A Million Dreams
The week passed slowly for the group of friends as they completed their exams.
Today, despite the fact that she had three exams left, Elphaba hid among the blankets on her bed, trying to ignore Glinda's voice as she sang happy birthday to her.
"Elphie! I know you're not sleeping!" Glinda climbed on to her friend's bed, clambering over the lanky body beneath and tried to pull the blanket off. "Elphie!"
"Let me sleep in! Please?"
"Nope. Come on, you know we have exams to finish."
Elphaba groaned and kicked the blonde off the bed and the blankets off her body. "Fine!"
Glinda rolled off the bed with a yelp and she jumped up, grabbing Elphaba by the arm and dragged her up off the bed, shoving her towards the bathroom. "Shower." she pointed to the door, ignoring the scowl on Elphaba's face.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get out of it, Elphaba stomped to the bathroom, shutting herself inside while Glinda set about decorating the dorm with a pink and green banner and colourful streamers.
Fifteen minutes later, Elphaba emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered, wrapped up in a towel and her bathrobe, her hair hanging down her back dripping on the floor. She looked around at the newly decorated room, and forced her scowl back on her lips, but seeing the joy and happiness on her friend's face, she did eventually smile. "Glinda..."
"I know you said no fuss... but I just couldn't help myself." Glinda giggled.
The green girl nodded. "Fine... But at least we have our last three exams today."
"Only you would be happy about exams on your birthday," Glinda complained, with a smile.
Elphaba rolled her eyes and sat on her bed, drying her hair with another towel and tying it up in its usual brain, clearly not having the motivation to get the hairdryer on it. She looked up. "No," she said bluntly as Glinda advanced on her. "No makeover. Not this early in the morning."
The blonde pouted. "But-"
"No."
"Fine... But later, before we go out to eat."
Elphaba shrugged. "Fine by me," she spoke and stood up, grabbing out a long black skirt and a plain dark blue blouse from her closet, and she got dressed before pulling on her worn out black boots. She was about to grab her bag from her desk when she was pulled into a hug.
"Happy birthday, Elphie."
Elphaba smiled and hugged back. "Thank you."
Both girls then grabbed their bags and left the dorm, and were greeted, as usual, by their friends waiting for them outside.
"Sweet Oz, I must be dreaming. Fiyero's actually awake and out of bed before noon on an exam day." Elphaba smirked.
"Elphaba actually dreams about me? Now my life is complete." He smirked back. "Happy birthday."
"You wish I did." she rolled her eyes, forcing herself not to blush or react to his words, but she felt her face flush as she received more birthday wishes from the group, not used to the attention. "Thank you."
After they ate their breakfast, the six of them headed for their first exam, Economics.
"I hate exams," Boq stated with a dark look after they walked out at the end of the exam.
There were murmurs of agreement from his friends.
"I have to admit... I didn't really like that one... I definishly struggled." Elphaba removed her glasses to rub her eyes before placing them back on her nose.
Deciding it was too early to comment on the fact that Elphaba had admitted she struggled, Fiyero settled for a noncommittal sound of agreement. "Yeah..."
"It would be easier for some of us if one of us didn't fall asleep during the exam," Ollivander commented.
"I did not fall asleep... I just... rested my eyes." Fiyero pouted, putting an arm around Elphaba's shoulders.
"Like I said, we're lucky he turned up at all," Elphaba smirked again, looking up at him.
"Fae!" He pouted again like a child, and she just laughed in response.
"Come on... let's just get this next one out of the way and then we have a whole hour to ourselves." Nessa piped up, wheeling herself ahead.
"Great! I can catch up on sleep. Ow!" Fiyero scowled, his free hand rubbing the spot on the back of his head where Elphaba had whacked him.
"It's actually one last study session, not the time for a nap. What exactly were you doing last night?"
"Avaric... might've... dragged me into town." He admitted slowly. "There may have been alcohol involved... How much, I can't recall."
She rolled her eyes at him. "So it really is a miracle you're awake and coherent."
He grinned at her and they made their way to their next exam.
Later that afternoon, with their exams finally over, Glinda danced around her friends singing her happiness that their mental torment was over. "And we can still go out for your birthday, Elphie!"
