AN: I love how you all loved the sexy bandages :D. And I agree, Gazilon and Galinda need a good ship name. Gazinda? Gazilinda? Galindilon? Galinlon? LOL

The Wizard of Wicked: I can totally see a bunch of girls fangirling over Fiyero's bandage now.

I also agree with you guys that Elphilon friendship is cute, but I'll never ship it, either :P.

Chapter 19. The plans

The reunion between Cyara and Fiyero and the queen of the Vinkus was the most heartbreaking thing Elphaba had ever seen.

The moment the carriage stopped, Cyara leapt out of it, yelling, "Mum!" Only then did Elphaba notice a woman standing there, waiting for them. She was dressed in a black gown with full skirts and she was wearing a crown on top of her wavy, light brown hair, which flowed down to her shoulders.

The moment Lori saw her daughter, her eyes widened and she whispered Cyara's name. The blonde princess launched herself at her mother in a tight hug as Gazilon helped Fiyero down from the carriage.

Cyara and Lori were both crying as they held one another.

"Oh, Cyara," Lori whispered, hugging her daughter tightly. "Thank Oz. When you disappeared, and they couldn't find you among the remnants of Adurin Iir…" She shook her head. "You have no idea how scared I was, and how relieved I was when Fiyero wrote me you were with him! I thought…" She choked on a sob and Cyara hugged her even tighter.

And then Lori caught sight of her son over Cyara's shoulder and she slowly let go of the girl. "Yero…" Her eyes filled up with tears again when she saw the state he was in.

He just embraced her wordlessly and she clung to him. "I'm okay, Mum," he assured her softly. "I'll be fine. Cyara, too. We still have each other."

"I know." Lori took a deep breath and pulled away, looking into her son's eyes. She gently reached out to touch the bandage around his head. "I know."

He pulled away and looked up at the huge castle. "So you're staying at Kiamo Ko now?"

Lori nodded. "They're working on rebuilding Adurin Iir," she said quietly, "but the explosion caused so much damage that we won't be able to live there for at least another five years or so. Your father…" She closed her eyes for a moment. "We've decided to bury him here."

Fiyero squeezed her hand comfortingly. "I'm so sorry, Mum."

"Me, too, sweetheart." She wrapped one arm around his waist and one arm around Cyara's. "You have no idea how grateful I am that you are both alright," she said. "I love you."

Both of her children hugged her back. "We love you, too, Mum."

Then Fiyero detached himself from his mother and looked over at Elphaba, who was standing a few metres away with Gazilon. He beckoned her and she limped over to him.

"Mum," he said, "this is Elphaba. Fae, this is my mum, Queen Eleonora of the Vinkus."

"You can call me Lori," the woman assured Elphaba as she embraced her warmly. "Fiyero has told me so much about you… I wish we could have met under different circumstances." She took Elphaba in. "Are you alright?"

"I will be." Elphaba looked at the queen. "I'm very sorry about your husband," she said softly.

Lori smiled sadly at her. "Thank you, sweetheart." She tried to keep her composure, but her voice cracked a little.

"Come on," she said, forcing herself to sound cheerful. "Let's get out of the cold, alright? There's a nice fire inside." With that, she ushered everyone into the castle.

The funeral was sad, but beautiful. Fiyero held onto Elphaba's hand tightly throughout the entire service, and everyone, even Gazilon, cried as Lori spoke a few words about her husband, followed by Fiyero, who talked about his own memories of his father. When it was over and King Hamold had been buried, Lori invited the guests into the large sitting room of Kiamo Ko for coffee; she herself, however, went upstairs with the others, retreating from the public display.

"It's customary to invite the guests inside after a funeral," Lori explained quietly, "but most people probably won't even expect me to be there. They'll all understand that I'm not really in the mood to mingle."

She ushered Fiyero and Elphaba into the prince's bedroom to rest, which they both rather easily complied to – Fiyero because he felt genuinely tired, dizzy and drained from the emotional morning; and Elphaba because she wanted to stay with Fiyero.

"Mrs. Tiggular – I mean, Lori?" Galinda quickly corrected herself. "Are you… I mean… are you okay?"

Lori smiled sadly at the blonde. "I'm alright," she said, "thank you for asking. Or as well as can be expected in the circumstances, anyway." She sighed. "For now, I'm just glad that I didn't lose Cyara and Fiyero, too."

She rose to her feet. "Why don't you all get some rest?" she suggested. "I will see you again tonight for dinner."

With that, she left the room.

Gazilon and Galinda shared a look. Cyara stared at the door her mother had just disappeared through, feeling torn.

