An update from Germany. :)

You're all so suspicious about Morrible... you might be right, too. *cackles* For now, though, some fluff!

20. Beautiful

When Fiyero knocked onto the door to Elphaba and Glinda's dorm room on Sunday evening, he was greeted by the sight of a petite blonde, looking pissed and tired at the same time.

"Fiyero," Glinda sighed as she stepped aside to let him in. "Thank Oz. Can't you talk some sense into her?"

"About what?" he asked, looking around. He didn't see Elphaba anywhere. What he did see was a ridiculous amount of boxes – fancy boxes with ribbons still half-tied around them. He caught glimpses of colourful fabrics and shoes, which did nothing to alleviate his confusion. "What's all this?"

Glinda blew some hair out of her face and sank down on the small space on her bed free of boxes. "The finalists can't pick their own clothes for this Friday," Glinda explained. "To give everyone equal chances, all four of them will be wearing the same clothes, only in different colours. The boxes with clothes were already here when we returned from the Emerald City. Elphie is supposed to try everything on to see if it fits, because if something still needs to be adjusted, it'll have to be sent back to the City so it will fit her perfectly on Friday."

"So what is the problem?" Fiyero asked. "I know Fae hates clothes, but surely she's not making a big fuss over trying on some things?"

"Not exactly." Glinda sighed. "You see, the finalists will have to wear three different outfits this Friday during the show. One is a plain, grey dress – the girls will be presented to the judges and the audience without make-up and in simple clothing so they can be seen for who they really are, without any extras. I actually believe Elphie likes that dress the most, although I can't for the life of me figure out why."

Fiyero chuckled. He certainly could.

"Another is a ball gown," Glinda continued. "The third outfit, however, is… well…"

"A bathing suit," an angry voice suddenly said through the bathroom door at the other end of the room. "The third outfit is an Oz-forsaken bathing suit. I've never looked so ridiculous in my entire life and I refuse to go parading around a stage on TV looking like this!"

"Elphie, please, just come out," Glinda pleaded. "I'm sure it's not that bad!"

"There is no way in hell I'm going to let anyone see me in this thing!" Elphaba yelled through the door. "I'd rather eat it than come out wearing it!"

Fiyero grinned at her antics. "Oh, Fae, I bet it looks very hot on you."

"Shut up, you idiot."

Glinda sighed. "You see what I have to put up with?" she demanded of Fiyero.

"I'm her boyfriend," he retorted.

"Only last night you said that I wasn't that bad!" Elphaba protested through the door again and Fiyero rolled his eyes at Glinda.

"You're not," he said to the closed door. "This is just one of your more exasperating moments."

"Right." She sounded annoyed. "And you thought I was cute when I was exasperating, right?"

"Very," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. "You're adorable."

Suddenly, the door flew open and Elphaba came storming out wearing a dark blue bathing suit. "You think this is adorable?" she demanded, planting her hands on her hips. Her cheeks were flushed with anger. "Really? Does this look cute to you?!"

Glinda was smiling widely and Fiyero cocked his head a little to the side, studying Elphaba in her bathing suit closely and appreciatively. "Well," he said, pursing his lips a little and looking thoughtful. "To be completely honest, 'cute' isn't the first thing that comes to mind right now."

When she realised what he meant, she flushed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. He gave her an impish grin and she let out a squeak and ran back into the bathroom.

"Come on, Elphie, you have an amazing figure!" Glinda tried again. "Really, you look better than most girls in Oz in a bathing suit, trust me!"

"I second that!" Fiyero called after this girlfriend. "As I said – hot. Can't you wear that thing to our next date?"

The only reply he got from behind the door was, "You're such a horrible guy!"

He grinned at Glinda. "Is that a yes?"

Another indignant shriek from the bathroom. He chuckled and rose to his feet, walking over to it.

"I'm sorry, Fae, I'm just teasing. You know me." He waited for a reply, but he didn't get one. "Seriously. You look gorgeous. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Saraphina and Nathalinia will look much better in bathing suits than I do."

"Somehow, I doubt that," he said to the door.

"I'm too skinny. My bones are sticking out. And it's way too revealing."

"It's only for a little while," said Glinda. "It's just a round around the stage, a pose, and then you can take it off again. Come on, Elphie, you can do it."

