AN. Just when I think you can't surprise me any more, you all do. We're over 150 reviews! I am so grateful, so I think it's convenient that this next chapter is such a big one! Enjoy!
Also, shout out to Lilly, who was reviewer 150. I couldn't reply to congratulate you, because Guest review, so congrats!
Chapter 11
The Valentine's Day Fair in town was being held from ten o'clock until eight o'clock that night. It was an annual event that even pre-dated the Wizard's arrival in Oz, although it had been known as the Brunhilla Festival then. Annalie had reminisced fondly over the fairs she had attended during her own Shiz years when the girls had been home at Lurlinemas.
She hadn't pushed Elphaba to attend, knowing how she felt about Valentine's Day, but Elphaba knew she'd be thrillified that she was going.
The sole hour Elphaba had promised Fiyero was fiercely negotiated. She wanted to go first thing, to get it over and done with and when there'd potentially be less people. Fiyero wanted to go at night, when there would be fireworks, a bonfire and "the more fun stuff" as he so eloquently put it. Ultimately, Elphaba won.
It was agreed that they'd go in the morning and then Fiyero would go and find his friends when they were done. She was hopeful that Pinar would be at the fair and she could have the room to herself for a bit.
At ten minutes past ten o'clock, she was in the bathroom braiding her hair when a knock sounded on the door. Pinar got to the door before Elphaba did. She either wasn't going to the fair or wasn't going until later- it wasn't like she'd told Elphaba anything.
"Fiyero!" she exclaimed brightly upon opening the door.
In the bathroom, Elphaba stilled, a wince crossing her face involuntarily. She didn't want to hear Fiyero flirting with her roommate.
"Hello. I'm here to see Elphaba," Fiyero's voice drifted across the room, his tone perfectly civil yet decidedly cooler than Elphaba had ever heard him speak.
Pinar either didn't notice the tone or chose to ignore it.
"We haven't had the chance to meet properly," she said, lowering her voice an octave or two.
Elphaba supposed she was trying to be alluring. She could practically hear her flutter her eyelashes at him.
"I'm Pinar Needham. It's such a thrill to meet you," she gushed.
"Thanks," Fiyero said flatly.
Elphaba realised this was the first time she'd heard her roommate's last name.
"You know, some girlfriends and I are going to the bonfire tonight if you'd like to join us," she offered, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "We have something special planned."
"Well, Elphaba and I haven't really worked out our plans for tonight, but thanks for the invite," Fiyero replied, as Elphaba listened intently from the bathroom.
Pinar giggled. "Oh, you'd have much more fun with us than with her," she said. "We're planning to have actual fun tonight."
There was a pause that felt like it lasted for an eternity.
"Thanks, but I have standards," Fiyero finally said, his tone even.
Elphaba had to choke back a laugh.
"Standards that don't exclude green people?" Pinar demanded coldly. It didn't sound as though she was laughing.
"Oh, I'm fine with green people. It's complete bitches that don't make the cut," Fiyero replied pleasantly. "Fae? You ready?" he called out, as Pinar spluttered in response.
Elphaba hastily tied off her braid and left the bathroom, grabbing her bag from the end of the bed.
"I'm ready," she said, double checking that her key was in her bag and completely ignoring her roommate.
"Great. Let's go," Fiyero replied and ushered her out into the hall and past a glowering Pinar. "Here," he added and handed her a takeaway cup of coffee.
"I thought we agreed to meet in the courtyard?" Elphaba questioned, wrapping her hands around the warm cup, positively giddy and pretending she didn't know why. Maybe she was just suddenly super excited about the Valentine's Day fair.
"We did. But I'm up before ten o'clock on a Saturday. I needed coffee."
Elphaba rolled her eyes. It was one of the first things she had learned about Fiyero when he'd decided they would become friends. The reason he never joined them for breakfast, was simply that he was never awake in time. He'd roll out of bed and just make it to his nine o'clock class- if he bothered to go at all.
If Fiyero had his way, all his classes would be between one and three o'clock in the afternoon. Elphaba was just grateful he wasn't in charge of timetabling.
