NOTE): YAY! Reviews (you know I luv em)! I wish I had more for my other story though...oh well, I'll just concentrate on this one!
Anna Marie Raven: "action as in 'action action' or action as in "action" wiggles eyebrows" You'll see!
elphaba-thropp: Sorry for missing some words blush. I guess when I check read it, if I'm missing some words my mind fills in the blanks.
Everyone who has read this so far: Thanx so much!
READ FIRST: In the Emerald City there are three slums: Lower, Middle, and Upper. The Lower Slums is the home of murderers, thieves, and other kinds of criminals. The Middle Slums is the place where most of the extremely poor, homeless people live and the Upper Slums is where supposedly 'illegal' business, such as smuggling, takes place.
Morrible looked out the coach window at the Wizard's carriage. Where in Oz can he be going this early in the morning? she thought for the hundredth time. She had seen him sneak out of the Palace, steal his own carriage, and drive as quietly as he could towards Unamed God knows where. She had taken one of the other coaches, after she had woken up a very grumpy and tired driver, and had followed him for what seemed like hours. As she looked around, she noticed that they were now driving past the Lower and Middle Slums, the places where Morrible would never expect the Wizard even mindlessly stray into, into the Upper Slums.
As the Wizard stopped at an tiny old house, Morrible motioned for the driver to quickly stop behind the corner, so that they stayed hidden. Without waiting for the driver to climb down to open the door, she rushed out and practically ran to the building where the Wizard has just stepped into. Feeling like a fool, she crawled underneath the window and listened as hard as she could at the voices coming from the room. One was clearly the Wizard's, but the other was an old voice that she didn't recognize. Though it was difficult to tell by the roughness of the old voice, she assumed it to be a woman.
"Why would the great Wizard come to see poor old Yackle again, after so long?" the voice asked.
"I need more, Yackle." the Wizard answered "I need more of your Miracle Elixir. I feel like I can no longer function without it."
"Yackle warned you! Yackle warned you that if the dear Wizard drank it too often, you wouldn't be able to stop. I told you to give it only to the pretty Munchkin woman. The one you were so fond of. The one who gave you your child."
"How..how did you...?"
"Yackle just knows things, that is all. But you drank it, didn't you? That is why the child was green. Because you both drank it. But now it is draining you. It is making you more fickle. More impulsive."
"I don't care. All I know is that I need it. Do you have any more of it?"
"Yackle can make more. But it will cost you."
"Name your price."
"Yackle wants the green girl's magic. When she is found, you will bring her to me so I can take her powers." There was a moment of silence.
"Her magic? You wish to take her magic? Is that possible?"
"Bring her to me," Yackle repeated "so I can take her powers. Promise me this, and the Elixir is yours." The Wizard took a deep breath.
"Very well." he said "You shall have her powers. But only after I receive the Elixir."
"It shall be ready in a month, dear Wizard." Yackle said, sounding pleased. Morrible had heard enough. She made her way back to the coach, and ordered the driver to drive back to the Palace.
"Elphaba? Elphaba, could you please wake up?" Elphaba groaned as she heard the voice. She looked up to see Boq standing over her.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing. Well something, but...could you come with me, please? I need to talk to you."
"What time is it?"
"Just before sunrise."
"You want to talk now?"
"Please?" Elphaba sighed. She loosened her hand from Fiyero's grasp and quietly got up. She followed Boq out of her room and into the hallway. "Look," Boq said, looking serious "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I acted those couple of years ago. You know, thinking you as the Wicked Witch of the West. And I am happy that you're alright. But I need to know...why did you change me into...this?" Elphaba had been expecting this question to come sooner or later.
"Boq, what can you remember from that night?"
"I remember seeing you and your sister hunched over that book. I remember you shouting, and the next thing I know, I feel a sharp pain in my chest. And then, I remember waking up like this. Why did you do it? Was it because of your sister?"
"In a way, Boq, yes. I was shouting at Nessa as she read from the Grimmerie, the book you saw, because she was getting the words wrong. The spell she had incorrectly recited was making your heart shrink. I did the only thing I could think of to keep you from dying. That's why I did it." Boq stayed silent, taking this in.
"So...so you did it to save me?" Boq breathed "Unnamed God! I remember! You were telling Nessa to stop! Oh, Elphaba, I...I feel so ashamed!" To her surprise, she could see what looked like tears forming in Boq's eyes. "Please forgive me."
"It's okay, Boq. I can understand why you felt that way."
"But I wanted to kill you! I never even tried to figure out why you...Elphaba I am so sorry!" As the tears fell from his eyes, Elphaba felt touched by how sorry he was. No one had ever directly apologized for treating her so horribly before. She laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't cry." she said "You'll rust if you cry." She heard him chuckle.
"That's what Fiyero used to tell me when he was still a Scarecrow. Yes, I know about that. When he and Glinda first arrived here, you can't imagine how shocked I was to find out he was the Scarecrow. But, Elphaba, please, I truly am sorry for thinking so horribly of you."
"It's alright, Boq. You've more than made up for it. I forgive you."
"Thank you." he whispered "Thank you. I'm sorry for waking you up. You can go back to sleep now. Just so you know, we'll be having breakfast in 60 clock ticks, when the sun is up." Elphaba nodded and turned to go into her room. She stopped at the door as an idea hit her.
