A/N: Oh, RavenCurls, if only it was happily ever after ;) keep reading... you can screech at me on Discord if you absolutely must...

"She looks like she hasn't slept for days... And you're no better." Glinda said softly as she peered in on a sleeping Elphaba one afternoon.

"We haven't," Fiyero admitted, running a hand in his hair, cringing at the look of concern that graced his ex fianceé's face. "We thought her nightmares had stopped after she had that vision."

"This isn't just her nightmares with you."

How did these two women do that?! He shrugged it off and shook his head. "Don't worry about me."

"Fiyero, you were left for dead five months ago, beaten by your own men, your friends all because you fell in love with their enemy." Glinda looked at him. "Nobody could come out of that mentally okay, not even you."

"What do you want me to say?!"

"Tell the truth!"

"I'm fine! I have to be!"

"No, you're not, and you don't! Elphie would understand that you need to heal too!"

He shook his head. "No. I'm not going to break, and I'm not talking about this now." He walked away.

"Fine. Then we'll wait for Elphaba to wake up and we'll talk about it then." she followed him.

"Why are you so concerned? It's not like you gave a shit when I went through all that training. Or when I had to put it into practice. Or when I had to pretend I hated her."

"Fiyero! That's not true, and it's not fair! Of course, I care! I cared then and I care now! You know the situation we were both in."

"And you loved every minute of the spotlight being on you. That doesn't change in five months, Glinda."

"Yes, I did. But if I could go back and change it, if I could go back to that attic where Elphie begged me to go with her, I'd do it. In three clicks of those ruby slippers, I'd do it." she couldn't let her temper rise now. He was losing his, and that meant he was close to breaking and being honest about his feelings, and she needed him to do that. "I was swept up in the fairytale and I was naive. But you know what? You could have walked at any time. Gone back home and then gone underground to look for her."

"Staying with them was the only chance I had at finding her. You know going home wasn't an option!"

"If you loved her like you say you do, you'd have found a way. You didn't need to string me along to do it!"

"How many times do I have to apologize for that?! It's not like I meant for it to happen!"

"You've been in love with my best friend since college! We've been graduated for nearly two years for Oz's sakes! We could have at least pretended to be together, at least I would have known where I stood!" she snapped. "It may have been an on-the-spot decision but you've been thinking about it at least for the entirety of our relationship!" she took a deep breath. "We're getting off track. This isn't about us this is about you."

"I don't want this conversation."

"You need to, Fiyero. You can't keep on like this. You can't keep pretending you're okay. Elphie will see through it if she hasn't already."

"I've told her it's nothing to worry about. I've told her my brother is helping me."

"Except he's not, is he! Have you even told him?"

"Yes, he is!"

"How?" She followed him when he walked away again. "Fiyero, how?"

"He gets sleeping tonics for me!"

Now we're getting somewhere. she thought. "Fifi... there's only so long they can work for before you get used to them," she told him. "But... you know that already, don't you...?"

He ignored her and walked to his study.

Glinda rolled her eyes and walked after him. "Fiyero... there's a reason doctors are reluctant to give people sleeping tonics... they're highly addictive and can cause more problems than they solve... How often are you using them?"

"Started off twice a week..."

"And now?"

"Every night..."

"Fiyero... this isn't going to make the memories or the anxiety go away..."

"I know!" he snapped and shook his head apologetically. "I know... but it does for a while, enough to help me sleep."

"Only now it isn't working and you tell yourself you need more."

"I do."

"No, you don't. Fifi, you just need someone to talk to. You need to process what happened to you, just like Elphie needs to process what happened to her."

"I'm not as strong as she is. I'm too weak to-" he was cut off by a slap.

"Now you listen to me Fiyero Tigelaar. You are not a weak man. A lesser man would have broken long before now way before their torture began! But you didn't! You endured a horrific ordeal, and you didn't betray the woman you love to save your own skin. That took guts. That took an awful lot of courage. You came through that, you healed, you saved her, you're starting a family with her. That doesn't sound very weak to me."

