Hey, everyone! I just finished my Wicked/Greek Mythology crossover "On Broken Wings", and I'm finally beginning to post this story! This story used to be called "Different Like Nothing", but I gave it a last minute title change. Enjoy!


A loud cry breaking through the Governor's Mansion woke Frexspar Thropp up in the middle of the night. "Nessa," he whispered as he jumped out of bed, throwing his robe on over his shoulders. He hurried out of his room and down the hall to the nursery, but when he got there, his youngest daughter was peacefully asleep. He crept into the room and peered into the crib of the two-year-old. Nessa was fast asleep, clutching a teddy bear and sucking her thumb. The governor was very confused. If Nessa wasn't crying, who was? Was he hearing things?

He heard the crying again and realized with a jolt that it was his older daughter, Elphaba. He sighed, turning and dragging his feet out of the room. He would have to have a serious talk to his green daughter about waking people up in the early hours of the morning with all that noise. He stopped in front of her door and bit his lip before pushing it open. Through the darkness, he saw the four-year-old laying on her side, clutching her blankets to her chest. She looked like she was in pain as she cried and sweat covered her forehead. Her breathing was very rigid and uneven, and for a moment, Frex was worried. What was going on? Did she have a nightmare?

"Elphaba? What's wrong?" he asked as he walked inside, his voice still gruff with sleep.

Elphaba looked up at her father and tried to form words, but nothing came out. That's when Frex got a bit more worried. What was wrong with her?

"Daddy…" she finally managed to choke out, her voice soft and very hoarse. "Can't… breathe…"

"Did you have a nightmare?" Frex asked.

Elphaba shook her head and coughed.

"Dear Oz…" the governor whispered when he saw her cough up blood. He realized that something was actually wrong with his daughter and gently scooped her into his arms.

"Daddy…"

"Shh. It's okay, Elphaba. Don't speak," Frex said, wrapping her in a blanket and carrying her out of the room. He belatedly realized that this was the first time ever that he was holding her, but pushed that thought aside for later as he awoke a maid and told her to keep an eye on Nessa. He awoke his driver and told him that he needed to go to the hospital as fast as possible. The driver looked at the green girl in his arms, but didn't dare question the governor as he quickly readied the horses and they were off.

Elphaba moaned and coughed up more blood on the way there. For the first time since the day she was born, Frex was actually worried about his eldest daughter. He didn't know what caused him to suddenly care about her well-being. Maybe it was because she looked so much like her mother that he thought about her and what she would have done. Either way, he cared now. And right now, he had to get help for Elphaba.

"It's okay, Elphaba. Everything will be okay," he whispered to his now-shivering daughter.

Elphaba looked up at her father before slowly closing her eyes. Then her chest stopped rising and falling.


Frex paced in the waiting room, unable to sit still. To say that he started panicking when Elphaba stopped breathing was an understatement. He yelled at the driver to go faster, even though they were already pushing way past the speed limit. When they finally got there, he yelled for help, causing a quarter of the staff to rush over to him. They immediately took the green girl into the ICU and began to try to get her to breath again. Frex was forced to wait in the waiting room, pacing to keep himself occupied. Thankfully, he was the only one there, which he was kind of grateful for. It would be kind of embarrassing for him to have his people see him looking like a nervous wreck.

"Governor Thropp?" the doctor said as he came into the waiting room.

Frex turned around. "Yes?"

"Your daughter is breathing again."

The governor let out a breath. "Thank Oz! Then what happened?"

"We're not completely sure. We're still examining her. I just wanted to let you know we got her breathing again."

"Thank you, Doctor," Frex nodded, watching as he hurried back through the doors. He finally allowed himself to sit down and bowed his head in a silent prayer to the Unnamed God for his daughter, something he never thought he would do.

As the sun began to rise, the doctor came back out and told the governor that they were able to stabilize Elphaba and moved her out of the ICU.

"What's wrong with her?" Frex asked.

The doctor licked his lips. "Somehow, her lungs have gotten scarred for some unknown reason."

"What?"

"That's why she was having trouble breathing and coughing up blood. What surprises me most about this usually affects senior citizens, not young children."

The governor blinked. How had Elphaba become sick? Was it because he hadn't been paying much attention to her? Was this his fault? "Surely there's something you can do to cure her."

"I'm sorry, Governor, but there's no cure for this. We can give her medications that will slow the scarring of her lungs, but I'm afraid the problem will only get worse over the years."

"Will she…" Frex couldn't finish that sentence.

"It's highly unlikely that she will die as of right now, Governor. But, as the scarring gets worse... it will become harder and harder for her to breathe. But that will take years to happen." the doctor said, knowing what Frex was thinking.

It took the Governor a while to digest the information. "Can I see her?"

The doctor nodded. "She's in Room Four."

Frex thanked the doctor for all his hard work early in the morning. He quickly found Room Four and found his daughter laying in the bed, fast asleep. She was breathing normally, which he was very grateful for. He pulled a chair to her bedside and sat down next to her, taking her little green hand in his. "I'm sorry, Fabala." He felt Elphaba's fingers twitch and she slowly opened her eyes, and realized that he had let the nickname that Melena used to call her slip out.

