Chapter 11: A Rose is a Rose, Unless it's a Lily.

The cool wind whipped through the open wheat field, bending the tall plants back as easily as one would a weightless feather. Elphaba, crouched on a hill overlooking the farm valley, ignored the black locks in her eyes as the wind threw her hair in all directions. Her hand touched the dry ground softly to keep her balance; her legs were bent but ready for movement. She looked like a lioness, waiting, hidden yet in plain sight. Her eyes scanned the horizon and slowly, her lips curled in an odd little smile.

It was good to be home.

Before Shiz, Elphaba had never thought the plains of the East to be so beautiful. She had sat upon the hill just south west of her home many times as a child, but never before had she seen them and felt as though she were home.

She felt almost at peace.

It was only a week into the holiday, but already Elphaba felt it would be the best time of her life. Yes, she was away from her school work and magic, but the promise of meeting the Wizard when she returned was enough to keep her almost happy.

No, she was happy.

Well… Elphaba shrugged. She wouldn't think about that now.

She was home, her father was almost pleased with her, and Nessa was treating her like a sister rather than an annoyance. With all that, how could she ask for more? If i>she /i> didn't want her, than she'd simply find someone else who did.

"Don't start," Elphaba told herself, "Because, once you do, you won't be able to stop thinking, wishing, hoping..."

Elphaba sighed. She knew the truth of her own words. That logic was all she had to rely on but…

She just couldn't help wishing that, for once, she might be wrong.

"Elphaba! Elphaba? Elphaba, where are you?"

Nessarose, wheeling herself onto the front porch, called out to her sister, but it took another moment for her eyes to fall on a bundle of black seated atop the hill. Nessa called to her again, and the wind carried her voice to the crouched figure. Elphaba turned, her hair whipping her face, her green eyes piercing even from a distance. Nessa thought she looked almost frightening, yet beautiful. That's how Elphaba always was, but it was intensified at the moment, by the silence and the dark cloak draped loosely over her shoulders.

"Dinners ready," she said, her voice cracking with the look Elphaba gave her. Sometimes it was as if Elphaba could look right through her soul with those eyes. Her heart raced and she caught her breath only when Elphaba looked away.

Elphaba stood up and strolled back towards the house and Nessa turned herself around and went back into the house.

------

"Now, make sure you keep a level hand on that, Fiyero. Wouldn't want us tipping over, now would we?"

Mr. Upland patted Fiyero's shoulder in an almost fatherly fashion, grinning broadly as the young man deftly maneuvered the medium sized boat across the water.

"He's a natural!" Mr. Upland shouted over his shoulder. Mother and daughter smiled and nodded.

"Poppy seems to like him, Mumsies," Galinda said, sipping her tea with a light hand, holding her overcoat tightly closed with the other. Mrs. Upland, who almost disappeared in her massive fur coat, had more difficulty in drinking the hot liquid, but managed to respond through the white fluff.

"Your father and I both agree that Fiyero is a fine young man. Wonderful prospect for a husband," she said, very matter-of-factly. Galinda, torn between shock and joy, just smiled.

"Oh, do you really think so? I mean, you've only known him for… less than two weeks!"

Mrs. Upland sipped her tea and said, "But we already know all we need to know." She put down her saucer, seeing by her daughter's expression that an explanation was needed.

"He's from the Northwest," she said, tallying each qualifying attribute off on her thin fingers, "he's handsom, he's polite, he's very articulate, and he's just so sweet! Galinda, you will never find a better match, I know it. You should marry that boy!"

Galinda smiled at her mother and turned, looking over at her father and Fiyero, obviously bonding. This was just what she had wanted: her mother approved not only of Fiyero but supported a future relationship, her father loved him, and even though her dog, Shooshoo, didn't seem to like him, Shoo didn't like anyone, so that was to be expected! Things were going better than she could have hoped for.

Then why did she feel so unhappy?

"Galinda, dearest," her father called, "Come up her and watch your future husband maneuver the boat that will one day be his!"

Fiyero flushed crimson and turned to smile at Galinda, though there was a weakness in his smile that Galinda could almost see. She smiled back, but her heart could not support her farce, so her cheeks did not seem as rosy, despite the cold nipping at them.

"See?" her mother said. "Even your father approves. He's perfect."

"Yes," Galinda said softly. "Perfect."

