A.N.: I do not own Wicked nor any of it's characters, but I do own the original characters of this story.
Late in the year 20 of our Wizard, when the weather was just starting to chill in Oz again, when the days were becoming shorter in preparation for the approaching winter, Elphaba was about to celebrate her 16th birthday. She sat by the window of her bedroom at the Governor's manor, overlooking the night in Munchkin City. The capital of Munchkinland was the second largest in all of Oz, coming second only to The Emerald City.
Despite being a large, very diverse province, Munchkinland didn't have much diversity when it came to the weather. The trees didn't loose their leaves most of the time and most of them only became a paler shade of green, less vibrant then the shade of her skin, that she disliked so much.
It never got too cold, at least not for Elphaba, who was an admirer of the intense cold. It rarely snowed, and when it did it was nothing but a little drizzle, barely sprinkling the tops of the tall Candelabra Trees, an exclusivity to Munchkinland, with white glitter. Elphaba longed for freezing winters and tall banks of snow, like the ones Gillikin was famous for. She knew that, in three years time, she would be attending Shiz University, -a little late due to her sister-, where the weather was exactly as she wanted it to be, and she just couldn't wait.
She finished brushing her long, wavy raven hair and took one last look at her beloved city, full of electricity, which was a brand new invention by The Wizard, and moved on to her bed. Her family had status, perhaps the most important in Munchkinland; their mansion was beautiful, a historical sight in Munchkin City, but it was empty. Not empty of people, because what they lacked in family members, they made up in staff, but being so devoided of love and affection that that house was very far from being a home.
Her father and her sister were very affectionate to each other, but very cold and distant from Elphaba. She always shrugged it off, though; she herself wasn't the bubbliest person in the world, and she knew they loved her, in their own way, and she definitely made up for their distance with a lot of loyalty and devotion, taking care of her wheelchair bound sister in all of her free time, never leaving her out of her sight, even going to college two years too late to accompany her, and being nothing but respectful and a dedicated student to please her father, even though she very much enjoyed spending her time studying. For the most part, they were civil at home, and she was satisfied with that.
She turned off the lights of her bedroom, living only her bedside table lamp on. Sitting on her bed she put her reading glasses on to get to her nighttime book, a copy of one of the hundreds of books The Wizard brought with him from his land, a tragic play called Hamlet. Elphaba liked tragedies, which the author, William Shakespeare, seemed to write a lot about, because it reminded her that even her life could be romanticized.
She leaned against her stuffed headboard and covered her legs with the blankets and started reading the play until her eyelids got heavy and she fell asleep with her glasses on and the book on her lap. She dreamed that she was wearing a beautiful, long silver gown, with flowers on her knee length raven hair, peacefully floating away on a river full of water lillies, like Ophelia... such a visually beautiful tragedy.
She woke up in the morning of her birthday. 16 years of age already, and no human friends besides the staff at the Manor and her teachers at school. It was no problem, though, most girls in school were awful to her, anyways!
She was about to get out of bed at the usual time when her bedroom door was opened, a few staff members entered her room with a full breakfast in bed, singing happy birthday with huge smiles on their faces. Elphaba couldn't believe it, the smile on her face was so big it almost sliced her cheeks open.
"You didn't have to be so sweet to me!" Said Elphaba, wiping a tear away from her cheek.
"We had, though." Responded Yara, one of the chamber maids. "You are the kindest person in Munchkin City, you deserve to get a little sweetness for yourself once in a while."
"But don't worry, we know that you don't like sweet breakfasts, so we made your favorite," continued Neiva, one of the cooks, "we made you some toast in olive oil and herbs, a glass of ice cold water, a cup of warm black tea and a small cup of berries."
"It's all perfect, thank you all very much!"
"Also," continued Yaci, one of the butlers, "we bought you something."
"No!" Protested Elphaba. "Absolutely not! I can not allow that!"
"Bah humbug!" Cried Yara. "We know you never get anything, only Nessarose ever gets gifts in this house. You deserve a little something, too!"