The fair was being held on the outskirts of town, where there was a huge open field and backed onto the woods that surrounded the campus of Shiz. There were plenty of people milling around the fair when they arrived, but it wasn't that crowded yet, as Elphaba had expected.
"Ok, we're here," she said flatly. "How do we kill an hour?"
Fiyero laughed. "You're fun at parties, aren't you?"
"I don't really go to many parties," Elphaba replied. "If I have to spend time with large groups of people, it's family and family friends."
"What about The OzDust?"
Elphaba shook her head. "Never been. Not really my scene."
"How do you know if you've never been?" Fiyero challenged her.
"Anywhere Pinar and Galinda like to spend their time, is probably not my scene," Elphaba said dryly.
Fiyero opened his mouth, but then cocked his head. "Do you smell that?" he asked her, sniffing the air.
Elphaba cautiously sniffed the air too. "Food?" she guessed. "Flowers? Coffee?"
He grabbed her arm. "Let's go this way," he pointed, pulling her away.
They found the food stalls, and Fiyero immediately purchased a stick of cotton candy. He offered Elphaba one too, but she refused.
"It's too early for that much sugar," she refused.
"Ha! You admit that it's too early!" Fiyero crowed gleefully.
"For sugar. Not to be awake," Elphaba corrected him.
She did however, allow him to buy her a fresh cup of coffee.
There were girls walking around, dressed as fairies and selling roses to passer-by's. Elphaba's first thought was that they must be freezing. They weren't exactly dressed for a winter's day.
"Buy a flower for your Valentine?" one of them called out to Elphaba and Fiyero, although her eyes were firmly fixed on Fiyero.
"Valentine's Day was yesterday," Elphaba pointed out.
She turned away, stepping aside to examine a stall of homemade chocolates.
The stallholder, an elderly man, smiled at Elphaba politely. He was talking Elphaba through the different flavours, while Elphaba nodded politely. Suddenly, her vision was obscured by a purple haze.
Jumping back slightly, she blinked before she registered that it was a purple rose, and Fiyero was holding it out to her.
Elphaba's cheeks grew warm, and she accepted it silently.
"One of the fairies said there's fortune tellers the next alley over," Fiyero told her. "Want to go?"
Elphaba didn't believe in fortune tellers any more than she believed in fate, but she found herself nodding anyway.
Things between she and Fiyero had been a little weird for the past week or so. Ever since she'd unthinkingly kissed him. Neither had mentioned it- Elphaba was almost mortified when she thought back on it, and she could only take Fiyero's silence on the subject to mean that he felt the same way. She had no idea what had possessed her to do such a thing.
As they walked over to find the fortune teller, Fiyero listed everything he'd seen or heard about that he wanted to do. Collectively, it would all take longer than an hour and they both knew it.
"Are you super into Valentine's Day or you just like fairs?" she asked him, finding her voice.
"I guess the second one," Fiyero replied. "We have a fig festival in the Vinkus every year. I've gone every year since I was born. Don't you have fairs in Munchkinland?"
Elphaba shrugged. "There's a fair up in Dragon Cupboards every year, but it's really just for agriculture. Prizes for crops and animals and such. We've only gone once or twice."
They found the stall with the fortune teller, a middle-aged woman sitting at a table under a canopy. The sign next to her proclaimed 'Discover Your Romantic Future Here!'
The woman smiled at her and Fiyero as they approached.
"Would you like the Fates to reveal your future together?"
Elphaba opened her mouth to correct her, that she and Fiyero were not a couple, but Fiyero jumped in before she could, pressing coins into the woman's hands.
"Sure. Sounds fun, right Fae?"
Elphaba held back a groan and forced a smile. "Fun," she managed.
The woman gestured for them to seat themselves. "Welcome."
The woman got them to cut a deck of cards and shuffled them, examining several cards and frowning over them in silence. Elphaba didn't understand exactly what the woman was doing, or how it was supposed to reveal the future. Fiyero looked rather fascinated as he watched, which didn't surprise Elphaba in the least.
Eventually, the woman looked at them with a deep frown.
"I think you've been here before."
Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged a bewildered glance.
"Uh, no. We've only just arrived," Elphaba corrected her. "We've only just gotten past the food stalls."
The woman shook her head. "No. Life."
"Like past lives?" Fiyero asked.
The fortune teller looked thoughtful. "Perhaps. I think you've either been here before, or there's a lesson in the past you must learn from."
"What lesson?" Fiyero asked.
"I don't know," she confessed. "It's unclear. I think there's a story here that needs to be told."
Elphaba looked to Fiyero, who looked both confused and intrigued.
"The two of you have a long journey together," the woman told them solemnly. "I wish you well on it."
"Right," Elphaba said flatly, standing up. "Thanks for your… advice," she said, not sure what else to call it.
Fiyero added his thanks, and followed her back into the alley, looking thoughtful.
"You don't believe in past lives, do you?" Elphaba asked him.
He shrugged. "I don't not believe in it."
The fair was definishly more crowded now than it had been, and people were eyeing Elphaba and Fiyero with a myriad of emotions- namely curiosity, confusion and in some cases, slightly bitter rage. Fiyero appeared oblivious to it all.
While Fiyero was in the bathroom, Elphaba came face to face with Galinda Upland and her friends, who were acting very giggly over a game of ring toss. Why, Elphaba didn't want to know.
"Hi, Elphaba," Milla greeted her.
"Hi," Elphaba replied cautiously.
Milla was in her Writing class again this semester, but they never really spoke.
Galinda looked over to her and nodded.
"Hi," she said. "Pretty flower."
"Thank you," Elphaba replied awkwardly, not sure what else to say. "Your column this week was good. Your best one yet."
That was true actually. Galinda had written about the history of Valentine's Day in addition to the survey results and had clearly put a lot of effort into it.
Galinda beamed. "Thank you."
Fiyero came up beside Elphaba. "Hi, girls," he greeted them.
"Hi, Fiyero," the four girls chorused, Galinda's face immediately brightening.
Fiyero turned to Elphaba. "I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry," Elphaba retorted.
Fiyero grinned. "I saw someone with ice cream. Want some?"
"It's February," Elphaba complained. "What is it with people eating ice cream in winter?"
Yet she allowed Fiyero to lead her away, without saying goodbye to Galinda and her friends.
They ended up staying at the fair for six hours, and Elphaba had to admit she was having fun.
They'd met up with Nessa and her friends briefly around lunch time; and Elphaba had also run into Boq and a few people from the paper at one stage.
They'd played a bunch of games, eaten a lot of food and taken part in almost everything to offer. Fiyero had refused to go near the kissing booths, which Elphaba was grateful for.
"So, your roommate," Fiyero said eventually.
They had retreated back into town to shelter at The Wilted Rose and were having hot chocolate.
Elphaba made a face. "What about her?"
He'd heard many Pinar stories from Elphaba since he'd come to Shiz, but this morning had been their first meeting.
"She seems… horrendible."
Elphaba chuckled. "And you got that from two sentences of conversation. Well done."
"Hey, you date enough girls, you get a sense of these things."
"At least your questionable dating history is good for something then," Elphaba said teasingly. "Just be careful. I don't think Pinar likes to be ignored. Unless it's by me," she added as an afterthought. "Then she prefers it."
Fiyero shrugged. "What's the worst she can do?" he asked her.
Elphaba figured he had a point.
"Why are people so freaked out by your skin?" Fiyero asked her, frowning deeply.
"Weren't you when we met?"
Fiyero's nose wrinkled as he shook his head. "Nope. It was weird, but not freaky."
He leaned back in his chair, pushing his empty mug away from him. "But even if I was freaked out, once I got to know you it wouldn't have been an issue. She's been living in the same room as you for five months. How hasn't she realised you're not a bad person?"
Elphaba shrugged. "Hey, it took my father nearly ten years to realise that," she said without thinking.
Fiyero stilled and then leaned forward. "Wait, what?"
Elphaba grimaced. "Never mind. Bad joke."
Fiyero didn't even blink. "Elphaba."
His tone was more serious than she'd ever heard before.
