Chapter 28

Why did it feel like they were just here last week?

Elphaba felt like a zombie as she walked through the mansion. Nessarose had called her unexpectedly again. She had said she wanted to talk. Elphaba had sat down, the phone still pressed to her ear, and had told Nessarose she could start talking. But Nessarose had refused to say a word over the phone, that Elphaba had to come down to Munchkinland because they were going to do this in person. When Elphaba had tried to get Nessarose to come to the Vinkus instead, her younger sister had hung up the phone.

She'd had half a mind to leave a voice message instead of traveling all the way to Munchkinland again, but her curiosity got the best of her. Fiyero wasn't too happy with making the trip again either, especially not after what happened last time. But he could see that part of Elphaba wanted to see Nessarose again, if only to at least try to settle some things.

"Just wait for me out here, I have a feeling it won't take long," Elphaba had said.

So, here she was. Her husband and children were out in the car while she was inside the governor's mansion.

"Nessa?" Elphaba knocked on the doorway. Her sister was staring out the window of the largest living room in the house

The governor wheeled her chair around.

"How are you?" Elphaba stepped into the room.

"Fine," she quickly glanced at Elphaba's stomach. "You gave birth?"

"I did."

Nessarose nodded and didn't ask anymore on that subject. Elphaba didn't know if she was glad or a bit disappointed about that. She supposed it was a bit of both. After all, they were her nieces and nephew.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Elphaba said after a couple moments of silence.

"Yes," her younger sister said. She gestured for Elphaba to sit down on the couch in front of her.

Elphaba sat down, feeling very much like her five year old self about to be yelled at for the tenth time in a day.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked. Nessarose said nothing. It made Elphaba feel uneasy. "Um…" she tried, "are you hungry?" Really? It was all she could come up with. "We could chat over a snack or something. Fiyero and the kids are out-"

"You left me," Nessarose cut her off.

Elphaba sighed. So that's what this was about. It didn't surprise her, but she had sincerely hoped Nessarose wouldn't have brought it up or thought of it that way.

"Nessa," she began carefully, "I made sure you would be well taken care of," even after their father had died, Elphaba hadn't left Munchkinland until she had found a servant she trusted whole heartedly to care for and look after Nessarose. "I gave you my number so you could reach me," when she had finally been able to buy herself a phone, "you never called."

"I never thought you would be so selfish as to leave," Nessarose didn't seem to have listened.

"Selfish? Nessa, you knew there was nothing for me here except you," Elphaba had struggled so much with the decision to leave Munchkinland, the only thing that was holding her back was Nessarose.

When she had sat down with her and talked about her decision to leave, Nessarose hadn't taken her seriously, but she had really been thinking about leaving. During their talk, Nessarose had made it seem like she didn't care what Elphaba did or didn't do. She had made her decision then.

"I would've visited sooner," Elphaba said, "but Oz Nessa, I had no money for about a year because I was just starting to settle down and when I did, it went towards my family. I tried to reach you, so many times," Elphaba had sometimes cried because Nessarose wouldn't answer the phone and she missed her so much. "You never answered. Why didn't you pick up?"

"I changed the line," Nessarose's stare hardened. "I wanted nothing to do with you."

As much as that hurt, Elphaba used it to fuel her argument. "Then there was truly nothing for me here."

"You never loved me."

"How can you say that?" Elphaba stood up and raised her voice. "Nessa, you were my top priority-"

"'Were'?"

She sighed. "I have a husband. I have a three year old and two four month olds," Elphaba pressed her fingers to her temple, she was getting a headache. "I love you," even if Nessarose didn't love her, she still loved her little sister, "I have a family to look after; Nessa, you have servants here that look after you. And if you want things to change, I know I would love that, we can try to look past this. We can see each other mo-"

"Stop!" Nessarose banged her hands on her chair. "Nothing changes the fact that you abandoned me!" She wheeled herself out of the room.