------

"No. No, I'm not going."

"Oh, Elphaba, do be mature about this!"

Three weeks into the holiday, Nessa decided it would be good for them if she and Elphaba attended the Winter Solstice festival.

"But Nessa, I thought you hated going to that festival. It's so hard to move in your wheel chair over the hay."

Nessa, who was tying a new bow on her head, ignored Elphaba's foreboding sense of worry.

"Elphaba, father is always trying to get us more interested in the holidays." Having fitted the ribbon, Nessa spun her chair around. "Why don't we just give him a reason to think we care? It's a free day," she said, pushing towards her bed, "and we should just enjoy getting away."

Elphaba wanted to believe that Nessa simply wanted to spend time with her, but years of instinct could not be pushed down, even with the amazing leaps and bounds their relationship had made. And the blush on Nessa's face, the perfection with which she had dressed, and the smile on her taunt lips told Elphaba that she wasn't wrong in thinking something was up.

"He's going to be there, isn't he," Elphaba said with a sigh.

Nessa turned sharply, meeting Elphaba's gaze. She immediately decided that any attempt to lie would be futile.

"Yes," she breathed, looking down to her lap. "Please, Elphaba, I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

"It's alright. I know you like him and…well, it would give me time to just be alone for once, now wouldn't it?"

Nessa looked up, a smile in her eyes and on her lips.

"Oh, thank you, Elphaba! This means so much to me…"

Nessa rolled over to her closet and pulled out one of her nicest cloaks. Elphaba, out of routine, went to assist her, slipping the cloak behind Nessa and tying the loop gently.

As she knelt in front of her sister, checking that everything was done correctly and wouldn't interfere with the chair, she noticed a look on Nessa's face that she had never seen before and it was almost enough to break her heart. She looked so happy, so… in love.

And you'll never be able to feel like that, will you, the voice in her mind said. Because at least Nessa has a chance, she can try! But you, no, oh ho no, you won't ever have that chance.

"Shut up," Elphaba said under her breath. Nessa looked up, the flush on her cheeks oddly contrasting with her worried expression.

"Elphaba? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing, Nessa," she said, standing, a soft smile touching her lips. She looked over at her sister who, in the light of the afternoon sun dripping in through the window, looked rather pretty. She certainly was a tragic beauty.

Not as tragic as you, the voice said, but Elphaba stuffed it down before it could taunt her further.

"We'd better be going then, wouldn't want to keep Boq waiting."

Nessa smiled, the mention of Boq chasing all other thoughts from her mind like butterflies swept in the wind that threw the curtains around her. Elphaba turned Nessa around and took the handles, pushing her sister out of the room.

------

The servants in the Upland house were very precise and, like everything else the Upland's owned (for they most certainly owned their help), were as close to perfection as possible. They worked silently when in the presence of the Master and Madame, or in front of guests, if they were seen at all. It was almost as though there were secret passage ways throughout the mansion; they appeared and vanished so quickly. Few people knew the number of hands belonging to the Upland house, but one could be assured it was upwards of fifty.

With that many servants, it was only understandable that Mrs. Upland was in a twitter when she found Galinda in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes from that night's meal.

"Galinda, what in Oz's name are you doing? That's your wand hand you're using!"

Galinda ignored her mother and scrubbed the plate, trying to clean away something much harder to erase. The light green plate was practically sparkling, but still she cleaned.

"Galinda, dear, please, stop this nonsense this instant."

Mrs. Upland took the plate from her and pushed Galinda away from the sink and into a chair. She knelt in front of her daughter, searching her face for explanation.

"What has come over you? Over that last few days you've been so… so… unlike your usual self. Have your father and I done something wrong?"

Galinda searched her mother's eyes and an aching pain returned to her heart.

For the past three weeks, her parents had been nothing short of darling. They been wonderful to Fiyero and to her and she could not have asked for or expected anything more and yet, her she was, going almost insane over green plates.

"Oh, Mumsy, it's Fiyero," she said, honestly. Mrs. Upland smiled and stroked a few bits of soap suds out of Galinda's hair.

"I understand, sweetheart, I was the same way when I first met your father."

You were in love with another person? Galinda thought nervously.

"I was so in love that I was worried he would leave and break my heart. I mean, he was so attractive, all the girls wanted him," she said, taking Galinda's sigh of relief for something it wasn't, "but I knew he was mine. He loved me, just like I see Fiyero loves you."