Elphaba reluctantly gave him a brief rundown of her childhood before Annalie had come into their lives, including the circumstances around Nessa's birth and the different treatment between herself and Nessarose. Fiyero listened intently, asking few questions as she spoke.
"And now you just pretend it never happened?" he asked incredulously when she'd finished.
He was incensed at the thought a child would be blamed for circumstances that were beyond her control. He found it difficult to equate her story with all the warm things she'd spoken about her father since they met.
Elphaba shook her head. "No, of course not. I told you when we did the interview- my father is the first person to admit that he's made mistakes and isn't the best father. But he put in the effort to change, and to gain my trust."
Fiyero examined her face carefully and then smiled faintly. "Well, I look forward to meeting him one day."
Elphaba scoffed. "Sure. That'll happen."
Despite his best efforts, Fiyero couldn't convince Elphaba to go back to the fair, and Elphaba took her leave once they'd finished their hot chocolate. She was hopeful that she'd be able to get a good block of study done that night before Pinar came back to the room.
"What are you going to do?" Elphaba asked him. "Find your friends?"
Fiyero shrugged. "Maybe. I'll find something to do. There's the bonfire tonight. I might go to that for a while."
"Well, have fun," Elphaba told him and headed back to school.
She settled at her desk with her History textbook and a sandwich from the dining hall. The room was empty, although Pinar evidently hadn't left in as good a mood as Elphaba had, if the mess around the room was anything to go by. Elphaba would be willing to bet her roommate had thrown a tantrum after Elphaba and Fiyero had left that morning- she knew the signs by now.
Elphaba placed the rose Fiyero had bought her on her desk, inhaling the scent for a moment before she opened her books. She got in two hours of schoolwork as darkness fell outside, getting so immersed that she only remembered to turn on the lamps when she couldn't read the words on the page anymore.
She worked solidly until about half-past six, when she had to take a bathroom break. Elphaba stretched tiredly as she put away her books, deciding to work on her novel with the window of opportunity she'd been given. Already trying to remember where exactly she'd left off when she'd last worked on it, she got down on her knees and reached under the bed and pulled out the chest.
It was unlocked.
Elphaba was reasonably sure it had been locked when she'd seen it the night before.
She lifted the lid with a frown, and her heart leaped into her throat. The chest was empty. Even the notebook that contained her notes, every stray scrap of paper that had been inside was gone.
Elphaba's heart began to pound. She checked under the bed, her nightstand, anywhere it could be. She lunged for her bookbag, rummaging among the other books in case it had gotten mixed up with one of her books for class. Still nothing.
Frantically, Elphaba pressed a hand against her forehead and tried to think back. When had she last actually seen her novel?
She'd seen the chest last night, but she hadn't written then. The last time she'd written had been… Thursday afternoon. In the Gazette office
Elphaba had been an atheist since she was six years old, but she was praying to every and any deity now that she'd accidentally forgotten it on her desk.
She grabbed her coat, gloves and scarf and barely remembered to grab her room key before hurrying out of Crage Hall. There was a chance that the office may be unlocked. If not, she'd have to hunt down Rais, one of the only people to have a key to the room- or wait until Monday morning. She really didn't want to have to wait until then.
The Gazette office was dark as she approached, yet Elphaba still futilely rattled the doorknob.
"Shit," she swore quietly.
Rais could be anywhere, she knew.
Elphaba hesitated for just a moment, and then held out a hand towards the door knob, softly reciting a phrase from memory. The doorknob glowed for a moment, and there came the distinct click of a lock opening.
Elphaba felt only a little bad as she dashed inside and over to her desk. The only trouble with magically unlocking a door was that there was no spell to re-lock the door- at least none that didn't need to be removed magically to get back into the room.
"What's the point of locking something with magic if you can unlock it with a key?" Elphaba's magic teacher had once pointed out to her.
It was why Annalie and Frex hadn't wanted her to magically lock her bedroom before leaving home.
She lit the lamp nearest to her desk and rummaged around the desk but came up empty.
A sizeable rock settled into her stomach, making her feel nauseous.
