Thank you Fae's Flower and James Birdsong for your wonderful reviews! It's encouraging to see you guys here :)
Fae's Flower, it might take a while before we get to answer your question (oops). Hope you enjoy the journey!
This chapter is heavily influenced by the first book. See if you can spot all the lines I put in!
Day 1
March 2018
*beep*
"Hello?"
"Good afternoon. This is Lorei Spitzy from Runcible & Sons. May I speak with Mr. Fiyero Tiggular, please?"
"Yes, good afternoon. This is him speaking."
"Oh, okay. Good afternoon, Mr. Tiggular. I'm Lorei Spitzy, Mr. Pullman's secretary. I'm calling to say that Mr. Pullman has seen your file and that you are accepted for an interview at…10:00 AM this coming Monday, March 30th."
"He did?"
"Yes. May I ask if you will be able to attend, or would you need to reschedule?"
"That's great!"
"Will you need to reschedule, Mr. Tiggular?"
"Oh wait, um. No. No need to reschedule. Yes, I'll be there."
"Okay. I'll put your name on the list. Please come to the HR Office by 9:30 AM and someone will escort you to the interview room."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll be right over Monday morning."
"Alright. Thank you, Mr. Tiggular."
"Great! Thank you, Ms. Spitzy. Thank you very much!"
*beep*
"THIS! IS! GREAT!" Fiyero screamed at the top of his lungs and completed the act with a leap and a punch to the sky. His smile was so wide that it contorted his face, and nearby parents were concerned for their children.
It was a bright Spring day, and the trees swayed happily as they began to gain back their color. The water on the lake rippled slowly as the breeze blew across it. And children excitedly ran across the lawns, picking on blades of grass and saying hello to bugs hiding under rocks. Fiyero was at the park—the famous Goldhaven Park, located near the bustling Royal Mall and EC's most prized natural landmark, the Great Lake, which of course, held the enchanting Clock of the Time Dragon at its center.
He was excited to be there that day because it was the first time he got to explore the city. Though he'd been in the Emerald City for over a month, it was hard to go sightseeing when one had to worry about living expenses and getting a job. He had his savings, he thought, but that would hardly be stable. He at least knew that.
Yes, the scandalacious prince of the billionaire Tiggular Group was running low on funding. And not on a project or any other sort of business venture, but himself.
Yet at that moment, all financial concerns eluded him; he was so happy that he leaped and yelled and ran around the picnic grove.
"THANK YOU, UNNAMED GOD!" He yelled to the sky.
"THANK YOU, OZMA!" He screamed before kissing a girl jogging on a trail he passed by.
"THANK YOU, WIZARD!" He paused. "Wait, not the Wizard," he said to himself.
"NOT THE WIZARD! NO THANK YOU FOR THE WIZARD!" He yelled to the park goers around him. And the people steered clear of him, while parents pulled curious children away. Though it's been a long time since the Wizard's reign, people still hated him, especially those in EC.
"Wait, I said NOT the Wizard. NO WIZARD. I DON'T EVEN LIKE THE WIZARD. I mean, WHO?" He babbled to the family quickly retreating from him.
But his heightened ramblings were abruptly cut short when he turned and saw something that caught his attention.
Acceptance call temporarily forgotten, he curiously studied the figure from where he was standing a few meters away. It was at the perimeter of the grove, where the lawns met the preserved forestry. And the figure hid so well, one wouldn't immediately notice it. He was about to move away when it struck him that he knew who it was. For he would never mistake the sight for anything else; he'd seen it one too many times before.
She was sitting under the shade of a large tree, her nose stuck in an equally large book. It was odd how Fiyero could easily recognize her even though she was covered from head-to-toe, with her hands as the only exposed member of her body. Regardless, he was sure.
"Elphaba!" He called out as he jogged to her location.
The green woman stayed still, her face still covered by the book she was reading.
Upon entering the shade of the tree, "Elphaba?" he repeated.
It felt like he was talking to a statue.
"Uhm, hello?" Fiyero asked, now suddenly doubting himself.
She lowered her book to a spot slightly under her nose, and turned her head slowly; a few strands of hair dropped to her face. Her eyes batted once or twice slowly. Maybe she didn't recognize him.
"Elphaba, it's Fiyero," he said, moving closer and into an unshaded portion under the tree—suddenly he couldn't see her face as she hid deeper into the shadow of the leaves. He wondered if he heard correctly when she said, "I'm sorry, sir?"
"Elphaba, I'm Fiyero. We were at Shiz," he insisted.
"Sir, I believe you are mistaking me for someone else," she said, in the voice he definitely knew.
She lowered her head to continue reading, but Fiyero wouldn't allow it.
"I'm Fiyero Tiggular—you know me, you remember me! From Dr. Dillamond's lectures in history!"
