Elphaba squinted as the sunlight from her window shined on her emerald face. She grabbed a pillow from beside her and covered her face, groaning.
It was so blissful, to be asleep. All of your problems would more or less go away, the world became still, and your dreams could entertain you.
And she wouldn't have to be around her younger sister, Nessarose.
Nessarose was in a wheelchair, the only flaw Elphaba could hold against her. But she never did. She couldn't.
Everything else about her younger sister was flawless. Her skin was beautiful, to its tone and it's smooth, beautiful features, all woven together making a face of an angel. Her hair was a crisp, brown leaf color, flowing down to turn up, giving her a sweet look. Her fingers were as slender as pencils, her hands as creamy white as snow, as soft as velvet, as gentle as lambs. Nessarose was perfect.
Elphaba loved her younger sister until her sides ached. Watching her grow up, getting more beautiful each day, was one of the most wonderful things in life for her.
But younger sisters could be as younger sisters are, so full of wonder and themselves that they are not aware that they get to people around them.
Nessarose had her eyes set on the houseguest Fiyero.
Who was Elphaba to object? Fiyero was tall, very handsome, charming…everything Nessarose deserved. Being the younger daughter of the governor, host to royalty, very beautiful indeed, tragically bound to a chair with wheels...she deserved everything.
However, these past few months had been full of mixed emotions for Elphaba.
The first month was annoyance.
The prince would flirt with both of the Thropp girls, (Nessa would giggle, Elphaba would walk away like he didn't exist) he would play with Shell, the youngest Thropp and only son, read in the seat that Elphaba loved, eat everything like it was his last meal, and go into Elphaba's room and look at her stuff.
Elphaba could remember being livid at the prince, never wanting to speak to him.
The second month was pure hatred.
Elphaba had begged her father to have the prince be taken away, stay somewhere else, please, please, please, she'd do anything, just take the prince away!
But of course, the governor didn't just took his eldest child by the arm and escort her forcefully to her room; get some sense into her, that one!
And now, the third month as the prince stayed at the house, Elphaba found herself wonderfully, irrevocably and shamefully in love.
How it happened, she hadn't any idea, given the fact that just four weeks ago, she'd wanted to throttle the royal prince.
But…then again, she did have a few reasons, she supposed, to why she did.
Maybe it happened when he saved her from drowning in the lake yesterday.
Nessa had been taken on the ice with Fiyero, as he pushed her around on his skates. Then she had begged her old sister to come out on the ice.
So the green girl, unable to say no, got her skates and followed. But that piece of ice, that hexagon-like thin piece, dropped below her and the icy waters below had swallowed her up. She heard a scream echo through the water, her sister's scream. She swam back up, trying to get out after her long fall, banging her fists on the ice, unable to break it…dying…she was dying…she was going to die! The water was around her, the coldness cutting her down to bone marrow, her heart pounding…she felt woozy from not breathing, her mouth falling open, her finger coming out of the tight fists…her sister's screams filled her ears, all of her was dead…dead…dying….
She would never be seen again…
And he'd saved her, of all men, to scatter the ice with his shoe, pulling her up, wrapping his strong arms around her…the water spilling out of her lungs, her heart pounding more and more…until it scared her…it wasn't just from drowning anymore…it was because Fiyero was holding her so tightly, with such oz-damned emotion and fierce tenderness, holding her like she were too precious to leave, whispering her name, asking if she was all right…
And she'd swooned over him just like her sister, her perfect, beautiful naïve sister, like every other girl that had ever laid eyes on him…
She'd swooned over him, her hero, her savior, every little part of him, until it brought her to shame.
She felt like holding her pillow over her face all morning, until her father called her down to breakfast.
Elphaba got out of bed, cursing herself for not showering earlier, and trudged down the stairs.
He sat there, laughing with her sister, over some silly matter. When she arrived, he got up quickly and hugged her.
"You went to bed last night before you answered my question," he told her, like she were a naughty child, but jokingly…only joking…teasing her…trying to make her laugh…
"You are all right, though, aren't you, miss Thropp?" he held her at arm's length now, scanning her eyes.
Miss Thropp. Of course. Like she were older, like she were an Oz-damned princess, like she were royalty or a principal of a school…
"Yes," Elphaba said. "Yes, I am fine."
Thank you for saving me.
Ugh, listen to her, in her brain, like an idiot. She was so glad she didn't say it out loud.
She walked over to her sister, who held her tight.
"I thought you were going to die," Nessa, sweet sweet Nessa, was now near tears…
"No, my darling," Elphaba soothed her.
"You tried to escape, though didn't you?" Nessarose asked, her chocolate brown eyes swimming in her tears that turned to spill down her cheeks.
"Every second," Elphaba held her tighter. "Every second."
During breakfast, Fiyero did what he could to spark up conversation, make the girls laugh, crack a joke…but neither of them wanted to talk.
After the meal, Elphaba sat alone, thinking abut how foolish she was. What prince would take a girl born green, for Mercy's Hill, who couldn't even skate on ice without drowning?
She walked up to the house library to soothe her mind.
She opened the door and saw him, of all people, stretched out on her favorite chair, reading one of the Thropp's books. Her grinned at her arrival, marking the page with the strip of paper he had.
"I knew you'd be here."
He continued to stare at her, with a grin on his face, as she went over to the bookcase.
She shot him an annoyed look, hiding a smile, trying to get him to see she wasn't interested in him in any way, not if Oz had ended…
She opened the book and looked up at the sound of a clearing throat.
"Yes?"
"What book are you reading?"
He was interested in books? It still surprised her; even after all of this time that he'd ever had an interest in books at all.
"It's just a book. Read yours."
Fiyero grinned and came to sit beside her.
"Ouch," he said, not wiping that stupid, ridiculous grin off his face. Honestly. "Why are we in a fit today?"
She moved away from him and sat in her favorite spot, finding it easier to read already. He didn't need to know what she was feeling. He needed to leave her alone.
Fiyero came over, following her, and sat beside her on the ground.
She ignored him, but was snapped out of her reading again as he cleared his throat again.
"What?" Elphaba's eyes turned to slits.
He grabbed her book from her, swinging it over his head. "Let's see, what has Miss Thropp been reading?"
"Hey!" she was unable to keep the laugh out of her voice as she sprang up and tried to reach it, he held it high over his head, a teasing look on his face.
"Come and get it!"
He ran around the room, ignoring the fact that he was knocking over tables and chairs.
He joined in her laughter, jumping and holding the book high so she couldn't reach it. Oz, he didn't have a full foot on her, and she couldn't reach.
He skipped around, bragging and shaking the book, and the game got more and more fun with each passing second.
Elphaba got an idea. When his back was turned, she ducked behind the couch so he couldn't see her.
"El?"
Her heart pounded. He gave me a nickname.
Oh, honestly, Elphaba, get a grip!
She sprang up, scaring him, and darted across the room and grabbed her book. Fiyero tried to back up, trying to grab it from her, but his back met a wall.
She came at him too quickly, and fell against him.
They stood that way, one hand on his chest, feeling his heart, the other clutching the book so hard that her knuckles turned white. He looked down at her with an expression that made her heart melt. He looked at her like he was trying to figure out who she was under her green exterior.
"There," he finally whispered, "You got me."
He gently moved from they way they stood, and left the room.
Elphaba's heart raced; that sinful, sinful heart that raced, showing so much, revealing so much about her, even if it was all within.
She loved him.