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Chapter 15

As Elphaba regained consciousness the first thing she realized was that she was lying down, something she hadn't done in a while. She had always been chained to the wall standing upright. She had lost count how many days she had been standing, imprisoned. It could have been months for all she cared but now she was lying down. It didn't make sense.

And as she opened her eyes a light blinded her, forcing her to close her eyes. Why was it so bright in Southstairs? She didn't know the answer to her own question but she must have said it out loud because she heard a voice answer her thought.

"You aren't in Southstairs anymore."

Someone was here with her. Who? She hadn't heard the voice before but still it sounded familiar, like a memory from long ago.

"I am closing the curtain, wait a moment and then try to open your eyes again."

And after a moment, when she opened her eyes again, Elphaba saw an elderly woman sitting next to her bed.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Elphaba asked as she struggled to sit up.

"Don't get up. You should lay down."

"Where am I?" Elphaba repeated her question.

She wasn't sure it wasn't a trick. Maybe Morrible had brought her here, trying to lure her into a false security. Maybe the next time she woke up she would be back in her cell. Or she was dead and this was heaven. But no, she couldn't be in heaven. She had done many wrongs in her life and didn't deserve a happily-ever-after in her afterlife. Besides, she didn't even believe in any kind of goddess or afterlife. No this must be a trick. No one cared for her to save her. Glinda would only want to save her to tell the Ozians that she, Glinda the Good, had cured Elphaba of her wickedness.

"The house is called Evergreen," the woman answered, still not revealing her identity.

"Evergreen," Elphaba repeated the name.

Green. Elphaba suddenly realized that the woman hadn't commented on her being green. A normal reaction, one she would have anticipated, would have been someone running away or making snide comments.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I care and my son does too," the woman answered.

"Your son? Tell me who you are and who brought me here," Elphaba demanded.

But there wasn't any strength left in her. The time she had spent in Southstairs had taken their toll on Elphaba. She still felt exhausted and every inch of her body hurt.

"We received a letter from our son. It was a disturbing letter and it had me worried. After everything that had happend in the past, I knew I had to come to the Emerald City and see for myself if he was all right or not. When I arrived here, I found him in this room, trying to clean your wounds. Believe me, dearie, it was something I haven't seen in a while, not since the Great War ended decades ago," she told her.

"He should have left me where I was."

"He couldn't. And I am glad Fiyero didn't."

"Fiyero?"

Elphaba was surprised. Fiyero had saved her. He, the head of the Gale Force, had saved her, the Wicked Witch. If Fiyero was this woman's son, then the woman must be the Queen of the Vinkus, Glinda's future mother in law.

"Yes, I am the Queen of the Vinkus, but call me Kaikoura," she said, answering Elphaba's unspoken question.

The woman was really Fiyero's mother and he had saved her. She didn't know how but Elphaba intended to find out why he brought her here and, for a short moment, she allowed herself to believe that somehow he could save her daughter too. Just for a short moment she let herself believe in a happily-ever-after, one she had always dreamt about.

"Try to get some more sleep, dearie."

And the next time Elphaba woke up, she was surprised that Kaikoura wasn't sitting with her still. In her place was Fiyero.

"Fae," he whispered, happy to see her awake.

"Why am I here?" she asked him.

"No thank you?"

"You should have left me there. I knew that I was going to die sooner or later and that I would never ever get my child back. There was nothing left to live for me."

"Elphaba, I couldn't leave you there. Most times you weren't even conscious when they tortured you. It would have been a matter of days until you died."

"How long have I been here?"

"Three weeks."

It had been three weeks ago that he had lain next to Glinda, sleeping soundly until pulled from his dreams. Fiyero had felt that something wasn't right but he hadn't known what had really woken him up. It was some kind of feeling, like hurt and joy combined. Unable to get back to sleep, he went to Southstairs. There he found her, barely breathing, more dead then alive. He acted on instinct. He had told the guards that the Wicked Witch was dead. When they ran up to the palace to inform Morrible and the Wizard about Elphaba's death he had administered the potion. After that, he prayed to every unnamed God and Goddess that his plan would work.

And it did. It worked.

Everyone in Oz believed the Wicked Witch of the West was dead. Only Fiyero and his mother knew the truth.

He had been surprised when his mother had arrived in Evergreen shortly after he had moved Elphaba to the house. She never asked any questions. His mother knew that Fiyero and Elphaba had been a couple in the past. He had always told his mother everything. She was his secret-keeper.

"They think I am dead?" Elphaba asked.

"Yes. Telling them you died in Southstairs was the only way to save you."

"And now? What is going to happen to me now? You want to keep me here forever? From one prison to another," she said, bitterness lacing her voice.

"Evergreen is not a prison. You will get better and then I am going to move you to the Vinkus. You'll be safe there," he promised as he tried to take her hand in his.

"Don't touch me," she hissed as she flinched away.

"I am sorry."

And he was. Fiyero was sorry for everything. He was sorry that he hadn't tried harder to keep her with him when she left him in Quaddlingland. He was sorry that he hadn't been faithful.

He was sorry that he didn't try to save her from the torture she had suffered in Southstairs sooner.

But he wasn't sorry that she was alive.