Work Text:
The golden glow reflecting off the wheat and the white heat of the setting sun caused the short skinny figure on the balcony of Kiamo Ko to almost fade away in the haze. He watched Dorothy fade in and out of view as the breeze caught her short white dress. It made him feel sick; like watching her leave all over again.
A voice startled him. “Fiyero.”
He blinked, his yellow eyes turning from the haze to find Nick standing in the room’s stone doorway. “Yes?”
His friend smiled softly, taking a glance at Dorothy before motioning behind him. “The room’s ready. Now’s as good a time as any.”
Fiyero nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Dorothy?”
The young woman turned from the balcony ledge, still glowing so brightly that he could only feel her smile. “Did you find what you were looking for, Fiyero?”
Hearing her say his real name was still so jarring that it took him a few minutes to answer. “Uh, ye-yes. Here,” he held his hand for her to take. “Come, I want to show you something.”
Her feet barely brushed the stone floor as she rushed over and happily took his hand. He was sure she would never lose that childlike excitement everyone so love about her. Together, they wandered through the castle, its walls still foreign to him despite the returning memories of his origin. Fiyero was somewhat relieved that Nick did not follow; instead he had left the two at the kitchens, where several citizens of Vinkus were helping to bring the castle back to its original glory.
Two floors and possibly several miles later, they reached the room he and Nick had discovered on their thorough inspection of the castle. After the incident that caused both the two men to return to their former human selves, Dorothy became Glinda’s apprentice, along with Ozma and the other princesses. She always had that sort of magic to her that everyone secretly feared, but never in anyone’s wildest dreams did they ever think she might actually have the ability to use it.
The old Elphaba would have been proud.
The name made his hand shake at the thought of him opening her study door. It had been locked for so long that the hinges had to be replaced and the contents behind its carved features had to be cleaned by only Glinda. He had hoped she would allow him a little time to have the room to himself to maybe jar what memories he could out of the blurry mess his real brain had become, but not even her handmaidens were allowed to set foot in the dusty place she eventually locked herself away in.
A week passed, time only relevant to Dorothy, and no one had heard even so much as movement behind the door, until the witch appeared at his bedside early in the morning. The eldest witch had never appeared so happy as she did that day, several books held tightly against her chest as she woke him.
It was like having her back again. She had told him, a slew of forgotten time handed to him as if it were a gift on his birthday.
The absence of a hand brought Fiyero back to Elphaba’s old study, his eyes adjusting to find Dorothy running her hands over the shelves of books his late lover had left behind. A look of pure fascinated glee filled her already glowing features as she turned from the books to meet his eyes.
“There’s so many!” She shook her head, returning to the shelves. “Story books, spell books, history books, cook books – who knew the witch of the west knew so much.”
Fiyero shook his head, stepping into the room. “Her name was Elphaba.” He let himself edge towards the bookshelf and look up at its trove of forbidden knowledge. “Before… before she lost everything, she was brilliant woman.” He cleared his through, fighting back the sudden swell behind his eyes. “They took that away from her and made her the bitter woman you met all those years ago.”
Sadness wasn’t something you could get use to see on Dorothy’s face. She took his hand and leaned a little into his shoulder. “You loved her, didn’t you?”
He blinked, taken aback by her empathy. That moment, when Dorothy had turned back time for her friends, his first thought had been about Elphaba. He had had no memory of her years before when Dorothy had accidentally killed her, but then, the girl beside him had given him back the sickening pain the loss should have given him. It was a feeling Sarima’s memory could never produce.
Looking down at Dorothy, he knew why he was enchanted with her so – she was the only woman who could ever measure up to the late witch. Without the memory, he could love Dorothy, but never fully; the claws of the past digging a little bit deeper everyday he lived without knowing. Elphaba was restless, even as a memory. He had never had the chance to let her go.
Dorothy had saved his life again.
“In another lifetime, in a very different Oz… yes, I did.” Reaching over, Fiyero turned towards Dorothy and made her move to face him. “That man died, a long time ago. This.” He took her hand and placed it over his heart. “This is the idiot you met in a cornfield and saved from a life of crow droppings. I’m still that scarecrow fumbling around like a fool, playing king and adventurer.” His other hand reached up and cupped her cheek. “Lady Dorothy of Gale, Princess of Oz… would you honor my kingdom by living here… with me?”
He could see everything that had happened between now and the moment she lost her parents accumulate in her emerald eyes with a look of shocked enlightenment. The smaller hand on his chest flew up to her mouth as her other joined his at her cheek. She was wordless with her answer, surprising him with a sudden kiss that made his whole body shiver.
Somewhere deep inside Oz, in its roots and in its power, a memory finally slept.