AN: Hi everyone!
So, you've probably all noticed that I'm updating a low slower than I used to. Part of the reason is the one I mentioned earlier, probably best summarised as 'life' - mostly crazy university stuff. The other reason is that I started working on my book again :). I'm completely rewriting it - in English, because that just seems to work better for me than does Dutch -, changing things in the process, so it's a lot of work, but it's fun work. Anyway, that's why my updates are coming slowly at the moment - but I promise they'll keep coming nonetheless.
Then the song - I put it in because every time I hear it, I think of Elphie and Fiyero and it just seems fitting in my head. I hope you guys agree. I have the Glee version in mind, though, the slow piano version, not the original one. Just so you know :).
Oh, and the dress is a Glee one too - the one Rachel wears when she and Kurt sing For Good together in the episode New York. Because I love the dress. I wish I owned it. But I don't, so I put it on Elphaba instead O:).
An engagement dinner.
It wasn't as bad as a ball, or an actual feast, but it was still bad. It meant Elphaba would actually have to dress up, which she hated. It meant with her being the daughter of the groom, everyone would constantly look at her, which she hated. It meant making small talk with strangers, which she hated. And it meant dancing, which she also hated.
Galinda, of course, was completely in her element. 'Elphie?' she called from the walk-in closet in her room. 'Do you think I should wear pink or purple?'
Elphaba, who was stretched out on the blonde's bed, reading a book, sighed. 'Does it matter?'
'Or perhaps I should wear blue… it matches my eyes,' said Galinda thoughtfully. Elphaba heard her friend rummaging through the clothes for another while until she came out with a huge pile of dresses in her arms. 'Okay, do you think I should wear the yellow one, the gold one, the blue one, the pink one, the orange one, the red one, the silver one, the white one, the purple one, or the one with the swirling patterns?'
Elphaba didn't even look up from her book, but pointed a finger at the stack of dresses. 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe-'
'Elphie!'
Elphaba lowered her book slightly. 'I think you should wear lavender.' The only reason she picked that colour was because it was practically the only colour that wasn't among the dresses in Galinda's arms, and she liked messing with her friend.
Galinda actually squealed. 'Oh my Oz, that's such a good idea!' She immediately dropped the dresses she was holding and dove inside her closet again. It took her ten more minutes to emerge with two more dresses. 'So do you think I should wear this one,' she shook the one in her left hand, 'or this one?' She shook the right dress.
Elphaba peered over her book and suppressed a sigh. 'What's the difference again?'
Galinda flashed her an annoyed look. 'Oh, come on! They are completely different! This one is lilac and this one is lavender, this one has ruffles and this one has tulle, this-'
'The left one,' Elphaba said without looking up. Galinda considered both dresses for another while before tossing the right one on the quickly growing pile on the floor. 'Yes, you're right. This one. I'm gonna go get changed. Would you do me a favour and brush your hair for me, Elphie? That way I'll have less work curling it later on.'
'My hair is fine.'
'No, it's not,' Galinda said sternly, wiggling a finger in her friend's face. 'And I'm going to give you a makeover, no matter what, so you might as well cooperate. That would make it easier on everyone.'
Elphaba sighed, but complied, knowing she would never escape her blonde friend. She brushed her hair while Galinda changed, and when the blonde emerged again, she started searching through the shopping bags she had brought with her. She tossed a few dresses in Elphaba's lap. 'Try these on.'
Elphaba looked at them as if they were poisonous snakes. 'They're not black.'
'I know!' Galinda exulted. 'I used all kinds of colour schemes to see which colours would go well with your skin tone! I came to the conclusion that too much red would clash, but this one,' she pointed at a white dress with a red and black pattern of what looked a suspicious lot like waffles, 'would be just perfect. Dark blue would be too boring – now don't you scowl at me, you know as well as I do that your precious blue frocks are incredibly boring – but a light blue, like, sky blue or azure blue,' she pointed at another dress, a light blue one with ruffles, 'would look totally gorgeous on you. You can wear white, or silver, or cream white, or a dark shade of green… really, Elphie, I don't know why you're always wearing dark blue and black when here are so many colours that look good on you!'
Elphaba just stared at her, one eyebrow arched.