"You've confused yourself," she said, "sir." The last word sounded a bit shirty, absolutely her. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to read in peace?" She tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ear and raised her book once more.
"Elphaba, don't shab me off like this. Of course, it's you. There's no disguising you. What game are you playing at?" he said, now more amused than shocked. And a fond smile slowly spread across his lips.
Silence.
Fiyero chuckled and took a few steps forward. But as he was about to flop down beside the statue, he was suddenly alone on the grass. The stiff figure briskly stood and walked away, face once again hidden behind a book.
"Elphabaaa!" Fiyero whined as he struggled to recover from his fall and chase the retreating woman.
"Elphaba, you know you can't avoid me now, right?" Fiyero said—now a bit exasperatedly—when they finally fell into step.
"Sir, I believe you've made a mistake. Not a serious one, but increasingly annoying to me," she replied, and he laughed. It'd been such a long time since he last did this, and he found it funny how some things never change. It used to be the same routine before—everyday, bugging the green girl at school as the latter swatted him away. Time flies, he thought. But did she really not recognize him?
As his longer strides quickly matched her shorter ones, he tried to step in front of her but even with a book limiting her vision, she quickly maneuvered around each move he made.
"Hey, come on! Talk to meee!" Fiyero whined, all the while attempting (and failing) to block her path.
"I don't talk to strangers."
"Oh, come on, Elphaba!"
"I don't know you."
"Oh, yeah. And I know like a hundred other green women in Oz."
She ignored him and quickened her pace.
"Elphaba, wait!" he called out as she retreated.
But he stopped walking. He decided to give her a head-start, and as soon as she was a distance away, he quietly followed her from behind.
Why was she so intent on avoiding him? The last day he had seen her—he remembered it well!—was at the end of freshman year, at the school courtyard, right before a drunken party at the pub. She went to the city on some sort of sponsored writing camp but never returned. There was never a postcard, nor a message, nor a clue. Nothing but an anonymously written note indicating that she was alive, well, and on her own. How she managed that, he didn't know. She disappeared like the morning fog.
Nessarose, her younger sister, was inconsolable at first, and then grew to resent her sister's separation; yet her father, the Governor of Munchkinland, couldn't care any less. The latter ordered the university and other searchers to stop trying to find his 'abominable green daughter' to keep the said daughter from 'further sullying' the Thropp name. Galinda, her roommate and best friend—and his ex-girlfriend—wouldn't give up finding the green girl at first either. But across the years, all of their friends, including him, resorted to the fact that she didn't want to be found.
But he wouldn't lose her now.
He followed her trail—across the grove, through a collection of stone benches, and a small patch of trees. After a while, she folded her book and tucked it under her arm as she continued forward. She looked over her shoulder more than once, he noted. Soon, he found himself at the plaza, which was presently littered with multi-colored merchants' tents and a swarm of customers hobbling from one stall to another—it was the weekend bazaar.
A bit frustrated, he searched for an emerald face through the crowd. Stepping on a stone to gain a better vantage point, he saw her a few meters away. She was turning a corner from one row of tents to the next. She looked around as if to see if the coast was clear. In the shadows, he moved closer and timed his cue. He thought that if she sped through the row of tents after a startle, he could catch her in the next without her expecting him.
So he called from a short distance, "Fae!"
Even in the act of turning, she caught herself and tried to rearrange her expression. But it was too late. She had shown that she recognized him, and she realized it. He sprinted to the next row of stalls, mumbling apologies to customers he accidentally bumped into. And as he reached the corner, he caught her in his arms, her large book squished between their chests.
"Are you in trouble?" he asked. For why would she avoid him that much?
She struggled under his grasp. "You're trouble," she said. Pure Elphaba, he thought, and his last doubts fled.
He chuckled. "You're making me into a monster," he started. "I won't rob you or hurt you. I just won't be ignored like that. Why?"
Silence again.
Running out of words, "Stop acting like you're not happy to see me," he tried. "Everyone's happy to see me!"
She stilled. Jackpot, he thought. She never tolerated his arrogance before. She always told him that he was better than what he played himself to be. And it seemed like a lifetime ago when she said that last.
Relaxing his grip, he shifted his hands to rest on her shoulders and looked at her face. "There she is!" he exclaimed, triumphantly.
But she didn't look at him.
Now slightly frustrated, "Oh, come on!" he exclaimed. "We haven't seen or heard from you in what…four years, and you can't even stop to say 'hi' to an old friend?"
He felt her deflate, and he knew she gave up then. It was only at that moment that he noticed where they were. The plaza bustled near them, but he could feel the light breeze coming in from his right. They were standing in front of the Great Lake—its railings only a few paces away. The Time Dragon statue looked straight at them from its position on the stone clock tower at a distance. Under different circumstances this would've been a romantic site, he thought.
"How did you find me?" Elphaba said. And he was brought out of his reverie.