"And it's nothing much," continued Yaci, "it's just a little reminder that we appreciate you very much, Miss Elphaba!" He finished, pulling a gift wrapped in brown paper and tied up with a string from behind his back and giving it to her.
Elphaba smiled at them and carefully examined the simple, yet heartfelt packaging. Delicately she undid the white and golden strings with her long, slender fingers. With her long nails she cut the brown paper to reveal a brand new, hard cover book, with an engraved title that read "From the collections of The Wizard we present: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë." Elphaba gasped.
"We know how much you love the books from The Wizard's collection." Said Yara. "And I'm the one who wipes the dust from your books, so I know you don't have this one, yet!"
"But these engraved editions are extremely expensive, you shouldn't have!"
"It really wasn't!" Affirmed Neiva. "We all helped with a little bit of money, it was almost free. You deserve it!"
"I... I don't even know what to say!" Elphaba cried. "I... this is incredible! Thank you so much!" She stood up and hugged all three of them.
"Okay, now you both leave," said Yara, "now our little girl is a lady and I need to help her into her corset!"
"Is it time?" Asked Elphaba.
"It is time!" Confirmed Yara. "Now shoo out of here!"
Neiva and Yaci left as they blew her kisses and wishes of a happy birthday.
"Don't you think that's weird that girls my age are expected to start wearing corsets but we still have wear childhood clothes?!"
"Trust me, at your age and with your body shape, the best thing for your back are corsets." Assured Yara. "They give you back support and lift your breasts so you don't have to carry all that weight on your shoulders!"
"They are indeed getting a bit heavy, I'm not gonna lie." Confessed Elphaba.
"I know! You are growing into a beautiful young woman!"
Elphaba rolled her eyes at that. She knew that it wouldn't matter how small was her waist, how wide were her hips, how long were her legs, nor how round were her breasts, no one would ever look past her green skin, at least not long enough in order to find her beautiful. But she also knew it wasn't worth it to discuss anything with Yara, that she was only saying that to make her feel better about herself, so she would never admit that, no matter what, Elphaba would always be ugly, so she didn't say anything.
As Yara adjusted the corset on Elphaba's body the green girl realized that it wasn't really uncomfortable after all. It was made for her, specifically for her measurements, for her shape, so how could it be that bad, anyways? It did took a little getting used to, but she immediately noticed an improvement on her posture and a relief on her shoulders upon having her breasts lifted. Yeah, she liked this whole corset thing. She understood why skinny girls didn't like them very much and found them uncomfortable, but for curvy girls like her, they were life changing!
"I'm going to leave you to eat your breakfast and to finish getting ready. But don't forget to get extra tidy, today is the day the king and the prince of the Vinkus are arriving for the king's diplomatic affairs here in Munchkinland, and they are staying here at the manor for two months. I've heard that Prince Fiyero is insanely tall and handsome, and he is your age, so... who knows...?!"
Elphaba laughed out loud. "Ah Yara, as if he would ever want anything to do with me! He would never spare a glance at me! I mean, he would, but only to stare and gawk like everyone does!"
"Don't think so little of yourself, Miss Elphaba. The world doesn't turn, it capsizes!" She smiled at the young girl. "I'm going to wake your sister up and help her to get ready. It's your special day, so don't worry about that. Take your time getting ready!" With that Yara left, leaving Elphaba with her thoughts.
She never knew much about this Prince Fiyero, but she knew he was the youngest child and had two older sisters, which implied to her that he was very spoiled and treated like a baby, which was never a good sign, specially for a man.
She sat down on her bed to eat her breakfast, made her bed, put on her uniform and made her hair in pigtail braids, a very acceptable hair style for girls her age, even girls who already were corsets. As if anyone would notice under her loose fitting young school girl wardrobe.
She fixed her books and school supplies, that weren't a lot in High School, tightly with a belt and went down the stairs to accompany her sister to school.
