AN: I can't believe I forgot to do this in my past... um... many... updates... but, thank you all so, so much for nominating me in the Wicked Greg Awards this year! It's my first year on here, and when I signed up I had never expected something like this to happen. I must say I was quite proud of myself already for writing so many stories this past year (I've written more Wicked fanfics in one year than all other kinds of stories combined in my entire life!), but this is just... wow. Thank you :).
That being said: nominations are closed, but you can vote now, go vote for your favourites! There are so many people on here who deserve it :).
You can thank Elizabeth for this chapter, which is actually a donation for the write-more-winter-scenes-to-stop-Elizabeth-from-melting fund. Elizabeth, are you still alive? :P
PrincessKadenceOfMusic: Don't worry, he will be. Gna gna. Heheh.
Last but not least, I'm going to dedicate this chapter to Elphabalover101; not just for voting for me, even though that list kind of made me almost faint and maybe kind of sort of literally just a little bit cry, but especially because of the message for me you left in the end, because that's one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me and I love you for it :). (In a non-creepy way, as usual. Not always, but usual.)
Chapter 9.
The moment Jermain laid eyes on the white-haired girl, his eyes lit up. "Elsa!"
Elsa looked down and didn't say anything.
Glinda squealed. "Elphie!"
Elphaba winced when she caught sight of her blonde friend. "Glinda."
"Glinda," Fiyero said with a smile at the blonde.
"Fifi!" Glinda beamed at him, then at the man next to him. "Jermain!"
Olaf looked from the two soldiers and the green girl back to the other group of friends and declared, "Olaf!"
Anna and Kristoff laughed. Glinda squealed again. "Oh, Olaf, you're so cute!"
Elphaba rolled her eyes, which the blonde noticed. She glared at the green girl. "Don't do that, Elphie."
Elphaba smirked. "I didn't say anything."
Glinda's eyes narrowed further.
"Elsa?" Anna said softly, approaching her sister, but Elsa shied away from her.
"Don't touch me," she whispered. "Just let me go."
Anna shook her head. "I can't," she said, stepping forward. "You're my sister, Elsa. I love you."
Elsa closed her eyes.
"Please let me in," Anna said softly. "I want to help you. We all do."
"You can't help me." Elsa turned around, wrapping her arms around her own waist.
"Elsa," Elphaba began, but the other girl shook her head.
"Thank you for trying, Elphaba," she said. "Trying to help me, I mean. But you can't. No-one can. I'm sorry I can't help you with the Wizard and Morrible, but… but it's just too dangerous."
"Elsa –"
"Just forget about me," Elsa cut her off. She looked at the others, eyes lingering on Jermain for a moment, then shifting to Anna before she turned away and ran.
"Elsa!" Anna wanted to go after her, but Kristoff held her back.
"Anna, it's too dangerous right now."
"She's not dangerous! She's my sister!" Anna struggled to free herself, but Hans placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Anna," he said softly. "I don't want you to get hurt."
She stopped struggling and turned around to look at him. "But she's my sister!" she protested.
"Just give her a moment," Hans said. "We'll find her again in a few minutes, I promise."
Anna bit her lip. "Okay."
Hans looked at the forest around him. When he caught sight of a flash of green and gold, he smirked slightly.
"Glinda?" He moved closer to the blonde girl.
She beamed at him. "Yes, Hans?"
"I was just thinking that…" He hesitated. "I don't know. Maybe you and Fiyero should talk… You know, because you didn't part on the best terms, and… and you seemed to be bothered by it still. I think now might be a good time to talk it all out, you know?"
"You know what?" Glinda said, chewing the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "That's a great idea, Hans. Thank you. I think I will."
"You might want to go off into the woods a little bit," Hans suggested. "You know, for some privacy? Don't worry, we won't be going anywhere – we have to wait here for Elsa to come back, anyway."
Glinda nodded. "I'll just take him for a walk," she decided. She looked at him. "Keep an eye on Elphie for me, will you? And Anna, too."
He flashed her his most charming smile. "Of course."
