"Happy birthday, baby Fae," Fiyero said. It was odd to him that he should be there, holding Fae, considering he didn't know about her for an entire year after he'd made her. And Elphaba was, of course, nowhere to be found. But her first letter had specified this day as Fae's birthday.

Twenty-one months without Elphaba had done strange things to him. It didn't matter that he'd gone almost twenty-one years without her before he'd met her. Nearly two years had passed since he'd realized he loved her, and never in his life had he been tested this way. He had always been a man satiated instantly - if he wanted it, he got it. But Elphaba, she was so out of reach, and all he wanted was to hold her.

He'd begun to proceed with the adoption of Fae, hoping that he'd be given custody on his own. Thusfar, he'd made it through the necessary steps for adopting, including obtaining letters of reference, proof of employment, and all the citizenship and competency bullshit that got in the way of most of the people who tried to adopt. But he knew that, the closer he got to taking her home, the more he would be scrutinized for not marrying Glinda and adopting with her. At this point, they were focusing on his preliminary qualifications, as Elda had said they would.

When she'd said a man couldn't usually adopt on his own, it wasn't because they wouldn't let him try. It was because a single man never got through all the steps; most men didn't have the financial resources Fiyero had, and broke themselves and the bank clearing all necessary hurdles only to be rejected at the end for some arbitrary reason.

Of course, Prince Fiyero Tiggular, now the Captain of the Gale Force, wasn't most men. He had status, wealth, respect and drive, and he was going to use those things as much as he had to.

"Fae," Fae repeated, giggling. When she'd started to pick up on words a couple months ago (really pick up, not just mindlessly babble), Fiyero had had to decide what she should call him. And, not being able to bring himself to try to teach her to call him "Papa", he'd simply settled for talking to her about her. Not that she didn't have a bunch of words. Of course, she was smart, like her mother.

"Hello," one of the nurses said, entering. "How's little Fae doing?"

"She's well, I think," Fiyero smiled. "How are you?"

"I am well also," she said, smiling up at him shyly. She was a young woman, who, according to some of the older women, had a bit of a thing for him. He chuckled inwardly, recalling their thrill at gossiping. A couple years ago, he would have flirted shamelessly with this young woman, who was actually fairly attractive, simply because he could. Her blushing and giggling would have stroked his ego. How he loathed his former self. Elphaba had changed him, he knew. Instead, he simply smiled at her, which caused her to blush furiously and duck her head. "I just needed to check up on Terrus," she said, moving to a baby boy who had been a little feverish the past couple days.

"I think he's doing better," Fiyero said, studying the baby she cradled in her arms. "His temperature is down and he's not fussing as much." He realized he was basically doing her job for her. "Sorry... I can't help but pay attention to them all, sometimes."

"I think it's wonderful, the way you love children," she admitted. "Does, um, does Glinda like children?"

Glinda. Fiyero hoped he wasn't making a face like he'd smelled something gross. "From a distance," he murmured. "Until they cry, or burp, or need changing."

The girl giggled. "She'll get used to it, when it's hers. Or, well, when, you know..." she said, looking at Fae.

"Fae's mine," he said, "not Glinda's."

"But aren't you both adopting?"

"No. I'm trying to adopt her on my own."

"Why?"

Fiyero sighed, then shrugged. "Glinda and I aren't married."

"But you're going to get married. You've got to want to marry her; she's so wonderful. And she'd never say no to you..."

Fiyero knew it wasn't her fault that she didn't understand. Nobody really did, aside from Elda, who was too dignified to say anything about it, directly. "We haven't talked about it."

The girl sensed that Fiyero was uncomfortable talking about this subject, so she changed it. "Well, you were right, he seems much better." Fiyero smiled at the baby as she set him down in his crib. "I'd best be off." She paused at the door. "I hope you get to adopt her, either way," she said.

"Thank you," he smiled.

Elda entered soon after. "How is she?"

"Beautiful," he said. "As always."

The two could have been twins, as far as Elda was concerned. Twins with different coloured eyes. And Fiyero certainly was one of the most gorgeous men she'd ever seen. She was content to gaze at him and the child for awhile, but then forced herself to leave, not only to afford him privacy, but because the possibility that he could lose the baby hurt her more than it was supposed to.