"Elphaba!" The stern voice of Governor Frexppar Thropp sounded, the second Elphaba stepped out of the stairs.
"Good morning, father!" Elphaba said as she turned around to face her father.
"Would you care to explain why Yara prepared your sister for breakfast today?"
"She said she would do it this morning for me so I could take my time with my breakfast and to get ready."
"What for? You didn't even come down for breakfast this morning!"
"I had breakfast in bed today, father."
"What a disrespect to your family, we have breakfast together every morning, what makes you think you're so spe..."
"It's her birthday today, remember, father?" Said Nessarose as she rolled into the foyer from the breakfast room. "16 years old! Happy birthday, Fabala!"
"Thank you very much, Nessa!" She smiled at her little sister.
"Oh yes, of course, I forgot", he said.
'As he always does', thought Elphaba, 'but he never forgets Nessa's!'
"Happy birthday, Elphaba." He finally said.
"Thank you, father!"
"Since it's a... special occasion I'll let the occurrences of this morning slide, however", he raised a finger, very seriously, "that shall never happen again. Yara is not Nessa's chamber maid, she's yours. It's not her job to take care of your sister, it's yours! Understood?"
"Yes, father. That shall not happen again!"
"Good!" He crossed his arms behind his back once again. "Now, for the both of you, we are receiving the extremely important visit of the King and the Prince of the Vinkus tonight. They are coming to assort some political affairs in Munchkinland and will stay for a couple months. They'll be arriving by dinner time and you shall both be dressed in your best formal dinner attires and precisely on time at 7, am I clear?"
"Yes, father." The girls said in unison.
"Very well, you shall be going, or else you'll be late for school. Good bye, Nessa," he said, as he bent down to kiss the top of his youngest daughter's head, "and good bye, Elphaba." He said, very formally.
"Good bye, father!" The sisters said, one last time, in unison.
Frexppar exited the foyer, going up the stairs, leaving for his study. Elphaba walked in the direction of the door.
"Let's put on our gloves and capes today, the weather sensation is pretty cold due to the wind this morning. We might as well put on our scarves, too. I wouldn't want to be voiceless at service on Saturday!" Said Elphaba, as she grabbed the school capes from the coat hanger and started putting them on, completely swallowing the horrible, heartless interaction with her father mere seconds earlier, as if it didn't happen.
"You do love to sing, don't you?"
"I do, I really do!" Elphaba smiled slightly as she said that.
"You do have a beautiful voice, that you have!" Elphaba pretended not to notice, but Nessarose did mean that as to say that her sister's Mezzo-Soprano voice was her only beauty.
"Thank you, Nessa." She replied, throwing her red scarf over her navy blue uniform cape. One of the things she loved the most about the cold weather was that she could cover up her body and show very little skin. Putting on her navy blue baret with gloved hands she turned to her sister. "So, are you ready to go?"
"Oh, Fabala, you know I'm not like you. I hate the cold!"
"Oh, come on, Nessa, It's invigorating! The cloudy sky is easy on our eyes, we don't get sunburned, we get the breeze blowing in our faces, we don't get all sweaty and gross, there are no mosquitoes... I can keep on listing reasons why the cold and dark weather is superior forevermore, or we can get going, what do you prefer?"
Nessa sighed. "Okay, let's go!"
Elphaba opened the left side of the large front door. As the cold morning late autumn air hit her face she took a deep breath and stood there for a moment. It was so much easier to breath in the cold weather, the air wasn't as heavy as the humid and extremely hot summer and spring heat. The cloudy sky also made her smile, her green skin and near sighted eyes were very sensitive to sunlight; Elphaba hated the sensation of the sun burning against her skin. The heat, the sunlight and the heavy air drained her of energy and made her melancholy even worse, but to wake up on her birthday with a sky full of grey clouds, a cold breeze on her face and with mist coming out of her mouth when she blew some air filled her body with a sudden load of energy and good humour, she even forgot for a second the way her father had treated her just a couple of minutes earlier.
