What Dreams
May Come
Chapter 38
A Heart Breaks
In Silence
AN: Wow! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Every single one of them have blown me and Mad-Idina away! I'm really shocked at how well this chapter has gone considering this was not in the original RP. Originally, Elphaba met Fiyero under different circumstances. Special Shout outs go to: Internet Sass Queen. Sorry, readers don't get to vote on what happens between Fiyero, Elphaba and Erik. L8lzytnwer. Yeah this Erik is going to be a lot different than the one in the musical version, which you'll find out as the story progresses. Fae'sFlower. Yes Erik is on the mend, but more angst is on the way. Doglover645. Lol, I've been waiting for someone to say that. Emerald Angel. I'm sorry but when I read your review it made me chuckle. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, and an special thanks to everyone who has been reading and following this story. Your continued support for this story means a great deal to Mad-Idina=Fan and I tremendously
FYI: Later on in this story, you'll all discover Erik's backstory which had been pieced together from bits of the musical, the movie, the book and my own crazy imagination. Plus, I created a different reason for why the one side of his face had been disfigured. Which again will be discovered in the sequel.
Throughout the journey back into town, Elphaba felt completely disconnected from her body. It was as if her body, her heart, and her mind were separate entities, each vying for control, each with a plausible argument, a reasoning which the green girl could not ignore.
Sighing, Elphaba turned her gaze back to the window. The silence in the carriage was deafening, the sound of her heart thrumming wildly in her ears drowned out the clatter of hoofs against the bumpy trail leading her away from a man who had healed her broken soul.
His voice pierced the wild beating of her heart. Closing her eyes, her memories swept her back to her last few minutes with her love.
"Go to him," weakly Erik tilts his head up at Elphaba and smiles. A hard gasp slipped past Elphaba's lips, for the warmth in his eyes cracked her heart, "go, and find the answers you seek"
Slowly her eyes fluttered open. A tear, teetering against the edge of her eyes warbled; refracting the light from the midday sun, and reflecting a prism of colors.
"How can you be so kind…when you know this could tear your heart apart" she whispered to no one in particular.
All too soon, the journey to town came to an end, and Elphaba found herself standing before the tavern. This was it, all she needed do now, was to take the last few steps and she would be inside, sitting across from the man who had stolen her heart in the Gillikin woods.
Steeling her heart, her hand rose and clutched the front of her cloak. Her dark chocolate eyes gazed at the quiet little tavern.
A soft wind blew, coiling through her and lifting the ends of her cloak. And for a moment, she swore she could feel Erik's warmth, his scent dance beneath the swells of air.
"Erik" she whispered to herself. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself a few moments to temper her raging emotions before stepping inside.
The tavern was large, much larger than what it seemed when standing outside. The walls made entirely of dark oak. The tables looked aged, stained by beer, blood and who knows what else. A thought Elphaba rathered keep to herself.
A roaring fire crackled in the corner, and a few drunkards were tipping pre-carelessly close to its flames. A tall, burly man with dark coiled hair, and an unkempt beard served ale to the loudest of its parishioners. His shirt looked dingy, spotted with numerous stains. Elphaba guessed that at one time, it had been clean and crisp, and she shuddered at the thought of where those stains had come from.
Seeing her walk past, the Barkeep lifted his head. His dark steal blue and gray eyes narrowed. Women; respectable women nary entered the darkened, seedy pits of this tavern.
Elphaba ignored him and continued on her quest to find Fiyero. A group of men gathered by a set of tables, each louder, and drunker than the one standing beside him, a loud cheer, a clank of glasses and they down their disgusting brew.
Clasping each other roughly on the shoulders, the men cheer. Turning, one lifts his fat fingers in the air, signaling to the beer wench the need of more ale.
Elphaba tilted her head to the side, and rose on her tiptoes to look beyond the man hollering for more brews. And that's when she saw him. Her Fiyero, sitting in a booth a few paces away. His head bowed, the hood of his cloak covering his face.
Despite the shadows slinking over his features, she could none the less, tell that it was him. The way he held his body, his posture, and his hands, all of which were familiar to the green girl.
A ripple of warmth spiked through her body, remembering the feel of his hands, his fingers trailing over her soft flesh. The warmth of his skin pressed against hers as they made love beneath the starlight.
Clenching her jaw, she pushed those memories away and stepped towards the booth.
Sensing her, Fiyero lifted his head. A wane smile pulled on his lips, beholding his beloved, standing before him, in all her glory.
"Fae," he says with all the love in his heart. Elphaba shivered and took a seat, "You still look so beautiful" he says. Stretching his hands across the table, he curls his fingers around hers and squeezes them gently
"Fiyero," she chokes out, "how…how in Oz did you get here?" she asks.
"I don't know Fae. Like I said. The last I remember was being strung up in the cornfield and left for dead. When I awoke. I found myself here" he says.
Elphaba couldn't speak. She knew she should say something, anything, but her mind just wouldn't let her. All she could force her body to do was nod silently back.
