Title: Flying Freely Once More
Rated: PG-13
Auther: MeganFaye
Disclaimer: I don't own Oz or the characters of Wicked.
Note: This is written with the adorable Kristin Chenoweth and the sexy Idina Menzel as Glinda and Elphie! The BEST Cast: Original!!!
Within four days, the palace was in a flurry of busy people. Roses were being placed on anything that would stand still longer than 30 seconds, and the garden was prepared for a huge wedding, while Elphaba and Galinda were fitted and having dresses made.
People started gathering at mid day for the celebration, and by sundown, the gardens were full of guests from all over Oz. Elphaba was calm and composed as she normally was, and Galinda was a nervous wreck.
But when the time came to take each other as wife and wife, Galinda Upland was able to pull it together. Her father directed the dancing while the two woman sat at the large table. He took the Wedding glass and passed it between the two. Each took a sip of the Wedding Ale, and were married. The wedding was a traditional North Oz wedding; silent until the Wedding glass was set down, empty. Then the singing and celebration started.
The whole evening was a blur to both women, who danced until sunrise, as was the tradition, without so much as speaking a word.
Breakfast was served, and then the two left for the Emerald City. They hugged and kissed Galinda's parents good by and left the palace.
"Galinda," Elphaba whispered to the woman who rested on her shoulder. "I've been back for two weeks today."
"I know," she said with a happy and very sleepy voice. "Two weeks and we're married, and going to our home. I can't quite believe it."
"I wish Fiyero had come."
"I'm kind of glad he didn't."
"Why?"
"He left me for you, and you left him for me. Kind of a quirky thing to invite into a wedding." Elphaba shrugged.
"I suppose."
"Elphie?"
"Yes, Love?"
"Don't ever leave me again."
"I won't.
The trip back to Oz took longer than the first trip, but after many, many hours, they were home. Elphaba lifted her wife into her arms and carried her into their private chambers. She set Galinda on the bed gently.
"Well," Galinda said softly. "We're married."
"We're very much married."
"Oh, there's still one or two things missing," she said softly. Elphaba kissed her deeply and pulled her close as they leaned back into the bed. "Elphie," she purred as Elphaba kissed and nibbled at her jaw.
"Yes, Galinda?" she teased, scooting back.
"I love you....so.....MCUH!" She wailed, crying loudly once more.
"Oz, I am in so much trouble."
"Huh?"
"Galinda, you are so adorable. I don't think I could ever tell you 'No' for..anything," she laughed, bushing the tears away with a hankie. She silenced her wife's crying with a deep kiss. She tilted Galinda's chin up to deepen the kiss while her hands slipped over Galinda's thighs, and stopped just short of their main destination.
"Elphie," she begged. "I......oh my great Oz....I need you."
Elphaba grinned wickedly.
When Galinda woke in the morning, Elphaba was sleeping, with a small smile tugging at her lips. Galinda woke her with a kiss. "Wakie wakie."
"Good morning, my perfectly perky partner," Elphaba teased. "You look so beautiful."
"I love you, Elphie."
"Love you, too," she said, snuggling closer.
"If I had any idea how good last night was going to be, we'd have gotten married in college." Elphaba laughed loudly. "When did you first...notice me?" Elphaba thought back.
"Shiz, when you gave me the hat, got Nessarose a date, and then danced with me so I wasn't alone. I thought you were so kind then, and that night when you put the bow in my hair, and showed me I was beautiful, I actually felt beautiful."
"I," Galinda started. "I gave you the hat because I thought it was hideous and was trying to embarrass you, and the date was because I wanted Boq to stop following me around." Galinda sniffled. "I'm sorry I was so mean, Elphie."
"Dancing with me wasn't to be mean, and helping me with that stupid bow was very nice, Galinda."
"Why did you run out of the room that night?"
"I....I wanted to kiss you."
