AN: Hi guys!

Sorry for the rather abrupt ending of this chapter - it was getting too long and I had to cut it off somewhere.

*sarcasm* Wow, death threats for if I kill Anna. I'm so surprised. I had totally not expected that. :P Ah, no, that's why I love you guys! *grabs you all in a bear hug* Ahem, sorry. I'm in a good mood. Can you tell? Not even sure why, I just am.

Zelda Rules: No, Elsa and Jermain aren't married, but Elphaba and Fiyero are, and Fiyero is Jermain's brother, which means Elphaba is Jermain's sister-in-law ^^.

BlueD: I only have the DVD! :( Tell me what happens?

SuperSaphiraWhoLock: Gulp.

I-Could-Melt: Aw, thank you so much!

Chapter 10.

It was a few hours later that Kristoff dashed out of Anna's bedroom and into the adjoining sitting room, where the others were.

"She woke up," he said breathlessly, and Jermain immediately detached himself from Elsa to come with the blond man.

Elsa bit her lip for a moment, unsure of what to do. "I want to see her, too, but…"

Elphaba placed her hand on the snow queen's arm. "Give Jermain some time to assess how she's doing," she advised. "If she's okay, he'll call you in soon enough."

He did just that about a minute later; and Elsa all but stormed through the door and to her sister's side, falling down on her knees beside the bed and clutching Anna's hand in her own. "Anna?"

The girl's eyes opened and she smiled faintly at her sister. "Hi."

Elsa laughed through the tears that were now in her eyes. "Hi." She hugged Anna as best as she could with the red-haired girl still lying down. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She looked up at Jermain with wide eyes. "She is going to be okay, isn't she?" she asked anxiously.

"She's going to be just fine," Jermain assured her, and she let out a breath of relief and hugged Anna again.

They left the room again a few minutes later, after Anna had drifted off to sleep and Kristoff had insisted he wanted to stay with her. Jermain led Elsa back to the sitting room and the snow queen turned around and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you," she said, sounding near tears. "Without you… I mean, if you hadn't known how to take care of her…" She trailed off, but they both understood what she meant to say.

Jermain smiled and leant down to kiss Elsa softly. "You're welcome."

She returned his smile and turned to face Elphaba, who had been pretending to be absorbed in studying a pillow as she tried to give the couple their privacy. "Anna is going to be okay."

The green girl smiled. "Good," she said. "But we can't wait for her to recover – you know that, don't you?"

Elsa nodded. "I know." She sank down onto the couch next to Elphaba. "We have to take out the Wizard," she said, "and stop the Ozian army, before something like this happens again."

Elphaba sighed. "I just hope Yero and Glin are successful," she muttered.

Elsa laid a hand on the young witch's arm and squeezed softly. "They'll convince the Vinkun king and queen," she said, trying to reassure herself as much as Elphaba. "And then, when the Vinkun army turns against the rest of the Ozians…"

Suddenly, Elphaba sat up straight. "Nessa."

Elsa blinked, confused. "What?"

"Nessa. My sister," Elphaba clarified. She rose to her feet and started pacing. "She's the Governor of Munchkinland now that my father is dead. I know we haven't exactly parted on good terms, but she's still my sister… and I bet she wouldn't want an innocent country destroyed because of me."

Elsa frowned. "Elphaba –"

"That's how she'll undoubtedly see it," Elphaba said. "She thinks everything is my fault. She blames me for having left her behind at Shiz, for Father's death, for the fact that Boq – her boyfriend… sort of, anyway… - was turned to tin –"

"What?"

Elphaba waved one hand. "Long story. Anyway, I think she'll help me make things right," she mused. "If I tell her that there are innocent lives at stake. If we have the Vinkuns and the Munchkins on our side…"

"Elphaba," Jermain said patiently. "How are you going to convince Nessa? She's been oppressing the Munchkins for years – I don't think she'll agree to help you just because she doesn't want innocent people to get hurt."

A wry smile tugged at the corners of Elphaba's mouth. "Probably not," she agreed. "But she might if I tell her that I will surrender myself to the Wizard."

They both gasped in shock and Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Oh, relax. I didn't say I'd actually do it," she stressed. "I said I'd tell her I'd do it. She wants nothing more than for the disgrace that is her green sister to be removed from her family. She wants me captured in order for her own name to be cleared. If I can convince her that I will surrender if she helps me…"

"You know what?" Elsa said after a few moments of silence. "That's actually a pretty good idea."

Elphaba smirked slightly at her.

Just then, Kristoff came out of the other room, looking a little dazed. "Anna is awake again," he said. "She, um… she's asking for you." He looked at Elsa, then at Elphaba. "Both of you."

