Yeesh, guys, your reviews are making me blush! So many of them, all so sweet, and even one in Portugese and one in Dutch. Special thanks to the guest reviewer who said my updates are the highlights of your day - because that's pretty much the goal of every writer!

30. Worries

Fiyero didn't tell anyone about the stalker's latest threat. Instead, he told everyone bashfully that he had dropped the cake and that it was ruined, but there were also cupcakes if anyone wanted one. No-one was angry, not even Galinda or Cohvu; everyone just laughed and stuffed themselves with cupcakes instead. Fiyero had asked Harron, who'd seen the cake and been horrified at the implications of it, to clean up the mess and to not tell a soul about this, which the cook had promised he'd do. The bodyguard had also asked some of the other guards to search the Palace and see if they could find anything, but to do so quietly and without raising alarm. He was determined not to let anything spoil this day for Cohvu and Galinda. They deserved a carefree afternoon of simple joy over their impending wedding.

"You're clumsy," Fawn said to Fiyero, taking a bite of what he thought to be her third cupcake.

"Hey, it was a big cake," Fiyero protested, which made her giggle, as had been his intention.

"Don't worry," she assured him. "We still like you."

Fiyero pretended to wipe some sweat from his brow. "Thank goodness."

They ate, laughed, talked, and danced to the music of the band. Fiyero, deciding not to think about the stalker again until later that day, pulled a loudly protesting Elphaba to him and started dancing with her. She tried to sneak off a few times, but he caught her around the waist and yanked her back, grinning at her exasperated face and stealing a kiss from her.

Galinda and Cohvu were dancing as well, as was pretty much everyone else. Over the course of the afternoon, Elphaba found herself not just dancing with Fiyero, but also with Cohvu, Duran, and Gazilon, and even with her father. She was just recovering from that latter experience when Xalo came up to her, bowed formally, and said, "May I have this dance, Milady?"

That caused a wide smile to spread across her face and she curtseyed. "You may, good sir." She then proceeded to dance with her son, who tried to mimic the other men's dance moves as well as he could, and Elphaba gave him a big kiss afterwards.

"Mum!" he complained, wiping his cheek. "That's not what a lady does after having danced with a man!"

"Oh, you're right, sweetheart. How could I forget?" She curtseyed again. "Thank you for this dance, sir."

"The pleasure was all mine, Milady," he replied, leaving her quite impressed. She laughed when she saw him move on to Galinda to ask her to dance as well.

She sat back with a drink, watching Fawn dancing around with Oscar, Cohvu, Duran, and Gazilon, giggling all the while. Fiyero went over to the little green girl and asked her to dance as well, to which she eagerly agreed.

"Step onto my shoes," he instructed her and she did so, holding Fiyero's hands tightly as he started walking around with her, making her shriek with laughter. Elphaba couldn't help but think that Xalo had been right: Fiyero was the closest thing they'd ever had to a father. It had only been the little things they'd really missed out on by growing up without a father, she mused, but they still had missed out on certain things and she hated that thought.

They had fun the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening before the first guests started to leave. Gazilon was among them, since he still had to drive a couple of hours back home; and Duran decided to go as well.

"No hard feelings?" Fiyero asked him as he clasped the other man's hand.

"Buy me those Vinkun beers one of these days and I'll tell you," Duran replied, at which Fiyero grinned.

Elphaba hugged both him and Gazilon, promised to keep them updated on the stalker business, and asked them to drive safely before watching them leave. It took a while, but eventually, the garden had emptied of guests, the band had packed up and left, and the only ones still out there were the Palace staff members cleaning up the mess.

Galinda sighed happily as she returned inside. "That was wonderful, wasn't it, Elphie?"

"It was perfect," Elphaba agreed with a smile. "Very you."

Galinda smiled back. "Thank you for letting us have the party at the Palace," she said, but Elphaba waved her off.

"We have too much room here, anyway, and we have staff," she said. "It was much easier to do it here than back at your place. Although perhaps you should consider moving here," she teased, "since you and Cohvu seem to be spending all your time here, anyway."

Galinda giggled. "I suppose we'll stay at home more often once my pregnancy progresses," she said, placing one hand on her still-flat abdomen. "Oh, Elphie, can you believe this? I'm having a baby and I'm getting married!"

Elphaba had to smile again at that. "How do you feel about that?"

"I feel like it's about time!" Galinda said, which made Elphaba chortle. "No, I'm serious! Elphie, right when we first became friends, I told you I wanted to be married straight after school and have a baby not much later – and look at me now, being your and Oscar's PA for nearly four years already!"

"Glin, you're twenty-five," Elphaba emphasised. "You're still young. Trust me, you don't want to have a baby too early."

Galinda looked at her. "You would know," she said, "but you're so happy with Fawn and Xalo at the same time."

"Of course I am." Elphaba smiled at the mere thought of her children. "But still. It wasn't easy back then, Glin. I love them to pieces, but if I could have had them five or even ten years later, I would have." She patted her friend's arm. "It's good to have a solid base first before you start doing such things. You and Cohvu both have good jobs and you've saved money, you've got your own house… it's important to have a stable home life before having a baby, both for yourselves and for the child. Trust me."

"I do." Galinda sighed happily. "I can't wait to start preparing things for the wedding, and the nursery… I really hope it's a girl!"

"Of course you do," Elphaba muttered and Galinda was so happy and serene that she did not even admonish her friend for that.

After Cohvu and Galinda's engagement party, the stalker was pushed to the back of everyone's minds a little, for which Elphaba was grateful. The twins hardly talked about anything other than Uncle Cohvu and Auntie Galinda's wedding and their baby. Fawn was to be Galinda's flower girl and Xalo would carry the rings, which they were incredibly excited about.

