(A/N: HEY ALL! Hows it going? That's technically rhetorical since I know nobody's actually going to tell me how they are doing...Lol. Anyway, well here's the next chapter, thanks for all of the reviews! They were awesome! TRULY TRULY. Just watched 500 days of Summer, LOVE THAT MOVIE, and then a few episodes of Six Feet Under, great show. Anyway, here's the next chapter, I think I said that already...Here ya go! Happy reading and hopefully reviewing? lol)

The train ride to the Emerald City was long, and so Elphaba was asked by William to be ready to go early in the morning. She obliged, of course, seeing as they were engaged now, and seeing how doing whatever she was told, seemed to be easier for everyone. Elphaba sat in front of the door in the grand entrance, sitting on her suitcase, staring down at the diamond ring on her finger. She was surprised William hadn't gone out of his way to impress her, the ring was simple, beautiful, delicate, everything she dreamed of Fiyero giving her. Elphaba's thoughts were interrupted by shouting from upstairs.

"You can't do this to her! You can't just marry her off like some-" Shell was shouting.

"You know as well as I what she's done! Now William is a perfectly marvelous suitor for her, and they will be married, this isn't your decision!" Frex roared back.

"No it's not, but it sure as hell isn't yours!" Elphaba sighed as she listened to them quarrel. She looked out the window, the morning dew hung in the air, it was foggy outside and cool. The sun shone white through the light gray soft clouds hovering above the misty forest. Elphaba pulled her coat tighter around her as she stared at the vast Thropp Family owned land. Her gaze shifted to the window in the dining room, and she saw Florence's house. Outside, she saw Fiyero sitting under a tree, working on some papers. For a moment, Elphaba wished that he would look up at her. She wished that he would look and smile, but he didn't. He was too consumed by whatever those documents were, probably important Royal documents. Who knew? Who cared….she would never see him again. And as that thought entered her mind…Elphaba shakily stood up from her suitcase perch and walked tentatively towards the window. She pressed a hand to the glass lightly, her breath misted the glass and she gently rubbed away the fog. She was so close to him, only a few yards away. She stared at him, smiling softly as she noticed the way his brow furrowed when he concentrated very hard, the way he ran a tired hand through his hair whenever he came to a word he didn't know, the way his warm breath was visible in the cold morning air.

"Look up." she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. And because he couldn't hear her, he didn't look up, and he didn't see her standing there. Elphaba raised a hand, wondering if she might knock on the window to get his attention, but she heard footsteps descending the stairs and she gently pulled the curtains shut and walked back into the entrance.

"Elphaba listen to me, you don't have to do this." Shell said, his hands finding her shoulders.

"It's okay Shell." Elphaba said, her normally warm brown eyes, practically gray with emptiness. The gentle hum of a motor approaching drew both of their gazes to the window and they saw William driving in. Elphaba and Shell turned back to face each other as he got out of the car. Elphaba gently smoothed her hand down Shell's face.

"It's okay Shell." she said again. Shell felt like crying as he quickly gathered his little sister to his arms, hugging her as tightly as she could bear without breaking, realizing that even if William wasn't taking her away, he'd still be losing her. The door opened then as William let himself in.

"Elphaba, darling, are you ready?" he asked, smiling at her warmly and softly. She nodded, and William picked up her suitcase. Elphaba made to follow him outside, but she stopped.

"Wait." she said, "Just one second." she ran out of the room to the dining room, quickly going to the window, but he was gone.


Shell stood in the doorway, staring at the retreating car as it gently hobbled down the dusty Munchkinland roads, plunging into the fog as it disappeared. She was leaving this time, she really was. Shell leaned heavily against the doorway, raking his hands down his face, pulling the skin as he sank down to the step, burying his face in his hands. Galinda was right, it was so much worse this time and he could feel the swimming tears in his eyes make their way down his cheeks.

"It was a hard decision, but I think it's the best thing for her." Frex took a seat next to Shell in the doorway.

"I disagree." Shell said evenly, wiping at the tears on his face.

"Of course you do," Frex sighed, staring out at the foggy Munchkinland Country morning, "It will be hard on all of us, to be without her. But don't worry…in another year, she'll be back and you can see her again, she might even be better."

"A year?" Shell turned abruptly to face his father, "You said three weeks!"

"I only said that so that it'd be easier for you to let her go." Frex sighed.

"Does she know about this?" Shell asked, his hands fisting.

"No. William was offered a job in the EC, I told him to take it and keep Elphaba with him, to pretend it is all a surprise to him. Even I know that it would be beyond cruel to force her into marriage so soon after all of this. Give it a year, maybe she'll even be better when she comes home." Frex explained tiredly.

"What do you mean she'll be better?" Shell asked, "You're acting like she's got some mental illness and you just shipped her off to a fucking facility! There's nothing wrong with her except that you and everyone else totally fucked everything up because she and Fiyero were in love, it's your fault if she never gets 'better'." A silence reigned between the two for a moment, the morning cicadas chirping.

"You know Shell," Frex began, "maybe none of this would have happened if you hadn't gotten involved." Frex muttered, giving his son a pointed look.

"Excuse me?" Shell asked, glaring at his father.

"Who convinced me to invite the Tiggulars over for dinner? Hell, who even invited the Tiggulars to Munchkinland in the first place under false pretenses?" Frex watched his son sternly. Shell scoffed as he stood up.

"You know what, screw you." he said, walking back inside, leaving Frex at the door alone. Frex sighed and stared back out at the road. It was the only way.


