The World As We Know It

by elphabaoftheopera

When their long-awaited night of passion results in an unplanned pregnancy, Elphaba and Fiyero must navigate the consequences of the new world they've created. Years later, when Liir has questions about his past that even his Auntie Glinda won't answer, a startling discovery sets him on a journey that alters everything he once knew. Canon-Divergent. AU. Fiyeraba (& Gliyeraba).

4. A Witch's Womb

Content Advisory: Discussion of fertility/infertility

---

CHAPTER FOUR: A WITCH'S WOMB

Elphaba and Fiyero sat with their backs against the rocky overhang in perfect silence. Every so often Fiyero would open his mouth to say something, only to close it with a blank frown. Growing tired of this, Elphaba finally spoke to break the horrid silence.

"Fiyero—"

"How?" Fiyero blurted out.

"How what?"

"How…how—how did this happen?"

Elphaba paused.

"Do you actually not know?"

"I mean I know how but…I just mean…"

He didn't know what he meant.

"We only did it once."

"Once is kind of all it takes."

Fiyero put his head in his hands and groaned.

"It's just…I'm usually so…I can't…I can't believe—"

"My first time," Elphaba said to herself faintly. "My first time. I got pregnant from my first—"

Elphaba cut herself off with a short, crazed laugh. Fiyero turned his head to look at her.

"What could you possibly be laughing about?"

"I got pregnant from my first time, Fiyero!" Elphaba said. "My first and only time! If I wasn't already sure that I was the world's unluckiest person I certainly know now."

"We only did it once," Fiyero repeated, still not believing it.

"I know."

"Once."

"I know."

"I just can't believe—"

"What can't you believe, Fiyero?!" Elphaba snapped impatiently. "We had sex! And it's not as if we took any precautions."

"I know but…one time—"

Elphaba rose to her feet with a huff.

"You're not helping, Fiyero."

"I'm sorry! I just—"

"No, no. You're right. One time. One time! The one time I chose to do something wild. The one time I chose to do something—wicked!" Elphaba said with a crazed laugh. "Some people go about their whole lives tempting fate. Am I not allowed to do it once?! Not one time?! I just wanted to—I wanted to—"

"Wanted to what?" Fiyero asked, rising to his feet as well.

"I wanted to feel something!" Elphaba exclaimed tragically. "I wanted to give in and feel something—just once. And I did! I did and…and now…this."

"This…" Fiyero agreed heavily. This.

During his years of his philosophy-based philandering, Fiyero had always taken precautions never to let…this…happen. How could he have been so thoughtless when he, after so much waiting, had finally gotten his chance with Elphaba? If anything he should have taken extra measures, extra care. Because of their circumstances.

Because it was her.

Had they not been tested enough already?

"Hang on…" Fiyero frowned as a thought occurred. "How do you know?"

"What?"

"How do you know? I mean it's not like you could've taken a test—"

"I know."

"If it's just the sickness then—"

"It's not just the sickness."

"But how—"

"I know, Fiyero! Okay?" Elphaba stressed. "I woke up from my dream and I knew. I just knew."

"Wait—dream?" Fiyero frowned. "You think you're pregnant because of some dream?"

"It wasn't just any dream," Elphaba said, bristling over his skepticism. "There's dreams and then there are my dreams, okay? Dreams that tell me things."

"And you're sure—"

"I am sure, Fiyero. I feel it in my gut," Elphaba said, her hands subconsciously grabbing her stomach. She wrenched them away and cleared her throat upon noticing where they'd landed. "You know. So to speak."

Fiyero groaned and leaned his back against the cliff wall.

"I can't believe this is happening," he muttered. "I can't believe this is real."

"Well, believe it."

Elphaba sighed heavily and moved to sit on a nearby boulder.

"I'm just surprised that I didn't consider this sooner," she said. "It should have been the first thing I thought of. I mean…after that night…"

Elphaba closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Oz, Fiyero. That night. I just couldn't think of anything else," Elphaba said with a rare stir of vulnerability. "Anything…but you."

Fiyero crossed to sit beside her. Elphaba looked up as he took her hand.

