AN: I'm glad you're all liking this! :)

Bombafan: Um... I'm not sure yet. I was going to name it 'Eight days of summer', but then realised it would probably be longer than eight chapter, but I don't know how many yet... I think maybe something between twelve and fifteen?

Day Two

The next morning found Elphaba leaning over the balustrade on the porch again, closing her eyes as a gentle breeze caused some strands of hair to dance around her face. She really did love it here. Already she felt so much calmer than she had the day before.

After a while, Fiyero stepped up beside her, chuckling as he watched Galinda running out into the lake. The blonde shrieked loudly when she felt how cold the water was. She had spent the entire first day strolling around the beach and exploring; and now she had told the others firmly that it was time for a swim. Boq was in the water with her and Nessa was sitting on a towel on the beach, reading a book.

Fiyero looked at the green girl next to him. "So? What do you think?" he asked.

"It's beautiful," she said honestly. "I can't believe you're not here every single summer. If I owned a place like this, I'd never leave."

He laughed. "You should see our summer castle," he said, amused. "Or our winter one – Kiamo Ko. Or Adurin Iir, the castle we live in…"

Elphaba held up one hand. "Stop right there. I don't even want to hear it."

He grinned at her.

Galinda was now in the water, happily paddling around. "Elphie!" she shouted. "Please come!"

"No!" Elphaba called back, chuckling.

Fiyero looked at her. "Why not?"

She flushed. "Just… no reason," she said dismissively, but he didn't buy that. He kept on looking at her expectantly until she sighed.

"I hate swimsuits," she confessed, looking away. "Even sleeveless dresses are something I'm not too fond of, but swimsuits just… show way too much skin. I guess it just goes against everything I've ever believed, you know? I have always made a point of showing as little skin as possible, knowing it only freaks other people out even more."

He touched her shoulder lightly. "Fae… we're your friends," he said softly. "We're not 'freaked out' by your skin. It's okay."

She gave him a half-hearted smile. "I know. I'm just not used to it."

He smiled, then had an idea. "How about this," he said. "We'll go swimming together."

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged, suddenly looking slightly uncomfortable. "I, um… well… I can't really explain it. You'll have to see for yourself. But let's just say you're not the only one who is different."

She lifted her other eyebrow as well. "Now you got me curious."

He smiled. "So if I put on a swimsuit, will you do it, too?"

She hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded. "Okay."

He gave her a lopsided grin and disappeared inside. She did, too. They met back on the porch a few minutes later, both of them with a towel firmly wrapped around themselves.

"Ready?" Fiyero asked her and she sighed, nodding reluctantly.

"I guess."

"One, two, three," Fiyero counted and on three, they both lowered their towels.

Elphaba's eyes widened when she saw the strange, blue, diamond-shaped patterns on Fiyero's chest. So that was what he had been talking about.

Fiyero's eyes widened, too, but for an entirely different reason. He swallowed difficultly. Get yourself together, Tiggular. So she looks hot in a swimsuit. Of course she looks hot in a swimsuit. She looks hot even in a black frock with a braid in her hair and glasses on her nose. She would look hot in a burlap sack. Now stop staring before you creep her out.

Elphaba, however, was too absorbed in her own observations to notice him staring. "What are they?" she asked curiously, leaning in to examine the tattoos closer.

Fiyero shook his head in an attempt to rouse himself from his trance-like state. "Tribal tattoos," he replied, careful not to start staring at her again. "Every member of the royal family has them. I've never… never really showed them to anyone before," he admitted, lowering his eyes. "I did once, when I was younger, but my friends all thought they were weird."

"Well, they're not exactly normal," Elphaba acknowledged and the prince looked away, only to start when he suddenly felt her fingers on his chest.

She immediately yanked her hand back. "I'm sorry. Is that okay?"

He nodded, unable to say anything, and watched as she slowly traced one with the tips of her fingers, trying his hardest not to shiver.

"Definitely not normal," she muttered, studying them closely. She looked up at him with a smile. "They're beautiful."

He blinked. "Really?"

She nodded. "I think so, at least. They're different, yes, but not in a bad way. I really think they are beautiful."

Oz, he wished he could kiss her right now.

Instead, he just said quietly, "Thanks," and was rewarded with another smile.

"What about you?" she asked, her voice getting that sarcastic edge again. "You haven't run away screaming yet, so I take it the green doesn't creep you out that much…"

"Would you stop talking like that?" he said with a frown. He noticed her trying to cover herself up again, but he grabbed her wrists, preventing her from doing so.