As for Cohvu and Galinda themselves, they walked around as if they were on cloud nine all the time. Galinda sighed and giggled a lot, even more so than usual, and there was a dreamy look in her eyes. Cohvu acted normally enough, aside from the huge grin that seemed to have taken permanent residence on his face; but the moment he laid eyes on his fiancée, that grin grew to inhuman proportions and adoration was written all over his face. Elphaba complained they were making her nauseous, but everyone knew she was genuinely happy for her friends and glad that their happiness wasn't being overshadowed by her own problems at the moment.

The only one who wasn't happy at all was Fiyero. Oh, he was happy for Cohvu and Galinda, definitely; but with each passing day without any trace of Avaric, his scowl became deeper, his eyes darker, and his frustration more palpable. He just couldn't stand the idea of Avaric being out there, going freely, while they were all still afraid he would do something to Elphaba. He'd been inside the Palace again, made it to the kitchen and the cake, and still no-one had seen or heard anything and his guards couldn't find any trace whatsoever. It drove him crazy.

He hadn't told Elphaba about Avaric's latest threat; but when he entered his rooms one day after work, he found her sitting on the edge of his bed, the note from the cake in her hands. She looked up when he entered and he deflated upon seeing what she was holding, his shoulders slumping.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" she asked.

He sank down onto the bed next to her and ran his hands over his face. "Everyone was so happy and relaxed after the party," he said, not looking at her. He buried his face in his hands. "I didn't want to ruin that. For any of you. Nothing more came from it, anyway – there's no trace. No fingerprints, no footsteps, nothing."

Elphaba laid her hand on his shoulder. "I understand," she said quietly. "Still, you should have told me."

He glanced up at her and when he saw she wasn't angry with him, he exhaled slowly. "I know."

She removed her hand and leaned her head on his shoulder instead, lacing their fingers together. "Are you okay, Yero?" she asked and he could hear the concern in her voice. "Because I can't help but feel like all this is slowly driving you insane."

He glanced at the note she was holding. I want you, my love, it read, followed by yet another detailed description of what it was, exactly, that he wanted. Fiyero felt sick just looking at the note, knowing what it said.

"Maybe it is," he admitted and she raised her head to look at him.

"Why?" she asked. "You've had difficult cases before."

"I have," he confirmed. "Some far more difficult, and some even longer, than this one. But…" He sighed through his nose and reached up to touch her face. "None of them involved someone I care about," he said. "Not really. I've grown attached to clients before, but never to this extent… and this is why I was so adamant to stay away from you, Fae. I've fallen in love with you and the mere thought of this bastard doing something to you, or to the twins, makes me want to kill him. Quite literally."

She smiled sadly and squeezed his hand. "I understand." She cupped his face in both her hands, making her look at him. "But, Yero, I trust you. We all do. You've solved your cases before and you'll solve this one, too."

"Yes, but at what cost?" he asked and she shook her head.

"You're protecting us," she said. "Nothing is going to happen to us." She swung one leg over him, straddling his lap, and rested her forehead against his. "Stop worrying, Yero my hero," she said. It worked – he smiled. "We'll all be fine."

He nodded and she ran her long, slender fingers through his hair, pressing her lips against his. "Hey, Yero?"

He made a little noise of acknowledgement in his throat, something between a hum and a sigh, and it made her smile. She kissed him again. "I know you'll be coming to that gala this Thursday with us, anyway, for protection and everything…"

"Mm-mm."

"But I was wondering if you'd want to come in a different capacity as well."

He opened his eyes to look at her and she sat back a little. "As… well, as my date."

A brilliant smile lit up his face and he pulled her closer again, kissing her deeply. He pushed her back onto the bed, kicked off his shoes, and lay down beside her, kissing her again.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," she said between kisses and he grinned.

"You do that."

"So that's you and me, Oscar, and Fawn and Xalo," Elphaba summed up. Her tone and the thoughtful look in her eyes made it clear she was thinking right now and that wasn't exactly what Fiyero wanted her to do, but he decided to indulge her for just a moment.

"Galinda and Cohvu aren't coming, are they?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It's just for government officials and such," she explained. "Mayor Samms has been in office for ten years – hence the anniversary gala – and he knows most of the other important mayors and officials quite well. He and Dad have been friends for a while, too. It's a bit of a mix between an official and a private party, I think."

He pursed his lips, considering that, and cocked his head a little to the side. "Do you know what you're going to wear yet?" he enquired.

Elphaba stared at him. "Since when have you turned into Galinda's male counterpart?" she demanded and he chuckled.

"I just like seeing you in pretty dresses." Fiyero shrugged. "Can you blame me? Obviously you're always beautiful, but I love it when you dress up."

She was still staring and he prodded, "So do you have a dress yet? Wait a second," he frowned, "should I get a new suit? Or a tuxedo? Should we match our outfits or something?"

Now she rolled her eyes at him. "Don't obsess over it, please. You'll see my dress in two days' time and whatever your fanciest suit is will work just fine."

"If you say so." He still looked doubtful, though, and a little put out. "Can you at least tell me the colour of your dress?"

She scowled at him and pushed herself up, intending to move away from the bed, but Fiyero caught her around the waist and yanked her back. She fell flat onto her back on the bed and he grinned as he hovered over her, pinning her arms above her head and capturing her lips with his in a gentle kiss.

"Does this mean you're done talking about formalwear?" Elphaba asked pointedly.

He gave her an impish grin. "I think I'm done talking about anything right now," he said and she smiled and pulled him back to her for another kiss.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Enjoy the fluff while it lasts, because the next few chapters are going to be heavy ones!