Hello! Here's Chapter 14!

Fae's Flower, to answer your question, I currently have 29 chapters plus an epilogue outlined, but that number could get bigger if I come up with more ideas. This story just keeps growing and growing!
Enjoy!

Chapter 14

"Faster, Fabala, faster!"

"Alright, a little faster, but we have to be careful!" I said this simply out of big sisterly instinct; I was having just as much fun as she was. Father was on a diplomatic trip to Gilikin, and the maid who had been tasked to watch us wasn't doing her job very well. That day, we had chosen to run around in the backyard; this was good exercise for me, and Nessa loved it when I pushed her while running because it was as close to running as she was ever going to get. We ran along the path through Mama's garden, still managing to take in the scents of every flower as we passed.

"Let me go, Fabala!" Nessa demanded as we reached the end of the pavement, where there was a hill that led down to our apple trees. "I wanna roll down the hill!"

I laughed. "Okay, but I bet I can make it to the bottom before you can!"

"I bet you can't!"
 "Well, we'll see!" So I gave her a push, and not seeing any harm in it (Father wasn't around, after all), I released just the tiniest bit of my magic to make her go a little faster. But, being a dumb eight year old, I couldn't keep tabs on just how much magic I was releasing, and Nessa went down the hill at an alarming speed. Before I could react, she collided with an apple tree and toppled out of her chair, hitting her head on the tree.

Immediately, she started crying. "Fabala! Fabala!"

"Nessa!" I ran down the hill as fast as I could. When I got to her, I sat her up against the tree, but did not stop holding her. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

"My head hurts!"

Nessa was smaller than most children her age, and I was stronger than most children my age, so even then I was able to pick her up and put her back in her chair. "Oh, I'm sorry, Nessa! I guess I pushed you too hard. Well, it'll all be okay now. We'll go to the kitchen and get some ice, and maybe if Miss Pattermmott isn't there, we'll sneak some chocolate!"

Nessa giggled a little, tears still staining her face. "I'd love that!"

"Well, let's get going then!"

"Elphie? Elphie! ELPHIE!" I was tugged very violently out of my thoughts by Galinda screaming in my ear. "I have waffles, made by yours truly! Do you want some? Wait, of course you do! I make the best waffles ever! Here, get a load of this. You will never want Peach and Kidney waffles again!" And she shoved a forkful of waffles into my mouth before I could protest. She watched impatiently as I chewed and swallowed, and then asked, "Well? Is it fabulous, or what?"

I hesitated. "Uh … yeah, they're … they're good. Nice work." In reality, she could've cooked them a little longer and used a little less butter, but in her mind, she was the best cook ever, and that was one disillusion I didn't want to break.

She squealed in triumph. "I knew it! You love them!" She gave me another bite. "So, where were you just now? You seemed pretty zoned out."

"I was just … thinking."

"Thinking?" Galinda groaned. "Ugh! You and Fiyero! What is up with that?"

I chuckled. "It's called stimulating the brain. You should try it sometime."

"Oh, shut it! I'm smart, and you know it! How do you think I got into Shiz?"

"Alright, you got me there; your entrance exam was pretty good." I cleared out the last bits of waffle from my mouth. "Hey, could you give me some juice?"

"Juice? Sure thing." She picked up my cup. "Speaking of the Peach and Kidney, I think we're overdue for a trip there, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, I don't think we've gone since our first semester. The three of us should go soon: you, me, Nessa. Just like old times."

At this point, it was late May, so we were deep into final exam preparations. I had slowly begun to use my device almost exclusively when I wasn't amongst friends. It really did amaze me how well my friends, especially Galinda, could understand me. The others, while they could eventually get what I was saying, usually had to ask me to repeat myself a few times. We had jokingly started to call my way of speaking "Elphabaese," which was becoming a harder dialect to master as the weeks went on. The one thing that kept me from fully accepting this was the way I said people's names now. Galinda was now "Galinna," Nessa was now "Nesssta," and Fiyero – I didn't even try to say his name anymore. If I absolutely had to address him by name, I would call him "Ero," a complete bastardization of his beautiful Vinkun name. But what can you do?

It was also quite strange how the same people who used to act like absolute jerks to me were now sucking up to me like you wouldn't believe. It was like about a year after my diagnosis, the entire student body collectively thought, "Oh! The green girl really does have ALS! We're fucking assholes!" One day, a boy whom I had recognized as one who had thrown a spitball in my face during the first few weeks of classes actually held a door open for me. Another time, I was enjoying a sunny day on the quad when none other than Pfannee came up to me and nervously said, "M-Miss Elphaba?"