Smiling, she turned around to her sister. "Let's go?"
Nessa had a worried look on her face. "Uh...hum..." she nodded slowly. Elphaba rolled her sister's chair outside to the entryway, leaving her for just a second as she turned around to close the huge front door. "HUH, SWEET OZ, IT'S SO COLD!" Exclamated the youngest Thropp.
"Oh, quit that, Nessarose. It's not even half as cold as it gets yet, and Munchkinland is not particularly famous for it's cold weather. The unbearable heat, on the other hand...!" The oldest Thropp lady said, pushing her sister's chair to the side walk.
"I would much rather if the sun was out and if it was a warm summer day!"
"Warm!?" Elphaba laughed. "Oh please, a fireplace is warm, summers in Munchkinland are pure hell!"
"Don't be exaggerated, Elphaba."
"It's true, though. Alas, we're going to Shiz in a few years, and Shiz is in Gillikin. Now that is real cold. Much longer winters, much colder weather, and tall walls of snow all over the place. I can't wait!"
"Oh, but I can. I can wait for a very long time until I see that! Why can't we go to Munchkin City University anyways?"
"Because Shiz University is the only one in Oz that accepts women, and it's also the most prestigious institution in Oz, so even if MCU accepted women we would go to Shiz anyway, so..."
"And why do we have to go to University, anyways? Can't I just have private tutors in law and economics so I can become Governess? And you don't even have to study! You're going to take care of me forever, aren't you?"
Elphaba couldn't deny that her sister's words hurt. How could she think she had no dreams for herself? She knew that taking care of Nessa is what her father expected of her, and she would absolutely do that with no complaints and with a smile on her face, but that didn't mean she couldn't pursue her own education, after all, the Governor of Munchkinland needs a right hand person, and shouldn't that person be educated as well?
"Of course I will, Nessa. You know I'll always be here for you, no matter what. But don't you suppose that a Governess needs a formal education? And don't you suppose that a Governess also needs a right hand person, and shouldn't that person also have a formal education?"
"Yeah, I suppose so." She confirmed. "However, I don't see why that right hand person has to be you?! Won't you be overworked? I'd rather you to just be my caretaker!"
Elphaba realized there was no winning in this argument, so she finished it off by just saying "I see, but you will need me to take care of you in Shiz, so I might as well get a degree, too, since I'll be watching all of your classes."
"Huh!" Was Nessarose's only response. And just like that they walked the rest of the way to school in silence.
Throughout the walk in the city Elphaba noticed that every gate, every street light, every tree lining up the pavement were being decorated with flags of the Vinkus, banners with the colours of the western nation, some embellished with the Royal Family's coat of arms.
Elphaba couldn't put it any other way, to put it in fine Munchkinland slang, her father was a real sack puller, meaning that he would go out of his way to please anyone he deemed above him, hopefully getting something out of it. The Tiggulars, the Royal Family of the Vinkus, were one of the wealthiest families in all of Oz. The Thropps, on the other hand, despite all of the luxury and glamour they lived in, were made of looks. The manor was heirloom, built by Elphaba's great grand father, it was in the Thropp family for the past 90 years. It was recently renovated to the modern fashion, payed for by tax money, as well as the salaries of the staff, the food they ate, the clothes they wore, the school the girls attended, their future tuition at Shiz, and now all of the extra expenses that they were having with the arrival of the King and Prince of the Vinkus. Elphaba found all of that very tacky, but she stayed quiet, submissive.
They arrived at the gates of the Lyceé For Girls of Saint Ælphaba of Munchkinland with 15 minutes to spare, as always. A thing the sisters had in common was their punctuality; however, Nessarose wasn't as strict about it as Elphaba was, and the oldest of them often had to rush the youngest, which infuriated her, but she never said anything.
Elphaba left Nessa at her classroom and walked to hers. She sat in the front desk of her row, once she got to her seat she proceeded to take off her extra clothing, her baret, her cape, her gloves and her scarf. As she was early, no one was in the classroom yet, she liked that, the peace and quiet. She sat on her desk and adjusted her glasses to her face, grabbing her Hamlet to finish it before class started.
