A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Hope your question is answered here. ;) Thanks so much!

Chapter 37

"So, the Clock knew that you'd bring down the Wizard, Morrible, Jinjuria, and Mombey," Fiyero was trying to absorb it all after Elphaba told him about her conversation with Mopsi and Popsi. They were getting ready for bed as the green woman had headed to the library after she left the Munchkins.

"It knew that I needed to survive long enough to do so. Ugabu was much more powerful than I am. Not only do I not have any idea on how to create something like the Clock, but I'm also not sure I would have trusted it. Especially given the stakes! I mean, Ugabu did not make herself known until after the Wizard and Morrible were out of the picture. She trusted the Clock's information and knew that she did not have to intervene," she said.

"You defeated four of Oz's worst and she only popped in on the last one. I think we could have a healthy debate about who was more powerful," he gave her a look before pulling back the bed covers and climbing into bed.

"I didn't do it all on my own though," Elphaba reminded him. She knew that it wasn't worth arguing the point about who was more powerful. As Mopsi had pointed out, they would never know how powerful Ugabu was now anyway.

"Well, our friends did help but without you, we had no shot. Now, as fruitful as that discussion was, what about the whole 'giving birth in the Clock' thing?" Fiyero wanted to know as she climbed into bed next to him.

"Well, we figure it is the default setting for the Clock – its primary task is to find children of two worlds. It might not want to be destroyed, so that I could give birth there – just like Ugabu wanted. Then it could tell us our child's future but, to be honest, after I asked what Frex had been giving me… well it listed the compounds and then refused to tell me if I could have children. Admittedly, though, would our children be of two worlds? Technically, neither one of us has ever been outside of Oz," she pointed out as he pulled her close to him. They lay there, facing each other, and he shrugged.

"You have said that magic can't cure everything so maybe the Clock can't say about having kids, since it's a complicated medical question. As for our children being of two worlds, I'm not sure how they would be. Any girls we have might inherit your magical skills though. What if the Clock wants to hide because it's not waiting for us, but waiting for someone else?" Fiyero wondered.

"Ugabu was of two worlds, so people from other places somehow manage to find their way here. Could be that there is another person coming here somewhere down the line. After all, Ugabu's parents never tried to overthrow the government or enslave people. They lived a quiet life and no one was any the wiser for Ugabu's existence except for Mr. Boss," it was her turn to shrug this time.

"Ok so those compounds… what'd you find?" He wanted to know.

"Well one of them was a mixture of milk, eggs, fatty fish, and spinach. That sounds pretty good but in certain quantities along with having these things, and a few others, in my diet, then the level of male hormones would rise in my body. This could make getting pregnant difficult as my body could think I'm pregnant, when I'm actually not. Those heavy cycles… It also explains the pimples and hair where it doesn't belong," Elphaba explained.

"I always wondered why you got those last two. Admittedly, though, both have gotten better, since you stopped taking those 'special vitamins'," he reminded her.

"Yes, I'm thinking that part is reversible. The next one… I'm not so sure. With the exception of the first pill, my diet did not contain much dairy or fish. The next pill was a mixture of salt, zinc, and magnesium. So, the first one made me thirsty and the last two continued to mess with the male hormones. Regrettably, in combination with my diet, this means I had an iodine deficiency. This can lead to issues with my hormone production as well," she told him.

"But you stopped that too and your diet has become more varied," Fiyero pointed out.

"Yes, that is true, but my symptoms haven't really reduced. One side effect of not enough iodine is infertility. Worse still, we do not have any medical reports from my biological father. It's quite possible that Frex got lucky there. Since my hormones from the deficiency have not rebounded on their own, they may never rebound due to a condition I inherited. While we have come a long way with our medical knowledge. None of the books I looked at mentioned how to correct the loss of hormones, other than to get my diet more varied," Elphaba shook her head.

"Oh. Well, maybe Doctor Talib will have some ideas. He's more up on the medical knowledge than those books are, I bet," Fiyero tried to reassure her and pulled her in for a hug.

"The thing that bothers me is that Frex had to have someone mixing the ingredients, who knew where to get them, what they did, and how to put them into pill form. This wasn't some country doctor. This was a chemist who knew the medical consequences. This was not cheap either," she said into his chest.

"You think that the person who did this could still be alive?" Fiyero wondered.

"I don't know but they better hope that I don't find out who they are or where they live," the anger she felt was understandable because there was a good chance that this chemist knew what Frex was up to and did not report him to the authorities. The pills were only one part of the abuse she suffered.

"Best thing for it is to talk to the doctor in the morning. Right now, we both need sleep without any magic involvement," he said letting her go from the hug.

"You are right. Another big day tomorrow," she said before he kissed her.

"Remember that I love you no matter what," Fiyero just wanted to be sure she knew after they parted.

"And I love you, Yero," Elphaba gave him a smile.

To Be Continued…