Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of the characters therein, but I do, however, own Madoc and any other original characters in this piece of fiction.

Note About the Rating: This story has been rated in the interest of future chapters. It will feature a homosexual relationship between Elphaba and Glinda, and eventually some scenes with sexual intercourse. While my images may not be vivid, it will still be sex. You have been warned.

Note About the Setting: This is my own blend of the Musical and Book, with a few AU elements thrown in for good measure. I suppose that my fic is set in the world that I now see as Oz.

To the Readers: This is my second attempt at a fanfic, but the first that I have ever released to the public. I hope that you will enjoy my work and post many reviews. Also, I am currently looking for a proofreader. If you are interested in the position, please either send me and email or a private message.

Enjoy.

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Prologue – The Winds

The powerful winds that normally beat upon the northern end of the Quadling Kells, the persistent Southern Winds, had been absent for years now. They had been replaced by new winds, the Western Winds, a wind that seemed to bring naught but ill to the plains of Munchkinland.

The Southern Winds had brought life to Munchkinland. It seemed as if they had drawn sustenance down from the north, from the Pine Barrens and from Restwater. They had invigorated the land, had molded it into the near perfect farmland that it had been. Most important of all, they had brought the rains. Without the Southern Winds, the rains did not come. Like the winds, the rains had disappeared and stayed gone for years, leaving great swaths of the plains, now without any source of water, to wither away under the heat of the sun.

Without the Southern Winds or the rains, Munchkinland had slowly become parched. The crops, which were the primary source of the relatively small economic success of Munchkinland and the major food source of all of Oz, failed. Slowly but surely the soil itself also died, drying up and cracking, no longer providing the nutrients that fed the crops. Drought had its claws firmly embedded into the flesh of Munchkinland.

In a particularly dismal portion of Munchkinland near the Kells, a simple Munchkinlander farmer toiled on his dead land. He hauled water in a great wheelbarrow from a well he had dug up near the beginning of the drought, spreading it throughout his fields with a smaller bucket, struggling to bring life to at least a small portion of his crops. He was at least partially successful.

The great majority of his land looked just as the land around it looked, brown and dead, more dust than soil. However, a small rectangle near his the well was still able to support a small crop of wheat. A small portion was still there, still provided he and his family with food enough to live, spartan existence though it may have been. He pushed onward, though everything in Oz seemed to be against him, stove onward to keep his family alive.

The sun was nearing the western horizon, signaling the end of his day of tireless work when a woman came and stood near the edge of the patch of life. She stared at the man, a look of old pain on her face. She stood there for a few moments, closely observing his straining body, tired muscles still supporting the bucket he used to spread water and the body that hauled the buck, gaunt face in an unchanging expression of imperturbability as he toiled for little profit, before she spoke.

"Norman, why are we still here?" Her voice held a slight tremor, as if she had barely been able to gather the courage to speak the question. "You and I both know that we barely survived last year, when we still had stores from the good years. We can't keep this up. We are running low and food, and I know you have been eating less and less so that the children will have enough. We need to go somewhere else. Another year of this, and we'll be dead."

"Larna, we have no where else to go." Norman looked over to his wife, bucket full of water in hand, his strong expression disappearing. "Our land isn't worth anything, dead as it is, so we can't sell it. We don't have the money to buy land anywhere else. I know many seem to think that the cities to the north will have work, but I've talked to men who have sent their sons to the cities to try and send something back. The cities are full, and people there don't even have the food that we can grow on our land. The cities are worse.

"There just isn't anything that we can do."

Norman leaned over and carefully poured the water in his bucket onto the ground, spreading it among as many of the plants as he could, and then let the bucket fall from his hand. He walked over to his wife and took her into his arms, trying to provide her with the support he knew she needed. She slowly wrapped her arms around him, placing her head against his chest.

"Sometimes it all just seems so hopeless." She said, her words so soft that they barely reached his ears. She pressed herself closer to him, trying to grab hold of some of his strength. After another moment, Norman pulled away slightly, turning them both to face the setting sun. He lifted his right arm; finger pointing to the clouds that were outlined by the now orange-red sky.