Soon the other girls started entering the room. Chatting loudly, taking their sits, giggling, talking about boys, marriage... Elphaba was mostly ignored by them, although most girls were nice to her, none of them ever tried to befriend her, but were usually glad to be paired with her for group projects, since she was the assigned class nerd. A lot of the other girls were indifferent towards her, however, one of the girls, Helena, and her little group of vipers, liked to torment Elphaba's every breath. As the girl with light brown hair walked indoors, leading her pack of clones, she made sure to walk in front of Elphaba's desk every time to make a remark about her distaste for her.
"Hamlet? I've heard he's the Prince of Denmark, right?" She said, standing in front of Elphaba's desk.
"Oh, wow, you've always been so smart, Helena. I wonder why you have some of the lowest grades in class?!" She answered sarcastically.
"So thoughtful of you. I wonder what it is like to waste your life dwelling on the thought of a Prince from a fictional land?!"
"Ha, you're so funny, Helena. Well, first, Denmark is a very real place, it's a country from the land The Wizard comes from, and even if it was a fictional place, that would be just like any other fairytale. Second, I don't mean to spoil the play for you, but I don't think you know how to read anyway, so It's no problem: Hamlet dies in the end, so does most everyone in the story!"
"Hum, a dead prince? That's histerical!" She laughed. "Only a dead prince with nothing left would want something to do with an ogre like you!" The girl's latest remark made her army of clones giggle.
"Oh, Helena, haven't you heard? Prince Fiyero Tiggular is accompanying his father and they are arriving today. They will be lodged at my house, and I'll have dinner with him everyday!"
Helena belly laughed. "As if someone like him could actually choose someone like you. Be aware of yourself, Thropp, he would never have eyes for someone like you!"
"And instead he would have eyes for someone like you?"
"Of course he would. My eyes are a men magnet, how could he resist? After all, they are emerald green! The only body part that should be that colour!"
"Hum, I don't know about that, Helena. I mean, I started wearing a corset today, and they make my breasts look really nice, look!" She said, pulling on the fabric of her uniform to make it look tighter. Helena was furious, she turned all possible shades of red, but her clones gasped and came closer to look. "Not that I have any interest in him, but I've heard that usually men don't tend to look women in the eye as much as you think they do. They don't tend to think of us as their equals!"
"I might be skinny, but at least my breasts are not saggy at age 16 to the point of needing a corset to make them look good. They're perky on their own, I don't look like a saggy lizard!"
"Wow, Helena, you always have a new insult for me at the tip of your tongue. If you're always thinking about new ones, I must live rent free on your mind. I wonder, are you in love with me?"
The whole room gasped, but Helena just smirked. "As if anyone could ever! Let's go, girls!" And they left for their place in the back of the room.
Elphaba would die before admitting that her whole attitude was just bravado, just for show. The truth was, she was very sensitive to criticism, and she did let all of these words affect her. Word by word, argument by argument, bravado by bravado, she became a little weaker. The person who said "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" was the lier of the century, how could that be true at all? An intense sickness that doesn't kill you weakens your immune system and makes you more susceptible to other diseases that will kill you. An accident that breaks your spine, without killing you, will leave you bed bound. Words my not kill you on the outside, but slowly they kill you on the inside. The pit for Elphaba's soul was already halfway dug.
Sure that no one would notice, Elphaba allowed a single tear to escape, just so that she wouldn't explode. She would cry properly later, at night, in her bed. But now she had a fascinating History lecture to pay attention to.
The rest of the day went by just like any other day: five lectures, a quick happy birthday by some teacher who remembered it, lunch in the classroom (today they had lentils, rice, boiled potatoes and carrots, sausage, -which Elphaba didn't have-, and salad), five more lectures, tea with biscuits, then she grabbed Nessa at her classroom and they left. However, when they stepped into the Principal Avenue, things became a little less usual.
