Another two years flew by, quick and unexciting. The governor of Munchkinland tightened his hold on his daughters and very rarely allowed them to wander about on their own.
Nessa, at sixteen, longed for more freedom. "Papa, I'll be with Elphaba!" she said enticingly. "We're very trustworthy."
Frex laughed lovingly. "Of course, my pet, of course."
"But Papa-"
"Don't 'but Papa' me," Frex interrupted. "You know how hard it is for me to say no."
Laughing, Nessa opened her mouth as her father spooned her breakfast neatly for her. After she finished chewing, she started again, this time looking at Elphaba who sat across from the table taking concise bites of her own breakfast from behind a book. "Elphaba, tell Papa!"
"Oh no, I'm staying out of this," Elphaba answered.
"Papa, it's just an amusement park! What could possibly go wrong?" Nessa blinked her eyes furiously. "I'll miss you terribly if I'm shut up in my room all day."
Elphaba laughed. "You would make a wonderful con artist, Nessa."
"And you'd be my partner in crime," Nessa giggled. She noticed her father's annoyed facial expression. "Oh Papa, it's only a joke!"
"Nessarose, how in your right mind do you believe I'd let you wander off on your own when you speak that way?"
"Papa, I'm not a child anymore! One day I'll be governor just like you!"
Nessa could see her father softening before her. "Well..."
"Papa, I'd rather not go, my semester starts soon and..." Elphaba trailed off realizing that her father was occupied by her sister.
"Please, Papa," Nessa repeated.
"Very well. How long will you be?" Frex relented.
"Well, there are fireworks at ten. Would it be alright if Elphaba and I stay and watch them?"
Frex sighed. "If you're not back in your suite by ten thirty sharp, you'll reap the consequences." All three of them new who would actually be reaping the consequences if they weren't back on time.
"Oh thank you Papa!" Nessa said, clumsily leaning forward to kiss her father on the cheek and motioning for Elphaba to help her up.
Turning to his other daughter, Frex assumed a much more serious tone. "Elphaba, I'm expecting you to take care of your sister and for Oz's sake, smile!"
"Yes, Papa," Elphaba said quietly, pulling Nessa up from her chair.
Elphaba looked at the sign above her head. "Wizneyland?"
"The happiest place in all of Oz!" Nessa rushed excitedly. Clearly, this was one of the first excursions she had chosen for herself. "Oh, look at the palace!"
Ahead of them was a replica palace of the headquarters of the Wizard and all around them were tourists wearing expressions of anticipation and enthusiasm, neither of which Elphaba felt.
"You have to take me on every ride," Nessa ordered. "We can stop for lunch and walk around and- oh my goodness this really is the most wonderful place in Quadling Country!"
"Well there isn't much to compare to..." Elphaba muttered.
"Elphaba you heard Papa, just enjoy yourself! Do you honestly think you'll get a chance for this once you're in university?"
"No," Elphaba answered, "which is absolutely fine by me."
Nessa rolled her eyes as they entered the first line. "Oh, Elphaba, learn to have some fun!"
"Nessa, your idea of fun is sitting on your knees praying to a statue!"
"For the last time, it isn't a statue, it's a representation-" Nessa noticed her sister's eyes wandering. "Oh, never mind."
Elphaba sighed again. Each huff seemed to be building on the previous. "This is so commercial, it's sickening."
Nessa ignored her sister and hummed to herself. Elphaba's attitude annoyed her so immensely sometimes that she had no choice but to tune her out or cause an argument. "I'm ignoring you!"
Matching Nessa's sweet tone, Elphaba sang, "You're immature!"
Exhaling loudly, Nessa looked around in awe at all of the things she couldn't wait to try. There was a little lagoon in the centre with lots of boats, a ferris wheel, games, performers in intricate costumes. Really, it was like leaving the desolate, barren Quadling wasteland and entering a whole new dominion of Oz. Like magic! "How about the ferris wheel?" Nessa asked hopefully.
Turning her head, Elphaba regarded the line. "Honestly? Nessa that line is at least an hour long."
"Please?" Nessa pleaded, turning her head and holding her sister's gaze to add on to the pressure.
"Fine," Elphaba relented and helped Nessa past the small gate and into the line behind a cheerful family of chattering children and giddy adults reliving their childhood. That's the kind of family that belonged in a place like this.
It seemed that as soon as Nessa and Elphaba entered the line, it seized to continue moving and they were stationary for a good twenty minutes. The person behind them seemed very irritated by this and wanted to make themselves known. Without looking behind her, Elphaba heard a variety of different groans and sighs, obviously communicating frustration. Really? She was stuck in this overrated amusement park with her sister until ten o' clock at night and he thought he had a lot to worry about? But still, he continued until Elphaba couldn't take it anymore.
