Title: Land of What-Might-Have-Been

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Nessarose/Boq. Yeah, you saw right. Also Fiyero/Elphaba and Fiyero/Glinda

Rating: PG – 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.

Warning: I have gone past the point of sanity. That's the only real warning.

Genre: Romance, AU, and they really need an "Insanity" section here.

Summary: Boq stays with Nessarose, and learns to love her. They live a good life together…until their daughter turns seventeen.

Author's Notes: Okay, so, this story springs out of a really weird scenario. You see, my friends and I call ourselves by the witches of Wicked for fun. It also helps my best friend of nearly three years and I both have the same name. Anyway, my friend, who's our Nessarose, was reading Eye For An Eye, and thought it was too sad. Well, this sprung a whole discussion about what would happen if Boq actually fell in love with Nessarose once his captivity as a Munchkin was abolished. I said I'd write the story once my friend wrote a story for her fandom, Phantom of the Opera, and…well, as of today, she has. So, I guess I have to actually start this thing. I apologize to everyone in advance, and I hope you enjoy my little world of depravity. And yes, my characters from One if by Land, Two if by Sky do come into play here, but as this will take place maybe three or four years after those events, they will no longer be attending Shiz. So…that means there are spoilers for When Your Dreams Come True.

Change of Heart

Nessarose wheeled herself away from Boq, holding the small hand mirror as she stopped near her armoire. Boq stood, uncertain, near the doorway. He held his body straight, though he was shaking. He never did well in Nessarose's presence; at least he hadn't done well recently. He seemed to always say something to anger her, and the governess' wrath was not something he could mentally endure again.

"Will there be anything else, Madame?" he asked hesitantly.

The hand mirror fell to her lap, and the smile that graced her rose-colored lips turned into a scowl as she turned her chair half-way around to face him. He thought there was a glimmer of something – he secretly hoped it was grief – flicker in her brown eyes, and she licked her lower lip. She straightened, and looked down upon him, and the grief he had perhaps seen was gone instantaneously. "I've asked you to call me Nessarose, remember?" she asked, her voice bordering on the condescending.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, the lump that always arose when he knew he had forsaken his freedom another time, and he bowed curtly. "Yes, Madame." He turned on his heel and left, not bothering to acknowledge the feeble calling of his name from behind him.

Nessarose allowed the hand she had lifted to hail Boq back to fall, and she slumped in her chair. Regaining her composer, she wheeled herself so that she was looking not only in her hand mirror, but also the full-length mirror of the armoire, and ran a hand through her pulled back hair. She smiled pleasantly at her reflection.

"Well, it seems the beautiful only get more beautiful, while the green just get greener." Nessarose wheeled herself back at the mocking voice coming from her armoire, and stared in horror as Elphaba made her presence known.

Nessarose's mind reeled at the possibilities this meant. Elphaba must have heard the conversation between Nessarose and Boq, which meant she must have heard how terribly the Munchkins were being treated…Nessarose shook her head; she didn't have time to panic. She needed Elphaba out of the mansion as fast as possible, so that the elder Thropp wouldn't get suspicious of the younger's behavior as a ruler.

Elphaba mistook her sister's pale expression, and crossed the floor to her quickly. "I'm sorry, did I scare you? I seem to have that effect on people." Nessarose stayed quiet, and Elphaba looked at her peculiarly. "It's good to see you."

Nessarose looked up at her sister defiantly. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, trying to stall so her brain could more easily function and think up a plan to get rid of the green woman.

Elphaba fell to her sister's feet, and grasped Nessarose's hands, completely catching the pale woman off-guard. "Well, there's no place like home." Elphaba said, almost child-like. She clutched Nessarose's hands tightly, and hugged her sister close. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this…but I need father's help. I…need him to stand with me." She said, her voice cracking.

Nessarose bit her lip as she shook her head. "That's impossible." She said, her voice hoarse.

Elphaba looked up at Nessarose, who wouldn't catch her eyes. "No, no it's not, not if you ask him. You know he'll listen to you."

"Father's dead." Nessarose said flatly.

Elphaba stopped mid-sentence to stare at Nessarose. "What?"
Nessarose sucked in a breath; Elphaba was staying far too long and Boq could be back at any moment. "He's dead. I'm the governor…" Elphaba rose slowly, still staring at Nessarose with wide coal eyes. "Well, what did you expect?" Nessarose asked coldly. "After he learned what you'd done…how you disgraced us, he died," she sobbed dryly, "of shame; embarrassed to death."

Elphaba stared at Nessarose coolly for a moment, before nodding. "Good. I'm glad. It's better that way."

Nessarose wheeled herself back so she had a proper view of her tall sibling. She was appalled at what Elphaba had said. "That's a wicked thing to say." She said, her voice low.

Elphaba turned, her face suddenly pinched. "No, it's true." Her voice was as low as Nessarose's, but there was a glimmer of hope, a faint glimmer of something intangible to Nessarose, and it unnerved the younger Thropp. "Because now it's just us. You can help me and we can…"

Nessarose shut her eyes, her anger with her sister and with Boq's lack of attention towards her building into one large outburst. "Elphaba, shut up!" Elphaba's mouth hung open, but no words came out. Nessarose opened her eyes and glared at her sister, her teeth gritted together. "First of all," Nessarose said, trying to regain her control, "I can't harbor a fugitive, I'm an un-elected official!" She looked her sister up and down, before wheeling towards her. "And why should I help you? You fly around Oz, trying to rescue Animals you've never met, and not once have you ever thought to use your powers to rescue me." Elphaba started to speak, but Nessarose shook her head, barely restraining herself. "All of my life I've depended on you, how do you think that feels?" She demanded. "All of my life I've depended on you and this hideous chair with wheels." She banged a fist against the wooden armrest of her wheelchair. "Scrounging for scraps of pity to pick up and longing to kick up my heels…" She petered out of her rant, losing steam.