"Neither could I," he confessed. "Oz, Elphaba…I didn't stand a chance."

"What with the moonlight?" Elphaba smiled sadly.

"The forest?" Fiyero added.

"The danger?"

They laced their fingers together with a mutual sigh.

"It was perfect," Fiyero said.

"It was perfect," Elphaba agreed. "And now we're completely screwed."

"I'm just—Oz, Elphaba, I am just kicking myself for not being more careful," Fiyero shook his head. "I'm such an idiot."

"Yeah, well. Join the club. It takes two idiots to make a baby. One," she pointed to him. "Two," she pointed to herself.

Fiyero shook his head, still sick with guilt.

"Elphaba…I am so sorry," Fiyero murmured. "I can't believe I was so stupid. I can't believe I did this to you."

Elphaba softened slightly and squeezed his hand with a sigh.

"I could say the same to you, you know," she said quietly. "I guess deep down I suspected that I wasn't, I don't know…capable. A fool's assumption, I know. But my body is far from womanly, it's far from welcoming—"

"I wouldn't say that."

"It's too human a thing to happen to me," Elphaba continued broodingly. "It only feels right that my body should be barren. Uninhabitable. After all, what child could survive in a witch's womb?"

A thought occurred.

"Then again…" she said. "Maybe it won't."

Fiyero looked over at her and Elphaba stood with a troubled sigh.

"Oz, what a wicked thing to say. A wicked thing to hope," she fretted, wringing her hands together. "I'm as horrible as they say."

"No you're not," Fiyero said, standing to approach her. "You're not horrible."

Fiyero gently grasped Elphaba's arms and gave them a supportive squeeze.

"Elphaba I just need you to know that whatever happens…whatever you decide—"

Elphaba scoffed bitterly.

"Decide? And what decision do I have, Fiyero? It's not as if I can waltz into one of those backroom clinics for mistresses and Emerald City socialites!" Elphaba said. "And trying to bring it about myself could be dangerous. Fatal, even."

Fiyero made a stressed sound and shook his head.

"Is there someone we could go to for…for help?!" he thought aloud. "Nessa? Glinda?"

"Nessa?!" Elphaba blurted out. "You're suggesting we go to my sister to arrange a pregnancy termination for us? Have you met her?!"

"Well, I don't know!"

"And Glinda, Fiyero? Glinda?!" Elphaba emphasized. "I can only imagine how that conversation would go." She straightened up to set the scene. "Well hello Glinda. Remember when your fiancé and best friend jammed a knife in your back and ran away together? Oh, you do? Well we had unprotected sex that very same night and now we need your help!"

Elphaba laughed cynically and shook her head.

"No. No, Fiyero. I don't believe we can call on Glinda for favors again. Not ever again."

"Then where does that leave us?" Fiyero asked helplessly, knowing she was right. "What does that leave us?"

Elphaba's face slowly faded into a blank expression as Fiyero's query settled into her bones. Where did that leave her? What did that leave her?

"That means…" Elphaba said faintly. "Bringing the baby to term."

Oh sweet Oz.

"That means bringing the baby to term!" she repeated, horrified.

Fear flooding her senses, Elphaba began to pace erratically.

"I-I-I can't bring this baby to term!" Elphaba said. "Where would I even put it?! What am I supposed to do? Strap it to my chest as I fly into battle?!"

"Elphaba," Fiyero called, troubled by her frantic energy. "Try to breathe, try to calm down."

"Calm down? How can I calm down?!" Elphaba snapped. "I'm pregnant, Fiyero. Pregnant!"

"I—"

"I'm being punished. That's what's happening. I am being punished."

"For what?"

"For my—" Elphaba gestured vaguely. "I don't know. My wickedness!"

"What about me?!"

"You're being punished for being attracted to wickedness," Elphaba said. "A lesser sentence for a lesser crime. You're not the one who has to carry it. You're not the one that has to push it out—oh. Oh, I feel sick," Elphaba whined. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Elphaba knelt on the ground and Fiyero rushed to kneel beside her, gathering her hair in his hand. She did not get sick but she continued to wheeze.

