AN: No, Avaric is still not going to die in this chapter, but we're getting closer now... and I'm sure you guys will like this chapter anyhow.
11. In Your Arms
When the door to his cabin opened, the last person he had expected to see was Elphaba.
"Fae!" he exclaimed, instantly rising to his feet. When he saw the look in her eyes, he opened his arms and she threw herself into them, suddenly bursting into tears and sobbing into his shoulder.
"Fae," he whispered, holding her close and stroking her long, raven hair. "What did he do?"
She shook her head, unable to say anything. He led her back to his bed and sat down with her still wrapped in his arms. She was shaking all over; but when he looked into her eyes, he also saw something that hadn't been there before.
She was a fighter, he realised. No matter what happened to her, she always got back to her feet again. Her father and Avaric had been stupid in thinking they could contain her. She was like fire – beautiful, untameable, and untouchable; and the more her father and Avaric tried to oppress her, the brighter she burnt.
"What did he do, sweetheart?" he asked her softly when she had calmed down a little, and she sniffled and wiped her face with the sleeve of her nightgown.
"He… he tried to rape me," she said, her voice almost inaudible.
Fiyero sucked in his breath.
"He didn't succeed," she said quickly. "I… I panicked, and…" She lowered her eyes. "My magic got out of control. It threw him back against the wall, and then I told him I'd never marry him and I ran off." She seemed apprehensive, but he was just completely dumbstruck. Magic? On top of everything else, she had magic, too?
"I've had it my entire life," she said before he could ask the question on his lips. "I was born with it, I guess, just like my skin. It… it gets out of control sometimes… when I get really scared, or angry, or upset. I wanted to go to Shiz and study Sorcery there, to try and learn to control it, but my father and Avaric wanted me to hide it."
She finally raised her gaze to meet his and by the look in her eyes, he guessed she was expecting him to react badly to this. With disgust, maybe, like Avaric had probably done… or with fear.
That wasn't at all what he felt at her revelation, though. He was just completely awestruck.
"Oz, Fae…" he breathed, pulling her closer and kissing her deeply. When he pulled away, he whispered against her lips, "Every time I think you could not possibly be more incredible, you do or say something to prove me wrong."
She was blushing. "I'm not incredible."
"You are." He kissed her again. "Elphaba… I love you."
She stiffened in his arms, clearly dumbstruck by his words. He rested his forehead against hers and looked deep into her beautiful, chocolate-coloured eyes.
"I love you," he said again. "And I'm not going to let you go back to Avaric ever again. You're coming with me. Okay? I'll write to my parents, they'll help you – us. They'll help us. I know they will."
He expected her to protest, but instead she just buried her face in his shirt and nodded against his shoulder.
"Okay."
He stroked her hair again and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "How are you feeling?"
She shrugged. "Fine."
Her shaking had mostly subsided and she seemed to be doing better now, both emotionally and physically. She sat up again and looked at him, biting her lip when she saw the bruises Avaric had left on his face. She gently traced first the one on his jaw, then the one around his left eye.
"This needs a cold compress," she said softly, "or it's going to swell even worse than it has now."
He nodded and held up a wet piece of cloth, which he had been holding to his bruises before she'd come in. "I'm ahead of you."
She smiled softly and took the cloth from him, gingerly placing it against his eye. He hissed softly in pain and she whispered an apology, which he dismissed.
"Hold that," she said and then rose to her feet to get another piece of cloth from his bathroom, which she pressed to his jaw.
She ran her fingers through his hair as she held the compress in place, eyes fixed on his jaw rather than his own eyes. He reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear and she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and removing the cloth slightly, grimacing sympathetically when she saw the bruise underneath.
"You're going to have a swollen jaw," she said. "And probably a black eye, too. He must have hit you pretty hard."
"It's fine," Fiyero said. "It doesn't matter." He grinned at her. "I hope you hit him hard, too, though."
She returned the grin a bit shyly. "I think I did." She tilted her head a little to the side. Her ebony hair fell over her shoulder and down her arm, brushing the crook of her elbow. "I mean, he didn't get up right away… and the sound of impact was… um… impressive."
He laughed. "Good."
She removed the compresses after a while and when he told her there should be some cream in the bathroom that could help with the bruises, she stood up to get it. He realised she was still in her nightgown. He'd have to try and find something more suitable for her to wear… and he'd have to keep her hidden from her father and Avaric.
But he'd succeed. Together, they'd find a way. He meant what he had said before – he was not going to let her go back. Over his dead body.
