Author's Note: I personally love the latter part of this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it, too.

Glitter-Bunnii: I just loved your review so much; thankyou!

Bombafan: CATS and WICKED are my favourite, too! :D *high-five* (Well, two of my top favourites, anyway...*sheepish look*) Anyway, thankyou for your lovely reviews on 'Sardines' & 'For Good'. :)

PocketSevens: Your review was so beautiful, and there's a particular part that I have to share with everyone:

"Having somebody else get to know you in ways beyond what you present to the world is scary; but, in the end, it is so worth it because, if it's the right person, you help each other become better people."

I really love that because it's so true.

CHAPTER 7:

It was different from the first time. It was more how Elphaba had imagined her first kiss would have been if she ever had one, which she had never thought she would. Well, she had had her first kiss, but Fiyero had stolen that from her without a second thought. But now…that was all but a distant – and very hazy – memory.

Elphaba found herself responding to the kiss and she pressed herself closer to Fiyero's body as he pulled her around so that she was facing him properly.

After a few long moments, Fiyero pulled back and looked at Elphaba, cocking his head to the side. "I am attracted to you, Elphaba."

"I don't see how," Elphaba confessed. "I'm not the most normal girl in Oz."

A smile tugged at his lips. "I know."

"I'm not the most sociable person in Oz."

"I know."

"I'm not very good at having fun."

"For Oz' sakes, Elphaba, I know!"

"I don't really know anything about romance."

"That's okay."

"I'm not the easiest person to get along with."

"Neither am I."

"I'm very stubborn."

"So am I."

"And I'm green!"

"A beautiful colour."

Elphaba was torn between being relieved and being irritated. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Perhaps."

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"You keep coming out with very bad and completely irrelevant arguments." Fiyero thumbed Elphaba's lower lip. "Can't you just be quiet for a change? Your chattering is kind of ruining the moment."

"What moment?"

"This moment." Fiyero kissed her again.

They stayed wrapped in each other's embrace for most of the day, which passed so quickly that both were surprised when night fell. Elphaba had just about drifted asleep when the carriage jerked to a halt.

"Just letting you know," one of the coachmen said when he popped up at the door yet again, "that we're about ten minutes outside the City."

"What time is it?" Elphaba asked drowsily.

"Almost eleven o'clock, ma'am."

"That's late," Elphaba commented to Fiyero once the carriage started off again. "It looks like we'll be going straight to bed as soon as we reach the hotel."

Fiyero raised an eyebrow at her. "Your room or mine?"

Elphaba flushed. "That's not what I meant and you know it. I meant, well, at any rate, I will be going to bed as opposed to worrying about getting dinner or anything. I'll just have a good breakfast in the morning."

"As hungry as I am," Fiyero said, "I'm going to have to agree with you."

Finally, the carriage drew up in front of the hotel at which they were to be staying and the two students hopped out.

"Thank Oz the Emerald City is alive and swinging twenty-four-seven," Fiyero commented, gazing up at the tall, green building. "I'd hate to have had to wait until tomorrow to get into our room."

Elphaba tossed a sleepy glare at him over her shoulder. "You might want to change that to a plural, buddy."

"What?" Fiyero asked innocently. "I said 'rooms'. Didn't I say 'rooms'?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's just get in there."

"My sentiments exactly. Let's go to bed."

"I don't believe you," Elphaba muttered. "You're standing there, looking about ready to fall asleep at any given moment, and yet there you are, flirting outrageously with me. What is it with you?"

Fiyero shot her a grin. "It's a talent."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, Fiyero," she said as she went and checked in.

After they had both done so and received their respective room keys, Elphaba immediately took to the stairs and dragged her weary body up to the seventh floor. As she approached her designated room, Elphaba glanced up, frowning when she saw a man casually leaning against the door frame, arms folded across his chest. She squinted in an attempt to clear the blurriness of vision which came with physical tiredness. "Fiyero?"

"Took you long enough." Fiyero grinned.

"How did you get up here before me?" Elphaba demanded.

"I took the lift."

Elphaba looked confused. "There's a lift?"

"Not very observant tonight, are we?" Fiyero teased.

