A/N: Sorry that I didn't publish this on Sunday like I usually do. See, I'm already working on another story and I decided to finish that one first before going back to this one. Not to mention I was planning on making this chapter longer, but I decided to cut it off for updates. So, no big reveal on what Wendy is in this chapter. Sorry about that. But I promise I will reveal what Wendy is in the next chapter.

Fae'sFlower: Really? Can you tell me what those characteristics are because I'm still fairly new to the Wicked fandom and I still haven't got a full grasp on Elphaba's character.

The Unimaginable Affection

When Jo said they were going to get flowers, he didn't expect Wendy to suddenly disappear on him.

"Wendy?" he called out to the place she disappeared too - which was a dark alleyway that's covered in fog. "Wendy, where are you? I swear if you've gone off to bring back a dead elk now out of all times I'm gonna-!"

She emerged from the fog at that, carrying a long sunflower in one hand before she shoves it into his hand without a single world.

Jo was surprised by that sudden display. He looked at Wendy's milky eyes with a questionable look.

She gave him a look that said: You wanted a flower, right? Well, here's your flower.

"I'm just wondering where you found it," Jo answers, beginning to make his way down the path he saw the princess go down - Wendy following his tracks. "Please tell you didn't rip someone's arm off to get it."

There was a snort. Don't be ridiculous. That was all he could understand, anyway. He assumed she must have explained where she got the sunflower from, but he could never understand her when she got specific. But he let those thoughts leave his mind as he let his attention be taken by the footprints that were left in the dirt by the princess. They seemed to head towards a clearing in the City, which hopefully wasn't populated by people this late at night.

As they continue to follow the path that was set by the princess, Jo could feel his paranoia growing more. What in Oz was he doing? Approaching an upset princess with a flower in hand? He was a third class citizen, he shouldn't even be anywhere near royalty. He thought about turning back, willing to take on any of Wendy's confused questions in their room when he realized he couldn't. No matter what, he wouldn't just leave a girl on her own in the middle of the night. Besides, he has Wendy for protection.

It was only a few minutes later they found the princess, curled up by a stream that was probably one of the city's water supplies - this place was so big, Jo could only imagine that they had more than one resources from other places. She had buried her head into her seaweed-colored pants and had her arms wrapped around her knees, her long brown cape that Jo thought he would find at a tailor's shop down at the bad end of the city was practically covering the dirty cement in an almost enchanting way that made it looked like a cascading waterfall. Not to mention the moonlight that was out made her golden blonde hair glow in the darkness.

Why in Oz was he thinking like that with the Princess of Vinkus?

He was about to step forward when he suddenly remembered that Wendy was standing right beside him. As much as he loves the mutated human, Jo knew she won't exactly be gentle with the Princess's feelings. Maybe it was a part of her prideful nature that made her immune to what other people thought about her and her blunt personality. However, it also made her slightly obvious that not everyone needs that "push" to feel better. He could already imagine her saying something like; Yeah, yeah, your cousin's a big stupid jerk. Boohoo, cry about it because of your equally stupid hormones. Why don't you just suck it up and move on with your life? It's not like he really matters if he's too pig-headed.

Okay, maybe he should call her methods "cruel" instead of "blunt" since he knows her kind can be sadistic when it comes to killing their prey. He just never imagined them to be just as sadistic with words as well.

But besides the point, he had the feeling there was something more going on between the Princess and the Prince of Vinkus and he couldn't exactly count Wendy on getting the Princess out of that dark cloud without possibly getting them thrown into jail.

"Wendy, I think I can take it from here. You can go back to the Palace," he raises up his free hand when he heard her about to protest. "Wendy, please. I don't want to argue about this right now. I'll meet you back in our room after I get the Princess back to the Palace." Wendy really looked she did want to argue about this right now but the look Jo gave her finally convinced her.

She disappeared the moment he turned his attention back to the crying princess.

For a moment, Jo stood there awkwardly. He didn't know how he should approach her without alarming her. Finally mustering his courage, Jo took a few steps towards her until he was standing behind her before tapping her shoulder to get her attention.

She instantly stiffens before turning her tear-stained face around to see him standing over her, his figure blocking them moon's light - almost making him look like he's glowing.

