AN: Hi guys! :) Thanks so much for your lovely reviews!

First of all, I want to squeal about Flashdance for a moment - went to see it last Saturday and it was amazing. Not Wicked-amazing, but amazing nonetheless. The main male character was portrayed by the guy who played Dutch Fiyero, which was awesome. I loved the music, the dancing, the romance scenes (*squeal*! I kept picturing Yero and Fae), the singing, the acting, the everything, really. And I love the What A Feeling-shirt I bought :P.

Siarenthander, he hasn't called her a Vinkun nickname in this story before, but I get why you're getting confused :3. I'm making it a common thing in my stories because I really like it, because for this story, I'm going to stick only with an occasional 'a chroí'.

Ronnae: That's the best compliment I've ever gotten. Thank you so much.

TheLilyReviwer: Thank you, too, so much! :) And yes, I only found it fitting that Morrible would get to be a real fishwoman for once :P.

Musicgal: Still love you, girl.

Glisa the Good: Stanley is absolutely right, and I loved that :).

Also, (sorry for yet another way too long AN), could you guys please check out the poll on my profile page? It's my first poll ever :3 but I'd like to get your feedback on the subject of my stories. I mean... I like writing stories like Made to be broken and Yero my hero, because they're filled with disasters and drama and hurt/comfort, but I feel like, for example, Shadows and Ocean's daughter are way different, and I was just wondering which (types) of my stories you guys like best.

Chapter 20. It's all here to discover

Fiyero looked up and smiled when he saw Elphaba enter. 'Hey, Fae!' His smile faded to a frown, however, when he saw the bewildered and slightly panicky look in her dark eyes. 'Fae? Are you alright?'

'Can we talk?' she asked, her voice sounding a little strange, and he hastily put the book he had been reading aside. She didn't even make a comment on the fact that he was reading a book, which told him just how serious this was. 'Come on.'

He took her to his private sitting room upstairs and closed the door behind them before turning around. 'Are you okay?'

She bit her lip. 'I'm not sure, actually,' she confessed, and he moved closer to her, lightly placing his hands on her shoulder and looking into her eyes. She could see the worry in his own eyes when he asked tentatively, 'Is this about… us? Did I do something?'

'No!' She looked up at him with wide eyes, horrified. 'Of course not!'

He relaxed and she buried her face in his shirt. 'Yero?' she asked in a small voice.

'Yes?'

'Do you think I'm delusional?'

He pulled away to look at her. 'What in Oz gave you that idea?' he demanded incredulously.

She started biting her lip again. 'My magic powers. You loving me.' She paused for a moment and furrowed her brow. 'And the fact that I just had a conversation with a voice without anyone attached to it.'

'Whoa, stop right there.' He gently sat her down on the couch and sat down next to her, keeping their fingers entwined. 'What happened?'

'I…' Elphaba fell silent for a moment. 'I was on the beach,' she said finally. 'I was just… talking to myself. And then someone responded, only there was no one there.'

She looked up at him. 'Yero… this person knew who I was,' she said softly. 'She… or I think it was a she… knew my name, she knew that I tried to talk to Governor Thropp but didn't get much information out of it… she said I'm his daughter, Governor Thropp's, and that this Melena he kept on talking about is my mother .The voice said I have family somewhere that it could reunite me with.'

Fiyero tried to wrap his mind around this. 'And you don't know who this was?'

Elphaba shook her head. 'There was no one there,' she said. 'I don't know if there are people who can change themselves into rocks, or make themselves invisible… but I swear, Yero, that it's true. There was no one there, but I was talking to someone.'

'I believe you,' he assured her quickly. He flashed her a grin. 'I mean, come on, Fae. You manipulate water, you heal people, you can breathe under the water, and you love the brainless playboy prince. When it comes to you, nothing surprises me anymore.'

For some reason, that made her blush a little; but she was glad that he believed her.

He cocked his head a little to the side thoughtfully. 'Do you think it could have been an Animal?' he asked her. 'Some kind of Bug, perhaps?'

She stared at him, amazed. 'I hadn't even thought of that,' she confessed, and he smiled at her. 'Well, whatever or whoever it was, it's still strange,' he mused. 'What did you think?'

