A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm sorry that it took me so long to finish this chapter. But I'm back now and I have a special date chapter for you Jodette fans out there!

James Songbird: Thank you!

Fae'sFlower: We'll all see Elphaba's view on them pretty soon. Thank you so much for reviewing Happy Mother's Day, Wendy!

arwenishtar: Thank you so much for reviewing this story! We'll find out who this new character is soon enough, and here's a Jodette chapter for you!

The Official Date

A few days went by after Jo and Wendy's encounter with the Princess and they haven't seen her since, which was good because Jo had a deep feeling that the green princess was the last person Wendy would want to be near anytime soon. However, according to Galinda - who visited them to apologize for her best friend's behavior, even though Wendy didn't want to hear it -, Princess Elphaba was still in the infirmary to get her arm back into her socket. It made Jo feel slightly bad for her even though he knew it was better than having Wendy kill her right in front of her father.

While Jo was busy worrying about the Princess, Wendy was busy preparing him for his date with Adette.

"For Oz's sake, Wendy!" Jo yells as he swats the white cloth Wendy has been using to clean his face with away. "Why are you so insist that I clean myself up like this?! You're blind! You can't even tell if I'm dirty or not."

Wendy grumbled and continued wiping her boy's face, despite his protest. Today was the most important day of his life and she was not going to sit by and let her boy's lack of consideration for his appearance and insecurities get in the way of it!

After she was a hundred percent done wiping Jo's face, Wendy put the cloth away and picks up his special beanie. It was made from old gray wool that Wendy managed to find with a brown rim to keep it in place. Wendy had made the beanie for him on their second anniversary of being friends after learning how to weave. Jo doesn't wear it when it's summer or if he's performing but the beanie's very special to him. He thought that he should wear it because this is his first date.

Since he had no real formal appearance Jo had silently hoped that Adette would wear something casual for their date because Jo didn't really look like somebody ready for a date; he looked like somebody that was given hand-me-down robes because he couldn't get any other clothing. In fact, all his clothing seemed a bit too big for him, almost to the point it looks like he was dragging them behind.

But he prefers this type of clothing anyway, it helps hide his figure from other people.

After pushing his bangs into the beanie, Jo turned from the mirror and met Wendy's blank eyes nervously. "Well, how do I look? Wait, don't answer!" he said quickly when he remembers that Wendy can't actually see him.

Knock. Knock.

Upon hearing the knocks on the door, Jo took a deep breath to mentally calm himself. This was it. He strolls over to the door, Wendy sitting down on her bed with an excited expression on her ghastly face as she watches him open the door.

Jo was expecting to see the tomboyish girl that he had brought himself to love. Instead, he found that same girl wearing a dress out of all things on their date.

He couldn't help but let out a smirk. "Okay, who are you? Because the Adette that I know would never wear a dress, even at a formal gathering."

Adette gave him an unamused look. "Ha, ha... Very funny, Jo," she looks down at the outfit she's wearing. "My horse doesn't like it when I don't wear this outfit when we go on riding trips, so I'm pretty much stuck in this thing until our date's over."

Now that Adette mentioned a horse Jo finally saw that her entire outfit did, indeed, look like she was ready to ride a horse, minus the long white skirt she was wearing. Her attire consists of a black helmet that was wrapped securely around her head, a white blouse underneath a black riding jacket and some brown riding boots. Since the weather was still cold out Adette was possibly wearing leggings underneath.

Jo still couldn't help but continue the humor anyway - because he was still nervous about this whole thing as he was and humor was his way of calming down with Wendy. "Wow. So you're finally a princess now?"

"Jo, I've always been a princess."

"You didn't wear a dress before and I didn't know you had an animal sidekick. You're definitely a princess now." Despite looking like she was unamused, Adette's eyes did show she kind of like his joke.

She looks over his shoulder to see the jumpy Wendigo. "Hey, Wendy!" the Wendigo greeted her with a shriek.

"In all seriousness though, Adette," Jo speaks up, all humor was gone from his voice. "I really you think you look beautiful."

Adette gave him a small smile but her eyes were full of mirth. "Wow, you're better at charming ladies than my cousin."

"Well," he chuckles a bit. "How else am I suppose to get Wendy to listen to me?" That earned him a pillow to the head. "Seriously Wendy?!"

This made Adette laugh at the little glare match between the two before she checked the time at a nearby grandfather clock. "Hey, we should probably get going. If we don't arrive on time our reservation's gonna be cleared out."

"Okay," Jo begins to move out of the room before he stops to turn his attention back to Wendy. "The manuscript is on the desk your right on where you're at right now. Maybe it can keep you busy for a few hours."

