Easter Eggs

~ A 'Wicked' One-Shot ~

~ By Heatqueen ~

A/N: Random fic inspired by my friend cuppasound, who was sending me pictures of Gelphie Easter bunnies. It's by no means the best thing I've ever written, just a random bit of fluff. It's Gelphie friendship, but you can perceive it as romantic if you want.

Elphie had two views on tradition. One: It was little more than an excuse for businesses to rake in the money as the population overindulged themselves for reasons that had been long forgotten over the years. Two: There were some things that just should not be celebrated (Her birthday, for example).

So it was with disdain that on Easter day, she found herself in the company of Galinda Upland. Galinda loved Easter.

Elphie was pretty sure that Easter once meant something, even if the reasons themselves were equally as ridiculous, but it was rather sad that no one at Shiz seemed to care for anything other than going on holiday and eating chocolate. For the life of her, she could not work out what was so special about an Easter egg.

'It's not as good as Lurlinemas, but it's an awful lot of fun,' Galinda chattered that morning, as Elphie groaned and tugged her blanket over her head in an effort to block out the noise. It was unfathomable how Galinda – who despised early mornings on an ordinary day – could suddenly be wide-awake at ridiculous hours for Easter. 'When I was younger my Momsie and Popsicle would go out into the garden the night before and hide lots of mini eggs everywhere for me to find the next day. There would be twenty in total and they always timed me to see how long it took me to find them all. Naturally I improved my time each year…'

'Glin, do you even know what the point of Easter is?'

Galinda stared at her and shrugged. 'Never mind that, I have the bestest plan ever.'

'The bestest…plan…ever?'

'Good I'm so glad you agree, because you are coming with me today.' Elphie rolled her eyes. 'Now get changed. And do wear something other than that awful tattered rag of yours. It's Easter!'

'Yes I noticed,' Elphie commented dryly, but relented not to wear her black dress.

She was dragged out of the room by an exuberant Galinda, who grabbed her hand and skipped through the corridors of Crage Hall, barely able to contain her squeals. Before long, Elphie found herself outdoors, in the grounds of Shiz University. Galinda skidded to a halt and stood in front of Elphie.

'Stop right there,' Galinda ordered. 'This is your starting line. You don't take a single step further until I tell you to.'

Elphie smirked and moved her foot forward. Galinda growled and grabbed Elphie's shoulders pushing her backwards. 'I said don't move! You'll ruin everything if you do!'

'What in Lurline's name is this about?'

'Well,' said Galinda, 'since you have never participated in an Easter tradition of your own, I have decided, out of the goodness of my heart, to present you with your very first Easter egg hunt!' She let out a piercing squeal. Elphie covered her ears.

'Sweet Oz,' Elphie muttered. 'And I don't suppose there is any hope of me turning down such a kind and generous offer?'

Galinda flashed her a smile. 'Aww how sweet, you think I'm kind and generous. And I'm sure you would never hurt a friend's feelings by turning down such a thoughtful gift.'

Elphie sighed. Galinda had her there.

'Very well then. When do I start?'

'You start when I say "Go." And then, you have to find all twenty eggs as fast as you possibly can.'

'Wait – I'm being timed?'

'Of course! It's tradition!'

'Maybe in your household.'

'And since you are with me, you are going to do things my way. Now are you ready?'

'No.'

'Good. Go!'

Elphie stared at her.

'Well go on, the clock's ticking!' Galinda huffed, exasperated.

Elphie started to walk. She looked around, not quite sure where such things as eggs might be hidden. She headed towards a bush and peered beneath it, but found nothing. Then, she headed for a tree and heard Galinda give an excited squeal.

Perfect, she thought, as she approached the tree and lifted a small egg wrapped up in golden paper from one of its lowest branches. Now she wouldn't even have to try. Galinda would do all the work for her.

Some time later, she found herself with nineteen out of the twenty eggs. The last one was proving to be elusive. She hoped it would make an appearance soon, so that she could get back indoors and immerse herself in a book, and endeavour to forget that this day had ever happened. But the stupid thing would not turn up, and Galinda was keeping an infuriatingly straight face.

'I don't know,' she said eventually, fed up with the situation.

'Of course you don't, that's why you have to keep looking,' said Galinda.

Elphie shook her head. She'd tried all the trees and bushes. She'd looked underneath benches and had even overturned a few stones. She squinted her eyes and tried to focus on the details. It seemed as though she'd looked at everything…

…until she caught sight of the lamppost by the gate to Crage Hall. She looked up, and the corner of her lip twitched upwards. From a groove in the head of the lamppost, she lifted the final egg.

Galinda was jumping up and down and squealing.

'You did it, you actually did it!'

'Calm down, Galinda, the whole university can hear you.'

Galinda took a deep breath.

'Oh – right. I got too loud. But I'm just so excited that you had your very first Easter egg hunt!'

'Glin, I think you forgot something.'

'Huh?'

'Your timer's still running.'

'Sweet Oz! It is! Now we'll never know how fast you did it!' Galinda moaned, hurriedly stopping the timer.

'Well if we factor in the entire thirty seconds that you spent squealing and flapping your arms around, I'm pretty sure we can work it out,' said Elphie.

'Very funny,' Galinda pouted, and Elphie cackled.

'So what are we supposed to do with all of these eggs?' asked Elphie, as the two returned to their room.

'Eat them, of course.'

Elphie eyed the eggs warily. 'Eat…all of them?'

'Oh come on,' Galinda sighed dramatically. She flounced over and picked up one of the eggs. She peeled off the gold wrapping, revealing the chocolate. 'Here. Open wide.'

'Galinda, you are not feeding me chocolate!' Elphie protested.

'Don't be a spoilsport. Now open.'

Elphie rolled her eyes, but opened her mouth, and Galinda popped the treat inside.

'See, not so bad, is it?'