"Miss Pfannee," I responded, not missing the surprise in her eyes at how I said her name.

But, to give her credit, she rallied. "Y-Your arm fell off your armrest. Would you like me to put it back on for you?"

"Sure. Thanks." But are you sure you're not going to catch green from me? One benefit of having trouble speaking was it kept me from blurting out snarky things like that. But she grabbed my arm without any visible fear of "cooties," and plopped it back on my armrest. "Thank you," I said again.

Pfannee smiled guiltily. "You're welcome, Miss Elphaba." And those were just a few of the baffling encounters I had with my fellow Shizians.

But soon enough, our exams finished, and to celebrate, Galinda, Nessa, and I finally went out to the Peach and Kidney. "I want saffron cream!" Galinda declared to the waiter as soon as he came over. "No, we're not coming from a funeral, so you don't have to give us your condolences. I just love saffron cream!"

"Okay, miss," the waiter said, chuckling. "Would you like anything else besides saffron cream?"

Galinda's face dropped. "Oh yeah. I'll have a salad too."

All and all, it was a pretty nice dinner. It reminded me of when the three of us had gone out to eat shortly after Fiyero's party at the Ozdust. This meal had the same gay mood, save for the guilty look Nessa would get in her eyes every time Galinda would give me something to eat. But, she was overall in good spirits. "I finally have a goal for when I become governor!" she told us excitedly. "I'm going to make it so you have to have held a previous political office before you can become a senator. No more Bronzemans!"

"Oz, is Bronzeman really that bad?" Galinda asked.

"Oh! Galinda! Don't get me started! He's trying to dismantle our health care system, which took Father YEARS to put together! It was supposed to be Father's legacy, and now this son of a b-… witch is sabotaging it! It's awful! You're lucky you live in Gilikin."

Galinda giggled as she gave me another bite of pasta. "Sounds like it. Any other goals for your governorship?"

"Yeah. I'm going to propose a law that I've been drafting for months now: the Munchkinlanders with Disabilities Act! I'm very proud of it. As a person with a disability myself, I've always been kind of aware of Munchkinland's accessibility issues, but I've become even more aware since Fabala became ill." She casually gestured towards me with her fork. "Our local library has one step to get in, which is quite inconvenient, right, Fabala?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "But not for you. You can pop a wheelie to get in there!"

Nessa laughed. "That's right! I have the task of getting all your books now!"

We had almost finished our main courses when Galinda exclaimed, "Oh! I have to use the ladies' room! But I'll be back for saffron cream!"

Nessa rolled her eyes and turned to me. "Just how much sugar is in saffron cream?"

"Too much for her," I said with a laugh. "She'll be bouncing off the walls all night!" Nessa laughed at that, but I could tell she didn't get the second part of that. She took Galinda's place at the table and read over my shoulders as I started typing. "She'll … be … bouncing … off … the … walls … all … night."

"Ah!" Nessa laughed again, more genuinely this time. "Well, that's for you to deal with."

"I really like your plans for being governor," I told her. "I'm very proud of you, Nessa."

I could tell she was at a moderate risk of crying, but luckily, she stopped herself. "Thank you, Fabala. That … that means a lot to me." I think she was slowly coming to the realization that no matter how ill and dependent I became, I would always be her big sister.

Galinda returned, the saffron cream came, and soon it was everywhere: the table, our clothes, our hair. You just can't eat saffron cream without having a little fun. That's why it's traditionally served at funerals, to lighten the mood a bit. Soon, Galinda and Nessa were beside themselves, having a bit of a food fight. Saffron cream is about the only food that it's acceptable to have a food fight with. It looked to be at a tie, and since I happened to have some saffron cream in my mouth, I decided to shake things up a little bit. But who would I ally myself with? My best friend or my sister? Well, Nessa and I had had a sisterly bonding moment while Galinda had been in the bathroom, so to solidify that, I spat some cream into Galinda's face. She shrieked and turned to me. "Elphie! Did you just do that?!"

"Of course she did!" Nessa said gleefully. "She's on my side! Ha ha!"

Galinda screwed up her face in mock anger. "Well! Fine! Take this!" And she threw some saffron cream at me, which ended up on my cheek.

Nessa rolled to my other side. "Quick! We have to retaliate!" She hastily put a spoonful of cream into my mouth before scooping one for herself. Amazingly, we fired at almost the same time, absolutely covering Galinda in cream.

"Oh my Oz!" she screamed. "Look at me! I don't believe you two!" Eventually, the three of us collapsed into laughter, not caring about the annoyed looks we got from the people around us.

There you have it! Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Elle Dottore