Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2013. Found: 2017.

"No. There's no way that's true."

Glinda bit her lip, watching as Elphaba began to pace, still holding tight to her glass bottle. She knew the green witch well enough now to know that when Elphaba didn't want to believe something, she'd rationalize it to death before finally giving in. Apparently, the possibility that her mother was alive somewhere- had a husband and another daughter- and left her behind, was worth over-rationalizing.

"She wouldn't do that to me. She wouldn't just up and leave me behind. She wouldn't. She loves me-"

"Elphie, you said it yourself. She died." Glinda whispered, and after a moment the green girl looked up, having stopped mid-pace. "We don't know where people go when they die. Maybe they go over the rainbow like Raven did. It's a possibility."

"But she loved me." The whisper was soft, and choked with tears.

"She still loves you, Elphie, I'm sure of it. She just... went somewhere else. Somewhere where she's healthy and alive and... and so she started a new life, that doesn't mean she did it on purpose, she made the best of a situation." Slowly, the girl nodded, drinking in her friend's words. For all her frou-frou outfits, Glinda could show that she had a brain, despite the blonde. "Maybe you should compare bottles? Make sure they're really... you know, similar."

After a moment, Raven and Elphaba shared a glance, considering the blonde's words. Then Elphaba held her hand out, and after a moment of hesitation, Raven reluctantly handed over the bottle she held. She watched in nerved silence as Elphaba studied the bottles intently. What surprised the green girl was that both bottles had a torn piece of paper taped to each, the only difference was that Raven's had the ELI- while hers had -XIR left on the tape. when she held the two bottles side by side, edges resting gently together, the letters spelled out ELIXIR, in messy scrawl that was very, very familiar.

Mama's handwriting.

The young witch took a shaky breath, her gaze slowly moving to meet Raven's, and the meaning was clear.

The bottles were not only identical, but the torn writing was proof that Melena had once possessed both. Her mother's handwriting could be picked out of a crowd, Elphaba knew. She still kept the handwritten letter her mother had written to her before she passed away, to be opened on her twenty-first birthday, her family's nickname for her scrawled across the front of it.

Both bottles were Melena's, Elphaba was sure of it.

"They're identical. And the handwriting, it's my mother's." Elphaba whispered, holding Raven's bottle out to her. The younger girl instantly took it, cradling it to her chest.

"And mine." Raven whispered, quickly meeting Elphaba's gaze, but the green girl ducked her head, before reaching over and returning her bottle to its place beneath her pillow. She then curled up on the bed, dark eyes welling with unshed tears. Clearly, this new discovery had torn down everything she thought about her mother- that her mother hadn't died, but had disappeared, going somewhere else and building a new family, leaving her precious daughter with a man who refused to accept her as his daughter, simply because of her skin.

"So you're sisters." Glinda replied softly, wanting nothing more than to pull her green roommate into her arms and let her cry, but she knew that Elphaba would only push her away, so she stayed seated on her own bed. "Half sisters, since you share the same mother, but different fathers."

"I don't know who my father is," Elphaba finally whispered. "but I do know that it's not Frex. Not by blood or birth. I hold no relation to that man, other than the fact that he was married to my mother. I kind of wish I could say the same about Nessa, but we actually share blood. Her father was Turtle Heart, but Frex immediately claimed her as his own, despite her lack of limbs. He'd rather have an armless daughter over a green one. I don't care anymore; I did once upon a time, but now..." She shrugged, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Now I could care less. As soon as I graduate, I'm moving to the City to work for the Wizard, and I'm not looking back."

"Wizard?" Raven furrowed a brow.

"He rules over Oz, but no one has ever seen him. He's... the silent guiding hand that pulls the strings here."

"So... like a king?"

Glinda nodded. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Her tone was dry, sarcastic. She'd heard the rumors coming out of the City, that he was no more wonderful than Doctor Dillamond a goat, and that he was soon going to enact a series of laws to hurt various citizens- mainly Animals. "But you have to marry Fiyero first and have a bunch of royal babies before you run off to work for the Wizard, Elphie."

The green girl met her gaze, sniffling. "He's not going to marry me, Glinda. Why would anyone want to be tied to the green girl for the rest of their life? No, Yero will marry someone else-"

"That's not true and you know it, Elphie." Glinda replied. "He loves you, and he's going to marry you, despite your protests." The blonde suddenly turned to Raven. "Do you have a boyfriend? Or... did you?" Elphaba relaxed, relieved that Glinda's attention had turned to Raven. She buried her face in the pillow, forcing herself to take deep breaths to keep from completely breaking down.

"I... well... no." Raven stammered; she'd had a crush, certainly but no boyfriend. But that crush would never be acted on now that she was in Oz and away from Ever After. She blushed, her mind going to Dexter and his crooked grin, that tilted crown and those glasses he was always losing or nearly dropping. She'd had a crush on Dexter from the moment they'd met in spellementary. He'd been the only child to approach her and ask if she wanted to play; he, unlike the others, hadn't run when she'd entered the room, hadn't screamed for their parents, or hidden simply because she was 'daughter of the Evil Queen'.

"Then we'll have to find you one here." Glinda replied in excitement at the prospect of matchmaking. Raven glanced at Elphaba, but the green girl buried her face in the pillows.