Chapter 10
Six years later………..
Jamie sat in the dining hall at Redsontes Manor, picking at her breakfast. She had had little appetite since Elphaba had left to stay in the Emerald city, leaving Jamie to care for a grieving Nessarose, when she finally made it to Crage Hall, and also an emotionally retreating Glinda, whom she had to keep from killing herself. All of this felt as if it was yesterday, but indeed, six years had gone by. Paulette and Richard were dead. They were killed by an assassin in the Emerald city only two years before. Glinda had been named Glinda the Good, Nessarose was labeled the Wicked Witch of the East for her harsh methods of ruling, and Jamie was simply the Good Witch of the South.
Jamie looked out of the large window, into the setting sun. A storm was coming, and fast. Jamie thought it might last for a few days, at least. Jamie took another sip of wine. She would turn 26 tomorrow.
A knock sounded from the front door. Jamie nodded to a servant girl who was standing in the corner of the room. The girl scurried off to answer the guest. Almost immediately, the girl returned, looking pale.
"Someone for you, m'aam."
"Well, who is it?" The girl shook her head.
"I don't know. But she is awfully……odd."
"In what way?"
"Well, m'aam, she's…..she's…"
"Spit it out Dalilla."
"She's green m'aam." Jamie's heart stopped. Surely she had misunderstood?
"Say that again, Dalilla."
"She's green m'aam." Jamie leapt to her feet and practically ran to the door. In the entry way was a figure cloaked all in black with a pointed hat atop their head. The figure turned around to greet their hostess. She was green as sin. Jamie gave her a broad smile.
"Elphie! Oh, how good it is to see you again!" Jamie took a step towards her verdant friend to embrace her, but fell short, remembering how she was slightly out of the woman's favor. Why else would she have left her all alone? Elphaba did not return the smile given her.
"I shall not bother you with unwanted pleasantries, Jamie. I've only come here in the first place to ask that you make the rain hold off for a few hours, seeing as I won't even bother with Morrible." Jamie's smile faltered and was replaced with a frown.
"The pleasantries would not be unwanted. As for the rain, you will have to live with it. I no longer have the power I once possessed." Jamie straightened her spine, to preserve her dignity, more or less.
"I've seen you do it countless times while at Shiz. You could do it again." Jamie shook her head.
"I cannot, Miss Thropp. But you are welcome to stay here as long as you like. That is, unless you'd rather face the rain?" Elphaba gritted her teeth. It wasn't that she hated Jamie. Oh, no, not at all. She just knew Jamie was hiding something from her. She also felt a wave of déjà vu as she looked into Jamie's sad eyes.
"Fine, I shall stay. But I need to rest. I've been traveling for days." Jamie nodded. She motioned for Dalilla to join them.
"Take Ms. Thropp to one of our guest suites. See to it that she is comfortable." The younger woman nodded and motioned for Elphaba to follow her. Once the two were out of earshot, Elphaba turned to Dalilla.
"What did she mean when she said she no longer has the power she once possessed?"
The girl made a silent prayer that her mistress would not be angry with her for revealing information. "She got very sick about four years ago, Miss. She almost died, but being her friend, you'd a known about that, right?" Elphaba's stomach clenched. No, she didn't know about Jamie having been sick. Why didn't anyone tell her? Oh, yeah, right……it's because no one could find her in the first place……that was how she had wanted it, right? But Jamie had almost died….she would have come, wouldn't she?
"You said she almost died?"
"Yes, Miss. But that Miss Glinda the Good was with her the whole time. She missed her own wedding, too. That fiancé of hers was right mad, but when she told him where he could shove that ring of his if he didn't respect my mistress… well, we all laughed as he stammered about manners and whatnot. But it took a lot out of my mistress. She wasn't right in the head for a while."
"What do you mean?" They had reached the top of the stairs and Dalilla led them to the right.
"My mistress, she was talking to no one in particular. And whenever she said this one name…..Elphaba, I think it was……well, Miss Glinda would start crying right along with my mistress, and then Miss Glinda would hold her real close and my mistress wouldn't speak or even move for a while. She went limp, you see. She also had this temperature, a constant 101 degrees. It finally broke after two weeks, but my mistress never was quite the same again. Of course, she hasn't been the same since her sire got killed, but you don't need to hear about that." They had stopped outside of an elaborately carved oak door. "Here you go, Miss." Dalilla gave Elphaba a small curtsy before leaving.
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Dinner was quiet, and Jamie was absent from the table. Dalilla was standing sentry at the door.