Elphaba went from laughing, to wide-eyed, open-mouthed shock in an instant. "What?"
"Oh, don't look so terrified! It's just a meal! And we can give you your presents!"
She groaned and curled away from her into the nearest body, Fiyero just grinned and hugged her to his side.
"I promise, it's nothing bad, Fae." He told her. 'At least, I hope not.' he added to himself.
She whined in his ear. "I hate all the fuss and attention."
"Let us spoil you, please." He smiled. "Have any of my promises been broken?" He asked, she shook her head in response and he grinned again. "This will be no different. And... if you struggle with what Glinda shoves you in... Purple suits you."
She blushed and said nothing else.
Glinda watched them, silently noting that they made an adorable picture, and they hadn't even opened up about their feelings for each other yet. She'd just hoped that he understood the note she'd passed to him a week ago. 'She loves the night sky and the stars.' In the blonde's head, it was a romantic setting, the best for her Elphie. Finally, she decided to pull her away from him. "Come on, Elphie, we must get ready. Nessa, do you want to join us? We could easily bring our things to your room."
Nessa's eyes lit up and she smiled warmly. "I'd love to. If it's not too much trouble."
At that, Elphaba couldn't help a smile of her own spreading across her face.
Glinda clapped her hands, squealing happily, she spun on the spot, kissing Ollivander soundly on the lips and took hold of Nessa's chair from a bemused Munchkin and a green witch on her tail looking as though this was an everyday occurrence.
"This is why I will never understand the fairer sex." Ollivander looked confused at the two males left standing with him.
"They're not meant to be understood, my friend." Fiyero slapped a hand on his shoulder. "They're sent to enchant and bewitch us, and we do their bidding."
"And we love them all the more for it," Boq spoke up.
The two witches dropped Nessa off at her room before heading to their own.
Glinda skipped over to her closet, flinging it open, searching for the perfect dress for Elphaba. "Are you going to be of help, or do I need to choose for you?"
Elphaba looked up from her desk after a moment, remembering Fiyero's earlier comment. "Purple," she answered finally. She had to admit, the colour was growing on her. At least it wasn't pink.
Glinda spun to look at her, stunned for a moment.
"What?" Elphaba was suddenly nervous.
"You helped!" she dashed to her and hugged her. "Oh, I'll get you looking into other colours... Of course, no pink." she pouted. "But purple is a start!" she ran back to her closet and pulled out the few purple dresses she had, being mindful of the height difference between them, before picking out her own dress. "Nessa can help us decide..." she nodded to herself. "Elphie, can you get my curlers and my makeup bag please?"
The green witch remained silent through her friend's ramblings until she was asked to collect the desired items. "Sure." she nodded and grabbed them, and the two of them left their dorm, heading back down to Nessa's room, passing Madame Morrible on the way.
"Girls, what are you doing?"
"Makeovers!" Glinda stated as though it were obvious with a grin on her face.
"She wants to make more of an effort tonight and wants Nessa to join us. So the three of us are getting ready together." Elphaba clarified.
"And then we can festivate Elphie's birthday now that those horrendible exams are done!"
That seemed to appease the woman. "Congratulotions and happy birthday, Miss Elphaba."
"Thank you, Madame." Elphaba forced a smile this time, her skin crawling just being near the woman. She gladly followed Glinda into her sister's room, shuddering. That woman still gave her the creeps.
"Thank you for letting me be a part of this, Glinda." Nessa smiled seeing them.
"Of course, Nessa. You're a friend, and it would be a good thing to do together once in a while." Glinda grinned.
"I hope you know what monster you've unleashed." Elphaba smirked, yelping in surprise when the curling tongs were ripped from her fingers and whacked on her head. "What? I'm playing nicely with others!"
Nessa laughed happily.
Two and a half hours later, the girls were finally ready. Glinda had finished with their makeup.
