Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.

Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)

Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.

Author's Notes: Sorry for not updating in a while. Anyway, this story is winding down – I'm thinking one more chapter – but if you would like me to continue and see Oz through it's healing period, then please tell me in your reviews, because I don't know exactly how a sequel to the sequel will go over. Also, if anyone would like to archive this story onto another fan fiction website, just ask me, and I'll be more than happy to give you permission. And the Lion's courage is from the Wizard of Oz book, sorry if it confuses anyone.

Chapter Twelve: Mr. Diggs Meets Miss Nissa's Bad Side

It was cold for all of four seconds. She counted herself. She heard someone shout, but pain was taking the place of the cold and the logic in her brain. And then she was falling; falling into that ice cold pain.

She woke up gasping and clawing at the air, before she realized that there was nothing around her; that she wasn't drowning. She turned to look at her roomies, before rationalizing that since she knew from experience that her roomies could sleep through a twister and not even roll over.

Yawning, she closed her eyes, trying to calm her heart and nerves. Tomorrow afternoon, they confronted Diggs, and she put her extreme freak out to that. Satisfied that she wasn't just slowly going insane, she rolled onto her stomach, going to sleep.

The small group on the platform stood around the woman. The blonde was giving instructions. "Remember, eye contact. And don't forget to tell him how wonderful he is, Wizard's love that! And be yourself...well...within reason."

The woman turned to the pretty girl in the chair. "I'm so proud of you, and I know father would be too. We're all proud, aren't we?"

The woman reached out for the girl's hand. "You'll be alright, won't you?"
The blonde pulled the sisters apart, smiling. "She'll be fine! Biq will take care of her, right?"

The Munchkin looked worn. "It's Boq. I...I can't do this anymore." He said, before walking out determinedly.

"Boq..." The girl called weakly, wheeling herself around.

The blonde touched her arm. "Nessa...maybe he's just not the right one...for you."

The girl pulled away. "No, it's me that's not right. Elphaba, just go, I'll be fine."

The woman tried to follow, but the blonde stopped her. "Nessa, wait!"

"Let her go. She'll have to manage without you. We all will."

The woman laughed, but stopped trying to fight away from the girl. "Please, you'll barely notice I'm gone. Besides, you have Fiyero." She looked around the crowd. "Where is he, anyway? Not that I expected him to say goodbye to me. We barely know each other."

The blonde sniffed. "I don't know him either. He's distant, and modified, and he's been thinking which really worries me. I never knew how much he cared about that old goat." The aforementioned Winkie ran towards the two females, holding flowers. The blonde instantly brightened. "Oh, there he is! Fiyero, over here, dearest!"

He came over to them, holding the flowers out to the green woman. "Elphaba, I'm happy for you."

The blonde coiled her arm around his. "Yes, we're both so happy..."

The Winkie broke out of the hold. "Uh, listen...I've been thinking..."

The woman nodded. "Yes, I've heard."

Fabala stretched as she walked outside. The sun was shining bright, and she had to shield her eyes to see. She was the last one in her room to wake up, and she was a little miffed that Nissa hadn't awoken her. Even the unceremonious pillow to the face would have been nicer than being left alone. She had her broom leisurely held behind her neck, her arms hanging on either end of it.

"You look like a Scarecrow." Nissa said as Fabala walked into the girls' breakfast room. Fabala made a face as she dumped the broom between an empty chair and Riley's.

"That hurts, Nissie." She said flatly, sitting down in the empty chair. She picked up a fork delicately, and poked the mushy excuse for a breakfast that Crage Hall was feeding its girls. "Riley, you're the food expert, what is this?"

Riley put her fork down and smiled lightly. "It's a lovely lumpy oatmeal made out of Bright Lettin's famous oat, exactly what the animals eat."

Nissa choked on her spoonful and pushed it away from her simultaneous with Fabala. "Thanks, I'll pass."

Riley shrugged. "Suit yourself."

She kept on eating. Fabala blanched, and covered her mouth.

"Why Miss Fabala, you're turning green!" Nissa cried. Many of the girls at the tables around them stopped to stare, and Riley snickered lightly. Fabala failed to see the humor in any of it, and pushed away from the table.

"I'll catch up with you guys a little later, okay?" She said as she picked up the broom and started out of the dining hall.

"Don't forget that you have to meet us at the pub!" Nissa called.

"I wouldn't forget about that!" Fabala called back, before hoisting the broom over her shoulders. She thought better of it, and dropped it into her left hand.

