AN: I haven't written in a while since I've been busy and I'm just about catching up to myself. Oh, and this chapter is rated "M"

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

He kissed her on the nose. "I had to. I was miserable without you, Fae. Not knowing where you were, what was happening to you."

"I felt the same," she said softly.

Fiyero cupped her cheek. "Don't ever do that again."

"I'll try not to." She took a deep breath. "What happens tomorrow, exactly?"

"Well, I will take my brother's place back in the front lines and lead my people. And you and Glinda will stay behind and use your magic. She knows how to weaken those barriers, although her spells are still a little sluggish when they hit them, but it's something."

"I want to be up at the front with you."

"No. Magic is a distance game. And you know nothing about swords or spears."

She didn't like the thought of staying in the background while he did the dangerous work, but he was right. "If you insist." Elphaba yawned. "I guess I am tired…"

"I love you, Fae. And bringing you back was what I had to do, so stop fretting about it. Good night."

They awoke early the next morning and ate breakfast. Elphaba was so grateful to eat. In South stairs, they had "fed" her by giving her meat and laughing when she wouldn't eat it, telling her how they had executed some of the Animals in the general population just so she could eat. She had dry heaved just looking at the food all night the first night.

Fiyero still worried about her, even as they rode towards the area where the army was camped. "No one will hate you if you rest for another day."

"I will be away from the fighting. I don't have to be at perfect health to use a spell."

"They are stronger when you feel your best," Glinda commented.

"Then they will get stronger as I do, but I can at least I can still contribute now. There's no reason I shouldn't be here. The two of you are here, so I will be, too."

When they arrived among the tents, Elphaba felt the stares of the people. Was it because she'd been gone and they hadn't expected to see her? Or was it because they hated her because she was the reason they were at war? She did not wish to know the answer.

Fiyero got in front of everyone and spoke. "I know that you are run down. The fighting has been going on for over a month now and you must be eager to return to your families. It seems like it will never end. That is why we went on a mission yesterday to rescue my wife. In combination with the sorceresses we already have, her power may finally push this war in the direction we want it to go! We will show the Wizard that we are more than the uncivilized barbarians he thinks we are!"

His men cheered at that. Elphaba smiled. He really was meant to lead. She turned to Glinda. "They respect him."

"If it weren't for him, Elphaba, we would've lost already. But his strategies and training have kept these people alive."

As they marched towards the battlefield, Fiyero went far ahead of them with his men. She did not worry. Well, she tried not to. Instead, she recited spells in her head, preparing for the fight. The Gale Force came towards them from the distance. "It's interesting how Fiyero puts himself in the middle of the battle and actually leads his people while the Wizard only sends his army and stays in his cushy little palace. I suppose he thinks his life has more value than anyone else's."

"It would appear so." Glinda grabbed her hand as they climbed a makeshift platform that had been built into a tree. "We will stand here. We can see everything."

"Good." She could see Fiyero from here. If anything happened to him, she'd be there in an instant. "How exactly do you handle their magic barrier spells?"

"Repeat after me." Glinda chanted and she followed suit. "Maybe with the two of us, we can really kill those things."

"Do we have no other magic?"

"Over there." She pointed to a small line of people in the back of the army. "But we put me up here so I can handle the bigger picture. I'm a little more powerful than they are. As are you."

Elphaba nodded. "Glinda, Madame Morrible came to see me when I was in South Stairs."

"Horrible Morrible? Why?"

"She told me I had corrupted you. That because of me, you would die."

"That old bat doesn't know a damn thing about me! She only knows what she wanted me to be. And I'm not her puppet."

"I told her that, Glinda. I told her you think for yourself."

"I'm sure she didn't listen."

And the battle began. Together, they cast the disarming spell on the barrier. Out of the corner of her eye, Elphaba watched Fiyero as his sword hit against a shield. She tightened her jaw. Nothing could happen to him. She wouldn't allow it. "Is there any way to actually see if the barrier came down?"

"Throw things at it. It doesn't so much come down as it dissolves. The more we dissolve it, the more we can get through, of course." Glinda looked at Elphaba. "Elphie, I'm good with the defensive stuff, but offensively… I'm not a tough as you are."

"I got it." She glanced around. "Can you set up a barrier for us that lets magic through one way and not the other?"

"That's how they work. Perhaps I'd better set one up around us. I mean, if they sent any sort of water this way..."

Elphaba shuddered, thinking of the dripping water, and the scar on her arm tingled. "Then do that. And keep it strong. I'll fight back. What about healing magic?"

"I can handle minor wounds. Broken bones will require a nurse."

"Watch for anything like that." Elphaba closed her eyes and began to chant, throwing a ball of fire the size of her head towards the last few ranks of the Gale Force. She did not want to get too close to the front lines, lest anything she do come too close to Fiyero.

She saw a cloud form over the Gale Force and start making its way towards them. Glinda grabbed her arm. "Elphie…"

"Fight it, Glinda."

"They know how to break the barriers just as well as I do. Remember, I helped them…"

There was nowhere close to run for shelter. With the barrier that Glinda had created weakened, she wouldn't be killed by the rain, but her whole body would be burned by the small drops that made it through. Watching the cloud grow closer, she swallowed hard, closed her eyes and steeled herself for the pain.

