That weekend, Fiyero made sure that Elphaba had barely moved from their bedroom, something the green-skinned woman was all too happy to go along with.

Whenever she wasn't sleeping, she was eating whatever he brought up to her, or laying in the bed with him and they talked about everything and nothing at the same time, and she was able to skillfully avoid talking about what she had been through over the years she had been away.

"Are you sure you two didn't elope? Because-"

"I swear by Lurline if you give him ideas I will turn you into an inanimate object." Elphaba threatened with a smirk once they saw his brother in the hallway.

Ambram grinned widely like a child. "I like this woman. Please say we can keep her."

Fiyero smirked and shrugged. "Gotta be the only woman who isn't blood-related that you do like."

The elder Tiggular waved his hand. "I'm sure grandmother will be pleased."

"Anyway, my dear brother, I have a favour to ask of you. I need you to see if you can get an appointment with our family doctor."

"Why? You're not sick, are you?"

"We're..." he shared a look with Elphaba. "We're not exactly sure."

"Wait a minute... Are you saying...?"

"I don't know yet. That's why..." Elphaba answered, chewing her bottom lip. "But can I ask that you don't say anything? Please, it's just until we know and..."

"Your secret is safe. For now." Ambram grinned again and hugged her tightly, lifting her off the ground slightly. "I'll send a letter now. And what do we have left to sort out, little brother?

She laughed when she was put down and rolled her eyes, leaving them both to it and she headed to the library.

" I dunno... whichever needs doing the most. No, we're not doing anything for a baby just yet. Let's just... get the appointment out of the way first."

Ambram nodded and slapped his shoulder good-naturedly. "You don't waste time, do you, baby brother," he smirked. "You've been back in this woman's life for... four months? And you were with Glinda for four years?"

"Three and a half. But what's your point?"

"You didn't extend the bloodline with her."

Fiyero shrugged. "Glinda and I were always careful. With Fae it was... we just... we didn't plan it."

He gave his brother a look and shook his head.

"What? It's not like it matters to the crown is it? The likelihood of it passing to me right now is very slim."

Ambram scoffed. "You honestly think they'll be on board with a King who refuses to marry or carry on his bloodline?"

"I thought our parents got rid of that outdated rule when you came out. That was the sole reason for them doing it."

"They may have gotten rid of it, they can't change people's minds, the rest of Oz may have moved forward, and as much as I love this place, it's still pretty backwards. We both know Riya won't take it."

Fiyero groaned and shook his head. "Well either or both of our beloved parents better not kick the box for a long time yet!"

Ambram laughed at him. "Come on, let's get the ballroom looking fancy again."

A few days later, Elphaba and Fiyero were sat in the waiting room of a Gillikin hospital, waiting to see their doctor.

"You'll be in safe hands, I promise." Fiyero held her hand gently. "Her family have been treating mine for years, and she took over from her father around the time we started at Shiz."

"So... This is where she works usually?"

He nodded. "Are you okay now?"

She shrugged. "Just... nervous." She looked up when her name was called.

"It's okay, I'm here." he smiled and stood up with her, keeping a firm grip on her hand and they were both lead through to the doctor's office. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, it's okay. Wait here? It's probably just gonna be a blood test..."

He nodded and let her go.

If the young woman was shocked, she hadn't shown it in front of Elphaba when she walked through the door, and she herself hadn't known what to expect. She certainly wasn't expecting the young-looking, ochre skinned woman looking up at her with violet coloured eyes.

"Ms Thropp?" A nod. "Take a seat. My name is Dr Ziva Vanhanen. Now, what can I help you with today?"

"I... well, I think it's beyond a possibility by now but I need to confirm if I'm pregnant or not..."

The doctor nodded. "Alright, I'll just ask you a few questions, and then I'll examine you and take a blood sample."

Elphaba nodded silently and answered the questions. She gave her age, her height and any family history that she knew of. She looked up nervously when asked to lie down in the examination chair. "Wh-why?"

"It's just a routine check, Ms Thropp."

Another nervous glance at the chair as a memory struck her. "Uh... D-do I have to?"

The young woman gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

Elphaba rubbed her hands nervously on the skirt of her black dress, her panic rising and her breathing quickening, and she screwed her eyes shut.

She reached over and grabbed her hands in hers without a second thought, the odd skin tone hadn't come into it. All she saw was a young woman just a few years younger than herself who was absolutely terrified, for reasons only she knew. "If something is troubling you, you can tell me."

Elphaba had slowly calmed her breathing down once she felt the contact, and she cautiously opened her eyes, looking up at the woman opposite her.

"Miss Elphaba, being terrified at the prospect of becoming a mother for the first time is considered normal, but something tells me that this is something more, something bigger than that. I can help you."

Suddenly, the weight of what she had been through became too much for her to bear, and she couldn't believe that somebody was willing to listen to her. The words spilt out before she had a chance to think about it, or even stop herself. "I ran away from school four years ago, and I found myself on the streets for a year before I was taken in by a group of people... For almost three years after that, I was systematically beaten and raped by a man I was supposed to trust, and because of that he was able to get me pregnant twice, and both of those times I was forced into a termination. The second one was messed up because the doctor who performed it did something wrong and now I'm not sure what he did."

By Kumbricia what in Oz...? How...? Ziva was speechless for a moment, trying to process what Elphaba had told her and then she sighed sympathetically. "Miss Thropp, if you're worried about any damage I can take a look at that now for you. But I can promise you now, nobody is going to force you into anything, not anymore. You're safe, and you're away from that man now. I'm assuming that the young man out there waiting for you isn't the one responsible for those horrendible things."