Elphaba stepped around Fiyero and unlocked the door to her room, giving him a sidelong glance which could easily have been mistaken for a glare, even if that wasn't what it was. "Goodnight, Fiyero."

Fiyero pouted playfully. "What, no nightcap?"

"Goodnight, Fiyero," Elphaba repeated, a sense of finality about her tone.

"Goodnight, Elphaba," Fiyero called through the door. "I hope you have plenty of dirty dreams about me."

Inside the room, Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Irrepressible idiot," she muttered under her breath; yet she couldn't bring herself to be angry with him. Whether that was due to tiredness or her newly-altered emotional state, she couldn't quite tell. With a shake of her head, Elphaba got changed and crawled under the bedcovers.

The next morning, Elphaba wandered down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. After five days of insufficient nutrition, it felt good to finally eat a proper meal again, and Elphaba celebrated by ordering an extra stack of pancakes.

However, after also sharing those five days with another person, Elphaba, for the first time in her life, actually felt kind of…lonely.

And thus it was that, after breakfast, Elphaba marched back up to the seventh floor – ignoring the lift in favour of the stairs – to seek out Fiyero.

Once she had reached her destination, Elphaba strode up to Fiyero's room and rapped briskly on the green door.

"Is that room service?" Elphaba heard Fiyero call sleepily from the other side of the door.

Elphaba was about to reply in the negative – including a retort about the hotel not doing room service after ten o'clock in the morning, nor without an order – when an idea came to her. With an impish grin, Elphaba put on a fake, higher-pitched, twittering-sounding voice and answered, "Yes, sir, breakfast for room seven-oh-five."

"Just a minute!"

Elphaba heard footsteps approaching, and the door was thrown open a moment later. In front of her stood Fiyero, wearing nothing but a pair of pyjama pants. His hair was messed up in an adorable fashion (though Elphaba would never admit to having such thoughts) and a flirtatious smirk was plastered across his unshaven face – a smirk which quickly faded, before a genuine smile took its place as he realized it was Elphaba standing at the door.

Elphaba grinned in amusement. "Good morning, sunshine. I think you've missed breakfast."

"That's alright; I have all I need right here in front of me," Fiyero replied, reaching for Elphaba's waist – a movement which she neatly side-stepped. At that moment, a gurgling noise was heard.

"Your stomach says otherwise," Elphaba pointed out, causing Fiyero to flush in embarrassment. "How about you get dressed and we go somewhere to get you some food?"

"Sounds good," Fiyero agreed.

"I'll meet you in the foyer," Elphaba told him.

"Okay, I'll just get changed and then I'll meet you there."

"No, no," Elphaba said firmly, "you will not get changed; you will get dressed."

"What's the diff?" Fiyero asked in confusion.

"Getting 'changed' sounds like you're just going to exchange your pyjama pants for a pair of trousers. I'd rather you put on a shirt as well."

Fiyero grinned. "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure."

"You're not just saying that because you know I'll have girls swooning at my feet and you'll get extremely jealous?"

"Certainly not!" Elphaba said indignantly. "Besides, I think you'd be rather cold out there without a shirt. Five minutes." She looked him up and down. "Better make that ten. And don't forget to shave," she added as she turned to leave. "I don't want to be seen with you if you want to go around looking like a scruffy beggar."

Fiyero laughed as Elphaba disappeared down the hall. He then proceeded to tidy himself up. He briefly considered not shaving just to see Elphaba's reaction, but decided it wasn't worth the risk – afterall, she may not have been joking.

Precisely ten minutes later, Fiyero met Elphaba in the foyer. He was wearing a clean pair of trousers and shirt with his jacket thrown casually over the top, and Elphaba was pleased to see that he had indeed shaved.

"See?" Fiyero pointed to his face as if he had read her mind. "All gone."

"Good," Elphaba said with approval. "You look much better clean-shaven."

"So I should give up my idea of growing a beard, then?" Fiyero joked, his eyes twinkling.

"Definitely," Elphaba said firmly, mentally cringing at the thought of Fiyero with a beard.

Fiyero looked thoughtful for a moment, before he cocked his head and said, "You're right. Why ruin perfection?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes and hit Fiyero on the arm as she walked outside.

"Ow!" Fiyero exclaimed, clutching his arm rather pathetically, in Elphaba's opinion.