'I think…' Elphaba chewed the inside of her cheek and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. 'I think that it's amazing… if it's true. But I'm not sure if it's true.'

'Do you think that voice made it all up?' asked Fiyero, but Elphaba shook her head. 'Let me rephrase that: I'm not sure if I can trust the source of this information.'

He nodded understandingly. 'Well, it's hard to trust someone you can't even see.'

'I wish I knew more.' She sighed. 'I just… I want to find out where my family is and where I'm from, more than anything – you know that. But… but what if this is some kind of trap?'

He looked at her sympathetically.

'But on the other hand,' she continued softly, 'until I try, I'll never know. And if I decide to ignore this, I might regret it for the rest of my life.'

She leaned against him and sighed. 'Why is this so difficult?'

He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. 'Because the most important decisions are never easy. But no matter what choice you make, I'll support you.'

She looked up at him with those large chocolate brown eyes of hers. 'Would you come with me?' she asked softly. 'To the beach? To see if we can find out anything else?'

He leaned down to kiss her. 'Of course.'

And so a few minutes later, the two of them made their way to the beach, to the spot where Elphaba had first heard the voice.

'Was it here?' asked Fiyero, and she nodded, looking around her. 'Yes, it was, but there's no one-'

'Hello, dearie.'

Fiyero gasped and Elphaba spun around to face him. 'You heard that too, right?' she asked anxiously.

He nodded, looking a little pale, and she breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank Oz, I'm not going crazy.'

He chuckled faintly at that. 'I guess not.' He looked around. 'Who are you?'

The voice sighed irritably. 'Not you, too. Why is that all you two can ask, Prince Fiyero?'

He wasn't even surprised at the fact that this voice knew his name. 'Could you at least show yourself, then?'

The voice seemed to drift further to their right. 'If you insist.'

Suddenly, there was a movement in the air. It looked like water, tiny drops of it that started to swirl around in the air, finally revealing a person standing in the middle of it.

It was a woman, about sixty years old, with powdery white hair and pale blue eyes. Her skin was white and wrinkly, and she seemed to be wearing lots and lots of make-up; but even all the make-up couldn't mask the fact that she undoubtedly looked an awful lot like a fish.

She curtsied. 'Miss Elphaba. Master Fiyero.'

They both gaped at her.

'My name is Morgana Morrible,' the woman continued, turning her piercing blue gaze first on Elphaba, then on Fiyero, then back to Elphaba again.

'It's, um… nice to… meet you?' Fiyero tried weakly, and the woman cackled. 'It might be.'

Elphaba stepped forward. 'How did you do that?' she demanded.

'What? Making myself invisible?' Morrible made a gesture, there was a wave of water and suddenly she was nowhere to be seen again. 'I use the water,' her voice whispered, before she became visible again and looked at Elphaba. 'I draw the droplets of water in the air towards me and thus disguise myself,' she explained. She smiled at Elphaba, eyes gleaming. 'You could do that, too, dearie,' she whispered. 'You could do so much more than what you've already discoverated. I could teach you. I could help you in so many ways…'

Fiyero now understood what Elphaba had meant when she had told him that she didn't trust the person behind the voice. Morrible didn't really give him a reason to, but there was something about her that made the small hairs at the back of his neck stand bolt upright.

He looked to his right. Elphaba was obviously hesitating, but then she stepped forward and nodded, determination shimmering in her eyes.

'I want to know.'

Morrible grinned at her. 'Good.' She extended her hand towards Elphaba. 'Come with me.'

Sudden fear caused Fiyero's throat to clench shut – she wouldn't just go with this woman, would she? – but much to his relief, Elphaba took a step back and shook her head violently. 'Oh, no. Not just like that. You honestly expect me to just take your hand and let you lead me to Oz-knows-where?'

Fiyero wrapped his arms around her waist from behind protectively, and she put both hands over his arm and squeezed it reassuringly. She looked up at Morrible. 'First I want to know where you're going to take me,' she stated.

Morrible cackled. 'Trust me, dearie. You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'

'Well, is it far?' asked Elphaba, and the older woman shook her head. 'Closer than you'd think,' she whispered mysteriously.

'Okay.' Elphaba nodded. 'How about this: I come back tomorrow morning, and you take me to wherever it is you want to take me then.'