He rubbed his cheek and hung his head, listening to her. He knew what she was saying made sense. He just didn't feel very strong-minded. "I could never hurt Fae."

"I know. Because you love her. Because love makes us strong. You would defend her until your dying breath, how is that cowardly or weak?" She reached up to touch his face. "You need to heal, Fifi. You need to be strong for her again, and for yourself. You need to stop taking those damned potions." She just hoped that she had caught him in time before he could get any more addicted to them.

"I-"

"Yes, you can. Where are they?"

"I ran out last night... Ambram is on his way with more..." he admitted.

She nodded. That was why he looked like hell. "Okay. You need to come off this slowly."

"I can't do this on my own, Glin."

"Oh..." she said softly and hugged him. "Fifi, you're not on your own. Hopefully, the coming down effects won't be terrible... that means we've stopped this before it gets worse."

"Fae can't know about this... she's already worrying too much and she's dealing with her own nightmares..."

"What's the alternative? Leave her for a few months? Fiyero, she will have to know."

He shook his head. "Can... Can't you stay?"

"And what reason would I give? Elphie doesn't need me yet."

He shrugged. "Extra bonding time?"

She sighed. "Fiyero, I can't comfort you at night. Elphie is the one sharing your bed, sharing your life, she should be the one to do that, not me."

"But-"

"I know you don't want to worry her. You're both a little bit broken, but you should be able to lean on each other and take comfort from each other. Now... I'm gonna go back up and see if she's awake, I'm not gonna tell her anything, that's for you to do."

He nodded and watched her go. He groaned and dropped down at his desk, letting his head fall against the wood. "I'm fine... I'm fine..." he muttered. Eventually, he shook his head. He wasn't fine. He was a mess, Glinda knew it, and soon Elphaba would know it. His beautiful, kind, sweet, tragic Elphaba... She had enough to deal with already without having to deal with him, but he knew he couldn't carry on the way he was.

Glinda made her way back to the bedroom, finding Elphaba just waking up. "Good afternoon, sleepy." she smiled.

"Glinda... when did you get here?" she rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up and reached for a glass of water on her bedside table.

"About twenty minutes ago?". Glinda shrugged, climbing onto the bed with her.

" Why didn't you wake me? Where's Fiyero?"

"Fifi and I had some private matters to discuss... I left him sulking in the study."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow over the rim of her glass before she set it back down.

"He needs to tell you himself. Truth be told, he hasn't fully processed what happened to him yet."

"Oh..."

The blonde nodded. "Anyway... you didn't respond to my letter!"

"Cause you'd get here before it got to you." she smiled.

Glinda shrugged. "So? What did his parents say?"

"It was... weird... his father was a bit more receptive than his mother... she seems a little... cautious... maybe? I could tell she doesn't think this child is Fiyero's."

"Did she say that?"

"No. But you could see it in her eyes and she just kept looking at me the rest of the evening until they left..."

"Oh, Elphie..." she hugged her.

Elphaba shrugged and hugged back. "It's fine... Anyway... Ziva is happy with my progress so far, she seems to think I'm on track to having a healthy baby at the end." she smiled.

Glinda giggled. "That's great! Oz, I'm excited! Aren't you?"

"Yeah. I actually am." she nodded, giggling a little. "I'm nervous too... and scared. But mostly excited."

"Good. I'm glad it's going okay for you." Glinda smiled.

"Tell me what happened with Milla?"

"Oz, it's simply tragic! To avoid disgrace, she was forced to marry a farm boy."

"Disgrace? You mean she-?"

"While we were at Shiz for the final year, she fell pregnant to a Munchkinlander, so her parents forced her into marriage otherwise she would be financially cut off and disowned. Anyway, she ended up having the baby taken away before graduation and she's been unhappy ever since. She was trying again, but it didn't happen, and she recently told me she found out she was barren."

