A/N: Riddle reveal! Lots of people were on the right track with the number of songs in Wicked, but I was a jerk and made it a trick question. "As Long As You're Mine" is the 16th song in Wicked IF you count the unlisted "Wicked Witch of the East"...which is incidentally topical for this chapter.

Content Advisory: Major Character in Peril, Implied & Internalized Ableism, Emotional Parental Abuse (Mention)

✉ Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sister Sunrise ✉

Elphaba was already throwing on her cloak and bag before anyone was able to process what she was doing. She pressed her hands on the crystal ball with a nervous sound.

"Show me Nessa. Come on! Show me Nessa."

The crystal ball only produced the same red smoke and she scowled.

"Damn! I'm too muddled. I need to go. Now." Elphaba grabbed her broom but shook her head in a harried fashion, clutching at her head.

"What do you need?" Fiyero asked attentively. "What do you need from me?"

"You can't come," Elphaba said regrettably. "Not to Munchkinland."

Fiyero began to protest but she grabbed his hands.

"This is between her and me," she said seriously. "You've trusted me this far, trust me on this."

Fiyero struggled for a moment before nodding. He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I need to know you'll be okay," Elphaba fretted. "Where will you go?"

"My castle."

Elphaba sighed as she pulled out of the hug. "This is no time for jokes, Fiyero."

"No really. I'll go to Kiamo Ko."

"And your parents will be so thrilled to harbor fugitives on their property?"

"They don't own Kiamo Ko," Fiyero said simply. "I do."

Elphaba narrowed her eyes. "Come again?"

"My grandfather left Kiamo Ko to me in his will. Dad was pissed, it was a whole thing. They own the other one but they have no right to Kiamo—ow!"

Fiyero winced as Elphaba swatted at his shoulder.

"We've been sleeping in a cave when you had a castle we could go to?!"

"I liked the cave," Fiyero said with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

"You're impossible."

"I'll go there," Fiyero assured her before looking at the booth of Animals behind him. "We'll all go."

"We cannot impose—" Dillamond began.

"You said that you were displaced. There's more than enough room," Fiyero insisted. "It's a day's travel by caravan, safer to travel in groups anyway. We outlaws oughta stick together, right?"

Fiyero looked back to Elphaba who was moved by his gesture.

"You'll be safe?" she asked softly.

"I know The Vinkus like the back of my hand. We'll be waiting at Kiamo Ko. Come find me."

"I will," Elphaba swore, yanking him into a fierce parting kiss.

Their little party hurriedly followed Elphaba out onto the street. Elphaba entrusted the crystal ball to Fiyero's care and tugged on her pointed hat.

"You all best stand back," she warned. "Teleportation can get messy."

"Didn't you say long distance teleportation is risky?" Fiyero asked.

"There's a first time for everything," she winked. "I love you, Fiyero."

Elphaba bid Mockbeggar Market farewell with a parting spectacle, eliciting a showy cackle as red smoke swirled around her feet to engulf her in a dramatic puff. Onlookers coughed and gasped when the smoke cleared to reveal that The Witch was gone.

Fiyero leaned in towards a nearby man and pointed to where Elphaba had vanished.

"Yeah. She's my lover."

Elphaba skinned her knees on the Yellow Brick Road as she crash landed in Munchkinland. Her eyes burned from the smoke and she got on her hands and knees to cough up the fumes. She felt something hit her back and she looked up to see a tree chucking an apple at her. She scowled and hurled it back at its branches.

"I hate this place."

She smoothed her broom's bristles apologetically as she stood and got her bearings. She'd intended to transport herself straight to the Governor's Mansion but her coordinates must have gotten skewed in transport. She'd ended up on the outskirts of the village.

"Okay," Elphaba sighed heavily, staring down the path towards town. "Follow the Yellow Brick Road."

Suspense loomed as Elphaba stealthily navigated the back alleys of her hometown. The weather was warm and the sky clear which did nothing to settle her unease. The streets were unusually empty, but she could hear a commotion up ahead. Elphaba chanced a peek around the corner to look upon the town square and clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her startled gasp.

There was a massive gathering of mutinous Munchkins shouting and booing towards their Madame Governor as she, with a face as deranged as her hair was neat, attempted to regain control. However, that was not what had disoriented Elphaba. Past the blinding light refracting off of her jeweled shoes, Elphaba could see Nessarose standing, yes, standing on her own two feet.