Despite the Wizard's promise to have his manuscript published as soon as possible, something had happened to all the companies in the Emerald City that publishes books; apparently, all the ink that they used was suddenly drained away. No book company in the Emerald City could publish any more books until they get more ink from the other countries in Oz. Jo didn't know the full details of what had happened but apparently, the ink containers were attacked by some sort of animal.

"I never thought Wendy was the type of person to spend her time reading," Adette comments after Jo shuts the door, leaving the two alone in the hallway. "I mean, she doesn't seem like the type of person to just sit around."

Jo shrugs. "Well, the only times when she wants to read is when I want to read a book or if it was something that I made. Other than that, she pretty much spends most of her time weaving or hunting."

"I'm pretty sure you're probably going to get a surplus of clothes once she's done reading," Adette comments lightly, making Jo laugh.

"Yeah, I guess so," the two begin to make their way down the hall, only to stop when Wendy sudden shrieks at them from the door. The two spared each other confused glances before they turn to look at the Wendigo.

"What is it, Wendy?" Jo asked, not liking the look of mirth in her blank eyes.

Suddenly, Wendy's turns into a look that basically said, I am dead serious right now while pointing a crooked finger at them.

It hit Jo instantly on what she was trying to say and his cheeks become a dark red. "W-Wendy!"

The Wendigo just laughs at him before she shuts the door to their room. Adette could only stare at the exchange with confusion in her eyes.

"What did she say?" She couldn't help but ask. Jo shook his head and quickly leads her to the path of the stables.

"Trust me, it's better that you don't know!" The raven-haired boy told her as he thought about Wendy's words from behind that look she gave them.

Don't do anything that I wouldn't approve of.

For the first half of their date so far, Adette thought it was going pretty well considering she was that planned it all; her horse, Midnight, had liked Jo - even going far to lick him when the boy got close - and didn't have a problem with letting the boy ride him, not to mention that they were able to get to their seats on time. She thought of letting Midnight give them a ride to the restaurant because she wanted to see how her horse would react to him.

The idea came to her after reading something about how animals could tell what type of person someone was and will decide whenever or not to attack them based on their assumptions. While she needs no evidence to prove to her that Jo's a wonderful person, she would rather have him meet her horse now because delaying their meeting might leave a bad impression on Midnight and she really did want to see Jo more than once.

After arriving at the restaurant, they were immediately escorted to their seats, which was a beautiful view of the snow through the window. They were given their menus - Jo's written in braille - before they ordered their food. At one point, the waiter wanted to make a snide remark about Jo's dyslexia but one look from Adette silenced him. If looks could kill, the waiter would've been fifty feet under.

Adette had ordered her favorite lunch meal; hot wings with Mad Dog Hot Sauce. Her tongue had gotten used to spicy foods in Vinkus so hot sauces only mildly affect her every now and then. Jo decided to order just a plain salad, stating that he needs to be on a diet and the food that Wendy usually gave him wasn't exactly healthy.

All in all, Adette was beginning to think their date was going well.

Then there was Jo's fear of being touched.

She honestly had no problem with his haphephobia - he was three-years-old when he became a child prostitute, he's probably scared for life - but it did make her worry about him a little bit. When they began to make their way to the restaurant, Adette noticed how tensed Jo was when riding Midnight, gripping the saddle until his knuckles turned white. She wanted to say that it was alright for him to hold onto her if he didn't feel comfortable but she remembered his haphephobia and said nothing through the whole ride.

She hoped that it won't lead to anything major soon.

"So, since we're here," Adette begins after a long moment of silence. "Don't you think we should tell each other about ourselves?"

Jo snorted. "I think Colpin already told you everything about me; my mother abandoned me in a lake when I was hours old before Colpin and his brother, Dracul found me. Then when I was three-years-old, Dracul made me a child prostitute. What else could you know about me?"

Adette did her best not wince when he said all that. "Well, there's also the fact you never told me how you and Wendy met," she points out. "So, do you think you can tell how you two met?"

Jo looked at her funny before he finally relented. "When I was four-years-old, I tried to get away from the "work" that I did so I hid in the storage room for a bit. Pretty soon, I found her; she was trapped in the cage in the middle of the room, her whole body covered in chains to keep her from going anywhere. Of course, I didn't know what a Wendigo was at the time and thought she was somebody that deprived of all food so I thought I should help. Then she made a go for me and I realized that I was going to be here meal if I got close."

"Wait," Adette cuts in, confusion written across her face. "Wendy actually wanted to eat you at one point?"

Jo gave her a teasing smile. "Just because we're close now didn't mean we were close when we first met - she was still a man-eating cannibal back then," he pointed out before he continued his story. "Even though I was afraid, I still tried to visit her because I still thought she was a sick person and she needed help; I usually brought food so she didn't have to feel so hungry every day. Sometimes, I would talk to her because she was the only other person that I sort of knew - other than Colpin but I could never really talk to him - and she would just stand there and listen to me all the time. I guess, we just grew to love each other at that point."