Fiyero suddenly had a thought. "Will Nessa have to wear a bathing suit, too? Prissy, conventional Nessa?"

Glinda stifled a giggle. "I'll bet she's even more upset about that than Elphie is."

The bathroom door cracked open just a little. "Hand me that ball gown," Elphaba said. "I still need to try that one on as well."

Recognising her roommate wasn't going to come out in the bathing suit again, Glinda moved over to the largest box and gathered up arms full of dark red fabric that shimmered violet in a certain light. She carried the huge dress over to Elphaba, who had a little difficulty pulling it through the door without showing herself, and then the door closed again.

Glinda and Fiyero waited for a while. Finally, they heard a muttered curse, followed by a deep sigh. "Glin, can you help me? It's a corset. I hate corsets."

Glinda giggled. "Sure, Elphie, I'll lace you up." She slipped into the bathroom as well, leaving Fiyero to rummage through the remaining boxes, feeling bored as he waited. He discovered a pair of white ballet flats – to go with the simple grey dress, he supposed – along with a pair of high-heeled sandals – to go with the bathing suit? – and a pair of fancy-looking pumps with a little strap going around the ankle in the same colour as the ball gown. There were also some hair clasps and ribbons there. No make-up, though; he supposed the contestants had to take care of that themselves.

The door opened and Glinda came out, looking ready to burst with enthusiasm. She hopped up and down, grinning widely, as Elphaba slowly came out. If the small blonde was waiting for a reaction from Fiyero, she wasn't disappointed. His jaw actually dropped upon seeing his girlfriend.

The dress was, indeed, a shade somewhere in between crimson and violet – magenta, Glinda called it. It looked surprisingly good with Elphaba's emerald skin and brought out her chocolate brown eyes. It was a huge, poufy number; the bodice was laced so tightly that he couldn't imagine Elphaba was still able to breathe and it was covered in beading, laced through with silver threads. The straps sat on her upper arms, just below her shoulders, and the dress had a sweetheart neckline.

Underneath the bodice, the gown exploded in layers of fabric and tulle, although the top layer of the dress was made completely out of satin that shimmered in the light. A few layers were draped over one another or gathered together at the waist, creating a traditional yet tasteful look and making the dress look even more enormous. The whole thing really was huge – Elphaba barely fit through the bathroom doorway – and the young witch looked decidedly uncomfortable in it, but Fiyero thought she looked more beautiful than ever.

She caught sight of his face and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Better than the bathing suit?" she teased and he blinked a few times, closing his mouth.

"I didn't think that would be possible," he admitted, adding impishly, "Unless you'd have taken the bathing suit off…"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"…but yes," he finished, unable to keep his eyes off her. "Better than the bathing suit. You are so beautiful, Fae."

She wanted to make a sarcastic retort, she really did; but upon seeing the look in his eyes, she felt herself blushing and all that came out was a muttered, "Thanks," and a weak little smile. She fidgeted with the dress, only stopping when Glinda swatted her hands away.

Fiyero rose to his feet and moved over to her, placing one hand on his back and bowing for her. "Milady." She rolled her eyes at him. Fiyero took her hand and placed his free hand on her waist, pulling her into a few steps of the waltz they'd danced at the ball. She chuckled and he slowly spun her around before pulling her closer to him, letting go of her hand to cup her face instead – both of them ignoring the soft squeals Glinda was emitting.

"Regardless of how far you come in this competition," he said quietly enough so only Elphaba could hear, smiling but obviously sincere, "you'll always be the fairest of them all to me."

She could have called him out on being corny, but she couldn't deny the way her heart fluttered at his words and so she kept quiet, leaning in to kiss him softly instead. This time, her smile was wide and genuine.

On Monday, they received word from Oscar that his security department had discovered the handwriting on the threat letter to be the same as the handwriting on Morrible's notes. Morrible herself continued to deny having anything to do with it, but Oscar was positive she would crack and confess soon. They were also tracking down the owner of the phone number Elphaba had found in Morrible's purse.

Elphaba supposed her nagging feeling was just distrust of Morrible after all, then, and she tried to let it go. She spent most of her time 'catching up' on schoolwork she was 'falling behind' on (although she was the only one who actually saw it that way), spending some time with her friends, and hanging out with Fiyero. She tried to tell him she still needed some more practice for the finale, but he sternly told her she knew everything she needed to know already and she wasn't allowed to spend any more time on that stuff.

