Strength

A.N. Thanks for the reviews. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Idina Menzel a speedy recovery from her injuries on Jan. 8th. Whether or not she performs on Jan. 9th, she had an amazing run as Elphaba and she will be missed.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters

Fiyero waited until all the other students and the professor had left the room before attempting to get Elphaba out of the desk. It wasn't the most graceful process and he didn't want anyone to be staring at them while he did it. He had seen Madame Morrible approach her earlier, but had not heard exactly what was said.

"So what did Horrible Morrible want?" he asked as he struggled to get her out of the desk.

"She said that she wanted to "discuss" some things with me." Elphaba said, wincing slightly as her broken leg hit the metal bar holding the desk together.

"Well, you can't be in trouble, right? You've been sitting in your room since we got back so you couldn't have done anything." Fiyero said as he lifted Elphaba up and headed for the door. "Come on, we'll go there right now. No use worrying about this all day."

Although Elphaba knew Fiyero was right about that, she still was not thrilled at the idea of going to see Madame Morrilbe right at that moment. However, she kept quiet. She knew if she waited, she would spend the day thinking up all kinds of things she might have done and would most likely drive herself crazy.

When they arrived at Madame Morrible's office, Fiyero sat in one of the waiting room chairs with Elphaba on his lap. He could sense she was nervous. He found it odd that Madame Morrible had no secretary working in her office. He pulled Elphaba a little closer to him as they waited for her to come out.

It was another five minutes before Madame Morrible finally emerged from her office. "Oh, Miss Elphaba. I've been expecting you, dear. Please, come in." she said in a sickeningly fake pleasant voice. Fiyero stood up to carry Elphaba into the office, and Madame Morrible smiled a little. Perhaps she realized that there was no way that Elphaba could run out on her. She allowed Fiyero to carry her into the office and place her in a chair, and then gave him a look to let him know that she wanted him to leave.

Sensing that he was no longer welcome in the office, he knelt down next to Elphaba and whispered "I love you, Fabala. I'll be right outside waiting for you." Elphaba smiled at him to let him know she would be alright, and then he left.

"Well, Miss Elphaba, I see you've started a little relationship with Mr. Tiggular. Not that it's any of my business, of course. No, no. I've actually brought you here to discuss some things about your trip to the Emerald City."

The prospect of telling that story one more time brought Elphaba to the verge of tears. Still, she kept her composure and replied "What things are you referring too?"

Madame Morrible dropped the fake sweetness. "What happened with the Wizard?"

For a moment, Elphaba tried to avoid the truth. "What do you mean, what happened with the Wizard? I went in, I met him, and I left."

There was no fooling Madame Morrible, however. "Listen, you had better start telling me what really happened. I was certain that the Wizard would take you on as an apprentice of some sort. You must have messed up somewhere. What did he say to you, exactly?"

Elphaba debated whether or not to tell Madame Morrible. On the one hand, she wanted the truth and Elphaba didn't want to get on her bad side right now. But on the other hand, telling the truth was sure to lead to a breakdown, and Elphaba also didn't want to display any signs of weakness right now.

She decided to try her hand at making up a story. "He said to me that I was very powerful, but he didn't want to disturb my education here at Shiz for me to start working with him. Perhaps after I graduate, I shall return to the Emerald City and see if he still deems me worthy to do so."

Luckily, Madame Morrible bought the story. She launched into another one of her pre-written speeches about how life sometimes throws one a disappointment, and how one must be strong and move on.

"There's that word again. Strong." Elphaba thought. "So is that all you wished to speak with me about?" she asked.

"Well, not quite. I'm afraid I've heard some bad news from Nest Hardings. Your sister, Nessarose, departed for there yesterday, did she not? She went to go to your father?"

Elphaba nodded, and waited for her to continue.

"Well, I'm afraid that I've received word that your father passed away very early yesterday morning, before Nessa left."

It took a moment for Elphaba to process the information. Her father had already died? Nessa did not get to say goodbye, because of her.

"I'm deeply sorry for your loss, especially so soon after losing your mother. That is all I wanted to tell you." Madame Morrible said, tacking the fake sweetness back onto her voice. "Would you like me to call Fiyero in to take you back to your room?"

Elphaba nodded, and Madame Morrible exited the room. A few moments later, Fiyero came in, thankfully alone. "Hey, Fabala. How did it go?"

Elphaba didn't have to say anything. She turned and looked at him, and he could see that her eyes were welling up again. He lifted her out of the chair and whispered "It's alright. Let's get you back to your room and you can tell me what happened."

As Fiyero carried her to her room, she let her head fall on his shoulder. She felt her body going limp, as if her body was going to sleep but her mind was not.

They returned to Elphaba's room to find Glinda sitting on the bed, nervously twirling her hair. Fiyero didn't seem to notice her. He sat down on the bed and quickly grabbed some tissues to absorb the inevitable tears. Glinda took this as a sign that the meeting did not go well. She moved to Elphaba's bed and sat beside her. As Fiyero held the tissues under her eyes, Glinda began rubbing her friend's back.

Once the tissues were in place, Fiyero asked "So what happened? What did she say?"

Elphaba took a deep breath and said, "He's gone. He died yesterday morning."

"Oh, Elphie." Glinda said softly. She pulled Elphaba into a hug.

"And it…it's my fault."

"Fabala, how could it be your fault that he died…"

"Because I'm the one who caused him emotional stress! Nessa said that the problem wasn't physical, it was emotional, and all of his emotional problems are because of me. Because of the unwanted child. And Nessa…poor Nessa never even got to say goodbye. He was dead before she even left here. And that's my fault too; she was up here just to get me."

Elphaba took a shaky breath and said "It's all my fault."

A.N. I know, very sad. But I'm in a sad mood right now. Please review!