Elphaba woke, restless. She slid out of bed, careful not to wake Fiyero, and wandered outside barefoot.
There was an enormous old tree in their yard: she leaned against it, looking up at the sky through the branches. The moonlight filtered down onto her face, and she tilted her head up to catch it, closing her eyes. The grass was cool under her feet.
Fliaan. Ten years, now. It had been so long. As much as she didn't miss Oz- not Oz, where she'd been a Witch, a public enemy- she missed Shiz, she missed the carefree Emerald City. She missed her sister.
And she missed Glinda most of all. She shook her head, but the pain wasn't as bad as it had been in the earlier years, the ones when they'd thought they might have a chance of going back. But not now. There was too much to risk.
Fiyero had helped her through the first few rough spots. Magic worked differently than she'd thought, she'd learned, and with some help she'd been able to reverse his transformation. She was grateful that he understood second chances as she did: they knew enough now not to waste the time they had. Their happily-ever-after, she thought.
Elphaba opened her eyes. But was she really happy?
"Mama?"
Elphaba turned to see a little girl clinging to the doorpost of the house, green fingers tightly gripping the wood, eyes wide. "What is it, Nessa?"
"I had a bad dream," the girl said softly, and Elphaba dropped quickly to one knee to catch her daughter up in her arms as she ran across the yard.
"Hush, sweetheart," she said softly. "It was only a dream." When the little girl's tears stopped, Elphaba picked her up and took her back to her bed, then wandered outside again, back to the tree.
Suddenly it hit her, and she closed her eyes with the jolt of remembering.
I hope you're happy, now that you're choosing this…
I chose to leave everything I knew, as a fugitive, and to start my life over again.
But now... now I'm with people who don't shrink away every time I get near them. People who like and respect me.
And a family. Fiyero and Nessa and I, and… well, we'll see. She smiled.
I guess happy is what happens…
That's not true.
Because Glinda, this is more than I'd ever dreamed.
This one's 400 words too- I couldn't resist making them match. And thanks so much for reading, whether or not you choose to review. (But please do.)