"See those clouds? Those are the rains that we aren't getting. They aren't gone forever; they're only in a different place right now. We aren't going to be struggling like this for the rest of our lives. The winds have to change sometimes, and when they do, we'll still be here, and the rains will make our land fertile again. And life will be good." A small smile appeared on his face as the thoughts went through his mind and the words left his lips. "All we have to do is outlast this Western Wind."

Norman let go of his wife and picked up the bucket, and then returned, placing one arm around her shoulders, and began to walk with her back to their small cottage in the distance. He imagined that Larna had already prepared their meals, and that his children had already eaten. His last thought before going into his home was that his wheelbarrow would be safe in the open for one night. It was the crops that he had to worry about.

Larna had been heartened by her husband's little speech. It renewed her spirit to know that even though they had been battered by the long years of the drought, they had yet to be beaten. Thoughts about how they could stretch their already thing food supply ran through her mind. She wouldn't let this drought beat her, not when her husband had yet to give and the rains were only an Eastern Wind away.

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A gentle rain fell onto the campus of Shiz. It had come seemingly out of nowhere, catching many of the students off guard. Those students who were carrying precious books and notes scrambled for some sort of covering, not wanting any damage to come to the knowledge that they held in their hands. Many others held their arms up, trying to shield their faces or clothes from the falling moisture. One student, however, walked onward, not disturbed by the rain at all. She, as always, had been prepared for the water.

The student walked calmly from her dormitory towards the buildings where lectures were held and laboratories filled with simmering experiments which were waiting for bright minds to come to conclusions about. She was, today, concerned with one particular laboratory, and one particular professor. Dr. Dillamond's personally laboratory, to be more specific.

Elphaba couldn't help but grin as she observed how those without her allergy to water dashed to get away from it, while she, who could be fatally injured by too much contact with it, could continue to walk calmly towards her destination. After so many years of needing to avoid all water, including water delivered by the heavens, she seemed to have a sixth sense about when it would rain or be particularly moist. On these days she wore dark oiled cloaks and a wide-brimmed black hat that protected her face from the falling droplets.

She was also glad that her aversion to water allowed her to be prepared to protect any writings or journals that she may have been carrying with her at the time; she was often asked to carry books or notes by Dr. Dillamond, who simply could not do so without great difficulty. All she had to do was slip the papers into her cloak, and the rain could no longer do any harm. Such simple advantages helped make up for the pain that she suffered from contact with water.

Elphaba, when she reached the building with Dillamond's laboratory, look up to the darkening sky. The clouds, already nearly black, appeared to be thickening, pregnant with the water that they need to release. Shiz was in for a powerful storm that night.

She stepped under an overhang with a sigh, expecting that she would not be able to leave the building if things continued as she thought they would. Her cloak and hat could protect her from water, but if a storm grew powerful enough, it would inevitably find some way through her defense, some way to get to her sensitive skin. The limitation annoyed her, but she had no choice but to live with it. She would have to find some room to sleep in overnight, a chair or sofa that would act a bed. Or perhaps she simply would not sleep, and help Dr. Dillamond through the entire night. It was not uncommon for the Goat to spend more time in his laboratory doing research than in his quarters, and not unheard of for him to spend an entire night in the lab making key observation for whatever new breakthrough he had been working towards. She had even joined him for one or two of those sessions, and had found them enjoyable.

With those thoughts in mind, Elphaba went into the building. She walked down the halls that led to Dillamond's lab, and then up the staircase to the next floor. She came to the corridor where the door to his lab was located, only to find the door ajar. While this was uncommon, she did not think much of it. When she came closer to the door, however, she experienced something she never had before. Now, after classes had already ended and most students were gone from the classrooms and laboratories, she heard voices coming from Dillamond's lab.