Glinda had changed into a pale yellow sundress that flowed down just past her knees, her hair curled perfectly. Nessa had opted to keep her hair pin straight down her back, her peach coloured dress reached to her feet, with her favourite jewelled shoes peeking out. Elphaba had been talked into having her hair wavy, her friend and sister had both chosen an elbow-length sleeved deep purple coloured dress, the skirt was the same length as Glinda's. Nervously, the green witch fiddled with the sleeve.
"Elphie... What is it?"
"Can't... can't the skirt be longer?"
Glinda smiled softly. "Help me with a spell?"
Elphaba nodded, smiling a little, and they both held each other's hands, softly chanting a spell that made the green witch's skirt longer to reach her ankles.
Nessa looked away for a moment. 'Must she do that? She knows I hate it...'
"You look beautiful, Elphie. The dress is perfect for you."
Elphaba smiled but didn't believe her. She would humour her though, and act as though she did.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Glinda gasped as she saw Nessa wheel across the room and grab her gift bag. "I'll meet you both out there," And with that, she gathered her belongings and left the room.
Elphaba shook her head, smiling after her friend.
"Fabala, you know I don't like that magic in front of me."
"I..." Elphaba had forgotten. "I'm sorry, Nessa..." She bit her lip guiltily.
Nessa nodded, and she wheeled herself out, leaving her sister to follow her.
"Glinda's just..." Elphaba trailed off, seeing the three males waiting for them.
Fiyero looked over at her and his breath caught in his throat. "Wow..." he had said it so quietly he wasn't even sure he'd said it.
Elphaba looked up to see him staring, and she self-consciously crossed her arms around her chest. "Is it too much?"
"Never." He told her truthfully. Beautiful didn't cover it, she absolutely stole his breath away.
She smiled a little, not sure what to make of the depth of emotion conveyed in his eyes. It both terrified and intrigued her in equal measure.
"Okay, let's go!" Glinda bounded over to them with a multitude of bags in her hand of varying sizes.
"Oh, sweet Oz..." Elphaba muttered, though her smile remained, turning to walk away.
Glinda handed one of her bags to Fiyero when her friend's back was turned.
The group headed to the Dog in the Roses, claiming their usual booth and ordered their food. This time it was Glinda and Ollivander's turn to get the drinks.
"You're not usually this quiet." Elphaba lightly nudged his arm with her own.
"Huh?"
"Are you alright?"
"Uh... Yeah. It's just taking a while for my brain to stop hurting from all the thinking." He said easily with a grin, hoping it hid his nerves.
"I'm shocked. Fiyero Tiggular actually has a brain." she teased.
He laughed easily then. "Yes, Miss Elphaba, I do. And it's entirely your fault."
"Mine? How so?"
"You woke it up."
She rolled her eyes, laughing.
Nessa was the first to break when Glinda and Ollivander returned, and she passed her gift bag across the table to her sister. "Happy birthday, Fabala."
Elphaba took it gratefully. "You know none of you really needed to do this," she spoke as she dug through a layer of teared up pieces of multi-coloured tissue paper for the small box. She'd damn Glinda to hell and back for that idea if she wasn't excited to see what it was.
"We wanted to, Elphie." Glinda smiled.
Elphaba slowly opened the box to reveal a thin gold necklace with a small rose pendant dangling from it. She looked up at her sister quizzically.
"I told father I wanted something of Mama's..." Nessa confessed.
The older Thropp's breath caught in her throat with a soft gasp and she swore for a moment her heart stopped. "Th-this was Mama's...?"
Nessa nodded, looking panicked. She'd never seen such a reaction from her sister and feared she'd done something wrong. "Oh, Fabala I didn't mean to upset you!"
Fiyero held up a hand gently to silence the girl. "She's just shocked." he mouthed across the table to her, and Nessa gave a shaky nod.
"You didn't... I... I'm not sad..." Elphaba spoke after a moment, confirming what he had thought. She leapt from her seat, clambering over Fiyero to get to her sister and she threw her arms around the girl. "Thank you."
"I wanted you to have something else of hers other than that old bottle." Nessa hugged back and wiped away the few tears that had fallen from her sister's eyes. They were only a few, but at least she knew that they were happy tears.
"Well... my gifts seem rather silly now." Glinda huffed with a giggle, her voice thick with emotion and her eyes suspiciously watery as Elphaba made her way back to her seat.
