"Elphaba!" sighed Frex as they returned home from a town meeting. "How many times have I told you to not make a scene of yourself?"
"That's not easy when your verdigris is blinding," Elphaba replied with a sarcasm that made Frex roll his eyes.
"Elphaba!" he sighed again, but because Elphaba didn't want to hear anymore of his lecture, she interrupted him.
"Ok, I'm sorry I embarrassed you," she said as submissively as she could. It was all too clear to both of them, however, that Elphaba wasn't being serious at all. But because Frex was too tired to argue with her any longer, he accepted her fake apology.
"Yes, well, ok, just... don't do it again," he muttered, then they parted ways at the doorstep. Elphaba sighed bitterly again. He called himself her father, but he certainly had never loved or treated her like a father should! A real father was supposed to listen to how you would respond, and not only wait around for what he wanted to hear. But apparently, no one ever told that to Frex...
"Yeah, uh-huh, that's great," the idle chatter of the upper crust filled Galinda's ears and the blond sighed unhappily for the millionth time that night. The party was wonderful in every way except one. The guests. It wasn't them personally, but rather, it was what they were like in general. It was what they stood for. Their whole... species... Almost like they weren't even human. They were good folks, but yawningly shallow and dull. It was hard for Galinda to believe that she and them were the same species. She had to get out of here before she lost her mind!
"Momsie! May I go for a walk by the lake?" Galinda asked her mother sweetly once she managed to track the older woman down through the sea of other guests at this party. They were all chattering on about money and fame and money and power and money and status and money.
"Sorry love, but you must stay here tonight. It's your father's party after all! Besides, it's unladylike to walk by yourself late at night!" Larena told Galinda with a scolding affection. She truly loved her daughter, and Galinda loved her, but both were at odds as to how Galinda should live. Larena wanted Galinda to be as aristocratic as she was, if not more. But Galinda had other ideas. Other, opposing ideas. But Galinda knew it would be a waste of oxygen to try and argue these points with her mother, so instead, she plastered on a false smile and agreed.
"Ok Momsie," she said. "I was just wondering..." Larena was blind to how Galinda genuinely felt about the party and only gave Galinda a peck on the cheek before vanishing back into the throng of white collars and jewelry.
As Galinda watched her go, she whispered one more thing to her mother:
"I just wish you could love me as I am, and not raise me like some sort of exotic pet to do your bidding. Please, set me free to live as I choose!" but she knew her mother wouldn't be able to hear her. Even if it had only been the two of them, alone in a quiet room, Larena wouldn't have heard. No, she only ever heard Galinda say what she wanted Galinda to say. She only ever heard how she would respond, and not how Galinda, herself, actually wanted to respond. Galinda knew this all too well, and although she hated to think about it, what else could she do except grin and bear it?
"My dear father, there's been some confusion over rooming here at Shiz," Elphaba wrote in her letter to her father. She and Nessa had just finished their first day at Shiz University, and it hadn't gone very well for Elphaba at all. For one, the entire school hated her because of her green skin, and for another, she was now saddled with the most annoying girl in the school! The frustration in Elphaba was unspeakably high, so much so that she was daring to vent to her father, even though she knew he wouldn't care. He probably would only read the letter to see how his beloved Nessarose was doing. Everything else Elphaba would have to say would be ignored. But even though Elphaba was painfully aware of this fact, she still wrote out her feelings to her father, just to get them out.
"But of course I'll care for Nessa," Elphaba wrote, finally including that important part about Nessa. Then she decided to throw in a slight jab at her father because she knew he wouldn't care. "For I know that's how you want me to respond," and she made sure to write the 'you' in bold letters.
"Dearest, darlingest, Momsie and Popsicle, there's been some confusion over rooming here at Shiz," Galinda began in her letter to her parents. She had just finished their first day at Shiz University, and it hadn't gone very well for her at all. For one, she was rejected from the school's sorcery seminar in favor of some ugly, green-skinned girl. For another, she was now saddled with said green girl as a roommate! The frustration in Galinda was unspeakably high, so much so that she was daring to vent to her parents, even though she knew they wouldn't care. They probably would only read the letter to see if Galinda was keeping her status high and trying to make powerful connections amongst the students and professors. She hoped that being forced to room with a living green bean wouldn't damage her reputation. She didn't want to even be in the same school as Elphaba, lest it displease her parents. Displease her parents...
The thought suddenly struck Galinda that it seemed like her whole life revolved around being what her parents wanted her to be instead of what she wanted to be. As this thought sank deeper into her head, a spark of defiance filled her heart and Galinda nearly considered stopping the letter right then and there and getting to know her roommate a bit better just to spite her parents, but Galinda brushed the crazy idea off. She wasn't about to throw away her precious and hard-earned name on one ugly little artichoke! But even so, that tiny rebellious streak remained locked in Galinda's mind, so even though she decided not to pursue a friendship with Elphaba after all, she did decide to spite her parents at least a little bit.
"But of course, I'll rise above it!" she promised in her letter. "For I know that's how you'd want me to respond." She made sure to accent "you". But even though that was a small example of Galinda trying to call her parents out, she was willing to bet they wouldn't even notice...
"I'm so glad you're defying gravity with me," Elphaba joked around with Galinda (who had since renamed herself Glinda) while they were out on another mission together.
"Me too," Glinda agreed. "I thought working with the Wizard would be a dream come true. Boy was I wrong," she frowned a little. It still stung her to realize how the life she had been raised to live was all only a lie, but she was grateful for Elphaba alerting her to this fact before it was too late.