Galinda shivered and her mother stood knelt up, encircling Galinda in her arms.

"Everything will be alright, darling," she said, "and you and Fiyero will be together for a long, long time."

Galinda pressed her face into her mother's cashmere sweater and the tears that fell over Mrs. Upland's shoulder her mother thought to be the soft release of happiness.

------

Boq certainly looked surprised to see us, Elphaba said to herself. It was odd; he'd been expecting them, so maybe it was just her accompanying Nessa that had caused his look of shock and almost fear. When he had taken Nessa's wheelchair in hand, he looked confused and startled.

"I seem to have that effect on people," she said aloud. The woman in the popcorn stand said nothing, but stared at Elphaba until she walked away.

Luckily, most of the older townsfolk were entirely used to seeing Elphaba. It was only the young, they who were new to the world in general, whom paused to stare at her.

And it was never the innocent wonder of the child that offended her. It was the parents, who shuffled their children away when Elphaba offered them some of her popcorn that made her skin tingle with the impending magic that would have been released, had she not had training with Madame Morrible. Her pride at being able to control her magic overwhelmed the feelings of anger and sadness.

Overall, though, the day was not any worse than she could have expected. The staring came with the territory, but nothing else happened. No outbursts, no rude comments. It was, in Elphaba's case, a very good day.

Stopping at a small flower shop, Elphaba smelled each flora before a sales woman approached her. For a moment, she was taken aback by her first glance, but she soon overcame it. A sale was a sale, no matter what the customer looked like.

"Was there something specific you were looking for, dear?"

Elphaba regarded the older woman with a warm smile. She fondled a white flower between her fingers and took a deep breath of it.

"This flower," Elphaba said, almost too wrapped in the scent to speak, "What is it?"

The woman smiled, obviously glad of Elphaba's choice.

"It is a wild flower, grown only in the far north, past the upper lands… very rare…" She gathered a small bunch of the flowers and pulled a ribbon out of her pocket. "Shall I bundle them up for you?"

Elphaba smelled the flower once more and closed her eyes. She could almost believe that the soft, pale white of the flowers was the color of skin beneath her fingers. The contrast of her green fingers of the pale flesh color was beautiful to Elphaba

"I'll take them all," Elphaba said, not caring about the price. The saleswoman's eyes lit up with the words and she called over an assistant to aid her as she picked up the entire vase.

Elphaba turned away as they put the bundle together, smelling the single white flower as though she could never have enough of it. The scent was so wonderful, so familiar. It felt like she was under some sort of spell; she needed to have this scent around her always.

Just as Elphaba was giving the woman the exact amount of gold coin, Nessa rolled up beside her with Boq.

"Elphaba, I have to go home," he said, and he let go of Nessa without saying another word.

"See you at school, Boq!" Nessa called after him, but he didn't turn around. She forced a smile as she turned to Elphaba.

"Thank you for taking me Elphaba, really, I appreciate… What are those flowers for?"

Elphaba turned, holding the vase (which the saleswoman had kindly thrown in, though Elphaba would have been happy to simply carry them all the way home, but she had to keep them in water) but she did not answer her sister.

She wanted to carry the vase, but she couldn't push Nessa and hold them flowers, so she settled for holding the first flower she had picked, slipping it behind her ear, and gave Nessa the heavy vase.

"Oh, these smell lovely, Elphaba," Nessa said, breathing in the scent. Elphaba's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, they're fine, let's get home."

Elphaba wanted to get the flowers into her room and just throw them about, letting the scent blanket her, the sooner the better.

"You know," Nessa said, looking curiously at the flowers and sniffing them thoughtfully, "these smell just like that perfume Galinda likes, the one Boq showed me before we left on break."

Elphaba stopped abruptly, but resumed just as suddenly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Just a rock," Elphaba muttered. She took another breath and tried to convince herself that Nessa was wrong.

"I just liked them," Elphaba defended. "I've never even smelled that perfume." She knew it was a lie, but she needed to lie, at least to herself. Otherwise, she couldn't enjoy the scent of the flowers and pretend that it wasn't because they were pale, like her skin, or soft, like her lips, or…

"I just liked them," she repeated, pushing Nessa a little faster. "That's all."