AN: Because I'm impatient, and now in a holiday mood, and I want to share that with you :). So here it is! Summer, sun, beach, fluff, and Fiyeraba. Enjoy!

Day One

"Come on!" Galinda was hopping from one foot onto the other, looking more excited than the others had ever seen her – and that said something. "Hurry, guys! There's still time to go to the beach before dinner!"

"Actually," Nessarose, whose chair was being pushed by Boq just a little bit behind the bubbly blonde, said, "I think I'd like to lie down for a few moments when we get there. I'm rather tired from the long journey."

Galinda nodded. "Okay. I understand." She turned to her roommate expectantly, a pout and imploring look already on her face, but the green girl shook her head.

"No, thanks, Glin," she said. "I'm not really a big fan of sun and sea."

"But Elphie!"

"It's bad enough that you talked me into going on this trip in the first place," Elphaba said sternly. "I'm not going to let you talk me into swimming or sunbathing. I don't like the sea and sunbathing wouldn't be of much use, anyway." She held up one emerald arm to illustrate her point. "Though I am wondering now what colour I would become if I spent too much time in the sun," she mused. "Would it even be possible for me to tan? Or would I just turn a darker shade of green?"

"Only one way to find out," Galinda said with a mischievous grin, skipping along beside her best friend.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "No, Galinda."

The blonde huffed. "You're no fun." She looked at the Munchkin boy that was now walking ahead of her. "Boq?"

"No, thanks," he called over his shoulder. "I'm going to stay with Nessa."

"Fine." Galinda crossed her arms and glared at her friends. "Just perfectly fine. Nice, guys. I love you, too."

Elphaba chuckled at her friend's antics and Boq shook his head with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Galinda," Nessarose apologised anxiously, worried that she might have offended the blonde. "I promise I'll go with you tomorrow –"

"Oh, don't worry, Nessa!" Galinda caught up with the wheelchair and smiled at the younger girl. "I was only joking! It's perfectly understandable that you want to go lie down – it has been a rather tiring day. I was just hoping your sister would be in a social mood and join me."

Nessa laughed. "Elphaba? In a social mood?"

Galinda made a face. "You're right, of course… but a girl can hope, right?"

"I'm right here," Elphaba called from behind them. "I can hear you."

"Good!" Galinda shouted over her shoulder before turning back to Nessa to chat with the girl.

Elphaba grinned.

"Hey, Fae?" Fiyero said from behind her, running slightly to catch up with her. He gave her a crooked grin that may or may not sent a shiver down her spine, but she was careful not to let it show.

"Hey," she said.

He looked at her, unusually solemn. "I love you," he said.

She sighed irritably and shook him off. "Fiyero, you saying it countless times is not going to convince me of its truth," she said, annoyed.

"But it is true!"

"We all know it's not. Stop your stupid games, they're not funny." With that, she strode ahead of him and went to walk next to her sister.

As if that was her cue, Galinda hung back to walk next to Fiyero. "You're not going about this the right way, you know," she said.

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Galinda, I already tried everything. Everything. I explained to her how I feel. I told her so many times. I tried to ask her out. I even tried to kiss her." He shook his head. "But every time, she just snaps at me and pushes me away. She doesn't believe me."

"Well, no, of course she doesn't," Galinda said matter-of-factly. "Fiyero, she's never been loved by a boy before. I'm sure Nessa loves her and I guess her father does, too, to some extent; but she's always tried to keep them at a certain emotional distance because she thinks it's her fault that –" She cut herself off and clasped her hands over her own mouth, eyes widening in horror. "Sorry. Forget I said that."

"She thinks what is her fault?" Fiyero asked curiously, but Galinda refused to answer.

"It's a secret," she explained. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

Fiyero sighed, but nodded.

"Anyway," the blonde girl continued, "she doesn't have any experience at all when it comes to boyfriends. Think about it – I was her first friend."

Fiyero grimaced, realising the truth of that. Never having had any friends, let alone a boyfriend, of course she would be wary of his intentions.

"But what do I have to do, then?" he asked Galinda helplessly. "If she doesn't believe me and I can't show her…"

"You can show her." Galinda shifted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Just not all at once. Don't try to kiss her or ask her out. Just… spend some time with her. Alone. Take her to the beach, or not – join her when she's sitting on the porch or inside with a book. Talk to her. Make her feel at ease around you. Basically, I want you to do things that normally would be considered dates, but she cannot under any circumstances know that they are dates," she concluded, feeling rather proud of herself for that smartified conclusion.

Fiyero frowned. "That sounds confusing," he admitted.

Galinda knocked him on the head. "To you, maybe. You're not as brainless as you look, Fiyero. Come on. I'm sure you can figure it out." She tossed her hair over one shoulder and smiled at him. "Good luck." With that, she ran forward to catch up with the others again.

