For some evil reason, I can't reply reviews :-/ The system- and the System- hates me. So thanks for the reviews : ) and the favorites too. And those that are not reviewing…shame on you guys.

And yes, most of the words that sound weird are probably typos. :p so it's okay if you want to point them out. The word Phoenix instead of the exotic pfoenix (or something like that) is on purpose though. The automatic corrector on Word was driven me crazy.

And Throbb… :P Maybe it was my charming upbeat disposition. Couldn't stand to see a sad b.

Okay, I'll stop now.

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Elphaba's reunification with Frex didn't go as smoothly. It had being ten minutes since they stood face to face once again and the old man was still gaping like a fish out of water. His eyes were bulged and seemly ready to pop out of their sockets.

"Alive…" He finally panted "…by the Unnamed God…"

Shell helped him back down on the chair and held his hand. A maid handed a glass with red wine. Frex recovered his composure after drinking half of it and taking several deep long breaths.

"Oh, my Fabala…Oh, my Fabala…" He breathed over and over again. Elphaba stood there, her eyes on the ground-afraid of what she would see on his face. Just when he stretched out two trembling hands did she look. The hardness on her face seemed to melt away like a thick layer of ice. "My Fabala…"

Frex opened his arms and Elphie kneeled in front of him, wincing and clenching her teeth for the effort. Someone grabbed her arm to help her, but she didn't see who. Frex didn't hug her. He caressed her green face carefully, trying to convince himself that she wasn't a ghost- or perhaps willing those hands to see with the clarity his eyes couldn't.

"Oh, my Fabala…just like the saint you were called after. And she reappeared from behind the water fall that swallowed her."

Elphie didn't move. It felt strange. This was the first time Frex touched her like this. The very first time their eyes met not out of fear or rage or stricken grief. It was love, the love of a father and his daughter. The mildest shadow of a smile formed on her grayish lips.

"Oh…"The loving eyes closed tightly and the hands now cupping her chin retreated to cover Frex's grief stricken face. "Oh, if Nessa's death would have also being a mere rumor…"

He broke and wept, wheezing and coughing roughly. They hovered around him worriedly. And when they made sure he wouldn't slumped dead from his chair, Glinda risked a glanced at Elphaba. The Witch had not jumped to hover worriedly at her father. She was still on her knees and her face was frozen in a sulking grimace. Her eyes hard and dark.

Later, as they ate, The Good Witch of the North played with her fork, thinking desperately on how to break the tense silence. The noise of silverware against porcelain and their chewing on juicy meat and crunchy vegetables was putting her teeth on edge.

"So you are a soldier." She finally blurted out to override the noise of Liir sipping the soup. "Young Liir here has a great admiration for men in uniform. He spends most of his time around the military encampment on Red Windmill."

Shell grinned.

"We all wish to be soldiers when we are kids. Do you like men in uniform, Mss Glinda?"

"It's Ms Glinda…sir." She corrected stiffly. "And most definitely not. Uniforms are the way of many to herd themselves together and find strength and comfort in numbers- in hopes of perhaps fortifying weakling hearts and spirits if standing on their own."

Liir chocked on his soup, Elphaba's eyes widen in surprise and Shell whistled.

"Soldiers, however, are probably an exception to the rule." Glinda rushed on, blushing and aware of the pained expression on Liir's face. "They are brave respectful individuals-in the most part. The army had performed innumerable services through time to all society, including my own class-monetarily and genderly speaking."

Elphie made a face and stuffed fish into her mouth.

"Well, I want to be a soldier." Liir asserted. "Will you stay here?"

"For the time being, yes."

"When you leave, I could go with you."

"Yeah…" Shell eyed the chubby teenager dubiously "I don't think that would work."

"I could be your page." Liir asserted. "I'm strong and I don't complaint much. Tell him, Ms Glinda, tell him what a good worker I am."

"Wicked Witch of the West?" Frex wheezed, snapping awake from one of his sporadic and spontaneous naps. His hand travelled again to rest on Elphaba's. The Witch winced, the tears and snot staining his skin burnt her, but she didn't pull away. "Why…why such a horrific title?"

She nagged an eye out of her fish with a silver fork.

"Maybe Nessa was some kind of prophet too. Perhaps the Unnamed God made her see I wasn't going to get her shoes….and so she made sure I would get her title."

"Don't talk ill of the dead." Frex sighed, squeezing her hand gently. "Don't talk ill of her now that she can't respond."

"If she is with her beloved God, I don't think she gives a twig for what is told about her down here. I know I wouldn't."

Frex sighed again.

"Why are you two here anyway?"

"I have responsibilities, Elphaba. I…" Shell glanced guiltily at his father-but he was again dozing off. "I can't be hold back by anything. I couldn't leave father alone. Things are too chaotic. It was too dangerous."

"Why here? Isn't Oz big enough? You had to drag him all the way here? And what responsibilities, I wonder."

"There aren't any more allies out there for us. No one I could trust. We heard you ruled here."

"Ruled here? I've never ruled here!" She turned to Glinda, scowling.

She shrugged.