She walked across the bright grounds towards Briscoe Hall, not sure what she was looking for. She wondered if the boys were up yet, but highly doubted it. She looked around, thinking about sneaking into the library, but thought against it. She rummaged through her bag and found a small book she had found in Crage Hall's library. She sat down under a tree. Opening the book, she sighed as she started to read it.

"Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost. Ay, me! How hard it is a thing to say what was this forest savage, rough, and stern, which in the very thought renews fear. So bitter is it, death is a little more; but of the good to treat, which there I found, speak will I of the other things I saw there."

A dark shadow came over the book, and Fabala looked up, annoyed. "May I join you, Miss Thropp?" Sheika asked quietly. Fabala's mouth hung open, but she nodded mutely.

"Please, sit." She started to move, but let out a small whimper as her knee hitched under her. Sheika put a hand on her leg lightly, keeping her in place. He sat down slowly, and fixed his habit around him. He turned to her, sending her something akin to a smile.

"I'm fine, Miss Thropp, please don't move on my account." He said. She blinked, but said nothing, going back to the book.

"I cannot well repeat how there I entered, so full was I of slumber at the moment in which I had abandoned the true way. But after I had reached a mountain's foot, at that point where the valley terminated, which had with consternation pierced my heart. Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulder, vested already with that planet's rays, which leadeth others right by every road."

"Miss Thropp – Fabala – may I ask you something?"

Fabala looked up, slightly startled. She had forgotten that her kinsmen sat next to her. She turned to Sheika, who seemed to be studying her.

"Of course you can, Sheika." She said, placing a finger between the pages she was on before closing the book slowly.

He took a deep breath, eyes closing, before he turned to her. It was the first time she had realized he had light blue eyes; that she wasn't the only Winkie with eyes the color of sapphires. She smiled lightly at the thought, but frowned when she noticed his serious expression. "Will this do any good in the long run? What if Diggs isn't the Wizard, but just an old man who likes the students and tries to make small-talk? What if you're wrong and what we do has bad after-effects?"

Fabala considered the question, weighing her answer heavily. Finally, she drew in breath, looking squarely at Sheika, gaze hard. "What if I'm right? What if I'm wrong? We won't find out until we get to that pub, and either way, I'm in this until the very end, no matter how big the cost."

Sheika smiled at her lightly, a real honest-to-the-Unnamed-One smile, and stood, brushing off his robe. "I was hoping you would say that and not disappoint us, or yourself, Miss Fabala. It's getting late, though; nearly lunchtime, we should start heading over to the pub if we want to implement Destin's plan." He held out a hand, which she took as she stood.

They started walking together, but Fabala stopped. Sheika turned to her, a curious expression crossing his normally hardened features. "What's wrong, Miss Thropp?" he asked.

"I just thought of something I wanted to bring with me. Wait here, I'll be right back." Sheika nodded, allowing Fabala to leave. She ran to Crage Hall, slamming the door open to allow bright, cheery sunlight into the dismal female confines. She ran up the two flights of steps to her dormitory, and opened that door with the same flair as she had with the front door. Nearly embarrassed, she peered into the room, quite delighted to find that, as per the plan, it was devoid of any life.

She put down her broom and grabbed the little green bottle off of the shelf. She started to put it away, but her head snapped up, and sapphire eyes widened as she started to visually sweep the shelf for any trace of the Grimmerie. There was none.

"In all the hells..." she swore to herself, before storming out of the room and down the small slope to where Sheika was waiting. "Let's go, someone has the Grim...my spell book, and I don't want him to get it."

Sheika turned to her, concerned, but nodded, and walked in silence with her down to the Nameless Pub. He regarded his silently brooding companion almost as if, by understanding her, he would come into some great, cosmic knowledge no one else knew. Sadly or perhaps for the good of the world, his pursuit of knowledge came up blank, and he sighed, shaking his head.

When they reached the pub, they came face-to-furry-face with Kade, who had his arms crossed and was glaring at them. "Nice of you to show up; Sheika, I'm disappointed in you."

"If my mother were alive, I'm sure she'd be too." Sheika said, before walking past Kade and into the pub, where he knew Noelani and Destin were already inside. Kade looked indecisive for a moment, before hastily running after his roommate.

"Hey! Wait for me! Sheika? SHEIKA!" The door slammed closed behind him, and the girls, along with Glinda and Aran, were left there. Aran looked at Riley, who was fixing her blue skirts. She looked up curiously.

"Why does that Animal wear so much blue?" she asked.

"He's from Stonespar End." Aran replied. Riley blinked up at him.

