Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fiyero wasn’t really registering much — the overwhelming joy and co-occurring sheer terror flooding his system was making it hard to be aware of what exactly was going on. He had just openly defied the most powerful man in the country, broke up with his fiancé, and doomed himself to a life of being constantly hunted - if he even had a long time to live after this anyways.  But he was finally holding her hand. Elphaba’s slender green fingers were interlaced with his over his chest as he gripped Feldspar’s mane, her arms jostling up and down along his waist as they flew across the ground. He didn’t remember much from the previous 30 minutes aside from him turning and running from the bitter look of horror on Glinda’s face with Elphaba’s hand in his, and telling Feldspar to run as fast as he could. She was safe, and finally with him. After four agonizing years of constant questioning, sleepless nights writhing in an empty bed imagining her hurt or worse, she was actually here. Eventually, Elphaba placed her hand on Feldspar’s neck and told him that they were there. Fiyero looked around in confusion — the area of the forest they were in was certainly familiar but not distinctive in any way. Feldspar came to a stop and leaned down to allow them to dismount. 

“Well, my friends, that was quite the ride. Excuse me while I go collapse.”

Feldspar tossed his head and walked straight into a tree, immediately vanishing into thin air.  Fiyero gawked, his overstimulated mind incapable of processing what had just happened. Elphaba noticed the look of shock on his face and smiled slightly, trepidatiously reaching for his hand. Fiyero jumped as he touched her once again, feeling an electric bolt of happiness strike his chest. 

“Let me show you,” Elphaba said softly. 

She pulled him towards the tree thicket  that Feldspar had just seemingly dissapeared straight into, and muttered something that sent a chill up his spine before pushing him through the bark. Fiyero felt a strange, nauseating feeling erupt over his skin as all of his senses blipped out for a moment, but they stabilized as he fell forward. He raised his head, looking around in confusion. He was… inside of what had looked like an impenetrable circle of trees, in a large clearing. Vines wove through the branches above his head, concealing them from the outside world. Feldspar was nestled at the far side, somehow already fast asleep. Elphaba noticed his awed expression and took an embarrassed step back, releasing his hand like it was melting her skin.

”Illusion spell,” she hastily said. “It makes the trees around us look completely solid to the outside world, and can only be breached by creatures that I’ve specifically marked.”

Elphaba was speaking quickly, wringing her long green fingers together in obvious anxiety. Fiyero could only stare at her in wonder. Elphaba twisted her hands more violently, her face contorting faster than her racing mind. Finally, all of her questions began to burst out at the same time Fiyero opened his mouth.

 “ listen, I-“  “Why? Why would you do this? Why would you run with me? You just threw away every bit of safety you’ve ever had — “

”Elphaba, I don’t c—“

Both of them were interrupted by a loud rustling from the base of the tree they were standing in front of, and Fiyero barely had time to react before something small and furry slammed into his feet. Shocked and skittish, both he and Elphaba jumped back before he narrowed his eyes in the semi-darkness to see what had just attacked him. At his feet was a small white Rabbit kit in a red spotted jumper with a large brown spot over one eye. She excitedly bounced around his boots, looking up at him.

”Mister prince!” she said, rearing up on her hind legs and placing her small front paws on his calf.

Fiyero’s eyes widened in recognition. ”Indigo??” he gasped in disbelief. ”Índigo?” Elphaba echoed, looking between the small Rabbit and the man she was leaning on.

“You know who he is?” 

The small Rabbit ignored her, instead tapping her paw insistently against Fiyero’s leg.

”Um… excuse me” she stated, twitching a stumpy ear in indignation. “pick me up!” 

Still reeling, Fiyero bent down and offered his open hands to her, and she jumped happily into them, instantly adjusting herself so she was laying comfortably in Fiyero’s arms. Elphaba took in the scene before her with trepidation, bafflement radiating off of her in waves. Before she was able to say anything, Fiyero’s face broke into a massive grin.

”Índigo! You’re safe! Sweet Lurline I was so worried about you!”

Indigo tilted her head up and fixed Fiyero with an exasperated stare as she batted one of the medals on his jacket. 

“of course i’m safe! You’re being sillified. You rescued me and gave me my medal of protection to keep me safe! And I still have that,” she informed him seriously, rearing up on her hind legs suddenly to display the small golden medal clipped to her dress.

Fiyero grunted in surprise, adjusting his hold so she didn’t tumble to the ground. Now it was Elphaba’s turn to be speechless, staring between the two.

”Rescued? I don’t — what — how-“ she stammered, unable to process the implications of the young kit’s words.

Fiyero’s face flushed a deep pink.  “Let me explain — we -“  He was interrupted by Indigo emphatically shoving her paw in his mouth.

”No no let me tell the story!!” she exclaimed, twisting around in excitement as Fiyero rapidly readjusted his hold on her, spitting out the fur that was now stuck to his tongue.

”Mister prince, uh, Yero,” Índigo began, scrunching her brows as she attempted to remember Fiyero’s name. “rescued me from some big scary men that were coming.”

Elphaba just stared at Fiyero, mouth slightly slack. He shuddered at the intensity of her gaze.

”I was sleeping in our old den one day after my mama got taken when i heard a very loud sound. I ran out of our door and there were a lot of the bad men that mommy told me about standing outside and looking up at the sky. Mister Prince Fiyo was standing in front of me, and he saw me before the other men could. And then he picked me up really fast and held me inside his big green coat.”

At this, Indigo’s ears flattened and her voice suddenly became very soft. “that part was really scary. it felt like when the bad men took my mama away before and i had to hide under one of their coats.”

Fiyero broke eye contact with Elphaba to smile at Indigo and gently touch her nose.

“i know, Indigo. You were so brave,” he murmured softly, running his finger along her cheek.

That seemed to perk her up again, and she sat up suddenly and flipped around, causing Fiyero to bend his knees and grunt in surprise as he attempted to keep her from careening to the ground.

“Yeah, i was really brave! Prince Fifo yelled really loud at the other bad men with him to move on because she was getting away!”

Indigo’s whiskers twitched in confusion. “who is she?”

Fiyero looked up at Elphaba again as a powerful, crushing wave of guilt crawled up his throat from what felt like the very bottom tip of his heart. But somehow, miraculously, she wasn’t looking at him with hatred, or disgust. She was… blushing?

“well anyways,” Indigo started again, clearly determined to finish her story in spite of the viscous tension that had just blanketed the clearing.

“once the bad men left, prince Yoyo—“

This new name caused elphaba’s breath to catch in a small laugh, the first sound she had made the entire conversation.

“put me back down near my den and told me to keep being really brave and waiting. He said he knew where my mama went and that he was gonna help me find her. And then he gave me THIS!”

Indigo placed her small front paws on Fiyero’s chest and rose onto her back legs, proudly displaying the small decorative medal pinned to the back of her jumper again. Fiyero’s face cracked into a wide, beaming smile, and he slowly crouched down to place Indigo on the forest floor. To his surprise, Elphaba bent her knees to settle in front of him as well. Indigo hopped out of Fiyero’s hands and settled comfortably against his thigh.

“I had to sit alone in the burrow for a long time until it was night,” muttered Indigo quietly.

Fiyero placed a hand on her tiny back and she leaned into it appreciatively. “You came back though,” she said, looking up at him earnestly. She turned to Elphaba to explain.

“Prince Yeefo came back with Feldspar, and he called for me to come out. He said that Feldspar was going to take me to where my mama was hiding, but i had to be really quiet when I was riding him. It was really scary,” she said, twisting her paws around each other and hiding her face in the crook of Fiyero’s wrist.

“But then you gave me a piece of candy from your pocket!” she declared, sticking her front teeth out in a grin.

“And Feldspar took me to a biiiig house very far in the woods where a lot of Animals were hiding. And then -“

“And then I came, and led you all here.” Elphaba finished, awestruck.

“yeah! and my mama was here!”

Fiyero gently removed his hand from Indigo’s back and turned to face her.

“That was a wonderful storytelling job, little one. Thank you for helping me explain.” Indigo beamed and twitched her ears proudly.

“But,” Fiyero continued, “it’s very late and i think it’s time for you to go to sleep.”

Indigo narrowed her eyes at him before huffing slightly.

“Fine, but can i have another piece of candy first?”

Fiyero rolled his eyes affectionately and pulled a small lemon drop wrapped in glittering green paper out of his breast pocket. Indigo snatched it eagerly with her teeth and started to hop away towards the burrow on the other side of the clearing before turning to call over her shoulder, “you better play with me when you wake up tomorrow! BOTH of you!”

Fiyero shook his head and gestured for her to keep hopping before turning back to Elphaba.

“Fae, I am so so sorry, the things I had to tell them to do to find you, the things they told me they’d do to you that I had to go along with to—“

“it was you,” she interrupted, looking him clear in the face.

Fiyero stuttered, dumbfounded as a confusing haze of guilt, longing, anger, sadness and warmth as potent as the summer sun over Kumbricia’s Pass settled over every one of his senses.

“we’ve known for years that someone inside of the city had been helping us, diverting raids, guiding survivors to safety. I had hoped - foolishly thought — dreamed that it might — it really was actually you the whole time.” Elphaba’s voice broke, the last few words coming out as a chapped whisper.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he whispered back, too dizzy to speak louder. “you’ve fought for so long, so beautifully and relentlessly and alone, and I had to pretend to wang to kill you — and if i could do anything to save one life, to actually do some good finally - “

Fiyero was cut off as Elphaba surged forwards and threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around his chest and squeezing as hard as she could. Fiyero reeled back in shock, unable to believe what was happening as he gently wound his arms around her in return. He didn’t realize until a few moments later that she was crying.

“I love you,” Elphaba gasped. “I’ve loved you since the cub. I loved you then, I loved you after, and sweet Lurline above I love you now.” She jerked back, as if the words had escaped from her throat without her permission.

She clasped a hand over her mouth and stared at Fiyero in horror.

“I’m sorry — I didn’t mean to say - of course you don’t feel the same, and it’s okay, I never expected you to and you came because it was the right thing to do and now they’re going to hunt you and kill you“

Fiyero interrupted her panicked rambling with a soft grin.

“do you ever let anyone else speak?”

Elphaba froze, fresh tears welling in her eyes at the reminder of another night, in another clearing in what felt like another world.

“I didn’t come with you because it was the right thing to do. Don’t get me wrong, morally you’re the only one doing thr right thing in this hellscape, but my reasons were much more selfish.”

Fiyero shuffled tentatively on the ground, gently taking Elphaba’s hands in his own.

“I love you. I have since the first second i saw you, I just didn’t realize it until too late, like an idiot. I tried to tell Glinda when I reached her in the Emerald City but she refused to listen, and I had to do the only thing I could to try to do a little bit of good like you. I was a foolish coward, and I just couldn’t pretend anymore. I can’t pretend anymore. You are the best thing I think i’ll ever experience, and not being with you, however you want me, was going to kill me, Elphaba.”

Elphaba just stared at him. Slowly, she took their interlocked hands and brought them to her lips.

“you have done good. you are good, Fiyero. In your heart, your soul, your mind, however much you may not believe that. You are one of the only pieces of goodness I’ve ever experienced. I’m yours as long as you’re mine.”

Fiyero felt every bone in his body turn to jelly as four years of waiting, hoping, praying for her safety and underneath the slightest sign that his feelings were returned, sloughed off of him and rose away into the night sky like mist. He traced the sides of Elphaba’s head with his hands, touching their foreheads together.

“can I kiss you?” he asked softly, staring into her infinite eyes.

“Forever, Yero. Just as long as you don’t wake Indigo up.”

Chapter Text

“Yero, are you sure that doesn’t hurt?”

Elphaba lifted her head up from where it was resting on Fiyero’s chest to raise an eyebrow at him.

”Nope. Let him feel no pain, Fae. Trust me, you nailed that one.”

Fiyero turned his face towards her, smiling gently as another loud thump echoed across the yard. He and Elphaba were stretched out lazily in the backyard of their small cottage, pressed cozily into a thick blue plaid blanket. The air was crisp but not cold, swirling slowly through the leaves of the long strands of ivy hanging from the trellis they were perched under. The scent of freshly baked bread floated steamily out of the window, curling around Elphaba’s face like a scarf. Everything was perfectly calm, except for the small white and brown blur repeatedly crashing itself into Fiyero’s leg. 