'Stop looking at me like that, Elphie,' Galinda scolded. 'Try them on. Just try them, that's all I'm asking from you. If you hate them, you can slap me.'
Elphaba's eyes lit up. 'Finally, something to look forward to this evening!'
Galinda stuck out her tongue. 'Now go or we'll be late!'
Elphaba tried on the different dresses and Galinda judged each and every single one of them. She finally decided on what Elphaba had silently named 'the waffle dress'. 'The red matches perfectly with the chocolate brown of your eyes,' she explained, at which Elphaba just looked at her blankly. The blonde shook her head dismissively. 'Never mind. It just looks perfect on you. And I've got the perfect shoes to match it!' She skipped into her closet once again, only to reappear with a pair of black heels. Elphaba backed off immediately. 'Oh, no. No heels.'
'Elphie, you'll look ridiculous if you don't wear heels with that dress,' Galinda insisted. 'They're not that high, I saw to that. Wear them.'
Somehow, the petite blonde managed to convince the green girl once again and before she knew it, Elphaba was sitting at the vanity with Galinda curling her hair and doing her make-up. The girl took her time preparing both of them, but finally, she declared herself and her best friend gorgeous and agreed to go down to the party. 'And just in time, too!'
Elphaba interrupted her fumbling with the multiple black straps crossing over her shoulders to glance at the time. 'We're not in time. We're late.'
'Fashionably late,' Galinda corrected her, linking her arm with the raven-haired girl. 'Come on, let's go have some fun!'
To Galinda's utter satisfaction, they managed to make quite an entrance. Most guests had arrived already and were talking to one another in the ballroom while waiting for the dining room doors to open; and when Galinda opened the door and proudly walked into the room, head held high, tossing her blonde curls, most guests turned to look at her. She stayed on her spot for a few moment, giving everyone a chance to admire her; then she pulled Elphaba into the room and slowly started walking towards where Fiyero and his friends were standing.
Elphaba felt extremely self-conscious and uncomfortable, nervously twirling an ebony curl around her finger, while Galinda basked in everyone's admiration. When they reached the boys, Galinda gave them all an endearing smile. 'Hello, boys.'
'Hi, Galinda,' said Fiyero, but the blonde noticed smugly that he didn't take his eyes off Elphaba for even a clock-tick. The other three boys were looking first at the green girl, then at the blonde one, practically drooling all the time. 'Galinda,' Paro said politely after clearing his throat, kissing her hand. He then took Elphaba's and kissed it, too. 'Elphaba.'
'Paro,' Galinda nodded with a smile. Just then, Frex and Lori arrived and dinner was announced. Everyone moved into the dining room and took a seat. Frexspar and Lori were both at the head of the table; next to Frex were Nessarose and Elphaba, and Lori was flanked by Fiyero. The others had to sit at a different part of the table, which none of them liked, but they didn't have a choice; Galinda and Boq, nor Paro, Moss and Laoyar, were royalty, and so they had to sit with the other guests.
Elphaba wished that she had brought a book, for the dinner was extremely tedious. First, there was a long speech from Frex, after which they started eating, but every few minutes someone else would get up to give another speech or toast the soon-to-be couple. Nessa seemed to have the time of her life, talking to her father, but also to the other guests about her life, what she thought of the Vinkus, and how she would become the Governess of Munchkinland when she would be old enough. No one seemed to be interested in Elphaba, so she just sat and waited patiently until dinner was over.
Suddenly, someone nudged her with their foot under the table, and she started. When she looked up, she saw Fiyero grinning at her. 'Are you bored?'
She returned his grin. 'Maybe.'
He laughed. 'I don't blame you.' He scowled when the man sitting next to him accidentally poked his arm as he used wide arm gestures to explain something to the man on his other side. It was a rather fat man, with a double chin and small, black eyes, like a pig's, and Fiyero grinned at Elphaba. Then he started to mimic the man, squinting, scowling and gesturing wildly with his arms, causing Elphaba to stifle a chuckle. Nessa saw it, too, and burst out in a fit of giggles, attracting her father's attention. 'Is something wrong, my dear?'
'Nothing, father,' Nessa said, still giggling. Lori threw a suspicious look in Fiyero's direction, but he just looked back with wide, innocent eyes.