"There was a lot of propaganda about you, Elphie, even before that stupid rumor of Morrible's assassination at your hands."

"It wasn't a rumor!" Elphaba snapped. "I killed her."

Glinda rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Be as it may be. " Shell continued. "I gathered that even if you were dead, we would be well received here."

"The journey could have killed him. You pushed him off the fire to throw him on a frozen lake." She chocked a bit at that, her legs twitched as if with a memory of their own.

"Oh, but he landed on a bed of goose feathers." Shell grinned. "We reached this cute little paradise and found you alive. When sprint comes, I'll leave and you will be able to care for him."

"Has it occurred to you that I may have responsibilities too?" Elphaba retorted acidly. "If you were going to believed all the bullshit the Wizard had being telling about me, you could have at least connected all the implications. A ruler has no time for family." She was going to add just like a devoted man, but stopped herself. Frex was apparently listening again.

"Oh, come on, Fabbie. You have more people working than living in here. You can pay someone to take care of him."

"I'm not paying for anything."

Shell turned to Glinda.

"Don't listen to her." She said, making a dismissive gesture with one hand. "He will be taken care of. You said things were being a bit chaotic?"

"Oh, yes. Since the Wizard was executed."

Elphaba chocked on the wine she was drinking. Her hand closed on the glass with such force that it shattered into small pieces. She hissed in pain and slapped Glinda's hands away when she tried to assist her.

"When Dorothy and the other Witch Hunters arrived the Wizard refused to give them what they have asked for." Shell continued, clearly amused by his sister's reaction. "He said they were unworthy, but the Scarecrow apparently had more brain than he gave himself credit for. It was made evident that the Wizard had no power at all. The old bastard then tried to have them executed and the guards refused to obey. They thought the child to be Ozma herself. They cut his head off instead in a public affair. The news flew around Oz like fire on a dry crop field. Everyone went mad and the ministers had to do something to calm things down. They have crowned Dorothy as the new Ozma."

They all jumped startled when a green fist slammed violently on the table, scattering the pieces of broken glass everywhere. The Witch murmured darkly and she slumped over her plate, resting her cheek on the now bleeding hand.

"The Tin Man and the Scarecrow and the Lion were named her guardians and advisors."
Shell continued hesitantly. "They all hoped the reunification would go on smoothly after this. There hasn't being any serious confrontation yet, but things are tense.

As this fine lady probably knows, the Gillikins had declared themselves a free state. The Gillikus blocked the roads and are preparing an army to counter any possible attack from the Emerald City. The ministers ruling Munchkinland tried to take a similar position, but the men folk- bunch of uneducated pagans- idolized Dorothy. They wanted her in charge and slaughtered anyone who disagreed. As far as I know, they are still cutting heads. "

"You humans have gone mad." The Phoenix stated from the other side of the table- the section reserved for her and Chistery. "You fools keep jumping against each other's throats and push away those that protect you. Before you know it demons and shadows will be breathing onto your necks and then you will have a real enemy to worry about. And as you fight, we animals and Animals will watch from the shadows, for it will be only the wicked fighting and being slaughtered. May Lurlina be as tolerant as we think she is. Who knows, maybe if this heretic believe of that new god of yours- that one without even a name- has not offended her, she will come to your aid."

"What's all that pagan propaganda?" Frexspar suddenly muttered scandalized, straightening on his chair. "Who is talking? Who is that? The wicked fighting? What are you up to now, Elphaba?"

Elphie shuddered and let out a strangled moan but said nothing. Glinda caressed her elbow gently and tried to change the subject, but Frex continued divagating, clinging-like all of the elders- into their regrets and sorrows with careless and brutal honesty.

"Ah, Elphaba, I made so many mistakes with you. I should have never exposed you to the Quadlings. Nessa never give ear to their misleading tales and believes. But you were always listening, always asking, always pressing for more and more of their confusing babblings. You dwelled on it like a fish on water. Like the people of Nest Hardings." He closed his eyes. "…all my failures into one little green package. What a perfect punishment you turned out to be…"

The Witch shuddered and twitched and slammed both her fists on the table. She whirled to glare at the old man with such venom that both Shell and Glinda hold their breaths in anticipation of an attack. She stood winced and slumped back down on the chair. Then she passed one trembling hand through her hair and stiffened. Glinda tried to take her hand.

"I wasn't a fucking punishment!!" Elphaba howled then, her deep voice shrill. "I was just a consequence of your selfishness and blinded faith! I was a consequence of your abandonment! It is you my punishment! My punishment for having being born!"

They all gaped at her for a long time. Then a strangled wheezed crawled out of Frex throat and he stiffened. His eyes bulged out. Ms Potato jumped to her feet and ran to assist him as Shell, alarmed, helped the old man down and laid him on the floor.

Glinda jumped to her feet and stared wide eyed and confused. Chistery snatched an apple and hurried away. The Phoenix clacked her beak nervously and drops of chewed off meat fell off Liir's gaping mouth. The Witch glanced at the convulsing form of Frexspar and then turned her eyes back to her plate to finish her salad.