"Oh, Oz, no!" She shook her head. "Fiyero is... He's sweet, he's kind, he's gentle and he would never hurt anyone. He saved me."

Ziva smiled as the fear melted away, giving way to the love she felt for the prince on the other side of the door. "Well, then it looks like you have nothing to worry about. Come on, the quicker I get this examination done the quicker you can get out of here."

The young witch nodded and allowed her to take her to the examination chair and she lay down on it.

"Remember, if you need to stop this at any point, just say the word. Alright?" She waited for the nod before gently pressing on the tiny swell of her stomach.

Elphaba watched her warily, seeing her use a funnel-like device she'd never seen before, didn't know what it was used for. She froze, her heart jumping to her throat when the other woman checked lower down.

"Miss Thropp?" Ziva called to her. "Miss Thropp, do you need a moment?"

She shook her head, unable to speak and she blinked away her tears.

Ziva paused anyway, not wanting to cause her further distress, she waited until Elphaba had found her voice again and told her she was fine. "It looks like..." she paused and then moved away from the woman. "There is some considerable scarring and damage there, it means you won't be able to deliver a baby safely that way, or you'll lose too much blood."

Elphaba visibly winced and she bit her lip as she sat up and righted herself. "So... what does that mean?"

"You'll still be able to have a safe and active sex life, it just means any children you have, will have to be done at a hospital where they will perform an operation to deliver safely."

Once the blood sample had been taken, Elphaba left feeling more nervous than when she'd first walked in.

"Fae?" Fiyero jumped up from his seat and rushed to her side. "What's wrong?" He held her close.

"Everything is fine with... We find out in a week... But I need to talk to you about something else."

"What is it?"

She shook her head. "Not here..."

He kissed her forehead and nodded. "Alright. Come, let's go home."

She remained silent for the whole journey back home. Once back at Kiamo Ko, he took her to her safe place; the library, and he waited silently for her to open up to him.

She picked up a book from a shelf without even looking at its title and she fidgeted until she forced herself to look at him. "Yero... I haven't been entirely honest with you about the whole... Lysander thing..."

He nodded slightly, having guessed as much. "Okay." he walked to her, holding her arms gently. "Whatever it is you can tell me."

"You... y-you asked me once... if it had been the first time he hit me..." she swallowed a lump in her throat and she clutched the book tighter to stop her hands from shaking. "I... I lied to you that day... for... for three years he had been doing that and m-more..." she looked away then, concentrating on her nails so she didn't have to look into his shocked face.

"Fae... why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew how you'd react... I remembered that boy who once defended me against Avaric and his stupid friends... that same boy who was so gentle with Glinda when she was upset... Yero if you said anything to him he would have most likely thrown us out, and we needed somewhere to stay until we could sort this place."

He almost hated to ask the next question, but he knew he had to. "What else did he do to you?"

"I was... when they took me in, I was so grateful... I would have done anything to repay them..." she paused. "Seems stupid now... but that's why I... started a relationship with him... I felt like I had to... Six months into it... he..." she closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, her voice shaky when she continued. "He... uhm..."

Fiyero held her tighter, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. No... no, not his Elphaba... she was not about to tell him what he thought she was going to tell him. "Fae, no..."

"You're already ahead of me..."

His heart broke in two and he gently held her face, making her look up at him, both of them had tears in their eyes. "No... not you."

She nodded. "He... he kept doing it for months... th-the last time was... seven months before you found me and another time after that... and that was only because I kept making excuses not to be there... But he never stopped hitting me..."

He hugged her tightly then, and they both cried together. Suddenly, her initial refusal made sense, the tremor in her voice... her reluctance to open up to him when he first asked.

"I... I'm sorry..."

"Don't you dare..." he told her gently. "Don't you dare apologize for any of this." he peppered her neck with soft kisses, working his way along her jawline, cheeks, nose, forehead and finally her mouth. With every feather-light kiss that he planted, he whispered his love for her. He wiped away her tears. "You're my beautiful, strong Elphaba... who has been through so much more than she should have done, and you have come out of this mess and still kept that big kind heart of yours. A bit battered and bruised, a bit bent out of shape. But still there. And I love you and admire you so much."

"You... you saved me more than you realised..." she told him, her heart breaking even more at the sight of his tears. "I love you so much." she took another deep breath. "He attacked me again a few weeks ago... and I wanted to face him that night... the night of the fire."

"When?"

"After the first 'ambush'..."

He growled quietly and shook his head. "That sick, twisted..." Her nightmares made total sense now.

"I know... I know my love... That... that's why I had to be there, I had to know he wasn't going to escape... that he wasn't going to come after me."

He felt completely sick to his stomach as he listened to her, he held her and comforted her the whole time.

"Over the course of the three years, he had impregnated me twice and he forced me to get rid of it both times..."

He didn't know what to say to that. He held her close and stated silent until a thought struck him.

"Glinda... does she know any of this? Was that what she meant?"

She shrugged. "I mean, she overheard something when she followed me... but I haven't told her everything."

"She overheard you confront him." she nodded at that. "She was gonna say rapist wasn't she?" he cringed when she flinched at it. "Fae... my beautiful girl... my love, you're safe now, and nobody is gonna hurt you now," he promised.

She nodded and cuddled closer to him. She so desperately wanted to believe him.

Neither of them ate much for the rest of the evening, they fell into bed together, crying and comforting one another until they fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms.