Torchakaywrites: Lol! You will just have to keep reading in order to find out the answers to your questions. *Smirk*

This chapter is dedicated to my friend, Doglover645. Happy belated birthday!


Elphaba never thought this moment would be happening. She never imagined herself leaving college for Lurlinemas break, saying goodbye to her boyfriend. Well, her "unofficial" official boyfriend.

"I'll miss you much, Elphie! And don't you dare say something logical and ruin the moment!" Galinda said as she tightly wrapped her arms around the green girl.

Elphaba chuckled and returned the hug. "I'll miss you, too, Glin. We'll see each other in a few weeks."

"But… when we see each other again, it will be a whole new year. It seems to far away."

"You'll be fine," Elphaba said as she watched the blonde's lower lip stick out in a pout. "We'll write."

"Of course we will," Galinda brightened up as if she was never upset. "We'll write to each other and you'll write to Fifi."

"Fifi? Who's Fifi? Is he some other guy I should be worried about?" Fiyero asked as he walked over to the girls.

Galinda turned and gave the prince a friendly hug. "I'll miss you over break, Fifi."

"I'll miss you, too, Glin," Fiyero said, returning the hug. He had long since accepted Galinda's nickname for him, especially when he realized that no matter what he did, he would never be able to shake it off. Once Galinda Upland gives you a nickname, it sticks forever… or at least until she feels like stopping or changing it, which had a very slim chance of actually happening. "But we'll write."

"Oh, no!" the blonde said, viciously shaking her head. "You'll be too busy writing to Elphie. I'll settle for seeing you next year." She patted his cheek and said goodbye to Elphaba before going over to her waiting carriage.

Fiyero chuckled and playfully shook his head. "I don't know how you room with her, Fae."

"You get used to it after a while," Elphaba smiled as she settled herself into Fiyero's arms. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too," Fiyero said as he kissed the top of her head. "But we'll see each other before we know it."

"And we'll write."

"Yes, we'll write."

"And we'll see each other in the new year."

"We will. And we won't forget about each other?"

"And we won't forget about each other," Elphaba confirmed, chuckling softly.

"Good. Just making sure," Fiyero said as he gently pulled away. He looked down and gently cupped Elphaba's cheek before pulling her into a gentle kiss. The green girl quickly responded and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Feel warmer?" the prince growled softly against her lips.

"Very," Elphaba responded, relishing the feeling of his body heat warming her.

"Fabala, we have to go now," Nessa said. She had arrived with Boq just in time to witness the kiss, and her thoughts couldn't have been any clearer by the frown on her face.

Elphaba gently pulled away and Fiyero gave her hand a light squeeze. "Bye, Fae."

"Bye, Yero."

"Fae, wait!" Fiyero said as Elphaba turned to leave.

"Elphaba," Nessa hissed, and Boq placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Yes?" Elphaba asked Fiyero, ignoring her sister.

"I… I have a little something for you," Fiyero said as he pulled out a small box wrapped in dark purple wrapping paper and tied with a green ribbon from his pocket.

"Yero, you… you didn't have to get me anything," Elphaba blushed as she took the box.

"You really didn't," Nessa muttered under her breath.

Elphaba slowly unwrapped the gift and opened the box, revealing a golden bracelet with a ruby gem. "Yero, I… it's beautiful."

"Elphaba," Nessa hissed again.

"It's a tradition in the Vinkus that when a couple begins to go steady, the guy gives the girl a special little jewelry gift that has something special to do with him. It's kind of like a symbol to show everyone else that she's relationship. There's a ruby on the bracelet because it's my birthstone… since my birthday is in July and… stuff."

Elphaba was speechless as Fiyero helped her put it on her right wrist. She wiped a tear away from her eye and hugged Fiyero tightly. "Thank you," she whispered. "I love it."

"I'm glad, Fae," Fiyero whispered back, wrapping his arms around her.

"Elphaba, it is getting cold. We have to leave now," Nessa said tightly.

"Nessa, maybe we should let them have a moment," Boq suggested quietly.

"No. We have to leave now," Nessa emphasized.

Elphaba sighed, but gently wiggled out of Fiyero's arms and faced her sister. "I'm coming, Nessa."

"Not fast enough," the wheelchair-bound girl snapped.

Elphaba frowned. "Nessarose…"

"It's alright," Fiyero said, gently squeezing Elphaba's hand. "Have a wonderful break. I'll see you when you get back."

"Okay," Elphaba said, gently squeezing back. "See you then."

They finally broke away and Elphaba walked towards her sister and grabbed their bags. "Let's go, Nessa."

"Have a nice break, Nessa," Fiyero smiled.

The younger Thropp simply frowned at the prince and sniffed, turning and wheeling behind her sister before Boq could grab the handlebars of the chair. The Munchkin boy blinked, confused, but waved goodbye to Fiyero before following the Thropp sisters.

Fiyero watched as Elphaba helped her sister into the carriage while Boq handled her wheelchair. Once everyone was safely inside, the carriage sped down the lane. Elphaba stuck her head out and waved to the prince one final time. Fiyero smiled and waved back until the carriage was out of sight.

"Why are you so upset, Nessa?" Elphaba asked as they began the journey back to their home country.

"I'm not upset," Nessa answered shortly.

"Why are you angry, then?"

"I'm not angry."

"Then what are you feeling right now?"

Silence.

"Nessa, talk to me. Please."

"Fiyero is a very bad influence for you, Fabala," Nessa said, staring at the bracelet.

Elphaba blinked, surprised. Whatever she was expecting her sister to say, it wasn't that. "Fiyero's a bad influence?"

"Yes. I don't like him."

"You didn't give him a chance."

"Because I don't trust him."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't seem like a trustworthy type."

"Nessa, how can you say that without getting to know him?"

"Because all he wants to do is sleep with you and have sex with you!"

Elphaba inhaled sharply. Boq looked at the wheelchair-bound girl with wide, surprised eyes. "Nessa…" he whispered.

"He doesn't love you! He doesn't care about you! He only wants to get what he wants and then hurt you!" the younger girl continued.

Elphaba fingered the bracelet as she angrily glared at her sister, wondering where all of this was coming from. "That's not true, Nessa, and you know it. He's not like that."

"Because he's just waiting for the right time. He's waiting for you to let your guard completely down around him so he can just waltz right in and take what he wants."

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is! Men are like that, Fabala!"

"Am I supposed to be offended by that statement?" Boq asked, giving Nessa a sideways look.

"He doesn't even love you!" Nessa continued, completely ignoring the Munchkin boy.

"How would you know? You've never had a boyfriend before!" Elphaba argued.

"And neither have you! But at least I know what real love looks like. At least Father loves me!"

That was a really low blow, and Nessa knew it. Elphaba's eyes widened and before she knew it, she reached over and slapped Nessa, hard, across the face. The younger Thropp gasped and turned, cupping her cheek. Boq gently placed a hand on Nessa's back and avoided Elphaba's gaze, knowing that if he gave her the look he wanted to give her, he would be next.

The younger Thropp slowly lifted her gaze to meet her sister's. Elphaba's eyes were blazing with pure anger, but Nessa quickly detected the hurt buried underneath. Even though they constantly argued, Elphaba had never slapped her before. Never. The younger girl quickly calmed her quick breaths and sat up straight, shrugging off Boq's hand. "You will regret not listening to me."

Elphaba was too angry to respond. Her sister's words had cut very deep, opening an old wound that she was sure had healed. She had accepted the fact that their father loved Nessa more, and only cared about his green child enough to pay for her medicine and take her to the hospital when she had very bad attacks. But Nessa had implied that he didn't love her at all. That wasn't true, was it? He must love her to some extent, or else he wouldn't have bothered to do anything for her. He could have just let her die when an attack threatened to claim her life. But he didn't. Probably because he knew how destroyed Nessa would be if something happened to her. That had to count for something, right?

"You will not say a word about Fiyero and me to Father," Elphaba said in a very low tone, daring her sister to argue.

Nessa, of course, accepted the dare. "Watch me."

"I don't know what you want, Nessa, but I refuse to give you the satisfaction of getting it."

"I just want to see you happy."

"If you really wanted me to be happy, you would drop whatever grudge you have against Fiyero. I love him and he loves me."

"Did he ever tell you that he loved you?" Nessa asked, knowing that she was playing with fire.

"No," Elphaba said before she could stop herself. Fiyero hadn't said it yet, but that didn't mean that he would never say it. It was still really early in their relationship and he said that they would take it slow. Maybe this was just part of 'taking it slow'.

"My point exactly."

"He'll probably say it when we get back from break," Elphaba said softly.

"Or maybe he won't. I doubt he'll say it, Fabala. Or if he does say it, he won't mean it."

"Drop it, Nessa," Elphaba said, getting too tired to continue the fight.

But Nessa clearly wasn't finished or tired. "I'm just trying to warn you, Elphaba."

"I said drop it."

"Because if you don't listen to me –"

"I SAID DROP IT, NESSAROSE!" Elphaba shouted at the top of her lungs, her eyes filled with frustration and rage as she angrily glared directly into her sister's hazel eyes.

Nessa stared at her sister, her wide eyes filled with fear and surprise as the green girl slumped back, curling up against her seat as she took deep breaths. Her hands clutched her chest as she struggled to breathe, her eyes filling with tears.

Boq quickly dug through his bag and grabbed his canteen of water, opening it and wordlessly holding it out to the green girl. Elphaba growled and angrily knocked it out of his hands, spilling the water all over the floor.

"I'm sorry, Fabala," Nessa whispered, sobering as she gently placed a hand on her sister's knee.

"Don't touch me," Elphaba whispered, her voice hoarse as she tried to pull away.

Nessa immediately withdrew her hand, knowing that she had crossed the line. "I know I shouldn't have said those things to you. I didn't mean to hurt you like this. I'm sorry."

"Shut up."

Her sister barely had a voice, so Nessa wisely shut her mouth for the rest of the trip. When Elphaba had finally calmed and sat back up, Nessa wordlessly handed her her water bottle. Elphaba glared at her, but Nessa didn't say a word as she wordlessly placed it into her hands. Elphaba looked at the water bottle before opening it and taking a few gulps of water, feeling slightly better after she did. Nessa gave her a soft smile when she handed the bottle back and settled to take a nap.

"Elphaba," Boq said as he gently shook the green girl awake an hour later.

"Mmm… what?" Elphaba asked, slowly opening her eyes.

"We're stopping to stretch our legs and water the horses. Do you want to get out?"

"Okay…" Elphaba said, her voice still slightly slurred with sleep as she sat up and stretched. "Where are we?"

"We're in Bright Lettins. We should be in Colwen Grounds within three more hours of traveling."

Elphaba nodded and got out the carriage. She had to admit, it felt good to stretch her legs and get some fresh air into her lungs, even if the crispness of the air made it slightly harder for her to breathe. She tried to clear her head, but the sound of wheels approaching her stopped her from doing so.

"Fabala?" a timid Nessa asked.

"What?" Elphaba snapped dismissively, not even turning to look at her.

"I… I'm sorry. I don't want to fight anymore. I'm sorry I got you worked up. And I'm sorry I said all those mean things to you."

Elphaba turned and noticed the guilty look on her sister's face. She knelt down in front of her and gently took her hand. "It's okay. I'm sorry I slapped you."

"So… are we friends again?"

Elphaba cracked a smile. "Of course we are."

The younger Thropp smiled as her older sister pulled her into a hug. She hugged her back, giving her a gentle squeeze. "And… I'll try to stop being so overbearing and let you do your job as the older sister and let you take care of me."

This time, Elphaba laughed. "I appreciate that, Nessa."

"But you should probably get back inside the carriage. It's cold and you're not wearing your hat."

Elphaba gave her sister a look and Nessa blushed. "Right. Not being overbearing. Sorry."

Elphaba sighed good-heartedly and went back to the carriage with her sister. Once everyone was seated, the carriage traveled down the road. Around ten minutes into the ride, Elphaba began to drift off, but didn't fully go to sleep when she heard her sister and Boq's conversation.

"Are you upset because I didn't get you something like Fiyero got Elphaba?" Boq asked softly, trying not to wake the green girl. "Because I can fix that… as soon as we get home… and as soon as I get some money."

"No, it's not that, Boq," Nessa sighed. "I'm just… I'm worried about Fabala. She's… changing."

"What do you mean by 'changing'?"

"She's happier when she's with Fiyero, but her attacks are getting worse. It all started the night she went to the Ozdust with him. I want Fabala to be happy, but not at the expense of her health. I can't lose my sister."

"Nessa, you know Elphaba would never do something to put her health in danger. She knows how much she means to you."

"I know she does, but she would never connect being with Fiyero to her illness getting worse. And she would never do it if I suggested that it was the reason behind her attacks getting worse. I just… I just don't know what to do."

Elphaba silently mulled over what Nessa said. That was the real reason why she didn't like Fiyero. She thought that he was making her sicker. But that wasn't the case. She felt wonderful when she was with Fiyero. She would just have to speak to her about it later.


I know what you're all thinking: "This little savage right here needs to be sat down somewhere!" But it's not what we think. And we're not quite done with the savaging yet. #NiaHasNoChill

And tomorrow is my third fanficiversary! Keep your eyes open for a special oneshot with a special announcement!