A/N: In celebration of my sister's first birthday today, I decided to write a quick oneshot. I wrote this at 1am, so excuse me if it came out crappier than usual. Happy birthday Aerin!
It was barely past six in the morning. The sun had yet to peek over the Quadling Kells in the far distance, and yet Quadling Country stirred with mounting excitement.
"Quick, get that cake done! We must send it to the mansion immediately!"
"Where are the balloons? Oh stop sitting on that lazy arse of yours go get them!"
"I need another four dozen roses, stat!"
"Has anyone seen my invitation card? I swear I left it on that - hey! Come back with that, you scumbag!"
Usually, the marshes of Quadling Country were so still you could hear the fish breathe. This day, however, the marshes swarmed with activity as people waded their way through to get to the Mansion of the Thropp Third Descending.
Indeed, this day was the first birthday of the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland.
Inside the mansion itself beheld an even more chaotic scene than the buzz in town. Servants ran helter-skelter, rushing to put up decorations while chefs and bakers alike nearly burned their aprons in a fluster to fix the banquet.
In the room of the birthday girl, maidservants could be seen flying about the room: grabbing the dress, searching for shoes, fixing her hair, entertaining her with toys. Frexspar the Godly stood to one side, observing as his daughter was done up and dressed for her birthday banquet. His own attire consisted of a long black overcoat and a matching top hat, as well as a cravat of the signature munchkin blue wrapped tightly around his neck.
The maidservants finished their job, and moved aside so that their master could see the result. What he saw brought a smile to his face: A young radiant girl with her soft brown hair done neatly in two ponytails, dressed in a blue silk dress lined with lace. She embodied the beauty of Munchkinland.
"Dada," called the infant, holding out her arms. Frex obliged, coming forth and scooping the child up in his arms.
"Nessarose, my jewel," he cooed, holding her up in front of him. "Look how you've grown."
Then the smile slipped into a frown as his gaze came to rest upon her legs. What should have been strong, sturdy legs were shrunken, useless limbs dangling lifelessly from her body. The sight alone gave him a sick sensation at the pit of his stomach.
Tearing his gaze away, he barked in a rough voice, "Elphaba!"
From the shadows emerged the green child, dressed in a plain black cotton dress a size too big, her arms and legs sticking out awkwardly from beneath the fabric. "Yes, daddy?"
"Prepare your sister's wheelchair," he ordered. "Now."
"Yes, daddy." The green girl scuttled away to fetch the wheelchair.
When she returned, Frex chased her away. "Get away from your sister. I want you nowhere near her." He then gently settled Nessarose into the chair, strapping the girl in. He smiled warmly at her. "Shall we go out to meet the guests of your banquet?"
Nessarose gave a happy squeal, which Frex took for a yes. He stood, and turned once more to address Elphaba. "You will stay in here, understand? You are not to show your face to anyone." Without another glance, he proceeded out the door and left the child alone in the room.
As soon as her father disappeared through the doors, Elphaba sat on the floor, running her index finger along the floor, tracing out an imagery of what she thought to be a perfect birthday party. Lots and lots of people, lots and lots of presents, and a big, delicious chocolate cake all for herself.
"Why don't daddy have a banket like Nessie's for me?" she asked herself, dejected. "Why does she get a big party anyways? Not like she'll remember it."
From the room, she could hear the raucous laughter of the guests in the grand hall, the music that moved everyone in harmony. Oh, how she yearned to be a part of it! In her mind's eye, she imagined herself at the party, where nobody gave her weird and repulsed looks and gave her lots of presents. She imagined her mother picking her up and twirling her around the dance floor.
"Faster mommy! Faster!" Her laughter rang out like a sparkling glissando.
"I'm getting too old to go any faster, my green bean," her mother smiled guiltily.
"I want faster!" Elphaba insisted.
Elphaba twirled herself silly, until she collapsed upon the floor in a happy mess. She lay there for a while, the scene running over and over again in her mind, until reality finally pulled her back to her solitude.
Her mother was not there. She never had been there. Elphaba had no one.
