Daintily cradling the stem of the wine glass in her fingers, Glinda took a sip and observed the room around her. Colwen Grounds was nice, but it was no Emerald City Palace. Still, she took it upon herself to visit Nessarose every so often like a monthly check up. Sometimes she felt like a big sister.
Nessa was at a desk, reading papers set out in front of her. She was freakishly beautiful and frightening at the same time. Glinda couldn't imagine the inner pain Nessa must feel when she looked in the mirror.
On the other side of the room sat Fiyero, who Glinda had convinced to join her. It would be a good chance to catch up she had said, but now with all of the catching up having been finished it was rather tiresome. Her mind wandered back to the time when herself, Nessa and Fiyero could easily start a lengthy discussion. That of course, had been when they had Elphaba in common.
"Nessa," Glinda started suddenly, provoked by her thoughts. Nessa looked over lightly to acknowledge Glinda. "Do you remember that time I visited a few years ago and Elphaba appeared out of that wardrobe over there?" Glinda nodded toward the wardrobe in the far corner of the room.
Nodding slightly, Nessa turned back to her work, not too pleased by the topic of conversation.
"What's this now?" Fiyero asked curiously. "I don't think you ever recounted that one."
"I didn't?" Glinda was surprised. "I'm sure I did."
"Knowing you, you probably forgot to tell me after telling me you were going to tell me."
Nessa chuckled quietly, seeing the truth of Fiyero's statement. "We were sitting in this room and Elphaba decided to grace us with her presence."
"You're the only one in your family who does any gracing," Glinda joked. "Elphaba all but tumbled out of the wardrobe dragging a little girl with her."
"Always knew how to make an entrance; that one did," Nessa added.
Fiyero raised his eyebrows. "Don't get too carried away you two. For all we know she could be in the wardrobe listening." He hoped she was. He hoped she would come out and talk to him. Seven years in the Rebellion and he knew she couldn't be doing well. In fact, he wasn't so sure he was doing that well anymore after seven years chasing the Rebellion.
"But she just stormed off after I asked her to visit," Glinda said bewilderedly. "I don't think she wants anything to do with us."
"Good riddance," Nessa decided.
Glinda shook her head. "You know as well as I do that all three of us were devoted to her."
"But aren't we doing just fine without her?" Nessa countered. "If she was able to be replaced by ruby slippers, then maybe she wasn't that essential in the first place."
"You weren't saying that fifteen years ago," Fiyero snapped defensively; remembering the time when Nessa required Elphaba for everything and having to stand in as a Nessasitter.
Gasping, Glinda didn't expect that to come from her husband. "Fiyero! Calm yourself!"
Glaring at Fiyero, Nessa said coolly. "Well, we can't all move on to the next pretty girl that walks by, can we?"
"Really!" Glinda cried shrilly. "What had gotten into you two? I don't even understand what you're on about!" No one replied so she continued, "It may have been Elphaba who brought us together, but are we really about to let her absence tear us apart?" She rose dramatically and set down her glass. "Now if you excuse me, I think I'll retire early, we've got a long trip back tomorrow."
Glinda left the room and Nessa expected Fiyero to follow, but he didn't. For a while, they sat immersed in the thick silence. Finally, Fiyero broke it. "Why are you so hard on Elphaba?"
"That's a good question," Nessa mused. "Here's another: why are you so easy on her?"
"Because she was my friend." Nessa turned around and fixed him under a glare; studying him for minutes. He felt as if she was staring right into his soul. "Do you ever hear from her?" he asked suspiciously.
"Do you?"
"My, you're evasive," Fiyero said evenly.
"Just something I learned from my dear sister."
Fiyero stayed quiet, hoping that Nessa would answer his previous question, but she didn't. "So you don't have any contact with her?"
Nessa bit her lip and organized her thoughts down two different paths. She could expose Elphaba. Tell Fiyero everything she knew. But she didn't. Somewhere very, very far down she was still tied to her sister. "I've had no contact with Elphaba beyond that which Glinda has."
"Oh," Fiyero said, disappointed by the lack of information.
"But you do know she's in the Rebellion?"
"Yes."
"She's happy with it," Nessa said simply. "Proud of her work."
"That's what worries me," Fiyero replied dismally and decided to return to Glinda. "It was nice seeing you again. If you hear anything please let me know."
By now, Nessa had returned to her papers. "Anything in general?"
"At this point in time, your sister is my only concern."
"I suppose it's good that she's someone's concern."
"Today."
"Are you insane?" Cook asked at the kitchen table. Rose playing at their feet.
Nothing anyone said could change Elphaba's decision. Her overworked, sleepless mind had been up all night thinking it through. "I'm going today. If none of you are coming then you're just going to miss all the fun."
"Bloody idea you have of fun there, Fae."
"You won't be complaining. You'll be roaming free by midnight," Elphaba promised confidently.
"Sometimes I worry about you," said Zebra from behind a newspaper. It's funny. He didn't sound that worried.
Cook nodded in agreement. "The question is: will you be roaming free by midnight? Or will you be rolling in your grave?"
Zebra tapped a hoof impatiently against the wooden table. "Or in Southstairs. Can you roll in Southstairs?"
"I don't know. But I'm sure that wouldn't be very sanitary..." From the casualty of his tone, Cook may as well have been discussing the weather.
Elphaba pushed her chair away from the table. "After all of the planning, you're just going to back out?" She stood up menacingly.
Zebra turned to Cook. "Is it possible to be too dedicated?"
"Over dedication," agreed Cook gravely. Elphaba started off in the other direction, but he called her back. "What about your little Flower?"
