AN: No, that wasn't the final chapter - although it would have made a nice ending, wouldn't it?

But there are still a few loose ends and so a few more chapters, too. I'm actually considering a sequel; I really loved writing this, and as Silvine Graycine pointed out, a few weddings and/or births here and here would be nice, right? If I did, in fact, post a sequel, would you be interested?

Anyway, thank you for your wonderful reviews again and I'll make sure to let you know when this story does end :).

Disclaimer: I'm not that girl.

'Hey, Fae,' Fiyero greeted her as he walked into the library. She merely lifted one hand to wave at him half-heartedly, not taking her eyes off the book in front of her.

'What are you doing?'

'Studying,' she replied, her gaze still fixed on the page in front of her. She frowned as she tried to decipher the old Gillikin dialect the book was written in.

'Studying?' Fiyero repeated incredulously. 'For what, in Oz' name?'

'For the purpose of my brain not shutting down because of a lack of stimulation.'

He snorted. 'Like that's ever going to happen. Even without a brain, you'd be the smartest person in all of Oz.'

Usually, she would have made a sarcastic comment at that point, but she didn't. Her near-death experience – or, well, her death experience - had caused her to look at things another way, especially when it came to Fiyero. No more sarcastic remarks and no more scoffing. From now on, she would accept his compliments – if only because it would make him happy.

And so she said, 'That's really sweet of you, love, but I still like to keep my brain busy. And I like reading – you know that.'

He nodded, sitting himself down on the couch next to her and peering at the book in her hands. 'I can't read that.'

'It's an old Gillikin dialect.'

'Can you read it?'

'Do you think I'd be absorbed in a book if I couldn't read it?' she asked, faintly amused, and he laughed at that. 'I guess you're right.'

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. 'Of course, I can think of much more interesting things to do than reading…'

She chuckled and gave in, putting her book aside and looking him in the eye solemnly. 'Like what, exactly?'

'Like this,' he murmured, moving closer to her and overcoming the distance between their lips in a soft, loving kiss.

'Mm,' she said, smiling against his lips. 'That is more interesting.'

He kept her on his lap, her hear resting against his shoulder, as he softly asked, 'What are we going to do now?'

She sighed. 'I don't know. You can resume your duties as Prince of the Vinkus, and me... Well, I suppose I'll have to stay in hiding for the rest of my life.'

He didn't look very happy about that. He buried his face in her neck and sighed, too. 'I don't want your life to be like that, Fae.'

'Neither do I,' she said, 'but I don't really have a choice, now do I? And besides, I don't care.' She shook her head. 'As long as I have you, I'll be fine.'

'Of course you have me,' he whispered, kissing her neck. 'I've always been yours, and I always will be.'

She smiled and hugged him, before getting off his lap and picking up her book again. 'To be honest, that's also something I've been searching for,' she confessed. 'I hoped maybe one of these books would give me an idea of how to solve this, you know, without me hiding for the rest of my life.'

'And?' he asked, curious. She shook her head. 'Nothing so far.'

'Is it a spell book?' he asked, peering at the book in her hand curiously. She nodded. 'It contains recipes for potions, spells, but also just wise words from one shaman or another,' she explained. 'I've been going through these kinds of things for the past few days, but I've had no luck at all. I'm not even sure what I'm looking for, either, which doesn't make the search any easier.' She opened the book at a random page to show him what it contained, but as she read the words on the page, her eyes widened. 'Oh, my,' she whispered, pulling the book towards her, her eyes shimmering with excitement. 'This is perfect!'

'Fae?'

'Fiyero,' she said, getting up and walking towards the mirror, inspecting her mirror image, 'I need you to make an announcement.'

'What about?' he asked, puzzled. He didn't have a clue as to what was going on, not what she was talking about and not what she was doing – she never paid any attention to her mirror image, so why was she staring at herself like that now?

'I want you to tell the people of Oz that you, with the love spell finally lifted, fell in love with someone else.'

His eyes darkened as he figured where this was going. It wouldn't be the first time she'd try to leave him 'for his own good'. 'And who would that 'someone else' be, exactly?' he demanded, his voice dangerously low.

She looked at him as if he didn't get it at all, and apparently, he didn't, because she said simply, 'Me, of course.'

His anger faded immediately and was replaced with confusion. 'Huh?'

'We're going public,' she announced, and he blinked at her. Suddenly, she felt a little insecure. 'You do want to be with me, don't you? In public, I mean?'

'Of course!' he hurried to reassure her. 'It's just… I don't get it, honestly. You expect me to announce to the people of Oz that even with that non-existent love spell gone, I'm still in love with the Wicked Witch of the West? That's insane.'

