Chapter 23. Alone Time

Rifiuto: Non Miniera

Thanks to Akasharouge for reviewing 22.

A/N: My goal? 100 chapters.

"Yero."

Fiyero's eyes snapped open. He lay in bed, his wife in his arms. She was watching him, running her hand up and down his chest.

Sometime during the night, they had made love, moving together as one, bringing absolute pleasure to the breaking point. They had spent the night caressing, touching, kissing. Whispering.

"Morning my king."

Fiyero met her dark eyes, and pressed his forehead against hers, resting his lips gently against hers briefly. When he pulled away, he whispered,

"Morning my queen."

She smiled at him, and pressed her forehead against his, snuggling close. Her eyes closed instinctively, and she breathed in his scent.

"Yero."

Bodies pressed together. Lips attached.

They moved as one, blending together, their bodies becoming slick with sweat, as they danced in the sheets.

"Oh Fae. My beautiful queen."

Her legs parted, allowing him access. He ran his hands down her sides, over her hips; caressed the smooth meat of her buttocks. His lips grazed her neck, as her hands grasped his back, her nails catching his skin.

A cry of escasty escaped her lips as he drove deeper into her, filled her, brought her to her peak.

Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she arched her back, pulling him closer to her, begging him to move harder, faster, to complete her.

Neither cared if they woke the rest of the hotel. Neither thought of their daughter, or how to find her.

All they focused on, was each other; fulfilling thier need, fulfilling their escape.

They focused only on their pleasure, forgetting the world and all its troubles, for one night.

For one night, they were home.

For one night, Liir and Fae were children, asleep in their beds down the hall.

For one night, everything was perfect.

Everything was whole.

Elphaba's eyes snapped open. She looked up, to see her husband watching her. Slowly, she sat up, joining him as he leaned against the headboard. She subconsiously brought the sheet to her chest, hiding herself from her husband.

"Yero, we made love, didn't we?"

He nodded.

"W.....was it bad?" She asked, her brow furrowed. He chuckled.

"No, my queen. It was wonderful." He watched as she relaxed, snuggling into his side.

"Good......Fiyero?"

"Hmm?"

She bit her lip, before climbing over him. Or, not.

Instead of moving to the floor, she settled herself in his lap, straddling him. Her hands rested on his shoulders, as her thighs hugged his. She stared into his eyes, never breaking contact. Finally, she moved.

She leaned forward, kissed him deeply, passionately, roughly, violently.

His lips parted, allowing her tongue access, and she let out a moan, as he returned the kiss, just as roughly, just as violently. Slowly, his lips moved down her neck. He sucked on her collarbone, the cold metal of the necklace touching his cheek. Then, he moved to her breasts, before moving lower. Slowly, his hands caressed her waist, his fingers running gently along the taut, smooth, soft, green skin of her stomach.

His eyes rested on the black jeweled barbell, the black rose and heart hanging from the end.

As was tradition, from the beginning of time, the women of the Arjiki tribe pierced their navels.

But only the women of royalty.

The villiage women did not wear the piercings, nor the tattooes all members of the ruling class wore.

Much of the Vinkus, the Arjiki, was built on custom, on tradition. Tradition was rarely broken, and when it was, it caused a stir big enough to result in civil war.

Fiyero's parents had abolished many of the rules set up by the ancient shamans of the early beginnings of the tribe. His parents had abolished the law of hostages, taken in times of war. They'd abolished the law of kidnapping. And the law of arrainged marriage. As well as the law of marriage only within the tribe.

When Fiyero had brought Elphaba home, to meet his parents, they had seen how in love their son was, with the young green sorceress. They had accepted her for her personality, her heart. And they had abolished the marriage law, allowing, for the first time in centuries, the marriage between a member of the tribe and a foreignor, that wasn't brought on by war. They had also abolished the law of consumating marriage---to a degree.

They had taken out the part about the sheets being checked, and also the part of watching the birth of royal children. Where it had once been a show for the court, the act of childbirth was now a special occasion for the royal family only.

Fiyero and Elphaba had never been more grateful of that than when Liir had been born. Her pregnancy had been hard enough, and Elphaba hadn't needed the added stress of the court witnessing. All she had needed, was her family, the midwife, and time. And time is what it took.