As she left the Gazette office, she wasn't sure where else to look. The library? Her classrooms?
She weakly began to walk back into town, intent on finding Nessa. She was positive Nessa didn't have it, but she couldn't think of anything else to do. She knew she'd learned a locating spell at one stage, but her mind was blank now. For the first time, she regretted not bringing her Sorcery books from home to Shiz.
The town was almost deserted, so she headed for the fair. She could smell the bonfire before she heard or saw anything else. The fair was all lit up now and seemed to be more crowded than anything.
Luckily, Nessarose's wheelchair made her fairly easy to spot in a crowd. Elphaba was only searching the fair for about ten minutes when she found her sister.
"Fabala!" Nessa greeted her excitedly. "You came!"
Her smiled faded somewhat as she saw Elphaba's face.
"Are you ok? What's happened? Are you with Fiyero? Are you going to the bonfire?"
Elphaba shook her head, squatting down at Nessa's side so that she was at a closer level.
"My notebook's gone."
Nessa frowned quizzically. "What notebook?" she asked, before she realised exactly what notebook.
"Oh!" she gasped, her eyes widening. "Are you sure?"
Elphaba nodded. "I've searched my room and the Gazette office. I don't know where else to look," she said helplessly.
"I'll help you look," Nessa volunteered immediately. "Maybe you just missed it in a panic?"
She looked around to Vicnia, who was closest to her.
"You all go ahead to the bonfire without me," she said. "I need to help Elphaba with something."
"Are you sure?" Norfina questioned.
Nessa nodded. "I'm positive. Go," she urged, and the three girls headed off. "Where did you last see it?" she asked Elphaba.
Elphaba told her everything she could remember as they headed towards the school.
"We'll find it, Fabala," Nessa consoled her. "It can't be far, right?"
Elphaba just nodded.
"Elphaba!"
Elphaba looked up to see Boq hurrying towards her.
"Elphaba, you'd better come," he called out the moment he was in earshot.
"Hi Boq," Nessa greeted him. "We're actually just on our way back to school."
The Munchkin boy shook his head. "No, Elphaba. You need to come. At the bonfire… that girl, Pinar-"
Elphaba stopped dead in her tracks, turning to Boq.
"Pinar?" she asked in confusion. "What about her?"
If Boq was telling her that Pinar had been hurt in some way, Elphaba wasn't exactly going to be devastrated. Her roommate was hardly her first concern at the moment.
Boq gestured towards the bonfire. "She's got something of yours. A book or something."
Elphaba swore her heart actually stopped beating for a moment. A sharp pain pierced her chest as she gaped at Boq, and her stomach churned unpleasantly. She made no conscious decision to move in the direction of the bonfire, yet her feet moved anyway.
"She's reading it out to everyone…" Boq's voice sounded distantly, but Elphaba didn't acknowledge him.
As she got closer to the bonfire, she could see Pinar standing around a cluster of students, her back to the fire. Elphaba didn't register them, their faces blurred as fury ate away at her shock. Pinar had her notebook in her hand and was reading aloud to the others. Their laughter rang in Elphaba's ears like an echo, as she pushed through the crowd to face her roommate.
"What the hell are you doing?" Elphaba demanded.
Pinar cut off mid-sentence, giggling.
"We're reading," she replied, smirking. "What does it look like?"
"You had no right," Elphaba said, her voice shaking. "That is my private property. Give it back."
"Um, no. We're only on chapter one still, and we need to know what happens. Right, guys?" Pinar asked the people around her, who chorused in agreement.
Elphaba's eyes narrowed. "Hand it over. Now."
Pinar rolled her eyes. "Oh, calm down. It's just some crappy little story."
Elphaba trembled. She could feel her magic rising, rushing through her veins and she fought to keep control of it. She hadn't lost control of her magic in years, and she wasn't going to lose it now because of Pinar.
"Pinar, give it back," Nessa spoke up from behind Elphaba.
"Or what?" Pinar challenged her, putting her hand on her hip and lifting her chin.
Elphaba's eyes flashed and she took a step forward as the students around them watched in fascination.
