Notes: Hello. :D This story is about Boq. And also about the repercussions of the events of the end of the musical, and Glinda's struggle to live up to Elphaba's example while trying to stay within the constraints of her role as a leader and public figure, and the political climate of Oz in the wake of the Wizard's departure… but actually it's mostly about Boq and how he deals with all of that. It's also slightly AU, mostly postmusical (with a little bit of rewriting/shuffling of the events of the ending), with a lot of influence from the Wicked novel and a little from the original Wizard of Oz book. It's gonna be pretty long, too. This is just the prologue. I hope that you like it?
Disclaimer: Gregory Maguire owns Wicked, and I don't. D:
As if finding the infamous Wicked Witch of the West in the Governor's private chamber wasn't disorienting enough for one morning, as if it wasn't hard enough to process her disarming lack of malice (she seemed more like regular old Elphaba than like a dangerous criminal) Nessa, now, could walk. There was no excuse – no rational excuse, then – for her to continue requiring his services. Who would have ever thought that the Wicked Witch of the West might be the one to restore his freedom? But if he'd really had a hope that a change in circumstances would bring about a change of mind, it was quickly dashed. There was no rational reason to keep him anymore, but as the tyrannical Governor of Munchkinland, Nessarose had no need to resort to rationality.
Boq liked to think that he had learned enough since leaving home to outgrow the superstitions of a provincial childhood. He didn't believe in ha'nts or wraiths or any of the mythical spirits that made grown men and women of Rush Margins draw the curtains and clutch homemade warding charms fearfully on stormy nights. He knew it was just sorcery that was giving her the power to walk – skillful magic, the Wicked Witch's magic, but plain and simple sorcery all the same. But when Nessa straightened up to her full height and glared down at him, her eyes burning with desperation, staggering unsteadily toward him on legs that were never meant to hold her weight – it was such an unnerving, unnatural sight that all of his reasoning faltered and he found himself taking an instinctive step back.
"You can't leave," Nessa told him. "Just because I can walk doesn't mean I don't need you now."
"Nessa, let him go," the Witch – Elphaba – said, calmly.
Nessa turned to her sister and hissed, "This is none of your concern."
Boq tried to act as controlled as Elphaba seemed to be, but his hands were shaking and he was sure his voice was, too. "I am leaving, and don't try to stop me," he said, and though he had begun speaking in anger, the words quickly turned into a plea for understanding. "There's never been any point in keeping me here. You must see that. You could control my every move for the rest of my life, but you can't force me to feel for you the way you do for me."
For a moment Nessa seemed to shrink down again, and she hid her face in her hands. She was still so young, Boq thought with sudden, guilty clarity, no matter how much she had hardened and grown cold in the time since her father's death. It had only been three years. What had happened to the eager, sweet young girl she had been? As gently as he could, he said, "Nessa, I lost my heart to Glinda the moment I first saw her. You know that."
He may as well have struck her. She recoiled and stared back at him with a fury that was somehow both incredulous and resigned.
He had endured Nessa's anger before, but it had been a cold anger, unpleasant without being truly threatening. This was something different, something frightening.
"Is that so," she said through clenched teeth. "Do you think that I will just allow you to walk out of here – that I will not do everything in my power to stop you from leaving me?"
"You've done everything in your power already, Nessa, and it hasn't deterred him one bit," Elphaba said. "He's leaving. You won't keep him." Despite her confident tone, she moved to stand between them, warily. Boq couldn't understand why she, of all people, seemed to be siding with him against Nessa, but he felt a strange rush of gratitude toward her even so.
"'Lost your heart'!" Nessa echoed his own words with a bitter laugh. "To Glinda? She doesn't want you. She never did." She turned away, and for a moment Boq dared to hope that she had given in. She went on in a dangerously quiet voice. "I wanted you, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep you." Her eyes trailed over to the ancient-looking spellbook that lay open on the floor.
But Boq hardly had time to wonder what she was up to before Elphaba started toward her sister in sudden dismay. "You know better than that," she growled, and when she leaned in and snatched the book away Boq let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Was he mistaken, or had Nessa really been planning to resort to magic to stop him from leaving? The thought was so chilling that he was sure he must be wrong – was she that desperate? Could she possibly be that possessive of her claim on him? But that certainly seemed to be the conclusion Elphaba had reached, as she stood and placed the book safely in a bag slung over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said to Nessarose, without emotion. Nessa didn't look up, didn't move. Slowly she sank to the floor, staring at the empty spot where the book had been, her fists clenched.
