Chapter 21- In Limbo Again

Elphaba opened her eyes and was greeted by a familiar white light. She was lying on her back and sat up. She looked around her surroundings and noted that she was back in her old room that she had a child, but this was the white room that she had just been in, when she was in limbo.

"You are back, Elphaba," Melena Thropp said as she sat at a desk that was in the room.

Elphaba realized that she was back with her dead mother and sister. Nessa was leaning against a wall looking at her reflection in a hand mirror.

Elphaba was back in limbo.

"Wait," Elphie said, and she stood up from the bed and went over to her mother. "I chose that I wanted to live. I have reasons to live. Why am I back here?"

'Do you really want to, Elphaba?" Nessa asked as she lowered mirror to look at her sister. The Witch of the East was standing near a window.

"Yes! Why am I here, in a place between life and death? A place that has no time or meaning? I want to be back with my family and friends. I chose to fight off my injuries and I chose to live!" Elphaba said in angered voice as she paced around the room in tight circle.

Melena swept her caramel colored hair behind her ears and stood up to face her eldest daughter. The white frocks that she and Nessa wore made them look like angels to Elphaba.

"Well," the witch's mother began saying. "You may want to live, but something is resisting you. Your body is fine. You will live. But some part of your mind or soul is resisting."

Elphaba stopped pacing and looked at the two dead women.

"Why would I resist living?" Elphaba questioned. "I have so much to live for. Why would I punish myself by not returning to the people that love me? Why would I give up?"

"Well, look at it this way," Nessa said as she crossed her arms. "Isn't it easier to just slip away and let go of all the hardships in your life? Maybe you are resisting because you don't want to go back to being someone who is hated? Is that it?"

"I'm not hated, Nessa," the green woman argued while walking over to her sister.

"Then why are there threats against you, the Wicked Witch of the West?" the Witch of the East retorted, a small smirk on her face.

"I'm not wicked. You of all people should know that. And how do you know about the threats?" Elphie questioned. She didn't take her eyes off her sister.

"I know about the threats because since you are 'here', and I know and feel everything that you have done and felt. We sort of have an inside look at your mind, if you want to call it that. And, I do know that you are not wicked. But why did you say, and quote, 'Let all Oz be agreed. I'm wicked through and through, and no good deed will I ever do again!', end quote?" Nessa asked of her sister.

"I said that in a moment of anger…and sadness. I thought that I had lost Fiyero. I thought that it was my fault, so, the words just came spilling out," the green witch said softly, as she looked down to the white floor.

"Still," Melena spoke up; she got up from the desk. "You have a reputation Elphaba. You know that you are a good person, but, I think part of you doesn't want to deal with that 'wickedness' or darker side that some people believe you have. Maybe you don't want to confront that painful part of your life, and by not waking up, you don't have to. There is another part though, that is fighting off your weaker side. Part of you wants to wake up and be with your family and friends again. Now, you just have to make the choice, and be a hundred percent sure of what you want, and to not let yourself be dominated by fears that may be hidden from you."

"So, part of me is afraid to deal with my reputation and just wants to take the easy way out, and the other part of me wants to fight and live for the good things in my life?" Elphaba questioned. She now paced around the brightly lit room once more.

"Yes, but this is so much more than if you want to live or die," Nessa said. "This is a test on whether or not you want to deal with the consequences of your past and face the dangers that are to come."

"I have tried to be good…but people still hate me," the green witch stated. She had stopped moving. Her mother and sister moved in closer to her. "I'm tired of trying to prove myself to others. Everyone is against me and I'm sick of it! It would be so easy to just…give up, but I can't do that because I have people who need me. I know that this is not like the normal and strong Elphaba that everyone knows, but after a while, the Elphaba that everyone knows has had enough. I just…don't think I can do this anymore!"

"Darling, you don't have to keep proving yourself." Melena said as she gently embraced he daughter. "You already have proven yourself, by co-ruling with Glinda. You are scared. It's alright to admit that you have fear. If you didn't, then I would say that you were really in trouble. But now that you finally have admitted to yourself, you can go back and be even stronger now with this newfound knowledge. You can wake up and you will be surrounded who will help you each and every day and they can help in how other people see you. All you have to do is just be yourself and embrace the new challenges that life will throw at you. No matter who it is against you, you will succeed."

"Thank you. That is…oddly, what I needed to hear," Elphaba said quietly.

"Now, you just have to make one final decision. Are you going to just give up, or are you going to act like the person that we have all come to know and love, and go fight off the people who are making threats against you?" Nessa asked. She was standing inches away from the green woman.

"I'm going to go back, kick the person who is making threats against me in the ass, and win the day!" Elphaba declared. "I need to go back to where I belong."

"Now, then, wake up and fight the battles of today, because there will be many of them to come," Melena responded.

"Thank you," Elphaba promised. Then the green woman closed her eyes and felt strength return to her. She knew that she had to conquer her fears and she would find a way to face her problems of the past.

Elphaba's eyes opened slowly. She noticed that she was surrounded by Fiyero, Glinda, Boq, Shell, Oscar, and Daven. The green woman felt extremely sore, but happy with the choice she had made. She would face whatever came her way with strength and grace and most importantly, the help of her family and friends.

"She's back," Fiyero said happily as he kissed Elphaba's forehead. He then pushed back her long black hair out of her eyes.

"Yes, I am, and it's going to stay that way for a good long time," Elphaba responded with a sigh.