Chapter 10: Wedding Bells.
All across Oz a magic skrying portal filled the skies. The citizens of Oz gasped as they watched the battle between the Emerald Queen and Morrible. At first they cheered for Morrible, but after Morrible confessed to only being out for herself and willingly hurting and killing Ozians to gain greater power, at long last they saw the truth. With the truth revealed, all of Oz began to acknowledge the rightful Queen.
Raga wasted no time freeing Elphaba and Fiyero. She removed the collar from Fiyero's neck and healed all his wounds. She then told them what she had done to Morrible and declared that they were now free citizens of Oz. Elphaba nearly collapsed, but Glinda caught her and with Fiyero's help, managed to get her to a bed in the palace.
"Is it really over?" Elphaba whispered weakly.
"Yes. It's over," said Raga as she burned the Grimmerie, destroying that foul book once and for all. "Rest now, Elphaba. You've had a terrible time." Raga gently stroked her cousin's head.
Elphaba's eyes rolled back in her head as she fell asleep, emotionally exhausted. Glinda nearly collapsed herself and retired to her own chambers. Fiyero rested by Elphaba's side and Raga left to straighten out all the chaos she had caused in Oz.
Niara had called out all the other creatures in hiding, from the Animals to the rest of the light-sprites. With their help, Raga was able to quickly restore order to Oz and eradicate any remaining threats. With the balance restored, Raga changed the name of the Emerald City to the Jade City and the name of the palace there to the Jade Palace, so there would be no confusion with her Palace. She appointed an honorable group of Ozians to oversee affairs there and took Elphaba, Fiyero, and now Glinda back to the True Emerald Palace.
Glinda was shocked when she saw the Emerald Palace. It was like someone had carved it out of a single, giant emerald. Raga smiled and led her to the suite of rooms that would be hers. Glinda squealed in delight! Everything was of a beautiful, green, crystalline structure; the walls, the floor, the ceiling, even the furniture. The large four poster bed had a luxurious feather bed on it with Cornosian cotton sheets and wool blankets. Glinda swore she had never felt such fine quality sheets and blankets before.
"I take it you approve?" Raga asked smiling.
Glinda squealed again and threw her arms around Raga in a bone crushing hug. "Oh, my Oz! I love it! You are nothing like I thought you'd be, Raga. I thought you might be worse than Morrible, but now I see that you are very much like Elphie!"
"I'm glad to hear it. Now can you please give me back the use of my lungs?" Raga chuckled.
"Oh! Sorry! Um, what should I call you? You know, since you're like the Queen. Should I call you Your Ozness or Your Majesty?" Glinda babbled a bit, suddenly feeling nervous again.
Raga laughed. "Just Raga is fine! I'm not a stickler for formality. I prefer to be comfortable and casual with close friends and family."
"Close friends?! We're close friends? But, you don't even know me," Glinda stammered.
"Any close friend of Elphaba's is a close friend of mine. Don't worry, Glinda. We'll get to know each other quite well soon enough. I expect Fiyero has formally proposed by now."
As if on cue, Elphaba's rather uncharacteristic shriek of, "YES!" reverberated throughout the Palace.
Glinda's jaw dropped. "Wow! You're good!"
Raga chuckled. "I may have been stuck in the Badlands alone for a thousand years, but I know enough about love to know that those two were destined for each other."
"So, you, me, Elphie, dress shopping ASAP. Oh, by the way, Elphie hates dress shopping. Heck! She hates shopping in general, but she has to come with us. It's her wedding dress for Oz sake!" Glinda threw her arms in the air dramatically.
Raga laughed. "I know, but I think I can handle, 'I hate shopping,' Elphaba if I can handle, 'I'm going to strangle you because my love is in Southstairs,' Elphaba."
"Wait… Elphie almost strangled you? Sheesh! No wonder you knew Fiyero was gonna propose." Glinda crossed her arms, but chuckled all the same.
Still, dress shopping with Elphaba was anything but easy.
"Come on, Elphie! Try this one." Glinda shoved a long white gown full of ruffles and frills into Elphaba's hands.
"No, Glin. You know how I feel about ruffles and frills," said Elphaba, shoving the dress back into her friend's hands and crossing her arms.
"Hmmm. How about this one, little Elf?" Raga picked a simple white gown off a rack and held it out for Elphaba's inspection.
Elphaba looked at the dress. It was a simple gown, with long off-the-shoulder sleeves and a skirt that would fall to her ankles.
She liked it, but Glinda cut in with the argument, "Oh! That's too simple! C'mon, Elphie! You've got to have some frills and sparkles!"
Raga laughed. "It will have some trimmings, Glinda. Don't worry. I just think this will make an excellent base dress and unless I'm very much mistaken it should fit you perfectly, little Elf."
Elphaba narrowed her eyes. "What are you up to, Ragaleana?"
Raga chuckled. "You'll see."
In the end, Elphaba agreed to the dress and the trio returned to the Emerald Palace. Raga and Glinda sequestered themselves in Raga's room and wouldn't let anyone in. Elphaba tried to cast the skrying spell Raga had taught her, but found that Raga had shielded the room from all magic. Finally, after what seemed like years to the nervous bride-to-be, Raga and Glinda ushered her into her own bedroom. There, they presented her with the dress.
It was still simple, but Raga and Glinda had added some gold embroidered blue trim to the cuffs and waist. They had also added a small amount of silver sequins to the bodice. Elphaba wasn't so sure, but once she had the dress on, she thought again. The trim really brought life to the dress and the sequins added a touch of sparkle, but not too much. All-in-all, Elphaba had to admit she liked it.