Then she rose to her feet. "I'm just going after her for a moment," she said softly. "I think… I think she needs me right now."

Galinda gave her an encouraging smile and the younger girl left.

Galinda sighed and sank back into the pillows of the couch. "I feel so awful for them. Fiyero and Cyara losing their father, Lori her husband… Fiyero is king of the Vinkus now, did you realise that?"

Gazilon's eyes widened. "Oh, wow."

"Elphie will pull him through, though," said Galinda confidently. She bit her lip. "At least something good came out of all this," she said. "Elphie and Fiyero can be together now without having to fear for their – and our – lives."

Gazilon smiled. "You know? I love how you can find something good in every situation, no matter how bad things get. I really admire your optimism, Glin."

She tossed her hair over her shoulders and giggled. "Thank you." Then her face fell again. "Still, though… there's not much to be optimistic about right now," she said softly.

Gazilon wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a comforting gesture. "I know."

She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed sadly. "Poor Boq… poor Nessa. I wonder how she's coping with the news of his death." She furrowed her brow slightly. "We should go to Munchkinland in a few days," she said. "To see how Nessa is doing, and to attend Boq's funeral…"

Gazilon nodded. "I agree."

"I'll talk to Elphie about it when she wakes up." Galinda yawned, daintily covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry. It's been a long trip and I haven't slept all that well in the carriage."

"It's fine." Without thinking, Gazilon dropped a kiss on the top of Galinda's head. "Do you want me to walk you to your room?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, please."

"Elphie?"

The young witch muttered something in her sleep and turned onto her side.

Someone shook her gently. "El, wake up."

"Mm."

She felt someone sitting on the edge of the bed. The person leant over towards her and then suddenly shrieked in her ear, "ELPHIE!"

Elphaba immediately shot up, bewildered; then she winced at the sudden movement and brought one hand up to her head. "What was that for?" she cried.

"Galinda!" Fiyero and Gazilon shouted at the same time.

The blonde huffed and crossed her arms. "What? She's awake, isn't she?"

Fiyero rolled his eyes and looked at the green girl in concern. "You alright?"

"Fine," she muttered. "Just ear drum damage and a killer headache."

Galinda looked sheepish. "Sorry. I forgot about your concussion for a moment."

"So why this violent wake-up call?" asked Elphaba as she pushed herself into a sitting position, leaning back against the pillows.

Fiyero, who was sitting next to her, put his arm around her and rested his head against hers while Galinda and Gazilon made themselves comfortable on the bed as well.

"We need to talk about what we're going to do next," said Galinda. "Gaz and I talked about it earlier, and we think we should maybe go to Munchkinland to attend Boq's funeral."

Elphaba nodded immediately. "I agree."

"Are you sure?" Fiyero asked her quietly. "It's a long journey to Munchkinland, and –"

"I have to, Yero," she cut him off softly. "I have to see Nessa, too."

Fiyero nodded. "Okay. I'll come with you."

She squeezed his hand gratefully. "We'll come back here right afterwards," she promised him. "I know you don't want to leave your mum alone right now…"

"She won't be alone," he said. "Cyara will stay here. And you're right – Boq was our friend. I want to attend the funeral, too."

"So we're going to go to Munchkinland," Galinda summarised, "and then we're coming back here?"

Fiyero nodded. "My mum will let us stay for as long as we want to."

Galinda looked doubtful. "Really?"

"Definitely," said Fiyero confidently.

"Okay." Elphaba yawned and turned onto her side. "Can I go back to sleep, then?"

"Not yet," said Gazilon, and she moaned.

"What now?"

When he didn't immediately reply, she looked at him. He locked his hazel eyes with hers.

"What about your father?"

She stilled.

"And my parents?" he continued. "I'm not sure if they are still in Munchkinland, but your father definitely is. Have you forgotten what they told us over the summer?"

Elphaba averted her eyes. "No," she muttered. "Of course not."

"What?" Galinda demanded anxiously. "Elphie? What did your father say?"

Elphaba and Gazilon both ignored the blonde.

"I'm sorry, but you can't go, El," Gazilon said quietly.

Her eyes snapped up to meet his again. "Oh, no. I'm going," she stated firmly. "I can't leave Nessie alone, Gaz. Not right now." She looked around. "But you guys are going to have to stay here."

Fiyero's grip on her immediately tightened and Galinda choked. "Excuse me – what?!"

"It's too dangerous," Elphaba insisted.

"Elphaba," Gazilon said in exasperation. "You're not going, either."

She met his steady gaze with a flaring one of her own. "Yes, I am."