She shook her head. 'No, I don't want you to say that you're in love with the Wicked Witch of the West. She is dead, and I'd like to keep it that way, if you don't mind. No more broomsticks or other Wicked Witch-business for me.' She fell silent and looked at him. 'You're going to announce that you're in love with Elphaba Thropp.'

'What if they recognise your name?'

'They won't. Nobody knows the real name of the Wicked Witch except for a handful of people, some of whom are dead and the others I trust. There won't be any danger there.'

'But still,' he protested. 'They'll take one look at you and run for their pitchforks again. No offense, but the green is kind of a giveaway.'

She nodded confidently. 'No worries. I've got a plan.'

He narrowed his eyes at her. 'Does this plan involve you disappearing to Oz-knows-where without telling me anything?'

She laughed and came over to hug him. 'Not this time. I promise. This time… I'm actually going to tell you everything and I need you to help me.'

'In that case…' He looked at the book she was still holding, and then at her glimmering eyes. 'I'm listening.'

Glinda the Good was in the dining room with Corrin, giggling endlessly as he was flirtatiously feeding her bits of fruit, kissing her in between every two pieces, when there was a knock on the door. She quickly pulled back, fanning her flushed face and trying to suppress her giggles, as she called, 'Come in!'

'Lady Glinda?' A guard came in, but lingered at the door, clearly hesitating if he should come in further. She smiled and beckoned him, and relieved, he took a few steps closer to her. 'Lady Glinda… Prince Fiyero is here to see you, along with a girl that says she's a close friend of yours – one Elphaba Thropp?'

Glinda felt a rush of anger flow through her body at the thought of her friend endangering herself to come and see her. How had she gotten in without being recognised? Surely her guards wouldn't have let in a girl with green skin, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't let in a stranger wrapped in a black cloak, either, so how had Elphaba done that?

The doors swung open and Elphaba came striding in, back straight and chin up, in full, green glory. 'Hello, Glinda! It's me, your dear friend Elphaba Thropp!' she exclaimed, emphasising her name and talking loud enough so that a group of other palace inhabitants, who were having dinner on the other side of the room, could hear her, too. She then looked at Fiyero, who was standing behind her, triumphantly. 'See? My name doesn't ring any bells, with anyone, Yero.'

'Fine, you win,' he grumbled and she laughed.

Glinda, in the meantime, had jumped up from the table. 'What in Oz' name do you think you're doing?!' she demanded.

Elphaba put on a sad face. 'I'm here to turn myself in,' she said dramatically.

'What?!' Glinda shrieked, which made the people in the far corner look up in surprise. Elphaba hurried to reassure her blonde friend. 'Oz, Glinda, I was only joking!'

'Not. Funny,' Glinda breathed, clutching her chest with one hand in a rather dramatic gesture. Elphaba rolled her eyes, but Glinda wasn't done yet. 'Seriously, what are you doing here? What if someone recognises you?'

Her green friend looked at her innocently. 'What do you mean?'

The blonde turned to Fiyero. 'What is going on?'

'Relax, Glinda,' Elphaba said, rolling her eyes. 'No one is going to recognise me.'

'No, because the palace is crowded with green women,' Glinda said pointedly, keeping her voice down so no one could overhear. Elphaba only laughed again. 'Green? What are you talking about, green? I'm not green.'

Glinda stared at her, convinced that her friend had finally and completely lost her mind now. 'Elphie…'

'Could we go and talk somewhere private?' Fiyero asked a bit nervously, glancing around the room. He had faith in Elphaba and in her plan, but he was a little bit afraid of Glinda's reaction and he'd rather not have her attract any more attention to them than she already had.

Glinda nodded wordlessly and dragged them with her to her rooms, Corrin trailing after her, where she carefully closed the door and turned to face them. 'Now please explain something to me. Why are you here, in the middle of the day, where everyone can see you, and, I can't believe I have to point this out to you, your green skin? I'm surprised no one went running out into the City screaming about you being alive just yet.'

Elphaba smiled. 'Like I said, Glinda. No one will recognise me because I'm not green.'

'What do you mean, you're not green?!' Glinda shouted. She whirled around to face Fiyero. 'Has she gone insane?'

'I'm right here, you know,' Elphaba said drily. 'I can hear you.'

Fiyero sighed and rolled his eyes at his lover. 'Fae, just show her already.'

'Fine.' She took Glinda's hand and led her to Glinda's favourite mirror – an enormous thing that went all the way from the floor to the ceiling. 'Look.'

Glinda looked in the mirror and gasped. There was her own mirror image – nothing strange about that. Next to own mirror image was a girl with waist long, black hair, dark eyebrows, large, brown eyes, a black dress… and creamy white skin.

