I love how some of you said you're glad Elphaba is meeting the Wizard. Are you sure about that? I mean, you've all seen the musical... (Note the ominous trailing off with three dots there.)
#11. Fly
Feel like going insane
Got a fire in your brain
It's a dark, dizzy merry-go-round
Elphaba wrapped the blanket around herself and stretched out horizontally across the bed using Fiyero as a pillow, her hair fanning out over his stomach. She heaved a content and slightly breathless sigh. "I love you, Yero."
She felt his chuckle rumble in his stomach. "I love you, too. You know that. Are you okay? You're panting a little."
"Well, you're very tiring," she said teasingly. "I'm fine, though. Just a little out of breath, but that happens all the time these days."
He fell silent at that. It did happen all the time these days, even when she simply walked from her dorm room to class or went up a single flight of stairs. She felt him playing with her hair and she knew he was thinking about her illness and the future. She was proven right when he said quietly, "I wish this didn't have to end."
She smiled a bit wistfully. "Me, too." She rolled onto her stomach, resting her chin on her arms so she could look at him. "But it's not over yet. I never thought I'd be the one to say this to you instead of the other way around, but stop worrying, Yero. There's only now. Don't waste it thinking about the bad things that are coming."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You did not come up with that yourself, did you?" he accused and she grinned at him.
"I went to a therapist a few times back in Munchkinland when I was younger," she confessed. "He always said that. I've been realising lately though that he may have had a point."
Fiyero reached out to touch her hair again, threading his fingers through it. She watched him, smirking a little. "What is it with you and my hair? You're always touching it."
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just love it," he said honestly. "It's so soft and it feels nice between my fingers. Maybe it's a guy thing. You know, because we generally don't have long hair, we like to play with our girlfriends' hair instead."
She quirked an eyebrow at him and he chuckled. "Okay, that's not very plausible, but still. I just love your hair. Can we leave it at that?"
"Sure." She rested her cheek on her arms and closed her eyes for a moment. "What time is it?"
"Almost nine." She felt the rise and fall of his stomach with his breaths and the vibration of his skin beneath her bare arms when he talked. "Galinda probably isn't up yet, is she?"
"Probably not." She opened her eyes again, staring at the blue diamonds tattooed across his chest and stomach. Her fingertips found one and started tracing it. She grinned a little devilishly when she felt him shiver. "What time do we want to get up and into the City?"
He continued running his fingers through her hair, watching her watch his diamonds. "I don't know. Soon, I guess. I mean, we only have a day and a half to go sightseeing here in the City. You definitely need to get enough rest and you won't in a million years hear me protest what we just did... but I also think you need to experience as much of the Emerald City as possible, now that we're here."
She smiled. "I want to see the Palace," she murmured, turning over to lie on her back again, her head once again pillowed on his stomach. "And the Great Emerald Museum. Oh, and I'd love to take a peek at the library on the Emerald Square – it's supposed to be the biggest one in all of Oz!"
"We can do that," he agreed, combing through her hair with his fingers as he thought about their day. "All we have to do is discourage Galinda from dragging us into a thousand dress salons, but I'm sure we can make that work."
"I'll just play the 'this-will-be-my-only-time-ever-in-the-Emerald-City-so-I-get-to-pick-what-we're-doing'-card." Elphaba pressed a hand to her forehead, frowning a little. "Ugh, I'm dizzy."
He instantly looked alarmed, sitting up a little. "How dizzy?"
She really wanted to make light of it – honestly, she'd have preferred to keep both her illness and every single stupid symptom completely hidden from everyone, because she hated all the hovering and worrying – but she knew that would be a bad idea. So she admitted, wincing a little at the pain in her head, "The kind of dizzy that means I'm probably going to pass out in a few moments. Just leave me be, I'll be fine," she assured him.
He frowned, concerned. "Are you sure?"
She gritted her teeth against the headache, which seemed to grow worse with every heartbeat, and she closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that would help. She could feel Fiyero reaching out and gently massaging her scalp with his fingertips, letting them drift to her temples to rub those as well, since he knew that helped her headache sometimes. He watched her closely and when he suddenly felt her weight grow heavier against him, her eyes fluttering shut, he knew she was out.
It still scared him every time this happened, but not by far as much as it had before. Since it had been happening more and more often lately, he knew by now what to do. She always woke up by herself again after a while, so he had learned to just make her comfortable and stay with her to watch over her in case something happened, which it had never done before. He also knew she would have one hell of a headache once she'd wake up, which was why he carefully reached for her nightstand, trying to get to her bottle of pills and the glass of water standing beside them without jostling her. He watched her face as he continued to play with her hair for a while, waiting for her to wake up.
It took her a little less than ten minutes before she groaned and stirred, her eyes opening again; and the moment she tentatively sat up, he handed her two pills and the glass.
"Life-saver," she muttered, popping the pills into her mouth and washing them down with some water. Wincing against the terrible headache, she lay back down against him and closed her eyes, allowing him to pull her into his arms and go back to massaging her temples as she waited for the medication to start doing its job.
"Thanks," she said after a while, heaving a sigh. "You're my hero."
He laughed softly. "I think I could get used to that."
"Yero my hero." She made a content noise in her throat when he pressed a little harder, rubbing circles on her temples until the tension flowed from her shoulders and she seemed to relax a little.