"Wow," was Adette's first response. "That's just... Wow." Truth be told, Adette didn't know what she should say about their incredible story; a young boy that was brought into the ways of prostitution at the early of age of his life and a human turned into a horrible, blind monster thanks to a curse that was brought onto her by consuming human flesh when she was desperately hungry have become the best of friends, even considering each family.

What can a person even say to that?

"What about you?" Jo's voice cut through her thoughts. "You know my backstory, what about yours?"

Adette looked down at her plate bashfully. "You sure you want to know about my life? It's pretty messed up."

Jo shrugs. "If you're still sitting here after I told you about my own messed up life then I'm pretty sure I can sit still about your life."

She shook her head before she finally relented herself. "My older brother hates me."

He blinked - he wasn't expecting that. "I'm sorry," he begins. "What? Did he actually said that he hates you?"

"All the time when we were younger," Adette reveals, making Jo's jaw drop. "He doesn't say it anymore as of right now but he's made it pretty clear what he thinks about me."

"Why does he hate you?" Jo asks before quickly adding, "If you don't mind me asking?"

"It's okay," Adette gave him a reassuring smile. "Apparently, my mother died in childbirth with me. My father didn't exactly take it very well so he ended up driving a carriage into a tree, he died at the impact. My older brother, Nixon, blamed me for our parents' deaths. He basically disowned me the moment he first saw me."

"That's," Jo didn't know what he could say even though he could relate to a family member not wanting him. "That's horrible. I mean, my mother practically left me to die as a baby so I never met her and she never made an effort to find me but to live with that hate over the years. I don't know what I would do if I were in that situation."

Adette shook her head. "I'm used to it by now," she admits. "But, when it was just him I could handle. Now that my cousin is going through his stupid Dancing-Through-Life and when my brother joined in they began to make fun of me because I was a girl; that I'm just a pretty doll for boys to use for playtime and how girls aren't supposed to be running around or read books. They're basically the reason why I started to wear pants and cut my hair."

Jo nodded. "Honestly, I can't blame you. I've been trying to prove a few people in my village back in Glikkus that there's more to me than being a former prostitute for years."

"I guess we share a lot more things in common than we thought," Adette comments. "Well, I never exactly had a mythical creature there to talk to."

"You can always talk to Wendy if you want to," Jo says. "She really doesn't mind; she'll just sit there and listen to you vent out however long you want it to be. Trust me, having no one respond but they just want to listen really helps."

This made Adette smiled a bit. "I'd like that."

They've been gone for a few hours - to Wendy's knowledge - now and the Wendigo decided to spend most of her time reading her boy's novel; the entire story of their lives together.

When Wendy first felt the familiar bumps of braille writing on her fingertips, she instantly knew what this chapter was about; their first meeting. Looking back on it, Wendy was still horrified with herself that she actually wanted to eat her little boy at one point when she would never even consider it now. Granted, she wasn't Wendy at the time so Jo understood it but it still made her feel terrible. She was glad that she began to love him before her hunger instincts could take over.

She read a few more chapters; the time where they both learned to weave, bake a cake - that day was pretty funny -, and played hide and go seek together. Every one of them was about how close their bond was and Wendy felt proud of her boy that he felt the need to share this with everyone in Oz to show that everyone could be friends - she was well-aware of the fight for Animals rights and while she wasn't a huge supporter, she did believe in equal rights for everyone, including Animals - no matter how different they were.

Then her fingers came across something else; I remembered the day we connected.

Wendy remembers that day so well.

Hungry. So hungry. When was that boy coming back? It has been nearly five days since that boy visited her and she was starving. The only reason why she kept him alive after he escaped her the first time was because he bought food to satisfied her. But he's been gone for too long now and if he doesn't come back soon, she will kill him.

What was taking so long?!

Then she finally heard it; the sound of the room's door opening and a small glowing figure came through it.

She practically threw herself at the bars, her long arm reaching for any food that she could get. She was angry; doesn't he know how long she was waiting for him to come back with food? And when he finally comes back he decides to torture her more by having food with him but not giving it to her?

What was taking him so long?!

"I-I'm sorry..." his voice sounded small and cracked but she didn't care, she wanted food. "I-I tried to get here earlier, but... N-Nevermind, here..."

She saw him stick his hand out and the wonderful smell of meat reached her nose, finally.

She grabbed the meat faster than a second and instantly brought her teeth down the meat. Ah... Turkey. Not as appetizing as human meat but it was better than nothing. In all her time being starved, to feel the sensation of food filling her stomach was absolutely wonderful. Nothing in the world was more pleasurable to a Wendigo than food.

Sounds of groaning brought her attention back to the boy, what was he doing? Was he trying to sit down? Why was it taking him so long?