"Awww, poor little Glinda, can't take losing the spotlight, so she joins her loser friend to boost her own esteem," Elphaba taunted playfully in attempt to cheer Glinda up.
"I'm serious!" Glinda argued, Elphaba's attempts at cheering her up doing the exact opposite. "You just wouldn't get it! Besides, you aren't a loser. You're a hero! Just look at all the good you do for this country," Glinda continued.
"If you can call defying gravity 'good'," said Elphaba, with a dry smile.
"Of course!" Glinda replied, offended that Elphaba would think otherwise.
"But what do you mean, I 'wouldn't get it'?" the green girl asked next. Glinda suddenly looked very self-conscious, but she agreed to tell her story...
"Well, call me crazy," she began. "But when I was young, my parents... never really liked me. Oh! Don't get me wrong! They were wonderful! But they were rather... shallow. Though weren't we all? But what I mean is, they never really saw me, for me. Like the real me. Not the popular me," Glinda stuttered shyly while Elphaba looked interested. "They did their best, but it was never enough because there was still so much of me they never knew, and it really sucked. Now, I know I sound spoiled and selfish but..."
"Not at all," interrupted Elphaba. "I know exactly what you mean because my dad was the same way! He was good to everyone in the world except me. He hated me, and he would ignore me all the time! I mean, I got used to it, but it still always hurt when he'd ask me a question, but my answer would always, always, always be wrong! No matter what the question was, my answer was wrong. So then I'd always have to apologize and re-answer, not with a better reply, but with the one I knew he'd want me to give. He never really saw the real me either."
"It was always about answering how they wanted us to respond," Glinda agreed sadly. "Good as my parents were, I think they only ever saw the Galinda that they wanted to see, and not the Galinda that actually existed..."
"Boy, how I would love for you to meet my father right now," Elphaba muttered dryly, and in that one little confession, both of them had found yet another commonality that they shared. They had both endured a form of emotional neglect and they could both relate to the fact that their parents had never really seen the real them. Even though they were wildly different in just about everything else, that one sad similarity bound them together in a new way and each girl had, within the other, found a true confidante, someone that they could talk to and tell the truth to without any conditions or expectations or exceptions. It was a wonderful thing to feel...
"That was fun," groaned Glinda sarcastically, as she fought to keep her frizzy, burnt, hair down on her head. Elphaba snickered a bit.
"You offered to join the quest!" she said, also covered in ash and soot.
"That's because you said this mission wasn't going to involve any battles!" the little blond replied.
"It wasn't supposed to," Elphaba admitted.
"Well, look what's happened to us now," Glinda replied, gesturing to how sooty both she and Elphaba were from their latest resistance mission. Elphaba only stuck her tongue out playfully in reply, and this gentle bickering carried on as the two witches cleaned themselves up once more.
After a while, however, the conversation turned serious. It was very late into the evening when Elphaba brought a new point up.
"I do have something big on my mind," Elphaba said with that sudden seriousness which made Glinda pause.
"What is it?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"Glinda, my sweet, we might've only known each other for a few years and loathed each other for about half of that time, but I already know with more certainty than I ever have about anything else that I simply cannot live without you. You've changed me for good, and I can't imagine having a life any other than the one I have now, so would you do me the honor of being my wife?" Elphaba replied, and as she spoke, she got down on one knee and pulled out a little black box. Resting inside was a small gold ring with pink and green gems spanning around the band.
Glinda, from the instant Elphaba had knelt down, began to cry, and she was entirely speechless.
"Glinda, my sweet, don't be scared to refuse. I want you to be happy. Don't answer by how I'd want you to respond. Answer how you would respond," Elphaba said nervously as Glinda continued to stand there, silent. But the moment the little blond heard Elphaba say those last, beautiful, blessed five words, Glinda knew at once that she belonged to and with Elphaba, now and forever. Elphaba was the first and only one to ever tell her that, and vice versa. They truly did deserve each other.
"Yes!" Glinda squeaked, tacking Elphaba in a hug and it took hours for them to calm back down.
"I like the colors by the way," Glinda said, once she had finally stopped crying. She admired her new ring. She still had no idea where or how Elphaba managed to get it, but that didn't matter to her. All that mattered was the gesture behind it.
"Pink goes good with green," Elphaba chuckled, recalling their old inside joke from years ago. Glinda laughed as well.
"I can't believe you still remember that," she said.
"I remember everything you've ever told me, my sweet," Elphaba replied with a smile.
"How wonderfully sappy," Glinda teased and Elphaba chuckled a little in reply.
"So, no regrets?" she asked as she and Glinda continued to sit together in a peaceful silence.
"I couldn't be happier," replied Glinda. "And you should know that is how I would respond," she added with a little giggle.
"Me too," Elphaba smiled in agreement with Glinda. "And this is also how I would respond," she added, before pulling Glinda in for a long kiss. Glinda didn't hesitate to reciprocate.
AN: More Gelphie fluff that spans their relationship and culminates in a wedding, only this time, I'm actually analyzing and using that singular line from "What is This Feeling?" Although it's small and short, I think it is so telling how similar the two girls really are (though the whole song kind of can be used to prove that point).
But seriously, the whole "how you'd want me to respond" line definitely had me thinking. It implies that they're only saying these things because they know it's what their parents want to hear. So yeah, I wrote a whole freaking fanfic about one little line from one little song. But what can I say? I'm Gelphie trash and I overanalyze literally everything any of these gals ever say. LOL