AN: Alright, I feel like this is filler, but it's necessary, and I tried to make it...decent.

"An engagement is enough."

The words should have sent Fiyero's heart soaring, but they did not. He didn't want to marry Glinda, and he didn't want to lie to her. He could propose marriage, get Fae, and then abandon the Good Witch of the North. He could do that. It would be awful of him, but he could, technically, betray her that way, if he so chose.

But how could he?

He regretted his heart. It made him love Elphaba, and Fae, and it made him feel willing to do anything to keep them. Adversely, it restricted him from hurting Glinda, which is what he'd have to do to get his heart's desires.

He thought to himself that it might be nice to be heartless.

"As long as I'm engaged, it's enough," he repeated, making sure he'd heard correctly.

"It's only because of your status, I think," Elda said, raising her eyebrows slightly at the implications of what Fiyero's status could let him get away with. "But as long as you're engaged, you can adopt Fae. You've spent enough time with her, over so many months, that they'll make an exception for you, just to speed things along."

"How will they know?"

"Everyone will know," Elda smirked. "They'll probably know before you do." They both chuckled. "Isn't it great news? You don't seem..." Elda paused. "It will put her in your home, Fiyero. It's not ideal, but it's not the worst possible scenario either."

Fiyero nodded. "No, it's... good news." So few things proclaimed as good news are actually good news these days, he thought to himself. "What would you do?"

"I'd propose to my girlfriend of three years, and take my daughter home," Elda said, without pause. Little Fae was over two now - he'd been in the process of adopting her for more than a year. It always amazed Elda how long it really did take to adopt a child, even for Fiyero, for whom rules could be bent.

"I know," he said. "I know it's what I should do. It's best for Fae." He sighed, feeling the beginnings of a tension headache, and decided to quickly visit his usual treatment for stress. "I'll just see her quickly," he said, aware that Glinda was throwing some sort of ball that evening. Elda nodded, and Fiyero climbed the stairs up to the toddler's nursery.

The money Fiyero and Glinda had donated had been put to good use in the past couple years, allowing for renovations of the rooms inside the building. Toddlers, who'd previously been spaced between the nursery and the older childrens' bunks, now had their own nursery, with larger cribs. Fae's was in the far corner, again, by a window, so she could look at the moon. She loved to look at the night sky.

Perhaps she had learned that from him.

"Fae," he murmured, entering.

"Papa," she replied, grinning. So many nurses had talked to her about him, and called him her papa, that she'd sort of picked up on it and run with it. Fiyero couldn't correct her the first time she said it, or the second, or the third... It simply felt too right. "Hi."

"I don't have long," he said. "But I wanted to say hello, and give you a kiss goodnight, and tell you sweet dreams." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, brushing some of the dark hair out of his way. "I love you," he said, knowing that marrying Glinda was the only option.

"Love you," she smiled.

He wanted to break something. It was only fair, considering the state of his heart. Elphaba wasn't coming back. He'd waited, he'd waited even to start adopting... The adoption had taken months and months, and all that time, he'd hoped that, by the time he knew where he stood, she'd be back in his life, her reputation restored, and he could marry her and adopt their child. He'd waited as long as he could, and now he had to propose to Glinda, so he could take his daughter, the daughter he'd made with Elphaba, home.

As he left the building, he practiced his stupid proposal speech. Glinda, I made love to Elphaba a few years ago. It was amazing, and beautiful, and blissful. Much better than anything we ever have. And I impregnated her. And I somehow managed to find our daughter, and I have to be at least engaged to adopt her. So, marry me. So we can raise my illegitimate child together. He sighed. That won't do.

He heard the hoopla before he saw it. When he arrived at the entrance to one of Glinda's many platforms, he found her waiting, bursting with nerves and excitement. "Fiyero, you're late," she scolded, though not angrily. Her smile was so wide, it made him feel awful. What could he say? That he'd lost track of time while visiting his daughter?

"Sorry," he murmured, looking at how she sparkled, and forcing himself to remember how he'd felt when he first fell for her. "I lost track of time..." He'd have to watch that, when they were married. He wasn't sure when he was going to ask her, but it would have to be soon.