Glinda returned his smile, then skipped off to where Fiyero and Elphaba were standing. "Fifi? Want to go for a walk with me?" She looked up at him. "I think we need to talk for a little bit," she said softly.
His face softened. "Of course, Glin." He kissed Elphaba's forehead and promised her he'd be right back. Then he and Glinda disappeared between the trees.
Elsa paced up and down a clearing in the forest, mind reeling. The trees around her were frozen to solid ice. Dark tendrils, signifying her panic, were creeping up inside them, weaving through the ice like poison. What was she supposed to do now? She felt horrible for leaving Elphaba alone after she had promised to help her, but the truth was that the green girl was just better off without Elsa. Everyone was better off without her. Including Anna.
Anna… She closed her eyes for a moment. Everything she had ever done had been to prevent her sister from getting hurt again; but the truth was that she had hurt Anna by shutting her out.
Still, though. It was better than accidentally striking her with her magic again and freezing her heart.
But she had caused an eternal winter… everywhere. Now not just in Arendelle, but she feared in Oz – or at least part of it – as well. How could she turn that around? Did she even have that power? She remembered what had happened when she had tried to thaw Elphaba's broom. What if that same thing would happen if she tried to thaw Arendelle? What if she froze everyone to solid ice? What if she would only make things worse?
What could she do?
Just then, she heard a scream, followed by a loud string of curse words, and a flash of emerald green… magic?... lit up the forest in the distance.
Elsa froze. She recognised that colour – she'd seen it dozens of times when she had been practising with the raven-haired witch to try and get her powers under control. It was the colour of Elphaba's magic.
They were in trouble.
She hesitated just a moment before she picked up her skirt and started running back to where she had come from.
When she reached the spot where she had left the others, she stopped, taking in the sight before her. Jermain and Kristoff were holding Elphaba in an iron grip. The green girl herself was struggling to break free, thrashing and screeching at the top of her lungs for them to let her go, but the two men didn't loosen their hold. Anna was standing a bit off to the side, stroking Sven's nose, worried eyes directed at Elphaba. Hans was standing next to her with his arm around her shoulders and Olaf was next to them, uncharacteristically quiet for once.
"Let me go!" Elphaba shouted, but Kristoff only tightened his grip.
"Elphaba," he said. "That's exactly what she wants. You have to think about this!"
"There's nothing to think about! Just let me go! I don't care what she wants, but I can't just leave them with her!"
"What happened?" Elsa asked timidly, slowly approaching.
Kristoff opened his mouth to reply, but just then, Elphaba's heel landed on the top of his own foot – hard - and he yelped, his hold on her loosening for just a moment. She immediately wriggled herself free from his grip and lurched forward; but Jermain was faster, grabbing the raven-haired witch again, and Kristoff quickly recovered enough to help the other main to restrain her.
"It's Glinda and Fiyero," Anna said quietly, looking at her sister sadly. "They've been taken captive."
A shiver ran down Elsa's spine. "Taken captive? How? By whom?"
"That woman," said Anna. "Morrible. Glinda and Fiyero had gone for a walk, you know, to talk about what happened between them; and then the Gale Force suddenly showed up, led by Morrible. We heard their screams and Elphaba and the boys tried to get to them, Elphaba even tried to strike Morrible with her magic, but they had horses and they were gone before we knew it. Morrible said that she would let them go if Elphaba turns herself in."
"Which is exactly what I'm going to do if these two morons would just let me go!" Elphaba yelled, still struggling.
Elsa was shocked. "You're not turning yourself in! She'd kill you!" she protested.
"That's what we tried to tell her," Jermain said tiredly.
"I don't care!" Elphaba insisted, writhing. "Better me than them!"
"Elphaba, just listen!" Anna tried desperately, but the green girl was beyond reason now.
Elsa stepped up in front of her. "Elphaba?"
The raven-haired witch stopped struggling and looked at the other girl. "Elsa," she said pleadingly. "You told me about your past. You of all people know what it's like to lose someone you love."
Elsa bit her lip and looked down.
