AN: Sorry it took me so long to get this up, but those of you who also read You're Still The One already know the reason why - I unexpectedly had to get one of my wisdom teeth removed and so I spent the past week lying on the couch and moaning in pain (first because of the tooth itself, and since Friday because of the fact that it was removed and there's now a gaping hole in my mouth. And it HURTS).

But I'm back now! Also, note that I put up a new oneshot - it's called These Words and it's a tiny little sequel to Shadows, because I just couldn't let that one go. Feel free to check it out :).

Random: Oh my Oz, you get to see Willemijn with your school? :O That is so cool! I wish my school had done cool things like that... unfortunately, no such luck. But tell me everything about you seeing Hayley, too! I hope you had fun :). And please don't feel like that - true, some of my reviewers have been there for a long time already, but I love my new reviewers as much as I do my old ones, so don't feel shy! Reviews make me so happy! :)

Fae Tiggular: It's funny that every time you get upset about me hurting, or threatening to either hurt or kill, Fiyero, you start referring to him as 'my Yero'. *smirk*

Elphaba'sGirl: That would be Barbie in a Mermaid Tale. Please don't ask me how I know.

Watercolor: Now I'm curious about your statistics stuff. Because I'm forced into statistics classes myself, so I know how totally not-fun it is ;).

This chapter is for my anonymous and/or new reviewers, because I love you all just as much as I do my old/regular ones :).

Chapter 22. Release me

Elphaba swam back a little and stretched out her hands, focusing on the barred fence in front of them. She squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched up her nose in concentration, but nothing happened.

With a frustrated shriek, she banged her fists against the bars. 'Stupid magic powers! Where are they when I need them?'

Fiyero tried to take her hand. 'Fae…'

She pulled away from him and swam back again, throwing her entire weight against the fence. It left her arm and shoulder feel bruised, but the bars didn't budge. She tried again, and again, until Fiyero finally stopped her. 'Fae!' he said sharply.

She looked up at him.

'Stop it,' he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 'You're hurting yourself.'

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears and she pulled away again, letting herself sink down into the sand at the bottom of the ocean. 'It's my fault,' she whispered, hugging herself. She sniffled a little, trying to keep her tears at bay, but to no avail. She started crying. 'You're going to drown, and it will be my fault!'

'Hey!' He moved to sit next to her, gathering her in his arms. 'It's not your fault, a chroí. Not at all. I decided to come with you, remember?'

'But I asked you to come with me,' she whispered. 'I shouldn't have done it in the first place. I knew I couldn't trust Morrible, I just knew it, but I just… I needed to know, and… and she said she could help me… and now…' Another sob escaped her lips, and he pressed his lips to her hair, gently rocking her back and forth. 'We'll get out of here, Fae,' he whispered. 'We'll think of something. But I don't want you to think that it's your fault we're in here. It's not, okay? It's not.'

He held her tightly, and she buried her face in his shoulder. She was trembling all over and he softly stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her.

They sat in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Fiyero wished there was something he could do, but he had no idea what. He had already seen that the cave only had one entrance, and that was the one currently being blocked by a barred fence; there were no other holes in it through which they could escape. The bars were too thick to move, the openings between them too small for Elphaba or Fiyero to wiggle themselves through. They were trapped.

He wondered what it would be like. To drown. He'd never really thought about that before. He couldn't really imagine it would be all that pleasant, to have your lungs fill up with fluid and not being able to take a breath – he remembered almost drowning once when he had been a small child, and he shuddered at the memory. He didn't remember all of it, but he knew it had felt awful and he had panicked completely. His father had gotten him to the surface just in time.

But still, he mused, it would also be strangely poetic, in a way. He had always loved the sea and everything about it; he loved to swim, he loved the stories about the Mythical Sea, he spent almost all his free time at the beach. And now Elphaba, the girl he loved, had turned out to be a creature of the sea as well – a mermaid. He couldn't really think of a better place to die than the ocean, if you thought about it that way.

But still. No matter how poetic it was, and no matter the fact that he couldn't think of a better place to die than right here; he could still think of a better time to die. Like, in sixty years, or something.

He sighed and Elphaba looked up at him. 'What are you thinking about?' she asked softly.

He knew it would only upset her if he told her the truth, so he settled for, 'Possible ways to get out of here.' That wasn't a complete lie, either.

However, she had always been able to read his mind, and that didn't stop now. She made a soft, choked sound in the back of her throat. 'I can't watch you drown, Yero,' she whispered brokenly, burying her face in his neck. 'I can't.'

He didn't say anything, just held her to him and pressed his cheek against her soft raven hair. He wanted to reassure her, tell her that he would be okay, that they would both be fine, but he couldn't. Because truth be told, the situation was rather hopeless.

'Do you think it's night already?'

Fiyero's voice broke the silence. They had been locked up for what felt like days, but must have been hours; they had spent those hours trying to find a sensitive spot in one of the walls or in the bars, and Elphaba had tried a few times more to use her magic to break through either the cave walls or the bars, but nothing happened.