Morrible looked faintly annoyed. 'Why not right now?'

'Because I want to talk to Hamold and Lori first to let them know what I'm going to do.'

Morrible nodded thoughtfully. 'The King and Queen of the Vinkus and the closest thing to parents you've ever had. I see.'

'How long do you think it will take us to get there and come back?' asked Elphaba. Morrible cocked her head a little to the side. 'I think it will take us a few hours to get there,' she said. 'We could spend the night there and return here in the morning.'

'So two days?'

Morrible nodded, and Elphaba took a breath. 'Alright.'

'Do we have a deal, then?' Morrible asked, and Elphaba looked her in the eyes. 'One more thing.'

Morrible groaned softly. Fiyero's grip tightened around the raven-haired sorceress, but she squeezed his arm again to let him know not to worry.

'What is it?' Morrible asked with a sigh, and Elphaba half-turned to look up at Fiyero and stated, 'Yero is coming with me.'

He was completely taken aback by that. 'Really?'

'Only if you want to,' she said, suddenly uncertain. 'I mean… You said you wanted to be there, but if you don't-'

'Of course I'll come,' he cut her off firmly. 'Fae, wherever you want me to be, that's where I'll be. And I'd feel much better if I were to come with you than if I would have to stay behind and let you go alone,' he confessed.

Her face broke into a smile and she leaned up to kiss him softly. 'I love you,' she murmured, three words that never failed to make his heart flutter.

'Well,' Morrible's voice came sarcastically, 'however touching that is, I'm afraid he can't.'

Elphaba turned around again, startled. 'What?'

Morrible sighed. 'Miss Elphaba… the place where we're going is… ah… complicated.'

'What do you mean, complicated?' Elphaba demanded. 'If I can get there, then so can Yero, right?'

Morrible shook her head. 'Dearie, I'm afraid you don't understand,' she said impatiently. 'Have you never connected the dots?'

Elphaba looked at her in utter confusion. 'What dots?'

Morrible gritted her teeth. 'Come on, dearie, think about it. You're allergic to fresh water, but not to salt water. You can breathe under the water. You can control water. Do you see the common factor here?'

'Water,' Elphaba whispered when she finally realised that, and Morrible grinned at her. 'Exactly.'

Elphaba looked at the older woman almost fearfully, inwardly already bracing herself for the answer that was to come. 'Madame Morrible… What am I?'

Morrible's grin widened. 'All in good time, dearie. All in good time.' Her eyes bored into Elphaba's. 'But that is where we'll be going tomorrow,' she whispered. 'Under the ocean.'

Elphaba swallowed.

'So now do you see why your princey can't come with you?' the woman asked. 'Last time I checked, he couldn't breathe under water.'

Elphaba looked up at Fiyero. Then she looked back at Morrible. 'If he's not coming, then neither am I,' she said simply.

Fiyero sucked in his breath. 'Fae…'

She shook her head and he turned her around to look into her eyes. 'Fae,' he said gently. 'You can't give this up for me. Like you said – this might be your one chance to learn where you come from. Don't let that be ruined by me. Please.'

She shook her head again. 'I can't do this without you, Yero,' she whispered, and he kissed her forehead. 'Of course you can. You're strong, Fae. You can do this.'

'I don't want to. Not alone.' She looked at Morrible again. 'We're both coming, or we're both staying here. That's the end of it.'

Morrible looked annoyed again and groaned. 'Fine,' she finally relented with a sigh. 'I might know a tiny little spell that will allow your princey to breathe under the water for twenty-four hours. Of course, that means we'll have to return early, because if we spent the night under water, he might drown, and I guess we don't want that-'

Elphaba glared at her.

Morrible quickly complied. 'But we could do that. Tomorrow morning at nine, we'll be leaving.'

'Nine it is,' Elphaba agreed, and Morrible nodded, a grin spreading across her face once again. 'I can't wait, Miss Elphaba,' she said.

She curtsied. Then she disappeared in another wave of water.

Lori's utensils clattered against her plate as she dropped them, gaping at her son and his girlfriend. 'You're going where now?'

'I must have trouble hearing,' Hamold said drily, 'because what I heard was 'into the ocean'.'

Fiyero suppressed a chuckle. 'That's because that's what we said,' he pointed out.