She kept one hand behind Nessa and whirled around. "Excuse me, but-" her voice caught in her throat and all she choked out was, "-YOU!"
"Me," Fiyero grinned happily.
Nessa leaned against the railing to support herself and carefully manoeuvred around to see what the action was. When she saw the prince an unmistakeable smile played at her lips. He was, after all, the first boy the Thropp sisters had ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with. Thank goodness she had asked Elphaba to help her with her hair.
But upon looking at Elphaba herself, Nessa was sure that the girl wasn't even conscious of the dark circles sitting prominently below her eyes and the tangles at the end of her hair. With a sigh, Nessa decided that she would have to learn to one day accept her sister's style, or lack of.
"Well, good morning Miss Thropp and Miss Thropp. I take it things are well over on the east side?"
Nessa nodded and Elphaba scrunched up her eyes in mistrust. "What are you doing here?"
Fiyero laughed. "My parents are on their second honeymoon desperately trying to save their marriage."
"You don't sound very unhappy about it," Elphaba observed scornfully. She seemed to be doing everything in her power to try to end the conversation, but the questions and comments were running rampant in her mind.
He shrugged carelessly. "I'm not complaining. I did get a trip and week to myself in the amusement park out of it."
"You've been by yourself?" Nessa asked, hoping desperately that he was getting her hint.
"It hasn't been bad. Met a few interesting people."
"Oh, really?" Elphaba blurted out casually. "Were they drop-dead gorgeous?"
Fiyero looked Elphaba in the eye challengingly. "Actually, yesterday I met the most interesting man. He was here with his granddaughter. Had actually aided in the building of the Yellow Brick Road."
If his story caught her by surprise, she didn't show it, but she didn't reply either and looked away.
Stepping slightly in front of Elphaba, Nessa smiled sweetly and assumed all of the attention. As usual she had had to step in and catch the attention for herself. "It's very nice to see you."
Elphaba perched herself on the railing that was holding in the cramped, narrow line of patient children and impatient adults. She observed her sister's chin tilted slightly upwards and her rigid posture. Nessa, your royalty is showing, she thought.
"Long line, isn't it?" Fiyero asked.
It took Elphaba a few moments to realize that the question was directed at her. She nodded silently and turned her concentration elsewhere.
Fiyero wasn't used to being spurned so obviously. Usually girls were falling over themselves just to say hello. He knew there wasn't anything wrong with him either. Hell, even if he did have something in his teeth, most people of the female variety would think it endearing. But before he was able to say something the line seemed to push forward and the green one roused herself tiredly from her spot and helped her sister.
The way she reacted to her sister's demands wasn't at all similar to the coldness with which she treated everyone else. They hadn't had even the slightest disagreement and the green one just seemed to oblige every one of her sister's orders. Based on what he knew, Fiyero could decipher that taking orders was not something she particularly enjoyed. So then why was the relationship so...forced? He was intrigued. And not very often did people intrigue him.
Finally, they reached the gate. See how time flies when you actually get lost in your thoughts? What a waste of a lifetime, Fiyero warned himself.
"How many?" the attendant asked.
Elphaba started, "Tw-"
"Three," Fiyero corrected, poking his head between the shoulders of the two sisters. Nessarose looked delighted, the other one...not so much.
"Car four."
"Excellent!" Fiyero said happily. "We can all get to know each other some more."
Nessa indicated eagerly for Elphaba to hurry up and settle her into the compartment of the ferris wheel and once she was comfortable Elphaba waited uncomfortably for Fiyero to get in next, just as she always did for her father.
Fiyero seemed slightly astounded by her hesitance, but held out his hand and allowed her to get in first. She, of course, sat beside her sister, leaving the opposite seat across for him.
As the door was closed, Fiyero shifted slightly to look out of the small opening and his knee brushed Elphaba's. Her reaction was instant. She pulled her legs closer into her own impermeable bubble of privacy and slid slightly nearer to Nessa, almost for protection. You'd think she had never been touched before. He tried to catch her eye, but she seemed extremely interested in what the ceiling top of the compartment had to say.
Nessarose tried her best to make casual conversation, but none of it seemed to catch on. Elphaba wasn't responsive and Fiyero seemed unusually interested in that. All Nessa could do was sit back as the ride jolted skyward.
Meanwhile, Elphaba was, for once, not completely lost in stray thoughts. She subconsciously felt Fiyero's study and suddenly became more aware of her flaws. She knew that she wasn't at her best, but she didn't care. There just hadn't been a previous experience of feeling someone regard her with interest rather than disgust.