"No, you're not," Gazilon hissed. "Because I'm pretty sure Galinda and Fiyero will agree with me that we do not particularly want to see Frex strangling you to death with his bare hands and then chop you into little pieces to feed you to the pigs."

Fiyero and Galinda gasped in unison.

Elphaba snorted. "Gaz, he would never do that," she insisted.

He lifted an eyebrow. "You doubt that he would kill you?"

"No," she said. "I doubt that he would do it with his own bare hands."

Gazilon sighed.

"Elphaba…" Fiyero said, and she turned to face him with a sigh.

"Alright, yes," she admitted. "I told you already, Yero – my father threatened to kill me and everyone I care about if I messed this up. And clearly, I did mess up. I have no doubt that he will try to get to me through you, Yero, you and Glin and Gazilon; which is exactly why you can't come with me."

"Elphie," said Galinda in a trembling voice. "What about you?"

Elphaba made to wave her away, but Gazilon grabbed her wrist.

"Stop doing that," he said angrily. "Elphaba, I know how blasé you always are about your health; but believe it or not, we care about you and we don't want to see you hurt – let alone worse than that. So either we're all going and we're going to do so with a plan; or none of us is going at all."

Galinda shot an admiring look in his direction. "Well said, Gaz."

He grinned at her.

Fiyero brushed some raven hair away from Elphaba's face. "Fae?"

She looked at him.

"He's right, you know," he said softly.

She sighed and caved. "I know." She sighed again. "Fine, then."

Galinda patted her friend's head. "That's a good Elphie," she cooed.

Elphaba just glared at the blonde.

Later, when it was dark outside and they had all retreated back into their rooms for the night, Fiyero watched as Elphaba awkwardly hopped around on one foot in an attempt to pull her nightgown over her injured arm.

"Do you need a hand?" he offered, but the only reply he got was a shriek.

"Fiyero! I told you not to look!"

"I'm not looking," he said.

She glared at him. "I told you to turn around."

He just blinked back at her innocently. "You didn't make that clear."

She huffed and he laughed. "Oh, come on, Fae. There's nothing I haven't seen already. You remember we nearly… you know… one time."

She blushed furiously. "Please don't bring that up."

He slowly crawled out of bed and padded across the room to help her pull her nightgown over her head. She sighed and leant against him.

"I just don't want you to see me like that," she mumbled, colour flooding her cheeks.

He grabbed her shoulders and held her half a metre away from him. "Are you serious?"

She shrugged and he shook his head, pulling her closer again and rubbing both hands up and down her back slowly. He nuzzled her hair for a moment; then he pulled away enough to rest his forehead against hers.

"Fae," he whispered softly. "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."

She looked up at him, her eyes huge and filled with doubt.

He cupped her face and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Please don't ever doubt that."

She buried her face in his shoulder and tightened her grip on him, only to pull away immediately when she heard him gasp, alarmed. "Yero?"

"Sorry." He grimaced. "Ribs."

She blushed when she realised she had nearly squeezed his bruised ribs to mush. "Oh. I'm sorry."

He chuckled breathlessly and sank back down on the edge of the bed. "Just give me a minute."

After a while, he slowly crawled back into the bed with her. She inched away from him, afraid she'd hurt him again; but he just wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her closer again. "Stop that. I'm not made of sugar."

She complied and lay down with her head on Fiyero's chest.

He absent-mindedly ran his fingers through her soft, silky hair. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" she mumbled.

"What Gazilon said?" Fiyero looked at her. "The threats your father made?"

She sighed. "Yes." She sat up in order to be able to look at him. "He went out of his way to make himself clear," she said. "He had already told me that he would punish me if I messed up my fake relationship with Gazilon, but he and Gaz's parents started threatening us, too. Strangle us with their bare hands, tie rocks to our feet and drown us in the lake nearby, nail us to a pole and leave us in the cornfields to die. It doesn't mean anything, Fiyero."

"It doesn't mean anything?" he echoed incredulously. "How can you say that?"

She shrugged. "It's true," she said. "I'm not afraid. Not for myself, anyway."

"But I am." He wrapped her in his arms, holding her close. "Fae, I don't know what I would do if something happened to you," he said softly. "Please promise me that at least you'll be careful. Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"I thought that was your department," she teased him, but he was serious.

"I mean it, Elphaba," he said, and his using her full name convinced her of the fact that he really was being serious now. "We'll go to Munchkinland, all of us; but we're going to stick together and as soon as it seems like something is going to happen, we're getting out of there. Understood?"

She kissed him. "Yes, Mummy."

"Good." He gently pushed her down and drew her in his arms, guiding her head to rest on his chest again. "Now sleep."

Favourite lines? :) (I bet Musicgal3 can pick out mine ^_^.)