She shrugged listlessly in response to his question, not even looking up. He stared at the bars, wondering how long he had left before the spell would wear off.

'What time do you think it is?' Elphaba asked quietly after a while. Fiyero let out a mirthless laugh and leaned his forehead against the bars. 'Time to die?' he muttered sarcastically, more to himself than to her. 'A quarter to death?'

Elphaba abruptly turned away from him, and he sighed, immediately regretting that. 'Sorry.'

She didn't say anything, just huddled in the corner, and he moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her. 'I'm sorry, Fae,' he said again. 'I didn't mean to-'

'No, you're right,' she cut him off, sharper than she'd intended. 'It's true, after all, isn't it?' She fell silent for a moment. Then she pulled away from him and swam towards the bars again. 'Unless I could…'

He sighed, recognising what she was trying to do. 'Fae, you tried using magic before,' he reminded her gently. 'It's not working.'

She shook her head. 'Maybe not,' she said through clenched teeth. 'But I can't stop trying.'

'Fae…'

She focused again, ignoring him, willing those stupid powers of hers to surface; but once again, nothing happened. 'Come on!' she exclaimed, flapping her hands and clenching them to fists.

She felt Fiyero tentatively touching her waist. 'Fae…'

If I can't get my magic powers to work, Fiyero will die.

And somehow, that thought did it; because suddenly she could feel that strange sensation that was her magic running through her veins, and she gritted her teeth and extended her arms, closing her eyes. Because she did that, she couldn't see what happened, exactly; but Fiyero saw the bright blue and emerald beams shooting from Elphaba's hands, and he saw them hitting the wall of the cave. The entire cave shook and shuddered with the impact, and he immediately pushed her down to the ocean floor, covering her body with his and protecting his own head with his arms.

When the noise stopped and dust slowly settled down, Fiyero carefully lifted his head, gasping softly when he saw the hole Elphaba had blown into the wall.

She tried to squirm herself free from underneath him. 'What? Fiyero, I can't see anything. What's going on?'

He moved off of her and pulled her up, before kissing her blatantly. 'You did it, Fae!'

She pushed him away to get a good look at the wall herself. There was, indeed, a hole in it… but it wasn't very big. 'I must admit,' she said drily, 'that judging by the impact of it all, I had expected a bigger hole.'

He shrugged. 'Who cares? It's big enough, isn't it?' He swam up towards it and stuck his arms through it, then pulled himself through, wiggling until he came out on the other side. He let out a howl of triumph. 'We're free!' He turned around excitedly. 'We're not gonna die!'

Elphaba, meanwhile, was halfway out of the cave herself, but now she looked pained. 'Correction: you're not gonna die.'

He instantly panicked. 'What? Why? Are you hurt? Fae? Why would you say that?' he demanded in a high voice.

She glared at him, which shut him up. 'No, Yero, I'm not hurt,' she told him patiently. 'I'm stuck.'

He almost laughed out loud. 'What do you mean, you're stuck? You can't be stuck,' he declared. 'You're way smaller than I am, and I didn't even get stuck. So how could you possibly be stuck?'

'Well, trust me, I am,' she snapped at him. 'I may be smaller than you, Yero, normally… but you seem to have forgotten about the fishtail.'

His eyes widened. He had, indeed, conveniently forgotten that she was a mermaid for a moment… but he had seen himself that the tail was pretty impressive, not to mention rather big compared to her slender frame.

He gestured for her to get back. 'Let me try.'

She obediently moved back inside the cave and he pushed himself through the opening again. 'Now try again.'

She could only get the upper half of her body through the opening, and no matter how hard he pushed, or how violently she squirmed to get free, she couldn't get the fishtail through.

She looked crestfallen when she moved back, and he took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. 'Can't you change yourself back into your human form?' he suggested.

She looked at him as if he had gone crazy. 'Fiyero,' she said slowly. 'I have only used my powers actively three times in total, two of which were accidental. Just now, it took me hours to blow a hole in a rock wall. I have no knowledge of or experience with any kind of spells or magic whatsoever. So no, I don't think I can change myself back.'

He bit his lip. 'Then what?' he asked, slightly panicked, and she looked at him. 'You go.'

He stared at her. 'Excuse me?'

'You heard me,' she said. 'You must go, Yero. I'll be fine – I can breathe under the water. You can't. The spell will wear off soon, and we can't risk that. You have to go now, or it might be too late.'

He shook his head frantically. 'I'm not leaving you.'

'There's no time for this!' She started pushing him towards the hole in the wall again. 'If you don't leave, you'll die, Fiyero, so stop being stubborn and just go!'

He hesitated. He knew she was right; he really didn't want to leave her, but he wouldn't be any good to her if he drowned, either. 'Alright.'

'Fiyero, I just said…' She blinked when his response sank in. 'Wait. What?'

'You're right,' he said. He drew her into his arms and kissed her softly. 'I love you.'

She kissed him back, then pulled away. 'I love you, too, Yero. Now get out of here,' she begged him. 'Please.'

