(A/N: okay, I'm officialy on summer vacation now!! But I start summer school next Monday, oh well. But no, I'm not going to summer school because I have bad grades, I'm going because I have nothing else to do this summer, plus my mom is making me. This chapter kind of intensifies our Daniel/Elphaba relationship thingy and yeahzers. So thankyou if you reviewed and keep reviewing and reading! Thanks!)
Elphaba had just finished another book in the library and decided to stroll through the palace. Even though she'd lived there for a while, she hadn't explored yet. She wandered down the long halls letting her fingertips skim the walls. As she walked, she began to sing. She hadn't sung in so long, in truth, ever since Frex, she'd been afraid to sing, afraid that if anyone found out she could, they'd use it against her and hurt her like Frex had. But as she walked, she forgot about that.
"Angel of music, guide and guardian...."
********
James was in his study going over some papers when a beautiful voice floated towards him. He looked up and dropped his papers. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. He stood up and let his feet take him towards the music. Servants in the hall dropped their mops or rags upon hearing the voice. James turned a corner and found her walking by and singing.
"Elphaba?" asked James. She immediately stopped.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Was that you singing?" asked James.
"No." said Elphaba quickly, "It wasn't me...."
"Yes it was, I heard you!" James smiled, "You have a beautiful voice."
"Thank you." said Elphaba curtly, directing her gaze away from him.
"Sing another song." James said, not in a demanding way though. Elphaba suddenly moved away from him. She remembered Frex, yelling at her to sing, hitting her and beating her when she refused to. What if James turned into that too?
"No!" Elphaba said.
"What's wrong--" James began taking a step forward.
"Don't—don't ask me to sing for you." Elphaba said, taking a step away from him and glaring at him.
"Elphaba, what's--" James began, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"No! Don't ask me to sing for you, I won't. I'm not going to sing for you." Elphaba jerked away from him and ran down the hall.
"Elphaba!"
***********
Fiyero was cleaning off a window when he saw Elphaba run by, her hair flying behind her. Fiyero whirled around to ask her what was wrong but she'd already run past him. He heard more footsteps and turned back around and saw James running after her.
"Elphaba!" he called, "Elphaba what's wrong?!"
"What did you do to her?" asked Fiyero angrily.
"I don't know what happened!" James said, flustered and concerned, "I heard her singing and it was absolutely beautiful, I asked her to sing another song for me and she just became angry. She got scared and wouldn't let me touch her and she just ran." Fiyero didn't know what to say to this, he knew there must be some back story, but he didn't know what it was. He wondered why Elphaba had become so scared of her own father just because he asked her to sing.
"I'll go after her." said Fiyero. He dropped his rag before running after Elphaba.
***********
Even after she heard James stop running after her, she kept running. She didn't know why she was so scared, he was James, he loved her and was kind to her, he'd never do what Frex did, but still, there were so many memories....Everything in her life had begun to work out, minus Fiyero of course. She and James had an amazing relationship but Elphaba was so afraid that this one thing could ruin it all, even though it was foolish to think so. She felt fear rising and she kept running.
************
Fiyero knew the halls of the palace well, after sneaking up on so many men and knocking them out. He knew Elphaba was heading outside, so he took a shortcut so that he'd cut her off at the door. He turned a sharp corner and Elphaba ran right into him. He quickly grabbed her wrists before she ran away again. She tried to pull away but he held strongly.
"Let me go!" she screamed at him, "Let me go, please, I'm not singing for you so don't try and make me." She didn't even look at him, only focusing on getting away.
"Elphaba, shhh, it's just me, I'm not going to hurt you." he cooed in her ear as he pulled her closer, despite her struggling.
"I didn't mean to sing or let anyone find out!" she said frantically, "I forgot, please let me go!" a few servants had accumulated in the halls and were watching the scene with wide eyes.
"Elphaba!" Fiyero said louder, "It's just me!" Finally, Elphaba looked up at him and she stopped struggling. For a moment, she thought she'd heard Fiyero, but then she remembered Fiyero was gone, didn't want her, he couldn't be there. She realized it was Daniel.
"Oh, it's just you, I thought—I'm sorry..." said Elphaba, finally calming down. She saw James enter the hall and she flinched. James felt his heart drop at her reaction. What had he done to her? If he did anything wrong, he didn't mean to! He hadn't meant to scare her or make her hate him.
