Author's Note: I'm sorry I've not been as active. I won't lie. The writing on this story has slowed, even though I still have ideas and thoughts. And of course, I have like 3 other story ideas I want to try. But there have been some developments in my life that mean I will be tired for a while and even after, I don't know how much time I'll have to write... I'll explain another time. It's not really a bad thing - at least not to me. I've still got a few chapters to go that I haven't even posted. I'll try to get things moving along while I still have the time...

Chapter 19: Shiz, Several Months Later

Elphaba had always been one to be eager for the summer to end each year, unlike most of her friends. Summer was much too hot, and sweat wasn't pleasant for her. Her peers could cool down with water, and that wasn't an option she had. At Shiz, much like Munchkinland, heat came with humidity, with that thick, terrible dampness that clung to her pores. Even without the weather, summer was painful enough. Her father forced her to attend all his sermons, even the ones he gave twice daily. She'd never wanted so badly to claw her eyes out.

Of course, she missed classes and learning. Listening to her father's incessant drivel day in and day out was not the kind of intellectual stimulation she needed. But she didn't just miss her schooling, she missed Fiyero.

She'd wanted to stay angry with him, but he'd made it so damned impossible. Elphaba had intended to protect herself from him, from the hopeless pining that was love and from the jeopardy they were already in. But when he'd said the words, told her he loved her… she couldn't ignore him. She'd never really known what it was to be loved, and the sweetness in his voice, the adoration in his gaze won her over. So she'd given in. Elphaba had cursed herself afterwards, but she knew there was no going back. Now all she could do was be careful.

But they hadn't been careful. They'd taken far too many risks: Dr. Dillamond's lab, the dance, letting Glinda in on their secret. There was no taking any of that back, but Elphaba resolved to be more discreet. With his confession of love, it became all the more important to her that Fiyero was safe. He was one of the only good things she'd ever truly had, and she would protect that with her life.

One of the only other good things she had was her friendship with Glinda, who came back from the summer bubbly and happy. Since she'd gotten a better handle on her powers, visits with family were a cheerful occasion again. Glinda had made a resolution never to use her powers on her family, for the sake of her own sanity. But she did still use them.

Only days into the semester, Glinda returned to their room looking oddly shaken. Without even greeting Elphaba, set her things down and sat stiffly on her bed, shaking her head. "I don't want to tell you this, Elphie," she muttered without even looking at her, "but I think I had better."

Elphaba closed her notebook immediately and joined her roommate, sitting next to her. "What happened?"

"I should never have done it. Madame Morrible warned me… although I realize now she had her own motives for that."

"Done what?"

"I had to know, Elphie."

"Glinda, you're making no sense."

"I had to know what happened to Ama Clutch, and there was only one way to find out."

Elphaba gasped. "You didn't."

"I used my powers on her. Oh, Elphie, it was awful. She's so lost." Glinda buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with a sob.

"But you saw something?" She pressed.

"Yes. I know what happened to her, and I know why." Glinda looked at Elphaba with wide, fearful eyes. "Madame Morrible didn't want us to know, Elphie. Because she did it."

"How?"

"A spell."

"Glinda, don't get me wrong. I don't trust the woman, but why would she do such a thing to Ama Clutch?"

"Because she saw everything. Ama Clutch saw what happened to Dr. Dillamond. And now, so have I." Glinda gagged. "Morrible had him tied up, and was asking him questions… questions she shouldn't think to ask." The blonde grabbed her hand. "Questions about you and Fiyero. She thought he'd brought you on as lab assistants in an effort to force the prophecy himself."

Elphaba suddenly felt ill. "She knows?"

"She knows about the prophecy, at least. Morrible asked him who he thought he was, tempting fate. But she doesn't appear to know that someone else has already forced your fates together. I don't think she knows you two are together. But she assumed he was trying to do that."

"But he was killed… because of Fiyero and me."

"Elphie, you mustn't blame yourself."

"All of this… Ama Clutch, too," Elphaba murmured. "I should've refused to work with Fiyero. I should've said it was improper and I didn't wish to work with anyone. Or I should've made him quit."

"You couldn't have known."

She shuddered slightly. "But I should've. Before that, Fiyero and I had agreed to basically ignore each other. It was the safest choice. Why did I let being a lab assistant change that?"

"Elphie…"

"Don't!" She got up. "Fiyero needs to know." But she wouldn't see him for two days. He hadn't come back until the evening before classes began, so she hadn't seen him alone yet. She thought about the way they had locked eyes across the lecture hall just that morning. How stupid! Anyone could've noticed. Elphaba clenched and unclenched her fists before collapsing onto her own bed. "If it hadn't been us, Dr. Dillamond could be alive right now, Glinda."

"You don't know that for certain. I've heard you talk about his research, how the Wizard felt about him. It's possible one of those things could've led to the same thing."

"Did the Wizard put Morrible up to this? How did she know about the premonition?"

"I don't know about the Wizard, Elphie. But as for the premonition, I think Madame Morrible had one. That's one of her powers. I never thought about it when you first asked, but after seeing what I saw, it makes sense."

"Does she know who? Does she know that it's us? Is she watching us?"

"Elphie, I didn't read Morrible. I read Ama Clutch. I don't know what else Morrible knows." Glinda paused for a moment and moved to sit next her roommate. "But I think it might be time to find out. I'll have to be careful. She knows what it looks like when I have my visions. I have to find the right time."

She nodded.

"I wouldn't act any different, though, if I were you. If you are being watched, she'd notice." Glinda put her hand on Elphaba's arm.