"I've always known what to do," Elphaba whimpered through her rasping breaths. "I've always figured out what to do!"

"Elphaba take a deep breath," Fiyero appealed, rubbing circles on her back.

"When Oz turned against me I found a solution," Elphaba said, more to herself than to Fiyero. "When I went on the run I found a solution. When I needed to free the Monkeys I found a solution. But now? This? There's nothing! For the first time in my life I have no clue what I'm going to do!" Elphaba said. "What—what…what am I going to do?!"

"We, Elphaba," Fiyero reminded her. "What are we going to do?"

Elphaba sat back on her knees and shook her head at him.

"No, Fiyero, no. Me. Not us," Elphaba clarified. "Your fate is not the same."

"Come off it, Elphaba. You're not funny."

Elphaba continued to stare at him and Fiyero's face fell.

"You're kidding."

"This doesn't change what we talked about before."

"Doesn't change…" Fiyero trailed off. He got to his feet, shaking his head incredulously. "Doesn't change—you're saying this doesn't change anything?! Elphaba, you just told me that I'm going to be a father!"

Elphaba grimaced over the word. Fiyero blinked at her.

"I…am the father, right?"

"Of course you're the father! What? Do you think I've slept with multiple men in the woods?!"

"Then I don't know what you're saying!"

Elphaba got to her feet, narrowing her eyes in annoyance.

"I explained it all last night. It's not too late for you, Fiyero. It's not too late!"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

Fiyero walked away from her but Elphaba followed.

"You can still go home. You could go home and forget all of this ever happened—"

Fiyero whipped around.

"Forget all of this ever happened?!" Fiyero said through his teeth. "Forget what, Elphaba?! Forget you? Forget our baby? Forget us?!"

"There is no us—"

"Yes there is! There is to me, there…there…" Fiyero trailed off and gave Elphaba a long look. "No. You know what? Maybe you're right."

Elphaba looked up at him.

"Maybe I'm—"

"Yeah, maybe you're right! Maybe there is no us. Because all this time I thought you knew me better. I thought you saw who I really was," Fiyero said in a tone that broke Elphaba's heart. "If you really think I'm someone that could just do that—if you really think I'm someone that could walk out on you?" Fiyero shook his head. "Then maybe you're not who I thought you were."

"But that's just it, Fiyero," Elphaba sighed. "I don't want you to stay with me just to be a good person. I don't want you to stay out of some moral obligation—"

"Moral obligation?"

"I don't want you to stay just because you feel you have to!"

"You think I'm just doing this just to—?!"

"I don't want you to throw your life away!"

"Do you—"

"Fiyero, please."

"Do really think that's how I feel?!"

"I want more for you, Fiyero!" Elphaba suddenly shouted. "Do you think this is the life I want for you?! Do you?! You are still young—"

"So are you!"

"You're a prince, a captain, a fiancé! You have everything going for you!"

"I don't care."

"Well I do! It's too late for me but it is not too late for you! It's not too late for you!"

"Elphaba—"

"You can have more, Fiyero. You deserve more," Elphaba said fiercely. "You deserve more than getting stuck here with me!"

Unexpected tears jumped to Elphaba's eyes and she swiftly turned her back with a squeak.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Elphaba gasped in horror, concealing her face from Fiyero. "I don't know why that happened. I don't know what…"

She trailed off when she felt Fiyero's arms wrap around her from behind.

"I really…" Elphaba mumbled, gripping his arms. "I really don't know what came over me…"

"I know. I know, Elphaba."

Elphaba sniffled pitifully and nestled her head sideways into the crook of his elbow. Fiyero held her tighter and with a defeated choke, she reluctantly succumbed to her hormones. Fiyero said nothing, for which she was grateful, he merely kept her in a secure squeeze as she shed scared tears onto the sleeve of his shirt. In the whole of her life, Elphaba couldn't remember ever crying in front of anybody. She wasn't sure what she'd expected to happen if she ever did, but it hadn't been this. She had never expected to be granted so much space to feel. Such safety to break.

"I know you, Fiyero," Elphaba whimpered weakly. "I know who you are."