"You've got until I count to three to hand it over, and then I promise you, I will make your life a living hell," she promised quietly. "Being roommates with the green girl will be the least of your worries."
Pinar scoffed derisively. "Til the count of three? Like a child?" she sneered.
"You want to act like a child, you get treated like a child," Elphaba shot back.
Someone sniggered, which drew a glare from Pinar.
"One," Elphaba said bluntly.
Pinar glanced to her friends.
"Two…"
Pinar rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh, as though she was being asked to do something really difficult.
"She's bluffing!" someone called out.
And then with a three on the tip of her tongue, Elphaba saw it happen, almost in slow motion.
Pinar turned to one of her friends, and almost casually, almost accidentally, tossed the notebook into the heart of the bonfire.
It took Elphaba a moment to realise the strangled cry that rang in her ears had come from her own lips, seemingly echoed by the gasps and cries that came from the surrounding students.
She sprang forward without thinking, stretching out her arm as though to reach into the flames and pick it out. Her skin burned from the heat of the flames and but before the flames touched her, a strong arm wrapped around her chest, pinning her arms to her side and dragging her away from the fire.
A gargled sound burst from Elphaba's lips in protest, but she couldn't break free from the grip that held her.
Elphaba couldn't breathe. The smoke from the bonfire stung her eyes, or it might have been tears, she couldn't tell. There was so much noise behind her, a loud buzzing like a swarm of bees that filled her ears. Voices she couldn't discern echoed faintly, muffled as though coming from underwater. She thought she heard her name, but she couldn't seem to make her throat work to answer. Her vision was blurred, black spots dancing before her eyes until her head pounded like a drum.
And then the arm that was wrapped around her gently pulled her away. Elphaba stumbled slightly, but someone caught her and steadied her around the waist. The same person whose arm was wrapped around her? She couldn't tell. They tried to lead her away from the fire, but Elphaba found her legs wouldn't hold her. A deep voice murmured something, but Elphaba couldn't make out the words and even if she had, she didn't think she was capable of speech right now.
More voices, slowly coming into focus as though tuning a radio and breaking through the static.
"It's Boq, right?" the deep voice said, the first words she'd heard clearly although she couldn't identify the voice.
"Grab her other side, will you."
Then someone else appeared on her other side, and Elphaba was half-guided, half-carried away from the bonfire.
As the burning heat from the bonfire faded, the icy feeling in Elphaba's chest spread throughout her body, until her teeth were chattering, and she couldn't stop shaking. Her legs buckled and someone lifted her feet off the ground, holding her securely against their chest as they walked.
Elphaba knew nothing else for a time. Maybe she'd fallen asleep, or maybe she'd passed out. She'd never know.
The next thing she was aware of, she was lying on a sofa before a fireplace, her coat and outerwear removed, but a thick blanket covering her. Slowly, she sat up. She had no idea where she was.
"Fae?"
Elphaba jumped slightly, whipping around to see Fiyero sitting at a table with Nessarose, Xia and Boq, of all people.
"Oh, you're awake!" Nessa cried, looking relieved.
Elphaba's head ached, and she rubbed her temples gingerly. "Where are we? What time is it?"
"We're in my suite," Fiyero explained. "It's a little after ten o'clock."
Elphaba rubbed her eyes. "What happened?"
Boq, Nessa and Fiyero exchanged glances.
"No. No, I know what happened," Elphaba said, her voice dull as it all came screaming back to the forefront of her mind in vivid colour, making her wince.
She fixed her gaze on Fiyero. "Where did you come from?"
Xia got up from the table and headed over to the small kitchen area. Fiyero glanced after her, before he got up from the table and came over to Elphaba, sitting on the arm of the couch.
"I was in the pub with some of the guys," he explained. "We were on our way to the bonfire and I saw… what was happening."
Elphaba looked away and stared into the fire, a lump in her throat.
"Fabala?" Nessa said softly, wheeling herself over to the couch. "I'm really sorry."
Elphaba nodded, not trusting herself to speak. What was there to say anyway?
"I'm going to head off," Boq spoke up awkwardly. "I- I hope you feel better, Elphaba."