Looking down at her daughter, Elphaba realized there was a chance she might never see her again. "I name you the godfather Cook, good luck. She needs constant entertainment." No one stopped her. That only meant she had taught them well enough not to.
Upstairs she grabbed the Grimmerie from underneath her pillow and slid it into a bag. She wrapped herself in the darkest layers she had and slipped a dagger into her boot when she noticed Rose at the door watching her intently.
"Where are you going now?" she asked; her wide, innocent eyes focused on Elphaba.
"Somewhere very important."
"I'm coming this time."
Elphaba whirled around. "No, you can't!" Partly for safety issues, but also because this is what Elphaba had worked for. On her own. By herself. With no one else's assistance. She had overcome everything for this moment. And Fiyero-
No, she didn't think that.
She meant Rose. Rose wasn't going to interfere. And she told her so.
"But no one talks to me," Rose complained, making a very valid point. Not one person in the house so much as said good morning.
"Then talk to yourself. That's the best advice I can offer you," Elphaba said evenly, regarding the girl in front of her. She really was a beautiful child, but Elphaba couldn't take it in. She didn't even know what a beautiful child was supposed to look like. This was the child that was raised by the joint effort of herself and the Rebellion. What was she supposed to do now? Kiss Rose goodbye? Because this might be it. Have fun growing up, kid.
Stepping around Rose, Elphaba decided she would just leave. Clean breaks were always better. If not for her, then for the person on the other end of the break. She had cold, hard proof of that.
"I'm coming with you!" Rose repeated suddenly; jumping in her spot.
Elphaba closed her hands around Rose's wrist and dragged her to the table where Cook and Zebra were still sitting. "You two watch her, do you hear me?" she said forcefully.
"Sure thing," Cook said halfheartedly.
Lingering in the doorway, Elphaba wasn't sure how believable the statement was, but she was sure that the clock was ticking.
"Go, go, go!" Zebra reassured. "Human rearing is our specialty!"
Elphaba squeezed her eyes shut and opened them in a completely different mentality, then left with special care to remain inconspicuous as she crossed the lawn and headed down the road. As if she had never been there in the first place.
"Can I read your paper?" Rose asked Zebra.
"I'm not done with it yet." The Animal didn't give Rose so much as a sideways glance.
"Oh okay." Rose perked up. "Can I have a second breakfast?"
"You gluttonous humans," Cook muttered to himself.
"Can I draw a picture?"
"On what?"
Rose sighed. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Go play." Cook waved her off.
She waited for a moment and then sprinted out of the room and up the stairs, flopping face first onto her bed. Playing wasn't fun if no one played with you. If no one even wanted to talk to you! Sometimes she looked out the window and saw little people like her floating around the streets. But there was never one. Always more than one! Why was she all alone? And she wasn't allowed to leave the house either. All day she sat with a book or looking out of a window and when she finished the book she had to start again.
And when her mother came home, she poured over her own book. That big, ugly thing she carried around all day. Or at least Rose thought she carried it around all day. Elphaba was never home during the sunlit hours. Only Rose and Cook and sometimes Zebra. But they didn't like her. No one liked her.
Sometimes she saw other kids on the street holding the hands of adults and exploring marketplaces and roadside shops. Rose never did that. How come Rose never did that?
Impulsively, Rose tumbled off her bed and landed on her feet. She pulled a bag out of a nearby closet and stuffed her favourite book into it. Then she tore a black dress off its hanger and slid it over her head. When Elphaba was angry she grabbed the Grimmerie and headed out the door as fast as she could. Today, Rose was going to do that too.
She tiptoed down the stairs and into the front room with the big window that she could easily fit through. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Rose gripped the handle and pushed as hard as she could. With a lot of effort, the window slid upwards and made a loud screech as the chipped wood slid against the frame.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" someone called from the kitchen.
Rose decided it would be best to answer and then escape. They didn't care enough to distrust her. "I'm just opening a window! It's wicked hot in here!"
No reply. That was a good sign.
First balancing on the ledge, Rose threw one leg over the edge and then the other followed her. Having anticipated the slight drop, she was able to land on her feet and crouch into the bushes below the window. Assuring that no one was around, Rose made a break for it.
Unsure of where to go, she circled the street a few times; breathing in the scents of market and watching people make their way with determined expressions. It was all in good fun, until she realized she had wandered too far. She would never make it back to the house alone.
Panicky and exhausted after only an hour on her own, Rose started off aimlessly, hoping that she could see someone she recognized. By someone she recognized, she meant the only person she knew. Who, as usual, was nowhere to be found. And she was going to murder Rose when she found out about this.
But with waves of relief crashing over her, Rose was sure she spotted someone she had seen at the house before. Maybe he could lead her to Elphaba. Afraid of confronting him directly, Rose opted for following at a distance. The figure shrouded in black took dark alleys and long roads, but eventually he met with two other people and Rose was sure she was doing something right.
Finally, they stopped at a house and Rose ducked around the corner as another figure exited a building and joined the group. Rose had been right. There was Elphaba in her black cloak and with the bag hooked over her shoulder. Rose almost ran to her in relief, but stopped herself, aware of how horrified Elphaba would be at the twist in her plan.
On the other hand, this had taken an unexpected turn and allowed Rose a chance to see what her mother was up to without her knowing. She was confident enough that she could follow her at a distance and still make it back home. Or maybe she could surprise her mother at the end of the day and make Elphaba extremely proud in her daughter's abilities. The thought was too tempting to pass up.
Around the corner, the group was beginning to make their way down the road. First one person. Then another. Then Elphaba trailing at the end. Even though she was covered head to toe, Rose could still see the stride in her step. Elphaba was excited.
And Rose was getting more curious.