Sadness and Secrets
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"Elphie come on! Wake up!"
Elphaba groaned and rolled away from the bouncing on the bed and the excitable blonde making the noise. "Get lost!"
Glinda just giggled and shook her head, pulling the covers away from her best friend. "Elphie! It's Lurlinemas!"
Which, had she been back home in Munchkinland, would be just another day to her. "Glinda, how are you awake?! What time is it?" The girls had spent the night talking under the covers and telling each other stories.
"Just around six."
"Oz! Let me sleep a bit longer." Elphaba buried her head under the pillow.
Glinda pouted for a minute before huffing and collapsing down beside her. "Fine." The household staff wouldn't be ready for breakfast for another hour anyway. "Elphie?"
"What?"
"Have you truly never had a good Lurlinemas?" Silence reigned for a long while and Glinda was sure she had fallen back to sleep, and then the quiet answer came, muffled by the pillow.
"No. I haven't."
Glinda bit her lip, she didn't need to ask why- she already knew.
But Elphaba continued to speak anyway. "Frex was- is a devout Unionist. But he is willing to partake in a religious service if need be. He will exchange gifts with Nessa, and that's about it. When my mother died, I was too young to understand or gain any enjoyment from it."
"Well, I'm going to make sure you have the best first Lurlinemas ever! And don't roll your eyes at me! I can practically hear it!"
Elphaba laughed and slowly removed her head from under the pillow and rolled over to face her. She knew that this time together would only serve to strengthen their bond, their friendship and sisterhood running deep within them both and they both knew that they would stand the test of time. "Thank you, Lin."
"Whatever for?"
"For being my sister."
Glinda smiled and held her hand. "Always, Elphie. Always." They lay there in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.
An hour later, they both dressed and made their way downstairs in time for breakfast.
"Ah, good morning!" Glinda's father beamed widely at the two. "Happy Lurlinemas."
"Morning, Popsy!" Glinda giggled and kissed him on the cheek, and presented her mother the same. "Happy Lurlinemas."
"Happy Lurlinemas, Elphaba." Callistra hugged her, smiling.
Elphaba smiled softly, reluctantly hugging back. "Happy Lurlinemas."
The four of them sat to eat.
"We'll open some presents now, and the rest when we come back. We go to the chapel for the Lurlinemas service, you're welcome to join us if you like, Elphaba." Callistra said.
"I... thank you but... I... I've never been, and I'm not religious, it probably wouldn't be the best place for me..."
"You don't have to be! I'm certainly not!" Glinda grinned. "It's just some light fun singing carols. I ignore the man when he launches into his boring speeches... he puts a comatose patient to sleep!"
"Glinda!" her father couldn't help but laugh and he shook his head.
"Come on, Elphie. Please?"
Elphaba paused, trying to ignore her friend's pouting and she sighed. "Fine! Fine, I'll go." she laughed when the blonde threw her arms around her neck.
They sat around the tree after breakfast, and Glinda handed a present each to her mother and father. Her mother unwrapped a gold, ruby studded butterfly brooch, and her father received a new pocket watch.
"Thank you, darling, it's beautiful." she smiled and hugged her daughter.
"Thank you, precious." he kissed her on the cheek.
Next, it was Glinda's turn, her parents had given her a new pair of shoes and some make-up, Elphaba had gifted her a set of brand new rollers to replace the old, battered ones she had. "Thank you so much." she grinned and hugged each of them in turn and then searched for Elphaba's present from her sister, instead all she found was a Lurlinemas card. "Is... Tell me that's not Nessa's gift to you?"
The green girl shrugged. "Sometimes I'd be lucky to get that from her." she took it from her friend and opened it, Nessa had included a script from the Unionist Bible in the card. Nice way of saying I'm going to hell without actually saying it. she thought sarcastically.
"Elphie, that's...-"
"-completely normal for her." she cut her off with a wry smile. "Honestly, Glinda, it's fine. I get a small present for my birthday occasionally when she can get it without my father noticing. I'm okay with that."
Glinda scoffed and handed over a small pink gift bag.
Elphaba scoffed with an eye roll and she laughed. "Thank you. What is it? An old mascara?" she smirked.
"Only one way to find out."
The friends giggled and Elphaba tentatively opened her present, a small bottle of sweet, fruity scented perfume they had both liked during one of the shopping trips Glinda had forced her on. "Lin... thank you."
The blonde smiled and hugged her. "I saw you eyeing it the last time we went out."
But I couldn't afford it. Elphaba sighed, smiling a little. "It does have a wonderful smell though, doesn't it."
She nodded in agreement. "Fiyero almost got you the same one." she giggled.
"I wouldn't have minded," Elphaba told her, causing Glinda to roll her eyes with a smile.
"Elphie! You can't get two of the same present!"
"Why ever not?"
"Because! It's just simply not done! Oh, I have so much to teach you."
This time the green girl rolled her eyes, and Glinda's parents watched in amusement. "Glinda, I could get books!"
"Yes, but they wouldn't be the same books would they?"
"No, but-"
"Exactly!"
Elphaba sighed, giving up, knowing she wouldn't win. Her best friend was just as stubborn as she could be.
Not long after that, they were wrapped up and making their way to the chapel for the Lurlinemas service.
The minister greeted the family with a smile and jumped back after a double-take when he saw Elphaba. "Good God! Y...you're-"
"Yes?" Elphaba narrowed her eyes, staring up at him.