"Boq," Elphaba said, turning her head towards him as he headed for the door.
Boq turned.
"Thank you. For coming to find me," she said quietly.
Boq reddened. "I've seen you write in that book at the paper sometimes," he explained. "And then Pinar showed up and said she'd found it. I figured it was important."
"You're a good friend," Elphaba told him sincerely.
Boq's face turned even redder, but he nodded and gave a small wave as he left.
"Here you are, Miss Elphaba," Xia said, handing Elphaba a cup of tea.
"Thank you, Xia," Elphaba replied quietly.
Xia sniffed at Fiyero, before returning to the kitchen.
Elphaba stared at Fiyero in bewilderment. To her surprise, Nessa giggled faintly as Fiyero looked sheepish.
"I don't understand anything that's going on," she said. "Why is Xia even here?"
"Boq got her," Nessa explained. "We weren't sure what else to do, and Xia's a trained nurse," she reminded her sister. "I thought she was a better bet than the school nurse. And then she just stayed."
"But-"
"She wanted to make tea, but Fiyero's kitchen is empty," Nessa said. "Nothing. He doesn't even have mugs, Xia had to get the ones she keeps in our room."
Fiyero shrugged innocently. "I've never used the kitchen."
Normally, Elphaba would have made a sarcastic remark about that, but tonight she had nothing. Nessa looked at Fiyero helplessly and then sighed.
"It's getting late," she said quietly. "Fabala, should we go?"
Elphaba continued to stare at the fire. She felt rather like she had when she'd been stricken with the flu last semester, weak and achy.
Nessa glanced at Fiyero, as Elphaba sat there silently.
"Why don't you and Xia go ahead, Nessa," Fiyero suggested. "I'll walk Fae back when she's finished her tea," he promised her.
Elphaba sank back against the couch tiredly, ignoring that they were talking about her. Nessa seemed reluctant to leave her sister, but Xia and Fiyero convinced her to leave. Apparently, despite his empty kitchen, Xia trusted Elphaba was in safe hands with Fiyero. Fiyero saw Nessa and Xia out, and then returned to the couch, sitting next to Elphaba.
They sat in silence for a while, as Elphaba sipped her tea and stared at the fire.
"Do you want anything to eat?" Fiyero asked, faintly anxious. "I've got some chocolate…"
He trailed off as Elphaba shook her head faintly.
"Why would she do that?" she finally asked. "Why would she do something so horrendible?"
Fiyero paused. "I don't know," he said finally.
Tears pricked the corners of Elphaba's eyes and she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to cry, not in front of Fiyero.
"It was a book. I was writing a book."
Fiyero nodded. "Nessa mentioned something."
"I started writing it the summer I finished school. I mean, I'd been writing since I was about ten, but it had always been short stories. Poems, plays. Nothing this big. But after I finished school, I felt like my brain was melting and I was going crazy. So, I started writing. I thought it'd be a good summer project. I've spent the past three and a half years working on it, and now… it's all gone," she said brokenly.
"You can re-write it," Fiyero suggested consolingly.
Elphaba shook her head slowly. "No. It wouldn't be the same. I- I couldn't tell you a single sentence now that I remember writing," she said, a flutter of panic in her chest as she admitted that fact.
Three and a half years, and it was all just a blur.
"What's it about?" Fiyero asked her.
Elphaba swallowed hard, wondering if he'd spoken in present tense on purpose.
"It was… this man, Yoska. He's a tailor, happily married. But he and his wife can't have children. And then one day, an old woman gives him a sewing machine and tells him it'll change his fortune. He uses it to make a little quilt for their bed. A month later, his wife is pregnant. They go on to have four children, and they decide it was the sewing machine that brought them luck with the quilt."
Fiyero looked sincerely interested, so she continued.
"The sewing machine gets passed down through the generations and becomes this… legend about whatever you make with it, will bring you luck. His eldest daughter, Fawnie, uses it to make her wedding dress. They're married for over sixty years with seven living children, which she says is all the luck she needs. Eventually it goes to her daughter-in-law, who uses it to make the uniform for her husband when he goes off to war, and he survives.