Elphaba felt alone. The cold empty feeling of isolation embraced her soul once more. With a sorrowful sniff, she picked herself off the ground, tottered to a dark corner, and plonked herself down by the wall. She fished out an old tattered photo from her pocket, rubbing her thumb over the face that used to smile down at her every night when she was tucked into bed.
"I miss you mommy," she whispered, before curling up into a ball, as if to hide away from the world.
The day dragged by slowly. Occasionally the doors would open and maidservants would rush in, carrying a mountain of presents meant for Nessarose. It took all of Elphaba's will to resist from touching the multitude of gifts, but she knew from previous experience the consequence of touching her sister's things. The chef came in once, to deliver her her lunch.
At last, the day ended, the guests left the mansion and her father and sister returned to the room. Elphaba waited silently in the shadows of the corner as the maidservants undressed her sister, and took her away to the bathroom to clean up.
Taking a deep breath of courage, Elphaba stepped out from the shadows. She noticed Frex's demeanor change from cheerful to disdainful in a matter of seconds.
"What do you want?"
"I want...I..."
"Out with it, you know how I hate your slipshod stuttering."
"Can we pray for mommy? It's one year since - "
Frex visibly stiffened, his shoulders tensing and his gaze hardening. A muscle in his jaw jumped. "How dare you have the gall to remember your mother's tragic death, the death you caused, on your sister's birthday! Your mother doesn't need praying anymore. She's gone," he said coldly. "Now get out of my sight and back to your room."
Knowing that crying wouldn't help, Elphaba turned away with unquestioning obedience, returning to her own room before hot tears threatened to fall. She hated it when her father reminded her that she'd caused her sister's deformity and her mother's death. She just hated it!
With nothing else to turn to, she sought the photograph for solace.
Only, the photograph wasn't there.
Elphaba's eyes widened as she began to panic. Oh no, where in Oz had she left it?
Then she remembered. She only took it out in one place, and that was Nessarose's room.
Elphaba wanted to kick herself for being so careless. How could she let something so precious slip so easily through her fingers?
She had no choice but to wait for midnight to come. When she was sure the household had gone to bed, before she snuck out of her room and crept over to Nessa's room.
The one-year-old was unmoving in her crib as Elphaba entered. Quickly, Elphaba scoured the corner where she'd spent her time earlier waiting for the day to end, but found nothing but torn gift wrapping. Ozdammit, where was it?
Then she heard it. The soft crumpling of paper, coming from the crib.
Oh no.
She crept over to the crib, and peering over the edge, Elphaba noticed with horror that her sister held on to the photograph. Not only that, she noticed that Nessarose was not sleeping, instead lying quietly where she was and was now staring up at Elphaba with wide cerulean eyes.
Elphaba reached into the crib and attempted to pry the photo from her hands, which proved futile. Nessa seemed to have a strong grip on the paper.
"Give that back, Nessie, it's mine!" Elphaba hissed, and was finally able to successfully snatch the photograph from her sister after a silent struggle.
Realizing she no longer held the photo, the infant threatened to cry. Big fat tears welled up at the corner of her eyes, and her lips started to tremble, ready to open the floodgates.
"No, no, no, don't cry!" Elphaba cried desperately. "Daddy will scold!" With no other solution, Elphaba gave the photo back to the child, who calmed at once. "Fine, you can have it."
Elphaba watched silently as Nessarose hugged it with a sigh of contentedness. Of all things the infant could have chosen to cling on, of all the stuff toys around her, she had to chose the photo.
Perhaps, Elphaba realized, Nessarose subconsciously missed their mother too. Was it possible to miss someone you'd never met?
Suddenly Elphaba didn't feel so alone. Suddenly it dawn upon her that Nessa, too, had lost her mother. Suddenly she didn't feel so bad about losing her photo to her younger sister. At least she'd gotten to know her mother. Nessarose would never get the chance.
"'appy birthday, Nessa," she whispered. "That pictah's for you."
For the longest time, it was just the two sisters staring at each other, the bond between them growing stronger through their shared loss.
Then Elphaba reached down to stroke the infant's chin, and Nessa caught her index. The tiny fingers tightened around her green finger, and Elphaba couldn't resist a smile.
She might not have her mother anymore, but she had Nessa.