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: Oi. Well, I don't want to get to when Maeve is attending Shiz until chapter four, because I want to play with Boq and Nessa some more. So…seven-year-old Maeve with haggard Nessa and Boq, at your service. Again, this chapter is because kire evoli wrote chapter three of Muse, so I have to write chapter three of this. . Yeah. Here's a note to all of you: never make a bet you didn't want to keep. This story's cute, but I miss my poor Nessa tragedy. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I also thank you for your kindness, as the reviews I'm getting (along with kire evoli's constant pokes) are what are making me want to write. And since I've had writer's block for a while, it's kind of fun to get more reviews. Oh, if you notice, in every chapter there's a random umbrella? Yes, that's the Umbrella of Doom. Um, the "Maeve Boqsdaughter" is taken from the old ways of giving people last names; either your last name would be your family's trade, or your father's name, then 'son' or 'daughter' at the end, depending on your gender. So, I'd either be "Rachel Writer" or "Rachel Davidsdaughter" Yeah…since Boq has no last name that I've ever seen, and I've read the book four times (I may have forgotten it, though, since I haven't read it since the summer), so I just did that…besides, I do last names matrilineal in these stories anyway. And if you're exceedingly lost about what's going on, it's a slightly different version of Entertaining Destiny, so you know.
Chapter Three: Seven
It was Maeve's seventh birthday. That meant there were only nine years, eleven months, and two hundred and forty-three days until Maeve was going to be a freshman at Shiz. Not that Nessarose was counting.
Nessarose was leaning against the doorframe of her daughter's room. In just a few hours' time, they would have a small family party that was for the small brunette asleep in the bed.
Nessarose sighed, before stepping into the room. She ran a hand over her deep blue skirt, ignoring the reflection of the ruby slippers as her skirt moved. She cut the feed to the oil lamp, before gently shaking Maeve.
"Hey there, wake up." She whispered, pulling the covers off of her daughter.
"Mmmfff…mom…" Maeve groaned, before curling into a tight ball. Nessarose felt her lips twitch in amusement.
"Up, now, or you won't get any cake. And you won't get any presents, either." She said, starting to walk out of the room. Her gait was slow and her quivering on her feet, even after twelve years of walking, was visible.
Maeve pulled herself out of bed quickly and went over to her dresser. She took a pretty light pink dress out of the top drawer and pulled it on while Nessarose watched. Nessarose lowered her eyes before slipping out of the room and walking towards the parlor where the small family party was going to be. Boq was already in there, looking at something.
"What's that?" Nessarose asked. Boq looked up at her, before he held it up.
"It's Elphaba's letter from a few years ago." He said, going back to it. He stood up and looked up at Nessarose. "Do you think it was a good idea to have this party after…that, Nessa?" he asked.
Nessarose shrugged, taking the letter from Boq and putting it back in the book she had hidden it in, wondering briefly how Boq had found it, as she never had told him where it was before.
"This party was Elphaba's idea. 'They only turn seven once, Nessa, and then they start to become adults' that's exactly what she wrote in her letter last month." Nessarose smiled to herself, and turned to Boq. "Please, try and tiptoe around that subject." She said.
Boq threw his hands up in the air. "How in Lurline's name am I supposed to 'tiptoe' around it?" he asked. "What if they bring it up?" he said, his voice quieter, when he caught the hurt look that passed across Nessarose's features.
Nessarose shook her head as she exited the room. "They won't bring it up." She said, nodding to herself. "To lose something like that…they won't want to talk about it." Nessarose grabbed a large plaid umbrella before walking out of the mansion.
It was raining, and the sky was dark. At first she tipped her head back, loving the feel of walking in the rain, but soon she opened the umbrella and headed quickly to the road.
She could see a carriage off in the distance. It looked weather-beaten and decayed. The horses pulling it were old and nondescript, while the driver was hump-backed and looked harassed. She watched the carriage come into existence on the winding road of yellow, and hailed the driver. She didn't know if he saw her or not, but at any rate the horses stopped, not being able to take another step.
"Nessa!" said Elphaba as she stepped out of the carriage. Fiyero was right behind her.
"Here, I brought this so Fabala wouldn't get wet." She said.
Elphaba smiled and hugged her sister. Nessarose stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Fiyero also looked slightly unsure, but instead of helping his sister-in-law out of the predicament, he merely took the umbrella and looked inside the carriage.
