So wow, I don't really know what to say about the lovely amount of response to last chapter. I've been very worried since I picked this story back up that people wouldn't be keen on picking it back up with me, but I can see now that that isn't the case. So thanks again, truly, for letting me know that people are still reading and enjoying this story. I've managed to push on and complete chapter 26, one that was giving me a ton of trouble, and the writing seems to be coming a lot easier from there. I've got a couple more chapters written, and a renewed determination to finish this story.
I hope you like this chapter, because I think I do. I know I've king of been holding out on you, but we'll be getting back into some actual Fiyeraba shortly, I promise. I'm going to answer some reviews at the end of the chapter, and I'll probably end up writing a novel, so you can easily skip over that if you want. For now, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Glinda and Fiyero both nearly jumped out of their skins as a loud and unexpected male shout rang through the air. The heavy conversation they'd been having only minutes ago forgotten, the two darted from the tent to see what the commotion was. Fiyero hoped with all his might that they hadn't been followed here. Dragging all of these Animals down with them was the last thing any of them wanted.
A small crowd had gathered a short distance away, and it didn't take Fiyero long to determine the source of the commotion. Elphaba stood, looking entirely confused and bewildered, as a fully-grown Lion lay whimpering on the ground before her, his shaggy head partially obscured by his paws. Fiyero felt the terror drain out of him at the sight. He had almost forgotten that the Lion didn't know the truth about Elphaba.
Two other Animals were already dragging the Lion to his feet as Fiyero and Glinda approached, and it was clear that his legs were shaking uncontrollably. Elphaba still seemed to have no idea what was going on or what she'd done to induce such a reaction. Fiyero mused that the near heart attack he'd just suffered might have been worth it just to see the look on her face right now.
In his struggle to escape the two Animals now supporting his weight, the Lion twisted around wildly until he laid eyes on Fiyero. The recognition seemed to startle him, and he stopped fighting for a moment.
"Fiyero?" he asked skeptically.
This seemed to snap Elphaba out of her daze. She looked back and forth between Fiyero and the Lion with one eyebrow raised. "You two know each other?" she asked.
The sound of Elphaba's voice seemed to send the Lion into a panic again, but Fiyero stepped forward. "This is my friend Elphaba Lion," he began, casting a glance at Elphaba as the word "friend" left his mouth. He felt self-conscious explaining this in front of her. "She's the one I was looking for."
The Lion's eyes widened as they darted back and forth between Fiyero and Elphaba, "B-but…she's…" he stammered, unable to voice a coherent thought.
Fiyero sighed and responded, "I think maybe we should talk."
It took a fair amount of time to calm the Lion down enough so that he would speak in Elphaba's presence, but eventually he seemed to gather just enough nerve to recount the story of his traumatic childhood. Fiyero could see some sort of realization dawning on Elphaba's face as the Lion spoke, but she remained quiet until he'd finished the whole story.
There was a length of silence afterwards, during which no one seemed to know quite what to say. After what seemed like an eternity, Elphaba looked down at her hands and said, "I'm sorry, I never meant to frighten you."
The Lion watched her speak with an expression of nervous confusion. She went on, "That day you're talking about, I was only trying to help. The new professor brought you in. He had you in a cage and was explaining all of the benefits it would have in keeping the Animals from learning to speak. I lost it. I grabbed your cage and ran and I set you free in the woods, but I didn't stop to think how much the whole affair must have frightened you."
The Lion didn't seem to know what to make of this alternate version of the story. Voice shaking, he averted his eyes from Elphaba and said, "B-but I've heard what they say about you. The c-call you a wicked witch!"
Murmurs of disapproval rose into the air from the group of Animals that had gathered around them. Elphaba kept her expression neutral, but Fiyero could tell that hearing that title from the mouth of an Animal had hurt her. He said quickly, "Lion those are just rumors. I know because I believed them once too. But really once you get to know her you'll see that none of it's true."
Fiyero could feel Elphaba's eyes on him as he spoke, but he refused to look at her. He could feel his face growing hot under the scrutiny.
The Lion didn't seem entirely convinced, but he did seem to trust Fiyero and that was enough to calm him down for the time being. A couple of the other Animals took advantage of this and led the Lion away from the scene. Fiyero supposed he'd have to have another word with the Cat later on.
The rest of crowd dispersed now that the scene was over, leaving Elphaba, Glinda and Fiyero on their own. The tension between them was palpable once more. Despite what Glinda had told him, Fiyero knew it would a while before things became okay between the three of them.
"You didn't have to defend me back there," Elphaba said eventually. She was obviously still perturbed by what had just taken place.
Fiyero shrugged. "I'm sure what you said is true, you never meant to frighten the Lion," he said.
This did not seem to lift Elphaba's spirits. She sighed and responded, "It doesn't matter what my intentions were. I seem to make an absolute mess of everything I touch whether I'm trying to help or not."
Fiyero opened his mouth to respond but was surprised when Glinda, who had been silent since they'd left the linen tent, beat him to it. "Oh for Oz sake Elphaba, this is no time to be throwing yourself a pity party. We make our choices and we have to live with them. The only thing we can do now is worry about what's ahead of us," she huffed.
Fiyero gaped at Glinda in shock. He had never heard anything like that come out of the blonde's mouth before. She was normally all smiles and charm and polite conversation. In all honesty, Fiyero had always considered her a bit of a ditz. Seeing her now though, he began to wonder how well he truly knew the woman to whom he'd been engaged.
Tearing his eyes away from Glinda, Fiyero turned a tentative eye toward Elphaba. He was sure that Glinda's comments would not go over well, and that it would spark another conflict that would have the two back at each other's throats.
