Once again, Elphaba found herself walking the halls of Colwen Grounds on her way to beg for the aid of her sister. Only this time she was breaking in instead of walking in. And this time she was twenty-eight instead of twenty-four. The most depressing aspect? She felt more along the lines of a seventy year old.
It was nearly nine o'clock and the halls of the Munchkinland palace were dark and sinister. Portraits were casting shadows across the walls and the cold seeped in through the broad windows.
"I'm really cold!"
Elphaba spun around and clamped her hand over the mouth of the child; pulling her around a corner as a guard walked by. "Remember what I told you!" she hissed.
"You tell me too much!" the child shot back. For a four year old, she had spunk.
"You don't say a word!" Elphaba warned, pulling the Grimmerie out of her bag slowly and carefully to avoid any unnecessary noise.
"You brought that thing again?"
Elphaba gritted her teeth to avoid snapping at the girl. How her own parents had dealt with more than one of these, she would never know. Children were loud, obnoxious creatures that had no real value in the world. People should just be born grown up. But then of course, there were already people that never grew up at all.
Placing the Grimmerie on the ground and squinting through the darkness, Elphaba found the correct page and began reciting the syllables etched across it. Before the magic took place, she managed to slip the book into her bag and close her fingers around the child's thin wrist.
Within seconds, the two were transported into the room where Elphaba knew Nessa would be. She had worked it so that she would appear inside a wardrobe in the corner of the room that she had seen the last time she visited. Elphaba quickly dropped the girl's hand and pressed her head against the door to scope out the situation. The child did the same. Stopping for a moment, Elphaba watched the girl mimic her.
Four years she had been followed around by this thing and not one moment had she felt any motherly inclination. Yes, she had gone through the hell of labour and made sure the baby had adequate living supplies. She had taught her to read and that's about all. There were many more important things that had to be done if the child even wanted an Oz to grow up in, and that was Elphaba's excuse. But after four years of living in a beat up building with Animals and a few misfit humans, not only had the girl grown, but also Elphaba's dedication to the Rebellion.
It had been years since she had heard her real name on someone's lips. She was a new person now. And along with a new identity, came new responsibilities. Four years of planning had gone into this and the outcome was unsure, so Elphaba, or Fae rather, was in Munchkinland to ensure that in the event of an emergency, there was someone who knew about little Rose.
It seemed a nice fit. Nessarose being the only one who knew about Rose.
Sensing silence in the room, Elphaba pushed the door open and left the wardrobe with Rose not far behind her. But the silence had been misleading and Elphaba had assumed Nessa was the only one in the room. She was wrong. Beside Nessa was a gorgeous blonde in a ruffled blue dress. Under the dress her legs were crossed delicately at the ankles and the feet adorned with blue heels that ultimately matched her blank blue eyes.
"Elphie?" Glinda's voice was unmistakable.
"What a coincidence, we were just reminiscing about our university days," Nessa said coldly.
Elphaba was dumbstruck, but beside her Rose was looking between the three intimidating women in her presence, as if deciding who she would bestow her childish loyalty on first.
Not to anyone's surprise, Rose took a running start and settled herself on the seat comfortably between Glinda and Nessa; slightly closer to Glinda.
Swallowing loudly, Elphaba quickly scanned Rose's face. If there were any defining features that Glinda recognized, all was lost. Blue eyes were common enough and thankfully there was no green tinge to the skin. It was rather pink and pale, almost an exact replica of Nessarose's. The hair fell over the face in a long, careless tangle of dark chocolate, lighter than Elphaba's, but sharing the same texture. There were many other miniscule things: arched eyebrows, sharp chin, but those could be common on any child. None of Rose's features were thrown together in the same form as her parents. Thank Oz.
Glinda seemed too overcome with emotion to speak. Maybe part of her still hated Elphaba for leaving, or maybe she just couldn't find a way to express her joy at the mere sight of her friend alive.
"So I heard you don't go by Galinda anymore," Elphaba said awkwardly.
"Get over here right now, so I can take a good look at you!" Glinda cried angrily, but lovingly at the same time. No, Elphaba thought, Galinda has not changed. It was slightly comforting to know that of their charmed circle at least Galinda had retained some of her old self.
Shuffling over to Glinda, Elphaba stood uneasily in front of her, while Glinda looked her over head to toe and shook her head disbelievingly. While she waited, Elphaba couldn't help but notice Nessa staring intently at the child beside her.
"Sweet Oz, it's you!" Glinda cried and threw her arms around Elphaba enthusiastically. She pushed Elphaba roughly into the seat across from her and assaulted the green woman with questions. Some easy to reply to; others not quite so light.
Nessa cleared her throat and cut Glinda off. It was obvious Glinda was not too pleased by that, but she stayed silent. "I have a better question." Elphaba already knew what was coming. Nessa wordlessly indicated the child next to her. "Who's this?"
"I'm Rose!"
Elphaba wasn't sure who she detested more at the moment. Her sister or her daughter.
"What a coincidence," Glinda laughed and pointed to Nessa. "She's Nessarose. But it's perfectly fine, because we all call her Nessa."
Rose turned to Nessa matter-of-factly. "That's a pretty name."
Nessa looked at Elphaba pointedly. "Isn't it? Our mother always loved it so much."
Elphaba nodded silently.
"Elphie say something!" Glinda demanded. "I haven't seen you in so long and this is how you act? Where did you go?"
"It's no use," Nessa commented grimly. "She'll never answer you."
