You give me love

By Vinkunwildflowerqueen

DISCLAIMER: Wicked belongs to Stephen Schwartz; You Give me love belongs to Faith Hill.

AN. Thank you to Kelly for helping me land on a context!

Fiyero mentally cursed as he ran through the halls of Kiamo Ko, looking for a flash of green. This was not how he'd envisioned this day going.

He and Elphaba had been dating for ten months now, and for the past four, Fiyero had been trying to convince Elphaba to meet his parents.

"Why are you so against this?" he'd demanded.

"Trying to delay the inevitable," Elphaba had replied.

Fiyero had frowned. "What's inevitable?"

She had sighed. "Fiyero, your parents are not going to approve of me. And I think on some level you know that, which is why it's taken six months for you to bring up the idea."

"Well, I've met your father," Fiyero protested, which was admittedly true, although it hadn't been a planned meeting.

Frex had come to Shiz a month ago to visit Nessa and Nessarose had insisted Elphaba and Fiyero join them for lunch, and she had introduced the Vinkun prince to Frex as "Elphaba's boyfriend."

Frex had been stunned, and wary- knowing Fiyero's previous reputation, and had protested, arguing that not only was Fiyero an unfit associate for his daughters (well, Nessarose), but his disbelief that a relationship between Elphaba and Fiyero could be anything substantial or long-lasting.

But Elphaba had argued, Fiyero had insisted and finally Nessa had stepped in, and finally Frex had given his reluctant blessing.

"Fae, I want you to meet them," Fiyero beseeched her.

"Why?" Elphaba asked tiredly.

Fiyero couldn't tell her the real reason, that he was hoping to get his parents blessing to ask Elphaba to marry him, so instead he went with a vaguer version of the truth.

"Because I love you, and you're the most important person in my life."

And Elphaba had been unable to come up with an appropriate rebuttal to that, so had given in.

Elphaba's main reason why the King and Queen would not approve of her, was of course, her skin colour. Fiyero understood her reasons why, but desperately hoped his parents would reserve their initial judgement to see past the unique colour of her skin and see everything about her that Fiyero had fallen in love with. And he hoped the fact her father was the Governor of Munchkinland would be enough to balance that out.

But graduation was approaching and when Fiyero thought about his future after that, he knew Elphaba was it- front and centre. So, getting his parents blessing to marry her was the next step… and then he'd have to ask Frex for his.

So, Fiyero had brought Elphaba back to the Vinkus for a week in the spring to meet King Tamhas and Queen Magali.

And it had not gone well. Fiyero was absolutely furious at his parents. Elphaba and Fiyero had arrived the previous afternoon. After greeting Elphaba rather coolly, Queen Magali had had a servant show Elphaba to her room, which was placed at the complete other end of the castle to Fiyero's bedroom. Elphaba didn't miss the meaning behind that.

When they had entered the room for dinner, his mother had looked Elphaba up and down and raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. Elphaba was wearing her best dress, but it was homemade and unfashionable.

Elphaba recognised the look on the Queen's face- it was the same look that she'd always seen on the faces of the other girls at Shiz; the look that signified that Elphaba did not fit in. Elphaba had flushed uncomfortably, wishing for once that she had agreed to Galinda's suggestion of a shopping trip prior to the visit.

All throughout dinner, the King and Queen had discreetly interrogated her, on her family, studies, hobbies and everything else they could think of. It was all tone in pleasant, conversational tones, so Fiyero didn't notice anything amiss. But Elphaba did.

The next morning, she'd been about to enter the dining room for breakfast, when she'd heard the King and Queen talking with Fiyero.

"Fiyero, she's green, for Oz's sake!" Tamhas was saying, and Elphaba froze in the doorway.

"I'm aware of that, Dad," Fiyero replied through gritted teeth. "I don't care what colour her skin is!"

Magali tried to placate her son. "Yero, I'm sure… once you get to know her, she's a lovely girl-"

"Then why don't you get to know her and find out for yourselves?" Fiyero demanded.

Magali held up a hand to silence him. "Fiyero, you're a prince. You're the prince. Whoever you marry will one day be Queen. The people have to respect you and your wife… whoever she is. How do you think they'd react to someone like Elphaba?"

"Someone like Elphaba?" Fiyero repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't take that tone with your mother," Tamhas scolded his son.