Elphaba had been warned by Musetta that the birth of a child could take days, but the young woman hadn't listened, expecting the birth of her son to be quick and easy.

Boy, had she been wrong.

She had started the early phase of labor around midnight, and continued for three days, contracting and laboring, until she finally heard her son's cries. During her pregnancy, her piercing had been removed, and, once she was strong enough, it had been returned.

Elphaba had fallen into motherhood easily, taking true care of raising her son. Then, seven years later, Elphaba had again gotten pregnant, and again, the piercing had been removed.

She hadn't had an easy time with her first pregnancy, but her second was even harder. It wasn't that she didn't love being pregnant, or Fae, it was that by the time Fae was born, she was already starting to worry that she'd turn out like her mother.

Elphaba's greatest fear, was that she'd hate her daughter like her mother hated her.

But when Fae was born, she'd felt anything but hate for her. She loved her like her mother never had. She protected Fae, kept a close eye on her. So when Fae went missing, Elphaba had felt she'd failed to protect her daughter, the most important thing in her life.

Now, gently, Fiyero ran his finger around the piercing in his wife's skin. The jewel sparkled in the light, and the rose and heart swung gently with each breath Elphaba took.

"What are you doing?" Her voice broke his focus, and he looked up, to see her looking down at him, her long raven hair hanging like a curtain around her face.

"Admiring your beauty." She raised an eyebrow.

"My beauty?"

"Yes. Two beautiful children, and your still as gorgeous now as you were when we first got married." He told her, resting his cheek against her stomach, the piercing resting cool against his cheek. His arms tightened around her waist, and he closed his eyes. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her cheek on top of his head, her fingers reaching up to stroke his hair.

After a few moments, Fiyero pulled away, and pushed her away. He pushed, until she lay on her bacl, on the bed. Then, he climbed on top of her, his hands pressed on either of her shoulders, so that he was holding himself above his wife. She laughed, reaching up to stroke his cheek.

"Oh Yero. My Yero. My king." She whispered, caressing his cheek.

"Yes, my queen?"

It happened so fast, Fiyero didn't know what hit him.

Elphaba had yanked the sheets up, causing the two to go flying off the bed. They rolled, the emerald sheets wrapping around them as they rolled along the floor. When they finally came to rest, several feet from the bed, near the bathroom, Fiyero discovered that they had switched places. He now lay on the floor, his wife on top of him.

She laughed, her cackle sounding in his ears, and he couldn't help but chuckle, the vibrations in his chest being felt under her fingers. When they finally calmed down, they spent a majority of seconds staring into each other's eyes. Slowly, their faces moved closer, their lips inches apart, until---

The door to their bedroom opened, and the two pulled apart, looking up to see their son standing in the doorway.

"I'd have thought you two would have gotten up by now." Liir said, sounding like his father when he and his sister used to sleep in on weekends. He raised an eyebrow, watching his parents.

"We just woke up." Fiyero said, his arms around his wife.

"I can see that."

"Should I get breakfast ready, Your Highness? Or will you and Her Majesty be dining alone?" Janseta asked, joining Liir in the doorway. Liir went to speak, when his father spoke up.

"We'll be joining you in a short while. Breakfast would be lovely, Janseta, thank you." The maid nodded, and left. Liir turned back to his parents.

"I don't want to know, so I'm not going to ask." He said, turning to go. "Although, knowing you two, Fae and I will probably have a little brother or sister by the time we find her." He muttered.

"Could be, you never know." Fiyero told his son.

"He's right, I very well could be birthing your new sibling by the time Fae returns." Elphaba called, playing along. Liir paled, and headed down the hall, closing the door behind him.

"I'll see you at breakfast." He told them.

Once the door closed behind him, Fiyero and Elphaba looked at each other.

"A new baby? What has gotten into Liir's head?"

Fiyero shrugged.

"I think he misses Fae. You know how close those two are. Even though there's six years between them." He said.

"I know, my king. I miss Fae to. I want her home."

Gently, Fiyero reached up and brushed a strand of hair off her cheek, before she leaned down and pressed her forehead against his.

"Don't worry, my queen. We'll find her. I promise."