Hi. I wish I didn't have to apologize so much for all the delays that life causes. I had just started thinking that life would get easier then a big curveball came and knocked the wind out of me. I'm finally getting back to normal and I knew that I was overdue for posting a chapter. I never forget about you guys, I just often don't have the energy needed to turn on the computer, let alone the rest. Does that sound pathetic? Anyway, sorry this isn't a big chapter, I'll post another one super soon to make up for the last couple months.

Under a partially cloudy sky, Fiyero stood under his favorite pearlfruit tree with his thumbs hooked into his pockets, staring across the agitated waters of Suicide Canal but not really looking at it. In the last few minutes the wind had picked up enough to tousle his hair, but he wasn't disturbed by it. At least the strengthening breeze was enough to drown out the hum of life from the campus behind him, letting him feel more alone than he really was.

He spent so much of the semester lounging in this very spot, but he couldn't bring himself to sit now and be lazy. He was too stressed. It was a perpetual state lately and it brought him back to his time in the Emerald City, when he was Captain—his posture was perfect, less from propriety than it was from tension, and his stoicism was not from patience or disinterest as it might ordinarily be but rather from self-preservation and melancholy.

"Good afternoon, dearest."

Had he been in another state Fiyero might have started at the sudden intrusion of his quietude, but for whatever reason hearing Galinda's voice did not startle him and he simply turned his head as she floated across the grass towards him. She wore minimal makeup and her dress was plain and light and sunny and short; her blonde hair was down and the thin loose curls were billowing behind her head, so uncontrolled and striking that he felt a swell of love for her. He took a minute to simply appreciate her natural beauty. Considering how disjointed he felt, it brought him unspeakable comfort to see that the young woman in front of him was the bright, guileless Galinda and not the fiancée who he had left heartbroken in the throne room all those months ago.

He turned to face her and placed a light smile on his face, both indicators of openness and ease that Galinda's perception of body language would pick up. He always made the extra effort with his actions and expressions when she was around, knowing how well she could read people when she wanted to, and usually that extra effort wasn't even a conscious effort, given how long he had known her.

It wasn't how Elphaba read people, though. While Galinda saw the outside of things, it was if Elphaba could see through them to the heart of hearts.

Except when he asked it of her, he realized morosely. Then she was blind as a Bat and obstinate as an Ox.

"Hello," he said.

"How are you doing since that terrible little tiff you and Elphie had the other night?"

"Peachy," he lied, hoping the crinkling at the corner of his eyes was enough to convince the blonde his smile was genuine. But the socialite was smarter than that and gave him her signature glare, which had never really done anything to scare him as it was meant to. "You know me, I'm always happy."

"Of course." She fiddled with a charm bracelet on her wrist, focusing on it instead of him. "Fiyero, I just want you to know I think you did a brave thing opening yourself up like you did to Elphie. I know how hard that is."

Fiyero had been slightly concerned that Elphaba, in her incredulity over his confession the other day, would go to Galinda about it. He couldn't tell if she was testing him, trying to dig out answers to unspoken questions about truths he never intended on telling her, or if she was simply concerned for him as just a friend. Cautiously, he decided to ask, "What has she told you?"

"Next to nothing; not for a lack of prodding, might I add. She ought to keep in mind that boys and such things are topics about which I'm far more adept than she is. I could help her!"

"She's probably afraid to hurt your feelings, given, you know…"

"Oh, just say it Fiyero. I carried quite a torch for you. But I've moved on, and believe me when I say I've been vocal about it." He did. "Fiyero, you're my friend. And so is she. I love you both so dearly. It pains me to stand by, unable to raise your spirits. It usually comes so easily to me."

"I'm fine, Galinda. You needn't worry about me."

"I'm not sure whether to believe you."

"What is there to do?" he said, his shrug showing a slight loss of composure. "I made a mistake. I opened up too much, and now…and now there's nothing to be done."

"Perhaps it is for the best, Fiyero. She's leaving right after semester's end," Galinda informed him. "The Wizard wrote to her and invited her to the Emerald City."

"Yes…she told me."

"Oh. She didn't even tell me about it until I inquired about it. She flung his letter atop her desk like it meant nothing, and I simply know that isn't true." The breeze rustled the leaves overhead, interrupting a heavy silence that came as Galinda tried to accept that, despite the discord, Fiyero remained as important of a confidant as she did, if not more. "Elphie said she would only be gone a couple of days, but I have this feeling…"

"That she won't come back?" he finished. Galinda nodded sadly, and he reached out a comforting hand to her petite shoulder and squeezed it affectionately. "You should spend this last weekend together before school ends. Take her shopping for her trip. Perhaps her enthusiasm will return."

"Do you really think so?" she asked him, her pretty head cocked slightly as she looked up at him. She was so lovely with her loose curls bouncing in the gentle wind and her eyes far bluer than the water of the canal behind her or the clear sky it reflected.

"Of course I do. I have every faith that you'll make sure of it."

"I hope it is not inappropriate for me to say this, but I don't even think you're perfect anymore and yet I'm still fond of you. This must be what other people feel like," she said, laughing lightly at herself. He found a chuckle escaped from him as well, for her backhanded compliment about his imperfection was still somehow charming. "Elphie will come around. She's not always as smart as she lets on, but even she can't keep playing dumb to avoid you."

"Thank you Galinda," he said, and he took her by the shoulder and pulled her into his arms, taking comfort in the familiarity of her hug. He put his chin on her head and relished the moment; he couldn't relax against Glinda in the end, for there was rarely a moment when her hair wasn't laden with product and pins or adorned with sharp tiaras. "I care for you very much too."

"But you love her."

"I do. Deeply."

"Then she and I are going to have a talk whether she likes it or not," Galinda said, stepping from his arms determinedly.

"Don't," he pleaded. "I told you, I'm fine."

"Sure you are. Well, if this conversation is run through, I'll go ahead and leave you to your moping."

She flipped her hair then, sending him a cute grin and dainty wave as she twirled away.