"I can't lose anyone else," Elphaba went on. "You understand that, don't you? Especially not them. Please."
The white-haired girl slowly shook her head, raising her gaze again to look at the other girl. "Elphaba…"
"Imagine it not being Glinda and Fiyero," Elphaba interrupted her. "If it were, say, Anna and Jermain that were taken captive by Morrible, and it was you she wanted to surrender… what would you do? If you had to choose between their life or yours?"
Elsa looked into the other girl's desperate eyes. She would rather get herself killed than them, just like Elphaba, and they both knew it.
Elsa lowered her eyes and Elphaba knew she had won.
"Let her go," the snow queen said softly.
Anna's eyes widened. "Elsa!"
"Do it!" the girl snapped, and Kristoff and Jermain both let go of Elphaba.
The green girl took a few deeps breaths, massaging her arms lightly. Then she turned to hug Elsa briefly. "Thank you for all your help," she said. "And… and good luck. With everything." She looked at Anna. "Don't give up on your sister."
Anna shook her head. "Never."
Elphaba turned her gaze to Jermain. "You'll get your brother back," she said, her voice a bit choked. "I promise."
He sighed. "Elphaba, you know as well as I do that my brother is nothing without you," he pointed out gently. "We can think of something. Let's just make a plan…"
"I can't." Elphaba shook her head. "I can't waste any more time. Just… just make sure he gets over it. He'll find someone else to love in time… someone to be happy with. Someone who is not green… or a wanted criminal," she added sarcastically.
Before anyone could respond to that, she mounted her broom and looked back over her shoulder once. "Bye."
With that, she took off.
"We're just going to let her go?" Kristoff asked, a bit bewildered. "Let her fly off to her death just like that?"
"No," Elsa said, turning around. "Of course not." She stared after Elphaba, who was already high up in the air. "I'm going after her."
She couldn't control her powers and that scared her, but this was bigger than all that. This was about someone's life. Just this once, she could possibly save a life with her powers instead of taking one, and she would. She would do anything she had to. Maybe this time, she could be making good.
Kristoff grinned at her and swung himself onto Sven's back, helping Anna up as well. "We've got your back."
Hans looked about to protest, but Jermain was faster. "We'll go into town to get ourselves a horse," he said. "We'll meet you in the Emerald City?"
Elsa nodded gratefully. "I'll see you all there."
She created an ice slope and jumped, sliding down it, creating more snow and ice to glide on as she went.
"This is all your fault!"
Fiyero stared at his blonde ex-girlfriend. "What?"
"You heard me!" She pointed a neatly manicured finger in his face. "If you had just stayed with me instead of running off to do Oz-knows-what with Elphie, none of this would have happened!"
"What?!" he exclaimed, getting worked up himself now. "Well, maybe if you hadn't meddled with Elphaba's business the way you always do with everyone's business, this wouldn't have happened either! If you hadn't followed them, Morrible wouldn't even know –"
"Oh, don't be so stupid, Fifi! Of course she would know! Morrible knows everything! She has eyes everywhere, and she has magic!"
"Fair enough, but that doesn't make it my fault!"
"Yes, it does!"
"Excuse me, who exactly dragged me out into the woods to talk? Who separated us from the others, practically begging someone to capture us?"
"You agreed!"
"That's beside the point!"
Glinda crossed her arms and turned away from him, huffing. Fiyero lowered himself onto the cot in a corner of the cell and buried his face in his hands. "Oz, I hope she's smart enough not to come here."
Glinda snorted, a sound so unladylike – and so un-Glinda-like – that it made Fiyero look up. "See? That just proves you don't really know her. At all. You left me for someone you barely even know!"
"Are we going to do this again?! I thought you said you understand!"
"I do! I don't! I… Whatever, Fiyero." She huffed again. "My point is that if you would really know Elphie, you'd also know that she would never, ever be smart when it comes to the ones she loves. She's coming. And she won't have a plan. She's going to turn herself in, just like that, to save us both."
Fiyero blanched.
"And that, my dearest Fifi," Glinda said, yanking a hairpin from her bun and pushing it into the lock of the cell door, "is why we have to get out of here before she arrives."