"Why?" Elsa asked worriedly, rising to her feet. "Is she okay?"

"I think so." He shook his head. "I'm not sure."

Elsa and Elphaba exchanged a glance and hurried into Anna's bedroom.

The younger girl was lying in her bed, but sitting up slightly with some pillows propped underneath her back. Her eyes were shimmering and her face was red.

"Anna?" Elsa knelt down next to the bed and placed a cool hand on her sister's forehead. "Are you okay? You look a little flushed – do you have a fever?"

Anna shook her head and Elphaba muttered, "No, that's not a fever. That," she said as she pointed at Anna's face, "is the same look Glinda always wore back at Shiz when the guy she liked had kissed her. Spit it out, Anna."

Anna giggled and Elsa's eyes widened. "Kristoff kissed you?" she almost screeched.

Anna shushed her. "Shh! Not so loud!" She giggled again. "But yes, he did."

Elphaba chuckled. "Finally. It was about time."

"But…" Elsa looked at the younger princess with wide eyes. "Anna, he… you… I…"

"Don't worry," Anna assured her, "I'm not going to marry him right away. I've learnt my lesson."

Elsa managed a weak smile. "Good. But…"

Elphaba placed a hand on the snow queen's shoulder. "I know," she said. "She's your little sister and it's horrible to see her growing up so fast… trust me, I know the feeling. But I think Kristoff is a good guy for her."

"At least he's better than Hans," Elsa muttered, and Anna giggled again.

"He is. Oh, Elsa, I'm so happy!"

Elsa smiled and hugged her sister. "If you're happy, then I'm happy, too." She shook her head as she pulled away. "Good heavens, Anna, you nearly gave me a heart attack. When Kristoff said you wanted to see me and he wasn't sure if you were alright…"

Anna made a face. "Better tell him I am, then," she said. "Alright, I mean. I didn't mean to scare any of you, I just… wanted to have a girl, talk, you know?" She grinned happily. "I've never had a girl talk before."

"Wait until Glinda hears this," Elphaba predicted. "She's going to jump through the ceiling."

"And Olaf," Elsa added with a snigger. "He'll squeal our ears off."

They all laughed.

"I'll send Kristoff back in," Elphaba said. "He'll want to know that you're alright. Are you staying, Elsa?"

Elsa hesitated, then nodded. "I mean," she said with a look at Anna, "if you don't mind…"

"Of course I don't mind!" the red-haired girl said. "You're my sister!" She smiled at Elsa, who looked a little hesitant still, but did return the smile.

"And besides," Anna added, "I think we need to talk, too." Elsa looked a little panicked at that, but her sister quickly reassured her. "Nothing serious… okay, no, it's something serious, but… well, Jermain told me that Glinda told you about the bottle we found," she said. "And… about what that means."

Elsa relaxed. A little. "She did," she confirmed.

Anna smiled a bit sadly at the snow queen. "I think we should talk about that."

"We probably should," Elsa agreed, not looking straight at her sister.

Elphaba took the opportunity to quietly sneak out of the room. She recognised that this topic was about her, too – she turned out to be Elsa's half-sister, after all – but she understood that Anna and Elsa needed a moment alone first.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked her sister quietly.

Elsa sighed. "Yes," she said. "I mean… I'll be fine, Anna. Really. It's just that… it's strange, you know? To know that our mother… and… and the Wizard, of all people…"

Anna grimaced. "Yeah. But then again," she said, nudging Elsa, "maybe he was very kind and handsome when he was younger."

Elsa quirked an eyebrow. "Handsome, I believe," she said, "but kind? Kind enough to leave a trail of pregnant women in his wake? Kind enough to conceive a bunch of children and then disappear?"

Anna laughed a little. "Don't you think 'a trail' and 'a bunch' is a little exaggerated?" she asked her sister teasingly. "It's just you and Elphaba, after all."

"That we know of," Elsa corrected her.

Anna paled a little. "Wait." She held up both hands. "You think you have more half-siblings?"

"Who knows?" Elsa shook her head. "But that doesn't matter now. The point is just… it's a strange idea, that the Wizard is actually my father. It's even stranger to know that the man I called my father my whole life long is actually not my real father. And now I suddenly have another sister – an older sister, even, which is obviously something I've never had…"

"I know." Anna squeezed the snow queen's hand. "But it doesn't have to change anything, you know," she said softly. "It doesn't change who you are or who you've grown up with. Mum and Dad, and me… we're your family. No matter who you are biologically related to, it remains a fact that you grew up here, in Arendelle, with us. Mum and Dad raised you, we played together when we were younger… the Wizard doesn't have any part in that and he never will, if you don't want him to. As for Elphaba… I don't think a lot will change in your relationship, either. She's always been some sort of a big sister to you, hasn't she? I mean, she took you under her wing when it came to your powers – she helped you, and you helped her in return. It's not so strange at all, Elsa. It just depends on the way you look at it."

