A/N: Hello! Sorry for the unexpected hiatus. Please enjoy!

"You're staring."

"So what if I am?" a smirk tipped Fiyero's lips before he kissed her. "I'm allowed to stare at the love of my life." he laughed when Elphaba opened her eyes and pretended to gag.

"You're so sweet it's sickening!" she rolled her eyes. "And you can stop fidgeting in there! It's time to sleep!"

He grinned, placing a hand on her stomach. "Are you happy?"

Her face softened and she smiled. "Of course I am. I've got my brother back. And I've got you and this little one. There's nothing else I want more in the world. Now shut up and get to sleep." she told him and closed her eyes again.

He laughed again and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

It had been a long day for them both, and though the siblings didn't get a chance to talk about their shared experiences, they knew they would have the rest of the two weeks to do it.

"Fae?"

A growl. "What?"

"I love you."

"Fiyero, I love you too, but if you do not shut up, I will personally find a spell to silence you." She kicked him in the shin when he laughed, and eventually, they fell into a peaceful slumber.

Elphaba was awoken early the next morning by her child stirring within her, and she got herself ready for the day, starting with a shower.

A housekeeper entered the room while she was in the bathroom and prepared the fire in the grate to warm the room from the winter air. The prince in the bed lay sleeping. Courtiers at his parents' castle often remarked that it would take a natural disaster to wake him up. The older woman left the room quickly once her task was done.

Wrapped in her towel and a thick, woollen dressing gown, Elphaba eventually emerged from the warmth of the bathroom to dress herself, launching a pillow at Fiyero's head when she was done.

He groaned and flopped over, holding the pillow to his head. "Too early!" came the muffled reply.

She rolled her eyes and left the room, he'd wake up soon enough. She made her way down the corridor, meeting the housekeeper by the stairs.

"Miss Elphaba." she curtsied, using her preferred title to her honoured one.

The young witch smiled slightly before raising her. "You've still no need to do that, Miss Genevive," she told her with a blush to her cheeks.

"How are you and the little one this morning?" Miss Genevive asked, ignoring the comment as usual, walking down the stairs with her mistress.

"Still doing somersaults in there most of the night, but now he seems to have settled down. And I'm alright." Elphaba smiled. "Is my brother awake yet?"

"Oh, yes, he's been up for a couple of hours, Miss Elphaba. He spent some time walking the gardens, I'm surprised he didn't freeze to the spot out there."

"I'm not surprised... we all loved being outside when we were children. There were three of us, we had a younger sister." she felt a twinge in her heart at the thought of Nessa. She did miss her sister, it was hard not to, and she knew her sister was only the product of her upbringing being their father's devoted child. "At least tell me he's inside for breakfast? I refuse to eat outside."

"I can find out for you and direct him to the dining room." Genevive bowed her head when they reached the foot of the stairs and left to find out where Shell was.

Ten minutes later, Shell was brought to the dining room where his sister was eating her breakfast, he sat opposite her helping himself to a cooked breakfast.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"I didn't. Or it felt like it anyway." she managed a small smile.

He nodded. "We can take it easy today if you wanted."

Elphaba shot him a grateful look. "Thank you."

"You don't have to do that. He's not gonna shoot up from the grave and take your happiness away."

She shrugged. "I know, it's just... it's hard." she sighed, pushing away her now empty plate. "When you've spent so long on your own... or being run away from just for how you look..."

He reached over and held her hand. "I'm sorry. I should have been there, I could have done something."

She scoffed. "What could you have done, Shell? If you think he would have stopped at giving you a kick-" she stopped herself. "It wouldn't have changed anything."

He nodded and sighed. "Okay, Fabala." It wasn't worth arguing over, not now they were back together as they should have been all those years ago, and she didn't need the stress. He silently finished his breakfast and stood up. "Come on, let's go find the nearest open fire to sit beside."

"I know the perfect spot." she slowly stood up, leaning on her brother's arm as he walked with her, making their way to a room overlooking the gardens. A maid bustled behind them and hurried to light the fire in the hearth.

"I did think for a moment you'd drag me to the library." he teased, helping her into an armchair before taking his own seat.

"But you don't talk in a library." she chuckled. "Apart from that, this is my favourite room in the whole place."

"Is Fiyero not gonna join us at some point?"

She shrugged. "He's... he's not been sleeping well lately, and neither have I. I imagine he will come find us later."

"Why?"

"Tell me about your family." she avoided the question. She wouldn't burden him with their joint trauma, and Fiyero's wasn't hers to tell.

Shell's brows creased together in a look of concern and disbelief. "My wife is just fine. We have three children." he told her, aware his words were coming out in a jolted way. He wasn't sure how they would react to Elphaba being back in his life. His wife fully believed everything that had been written about both of his sisters, and he had never let on that he knew them.

"They don't know about me." she guessed, seeing the look on his face. She gave him a small smile. "Don't worry so much if they don't want to see me... I know it can't have been easy for you..."

"It's not-" he stopped himself. What was it? She was his little sister, the one he should have protected and she should never have gone through all she had. "I just... I don't know how she's going to react..."

"A lot of people who don't know me often don't react well." she told him, rolling her eyes at the slight wince. "It's true! I'm not exactly approachable even without trying! I'm green as grass for Oz's sake!" she curled her legs up under her and picked up her discarded book off the table beside her. "Books don't judge you. Unless it's that awful Grimmerie, I'm sure that thing would laugh at me if it could!"

It was Shell's turn to roll his eyes. "You've not changed."

"I have."

"Not with things and people you love. You don't love easily, Fabala but when you do, you love hard, and completely."

She said nothing and opened the book to her marker and shuffled to get comfortable.