"Come on, now."
"No."
"He'll miss them. You know he will."
"I can't go. I can't."
Elphaba's eyes opened but she could see nothing. It had been so bright in her dream and it was so dark in reality, that her eyes had trouble adjusting to her surroundings. As things came into focus, Elphaba realized where she was as she looked across the room at her sleeping roommate.
Fiyero had left her that night with further inquiry about her sudden dismay, but he had avoided him with a muttered excuse before scurrying up to her dorm room and fell into a troubled sleep. Visions seemed to have a mind of their own. They did not leave her, not even in sleep. Over and over again she heard the petty argument between small children and saw that young carefree face flash at her before going away. She stretched and rolled over, now fully awake. She didn't know what else to think. Her mind buzzed in all different directions.
She walked over to her window and pulled back the curtain. The sky was no longer the inky black of night, but a dark blue, pecked with the early morning rise. Elphaba shut the curtain and looked around the room, surprised to see her roommate's eyes looking back at her own.
"Why are you awake?" Elphaba tiptoed over and smoothed Glinda's hair away from her face and clucked her tongue.
"Because you are," Glinda smiled. "You came in last night sad. I was waiting for you to wake up."
"You've been up all night?"
"Sorta. I just wanted to know what was going on."
Elphaba sighed. It seemed like visions weren't the only things that wouldn't let her rest. "Get some sleep, Glin. I'll tell you tomorrow morning."
Her roommate nodded and snuggled up, closing her eyes. Elphaba felt a pang of jealousy that Glinda could fall asleep in a moment, given if she was content.
She didn't even make it over to her bed again before she collapsed and her mind spun. The children's voices got louder and louder, and she clutched her head to release enough pressure in her mind.
"Come on, now. Do it."
"I can't."
"No! Hurry up. He'll miss them. You know he will."
And then...
"FIYERO!"
Silence.
All was still. All was quiet. Glinda lay sleeping peacefully in her bed. The visions were gone.
But they had left her with two souvenirs: One, a beating heart that was rapid and sure. And two, the fact that she knew exactly who was calling Fiyero's name in her vision.
The child was herself.
It couldn't be though. It just...couldn't! Elphaba threw on her robe and ties it as she ran all the way across campus to the mens' dorms. She pounded her fist on Fiyero's door and his roommate answered it.
"Get out, girl. I'm trying to-"
Elphaba pushed past him and shook Fiyero awake.
"Fiyero! Please!"
The prince groggily awoke and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, baby."
Still a playboy in your sleep, Elphaba thought in disgust.
"Yero, wake up. I think I know some things about my childhood."
Fiyero sprang up immediately, creaking the bed loudly.
"What? Me?" He asked hopefully.
"Come back to my dorm," Elphaba said urgently. "I need to sort this out."