I did not like the length of my last update. At all. But I was about to go camping and had to get SOMETHING out there. Here's something to make up for it :)

And since I've had a few people ask me, yes, this mainly goes by the book. There is a bit of musical thrown in, hence Glinda and Fiyero dating a bit in the past. Originally that was a slip-up, her dating him in book-verse, but I made it work ;P

After you're done reading, I really would appreciate reviewsssss…

The flame quickly grew, spreading across the blanket. As Elphaba watched it, she allowed a small smirk to appear on her face, She made no effort to move away from the flame, for even though she was the driest being in all of Oz, she wasn't afraid of fire.

But then, noise was heard from the first floor. Extremely loud. Obviously the smoke could be smelled from down there, and somebody was either extremely angry, or merely coming to investigate. Luckily, the door had been locked. If Elphaba was spotted, things would go from terrible to even worse.

The woman moved away from the balcony, walking back into the main room. Just then, the door flew open and a wide eyed Glinda sprinted in. Even though the timing was off for a thought like it, Elphaba had to wonder how in Oz the blonde had managed to sprint through the house and up the stairs in heels of that size.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"What in Oz name are you doing!?"

"How the hell did you get in!"

Glinda breathlessly held up a key, her eyes slightly widened. "Key, you idiot! Now answer my questions!"

Elphaba partially turned around to look at the fire. "Hm, I suppose you'll want that put out. Just let it run its course, I don't want that blanket near Fiyero." And the flame was already dying, although the smell of smoke would remain for at least a few days. The smirk returned to Elphaba's face at how annoyed Glinda would be at that.

Glinda sighed, still trying to catch her breath. Her voice was extremely annoyed, and it sounded as though she were trying to reason with a small child. "Elphaba, the doctor said that that blanket was the only thing that kept Fiyero alive…"

Elphaba turned back around, her eyes sharp. "I don't give a damn what the doctor said. He didn't do anything to help Fiyero except change his bandages. I could have done that myself, given the right materials."

Glinda, noticing the sharp edge in Elphaba's voice, took a step forward. "Elphie…"

"Whether it helped him or not, I won't have anything that magically pops up near my Yero. He's a prince, Glinda, it could be another plot to kill him. A poison. A tracking device. The Gale Force could be tracking us through it. Or Madame Morrible. The Wizard. Who knows who ELSE it could be."

Glinda sighed, cutting in. "Elphie, stop it. You're sprouting conspirathy theories yet again. It was JUST A BLANKET."

Elphaba shook her head, then began to walk back to the balcony, completely ignoring Glinda. "It doesn't matter, I've saved you the trouble of being proven wrong." The fire had died down, and now it was merely a few ashes on the marble balcony. Walking over to it, she stepped on the faintly glowing crumbs with her steel-toed boots a few times, before bending over and sweeping them off the edge of the platform with her gloved hands.

Straightening, she moved back to Glinda, noting with slight satisfaction that she had gotten the last word in. But she didn't dwell on it; Fiyero needed to be checked on. Walking quickly towards him (and being partially followed by Glinda), Elphaba gently eased herself onto the bed, until she was sitting right next to her lover. Taking his large hand in her own, she gently held it for a few moments, before taking a glove off and feeling for his pulse.

After a few moments, she found it, considerably stronger than before. Thank Oz. The smoke in the condition he had been in could have killed him. But it didn't. Taking the blanket from his mouth and covering him with it, Elphaba leaned over, pressed another kiss to his lifeless lips, and then got up.

Now standing, she busied herself with putting her left glove back on. Her voice abrupt, trying to hide the sting she had felt when her love hadn't kissed her back, Elphaba spoke to Glinda. "So I presume the press conference is over. Go set up the carriage so we can leave."

But Glinda crossed her arms and stuck her chin up defiantly. "No."

Elphaba paused, her eyebrows raised, before she finished pulling the glove on and let her arms hang at her sides. "What?"

Glinda tilted her head to the side. "I believe you heard me, Elphie." Her voice wasn't angry, only mildly exasperated.

Elphaba closed her eyes slowly in an effort to calm down and not go off on Glinda then and there. Opening them after a moment, she spoke once again. "Why."

Glinda took a few more steps forward, placing her hand on Elphaba's arm. "I still have no idea what's going on, if you don't remember, Elphie. You're sending me off like some servant and purposely keeping me in the dark. I'll go get the carriage and everything, but once we get to my summer home, we're situating Fiyero, possibly changing his bandages if he needs it, and then you and I are taking a walk immediately after. And you will answer my questions. Alright, Elphie?"

Elphaba didn't pull away from the contact Glinda initiated, a miraculous thing. She slowly nodded, "Fine. I suppose I owe you that much. But you might not like what you hear, Glinda. I've changed in the years since Crage Hall."

Glinda pulled her hand off of Elphaba's arm, obviously satisfied. She probably hadn't even heard Elphaba's last statement. "Well thank you, Miss Elphaba. So I'll go set everything up. It'll be an hour or two, though, so be prepared to wait." And she turned and, now happier, walked out the door. After a few moments, a click was heard as she locked the door, obviously snottily reminding Elphaba that she did, in fact, possess a key.

The green woman allowed herself to smile for a fraction of a second, before she whirled around and walked slowly back to Fiyero. Sitting back down at his side, she held his hand once again. Leaning over her lover, she pushed his hair away from his forehead, before somewhat straightening.

Running her thumb soothingly over the back of his hand, Elphaba stared lovingly at the face of her Yero.

"Don't worry, my hero. Soon we'll be away. Then, my love, you can heal. And we can be together again."