Disclaimer: I do not own RENT, Wicked, or anything else. I don't even own desperatefans!
Note: Yet another Mark/Elphie desperatefans fic. Deal with it!
Film
"Mark, what are you doing?" Elphie laughed as Mark led her into an unused room.
"Just keep your eyes closed and be patient!" Mark insisted, sitting her down in a chair, excitement evident in his voice. "And no peeking!" Elphie just smiled and kept her eyes closed tightly, listening curiously to the sounds of Mark setting up … something.
"Mark, sweet, what is—"
"Alright, it's ready!" Mark bit his lip and pressed a button on the projector. "Open your eyes." Elphie opened her eyes just as the film began. Mark sat down next to her and watched her as intently as she was watching the screen.
Elphaba Thropp: the text flashed up on the screen. Wicked Witch? A short clip of the Wicked Witch of the West from the old Wizard of Oz movie flashed up on screen. Hardly. Elphie was watching curiously, wondering what in the world this could lead to. Ugly? Deformed? A still picture of an illustration from a picture book, of a wrinkled old hag. Not even close…
Then the real footage began. Clips that Mark had filmed, accidentally or purposefully. A shot of them petting Chistery after Erik had brought him back, a slight flush ever present on Mark's face, and a longing look in his eyes when he looked at Elphie. Truth or Dare - Mark being forced to tell everyone who he was in love with. Elphie awkwardly singing to Mark. Mark confessing his love, then retreating to hide off-camera. More recent footage. Elphie sitting on the railing of the porch, laughing at something Mark was saying or doing behind the camera. Mark turning the camera around to point at himself as he kissed Elphie playfully and stuck a daisy in her hair. Mark and Elphie on a picnic with Theo and Millicent – supposedly to be chaperoning, when it ended up that Theo and Elphie had to keep Mark and Millicent from poking and tickling each other to death. Mark sleeping at a table, his head in his arms, with Elphie behind the camera and not sure if she was working it right. Mark and Elphie in Oz, acting like little kids and rolling down a grassy hill, ending with Mark crashing into the tripod and knocking the camera over. A sideways shot of Mark and Elphie laying in the grass next to each other on a certain special night, just gazing into each other's eyes, while the camera filmed away from where it had been gently dropped, without either of them knowing.
As she watched the film, Elphie's eyes brimmed with tears – happy tears. Mark noticed and quietly handed her a handkerchief that he'd brought just in case. Elphie smiled gratefully at him, and he smiled back lovingly.
The film froze for a moment on a shot that Millicent had filmed, a shot of Mark and Elphie with their arms around each other, their foreheads pressed together, and huge smiles on their faces.
THIS is the real Elphaba Thropp. The film declared. Sweet, beautiful, and wonderful in every way.
I love you.
The reel of film ran out, and Mark turned the projector off. Elphie sniffled a little and smiled up happily at the filmmaker.
"I love you, too, Mark." She said softly, standing up and hugging him tightly. "So much." Mark buried his nose in her hair and laughed quietly.
"I know, love."
"But honestly," Elphie pulled back, a mischievous grin on her face. "Elphaba Thropp?"
"Well…" Mark shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "That's who you were when you were Elphaba Thropp, so…" he trailed off, trying to think of an explanation, but Elphie cut him off with a tender kiss.
"I love you, Mark Cohen." She whispered against his lips a moment later. Mark pulled her a little closer to him and smiled.
"I love you too, Elphie Cohen."