All right, this is about my sixth rewriting of this, let's hope it works! Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers!

The room was crowded with people, all talking in hushed, worried whispers. In the center, lying weakly on the bed, Fiyero was pretending to be asleep. While he was awake, they did nothing but tell him empty promises of getting better and weep. While he slept they still cried, but quieter and didn't talk about recovery.

There was only one person he wanted to see anyway. His parents, "girlfriend" and old classmates didn't matter to him anymore. He had already said his goodbyes to them, long and tearful and noisy ones with a lot of wailing, none of it his.

Fiyero sometimes imagined that he could hear her swooping down outside the window, or pretended he saw a green hand on the glass, but it was always the wind and result of his delirium. The Prince could see her in his mind's eye; tall and as green as grass with clever eyes and a sarcastic smile. She had long, black hair, dark as midnight, and a beauty that was so beyond anybody else's that nobody could see it but him.

Oh, how much he wished that Elphaba was there with him.

Suddenly, the balcony doors swung open and several people let out small screams and gasps. Fiyero smiled despite his "sleeping" state. That would be Elphaba...

The room grew deadly silent and every eye stared at her. Glinda gasped and ran up to embrace her old friend. A few ladies fainted.

"Elphaba," she whispered into the Witch's ear. "I've missed you...Oz..."

But the green woman's mind was only fixed on one mission; "Where is he?"

The good witch nodded towards the bed and Elphaba strode over, people scurrying out of her way. By the time she reached the bed, the room, which had been crowded to bursting minutes before was now completely empty save Glinda sitting in the corner.

Gently, Elphaba sat on the bed, and stroked the asleep Prince's cheek. His eyes fluttered open at the touch. He blinked, then his mouth grew to a grin.

"Elphaba..." his voice was weak, dangerously so.

"Fiyero...I..." A tear silently made its way down her face. Her reached up and wiped it off smiling slightly.

"Don't cry, Elphie, you'll melt."

She let out a laugh that turned instantly into a choked sob. He slid his hand into hers, rubbing her palm with his fingers. "I can't believe," he mused, "that the first time I would ever see Elphaba Thropp, the Witch of the West, cry it would be over me."

The corner of her mouth twitched and she shook her head. Fiyero tried to lift himself into a sitting position but gasped and slid back down against the pillows. A terrible fit of coughing overcame him and he leaned against Elphaba for support as his body jerked violently. When it finally died down, he laid back weak and sweating on his pillow, breathing hard.

Now, Fiyero gripped her hand harder than ever with a sort of wild, desperate frenzy. "Elphaba..." he mumbled.

"I'm right here," she whispered, swallowing even more tears.

"I...I...love...you."

Elphaba nodded, voice catching in her whisper. "I know. I love you, too Fiyero."

"You...you do?"

She leaned down and gently kissed him. It should have been a hugely significant event, kissing a boy for the first time, especially the one she had secretly loved for two years. However, all she could think about was how feverishly hot his lips were. From behind them, she heard Glinda whimper but the good witch didn't say a word.

Fiyero smiled and closed his eyes. "Now...I'm happy. Wouldn't go...until you came. Wanted...to know..." He started coughing again and by the time he was finished, all the blood had drained from his face and tears of exhaustion had gathered in his eyes.

Elphaba quietly wiped them away, cradling his face. He reached up a trembling hand and stroked her green cheek. "I love you, Elphaba."

Something in his eyes seemed to fade, the light flickering off. Fiyero's hand slipped from her face and landed with a soft thud on the bed. Elphaba felt as though somebody had sucked the air from her lungs, she couldn't breath, couldn't think.

She laid her head gently on Fiyero's chest, hand still entwined with his lifeless one. The noise of Glinda's soft footsteps approached and the blonde shut the Prince's eyes. Gently, she sat next to her best friend, whose entire body shook in grief.

"He always loved you," Glinda whispered, "I knew it from the start."

Elphaba just nodded wordlessly, formerly suppressed tears now streaming down her face. They sat like that for a very long time, crying like young children as they held onto each other and their love's lifeless body.

The sound of the door opening seemed to come from a million miles away and neither either bothered to notice it. People stared at the two and Fiyero in utter shock and amazement.

Finally, Elphaba tore herself away, wiping the tears from her face and set her jaw determinedly. "I must go."

"But where?" asked Glinda softly.

The Witch took her broomstick and swung open the balcony door.

"West,"

With one more brokenhearted glance towards Fiyero, Elphaba mounted and flew off into the setting sun.

It was the last time any Ozian ever saw the Wicked Witch of the West.

*peeps out* Review?

Thank you all for reading!