After dinner, they all moved to the ball room again, where it was time for what most people called 'entertainment'.
Elphaba called it 'torture'.
Frex and Lori's wedding planner – who also happened to be Lori's brother and Fiyero's uncle, Jerro – had hired a musical group to perform songs, which was nice. The horror, however, was that any guest who wished to do something for the soon-to-be couple, like speech, read a poem, or perform a piece of music, could take the stage. Many of them did. Not many of them were much good at it.
There was a man who decided that he was the best opera singer in the world and made everyone else resist the urge to cover their ears with their hands. The Ambassador of Gillikin held an extremely long and tedious speech about how happy he was for the couple. Luckily, there were also a few people that actually had a talent – there was a wonderful singer among them, a friend of Lori's, and a man played the piano just beautifully. Just when Elphaba thought the guest performances had come to an end, Lori stepped up to announce one final performer. 'I'm very proud to tell you all,' she began, with shining eyes, 'that my very own son, Fiyero Tiggular, will now take the stage to play the piano and sing for us.'
Elphaba leaned a little towards Galinda. 'Fiyero can sing?!'
Galinda just giggled.
Fiyero started playing and Elphaba couldn't help but be fascinated as she watched his fingers dance over the piano keys with more skill than she had thought him capable of. He must have played the piano for a long time, but she hadn't known he could until now; this was the first time she actually heard him play.
He wasn't a bad singer, either, as they all discovered a few moments later. Galinda couldn't stop her giggling – this was just perfect. Was there anything more romantic than a boy singing a love song to a girl? In public, nonetheless! Normally, it would probably have made Elphaba nervous, but Galinda didn't even think her friend knew that the song was about her – and she turned out to be right about that. She would have to push Elphie a little, but it would be totally worth it. Galinda loved playing matchmaker.
Elphaba stood next to her blonde friend and just watched in awe as Fiyero sang his song.
'Let me love you
And I will love you until you learn to love yourself.'
She didn't know the song, but it was beautiful. Just as she thought that, he looked in their direction and Elphaba's heart sank. He was singing the song to Galinda. Of course he was singing the song to Galinda. She knew it! She knew they were still in love with each other!
Then Galinda did something confusing. She moved closer to her friend to whisper in the green girl's ear, 'He's totally looking at you right now.'
Elphaba shook her head. 'He's not, Lin. I know he's not.' She kept watching him as he played and sang. 'He's still in love with you.'
At that, Galinda choked on her champagne. 'Excuse me?'
'Don't you see he's singing this song to you?'
Galinda sighed in exasperation and put her empty glass on a table. 'Elphie Thropp, I don't know if it's your lack of experience or the fact that you always have your nose buried in a book, but trust me on this one. I'm the boy expert here. He's totally singing this song to you. He's looking at you.'
'He's looking at you.'
'He's looking at us,' Galinda corrected her, 'because you're part of 'us'.' Elphaba just stared at her. 'All right, I'll prove it. I'm going to walk to the other side of the room now, and then we'll see who he's looking at,' Galinda said smugly, matching her words with deeds before Elphaba could stop her. The green girl opened her mouth, but her friend had already left and so she closed it again and looked back at Fiyero.
'I can see the pain behind your eyes, it's been there for quite a while
I just wanna be the one to remind you what it is to smile
I would like to show you what true love can really do.'
He looked up again, his eyes found her… and stayed there.
Her heart started pounding faster. He's looking at me. Oh my Oz, he's looking at me. Not at Galinda. At me. Why would he be looking at me?
He sang along, his eyes locked on hers, and somehow she knew for sure now that his words were meant for her.
'Let me love you
And I will love you until you learn to love yourself
Let me love you
My heart of numbness gets brought to life
I'll take you there.'
He finished, playing the last notes on the piano. The tones trailed away and it was silent for a few clock-ticks; then everyone started applauding. Fiyero smiled a little, bowed, then left the stage. The professional musicians started to play again and he started making his way through the crowd, looking for Elphaba, eager to see her reaction.
But when he reached the spot where he had last seen her, she wasn't there anymore.
