A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. :)
Chapter 36
Days later, Fiyero and the Gale Force pushed into the Munchkin capital, Colwen Grounds. Elphaba was with them – she had been unsure if she should after her collapse. Exhaustion, she'd overdone it and she knew it. Still the soldiers wanted her to join them, Mesud was worried that they'd come across more refugees in trouble and others wanted her magic in case they stumbled on more Jinjuria supporters.
It felt weird to be near the Governor's mansion. Since Nessa's demise, the building had fallen into disrepair. The President had obviously not been using it, choosing something that was not a symbol he wanted for his regime. Not that it mattered anymore. His regime was over, much like her father's and sister's.
"You ok Miss Elphaba?" It was Mopsi, once again breaking her reverie. He and Popsi had joined the troops along with a shipment of supplies. The green woman had been surprised that they didn't want to stay away until all of Munchkinland was under Gale Force control.
"I have no idea why my mind likes to do this to me," she said.
"It's hard to see it, despite all the pain you went through inside its walls," Mopsi said.
"The memories are not all bad but enough of them are," the green woman heaved a sigh looking at the broken windows, siding that was falling off, and the holes in the roof. She felt a hand on hers and she looked down to see it was Mopsi's hand.
"Do not worry Miss Elphaba. You will create new memories, far from here, with Master Fiyero," he said before giving her hand a squeeze and then letting go. He was not tall enough to pat her on the shoulder so he hoped she wouldn't mind him squeezing her hand.
"Will you and Popsi stay here?" She looked at him.
"I would like to find my family. See if they're alive. If not…," he shrugged.
"I would be honored if you would like to stay with me," Elphaba said.
"The honor would certainly be all ours," Mopsi smiled.
"Do you want me to have Lieutenant Zetti loan you and Popsi a couple of soldiers to find your families? You were worried about your safety and theirs before. I'm not sure enough has changed. I would not want anything bad to happen you two now," she pointed out.
"I think that would be a good idea. Things are very unstable in the rest of Munchkinland. Any word from Lady Glinda's parents?" He wondered as they started their walk back to the courthouse, which had become the Gale Force's new base. The building was connected to the police station, which allowed the prisoners to be locked up securely.
"Oh, as expected the Glikkuns are throwing Jinjuria under the wagon, as it were. Their leader said they didn't have a deal in writing. He also told Lord Arduenna that they fully expected that the Munchkins would find out what they proposed wouldn't work. After all the soil out there is unstable," Elphaba told him as the approached the courthouse.
"Sweet Mother of Oz. So Jinjuria didn't bother to test the soil, he just went about wrecking Munchkinland for a pipe dream that was never going to happen," Mopsi felt sick.
"The Glikkuns have offered assistance. They had no idea that things were this bad in Munchkinland and they certainly didn't expect this," the green woman explained.
"How could they? The rest of Oz didn't see this coming either. Jinjuria and his cronies ate like kings while the rest suffered. Have his top helpers been caught?" The Munchkin wanted to know.
"We think we got most of them. Lord Nipp is still in the wind. He was in Center Munch when crap hit the fan. Scouts have been sent out but no sign of him yet. He can't hide forever. We'll find him," she promised.
"I hope so. We must begin healing Munchkinland and we can't do that if he's still on the loose," Mopsi heaved a sigh.
To Be Continued…