"Why didn't you wait for me?" asks Fiyero softly.
"I thought you were de-"her voice choked on the word. Coughing, she forced her racing heart to slow, "I thought you were gone" she finished softly.
"Couldn't you still feel me?" asks Fiyero. Leaning forward, his fingers reach out and lightly caress her cheek.
"No…I couldn't" Elphaba whispered hoarsely.
"Fae, I don't know what happened nor why you and I are here. But what I do know is that we found each other," cupping her cheek he smiled, "we can be safe here. Live the life we couldn't have in Oz…we can finally be together"
"Fiyero you don't know how much I had wanted that" whispers Elphaba softly.
"Had?" Fiyero asked, quirking an eyebrow. "What do you mean had? What happened? Did someone hurt you?" he asked, his voice rising with concern.
"No. No one has hurt me Fiyero" Elphaba quickly spoke, hoping to still his anger.
"How did you get here?" he asked, wishing to change the subject. He didn't like where it was going.
"After I ran from the field…I flew back to Kiamo Ko and tried to cast a spell that would protect you. In the middle of it, I just suddenly stopped feeling your presence and stopped halfway through. Somehow I was teleported here to France and found by a kindly man who took care of me" Elphaba spoke with softness, a fondness which unnerved Fiyero. She didn't like the look in her eyes.
"And?" he asked, his anger rising.
Elphaba lifted her head and blinked confused back at her former lover. Inwardly she gasped, for she could see the anger in his eyes, and it frightened her.
Before Elphaba could even speak, Fiyero cut her off, the roughness in his voice stabbed at her heart, "You fell in love with him. Didn't you"
"I thought you were dead," Elphaba spoke, her voice rose, imbued with a strength she didn't know she possessed, "what were you expecting me to grieve for you for my entire life? To walk this world alone? To lock my heart away and keep it just for you?"
"If you loved me like you swore you did, then yes. I would have expected you to remain celibate to me until we found each other again" he snarled through clenched teeth.
Elphaba watched him carefully, for as he spoke, an ebony light, flashed deep within the depths of his dark sapphire eyes.
"I'm not your property Fiyero," she says before wrenching her hands free from his grasp, "you never asked for my hand in marriage nor had we tied our souls to one another"
"You swore your undying love to me" he spit back.
"I was young and naïve, a college girl filled with foolish hopes and dreams" she spat
"Fae. You swore yourself to me. In my kingdom that's as good as marriage. Now come," he says grabbing her hand and yanking her roughly to her feet, "we'll leave here and find a place where we can stay"
Elphaba barely suppressed the nauseating coil of hatred wrapping around her heart at the feel of his hand touching her wrist. Angrily, she wrenched her hand away and stepped back.
"I do not belong to you Fiyero, nor will I ever. Now leave and don't come looking for me" she growled. In the back of her mind, it amazed her at how easily she could slip back into her Wicked Witch persona.
"Someone else has stolen your heart. Haven't they?" he growled darkly.
Elphaba stiffened at first. Recovering, she glared back at her former lover, "What business is it of yours?" she snarled back.
"It's my business when someone else takes something that is mine" Fiyero growled.
Elphaba's heart twisted. The man standing before her clearly was no longer the man whom she had once fallen in love with, the man who she had given not only her heart to, but her innocence beneath a canopy of starlight and fire.
"I am not your property Fiyero" growled Elphaba
"You are if I say you are, now come with me Fae now" he barked. Once again, he made a reach for her hand.
Stepping back, Elphaba blasted Fiyero into the far wall, and though it hurt, she knew she had little to no other choice. It wasn't just her safety she needed to worry about, but her unborn child's as well. Erik's child.
Tempering her rage, she steps closer to Fiyero; half slumped against the wall, a bucket on the top of his head, and pieces of the table he had crashed through lay on top of him.
"I don't know who you are anymore and I don't care. You will leave France and never come looking for me again. Do you understand" Elphaba growled.
"This isn't over Fae. You will be mine again" Fiyero growled as he tipped the bucket up. His dark sapphire eyes glared maniacally back at her.
"I'll never be yours" Elphaba snarled back.
Jumping to his feet, Fiyero stepped quickly to Elphaba and wrapping his arms around her waist crashed his lips against hers.
At first, Elphaba struggled to break herself free from his hold. But, as Fiyero deepened the kiss, all restraint, the fire burning within her, dimmed to ash. The feelings she once held for the Vinkun Prince broke free from itss imprisonment, and cascaded over her body.
Slowly, she relaxed against him. Her hand rose, and cupped his cheek, as a soft moan vibrated against Fiyero's lips.
Erik had been sitting up in bed and watched the fire crackling in the fireplace, when he suddenly gasped and doubled over. Unconsciously, his hand rose and cupped his heart as he panted.
Pain of a broken heart rippled through him, and at that moment, he knew why. Lifting his head, he stared at the crackling flames. His hand, remained pressed to his chest, as the steady beating of his heart, thrummed against his fingertips.
"Mon ange" he whispered.