AN: This chapter didn't exactly come off the way I wanted it to, but I tried. And I suppose that since it's Fiyeraba fluff, you won't hate me too much :3.

Also, I saw 'Remember Me' for the first time yesterday - has any of you seen that movie? I wasn't too impressed, I thought it was a bit long and it wasn't really going anywhere, but then that THING happened and it left me completely shocked and in tears, so now I love the movie. Sniffle.

Other things... Oh, of course! I've decided to post a new Frex Hunters oneshot on Halloween, so if you want to be in it, just send me a review or a PM and let me know! You may include preferred weapons or other things that I can use, if you want to :).

Chapter 16. You're my mirror

At least he had the common sense to put on a raincoat before he went outside, figuring that if he did find Elphaba, he was going to have to protect her from the rain somehow. He quickly grabbed a blanket from the couch in the living room and tucked it under the coat – just in case.

He ran outside, ignoring the pain in his torso as he made his way down the beach, frantically looking around for any flash of green. 'Elphaba!' he called, but there was no answer.

He jumped over some debris that had washed ashore and ran on, constantly looking around and calling her name. He figured that if she had gone for a walk more than half an hour ago, she could have come quite far; he would go on a few miles or so and then go back to see if perhaps she had gone the other way, but he knew that she usually came to this particular part of the beach, so he kept his ears and eyes wide open.

He reached the spot where the sand turned into rocks, and he was about to turn around, when he suddenly remembered something. He knew there to be a cave around here somewhere. It wasn't big, just big enough for two or three persons to sit next to each other; but it was big enough for her to take shelter from the rain. It was at least worth a try.

He moved in the direction he remembered the cave to be, almost blinded now by the curtain of rain falling down around him. Lightning flashed again and he cringed, but it illuminated the rocks around him and allowed him to catch a glimpse of green inside the cave.

Relieved, he made his way over there, crawling into the small cave as well, though he was careful to stay away from her, him being dripping wet and all. 'Fae?'

She looked up and stared at him for a while. She was a little pale, there were angry red spots covering her arms and face, and she was obviously cold – her lips were blue and she was shivering; but other than that, she seemed to be okay.

'Yero?' she asked, stunned. 'What in Oz are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to be out of bed-'

'I'm not,' he cut her off, carefully removing his raincoat and carelessly tossing it into a corner. Thankfully, it had managed to keep his clothes and hair dry, and the blanket, as well. 'But I saw the rain, and Cohvu said you were out here…'

Now she looked completely incredulous. 'You came out here, in this storm, with broken ribs… for me?' she asked in utter disbelief, and he looked at her as if she was saying something really stupid. 'Yes. Of course.'

There was a lump in her throat suddenly, and she swallowed. He shook his head slightly. 'Fae, you were outside in the rain and you're allergic to water. I was worried sick – we all were. We thought you might have…' He swallowed and didn't finish his sentence. She moved a bit closer to him, touching his arm. He looked at her and she said softly, 'Thank you.'

He rolled his eyes. 'You're my best friend, Fae,' he reminded her. 'Of course I was worried and of course I wanted to find you.'

Now that she was closer, he could feel her shivering, and he spread out the blanket and wrapped it around her. 'Here.'

She flashed him a grateful smile, and he pulled her closer, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm her. When a soft whimper of pain escaped her lips, he immediately stopped. 'I'm sorry.'

'It's okay,' she said, still shivering. She moved her arm from under the blanket to show him the tiny burns the rain had left there. 'The rain took me by surprise,' she explained when she saw his horrified face. 'I couldn't find shelter right away.'

'I wish I had remembered to bring your oils,' he muttered, but she shook her head. 'It's fine. Or, well, it will be once I get back.'

She looked at him, concerned. 'What about your ribs?'

'They'll live,' he said dismissively. She didn't seem convinced, but she didn't push the matter; instead, she hugged her knees to her chest, still shivering despite the blanket.