"Are you coming or not?" Elphaba called over her shoulder.

"Yes, I'm coming," Fiyero grumbled as he hurried to catch up with her. "Sweet Oz, you walk fast!"

"Why dawdle?" was Elphaba's reply. "You're hungry, aren't you?"

Fiyero couldn't argue with that logic.

They soon found a small café not far down the street and Elphaba sat herself down at one of the outdoor tables while Fiyero went inside to order himself breakfast.

A few minutes later, Fiyero returned carrying an oversized croissant and a large, steaming cup of coffee. "Are you sure you don't want anything?" he asked, sitting down opposite Elphaba. When he received no answer, he looked up to see her staring at the people walking past. Concerned, he leant forward to catch her gaze. "Elphaba? Are you alright?"

Elphaba turned her head to look at Fiyero, shock written over her face.

"Elphaba?" Fiyero reached across the table and touched her hand gently. "What is it?"

"I don't believe it," Elphaba whispered, her eyes wide. "Nobody's pointing…nobody's staring… It's almost as if, for the first time, I'm somewhere I belong." At the realization, a beaming grin spread over her face, lighting up her entire demeanour.

Fiyero smiled softly at her and squeezed her hand, but didn't say anything. He could tell just by looking at her that this was a special moment for her – perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime moment, he thought guiltily – and no words seemed sufficient, so he just kept quiet, not wanting to take away any of the magic.

Elphaba settled back into her chair, and as Fiyero began to eat his croissant, he noticed how much more relaxed she had suddenly become.

A few minutes later, both were startled when a snowball suddenly landed on Elphaba's head, causing the green girl to let out a surprised shriek. Elphaba shook the snow out of her hair with a scowl. "I knew it was too good to be true."

"Actually, Elphaba, I think it was a genuine mistake," Fiyero said, looking over her shoulder.

Elphaba turned around to see what Fiyero meant and found a small boy looking at her with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Sorry, miss!" the boy called, giving a small wave. "I didn't mean to hit you; I was trying to hit my friend to get his attention. I'll have to work on my aim."

Fiyero grinned at the boy. "Would you like some pointers?"

The boy's face immediately lit up. "Oh, would you, mister? That would be awfully good of you."

"No worries." Fiyero stood. "Here, you can have some of my coffee – you look like you could use it," he told Elphaba, before he made his way over to the boy and rolled some snow into a ball. He then proceeded to give the boy a few tips, showing him the best way to ensure he hit his target and so forth.

As she watched Fiyero take up a position a few metres away from the boy and let him pelt the prince with snowballs, a smile sprang unbidden to Elphaba's lips. It was like watching a completely different person, and the sight warmed Elphaba's heart. She absentmindedly took a few sips of Fiyero's coffee, lost in thought. This was a side of Fiyero she would never have guessed had existed.

After about ten minutes or so, Elphaba noticed the pair had finished throwing snowballs and were now occupied with building a snowman.

At that moment, Fiyero looked up and caught her eye. "Hey, Elphaba! Come and help us out here!" he called with a grin.

The boy turned his gaze to her eagerly. "Oh, do say you'll come and help us, miss!" he begged. "Please?"

Elphaba hesitated for a few moments, but Fiyero and the boy both arranged their faces into pleading expressions. "Okay," Elphaba relented, joining the pair in the snow.

"Is that your name?" the boy asked as the three began adding snow to the small figure in front of them. "Elphaba?"

Elphaba nodded. "It is," she confirmed.

"That's a pretty name." The boy turned to Fiyero. "What's your name?"

Fiyero hesitated. He didn't particularly feel like having to deal with all the recognition that day, especially since he rather suspected he would get more than enough attention over the coming days. But on the other hand, he just wanted to be himself. With any luck, the boy might not recognize the name; he was young, afterall, and children of that age often did not take much notice of things that didn't directly concern them, Fiyero had found. Taking the risk, he replied, "Fiyero. And what's your name?"

"Xathu," the boy answered proudly.

The three made aimless chit-chat and continued to build their snowman until Xathu was called away by his mother.

As Xathu stood to leave, he looked wistfully at the nearly-complete snowman, and then at Elphaba. "It was nice to meet you, Miss Elphaba." He turned to Fiyero. "And you, too, Mister Fiyero."

