A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. More about the Clock soon. ;) Thanks!

Chapter 30

"Miss Elphaba, shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Sergeant Schultz asked. He was on night duty in the halls and found the green woman wondering down near the kitchen.

"Timothy," she gave him a look.

"I know you did not get a lot of sleep last night. The Captain let it slip to Damla when she woke him earlier," he said.

"No secrets in the Palace I see," she said ducking into the kitchen and he quickly followed her.

"Warm milk to help you sleep? I would think a spell would be easier to do," Timothy told her.

"My brain will not shut off despite my exhaustion. I need the milk to help activate the spell. It's a tricky one but one I've used before. All else quiet in the halls?" Elphaba asked.

"They usually are. I expect they are extra quiet due to our visiting Vinkun friends. Damla tells me that Sarah is concerned about returning to her village. I can imagine that she doesn't hold much love for any particular place, given her history," he said.

"Color her green and give her magical powers, she'd be me. Well… a younger me," the woman admitted as she moved around the kitchen, getting the milk and starting to warm it.

"She has to be worried that our perpetrator isn't the only one. Something I suspect you know about as well," Timothy figured.

"Quite insightful for this hour. Still, I imagine that having an afternoon nap helps with that," she teased.

"There won't be too many naps when the baby comes. Damla doesn't want to give up her career and I'm sure that her parents would be more than happy to babysit. Still, I'm not sure, in good conscience, that both of us should serve in a dangerous position. Should something happen to both of us… I won't leave my child without parents," he said. Elphaba moved the milk off the stove and made sure it was off. She moved over to him and pulled him into a hug. Timothy was grateful as his nerves and his mind were on edge.

"You will be a great father and you and Damla will sort this out but you don't have to do it on your own. I will not tell you to not freak out. This is perfectly normal. In fact, if you weren't freaking out, I'd be worried," the green woman said when she let him go.

"It's normal to freak out?" Timothy had admittedly worried that he was losing his mental faculties.

"Yes, it is. You are bringing a child into this world. You want the best for them and yet you're worried that you'll somehow mess it all up. That somehow, you'll be like your own parents, even though you swore that you'd never be like that. Oz knows that I've had these same thoughts since Fiyero and I started bringing up what is expected of me as a future Princess. I never thought that children would be in my future, never mind with the Prince of the Vinkus, and now that perhaps that may not be an option for me… it's bringing up a lot of emotions," she admitted.

"You think that you can't have them?" The Sergeant asked. He didn't want to pry but he worried about the green woman. Often, she reminded him of his own mother and he didn't want to lose her too.

"The man I believed to be my father was much like your father. He did not love me. He harmed me mentally… physically… I am not sure that those effects are not permanent. One last "screw you" from the man whose home I occupied as a child," Elphaba frowned. Suddenly, she found Timothy's arms around her in a hug and she hugged him back.

"It may be inappropriate but I love you, Miss Elphaba," he whispered, hoping she understood that it was not the same kind of love, like his love for Damla.

"And I you, Timothy," she whispered back as tears started to stream down her cheeks. They pulled apart and she wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Never apologize. No matter what happens, never apologize for telling people that. They need to know. You tell Damla that every day and twice on Sundays," Elphaba told him.

"I already do," he chuckled a little.

"Good," she gave him a smile.

"I wish my mother had gotten a chance to meet you," Timothy said.

"Oh, would she be impressed?" Elphaba chuckled a little as she went back to her milk, which was basically room temperature now.

"She'd never say it to my father but she wanted to make the world a better place. She used to say to me that I needed to start with my own little corner before helping others fix their little corners," he smiled.

"Sounds like my kind of woman. Well, I had better get back to bed and you had better get back to your rounds," she smiled at him.

"I think your milk is cold," Timothy said.

"I think I don't care anymore," Elphaba told him as she stuck the pot back into the special cooler.

To Be Continued…