LOL! Everyone is getting 'Tangled' vibes from this story. I understand why, and honestly, 'Tangled' wasn't on my mind when I was writing this.
Backstory time!
For the rest of the week, Fiyero would sneak out of the castle to go see Glinda in the town. They would always meet in the park by the large fountain. Sometimes they would walk around, but most of the time, they would just sit in the shade and talk. He really enjoyed spending time with Glinda. He learned that she was originally from Frottica. He had asked her about her family and she only seemed to want to talk about her cousins, and Fiyero didn't argue with that decision. He talked about himself a bit, but refrained from mentioning Elphaba.
The green girl began to notice Fiyero's absences, but didn't comment on them. She was glad that he was actually developing a life that didn't revolve around her. She didn't even say anything to the prince when he returned the first night to eat dinner with her, as promised. Despite her attitude, she really did enjoy eating with company.
As the end of the month approached, so did Elphaba's birthday. The green girl's birthdays were never a big festivation, considering not everyone in the castle knew she was there, but for her eighteenth birthday, Fiyero felt the need to do something special.
"Whatever she's being protected from, I'm pretty sure they're gone. It's been eighteen years."
The king and queen were clearly tired of having this conversation with their son, and it was clear he wasn't going to give up. "Yero –" Amalie sighed.
"I know, I know. 'We've been over this'. But what if we just went out into the gardens? You don't trust the staff?"
"It's not that we don't trust them, Yero. Of course we do. It's just that we've kept her safe all these years, it wouldn't make sense for it all to go to waste."
"Can we at least make her a cake?"
The monarchs exchanged a look. "A small chocolate cake wouldn't hurt," Raal said thoughtfully.
Amalie considered it. "Alright."
Fiyero smiled and thanked his parents before going to his room to wrap Elphaba's gifts.
Finally, the green girl's birthday arrived. As a tradition, Fiyero made sure he was awake before Elphaba so he could wake her. As he crept through the tower, his gifts wrapped and held protectively under his arm, he couldn't help but smile.
"Fae?" he whispered as he pushed the door open, even though he knew Elphaba would still be asleep.
Just as he suspected, the green girl was still fast asleep. Chuckling, the prince put the presents on her desk and slowly tiptoed over to the bed and gently shook her shoulders. "Fae?"
"Mmmm?"
"Fae, wake up. It's your birthday."
"Yero… what time is it?" the green girl slurred, slowly opening one sleepy eye.
"It's time to wake up and celebrate!" He smiled as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Happy eighteenth birthday, Fae!"
Elphaba slowly pushed herself up with a yawn. She looked at the prince before her eyes wandered to the presents on her desk. "Thanks, Yero," she smiled.
A few minutes later, the king and queen arrived with more presents and congratulatory words. Erelle then arrived with breakfast and they all ate together, much to the Elphaba's subdued delight.
After breakfast, Elphaba happily opened her gifts. She loved the new dress and perfume from Amalie, fountain pen from Raal, and the novels, journal, and art supplies from Fiyero.
"Now, Elphaba, there's something Raal and I would like to tell you," Amalie said, taking a serious tone.
"Oh. Okay," Elphaba said warily.
"Yero, stay," Raal said, seeing his son about to leave.
"I thought you would want some privacy," the prince said.
"You can hear this, too."
"Elphaba… in light of your… recent dreams… we think that you are now old enough to know the real… whole reason why you are here with us," the queen said with a deep breath.
Fiyero held his breath and looked at the green girl, seeing her do the same.
"I grew up with your mother, back in Munchkinland. I moved to the Vinkus when I was sixteen because my father received a new job. Even after I moved, our friendship never wavered. We continued to write and I would visit her when I could, and she would visit me. She was even my maid of honor at our wedding."
She paused to see how Elphaba was taking in this information, and seeing that she was still okay encouraged the queen to continue.
"A few months after I had Fiyero, she came to the Vinkus. It was the middle of the night. A servant showed her into the parlor and went to get Raal and me. When we came down, we saw that she had a small bundle in her arms."
"Me?" Elphaba whispered.
"What are you doing here?"
"I had to come. You're my only option."
"Yes, Elphaba. It was you."
"What was my mother's name?"
"Melena. Melena Skarr."
"You have to help me! Please!"
"She said she traveled by the express train. You had been born a few days prior and…"
"Why was she traveling on the express train? And why did she come to the Vinkus?"
Amalie bit her lip. "She told me that… you were in danger and she wasn't able to keep you safe. The Vinkus was the far away enough from the danger she was afraid you were in and she wanted to leave you with people she knew."
"What about my father?"
"That's… who she was trying to protect you from."
Elphaba blinked. "What? Why?"
"I don't know, Elphaba. Your mother wouldn't tell us. She just said that you are very special and because of that, bad people were after you. She didn't tell us who your father is. She just said that the farther away you were from Munchkinland, the safer you would be."
"Please. Just keep her safe."
"According to Melena, your father was away during your birth and wouldn't have been back for another two weeks. She was going to say that you were… um…" Amalie paused before barely whispering, "stillborn. All in order to protect you," she quickly added when she saw Elphaba's face.