There was an awkward silence after that.

"Uh," Jo looks back down to the sunflower in his hand before handing it out to her. "I got this for you."

Adette's icy blue eyes were flickering between him and the flower and Jo could already feel his hands growing clammy.

Finally, the princess took the flower into her own hands and Jo could find himself breathing normally again. When he caught her confused glance he quickly tried to explain himself. "It's just that, I heard that sunflowers are pretty popular in Vinkus. So, I thought you would like them. Well, it was actually my friend who picked the sunflower. She pretty much picks anything that's within a certain category and doesn't care about the specifics."

She didn't respond to that which made Jo realized that he was rambling and he mumbled a quick, "Sorry." Why in Oz did he think he couldn't make this worse?

"Thank you."

It took Jo a few seconds for him to realize that the princess was actually talking to him.

"Uh, it's no problem." After that, he stood there awkwardly. He clearly didn't know if he should sit down with her or continue standing up. It was almost adorable. Adette would have laughed at his shyness if it weren't for the blue feeling that was currently holding her down.

"You do know you can sit down, right?" She asked after realizing that the poor boy was really a nervous wreck. Jo jumped a bit before he realized what the Princess just said and slowly took a seat right next to the princess.

The awkward silence was still present, however.

"Why did you come?" Adette asked after a while, she knew that the boy was too nervous to speak since he was practically speaking with royalty." I mean, you could have left back there."

Jo shrugged. "Well, yeah, but... What kind of person would I be if I did that?"

"Like everybody else?" Adette offered.

"Good thing I'm not like everyone else, then," Jo laughed, but he didn't press further on that. "So, do you want to tell me why your cousin is such a scumbag?"

This actually made Adette laugh. "I don't know," she answers honestly. "He once told me that he didn't want to take the responsibility of being king, but I never understood why. Doesn't he realize he could help so many that are in poverty? Sure, he can't go around to climb trees or chase girls like most boys could, but at least he would be making a difference for those who are-"

"Like me?" Jo offered after the Princess was stuck on what to say.

Adette looks over to him with slight shock. "You? But, you look so happy."

"Who gave you that idea?"

"It's just," Adette stopped herself, how can she word this without sounding like a creeper - especially since he has that insanely strong bodyguard that wasn't currently with them, thank Oz. "When I saw you dance at the engagement, you looked so happy with what you were doing. Almost every boy that I met wouldn't be caught dead performing on stage as a dancer."

Jo finally understood where she was coming from, but that didn't mean he dropped his mask. "Well, yeah, I love dancing. I pretty much want to do that for the rest of my life. But, the reason why I'm not happy is because there's someone I know who's way less lucky than I am."

Adette tried to figure out who he meant by that. Despite only knowing him for a few minutes, Adette really wanted to know who he meant by that since he was probably talking about one of his co-workers from the Glikkun's Palooza but they all seemed alright as they can be to her. Her mind was then drawn to the tall figure in the hood that sent shivers down her spine when it would always stare at the crowd with this malevolent intention if the situation was called for and the same person who, apparently, had the strength to lift a muscular man off the ground with hardly any trouble at all.

"Are you talking about your bodyguard?" Jo slowly nods his head at the question.

"Yeah, too be honest, I don't know how Wendy-"

"Your bodyguard is a girl?" First, this bodyguard has this inhuman strength and now she finds out that they're female?

Jo shoots her a small smirk. "You're a princess wearing pants and has her hair almost a few inches shorter than mine, are you really gonna question that a girl can't be a good bodyguard?"

Adette smiled at that, but it still didn't shake the uneasiness she felt around this Wendy person. "Yeah, sorry. Continue?"

"Right; I guess I never really understand how Wendy lives through this life. I mean, she was already in a bad situation before she met me. But, when she was finally free she could have disappeared from Glikkus and I would never see her again, she didn't do any of that. She decided to stay with me for the rest of my life as my bodyguard." Jo looks down slightly, remembering how Wendy practically withstands everything for him.

"What exactly happened to her, anyway?" Adette asks before she quickly adds, "If you don't mind me saying."

