Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.
Read A New Home, RMS Ozmania, and Ixian Invasion to understand this story better. Or, you can PM me with questions. Fourth story in the Ellie Series.
A young girl of about the age of seven was dressed in a ballerina's outfit, her light brown hair in a bun. A jacket protected her from the chill in the air as she held her grandmother's hand. She had to walk quickly in the streets of the Emerald City, and she didn't really know why they just didn't take an automobile, those things on wheels that were becoming exceedingly more and more popular. The girl held her head high, and her back straight. "Grandmother," she said properly. After all, she was a very proper young lady and refused to be seen as otherwise. When people called her cute, she nodded sweetly, but she made it apparent that she hated that. She enjoyed compliments such as "poised" instead.
"Yes, Eira?" Glinda, the ruler of Oz said without missing a beat. Her heels clacked on the sidewalk underneath her dress. Eira Galinda Thropp was literally a little Glinda clone (although only her eyes matched the blonde's, and her physical appearance didn't resemble hers in the slightest).
"Why didn't we take the automobile? Or even the carriage with the pretty white horses?" the brunette asked and looked up at the blonde.
"Because I think walking is nicer," Glinda said simply. A simple answer for a not so simple girl.
"Oh," Eira said lamely and looked straight ahead.
"You know, your mother's worried about you," Glinda started. Eira could feel a lecture or something coming on, and she didn't really want to listen. However, she loved and admired Glinda, so she'd keep her mouth shut and listen to her. "She thinks you're becoming too…how should I put this…too adult like."
"Is that a problem?" This wasn't asked rudely, but simply as an innocent question.
"No, of course not, but she's worried that you are throwing away your childhood, and to be honest, I think you are, too. Haven't you ever wanted to make a mud pie, or frolic in the gardens without worrying about ruining your clothes?" Glinda asked her. Of course, Eira didn't understand that these were rhetorical questions; she didn't even know what that word meant, so it didn't even cross her mind.
"I've thought about it, but I'm of higher class and shouldn't be doing such things," Eira recited what she had learned in private school. She attended the best elementary school in the Emerald City, so many upper class citizens sent their children there.
"Your mother-Ellie- she doesn't want you to lose your childhood like she did. She's enrolling you in a playgroup for children of your age. All different kinds of people will be there. Wouldn't you like that?" Glinda asked the girl.
"Mother shouldn't be making those decisions," Eira stated calmly, almost too calm for a child of her age. "If she isn't here, then I shouldn't have to do what she says."
"Now Eira, that's not very nice. You know she loves you dearly and she hates leaving you," Glinda said. The two stopped in front of the ballet studio where Eira took her lessons. Glinda went down to the darker skinned girl's height and smiled at her. "Now, you have fun at your lesson today. I will come fetch you in a carriage when it's over."
"I know," Eira said. She let the blonde hug her, and she hugged her back. "Can we get ice cream after?"
"Don't we always," Glinda said and made sure Eira's bun was as perfect as it could get. The brunette beamed and actually looked like a child for once. Glinda had been the same way as Eira when she was her age; she'd be a proper young lady. But sometimes, she'd act like a child and want ice cream or candy.
"Thank you, grandmother," Eira said and entered the ballet studio. She was immediately greeted with her many friends. They circled her, and she knew she was the most popular seven year old in the Emerald City. For some reason, they all loved her. Perhaps it was because her mother had saved Oz from being enslaved by Ix, or maybe it was because her grandmother was the Throne Minister of Oz., or it could simply be she was very likeable. Regardless, she always had friends and made them without even trying.
Eira politely said hello to her friends and had to force her way over to her best friend, Hallie. The two were inseparable and many of the other girls hated Hallie because she was able to be Eira's best friend. The half Vinkan girl would always stand up for her Gillikinese friend. "Eira! Look at my new ballet slippers!" Hallie said excitedly.
"They're so sparkly! I like them a lot," Eira said as she inspected them.
"Aren't they?" Hallie said as she stuck her foot out and admired her shoes.
"My mommy is gonna send me to a stupid playgroup," Eira complained as they started their stretches.
"You mean the kind where any kid can go?" Hallie questioned as they put their heads to their knees.
"Yeah," Eira replied.
"Maybe it won't be so bad. Ever'body likes you," the dirty blonde said to her. "Okay, it still sounds bad, but maybe you can get your grandma to get you out."
"She's all for it. It's no use," Eira sighed. The two girls went on with their lesson and didn't mention the playgroup again. Instead, they talked about some of the other girls who weren't exactly normal in their standards. They didn't know about gossiping, but that was exactly what they were doing.
"That new girl useta be a boy," Hallie whispered meanly.
"That can't be true," one of the other girl's said. Her name was Lana, and she was the most perfect looking little Gillikinese girl anyone had ever laid eyes on. Her hair was a wavy golden blonde, her eyes as green as the grass, and her skin looked as if it was porcelain.
"It is. I seed the lump under her tutu," Eira laughed at another girl's comment.