Fiyero glanced at the green girl and saw that she was having difficulty processing all of this new information. He gently slipped his hand into hers and gave it a light squeeze. He felt her fingers move and took that as a sign that she wasn't overloaded yet.
"We could tell that she was very distressed about keeping you safe, and we knew we had better means of 'hiding', for lack of a better word, so we agreed. We didn't know who was after you, so to keep you as safe as we could, that's why we've kept you up here and made sure only myself, Raal, a select few staff, Fiyero, and Erelle know you are here."
Elphaba was silent for a moment. "Where is my mother now? Is she still alive? Have you heard from her?"
"I… don't know. The last time I saw her was that night she brought you here. I haven't heard from her since."
"We even offered to give her a ride back to Munchkinland… or at least halfway, but she refused, saying that she had another train ticket for an early morning train and the fewer people that knew about her journey, the better," Raal added quietly.
"She did, however, leave you this." Amalie reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, green bottle and handed it to the green girl, who took it as if it was made of glass. "She didn't say what it was, but she just placed it in your blanket before kissing your forehead and leaving."
"Did you name me?"
Amalie smiled softly. "No. Your mother named you."
"I love you so much, Fabala. Always remember that."
"That's why I had that dream? The people that want to hurt me are still out there looking for me?" Elphaba asked.
"They won't find you, Fae," Fiyero said, squeezing her hand. "You're safe here. You were before and you always will be."
The green girl looked at the green bottle in her hands, seeing the last thing she had of her mother without knowing what it was used for.
"How are you feeling, Elphaba?" Raal asked. "Are you alright?"
"Do you have any more questions?" Amalie inquired.
"Or just want to talk?" Fiyero added.
Elphaba shook her head. "No."
That could have been her answer to any of the three, or all of the three, but they figured she was just answering Fiyero's. Raal excused himself to finish up some paperwork. Amalie left to finish looking over the plans for the Summer Solstice festival, leaving Fiyero and Elphaba alone.
"I'm sorry," was all Fiyero could think to say.
"Why?"
"Because this news ruined your birthday."
Elphaba sighed. "It didn't ruin my birthday. I've always said I wanted to know about my past and where I came from and who my parents are, and the answer was always 'When you're older', but now… I have even more questions and too few answers."
"I wish I could help."
"Do you… think that it's because of my magic? My mother said she knew that I was special… so did she mean my powers?"
"I… don't know," Fiyero said softly, wishing he had a better answer to give her. "Maybe."
Elphaba sighed and pulled her knees into her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I wonder if she's still alive…"
The prince didn't know if that required an answer, so he simply took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He noticed her playing with the green bottle and smiled softly. "It matches your skin."
Elphaba didn't respond or even look at the prince, who was desperately trying to think of a way to distract her, or at least make her a happy birthday girl again. He considered telling her about Glinda, but wondered how she would react to that.
"Do you want to know what I was doing in town?"
Elphaba shrugged, still not looking at the prince. "Sure."
"Well, I first went out to buy your birthday present and –"
"You left the castle without a guard?"
"I was incognito."
Elphaba crackled a small smile, which made the prince smile. "Go on."
"And when I came out of the store, I saw a carriage about to run over a woman with a lot of bags and I saved her life."
"You saved her life?"
"Yes, Fae. I was a hero."
A chuckle. "I'm proud of you, Yero."
"Thank you. And after I saved this woman's life, I graciously offered to help her carry her bags back to wherever she was going and then I gave her a tour of the town."
"She isn't from here?"
"No. She was visiting her cousins."
"What's her name?"
"Glinda."
"That's a pretty name. Where's she from?"
"Frottica."
"In the Gillikin?"
"Yup."
"What's she like?"
"She's petite with blonde curly hair, loves to wear pink. She's also really into architecture and loves to study old buildings. She's actually going to Shiz in the fall to study architecture."
Elphaba smiled. "So you'll see her there?"
"I will. She's really nice. You would really like her."
"I'm sure."
The two lapsed into silence once again, although less awkward than the last time.
"I'm… glad you're going out more, Yero," Elphaba said, looking at the prince. "I want you to have fun and go to town… even though I don't think sneaking out was the best method."
"I wouldn't have met Glinda! You think the people in charge of keeping me safe would allow me to risk my life to save someone else's?"
"Regardless, I'm glad you had fun. And I'm sure you'll see her at the festival next weekend."
Fiyero nodded. "She said she would come with me."
The green girl smiled. She was happy Fiyero made a new friend. Because of his status, he didn't have many people he considered 'friends'. He had a few close ones from school, but he would always opt out of spending time with them to make sure she wasn't alone. As much as she enjoyed and appreciated his company, she often told him that he needed a life that didn't revolve around her.
"Are you going to see Glinda again today?" she finally asked.
"No. I told her that I had a family obligation today."
"My birthday is a family obligation?"
"You're a part of this family, so yes. Yes, it is."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, but didn't play the 'We're not related' card, much to the prince's delight. "How about a game before lunch?"
"Sure. Scrabble?"
Elphaba nodded and watched as the prince crossed the room to her closet. He opened the door and searched around the floor for the game. She tucked the green bottle under her pillow, filing away all her newfound information.
It only goes uphill from here… maybe…