Even though the King and the Prince would only arrive at the Governor's Manor by 7, their committee had already arrived in Munchkin City, going straight to City Hall for a meeting with the Mayor and the Governor first thing's first. A sea of people gathered on the sidewalks to watch and cheers as the fancy line of carriages, pulled by tall, black horses, made it's way through the Principal Avenue towards the Hall.
"They must be filthy rich!" Exclaimed Nessarose.
"They most definitely are, they are royalty!"
"Do you think they are snobbish?"
"We'll find out at night, I'm sure of that. Snobbish people always like to criticize food!"
"I guess you are right. I wonder if Prince Fiyero is as handsome as they say he is!"
"Nessarose, you are a child!" Scolded the older girl. But she couldn't help but wonder that herself. In order for someone to become known for their looks, they must be particularly dashing, specially a man, since most people didn't seem to care about a man's appearance as much as a woman's. Elphaba always wondered if she would be half as criticized for her greenishiness if she was a man.
She proceeded to start rolling her sister towards home. "Let's go, we don't have much time to get ready until 7!"
Elphaba was wearing a dress she never wore before. She wasn't fond of wearing light or bright colours, she thought they clashed with her skin. This dress was burgundy, it went down to her knees and was a little more grown up, but still proper for her age. She wore it with pointy black boots and with her hair in a lown bun, she hated eating with her hair down. She even dozed on a bit of perfume.
After she was ready she went on to help her sister to get ready. She didn't mind helping her poor little sister, but sometimes she was shocked that Nessarose didn't even try to fend for herself. It seemed like she couldn't exist without Elphaba's assistance, almost as if she was always waiting for Elphaba to do everything for her, she would starve if Elphaba didn't dress her up for dinner. Of course, she couldn't do everything on her own, but she could do her own hair, spray her own perfume, and a lot of other things. That was why Elphaba was pleasantly surprised to encounter her sister finally doing something for herself, she was painting her nails.
"Painting your nails, Nessa?" Elphaba asked as she walked into the room.
"Uhum! Some girls in school had it and I wanted to try it, too. Can I do yours one of these days?" Said the younger sister, without lifting her eyes from her nails.
"If you do a good job, I don't see why not!"
Somehow Elphaba suspected that Nessarose was doing that to look good for the Prince, since she also noticed her baby sister was wearing rouge on her cheeks and her lips, which she would've never asked Elphaba to do for her, out of shame.
Elphaba tied her sister's hair in a half up-half down do with a beautiful baby blue bow, matching her baby blue gown and her white shoes. Once they were ready the sisters went down the stairs (actually, the ramp) to the foyer, with five minutes to spare, they waited in silence in front of the grand staircase, in perfect posture.
Precisely at 7 the front doors were opened and a party of people made their way in, handing their coats and hats to the butlers. Leading them was Frexppar, behind him were the Mayor and his wife, following them were the King and the Prince and, finishing off the party, a reasonable number of servants, carrying an amount of luggage that seemed a bit ridiculous for two months.
"Gentlemen, my daughters!" Said Frexppar as he finally approached the girls. "Punctual, as always. This is Elphaba, my first born," he said, pointing to his green daughter, "and Nessarose, my youngest girl."
"Good evening!" The sisters bowed.
"This is King Baaltazar of the Vinkus." Frexppar introduced to his daughters.
"Your Highness!" The sisters bowed once again.
"Charmed!" Replied the king, also bowing, after all, the Thropps were as much of a Royal Family as Munchkinland had. "And this", he continued, opening his right arm to point to the very tall teenaged boy standing in front of Elphaba, "is my son, Prince Fiyero."
"Your Highness." They bowed, one last time.
"Ladies." He bowed, raising up again looking at Elphaba in the face. That was when she noticed properly.
Dark blond hair, sharp jaw, a lopsided grin and piercing eyes of the bluest ocean blue Elphaba had ever seen. He winked at her, her lungs missed a breath, her heart missed a beat.