Jo just shakes his head. "I can't really tell ya, that kind of stuff is really between me and Wendy. I wouldn't mind telling you, though, it's just that-"

"You need to talk to Wendy and see if it's alright with her?"

A small laugh escapes his lips. "Yeah, that. Trust me, you don't want to do something that regards Wendy without her permission. She'll rip your head off." Jo tried his best not to flinch when the princess began to laugh at the "joke" he made.

Looking at the moon, he quickly became startled at how high it was in the sky. "Oz, it's so late." Adette looks over to the moon as well and nearly jumps. "I have to get you back to the palace before your aunt and uncle send guards out to find you."

Jo stood up and offered his hand out to the princess but she was already up on her feet. "I got it," she tells him and let his hand drop.

As they were beginning their journey back to the palace, Adette suddenly placed her hand on his shoulder, making him stop to face her.

"I'm Adette, by the way." She gave him a small smile.

Jo couldn't help but return it. "And I'm Jo."

By the time they reached the palace and were already heading over to Adette's room in the East Wing, the two eleven-year-olds were already laughing their hearts out after Jo finished telling the princess a story.

"Wait, did she really throw a nurse out of a window?" Adette asked after she finally caught her breath.

"It only took two hands and the nurse was already swimming in a lake that was near the hospital in a blink of an eye!" This made the two broke into another fit of laughter, both of them having to lean against each other for support since they felt weak at the knees.

It was only a few seconds later that they were at her door. The gleaming white door nearly towered over them and Jo felt a little intimidated by it - which was rather ironic since Wendy was taller than any Ozian he knew, then again, she can be scary when she wants too.

"I really didn't get a chance to properly thank you," Adette begins as they stop in front of the door. "Coming after me after that whole incident with the Tavern. I still didn't even get a chance to apologize for what my cousin did to you."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Jo quickly assures her. "It was his decision, not yours. His actions don't define who you are."

Adette just scoffs slightly at that. "If only everyone else can think that." Jo didn't know how to answer that, but something inside told him to do something that he never thought he could do with a someone from a class that was higher than his in fear of getting executed or being amputated.

He reached over and grabbed her hand.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm really not like everyone else."

He smiled at her and Adette couldn't help herself anymore. That weird feeling she felt back at the Engagement Party returned and she could feel it flowing through her veins, not ready to slow down anytime soon. It was like butterflies were fluttering around inside her stomach and her heart felt like it was soaring through the sky in a clear blue sky. Before she could realize what she was doing, Adette was already leaning closer to Jo with her eyes close and her lips forming a small pout as if-

She wants to kiss me, Jo thought with a slight daze look in his eyes. He didn't move and was about to about to let the princess kiss him.

But then his mind was drawn back to a certain night. That night.

"Well, aren't you adorable?"

"Let me go!"

"Now don't panic, I'm a professional."

"WENDY!"

Jo quickly backed away before their lips could make contact, almost causing Adette to fall forward if she didn't notice that he moved away on time.

"I'm sorry!" She says after noticing how Jo kept on trembling and staring at her with these wide, terrified eyes. "I just thought... I didn't mean-"

"It's okay," he told her gently, but it didn't stop him from backing away from her. "It's okay, really. I wish you a goodnight, Your Majesty."

With that, Jo turned and ran. He didn't let Adette's cries of protest stop him. If anything, he tried to ignore them. Don't wish, don't wish, don't wish, he tried to tell himself the whole time he ran to his room. It'll only break your heart. Besides, she deserves someone better than you. He wanted to listen to those words. He wanted to take that easy path and forget all about his encounter with Adette. He wanted to relieve himself of the idea that he could be with Adette.

But no matter, Jo couldn't help but think about Adette; her pearly-white smile that made him feel funny; her short hair that was poorly trimmed actually framed her face quite well; and her icy blue eyes that turn cold around other people but soften around his presence.

Why in Oz did he have to fall in love with the Princess of Vinkus?

The young love has officially begun! Will any of you believe that their relationship and characters are going to be based off my favorite shipping from another fandom? Anyway, like I said, I will reveal what Wendy is in the next chapter. That is a promise I will intend to keep. So until then, enjoy your day!