Elphaba looked at her sister reproachfully. "Nessa, there isn't a spell for everything! The power is mysterious. It's not like cobbling up a pair of…" she stared at the silver slippers their father had given Nessarose so many years ago, before a twisted smile touched the edges of her lips and she tore open the Grimmerie as she stooped on the floor and began to chant.

Nessarose stared at her sister with apprehension. "What is that?" She sucked in a breath as a pain shot through her useless right leg. "My shoes! It feels like…like they're on fire!" She watched as the silver melted away and the surface of the slippers become ruby red with heat. She grasped her ankle in pain, before suddenly registering that she could feel pain in her leg. She let go of her ankle quickly, and her mouth hung open in shock and bewilderment. She turned her gaze onto her chanting sister. "What are you doing to my shoes?" she demanded.

She had a sudden idea. She pulled herself out of her wheelchair and tried to walk to Elphaba, but fell. Elphaba grasped her and tried to help, but Nessarose struggled out of the grasp like a petulant child. "No, don't help me." She stood ungracefully, and stayed on her long-since useless legs. She put her hands to her mouth to keep from crying out with joy.

She heard Elphaba said and mutter to herself, but she wasn't paying attention. She ran, rather stiffly, to the cluttered table her ablutionary items were strewn on. In the process of grabbing the bell she used to call servants to her, she knocked over a large plaid umbrella of no real import. She kicked it, loving the new feeling of being able to do things with her legs, as she rang the bell. "Boq! Boq! Come Quickly!" she called into the vast recesses of the mansion.

"Boq?" said Elphaba, before trying to reopen the door of the armoire.

Nessarose ignored the strangled sound of her sister's voice as she rang the bell more urgently. "Boq! Come here at once!" she called.

Elphaba ran over to her sister and grabbed her wrist. "No! Nessa, listen, no one can know I'm here." She hissed.

Nessarose pulled out of Elphaba's grasp. She turned the wheelchair so that it was facing away from the entrance to the room, before she hid behind the armoire. Boq came running in, panting. "Yes, what is it, Madame?" he asked, not seeing Elphaba.

Elphaba stared in horror at the servant's outfit Boq was in. "Boq…?" she said, her voice faint.

He stared at her, before picking up a pair of scissors. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, searching the room frantically for Nessarose. "You stay back."

Elphaba held her hands up. "Boq, it's just me, I'm not going to hurt you."

Boq let out a cruel laugh. "No, you're lying. That's all you ever do….you….and your sister." He swallowed hard, turning his back on the wheelchair. "She's as wicked as you are!" He said, but it was half-hearted.

Elphaba threw her hands in the air, now thoroughly disgusted with the whole inane situation. "What are you talking about?" she groused.

Boq let his eyes drop the floor. "I'm talking about my life, the little that's left of it." He said, leaning against the wheelchair. He looked up at Elphaba, shaking his head as he pet the back of the chair. "I'm not free to leave Munchkinland anymore; none of us are. Ever since she took power, she's been stripping the Munchkins of our rights, and we didn't have that many to begin with." He hit the chair hard, before advancing on Elphaba. "And do you know why?"

"To keep you here with me; but none of that matters anymore." Boq spun around and stared in the empty chair. Nessarose giggled. "Look." She said, and Boq's head shot up to where she was standing. Then he turned to Elphaba, a large smile spreading across his face.

"You did this for her?" he asked.

Nessarose grabbed his hand. "For both of us!" she said, smiling brightly. He turned and looked at her. He hadn't seen her smile that wide since he had asked her to the dance their first year at Shiz.

"This…changes everything!" he said.

"I know!" she said, holding his hand tighter. He turned to Elphaba, before looking around the house. He smiled to himself. He knew of a way both he and Nessarose could get what they want, if she agreed to the terms. He turned back to Nessarose, who was still smiling, and felt suddenly…different. Changed, somehow. He couldn't exactly explain it, but suddenly his perspective on the young woman standing in front of him had changed in his moment of hesitation. Maybe he didn't love her, but if he allowed himself to realize that there was someone attainable who loved him, instead of Glinda, who had shown him time and again that she thought of him as an acquaintance only, then maybe they would have a chance together.

But he needed her to do something for him, first.

"Nessa, I'll stay with you." He said. Her smile grew, but he shook his head. "On two conditions; first you allow Elphaba to stay here."

"No," Elphaba said, already starting towards the window she had entered by.

"But Elphie…" Nessarose started.

Elphaba shook her head. "There are winged monkeys in the Emerald City that need me more than I need amnesty. Take care of each other." She said, before leaving through the window.

"Well, what's the second condition?" Nessarose asked, worried.

Boq looked at their entwined hands. "Give the Munchkins their freedom back, and allow them to leave Munchkinland."

Nessarose nodded. "I'll make the pronouncement tomorrow morning." She promised.

Boq nodded, before walking over to the chair, where he had left the scissors, and put them back on the table. He looked around the room, before shaking his head. "This is going to take some getting used to." He said to himself.