Glinda promptly squealed in delight. "The sequins were my idea! I just love shiny things!"
"Yes, I know. I did live in a dorm room with you for nearly three years," Elphaba said dryly.
"Oh, Elphie! I know that deep down inside somewhere, you have an inner girly-girl just waiting to come out!" the blonde exclaimed, dancing around the room.
"Yes, well, we still have to do your hair and makeup, Elf," Raga chuckled at the blonde's exuberance and wondered how Elphaba had survived her.
"Oo! I'll do that! I LOVE doing your hair, Elphie! I missed that soooo much!" Glinda at once grabbed brush, comb, and curling iron and got to work.
Raga couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. Elphaba shot a glare at her.
"What?" she snapped at her laughing cousin.
"I-I just can't picture you letting this blonde bundle of energy anywhere near your hair! Seriously! You two are as opposite as opposite can get! How did you wind up being friends without killing each other?!" Raga held her sides laughing.
"Well, it wasn't easy, but we both made it work. Now hold still, Elphie! You don't want me to burn you with this thing, do you?"
"Sorry, Glin. It's just been so long since we last did this. It's going to take some getting used to." Elphaba held as still as she could.
"Tell me about it! I can't get over how soft and silky your hair is!" Glinda gushed.
Raga finally managed to calm herself. "I guess I can see how you two wound up being friends. You may drive each other crazy at times, but the truth is, you're like sisters. You love each other anyway."
Elphaba looked at her cousin with a smile. "You're pretty smart for someone who was alone in the wilderness for a thousand years."
Raga chuckled, but made no reply.
"There! Done! Now for the makeup!" Glinda was clearly in her own world at the moment as she went to work on Elphaba's makeup.
Soon though, the process was over and Elphaba looked at her reflection. She smiled. Glinda had worked her fashionista magic, gathering her hair in a loose bun on the back of her head and letting the ends fall in loose ringlets down her back. She had also dusted her cheeks with the faintest hint of pink and colored her lips a ruddy red. A bit of mascara on her lashes and light purple eye-shadow and Elphaba was done. Well, not quite.
Raga walked up behind her and gently set a crown of white rosebuds with a veil attached to it on her head. Elphaba had no doubt Raga had crafted the veil and crown herself and gave her cousin a grateful peck on the cheek. Raga smiled and gave Elphaba's hand a gentle squeeze. Glinda could barely contain her excitement. She clapped her hands and pranced around the cousins before scooping up her bouquet and prancing out the door.
Raga shook her head and asked, "Shall we?"
"We shall," Elphaba replied, taking her cousin's arm and walking out of the room.
The wedding was a small affair. Just a private ceremony in the chapel of the Palace. Glinda was maid of honor of course, Fiyero's cousin Jakil came to stand as best man, Fiyero's parents were there, and Raga, as closest blood relative, gave Elphaba away to the groom. As soon as the priest pronounced them husband and wife, Fiyero threw back the veil and kissed Elphaba with such passion that Glinda cried, Fiyero's parents had no doubt of his love for the green girl, and Raga smiled through her own tears.
Elphaba threw her bouquet and Glinda dived for it exclaiming, "It's mine!"
"You can have it! I have no intentions of ever getting married!" Raga exclaimed, scrabbling back, away from the blonde and laughing.
Elphaba and everyone else laughed at Glinda's antics and the blonde herself laughed when she realized just how ridiculous the whole situation was. The reception was just a gathering of the family in the ballroom of the Palace. Elphaba danced with her father-in-law while Fiyero danced with his mother. Once they had satisfied the ancient custom, the bride and groom danced together. Glinda danced with Jakil, while Raga just watched, perfectly content in the happy atmosphere. Once the dancing was over, everyone moved to the dinning room.
Raga sat at the head of the table, with Elphaba on her right and Fiyero next to his wife. Glinda was on Raga's left and Jakil sat next to the blonde. Finally, the King and Queen of the Vinkus sat next to their son. Chistery and the other flying Monkeys served the guests, then left.
"So, Elphaba, are you and Fiyero going to remain here? Because, as Crown Prince of the Vinkus, Fiyero does have duties to attend to," said King Hammon, taking a sip of wine.
"Oh, stop it, Hammon! You know as well as I that Fiyero can stay here if he and Elphaba wish it. I'm sorry about my husband, dear. He just misses Fiyero. I do too, but I understand if you wish to stay with your cousin. Family is the greatest treasure of all," said Queen Ilian.
Elphaba smiled at the queen. "Thank you. I would prefer to remain with Raga. She's my only living family, who loves and accepts me for who I am."
"I think we shall remain here for the time being, Father. We will visit and one day we just might move into Kiamo Ko. But for now, we shall stay here." Fiyero settled the question and was rewarded by a passionate kiss from his wife.
"Ok, you two! Some of us are trying to eat," Jakil joked.
"What are you talking about? Last time you had a girlfriend you were more concerned about locking lips than eating," Fiyero shot back.
"Alright, boys! Don't make me separate you," Raga teased.
Everyone laughed and soon headed off for home or bed.
As they got ready for bed, for the first time, Elphaba didn't head into the closet to change. That night, Elphaba Melena Emeraldin, now Elphaba Melena Tiggular, experienced the deepest form of true love.
Raga and Glinda could hear the love birds from their own rooms, but smiled knowing that Elphaba and Fiyero were finally with their true love. Glinda at once began thinking up baby names, but Raga just reveled in the knowledge that Elphaba was loved and happy.
Author's Note: Well, what other adventures might our friends have now that they finally have their happily ever after? Thank you to all who Followed/Favorited and/or Reviewed. Your support is much appreciated.