Oz, please don't let things end like this. Elphaba followed her tracks, part of her knowing it wouldn't make a difference.

"Nessa, please don't-"

"Just leave! I never want to see you again."

"Nessa-"

The governor slammed the door in her face with a bang.

"Will you please-"

The room exploded.

A loud boom made Fiyero jump in his seat. He paled at seeing fire coming from the governor's mansion.

"Mommy!" Zianna cried.

"No," Fiyero got out of the car faster than he ever had before. "Zianna, stay inside!"

"Daddy!" He could still hear her due to the windows being down. But his daughter's voice faded.

"Elphaba!" he yelled. When he ran around the house, he saw that a good portion of the back corner was on fire. Part of the roof had collapsed. Then he saw her hand underneath the rubble. His heart stopped.

His desperation took over. He threw all the large pieces of cement aside, slowly revealing her body. He pulled her out completely and laid her down on the grass.

"Elphaba," his voice cracked, he didn't feel the tears running down his face. She didn't look like she was breathing. He pressed his ear to her chest. He couldn't hear anything.

No. Oz, no.

He started to push down on her chest. "Come on."

So many things ran through his mind. Images of all their firsts; their first meeting, first kiss, first time sleeping in the same bed together, their first time together. All the times they'd said 'I love you'.

Nothing.

"Fae, come on," he grew desperate.

The kids. His mind went to them. No, she couldn't leave them, she couldn't leave him. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. But she wasn't responding.

"You can't do this to me, I won't let you!" he kept pushing at her chest. By everything in Oz, he wasn't going to lose her. "Come on, damn it!"

She still wasn't responding. His heart was breaking. His world was collapsing. He felt like he was going to pass out. No. No! This couldn't be happening!

"Pull him off."

Fiyero suddenly found himself pulled away from Elphaba. "No!"

"Calm down sir, you need to let us do our job," he turned to the voice. A firefighter. He turned back to Elphaba, fighting the two people that were holding him away from her.

They ripped her shirt open and placed something on her chest. He couldn't see completely because three bodies were blocking him. "Go."

Her body jolted.

"Again."

She jolted again. Still nothing. Fiyero slacked, sobbing. Oz, please let this be a nightmare. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't! Surely life wasn't this cruel.

A gasp. Fiyero's head snapped up. Elphaba's back was arched, and her eyes were wide open.

"She's breathing! Let's get her to the hospital!"

"Elphaba-"

"Stay back, sir."

"That's my wife!"

"I understand, but you need to let us take care of her. We'll take you and your family to the hospital with her. I'm assuming those are your children in the front yard?"

His children. He followed the stretcher that carried Elphaba into the ambulance. He didn't see if she was awake. But they'd said she was breathing. The ambulance drove away. She was going to be alright. She had to be.

"Daddy!" he turned to the sound of Zianna's voice. She was being held by an officer, he was trying to calm her down.

Fiyero ran to her and she stretched her arms out to him. He took her from the officer and hugged her tightly, drying his tears away. He checked the back seat. The two babies were wide awake and babbling, oblivious to everything going on outside of the car. He turned to the officer.

"Thank you," he rubbed Zianna's back.

"Of course," the other man nodded.

The officer offered to escort Fiyero to the hospital Elphaba was taken to and he immediately took it up. Fiyero strapped Zianna back into her car seat and checked on the twins one more time before getting in the car himself.

"Daddy? Where's Mama?" Zianna asked, and Fiyero froze in the middle of putting on his seatbelt.

Suddenly, there was Elphaba, lying on the ground, motionless, her heart not beating. Fiyero teared up again, but breathed deeply and swallowed back his , what was it going to take to erase that image from his brain?

"We're going to go see her now, ok?" He reassured.

Zianna nodded and pressed her head against the window. She was tired. And so was he. But he was getting to that hospital, he was getting to Elphaba.

