Title: When Your Dreams Come True

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: With the government at a stand-still, Shiz is the only safe place to be. But with the arrival of two new freshmen, the old struggle of segregation arises.

Author's Notes: Wow…it's been a while, hasn't it? This chapter ten is long overdo. School's become hell, so I've been exceedingly busy; and now I have to go college hunting. Bear with me, I remember exactly how I wanted this chapter to work, but I'm not sure if it will. Pray that it works. Also, if anyone knows what other stories that umbrella is from gets a virtual cookie.

Chapter Ten: No Good Deed

The sun peeked into the guest room, as Fabala stood, stretching almost cat-like. It had to be later in the day, and they needed to get back to Shiz that day. She picked up her robe and slipped it on, before walking over to the large window skeptically. She pushed aside the gauze curtain and looked down. The City was abuzz with thousands of teeming people.

People.

Fabala let go of the curtain and turned away from the window, before heading over to the bed again; Aran was still asleep. She was about to try and wake him up, when a knock on the door stopped her. She pulled her robe closer and went over to the door, expecting it to be Nissa.

"Sorry we slept in so…late…hello." Fabala looked at Shell, who was standing in the doorway. He looked down at her, and tried a smile that turned into a grimace.

"Hello…Fabala, wasn't it?"

"It was." She said, gripping her robe tighter. He looked at her peculiarly for a moment, before looking away gracefully.

"I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me; Ozma and Merric have gone out for the morning and I…"

Fabala ran a hand through her curly and messy hair, casting a worried glance at Aran. "I have to get back to school…"

Shell nodded. "I understand. I'll see you when you leave, then?"

Fabala watched his face for a moment, before sighing. "Wait!" she called. He stopped and turned to look at her, slightly confused. "Just…let me get changed." She said, closing the door before he could say anything more. She didn't know why she was doing this; even she knew it was a bad idea. Every time she got near Shell, her stomach twisted and she grew nervous, and she had only known him for a day. She wondered how anyone could be friends with the sullen young man; but then she quickly remembered his reaction to the word murder. She figured something must have happened to him. "Something happens to everyone; it's the exact nature of nature." She mumbled to herself as she dressed in her traveling clothes. She ran a brush through her hair and braided it, before going into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

"That was…surprisingly fast for a woman." Shell said, pushing away from the wall. Fabala pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face, and started down the hallway, in the direction of the stairs.

"What, sir, is that supposed to mean?" she asked. Shell quickly caught up to her, and shrugged.

"I had two older sisters…well, I had Dorothy and Ozma during most of my school years; they both took forever to get ready. When they wanted to make an impression, of course; for the most part they liked to be normal students."

"I understand the feeling." She said. They reached the outside and stopped walking. "It's raining out." Fabala said flatly.

Shell looked out, and let out a small hum. "It is." He said, before looking around to find an umbrella. He picked up a tattered, checked one. He stared at it with wide eyes for a moment, before handing it to Fabala. "You should carry it." He said, his voice cracking somewhat. She took it from him, and they started outside. She opened the umbrella, holding it for them both to stand under.

They walked in the sun shower slowly, looking at the vines growing around the Palace. "How did you meet Ozma?" Fabala asked. Shell looked up at the checkerboard pattern above his head.

"In school; I dropped out of school for a bit, so I was a senior when they were freshmen." He explained. Fabala nodded, content to not look at him. However, his gaze kept falling on her. "How?" he said finally.

She looked up at him quickly. "How what?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "How can you be Nissa's half-sister; the only other woman her – your, I suppose – father was with died three weeks after he did? You are younger than her, aren't you?"

Fabala nodded, looking away. "Yes; I was born a week after her." She found something very interesting with the grass, and kept her eyes down.

"It just doesn't add up in my mind." He said. "Especially given the fact that I…never mind." He looked away, suddenly embarrassed. They started into the open kitchens.

Fabala looked up at him, before stopping; her eyes caught on something. "What's that?" she asked. He turned.

"What's what?" he asked.

She pointed. "That!" She started closer, before stopping. "It's an Animal." She said, surprised.

Shell, who had been left in the rain, quickly followed her. "An Animal?" he asked, squinting. "But there haven't been any Animals in the Emerald City since I was…in high school." He watched the Animal with interest. "What is it?"

Fabala was watching the poor Animal with quiet outrage, when another one joined the first. "It's a Peacock and a…a Red Panda." Her voice grew quieter, and her mouth set. She stormed into the kitchens.

Shell watched her go for a moment, before shaking his head.

Fabala reached the Red Panda, and stopped behind him. "Excuse me?" she asked as politely as possible. It turned to her, and stared, its black eyes nearly closed.

"What do you want?" It was a male. His voice was coarse and the haggard look on his face made her recoil and move back into Shell. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him. "Master Thropp." The Animal said cordially. "You're a friend of Miss Dorothy's aren't you? I've seen you around." The Animal moved around them so that he could put a large pot on a stove.

"I…I was just wondering if you had a son you left in Stonespar End?" The pot clattered onto the stovetop and the Animal turned on Fabala.

"Do you know my son?" he asked. She licked her lip and nodded.

"Kade Ohanko? I go to school with him; he's my partner in Life Sciences major, at Shiz." She explained. The Red Panda gripped the sides of the stove, and Shell's grip on Fabala's shoulder became tighter.

"Who are you?" The Animal asked quietly.

"Fabala Tigular." He turned to look at her, eyes wide. A slow smile crept across his face, and he moved over to her.

"Tell your mother we're here?" he asked. She nodded, gulping. Shell looked down at her.

"You're mother?" he asked.

"She's an Animal rights activist." Shell looked at her peculiarly, then looked her hands, still red from the finger bowl from the night before. He shook his head.

"No…no she's not." He said quietly.