Cohvu, who had once again stayed over for dinner, looked at his friends with one raised eyebrow. 'And you mean that literally?'

Elphaba nodded. 'It's not that strange,' she defended herself. 'You know I can breathe under the water, Cohvu. And this Morrible woman knows a spell that can help Fiyero do that, too.'

She told them everything that had happened with Morrible and everything they had been talking about, but when she finished, the others didn't look any less stunned.

'So… what does that mean?' Cohvu asked slowly. 'That you're from under the water?'

Fiyero's eyes had widened. 'That makes sense,' he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else, amazed. 'I mean… you were washed up on the beach, Fae. You appeared from out of nowhere. You didn't understand any Ozian language at all, and no one could figure out where you came from… and now these powers, and the fact that you can breathe under water – and this thing with Morrible… What if that really is where you're from? The sea?'

Hamold looked a little paler than usual. 'Suddenly Yero's theories about sirens and mermaids don't seem so ridiculous anymore,' he said, forcing a smile, but looking shaken.

Lori shook her head slowly. 'I must say, all kinds of theories about you crossed my mind, Elphaba,' she admitted. 'From your parents having died in a shipwreck to you having been kidnapped and left for dead on the beach. But never, ever, could I have come up with this.'

Cohvu was starting to look excited. 'Do you think it's true?' he asked Elphaba, impressed. 'That you're a siren or something?'

Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'Let's not jump to conclusions here, okay?' she warned him. 'Let's just…' She shoved the food on her plate around for a little bit. 'Let's just wait until tomorrow,' she continued softly. 'See what happens and go from there.'

'You're right.' Hamold nodded and smiled a bit faintly at Elphaba. 'I think this is brave of you, Elphaba. To do this, even though you know it might not be pretty what you'll find.'

Elphaba shook her head. 'I just… I need to know,' she said softly, and Hamold smiled at her sympathetically. 'I know you do, kid. But I'm glad Yero is going with you. Just in case.'

She smiled and sought out Fiyero's hand under the table, squeezing it. 'Me, too.'

'Well, whatever happens…' Lori looked at Elphaba solemnly. 'Good luck tomorrow, Elphaba,' she said sincerely. 'And please do come back to tell us what you've found.'

'Of course I'll come back!' Elphaba hastened to reassure the Queen. She shook her head. 'I don't know what I'll find, or what will happen, but I will come back. I mean…' She chewed her bottom lip. 'I know I haven't always seemed grateful,' she admitted, looking guilty. 'You've done so much for me, and I just kept telling you that it didn't feel right, that something was off. And it does feel that way, because I don't know for sure who I am or where I came from. But… I don't think I ever thanked you for what you did.' She looked around the table. 'Taking me in, taking care of me as if I were your own daughter… befriending me and standing up for me, something no one else would ever do.' She smiled at Cohvu, and he smiled back. Then she looked at Fiyero and her gaze softened. 'Loving me.'

He brought their joined hands above the table and kissed the back of her hand.

She looked at the King and Queen again. 'So… thank you,' she continued. 'For everything.'

Lori actually had tears in her eyes, and Hamold appeared to be touched as well as they both moved around the table to hug the green girl. 'You're welcome, sweetheart,' Lori told her. 'We love you like a daughter, you know that, and we're so proud of you.'

'All of us,' Cohvu added with a lopsided grin, and Elphaba let out a choked laugh before hugging him. 'Thanks, Cohvu.'

The boy turned to his friend with a stern look on his face. 'And you, Tiggular,' he said threateningly. 'Take good care of her, or you're a dead man.'

Fiyero grinned. 'Love you too, dude.'

'Don't make me doubt your sexual orientation,' Cohvu warned him teasingly, and Fiyero rolled his eyes.

Lori turned to Elphaba again. 'So… good luck, sweetheart,' she said, hugging the girl once more. 'I hope you'll find what you are looking for.'

Elphaba smiled. 'Thanks, Lori. So do I.'

But even if she wouldn't find it tomorrow, she thought as she watched the ones she considered her family at the table around her, she wouldn't give up. She would find what she was looking for; if not tomorrow, then later on in her life, because she wouldn't stop looking until she found it.

Next chapter will be drama. Oh, and kudos to the one that knows the source of this chapter's title.