Elphaba gasped. "Oz... the poor girl..."

Glinda nodded solemnly. "I know... she doesn't see the point in looking for her child, but..."

"She can't live on without it either."

"She's not the same as she was, Elphie..."

"I don't think I would be either. Well, actually... if you think about it, none of us are the same as we were in school."

"I guess so." Glinda sighed. "Have you heard back from Shell?"

"I did... he doesn't hate me. He came back for me when we were younger."

"I told you so! I guess he wants to see you? Was he surprised about there the letter came from?"

She laughed and nodded. "Yeah, he does. He wrote back yesterday saying he's going to make the journey up and he'll be here in three weeks." She laughed again as she was hugged.

"Do I get to meet him?"

"As long as you don't try and marry him straight away," she smirked.

"But what if he's cute?" Glinda gasped. "We could be sisters!"

"That's it. I'm actually having a nightmare. You're not real."

"Elphie!"

"What happened to 'the one' in your letter last week!"

"Oh, he's history."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Of course. And that is why I don't want you flirting with my brother."

Glinda pouted for a moment. "Fine."

Elphaba shook her head with a laugh. Oh, she'd missed this... A vague memory of them both back at Shiz, curled up in bed laughing and talking together flashed across her mind. Gossiping with her best friend wasn't something she had ever imagined doing before her friendship with the blonde, and yet, whenever they were together, that's what they did. She felt... normal. A normal young woman and her best friend, and the fact that she had green skin no longer mattered.

Suddenly, a green hand shot out and grabbed the pale one and she placed it on her stomach.

"Elphie, what...?" Glinda trailed off when she was shushed. Then she gasped when she felt something move beneath her palm, and tears sprung to her eyes. "Is that...?"

Elphaba nodded, smiling.

The blonde gasped softly and burst into tears and threw her arms around her.

Elphaba chuckled softly, rubbing her back. "I know... I think I cried too when I first sat back and really felt it. And Fiyero cried too, he talks to him."

"Him? How...?"

"Just a feeling." she shrugged.

"Do you think he hears in there?"

"I don't know, books are a bit vague on that... I like to think so, though."

Glinda smiled, of course, Elphaba would try and make sense of it logically... of course, she would look it up in a book. "Not everything can be learned from a book."

"That's what our midwife said." Elphaba rolled her eyes with a grin. "She said sometimes it's better to feel things, and not think so much." she paused when Glinda laughed. "That's exactly what Fiyero did!" she hit her with a pillow.

Glinda squeaked and laughed more. "We know what you're like, Elphie! You were our friend for like... a year of our college lives!"

Elphaba pouted.

"Come on. You know it's true just as much as I do. Do you remember what I used to tell you?"

"You used to tell me a lot of things, Glinda. You once told me I'd be popular."

"After that!" She sighed and shook her head at her friend's confusion. "I told you that you'd get your fairytale eventually."

"Fairytales don't exist, Glinda."

"Yes, they do. You're living one right now."

"What's this one called? 'The Prince and the Frog'?" she smirked.

"Oh, Elphie!" Glinda scoffed and paused when she saw something glittering, and she grabbed her friend's left hand. "What's this?"

A wide smile broke out on Elphaba's face. Took her long enough... she thought sarcastically. "It's... an engagement ring."

"A..." Glinda stopped and squealed loudly, laughing giddily and she hugged her again. "Oh my, Oz! Elphie that's wonderful! Congratulations!"

Elphaba laughed with her and hugged back. "Thank you."

"How did he do it? Was it with his family? Did he have a speech?"

"Lin! Breathe." she giggled. "No big, grand gestures, no crowds, no romantic speeches. Small and simple, just how I would have liked it. He showed me the full moon and the stars. And then he kissed me and said 'marry me'."

"Sounds romantic to me. He could have made the effort with a speech or something!"