'Elphaba?'

She looked up, faintly alarmed at him using her full name. His gaze was serious for once as he looked back at her. 'Would you tell me what's going on?' he asked quietly.

She blinked. 'What do you mean?' she asked, confused, and he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. 'Look, Fae… You haven't been behaving like yourself lately, and I'd like to know why. I have my suspicions, and Mom and Cohvu have theirs, but I want to hear it from you.'

Now it was her turn to sigh, and she stared outside at the pouring rain again. For a long moment, she didn't say anything, and he thought she was just going to ignore the question; but then she softly admitted, 'I'm just… confused.'

He waited for her to say something else, to elaborate, and she paused shortly before doing so. 'Has Cohvu told you what happened?' she asked.

'About you saving my life with your magic?' He took her hand and squeezed it. 'Yes. Thank you.'

She pulled her hand away. 'You shouldn't thank me,' she protested. 'I had no idea what I was doing. Fiyero… I healed you. Using magic. These strange things keep happening to me, and I just…' She shuddered a little, and this time it had nothing to do with her being cold. 'Yero?'

'Yeah?'

She bit her lip. 'Do you remember… the other day, when I got stuck under the water and you saved me?'

He nodded. 'Of course I do.' He furrowed his brow. 'Does this have anything to do with your behaviour afterwards?' he asked. 'I figured you were that quiet because of what happened with Governor Thropp the other day, but…'

She shook her head. 'That wasn't all of it,' she admitted, but she didn't elaborate, just drew her knees closer to her chest and rested her chin on top of them.

'So what happened?' he prodded gently.

She thought about it. Should she tell him? She wasn't sure how he would react. Wasn't it freakish enough that she made water go crazy and was able to heal people? Wouldn't this just be the final proof for Fiyero, and everyone else, of how weird and… non-human she really was?

He waited patiently for her to reply, and finally, she gave in, her voice barely audible. 'I breathed.'

Now he looked even more confused than before. 'What?'

She didn't look at him. 'I breathed,' she repeated, her voice still barely above a whisper. 'When I got stuck, I panicked, and I took in a gulp of water… only I didn't choke. I didn't drown. I could breathe, Fiyero. Sure, it felt strange, and it only caused me to panic even more, but I'm absolutely sure that's what happened. I could breathe under the water.'

He was completely stunned. He didn't know what to say.

'That's the real reason why I was so panicky when you brought me up again,' she continued quietly. 'Not because I almost drowned… because I didn't drown.'

She huddled in the blanket, as if to hide herself from him. 'It's why I was so quiet afterwards, too… I was just… I don't know what to think of myself, and I was worried about what you all would think… I mean…'

'Fae.' He took both her hands in his and squeezed them softly. 'We're not going to think differently about you because of something like this! You having these magical powers… it's nothing less than amazing. But it doesn't change anything about who you are or the way we look at you.'

She looked up at him with huge, dark eyes. 'Really?'

He rolled his eyes. 'And then you call me brainless? Really, Fae, sometimes I just don't understand you.'

She sighed and averted her eyes again. 'Sometimes I don't understand myself, either.'

'Everyone has that sometimes,' he assured her, moving closer to her again and gingerly putting his arm around her in another attempt to warm her. She stiffened at first, but then she relaxed a little and leaned against him.

They were quiet for a while, just listening to the rain drumming down on the rock ceiling of the cave. Then she suddenly whispered, 'I'm sorry that I said you didn't have a brain. You know, back at the hospital.'

He laughed. 'Fae, you've been telling me for years that I don't have a brain, and you're right, too. Why would you suddenly feel guilty about saying that?'

She curled into him a little bit more. 'Because,' she said in a small voice. 'It's much less funny once a doctor tells you that the one you've been joking about will most likely have brain damage.'

He pulled her a little bit closer, tucking the blanket in around her. 'I'm sorry I scared you.'

'I'm sorry it happened.'

'That wasn't your fault,' he told her sternly. 'And don't you even dare to think otherwise. What happened that day was only more proof of my brainlessness.'

She scowled at him, but at the same time, she looked a little pained. 'Don't say that.'

'I'm fine, Fae,' he whispered, rubbing her back. 'No lasting damage done. I'll be back to my old self in no time.'

'I know,' she said in a choked voice. 'But there was so much blood, and then you closed your eyes and…' A single sob escaped her throat. 'And then the doctor came and told us what he thought would happen, and… and it was just so awful…' She hiccupped and buried her face in his shirt. 'I thought you were going to die!' she cried, and his heart broke. Elphaba, his parents, Cohvu, they were all right – he had been an idiot for just going after Avaric for no real reason. And even afterwards, when he had woken up again, he hadn't really thought about what it must have been like for his family and friends until Elphaba had started yelling at him.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered, stroking her hair. 'Lurline, I'm sorry, Fae.'

She just burrowed further into his chest and didn't answer, and he held her close as he felt her body tremble against his. He didn't think he had ever before felt this guilty about something – or, well, about everything, really – in his entire life.

Eventually, she calmed down a little, but she didn't move away, only adjusted her position a little so that she was leaning against him with her head on his shoulder and the blanket pulled tightly around her. He gently rubbed her back. 'You okay?'

She made a muffled sound that apparently meant something along the lines of 'fine', and without even thinking about it, he pressed his lips into her hair. Immediately, he felt her tense a little and she raised her head, wariness clearly visible in her eyes. 'What was that for?'

He wasn't really sure what to say to that, so he just shrugged. 'Because I felt like it?' he tried weakly.

She narrowed her eyes dangerously. 'Fiyero…'

'Elphaba…' he mimicked her. He took her hand and laced their fingers together, squeezing it softly. 'I think… No, I know… Oz, I can't say this.'

'Can't say what?' She sat up straight, looking worried now. 'Yero?'

He looked at her. He always marvelled at how well she knew him, how she could read his mind, but Cohvu and Galinda had been right – she obviously couldn't read his mind when it came to this. He almost wished she could, so that he didn't have to say it, but he knew he had to, sooner or later, and now seemed as good a time as any.

She looked up at him, and he asked bluntly, 'Do you promise that you won't run away?'

She raised one eyebrow. 'Yero, it's raining,' she pointed out. 'If I run away, I'll most likely die. I don't know what you're going to say, but I doubt it will be so awful that I would want to kill myself.'

He had to chuckle slightly at that. 'I sincerely hope not,' he said, not entirely joking. 'But I don't mean literally, or just right now… I mean in general. I need you to know this, but I don't want it to ruin what we have… you know, our friendship… and stuff.'

Now she really looked worried, and he shifted a little, so that they were both sitting on their knees, facing one another. He reached up with his hand, hesitated for a moment, then moved it towards her face and gingerly tucked a strand of loose raven hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again to look at him. 'I promise.'

He took a deep breath and mustered all of his courage. 'Fae…' Oz, he was so bad with words when it came down to it.

Then he realised with a small jolt that he didn't have to tell her, per se. He could also show her.

Praying that he wouldn't have to return to Adurin Iir with a handprint on his cheek, he leaned in closer, his heart pounding in his chest.

Elphaba's own heart was hammering as well when she realised what he was doing – or, well, what he was most likely doing – but she didn't stop him. She wanted this. She couldn't believe he would want this, but one look into his sapphire blue eyes left her completely incapable of any conscious thought.

And then he kissed her, and it was like she was flying.

Somehow, his hand ended up tangling in her hair and her arms ended up around his neck. He realised she wasn't going to slap him and kissed her a bit more confidently. Then he slowly pulled away, leaving them both a little dizzy.

'And what was that for?' she asked, trying to sound casual about it, but her voice was trembling a little and she sounded breathless, which gave her away.