"I just… I can't imagine what you see in the girl," Magali shrugged. "She's nothing like the girls you usually date."

Fiyero sighed in frustration. He was about to point out that was exactly the point, when his eyes flickered to the doorway, and he saw Elphaba standing there, her face stricken.

"Fae-" he called out, but she was gone before he could even take a step.

He glared at his parents. "Good work, guys," he said sarcastically and hurried out of the room in Elphaba's wake.

"Fiyero!" Tamhas called after him, but Fiyero didn't listen.

So now here he was, chasing after Elphaba, who was both very fast and had had at least a ten-second head start on Fiyero.

But Fiyero knew Kiamo Ko, and he knew Elphaba.

He found her down by the lake shore that was part of the castle grounds. She was just standing there, looking out over the water, her arms folded across her chest as though to support herself.

"Fae?" he asked gently, coming to a standstill a few steps back from her.

She said nothing, and didn't move.

"Fae, I'm so sorry. My parents-"

"Have a point," she interrupted quietly.

She finally turned around, and Fiyero saw that her eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"Elphaba," Fiyero said softly, shaking his head as he took a step towards her.

She chuckled tearily, trying to make light of the situation. "I mean, I've never understood what you see in me, either."

Fiyero's heart ached, he always hated seeing Elphaba cried. She rarely did so, and it always tore at him.

"Fae, listen to me," he said firmly, stepping towards her and taking her hands in his. "I know… I know this hasn't always been easy."

That seemed like an understatement to Elphaba. Dealing with the constant stares, whispers and attention of everyone else on campus, then dealing with Frex had not been the easiest. Then there was the fact that neither of them had had a lot (read: none) experience at relationships, and both were hot-tempered and stubborn. At times it had felt like they were barely getting by.

"But you don't see how much you do to get me through every single day," Fiyero continued earnestly.

Elphaba was confused. "Like what?" she asked doubtfully.

Fiyero almost smiled, he never knew how she couldn't see it. "I think I owe you an apology," he chuckled, which only deepened Elphaba's confusion.

"For what?"

"Because apparently in ten months, I've never told you what you are in my eyes."

Elphaba blushed slightly and rolled her eyes. "Yero…"

She squeezed his hand. "I know that you love me-"

He raised their joined hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles gently. "If you think the words 'I love you' are significant enough for you to understand what you mean to me, Elphaba Thropp, then we need to have a serious talk."

Elphaba shook her head hopelessly. When Fiyero got an idea into his head, you couldn't stop him. It was better just to let him say what he wanted to say, and go from there.

So, she sighed and looked up at Fiyero with patient expectance, which made him grin.

"Fae, every day is sweeter, because I know I have you- in every way. And that's enough for me, to know I get to see you and be with you; and if you think that's not enough, you're wrong."

Elphaba was listening, but Fiyero could tell she thought he was insane. And suddenly, it didn't matter what his parents thought of Elphaba and whether they approved or not. He did the only thing that felt right in that moment, he got down on one knee, watching as the blood drained from her face and her eyes widened.

"Fiyero, what-?"

"Elphaba, I love you," Fiyero cut her off. "You're… you're just everything. My best friend when I need a friend to hold, my hope when I feel I can't go on, the love of my life. Every moment of every day, you give me love. You're everything my heart desires, and I'm so lucky to have you with me to share my dreams. My life is complete as long as I have you, and it doesn't matter what your parents or mine, or anyone else thinks."

He took a deep breath, his gaze not leaving hers, and hoped to Oz that she'd say yes.

"Fae… will you marry me?"

Elphaba was completely blindsided. She hadn't seen this coming, they'd never even discussed marriage before. She'd be lying if she said she'd never thought about it, but she'd never imagined it would happen like this, or this soon.

She felt a wave of panic as Fiyero looked up at her, waiting for an answer. She opened her mouth, and said the only clear thought that was running through her mind. The thing that felt right.

"Y-yes," she stammered faintly.

Fiyero blinked, hoping he'd heard right. "Yes?"

"Yes," she repeated, stronger this time.

A beaming grin spread over his face and he leapt to his feet, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him as he kissed her.

"Yero, your parents-"

"I don't care, Fae," he cut her off. "I don't care what they say, whether they approve or not. Same goes for your father. I am going to marry you, because I don't know what I'd do without you. Got it?"