"He probably did have one... or maybe it was just a spontaneous decision. Either way, I felt it was perfect." she smiled.

"What did you say? I mean... obviously, you said yes..."

She shook her head. "No. I said 'when?'."

Glinda giggled and hugged her again. "And you still think you don't have your fairytale?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Glinda..."

"Elphie, you're marrying a prince, you're having his children."

"And if he had his way he wouldn't ascend the throne and his brother would take his rightful place."

"Why wouldn't he? I think Ambram would make a wonderful king."

She shrugged. "He doesn't think his people would accept a gay king. A lot of people are still stuck in the past."

"Oh." the blonde hummed sympathetically. "What do the family think about it?"

"Yero said that they passed this law a few years ago that meant the ruler no longer had to be married or produce an heir... the title would then be passed to whoever was next."

"Which would eventually mean Fifi and then your children." Glinda finished.

"Exactly."

"Well, that's strange."

"What is?"

"His mother can accept she has a gay son but can't accept Fiyero choosing you. It's not like he could control his sexuality any more than you could control being green!"

"She's probably worried that I'll pass the green on. I don't know if I would, my mother certainly was not green and you know Nessa wasn't. Neither was Shell."

"That vision you had... you didn't see a green child, did you?"

"No, but that means nothing. That's a snapshot of one child, who knows what would happen? Maybe any other children Yero and I may have turn out green. Or my children's children turn out green. That's her worry, I think. I know it's mine."

"Well, it's a stupid worry! And it's not something that you can control nor is it your fault."

"That's easy for you to say!"

"I know. But it doesn't make my point any less wrong, now, does it? It's a worry, a concern, but can you stop it?" A shake of her head. "No. But you can deal with it, and prove to them and to everyone that it's nothing to be ashamed of. I still love you. And the whole world knows that Fiyero is absolutely devoted to you." That brought a giggle from her friend, and Glinda gently swept her dark hair away from her emerald face. "Do you want to get up and get something to eat?"

"No. I feel like being lazy today."

As if on cue, Ambram walked in with a tray of food and a pot of jasmine tea.

"How long were you out there?" Elphaba teased, smiling.

"I wasn't, why? Were you talking about me?" he grinned.

"We might have been." she nodded, taking the tray from him and settled it between her and Glinda and put the pot of tea and the cups on the table. "Thank you."

"And I take it you're responsible for Fiyero looking like someone's kicked over his sandcastles?" he smirked at the blonde.

"Oh, really? He's still pouting over a few truths?!" she scoffed, stealing some fruit from her friend's plate. "I've half a mind to kick him in the-"

"Please don't." Elphaba cut her off. "I'd have to deal with his grouching for the rest of the night," she added with a raise of an eyebrow. "Not what you were thinking."

"Like you'd object to it."

Elphaba shrugged nonchalantly and picked up an apple and put it aside. "Wouldn't be too difficult to soothe that pain away, I can assure you."

Glinda wrinkled her nose. "Elphie, must you?"

The green-skinned woman looked at her friend innocently with a wicked grin on her face. "What? You know I've always been blunt."

The blonde shrugged. That much was true. "I'm sorry but he needs to face up to his issues, as difficult as it is for him, he needs to process what happened so he can move on from it."

Elphaba nodded. "I know, that's what I've been telling him. He thinks I don't know when he has his own nightmares, he won't let me see and he won't let me comfort him."

"He doesn't want to worry you," Ambram told her, pouring the tea for them. "I know keeping you in the dark is gonna have the opposite effect, but his heart is in the right place."

She sighed. "I know... I'm going to try and get him to talk to me..."

"You need to process your trauma too, Miss Fae."

She shrugged. "I am. Slowly. I just... can't shake off the nightmares."

He nodded, choosing not to say anymore and he left the girls alone.

"Don't say it," Elphaba warned as she cut into her omelette and took a bite.

Glinda simply shrugged, picking at a sandwich silently.