"Come on, everyone out." Fabala came out, taking the umbrella from her father. Nessarose stared at the girl as Elphaba let go of her. The twelve-year-old was much taller than she had been the last time Nessarose had seen her, and now, lining her arms and neck, there were blue diamonds the same sapphire blue as her eyes. She turned back into the carriage and then turned to Nessarose.
"Aunt Nessa?" she asked. Nessarose blinked at the formality. She wanted to make a comment about how much Fabala acted like her mother, but she didn't think the comment would be appreciated. Instead she looked at the young girl.
"Yes, Fabala?" she asked politely.
"This is my friend, Aran." She said, as a young boy stepped out of the carriage. Nessarose's lips twitched, and she turned to Elphaba, who nodded once.
"Why, hello, Aran." She said to the Quadling boy, who was looking at her nervously.
"Aran doesn't do well with new people." Elphaba explained curtly.
"Ah…I see that." Nessarose said. Fiyero came over to the women; he had been conversing with the driver.
"So, are we going to stand out in the rain all day, or are we going to some lucky little girl's birthday party?" he asked.
Nessarose nodded and made her way towards the governor's mansion. She turned back to where Fabala and Aran were, sharing the large umbrella. "They're rather amiable, aren't they?" she asked.
Elphaba looked up at Nessarose, dazed. "I suppose so." She said. She shook her head. "I just wish they could have met under better circumstances, however."
Nessarose nodded, still watching the two children. Fabala cringed, and Aran grabbed her. Nessarose shook her head, before turning and opening the door to the mansion.
"Nessa, I thought you took an umbrella! You're soaking!" Boq said, looking up from his place in front of the fireplace. He had Maeve in his lap, and was reading a book to her.
Nessarose ran a hand through her hair, getting the little excess water there was out of it. "I'm not soaked, Boq." She said.
"Well, where's the umbrella?" Boq asked.
Nessarose pointed to Fabala as she came through the door. "Fabala has it." She said.
"Ah." He said, nodding. Then he smiled, though it was obvious that it was half-hearted. "Well, what should we do now?" he asked, mostly to himself.
"Presents!" said Maeve, getting off of her father's lap and running over to Elphaba and Fiyero. Aran watched the small brunette, and Fabala watched him as she put away the umbrella. "You did bring a present for me, didn't you?" she asked, looking from Elphaba to Fiyero.
Fiyero shrugged, before holding out a lumpy wrapped thing. "That depends; are you sure you're Maeve Thropp?" he asked. "Or are you Maeve Boqsdaughter? Because I can only give this present to the girl with either one of those names." He leaned toward Maeve and winked at her as he pointed towards Elphaba, "she'll turn me into a toad if I give this present to the wrong girl." He said.
"Fiyero, don't go putting nonsense like that into her head." Elphaba groused.
"See? I told you." He said, giving Maeve the present. She smiled and opened it. It was a pretty, light blue skirt. "Open it up." Fiyero urged. Maeve did as she was told, and found a delicate silver bracelet inside.
"It's so pretty!" she gushed, hugging the skirt while putting the bracelet on.
Nessarose and Boq looked at Fiyero and Elphaba. "You really didn't have to give her that." Nessarose said, staring not at the skirt but at the bracelet.
Elphaba shrugged. "Well, what was I going to do with it? I don't wear jewelry and besides, I'm sure Mother would much rather I had the little green bottle and your daughter had her bracelet." She watched Maeve closely for a few more moments, before sighing.
Nessarose looked at her sister, before lowering her voice. "Did you tell Glinda about the Gale Force?" she asked. Elphaba nodded, though it was slow. "What did she say?"
"They're making Quadling Country and the Vinkus protected areas, and banning slave trade." She shrugged. "But I wish she could have seen this coming."
Nessarose hugged her sister quickly, before letting out a hum. "Everything happens for a reason." She said after a few moments.
Elphaba smirked. "True. For all we know, that brat's house should have fallen on you. Then what would happen?"
"Oh, she'd just be the savior of Oz." Nessarose suppressed her laughter at the thought of the farm girl of twelve years ago being a hero. She looked barely old enough to be called a young girl.
The party progressed at a natural party speed, and soon Elphaba announced that it was time to leave. She and Nessarose hugged again – it was still peculiar to Nessarose to see her sister so loving – and then the small troupe left in the same rickety carriage they had arrived in. Nessarose stood just outside of the doorway, watching the carriage leave.
"Look," said Boq, pointing to the sky. Nessarose stared at the clearing sky, and smiled.
"Momma, it's a rainbow!" Maeve said. Nessarose nodded, watching as it appeared over the carriage as it slowly drifted out of sight.