AN: here we go guys! I want to thank whoever my guest reviewer was. They gave me some good ideas, some of which will be coming in to play in the next few chapters. I don't know who you are, but thank you! Shout out goes out to vinkun wild flower queen, princess Kadence of music and princessofthenegaverse for bearing with me as I bombard them with plot questions, making sure everything makes sense lol. Thank you to all others who reviewed, and here we go for the next chapter. Some Fiyero for you guys! Mostly filler, but a little bit of moving the plot along will come too. Sorry for how short it is, but my motivation to write this today was very low, but I try to be regular in my updates, as much as I can with a busy work schedule.

Fiyero was astonished at the sight before him. Never had he expected to see the green spitfire standing in front of him in the Wizard's private study.

"What are you doing here?!" This was the question he had intended to ask, but it came out with a few choice curse words. He winced; thankful his mother wasn't around to hear him.

"I was invited to spend two weeks with the Wizard. No thanks to you, you jerk. You are the reason I was sent back to that pit…" Fiyero tuned out the rest of the ranting and raving against him, too intrigued by the way anger highlighted the green girl's features.

"…two broken ribs and who are you anyway you imbecile?" He was jerked from his musings by that last statement.

"Wait what? My name?" Insulted, he straightened to his full height. "My name, since you so politely asked, is Prince Fiyero Ibrahim Tiggular, crowned prince of the Vinkus." He had the pleasure of watching Elphaba stop and sputter in an attempt to recover some dignity. His anger abruptly drained away as he saw her wince and press a hand against her still tender ribs. He vaguely recalled her saying something about two broken ribs during her tirade and immediately felt guilty.

Oscar looked at the two teenagers and cleared his throat in an attempt to get the attention of the two angry teenagers. "Would you please explain what is going on here and why Elphaba felt the need to insult royalty?" At this last statement Elphaba looked sheepish, before she and Fiyero both started talking at once.

"Silence!" Both Fiyero and Elphaba stopped in surprise for neither had ever heard the wizard raise his voice. "Now, would ONE of you please explain what is going on here, for I have obviously missed something. "

Elphaba sighed and looked down at her hands. She knew this conversation had to happen, especially as Oscar had been patient and had not asked how she came to be injured. She started at the beginning, detailing why she left the orphanage on her own in the first place, how she had stolen some food to eat, and the subsequent chase throughout the city, with her collision with Fiyero and being taken back to the orphanage and Frex's treatment of her.

Oscar grew angrier and angrier when he heard of Frex's treatment of Elphaba and asked her if this was the first time he had beat her. She hesitated, and just by that, both Fiyero and Oscar knew that this was not the first time. She slowly shook her head no, then ran from the room in tears, ashamed and embarrassed by the pity she saw in both Fiyero and Oscar's eyes.

Later, Fiyero went in search of Elphaba, intending to apologize. When this proved unsuccessful, he asked Melena if she had any idea where Elphaba might be. She told him to try the library and looked after him with a knowing gleam in her eye. The two young people may not know it yet, but they were both headed down the slippery slope of teenage attraction.

Elphaba had fled to the library and was trying to stop her tears when Fiyero entered. Upon seeing him, she quickly scrambled up and into and awkward curtsy.

"Prince Fiyero. Please forgive the way I acted earlier, I had no right to speak to you that way."

"Please, it's just Fiyero. I would also like to apologize. I never meant for things to turn out the way they did that day, and I am truly sorry that you were injured. Now, let's call a truce for now. Friends?"

Elphaba hesitated and slowly nodded. "Friends."

"Now, how about we leave the palace and I will show you the Emerald City as you have never seen it before!" Fiyero could tell that Elphaba was still nervous around him, but made a vow to himself that by the end of her stay with the Wizard, that nervousness would disappear and she would be comfortable around him.

Back in his study, Oscar thought about the note that Elphaba had told him about in her story about why she left the orphanage. He already had a present picked out for her for Lurlinemas, but it was a generic idea that he figured a teenage girl would like. Mulling over the thoughts in his head, he called for Melena.

"Melena, do you know anything of Elphaba's parents and how she came to be at the orphanage?"

"Not really, just that she was left there with a locket, a note and a little bottle as an infant. Why?"

"I was thinking that as a Lurlinemas present to her, we could try and find her parents, but I am not sure it's a good idea. She has enough issues with people and feeling unwanted due to her green skin and I don't want to add to her burdens. She is so young."

"I think we should. If we are unsuccessful, we do not have to tell her anything. If we are successful, maybe we can give her some answers to the questions that she has had about her life and her past." They discussed for several hours how they would go about it, and eventually decided a quiet investigation would be best. Neither of them could have foreseen how this one choice would impact all of their lives forever.