Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.
The first thing Elena Thropp thought when she gasped for air once she swam to the surface of the ocean was that the water was cold. It was so cold, she almost couldn't move. She couldn't even think straight. Her limbs felt numb already. Her ears hurt because of the screams of the ex passengers of the ship. They were shouting people's names. Shouting for help.
Ellie remembered that she had been holding someone's hand, but both of her hands were empty. Who was it again? Oh yes, her aunt with a severe allergy to water. "Elphaba!" Ellie shouted along with the masses of people. "Elphaba! Please answer me!"
The moon wasn't out, and she couldn't see well. She didn't know where Elphaba could possibly be. She needed to find her or else she should have just got on one of the damn lifeboats when she had the chance. "Elphaba!" Ellie panicked when someone grabbed her lifejacket. She screamed, but when she saw who it was, she calmed down. Only slightly. It was Elphaba. And she was cringing in pain, stifling her screams.
"We'll be okay," Elphaba said weakly.
"Ellie, follow me." It was Dorothy's ghost. "She can't see me. Only you. Get her to swim. Follow me." She had nothing to lose except her life, although if she stayed there, she'd die anyway.
"Elphaba, please try to kick your legs for me, please," Ellie shouted over the chaotic shouts and splashing. Without any questions, Elphaba kicked, and Ellie had to swim with one arm while the other dragged Elphaba by the lifejacket. She followed Dorothy as fast as she could, making sure that people wouldn't use herself as a floatation device. She had seen a man push another man down under the water in hysteria. The man never came up.
Elphaba was growing weaker, the water burning her skin. Ellie had to pull with all her might. "Here," Dorothy gestured towards the large chunk of debris that was floating on the dark ocean water. "You will wait here and hope for someone to come back. This is the most I can help."
"Why are you helping me?" Ellie questioned. The ghost simply smiled and disappeared without answering her question. "Elphaba, you have to get up onto this. It'll get you out of the water," Ellie explained, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. She put her green hands on it and pushed up while Ellie stabilizing it. When the witch was getting onto it, she looked as if she was in intense pain. She didn't complain, and she didn't scream. She just got up onto the piece of debris from the ship.
"There, you'll be okay now," Ellie said. She couldn't even feel her lips moving as she spoke. Elphaba lied on her back, holding Ellie's hand.
"Get up here," Elphaba said and squeezed her hand.
"If I do, then it might make water go on it," Ellie said, referring to the piece of debris.
"If you stay in the water, it'll kill you. The temperature of the water is too cold. Get up here now."
"But it'll burn you."
"I think I'll survive," Elphaba said. "Besides, you don't weigh much. Not a lot of water will get on here," she said and grit her teeth in pain. The brunette didn't argue, so she carefully got on the piece of debris, most likely a wall or panel, and sat on it. Surprisingly, no water was getting onto the raft. She grabbed Elphaba's hand and desperately wanted her pain to go away.
Then, she remembered how she had stuffed those oil bottles in her bag. Releasing the older woman's hand, she began to dig through it. She took one of them out. "What do you have there?"
"Oil. I took some from the bathroom in the stateroom," Ellie explained, speaking loudly due to the intense screaming in the background. Her throat burned, but she couldn't figure out why. She shook that thought out of her head and poured the oil on her hands, then began rubbing them on Elphaba's. "Better?"
"Much," Elphaba replied. Ellie ran it up the green woman's arms, rubbed it into her face and her neck. "Thank you, my pretty. Lay down with me." The twelve year old obliged and put her head on Elphaba's shoulder so that she'd fit on the debris. A green arm in black wrapped around her.
"Why'd you call me that?"
"Because you're pretty and you're mine," Elphaba said.
"Really? I thought you hated me."
"I could never hate you." They were whispering at this point. Ellie wanted to keep talking so she wouldn't fall asleep and she'd know she or Elphaba wasn't dead. She had to keep it up. "I was just angry that you'd be leaving me."
"If I learned anything from tonight, it's that I won't be able to leave you."
"Don't let me hold you back."
"You won't." Ellie snuggled closer to Elphaba, trying to make the chill go away. She was shaking because she was wet and cold whereas her aunt was shivering from being wet, cold, and in intense pain.
"Tell Glinda that I love her and make sure she gets on with her life. Tell Nessa I forgive her, and I love her. And I want you to know you made the last two years of my life worth living. Thank you, my pretty."
"I won't allow you to say goodbye! Not yet! Not until you're a hundred!" Ellie cried.
"My time is up," Elphaba smiled through her pain. "Promise me you won't fall asleep. A boat will come for you. You'll be saved. You'll live until you're ancient. You'll get a great education, go to college, get married, have a couple of kids."
"Then you have to promise you'll stay awake and that you'll grow old, too."
"I will stay awake as long as I can. That I can promise. But you have to promise me when a boat comes, even if I'm dead, you have to get its attention and save yourself." Ellie nodded and they stopped talking. It was too hard and painful to speak anymore. Ellie could feel her body trying to keep itself as warm as possible, but it didn't work at all. Every moment that went by, the screams and splashes were getting quieter and quieter until there was not a sound, only the dead silence of the night. The water wasn't even making any noise.
"It got quiet," Ellie whispered hoarsely. "Elphaba, why did it get quiet?" She moved her head to look up at the green witch, but found that her eyes were closed and she just noted her arm was limp around Ellie's small frame. In the distance, she could see a light shining brightly, but couldn't make out the words. She squinted when the light came too close, but then she realized it was a lifeboat! Her vision had become distorted and hazy, but she knew what it was. She sat up and began to shake Elphaba. "Wake up, Elphaba, there's a boat! It's coming to save us." Her voice was barely audible this time, cracking every other syllable she spoke. She shook the green witch, but to no avail. She must be dead.
Ellie rested her head on Elphaba's chest, letting her frozen tears fall. But then, she felt her head going up and down, indicating Elphaba's breathing; life. "I'll save you," Ellie said.
"Anybody out there?" one of the stewards was shouting at the top of his lungs into the cold night air.
"Over here," Ellie attempted to shout. The man didn't hear her. So, Ellie did what she had to do: she reached into her bag to find something that could help her in this predicament. When she couldn't find anything, she resorted to splashing the water with her hands. The coldness didn't hurt her joints anymore because her body had become numb. She would bet that her fingernails were blue.
"Where are you?" the man shouted. Ellie began splashing more wildly, making sure to hit the water harder when the light came closer. The light was fixed on her, and the lifeboat made its way over.
"We're going to be okay, Elphaba," Ellie whispered.