(AN: So far I've been rather ambiguous with certain stuff. Don't worry, it's all good.)

(Before we continue, let me state that Azalea Thropp is in no way an MS. Her only purpose is to help Elphaba get over being so emotional about the death of her mother and sister.)

(The reviews, so far, have been close to just one-word. What's the deal? Maybe once the next chapter after this one is posted, I will have loosened your tongues enough so that you'll be able to post longer reviews! :D [evil laughter])

The Golden Dagger

They were placed in the largest room possible, one made for Munchkinlander dignitaries who often visited Her Eminence. The little lady-in-waiting was so afraid of the green woman that she didn't dare perform her duty, so she bolted with a squeal. Elphaba sighed, but that was how it had to be: let the people be afraid, because if not, there would be no escape in your own time.

The doctor, however, was much more willing to tend to Fiyero than the lady-in-waiting had been to Elphaba. He concluded that most of his wounds were healing and that he should remain in bed until he regained consciousness.

"No more long journeys for you, I'm afraid." the doctor said to the comatose Fiyero.

After the doctor left, Elphaba walked over to the bed and laid down upon it on her side, burying her face in her hands. Glinda almost ran over to her side.

"Elphie, please! Tell me what's troubling you."

"What isn't, Glinda?" she whispered. "I'm encumbered by this baby - useless to anyone! We have no way of getting back to our own time and..." She moved her hands down. "And what if there is no our time when we get back?"

"Why would you say that?"

"The Chancellor," Elphaba returned. "If he succeeds, there won't be an Oz to go back to, Glinda."

"But this isn't our time, Elphie! You said so yourself! Anything we might do will interfere..."

"I'm tired of doing nothing! Oh, Oz, it feels like Kiamo Ko again; like the whole world just clipped my wings before shoving me down under foot."

"Oh, Elphie!" Glinda placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. Elphaba sobbed quietly, and Glinda reached up and wiped the tears from Elphaba's green cheeks. The ghost of a smile split Elphaba's face.

"What about the Eminent Thropp?" Glinda asked. "I saw you, you were fighting back tears when we stood in her presence. What's wrong with her?"

Elphaba shook her head.

"She's my ancestor." Elphaba said. "On my mother's side."

Glinda gasped, two hands going over her mouth as if on cue.

"D-Do you mean that..." Glinda gasped.

"Yes, Glinda. Nine hundred years or no, she bears the likeness of my mother...and of poor Nessa!" Elphaba collapsed into new tears, her hand balling up into a fist and striking her forehead. "Oh, Nessa! I wasn't strong enough, I wasn't fast enough! I-I didn't do enough to help you."

"Oh, Elphie!" Glinda said sorrowfully.

Just then, a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in." Glinda returned.

The door opened, and Daisy walked in meekly with a large bundle in her hand. Behind her walked Azalea Thropp.

"Your Eminence!" Glinda rose, bowing before her.

"No need, my dear." Azalea dismissed. "Today, I'm Azalea Thropp." She walked over to her pregnant descendant and knelt at her side. "My lady, I don't know who you are..."

"Her name is Aelphaba." Glinda answered. "Just...Aelphaba."

"Well, Aelphaba." Azalea continued. "I can see that you've had a hard life. After all, when the Munchkin explorers found Quadling, they were frightened of the red-skinned swamp-people too." She smiled, as if in jest, and then her expression fell when she saw that neither of the women were smiling or laughing.

"The young man," she continued. "Is he your husband? Your lover?"

"Yes." Glinda said.

"Can't Aelphaba answer for herself?"

"She's too distraught, Your Eminence."

Azalea turned and waved Daisy over with her bundle.

"Please, Miss Aelphaba." she continued. "Take heart. You're safe in the land of the Munchkins. And if I'm not mistaken, soon your child will be born and there will be much happiness!" Azalea obviously never married or had children of her own, at this time.

"I, uh, I'm not very good at hospitality," Azalea continued. "But...there's something about you, Miss Aelphaba. I've never met you before, and yet...I feel like I know you. Far be it from the Eminent Thropp to refuse hospitality to anyone, much less one...who has her favor, and her love."

She turned to Daisy and the middle-aged Munchkin-woman gave her the bundle.

"I know you won't be able to wear this for a while, Miss Aelphaba." Azalea said, looking at the black-and-red bundle in her hands. "But it's one of my favorites. I hope it fits." She placed the bundle at the side of the bed and then got back to her feet.

"Th-Thank you, Your Eminence!" Glinda said.

Daisy tugged at her dress, whispering something in her ear, and Azalea nodded, letting the middle-aged woman stay with Glinda and Elphaba while the Eminent Thropp left. Once she was gone, Glinda picked up the bundle and let it fall before her.

A gasp escaped her lips. It was a dress made of black fabric with red woven throughout it. Measuring it up against herself, Glinda saw that the dress was just a little too long for her, but most likely too short for Elphaba, even if she were not pregnant.

But it was the thought that counted, Glinda mused.

It was night-time. All were asleep save for Elphaba, who lay sulking on her bed, trying to go to sleep despite the persistent kicks into her spine from the baby inside her. As if being encumbered by her large stomach wasn't bad enough, the baby had to make its presence known every moment.

Oh, if only I had gone into early labor in the Madeleines, Elphaba thought. At least this would be over with already.

The door creaked open, and Elphaba heard the tapping of slipper-covered feet on the carpeted floor. She turned her head around, despite the horrible back-aches she had been suffering under lately, and saw the black-clad figure of Azalea Thropp walking toward her.

"I'm sorry," Azalea said. "I disturbed your sleep."

"No, it's fine."

A smile crept onto Azalea's face. "So you can speak. For a moment there, I thought you were mute."

