AN I know I shouldn't have started this when I haven't even updated Werewolf of Arendelle in months but here we go.

Elphaba approached the window of the mansion, but not before gaping at the vastness of the building. What single family needs five stories all to themselves? She asked herself as she slid the window up with ease. The green woman sighed in relief at the fact that it had not been locked and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.

Elphaba Thropp hadn't had the need to steal from anyone in years; she had honestly thought that she had left the life behind for good and had moved on. However, the meager pay she gets from her job as a janitor at the Shiz University library wasn't nearly substantial enough for her to get by. Especially now with her landlord banging at her door every day, demanding the past months rent. The man, Taye, had been getting increasingly frustrated with Elphaba, threatening to throw her out more and more frequently. One day, he went so far as to have all of her belongings removed from the tiny apartment, only to have them replaced within the next few days. It had only been a warning shot, but it was enough to make Elphaba retreat to her old lifestyle of thievery.

Being the only person of the janitorial staff at the library, Elphaba felt as though she had deserved a raise. A raise may not have covered her total rent, but it would certainly help. She was definitely a hard enough working woman; she made sure all the shelves of each individual bookshelf were dusted daily, she cleaned up every single mess, and she even took on the responsibility of caring and tending to some of the older books. She would have asked for a raise, if her boss didn't absolutely hate her. Madame Morrible−a horrid, carp-like woman whom all the other librarians and most of the teachers and students at Shiz call "Horrible Morrible" when she's not around to hear it−was an extremely hate filled woman indeed. Her and Taye would get along swimmingly, Elphaba often thought.

Now I've probably bored you to quite some extent and maybe, just perhaps, you're wondering who Elphaba has found herself robbing blind this very night. Our verdant antagonist−protagonist?−expertly crept through the downstairs window of the Upland Manor, not making a single peep while doing so. She's heard about this family many times before−how could you not, honestly? They're perhaps the most well known family in all of Gillikin. Definitely the richest. And with a rich family came valuable goods.

Elphaba stood in what appeared to be the family room. There was no doubt highly expensive furniture placed in a semicircle in the center of the room, opening up towards a fireplace with embers still glowing a faint red-orange. One rather long couch was positioned at the top of the semicircle with loveseats and arm chairs forming the arches on either side; all the furniture were the same shade of violet.

Remembering her objective, Elphaba lurked towards the mantel atop the fireplace where gorgeous vases and a few family photos resided. Slender, green fingers wrapped around a beautiful light blue vase that took on the effect of water and lifted it up so the owner of them could get a look at the stamp on the bottom. Ozarovski. This will surely be worth a pretty penny. Elphaba carefully stashed the vase away in her satchel.

With the removal of the Ozarovksi vase, there was a slight gape on the mantel. Slight, but still noticeable. Elphaba stepped away from the fireplace to get a slightly better look at the arrangement of everything on the mantel. She mentally reaarranged the items and when she was pleased with what she had thought of, she took to physically doing it. Graceful hands danced across vases and pictures until one particular photo caught her attention. It was hard to see in the darkness of the room, but she could faintly make out the image of a girl around her age, nineteen. She walked over to the open window, hoping the moonlight would provide a decent enough source of light.

The photo was of a short, smiling, rather petite blonde. She had on a very light pink dress and held a few textbooks in her arms. Elphaba recognized the building in the background to be the Shiz University library. She looked at the photo for a good few moments and every now and then caught her gaze drifting towards that smile. It made the green woman smile herself, something she hadn't done in a long while. After deciding she had wasted enough time, Elphaba turned to place the photo back on the mantel.

"Who are you?"

Elphaba's heart stopped.

She jumbled around with the framed photo, determined not to drop it. When she finally had a good grip on it, she set it down on a table next to the rather long couch and made to pull her hood further down as to hide her face better.

"I asked you a question." The voice, sounding somewhat scared, spoke again. Elphaba's gaze locked with the floor as she clutched the strap of her satchel with both hands. Never in any of Elphaba's experiences had she ever been caught. She was always very careful, very stealthy.

Soft footsteps sounded and Elphaba raised her gaze just enough to see dainty, pink slippers making their way towards her in slow, cautious steps. She looked up even more to see the beginning of blonde curls that just met the frightened girl's shoulders. With a quick flick of the eyes upwards, she saw the face of the girl in the photo, just as she expected she would.

Just my luck.

"Answer me or I'll scream. I swear to Oz, I'll do it. There will be servants here in less than a clock tick. Not to mention Momsie and Popsicle, ohhhh, you wouldn't want to mess with Popsi−"

"I'm no one." Elphaba managed to say in a rough voice, raising an arm in an attempt to ward the girl off and darted her gaze towards the ground again. The light footsteps stopped. Out of fear that her face may have been showing, Elphaba once again tugged at the hood of her cloak. It would be easy to pick out such a green face in a line up.

"Have you taken something?" The fear that was once in the voice had subsided and now it sounded more like… Pity.

Elphaba had never once felt remorseful about stealing, especially not from such a wealthy family, but now a knot had formed in her stomach. Her grip on her satchel loosened. Hesitantly, she opened the latch and felt around for the small vase. When her fingers grazed the ceramic, she softly clasped her hand around it and pulled it out of the weathered bag. With trembling hands, she extended the vase towards the blonde, waiting for her to take it back.

She never did.

Instead, she reached for Elphaba's face. She lightly gripped the hood in her hand, prepared to pull it back and reveal the person underneath it, but Elphaba pulled away from her grasp. She supposed it was just instinctive that she had clutched the vase to her chest−she had done the same motion many times in her childhood with loaves of bread that she had stolen from bakers−but when she realized that she had been holding it so tight, she loosened her grip on it and pushed it towards the blonde again.

"Keep it." The soft voice spoke. "You probably need it more than I do, or else you wouldn't be here, I guess. Besides, we have plenty more almost identical to it."

Elphaba wanted to lock eyes with the girl and thank her. For a moment, she wanted to insist that the Upland take it back, that she could never take the expensive vase from her. For some reason, Elphaba felt the need to have something to do with this girl. To be acquainted with her in some way. Perhaps she could sit down on the rather long couch and have a civil conversation with the girl.

She never did.

Instead, she fled out of the open window.