seriously. Her eyes gave away the answer to Fiyero's question and she stumbled backwards onto the bed. He sat beside her on the bed and placed his hand gently on her knee. She pulled away immediately.

"If you want to be my friend, then you have to go."

Running out of persuasion methods, Fiyero decided to resort to the truth. "But I missed you. You were one of my closest friends, Fae, if not the closest."

"And why is that?"

"Because just talking to you now is making me feel at home."

They fell into a conversation and talked for hours. Elphaba listened to every scrap of information he knew; mostly about Glinda and Nessarose, both rising to the height of their power. Finally, she called it a day saying that Fiyero would have to leave.

"But I don't want to," he argued, "I want to stay here with you."

Elphaba smiled to herself. "It seems that as the rest of us grew up, you fell back into childishness."

Fiyero winked at her. "Most women find that attractive. Not even the Rebellion can change that."

"It's the most I've ever felt I belonged somewhere." She turned away and reached up toward her eye. With slight shock, Fiyero realized that there were tears running down her cheeks. "You think I'm an idiot." She laughed, pulling her sleeve over her hand and wiping at her eye.

Fiyero rushed forward and took her hands in his. He noticed the slight tremor, as he held them, enclosed them in his own warmth. "You can belong with me." Then he kissed her.

She kissed him back immediately, pressing in closer; communicating her need. Her hands were cold, but she curled them around his neck and into his hair, as she pushed him against the door and slid a hand down the wood to lock it.

Pulling away, only for a second, breathless and shaken, Elphaba observed Fiyero and kept her hands locked in his. "If something happens..."

"I don't care," Fiyero replied hungrily. This time he took control, guiding her back to the bed and lowering her onto it.

Fiyero slipped out of his shirt, dropped his trousers and then clawed Elphaba's clothes away from her body, revealing the flawless emerald skin beneath. He kissed her on the lips and then kissed all the way down her body and back up again.

For a moment, he propped himself up on one elbow and watched Elphaba's sleeping form rise and fall with every shallow breath. Never could he have pictured this.

Elphaba stirred slightly and then rolled onto her side, so she was face to face with her lover. "Good morning," she breathed.

"So what's on the agenda?"

"You're going to find someone else's apartment to crash." Elphaba set her head back down on the pillow comfortably. "Your welcome has been officially worn out."

"Alright, then." Fiyero dressed himself and walked towards the door. He turned back and looked at Elphaba disappointedly. "I don't even get a kiss goodbye?"

Blowing him a kiss, she waved him out the door, while holding the sheets carefully around her body.

"I'll see you tonight," Fiyero called.

As much as her brain wanted her to, Elphaba didn't object.

"Are you going to tell me what you did today?" Fiyero asked as he kissed his way up her neck. "Was it with the Grimmerie?" He kissed her jawline. "Are you freeing Animals?" He pressed her into the pillows and kissed down her chest.

Elphaba moaned. "If I didn't tell you the first time, what makes you think I'll tell you now?"

"Because now I've got you trapped." He slipped a hand underneath her dress and pulled it over her head.

All at once, Elphaba forced Fiyero off of her and pushed him back against the bed, pinning his shoulders down with her hands. She kissed the blue diamonds that trailed down his bare chest, savouring every one. "I think this is one battlefield where we're evenly matched." She grinned mischievously.

"But you couldn't resist allowing me to come back."

"And you couldn't resist returning." Elphaba permitted him to discard the last of her clothing.

Over the course of the next week, Fiyero and Elphaba found themselves growing out of physical need and more into emotional need. Fiyero having to leave every day and then return later was taking a toll on both their emotions. Elphaba was also having severe doubts that occupied her mind. She had to push back the voice that was saying this couldn't last forever.

"Is everything alright?" Fiyero asked one day. He had walked into the apartment and Elphaba was staring out the window at the glowing lights of the city, particularly the palace located in the center of it all. Sensing the mystery, he treaded carefully. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"What do you suppose will happen if the Wizard isn't around to live in the Palace anymore?" Elphaba was hinting, but he didn't seem to catch it.

He chuckled. "I always imagined Glinda snatching it up for herself."

Shuddering, she threw one last glance at the green glimmer around the palace.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Elphaba reassured. "It's you I'm worried about." He asked her why, but she didn't reply. She kissed him gently and undid the buttons of his shirt. They didn't waste any time in undressing themselves and then Elphaba climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly.