Glinda seemed to understand something and a look of hurt crossed her face, no matter how well she was able to regulate it. "You came to visit Nessa, but you never visited me?" Elphaba didn't answer, so she continued, "Did I do something? Elphie, please talk to me!"
"I'm sorry, Glinda, I didn't mean for this to happen..." was all Elphaba could choke out. Seeing Glinda and hearing her voice was only reminding her of the things she had tried so hard to bury.
"Why don't you answer her question then?" Nessa seemed to be enjoying this a little too much.
"I went underground and that's where I intend on returning," Elphaba said casually. As for Glinda's other question, that required more deception. "And that thing sitting beside you is-" Niece? Elphaba thought. Oh wait; she couldn't say that with Nessa in the vicinity. "My friend's daughter."
Glinda looked at Rose questionably and then at Elphaba suspiciously. "Really?"
Elphaba pressed a finger over her lips. "It's a bit of a sensitive subject." She wished Rose would at least make a pathetic attempt to play along, but she was smiling stupidly at Nessa. Then again, Elphaba was thankful that for the first time the girl was keeping her mouth closed.
"Oh!" Glinda exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize!" She looked at Rose sympathetically. Elphaba wasn't sure what dreadful situation Glinda had devised about Rose's history. Whatever it was it couldn't possibly be worse than her actual story.
"And what brings you here on this fine day?" Nessa inquired. "Surely you had no idea of Glinda's visit?"
"I didn't. However, I can assure you that it was a rather pleasantsurprise," Elphaba lied, realizing that there was no way she could speak to Nessa privately now. And evidently the Eminence of the East was still carrying old grudges.
"Of course you plan on visiting again." Glinda added. There was definitely nothing questionable about her tone.
"I'm not so sure about that. You see, I might have to...leave in the near future." Elphaba looked toward Nessa willing her to accept the clue, but to no avail.
Glinda gasped. "For what? I mean...what if you needed help with Rose?" Her tone was desperate; almost jealous. "Fiyero and I would be ecstatic to watch her for a day or two!"
Elphaba scowled. Fiyero better damn well be ecstatic to babysit. "I'd love to accept that offer, Glinda, but I'm afraid that I've grown much attached to little Rose." She almost laughed out loud at the absurdity. Of this. Of her life. Of every single thing in all of goddamn Oz.
"Oh well..." Glinda sighed. "Would you come visit us at the very least? You know Fiyero was so distressed when you left too. Whenever he talks about you-" she chuckled uneasily, "-well if I didn't know any better I'd say he had a bit of an infatuation with you."
"The past is the past, Glinda. We can't try to relive it." Maybe that would be an excellent ending note, as Elphaba was desperate to leave. By the moment, Rose and Nessarose were both growing all the more in love with flawless Glinda as they compared her to Elphaba.
"Does that mean you never want to see any of us again?" Glinda insisted. "You can't ignore us forever, Elphaba!"
Elphaba rose from her seat and grabbed Rose's wrist again, pulling the four year old with her towards the door. "Watch me."
"Well, look at you, Mr. Cheerful!" Glinda exclaimed, as Fiyero waltzed into the room, humming a tune to himself. She had had enough time to think about Elphaba's mysterious appearance (and disappearance.) If only Elphaba had waited a few hours she could have seen Fiyero as well. Maybe he could have convinced her to stay.
"We did it, Glin! We found the headquarters and broke those bastards down!"
Glinda covered her ears. "Language!"
"I'm allowed to swear when I'm excited."
Grinning, Glinda replied, "I'm still not following." She rarely ever did.
"While you were with Nessa- by the way how is Nessa? Never mind, tell me after. Anyway, the Wizard had this strange premonition and he deployed a bunch of us and, you won't believe this Glinda, we found the Rebellion and got about twenty of them."
"That's excellent!" Glinda said happily. "Does that mean you'll be working less?"
"I sure as hell hope so." At Glinda's expression, Fiyero shrugged. "Sorry, I'm excited." He really was excited. It was a huge accomplishment for the Gale Forcers and the safety of Oz.
He couldn't deny that part of him hadn't led the mission for the glory of it though. He knew Elphaba would still be a rebel. That was inevitable, but he couldn't stand the thought of her being dragged off to Southstairs. If she lost her freedom, then so did part of himself. Miraculously, she hadn't been there.
"Good, then you can come volunteer with me tomorrow," Glinda suggested, "and I can tell you about my interesting day."
"I kept quiet, just like you told me to!" Rose whined.
"I'm Rose!" Elphaba mocked.
Rose ignored her, used to Elphaba's jibs. But part of her was glad Elphaba was speaking again after that prolonged silence. She was sure her mother had lost her voice permanently. "Who was that pretty girl?"
"If you're going to moon over every pretty girl that walks by, you're even more useless than I thought," Elphaba replied harshly.
"Is Nessarose your sister? How come I've never met her? She's pretty too."
Elphaba ignored her daughter.
"Glinda is a pretty name."
No answer.
"Is it true you were her friend?"
Elphaba was too busy thinking of spells that would zip the girl's mouth shut permanently.
"Who's Fiyero?"
Suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, Elphaba squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them and forced Rose to stop and look her in the eye. "If you're going to interrogate me every time I take you somewhere, then next time I'm tying you up out back with the cow and the dog and you can stay there for a week."
Rose stood up straighter and tilted her chin down so her glare was intensified. "The cow and the dog are nicer to me than you are."