Glinda whipped her head around to look at her friend – the real Elphaba, not the mirror image – and she blinked a few times. Elphaba didn't look any different than she had before, and yet the mirror told her something else. 'How in Oz did you…'

Elphaba smirked. 'It's a disguise spell I found in the library at Adurin Iir,' she explained, leading the blonde to the sitting area, where they both took a seat. 'To be precise, everyone will see me with normal skin except for,' she closed her eyes as she tried to recall the exact translation of the words of the spell, 'I think it was 'those I call family'. Which doesn't necessarily mean they are family – it means the ones I see as such, which includes you.'

Glinda blinked. 'But…'

'I suppose I could have changed my appearance entirely,' Elphaba answered the blonde's next question before she had even asked it. 'But… I've been green my entire life. It's part of who I am. It would just feel really wrong to me to be normal now. Plus, Fiyero would kill me.'

The Vinkun Prince smirked. 'I most certainly would. You are never to change anything about yourself, Fae. You're perfect just the way you are.'

'So…' Glinda tried to wrap her mind around this. 'You still are green, but no one but 'those you call family' will see you as such?'

Elphaba nodded. 'That's the idea.'

'So my guards, and everyone who've seen you walking through the City and the palace…'

'…saw a perfectly normal person,' Elphaba finished, nodding. 'I'm positive no one will ever recognise me as the former Wicked Witch of the West without my green skin.'

Glinda nodded slowly as she mused over the idea. 'You know? That's actually pretty smart.'

Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'Thanks, Glin,' she said sarcastically.

The blonde giggled and hugged her friend. 'Oh, but Elphie, this is great! You can go out in public now!'

'That's the idea,' Elphaba agreed.

'And have a really big wedding with Fiyero in the Emerald City!'

'Now wait just a clock-tick…'

'And you can attend my wedding with Corrin!'

'Did you propose to her?' Fiyero whispered to Corrin in surprise, but the other man shook his head. 'Not that I recall, no.'

'She tends to do that,' Elphaba told him, grinning. Glinda frowned at her. 'What are you talking about?'

'Don't tell me you don't remember,' Elphaba said with raised eyebrows. She fluttered her eyelashes and used a high-pitched voice in imitation of Glinda – or Galinda – at Shiz so many years ago. 'Fiyero and I are going to be married!'

Glinda blushed. 'Well, yes, I see your point.'

'And that was only hours after you met him,' Elphaba pointed out.

Fiyero stared at her in horror. 'She didn't!'

Glinda giggled. 'Yes, I did. Oh, come on, you have to admit it – we were perfect together!'

'We would have been if we were who we pretended to be,' Fiyero admitted softly, and Glinda smiled at him. 'Well, it turned out for the best, didn't it? No offense, but... I'm actually glad we broke up. We wouldn't have worked together, anyway – and if we hadn't broken up, I would have never met the true love of my life.' She lightly kissed Corrin's cheek and he beamed at her.

Fiyero nodded gravely, wrapping his arm around Elphaba's waist and drawing her closer to him. 'I know exactly what you mean – even though me finding the true love of my life was actually the reason we broke up in the first place.'

Glinda made a face. 'Let's not make it complicated now, okay? My blonde brain can't handle that.'

They all laughed at that, but then Fiyero grew serious again. 'Glin? I would like to make an official announcement of my being together with Elphaba.'

She nodded immediately. 'Of course! I'll take care of it!'

'How will we introduce her?' Corrin asked thoughtfully. 'I mean, she has to come from somewhere, doesn't she? We can't just say 'This is Fiyero's new love Elphaba who just happened to drop from the sky!'.'

'We'll pretend she's a family member of mine,' Glinda offered, thinking. 'Some far away cousin, or something like that?'

Elphaba nodded. 'I guess. People would never doubt that if you told them.'

'So that's settled, then,' Glinda nodded, satisfied. 'I'll go make the arrangements right now!' She immediately breezed past them and through the door, leaving the three of them alone.

Corrin looked at Elphaba. 'You know? You look green to me, too.'

She smiled. 'I think of you as family. Big brother, right?'

'Who else can see the real you?'

She paused for a moment to think about that. 'Fiyero and his family, plus Nuki – I tested that right after I cast the spell back at Adurin Iir. You and Glinda, apparently… I'd imagine Maráni would see the real me, too.'

'And Oscar?'

She looked at him in wonder. 'I hadn't even thought about that, can you believe it? I'm not sure. I'll find out next time I see him.'

They agreed to stay at the palace until after the announcement was made. Glinda and Corrin arranged everything for them and when Elphaba was finally standing behind the stage, preparing for her big presentation to the people, she felt butterflies flutter around in her stomach. What if this had been the wrong choice? What if they would, in fact, recognise her? She wished she could still stop the whole thing, but Glinda was already on stage.

She felt Fiyero slide his arms around her waist from behind. 'Don't be scared. It'll all be fine, I promise.'

She sighed and leaned into him. 'I know. It's just… I hate people.'

