Glinda had managed to wrestle Elphie out of their dorm under the argument that their exams weren't for another two weeks and she would have plenty of time to study later (as if she didn't know everything already), and the fact that Elphie had never before properly celebrated Lurlinemas Eve.
"Elphie, I can't see why you don't like Lurlinemas..." Glinda sang out as she twirled under the snowfall; her arms spread wide and the snow making her dress appear more like a cupcake than ever.
"I have my reasons." Elphaba called out to her roommate from underneath her drab gray cloak and traditional black hat.
Glinda danced over to Elphie, and leaned in close, grinning euphorically, "Tell me why, oh wise green one!"
The taller girls cheeks turned a darker shade of green as Glinda plucked her hat off her head—her protection. "Well that right there is reason number one. I match the decorations only too well, and according to the rest of Oz; this fact merits more mockery than usual."
Glinda narrowed her eyes and brushed a finger along her roommates jaw, putting on a 'posh' accent she said, "Your skin is positively divine, my dear! Pay no mind to Oz!"
Elphie continued when Glinda resumed her flitting about in the snow, "Second of all, you know my family's religion. Nessa would kill me if she saw me now...that or either say that the Unnamed God would smite me before the day was done." She paused as she saw the blond looking at her intently with blue eyes from underneath the green girl's hat. Those eyes studied her hard, and Elphaba caught a glimpse of that deeper, more philosophical Glinda. She felt pinned under the examination.
"Somehow I don't think what people say, or what your family does could keep you very far from getting what you wanted." Glinda said evenly, knowing there had to be something deeper than the reasons she had given her. Elphie was a very deep person.
The green woman became very serious, disturbed that her seemingly shallow friend could read her so easily. She turned around and started back for their dorm saying, "I don't want to ruin your Lurlinemas, Glin. See if you can get Fiyero to go celebrate with you. I'll see you in the morning."
Glinda was at her side quickly, snow forgotten, and Elphie's hat askew on her pretty blond head. She grasped the black clad arm, "Tell me." She demanded, looking Elphie straight in her emerald eyes.
Elphaba felt as if she were being tried by the Ozian Council itself with the way Glinda looked at her. An inner struggle was going on in her mind, but she decided to tell her friend...after all, she only had one. She led them over to a courtyard bench under a tree and sat down.
"I was nine, and was on a mission trip with my father and Nessa. It had been a long, freezing day...I remember my boots were soaked, and I hadn't been able to feel my toes for a few days...I was convinced they had fallen off." She smiled a little sadly at the memory. "I had decided to make my family a surprise for Lurlinemas...I had seen the rest of the community celebrating, so I thought we should too. I strung some red and green berries, and hung the decorations on a tree outside the home we'd been boarding in. I didn't know that this holiday was considered 'sacrilegious' to my father. It was the first time my father struck me...rest assured though, I never mentioned the holiday again." Sometime during her speech, Elphie's cold stone defenses had dropped, and she let her emotions come to her face and into her typically monotone voice.
Glinda, realizing what she had done, gently tucked Elphaba's strange yet beautiful hair behind her ears, and replaced the hideodeous hat on her head. "Oh Elphie...I'm so sorry..."
"Don't worry, my pretty...it was good for me to let that out." She said, smiling genuinely at her roommate; for she had just shared another 'secret'.
Glinda abruptly stood, and pulled Elphie by her hands out into the snow. "Come dance with me Elphie! The night is young, and we still have much celebration to attend to this eve!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Later, when the girls were tucked away in their beds, the fire popping quietly between them, Elphaba called out in the darkness: "Thanks Glinda...for giving me my first Lurlinemas..."
"Your welcome, Elphie."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
In the years to come, Glinda the Good remembered everything about that night, except the snowfall; for if she had recalled it, she would have realized that her dear friend was still alive—for Elphaba Thropp never was allergic to water.
um...the end?