AN: JennMaryn gave me a prompt that had something to do with little Elphie and Nessa, and I hope this is good enough. For you, Jenn! Hope you all enjoy it, as much as one can enjoy ANGST EVERYWHERE.
Frexspar rarely had time for anything. That was why he continued to put up with Nanny, after all, and she handled the everyday tasks that were required of a housekeeper and more. Frex was a wandering preacher, and as such he never had the means to take time off work, but today was an exception. After all, it was his dear little Nessarose's sixth birthday, and she'd always loved nothing more than to sit on the riverbank and throw tiny chunks of bread to the ducks that floated by.
"Elphaba, hurry up and get your nose out of that book," he'd said, frustration grating in the tone of his voice. "You are too young to be reading all that, and it's Nessarose's birthday. Fetch the picnic basket, will you?"
The little green girl looked up from the pages, seemingly confused at the sudden switch of her attention from the wonder of her imagination back into the real world. "Yes, father." She scurried through to the kitchen, almost like a feline, and did as she was told. She was barely nine years old, but she knew well enough that obeying was as close as she would get to her father's heart, and as far from being a disappointment as she could be.
Elphaba stood by the kitchen counter, watching with slight indifference as her old Nanny piled sweet fruits and breads into a wicker basket before handing the lot down into her nimble verdant hands. Strawberries, Elphie noticed with a slight smile. Nessa's favourite.
Elphaba sat on the grassy bank overlooking the river, munching on an apple. She watched from the corner of her vision, Nessa sitting in her new wheelchair, happily tearing up a hunk of bread that Nanny had baked specially. The older Thropp smirked, finding the entire thing amusing, and carefully spat an apple pip so as to skim the clear water. It was the closest she could get. She found its reflective surface enchanting but terrifying.
"Fabala! Stop that, it is a disgusting habit. Now wait here and look after your sister. I must clean up the mess you've made and take the basket back to the carriage."
The green girl frowned, brushing off her father's comment, and tossed the remainder of the fruit's core over her shoulder. She stood, brushing grass from her knees though it made no difference to her, and moved to sit by her little sister. "You like the ducklings, Nessa?"
Nessarose beamed at her. "They're so fluffy."
Elphie grinned, and pointed in the direction of the river, where a mother duck had begun to round up her babies. She made to speak, when something hard hit her right between the shoulder blades.
The green girl turned to look over her shoulder, only to see a small rock whiz past her and thump against Nessarose's wheelchair. And another, and another. Laughter echoed through the trees, and two Munchkin boys strode out from behind a bush, each of them tossing rocks and sticks in the air. One of them pointed in the direction of the Thropps, and Elphaba felt a surge of anxiety running through her like electricity up her spine.
"That girl's got a funny chair," said one voice.
"What a freak! Look at her legs!" Said the other.
Elphaba stood, automatically, her hand reaching out for one of Nessa's. She was shaking, with fury or fear or something between the two.
The horrid remarks continued, not unnoticed by either Thropp, and little Nessarose turned to look at her sister with worry, with sadness and the indescribable feeling that she'd done something wrong.
"Elphaba..."
It was that tone, the fragility and purity that sent Elphaba into a flurry of emotion. If she could not have it, she had to protect it.
She watched as the two boys approached, each casting glances of disgust at the sisters, and a small pebble hit Nessarose square between the eyes before Elphaba could even take action. The younger Thropp looked shell shocked, tears pricking at her eyes. The look on her face seemed to ask all manner of questions – 'Did I do something bad?' - and all Elphie could see was red.
"Get away from my sister," she hissed, striding toward the pair with her boots clomping through the grass. She could barely control herself.
She grabbed one of the boys by the collar before he could even squeak, her sharp nails digging in. She shoved him and sent him rolling backward down the riverbank, into the freezing water. A growl resonated in the back of her throat, rendering her no better than an animal, as her father had once said. Better a slobbering beast than a bully.
The other boy ran off into the bushes, leaving his friend to clamber out of the mud, sopping wet and terrified.
It was all they deserved, Elphie thought, scowling.
A quiet sob caught Elphaba's attention, and she whirled around, her heart in her throat. "Nessa, don't," she pleaded, rushing to her side. Green fingers gently stroked through soft brown hair, as calming in their movement as in their colour. "Please, Nessa, shhh... it's alright."
Though it broke her heart to watch Nessarose cry, it made her uncomfortable, as though every tear was only present to assure her that she could not fix everything for her little sister; that no matter how much she tried, she would always fail.
And so she would always beg her not to cry.
Elphie ignored the sting of tears dripping onto the collar of her jacket, for the perfectly deformed girl was more important than her. The green girl paid no mind to Frex's absence. She just held Nessarose, rocking her back and forth as soothingly as she knew how, and waited for the wails to end. She felt Nessa's hands clutch at the back of her coat.
"I'm so sorry, Nessa."