She returned with the cream and he watched her face intently as she applied the cream to his bruises. Her touch was feather-light and gentle and he couldn't help the way his eyes fluttered shut at the feeling.
"Yero?" she whispered, causing him to open his eyes again.
His voice was a bit thicker than usual when he replied. "Yeah?"
She took a deep breath and met his gaze. "I… I think I love you, too."
He cradled her face between his hands and kissed her, again and again and again, until they were both breathless. He kissed her in every way he knew how – light, soft, firm, gentle, deep, passionate, sweet kisses, for what could have been hours or minutes, he wasn't sure. He eventually pulled away from her.
"I'll go and see if I can find you something to wear," he said softly, running his fingers over her hair. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll be right back."
"Okay," she said, watching him from the bed as he got up and left the room.
He talked to a few of the other passengers, explaining to them that he had a friend in trouble and asking them if they could maybe spare him some women's clothes. He eventually returned with two dresses and an underskirt. There was no corset, but somehow he didn't think Elphaba would mind that very much.
He also got something to eat before he walked back into the room – which was, obviously, considerably smaller than Elphaba's rooms on the first-class level had been. She had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a sitting room, all very spacious and richly furnished. All he had here was one small bedroom with nothing more than the necessities – a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a nightstand – with an even smaller adjoining bathroom.
He looked around, searching for Elphaba. He found her on the bed, curled up in the most adorable position with her head against a pile of pillows and her arms around said pillows, hugging them. Her knees were drawn to her chest and she was asleep, a peaceful look on her face.
He smiled softly and draped the clothes over the desk chair, leaving the food on the desk itself, before climbing onto the bed beside Elphaba. He reached out to stroke her hair. "Fae?"
Her eyelids fluttered. "Mmh?"
"I brought some clothes for you," he said. "And food."
She yawned and stretched on his bed and he suddenly had to repress the urge to ravish her right there and then. He restrained himself, though.
When she opened her eyes and saw the look on his face, however, she chuckled a bit nervously. "What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing." He tried not to stare at her long, slender legs peeking out from underneath her nightgown; but raising his gaze turned out not to be such a good idea, either, because then he found himself face to face with a bare strip of skin just above the neckline of her nightgown. He blinked and looked at her face. She was watching him curiously and soon he found himself staring at her eyes instead. They were such a beautiful colour. The colour of chocolate, of freshly turned earth… with tiny specks of gold in them.
"Fiyero?" she asked and the sound of her voice snapped him out of it. Oz, he was such an idiot.
"Sorry," he muttered, looking away and rubbing his neck awkwardly.
She tilted her head a little to the side inquiringly and his attention was immediately drawn to her exposed neck. He mentally kicked himself. Why did he have to be such a guy?
"I just…" He swallowed. "Um…"
She yawned again, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth. "Sorry."
"That's okay." Actually, he was thankful for the distraction. He stood and moved over to the desk to get the food. "I guess you're still not feeling very well, are you? Are you even hungry?"
"A little," she admitted. "And don't worry – I'm okay."
When he shot her a sceptical look, she said, "My fever is down. I just have a slight headache, that's all."
He nodded and went to sit back on the bed with her, handing her some of the food. "Here you go."
She accepted it gratefully and ate with small bites, seemingly lost in thought. She did still look tired and a bit pale, but there was something about her that he hadn't seen any of the other times he had looked at her. Something free.
When she caught him looking at her again, he quickly looked down at his food, embarrassed; but she just dropped her head to rest against his shoulder and he tentatively put his arm around her. Even when she had finished eating, she did not move, and neither did he.
"Fae?" he whispered after a while.
She didn't reply and he pulled away a little to look at her face, only to find that she had drifted off to sleep against him. He smiled and gently moved her to lie down in the bed, tucking her in with the blanket and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Sweet dreams," he whispered.
He made a bed for himself on the floor, lying down and staring at the ceiling for a while before sleep claimed him.
He felt like he had only slept for mere minutes, however, when he awoke because of a loud knocking on the door.
He sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily. "What…"
Elphaba was sitting up, too, her eyes wide and terrified as she clutched the blanket to her chest.
"Avaric," she whispered.
"You don't know that," Fiyero tried to reassure her; but just then, the knocking came again.
"Open up!" a male voice shouted. "I know you have Elphaba in there!"
Dun dun duuuuuun. What? I'm still the Queen of Cliffies. Reputation, blah blah, you know me. Cliffies are cool.