"Well," he started. "I didn't find you as much as I saw you," he said, chuckling; his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "And I couldn't just ignore you like that."
"Why couldn't you? I was blending in?" she replied.
She looked up, and it was like they were transported back in time—to five years back. She grinned, and a wide smile spread across his lips as well. He remembered how she would say the exact same thing before. Maybe she remembered it, too.
"Are you hungry?" Fiyero asked after a while. He dropped both his hands, no longer afraid that she would run away. "I mean, are you busy?" he continued. "Do you want to grab a bite from one of those stalls?" he said as he gestured to the rows of tents on his left. "I, for one, could use a little refueling after our game of tag."
She laughed lightly with a twinkle in her eyes. "Lead the way," she said.
Fiyero munched on a fresh burger as he watched Elphaba purchase a cup of lemonade. They went up and down the aisles together and browsed through varying merchandise imported from the different regions of Oz, all the while chatting like old friends.
The stalls were arranged by region—two rows and an aisle each—with all the food stalls at the opposite end of the lake. They walked through the stalls of Gilikin and Quadling Country first. But he noticed she was more engrossed in observing the items from Munchkinland; he wondered if she missed her old hometown.
They stopped at a Vinkun stall, too. It had a blue and beige awning and a wooden table at the front, showcasing technicolored crystals from the Great Kells. The walls, like most other stalls, were made of white metal grids where various items and trinkets were hung for display. At the right wall, there were tapestries with embroidered blue diamonds—a specialty of the Arjiki Tribe, the salesman said. They looked exactly like his tattoos. He told her they were a symbol of their tribe. And though the Vinkus had long been transformed from a tribal plain to a developed city, the ancestral tattooing tradition was still passed on through generations. It was a sign of loyalty to your homeland, he said. She smiled. And he felt even more proud.
She told him that those diamonds were the first thing she noticed about him when they met at Shiz. She said they were beautiful; he felt himself blush. He made a mental note that on their next meeting—if they would meet again—he would wear a shirt open at the neck, so she could see that the pattern continued unbroken down his chest…Since she seemed to…like that.
She asked him what he was doing in the city. He told her that he graduated with a degree in Economics, and after a year as an intern in their own company, his parents brought him to the city and cut him off. He said it was done so he could gain outside experience before working fulltime in their own company in a few years' time. She said that was a good plan. He said it was harsh. But he was happy his parents kept in touch and at least gave him their family apartment—so he wouldn't have to pay for rent. Money wasn't as easy as it came by anymore, he said; especially since it took him his fourth application before landing an interview. The city was a monster, he said. She laughed and told him she was proud he finally realized.
He told her about Galinda and Boq—about how the former just recently got a job as a fashion designer in Gilikin, while the latter got engaged to Milla and was about to get married in Munchkinland. He also told her about their other charmed circle of friends and their post-graduation ventures: Crope was now in the Shiz Theatre Guild; Avaric was starting a new business; Tibbett fell behind and decided to graduate at a later time; Shenshen was taking up a master's degree; and Phannee was starting a crafts studio.
She responded to all of his stories with interest and a distant sense of pride. But when he told her about Nessarose and how the younger Thropp focused on political engagements after her older sister's departure, the green girl fell silent. He made a mental note to approach the subject with more caution next time. That is, if there were a next time, he thought again. He answered all of her questions and even added some stories of his own, but she avoided each one of his—as to why, he couldn't tell.
Soon, light slowly transitioned to dark. And as the afternoon was about to end, they found themselves leaning against the railings of the nearby lake. The park lights began to glow, and the busy plaza started quieting down. In front of them, the sun dipped behind the famous clock tower and painted the sky with honey.
"It was really nice catching up with you, Fae," he said. "I—We've all missed you."
She stared ahead, her eyes fixed at the dragon statue's silhouette.
"Why didn't you come back?" he tried asking again. Yet she persisted in avoiding his question.
"It's getting late. I have to go," she replied.
As she turned to leave, he caught her hand. "Wait," he said. But suddenly he was at a loss for words. Somehow, the touch electrified him, sending a line of cold shivers and hot flashes simultaneously through his whole body.
"Uhm, let me at least walk you home?" he tried.
She looked at him and for the first time, he saw her eyes. For a moment, time seemed to stand still; yet the clock continued to tick.
He didn't know why he felt like pleading with her. But he knew he couldn't let her disappear again, at least not that instant.
"Please," he continued as he adjusted the grip of his hand on hers.
She nodded.
They walked in silence and parted ways in front of a specialty café. They bid each other goodbye. He told her he hoped to see her again; she silently walked away. Then, he was left watching her retreating form under the darkening sky.
He wondered if their paths would meet again. They would, he thought to himself, as he turned to walk home.
He would make it happen.
From a distance, a ray of light touched the sculpted copper muscles of a mythical creature.
And the Time Dragon watched.
Did you guys spot all the lines from the book? ;)