Hearing Elphaba’s question, the blur stopped its frantic movement for a second and sat up on its hind legs indignantly. It raised a large ear and crossed its front paws.

”Hey! I’m playing very niceified! Besides, everyone else is being boring right now.”

Indigo leaned back from where she had been repeatedly jumping up and down off of Fiyero’s straw-filled leg like a overinflated bouncy ball.

”Yaima is helping her mama in the garden,” Indigo stated, pointing across the grass to a small burrow where two foxes were dragging a large wheelbarrow back and forth.

”My mama has a cold and can’t play, Dorothy went back to Kanfras ages ago, Feldspar is taking a nap,” 

”oh, the horror,” Elphaba whispered in Fiyero’s ear, reminded of how close she had been to falling into a comfortable afternoon slumber herself.

”And your kit is still trapped in your belly!” Indigo finished her tirade by pointing with a small paw at the slight swell in Elphaba’s stomach protectively covered by one of Fiyero’s hands. 

“Fiyero is fun and bouncy. It’s my last resort.” Indigo leaned backwards before flinging herself into Fiyero’s leg, pushing off against the springiness of the straw within into a backflip.

Elphaba sighed, fighting the sudden tightness in her throat and wetness that seemed to creep up behind her eyelashes. It had been four months since she had watched Fiyero being beaten mercilessly to death, and then discovered that in some twisted way she had saved him, at the expense of his humanity. Four months since they had officially been declared dead in Oz, two horrific traitors that would undoubtedly be hated  for decades. Four months since she and Fiyero had starved and sweat and sunburned and broken apart as they crossed miles and miles of endless white desert. Four months since she had woken up vomiting what little food she was able to scrounge, bent over and retching as she realized that as she dragged herself across the sand, she was not just carrying herself. 

Four months since she and Fiyero had finally reached the final landmark on the map Dulcibear had left her before fleeing, reuniting with many of the Animals she had helped save. 

Four months that she and Fiyero had spent creating a soft little life in the refugee town on the border of Ev and Whimsy, finally able to just exist with each other. The cottage had gone up fast with Feldspar and Chistery’s help, just big enough for a small kitchen, spell room, bedroom and nursery. After so much pain, so much loss and terrible, aching exhaustion, the worst thing Elphaba was facing was an overactive six year old. 

Fiyero shifted beside her, curling the arm laid around her shoulders tighter while gently moving his fingers across the faint curve of her stomach. He turned his face towards her again, rubbing the coarse burlap of his cheek against the top of her head. Elphaba knew that he hated it, but the roughness of his skin was incredibly comforting - a reminder that he was still here and still hers. 

“Now Indigo,” he started, “I have a feeling that you aren’t entirely out of options for entertainment.” 

“Yes,” followed Elphaba, “I have a sneaking suspicion that you have writing practice to do.” 

“Hey! How did you know that?” Indigo reared up on her hind legs indignantly.

Elphaba rolled her eyes playfully as Fiyero bit back a snicker. She lazily untangled a hand from Fiyero’s embrace and pointed in the direction of the small schoolhouse over the hill. 

“I’m the one that assigned it. Now how about you go and work on your schoolwork, and maybe Fiyero will play with you after.” 

Ignoring Fiyero’a grunt at being volunteered to eventually leave their soft sunbathing nest, Elphaba propped herself up on her elbows and raised an eyebrow at Indigo.

”Okay… fine. But you better!” Indigo huffed, hopping away towards her mother’s warren.

Elphaba turned over to press herself more fully into Fiyero’s chest.

”You know, she’s right. We are just laying here doing nothing,” she murmured against the linen of his shirt. “Maybe we should get up and be productive.”

”Fae, we beat death at least a dozen times to be able to lie in our yard. I think we’re allowed to be as lazy as we want now.” Fiyero nuzzled the top of her head, stroking a hand through the stray braids that had fallen across her face. 

“Besides, you’re both doing the incredibly hard work of growing our child inside of you, and you’re technically a princess. If someone absolutely has to lift a finger this afternoon, it will be me.” Fiyero brushed his lips against Elphaba’s forehead, and she shuddered in pleasure at the warm, scratchy sensation.

”Yero, my hero,” she sighed. “How will I ever make it up to you?” 

“Maybe by straightening out the dent Indigo left in my thigh.”