The two women ate in silence, both lost in their own thoughts until Glinda broke the deafening quiet when she tasted her cup of tea. "What's in this?"

"Jasmine tea," Elphaba answered. "Riya suggested it, it's been the only hot drink I can keep down."

She nodded. "It's different... But I quite like it."

The other witch smiled. "It is..." she agreed. "It took me a couple of weeks to get used to it. She thought I was sick with a stomach bug. And then last week she was told the truth, her overexcited reaction would have made you proud."

"So... everyone apart from his mother likes you and is happy for you."

Elphaba shrugged. "I can understand why... after everything that happened. I know I'd be a bit cautious to accept if it were me..."

"I guess so, but she could still give you a chance. You didn't exactly come out of nowhere... we were in college together."

"I know." she sighed. "All I can do is try and make her like me. If she doesn't, well... it won't matter anyway, I'm used to it." She raised a hand to cut off her friend's argument. "I know, I know it wasn't my fault. I know I couldn't control it. He's told her also."

Glinda sighed, settling back with her tea. "It's still not fair."

Elphaba shrugged. "I guess not."

A few hours later, Elphaba had fallen back to sleep after their talks, Glinda pressed a soft kiss to her friend's temple and gently got off the bed and left the room. She tried looking for Fiyero, but to no avail and then she headed down to the foyer.

"It's late, you can't go now."

Glinda spun around, seeing Fiyero walk over. "Fifi, you frightened me."

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry. Look... why don't you stay here for the night. It gets dark outside quick around these parts, and you know Fae won't mind."

Glinda paused for a moment in thought. She did need to talk to him... and it would be better face to face... "I guess... but I have no other..." she cut herself off. "I suppose Elphie wouldn't mind me borrowing something of hers for the night..."

"Go on, go and pick something, I'll get a guest room set up for you."

"Only if you promise me one thing."

"What?"

"We need to talk. Really talk this time."

"Glinda, I-"

"Fiyero. Please. You can't bury it, Elphaba already knows you hide things from her."

He sighed heavily and nodded. "Alright," he said after a long silent moment. He took her to the guest room he was going to set up. "Mine and Elphaba's room is down the stairs and the last door on the left."

She nodded and left the room, following his directions, heading back to where her friend slept. She fumbled in the dresser for a nightgown, nose wrinkling slightly at the sheer lack of colour in her friend's wardrobe. Her Elphie was coming to terms with style, and she supposed that was her only consolation. Eventually, she found a blue full-length, long-sleeved cotton nightgown and silently slipped from the room. "I don't know why I'm surprised that she has no colour in her clothes. I mean, it's taken her nearly four years to even get some style in there!" she said as she made her way to the guest room.

Fiyero rolled his eyes when he heard her. "And how would you know? You haven't seen her for half that time." he smiled.

"Because somebody, as stuck in her ways as Elphaba, does not change her style within days of going on the run. Drab and shapeless is perfect for being inconspicuous. I love her, of course, but if she could just listen to me when it comes to colour..." she dropped the article of clothing on the bed.

He laughed quietly and shook his head.

"Come on. You owe me a hot chocolate," she told him and walked out.

It's not as if I have a choice. he thought sarcastically. He sighed and followed her.

"How is Elphie getting used to the staff?"

He shrugged. "She doesn't like it, she would prefer to do things for herself, but she knows it's not always possible. She's made me promise not to get people in to dress her and do her hair." he smiled.

"It shouldn't surprise you that she is refusing the full princess treatment." Glinda giggled.

"No, you're right." he had to laugh at that. He took her to what had originally been a small drawing-room, which was now arranged as a lounge, with two sofas around a small table and an open fire burning away in the grate.

"You're really trying to make this place like a home, aren't you." she smiled.

He nodded. "This isn't exactly where I wanted to be, but it's the safest place, and I wanted to make it as comfortable as I could for both of us."

"What you've done so far is amazing. You should be proud of yourself."

