"Elphaba, as you know, I am preaching today. So make yourself presentable." Frex ordered gruffly as he walked into the kitchen where Elphaba was preparing the dinner for the family and the large number of political leaders that would be dining with them at the annual political/economic meeting. This year the members were gathering in Munchkinland. Her father had sent her to the kitchen as soon as the carriage let them off t the governor's mansion. Usually such a task as making dinner, especially such a large dinner as this, was performed by the maids or a chef, but Elphaba's cooking was far better. This was something that had shocked Frex. A lot of things surprised Frex about his oldest daughter. There was her cooking, her grace, her intellect, her singing, her voice in general, and dare he admit....her beauty. When Frex actually did look at his daughter and not her skin, he couldn't deny that had she not been green, she would easily have been the most beautiful person in Oz. He was shaken from his thoughts when he heard Elphaba's angel voice.

"Presentable?" she scoffed, "What does it matter if I'm presentable if you are just going to shun me in public anyway?"

"You dare speak back to me!" Frex thundered, slamming a fist onto the counter. Elphaba flinched, she wanted to say 'yes, yes I dare'. But she held back.

"No, I'm sorry father." she said solemnly, continuing to stir the rice and add spices to the mixture, it smelled amazing and Frex's mouth began to water, so he quickly went out of the kitchen with a gruff, "Good."

*********

"Father, where are we going?" asked Fiyero, as he looked out the carriage window.

"A political meeting in Munchkinland, it's being held by Governor Thropp this year." said his father. Thropp, that was Elphaba's father, maybe he'd get to see Elphaba.

"Then why are we at a church?" asked Fiyero as the carriage stopped.

"He's holding a sermon before the meeting and I've heard a lot about this particular sermon. I heard he's got two daughters, one crippled and one green, if you can imagine that." his father chuckled.

"Yes, imagine that." Fiyero said sarcastically bitter, "So his daughter's will be here?"

"Yes, there part of his sermon." his father answered as they entered the church. They took seats in the back and a few of the girls that were there giggled when they say Fiyero and wiggled their fingers at him. Fiyero rolled his eyes, he was used to this. He sat in his seat and then Frex came out and addressed the large audience.

*******************

"Now, I stand before you today to preach to you on our sins and the good we do in our life's, the punishments and the rewards." Frex spoke. There was a very large crowd in the church, but they were not here to listen to Frex preach, not really. They'd heard of his sermons, and who he brought forth in his sermons, his daughters, one green, and one crippled. Not much was said for the crippled one, but her snobbish demeanor, pale skin and of course, her disability. But much was said of the green one. There was talk of her father's unjust cruelty towards her, her green skin of course. Most had been said of her voice though; they called it an angel's voice, when she spoke and heaven's voice when she sang. Even more had been said of her beauty, people who looked past her skin had called her the most beautiful person in Oz, but not many people could get past that particular feature.

"I am governor of Munchkinland, and preacher," Frex continued, "Now, this is my beautiful daughter, Nessarose." Nessa wheeled herself onto the low rise stage, "She is crippled. The unnamed God has taken away her ability to walk. But why would such a wholly god do such a thing? Well, I will show you. It is because her sister...," Nessa wheeled herself back down to her seat and Frex paused to pull someone roughly out from behind the stage. He grabbed Elphaba's arm roughly and jerked her into view. The crowd gasped and Elphaba looked down immediately, knowing full well that her green skin had disgusted the all, but her reasoning was wrong. The crowd was expecting the green skin, but they had thought the rumors of her beauty to be false, they were true. The girl struggling in her father's grasp was indeed beautiful. He grasped her arm in an iron hold, the girl was so thin it looked as though her arm would snap under his hand. Frex, seeming satisfied with the crowds reaction continued, "was born green."

"Now, what may you ask has she ever done to deserve to be born such a color?" asked Frex, "This was not her fault," (somehow, Elphaba managed not to roll her eyes at the irony in his words, he blamed EVERYTHING on her), "I admit that during my late wife's pregnancy with her. I had sinned. I'd carried an affair with a Gillikinese woman, and as punishment for my sins, the Unnamed God tainted my first born with green skin." The crowd gasped, Frex pointedly ignored this and continued, "So when my wife was again pregnant, I had her chew milk flowers so that the next child wouldn't be such a ghastly color, and she wasn't, but she was crippled. Now, should the daughters really pay for the sins of the parents? No, so the Unnamed God gave them each a few gifts of their own. My wonderful Nessa has a wonderful talent at art. As you can see this painting on the walls," Frex motioned to a few of the paintings on the church walls, while never letting go of Elphaba's arm, tightening his grip, she winced visibly and the crowd's hearts went out to her. They looked at the paintings and noted how well painted they were, amazing works of art. Frex nodded and continued, "And this one, well, I shall have her speak for you." Frex announced, the crowd waited, wanting to see if the rumors of her voice were true as well.

"Elphaba, say something." Frex ordered.

"Um...my name is Elphaba Thropp..." Elphaba said, unsure what her father wanted her to say. The crowd gasped (again). Elphaba glanced up at Frex and sighed in relief when she saw the satisfied smirk on his face at the audience's reactions.

"You see? Now, I shall have her sing for you." Frex announced proudly. The crowd leaned forward in their seats and waited with baited breath, this is what they had all come for anyway, to hear her sing. Elphaba glared at Frex and tore her arm from his grip, (many were surprised when he thin arm hadn't broken) she stepped away from him and began to sing. The crowd was in awe as they listened, they froze in their seats and their eyes glazed over. In truth, her voice was magical. Fiyero had never heard her sing, sure he was used to her voice, but he'd never heard her sing. He was amazed, but wasn't shocked at the fact of that. He was amazed by everything about her. When she finished, they were still frozen in shock and wonder. Frex smirked at them again and grabbed Elphaba by the arm again.

"Now, she may hold a voice such as that, but she cannot touch water." Frex explained. Elphaba looked down again. At the crowd's confused looks, Frex continued, "I'll show you exactly what water does to her." Frex proceeded to pick up a pail of water. Fiyero couldn't watch this. Frex was going to torture his daughter for everyone to see. He put his face in his hands.

Elphaba eyed the amount of water in the pail, "That's too much!' she hissed at Frex under her breath. Frex ignored her and threw the water at her. Elphaba screamed in agony. The crowd all flinched, this reaction was so unexpected and...heartbreaking. Fiyero looked up when he heard he scream, he hadn't thought it would've hurt that much, now he knew just how much pain Elphaba was feeling. He felt his blood boil and his eyes swell with moisture. Elphaba shut her eyes tightly and waited for the pain to subside as it usually did, but this was too much water, the pain wasn't going away. Just as Elphaba was about to slip into the black of unconsciousness, she heard her father speak.

"You see?!" Frex said, "She is a freak! She cannot even touch water! But she is not dead, therefore, the Unnamed God has found it in his heart to love her. How anyone can love her is beyond me, but the Unnamed God has done, by allowing her to exist. If he can find it in his heart to love her, he is the most giving and generous God in existence!" Then he shoved her into the arms of someone else. The young man was the one that worked for her father as a servant. He easily picked up Elphaba as she gave into the pain and went unconscious, she was so small and thin, it felt like he was carrying air or a small doll.

"Take her back to the mansion and tend the burns, then have her finish preparing the meal." Frex ordered. The young man nodded and walked out of the church with her in his arms. Fiyero watched them go and wished he was the one carrying her away from this horrible man, but he was not, and had to remain in the sermon and endure every terrible thing Frex could muster about his green skinned 'freak' of a daughter.