"Kiss me now, and make up for it." Elphaba obeyed and kissed Galinda deeply. "I first noticed you that night, too. You cared that people didn't like you, but you were determined to have fun anyway. No one else in that whole school would have been so brave. When we were running from the Wizard, you started to fly away, and I wanted to badly to join you, but I was so afraid. I was afraid of my parents, and my friends, and I should have gone with you."
"Well, kiss me now to make up for it." Galinda kissed her with as much passion as Elphaba had shown her moments ago. "Want to have breakfast by the lake?"
"The Lake? Are you crazed?"
"I didn't suggest swimming. I love looking at the mountains reflecting in it. Its peaceful there. I can read, write, fly faster than anywhere else near the palace, and if it rains, I'm close enough to the palace that I don't get too wet."
"All right. It sounds fun." Galinda bounced into the dressing closet and changed faster than Elphaba had ever seen. "Well, get ready!"
Elphaba dressed and studied herself in the mirror. Two weeks and two days back from hiding, and she looked so different; her hair was pulled back, but not in the fierce bun or braid of the past. She looked happy, and she felt it, too. She still couldn't believe she was married. Her intentons for coming to the Emerald City were simple; spend a day or two with Galinda and then get back to Fiyero, who was being looked after by Lion at the moment. She contacted him in the crystal ball and informed ihm that she wouldn't be returning, but he'd forgotten she'd even left.
"I've had a basket of food sent to the lake for us," Galinda said into the dressing closet. "Are you nearly ready?"
"I'm ready." Elphaba took her wife's arm.
"You're crazy," Galinda said as Elphaba pulled her into the garden, broom-stick in hand.
"Its fun. Its really fun!"
"I'm afraid of heights." Elphaba laughed and steadied the broom. She sat in the back and made a space for Galinda in front.
"I'm going to hold onto you, and we won't go fast. I promise."
"I've seen you go 'slow,' Elphie. You're slow is too FASSTTTT!" The last word was yelled as Elphaba zipped the broom through the garden, Galinda screaming the whole way. She had memorized the layout of the gardens and made calculated sharp turns and over hedges, Galinda yelling the whole time for her to slow down.
"Quit screaming!"
"NOT UNTIL WE LAND!"
"We landed! Oz, how can a witch who floats around in a bubble be so scared of heights?
"My bubble doesn't go nearly that fast on a high-wind day!" Elphaba cackled at Galinda's hair. It had been perfect before the flight. It was now very wind-blown and very messy.
"You should look at your hair."
"Terrif. I'm going to fix this, set up our breakfast. Do you want to pick up some speed?" Elphaba smiled and nodded. She got back on her broom, leaving her wife to fix her hair.
Galinda felt Elphaba whiz by above her a few times, but it was silent for a good three minutes before she looked around. A horror filled squeak escaped her throat.
Elphaba was speeding over the lake, but only by about 3 inches.
"Elphie! No! Oh Oz, GET BACK HERE!" Elphaba looped in the air, speeding toward the water, pulling up at the last minute, and arched higher above the lake. She squinted at the trees where Galinda was supposed to be, but she couldn't see her. She sped the broom in that direction, and found her wife had fainted.
"Galinda? My love?" she called cradling the woman in her arms. "Wake up, my love!" Galinda's eyes fluttered open after moment.
"Elphie?"
"What happened?"
"You...water... I was scared.....you....." she muttered, and then she narrowed her eyes at Elphaba, and pushed away from her. "YOU! Are you out of your mind!? You could have died!"
"I was fine. Galinda," she started. Before she could continue, Galinda slapped her across the face, harder than Elphaba thought the tiny blonde could hit. "OW! THAT HURT!"
"Good!" Galinda didn't even try to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"What is the matter? I used to do it all the time, and I'm good at it!"
"You could have made a mistake, and I would have been skimming a slick that was once my wife from the lake surface so I could have a proper memorial service!" Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I lost you once, I almost lost you a week and a half ago, and now you think you can just play with death like that?" Galinda stood and pulled Elphaba through the trees to a stone just in veiw of the lake. There on the stone was the name 'Elphaba Thropp.' Elphaba didn't need to read more.