Fiyero ruffled the boy's hair fondly with an indulgent grin. "Take care of yourself, buddy."

"I will. You, too. And you take good care of your pretty girlfriend, too, or I'll marry her myself when I grow up." With that, he scampered off, leaving Fiyero and Elphaba gaping after him.

Finally, Fiyero ran a hand through his hair and gave Elphaba a sidelong glance. "Well…he has no trouble jumping to conclusions, does he?" He gave a nervous chuckle.

Elphaba slowly shook her head. "I'm not sure what shocks me the most – the fact that he thinks we're together, the fact that he thinks I'm pretty, or the fact that he's not averse to the idea of marrying me. Even if he is a child," she added.

Fiyero reached over and tentatively took Elphaba's hand. "I'd say the first, if I had to choose," he murmured, causing Elphaba to blush.

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not," Fiyero insisted, but he refrained from adding anything further. He added some more snow to their figure and etched a face into the top snowball with his finger, then sat back on his heels, cocking his head to the side as he gazed thoughtfully at the snowman. "He doesn't look quite finished, does he?"

Elphaba blinked first at Fiyero, and then at the snowman. "How so?"

Fiyero shrugged. "I don't know. He just…doesn't."

"And what do you propose to do about it?"

Fiyero paused. "I don't know," he eventually admitted. He stood and offered his hand to Elphaba, pulling her up. "I'm going to finish my coffee. That usually helps to stimulate my brain cells."

Elphaba smirked. "Your what?"

Fiyero poked his tongue out at his green companion, and then scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at her. He grinned as she shrieked and brushed the soft powder off herself. "Believe it or not, I do have some. Not that many, I admit, but a few."

"Yes, well, they're obviously not working very well at the moment, because that coffee is going to be iced coffee by now," Elphaba pointed out, returning his grin. "Besides, drinking it after leaving it where anyone could have touched it isn't exactly a smart move."

"Hey, I didn't leave it there!" Fiyero protested.

"No, you just left it with me and then called me away!"

"You could have brought it with you!"

"And held it in one hand whilst I built a snowman with the other? I think not," Elphaba retorted.

Fiyero sighed. "Okay, you have a point. I'll just buy myself a fresh cup." He picked up the abandoned cup and was about to throw it in a nearby bin when he stopped and stared at said cup for a long moment.

"Fiyero?"

Fiyero slowly turned around, a smile spreading across his face. "I've got it!"

"Got what?" Elphaba asked, puzzled.

Fiyero didn't reply; instead, he emptied the cup of its remaining contents and strode back to the snowman. As Elphaba watched with raised eyebrows, he placed the cup upside-down on top of the snowman's head. "There," he said proudly, turning back to Elphaba. "What do you think?"

"What's it supposed to be?" Elphaba asked in confusion.

"A fez!"

Elphaba burst out laughing.

Fiyero pouted. "What?"

"A snowman wearing a fez? Seriously?"

"Why not?"

"Well…" Elphaba trailed off, realizing she had no argument to that. Why not indeed?

Fiyero smirked victoriously. "I'm going to get myself some more coffee."

Elphaba waited for the few minutes it took Fiyero to get his coffee, and then the two strolled a bit further down the street, just drinking in the sight of the Emerald City covered in snow. Everything seemed to shimmer and glisten, and Elphaba felt absolutely overawed as she gazed around in wonder, seeing it properly for the first time that morning.

"Wow," she breathed as they reached the city square. "It doesn't look real. It's like…like a painting or something."

"It's truly magical, isn't it?" Fiyero agreed, taking her hand and squeezing it.

Elphaba was too entranced by the winter wonderland around them to really notice Fiyero's hand in hers, and Fiyero smiled as he watched Elphaba's reaction to it all.

"Come on," Fiyero said once he had finished his second coffee and disposed of the cup. "There's something I want to show you."

Elphaba looked at him curiously and slightly suspiciously. "What is it?"

"Oh, just something I heard about from a friend of a friend of a friend of my cousin's," Fiyero replied airily. "You'll see."

Author's Note: Massive thanks to Glitter-Bunnii for helping me to come up with Xathu's name!