He shrugged, smiling a little and he headed off to the kitchens to prepare their drinks.

Glinda wandered the room, smiling a little as she took in the little details. An empty bookshelf stood at the back of the room beside the window. Above the fireplace stood pictures from their days at Shiz, the very few they had of Elphaba were of when they were in a small tight-knit group. Herself, Fiyero, Elphaba, Nessa, Boq, Milla, Crope and Tibbet grinned back at her from the black-and-white images. She couldn't recall the locations of the photos, but the laughter and the chatter echoed in her memories. She wondered what became of the remaining two of their group. There was, of course, one photograph Glinda had kept for herself. It had been the day before they left for the Emerald City, and Fiyero had taken the picture of the two girls stood on the bridge above Suicide Canal, arms wrapped around each other and grinning widely, they had been celebrating what should have been the green girl's dream come true.

"I was looking for the right place to put them."

Glinda startled and looked over her shoulder, seeing Fiyero come back into the room with the two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and he put them on the table. "I'm sure you'll find somewhere... I think they look fine where they are."

He nodded. "Guess so."

"Do you ever wonder what happened to them?"

He paused and then shook his head. "I'd... actually forgotten about them until recently," he admitted.

Glinda smiled a little and they both sat down in front of the fire. "I saw Milla not too long ago... but I haven't seen the other two boys since we went our separate ways..."

"How was she?"

"Not good would be an understatement, Fifi. She's practically given up."

He winced, feeling sorry for his old friend. "She didn't have it easy in the end, did she." he sighed when she shook her head. "Who knows, maybe we'll see them all again. Obviously not Nessa, but..."

"I hope so. Maybe Biq will be happier now she's gone."

He shrugged, wondering what happened to the Munchkin. Surely at the news of their engagement, he would have been there to declare his love for the blonde again. For him not to resurface even after it had been called off was a little odd for him. Surely the rumours weren't true... Elphaba wouldn't have cursed him... she certainly wouldn't have placed a spell on somebody unless absolutely necessary... She hated what her magic could do.

They sat in a comfortable silence and drank slowly. Eventually, their discussion turned down the path Fiyero wanted to avoid, but couldn't any longer.

"What stops you from sleeping?"

"I dunno," he answered truthfully and sighed. "It started... by being back up on that pole." he shuddered. "Glinda, I can't do this."

"You can," she spoke gently.

He took a minute to compose himself, setting the half-empty mug down and curled his knees to his chest.

Her heart went out to him, she watched him sympathetically. "It's okay. Take your time."

He sighed, dropping his head down. "It changes sometimes... But they always come back. And it always ends with me not being able to stop them. They always get to Elphaba and..." he cut himself off and screwed his eyes closed.

"Shh... it's alright," she spoke gently, putting a hand on his arm which he tried to shrug off. "Fiyero, they're gone... I can promise you they're not coming back for either of you."

"But what if they get to you and-"

"They won't. The first thing I did after I had to give a speech and pretend my best friends were dead was disband that awful regiment. The ones who were known to commit such atrocities are awaiting sentencing. Those who, like you, didn't want to be there, went back to their families."

He nodded and rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve, wiping away any trace he had been crying. "But-"

"Nothing. It's alright."

He nodded again.

"You just need to open up to Elphie. I know... I know your heart is in the right place, your intentions are good and pure. But you need to tell her. This whole... secrecy about what's going on with you is worrying her and scaring her." she shook her head at his frightened look. "I know you didn't mean it. She knows it too... she loves you and she's worried about you." She sighed and set her own mug down and then opened her arms. "Come here."

As he hugged her the dam broke, and he held her as he cried.

Glinda bit her lip and forced away her own tears at the heartbreaking scene playing out before her. "Shh... it's okay..." she whispered, hugging her friend tightly. That awful man and his time as leader of Oz had a lot to answer for, and they were all victims of circumstances nobody could change.