AN: It's probably too late by now, but still - this chapter is for NymeriaFae, for her birthday. Happy birthday to you! ^_^ *gives virtual present and birthday cake*

Thank you all so much for your reviews, and I think you're going to like this chapter! :)

Chapter 4. You'll never know

Fiyero was riding down the Yellow Brick Road when he suddenly caught a flash of something in the woods to his right.

He made the horse slow down and squinted in the direction of the trees. Was there something moving there? Suddenly, his heart started pounding in his chest. Was someone following him? Did someone know who he was? Not just the Prince of the Vinkus, but also Elphaba's boyfriend? Were they coming to capture him? Kill him? Use him to lure Elphaba into a trap? Strangely enough, he found that last thought to be far more disturbing than the others.

He sighed, picturing her face in his mind - her silky black hair, her lips, her nose, her smooth green skin, her sparkling dark brown eyes…

Okay, perhaps it wasn't so strange after all that he was more worried about her than he was about himself. Really, could anyone blame him?

Shaking his head, he re-focused his attention on the woods. Something rustled in there and he heard something that sounded like a muffled curse, but he couldn't be sure.

He hesitated. Should he just ride on and pretend this never happened, hoping that whoever it was wouldn't be coming after him? Should he race away in an attempt to avoid his newly acquired stalker? Or should he go into the woods and confront him?

He waited. Not another sound came, and he shifted in the saddle a bit uncomfortably. What if it wasn't a creepy stalker at all? What if it was just someone who was taking a walk in the woods? What if this person was hurt?

He sighed, then dismounted and tied the reins of his horse to a branch at the side of the road. "I'll be back," he told the animal before stepping into the woods.

He stopped and listened. At first, he could hear nothing but the birds singing and the wind rustling in the leaves of the trees around him; but then he heard another hissed curse and he followed the sound until he reached a small clearing between the trees.

He looked around. He was sure that the sound had come from here, but there was no-one to be seen.

Am I going crazy? he wondered.

He already turned around to go back to his horse, but then there was a rustling of leaves behind him, as if someone hit the ground, and a soft voice asked, "Fiyero?"

He stiffened, his heart hammering in his chest. Because even though he hadn't heard it for over four months now, he would recognise that voice anywhere.

Slowly, he turned around… and there she was.

She raised one hand in some sort of half-wave, then dropped it again. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," he echoed incredulously. "That's really all you have to say to me?"

She lowered her gaze, a dark red colour flooding her cheeks. "No," she muttered. "Of course not." She sighed and looked up again. "I'm sorry, okay?" she burst out. "I just didn't want to endanger you, and I though the best way of doing that would be to stay away from you; but then I saw Galinda and she started yelling at me, and then I realised that she was right, because I could never keep you safe against your will – I mean, if I wouldn't let you come with me, you'd just go and look for me on your own, and that would be dangerous, too, which would defy the whole point of me staying away from you, and if I had to choose between endangering you by having you with me and endangering you by not having you with me, well, I'd much rather have you with me. And I'm rambling," she cut herself off. "I'm sorry. I… You probably don't want to see me again, anyway, after I abandoned you like that… so I'll just… um… go, and…" She faltered when she looked at him and saw the expression on his face. "Why are you grinning at me like that?" she asked suspiciously.

He took a step forward, and before she knew it, his arms were around her and he was holding her tightly. "Fae?" he whispered in her ear.

She blinked. "Yeah?"

She could feel his chuckle vibrating in his chest as he said, "Do you ever let anyone else talk?"

Slowly, a smile crept onto her face, and she buried her face in his neck and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I missed you," she sighed, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"I missed you, too." He pulled away. Her heart sank when she saw the wounded expression on his face. "It would have been nice if you'd have taken the time to let me know that you were okay, though," he said, trying to make his voice sound neutral, but she could hear the hurt shimmering through.

She wrapped her arms around her own waist now. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I really am."

He sighed. "I know that," he said. "And I know why you did it, too. Don't think I don't understand, Elphaba, because I do. It's just… something would have been nice, you know? A message, a note, anything. All this time, I didn't even know if you were still alive!" He ran his fingers through his hair, clearly frustrated. "I was worried sick about you!" He looked at her. "And what about me?" he wanted to know. "You just… left me there, at that hospital. You just took off. Don't get me wrong, I wanted you to – I didn't want you to get caught… but in all those months, you didn't even check up on me to see how I was doing, if I was even still alive -"

Now her head shot up. "That's not true!" she protested hotly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he said, and she detected an edge of sarcasm in his voice. "Where were you, then?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You spent twelve days in the hospital," she said, her voice low. "Third floor, fourth window to the right. You wrote a letter to your parents, and when you were discharged from the hospital, there was a royal carriage outside waiting for you. You went back home, to the Vinkus. You had to keep your arm in a sling for another two-and-a-half months, which you hated, because you didn't want to stay at the castle, but now you were forced to. You stayed with your parents for about three months before you left again. You've been travelling in the direction of the Emerald City ever since."

He stared at her.

"I was there," she said softly. "You didn't see me, but I was always there."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, like a fish; which would have been funny if the conversation hadn't been so serious.

"Why didn't you come before, then?" he asked, still sounding hurt. "If you knew that I wanted to set out and look for you…"

She shook her head. "I didn't," she confessed. "I knew that you didn't want to stay at the castle, but I wasn't sure why you were so eager to leave or where you wanted to go. I should have known, maybe; but it didn't dawn on me until Galinda pointed it out to me just this morning." She pulled a strand of hair over her shoulder, twirling it around her finger nervously. "I feel like such an idiot for not realising that before, but…" Her shoulders rose and fell in some sort of half-shrug. "I just didn't," she said simply. "I thought… I thought you'd forget about me."

