Chapter One: Tears

The train station was bustling with activity, throngs of people rushing to and fro as they both boarded trains headed for distant lands and disembarked in order to enact whatever purpose they had come to Shiz for. The slightly rusted yet still reliable train bound for the Emerald City was due to leave from Platform 3 in just a few minutes time, and as such was already beginning to spit the first few clouds of smoke out across the waiting crowds.

"Hurry Boq," murmured Nessarose Thropp anxiously as she saw this, recognising the signs of a train that was about to depart, "we're going to miss her!" The object of her affections didn't reply to this instruction, however it almost felt like her started wheeling her chair along at an even slower pace than before, as if to purposefully rebel against her. But that was nonsense of course, thought Nessa to herself quickly in an attempt to quell this suspicion, he must simply have not heard her over the noise of the crowd. This logical suggestion did little to sooth her suspicions however, for she wasn't at all sure that she believed it. Oh her heart wanted to, the pang she was feeling there right now made that perfectly clear, however her head simply refused to abandon the idea that Boq had purposefully contradicted her. Fortunately she was not given the chance to dwell on this matter, for at that moment the crowd of people before them moved aside and revealed the familiar forms of Galinda Upland and Elphaba Thropp, who was the reason she'd come to the station in the first place.

"Elphaba, I'm so proud of you," stated Nessa as she drew closer, never having been one to delay what she wanted to say by engaging in needless small talk, "and I know father would be too. We're all proud, aren't we?" She looked up at Boq with a smile as she said this, expecting him to express his agreement with her words. To her surprise however he appeared stony-faced and emotionless, almost as if he were purposefully masking what he actually felt. The pang of pain in her heart returned with a vengeance, and the sight once again left her pondering what her boyfriend was actually thinking and feeling.

"You'll be alright, won't you?" asked Elphaba with concern in her voice, letting Nessa's compliment go unheeded as she had half-suspected that she would. That was just like Elphaba, thought Nessa to herself with a hint of amusement, she was finally getting her dream yet was still more concerned with making sure the people around her were okay. Smiling up at her sister, she was about to reassure her that everything would be fine when Galinda leapt in to the conversation and did it for her.

"She'll be fine!" insisted Galinda chirpily, clearly eager to see her best friend (it still shocked Nessa how quickly the two of them had gone from hated rivals to the best of friends) heading off to the wonders that surely awaited her with the Wizard, "Biq will take care of her right?"

"It's Boq!" exclaimed the put-upon Munchkin angrily, the unexpected ferocity behind these simple words making Nessa jump in fright. Looking up in alarm, she was shocked to see him shaking with emotion, his previous stony facade having shattered before an onslaught of repressed emotions, "I... I can't do this anymore!" He turned sharply on the spot, storming away through the crowd without another word.

"Boq!" wailed Nessa as she quickly wheeled her chair around to face the direction he'd gone in and watched as he vanished into the crowd.

"Nessa," began Galinda carefully, the cautious nature with which she seemed to choose her words indicating that she felt remorse for having pushed Boq over the edge like that, "maybe he's just not the right one... for you." Her words rang true in Nessa's head, however at this moment in time the pain in her heart had overwhelmed her, and was blocking out anything reasonable that her own head might attempt to say.

"No," replied Nessa as tears began to well up in her eyes, "it's me that's not right. Elphaba, just go. I'll be fine." She didn't sound particularly convincing as she said this, however she wheeled herself away before anyone could try to stop her, ignoring her sister's cry for her to wait as she made a bee-line for the station's exit. Keeping her head down on the street to make sure that she didn't catch sight of Boq in the distance (she wasn't sure she would have been able to stop herself from chasing after him if she had seen him), Nessa made her way back to her room without stopping, her vision becoming more and more blurred by the cascade of tears that was rolling down her face. Manoeuvring herself over to the bed, she clambered into it and pulled the covers over her, allowing all of her tears and grief to pour freely into the soft fabric of her pillow.

She wasn't sure of exactly how long she stayed in this mournful stupor for, however by the time she finally glanced up at the clock again it was far later than she had been expecting it to be. Sniffing, she pulled herself upright and reached for a handkerchief, quickly using it to dry her eyes as, at long last, her head began to speak up again. In all honesty, she should have seen this coming; after all, it wasn't like she hadn't had her suspicions about Boq's reasons for asking her out in the first place. She'd just been so euphoric to believe that someone could see her as beautiful without feeling the need to add 'tragically' beforehand that she'd been willing to ignore these suspicions, and instead cling to the warmth he brought to her heart as tightly as she possibly could.

"Oz, I was such a fool," murmured Nessa quietly as she dabbed at her eyes, half-heartedly attempting to compose herself enough to go down to the dining hall, "I let what my heart wanted to believe block out what my head was trying to tell me." Any further rumination on this topic she had planned was interrupted as a knock came at the door. With a sniff, Nessa threw the covers over her again, hoping that whoever it was would assume she wasn't in and go away. Unfortunately, whoever it was trying to get her attention was clearly determined, for they knocked again a minute later.

"Who is it?" called out Nessa morosely as, with a sigh, she pulled herself upright once again.