"Come here," Fiyero told Elphaba gently, taking the box from her and took the necklace out of it.
"I'm sure they won't be, Lin. I'm sure I'll love them anyway." Elphaba smiled as she turned her back to Fiyero slightly, moving her hair out of the way so he could fasten the delicate chain around her neck, shivering slightly as his hands softly grazed the back of her neck, and she let her hair fall back into place, shuffling in her seat again.
Boq handed her his wrapped gift with a grin.
"Thank you." she slowly tore open the package to reveal a book. On closer inspection, she saw it was a sorcery book of her own.
"I didn't know what to get." He shrugged bashfully. "But I was told that there's space in that thing to make up your own spells too, not just what's in there."
Nessa cringed, her action unnoticed by everyone else. 'Why must he encouragerize this foolishness?!'
"No, it's wonderful, thank you, Boq." The green witch smiled. "And it means I don't have to rely on Horrible Morrible all the time now!"
"And trust me, Biq, that's always a good thing!" Glinda nodded.
"Boq." Elphaba and Fiyero corrected in unison.
"That's what I said! And stop doing that!" Glinda pouted, before handing over five bags of her own. The way her friends were always on the same wavelength unnerved her slightly.
"Great Unnamed God, Lin! What...?!" Elphaba took them tentatively.
"I told her to put my name to these too... since I didn't know what to get." Ollivander piped up guiltily.
"Oh, no you don't!" a green finger pointed in his direction. "Don't feel guilty for whatever she does. That frilly cupcake is as sweet as she is dangerous. I adore her and love her dearly, but I'm not fooled."
Glinda just giggled. "Just open them, Elphie!"
She obeyed slowly unwrapping three new dresses - one navy blue, one silver and one a light purple, of course, all in her size. A fourth bag contained another book - surely that had to be Ollivander or Boq's influence... the fifth bag contained a new pair of boots, similar to the ones in her room. "Well, at least the only sign of pink is the bags," she smirked and hugged her friend as their food arrived. "Thank you." she smiled.
"I still say that pink goes well with green." Glinda smiled and hugged back, squeaking when she was jabbed in the ribs by a pointed fingernail.
Fiyero was thankful for the food arriving, for he didn't want to give his present in front of the rest of them, preferring to have his own private moment with her, he just hoped she'd go along with it.
Elphaba picked at the food that was to be shared between the six of them, the sorcery book open in her lap, reading it with Glinda.
"Ooh, Elphie! We could practise these over the summer!"
Elphaba nodded her agreement. "I was thinking that too."
The group chattered mindlessly about varying topics, each of them just glad of the other's company, and eventually the food was eaten, and the drinks were consumed. The green witch hadn't even noticed Fiyero had gone until he was back with a small cake topped with a lit candle. She glanced up and felt her face flush. "What...?"
He set it in front of her, kissed her head and sat back down beside her. "Happy birthday, Fae."
Her pulse raced, and she didn't know if the butterflies in her stomach were caused by him or the surprise cake in front of her.
"Make a wish, Elphie!" Glinda urged. "And then you can blow out the candle."
What a foolish notion... Elphaba thought, but closed her eyes anyway, for once, keeping quiet for a moment before she opened them again and blew out the candle. After that, the cake was cut up evenly between the group, and Elphaba was the first to take a bite. She looked up and around at Fiyero. He honestly never ceased to amaze her. "How did you know...?"
"Nessa told me that red velvet was your favourite." He admitted quietly.
She smiled widely and nodded. "It is," she told him. It was the little things that made her fall more in love with him, and she saw no way of stopping.
He stood up after a while. "I'm going out for a walk... Fae, will you join me?"
She looked up, confused. "It's dark outside now, and what about the others?"
"We'll be fine," Nessa told her, Boq nodding in agreement.
"I'm gonna head back to our room. I do have to clean it up after all." Glinda smiled.
"And you should know by now that I would never let anything happen to you. Come on. Please?"
Elphaba nodded with a smile. That, she did know. With one last look around the table, she pushed herself up. "Alright, fine."
