He lingered at the door, and said," The Lion wants courage; the Tin Man wants a heart, and the Scarecrow brains. Dorothy wants to go home. What do you want?"

" A little peace and quiet."

" No, really."

She couldn't say forgiveness, not to Liir. She started to say "a soldier," to make fun of his mooning affections over the guys in uniform. But realizing even as she said it that he would be hurt, she caught herself halfway, and in the end what came out of her mouth surprised them both.

She said, " A soul-"

He blinked at her.

" And you?" she said in a quieter voice. " What do you want Liir, if the Wizard could give you anything?"

" A father," he answered.

….

As soon as Liir left, Elphaba's thoughts started to madly swarm her brain. A father…. Elphaba already knew who Liir's father was, and she hated to be reminded of it.

They had both been so foolish, so careless, and so brainless….

Elphaba suddenly jolted and had a revelation.

Brainless…

Didn't Liir say something about the Scarecrow wanting brains?

A scarecrow…. Now that would be something that Fiyero would do. That thought stayed in Elphaba's mind all through the rest of the night. Even in her dreams, the thought that Fiyero was alive was all she could think about.

She remembered him just as she saw him last, beautiful, dark skinned with his blue diamonds.

It ached her to think about him. It hurt like a new, fresh wound in her heart. Fiyero, her sweet, loving, stubborn Yero.

The only man she had ever loved, the only living thing with a soul that she had ever loved. When he had died, she had gotten a crueler outlook on the sham she called her life. She didn't care about anything.

But now, now with this…. this hope that he might be alive, it made her believe again.

It made her believe in everything that she had lost.

That night she went to bed with a small smile on her face as she drifted back into her memories with Fiyero.

Suddenly, in the middle of the night, her door crept open and a person slipped inside without her waking up.

The person who entered her room sat on the end of her bed, and carefully caressed her beautiful black hair, just as he used to do.

He sighed, hating himself for disappearing on her, faking his own death just to …. well now it seemed too trivial to bring up. He had only wanted to help her, and he was so willing to keep her safe. If Elphaba had talked to Glinda, of course Glinda lied for him. It was Glinda who told him to disappear in the first place; she said that it was the only way to keep her safe even if it hurt her. It was the plan that they had came up with the last time they met up, when Fiyero came to her worried about Elphaba back in the days.

His first and most priority had been her, and her only.

He had never wanted to hurt her, only to love her.

And now, gazing at her Fiyero realized that he had hurt her. He had scarred her. And that was the one thing that he had planned to have her avoid. He didn't want her to be scarred, but it was too late. The damage was done.

As he sat there, Elphaba suddenly stirred awake, and sleepily looked at him.

Even since she was half asleep, she still looked beautiful.

" Yero my hero," she whispered, smiling.

He put his hand to her face, and kissed her softly. She had called him his codename, and that in itself brought back sweet memories.

" I love you, Fae," he said sincerely knowing that this was the last time he could ever see her again.

She smiled at him again, and then fell into a deep sleep…

The next morning she woke up in a daze. Her dreams had felt so real, it was almost if….

But no, it was impossible. It was just a dream.

She seemed preoccupied during the day, silent and thinking if her dream of Fiyero was actually real or not, so she was quite irritated when Liir interrupted her thoughts.

" Did you get up last night?" he asked her as she sat in her chair.

She snapped at him, " No, now stop asking me questions and let me think!"

" You didn't? Well neither did I nor did Nanny, so who was it?" he asked frowning at the mystery.

" I don't care who got up last night, Liir! Just leave me alone!" she let out a groan in frustration as a hurt look crossed his face.

" Well whoever it was left you this, or for someone named Fae," stated Liir irritated and hurt as he left the room after setting down an envelope.

Elphaba's heart jumped at the pronunciation of her codename from the Emerald City.

Could it be?

She slowly, with trembling fingers opened the letter.

Dear Fae,

Please don't hate me when you read this. You must know that I loved you with all my heart. You are forgiven, for everything. I promise you that, Fae.

I'm sorry I had to do this to you.

Fiyero

As soon as she finished the letter she could feel those damn tears starting up again, but she willed herself not to let them fall. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Liir standing in the doorway.

" It's from my father, isn't it," he stated.

She looked up at him. Could he really know?

" Yes," she whispered.

" Then I think we both got our wishes after all," said Liir with a small smile as he moved away from the doorway to reveal Fiyero.

Elphaba jumped up and fled into his arms.

This time she let those damn tears fall because she was so happy.

" Yero, you're here, it wasn't just a dream! You're here!" she cried happily.

" Of course I am. Don't you remember what I told you?" he reminded her.

" You can see houses flying through the sky, why can't you see that we're always going to be together," she finished, smiling up at him.

And they were, Elphaba, Fiyero and Liir all lived happily together for the rest of their lives...

The End.