Author's Note: I realized this is a bit like the Pensieve in Harry Potter, but has a bit of time travel thrown in too, so there's a touch of Doctor Who as well. And also, I am American, but I use the term 'football' because, frankly, it sounds better than soccer. R&R if you like. Enjoy! ~bwayfan25
Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked (or Harry Potter or Doctor Who, for that matter)
The sensation felt like falling, though Elphaba could feel her feet remaining planted on the ground. Flashes like photgraphs sped by.
It was Nessa's life, but unlike anything Elphaba could remember. A baby Nessa taking her first steps, her hands held by her father. A pigtailed Nessa jumping rope at school. A preteen Nessa with a group of girls at a party of some kind. A nervous looking Nessa beginning high school. A slightly older Nessa in a gown, next to a young man in a tuxedo.
The pictures flew by faster and faster until they stopped. Elphaba gasped, felling nauseous. Melena placed a hand on her shoulder.
ELphaba looked at her mother. Melena smiled, and stepped forward into the still scene before them. Her eyes wide, Elphaba followed.
As the duo approached the door to the Thropp Mansion, which looked completely ordinary, Elphaba stopped. Just as she raised her hand to knock or attempt to open the lock, Melena smirked and continued walking, straight through the door.
The inside of the mansion was, again, the same. Melena continued down a corridor, and turned left, entering the kitchen.
Elphaba followed, but then stopped dead in her tracks. The scene was completely frozen.
There was her father, sitting at one end of the kitchen table, reading the morning paper. Next to him, Melena, her hair flecked with gray and her face slightly more lined, was eating her breakfast. Out of the corner of her eye, she was watching a boy of about 13 or 14 pick at the food on his plate. Though Elphaba had never seen him before, she knew immediately who he was. Her little brother.
Melena waved a hand, and the scene unfroze. Pots clanged as the cook worked about making food. Frex turned the pages of The Munchkinland Morning Gazette. The older Melena continued eating, occasionally shooting furtive looks at her son.
Suddenly, the sound of a ball bouncing grew louder as a black and white ball bounced down the stairwell behind them. It was followed by a Nessarose unlike any of Elphaba's memories or even the still photographs of this Nessa's life.
This Nessa was tall, at least 5'9", with shoulder length deep brown hair which curled up over her shoulders. Her skin was very tan as if she had spent a considerable amount of time outside in the sun. She had bounced down the stair much like the football she was chasing.
"Nessarose!" Frex barked, causing Nessa to drop the books she was holding.
"Yes, Father?" Nessa asked politely, kneeling for her fallen schoolbooks.
"How many times have I told you? Please do not play with the football inside the house!"
"Sorry, Father," she said, kissing him on his bald head. "It's just that it is a big day. I assume you'll all be there tonight?"
"Of course, my dear," Frex said, turning another page. "We wouldn't miss it."
"Yeah," the boy piped up. "We'll be there. To watch you lose."
Melena walloped the boy on the back of his head, but Nessa laughed. She sat across from her mother and buttered toast. A young butler tapped her on the shoulder, and handed her a folded purple uniform. Elphaba recognized the uniform as the official color of the Munckinland Premier Academy, their school.
"Shall we skip ahead a bit?" the Guardian Melena whispered to Elphaba.
"But I don't want to miss whatever it is that they're going to watch Nessa do!" Elphaba said in a panicked whisper back.
"Don't worry. There is much left to see it before the game. As I expect you realized that it what will happen?"
Elphaba thought as the scene began to fade, moving forward again.
"A big football game? That Nessa is playing in?" Elphaba queried. '
"You are correct. The championship. Nessarose Thropp, the four year starter and this year's captain, is expected to lead the team to victory against the Munchkin Rock School in what will be her final game for the school. But more of that later. For now, we will watch her at school."
This pained Elphaba. This is the kind of thing that she had so desperately wanted for her sister.
Just remember this is your imagination. Maybe reality is different. But Elphaba wasn't so sure.
She turned to Melena, ready to ask more questions, but instead, she held her tongue. Her eyes were transfixed on the scene now in front of her. A familiar school hallway. A scene of pain or both her sister and herself. But maybe this time it was different…
"Shall we?"
Elphaba took a deep breath, and took a step forward.