It wasn't until hours later, with their consciousness spent, that Elphaba and Fiyero fell asleep, wrapped in each other's arms and both profoundly frightened of the passion they were capable of together.

Elphaba woke up before Fiyero, fully aware of what she had to do and feeling utterly selfish for not doing it sooner. She untangled herself from Fiyero's arms and slid sideways so as to plant her feet firmly on the ground and give herself a firmer resolve. Grabbing her clothes from the pile on the ground she pulled them roughly over her head and waited a few minutes, staring at the wall but not really seeing it. Eventually, she felt an arm slip around her waist and someone nuzzling her neck. It was as if all of her courage had been gathered up for nothing. Forcing herself away, she started collecting various items from around the room.

"What are you doing?" Fiyero asked curiously, watching her bustle around the room.

"I'm leaving."

And his good mood was gone. "What?"

"I have to go, Fiyero. You're not going to find me here ever again."

"But...why?" The words barely escaped his lips.

"I don't want you to get hurt," she said quietly. "If things go wrong and something happens..."

"It's my fault, just like you told me!" Fiyero argued.

Elphaba whirled around. "I'm not living with that on my conscience. You have a life to live, Fiyero."

Fiyero couldn't stop the words before they left his lips, even though he knew the negative effect they would have. "Fae, you're becoming my whole world."

The lash out was immediate, as expected. "Don't ever say that again!"

"I don't want to face anything without you," Fiyero argued. "I want to stay here."

"You're such a child," Elphaba muttered, "and so distracting."

"So that's what this is about, isn't it?" He blurted angrily. "You can put it ahead of Nessa and Glinda, but I won't let you put it ahead of me!"

"It's about you needing to grow up Fiyero." Her tone softened, but kept its edge. "You would have made a great king, Fiyero and now you're stuck floating around my apartment with nothing better to do."

"So all of this-" Fiyero gestured around the apartment, at himself and Elphaba. "-was because we had nothing better to do?"

"No, I didn't mean-"

"Of course you didn't."

Elphaba steadied herself by sitting on her trunk and pulling an old science book off a nearby shelf. "I love you. Please try to understand that."

Fiyero pulled on his clothes drowsily, feeling as if he had been ambushed. "So then that's it? I love you, but goodbye and good luck?" He wasn't sure if he should stay and force her to see sense or accept that what she was saying was the truth.

Rising to see him off, Elphaba offered a hand and Fiyero took it, but pulled her into him and curved his other hand around her ear, stroking her cheek with his thumb. He kissed her gently and then pulled away, dropping her hand and heading towards the door. "Am I ever going to see you again?"

"I'll be around. Whether you find me or not is entirely your choice."

Fiyero had passed the rest of the day in a silent blur, contorting his emotions in every way possible to try and fill the grief that was swallowing him whole. He decided to go back to Elphaba's apartment for closure, but up in the apartment, Fiyero had a hard time keeping himself in check. He wanted to lose it. It looked as if no one had been there. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, the brief affair had been his imagination.

Having had his fill and feeling no better, Fiyero left the apartment and closed the door behind him, trying to signify that he was now in a new chapter of his life.

When he stepped back into the open air, Fiyero looked around for a bar where he could drown himself in a few drinks before deciding what his first move as an adult would be, but instead he was drawn to a familiar figure in blue making her way hurriedly up the street. She looked lost...which wasn't very different from how he knew her.

"Fiyero!" She cried, "Oh Fiyero! What a fluke! Is that really you? My, my, my, the last few years have been good to you!" Glinda smiled broadly at him; she had always been skilled at such open affection. "I'm on my way to help plan a wedding and I had to cross through this area. I can tell you one thing; this is not my cup of tea. It's slightly scary. I mean, did you see those Gale Forcers back up there? Now hold on just a second, what would you be doing here? I don't think you live here, but who am I to say so?" She took a deep breath. "Fiyero, dear, you're so quiet. Is something wrong? You can tell me. In fact, why don't you come with me? It is Avaric and Pfannee's wedding after all. I'm sure they'd love to see you. I'd love to hear about what you've been up to lately." She took his hand and led him away, not noticing that her chatter had lifted his spirits dramatically.