He watched her for a few long, long moments before he spoke again. "You really have no idea how to pick a lock, do you?"
Glinda just kept on poking into the lock with the hairpin almost desperately. "I've seen Elphie do it," she protested in a high voice. "Surely it can't be that hard?"
Fiyero sighed and let himself fall back onto the cot.
"We should never have walked away," he muttered. "You were right in that we needed to talk, but we could've done that at the edge of the clearing or something. We didn't have to go for an actual walk, away from all the others."
Glinda bristled and straightened her back menacingly. "Now wait a clock-tick. Are you blaming me now for taking you on a walk?" she demanded. "If you're going to play the blame game, then blame Hans – he's the one that suggested we talk and he's also the one that suggested we take a walk together!"
Fiyero sat up straight, suddenly alert. "Hans suggested that?"
She huffed and nodded. "And I thought it was a good idea. Oh my Oz, you're right! It is my fault!" she wailed, but Fiyero wasn't paying attention anymore.
"Hans suggested it," he muttered, rising to his feet and starting to pace the length of their cell. "Glin… Why would he do such a thing?"
"Um… because he was trying to help?" She waved one hand in the air impatiently, but then her baby blue eyes grew wide. "Wait. You think he knew?"
"I think the timing is suspicious," Fiyero corrected her. "I mean, think about it – Hans suggests you and I take a walk, and minutes after we set out to do just that, the Gale Force jumps out from between the trees. How did they know we were there? How did they know that you and I would be there?"
Glinda shrugged. "I think you're being a bit paranoid now," she said. "Maybe the Gale Force were just there coincidentally."
Fiyero scoffed. "And Morrible leading them was a coincidence, too?"
"Maybe." Glinda hesitated. "Or, well… maybe they found out where we were somehow, and they were just waiting for some of us to get separated from the others so that they could capture us…"
Fiyero shook his head. "Glinda, that doesn't make any sense," he said. "Morrible wouldn't stay out there in the cold waiting for something that might never happen. She knew we were guarded and she probably suspected that it would be kind of hard to separate us. We needed a push… a push that Hans gave us. Yes, I'm suspicious. I think he works with her."
Glinda actually giggled. "Oh, Fifi, you can be so silly at times!" She shook her head. "Hans, working with Morrible? Of course not. He's Anna's fiancé. He's from Arendelle – or the Southern Isles, whatever… my point is that he's not from Oz. He doesn't even know Morrible. And besides," she sniffed haughtily and tossed her hair, "he's cute."
Fiyero stared at her in exasperation. "So he can't be evil because he's cute?" he asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.
Glinda nodded happily. "Finally, he gets it," she sighed.
Fiyero closed his eyes for a moment, trying to compose himself. "Never mind," he said, rubbing his forehead in an attempt to ward off an impending headache. "Just… never mind." He'd deal with Hans himself. "It doesn't matter what happened. We just have to find some way to escape before Elphaba gets here."
"How?" Glinda asked, sighing dramatically.
Fiyero rolled his eyes and extended his hand towards her. "Give me that hairpin."
Also, a very happy new year to all of you! :) Tomorrow will be really weird for me. It'd be like:
2 pm - send Carlie (vinkunwildflowerqueen) a Twitter message to wish her a happy new year (she lives in Australia)
3 pm - send Elizabeth (musicgal3) a Twitter message to wish her a happy new year (she lives in another part of Australia)
midnight - send Xanne-Li (Faeyero Tiggular) a Whatsapp message to wish her a happy new year (along with all my other friends) (yay, someone in the same timezone)
1 am - send Stephanie (xXStefyXx) a Twitter/Facebook message to wish her a happy new year (because she's in the UK)
And then there's most of you guys in the USA... well you're just going to have to wait until I update next :P.
Time difference is a weird thing.
Anywho, I'll give you all an update on GoGGP tomorrow, and that will be the last one of the year! :) (I might get inspiration for a New Year's one-shot tonight and put that one up tomorrow as well...)