Galinda knew she wouldn't find her friend in her room – the green girl probably knew that was the first place Fiyero would look for her. Fiyero didn't know her the way Galinda did, though, so the blonde was barely surprised when she found her friend in Galinda's own room, lying on her back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
The blonde girl closed the door behind her. 'So what's wrong? Why are you hiding in my room?'
It was silent for a while as Elphaba opened and closed her mouth a few times, lost for words – a rare thing for her. Finally, she settled for a simple, 'I'm confused.'
Galinda waited for her friend to elaborate, but she didn't, and so the blonde sighed and perched herself on the bed at Elphaba's feet. 'I suppose that'll do as an explanation, because we all know what happens when Elphaba Thropp gets confused. She runs away.'
Elphaba started spluttering, but Galinda interjected, 'Am I wrong?'
She spluttered for another moment before heaving a sigh and giving in. 'No.'
Galinda smirked.
'I just hate being confused.'
'We all know that.'
'And so I avoid the source of my confusion.'
A new realisation hit Galinda. 'Which is why you have been avoiding Fiyero all these months.'
No answer came.
'Isn't it?' she insisted.
Another sigh. 'Yes,' the raven-haired girl admitted softly.
'Because you love him too.' It wasn't a question, merely a statement. Galinda's eyes sparkled as the truth hit her. 'Oh my Oz, you love him too!' She started bouncing. 'I'm the best matchmaker ever!'
One look from her friend shut her up – for a clock-tick, at least. Then she started talking again. 'So what are you going to do now? Kiss him? Are you going to date? Be, you know, an item?'
Elphaba sat up. 'No.'
Galinda looked confused. 'Then what are you going to do?'
'Nothing,' the green girl said simply. 'I'm not going to do anything. He doesn't know and he never will know, either.'
Now the blonde stared at her friend as if Elphaba had suddenly grown two heads. 'Are you insane? You love him and he loves you back!'
'No, he doesn't.' Elphaba shook her head. 'He's a prince, Lin. Princes don't fall in love with frogs. They fall in love with princesses.'
Galinda didn't say anything, and when the raven-haired girl looked at her friend, she saw that the blonde was wearing a smug expression on her face. 'That's a funny thing for you to say, Elphie.'
The green girl looked confused. 'Why?'
Galinda smirked. 'Well, you know. He's a prince, and since your Dad is going to marry his mother, who happens to be a Queen, that would kind of make you…'
Elphaba shot her a look.
'A princess,' finished Galinda, still wearing her smirk. 'So I'm afraid your point is invalid.'
Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'Do you even know what 'invalid' means?'
Galinda stuck out her tongue. 'You're changing the subject. Why can't you just accept the fact that he loves you?'
'Because he doesn't, Lin,' Elphaba said tiredly. 'It's not possible. Period. It was a misunderstanding. I'm even surprised he likes me as a friend – it's more than I could have ever dreamed of, you know? To have friends. But to have him love me… that's just impossible. I wasn't born for love. Just look at me – how could someone, anyone, let alone someone like him, ever love me?' She got up from the bed and headed towards the door. 'I'm going to bed now. Thanks, Galinda. For the makeover, and for… you know. Everything. You're a good friend.' Then she slipped out of the room, leaving her best friend completely speechless.
The next day, Elphaba took her sister to town. Nessa wanted to go out and buy some shoes that matched the dress she would wear to the wedding – one of the dresses Galinda bought her. Galinda decided to join them, arguing that a girl could never have enough clothes and shoes. Boq, playing the dutiful boyfriend, came along as well, but he didn't want to be the only guy around; so he in turn asked Paro, with whom he had developed an early stage friendship over the past few days. Laoyar and Moss, however, didn't want to give Paro the opportunity to be around Galinda all day and seduce her, so they decided to come as well, at which Fiyero threw his hands in the air in exasperation and declared that he wasn't going to stay at home all by himself. That was why all eight of them set out for town that early afternoon.
Galinda and Nessarose were both in an extraordinarily good mood, chattering on about the colours and types of dresses they wanted to wear and what kind of jewellery and shoes they were going to buy. Boq looked a bit sullen and just agreed with everything his girlfriend said. Paro, Laoyar and Moss were still swooning over Galinda, eagerly answering all her rhetorical questions about her appearance with reassurances that she looked amazing, no matter what she wore or which colour lipstick she'd use. Elphaba herself just pushed Nessa's chair, half-listening to the conversation, but keeping quiet herself.
