And nowwwwwwwww, the end is neaaaaaaaaaar... No, this is the end. I didn't realise how quickly it would come to an end, but after a year of writing this bloody story I felt it was time it drew to a close, and this fluffy little chapter just rounds it off nicely as far as I'm concerned. And can I just say that I really researched what I talk about in this chapter, so I'm not making anything up! It's PERFECTLY possible.

Thank you all so, so, so much from the bottom of my green sparkly heart for all of your reviews, favourites, alerts, encouragement, and Greg Awards! I love you all and hope that this is not my last story. Only time shall tell.

Grief is a very selfish thing. Those left behind do not stop to consider the happiness of the dead one. They do not pause to contemplate that they are now free of their earthly bonds. Glinda and Fiyero were unforgivably selfish as they dragged my body onto the pebbled beach, weeping and wailing. Well, Glinda was wailing. Fiyero was… staring. She was gabbling about how it shouldn't have happened and why did I think I had the right to go and die on them? She collapsed into a rocking, sobbing heap. Embarrassing.

Fiyero just stared. He pushed a strand of wet hair out of my face and looked down at me. I couldn't see his face; his hair fell into it and shielded whatever emotion was in his eyes.

He wasn't exactly being selfish… But then again, he was. Wherever I happened to be, above or all around them, I wanted to see his world come crashing down around him. I wanted to see how much he would miss me – see some kind of proof that he couldn't do without me. But he wouldn't indulge me, whatever I was now. Surely not a soul, I'd never believed in souls. He kept his grief to himself and refused to share like the selfish bugger he was.

Instead, all he did was lower his lips to ghost them across my forehead. I felt it, I was sure I did. Perhaps it was just the memory of when he had done it before?

No.

It was a real feeling.

But how…?

"I love you, Elphaba," Fiyero whispered, his voice barely louder than a breath of wind. He pressed his lips to her head for a moment before pulling away and looking down at the motionless face of his green girl. Glinda rolled around on the ground next to him, tears staining her face and sand tangling in her hair. She continued to scream nonsense, apparently totally unaware of anything around her.

The Prince could not cry, because he knew Elphaba would not want him to. She would say that he was being selfish, only considering his loss instead of being happy for the person who was now free of the horror of living. However, young and in love as he was, the young man could not control the single, solitary tear that slipped down his cheek and dripped onto Elphaba's own. It mingled with the lake water, invisible.

He was crying. I was sure of it. There was no way I could see a tear from my perch in the air all around him, but I felt it land softly on my cheek. It was such a beautiful feeling. He cared. He wouldn't be able to do without me. I could see that now.

I couldn't possibly do without him, either. It simply could not be done. I had to have with me always. And I couldn't leave Glinda, no matter what she had done to me. Nessa and Shell, so recently found after so many years. My ambitions, my few friends, my siblings and Fiyero… My life was not something I could give up.

A burst of air shot into Elphaba's lungs, the water collected in her lungs burning like fire as her muscles contracted in an attempt to be free of it. She scrabbled around, choking on the substance as it forced its way up her throat. Her thin fingers clenched on Fiyero's shirt as she coughed up the water, taking a deep, rasping breath that made her head spin.

Fiyero stared at her in wild confusion, unshed tears pooled in his eyes.

"Wha…? How?" he gasped, grabbing her by the shoulders and hauling her into a sitting position, his forehead creased into a painful frown. The green girl looked at him for a moment as she continued to regain her breath.

"I don't know," she muttered hoarsely, shielding her eyes against the brightness of the sunlight. Without another word she collapsed against Fiyero and held him tightly, her arms shaking with fatigue and fierceness of love.

From beside them, a quiet voice said, "Sometimes, when people have been underwater for an extended period of time, they go into a sort of shock induced coma… They're often presumed dead but in actual fact it's just their body hiding from worse consequences. If they stay in the coma for long periods of time it's likely that if they wake they'll have severe brain damage."

Glinda's eyes were wide as she finished the sentence and scanned Elphaba up and down.

"Where… where did you learn that?" she croaked, clearing her throat and regarding her friend with admiration. A very slight smile appeared on Glinda's face.

"The library. I went there in the city to watch Meir study. I had to do something to make myself look plausible!" she giggled detachedly, clenching and unclenching her fists. For a moment the two women avoided eye contact, and then the former blonde threw herself at the smaller girl and engulfed her in a bone crushing hug.

"You managed to save her then?" Meir smiled, jogging out of the trees behind them. "Jeez, Elphaba, you look kind of soggy!"

The small company laughed despite themselves.

Elphaba lay in bed with her lips flattened into a hard line and her brows furrowed in anger.

"I do not have to stay in bed, Fiyero. I am quite capable of getting up and going to classes. You're being-"

"Utterly ridiculous. Yes, my little honey bunchy boo, you've said several times. Sadly for you, though, I thought you'd died because of that stupid little stunt you damned father pulled and you with your bloody shock coma thing, so I'll thank you very much to lie there and shut up while I try and cure your cold!"

"But homework-"

"Glinda's getting it for you."

"Madame Morrible-"

"Completely understands and has no problem with my being here."

"Yeah right. Shell and Nessa, though-"

"Are fine, you stubborn old mare! Here, have some chicken soup."

And with that, the Prince shoved a spoon of hot soup into her mouth to shut her up. With a wicked grin, he flopped into the bed beside her and rested against her legs.

"It's nice to feel good about everything, for once," Elphaba smiled softly, taking another spoonful of soup from the bowl on the bedside table. "I mean, I have Nessa and Shell back, no dad to worry about, Glinda and Meir are on my side… And I suppose, as sentimental and utterly un-stomachable as it sounds, I have you."

"Oh my, what did I put in the soup? Love potion?" Fiyero cried in mock disgust.

"If you did you'd better have some before you get sick of me," Elphaba laughed in reply, thrusting the spoon at him ferociously. The young man turned serious.

"I'm never going to get sick of you. I can't do without you. You're well and truly mine, from now until forever. C'mere you," he chuckled, leaning forward and kissing her gently, regardless of the cold he was bound to catch through her germs. Elphaba pulled him into a hug, burying her face into his neck to hide the uncharacteristic emotion in her eyes.

"No," she muttered softly, "I can't do without you, either."

The End