He shook his head in disbelief, reaching out to slide his arm around her waist and pull her closer again. "I could never forget about you," he told her solemnly. "I love you, Elphaba."

She closed her eyes and leant against him, breathing in his scent and relishing in the feel of his strong arms around her. "I love you, too."

He placed two fingers under her chin and gently tilted her head back so that she could look at him. She raised her gaze to meet his, and then he lowered his head to press his lips against hers in a soft, yet firm kiss.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she slipped her arms around his neck, melting into the kiss. She pressed herself up against him, her body flush against his, and he deepened the kiss, tangling his fingers in her ebony hair. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathless.

"I really did miss you," Fiyero murmured, playing with her hair. She kissed him softly, then snuggled into his chest, tucking her head under his chin.

He nuzzled her hair. "Please don't leave again," he begged her quietly, and she shook her head.

"I won't," she promised.

He kissed the top of her head. "Thank you."

They stood like that for a long while, just holding one another. He was rubbing her back and sides with both hands, but when she suddenly yelped, he quickly pulled away. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she muttered, stepping back a little and rubbing a particular spot in her own side carefully. "Bad landing. I'm still learning how to control that thing," she said, casting a glance in the direction of her broomstick. "Every time I think I've mastered it, something happens. I was trying to land between the trees, but I ended up in a tree. It's just a bruise, don't worry," she assured him upon seeing the concern in his blue eyes. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," he said, but he didn't look convinced.

She looked around. "What are we going to do next?" she asked.

He shrugged. "You tell me," he said. "What have you been doing for the past months?"

"Saving Animals." She bit her lip. "Or trying to save them, anyway. Sometimes I feel like for every Animal I rescue, three more are captured by the Gale Force… or worse." She sighed, dropping her head back against the trunk of the tree she was leaning against. "Sometimes I feel like it's all for nothing," she said quietly, "but then I think of the looks on their faces, the faces of the Animals I did rescue… and then I remember why I'm doing this again. Why I'm putting my own life on the line. And I can't stop doing that."

He nodded. "Okay," he said. "Then you just keep on doing that."

She looked at him sceptically. "What's the catch?" she asked.

He smiled and shook his head. "No catch," he said. "I just want to be with you, Fae. You can do whatever you want, as long as you take care of yourself, are careful, and try your best to stay safe."

She snorted. "Trust me, I have no intention of getting caught," she assured him. "A vacation in Southstairs doesn't really sound like much fun to me, thank you very much."

He chuckled.

"So… nothing changes?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing but one thing," he said, and she looked up in alarm, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"What's that?"

He smiled and bent down to kiss her again. "I'll be waiting for you at night when you get home," he murmured.

She had to smile at that, too. "I'd like that," she said honestly.

He kissed her again, then pulled away. "Come on," he said. "Let's go and find someplace safer."

She nodded. "There's this small cottage in the Great Gillikin Forest," she said. "It's not ideal, but it's hidden and abandoned, and so far I haven't been discovered yet. I've been staying there, mostly, since I left you at the hospital."

He nodded. "Okay," he said. "Let's go, then."

She grabbed the broom, then hesitated and looked back at him. "Would you do me a favour?"

"Always," he said.

She made a face at him. "Please don't get hurt and fall off this time."

He laughed. "I'll try my best," he promised her, and she rolled her eyes and positioned herself to take off.

"You know how this works by now, right?" she asked him.

"I do." He wrapped his arms around her waist securely, holding on tightly, as she kicked off and they flew up into the sky. She flew higher than she had last time; they were above the clouds now, and he realised that the people of Oz wouldn't be able to see them from the ground. He had to admit that was pretty clever, though he wasn't sure if he was entirely comfortable with this height.

They flew for quite some times before Elphaba finally started descending, seeking cover in low clouds and between mountains, then in tree tops, before they could finally see the forest floor and she carefully landed.

"Are you still alive?" she asked, half teasing and half serious.

He grinned at her. "Still in one piece," he confirmed. "Thank Oz."

"You could say that again," she muttered as she took her broom and moved towards a small cottage in the middle of a clearing. She opened the door and made an inviting gesture. "Come in," she said. "Like I said, it's not much, but it's home… sort of."

He entered, looking around. The cottage was small, but it was clean, there was furniture, and in a way, it looked kind of cosy. "I like it," he decided.

She smiled, closing the door behind them. "Thanks." She moved past him to put the broom away, the returned, only to linger in the middle of the room for a few moments. "So… Are you tired? Hungry? I could make us something."

He shook his head. "I'm fine," he assured her. He walked up to her and wrapped her in his arms again, looking down at her. "I can't believe you're here," he confessed. "It feels like one of those dreams where you don't want to wake up, but you eventually do, and you stay behind with that awful empty feeling that means the dream wasn't real."

She rested her cheek against his chest, where she could hear his heartbeat. "Did you have those dreams often?"

"Every night for the past four months," he said, and he felt her sigh.

"I'm sorry."

He kissed her hair. "Don't be. We're together now, aren't we?" He squeezed her hand, then lifted her head so that he could look into her eyes. "And we're going to make every last moment last," he promised her.

Slowly, a smile spread across her face, and she kissed him. Then she snuggled into his embrace again, closing her eyes.

She could only agree.