6 months later

Once getting to the Emerald City, plans altered from the original three-week plan. William found a job there, brilliant pay and prestige promised and given. He told her that the job was once in a lifetime and Elphaba didn't mind, supporting him with whatever decision her made. So Elphaba lived with him, as his fiancé, in a beautiful little apartment on Brown Street. William had gotten the day off, and he insisted on spending it with Elphaba. Elphaba didn't refuse, it was easier to just say yes to everything.

"Did you enjoy the play?" William asked as they walked down the bright sidewalk in the Emerald City at night. They held hands, walking close together through the snow. Elphaba looked up at him with that same blank expression on her face she always wore.

"Of course." she said, smiling sadly. Her smiles were always sad, and nothing ever reached her blank eyes.

"We had a good night, didn't we?" he asked as she returned to staring ahead up the dark sidewalk.

"Yes." she whispered quietly. William sighed and stopped walking and she looked up at him at the sudden action with a questioning look.

"You don't have to lie." he smiled, "If you had a crappy time, tell me, it won't hurt my feelings." Elphaba looked up at him thoughtfully, her blank eyes skimming over his handsome face. She hesitated before gently bringing a hand to his face. She leaned forward and captured his lips in a soft kiss.

"I love you." he whispered. She looked at him with those large, distant eyes and kissed him again without a word, their lips cold from the winter, slowly warming.


6 months later

Sarima smiled to herself as she unpacked the groceries. To think that it had been a whole year since that awful ordeal in Munchkinland. To think, that just a year ago, she was in a loveless marriage, and an affair doomed from the start. Now here she was, her marriage couldn't have been better. She loved her husband, just as he loved her. They were happy now, now that Munchkinland was behind them, now that all of their previous troubles were gone. She was still amazed that he had forgiven her for everything she'd done in Munchkinland. She'd been so awful. But she was still so grateful that he had found it in his heart to forgive her. Sarima gently touched her hand to her abdomen, feeling the slight swell there, a mother, she would be a mother. She didn't know who was more excited, her or her husband.

A year later, and William and Elphaba had finally made it back to Munchkinland. And while getting back meant seeing her family again, it also meant getting married.

"Elphaba, you need to walk a little faster to keep in time with the music!" Galinda said from her spot at the front. Elphaba sighed.

"This dress is really hard to walk in Galinda."

"Elphaba, would you please lighten up a bit? You're getting married tomorrow after all!"

"Yes, of course." Elphaba sighed, grudgingly walking back to the entrance. Her dress was beautiful, beaded and embroidered, stitched and whatever else one could do to a dress to make it magical. It was long, pooling around her, the skirt gently pouring into the veil that Galinda had picked out. As she walked outside, she ran into William.

"Darling! Don't you know it's bad luck for me to see you before the ceremony?" he chastised her with a playful smile, "But you look beautiful regardless, stunning really." he leaned down, kissing the corner of her mouth. Elphaba smiled at him faintly.

"Thank you." she said quietly. William smiled, before he noticed something glinting beautiful in the light dangling around her neck. He gently picked up the crystal.

"What's this?" he asked. Elphaba looked down at the crystal.

"Oh my Oz," she gasped, "I can't believe I actually put this on…that I was planning to wear it to…" she felt tears bubbling in her eyes at just the thought of him and she quickly, pulled the crystal out of William's grasp, "I need…I need some air." she quickly said before turning on her heel and fleeing, wedding dress and all.

"Hey, where'd Elphaba go?" Galinda asked, popping her head into the hall.

"She needed some air." William said, looking down as he straightened his jacket, "Cold feet I guess."

"William," Galinda set a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Go practice something that you ought to be practicing, okay?" William smiled sadly and nodded, taking one last look at the door Elphaba had taken to leave before walking down the hall to find his best man.


Elphaba stared ahead blankly, still not believing that she had actually put on the crystal, his crystal, their crystal that morning and that she had actually been planning to wear to her and William's wedding. What in Oz was she thinking? Elphaba had long ago deposited her treacherous veil in one of the janitor's closets at the church and she'd kicked her shoes off somewhere in the parking lot, hiding them in a bush. She now walked barefoot down the dusty roads of Munchkinland, in her white wedding dress, the hem turning a charcoal, bronze brown. Galinda was going to kill her. But it wasn't something that couldn't be washed right?

The bright afternoon sun beamed down through the beautiful turquoise sky and a soft breeze rippled through the air, rippling through her hair and gently swaying the soft material of her dress. Elphaba didn't know what it was about her subconscious lately, what with it picking the damned crystal, and now leading her to the forest, which would soon lead her to the lake, but it was going crazy with her preserved feelings for Fiyero. Would they ever go away? It'd been a whole year since she'd seen him. And going to the lake was only going to upset her more. But she climbed through anyway, ripping her dress as the branched snagged it. But she couldn't be bothered to care, her heart began beating fast as she neared their secret alcove and suddenly, the forest was gone, and the shimmering lake lay before her, beautiful in the afternoon sun. But what was even more beautiful than the lake, than the grass in the soft wind, than the gentle clouds floating above, than the whistling valley ahead? The man…sitting at the river bank, looking at her with eyes bluer than the sky. Elphaba's heart stopped and all she could do was stare at him. He frowned as he saw her wedding dress, but as he stood up to face her, a soft smile warmed his face.

"You make a beautiful bride Ellie."


(A/N: alrighty one more chapter with a possible epilogue which i will or won't do depending on requests/my laziness. Hm...Oh does anyone here have an account? If so I am thinking of starting a shop on there, any advice would be helpful, I want to sell these little polymer clay charms I'm making. Anywayyyy...tell me what you thought of the chapter! Oh and look at that! Sarima's happy and Elphaba's getting married! How happy right? Lol. I love writing weddings, I can't wait to write this one!)