"I know," Fiyero returned, his lips brushing against the side of her head. "I know you do."

After a moment, Elphaba pulled out of his arms wiped her face thoroughly before turning back to face him.

"Fiyero?" Elphaba asked. Her voice sounded warbly and sick.

"What?"

Their eyes met and Elphaba paused, heart bending under the weight of her guilt.

"Nothing," she whispered. "Never mind."

"Tell me."

Elphaba didn't speak.

"Tell me, Elphaba—"

"Did I ruin your life?"

Fiyero gave her a long look of disbelief over her troubled question.

"How could you say that? How could you think that?"

"You gave up everything for me. Your title, your job, Glinda…" Elphaba stressed quietly. "And now we've got…this. None of this would have happened if you'd never met me, Fiyero. None of this would have happened if you'd never…cared for me."

"You keep talking about my old life as if I was happier there. Elphaba…I was miserable! I couldn't keep living a lie. I couldn't keep pretending to hate you—to hunt you," Fiyero said. "I couldn't keep pretending like I didn't think about you every night. Dream about you every night."

"But that's just it, Fiyero. I'm not that perfect girl you dreamed up!" Elphaba said. "I cannot live up to her!"

"I don't—"

"She's not real, Fiyero. She's not really me."

"I don't want her, Elphaba! I don't want whatever—mystical version of yourself you think I've been picturing!" Fiyero asserted. "I want you as you are. However you are. Even now—hell. Especially now."

Elphaba closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I can't say I'm not guilty of it too," she admitted. "I spent countless hours imagining us running away together…"

She returned to sit on the boulder with a heavy sigh.

"I just never thought through what would happen if we actually…you know," Elphaba chuckled humorlessly. "Did."

"Neither did I," Fiyero admitted, sitting beside her. "Though to be fair…I never think through anything."

Despite everything, Elphaba managed a half-hearted laugh. Fiyero put his arm around her and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"So I take it that you're staying…" Elphaba deduced. "And I cannot convince you otherwise."

"I'm staying and you cannot convince me otherwise," Fiyero confirmed. "So please, Elphaba. Would you stop trying to shake me off you?"

Elphaba tilted her head up to meet Fiyero's eyes. Despite her powers, she was as useless at reading minds as anyone else. Worse, even. Fiyero hopelessly confused her. He was unlike anyone she'd ever met. So dedicated to her that it was almost annoying.

What haunted her most was why. Why did he look for her? Why did he follow her? And now, after such a rocky beginning…why was he still choosing to stay?

Perhaps Fiyero really was brainless. Perhaps that's what she needed. Someone brainless enough to take a chance on her in spite of the glaringly obvious drawbacks. Or perhaps lust was what kept him around. Perhaps she had a specific brand of sex appeal that excited him enough to stay. Perhaps it was chivalry, he was raised in royalty after all. Perhaps he was too noble to abandon her now that his reputation as a rake had caught up with him at last.

Elphaba had one last theory, and it was her strongest one yet. He'd fought her on it the night before, but perhaps he would have accepted the truth in the morning light when she'd inevitably given him his out. But there was one key factor now that had changed, one strong motivator that would have sealed the deal for him.

The baby. She now carried a part of him within her. Why would Fiyero not want to stay close to the woman who…was pregnant with his child?

Whatever Fiyero's reason may be…Elphaba was too tired to fight any longer. She knew how she felt, she knew what she needed, and she was simply not strong enough to refuse him any longer.

"Very well, Fiyero. I'll stop trying," Elphaba relented. "If this hasn't made you come to your senses, heaven knows what will."

Fiyero pressed a lingering kiss to Elphaba's temple.

"Thank you."

"It's your funeral anyway," Elphaba muttered. "This pregnancy has just doubled our chances of getting killed."

"What do you mean?"

Elphaba laughed once.

"I mean that nobody can know about this or we're all screwed. We'll have to hide it. At least until we can conceive a plan..."

"Oof," Fiyero grimaced. Elphaba looked at him. "Rough choice of words."