"You know Boq," she said, turning back to him "I could make you human again."
"You could?" Boq said with some excitement in his tone.
"I could use that spell I used on Fiyero."
"You mean, that curse you used on Wendara?" he asked, now a little nervous.
"Don't worry, Boq. She turned back unexpectedly because of the potion. With you, it'll only wear off if you break the curse."
"How do you break it?"
"I know this sounds a little funny, but to break it, you have to eat fish."
"Eat fish! To break a curse?" Boq laughed. Elphaba chuckled.
"I know. It's silly, but when I first tried the curse, it was really supposed to be broken by being kissed. That wouldn't turn out so well, so I altered it to be...more avoidable. I was already having a hard time remembering the spell (I know it by heart now though), so it was the best I could come up with. Do you want to try it?" Boq considered for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, but I should tell you that this can only be used once on a single person. So if you do eat fish, for whatever reason, and you turn back into a Tinman, you'll have to stay that way. Understand? Good. Now, I think you should just stand very still, this curse really isn't supposed to be used for turning Tinmen into humans." Boq closed his eyes and stood perfectly still as Elphaba began chanting some words he didn't know. He felt his whole body become warm, no longer feeling numb and stiff. After a while, he heard silence. Elphaba had stopped her chanting. "You can open your eyes now." she said. Boq opened them and looked down at his hands. They were no longer made out of tin, but flesh. His hands moved up to his face and he felt all around the soft, smooth features. He ran into his room and gazed at himself in the mirror
Is that me? he thought as he saw an extremely handsome young man, dressed in the same clothes he had worn before he was turned into tin, looking back at him. He didn't remember looking like this before. His hair was longer than he remembered, but it was still its original brown color. His eyes were a striking hazel color, and even his skin seemed better than it used to be. He was also, to his amazement, tall. His eyes caught sight of Elphaba in the mirror as she walked in. "You threw in a bonus." he said "You've made me good-looking." Elphaba smiled.
"I never thought you were bad-looking in the first place." she said "but I'm glad you like how you turned out." She stared at him. He did indeed look different than he used to as a human. He turned to look at her.
"Thank you so much, Elphaba."
"Your welcome. May I please go back to bed now?" Boq chuckled.
"Yes of course. I'll see you at breakfast." She smiled at him as she made her way out of his room and back into her own.
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"Ginda? Wake up. I want to show you something."
Glinda opened her eyes to see a handsome man she didn't know standing over her. She gasped as she quickly sat up.
"Who are you?" she demanded "What do you want?"
"Glinda it's me! It's Boq!"
"Boq?" Glinda said confused. The man nodded.
"Yeah. Elphaba turned me back into a human." Boy did she do a good job! she thought He's gorgeous! She quickly dismissed these thoughts as she narrowed her eyes.
"Prove it." she said.
"How?" Glinda thought for a moment.
"What do you need to do to break the curse?"
"Eat fish." he answered. She knew this was the right answer since Fiyero had once told her when she had asked him. No one had been in the room when she had asked, so she knew that he was telling the truth.
"Boq! It is you!" She reached out and touched his face. "you look so..different."
"Is that good?" She giggled.
"It's very good. Oh, Boq, I'm so happy for you!"
"I am, too, because there's something I've been wanting to tell you. Glinda, you know how much I liked you when we were in school. Back then, I would have anything for you. You were the reason why I could look forward to another day. When Nessa took away our rights so that I couldn't leave her, I was heartbroken. But I knew she needed me, since she no longer had Elphaba, so I couldn't leave her. When I was turned into tin (and don't worry, now I know why and I'm eternally grateful to Ephaba for doing it), I felt like the world had crashed down on me. I knew you would never accept me like that. That was the reason I was so distant from you all the time you were here. Why I never wanted to even be alone in the same room with you. But even so, there was always a small glimmer of hope inside me that one day you might at least consider me a friend. I still feel that way Glinda, and I hope you do indeed consider me a friend."
"Oh, Boq, of course I do!" She leapt forward and embraced him in a tight hug. "You've done so much for me. For Fiyero. For Elphaba! You've taken on the Wizard of Oz for us!" she pulled back and looked into his eyes "And if that's not friendship, I don't know what is!" Boq smiled. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes again.
"Thank you, Glinda." he said. Glinda smiled and gently wiped his tears away.
"But, Boq," she said seriously "what exactly do you feel for me now?"
"I...I'm not sure. I'm overjoyed that you're my friend of course, but I don't feel the same about you as I used to. Then, I thought I was truly in love with you, but...now I think I realize that it was just a silly school boy's crush. After seeing how happy Elphaba and Fiyero are just to be together again, I just suddenly saw what true love really is. And I also figured out what I truly wanted."
"What's that?"
"To keep you, and Fiyero, and Elphaba, and especially little Liir, safe and happy. No matter what the cost." Glinda looked deep into Boq's eyes and saw nothing but sincerity. She felt a large wave of emotion towards him. She flung herself back into his arms and felt like she never wanted to let go. Boq let the tears flow freely down his cheeks as, for the first time in two years, he felt the quickening pulse of a heart beat.