"Better?" he asked and she nodded, eyes still closed.
"Much."
Fiyero got up not long after that, dressing himself and then moving into the hallway to wake Galinda while Elphaba got dressed as well. Not long thereafter, they were all ready to go and they set out into the City to go sightseeing.
Galinda did try to convince them to visit a dress salon or two, but Elphaba refused – "You can go, Glin, and we'll come find you once we're done at this museum" – and since the blonde didn't want to go off on her own, she begrudgingly accompanied Elphaba and Fiyero to several museums and to visit the Emerald Square and the Palace (which she did love seeing) as well as the huge library situated there (which she found a lot less interesting). They had lunch at a fancy tearoom and dinner at an even fancier restaurant and by the time they returned to their hotel after seeing Wizomania, they had already made tons of plans for the next day. They would never be able to see and do all the things they'd thought up, but they agreed to try to do as much as possible still in the time between Elphaba's meeting with the Wizard and the time their carriage would leave the following day.
"Are you really sure you don't mind sleeping on your own, Glin?" Elphaba asked when they reached the hallway, but her blonde friend merely shook her head.
"Of course not, Elphie, or I would have said so. I was fine by myself last night and I'll be fine now, too. I share a room with you every night, after all – and besides, I always wanted my private suite, didn't I?" She giggled and waved the other two goodnight before disappearing into her room whilst Elphaba and Fiyero disappeared into theirs, just across the hallway from Galinda's.
Elphaba fell down onto the bed on her stomach and she was so tired that by the time Fiyero had changed into his pyjamas and came to see if she was ready, too, she had fallen asleep, still fully clothed. He smiled and removed her shoes, but then he had to wake her up because she had to inject her medication. She grumbled, but did so and allowed him to help her change into her own nightgown, still drowsy and half-asleep, before she collapsed back onto the bed and fell asleep again within clock-ticks.
Fiyero tucked her in before crawling into the bed beside her. He loved to watch her sleep, since he thought she looked adorable that way, but it also made him feel sad that she was tiring so quickly. Every time they were happy, every time he nearly forgot that their relationship – that her life – was not built to last, something would happen that reminded him of that fact again. Still, he had never regretted his decision to be with her despite her illness and he was pretty sure he never would. No matter what was going to happen in the future, he wouldn't have missed this time with her for the world.
He put his arm around her to pull her closer, tucking his face into the crook of her neck and inhaling her scent before closing his eyes and soon falling asleep as well.
They arrived at the Emerald Palace early and were directed to a waiting room by a friendly woman in an emerald green uniform. Galinda primly sat down and Fiyero slouched in his chair; Elphaba, however, started pacing and didn't stop until Galinda firmly pulled her down and sternly told her that she was going to tire herself out that way and she wouldn't have enough energy left to talk to the Wizard about the Animals.
They waited for a little under an hour, with Elphaba growing more anxious with every passing minute, before a guard appeared to escort them to the throne room. Once inside, he closed the door and a giant head suddenly came to life in the middle of the room, moving and roaring, "I AM OZ!"
Galinda shrieked and ducked behind Fiyero, who was quite startled himself. Elphaba jumped at the voice, but stood her ground, raising her chin and announcing, "I am Elphaba Thropp, Your Ozness, and these are my friends – Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands and Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus."
The head suddenly dropped, startling them all again, and then a middle-aged man appeared from behind it, smiling widely.
"Elphaba," he said, approaching her and taking both her hands in his own. "It's lovely finally meeting you – and your friends, too. Please, sit down." He motioned at a couple of arm chairs situated around a side table. "We have much to discuss."
It felt surreal, like this was not really happening; but at the same time, she knew with absolute clarity that it was real. Here she stood, clutching the handle of a broomstick, looking up at the open window in the sloped ceiling above her.
She couldn't just ignore everything she had learned today and go on with her life, however short that still may be. She couldn't pretend she hadn't been here today. She couldn't let the Wizard continue hurting the Animals. She had to leave, she had to fight – she had to do everything she still could to try and help the Animals. Fight for a cause. It was on her list, right? So that was what she would do.
She glanced once at the door. The guards were pounding on it and would soon be inside. Fiyero and Galinda were probably right on their heels.
Fiyero.
Galinda.
Nessa.
She gasped, the thought of them nearly taking her breath away, because she knew that even they were not enough to keep her here right now. She had to go, even though she knew it would break their hearts. They'd get over it, though. She only had a few months left – what did it matter anymore? Maybe she could still make a difference for the Animals. They needed her more than her friends did right now.
And so she tentatively mounted the broomstick and steered it upward, gasping again when it raised with her still on it. She glanced down at her satchel and made some calculations. She'd need the rest of her medication or she'd get too physically weak to do anything and she decided she would head back to Shiz to get it. No-one would be in her dorm room right now. She'd go there, pack some things and leave Galinda, Nessa, and Fiyero a note; and then she'd leave. She had to.
She rose up into the air, just when the door below her gave way and guards started flooding the room, Galinda and Fiyero right on their heels, but she was gone before she saw them. She flew out of the window and smiled wryly to herself, mentally ticking "Fly" off her list as she headed in the direction of Shiz University.
Please don't kill me.