"Are... are you-"
"I'm not going to burst into flames whenever I step into a place of worship," she spoke sarcastically. "Last I checked I was perfectly human." she scowled and followed her friend inside.
"Are you alright?" Callistra asked when the young woman found them.
Elphaba nodded. "Fine. Nothing I haven't dealt with before." At least this time I wasn't chased away with a metal poker and called the devil. She shuddered as her mind drifted to a dark memory, she quickly shook it off before it took root inside her head.
Glinda pulled her friend down into the seat beside her and the service began. She noticed the minister glancing warily over at the two of them, and she kept her arm around her friend with a pointed look. Elphie shouldn't have to deal with such abuse...
It turned out that Glinda had been right, during his sermons, Elphaba became bored, almost as if he was sending her to sleep. When the hymns and carols started, she recognised some and was able to join in with the singing, which she found that she enjoyed. While she wouldn't convert to Lurlinism, she had a new fondness for the church services, even if she would only attend once a year.
After the service had finished, they returned home to open the rest of their presents.
Elphaba blinked in confusion as the small pile of presents were dropped in front of her. "What? Am I helping you to unwrap your gifts?" she raised an eyebrow.
Glinda giggled. "No, silly! They're yours!"
Callistra and Jacquo exchanged looks. Did she really not expect to get anything?
The green girl paused. "Mine?"
"Yes. Look at the gift tags if you don't believe me." She watched as her friend did as she was told and she sighed. "Elphie, things must have been awful for you in the past, but that's changing now. It's a perfectly normal thing to get gifts for birthdays. And Lurlinemas. And anniversaries. These are your gifts from people who love you."
"But... I wasn't able to...-"
"It's alright. We didn't do this because we expected something in return."
Elphaba bit her lip at the overwhelming feelings of love and gratitude for the friends in her life. For Glinda, for her parents, for Fiyero, Ollivander and Boq.
Glinda smiled softly, giving her a one-armed hug and started to unwrap her gifts, knowing her friend needed a moment to herself.
Elphaba was the last to unwrap hers, still unable to shake off the emotional feelings constricting her heart. Slowly she unwrapped a snowglobe from Ollivander, a scrapbook over her family's history from her aunt, a silver Munchkin music box from Boq and a photo album wrapped in a cobalt blue, sequinned scarf from Fiyero. Glinda's parents had also gifted her with a selection of books they thought she would be interested in. "Thank you..." she said softly.
Callistra smiled gently and hugged her. "It's quite alright."
Glinda took the photo album and looked through it. "Oz, Elphie look! It's all the pictures that had been taken of all of us!"
"I'll look later..." Elphaba smiled slightly. She was in no mood to see herself, as awful as she was, printed forever in a picture.
The blonde nodded, oblivious to her friend's change in mood and figured she was feeling overwhelmed with it all, she continued to look at the photos Fiyero had managed to get. Boq truly did take wonderful photos. It wasn't until Elphaba got up and fled the room that Glinda realised something wasn't right. "Elphie?"
"I think she just needs some air, sweetheart." her father told her.
Glinda sighed. Elphaba had probably wanted to run at her birthday meal and wasn't able to. "She's not used to people showing her kindness in this way..." She got up and ran after her, grabbing her gloves and coat along the way. "Elphie, wait!" She followed her outside into the snow-covered garden, and they stopped by a fir tree standing tall and green against the bright white surroundings. "Elphie..."
"I'm sorry... I just..."
"I know," she told her friend gently, reaching up to wipe Elphaba's tears. "I know."
She gasped softly, not realising she had been crying, and Glinda had quickly wrapped her arms around her. Although it was happening slowly, Elphaba was still struggling with acceptance, being loved and cared for, getting gifts as any normal girl would. The small, select people in her life loved her unconditionally, but she still faced judgement and abuse and misunderstanding from everyone else around her.
"Oh, Elphie... It's alright now..." Glinda rubbed her back in a comforting manner.
"No. No, it's not..." Elphaba said quietly. "It's never going to be alright, because I'm always going to..." she trailed off.
"Forget those small-minded people! Elphie, they don't matter! Their opinions do not matter!"
"But they do! And it does!" she snapped. "Glinda, you don't know what it's like... The most natural reaction of people when they see me is fear. Disgust."
Glinda bit her lip. "You're right, Elphie... I don't... But I know what it's like to love my best friend. I know what it's like to have a sister, and it's because of you."
"You shouldn't..."
"Why on earth not?"
"Because..."
"You're green? I'm practically pink! And what did I tell you? Pink and green look amazing together! See?" A pink gloved hand clasped the bare green hand and she held their hands aloft.
A tearful laugh escaped her and she nodded.
"You're loved by those who matter, Elphaba. As hard as it is, forget those who don't. They don't know you. They don't know how wonderfully sarcastic you are. They don't know the big heart you have inside of you."
They hugged again, and dashed back inside when Elphaba shivered, having left the house without her coat.
"Is everything alright now?"
Glinda nodded at her mother's question. "It will be." She squeezed her friend again gently. "We'll get there."
Callistra nodded, though she wouldn't be surprised if the poor girl caught a chill and was sick by the end of the holidays. "Come on, dinner is ready." she smiled at them both.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! I know it's a bit late for a Christmas day/Lurlinemas chapter, but I had some editing to do with this one :)