"When Miss Thropp closed the door it triggered the bomb; when she moved, it set it off."

Elphaba sighed and leaned back on the pillows of the hospital bed. She had woken up not even 10 minutes ago and all of this information was being sprung on her.

Nessarose had been stripping the Munchkins of their rights and liberties. Apparently, it was too much for some of them to take and they planned an assaination, planting a bomb in her room. Dear Oz, this was so much for her to take in.

"Is she…?" She didn't want to say it.

The officer sighed and she had her answer. "Mrs. Tiggular, I'm sorry. But yes, Miss Thropp's body has been thoroughly examined and she's really, sincerely, dead."

A tear escaped Elphaba's eye and she wiped it away. Nessa wasn't the nicest person around, but she didn't deserve what happened to her. Oz, the way they had left things…why did that have to happen? She needed some water.

"We thought we almost lost you, too."

"What?" She turned to her doctor.

"Due to the severe blunt trauma your body suffered in the explosion and when part of the building collapsed on you, your heart actually stopped. You were dead, Mrs. Tiggular."

"Oh…Dear, Oz almighty," she felt like she was going to faint. Her heart had actually stopped?

"Had your husband not performed CPR on you, the AED might not have been enough to revive you."

"My hus-Fiyero."

Dear Oz, what had she put him through? Her babies. What if she'd actually…what would have happened to her children? She would've left them to grow up without a mother, just like she had. Damn, had she gotten lucky. So lucky. Oz, her head hurt. Elphaba needed to see her children, to see her husband.

"Where is he? Is he here?" She rasped.

"Calm down ma'am," the doctor pushed her down slightly so she would rest her back firmly on the pillows. He handed her a glass of water which she took gratefully, vaguely hearing the heart monitor slow down. "He's right outside. It took a lot of convincing from us for him to wait for a few more minutes after we told him you were awake."

"I bet," she murmured. If it had been the other way around, she certainly wouldn't have wanted to wait any longer to see Fiyero. "Can he please come in? I want to see him, and my kids."

"Of course," the doctor said.

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Tiggular," the officer tipped his hat and she gave him a half-hearted smile and wave.

Elphaba closed her eyes for a moment, then immediately opened them when a voice said, "Mommy!"

"Zia," she smiled, and the little girl ran to her bed, struggling to get on it with her.

Elphaba looked up and saw the stroller with the twins, and Fiyero.

"Yero," she whispered.

"Let me help," he put on a fake smile and helped Zianna get up on the bed, "careful."

Zianna minded the tubes that were hooked up to Elphaba and laid her head on her lap. "I love you, Mama."

"I love you, too, baby," she rubbed Zianna's head. She looked up at Fiyero again, his eyes were glassy and he was shaking slightly. "My love-"

He cut her off with a kiss. Her hand flew to grip his hair, deepening the kiss and pulling him closer. He pulled away only to kiss her again and again. Then he kissed her cheeks, nose, forehead, every single part of her face. He trailed kisses to her ear and buried his face in her neck and hair, inhaling her scent. Thank Oz.

He fought back his tears, he didn't want her to see him cry. He hugged her tightly and kissed her temple before pulling back to look at her again. "You're going to be ok," he traced her lips.

"Thanks to you," she kissed the corner of his mouth, not knowing that she'd inadvertently put the dreadful image of her dead on the ground back in his head.

Fiyero kissed her desperately, kicking that image out of his mind. Elphaba was fine. She had a couple bruises and minor burns, but she was breathing. She was ok. She was alive, he's kissing her for Oz's sake, and she was kissing back. A loud cry caused him to pull away from her.

"Looks like they missed you, too," he smiled and started to unstrap Nailor from the stroller.

As he handed her their son and started to pull Mackaeyla out too, she couldn't help but notice the distant look in his eyes. They needed to talk about this whole thing. Later. Right now, Elphaba just wanted to enjoy being with her family again.

R&R :)