AN: Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm not really having a great night - not sure why, just not really feeling well, both physically and emotionally... and I decided some reviews would help, so I posted this chapter. The Chapter That Will Be The First Step To Reuniting Fiyeraba. It won't be long anymore, guys.
I laughed at all your comments on Galinda's plan - half of you were like, "Yay, plan! Operation Fiyeraba!" and the other half was like, "Galinda has a plan... oh dear". I must say I personally really like Galinda in this story. Perky and bouncy as ever, yet smarter than she lets on.
I also added in another song - I've had this one in mind since I first started writing this fic. Every time I hear it, it reminds me of the situation they're in. It's called Another Now by Kate Alexa (some of you might recognise it from the series H2O: Just Add Water).
I hope you like the Galinda slap. I personally really did!
Chapter 25. A song of pain
"I'm going out," said Elphaba one afternoon, a few days later. "I won't be very long – I'll be back before dinner."
"Will you have dinner with Nessa and me tonight?" Galinda asked her hopefully.
Elphaba frowned slightly. "Just Nessa? What about Boq?"
Galinda raised one eyebrow and Elphaba cast her eyes heavenward in exasperation. "They did not break up again, did they?"
"Sort of," Galinda giggled. "They're horrible. So, are you coming?"
Elphaba hesitated. "I don't know…"
"Elphie," her roommate said pointedly. "You're a walking skeleton. I can count your ribs even through your dress. You look horrible."
"Well, then my appearance apparently reflects what's inside." Elphaba made to walk over to the door.
"Elphie, I'm worried about you," Galinda said. "All you ever do anymore these days is study. You hardly sleep and I almost never see you eat anything. Just come with us tonight – it'll be fun, I promise. Please?"
Elphaba sighed wearily, but gave in. "Fine."
Galinda beamed at her. "Great! We'll meet you at the Primrose Café around seven!" Then she tilted her head slightly to the side. "Where are you going, anyway?"
"The music room," Elphaba replied before slipping out of the room with a "Bye, Glin".
Galinda's eyes lit up. The music room.
Perfect.
She quickly slipped her feet into a pair of heels – she didn't even properly take the time to match them exactly with her dress, that was how hurried she was – and she all but ran down the stairs, out of the building and to the boys' dorm rooms. She skidded to a halt in front of Fiyero's door and knocked a few times.
When he finally opened the door, looking slightly bewildered at her apparent haste, she immediately blurted out, "Fiyero, if you want proof that Elphie still loves you, you have to go to the music room right now."
Fiyero frowned. "What –"
"Just do it!" Galinda shouted at him, stomping her foot. "This has gone on for long enough already and I need you to put an end to it! You aren't studying, Elphie isn't sleeping, both of you are always locking yourselves in your respective rooms alone, and yet you're both too stupid to realise that you can easily fix all that by just talking to one another!"
"Galinda –"
"She thinks you don't love her anymore and you think the same thing of her, but it's simply not true! You both still love each other and I'm sick of all this! Just talk, for Oz's sake! You look horrible, Fiyero, and Elphie looks even worse. Don't tell me it's okay or that it's better like this, because we both know it's not." She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Now get your royal ass over to that music room or I will kick it there!"
Fiyero ran his fingers through his hair, looking frustrated.
"Fine," he said finally. "I'll go. But I don't know what you expect me to find there, Galinda. Just for the record, I still think you're being delusional when you say that Elphaba still loves me."
"If it turns out that she does, would you try to win her back?" Galinda demanded and he sighed, but nodded.
"Yes. Of course. I love her."
"Great. That's all I need to know." Galinda grabbed his arm and started dragging him over to the door, pushing him ahead of her. "Now go. Oh, no, wait, there's something I have to do first," she remembered, skidding to a halt and stopping to face Fiyero. He blinked at her, clearly confused, and she took a deep breath.
Then she lashed out and slapped him so hard across the face that his head whipped to the side.
His hand flew up to his cheek and he stared at her, shocked.
"That," she said, shaking her slightly hurting hand, "was for calling Elphie a liar and a witch."
His shoulders slumped. "I deserved that."
"You most certainly did." Galinda gave him a push. "Now go."
And he did.
When he reached the music room, he found the door to be slightly open. He peeked inside. Elphaba was sitting at the piano, slowly running her fingers across the keys. He noticed with a pang that Galinda was right – she did not look good at all.
He could hear her heaving a deep sigh even from his spot behind the door. He stayed there and listened as she started to play, carefully pressing the keys; softly at first, but then the sound grew louder and louder, and then she started to sing.
"It was only just the other day that all this felt so real
Like nothing could go wrong
It was like a never-ending dream, nothing ever changed
For so long
But now you've gone away
And I've tried turning the page
And it's just not the same;
But I'm breathing in, and I'm breathing out
I'm wide awake but I can't hear a sound
Though I'm breathing in, I can't think about
Another you, another me
Another now.
Where do I go from here?
I've never felt so strange,
I've never felt so torn
'Cause ever since you came my way
I learnt to live by you
And now I'm on my own
I know I need some time
To leave all this behind
'Cause I'm still hanging on;
But I'm breathing in, and I'm breathing out
I'm wide awake but I can't hear a sound
Though I'm breathing in, I can't think about
Another you, another me
Another now."