He just grinned at her, absolutely sure that he would never stop grinning again. 'Again,' he said cheekily. 'Because I felt like it.'

She just stared at him.

He chuckled and pulled her closer again. She didn't protest as he rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. 'I think… I think I'm falling in love with you,' he confessed.

The few clock-ticks that passed between his confession and her reply were the longest clock-ticks of his life. He saw her eyes widen, but apparently she was rendered speechless, because she didn't respond right away. He thought it ironic – she always knew what to say, and now that he wanted her to say something more than ever, she stayed quiet.

Finally, she opened her mouth and he held his breath.

'You,' she said, having regained her composure a little, 'are such an idiot.'

He just kept on looking at her, not sure about what to make of that answer; but then, she let out a strangled laugh and pretty much threw herself at him, winding her arms around his neck again and kissing him back.

She had imagined this for so long, yet she hadn't dared to let herself believe, or even dream, that it could come true someday. She had always thought she wasn't that girl. For Oz's sake, he was a prince, and a handsome one at that, while she was just a strange green girl with even stranger magical powers and a water allergy to top it all off. She was a freak. An aberration. How could he possibly feel this way about her?

But he did. She could see it in his eyes when he looked at her. She had always been able to read him like an open book, and what she saw now, the relief flooding his eyes, convinced her of the fact that he was being serious. She had no idea how, or why, but it was true.

Unless he was just a really good actor. She pulled away, studied him for a moment, then started shaking her head. 'Yero, how could you possibly-'

He just cut her off with another kiss, taking her by surprise and causing a Galinda-like squeak to escape her, which made him smile. He looked into her eyes. 'Don't do that,' he begged her. 'I know how insecure you are when it comes to these sorts of things, and I know you don't believe that anyone could feel this way about you…'

She stared at him, shocked that he knew – did he read minds?! – but the she realised who must have told him. 'Was it Galinda?' she asked, gritting her teeth.

He hesitated. 'Well, technically it was Cohvu,' he conceded a bit sheepishly, 'but he had heard it from Galinda, so…'

Elphaba's eyes narrowed. 'That girl is so dead.'

He chuckled and shook his head. 'Don't be too hard on her,' he said. 'I, for one, am glad she told us.'

Elphaba buried her face in her hands and heaved a deep sigh. 'But how, Fiyero?' she asked, her voice sounding a little muffled. 'I don't understand.'

'Yes, well, sometimes you don't have to understand everything,' he told her, wrapping his arm around her still shivering form and pulling her closer. 'Sometimes you just have to feel.'

Suddenly, uncertainty sparked in his own eyes. 'Only if you feel the same way about me, that is-'

She rolled her eyes. 'Because me kissing you back wasn't a clear enough answer for you?' she quipped, and he chuckled. 'Point taken.'

Outside, the storm was still roaring, and Elphaba shuddered when she looked at the gallons and gallons of water pouring down from the sky. She pulled the blanket tighter around her and moved a little closer to Fiyero, seeking out his body warmth. 'Looks like we're going to be stuck here for another while longer.'

He leaned down and softly brushed his lips against hers again, smiling at the way her eyes fluttered shut when he did that. He couldn't believe this was happening, and perhaps it wasn't – perhaps this was yet another good dream and he would wake up in his bed alone. But if this was a dream, he was going to enjoy every moment of it.

'I don't mind,' he murmured in reply to her remark, stroking her cheek, then moving his fingers up to run them through her long hair. She sighed and leaned into him. It was like he took away all of her common sense in one touch. She couldn't really think around him, no matter how hard she tried.

'Really?' she asked softly, still uncertain, but he just kissed her again. 'Really.' He grinned when he realised that he had finally told her how he felt, and not only had she not slapped him, she even returned his feelings. If this was a dream, he never, ever wanted to wake up again.

He played with the soft strands of raven hair, twirling them around his fingers. Then he leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her hair.

'I have you right where I want you.'

So... thoughts? Comments? Favourite lines? Let me know!