"Daddy…" Elphaba whispered. "Head… hurts…"

"Just close your eyes, Fabala. It will make it better."

Elphaba moaned, but did as her father said and fell back asleep. The governor stayed with his daughter, his eyes never leaving her face as she slept.

That afternoon, Elphaba was allowed to leave. Frex carried her to the carriage and settled her into his lap. Elphaba looked up at him for a few moments before slowly snuggling closer to him. As the carriage moved, he gently tightened his grip around her. He had no idea where this sudden soft spot for his green daughter was coming from, but he knew he didn't want to let it go.

As the years past, Elphaba continued to be in and out of the hospital because of her condition. Frex tried to stay optimistic, for his children's sake, especially little Nessa's, but it was beginning to take a toll on him.

"Fabala, stop!" six-year-old Nessa shouted as she hurriedly wheeled as fast as she could behind her sister.

"Nessie, come on!" eight-year-old Elphaba exclaimed as she hurried through the garden, a kite in her hands.

"Fabala, you know Daddy doesn't want you running!"

Elphaba knew her sister didn't know the real reason behind that, and she was only repeating what she had heard their father say, but she didn't care as she stopped in the middle of the garden. "I feel fine, Nessie! Plus, this weather is perfect for kite flying. Don't you want to fly the kite?"

Nessa looked at the kite in her sister's hands and nodded, watching as her sister hurried away from her.

"Ready?" she called once she stopped running.

"Ready!" Nessa nodded, watching as her sister hurried towards her, trying to get the kite up into the air. "It's in the air!" she exclaimed, laughing as she watched as the diamond-shaped paper soared above them. "Fabala, it's in the air!" She looked over to see her sister and saw that she looked pale. "Fabala?"

"I'm… fine…" Elphaba wheezed, clutching her chest. She slowly sank to her knees and pushed her sister's hands away when she reached for her. "Nessie… I'm… fine…"

"Daddy! Daddy!" Nessa shouted.

"Nessa… no…" Elphaba whispered.

The younger Thropp ignored her and continued to yell for their father. Frex, hearing his youngest daughter's cries, ran outside. "Nessa, what's wrong?"

"Something's wrong with Fabala!" Nessa cried, pointing to her sister, whose forehead was very close to the ground.

Frex hurried over and gently lifted his daughter into his arms. Elphaba was still taking very ragged breaths as she clung to her father.

"Will she be okay, Daddy?" Nessa asked in a small voice as she watched her father carry her sister inside.

"She will be, Nessie. Stay right here," Frex said as he kissed her forehead and hurried inside. He went upstairs and laid Elphaba in her bed.

"Daddy…" Elphaba mumbled, slowly opening her eyes.

"It's okay, Elphaba. Just rest," Frex said, leaving the room. A few moments later, he returned with a small inhaler. He shook it before putting the mouthpiece in Elphaba's mouth and pressing the button to dispense the medicine. Slowly, Elphaba seemed to have regained her breath and he spoke again. "What happened?"

The green girl paused. "Nessa and I wanted to fly our kite."

"And?"

Elphaba looked down.

"Were you running?"

No response.

Frex sighed. "Elphaba, you know what running does to you. Your body can't handle it."

"Why not?"

The governor looked at his daughter. He couldn't tell her why. She probably wouldn't understand. She had been in and out of the hospital ever since she had been diagnosed four years ago, but she was still just a child. He had never told her the truth.

"Daddy? Why not?"

"You're sick, Elphaba," Frex said gently. "Your body can't handle strenuous activity like other children can."

Elphaba seemed to process this information. Frex had to admit that being in and out of the hospital the way she was had matured her, but he still saw her as a little girl. "Okay."

Whatever the governor was expecting, it wasn't that. "Okay?"

"Okay," Elphaba nodded.

Frex looked at his daughter, surprised that she had just accepted what he told her so quickly and without question. "Try to get some rest, Elphaba."

Elphaba settled under the covers and watched as her father turned to walk out of the room. "Daddy?"

He turned around. "Yes?"

"Will I die like Mama did?"

Frex's breath hitched. Had that really come out of his eight-year-old daughter's mouth? He sat down on the edge of the bed. "No, Elphaba. You won't die like Mama did."

"But Mama was sick when she died."

"Mama… was a different type of sick," Frex said gently, not wanting to be reminded of his wife's death at a time like this. "You'll be fine, Fabala. I promise." He went to the bathroom and quickly returned with a small bottle of dark blue pills and a glass of water. Elphaba obediently took the medicine and soon began to feel it take effect. As soon as she was asleep, Frex went back to check on Nessa, looking back at his daughter once more as he closed the door behind him.


The lung illness Elphaba's has is called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. I did some research on it and thought it would be fitting for the story. You can look it up if you want. I pre-wrote up to Chapter 15, so we should be pretty good with updates every other day. We get to meet our favorite little Vinkun prince in the next chapter!