Momentarily distracted by her sister's phenomenon, Elphaba didn't sense the arrival of the danger until she heard the first scream. Chaos arose quickly and the crowd scattered as sudden, severe winds began ripping through the square. Nessarose yelled after them, agitated by their disobedience, until a growing shadow darkened over her head. She slowly cast her eyes skyward and let out a shriek, her legs collapsing out from under her in sudden horror. She crumpled to the ground and tried to move but, whether out of fear or dysfunction, her legs would not budge. Her mouth opened to scream but nothing came out, her lips merely opening and closing like a gulping fish until her chosen last words burst free.

"ELPHABA!" Nessarose pleaded into the void. Her face became the picture of tragically beautiful terror as it dawned on her that she was about to die. "ELPHABA PLEASE!"

Elphaba's whole body pulsed as she pushed her body to its physical limit to sprint towards her sister. She slid in direct line with the house and snatched Nessarose, hooking her hands under her arms and frantically dragging her out of the collision course. The heels of Nessarose's jeweled shoes snagged on the ground as Elphaba yanked her to safety and they skidded off her feet.

There was a deafening crash followed by dust and debris exploding outwards as a country house fell a breath away from them, smashing the slippers to smithereens in the process. Nessarose retched and Elphaba shielded her body with her own as a cloud of dirt choked them. The house landed close enough that Nessarose's toes were touching the exterior wall. The tip of one of her striped leggings had gotten snagged underneath it and she reached down to pull it free with a traumatized shriek.

"Elph…" Nessarose managed but trailed off, her eyes going out of focus.

"Don't faint on me now, Nessa," Elphaba instructed firmly, eyeing the crowd of Munchkins who were starting to notice them as the dust dissipated.

"She's alive!" one shrieked. "The house didn't get her!"

But instead of celebrating their Madame Governor's close call, the Munchkins began to hiss and jeer.

"Get The Witch!" "Her sister too!" "Get the witches!"

Elphaba frowned. Witches? She yanked her broom out from under the house, losing a few twigs in the process, and stood.

"I can't believe I'm asking this but—can you walk?!"

Nessarose numbly pointed a finger towards the house. "My shoes."

"Yeah, your shoes were crushed," Elphaba said bluntly, hoisting Nessarose onto the broom and wrapping her arms around her from behind to hold steady. "Be thankful you weren't crushed with them."

Elphaba kicked off the ground and Nessarose screamed at the sudden levity. The crowd below shouted and heckled as Elphaba sped east towards the last place she ever thought she'd end up.

Home.

Elphaba carried Nessarose into Thropp Manor and appropriately set her upon the fainting couch.

"What are you doing?" Nessarose asked as Elphaba locked the front door and barricaded themselves in with the hall table.

"Hush," Elphaba shushed as she drew their thick curtains shut.

"But—"

"Hush, Nessa!"

She kneeled to the floor and pulled The Grimmerie out of her bag. She flipped through the pages and leaned down to squint at the ancient text, mumbling an incantation to herself.

"What—what are you doing?!"

Elphaba held out an arm to shush her sister again as she completed her spell.

"Defense spell for the mansion. It'll buy us time."

"For what!?"

"They'll be coming for us."

"Us? You mean you!"

Elphaba turned sharply. "What were they clamoring about then, Nessa? Huh?"

"It's a nuanced situation," Nessarose dismissed. "Politics are divisive."

"Divisive? They act as if they want your head!"

"You always did have a flair for the dramatic."

Elphaba gave her sister a withering stare. "So it's you they're talking about, isn't it? The rumors about some wicked witch running Munchkinland. I assumed it was another lie about me!"

"Not everything is about you!" Nessarose snapped.

"You've been stripping the Munchkins of their rights—"

"They didn't have that many to begin with," Nessarose huffed.

"What's happened to you?" Elphaba asked in bewilderment. "What happened to my sister?"

"What happened to mine!?" Nessarose gestured to Elphaba. "Look what you've been doing. Somebody had to have a sense of duty. Somebody had to take responsibility after Father died!"

The sisters crashed into a tense silence.

"Or didn't you know?" Nessarose muttered coldly.

"I knew."

Nessarose pursed her lips and averted her gaze from Elphaba. "Did you grieve?"

"…I'm not sure," Elphaba answered honestly.

"That's a wicked thing to say."

"Look around, Nessa," Elphaba pointed out thickly. She gestured to the banister which displayed plentiful photos of their father and Nessarose. None of Elphaba. "He erased me as well as he did our mother. No, it's worse. He never claimed me to begin with. I lived the majority of my life in this manor…and there isn't a scrap of evidence that I existed at all. That I mattered at all."

Nessarose was silent.