"I'm sorry."
"I had to bury you once. All that I had was a hat and your old broom stick. I found a few pictures, but I couldn't let them go. I had to go through it once, Elphaba Thropp Upland. Don't you dare make me do it again." Elphaba hugged her wife to her chest and did her best to fix the broken heart that she was responsible for. "Please don't scare me like that, my love."
"I won't." Elphaba made her way back to the blanket to enjot breakkfast, but it was hard with Galinda still upset. "Galinda, I won't fly at the lake again."
"Its not that. Its everything. You can't have anything with water. What if we get a suddden rain? What if it floods? What if-"
"Its always been a fear of mine. But I have a potions master working on something. She started her work when I was a child, and I've sent her a message to continue. She's got a potion coming along that might work. I'd have to drink it every day, and it will taste terrible, but I'll be able to swim and bathe, and I won't be hurt by rain." Galinda nodded, not making eye-contact yet.
"That's nice."
"Please don't be mad at me, Galinda."
"What if I died? How would you feel if I died, or was doing something that could get me killed very easily?"
"I said I was sorry!"
"Saying you are sorry doesn't mean you understand!" Galinda stared at the lake. "Come here," Elphaba stretched out on the blanket and rested her head in Galinda's lap. She closed her eyes as Galinda smoothed her hair down. "I want you to think about this, long and hard. You wake up one morning and I am not in our bed. You don't know where I am, just that I am not there. After a minute you remember; I was doing something incredibly stupid a few days after we're allowed to get married, and you watched me die, very painfully. And there was nothing you could do to help me or save me. All that is left of me is a slick of goo that you bury near something lovely. You wander through the palace, being forced to pretend that everything is okay. You have to smile at the people who made my life horrible. You have to be patient and kind as you try to teach them that I wasn't what they were told I was, and you just want to die right along with me.
"Every day gets a little harder, because you just want to be with me, and I got myself killed. You see someone with the same color of hair, happily sitting in the sun and you hate her for looking anything like me. The color pink makes you depressed, and you hate everything that reminds you that you had to watch me die.
"People tell you it gets easier with time, and you know its a lie. I am dead and I am never coming back. You will never hear my laugh, or see my nose crinkle when I smile. I am gone." Galinda looked in her lap at her sobbing wife, who was clutching her skirt. Galinda took a napkin from the basket and dried Elphaba's tears gently. "I don't want to go through that, Elphie."
"I'm so sorry, Galinda," she sobbed. "I won't do that to you again, my love. I just wanted to feel alive."
"Look at me," Galinda ordered, gently. Elphaba sat up. "If you need to feel alive, I think last night qualified. I have never felt so alive in my life."
"I haven't, either. Even flying didn't compare."
"Then why do that to me?"
"I won't do it again, Galinda," Elphaba said pulling Galinda close. She kissed her forehead, and hugged her tightly. "Never again, my love."
"Do you want to feel alive?" Galinda asked scooting back slightly. Elphaba nodded. "Make love to me, right here."
"It would be an honor."
Elphaba turned the bottle over in her hands and studied it. It was clear with a green liquid in it. The not said to drink it, wait until the hiccups stopped, and then, with sap ready, put a drop of water on her hand. She wasn't sure about this.
"Sap is ready incase this goes very wrong, my love," Galinda breathed.
"Oz, I hope this works." She closed her eyes and sipped it down. She gagged on it, but it stayed down. Her pulse raced with anticipation.
"Elphie? Are you okay?" Elphaba nodded. "Anything different?"
"My heart is beating fast."
"You're still green, and you haven't shrunk to the size of an apple this time. So far so good."
"The shrinking potion was meant to go to the Giant in Western Oz who was married to a munchkin."
"I know, but you still looked so cute standing in my pocket!"
"I would have rathered stand between a couple of mountains."
"You'd have been crushed."