He grinned, watching her hug Nessa and Glinda goodbye, and he quickly hid his gift bag in his coat, then held out his arm for her. "Shall we?"
She laughed despite herself and linked her arm with his as they left.
"D'you think he'll finally have a pair big enough to do it?" Boq asked.
"He'd better. I went through an awful lot of planning last week for this." Glinda replied. "Of course, it was all started by Nessa though." she amended, seeing the look on Nessa's face.
Ollivander chuckled and held Glinda close to him. "At least we made today good for her."
"She loved it, didn't she?" Glinda was hopeful.
Nessa nodded. "She did. At least she looked like she did anyway..."
Fiyero walked with her toward a park in the quieter part of town, their conversation had flowed easily since they'd left their group, despite his nerves. Talking with her always seemed to have a calming effect on him. Eventually, Elphaba grew silent, and he looked at her to see what had caught her attention. The stars... he realised with a smile. So Glinda's note had been right. He took the moment to remove the small bag from inside his coat. "Fae?"
"Hm?" She tore her eyes away from the sky to give him her full attention.
He held out the bag to her. "The last present, I promise." he smiled.
She blushed again and took it, cautiously opening it. She gasped softly as she picked out the silver frame that held the picture taken from their day at the carnival. "It... it's beautiful."
"There's one more thing in there." He grinned.
"Can you...?" she held out the picture frame for him to hold and she dug into the bag again, pulling out the small jewellery box. "Fiyero... what did you...?"
"Open it."
She shook her head. She didn't dare.
"Fae, it's alright. Open it."
Slowly, she opened it and looked up with tears in her eyes the instant she saw that little bracelet she'd had her eye on that day. "Yero..." Why was she so ozdamned emotional today?
Taking the bag from her, he put the frame back inside and gently took hold of her arms. "Are they okay?"
She nodded as those cursed tears fell. Stop being so stupid! she scolded herself, but she couldn't help it. "They're perfect... Thank you."
He smiled and lifted a hand to wipe them away from her face. "Do you want me to put that on you?"
"Yes, please..." her voice was quiet as he took the bracelet from its box, fastening it around her slender green wrist. They both sat down in the grass, looking up at the sky in peace, and Elphaba had managed to calm her emotions.
"Fae... I need to tell you something... And... I'm not entirely sure how to." he spoke after a long while.
She looked up at him expectantly, her tears now long gone. "What is it?"
He looked into those dark, trusting eyes and he swallowed nervously. What was wrong with him? He'd talked to hundreds of girls, seduced and wooed plenty of them easily. Why was he now suddenly so nervous? He was a grown, twenty-two-year-old man, for Oz's sakes, not a scrawny teenage boy!
"Yero?"
"Do you remember that day with the Lion Cub?" he asked stupidly.
She raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going. "Of course..."
"Well, that day, I did a pretty brainless thing... I ran away from you. I used getting the Cub to safety as a cover for my own cowardice." He'd started his ramblings, and now there was no way he'd be able to stop until he'd eventually reached a point. "I was scared because you saw right through e, and you ignited a spark that I didn't know was there until it was too late."
Elphaba sat and listened to him, wisely choosing to remain silent. After all, he seemed to be saying out loud what she'd been thinking and feeling since that day too.
"From that very first day we met, you intrigued me. Yes, I know my driver almost ran you over, and I said a stupid thing." He was thankful for the silence, though his comment did earn him a small chuckle from her at the memory. "But you were so different, nothing like those airheaded girls I've been so used to, and I actually liked it." He continued. "And even after my stupidity, you tolerated me enough to allow me in your presence, albeit because of Glinda. But then you became my best friend, and I know that somewhere along that line I started to fall in love with you. Where on that line, I have no idea... But that day with the Cub made it all the more real."
Her eyes were wide by the end of his speech. Had she heard right? Surely this was a trick... A bet... This was Glinda's doing, she was sure of it! With fear spiking her heart, fear of the unknown, she searched his eyes desperately for any trace of deceit, or malice or cruelty, only she found nothing but raw honesty and pure, unadulterated love. She shook her head even then, not wanting to believe it. "No... No, this is a trick... or... or a cruel dream and I'm going to wake up any minute and you won't have even said all those things."