To his surprise however, Elphaba did not snap back with an angry retort. Instead she was silent for a few moments before rising to her feet. She didn't even acknowledge Glinda's comments as she said, "We should leave as soon as possible. Every second we remain here puts the Animals who live here in greater danger. We should rest up for now and leave as soon as the sun goes down."
Fiyero nodded his head in response, but he was still mildly shocked. From what he knew of Elphaba he would never have spoken to her the way Glinda just had, and yet the blond woman's words seemed to be exactly what Elphaba had needed to hear. Fiyero was struck for the first time by the fact that Glinda had known Elphaba for much longer than he had. He wondered how close the two women had been before he'd inadvertently driven a wedge between them.
He was shaen from his train of thought when Glinda mentioned finding something to eat and wandered off, leaving Fiyero alone with Elphaba for the first time since she'd vanished before his eyes back at her old hideout. Before Fiyero could process this and say anything in his defense, Elphaba was upon him with the question he'd been dreading most.
"Why didn't you tell me you were engaged?" she asked. He could tell she had been waiting to spring this on him for a while.
Fiyero swallowed hard, not sure what he was supposed to say. He had known it would come to this eventually. He took a few moments to muster some courage and decided to go with the truth. "I didn't think it would matter," he said.
Elphaba didn't seem to know what to do with this information. "You didn't think it would matter?" she repeated, her tone suggesting that this had not been the correct answer.
Fiyero was hasty to elaborate. "What I mean is that I had no idea you and Glinda knew each other, so there's no way I could have foreseen the consequences," he took a deep breath before continuing, "And to be fair, you had me locked up. Indefinitely. I didn't even know if I was going to see her again so what did it matter if I told you about her?"
Fiyero knew he had a point, but he still regretted the words almost as soon as they'd come out of his mouth. Elphaba looked as though she'd been struck. She stood staring at him for a few moments, as though waiting for him to say something more. The look she was giving him was making Fiyero profoundly uncomfortable. She stared at him as though noticing something important for the first time. He squirmed a bit under her gaze.
"Oh Oz, I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted to be what they said I was. But I am, aren't I? You're right. I kidnapped you. I held you against your will with no intentions of letting you leave. As hard as I've tried to deny it, I have become the Wicked Witch," she said. She seemed distraught.
All that she had said was true of course, but they weren't things that Fiyero wanted to hold against her. He knew she'd only been fighting for her own survival against a guard sent to capture her. He opened his mouth to tell her as much, but Elphaba had already continued speaking.
"I am sorry for what I put you through. And I'm sorry I've dragged you and Glinda this far down with me," she said, glancing up to meet Fiyero's eyes. She went on, "But Glinda is here now, and you can set things right with her. You can tell her what really happened, that you were just trapped and confused and-"
She cut off abruptly as Fiyero clamped his hand over her mouth. "Don't you ever let anyone else talk?" he asked.
Elphaba looked indignant. Fiyero removed his hand a moment later, but before she could resume her tirade he swept in and kissed her.
It all came rushing back in an instant, the strange, wonderful feelings he only felt with Elphaba. For a moment she seemed to go rigid with shock, before she relaxed a bit and leaned into him. Fiyero moved his hands down towards the small of her back and pulled her in closer so that their hips were touching. Elphaba moved to place her arms around his neck, but in the next moment she gasped and roughly pushed him away.
Fiyero stumbled backwards slightly in surprise as Elphaba broke off the kiss abruptly. She glanced around wildly for a moment, as though to determine whether anyone had seen them. Fiyero followed her gaze and noted that there was no one around.
He turned back to Elphaba, but she was already preparing to make her exit. She still seemed slightly flustered, but her expression had turned neutral. She said, "We need to leave soon. I need to get the supplies together. You should get some rest."
And with that she darted off, leaving a dumbstruck Fiyero in her wake.
So as I said, I'm just going to take some time to answer some reviews, since you lovely people took the time to write them too me. This may get a bit lengthy though, you don't have to read it.
musicalvampirelove: I'm glad you're sticking with me after the switch. I know you wanted to see what the original plan was, but I do honestly think that where the story is going now will be more coherent than the fuzzy ideas I'd had before. I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy the story.
deeplyshallow: I think my response here would have taken up too much space, so I've just sent you a PM.
Starlight1746: I am happy there are people who are discovering this story after the changes to Chapter 19, because I'm curious to see how people respond reading it straight through without any changes. But, since you asked the original end to chapter 18 had Fiyero stumbling across Elphaba's broken broom in the woods. Then, in chapter 19, he finds her badly hurt, obviously having crashed at some point because she was upset over everyting that had happened. He meets the Lion, who agrees to help Fiyero carry Elphaba to safety on his back.
There are a few reasons I ended up changing this. The first is because I didn't like how big of a coincidence it was that Fiyero would just stumble across Elphaba. True they were heading to the same place, but the Gilliken Forest is surely a large enough place that it would be unlikely he would stumble across one person. I also had still characterized the Lion as believing the Wicked Witch of the West rumors, so I didn't feel that he should be so ready to help her. Finally, I didn't like the implications that Elphaba would become so emotional she'd allow herself to lose control and crash. I feel that that's out of character with the way I'd chosen to write her.
To bluediamondsonagreenfield, elphabeckett and Elphanine, I'm glad you've just discovered this story and are enjoying it. To everyone else who's sticking with me, thanks again. I appreciate all of your feedback and I'm going to do my best to continue on with this. Until next time.
S.P.