"We've only been together for a month and you're already neglecting me!" he whined. It earned him a stomp in the arm, but she did agree to go on another date with him that afternoon after class, so he was happy.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," he said once they were sitting in front of the fireplace in his room, watching a movie. Fiyero had made them both hot cocoa and she had snuggled up against him, making herself comfortable with her head on his shoulder and his arm around her.

"What?" she asked, not raising her head.

He absently played with her hair. "What you said during the semi-final…" he began.

Instantly, Elphaba groaned and turned her head so she could bury her face in his shirt. "I hoped you'd forgotten about that," she muttered sourly against his shoulder.

He chuckled. "Of course I haven't. You know me better than that." He tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "Did you mean that?"

She sighed and nodded.

"Falling in love with me is the scariest thing you've ever done?"

"Aside perhaps from standing up to the Wizard and entering this Oz-forsaken beauty pageant…" She tilted her head a little to the side. "Yes."

"And you've really never regretted it?" he pressed on.

She glared at him. "I'm starting to now," she threatened, but that only made him grin and he kissed her.

"I love you."

She rolled her eyes before kissing him back and curling up against him again, returning her attention to the television screen.

They finished watching the movie and Fiyero cooked up a simple meal in his small kitchen – something Elphaba teased him about for at least ten minutes, because "Who knew the great and almighty prince of scandals could actually cook?". They had dinner together and then curled up in front of the fireplace again, just talking a little and cuddling. Elphaba eventually drifted off to sleep against his shoulder, which he thought was adorable. He could understand her being exhausted, what with everything going on, so he simply let her sleep, softly running his fingers through her hair. She snored a little, which he also happened to think was pretty cute, even though he was positive she would be mortified if he told her that.

He wondered what would happen at the finale that Friday. Would Elphaba win? He really hoped she would, if only so she would finally be able to see that she really was beautiful. Even if she didn't, though, she'd already come so far – and that in something she hated from the bottom of her heart. It only made him more proud of her for pushing through regardless.

He didn't think her suspicions of something else happening were well-founded, but he couldn't help but be the slightest bit concerned about them. After all, he had some experience with her visions and premonitions. She'd said this wasn't quite a vision, more of a gut feeling, but that didn't mean he wasn't worried. He just wished he could be closer to her during the finale, to keep an eye on her and help protect her if necessary, but she was still supposed to be on that stage and he had his seat a few rows back and to the side, on an elevated platform erected especially for Oscar and his guests. He'd just have to watch her from there and hope the threat was really over already.

A loud snore suddenly escaped her lips and she spluttered a little, waking herself up with the noise. He couldn't keep the grin from his face as he watched her eyes slowly blink open. She made a face as she realised she'd been asleep and she sat up, rubbing the spot on her face where her cheek had been pressed up against Fiyero's shoulder.

"Hello there, sleeping beauty," he said, his blue eyes twinkling, and she glared at him. He just laughed and slipped his arms back around her, kissing her slowly. That melted her soon enough and they kissed for another while, his hands tangling in her hair and hers clasped behind his neck, before Fiyero broke away and rested his forehead against hers for a moment, looking into her eyes.

"You should probably go back," he whispered and she sighed, but nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah."

He kissed her again and then pulled away. "Come on." He helped her to her feet and wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked to his door. He'd prefer to walk her back to her dorm room, but he knew she hated that, so he just cupped her cheek and kissed her again softly. "Be careful, okay?"

She smiled softly at him. "Of course." Another kiss to his cheek and then she turned around, calling over her shoulder, "And thank you for not pushing on walking me back."

"I might still just follow you at a distance to make sure you get back safely," he called back, at which she chortled.

"I'm a big girl," she reminded him. "And besides, I've got magic. I'll live."

He laughed and watched her go, waving at her once more when she glanced over her shoulder. Even from this distance, he could see her rolling her eyes at him, but she did wave back.

His beautiful, magical girlfriend. He smiled widely. He knew she had him completely under her spell, enchanted to be all hers, and he didn't even mind. If only all of Oz could see her the way he did, there would not be a doubt in anyone's mind of who was the true Miss Emerald.

I don't have much time to write here, so there might be some longer gaps between updates... I think this was the last (or else the second-to-last) pre-written chapter. I'll try to finish asap!