Boq watched her through narrowed eyes, fighting down a reflexive wave of disgust and an even stronger sense of pity. He resented her with all his will for what she had done to him and to his homeland, and he didn't regret having hurt her if it meant breaking her hold on both; but all the same, he couldn't find it in himself to revel in the breaking.
Elphaba startled him by clapping a hand down on his shoulder. "If you were planning on leaving, now would be a good time."
"Oh," he said, blankly. "Yes, but I'm going to need – oh."
"What? What are you doing?"
Looking wildly around the dim, musty room, he answered distractedly, "I need a pass, a traveling pass. Everyone – every Munchkin – needs to get one signed by the Governor before they can travel anywhere within the borders of Munchkinland. Otherwise the Guards can stop you on the road or detain you as they see fit."
Elphaba turned a slightly paler shade of green and glanced at Nessa, still kneeling with her back to them. "The Wizard's Guards? In Munchkinland?"
But Boq had stopped listening. He turned around a few more times, as if in a dream, before remembering in which drawer of which desk the passes were kept, and dashing toward it. Nessa had made sure he knew exactly where they were, and had made doubly sure he knew that he would never have a chance to use one. Well, here they were, and here he was, and this was his chance.
As he approached Nessa with the blank pass clutched tightly in both hands, he saw that Elphaba had knelt beside her sister and was speaking to her. He didn't catch the words, but he saw Nessa's delicate frame shake with suppressed sobs, and when he anxiously handed her the paper and a quill, she signed it without argument – without even looking up at him – and handed it back. Elphaba whispered something soothing to her, but she only moaned in response. It was a visceral expression of the pain of abandonment that she had delayed as long as she could. She had made the same sound back at Shiz when she had learned that Elphaba had really left her, and again when her father died. But this time, Boq realized uneasily, he would not be there to look after her. He shuddered involuntarily and looked away.
"Just a moment, I'll see you off," Elphaba told him. With a last comforting touch of Nessa's arm, she stood and led Boq quickly to the door of the room – her demeanor changed, all brisk and businesslike.
"Why did you – ?" he began before he could stop himself, then babbled, "I mean, thank you for helping me, Miss Elphaba, but you're, well..."
"A criminal?" she prompted, wryly. "I know we weren't exactly the best of friends at Shiz, but honestly, I thought you at least had more sense than that." The Witch smiled down at him, not entirely kindly. "Half the things they say about me aren't even possible, let alone true."
"Well," he said, and trailed off. He had no doubt that she had been a decent person when he had known her, and he was willing to believe that some of what she had done since then had been twisted in the telling to make it seem worse than it was, or that it had been done out of misguided conviction, even. She had always been opinionated and willing to fight for her ideals. But even if half of the stories were complete fabrications– even the worst half – that still left an awful lot of unscrupulous acts unaccounted for. He felt it best to equivocate in the name of safety. In a conciliatory tone, he offered, "I knew the part about you having an extra eye was wrong, at least. I think I'd have noticed it before."
For a moment Elphaba only glared at him, and he had a fleeting notion that joking now may have been a bad idea. But before he could begin to fear for his health, Elphaba broke into a truly wicked grin. "I take it back, then. You do have some sense," she said. "Go on, you're free to go anywhere you like now, right?"
He tried to speak, stopped, tried again, and finally managed, "I did what I could for her, you know."
The smile faded so quickly from Elphaba's face and she regarded him so stonily that it suddenly took all his courage just to stand before her without shrinking back. Neither of them looked at Nessarose, sitting stiffly ruined and broken in the middle of the room, but she seemed to sense their thoughts on her anyway.
"You're going to wish you'd stayed," Nessa told Boq raggedly. "Glinda is going to marry Fiyero. She has no use for you."
Keeping his eyes on Elphaba, Boq spoke quietly. "Goodbye, Nessa. Please be well. And goodbye to you, Miss Elphaba," he said, bowing deeply. "Thank you for your help." And he turned to go.
"Boq," Elphaba called after him, almost apologetically. "If you see Glinda before I do, congratulate her for me. Tell her that I… that I hope she's happy."
He stopped and looked back through the doorway, but Elphaba had already turned to go back to Nessa's side. "I'll tell her," Boq promised, wondering, and he left the room, left Colwen Grounds to whoever would have it, left both Witches for the last time.