Unyielding rain and blasting wind greeted me as I opened the front door. I was tempted to fix my hood, which had been blown off my head, but decided more important things were at stake now. Squinting, I tried to see across my driveway and around the area. Surely if someone were being attacked, I would've spotted a black, undistinguishable figure by now.
I tried my hardest to listen for any more screams, but none pierced my ears. Looking down at my flashlight, I decided to turn it on and search my lawn. The golden light shined upon the wet grass for a few moments, flickered a little… and then completely vanished.
Dang it. The battery's dead, I thought to myself. I was on the verge of swearing silently when I suddenly heard a low moan. My heart nearly shattered, for it was not only a moan of pain, but of grief in the highest measure. "H-hello?" I addressed the voice, slightly frightened. "Who's there?" I heard the moan again, louder and more grievous. Keeping my eyes squinted; I followed the sound of the moan which, when I thought I found the source of it, transformed into a sob.
The sob came from a woman, whose features I could not make out. All I could see of her was her outline and the fact she was on her knees. One hand she kept on the ground while the other seemed to be clutching her heart. "Hey…are you alright?" I asked. The woman continued crying, apparently oblivious to the fact I was knelt down next to her. "Are you alright?" I repeated, a little louder.
"Fiyero…" was all she said. "Fiyero…"
"Fiyero? Wait a second… are you-?" I could barely get the words out. "Come with me. I want to take you inside. You can stay at my place for a bit, if you need to." Trying to rouse the woman up, I tugged at her arm gently, but she pulled it back. Not one for affections, I thought. "Come on," I pleaded. "If you're hurt or something, you just have to come with me. Here… I'll help you up…"
Surprisingly, she didn't resist or struggle as I grabbed around her shoulders and lifted her up. I did hear her hiss through her teeth, though. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I didn't mean to hurt you… there, there now… alright; do you think you can walk?"
"Yes…" the woman replied. Still being held by me, she walked a fair amount before collapsing on the ground. She began to cry again. "Don't be upset," I comforted. "Now, we just…" My voiced trailed off. Because we were so close to my porch, I could see the woman in the light. She had black, silky hair and was wearing a black dress and cape. Her streaming eyes were hazel, and… and her skin was green. "Elphaba…" I choked. "You're Elphaba, aren't you?" The woman nodded.
I did not believe it was a dream; it took little conviction to know it was real. Sobbing, I knelt down in front of my heroine. "I'm… so h-h-happy to m-meet you," I said. Wanting to hug her, I lifted up one of my arms, only to find four, long cuts on her back that slashed through her dress. "What… what happened to you, Elphie?" I gasped in horror.
This only made Elphaba burry her face in my jacket and cry harder. "Don't… ask me," she sobbed. "Please… don't ask… me…"
"Okay… okay; I won't ask you," I told her. "C'mon, it's only a little further." Though the woman walked her way to the stoop with me, she was still crying. I finally concluded with an aching heart that she was weeping not because of her wounds, but something that hurt her inside even more.
By the time we reached my apartment and climbed up the stairs, Elphaba had stopped crying. I set my new friend down on the couch and whispered, "Try not to make too much noise. My parents are asleep, and if they wake up, I'll be in some pretty hot water… oh, that's just an expression!" I added that last part because Elphaba looked at me like I just murdered someone. Changing the subject, I asked her if she was hurt anywhere else besides her back. "There are a few cuts on my arm," answered Elphaba, "but they're nothing, really…"
After examining her wounds, I gave her the news: "Well, the good news is I can fix up those cuts on your arm with some Neosporin and some band-aids. The bad news is I don't know how to treat your back wounds. I'll ask my dad in the morning… just stay there; I'll be right back…"
While searching the medicine cabinet for the Neosporin, I was simultaneously trying to come up with an explanation for Elphaba's cuts. Maybe she had a run-in with some Witch Hunters… yeah, that made the most sense. Those lashes on her back made it look like she was whipped or something. Well, that just proves how much Munchkins are sick in their tiny heads!
When I came back to the living room, I found Elphaba staring at my Wizard of Oz snow globe. "Is that… me?" she asked shakily, referring to the Wicked Witch of the West that was yelling at Dorothy in the orb. Now, I knew the Witch wasn't so wicked and that her name… was Elphaba. "Yes," I replied, my voice also shaking. "That's you. But please, Elphie… don't believe what that thing displays. You're not wicked… not to me…"
"And that girl… she wears Nessa's slippers, does she not?"
"She does."
"So… it was all real… all of it!" Elphaba burst into tears. I sat on the couch next to her and squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort her. At lest I now had another piece of the puzzle: Nessa's death had to do with those wounds.
"Elphie… Elphie, I knew I said I wouldn't ask," I started, "but please… what happened?" The green girl then wept her whole story onto my shoulder while I tried to apply the Neosporin. After Nessa was crushed by Dorothy's house, Elphaba tried to collect the only thing she had to remember her sister by: the ruby slippers. But Glinda gave them to Dorothy, and after the whole ordeal, the Wizard's guards arrived to capture her. Just as Elphaba thought it was all over, Fiyero, her boyfriend, stepped in to save her and was sentenced to death for "aiding the enemy".
However, half the guards put Fiyero on the post while the other half pinned Elphaba to the ground. They made her watch her lover's torture… until, soaked in his own blood, he laid limp, dead. The guards (whom I now wanted to strangle with a Punjab lasso) then started to whip my friend, who was currently crying so hard she could barely breathe. Miraculously, though, just before the fifth lash, a high- winds storm whisked her onto my front lawn.
"Oh, F-F-Fiyero… oh, my dear, d-d-dear Fiyero…" Elphaba sobbed fiercely. I felt like my heart would burst at any moment. My companion now lay down on my couch and curled up as if huddling next to her lover's ghost. I found a blanket, wrapped it around the trembling woman, and knelt down in front of her.
"Listen, if you want this as a secret, I won't tell anyone a thing," I swore to her. "Even my parents… unless it's absolutely necessary, of course." And for the first time since I met her, Elphaba smiled, saying, "Thank you… for everything…"
The woman dozed off, and, back in my room, so did I.