"She's gross," Hallie said and the other girls agreed.
"I heard she lives in the smallest house in the Emerald City," another girl added.
"And she's dirty, always dirty," another added.
"I can hear you," the awkward girl spoke up. Eira and her friends snickered loudly. Eira didn't care that this girl was being picked on. Being only seven, it was hard for her to put herself in her shoes. What was her name, anyway? Eira looked out the window and saw the most peculiar woman. She wore all black and every inch of her was concealed. Intrigued, she went over to the window to see her. But as quickly as she had come, the faster she had disappeared into the streets of Emerald City.
"What's wrong, Eira?" Lana asked her.
"Did you see that weird lady in all black?" Eira questioned.
"No. And who cares?" Hallie said and dragged Eira back where everyone else was. Shrugging it off, she continued her lesson.
After the lesson, Eira was picked up promptly by Lady Glinda. Like she said, she was picked up in a carriage and it was drawn by the pretty white horses. She sat across from her grandmother and smiled up at her innocently, like she usually did after her ballet lessons. "How was ballet?" Glinda asked her with interest. Eira's whole world seemed to consist of ballet. She was always striving to perfect all of the techniques she knew, and she even read a little bit about it.
"It was fun! We've got our dances down well enough for the recital already. Well, except for this one girl. I don't know her name. She isn't very good. I don't know why she's there," Eira explained to her. "It's like she doesn't like ballet. I mean, if she doesn't like it, why is she there?"
"Maybe she does like ballet and is trying very hard at it. Perhaps she doesn't have the time to practice as much as you and your friends do," Glinda said, standing up for the girl who her friends said was actually a boy dressed in girl's clothing. Eira considered herself smart, so she would never reveal the fact that she made fun of this girl, whatever her name was, to her face.
"Maybe," she said, not completely agreeing with the Throne Minister. "Grandmother, will mommy come to see my recital?" she asked hopefully.
"I believe she is," Glinda said to the little girl.
"Mommy's gonna be proud of me, right?"
"Of course she is, baby, she always is," Glinda assured her. Eira looked out the small window as she swung her legs back and forth against the seat.
"Lookit," she gasped when she noticed this large dragon being pulled by a lion. Or was it a Lion? And then there was a dwarf who led the way as they walked through the Emerald City. She looked up at the dragon in awe and saw its red eyes light up for only a second.
"Well, that is quite odd, isn't it? Pay it no mind, Eira, it's not anything special," Glinda said. But that didn't stop the girl from being fascinated with it. But then it passed, so she didn't really pay much attention to it anymore; it was only becoming a faded memory already.
"Do I have to go to that playgroup tomorrow?" Eira asked. "Please tell me you were joking about it."
"I'm not joking. It'll be good for you to socialize with different children."
"I have more than enough friends," Eira tried. "I'm already the most polularest girl in Emerald City!"
"No whining," Glinda said to her. "It's not becoming." Eira huffed and looked out the window again, letting ballet consume her thoughts.
The very next day, Glinda had kept her word and sent Eira to the playgroup she dreaded. Eira wanted to scream and cry like she had done when she was about five to get her way. However, her grandmother and her mother never, ever gave into temper tantrums. They would just pick Eira up and place her in a different room until she calmed down. And once Eira calmed down, her mother, Ellie, would come in and give her a hug. She had tried the tantrum when she was six, but her mother scolded her and told her to behave herself, and that she was getting too old for such behavior. Use your words, Eira. Oh, how the little girl hated those words. But she listened to them.
So here she was, her grandmother speaking to her, but Eira wasn't really listening. She was staring at the children playing in the dirt and grass, letting their clothes get dirty. Eira wouldn't dream of messing up her pretty light pink dress with the dark pink ribbon in it. And she would never mess up the pretty sunhat she wore. "I will come get you sooner than you think," Glinda finished her tirade. Eira nodded sweetly and said goodbye to her grandma.
Eira didn't want to make friends with these kids. The moment she tried, a boy threw a rock towards her and a girl wanted her to be the dog when they played house. Eira had tried to be a Dog at least, but the girl told her no, and that she should learn the rules.
If things couldn't get any worse, that stupid girl from her ballet class sat across from her at the table. Eira could feel her eyes staring at her. "What?" Eira snapped. "Stop staring at me!"
"Sorry," the girl said quietly and returned to her lunch. "It's just that I never thought someone like you would be here."
"Well, I am, so get over it." Eira refused to eat her lunch and threw it at the ground. A couple of ducks came and ate her sandwich. She watched them nibble at it and gobble it up happily.
"Maybe we could be friends?" the girl asked hopefully. "It would make things better here."
"I'd rather not," Eira said and did her best to avoid her for the rest of the day. When Glinda came to pick her up, she couldn't get out of that place fast enough.
"How was it?" Glinda asked her as they rode in the bumpy carriage pulled by the horses Eira admired so.
"Horrendible, simply horrendible."