"C'mon." said Fiyero to Elphaba. Elphaba wordlessly let him lead her away from everyone out of the door and outside. The servants stared after the princess and Daniel, wondering what had happened. They were all very concerned.
************
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" asked Fiyero. They had gone outside and were on the hammock lying down together, Elphaba's head on his chest and his arm around her shoulders. It was very relaxing. Any passerby would've called them a couple, but they both knew better. Elphaba never would've felt comfortable with this if he hadn't been gay. It was a nice summer day; it was warm but not hot. A light breeze blew and you could hear birds chirping ever so often. The hammock was beneath a tree in a shady area, but spots of light darted through the light green leaves.
"James heard me singing this morning and asked me to sing another song for him and I got...I guess I got scared." said Elphaba.
"Why?" asked Fiyero.
"It's just, I didn't want James to start...I don't know, I didn't want him to do what Frex did." said Elphaba after much stuttering. She focused her gaze on the leaves above her and the blue bits of sky she could see through the leaves.
"What did Frex do?" asked Fiyero softly. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
"He...he would hit me and beat me until—until I told him I'd sing for him, and if I didn't he'd lock me up for days without food." said Elphaba.
"That's awful." said Fiyero, he couldn't think of anything else there was to say, "You know...you know James would never do anything like that. He loves you more than you know. He cares about you immensley, he'd never do anything to hurt you and make you do anything you didn't want to."
"I know, I know he'd never do anything like that, I just had a sort of flashback I guess and I got scared." said Elphaba, "Sorry for causing you so much trouble in the hall this morning."
"Don't apologize. I can understand why you reacted the way you did." said Fiyero, "You should probably talk to James later on, he's probably panicking right now."
"Probably." said Elphaba. She turned over so she was facing him, "I'm really glad we're friends Daniel."
"Me too." said Fiyero softly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He felt his body begin to tingle and his breath come faster and his heart sped up. He felt his resistance crashing as he felt himself lean forward ready to kiss her. Her eyes fluttered close and he thought they might actually kiss when a high voice broke the spell, they both pulled back instantly.
"I KNEW IT!" Galinda shrieked from the opposite side of the courtyards, "I knew you weren't gay!"
"Oz damnit, I am too!" Fiyero yelled at her.
"Are not!" Galinda yelled back, running towards them as fast as she could in her heels.
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Am too!"
"Am too!"
"Am to—wait what?"
"I mean...ARE NOT! You couldn't out-gay a hippo!" Galinda said.
"Hippos aren't homos! I'm gayer than a kiwi and a peach stuck in the closet together!" Fiyero said.
"Well, if they're still in the closet, their not gay!" Galidna yelled.
"Oz DAMNIT! I'm GAY!" Fiyero yelled.
"No...." Galinda paused as she took in deep breaths, "You're...(breath).....NOT!" Galinda finally made her way over to them and was huffing and puffing as she caught her breath dramatically to say the least. Elphaba and Fiyero got out of the hammock.
"Galinda why are you so persistent to prove that Daniel isn't gay?" asked Elphaba.
"Because!" Galinda whined.
"Because why?" asked Elphaba.
"Just because." Galinda said, "C'mon, he can't be gay! His pants aren't tight enough."
"Honey, I am the biggest homo out there." said Fiyero, adding the 'honey' part for believability.
"No you're no—wait, did you just call me honey?" asked Galinda a little surprised, Daniel was starting to sound a little gay now.
"Of course...sugar." said Fiyero, flicking his wrist, "Now where's that scarf I bought the othah day? It's getting a little chilly don't you think? It was the cutest scarf evah too."
"Fine, if you're gay, you won't mind helping me pick out a boyfriend for Elphaba do you? Because you can't love Elphie because you're gay!" Galinda said. Fiyero froze at this. Elphaba? Get a new boyfriend? Be romantically involved with someone that wasn't him?
"Galinda, I really don't want a boyfriend." said Elphaba, "Maybe you and I could help Daniel here find a guy."
"What?" asked Fiyero, his thoughts stopping at Elphaba's words.
"Ooooh, the ultimate test!" Galinda said evilly, rubbing her hands together, "Mwa, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Fiyero and Elphaba took a step away from her as Galinda cackled in a very un-Galinda-like way evilly.
"This cannot be happening." Fiyero muttered.
"You're such a genius Elphie!" Galinda declared.
"Yep, because clearly, I'm not a genius." Fiyero sighed.