Nor By Fiyero
Note From Bubble
Out Of Oz fanfiction. I hope you all like this. I wrote it because I got inspired by this passage in the book:
"When she was ready, she tapped the page twice with a forefinger and said, 'I found that drawing before you did. It was in the Witch's room at the castle. My father had drawn me for his mistress, and she had kept it. She who seemed impervious to sentimentality had kept it all these years. When I came across it – I must have been rooting through her room one day, bored as children will be- I wrote the caption and put the page back where it was, so the Witch would know she could keep the paper but she couldn't keep my father from me, not in my memory."
-Illianora (aka Nor) Out Of Oz page 220
Nor by Fiyero.
This is me Nor
by my father F
before he left
Elphaba Thropp held the piece of paper in her hands.
"It's beautiful Fiyero, I didn't know you drew so well," she said kissing his neck.
He blushed, his blue diamonds sparkling in the night.
"You didn't know a lot of things about me until these past few months," he said with a smile, and she hit him playfully.
"Cute," she remarked sarcastically as she wrapped her arms around him.
"How old is she?"
"I'd say about four or so. Her birthday's coming up soon, I'll have to send her something," said Fiyero thoughtfully.
"That's nice. She's very pretty," said Elphaba putting the paper down on the table.
Fiyero winked, "She reminds me of you."
Elphaba froze, "What?"
"I said she reminds me of you. She's stubborn, tough, not easy to please, and she will fight to get what she wants. Is that not a depiction of you?" he grinned.
Her face remained impassive, "Don't compare me to a child."
"She's my child though," reminded Fiyero.
"I know, she must mean a lot to you. You rarely ever talk about anyone else, even your own wife," Elphaba observed kissing his cheek.
"They miss me. She misses me. If you ever meet my children, don't tell them this, but Nor's my favorite," he admitted.
Elphaba's face grew still, "Parents shouldn't have favorites. We all know that I was not my Papa's favorite."
Her voice was sharp, frayed and Fiyero knew he had ventured into deep, dark waters with the whole favorite thing.
"Fae, listen I'm sorry I brought that up. But I think this will make you smile."
Her eyes narrowed, "What?"
He picked up the drawing of Nor, and looked at it.
Her young face was heart-shaped with some rough edges, her eyes dark with a crude spark in them, her lips small and bright, and her hair was brown, and slightly long.
She was his favorite, and she knew it.
"I want you to have this," he said handing the drawing to her.
Elphaba stood there confused, "Why Yero?"
"Because I- just because. Please take it. I want you to have a piece of me when I go back to Kiamo Ko and never return, and when you look at this you'll know that as long as I have Nor I will be happy. I will be just as happy with her as I am with you. Please, I want you to keep it," he begged coming closer to her, kissing her lips.
Elphaba pulled away, and obliged, taking the drawing and stuffing it away in a safe spot.
Afterwards, Fiyero came up to her and kissed her.
"Thank you," he said looking at her.
Elphaba nodded, "I don't understand why Fiyero, but I'll keep it."
His dark eyes sparkled, "You want to keep it because she reminds you of yourself…"
Her eyes flashed, and he knew he had gone too far.
"Don't…" was all she said.
With that, he kissed her and lay on the bed, falling fast asleep. As for Elphaba, she snuck back to the corner and took out the picture.
For the longest time she stared at it, wishing if only that her father had been a man like Fiyero who cared about his firstborn girl. In truth although Elphaba would never tell Fiyero this, she did think that she and Nor were similar. There was something about that girl that reminded Elphaba of herself. She was quite pleased that she made Fiyero as happy as he was with his daughter, and was secretly grateful that he gave this to her.
Later that night, after thinking for a while Elphaba slowly put the paper back in its hiding spot, and went back to Fiyero, her thoughts restless.
When Elphaba met Nor a few years later she was surprised at how much the drawing had perceived. She had grown into her looks and had a superior attitude about her.
Elphaba told no one that she still had the drawing, until the day that Nor had found it again.
Nor had been puttering around the Witch's room alone, looking for something to do when a stack of papers caught her eye. She walked over to them, and started to go through them. Most of them had words on them, meaningless words that Nor couldn't understand, and then she came to the drawing, her heart stopped.
She picked it up gently as if it was a precious artifact. She looked at it for a long time. What a child she had been when Fiyero had drew this. Nor only hoped that he was proud of her now, as a young teenager. Nor knew that she had been her Father's favorite despite not being a son. Her mother preferred the boys to her but Nor knew that was because the boys were in line for the throne, and she was not.
Everything suddenly connected for Nor, and she knew why Auntie Witch had this. One had told her after her father died that he may have been seeing a mistress, and he gave her this drawing to keep. Even though it was just a rumor One had heard from the villagers who had heard it from someone in the Emerald City, Nor always thought it to be true.
Now she realized that it had been true. Auntie Witch had been her father's lover. Nor could hardly believe that her father would love someone who was… green but how could she argue with the facts. Suddenly a thought came to Nor's mind. Auntie Witch had known her father, and so she deserved to know who this was. Nor only hoped that Auntie Witch knew that this was her.
Nor flipped over the drawing to the backside and wrote with a quill:
Nor by Fiyero
This is me Nor
by my father F
before he left
She flipped it back over and stuck it back in its place between the papers. Satisfied she skipped along the room, and towards the door when it swung open.
It was Auntie Witch, and her face was as stern as ever.
"What are you doing in here?" she barked, her eyes narrowing. She was dressed in her usual black dress, black Witch's hat that hid that pretty black hair, and her skin was a dull green.
Her eyes met Nor's, and her lips pressed together tightly.
Nor stalled, pretending as if she did not hear Auntie.
"Nor, answer me!" screeched Elphaba, her patience fully gone for the child.
Nor smiled at her, a playful kind of smile.
"Oh nothing, Auntie Witch. I was just looking… and there's no need to yell."
Elphaba's face twitched ever so slightly.
"Get out!" she commanded moving aside so Nor could pass.
Nor obliged and with a wink she left Auntie Witch at the door, skipped down the hallway and into her room.
Auntie Witch was left stunned, and hoped to Lurline that Nor didn't steal anything.
Soon after Elphaba's demise, Liir went looking in her room for something useful. Maybe even something to bring her back or anything.
He cantered around the room feeling sorry for himself, Nanny was downstairs weeping and so was Chistery.
He came to a stack of papers, and eagerly sorted through it. He stopped abruptly when he came to the drawing.
His heart ached as he thought Nor and the others that he hadn't been able to save. He stared at the picture, wondering what she was doing if she was alive, but he didn't want to know the answer. His eyes turned to the backside, and he read the words on it.
And even though he didn't understand it, for Liir was not the brightest, he kept it. He kept it for reasons unknown to him, just like Elphaba his mother had. And just like his mother, he always had a feeling that Nor survived. He kept the picture all those years, after Trism, Candle, Oziandra (Rain), and when the time finally came he was glad that he kept it.
And on that day, the day he asked Nor to come with him to the wild-grown garden, he was mystified at her reaction to seeing the drawing again.
He watched as several reactions passed through her face.
And when she finally spoke she said:
"I found that drawing before you did. It was in the Witch's room at the castle. My father had drawn me for his mistress, and she had kept it. She who seemed impervious to sentimentality had kept it all these years. When I came across it – I must have been rooting through her room one day, bored as children will be- I wrote the caption and put the page back where it was, so the Witch would know she could keep the paper but she couldn't keep my father from me, not in my memory."
No one could ever imagine what would happen if Elphaba hadn't kept that drawing.
But why she had kept it, was a mystery to Nor and Liir, and it still is to this day.
THE END