"But there aren't any Animal clans in..."

"No, his mother died, and his father is one of the Animals that disappeared in the Emerald City right after Glinda took charge; he was brought up by an old Munchkin." Aran explained.

Nissa nodded to herself. "That...really still doesn't explain a lot."

Aran chuckled. "I know, I though that growing up with an old guy for a father would make him a little more normal."

Fabala rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't you two be going in there and trying to end Animal-Human segregation." She asked.

Aran and Riley looked at each other, before nodding. Fabala watched the door swing on its hinges as they disappeared, before she turned to Nissa. "So, Nissa, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to my book of spells, would you."

Nissa blushed, and her eyes darted first to her mother, then to the ground. "I didn't want you to do anything rash, so I hid it..."

Fabala groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Where?" She demanded.

"It's under my bed, don't worry." Nissa sent her a large grin, realizing that her sister wasn't upset.

They waited in silence, but jumped when there was a clatter of noise and a yell of "Damn, stupid animal!"

"Oh...shit." Fabala whispered, not able to form something a little less vulgar. She flattened herself against the pub's outer wall, and motioned for Glinda and Nissa to do the same. The door swung open, and Kade came out, whistling. He ducked a speeding barstool, and turned back to see the irate Diggs coming out behind him, with the others following. His eyes darted to Fabala, and he allowed himself a barely noticeable nod that she reciprocated. She turned to the two blondes, and put a dark finger to her lips, motioning for them to be as quiet as possible.

"Can't you even read?" Diggs demanded, coming up to Kade. The little old man barely reached the Red Panda's chest, but he didn't seem to notice, nor did he notice the vegetarian's tail twitching madly, and not because out of self-consciousness. "Today is the only day we don't have to tolerate your kind here, so move along, before I call Gale Forcers here."

Noelani moved between Diggs and Kade, realizing the early signs of a brawl easily. "Alright, alright; let's break it up, people. I'm sure Kade just didn't see the sign, I mean, he's not wearing his glasses," here, he motioned for Kade to take off said glasses. He responded quickly, before nodding, "and Animals have Life, too, can't we all just get..."

"Wait," Aran said, cutting Noelani off. Everyone turned to him, and he looked at Diggs hard. "You said something about the Gale Force?"
"I...did?" Diggs asked, trying to play off the fudge.

"Yes, you did...but the Gale Force disbanded as the task force in Oz under the Wizard's rule."

"Unless, of course, you are the Wizard." Chirped Riley in such a way that it sounded almost improbable for Diggs to truly be the Wizard.

Diggs just stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, before he took something out of his breast pocket, and made to un-stopper it. It had barely reached his lips when Noelani grabbed it out of his hands, examining it. "I've never seen a bottle like this before." He said, examining the green glass. He squinted at the label, before laughing. "So, this is how the Lion got his courage? Liquor! That makes sense!" He sniffed it, and coughed. "Pretty strong liquor."

Destin, from his place slightly behind the rest of the group and next to Sheika, rolled his eyes. "You can't even hold your liquor; you shouldn't talk."

Noelani made a face, but held the bottle over Diggs' head, a pretty steep feet, considering the Munchkin was nearly a head shorter than the old man. "Hey girls, have you ever seen anything like this?"

"Why, yes, I think I have." Fabala said, peeling her body away from the wall. Diggs turned at the sound of her voice, paling considerably.

"I-I can explain everything..." he tried, watching as she took an identical bottle out of her bag.

"I'm sure you can, sir." Fabala said, glaring at him, "but I'd rather not hear your excuses, and I'm sure Miss Glinda does not want to hear them, either. Do you?" She turned to Glinda, who shook her head negatively. Diggs started to back away.

Nissa stood rooted to the spot, before pulling something out of the bushes next to her and, going to her knees, she opened the Grimmerie. Fabala saw the book, and turned to Nissa, perplexed.

"I thought that was in our room."
"I'm sorry." She said, before opening the book to a random page. Closing her eyes and praying to the Unnamed One, she started to read the chant out loud. Fabala turned to Diggs, who was staring wildly at the book he had lost many years previous, before trying to flee.

His escape was cut short when he heard Nissa stop chanting. He turned slowly, almost triumphantly, before his body was surrounded in smoke. The teenagers around him moved back, and Fabala ran over to Aran, grabbing the boy instinctively and moving away from the smog and, what appeared to be, silty water.

Nissa stared, mouth agape, at the spot in the middle of her friends as the smoke cleared. She watched as Diggs' bug eyes slowly opened, and he let out a croak of disapproval.