"She can't know we know." Nothing would change. She'd go see Fiyero, as she always had…

He kissed her hard the moment she walked through the door. "I got here early. I couldn't help it. I've wanted to be with you so badly…"

Gently, she put a finger to his lips. She looked up and found temptation in his eyes. How nice it would be to simply fall into him, let him take her to bed and make her cry out, make her forget. But she couldn't. "I need to tell you something."

"Is something wrong?"

Elphaba sighed heavily. "It's about what happened to Dr. Dillamond."

"Oh, Fae…" He lifted her chin slightly. "Please tell me you haven't been dwelling on that all summer."

"Only the past two or three days. Fiyero, Glinda saw something through Ama Clutch. He was killed because of us."

He tugged her to the bed and sat her down. "What do you mean by that?"

"Morrible thought he chose us as lab assistants on purpose. She thought he wanted to make the prophecy happen on his own. She thought he knew."

"He did."

"Not in the beginning. And he didn't choose us for that reason! We were the ones stupid enough to end up getting carried away in his lab."

"I somehow doubt Morrible knows about that or we'd both be expelled, in prison or dead." Fiyero put a hand on her shoulder. "What, exactly, did Glinda see?"

Elphaba leaned into him, shaking. "Dr. Dillamond was tied to a chair. Madame Morrible was asking him why he chose us, what he intended to do. She asked him why he wanted to interfere with fate and overthrow the Wizard. He said over and over again that he didn't know what she was talking about. He never gave us up. Then she untied him and left her stupid little TikTok servant to do the dirty work…"

Fiyero pulled her against him. "So she knows about us? That we're the ones in the premonition? We need to get out of here, go into hiding."

"Stop that! We're not going anywhere! We don't know what she knows, and until we do, we need to act like we always have. Glinda thinks that Madame Morrible has seen something, had the premonition. She doesn't know how much she saw. But she's going to find out."

"How?"

"Her powers."

"Madame Morrible knows about that, though, doesn't she?"

Elphaba nodded. "She's going to wait for the right moment. I don't know how long that will take. I begged her to do this last year, but now I worry about it. But she's certain that she wants to do this. She says there's too much at stake now."

"There is," he said. "Our lives, for one."

"I told you this was dangerous." Elphaba murmured.

"Fae, it's no more dangerous than it was before. The way I feel about you doesn't change it." Fiyero kissed her softly.

"The way we react to things, the way we act around each other… it is different, Fiyero." She clung to him, though. "When this first started, I realized it was treason, but all I ever considered was how much of my time it took from me. It never really hit me how serious this is, I don't think."

"Probably because you had no choice one way or the other. The danger in this is why my parents sat me down and let me choose." He ran his hands along her arms slowly. "I suppose because the danger is more present now, you feel it more."

"Because it got Dr. Dillamond killed."

"No. Perhaps it did, in a way, but we both know that he'd been a target for a long time."

"He died for something he didn't even do."

"I realize that. But he did know about it. And he was doing research that wasn't sanctioned."

"He didn't deserve to die!" Elphaba pushed him away.

"I wasn't saying that. I just don't want you blaming yourself for it. Dr. Dillamond was a good Goat, and a kind, intelligent creature. He didn't deserve to die for anything he did or knew."

"We have to do something! He can't have died for this and… we need to make sure he didn't die for nothing, Fiyero. We… we need to make this come true."

"Then we will," he promised her. He ran the back of his forefinger down her cheek. "We will." His other hand moved to her waist and pulled her close as he kissed her heavily.

She kissed him back, closing her eyes. Her fingers moved to the buttons on his shirt, quickly undoing each one. His hands fell to his sides as they cast the shirt to the floor. When his hands returned to her body, they went to the hook at the back of her dress, unfastening it and tugging it down until it fell at their feet. They fell back against the bed.

"I've missed you, Fae. I love you." He whispered against her neck as he moved to free her breasts from her bra, cupping them in his hands as soon as he'd succeeded. Fiyero pressed kisses to each one of them as her hands pulled his trousers off of him. He continued to kiss his way downwards and pulled the last of her clothing from her body. Pulling back for a moment, he looked at her. "Would it be terrible if I imagined you like this all summer? Sweet Oz, the real thing is so much better."

"Oh, Fiyero," she moaned. "I've missed you, too." Elphaba opened her legs for him. She didn't want his teasing or his caresses. She just wanted him. "I felt so empty," she whispered. "Fill me again."

His eyes on hers, he did just that, groaning when he was settled deep inside her and she gasped. "You feel so sweet."

She pressed her hips towards him, urging him to move within her. Her body ached at the way he stretched her. It had been months, and she supposed her body needed to adjust to accommodate him again. Elphaba clawed at his back as he began moving against her. "Please, Fiyero, please," she cried.

He usually took his time speeding up, but he was breathless within moments as he drove into her, burying himself inside her over and over as she panted and whimpered. Their lovemaking took on a frantic pace. Fiyero nuzzled his face against her neck, nibbling at the tender flesh there. It was as though he'd mapped her body, knew each buried treasure and weak point. One hand was giving him leverage above her, and his other hand had a single finger endlessly circling the peaks of her breasts.

She wrapped her legs around him and let her head fall back against the pillow, mouth open as she made wordless noises of pleasure at the depth he'd reached. Elphaba began to feel the sweet tingles of climax beginning in her core, and she begged him to move faster, pleading for him not to stop.

Always making sure to give her what she wanted, he sped his movements until she screamed his name, trembling and clenching around him, pulling him into her as his seed spilled deep into her. She clutched him helplessly in the throes of ecstasy. He kissed her cheeks, her nose, her lips as she came down from her high. "I love you," he whispered again.

Elphaba smiled up at him, her breathing slowing. "I love you, too," she panted. "I love you, too."