"Dalilla, where's Jamie?"
"Oh, she hardly eats anymore, especially at this time of year." Elphaba frowned as she picked at the remaining food on her plate. Jamie had made sure she was well fed, at any rate.
"Is it a side effect from her sickness?"
"Yes, Miss. But we all wish she'd eat more. As of late she's been so pale and thin. We all also wish she would marry already."
"What do you mean?" Elphaba's eyes narrowed.
"Well, Miss, my mistress has gotten three marriage proposals in these past six months alone, but she has turned down every single man who has asked for her hand."
"Do you know why?" Dalilla shuffled her feet and looked from side to side, making sure they were alone.
"I hear her at night when she's dreamin'. She talks when she dreams, you see. It's the only time when you can truly tell she's happy. She talks as if in conversation with someone. It's nothing terribly thrilling, but you can tell it meant something to her, once upon a time."
"What does she say?"
"She always repeats the same thing every night, Miss. She says, 'Not yet, my love. But one day, when the time is right, being with you will yield a powerful bond between us.' After that she falls quiet. Oh, she'll start up again, but it wouldn't be for another hour after that." Elphaba felt that she might faint. Jamie dreams about her every night? Not just about her, but the time when Elphaba wanted to take her?
"Where is she?"
"She should be in her study, Miss. I can show you the way if you like."
"No, that won't be necessary." Elphaba leapt to her feet and started walking. She had no idea where she was going, but trusted her feet to take her to the right place. She bounded up the stairs, taking them three at a time, thanks to her long legs. She turned the corner and went up a second flight of stairs. When she came to the landing, Elphaba stopped. She had no idea why, but she felt as if she were being pulled to the right. She quickly followed her gut and came to a shining crimson colored door. She put her emerald hand on the hard wood, and swore she could feel it pulsing below her fingertips. Elphaba did not hesitate in opening the door, although she really should have knocked.
"Oh, Elphie, you scared me!" Jamie was practically naked, save the blue panties she had on and the nightgown she had clutched to her chest.
"I'm sorry; I can leave if you want me to." Elphaba turned, but Jamie's voice stopped her.
"Wait, Elphie, please don't leave." And then it hit them. This was it. This is where the bond was created, when the bond was created.
"Can we change things, Jamie? Do we have a choice?" Elphaba's back was to her, but Jamie could tell she had her jaw clenched.
"We can only change the present and future, not the past. Do as you like. I don't care anymore. I'm tired of feeling so alone, even when I'm in a crowded room. I'm tired of waiting for something that will never happen. Why did you come here, Elphaba? Why not go to Glinda?"
Elphaba reeled on her. "I was down here in the South, not the North. I can't travel places in the blink of an eye!"
"That's right, you can't! All because you left me before you got the chance to even try!"
"You were not the only person I left behind!"
"You're right, but I was the one who took care of them all! I was the one who stopped Glinda from killing herself! I was the one who taught Nessarose magic so she could live on her own! I was the one who looked after your father when he fell ill! I was the one Shell came to for help when he had no other sister to turn to! While you were off gallivanting around, I was the one holding your life together!"
"Glinda took care of you when you were ill! Where's her credit?"
"You're right, she took care of me! She sat by my side for two weeks! But where were you? While Glinda was crying over my dying body, where were you, Elphaba?"
"You were not dying!"
"I was! Do you know what really happened, Elphaba? I'll tell you! I poisoned myself!" The room remained quiet for a few moments.
"You-you poisoned yourself?"
Jamie held her head higher. "Yes." One solitary tear rolled down her cheek.
"But why? What could have been so horrible that you would do that to yourself?" Elphaba approached the brunette, who made no attempt to stop her.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"No, it's not." Jamie shook her head.
"Then you were stupider than I thought." Elphaba looked down at her. She did not see the young girl she once knew, but the woman she had become; the woman who was broken because of her. Elphaba leaned down and pressed her lips to Jamie's. Elphaba knew that if she made love to Jamie, the other girl would not stop her. Elphaba took the nightgown out of Jamie's hands and let it drop to the floor…….
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When Jamie awoke in the morning after a night of pure bliss and passion, she was completely alone.
Author's Note: Alrighty people, sorry it took me so long, but I needed a somewhat alright scenario. Hopefully it won't take me that long to complete the rest of the story. (I'm only a few chapters away…….uh, that's about like, roughly four chaps away) After this story is complete, I wanted to do a special segment that follows this. It wouldn't be terribly long, but still. Alright, so review if you like, if not…….fine, I guess, but it makes me happy when people review!