They went out to greet the Ozians, and Glinda made one of her usual speeches. "Fellow Ozians, as terrifying as terror is, let us put aside our panic for this one day... and celebrate!" Fiyero thought to himself that it was easy for Glinda to suggest such a thing - she knew she wasn't in any real danger.

Fiyero's skin crawled being so near to Morrible, who seemed to be everywhere he was these days. As her voice interrupted the celebrating like some rich, poisonous syrup, Fiyero fought to keep his disgust off his face. "And thank goodness for you, Glinda, and your handsome swain, our captain of the guard." Loathing. Unadulterated loathing. But the wretch turned to him, now, and he had to find a way not to look murderous. "Now you've been at the forefront of the hunt for the Wicked Witch, haven't you?"

"Yes, but I don't like to think of her as a Wicked Witch - " Fiyero started.

Sensing that this was going where it had so many times before, Morrible cut him off. "Captain, how does it feel?"

"Frustrating... but I became captain of the guard to find her, and I will keep searching!" He would. Even if he was married, he would. Forever.

"No, being engaged!"

"Congratulotions," the Ozians chorused.

Fiyero turned to Glinda, confused. "This is an engagement party?"

"Surprised?" How many words, how many silent hopes were behind that word? Of course he was. She'd been hinting at marriage for years and he'd never said a single word about it. She knew why, she had to. She didn't know all of it, but she knew that it wasn't in his plans. Even in complete denial about their status, it was clear he wasn't steering it toward Happily Ever After.

"Yes," was all he could say.

"Good, we hoped you'd be... the Wizard and I!" Glinda continued, but he heard nothing.

"And Glinda, dear, we're happy for you! As Press Secretary, I have striven to ensure that all of Oz knows the story of your braverism!" Here she went again... the lies. That it was Glinda the Wizard had wanted, not Elphaba.

"That's not how you described it to me," Fiyero reminded her, for the millionth time.

"Oh no, not exactly, but..." she dropped her voice to a whisper. "We'll talk about it later." Her face was plastered with that ridiculous smile, and she watched the crowd, not him.

It was probably good that she wasn't looking at him, because as Morrible continued to lie, and the rumours about Elphaba were shouted by the crowd, he felt more and more tense, more and more angry. They whirled in his head, their vicious distortion permeating his brain. But one lie came to him loud and clear: "I hear her soul is so unclean, pure water can melt her!"

"What?!"

"MELT HER! PLEASE SOMEBODY GO AND MELT HER!"

"Do you hear that?" Fiyero turned in Glinda, the only person he could let his anger out on. "Water will melt her? People are so empty-headed they'll believe anything!"

"Excuse me just a tick-tock," Glinda said, in case anyone in the crowd was listening. She led Fiyero to the side, but he started to speak before she could even open her mouth.

"I can't just stand here grinning pretending to go along with all of this!" Was he talking about the stupid lies of the people or their sham relationship? He couldn't be sure.

"Do you think I like to hear them say those awful things about her? I hate it!"

"Then what are we doing here? Let's go, let's get out of here," he suggested, urgently. In private, he could be morose.

"We can't leave now, not when people are looking to us to raise their spirits," Glinda implored.

"You can't leave because you can't resist this," Fiyero spat. "And that is the truth."

"Maybe I can't. Is that so wrong? Who could?"

Her words felt like fire. "You know who could. Who has."

Glinda softened. "Fiyero, I miss her too, but we can't just stop living. No one has searched harder for her than you. But don't you see? She doesn't want to be found. We have to face it."

Fiyero had been trying to face that fact for years. He'd thought it to himself over and over, and convinced himself that she didn't want to see him, even though he wanted her to miss him more than anything else. "You're right. I'm sorry, you're right. And if it's going to make you happy, of course I'll marry you."

There it was. The promise. The words that sealed Fae's fate. It really couldn't have gone better - he didn't have to think of a proposal. Glinda has proposed to herself.

She faltered. "But it'll make you happy too, right?"

"You know me," he sighed. "I'm always happy."

He heard her call after him as he exited, but he didn't even pause, knowing where he was going, and why.

The ink on the paper dried quickly. Elda had organized the documents barely a minute after Fiyero had left, having heard the news of his engagement even before he did.

AN: I also don't like that it all happens in one day... But what can I do? I want to get on with things!