A/N: I originally wrote this as the beginning to a new Wicked fanfic, but I don't have a plot idea or the time to commit, so I've decided to make a few slight revisions and put this up as a one-shot. Post-musical.
Disclaimer: I'm not that girl.
Moonlit Night
Elphaba was dreaming. She knew it had to be a dream because Nessarose stood before her, her face stern and her eyes blazing. Her finger pointed menacingly at her elder sister.
"Look what you did to me, Elphaba!" she shrieked. "Look what's become of me!" She pointed downwards and Elphaba had a glimpse of the sparkling, silver slippers before her sister began to shrivel up, her features smashed and distorted. "Why couldn't you have stayed calm for once, instead of flying off the handle?" she wailed, her body and voice morphing into Glinda's halfway through.
"I hope you're happy, Elphie!" Glinda shouted, her pretty face screwed up in anger. "You ruined everything! I was happy until you came along! My life was perfect – until you took it all. You knew I loved him!" Her face swam with tears. "I hate you!"
Glinda disappeared with a pop, bubbles floating lazily in the air. One expanded slowly to reveal Dr. Dillamond, shaking his head in disappointment at his former student.
"I expected better from you, my dear. All the intelligence is there…yet you threw it all away. You forgot about me, didn't you? No matter. Who could—baaaa!" His voice melted away into bleating as he cowered.
Then he was gone, and two figures slowly came into view, writhing in pain. Boq's face was a mask of hatred even as it turned to tin.
"You're lying! That's all you ever do!" He moaned.
Fiyero was tied to a pole. His face was helpless as it was stretched in every possible direction and turned to canvas.
"Elphaba…" he rasped, his blue eyes pleading with her, "…save me."
With a screech, he was consumed by flames that rose higher and higher, the heat becoming unbearable as sparks crackled.
A crack split the air as the Wizard appeared suddenly in the middle of the fire, completely unaffected by his surroundings. He held out an inviting hand.
"Stop being the strong one for once, Elphaba. Help me, and together we can be wonderful." His body broke into flying monkeys that fluttered about as the flames receded and the silhouette of a flying woman swept the sky, along with maniacal cackles.
"I have big plans for you, Miss Elphaba…" Madame Morrible's leering face swam into view, her gnarled fist brandishing a green envelope. "Oh, yes, you'll be making good…" Her laughter filled the air, and Elphaba felt herself spinning, spinning…
She woke suddenly, retching, and climbed unsteadily to her feet, stumbling to the toilet. Her hair clung to her sweaty neck as she heaved up any food she'd had the day before. She let out a gasping breath, struggling to upheave the mucus caught in her throat and allow air access to her windpipe.
Elphaba felt herself shaking and wondered vaguely where Fiyero had gone. He didn't have to sleep, so he often stepped outside in the night…but where was he when she needed him?
The door to the cottage creaked. Elphaba's head jerked around instinctively. The moonlight shown on Fiyero's paper face, which contorted when he saw Elphaba, pasty-faced, curled up on the floor.
"Elphaba!" he breathed, falling to his knees with a rustle and reaching forward tentatively.
Elphaba shied away from him, her heart beating against her ribcage.
"Don't," she croaked. He sat back, confused. "Don't. I'm-I don't deserve you."
He let out a soft sigh, like the rustle of leaves. "No. Not this. Elphaba…don't push me away."
"Look what I've done to you," Elphaba whispered, her eyes welling up. "Look. Don't you see? I hurt everything I touch…and everyone. You'd be better off without me. Please – go. Go find whatever happiness you can."
"No," Fiyero said firmly. "My happiness is here. I love you, Elphaba. I chose this. It isn't your fault. You saved me."
"But it's my fault you had to be saved in the first place!" she wailed.
He shook his head calmly. "It isn't. I came after you. No one made me. I wanted to."
She curled further in on herself, hiding her face and any bare sliver of skin as best she could.
"I'm cursed…"
A sudden flare of anger twisted his painted face. "No. No, you aren't. You're very wrong about that. You are a remarkable person, and if others can't understand that, it's their loss, not yours."
"I killed Nessa…"
"You can't save everyone."
She looked up, her eyes red. "But I should have saved her. She was my sister."
"You did your best."
"I was too late."
"Then it's my fault. Blame me," he insisted. "We were in the forest together, and I delayed you. I asked too many questions."
She shook her head stubbornly. "It was too late by then. Nessa was condemned the day she was born as my sister. But I should have protected her better."
Her words were ridiculous, but Fiyero didn't know how to change her mind. Her unusually vulnerable attitude put him on edge. Instead, the two sat in silence, listening to the night sounds outside and watching the shadows change as moonlight streamed in through the window.
Finally, Fiyero reached forward and took Elphaba's hand. He half expected her to pull away, but she didn't. Instead, she sighed and scooted closer to him, leaning against him.
"Fiyero…" she began softly. "You – you really love me, don't you?"
He would have laughed at the ridiculous nature of her uncertainty, but she sounded completely serious, so he embraced her, brushing his unfeeling lips against her forehead.
"Yes. I really do."
"And...you don't think I'm a bad person, do you?"
This time he did laugh, a gentle chuckle completely devoid of malice. "Elphaba, believe me when I say that no one is a better person than you are."
Her next words were little more than a whisper. "And you won't leave me, will you?"
He clutched her tighter. "Never."
She was silent for so long that he thought she must have fallen asleep. But then she sighed and stood up, tugging him along to the makeshift bed.
"Then I guess I should stop refusing you."
He nodded in agreement. "Yes."
She lay down and he lay down next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She snuggled closer and yawned.
"Night, Yero my hero."
"Goodnight, Fae."
A/N: Review?