Soon after, Fiyero suggested that Elphaba try to get some more sleep. A useless idea, Elphaba thought, but she did not argue. They settled on the ground at their usual distance apart, staring upwards at the overhang. Elphaba shivered as they listened to the late autumn rain. Already, her mind was running through every possible outcome to her situation. The bad, the worse, and the unthinkable.

"Fiyero?" Elphaba whispered when the thoughts became too much.

She wasn't sure he was even awake, but his voice was alert when he answered her.

"Yes?"

"I think I…I think I might like you to…"

"What is it?"

Elphaba swallowed tightly, feeling terrifically helpless.

"Fiyero, could you hold me?"

"Come here, Elphaba."

Elphaba shifted on her side towards him and Fiyero immediately collected her into his arms. They nestled close and trembled together, though whether over the cold or over the terror of facing their new tomorrow, they couldn't be sure.

"I need you to do something for me," Elphaba spoke up in a small voice.

"Anything, Elphaba."

She took a deep breath.

"I need you to tell me that everything is going to be okay," she said. "Even if you're lying. Tell me…that it's all going to end up okay."

Fiyero looked into her eyes for a long moment and then he brushed his lips against hers in a featherlight kiss. When he pulled away he caressed her face, his thumb tenderly stroking the soft baby hairs at her temple.

"Elphaba? Everything is going to be okay," Fiyero promised. "I don't know how or when, but I promise you. Everything is going to turn out okay."

For her sake, he even tried to believe it.

Elphaba sidled closer and clung to Fiyero for comfort. "Yero my hero."

Fiyero's heart melted at her newly devised name for him. He wasn't sure he deserved the title…but he hoped to one day earn it.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

"Hey, hey, hey, watch your step—watch your step!"

Elphaba gritted her teeth as Fiyero assisted her across a small creek.

"The water is ankle deep, Fiyero—"

"Yeah but it's slippery."

Elphaba turned to face him once she got to the other side.

"See? I'm still in one piece," she gestured. "Now would you please stop crowding me?"

"Forgive me for trying to look after you."

"If anything I should be the one looking after you! I've spent more time in these woods than you can fathom, Yero."

"Yeah, that's the thing, Elphaba. You've been out here for ages. Wouldn't it be nice to get a roof over your head?"

"You're right. Let's grab brunch and go apartment hunting."

"So you're telling me you've never found any shelter?"

"Sure I have! Caves, barns, abandoned buildings—"

"Consistent shelter?"

"Sometimes I'd be taken in by Animals. Rebel communities."

"That's great! Let's—"

"That's not an option."

"But—"

"It's not an option, Fiyero," Elphaba repeated firmly. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My staying with them put a target on their backs. I'm not putting them at risk. Not again."

"Well we need to think of something."

Elphaba and Fiyero heard the strong flapping of wings. They craned their necks up to see Chistery spiraling towards them from above.

"Chistery," Elphaba greeted as he affectionately ambled towards her. "What is this?"

In his fist was a crude knapsack which he handed to her. Elphaba's eyebrows lifted as she found a few apples and several ears of corn.

"Oh, Chistery. You shouldn't have!"

"Yes, he should have! Here, eat something," Fiyero urged, plunking an apple in Elphaba's hand.

"We've definitely crossed into Munchkinland," Elphaba chuckled nostalgically over the apple. "But Chistery—you know what I could really use?"

"Shelter?" Fiyero supplied.

"News. I'd love a newspaper. Munchkinland. As current a copy as you can find."

"News?" Fiyero crossed his arms. "That's at the top of your priority list? News?"

"I haven't surfaced in forever, Fiyero," Elphaba glared. "I need to know what's going on out there. I need to know what's going on with Nessa."

"Nessa? What about her?"

"How much Ozwide news did you keep up with in the Emerald City? I'm more informed than you and I actually live under rocks," Elphaba complained. She turned back to Chistery. "Can you?"

Chistery nodded in understanding.

"Thank you, my friend."

Chistery didn't disappoint her, nor did his comrades. They'd often swing or fly in to meet with them, delivering papers and food and occasional trinkets. Elphaba was still puzzled by their dedication to her, and by reluctant extension to Fiyero, until it hit her one day like a ton of yellow bricks.