He finally managed to sit down, his arms wrapped around his middle as he made sounds like he was trying to hold back a yell.

What was going on?

"I'm fine, Wendy," he said, giving her that name he's been using for a while now - she honestly had no problem with it, she was called many names after all. "I just... Need to breathe... For a moment..."

She didn't like that answer; it was hiding something and she hated secrets. She's only hating it more now because whatever that secret was it kept her from getting food. She felt that she at least deserved an answer for this, even if it meant sitting there and eating a turkey while she kept her eyes on him.

"Okay," he finally relented, much to her satisfaction. "Dracul wanted to make me work more than one night because I got popular with some of the customers. But then, those costumes brought more people with them and," he suddenly sniffs. "P-Please, Wendy, I don't want to talk about it!"

He was crying. She knew what crying was - her prey would always cry and plead for their lives before she ends them. Normally, it never bothered her unless it was too loud for her sensitive ears. While his cries weren't loud, it did something to her. She didn't know what it did but it was making her feel funny.

She didn't like this feeling.

He still kept crying, only increasing the feeling. Was it in her chest? Why would her chest be acting so-? Wait... Was her heart beating?

Now she really didn't like this feeling.

The more the boy cried, the louder her heartbeat became. Why was it beating now? It stopped beating a long time ago, ever since she became this. Why was this boy crying causing her heart to beat? What was he doing to her?

Before she could realize what she was doing, she reached her hand out through the bars. Not in the desperate attempt to grab something like she always did when he's in the room. No, she was just reaching her hand out.

"W-Wendy?" She heard him asked and she finally realized what she was doing. Still, she didn't pull her hand back even if she wanted to.

His figure suddenly stood up the best it could because it looks like he was walking with a hunched back. When he was close enough, he reached out and slowly intertwine his softy hand with her dirty, leathery, cold skin. She had forgotten how young he was because she doesn't remember a human having a soft hand like this.

Then he sudden began to cry again and she realized how close they were. She could devour him right there and then, she could finally have the taste of human flesh return to her mouth and she will be able to get the boy out of whatever misery he's going through. It was a win-win for both of them, right?

But when she felt his grip on hand tighten she just pulled him to her chest and wrapped her other arm around him.

The moment those salty tears hit her chest it awoke something inside her that hasn't been around for a long time. What was it? Her human self? She hadn't thought about being human unless it involved sparing a child like him at first glance. But now that he's been with her for so long and she hasn't even kill yet, not to mention he's crying right on her, she knew that she didn't want him to cry. At least, if he shouldn't be crying about something that's not her. She gives everyone a reason to cry.

So when she saw him crying, she knew she had to do something to change it.

Then she thought about her hunger. The hunger. Her hunger was what kept her going after all these years. No friends, no family, no ambition. Just her hunger. Was she really willing to give up her cravings for human flesh for this measly human-?

"Thank you, Wendy..." His voice came out barely a whisper, completely strained from all the crying yet he still found the will to talk to her.

On second thought, she's been surviving without human flesh for a month now. She's pretty sure that she can survive without it for a few years.

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard the door to the room open and a familiar figure walk through it. Oh, boy. She gently places the book down on the desk besides her before getting into a position that makes it look like she's been waiting for him since the moment he left. Jo was probably going to get mad at her for doing this - if he wasn't already mad at her for that little joke when he and Adette left - but she couldn't help it. It's her boy's first date!

Soon enough she heard a yelp and did her best to keep her composure.

"Seriously, Wendy?! You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!" She watched as he made his way into the room, completely ignoring the look she was giving him.

Oh, well... She has all day for him to tell her all the details about their date.

Benton had never been more annoyed about his job at a book company in the Emerald City; just when he was about to go on his vacation, some loony Animal decided to come in and drain all the ink supply in each book company. How did one measly Animal manage to get away with all of this and not get caught?

But he didn't have time to think about that because he was sulking at the fact he's in charge of repairing the ink tank just when his vacation was about to start. Why must the world be so cruel?

As he brought out his tools, Benton took a moment to look at the damage and found himself freezing; the place where the ink was drained was actually covered in claw marks. Only, it didn't look like it came from any Animal he's ever seen. In fact, the claw marks didn't even look like an Animal's. There were five marks on them, indicating the suspect behind this wasn't an Animal or a regular animal.

His thoughts then turn to one of the employees the company had a while ago, that Mr. Scissorshands guy. He remembered how he was fired because his hands would only ruin the papers. But he was a nice guy; he understood that he was causing problems and left without holding a grudge against the company.

But then, why are the claws marks so human?

He'll probably think about it later. Why must jobs be so cruel to him?

Anyone want to guess what I'm referencing at the end? Also, I think we all know who drained all the ink. *Hint: Chapter 7*