Knowing he'd get this type of reaction from her, he quickly rose to his knees and pulled her with him. "Fae, look at me." He paused as she did. "I promise you there are no tricks. This is not a dream. If it is, then I don't ever want to wake up, because I am falling helplessly in love with you and I don't ever want to stop." He held her hands tighter as she tried to pull away.
"Yero, stop..." She looked at the floor.
"No." He told her gently.
Slowly she stopped struggling and forced herself to look up at those stormy blue eyes once more.
Gently he placed his hands on her face so she couldn't look away again. "I promise you I'm telling the truth. Nobody has ever made me feel the way you do. Nobody else has made me want to become a better man. Nobody else saw what you did, that blissfully ignorant, lonely idiot who didn't think he was good for anything."
"But, Fiyero..." she started, finally finding strength in her voice again. "You're forgetting one thing..."
"What?"
"I'm green... and people like me don't get to be happy."
"Oh, my darling Fae, you're never usually wrong." He looked at her. "But, for once, I think you are. You deserve the whole world's happiness and more. I'll even come with you to the Emerald City when you graduate. I don't have to take the throne for a few years anyway, as far as I know, my parents are not going to die yet." He smirked. "So I could do whatever I wanted until then. I could even join the Wizard's Military."
She scoffed. "You sound like you have it all planned out."
"Because I'm an optimist. And you made me think." He grinned then.
Yes, he was, and she loved him for it. Her eternal ray of sunshine. She sighed softly.
"Fae... I love you. And I know how hard it is for you to say those words, but I do need to know how you feel, and that I haven't just made a total fool of myself." He shuffled on his knees after the long silence.
She looked up at him again. "Oh, Yero... you are a fool," she told him fondly, and her hand involuntarily reached up to touch his face. "Yes, it is difficult for me to say it... But, my love, you have nothing to worry about..." She couldn't stop herself now even if she wanted to. "I never in my wildest dreamings saw this coming... I hold that day with the Cub so close to my heart... But I was so sure I'd imagined certain things. Like the way that you looked at me that day. I'd convinced myself you were just trying to do a nice thing because I was your girlfriend's friend and you didn't want to see me upset... And yet here you are telling me you love me and..." She trailed off her rambling. "I have known from that day in the clearing that I love you."
He grinned widely again, his fingers playing with the soft curls of her hair as he listened to her. "Elphaba, would you do me the greatest honour or being my girlfriend?"
She smiled shyly, unable to speak again, so she nodded as she blushed. Oh, her brainless fool... How dare he run away with her heart like that? She barely had time to think any more when he slowly closed the gap between them and he softly kissed her. She closed her eyes and happily responded, bringing herself closer to him.
Yes, this would be a day she'd remember for the rest of her life. Even if she only had this one moment with him she'd be happy, though she did hope he wouldn't regret it by the next morning.
They spent the rest of the evening lying on the grass, curled up in each other's arms and looking up at the stars until Fiyero decided to make the first move to get up.
"Come on, it's already late, and you're falling asleep." He grinned as she pouted, but she allowed him to pull her to her feet. He walked her back to campus and back to the dorm building, his arm wrapped securely around her the whole journey back. "Goodnight, Fae." He smiled and kissed her softly.
Elphaba smiled against his lips and she sighed happily. "Night, Yero." She walked inside the dorm building and up to her room, seeing Glinda waiting for her expectantly.
Glinda took one look at the green girl's face and she squealed happily, jumping up from her bed and ran to her, tackling her into a hug.
Elphaba couldn't help but laugh as she hugged back. "Oz... Lin, I feel like I'm dreaming..."
"You're not. It's real, and I'm so happy for you!"
"Are you sure you're alright with...?"
"Elphie, you and Fiyero are perfect together." Glinda tucked a loose strand of hair behind her friend's ear. "Yes, I was jealous at first, but now I can see how much he loves you, and you love him."
Elphaba nodded, deeming it enough that she had her best friend's blessing. She allowed Glinda to lead her to her bed where they talked long into the night before eventually settling down to sleep.