Fiyero stayed a little behind them the entire way from the carriage stop to the beach house they were to stay in for the week, thinking about the possibilities he had. Maybe Galinda was right. If he couldn't tell Elphaba and she didn't believe him if he tried to show her, then maybe he had to try a different way. It certainly sounded like a good idea to take things more slowly with her. He knew it took her a long time to fully start trusting someone – frankly, he didn't think there was anyone she fully trusted at all, except for maybe Galinda.

His mind made up, he looked up and smiled. "Hey, guys, we're here."

The others looked up as well, a little disturbed because the prince had interrupted their conversation; but when they saw what lay ahead of them, they gasped in unison.

"Oh my Oz," Galinda breathed and Nessa clasped her hands together in delight.

"Oh, it's perfect!" she exclaimed softly.

The beach house turned out to be more of a mansion, painted a soft, creamy orange colour, with a darker orange roof. There was a porch surrounding the house with a rocking bench next to the front door.

"This is your summer house?" Elphaba demanded, clearly taken aback.

Fiyero grinned sheepishly. "Yes, well, we are still royalty," he said almost apologetically.

Galinda squealed and stormed inside, not even waiting for the others. Fiyero helped Boq lift Nessa's chair onto the porch and told them about the house as they went inside.

"There's a kitchen, a dining room, a bathroom, a parlour, and a sitting room downstairs," he explained. "There are also two bedrooms, each with another adjoining bathroom. Upstairs, we have four more bedrooms – with adjoining bathrooms, of course – and another sitting room, as well as a drawing room. Two of the bedrooms upstairs have balconies. There's also an attic, which used to be another sitting room, but now it's just used to store some stuff we have all but forgotten about."

Nessa was looking around with wide eyes as Boq pushed her through the hallway and into the parlour. "Wow."

"It's beautiful," Boq commented. "I think we could last a whole summer here."

"Too bad we only have two weeks," Nessa agreed. They had all wanted to make it a longer trip, but the plans had been made at the last minute and Fiyero's parents had already promised the summer house to another family, some old acquaintances of the king and the queen's, for the rest of the summer. They were lucky they even got these first two weeks of the vacation to spend here.

"I think Nessa should take one of the ground floor bedrooms," Fiyero said with a smile in the direction of the wheelchair-bound girl. "The house should be big enough for you to be able to navigate your chair around without too much trouble, but getting you up and down the stairs all the time might get a bit tricky."

Nessa laughed. "I think so, too, yes. Don't worry, I don't mind sleeping on the ground floor," she assured the prince, already starting to wheel herself off.

"I'll take the other ground floor bedroom, then," said Elphaba, making to follow her sister.

Boq stopped her. "Let me."

She blinked at him. "What?"

"Nessa and I have been together for nearly ten months," he reminded her. "I think I know how to help her by now."

"He's right, Elphie!" Galinda called as she came skipping down the stairs to join the others. "Sooner or later, you're going to have to let Nessa go, you know. And I want you to sleep upstairs so I can sneak into your room in the middle of the night and secretly give you make-overs," she added as an afterthought.

"She's my sister," Elphaba insisted, ignoring the blonde's latter statement. "I've taken care of her all my life."

"I'll manage with Boq, Fabala," said Nessa gently. "Don't worry. You're on holiday, too. You shouldn't be worrying about me and taking care of me all the time."

"But –"

"I'll take the room next to Nessa's," Boq decided. "If there's a problem, I'll come and get you right away, okay?"

"Come on, Elphie!" Galinda whooped, not waiting for the green girl's answer. She linked her arm with Elphaba's and started dragging her up the stairs. "Let's go pick out our rooms!"

"I want a balcony!" Fiyero called after them, but Galinda shouted back over her shoulder, "Too bad!"

Galinda immediately picked one of the rooms and threw her suitcase onto the bed. "There. Finally. I can't believe I dragged that thing the entire way from the carriage stop to the house!" she complained.

"Oh no, what a nightmare," Elphaba supplied sarcastically, but the blonde completely missed it.

"Indeed! Well, I'm very glad we're here now." She opened her suitcase and pulled out a pale pink swimsuit. "I'm going to go to the beach. Are you sure you don't want to join me, Elphie?"

"I'm sure," said the green girl and Galinda shrugged and bounded back down the stairs. Elphaba followed her at a much slower pace, taking everything in as she stepped out onto the porch. It really was a beautiful house. The architecture was typically Vinkun and the view was magnificent; both bedroom balconies, as well as the porch, had a great view of the beach and the lake behind it, glistening in the bright sunlight. Elphaba inhaled slowly, smiling at the fresh air around here. And everything was so quiet…

It was the perfect break from the always busy campus of Shiz University.