"They know," Elphaba told Fiyero as they reclined against opposite trees.

"Huh?"

"They know. About…it," Elphaba gestured vaguely to her stomach. "Oz, they must have sensed it weeks ago."

"Yeah, well…" Fiyero muttered. "I'm glad the Monkeys have been able to take such good care of you."

"I hear your tone, Fiyero," Elphaba sighed tiredly. "If you have something to say then say it."

"We're on a ticking time clock here, Elphaba."

"Are we?" Elphaba said sarcastically, opening a newspaper a Monkey brought. "I had no idea how gestation worked."

"Not only that. It's getting colder."

"Is it? I had no idea how seasons worked."

"Elphaba."

"Fiyero. I have survived the winter before."

"You weren't pregnant before."

"Yes," Elphaba sighed longingly. "Those were the days."

"Are you—"

"Shh. I'm reading," Elphaba said, shaking her newspaper.

"Elphaba—"

"Can't hear you! Reading."

Fiyero groaned and shook his head, watching as Elphaba thumbed through the pages. Her face grew troubled.

"What is it?"

"She's out of control."

"Who?"

"Nessa!" Elphaba complained. "Ever since Boq left her she's been running amuck. How much further can she restrict the Munchkins? The things I'd say to her if I could—"

"Do you want to? Should we visit her?"

"We can't. The last time I tried it was a cataclysmic disaster," Elphaba complained. Finished with the paper, she handed it to a Monkey who took it and set off for the sky. "She doesn't want to see me."

"You don't know that—"

"I do know that."

Elphaba rose to her feet and started to pace.

"You know what? If she wants to piss off the Munchkins—fine. If she wants to shrink Boq's heart with The Grimmerie—"

"Wait—what?"

"Fine! It's just as I told her. I did everything I could for her," Elphaba stopped pacing and crossed her arms. "And it wasn't enough."

Fiyero stood as he watched her.

"Did you know she was the first person I thought of when I found out?" Elphaba said after a moment. "Once the shock wore off of course. She adores babies, my Nessarose. Rather more than me."

"Would you want to tell her?" Fiyero asked gently.

"I don't trust her not to tell," Elphaba replied simply before shaking her head. "Oz, what a horrible thought! I don't trust my own sister enough not to tell. But it's the truth," she sighed. "Father ruined her…and I arguably ruined her even more."

"You were great with her, Elphaba."

"I do hope you're not projecting some kind of maternal narrative onto me, Fiyero—"

"I just don't think you're giving yourself enough credit! You practically raised her."

"And look how she turned out!" Elphaba snapped. "The Wicked Witch of the East! Did you know that's what they're calling her?!"

"That's not your—"

"Of course it is."

"Would you—"

"Fiyero—"

"I'm just—"

"I don't want—I don't…"

Elphaba and Fiyero trailed off their bickering as a series of snow flurries began falling all around them. They slowly craned their necks to the sky and watched them spiral lazily to the earth through the trees, dotting their noses and foreheads with cold, wet specks. Fiyero looked at Elphaba who still looked at the sky. Despite her previous confidence, her eyes now betrayed signs of dread.

"Elphaba?"

She sighed and looked at him.

"Are you making light of how winters have been for you so I won't worry?" Fiyero asked seriously.

Elphaba was quiet.

"I've survived the winter before…" she reiterated, albeit with less conviction.

Fiyero was quiet.

"You weren't pregnant before."

Elphaba closed her eyes defeatedly.

"I know."

Fiyero drew her in for a soft hug. Her hair felt damp with snowflakes as he stroked his hand over it.

"You look exhausted."

"Of course I'm exhausted," Elphaba mumbled. "This thing is sucking the life out of me."

Fiyero pulled out of the hug and brushed the hair out of her face.

"Why don't you rest your eyes? Just for a few hours."

"I can't. The Monkeys left."

"Oh, yes the Monkeys," Fiyero rolled his eyes. "You don't need the Monkeys, Elphaba! I'm right here. I'll watch over you."

"Are you sure?"