Fiyero looked down at Fae and fought another wave of the sadness that had been plaguing him recently. As time had gone on, more and more Gale Forcers had reported sightings of The Witch, but he had yet to come across her. And as more and more time passed without a word from her, he became increasingly paranoid and delusional as to why.

The thought had first struck him one night when Elda had said, "Whoever left this beautiful baby must have had a good reason to."

A good reason like being knocked up by her best friend's boyfriend while she was in the midst of fleeing the city after being declared a criminal by a man who she'd been aching to meet? And when he wrapped his mind around that, the guilt set in. Had he taken advantage of her, that night, when she'd been so shattered? She had wanted so desperately to meet the Wizard, she'd waited and hoped and worked for it. And when she had, he'd disappointed her - revealed himself as a fraud and, when she wouldn't do his evil bidding, turned against her. Fiyero had been surprised when Glinda had told him, he couldn't imagine how shocked Elphaba must have been.

So, there she was, not yet twenty, and declared an Enemy of the Wizard, of Oz. She'd been forced to flee, and stopped to gather some things, heartbroken with disappointment, with leaving her best (and only) friend, and realizing she could never come back.

And he'd kissed her, and held her, and showed her he loved her. It had felt so right at the time, like the only thing there was to do. But perhaps she didn't see it that way. Perhaps, when her emotions settled, she felt extremely taken advantage of. After all, she wasn't one to believe she could be loved. Her only choice was to believe he'd seen an opportunity to have some sex, and gone for it.

And then, he'd impregnated her. He hadn't meant to, though the memory of the most intense pleasure of his life was vivid enough to make him feel like his body was intent on claiming her, on making something out of love with her. But it didn't matter that it wasn't his intent, because it was his fault. She'd have never initiated anything with him - probably because she didn't even want to! Sure, she'd said things about love at the time, but, once again, she was probably just rendered delusional and irrational but the events of the night.

It was ridiculous that Fiyero thought this way, but he'd never be convinced of that. In his mind, Elphaba probably hated him, which felt as bad to him as holding Fae felt good. He didn't think Fae had ended up in the Baum Street orphanage because of it, however. He knew that Elphaba's lifestyle wasn't suitable for raising a baby, and that the infant would be hunted as much as her mother if anyone were to ever know.

But that didn't make up for Elphaba's complete disappearance. Why hadn't she let him catch up with her even once? If she was nearby, sending letter to Fae, she had to know that he had taken an interest in the baby. Didn't she have any opinions about that?

He sang a traditional birthday song to his daughter in Arjiki, and she cooed lightly and fell asleep. He kissed her forehead, and put her down, slipping quietly out of the nursery.

"Another letter," Elda said, handing it to him just outside the door. "It's brief, but..."

He read the words quickly, drinking them in.

Your first birthday has come already - where has the past year gone? Somehow, looking back, it feels fast, though the time apart from you has been unbearably slow. I know you are being looked after; there are many wonderful people surrounding you.

Fate and chance have strange interplay, young beauty. I refuse to believe we were fated to be parted; it was a mischance, one I hope to put right sooner rather than later. If not, I have faith that you will be taken in by somebody good, and fearless, and wise.

Regardless of the events which separated us, know that you come from love and respect, that nobility and honour are in your blood, and that I think of you every moment of every day.

Your Mother

He sniffled, a little, feeling embarrassed. "This is a good one," he said, trying to sound idle.

"I believe she is smart, and strong," Elda commented, taking her time re-folding the letter and sliding it back into its envelope, to afford him a few moments to rub his eyes and take a deep breath. "This mother... I think she is good."

Fiyero thought to himself how nice it was to hear Elphaba described as such, even if the woman didn't know that she was applying that word to The Wicked Witch of the West. "Perhaps she just had a run of bad luck," Fiyero murmured. A run-IN of bad luck, with the Wizard, he thought bitterly.

"Does that make you feel guilty, for adopting her?"

He wasn't sure. "A little," he said. "Not enough to not give her a home, if I can. While this woman clearly has all the intent in the world, if there are outside forces preventing her from coming back for Fae... I think my case is going well, though," he said. "I'm trying to stay positive about it."

Elda smiled at him, encouraged to hear that he was trying to stay positive. He would need to.