Fiyero bit his lip as he saw where she had positioned herself. Whether she had done it consciously or not, he noticed that she and Nessa were walking with Boq on their one side and Galinda on the other, and with the three other boys buzzing around the blonde girl like bees around honey, Fiyero didn't get the opportunity to come anywhere near Elphaba. He tried to tell himself that it was just a coincidence, that she wasn't avoiding him, but deep down, he knew she was. Was it because he had scared her off by singing that song to her? Had he been too bold? Or had Galinda been wrong and did she not like him at all? He didn't know. And he couldn't ask her with all of their friends surrounding them.
'The Vinkus really is beautiful,' commented Nessa when they had almost reached town. 'The climate's a lot dryer here than it is back in Munchkinland, but I like it. The scenery's… different.'
'It's beautiful,' Elphaba agreed dreamily, looking admiringly at the olive trees and the grasslands, now and then interrupted by a glistening blue lake, around them. Fiyero smiled at her. 'I'm glad you like it.'
She blushed and looked away, which he decided to take as a hopeful sign. Galinda had seen it, too, because she waggled her eyebrows and winked at him.
They reached town and Galinda and Nessa immediately dove into a shoe store, dragging the others inside. The two girls tried on many, many different pairs of shoes, continuously asking the others what they thought of them. Boq seemed to be the only one who tried to answer seriously; Fiyero's three friends just kept telling Galinda the shoes looked amazing on her, no matter which ones she tried on, and Fiyero and Elphaba didn't even bother saying anything in the first place – Fiyero just ignored the other girls and watched Elphaba in what he hoped was a subtle way, while the green girl merely raised her thumb or pointed it down to indicate her opinion on the shoes, her nose buried in a book.
When they left the shoe store and ventured further into town, Elphaba discovered a book store and announced that she would be in there for the next few hours. Nessa gave her a disapproving look. 'Fabala…'
'I hate clothes,' her sister declared. 'You know that. And I already have my dress picked out, so I don't need anything new. I'd really much rather just stay here - or would you rather have me coming with you and moping all the time?'
Nessa sighed and gave in. 'Fine. We'll just go on and come back here to pick you up in an hour or two.'
Fiyero, who didn't feel like shopping for either books or shoes, managed to coax his friends into relaxing on a café terrace, so that Galinda, Nessa, and Boq continued the shoe hunt by themselves. They returned to pick up the others a few hours later, loaded with shopping bags from various stores, and they decided to have some ice cream in the park and then return to Adurin Iir.
It was a large park, with small lakes and streams with bridges over them, and plenty of benches where old people sat feeding birds or where couples sat making out. They all enjoyed their ice cream in the sun and Elphaba felt herself relax.
Galinda nudged her rib cage. 'Are you listening to me?'
'No,' said Elphaba drily, making the others laugh. Galinda pouted. 'I was telling you about the accessories I bought to match my dress!'
'Which is exactly why I wasn't listening.'
Galinda slapped her friend's arm half-heartedly. 'Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.'
'Sometimes I do, too,' Elphaba grinned, before getting up. 'I'm going for a little walk. I'll be back in ten minutes or so.'
'Don't go too far!' Nessa called after her. Fiyero bent towards Galinda. 'Should I follow her?' He still wasn't sure how to best approach Elphaba, and he didn't want to blow it.
Galinda, however, shook her head. 'Normally, I would say it is a perfect opportunity for some alone time with her, but knowing Elphie, you should leave her for now. She hates shopping. She hates crowded places. She needs to be alone every now and then, to get back to herself, or something. She won't appreciate you ruining that for her.'
Fiyero nodded. 'Thanks.' He watched the raven-haired girl as she walked past one of the small lakes, looking lost in thought. Suddenly, there was a scream coming from the lake, and Elphaba's head whipped in the direction of the sound. Fiyero and the others leapt to their feet as well, alarmed, and ran towards the lake. When they came closer, Fiyero discovered who had screamed and why: a small child had apparently fallen off one of the bridges and into the lake, and a woman whom he presumed to be the mother stood on the water side, looking absolutely frantic.
Before anyone else could react, Elphaba was already in the water, paddling towards the child.