"I know it's hard to talk about…abuse is hard to talk about," Elphaba finally spoke the word aloud. Nessarose closed her eyes. "Father made it very clear that his life had no room for me. I had to stop leaving room for him in mine."

Nessarose looked at Elphaba for a moment before casting her eyes away in shame.

"You mattered," she mumbled in a nearly inaudible voice.

Elphaba opened her mouth, but she could not decide on what to say. Ultimately she unclipped her cloak, removed her hat, and exited the drawing room.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm making tea," Elphaba called back.

"There's an angry mob after us and you're making tea?!"

"Do you want sugar?"

"…yes."

An odd tingle went up Elphaba's back as she prepared the kettle. The kitchen in Thropp Manor was disturbingly unchanged. The antique scent of their home nudged memories back into Elphaba's mind as muscle memory guided her hand to retrieve the teacups from the cupboard. Serving her sister felt deeply natural…and deeply unnatural at the same time.

Elphaba handed Nessarose her teacup and sat on the other end of the chaise. They sipped in silence for a moment before Elphaba finally spoke.

"How is it that you can walk, Nessa?" she asked in a low tone.

"I can't," Nessarose grimaced. "Not anymore."

Elphaba stared patiently, waiting for an explanation.

"No one was coming to rescue me," Nessarose shrugged. "I had to rescue myself."

"You didn't need rescuing."

"Says you!" Nessarose said coldly. "I had to take matters into my own hands."

"But how—"

"The shoes, Elphaba! I bewitched the shoes. I may not have your talent or The Wizard's book but Madame Morrible left plenty of spells behind in her house..."

"You used magic!? Nessa, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!" Elphaba scolded, setting her teacup aside.

"Yes, in fact, I do," Nessarose said in a haunted voice. "The spell worked…but not entirely. I could walk, but it pained me. Like daggers each time I took a step."

"Sweet Oz."

"But at least I did it!" Nessarose snapped. "And without any help, mind you. I transformed myself and I did it on my own."

"Why?" Elphaba asked fiercely. "Why did you feel like that was the answer!?"

"What else was I to do?! With Father dead, you gone…I was completely on my own. Who was going to take such a pathetic Governess seriously?!"

"So you reacted with force," Elphaba stood heatedly. "You terrorized your subjects!"

"As if it's any different than what you've been doing!" Nessarose scoffed.

"Now you wait just a clock-tick," Elphaba warned. "I've been doing what I've been doing in pursuit of good, in pursuit of what's right. What you've been doing isn't right, Nessa!"

"What are you going to do? Ground me?" Nessarose condescended.

"No, but that house almost did!"

The moment the words spewed out of Elphaba's mouth the event winded her with a sudden gust. She placed one hand over her stomach and the other over her mouth as her chest tightened from emotional overwhelm. She suddenly crossed her arms over the fireplace mantel and buried her face in her arms as she waited for her storm to ease.

"Elphaba?" Nessarose called timidly.

She didn't turn.

"Elphaba."

She trembled.

"Fabala…"

Elphaba turned slowly, withheld tears staining her eyes.

"You almost died," Elphaba said, as if it only now hit her.

"Oh." Nessarose put both hands on the sides of her face as reality of it all clobbered her. "Oh my."

Elphaba suddenly rushed to her sister's side and collected her into an intense hug, rocking her gently as Nessarose shattered into panicked weeps.

"How did you know?"

"I heard your call," Elphaba whispered.

"Why?" Nessarose wailed, clutching into her sister. "Why did you come for me?"

Elphaba pulled out of the hug and brought both of Nessarose's hands close to her heart.

"Because you are my sister, and therefore one half of me," Elphaba expressed. "Don't you know, my Nessa? My sun rises with you."

"And mine sets with you," Nessarose cried.

Elphaba pressed a doting kiss to her sister's tear-stained cheek. She held her again and brushed the baby hairs at the back of her neck with her fingers.

"I'm a beast, Elphaba," Nessarose lamented, pulling out of the hug and wiping her eyes clear. "I've been such a beast."

"No, Nessa. I'm afraid it's worse than that." Elphaba took her hands. "You're human."

"I've been trying so hard to show them that I'm not weak," Nessarose said through gritted teeth. "They're calling for impeachment. They're calling for secession! Oh, Elphaba. What am I to do!?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I'm the Governess."

"But what do you want to do?" Elphaba pressed.

"Father left Munchkinland in my care—"

"Nessarose Thropp. What do you want?!"

"Not this!" Nessarose blurted out. "I don't know what I want, I never have, but I know I don't want this. I'm frightened, Elphaba. I don't want to be Governess. I never did!"