'I know.'

'And I hate being the centre of attention – even though somehow I always seem to be just that.'

She felt him smile. 'And you're afraid someone will recognise you and you have to run again.'

She turned around in amazement. 'How did you know?'

'I can read minds,' he told her earnestly, kissing her forehead. 'No, that's not true. I can read your mind.'

The crowd fell silent and Glinda started to speak, causing Fiyero and Elphaba to turn towards the stage. 'Fellow Ozians,' Glinda began, holding up her wand to silence the cheers from the crowd. 'I am here today because my former fiancé, Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus, and I wanted to make an announcement. As you all know, he's been under a love spell ever since the Wicked Witch laid eyes on him.'

Elphaba felt his grip tighten around her and she kissed his cheek softly. 'Stop it. You know she has to do this.'

'I still don't like it,' he muttered angrily. 'As if you'd ever put a love spell on me.'

'They believe I would – and did.'

'I have been able to lift the spell and set him free some time ago,' Glinda continued, evoking more cheers from the people. 'And today I have really thrillifying news!'

'I know some of you were expecting him and me to get back together,' she went on and a few people exulted as Glinda held up one hand. 'Let me just clear things up and tell you that is not going to happen.'

There were some disappointed sounds from the audience, but Glinda shook her head, smiling. 'Fiyero and I were never meant for each other – I can see that now. I was meant for Corrin.' She looked to the side, where he was standing among the audience, and smiled at him. 'And Fiyero… he was meant for someone else too. And today we're all here together so that you, my fellows Ozians, can meet this particular girl.'

The people acted excited now, and Elphaba felt a slight flutter of hope. Perhaps they would accept her after all. Perhaps this would actually go well. She turned to face Fiyero, fumbling the hem of her dress self-consciously. 'How do I look?'

'Gorgeous,' he told her seriously, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. She sighed. 'I still can't believe I let Glinda talk me into wearing red today. It so totally clashes with my skin.'

'I think it looks amazing,' he said truthfully. 'Both on you and on your mirror image.'

She smiled slightly. 'That last part, I agree with. I do think it looks quite nice on my white-skinned self.'

He sighed dramatically. 'Finally!' he exclaimed in mock despair. 'I got her to admit that she is beautiful!'

'I never said such a thing,' she teased him. 'All I said was that my dress looks good on my not-quite-self.'

'It's a start,' he replied, drawing her into his arms and kissing her.

Glinda told the people a made-up story about her distant cousin Elphaba, who had lived in Munchkinland all her life but recently moved to the Vinkus – which was actually sort of true – where she had met Fiyero and they had fallen desperately in love. The people all let out 'ooh's and 'aah's at that before Glinda gently urged them to silence again. 'Elphaba,' she said, letting her gaze drift over the people, 'hasn't always been a constant presence in my life, which is one of the reasons why you haven't known about her before. She is very important to me, however; she is the best friend I ever had, and she taught me so much about so many things. She had been the sister I never had and I love her very much.' The blonde looked back at Elphaba at that, a smile on her face. The green girl smiled, too; she pointed at herself, then put one hand over her heart and pointed at Glinda, mouthing 'I love you too'.

'And so,' Glinda went on, the smile still on her face – not her usual, fake, plastered, bubbly smile, but a genuinely happy smile, 'I am very happy to present to you Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus and Miss Elphaba Thropp!'

In a daze, Elphaba stepped up onto the stage, squinting against the bright sun shining in her eyes. Fiyero was right beside her, steadying her with his hand on the small of her back, as they came forward. It took Elphaba a few moments to realise that these people, these Ozians who had hated her and cried for her death mere months ago, were now cheering for her, already loving her if only because she was a close friend of Glinda's. She tried not to think about the hypocrisy of that as she looked at her blonde friend and smiled at her. Glinda took her hand and hugged her. 'I meant that, Elphie,' she whispered in the witch's ear. 'Every word.'

'I know you did, Glin,' Elphaba smiled in return. 'I feel the same way about you, you know. It's true what I told you before – you're the only, and best, friend I've ever had.'

The blonde hugged her again before leading her up to the front of the stage, which caused the people to cheer even louder, and they started chanting her name. 'Elphaba! Elphaba!'

'This must be the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me,' she muttered under her breath to Fiyero, who merely planted a kiss on her hair. 'The people love you now. However hypocrite and perhaps even infuriating that might be, enjoy it,' he suggested with a warm smile. 'Oz knows you deserve their love.'

She reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his as she let her gaze drift over the people, absorbing the sight of it. A celebration throughout Oz, that's all to do with me. She smiled slightly at the thought. It wasn't a celebration throughout Oz yet, but somehow, she just knew it would be one day. This was the start of her new life, and she vowed in silence that she would cherish every single moment of it.

Not finished yet! ;) Please review!