After a few minutes the ride was stopped and compartments emptied one at a time. Miraculous, isn't it? An hour of waiting with a pathetic two minute reward. Elphaba hoped that Fiyero would follow some small scrap of good judgement and go his own way, but he didn't seem to have that much sense hidden in the dusty, unused corners of his desolate brain.
"Fun, wasn't it?"
"I suppose," Nessa replied gently, not bothering to give voice to her genuine thoughts. "Maybe we could sit somewhere and watch the parade go by."
Fiyero agreed wholeheartedly, noticing the 'we' in Nessarose's suggestion. They located a bench and claimed it before any other people could.
Nessa sat down regally, crossed her legs and armlessly rearranged her dress accordingly, while Elphaba just flopped into the vacant place beside her and inattentively began curling loose strands of hair around her fingers while staring into her lap. She must have been used to seeing a book there.
"I have a proposition for you," Fiyero began, the idea springing out of nowhere. Elphaba assumed he was talking to Nessa until he added, "Both of you." She looked up warily and he grinned as if greeting a diver who had come up for air. "What if I was to take your sister around the park and you were to have a few hours for yourself?"
"What a tremendous idea!" Nessa chimed.
"Absolutely not!" exclaimed a dismayed Elphaba.
"Nothing is going to happen," Fiyero defended, "I'll ensure that she is well taken care of, don't you worry."
"That's what worries me!" Elphaba shrieked. "Your definition of well taken care of is completely different from mine...and my father's!"
"Elphaba, it will be perfectly fine," Nessa reassured her sister.
"I am not ruining my responsible reputation because of him...again!"
Fiyero smiled knowingly at her. "So that's what this is about? You got in trouble for the party?" He loved the idea of her getting lectured for something that was his fault. "We can make it work. What time are you supposed to be back?"
Elphaba pretended to check an imaginary watch. "Right now! Sorry, we better go."
Nessa flipped her pretty head toward Fiyero and smiled. "Ten o'clock after the fireworks."
"Absolutely not," Elphaba repeated firmly.
"What is it exactly that you don't trust about me?" Fiyero asked seriously.
"Everything."
"If you can give me three good reasons with proof, then I will forget this entirely," he promised.
Elphaba didn't even stop to think. "Give me three good reasons, why I should trust you with my sister."
"I'll make sure she enjoys herself for once, I can show you exactly where I'm going to take her and I'm also doing this for your benefit." He paused for a moment and caught her glare challengingly. "Because I don't think a lot of people do that." Most girls would have melted at that point.
Nessa turned to Elphaba. "You know I can take care of myself too."
"Let me be frank," Fiyero continued, "I can tell you haven't slept for days, that you don't want to be here and you probably didn't even get breakfast in. The least I can do is make sure that your sister doesn't have to suffer for it."
Nessa nodded her agreement. "I've been hearing your complaints for two hours now. It's taking away from the trip. Please, Elphaba. For me."
Elphaba sucked in a breath. "How do I know nothing is going to happen?"
"You'll just have to trust me," Fiyero stated bluntly with a shrug. He couldn't think of any other way to convince her. For the first time he was actually doing something for a female with the purest intentions.
Reaching into the back pocket of his trousers, Fiyero pulled out a map and opened it. Together they took a few minutes to plan out exactly where Fiyero and Nessa would be at exactly what time, with a few minor disagreements.
Elphaba was tracing one pathway to prove to Fiyero that it was longer, while he traced the opposite. Completely by accident their fingers met in the middle of the page just over the image of the Wizard's palace replica. Startled, Elphaba reached up and nervously pushed her long hair behind her ears, indicating for Fiyero to follow his original plan.
At this point she was anxious to go and quickly shouldered her bag in preparation to leave, but Fiyero held her back with a few words. "Hold on, I'll sweeten the deal a little..." He stood up and reached into his pocket and pulled out all of the contents: loose change, a wallet, old tickets. "Here, you can take all of this and give it back when we meet again later. You know, if you want something to hold against me...my room key is in there too. Room five-oh-two. You can relax there if you get bored." She didn't take the offering and he rocked back and forth on his heels impatiently. "If you don't take it I'm going to slip it into your bag anyway," he threatened.
Hesitantly, Elphaba enclosed her fingers around the wallet without touching his palm, feeling instantly, the warm leather heat up her hand. "Enjoy yourself," she said to Nessa and then turned to go, clutching the wallet in her hand, realizing that maybe she just got the perfect insight into the prince's life.