DISCLAIMER: in the first chapter...

A/N: You know, the more time I have,m the less I seem to do. Is it just me? More for you and another down in the road to the end. Please continue reviewing. You are all awsome in that department!!

TRUTHS AND HOPES

Fiyero Tiggular got up and started pacing.

Nothing new.

He had been doing little else since arriving at the Emerald Palace. It had taken him some time to actually understand Galinda, as she tried to tell him what had transpired that fateful night. The fear, which had been bubbling underneath the surface of his seemingly composed façade, had quickly grown into despair.

Morrible…

Elphaba…

Hurt…

Regret had laced his already heavy heart when he had finally laid eyes upon Elphaba's inert shape among all those blankets. She had looked fragile, an adjective he would have never thought to use to describe his beloved wife before. No. Elphaba was too strong to be so still. Without much conscious thought, Fiyero had found himself at her bedside, with her pale green hand enclosed in his. Across the bed, his blue eyes had met Galinda's sorrow-filled ones.

After that, it was wait and…

When the stillness in the air and the hours that blended into one another seamlessly brought no change, Fiyero had taken to pacing. Two long strides, turn, glance at the pale green skin and another two strides. At these moments of intense frustration, Fiyero could feel Galinda's watery blue eyes following him, but she chose to say nothing and he pretended she hadn't noticed.

Because, it was pretending, wasn't it? Pretending that everything would be okay, that the worse that could possibly happen was having to wait a little bit longer for Elphaba to grace them with her intense gaze. The Prince and the blonde refused to consider any other outcome.

Just….

It couldn't end like that.

The Wizard had been somewhat seriously hurt, but had woken up rather quickly. He had confirmed Galinda's story and Elphaba had been proclaimed a hero throughout the Emerald City for saving their beloved Wizard. Galinda and Fiyero, aware of at least part of the life Elphaba had lived before, found the whole thing amusing. If only Elphaba were awake to laugh with them… Worried too, was frail looking Jonathan, who couldn't pace - being still bedridden and all -, but insisted on bringing all sorts of doctors for his daughter.

There was little they could do, though.

That particular secret – that explained the Wizard's desperation to heal the oddly green Munchkinlander - was ousted by Galinda herself when Fiyero had suspiciously questioned the whole situation.

Her father…

It was all a strangely connected web they had found themselves in.

Still, Elphaba slept - for surely it was only that – and they waited. Waiting, unfortunately, was a torturous task that slowly frayed the mind. So, the Vinkan Prince paced, casting glances at the bed where his beloved lay, unconscious.

Nine days now passed. He stepped closer to her laying form and grasped her hand in his, as he had done countless times before. Her skin had been clammy that first time. Now, it was soft and warm. Throughout the long days before, it had remained limp. Which felt quite different from this, because this time, she moved. It was barely much, but she moved and Fiyero's heart unclenched just a bit, beating more easily since the messenger had galloped crazily into Kaimo Eiver with the dreadful news.

"Yero?"

"Yes, Fae!! I'm here! I'm here." Elphaba took her time, until she had gathered enough strength to crack an eye and smiled slightly when his face came into focus. Desperate and loving blue eyes, she so loved. A second after that, despair laced her brown eyes, her free hand flying faster than she had thought herself capable to her stomach. Fiyero noticed and offered her a calming smile. "He's okay…"

"Okay… Liir's okay."

"Yeah."

She sighed deeply and the air that left her lungs took with it her strength. She was out again.

The next time she awoke, her blurry eyes landed on Fiyero's awkwardly bent form, sleeping on a chair by her bedside. He looked so uncomfortable, that Elphaba could only imagine him truly exhausted to have been able to rest in such a terrible position. A soft, small hand caught hers and the green girl turned her head slowly to look at the other side of the bed.

Galinda smiled sweetly at her and smoothed her hair out of her forehead gently. Though perfectly coifed and seemingly fresh, her blue eyes betrayed her worry and exhaustion.

"Oh, Elphie. How are you feeling?"

"A bit… sluggish. But, okay." She paused, examining her friend closely. "Is Liir…?" Galinda offered such a bright smile in response that Elphaba let the last tendrils of fear dissipate. "How long was I out?"

"Ten days." The witch paused at that. It was hard to imagine her sleeping so long. But, the memory of the power cursing through her and the strength she had to put into the magic she had handled against Morrible made her reconsider. Her body hadn't been used to such abuse.

"Morrible?"

"Well…" Hesitation was never good, she pondered. "After you cast a spell on her, she had seemed to have been frozen. Like a picture. But, as the days progressed, she…"

"Galinda?"

"Oh, Elphie." There was uncertainty, sure, but Galinda didn't seem sad about whatever fate Morrible had endured. She didn't seem happy, either. "She, she slowly turned to stone and with such a mean look on her face. People are scared to look at her, but they are whispering that it was deserving she turned to stone for trying to kill their Wizard."

And then, it became clear, her friend's hesitation. Galinda was too good to be happy at someone else's disgrace. Even if that someone happened to be Horrible Morrible. Elphaba wasn't even sure she would want to see the empty gaze of a dead carcass turned to stone.

A shudder rose up her spine and the green witch, despite her own beliefs or disbeliefs, prayed to Lurline, Kumbricia and even to the Unnamed God for it to be really over. Didn't they all deserve a little bit of happiness?

It took Elphaba another two weeks to fully recover. Physically, that is. Mentally, she was as sharp as ever and slowly going insane by the hovering Galinda and Fiyero insisted upon. By that time, the pregnancy was too advanced for her to travel, specially through the rough Kumbricia's Pass and after all she had already been through, even Elphaba was unwilling to risk her son's health. Fiyero and she would stay in the Emerald City until the birth. Galinda, for her turn, took some time from University and attached herself to Elphaba's side.

She was mighty protective of her friend and no one could really blame her.

The Wizard, well on the way to recovery, to all Ozian's relief, begged her to stay in the Palace. She had already been there for almost a month, anyway! He seemed to genuinely care, but Elphaba had a hard time dispelling her distrust, even after he had risked his life to save hers. Beside the distrust she had brought from the previous life, there was the deep suspicion regarding his motivations.

What could that man possibly want from her?

Still, her concern for Liir was in the forefront of her mind and Elphaba concentrated to stay. Fiyero and Galinda would be staying with her, after all. Yes, she believed it was the best decision.

She hoped.