A/N: I got nuthin.
Disclaimer: no. Just no. And don't go rubbing it in.
The thin, green one-year-old looked down at the small, fragile girl in the basket. Her tiny hands reached out to touch the baby's, and a smile spread over both girls' faces. The toddler had never seen something this interesting before in her life. It had no legs, yet was more beautiful than she would ever be. That was what her father had said to her when the younger baby was brought home, and she had asked to hold it.
"You are not to touch her," the father, Frex, told her, "or do anything of the sort. She will be around you as little as possible, except she will use your sleeping basket. Other than that, no contact with her at all. Do you hear?" When the green one, Elphaba, reached to touch the baby anyway, Frex slapped her hand down, harder than necessary.
"What did I just say to you?" Frex yelled, causing Elphaba to whimper. "You are never to touch my baby!" Elphaba then began to cry. Frex slapped her across the face. "Don't cry, child! Crying shows weakness." What Elphaba did not know, was that the slap was not the thing that burned her cheek. It was her tears.
She ran out of the room to search for her Nanny, who had always loved her. No matter what. But instead, she found Nanny snuggling the baby up to her, causing the small child to laugh. Elphaba grabbed her only toy, a cracked green bottle, and ran to go play under the dock. The only place that she was accepted, and liked. Where no one was there.
But it was different when Frex and Nanny were not around. Elphaba cared for her sister, Nessarose, better than Frex or Nanny probably ever did. She fed her the same way Nanny did, by watching close every time the older woman gave the baby food. She held Nessarose the same way her father did, protective and gentle at the same time. She talked to Nessarose as well, and not even Nanny knew that she was able to speak.
"Hello, Nessarose," Elphaba said quietly to her sister, who was sleeping lightly. It was an evening when Frex was out preaching; he was a minister. Nanny was asleep. "You know, Frex does not get angry with you. He believes that I am the cause of all bad things, so he gets angry with me. Nessarose, he hits me. And he does it hard.
"I know you cannot hear me, nor understand me, but I just came to tell you that I really do not mind it. As long as he does not harm you, I am fine. Do you see this?" Elphaba pulled her sleeve up to reveal a long cut stretching from her elbow to her wrist. Nessarose opened her eyes then. She struggled to sit up, and Elphaba propped her up on the side of her basket. The infant then ran her cool hands along Elphaba's scar. "That is just one of the cuts I have because of him. Please do not let that happen to you. Okay? If he does that to you, tell me. You tell me, Nessarose. And I promise, I will help you." The baby giggled, and Elphaba stroked her cheek.
"Nessarose, I love you so much," Elphaba whispered. She gently picked her sister up and rocked her back and forth. She sang a short lullaby that she had heard Nanny sing to her before Nessarose was born. Once the baby's breathing evened out, Elphaba gently placed her back in her basket. She put a blanket over the baby's small body, and kissed her forehead. When she tried to pull her hand away, Nessarose grabbed it. Her eyes were still closed, and she was still asleep.
"Nessa, I will never leave," Elphaba whispered. "Never." The infant's grip loosened, and Elphaba pulled her hand away gently.
She went to get her pillow, a bunch of leaves from outside. She ran to the garden, and climbed up the trunk of the tree. Once atop the branches, she plucked leaves and put them in her pocket. She quickly scurried inside, afraid that Frex would catch her up too late. If that happened, she would be punished severely.
Once her pillow was assembled, she went to the large chest behind Nessarose's basket. She had trouble opening it, but on the third try, she managed to crack it open. She stuck her thin arm inside, and pulled an old apron of Nanny's out. It would be her blanket for the night. She had to remember to wake up early and put it away. Frex would not like it out in the morning.
She whispered a faint goodnight to Nessarose and went into the closet. There, she laid out all of her "bed," and fell into a dreamless slumber.
A/N: okay, this is my first real Wicked fic. Tell me what you think.