But when it gets to their daughter, Syeira, she doesn't believe in the legend. But she hasn't used the sewing machine either. She says she's waiting for the perfect moment. Which now, will never come, I guess."
Fiyero was watching her intently.
"The whole luck vs fate thing makes more sense now," he said at last.
"Luck wasn't so much on my side today, was it?" Elphaba murmured. She placed her mug on the coffee table and blinked back tears.
"I can't stand the thought of being in the same room as her. Pinar's always been horrendible, but she's been worse this semester. She comes and goes at all hours, with no regards to my schedule or workload. She accuses me of taking her stuff, even though I swear she's been taking things of mine."
She looked to Fiyero. "I think she took the card you gave me with the flowers," she admitted. "I can't find it."
Her voice shook, and she took a shuddering breath.
Fiyero's brow creased and he reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "You don't need the card, Fae. You know I'm your friend."
Elphaba's fingers tightened around his almost as a reflex, although she avoided his gaze. "It was nice to have it in writing," Elphaba said, her voice cracking. "You're the first person who's ever admitted to being my friend."
Fiyero's face softened.
"Stay here tonight," he offered.
Elphaba blinked, startled as she looked back at him. "What?"
"Stay here," Fiyero repeated. "You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch. That way you don't have to go back to the room. In the morning, you can talk to Morrible. Maybe there's a spare room somewhere. People drop out or transfer all the time."
Elphaba gaped at him slightly. "No, I can't," she said weakly. "Thank you for the offer, Yero, but I can't."
"Why not?" Fiyero argued.
"I can't," Elphaba repeated. "Really, it'll- it'll be fine."
Fiyero looked at her knowingly. "Fae, do you want to go back?"
Tears sprung to Elphaba's eyes before she could stop them.
"Stay," Fiyero urged her softly, brushing his thumb over her knuckles lightly. "We'll deal with it all in the morning."
Elphaba hesitated.
"I can sleep on the couch-"
"No," Fiyero refused. "No way. Come on."
He tugged her up from the couch and gently led her into his bedroom. She stood there awkwardly while he grabbed a pillow, blanket and his pyjamas.
"There's already fresh sheets on the bed," he told her. "Bathroom is next door on the left. Do you need anything?"
Elphaba shook her head mutely, rubbing her hands over her arms as she trembled.
Fiyero hadn't lit the lamp, so the room was still cloaked in darkness. Elphaba didn't think he could see her shaking, but then he stepped over to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Elphaba tensed, but Fiyero only held her tighter.
He'd never hugged her before. Yet somehow it felt like they'd done this a thousand times before. Gradually, Elphaba relaxed into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Fiyero was only two inches taller than her, so her head fit perfectly. He rubbed small circles between her shoulder blades without saying anything and eventually the trembling lessened somewhat.
"There's extra blankets in the closet," he told her quietly, but didn't pull back. "Let me know if you need anything, ok?"
Elphaba nodded, rendered speechless once more.
She thought she felt Fiyero's lips brush the top of her head gently before he finally dropped his arms and let her go.
"Try and get some sleep," he told her and then left the room, shutting the door gently behind him.
Alone in his bedroom, she slowly eased down onto the bed. Her limbs felt heavy, she felt drained and rather how she imagined a deflated balloon might feel. She took off her boots and lay down under the covers, curling up tightly in a ball on her side. She felt so unsettled, the room was unfamiliar, and everything smelled faintly of Fiyero.
Tears sprung unbidden to her eyes, and in the dark, she couldn't hold them back. Before she knew it, Elphaba had cried herself into a restless sleep.
AN. The whole book burning thing was obviously inspired by Little Women. Considering the breakdowns I've had over losing a few paragraphs of work, losing a whole story is like my worst nightmare. Anyone here who writes can imagine the horror, I'm sure (I'm also still mad at Amy March for what she did, and it's probably been 20 years since I first read Little Women).
You know, I've never written the 'There's only one bed and people have to share it' trope. Honestly, I've read it so many times it feels overdone to me. But if there was ever a time I was tempted to write it, it was this chapter. I almost did. What do you guys think?