"Fiyero," replied the person outside (presumably Fiyero), "are you alright?" She was momentarily taken aback by this question, rather unsure of why the Winkie prince would be inquiring as to her wellbeing.

"Hold on a minute," requested Nessa as she began to manoeuvre herself back into her wheelchair. Crossing back over to the door, she pulled it open, half-expecting to see someone pulling a prank on her rather than the actual prince. It was indeed Fiyero however, a concerned expression showing on his face that was quite at odds with the shallow persona he had shown to her in the past. Slightly disorientated by his unexpected appearance, Nessa backed up a little, indicating that he was free to enter the room if he wished.

"I heard about what B... what happened," explained Fiyero as he entered the room and sat in a chair that was gestured to by Nessa, quickly stopping himself from directly saying Boq's name in case doing so would only upset the girl (who had clearly spent a considerable time crying) even further, "I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."

"Why?" asked Nessa, shaking her head slightly in an attempt to dislodge some of the growing confusion. She sniffed again, raising her handkerchief and wiping away a few tears which had welled up in her eyes since she'd last dried them.

"Because you're Elphaba's sister," said Fiyero awkwardly, apparently not particularly impressed by his own reasoning, "and with her and Gal... Glinda gone, I thought there might not be anyone else to check on you."

"Glinda?" repeated Nessa curiously, preferring to focus on this than on her own feelings right now.

"Galinda changed her name."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure."

"Wait," muttered Nessa, the significance of the blonde's name having entered the conversation suddenly striking her, "Glinda went too?"

"I assume so," replied Fiyero, "I mean, they didn't say so while I was there, but no-one I've spoken to has seen her since."

"Oh," said Nessa, staring sullenly at the wall as she spoke, "she could have asked me along. I could have used something to take my mind off things."

"I'm sure she was planning to go alone," reassured Fiyero quickly, not wanting to inadvertently drive a further wedge between the siblings, "If you'd been there instead of Glinda she'd probably have invited you instead." Nessarose had no response to this, other than to suddenly regret her decision to ignore her sister's request for her to wait as she'd fled back to her room. Could she really have been on her way to the Emerald City at this exact moment if she'd waited just a moment longer? She sighed, swiftly deciding that there was no point in dwelling on what could have been as she turned her attention back to the person before her.

"I'm sure you're right," muttered Nessa quietly. The conversation trailed off into a rather awkward silence, the two people who only really knew each other through a common acquaintance unsure of what exactly to say to one another. Still, she was glad of the company, for it was at least taking her mind off the empty void that seemed to have formed in her chest whilst she was crying, as if her heart had seeped out onto the pillow along with the tears. It was Fiyero who eventually broke the silence, getting to his feet as he spoke.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're alright," he said vaguely, slowly beginning to head for the door. This unspoken dismissal was the last thing that Nessa's already damaged composure could take, and within seconds she had broken down into tears again. Fiyero stared in shock at this sudden outburst, completely unsure how to react.

"Oh Oz, I'm not alright," gasped Nessa between sobs, "I loved him, Fiyero!"

"No you didn't," stated Fiyero surprisingly firmly, although it was clear from his expression that the proclamation had surprised him just as much as her. Nessa broke off mid-sob, gazing up at him with a combination of confusion and venom.

"What do you know!" spat Nessa, offended at the very notion that someone else could know what she was thinking better than she did, "you don't know anything about me!"

"I know what I've seen," replied Fiyero, "and believe me, I've gotten quite good at watching people. For some reason people tend to let their guards down around me."

"Is there a point to this?"

"Sheesh, I'm getting there," continued Fiyero, relieved that she'd stopped crying, even if he'd only managed to make her do so by making her angry (he'd always found irritated people a lot easier to deal with than depressed ones), "what I mean is, well... what did you like about him other than the fact that he liked you?" Nessarose was taken aback, the retort she had been planning to hurl at him dying in her throat. What had she liked about Boq?

"I... I don't..." Tears began to well up in her eyes again, however this time she recognised them as coming from her confusion rather than from the loss of her boyfriend.

"I think you were more in love with the idea of being in love than with Boq himself," stated Fiyero, kneeling beside her and placing one comforting hand on her arm, "and trust me, when you're so desperate to cling to something that's not right for you, it can only end badly." Nessa considered this for a moment, feeling the tears roll down her cheek however unable to muster the willpower to wipe them away this time. Her entire relationship with the young Munchkin was playing out in her head, and admittedly she didn't like what she was seeing.

"You... you might be right," she admitted quietly, sniffing as she looked across at the prince.

"I'm always right," replied Fiyero with a slight grin, leaping to his feet as he did so, "Now then, Miss. Nessarose, I'm going to provide something to take your mind off things, as you wanted. How'd you like to come to dinner?"

"Pardon?" exclaimed Nessa, more to give herself time to think than because she hadn't heard him clearly.

"Just as friends of course," he clarified hastily, "I already have feelings for another; I just don't think you look like someone who should be alone at the moment." After a moment of silent deliberation, Nessa smiled up at him, wiping her eyes as she did so.

"Thank you. I'd like that," she said, before quickly adding, "you know, you're nowhere near as shallow as you appear."

"Tell no-one."

This is my first time writing a Wicked fanfic; I hope you like it! Thank you for reading; reviews would be appreciated!