Elphaba smiled faintly. "I got it, but what I was going to say, if you would let me finish a sentence, is that your parents are here."

Fiyero froze cautiously, and sure enough when he turned around, Magali and Tamhas were standing there a few feet away, eyebrows raised.

Fiyero cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly, making sure Elphaba's hand was securely wrapped in his.

"Um, hi," he greeted them.

"Fiyero, is there something you'd like to tell us?" Tamhas asked his son.

This wasn't how Fiyero had planned on announcing the news, but he figured nothing else had gone to plan, so why should this be any different?

"I asked Elphaba to marry me, and she said yes. And you've made the fact that you don't approve perfectly clear, but I don't care," he answered his father.

"I love her and I'm going to marry her."

"Yes, we gathered that from what we heard a moment ago," Magali said dryly, and Elphaba tucked a lock of hair behind her ear uncomfortably.

She was used to being a source of discontent in her own family, but she didn't want to cause problems between Fiyero and his parents.

"Mom, Dad… you don't know anything about Elphaba. She's brilliant, absolutely brilliant. She's been top of our year at Shiz as long as I've known her, and she works hard. She practically raised her sister, and she's… she's the most amazing person I've ever met."

Magali looked between her son and his… fiancée, apparently. Her face softened slightly at the expression on Fiyero's face, but she was still unsure. She looked to her husband, to see what he would do.

Tamhas was staring at the couple, his face blank.

"Dad, I love her. And I'm going to marry her no matter what, but I'd really like your blessing," Fiyero said solemnly.

Tamhas looked at his son, then looked at Elphaba. She met his gaze steadily, but he could sense the apprehension in her eyes she was trying to hide.

"Elphaba? Do you have anything to say?"

Fiyero turned to Elphaba swiftly. Elphaba, of course, was never one who was at a loss for words; or to pass up the opportunity to speak her mind.

"I understand your reasons for not approving of me," she said bluntly. "I'm green- my own father doesn't approve of me, I wouldn't expect you to. But I love your son- very much. And I don't know much about being a princess… or anything about it," she admitted. "But I'm a fast learner."

Fiyero was almost glowing as he looked at her. He knew that the idea of Elphaba and princess didn't really gel together in her mind, but the fact that she was willing to try spoke volumes to him.

Tamhas sighed heavily. "Elphaba, could I see you in my study for a moment? I think there's some things we should discuss."

Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged a glance before she nodded.

"Ok," she agreed uncertainly.

Fiyero wanted to go in too, but the look on his father's face clearly said that wouldn't be happening.

So, instead he was left to pace the hallway outside his father's office for over an hour. He could hear no sound from within, and he wondered what his father could possibly be saying to Elphaba.

Was his father trying to talk her out of it? He wouldn't succeed, would he? Elphaba was nothing if not stubborn. Fiyero was quite proud of that.

He jumped as the door opened and Elphaba exited the room. Her face gave nothing away, and Fiyero looked at her expectantly.

"Well?" he asked eagerly. "What did he say?"

Elphaba stepped up and kissed him deeply. Fiyero responded instantly, pulling her closer and slipping his arms around her waist.

"As much as I enjoy that, I'm not if it reassures me or not," he murmured when they separated.

Elphaba chuckled quietly. "Your dad and I talked."

"And?" he prodded.

"And… he gave his blessing," she confirmed and Fiyero grinned.

"He did? What did you talk about?"

She gave a small shrug. "Politics, you, my father, Shiz, books… everything, really."

Fiyero still didn't understand. "So… what made him finally agree?"

Elphaba smiled gently. "When I told him I loved you and if you wanted to marry me, there was nothing or no one in Oz that was going to stop me."

"If?" Fiyero growled, and kissed her again, deeper. "Elphaba, do I have to repeat the speech again?"

Elphaba laughed. "No," she assured him. "I got the point."

Fiyero relaxed. "Good. I love you, Fae."

"I love you too," she whispered.

Elphaba's last conscious thought before Fiyero kissed her again was that when Galinda heard the news, she might explode with sheer anticipation. And Elphaba wasn't sure she had the energy to deal with that.

The End

Yes, there are 26 days until Singapore. But this time in exactly 4 weeks, we'll be at the show! Or... almost at the show... (I'm so bad with time differences) So excited!