It didn't come. She peeked an eye open and then the other. The cloud was gone. And then she saw why. Fiyero had shoved himself towards the sorcerers in the center of the ranks of Gale Force and had thrown his spear at the person conjuring the cloud. Elphaba breathed a sigh of relief.

But that didn't last long. Fiyero was quickly surrounded by Gale Force soldiers. She sent a bolt of lightning towards the line of soldiers. It wasn't as strong as it would've been without the barrier, much like her fireball had been, but it was enough to shock them. Fiyero didn't even flinch, almost as if he'd been expecting it. He darted out between two soldiers and held his shield in front of him, breaking through the rest of the lines quickly as he made his way back to his own army.

It went on like that all day, though Fiyero was never in jeopardy like that again. She made it back to their tent at camp before he did and began to clean up.

When his arms came around her and began to rub her shoulders with oil, she jumped. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I walked in and saw you like that and I didn't want you to stop. I was quiet. No one else will come in. There are guards in the doorway making sure of that." Fiyero pulled her waist against his. His hands lowered to her breasts, circling them over and over.

She moaned and pressed her head against his chest, finding that it was bare behind her, dripping with small beads of sweat from the fight, breathing heavily as his caresses continued. "I missed your body," she murmured.

"And I missed yours," he whispered huskily. He pressed his face into her neck, his hands sliding down over her abdomen.

Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers stroked between her legs. She was sure he must've been out of oil by then, but there was more than enough lubrication as he moved back and forth, pushing a finger into the hot wetness between her legs. Elphaba turned her head and caught his mouth, his tongue exploring her lips, running along her teeth.

She could feel him, hard behind her, and she reached a hand around, grabbing him. "Fae…"

Elphaba led him to the pile of blankets in the corner that was clearly meant to be their bed. "I want you." She threw him onto them, grinning lustily.

He undid his trousers, struggling to pull them over his length. "I would gladly oblige."

She got onto her knees and climbed over him, taking him inside her. Her knees on either side of him, she began to sway her hips, enjoying the way she could control the angle and the depth at which he entered her. He thrust his hips upwards, and she felt all of him plunging into her as she pressed down onto him. Elphaba tossed her head back, crying out softly.

Her body shuddered as she sank down onto him again and again, pleasure rushing through her at such a strength she could barely move, though he continued to glide himself into her faster. She bit down on her lip hard as euphoria shot through her. She could taste her own blood.

He wasn't done. Fiyero rolled her over, staying inside her as he did, and smiled. "I love you, Fae." He pressed his hands into the ground beside her for leverage.

Her mind was still reeling from orgasm and she could barely respond. He immersed himself within her, each time eliciting a whimper. It went on for what must have been hours until finally, both of them covered in sweat, he collapsed beside her. Finally, she was able to respond to his affection. "I love you, too, my sweet."

He faced her, tracing a finger along her jaw line. "You have no idea how much I missed that."

"Oh, my love, I think I do." Her body was still tingling, sticky fluid between her thighs, sweat causing several strands of hair to stick to her face forehead. She wiped them away, gasping. "I'm going to have quite the mess to clean in the morning. I'm fairly certain these blankets are quite dirty…"

"Let someone else do it, my queen. Besides, if we wake early enough I might just have to have you again."

She closed her eyes, trying not to think about it or she'd be too worked up to sleep. She looked at him again after a moment. "Mmm. I don't know if we'll have the time. And you know we both have to keep our energy up for the fighting…"

"I can make it quick. Or I can take as long as you need me to."

"That you can… Now stop talking about it."

Kissing her one more time, he laughed. "You are irresistible. I can't help myself sometimes. He ran a finger along her ribs and her abdomen. "We're lucky you haven't already gotten pregnant."

Did he have to say that? Elphaba turned over and said nothing.

"Fae?"

She closed her eyes, still silent.

"What is going on?" He grabbed her and forced her to face him again.

When she met his eyes, she gulped. "I was pregnant. I didn't even know it... When they took me, Fiyero… but the stress of being captured, the torture… they hit me… and I couldn't… by the time I realized..."

"Oh, sweet Oz. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was awful enough without that part. I didn't want to think about it." She looked away.

"What happened, Elphaba?"

"The third or fourth day they had me, one of the guards beat me after he finished with the water. After he left, I realized I was bleeding, and it hurt so badly. I knew I shouldn't have been bleeding then. Then I realized I hadn't bled when I was supposed to over a week before that, and I've always been regular and…"

"Oh, Fae." He wrapped her in his arms. "I'm so sorry. I knew we should've come for you the moment I knew you were gone. You should not have gone through that alone."

"You did what you had to. And, like you said, Fiyero… I'm sure we'll have plenty more chances." Her face darkened. "I didn't even know. I didn't have a chance to get attached. Neither did you. It's probably better that way. We don't need to bring a child into the world during wartime, anyway." She was saying this just as much for herself as she was for him.

"I will kill him," Fiyero said suddenly.

"Fiyero…"

"No. After everything he put us through, what he did to you… I will kill him. We will win this war, Fae."