There were sudden shouts from outside the mansion door and the Thropp girls could see torches glare through the curtains. Nessarose yelped, her high and mighty demeanor long gone, and squeezed Elphaba's hand.

"They're here!" she whimpered.

"They can't get past the spell," Elphaba assured her. "I won't let them harm you."

"Tell me what to do."

"The only thing you can do," Elphaba said bluntly. "Resign."

"What?! I can't—"

"You can and you must," Elphaba urged. "You can undo the harm you've done, and you have done harm. You must release your hold on Munchkinland. It isn't right."

Nessarose exhaled shakily. "Munchkinland is all I know."

"It's all you know," Elphaba agreed. "It's not all you are. The Governorship was a burden that never should have fallen to you. Resign, Nessa. Let them elect. Munchkinland will be fine…it's you that's at stake here."

"But what will I do?" Nessarose repeated in a lost tone.

Elphaba smiled faintly and brushed a thumb over her sister's pale cheek. "Whatever you want."

The mob outside increased in volume and Nessarose shuddered.

"And until then?"

"Until then you're coming with me," Elphaba said under no uncertain terms. Nessarose's eyes widened.

"I beg your pardon? I can't join you. You're—you're—"

"A witch?" Elphaba raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I am, and apparently so are you."

"But I'm not wicked!" Nessarose protested in an aghast tone.

"Nor am I."

"I know! I know that…" Nessarose backtracked.

"You have amends to make," Elphaba said. "I'll keep you safe until you figure out how."

"Where will we go? Where will we live?"

"I hear Fiyero is securing us a castle as we speak," Elphaba confided with a smart smile.

"Fiyero?" Nessarose's eyes widened. "You…you're—"

"Lovers," Elphaba used Fiyero's phrasing with a weary sigh. "Surprising, I know."

Nessarose cleared her throat, her cheeks turning a rosy tint at the improper term. "My how things have changed," Nessarose marveled faintly. "How things will continue to change."

"Not tonight, though," Elphaba soothed, tucking some hair behind her sister's ear. "This is the final night that Thropp Manor will belong to Thropp women. We'll spend it here in peace."

In Nessarose's last duty to Munchkinland, she went to her office to draft her resignation, as well as a motion to repeal her enacted restrictions. As her sister prepared for her departure, Elphaba slowly crept up the stairs to bid her own farewell. Sunset streamed through her west facing window as Elphaba stepped into her creaky attic bedroom. She greeted her old desk with a melancholy smile and fondly dragged her finger along the surface to scrawl the words 'Dear Stranger' into the thick coating of dust. As Elphaba observed the little room that time had preserved, she felt as if she were now the stranger to this place. The girl who had once lived and dreamed here was long gone. Elphaba had no more business here. She pressed a delicate kiss to her fingertips and brushed them along her desk one last time, grateful for the window into the world it had afforded her. As she took her leave Elphaba stole one last look from the doorway and wondered. Had the room gotten smaller…or had she gotten bigger?

Elphaba entered Nessarose's study with her wheelchair from college in tow. Nessarose lifted her eyes glumly and sighed at the chair.

"You need sleep," Elphaba said.

Elphaba assisted her sister to her room and began pulling the pins out of her hair one by one. When she reached for her hairbrush, Nessarose stopped her hand.

"No, leave it. I'm The Wicked Witch of the East," she sighed, scrunching her tangled, dusty hair with her hands. "Might as well embrace it."

"It's a big night for you," Elphaba said approvingly. "My little sister's first angry mob. I'm so proud."

Elphaba lifted her sister into bed and tucked the covers around her as Nessarose settled against the headboard. Elphaba caught her glancing towards her chair every few clock-ticks.

"What is it?"

"Elphaba…would you consider doing the spell for me?" Nessarose asked quietly.

Elphaba frowned before slowly shaking her head. "No, Nessa. I won't."

"But you can—"

"I don't know that I can. But even so…"

"What?"

Elphaba sighed wearily and took Nessarose's hand. "Don't change yourself to prove your worth to the world. It's the world that needs to change for you. You're already enough as you are, dear Nessa. More than enough."

"I haven't always been the sister that I should have been," Nessarose said. "The sister that you deserve."

Elphaba soaked in her words and brushed her thumb across Nessarose's knuckles.

"You've got a big day tomorrow," Elphaba cleared her throat. She stood and crossed towards the doorway. "First day on the lam."

"I wasn't surprised, you know," Nessarose called. Elphaba turned. "To learn that Fiyero loves you."

"And why is that?" Elphaba asked guardedly.

"Because I love you, Elphaba. It's not so hard to do."