Fiyero brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Please, Elphaba. I'm dying to help. At least in the ways I can."

Elphaba softened at his tone and nodded. Fiyero settled against a tree and Elphaba laid her head in his lap with her cloak pulled around her for warmth. She shivered under his hand as he gently stroked her hair. They were silent for some time, but every flurry of snow urged Fiyero to speak up.

"My family has a castle in Kiamo Ko…" Fiyero said.

"How lovely for them."

"I'm saying we can go there, Elphaba. We can use it."

"Don't your parents need it?"

"Not this one. I mean—I'm sure they'd be pissed if we took it but once we're in I'm sure we can keep them out."

"I don't know, Yero…" Elphaba sighed.

"We'd have a roof over our heads, a room, a bed…" Fiyero trailed off. "We'd be safe there. I…could take care of you."

Elphaba was quiet. Against her will, The Wizard's words floated back into her brain.

Aren't you tired of being the strong one? Wouldn't you like someone to take care of you?

"Please, Elphaba," Fiyero appealed. "Just think about it."

"Very well I'll think about it," Elphaba muttered. "I'll even sleep on it if you'll let me."

Fiyero chuckled and nodded.

"Of course, Elphaba. Get some rest…" Fiyero murmured. "I'll be right here."

Fiyero kept his word and stayed alert for her, allowing Elphaba her sleep. His fingers drifted lazily up and down her arm as he listened to her snore softly. Even as she slept she shivered. He tucked her cloak more tightly around her and brushed the snow off as it came. The flurries did not stick to the ground yet, but he knew that they would. Eventually.

The snow had stopped by the time Elphaba sat upright. Bolted upright, more like.

"Well, wake up you sleepyhead!" Fiyero chuckled.

"Did you hear that?" Elphaba asked urgently.

"No there's been nothing," Fiyero assured her, tucking some hair behind her ear. "It even stopped snowing."

"No—no I heard something. Bells. And—and singing…"

"It must have been a dream," Fiyero tried to assure her. "Though hopefully not another Elphaba dream—oh Oz it's not twins is it?"

Elphaba didn't laugh at his joke. She barely seemed to register to it. She stumbled to her feet, eyes fearfully fixed towards the east. Fiyero's face fell as he stood and approached her.

"Elphaba what's the matter?" he asked, now serious. "What's wrong?"

"It sounds like…"

A strong ripple of wind gusted eastward.

"It sounds like someone's in pain."

Before Fiyero could respond Elphaba was frantically dashing towards her bag and broom.

"What is it?!"

"I have to go to Nessa!" Elphaba said. "She's in danger. I can feel it!"

"Where do we need to go?"

"We?" Elphaba frowned.

"Yes, we!" Fiyero barked. "Do you really think I'm going to let you go alone?"

Elphaba stiffened.

"Let me?"

"You're not going off on your own."

"It's dangerous, Fiyero."

"Then why are you rushing head first into it?!"

"She's my sister! She's my responsibility!" Elphaba insisted. "It's my job to keep her safe."

"And it's my job to keep you safe!"

"I can keep myself safe, Fiyero!" Elphaba hissed. "This is my life!"

"Well it's my life now too!" Fiyero said. "Not to mention the—"

"Fiyero," Elphaba warned.

"You are not going alone."

"Watch me!" Elphaba yelled over the howling wind.

"You are not going alone!"

"I—"

"Elphaba Thropp you are pregnant with my baby. You are not going out there alone!"

Elphaba went quiet, but the look in her eyes signaled to Fiyero that he'd said the wrong thing.

"The baby. Your baby," Elphaba snarled, thrusting her broom to the side as she charged towards him. "You think I don't remember? For the love of Oz, Fiyero, I know I am pregnant!"

"Well at least I'm trying to help!" Fiyero unloaded. "At least I'm trying to think things through—"

"Now that's funny."

"Elphaba."

"You don't get to dictate everything I do just because you planted your precious seed in me, Fiyero!"

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Do this, Elphaba. Do that. Go to my castle, Elphaba. You're pregnant, Elphaba, pregnant with my baby," Elphaba mocked.