He nodded grimly, then pushed himself through the opening and swam in the direction he remembered the entrance of the caves to be in.

'Elphaba?'

The green girl looked up, her entire body tense. Was Morrible back? It was a female voice, so it could not be Fiyero – thank Oz for that. She was immensely grateful that at the very least he had gotten away.

There was the voice again. 'Elphaba, are you in here?'

That, Elphaba decided as she slowly swam up from the ocean bottom and towards the barred fence blocking the entrance, was a strange question, which told her that whoever this was, it was not Morrible.

As she thought that, the person who had spoken came into view, and Elphaba studied her critically. It was a woman, in her late thirties or early forties. She had black hair that reached her shoulder blades, a silvery blue fishtail, and a skin colour that was something in between light blue and light green.

She looked relieved, though slightly pained, when she saw Elphaba. 'It is you, isn't it?' she whispered, and Elphaba eyed her warily. 'Depends on who's asking.'

The woman just smiled a bit sadly. 'I'm here to help you,' she told the younger mermaid. She stretched out her hand and concentrated. Slowly, but surely, the opening Elphaba had created in the rock wall of the cave earlier, started to widen, until it was big enough for Elphaba to fit through – fishtail and all.

She immediately took her chance and escaped from the small space, before turning and taking in the woman in front of her. 'Who are you?' she demanded. 'How do you know me? And how did you know I was here?' Her eyes narrowed. 'You're not working with Morrible, are you?'

The woman actually laughed softly at that, seemingly surprised. 'With Morrible? Me? Trust me, Elphaba – I'd much rather cut off my own tail.'

Elphaba relaxed slightly at that, though she was far from actually trusting the woman. 'But then-'

'There's no time for all that now,' the mermaid cut her off gently. 'Just come with me, Elphaba – please. I promise I'll explain everything, but right now, we have to get out of here before Morrible comes back.'

'Last time someone told me they'd explain everything to me, I ended up stuck in a tiny cave at the bottom of the ocean,' the green girl muttered under her breath, but she obeyed nonetheless and followed the older woman through the caves and out of them. They swam for some time before they reached what looked like an underwater village, and Elphaba gasped – which was a rather strange sensation under the water – when she saw it.

'It… it's beautiful,' she said softly, taking in the coral walls of the small houses, the sea plants scattered everywhere, waving on the stream… she had never seen anything like this before.

The woman smiled. 'It's my home,' she said softly. 'It is now, anyway. I used to have a different home…' She exhaled and shook her head. 'But that home was taken from me a long time ago.'

Mesmerised, Elphaba swam past the houses, noting that it wasn't just mermaids living in the village – there were also living all kinds of sea Animals, which surprised her probably more than it should have. After all, if Animals lived among the people on the shore, than why wouldn't it be the same under the water?

She turned around to face the other mermaid once more. 'I want you to tell me everything,' she said. 'I think I've been kept in the dark for long enough now. I need answers.'

The woman thought about that for a moment, then nodded slowly, giving Elphaba a small smile. 'You're right,' she admitted. 'Alright. I will tell you.'

She sat herself down on a rock, and Elphaba followed her example, eagerly awaiting the other mermaid's story.

'When you were a young girl,' the woman began, 'your mother was murdered.'

Elphaba nodded. 'By my aunt.'

The other woman looked shocked. 'Who told you that?' she demanded, seemingly angry. 'Was it Morrible?'

Elphaba blinked, slightly baffled. 'Yes, but…'

The woman shook her head violently. 'It wasn't your aunt, Elphaba,' she declared. 'Your aunt never did anything. It was Morrible who murdered your mother.'

Somehow, Elphaba didn't have much trouble believing that.

'Your aunt was blamed for the crime, and banished,' the woman continued. 'Morrible took power then, but as you might have guessed, she's a far cry from a fair ruler. She likes to dominate and dictate her people, keeping them in check by using her powers to frighten them, often killing them just to set an example.'

She shook her head again, softly this time, looking wistful. 'I wish I could have stopped her,' she muttered, more to herself than to the green girl sitting across from her. 'I wish I could have done something, anything… more than I did. Because what I did, while trying to keep you safe… it wasn't enough.'

Realisation dawned on Elphaba almost immediately, and she looked at the woman again, studying her, her facial expression, her features, her looks, her eyes. 'You're her, aren't you?' she asked softly, meeting the other mermaid's gaze. 'You're my aunt.'

The woman seemed stunned, and she hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded, staring down at her hands. 'Yes,' she admitted. 'I'm your mother's sister.'

Also (no, I'm not done ranting yet. I'm sorry for the incredibly long AN stuff, but bear with me, guys - it's been a WEEK!), I couldn't help but notice the fact that this story scored a great majority of the votes in my poll. Which I actually thought is kind of interesting, because I figured that you'd prefer musical-based stories - as in, they actually follow the musical, at least up until some point. This one is as AU as they come, and I thought many of you wouldn't really like that, but apparently I was wrong about that!