Fiyero quietly pushed against the door. It swung open silently, revealing her to him completely. She was sitting with her back towards him, slender green fingers dancing across the keys. As he slowly circled the piano so that he could look at her face, he saw that her eyes were closed as she played.
"I'm sitting here, all alone
Don't wanna move, nowhere to go
'Cause nothing's real, I just wanna hide
'Cause you're not here
But I'm breathing in, and I'm breathing out
I'm wide awake but I can't hear a sound
I'm breathing in, and I'm breathing out
I'm wide awake but I can't hear a sound
Though I'm breathing in, I can't think about
Another you, another me, another now…"
As she played, she opened her eyes and looked straight at him. She didn't even seem surprised at his presence; maybe she had felt his eyes on her all along. Or maybe she was surprised, but she just hid it very well.
She played the final chords of the song, her eyes still locked with his.
"Another you, another me," she sang, before lowering her gaze, "another now."
Both of them remained silent as the final note died away. The only sound breaking the silence in the room was both of them breathing. Elphaba looked up again, removing her fingers from the keys.
"Galinda sent you." She wasn't asking, merely stating a fact.
He nodded. "She did."
She barked a mirthless laugh. "Well, then, now you know how pathetic I am. Despite the fact that I am the one who broke up with you, and despite the fact that you've made it very clear what you think of me and how you feel, I'm still… well, you know." She gestured to the piano. "So now you have another thing to add to the list," she said sarcastically. "Insensitive, heartless, a liar, a witch, and a pathetic idiot. Can you please just leave me alone now?"
He stepped closer to her. "I never said you were heartless."
She huffed.
"And I shouldn't have said any of those other things, either," he said quietly.
She looked at him, not saying anything.
"Was it true?" he asked her. "What you sang just now?"
She remained silent, looking away.
"Fae…" He took another step towards her. "Do you still love me?"
She stared down at the keys of the piano, fidgeting and shifting uncomfortably. He barely caught her quiet mutter when she replied. "Do you even have to ask?"
It felt as if a huge weight suddenly dropped from his shoulders and he felt giddy. "Really?"
"Fiyero, just stop this," she snapped. "I know it's funny. Ha, ha. I'm pathetic. I get it, really. You can stop embarrassing me now." She rose to her feet abruptly. "I'm going to leave. Goodbye, Fiyero."
"No, wait!" He leapt forward and caught her hand in his.
She froze, staring down at their joined hands wide-eyed. It was that day with the Lion Cub all over again, except the roles were reversed now.
"I'm not trying to embarrass you," he tried to tell her, "or make fun of you."
She scowled. "Then why –"
"Because I thought you didn't love me anymore," he blurted out.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, blinking. He could see the disbelief in her eyes. "Are… are you saying…" She shook her head and pulled her hand away, stepping back. "What are you saying, exactly?"
"I'm saying that I'm sorry for hurting you," he said. "So many times. And you were right, back then. I just didn't want to see it." He took a deep breath. "But I see it now, and Mum helped me find a way to deal with it. I…" He raked his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "I know I messed up. I also know not everything was just my fault, but I didn't handle the situation the way I should have. And I'd understand if you can't forgive me for everything I've done."
He suddenly got an idea and reached into his bag, pulling out the notebook he had used as a journal. He gave it to her.
"Will you read this first, before you decide?" he asked her.
She accepted it warily, studying the cover. "What is it?"
"It's everything," he said simply. Before he could lost his courage – or she could pull away – he leant forward and kissed her cheek.
"Come find me when you've read it," he said quietly. "No matter what your answer is, I won't hold it against you… but I really, really want you to forgive me."
She hesitated, then nodded, stacking the notebook away in her bag.
"I'll read it," she promised.
He smiled sadly at her. "Thank you."
She nodded. Then she turned around and left.
When Galinda sneaked a peek through the window, she found Fiyero sitting at the piano, playing the song he and Elphaba had been working on for so long.
She entered the building and went straight to the music room, perching on a chair in the corner and raising an eyebrow at Fiyero.
He stopped playing, though he did not look up. "Do you realise it's nearly been a year?" he asked her quietly without looking at her. "A year ago next month, I first came to Shiz. Just over nine months ago, I was working on this song with Fae. About eight months ago we first got together." He removed his fingers from the keys and looked up at Galinda.
"Do you realise," he said, "that we've been broken up now about as long as we've been together in the first place?"
Galinda had to admit that no, she had not realised that.
"Four months," he said quietly, his fingers trailing figures on the piano keys. "It's been four months since the End Year's Ball, when she broke up with me." He shook his head. "It seems so long and so short at the same time."
"What did you say to her?" Galinda asked him softly. "Did you hear her sing? Do you think you two will be okay?"
He shrugged and heaved a sigh. "I don't know." He looked at the blonde. "But I tried. And I'll keep doing so for as long as I have to."
She smiled sympathetically and squeezed his arm as she passed him. "I have faith in you," she said. "Both of you."
He managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Glin."
"Anytime." She squeezed his arm again and then left.
Kudos to my Guest reviewer and to PocketSevens for guessing what would happen ;).
PocketSevens: Oh, no, I'm not going to see anything special in London... except for WICKED. :D Other than that: museums, bookstores, Starbuckses... :P Portugal was great, thanks for asking :) and as for the pie - I believe it can be good. It's not traumatising to me. Most of my reviewers, on the other hand... :')
Musicgal3: I realised that, too, when I read it back the other day! The fic you mean is Out of the blue, I think.