One voice was clearly Dillamond, the shape of his throat and the posture that came from being a Goat affecting the sound of his words. There was, however, another voice coming from the room. The voice was clearly the voice of a man, and was in a tenor range. The two were speaking heatedly, in hushed tones. Elphaba crept closer to the door, but waited outside, not wanting to intrude on a conversation that the two clearly considered important.

As she stood silently, the silence of the halls were unbroken except by the words of the two in the room. Soon her ears became more sensitive to the shape of the words, and she could hear what they were saying. "Dillamond, my friend, I know that your research is extremely important to you. In all honesty, I agree with what you are trying to do. A finding such as the one you are looking for could easily change the entire social landscape of Oz! But if you think that you can continue to make such observations openly, especially with the propaganda campaigns coming from the groups in the Emerald City, without repercussions, I fear that you are going to be rudely surprised."

"I can not simply stop what I am doing, stop looking for the answer." Dillamond responded. "The research is too important to be abandoned like that. You said yourself what the effects of the answer I am searching for would be. If I can only find those answers, then this damned anti-Animal movement will be stopped in its tracks. Their entire platform will be ripped out from underneath them. I can't leave these people to spread their vitriolic beliefs about Animals unhindered."

"I am not asking you to abandon the research all together, Dillamond. I am only asking that you continue to search for your answers in at least a slightly more prudent fashion. If you insist on conducting your research in so public a forum, I fear that you will be made target. And if you do become a target of one of these anti-Animal groups, I do not believe that you will survive long." Both voices were growing even more heat, and their argument was making a slow crescendo.

"That is simply a risk that I will have to accept. I must remain here at Shiz so that if I do find something, I will be able to make it known to the world at large quickly. Once that happens, those propagandists will not be able to make so bold a move as an assassination."

"You're assuming that they will patiently wait for you to make a breakthrough that would destroy them! They will not! They will surely attempt to eliminate you before such a finding can even be made! Then there will be no finding to stop them and they will be left unopposed by any solid scientific evidence. There will be nothing to rip away their foundation, as I know you so desire to do. Look," At this point they both were nearly shout, but Elphaba heard the man who was speaking attempt to calm his breathing and reduce his volume. " I know that you think that you need to stay here to make your finds know, and I will not lie to you. I can not boast the resources that Shiz has for informing the world of new scientific data, but I can give you a more secure location where you can complete your research in safety. After you make your breakthrough, prove that there is no difference between animal and Animal and human, then we can return and make it known. You will have succeeded in stopping the anti-Animal movement without nearly as much risk to yourself."

Dillamond waited for several moments before he responded. It seemed that he was struggling with the answer to give. The silence lasted for a few minutes before Elphaba became impatient and poked her head around the frame of the door to look at the Goat and the man. Dillamond stood facing towards the door and the man, the man facing towards Dillamond, his back to the door. Finally, Dillamond spoke, "I am sorry, my friend, but I cannot leave."

The man's shoulders sagged and he walked backward a step. His head turned to his right, and he took a stool that was near his legs and sat upon it. Speaking in a soft, defeated tone, the man said, "I suppose that there is absolutely nothing I can do to convince you. Honestly, Dillamond, when you decide not to budge, not all of Oz will make you move. Kill you perhaps, but not move. Oh well, I suppose I will continue convincing you later. Right now I do believe that we have a visitor. That wonderful girl who has been acting as your secretary, I think."

The man turned around on the stool and looked directly at Elphaba, a small grin appearing on his face. The man's hazel eyes held a twinkle, and his gaze was kind. His hair was a think mop of dark curls extending down to his shoulders, graying near the roots. He had a rather weak jaw and a very pronounced hawk nose. He was wrapped in a simple gray cloak and black boots, and a small brown pouch hung from his belt. Aside from a simple gold ring on his left hand, he was entirely without adornment. Behind him, Dr. Dillamond took notice of Elphaba's presence. He seemed mildly surprised to see both she and the man at the same time.