"You know what? I am sick and tired of getting snapped at for every little thing I do. You don't let me make any decisions! Am I your partner or your plaything, Elphaba?! Wait, I'm sorry. Plaything implies that we're having sex," Fiyero laughed pettily. "Which we're not."

"So this is all because I haven't slept with you again?" Elphaba scoffed. "Class act, Fiyero."

"That's not—"

"Thought life on the run would be sexier, Fiyero? Racier? Thought I'd be your mysterious damsel to tumble around in the woods with?"

"This isn't about sex, Elphaba, but sweet Oz! Is it such a crime to want to know how you feel about me?! I gave up everything I knew to follow you out here—"

"Well no one asked you to do that," Elphaba said harshly. "Least of all me!"

Fiyero, wounded, closed his mouth. His mind strained to think of anything to say as a rebuttal, but before either he or Elphaba got another word in edgewise, the strongest ripple of icy wind tore through the forest. Bowled over by the gust, they stumbled sideways and clung to the base of a tree. Fallen leaves lifted from the ground and Elphaba had the wherewithal to grab her broom before it too could fall victim to the wind. Then, the pale daylight became suddenly obscured by a black shadow spiraling overhead.

"What…in…Oz…" Fiyero gaped.

Elphaba stood frozen, eyes wide as she stared up at the sight. The ends of her hair whipped all around her face in the violent winds. The farmhouse ripped through the sky in an eerily quiet manner, save for the whistling winds, riding the tail of a singular funnel cloud.

"Nessa…" Elphaba said faintly.

"What?"

"Nessa!"

Elphaba broke into a sprint, broom in hand, towards the direction the house had flown. They'd lost sight of it over the trees. It was going far too fast to catch, but she tried. She tried.

"Elphaba!" Fiyero called, running after her before she could leave his sight.

"NESSA!"

Elphaba and Fiyero didn't see the crash, but they heard it. The sound was unlike anything. It was splintery, vicious, louder than was natural. The ground shook, forcing Fiyero to grip a nearby tree. Then, silence. As quickly as the unnatural weather had begun, it ended.

When Fiyero lifted his head Elphaba was on her hands and knees. He rushed to kneel beside her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Elphaba said nothing. She stared straight forward, unblinking.

"Elphaba?"

"I was too late," Elphaba whispered.

"Too late for what?"

"I was too late."

Far in the distance, they heard the knell of church bells.

Fiyero swallowed nervously. "What is that?"

A sudden popping sound made Fiyero flinch. Elphaba remained statue still. It took a moment for Fiyero to register that it was a firework. Another followed it, cracking in the sky, and it was followed by a fierce wave of cheers similar to those you'd hear when the clock struck thirteen on New Years. Or when people saw the final float in a parade. The whoops and yelps grew to such an intensity that Fiyero wondered if they could be heard in The Emerald City.

"What's happening?"

"They're cheering, Fiyero," Elphaba said in an eerily calm voice. She blinked. Once. "They're cheering."

"What for?"

"They're cheering because my sister is dead."

"…yes, yes! It's a wonderful day indeed!" a magically amplified voice called over the cheers. "A day that will surely go down in the annals of goodliness! The Wicked Witch of the East is dead!"

A prickle of dread shot up Fiyero's spine as he watched Elphaba's eyes darken at the voice.

"Elphaba?"

Elphaba slowly rose to her feet.

"What are you doing?"

"You stay here," she said steadily.

Elphaba began walking numbly with her back to Fiyero.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go do something."

Fiyero reached for her hand but just before he could grab it Elphaba vanished in a thick cloud of scarlet smoke.

"Elphaba—!"

A vivid burst of color greeted Elphaba's eyes the moment the smoke cleared, as well as scores of petrified faces as the Munchkin populace ceased their celebrations upon seeing her. Scattered screams sounded as they ducked and ran for cover, but Elphaba paid them no mind. Her eyes were set straight ahead on the opposite curve of the spiraled yellow brick. Not on the young girl in the blue gingham dress, but rather on the sparkly phony standing behind her.

Bile rose to Elphaba's throat before she spat the name of her nemesis.

"Glinda."