Elsa smiled, though it did not quite reach her eyes yet. "That's my little sister," she said, hugging Anna gingerly. "Always the optimist."

Anna smiled, too. "You know me."

"I do." Elsa squeezed the younger girl's hand. "Despite everything, I really think I do."

Anna raised her gaze to meet Elsa's and said solemnly, "I think so, too."

"Elphaba! Elphaba!" Olaf came all but bouncing into the room, causing the green girl to abandon the book she had been reading and peer at the snowman over her reading glasses.

He jumped up and down and pointed towards the door. "Fiyero and Glinda are back!"

Elphaba immediately put the book and glasses aside and rose to her feet, gathering her skirts as she ran after Olaf, into the hallway, down a flight of stairs and through another hallway before she found herself outside. Protecting her eyes against the sun with one hand, she searched the skies, soon catching sight of Glinda's bubble travelling in their direction fast.

Next to her, Olaf was still bouncing. "They're back!"

Elphaba chuckled. "You really like Glinda, don't you?" she asked him, amused.

He had the decency to look sheepish. "She's nice," he defended himself. "And she likes me a lot, too."

"She is nice," Elphaba agreed. "Hey, I don't blame you – that girl has a knack for winding people around her little finger."

She smiled when she saw her friend steering the bubble closer to the ground, and her smile widened once they were close enough so that she could distinguish Fiyero's face as well. The moment the bubble touched the ground, Glinda hurled herself at her best friend in a giant bear hug. "Elphie!"

Elphaba laughed. "It's good to see you, too, Glin."

The blonde then turned to the snowman standing next to Elphaba, beaming. "Olaf!"

"Glinda!" he said happily. Glinda opened her arms and he leapt forward to hug her.

Elphaba's smile widened even more when Fiyero walked up to her, a smile on his own face as well.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey, back." He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, sliding them down her arms to her waist as he studied her, and she knew he was assessing whether she was hurt – he was always so worried about her, which she found sweet and incredibly exasperating at the same time. "Are you okay?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that he meant well. "I'm fine."

He must have decided that that was true, because he wrapped his arms around her properly and softly kissed her lips. "I missed you."

"Mm." She kissed him back, leaning against his chest with a happy sigh. "Missed you, too." It had taken her quite a while to accept that she really did love Fiyero and that she missed him when he was not there with her. After a while, though, she had realised that this didn't necessarily make her weak. She was strong and independent. She could take care of herself. She survived years on her own, on the run, without anyone to help her. But just because she could do it all by herself, didn't mean she had to; and the fact that she was capable of being alone, didn't mean she did not feel much better when he was there with her.

"How did it go?" she asked, detaching herself from Fiyero to focus on the matter at hand again. Fiyero sighed – she suspected he preferred kissing over discussing war strategies – but complied. "The Vinkuns are on our side," he said. "It took some convincing, mainly because the Wizard has been spreading all these lies about us and my father was convinced that Jermain and I were either brainwashed or dead…"

Elphaba frowned. "Brainwashed?"

"The Wizard has told Oz about Jermain and Fiyero betraying him," said Glinda softly, looking up at Elphaba, but with one arm still wrapped around Olaf. "The king didn't really believe that his sons would do such a thing… let alone fall in love with two enemies of Oz who are wanted throughout the state," she added almost apologetically.

Elphaba choked out a humourless laugh. "I can't say I really blame him. I wouldn't be happy if my own son came home telling me, "Guess what, Mum? I got married to the Wicked Witch of the West!" I'm guessing he did not take that very well."

Fiyero cleared his throat awkwardly. "I sort of left out the marriage part," he said sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Fae – you know I love you and you have no idea how proud I am to call you my wife, but this is war, and we needed my father's help and I was just afraid that he would completely freak out if he knew –"

"Hey," Elphaba interrupted him. "Do you ever let anyone else talk?"

He gave her a look, which made her chuckle.

"It's fine, Yero," she said. "I understand."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good."

"What?" she said with a frown. "Did you really think I was going to be mad at you for not telling your father that we are married?"

He shrugged sheepishly and Elphaba whacked his arm. "You are such an idiot."

"Aren't they cute?" Glinda stage-whispered to Olaf as they watched the pair together. "I think they're incredibly cute."

Elphaba narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" she demanded.

Glinda giggled and shook her head. "Not really."