AN: Next chapter will be... um... not fun :P.

Moreanswers24: Guess what? CYARA IS HERE! :P

Elphaba'sGirl: How? How do you highlight the lines? It's driving me crazy! :')

Musicgal3: That's exactly what I love so much about you guys telling me your favourite lines - reading them through your eyes always makes me crack up/'aww'/cry all over again! :D

Chapter 13. The princess

Fiyero suddenly felt very faint; and Elphaba tightened her grip on him as he swayed slightly. Galinda quickly shot forward again to help her friend.

"Fifi?" she asked softly.

Elphaba looked at Madame Morrible. "Where is she?" she asked.

Morrible nodded towards the door in the corner of the room – the one she had tried to take them to right in the beginning.

Elphaba looked up at Fiyero; and he slowly started moving forward, his hand gripping Elphaba's so tightly that he nearly broke the skin. Flanked by the two girls, he made his way over to the open door and stopped in the doorway, looking inside.

A girl with light blonde hair was sitting on a couch with her back towards the door, wrapped up in a blanket and cradling a cup of something – tea, Fiyero supposed. He slowly took another step forward.

She must have felt his presence, because she turned her head; and when she saw him, she let out a gasp, quickly put her cup on the table and all but flew towards him, nearly knocking him over as she hit him and clung to him like she was never going to let him go again. "Yero!"

"Cyara?" He blinked a few times, dazed; then his arms came up and wrapped around his little sister.

The tears started streaming down her face almost immediately and she buried her face in his neck, crying.

"It was so horrible!" she sobbed, still clinging to her brother. "There was an explosion, and then the castle started caving in… I didn't see Mum and Dad anywhere, and I was so scared, Yero! She… they… I remembered the attacks, the Glikkun people, and… and I didn't know what was happening, but I was so afraid that it was them and that they would try to find me to… to finish me off…" She choked on a sob and Fiyero cradled her in his arms like a baby and carried her over to the couch, sitting down and settling Cyara down in his lap.

She never once let go of him – her arms were still wrapped around his neck.

She sniffled. "So I… I ran. I thought… I didn't know what had happened to Mum and Dad, and I was so scared that… that if I would just go to the hospital, they would find me there and kill me... I panicked, and I ran. Some people along the way offered me shelter for the night and some food, and I tried to make my way to you, because… because you might be the only family member I have left, Yero – you were the only one of whom I was sure that he was still alive, and so I… I tried to find you…" She hiccupped. "And then I heard that Daddy died, and…" She burst out in a fresh wave of sobs and Fiyero held her tightly, rocking her back and forth softly. His eyes met Elphaba's over his sister's head, and he reached out to her with his free hand. She took it and squeezed it gently.

"Shh, it's okay," Fiyero tried to sooth his sister, attempting to console her. "Mum is still alive, Cy, and so are you. You have no idea how happy I am to see you – all the general told me in his letters was that you were missing, and you were most likely still underneath the remnants of the castle… I thought you were dead, Cyara!" He sniffled and Cyara gripped him even tighter.

"Are you Elphaba?" she asked in a small voice, still clinging to Fiyero, but noticing the green girl over his shoulder.

Elphaba smiled. "I am."

"This wasn't exactly how I had wanted the two of you to meet," Fiyero muttered, actually managing to elicit a soft chuckled from his little sister.

"Come on," he said to Cyara. "I'm going to take you to my dorm room, okay? We need to talk."

"We'll just go back to…" Elphaba began.

"No!" Fiyero's hand shot out and he grabbed her wrist – not hard enough to hurt her, but firm enough to keep her from moving.

"Come with us?" he asked her. "Please?"

She only hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"I'll go and tell Boq, Nessa and Gazilon that your sister is still alive," said Galinda softly. "I'm sure they would want to know that."

Fiyero flashed her a grateful smile over his sister's shoulder.

They made their way to Fiyero's dorm room, where Elphaba immediately took on some sort of mother role. She handed Cyara a shirt and a pair of pyjama trousers of Fiyero's to sleep in and ushered the girl into the bathroom to clean up a little. When the princess came out again, Elphaba wrapped her up in a blanket and planted her on the bed, where she immediately cuddled close to Fiyero, clinging to him.

They talked quietly and in the meantime, Elphaba moved into the small kitchen adjoining to Fiyero's bedroom and started preparing a meal for the younger girl.

Fiyero had one arm wrapped around Cyara's shoulders; and when Elphaba slowly sat down on his other side, he wrapped his other arm around her, squeezing her closer. She smiled a bit sadly at him before directing her attention towards the Vinkun princess.

Cyara was shaking, despite the blanket and the fact that she was burrowed into Fiyero's side; and Fiyero gently helped her up and into the bed, tucking her in tightly.

"You're safe now," he whispered. "Everything will be alright, Cy. I promise."

"I - I was thinking…" Cyara hiccupped with a sob. "That if I had died… or if you had died somehow… that… that one of the last things I said to you was that I was glad to see you going back to Shiz!"

She burst out in a fresh wave of sobs and Elphaba's heart broke watching brother and sister together. Fiyero crawled onto the bed with the young girl, wrapping his arms around her and allowing her to sob into his shoulder.

"I didn't mean it!" she cried. "You're my brother, and I love you, and I actually really miss you when you're gone all year, but –"

"Shh, Cy. I know. You were just teasing me." He hugged her tightly. "I love you, too, sis. You have no idea how happy I am to see that you are alright."

Elphaba was watching them silently, a soft look on her face. When he looked up, she caught his gaze and mouthed, "Do you need anything?"

He shook his head and mouthed back, "Thank you." She gestured that she was going to leave, and he nodded and threw her a sad smile. He would like for her to stay, but he was aware of the fact that she still needed to keep up appearances with Gazilon; and besides, he needed some time alone with his sister now.

