AN: For disclaimer and other stuff, see part 1. Thank you all for the reviews. Curlycurlz asked why I made Dorothy travel for the duration of Elphaba's pregnancy. I am going to explain my reasons in the last chapter. And TillItryIllneverknow I hope you enjoy this part of the trip too.
Chapter 4
Elphaba had asked Yantar to bring her a newspaper. She needed to read about what was happening in Oz, as she had suspected the elderly woman wasn't telling her everything. She had been right. There was a girl, Dorothy Gale, a girl whose house had crushed her sister and she was on her way to kill Elphaba.
"Our heroine, Dorothy, who has already destroyed one evil, is on a quest to free Oz of a greater evil, the Wicked Witch of the West." Elphaba read the headline out loud, shaking her head in disbelief.
She had known that she could be killed, one day. She had vowed to fight the wizard until one of them was gone for good. There wasn't a happily-ever-after, not for the Wicked. But was she the wicked one? Was she really evil? She was only a woman, a mother. She couldn't be evil.
But on the other hand she had done and seen things, evil and unspeakable things. She had been the one to mutilate the monkeys. She had turned Boq into a tinman. She had cast the spell that had killed Fiyero. It had been her doing no good, not the Wizard or Morrible. Yes, maybe she was indeed evil, Wicked.
She was full of doubts. Who was she really? Elphaba Thropp? No, Elphaba had stopped existing, little by little, starting the day she had defied the Wizard. Nearly going mad after Fiyero's death she had decided to give the Ozians what they had wanted most, a Wicked Witch. That was the day Elphaba had stopped existing altogether, like she had died with Fiyero and her sister.
She was the mother of Arwen Tiggular and the Wicked Witch of the West. But she couldn't be both forever. Elphaba should have anticipated that Morrible and the Wizard would use everyone to destroy her, the Wicked Witch they had created.
If she had never gone to Shiz, Morrible wouldn't have learned about her talent. Elphaba would still be the daughter of Melena and Frex Thropp, nothing more, nothing less.
But then she would have never met Fiyero, never made friends with Glinda and fallen in love.
It wouldn't do her any good to dwell in the past. The life she had once known and lived was over. Elphaba was now the most feared person in Oz, the Wicked Witch.
Now she had to deal with the so-called saviour of Oz, Dorothy Gale, a farm girl from Kansas, wherever Kansas was.
What should she do? What could she do? What would happen to Arwen?
She knew when they, the witch-hunters, found Arwen she would either be killed or thrown into Southstairs, left to die. She was the child of the Wicked, after all. But neither of which was an ending or a life she would have chosen for her child.
Arwen was the crown princess of the Arjiki Tribe, too. She could live with her grandparents, Fiyero's parents. Elphaba had taken away their child, now she could give them her only child, their granddaughter as atonement for her sin, for killing Fiyero. As a mother, she understood the pain Fiyero's mother must be going through right now. There was no greater pain as loosing a loved one, especially a child.
Not to mention there were things Elphaba couldn't give her daughter, no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't travel with her child. She had to stay in hiding for the foreseeable future, maybe even forever. Arwen would have anything she could want and need living with her grandparents.
Sure, there could be a day that her exile would end, but after learning about the girl from Kansas, Dorothy, who was on her way to kill her, Elphaba knew that it would impossible. Her life would be over. Never ever would she have a normal life. She couldn't give Arwen a real childhood. She could only love her baby for as long as she lived.
In the end she would have to give her child away. There was no other solution. She had to give Arwen away to keep her safe. There wasn't a spell in the Grimmerie to prevent any harm from happening to her baby. Magic wasn't the solution for everything.
Elphaba walked over to her daughter who lay sleeping peaceful in a basket. Being two months, Elphaba could already see resemblance to Fiyero and her in the child. Arwen had her dark hair and what Fiyero had called her stubborn chin. She also had Fiyero's eyes and nose. Arwen would never be able to deny her parentage.
"Little one, we will have to part one day. I promise I will do anything to keep you safe and out of harms way even if I have to give you away. Right now I don't want to think about it, but the day to say goodbye will come, maybe sooner then I anticipate. Believe me if I had a choice I would keep you with me, forever. I love you my little Arwen," she whispered with tears in her eyes to her sleeping baby and leaned forward, softly kissing the child on the forehead.
Yes, she would meet Dorothy. She had to, but on her own terms and somewhere she felt comfortable. Kiamo Ko, her safe haven. Tomorrow she would take her daughter and travel to Kiamo Ko where everything would come to an end.