"How many more times do I have to tell you that I lo- like your skin," he said, catching himself at the last moment when he saw the slightly panicked look in her eyes, "and that you don't have to hide it from me? Us," he corrected himself. He was such an idiot. "From us. We're your friends, Fae. You don't scare us away that easily." He trailed a finger down her arm, noticing the gooseflesh he left there, and he suppressed an excited grin. So he did have some effect on her. "And besides, there's not even anything scary or freaky about your skin. It looks really good on you, you know."

She scoffed. "Fiyero, you don't have to lie to me." She pulled her hands back and rubbed her upper arms, clearly irritated.

He cocked his head. "If you can think my tattoos are beautiful," he said firmly, "then I can think your skin is beautiful. Okay? Okay," he said, without waiting for an answer. He held out one hand for her to take. "Come on. Let's go for a swim."

She took a deep breath. Then she took his hand and allowed him to drag her off the porch and onto the warm sand. Galinda and Boq were cheering from the water and Fiyero, in a rush of boldness, suddenly scooped Elphaba up in his arms. She shrieked and clutched his neck for support and he grinned as he ran into the water with her, then let go.

She protested, spluttering. "Fiyero! What was that for?"

"For fun," he said, chuckling at her face. "You do know what that is, right?"

She splashed water at him and he dove at her, trying to catch her, but she was fast. Before he knew it, she had leapt out of his way and pushed him under the water.

Galinda came swimming towards them, a beaming smile on her face. "Elphie, you came out!" she said happily. "See? It's not so bad!"

"It's not," Elphaba had to admit, grinning when Fiyero came up for air. He looked like a puppy caught in a downpour, his hair sticking to his face and water dripping down from it.

He glared at her. "I'll get you, Thropp. Just you wait and see."

"I'd like to see you try," she sang out before diving under the water again and swimming away.

"Oh, try he will," Galinda giggled, even though Elphaba could no longer hear her. She threw a significant look in Fiyero's direction. "This seems to be going well," she commented.

He grinned at her. "I hope so."

They swam for a while longer, splashing around in the water, before they sat back down on their towels on the beach together. Galinda stretched out in the sun and Elphaba wrung out her long, thick hair.

"Do we have any plans for this afternoon?" Boq asked them as he closed his eyes and raised his face to the sun.

"Well," Galinda perked up, "there's this cute little village not too far away, and they have the most amazing dress sho-"

"No!" Elphaba and Fiyero shouted in unison.

Galinda pouted. "You're no fun."

"There are other things to do in that village," said Nessa. "I read about it. Isn't there a market or something there, too?"

"There is," Fiyero agreed. "Every Saturday. We could go there this weekend."

Galinda's eyes lit up. "Ooh, market!"

"There's this man who specialises in Vinkun wine," Fiyero knew. "My parents took me to that market many times when I was younger and we came here in the summer. He always let us taste everything he had, and my father usually bought a few bottles from him, too. If I play the prince card, we could get ourselves some free wine!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Is everything about alcohol with you?" she asked him in exasperation.

"Excuse me," he protested, "I'm just trying to find something fun to do for us all! And Vinkun wine is not just any kind of alcohol, you know – it's a delicacy known throughout all of Oz!"

"That's true," Boq chimed in. "I've never had any before, but I've heard many things about it. I'd love to try some Vinkun wine, Fiyero."

"Me, too!" Galinda said and Nessa nodded.

"So we'll go to the market this weekend, then," Boq decided.

"There's also live music," Fiyero said. "We could stay there all afternoon and all night without getting bored."

"Sounds good." Galinda fluttered her eyelashes at the others. "And when we're already there, then, could we maybe, just maybe, only for a few tiny hours, go to some of the dress –"

"No," Elphaba cut her off. "I refuse to set foot in a single dress store on my holiday."

"Same here," Fiyero said and Boq agreed, too.

"I'll go with you, Galinda," Nessa said with a smile. "I don't mind so much. We could go tomorrow already, or the day after?"

Galinda beamed at her. "Nessa," she declared, "you are amazing."

"That's settled, then." Fiyero rose to his feet and brushed the sand off his swimming shorts. "I'm going inside to see if there's any lunch."

"Of course you are," Elphaba muttered under her breath, but she was smiling.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Fiyero leant down to tickle her sides, making her gasp and squirm.

"Fiyero!"

"What?" he asked innocently, grinning at her. "Are you ticklish?"

"Stop it!" She swatted at him, but that did not have any effect at all. Finally she leapt to her feet as well, grabbing her towel and chasing after him as she tried to hit him with it.

Nessarose and Boq were watching in interest.

"Do they… like one another?" Boq asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

"Fiyero likes Fabala," Nessa told him softly. "He keeps telling her he loves her, but she keeps brushing him off."

They watched as Fiyero caught the green girl around the waist, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her inside as she laughed and shrieked for him to put her down.

"I wonder how much longer it will take her to realise that she is totally into him," Galinda commented drily.