DISCLAIMER: in the first chapter...

A/N: So, to those with update alerts, I'm sorry for flooding your inboxes with e-mails. I just had to make a few corrections to typos and such in the past chapter. If you spot something wrong, don't hesitate to let me know.

Sorry also for the delay in posting. This chap wasn't originally in the story, but I felt that I was going too fast with the narrative and I left some inportant things out, so here it is. Thank you for those who reviewed. Keep it up!

HOW TO LEAVE WHEN YOU WANT TO STAY

Political Sciences was supposed to be an interesting class.

It wasn't.

Oz's real political problems were not discussed, in fact, they weren't even mentioned. The whole class was based purely on abstract theory that even the sharpest mind would have difficulty applying to reality. And Elphaba had honestly tried.

The professor up front droned on and on, his speech a single monotone that could put the most restless person to sleep. Elphaba sat in the back, her head tilted to the side and her eyelids fighting not to drop. An emerald hand held loosely a quill and rested sloppily on the parchment, unmoving. She had given up on her notes some time before.

They're not telling you the whole story.

Doctor Dillamond's voice echoed in her head and she couldn't help but remember her dear professor. When planning her new future, she sadly realized that the kind Goat had slipped her mind. He was already in the Wizard's clutches, suffering the worst kind of torture… The loss of his identity. She couldn't let him remain there, unaided.

There had to be something she coul…

A warm hand enveloped hers, startling the poor girl. Her trail of thought was lost completely when azure blue eyes materialized inches from her face. It actually took her a moment to snap out of her trance and pull her head back a bit, regaining a small measure of personal space.

She swallowed hard and pulled her hand away.

"Master Fiyero, what do you think you are doing?" She whispered, avoiding the attention of the boring professor whose name she hadn't bothered to learn. " Some of us are trying to study."

"You aren't paying any more attention to this class that I am." The Prince wore an all-knowing look Elphaba recognize and her heart tugged in response.

"Where did you come from, anyway?"

"I was sitting a few chairs to your right, when I noticed that your quill had stopped moving. So I came over to talk and make better use of my time than napping."

"Why come to class at all?" a small smirk played at the corner of her lips; Elphaba was thoroughly enjoying their banter.

"To see you, of course." But her lips soon curved downwards at his answer. His direct response, no pretences, could be taken as a modest attempt at flattery. Elphaba knew better, though. Specially when his lovely eyes gazed so deeply into hers, eliciting chills up her spine she had worked hard to repress.

It was so easy to remember his hands upon her body, his lips upon her skin.

As a school girl, she would have blushed and lowered her gaze, as her fugitive self, she would have questioned his motivations. Now, however, she simply shook her head, shrunk away and tried not to cry. Her reaction confused Fiyero deeply.

"Elphaba? I'm sorry… Did I say something wrong?"

"There you go again, Master Fiyero. Mistaking us for friends." She spoke with tears chocking her voice, which made her angry at her lack of self control.

"If we truly aren't friend, Elphaba, then I which to change that."

"You can't…" He barely caught her words, so low they were. And when he did, Fiyero couldn't help but frown. It almost sounded like she spoke of something else.

"Give me a reason."

She didn't, she couldn't.

"Unless you give me a reason, I shall think of you as my friend, your friendship with Galinda a matter separate from that." Her gaze was directed to the front of the lecture hall, but she wasn't looking forward. From the corner of her eye, she could see him, still close. In fact, she could feel him.

And that wasn't good.

Quietly rising, she gathered her things and left, grateful for her forethought when picking her seat. She said nothing to Fiyero. She didn't even glance his way. Elphaba hurried down the empty halls and out onto the garden, only then slowing down. A long breath escaped her and it was the only way the green girl realized that she had been holding it in. Tension dissipated and she felt relieved.

It was short lived.

Moments later, Elphaba felt Fiyero's presence behind her and her body tensed again. Gently, he touched her shoulder and turned her to face him. He seemed worried and confused and too many other things Elphaba tried hard not to think about.

"Elphie?"

"Don't call me that." Her words were supposed to sound harsh, but they escaped in the form of a whimper. His voice, wrapped around that nickname sounded wrong to her ears.

"Okay… Elphaba. Why did you leave?"

"Like you said, Master Fiyero, I wasn't doing any learning and it seemed pointless to continue to waste my time."

"Liar."

Her carefully controlled walls crumbled upon his straightforward challenge. Fiyero could always see right through her, after all. Elphaba looked up, defiant.

She should be feeling this out of control… He wasn't her Yero; the Captain of the Guards turned rogue. He hadn't lived years waiting for her return and hadn't ever kissed her fiercely and without holding back. He hadn't suffered for being loyal and hadn't had his body turned to straw, loosing flesh and bones, but never his love for her imperfect self.

Yet, in his open gaze, she saw him there, her Yero. A little younger, less weathered even, but her dear lover still.

She looked away.

--

Her painful run in with Fiyero had left Elphaba emotionally drained. She had no desire to deal with the future she was trying to avoid and the messy business involved with changing it. Still, when she had met up with her sister Nessarose later that day, the green girl couldn't avoid the subject of Boq any longer than she already had.

That was certainly one disaster that just had to be evaded.

"… and then Boq completely ignored me! I can't understand him sometimes." Nessa was whiny.

"Nessa, about Boq…"

"No, Elphaba, don't you dare say a bad thing about him! It's just like with Galinda. You said all those bad things about her and now you're friends!" Elphaba rolled her eyes and took in a long, calming breath. It wouldn't do to loose her patience.

"I'm not going to badmouth him, Nessarose." She made sure to cast a stern look her sister's way, an odd instance that caught Nessa completely by surprise. "I just want to make sure, as your sister who loves you very much, that you don't get hurt." Nessa acquiesced quietly. "And Boq…"

"You know something, don't you, Elphaba?" The green girls nodded. Nessa bit her lip and paused to consider. Did she want to know? "What I don't know can't hurt me, Elphaba, so please, don't say anything…"

"Choosing to remain blind and ignorant doesn't save you from heartache, Nessa." And in her sister's unexpected wise gaze, Nessa saw something she had never taken the time to notice before. Pain.

"Okay…"

"Boq likes you Nessa, but he loves Galinda. And they will never be together, no matter how desperately Boq tries to hold on to hope that one day she might love him back. That's his problem, Nessa. You can't continue to fool yourself like this. I know it hurts already and I know it will only hurt worse in the future."

Elphaba saw in her sister defeat. Nessa had known the truth all along, but hadn't wanted to face the harsh reality. Elphaba could only hope that this might make a difference. Though she had her own doubts it would.

"I need to be alone now, Elphaba. Please leave."

The emerald girl nodded, rose from her seat and left.

And Nessarose, bound to a chair and her own misery, could only look far away, at a Boq she couldn't see and didn't want to let go. "Why can't you loose your heart to me?"

Tears welled in her eyes and she angrily wiped them away.

Why couldn't you be mine?