"Why Elphaba, are you back with the books I asked for already? Well, that is very good, I need these to continue my work." Dillamond spoke to Elphaba as he walked over and scanned over the volumes that she had brought. He seemed to have lost track of the present, forgetting the presence of the others in the room. The man that was now behind him had an amused expression as he watched the somewhat absentminded Goat. After a moment the man lifted himself from the stool, striking the floor with his boots loudly. The noise shook Dillamond away from his books and he glanced around him, realizing that both she and the man were still there. "Oh my, I haven't introduced you two yet have I? Well, that must be rectified. My friend, may I present my wonderful student and assistant, Elphaba. Elphaba, I would like to introduce you to a great friend of mine, the wizard Madoc."

For a moment, Elphaba was dumbstruck. Had Dr. Dillamond just said Wizard? The man who stood before her was the ruler of all of Oz? While she looked him over again with a more critical eye, his amused expression remained on his face, and his grin widened. After a moment, she decided to ask him directly. "YOU are the Wizard of Oz?"

The man chuckled softly at the question before responding, "While I am very flattered that you think me so grand, I am happy to say that I am not. I am not THE wizard, merely a wizard, a specific type of magic manipulator and all that. I'm much too disorganized to be the ultimate ruler of an entire nation, not to mention that I am simply unable to keep up with the current fashions and fads. In case you haven't noticed, I am wearing gray and…" at this point he pause and leaned forward conspiratorially, looking to his left and right before continuing with a nod in Dr. Dillamond's direction, "…one of my best friends is an old Goat."

"Honestly Madoc, must you talk like that in front of my students? I'm just glad that it Elphaba and not someone else, she's the only one I can be sure will not use it against me. I swear, I am never ever able to hold the respect of the student populace when you're around."

"If the respect you receive from someone is lost simply because they have seen you being poked fun at, then you clearly did not earn their respect for any significant reason. Besides, I've been kind over the past few years. I haven't told stories about your activities as a Kid for nearly a decade now. Be glad of that, or I may begin again." Madoc replied, a full-blown smile on his face now. He walked over to Elphaba, taking her hand and giving her a bow, before walking on to the door. "Well, I simply must be going now. Dillamond, I am sure that we will be continuing our discussion from before later. It was nice meeting you Elphaba, I look for to seeing you in the future."

With that, the new man walked out of the door and soon the sound of his boots against the floor faded to nothing. Dillamond looked flustered, but amused. He turned and looked at his books again, and soon called Elphaba over to begin the days, or nights, as it were, work. They worked diligently for several hours when Elphaba was asked to go get some equipment from another section of the building. She left the room at quick pace, eager to get back to the work at hand.

Near the section of the building where the spare equipment was stored, she encountered Madoc in the halls, wreathed in a bright blue glow. He was facing the direction of Dillamond's lab, muttering under his breath, but somehow she could hear the words he spoke. They were nothing that she could understand, but she felt the power dripping from his lips. For a moment it seemed as if his feet left the ground, but soon he was firmly on two feet again, the glow slowly fading. Elphaba was not sure what he had done, but she knew that it involved magic and Dillamond.

When the glow faded completely, Madoc turned to face her, his eyes boring into her own. His eyes were deadly serious, all vestiges of the twinkling and amusement were gone. He walked over to her position at the end of the hall and placed a hand on her shoulder before looking away. With a steely voice he made a request. "Elphaba, I know that you heard the majority of Dillamond and my earlier conversation, or at least enough to understand its significance. I want you to promise me that you will look after Dillamond while I am away. I have done what I can to protect him here, but he is in more danger than he thinks. The groups trying to rid Animals of their rights have a master that they follow, and their master has his own. They are very powerful, but Dillamond is close to discovering that something that will rip the cover from at least the first layer of their operation. Please promise that you will do what you can to keep him safe." He looked back into her eyes as he finished his request, waiting expectantly for her reply.

Elphaba looked into his eyes, for a moment at a loss as to what to do. However, soon what she needed to do was clear to hear. She met his gaze and said confidently, "I promise."