Elphaba quietly tiptoed out of the room, softly closing it behind her before making her way back to her own dorm room, where she found Galinda, Nessa, Boq and Gazilon all sitting on various surfaces around the room.

All heads turned towards the green girl as she entered and she gave them a faint smile. "Cyara is alright," she reassured them tiredly. "She's been very scared and of course she's upset about her father's death and everything that has happened, but she's with Fiyero now. They'll both be fine."

Galinda heaved a sigh with relief, and Gazilon came forward to gently wrap Elphaba in a hug. "What about you?" he asked her. "Are you alright?"

She gave him a wry smile. "Just dandy. As always," she added, and he made a face at her.

"Fabala," Nessa said a bit irritably, "I really don't want you spending so much time with Fiyero anymore."

Elphaba stared at her sister incredulously. "What?"

Nessa crossed her arms and stuck her chin up defiantly. "No matter how good your cover is," she declared, "I want you to stop it. You're endangering us all."

"Nessa," said Elphaba, frowning, "you were the one who blurted it out to Boq and Galinda."

"Only because you were doing it!" Nessa insisted. "I'm not good at lying and making things up, you know that! If I slip up, it will be your fault!"

"Nessa, I can't just leave him now!" Elphaba protested, but Nessa stuck her nose up in the air.

"Yes, you can."

"Guys!" Galinda shouted. "Please!"

"It's up to you, Elphaba," Boq assured the green girl. "I mean, I can keep my mouth shut; and if need be, I'll help cover for you."

Elphaba smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Boq."

Gazilon squeezed her shoulders. "Me, too. You know that."

"And me!" Galinda chirped.

Nessa glared at all of them, scowling angrily. "I'm going to tell Father," she declared.

Elphaba's eyes widened. "Nessa, no!" she cried.

"Yes," the wheelchair-bound girl said stubbornly. "Someone clearly needs to teach you a lesson."

With that, she wheeled herself away, her head held high.

Elphaba was staring after her sister with wide eyes.

"She can't," she whispered. "If she writes to Father…"

Boq placed one hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry," he told her. "I'll talk her out of it." He quickly dashed after Nessa.

Elphaba moaned and sank down onto the edge of her bed, burying her face in her hands.

Gazilon rubbed her back comfortingly. "Don't worry, El," he tried to soothe her. "Nessarose will calm down. Everything will be alright."

"I almost slept with Fiyero tonight," Elphaba said, her voice muffled by her hands.

Gazilon frowned. "You mean you were planning on spending the night with him?"

"No." Elphaba lowered her hands to look at Gazilon wearily. "I mean that if Galinda hadn't interrupted us, you and I would have had a big problem on our wedding night."

Gazilon's eyes widened and his mouth fell slightly open. "Oh," he managed to squeak.

Galinda giggled at his reaction.

Elphaba sighed, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her dress. "Nessa is right," she said quietly. "It has to stop. I mean… what if Galinda hadn't interrupted us?"

"Then I would make sure there would be something sharp in my bedroom on our wedding night," Gazilon said immediately. "All it would take is a small cut in my arm, or something else people wouldn't immediately notice, and there you go – blood on the sheets. It's not that hard, El."

Elphaba stared at him in amazement. "Would you believe that I hadn't even though of that?" she said in wonder. "Why in Oz didn't I think of that?"

"Because you were too busy panicking over what you should do with Fiyero," Galinda said helpfully. She jumped off her bed and crawled down in front of her roommate. "Elphie, I love you and I want you to be happy."

"But I can't be." Elphaba looked at the blonde pleadingly. "Don't you see? Sooner or later, it has to stop, anyway. I'm supposed to marry Gazilon. We're supposed to create a permanent bond between the Glikkus and Munchkinland – I can't ever be with Fiyero, Glin. I have to live happily ever after with Gazilon, produce heirs…" She trailed off and shook her head. "It would be better for me to break it off now, rather than later, when we're even deeper into it."

Galinda had to admit that that sounded sensible.

"Just sleep on it," Gazilon advised the green girl. "It's late, anyway – I should go. We'll talk in the morning, alright?"

"Alright," Elphaba agreed miserably, and Gazilon planted a kiss on the top of her head before leaving the room.

Galinda looked at her friend. "Elphie?"

"I'm fine, Glin." Elphaba sighed and smiled weakly at her friend. "I'm just going to go to sleep now, okay? I'm really tired."

"Okay." Galinda watched her roommate worriedly as she disappeared into the bathroom and emerged again minutes later, dressed in her nightgown. Elphaba crawled into her bed and shut off the light.

"Goodnight, Glin."

"Goodnight, Elphie." Galinda sighed and dressed into her own nightgown.

Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would try to think of a solution for this problem that would make everyone happy.

"She did it."

Elphaba whirled around when Boq suddenly spoke from behind her, and she put one hand over her heart.

"Oz, Boq!" she cried. "You scared the living daylights out of me!"

Boq, however, was looking pale, sweaty, and very grim.

"I couldn't talk her out of it, Elphaba," he said bleakly. "She locked herself in her room and Horrible Morrible refused to let me in. I didn't see her again until this morning. She sent a letter to your father."

Elphaba's knees buckled at that and Gazilon quickly grabbed her arm to steady her.

"I'm really sorry, Elphaba," Boq said, his voice shaking a little.

Elphaba looked up at Gazilon.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," he tried to calm her down. "Maybe he'll just send you an angry letter to warn you to stop it, or something, and that will be all."

Elphaba hoped he was right.

But she doubted it.

Dun dun duuuuun! *smirk*

Please review! Favourite lines? :)