"What a way to go." Galinda narrowed her eyes at Elphaba. Elphaba hiccuped in response making Galinda giggle. "My stomach feels different."
"How?"
"Like I drank something really cold. Its strange." She hiccupped again and with each hiccup, the cold feeling spread. She turned away from Galinda, worried that she might throw up, but instead had one last massive hiccup.
"Elphie, are you okay?"
"I think so. Give me the water." Her green hand reached out for it, and Galinda put a drop on the back of her hand.
"Well?"
"Its okay. More." Galinda put a few drops on the hand and waited. Elphaba looked at her wife and smiled. She dipped her hand into the bowl of water and nothing happened.
"Elphie! Its working. How long does it work for?"
"Roughly a day. I should drink it every morning when I wake up. Then we can take a long bath together. You can teach me to swim!" Gelinda bit her lip. "What?"
"I.....uh......don't know how to swim. I'm afraid of water." Elphaba couldn't resist laughter. "Its not funny!"
"It is!"
"All right, it is a little funny. I didn't used to be. I wasn't when we were at Shiz, but I never liked it, and I never learned to swim. So, a bubble bath will be all we can do today." Elphaba grinned and pulled her wife toward the bathroom, laughing.
As soon as the tub was full, and bubbles were thick, Elphaba undressed and slipped in, unsure of herself.
"It is burning, but not like it normally does," she said in a small panic.
"The water is just hot." Galinda stepped in and settled her back against her wife. "This is cozy!"
"I could really love this."
"Its one of my favorite ways to start a busy day."
"We have a busy day?" Galinda nodded and rested her head back against Elphaba's chest. "First day back be being our fearless leader?"
"Yes, there's a lot I need to get done. Three weeks is a long time to be off duty as a leader of an entire land. I could use your advice on a few things, if you'll help."
"I'd love to. However, my love, we are enjoying a very romantic morning right now, and I don't think you should be thinking about anything other than your very happy wife who is holding you." Elphaba's finger tips stroked Galinda's arms and shoulders with soapy water.
"Mmm...that's nice." Elphaba smiled and continued drizzling water over her wife. "You're really enjoying this."
"First bath. Well, not really."
"How?"
"At one time, I took the sap and filled a tub with it and soaked after a particulary humid day. It was....sticky. Not like this. And my mother would bathe me in milk before Nessa was born. It was....also unpleasent and cold. Not like this."
"This is nice, isn't it?"
"I could really love sitting in a bubble bath with you. I am going for a nice long flight today; I have business in the East to take care of."
"Can you deliver a message to the mayor of Munchkinland?"
"Of course." Elphaba nibbled at Galinda's ear, and splashed her playfully. Galinda, even though she knew it wasn't going to hurt her, couldn't bring herself to tease back, so she, instead, turn to face her wife, and kissed her deeply. Elphaba smiled into the kiss.
"I want to wash your hair."
"Um. Okay."
"Trust me, when done properly, it can be very relaxing. Its a new sensation that you've never experienced properly." Elphaba shrugged and turned around in the massive bath tub. Galinda carefully tilted her back and poured clear water over her head, missing her eyes. She filled her hand with something that smelled like roses. Elphaba closed her eyes as Galinda massaged her head, starting above her eyes and working her way back. It took a few minutes, but soon, she was massaging the sweet-smelling soap into the long hair toward the tips. Elphaba sighed contentedly as Galinda began to rinse her hair. It felt refreshing as nothing had before. "Well, how was that?"
"It was different. I love it."
"Well, my little Emerald, I am full of suprises."
"I love it when you surprise me."
"Except the roses?"
"Except the roses." Elphaba leaned into a peck of a kiss. "We should get on with our day," she sighed, stepping from the tub. She pulled a massive pink towel around her body, and held one up for Galinda, who gladly wrapped into it.
"I'll have the message sent to your library in the next hour." Elphaba nodded and went to dress. "Fly safely, my love."
"I will."
longer chapters are love. Roses will be explained later. I wrote that part in later in the story, and added something about it here. Its funny.