AN: This is a quick update, partly because I'm out all day and partly, honestly, because I'm kind of eager to get this story over with so that I can post the first chapter of Until Death Do Us Part and see your responses to that :P.

Epilogue

It took a long time, but the situation in Oz finally settled down.

The Wizard and Madame Morrible, along with a lot of others, had been convicted. They were spending the next few years in Southstairs and none of them would ever rise to a position of power again. The province leaders of Oz had deliberated for days about who should be the Wizard's successor, but it was eventually decided that a general from Quadling Country would be the lucky one. He was highborn and had experience with leading, and he had often helped the Sorceress of the South to keep the Quadlings in check. They all believed that, with the help of a council of advisors from all different provinces, he would make a capable ruler.

In the Vinkus, Humberto and Danna, with help from Kevon, were teaching Fiyero and Elphaba how to deal with the daily difficulties of a king and queen – including meetings with officials and advisors; seeing the Vinkun people and listening to the things they had to say; reading, replying to, and signing different kinds of letters and documents; and other, as Fiyero put it, "incredibly boring stuff".

No matter how dreary he found it all, though, Elphaba was thriving. She loved putting her politics degree to good use and debating different issues with anyone who was willing to listen, which was usually either Kevon or Humberto. Fiyero absolutely hated the officials who sometimes came to see his parents – and now to see him and Elphaba, too; but he could see the way Elphaba's face lit up when one of them made a point that she felt she could easily strike down.

That was something he did like to see, because after the official had made his point and leant back in his chair with a smug look on his face, Elphaba always rose to her feet and started tearing his arguments apart with an innocent smile on her face, but with such a fierce look in her dark brown eyes that the man seemed to shrink and shrink until he nearly disappeared under the table. By the time she was done, none of the officials had any arguments left and they all meekly agreed with any suggestions the green girl made.

It wasn't just that he thought it was funny to see those stiff, annoying officials being set back by a girl at least twenty years younger than they were. It was also that he never saw Elphaba look so confident as when she was discussing politics with those people, and he liked seeing that. Even though she was slowly getting better, she was still insecure about herself, her skin, and her relationship with him – even though she hardly ever showed that. Fiyero always had to pull it out of her.

But she was trying. She was trying to talk more about her feelings and thoughts, and in exchange, Fiyero was trying to pay attention to everything his family taught them, wanting to make them – and most importantly, his wife – proud.

But it was so boring.

In the beginning of the summer, Elphaba received a letter from her sister, saying that Nessarose had met someone. Elphaba was happy for her sister, but she did not fully approve until she met the boy herself, during her and Fiyero's short trip to Munchkinland later that summer. Only when she saw that this boy really did love her sister did she relax and Nessa and her new boyfriend were still very happy together.

And now, Fiyero was watching his wife walking down the aisle towards him once more; only it was so different this time. He grinned widely as he saw her, the reason for which may or may not have been the fact that he knew exactly how much effort it had cost Galinda to force the Vinkun princess into the dress she was currently wearing.

Elphaba took her place opposite Fiyero, giving him a desperate look, but he just reached out to squeeze her hand and said quietly, "You look gorgeous, hon."

Her face relaxed a little and she smiled, but her smile quickly faded when he added teasingly, "Pink really does go good with green." After that, she yanked her hand back, scowled, and ignored him for the rest of the ceremony.

Galinda made a beautiful bride, Fiyero had to admit. She was positively beaming as she slowly, regally, moved down the aisle in her huge, poofy dress. Everything about today was perfect for her – snow was covering the grounds, her dress was warm, but beautiful, and all her friends and family were there. The decorations were all pink and it was cold, but the sun was shining.

Fiyero grinned when he saw the look on Boq's face as he kissed his wife for the first time. Nessa had to wipe away a tear, he noted, and Mrs Upland was sobbing into her husband's shoulder. Elphaba's eyes were dry, but she embraced both Galinda and Boq warmly and she did the best she could to comfort Galinda when the blonde burst into tears herself, because, "I just got married, Elphie!".

It definitely brought back memories of their own wedding, now almost a year ago; and when the reception rolled around and Elphaba was finally released by the blonde, she joined her husband and said the exact same thing he was thinking.

"I still can't believe how much has changed in such a short period of time."

He smiled and nodded as he took her hand in his. "This time last year, we still disliked one another."

"And look at us now." Elphaba shook her head. "This is yet more proof of the fact that life never goes the way you think it will," she said. "I had never expected for Galinda to marry Boq, for example, back when we were still at Shiz. I would never have thought that I would get stuck in an arranged marriage and actually end up falling in love with the guy." She smirked at him and dropped her head against his shoulder. "And if you had told me a year ago that my father would actually be nice to me, I would probably have laughed in your face."

That was another thing that had changed. Frex seemed to genuinely be making an effort to be kinder towards his eldest daughter. Every time he and Nessa visited, he asked her how she was doing, trying to make conversation; and she found herself relaxing around him a little bit more.

One thing that was not quite settled, however, was the matter of children. Cyara still teased them occasionally, asking them when she was going to be an aunt. No-one else had really spoken of it so far and they thought that was perfectly fine, because they weren't sure themselves, although that was for different reasons.

Elphaba was mainly just afraid that she would be a bad mother. She worried that the baby might come out green or that the same thing would happen to her as what had happened to her mother when she gave birth to Nessa. She thought she wasn't "mother material", which was why she was hesitant to even think about the issue – and why, since she had thought she was pregnant a while ago, she had been careful to take as little risk as possible, much to Fiyero's dismay.

Fiyero, on the other hand, just felt like he was not ready yet to have a child. He did want children – he thought it would be nice to have little Fiyeros and Elphabas running around Adurin Iir – but he did not want them just yet. He and Elphaba had talked about it eventually and agreed to wait a while, but neither of them knew, exactly, how long "a while" would be.

They had time, though. Kevon had assured him that when Fiyero had gone to talk to his grandfather about the issue.

"You're twenty-five, Fiyero," Kevon had pointed out. "Elphaba is only twenty-three. Your father will still securely be on the throne for the next few years, so there is no need for you two to rush this issue. Having children is something you need to think over – it has to feel right. You will never feel completely ready, but you don't have to feel pressured by what you think is expected of you. You have plenty of time."

And so he and Elphaba had agreed to wait and get back at the issue when either of them felt like something had changed. Elphaba had been relieved, he could tell, and he had been worried that maybe she would never want kids at all; but Galinda, at some point, had reminded him of the things Elphaba had been through and the way she thought, telling him that he just had to be patient and she'd come around eventually.

He looked at her now as Boq led Galinda into their first dance as husband and wife. She was watching their friends with a soft smile on her face, her head still on his shoulder.

He was lucky to have her. He knew that. This entire arranged marriage could have ended in many different ways, but it had turned out the best way he could ever have imagined.

She caught him looking at her and tilted her head slightly to the side. "Why are you staring at me?"

He grinned and, instead of answering, bowed formally. "Milady. May I have this dance?"

She rolled her eyes, but she placed her hand in his and he led her to the dance floor to join the many other couples that had by now collected there. He pulled her close, one hand taking hers and the other on her hip.

"You know?" he said as they danced. "I'm really glad my parents forced me to marry you."

She laughed. "Me, too," she admitted with a soft smile. She rested her head against his chest. "I love you, Yero."

He brought her closer and tilted her chin up to kiss her. "I love you, too, hon."

They danced, losing themselves in the moment and forgetting about the rest of the world.

That's it. Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you'll stay with me for UDDUP - I will probably start posting that tomorrow!