Chapter Forty-Three: Now or Never

Fiyero stood behind her as she slowly took in the bedroom. He'd been lucky Glinda had kept her occupied all day so he'd had time to arrange things just as he wanted. After her eyes traveled the room, she wandered towards the shelves, filled with books he'd ordered from the City, her hand running over the spines delicately, as though they would come apart at her touch. She then went to the desk, tracing her fingers along the grain of the wood. She turned to him. "Fiyero, what did you… why…?"

He led her to the bed and sat her down on it and then got down on one knee, watching her eyes get wide as he did so. "Because I don't want this to be my room where you're just visiting anymore, Fae. I want it to be ours."

"Are you…?"

"Shh, Fae, let me finish."

She nodded quietly.

"Elphaba, I know that maybe this still scares you, but I'm not going to hide from the question any longer. I've known for a long time that I wanted to marry you. I realize that maybe this wasn't what you planned for your life, and you weren't in my plans, either, but I can't live without you now. Please, Elphaba, will you marry me?" He took the simple gold band off her finger and brought out the one she'd been wearing before, the one that had belonged to his grandmother.

"Can I say something before I answer?"

He felt his heart drop. If she felt the need to explain her answer, it probably wasn't the one he wanted to hear. "Go ahead."

"Maybe I've been afraid, and I've run away and fought you. You seem to think that means I don't love you, when it meant the opposite. I loved you so much I wanted to spare you from the craziness that would come with loving me. But I realize now that wasn't the right thing, and that being with you is the best thing that ever happened to me. I will never run again, Fiyero. Yes. I will marry you."

Watching the ring slide onto her finger for the second time meant so much more, and he stared quietly at her fingers for a moment before looking back up at her and realizing there were small tears in her eyes. He kissed them away. "I… I don't even know what to say. I'm overjoyed. I was scared…"

"I know. And I've thought maybe this would be coming. Not tonight, but sometime soon. I also knew I would accept."

He took both of her hands in his. "You don't know what it means to hear you say that."

She stood and pulled him into a standing position as well, standing on her toes and kissing his lips quickly. "I suppose that means we actually have to plan a wedding, huh?"

He was still smiling stupidly. "Yes, I guess it does."

"Glinda's staying the night tonight. Something about traveling back and train times. Or was that…?"

He laughed. "A little bit of both."

"So she knew?"

"Yes."

"Then she's going to want to know what I said."

He pushed her towards the door. "So is my mother. You go talk to Glinda."

"I'm so tired. She's going to talk my ear off, Yero."

"I'll come rescue you after I've talked to my mother," he promised.

"Can't I just go with you to tell your mother? We can tell Glinda together in the morning."

"She'd kill me if she thought you told someone else first. She'd kill you, too. Now go." He watched her drag herself down the hall, trying to calm the new wave of energy he'd just gotten from her answer. He headed the other direction towards his mother's room.

When she looked at him, she knew immediately. "She said 'yes!'" His mother engulfed him in a hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"I hadn't even told…"

"I can see it in your face. You were either going to come in here looking completely despondent or you'd be beaming. You're beaming and I'm so excited!"

"I am, too, Mother. I was afraid there for a moment I'd be coming to you with different news, but she surprised me."

"Well, she always seems to surprise you."

"That's part of what I love about her." He stood awkwardly for a moment. "I need to go rescue her. She's telling her friend and she's exhausted."

His mother laughed. "Go. Be happy."

When he arrived at the guest room Glinda was staying in, the two girls were hugging and Elphaba looked supremely uncomfortable. He snorted and Elphaba glared at him. "I'm guessing Elphaba told you the good news?"

Glinda released Elphaba from her clutches and ran over and hugged Fiyero. "I'm glad it went well. I was hoping for you."

"How much did she know?" Elphaba demanded.

"Pretty much all of it." He shrugged sheepishly. "I needed to make sure I was going about this the right way."

"I can't wait for the wedding. Oh, Elphie, you will make such a lovely bride."

Elphaba winced at that. "Me in white? Ugh."

"That's actually not the traditional color out here," Fiyero told her.

"It's not? What is it?"

"Red."

"That's… better." She still didn't look pleased, but he figured she wouldn't be happy wearing a formal gown in any occasion, so he didn't let it disturb him.

"That's an interesting choice," Glinda commented. "Why?"

"Well, purity isn't exactly the symbol of marriage out here."

Glinda giggled. "I noticed. No one cares that you two basically live together."

"And white is supposed to represent purity. Red represents passion. So out here, wedding gowns are usually red."

"You two have always been very passionate, so I suppose it's fitting." Glinda sat down on her bed. "Thank you for letting me stay, Fiyero. I don't think I could've sat on a train and waited days for a letter telling me how it went."

Elphaba smiled at that. "I'm glad you stayed, too." But she gave Fiyero a look.

"Now, Glinda, if you don't mind, I'm going to steal her back." He reached out and took Elphaba in his arms. "I think we need to celebrate on our own a bit."

Glinda rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. I'll see you before I leave in the morning. Have a good night, you two. Don't stay up too late."

When they got back into the bedroom, Elphaba immediately curled up on the bed. "I hope you weren't serious when you talked about celebrating. You kept me up all night last night, Yero, and tonight was exhausting. Tomorrow after Glinda leaves, I'd be glad to, but right now I just want to rest."

"That's fine, sweet Fae. We have the rest of our lives to celebrate."

Her eyes were wide at that, a joyful smile creeping into her features. "We do, don't we?"

"I know this isn't what you planned for you life, Elphaba, but I really hope it's what you want."

"It wasn't what I planned, but it's better, Fiyero. This is everything I could ever have wanted."