Elphaba tried hard to keep herself from smiling. Just the way Azalea Thropp smiled looked exactly like Nessarose when she smiled. Even worse, her father - Elphaba's, that is - always reminded both of them that Nessarose was the perfect image of her mother. While Nessa had lived, some semblance of her mother was always with her. But now she was dead, as was her mother, ere Elphaba ever got to know her.

But here they were, both alive again, in this, their common ancestor.

"I heard my maids wouldn't tend to you." Azalea stated, as she knelt down at Elphaba's side. "I don't exactly know how to take care of a pregnant mother, but is there anything I can do to help?"

A strange idea came to Elphaba's mind. Strange in that it defied every empirical, logical thought that she had for the past twenty-three years of her life. It was also strange because, Elphaba knew, she had almost no nurturing tendencies within her. Of course there was Nessarose, but that was more of an older sister taking care of her younger sister, not of a mother and her child. There was Glinda, but that was also more of the big brother taking care of someone almost completely ignorant of the evils of this world. Fiyero, of course, could take care of himself - to a degree - and so that did not translate well. Maybe she had been with this child growing inside her for so long that she was starting to feel some kind of fondness for the strong, little being swimming around inside her.

"Tell us a story." Elphaba requested.

"Us?" Azalea asked, looking around to see if she had missed anyone.

"Me and the baby." She turned around, allowing Azalea to view the mountainous rise between her lap and her chest.

"Okay," Azalea smiled, resting her chin beneath her hands, both of which were now propping it up upon the bed. "Let me see if I know any good stories." Her brow crinkled in that very familiar way that Elphaba recognized whenever Nessarose was trying really hard to think about something to say. That didn't happen much, because she was often controlled by her feelings rather than thoughts. But Elphaba had seen it before, and it was just too cute.

"Here's one." Azalea began. Elphaba smiled, then rested her head against the pillow while her ancestor began.

"Once upon a time, there was a young prince who fell deeply in love with a princess, who was locked away in a tower at the top of Mount Runcible. But the tower was guarded by an evil sorcerer, the most powerful sorcerer in all the land. He had used his magic to put the princess into a deep sleep. But the prince was not afraid of the evil sorcerer, for he had with him a trick up his own sleeve. So, he rode across the land..." At this point, Azalea took two fingers and pretended to gallop across Elphaba's stomach, which made the green woman smile. "...all the way to the top of the mountain." She came to rest at the highest point.

"Instead of going up to the tower, the prince entered a cave underneath and so came into the bottom-most level of the tower, away from the eyes of the evil sorcerer. He then climbed to the highest point of the tower, to the princess' chamber, where she lay sleeping. He drew forth the Golden Dagger from his person - the most powerful of the Nine Golden Wonders - and used it to break the enchantment around the princess. With the princess in his arms and the Dagger in his hand, the prince stormed out of the castle. When the evil sorcerer saw that the princess had been rescued by the prince, who had the Golden Dagger in his hand, he was mortally afraid and ran into the tower, hiding in the highest room. The prince and the princess rode off into the sunset, where they were married and lived happily ever after."

"And what happened to the evil sorcerer?" Elphaba asked.

"He stayed in the tower."

"Did he ever come out?"

"Not yet." Azalea replied.

Elphaba laughed. Azalea smiled, then looked down at the green woman's stomach.

"I hope you enjoyed it." Elphaba smiled again, then moved her hand over to the side of it.

"Oh, I think he did." She stated, feeling where the baby was kicking.

"How do you know it'll be a boy?" Azalea asked.

"He's kicking me so hard," Elphaba answered. "That's got to come from a boy."

"Or a girl." Azalea returned. "You know, we're not as weak as the people of Gilikin believe women to be."

Elphaba nodded, her thoughts drifting through the story of what had just happened. At first she seemed disgusted at the thought that the villain would be a typical 'evil sorcerer', which could just as easily be replaced with a 'wicked witch'. But then she saw how the villain was defeated: his own cowardice ruled him. That reminded Elphaba of what Glinda said about the Wizard's departure from Oz. The 'Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz' ran almost like a whipped dog, just like the 'evil sorcerer' ran at the mere threat of danger.

Just then, another thought came to Elphaba's mind.

"You know about the Golden Wonders?"

"Only a little," Azalea returned. "I've listened to the stories from travelers from Quox and Fliaan. There's supposed to be nine."

"I only heard of five." Elphaba said. "A cap, a helmet, a breastplate, a sword and a cloak."

"I've heard of those," Azalea returned. "And four more."

"But I thought the Sword was the most powerful." Elphaba said.

"Oh, no." Azalea replied. "People just say so because it's a big weapon that can cut through anything, even enchantments. But the Dagger is supposed to be the most powerful, even though its one of the smallest of the Wonders. See, not only was it the sharpest dagger that can kill whatever its stabbed into, it could also break the power of the other eight Wonders, rendering them useless. The idea is that even ultimate power needs something to balance it out."

Elphaba nodded, though she was inwardly stunned beyond belief. Was it true? Was there some possible hope of succeeding?

"Anything else you'd like?" Azalea asked.

"No, thank you." Elphaba shook her head.

"Then, with your permission," the Eminent Thropp said. "I would..." Elphaba saw her face flush.

"What?"

"Oh, no, I couldn't." Azalea turned as if ready to leave. "I just couldn't! How stupid of me to ask."

"No, tell me what you'd like."

"Oh, alright." Azalea turned back to her descendant (though she knew it not). "I would - and if you say no, I totally understand and won't force you..."

"Just say it already."

"Alright! I would really like..." She hid her face in her hands. "To touch it. Oh, how stupid of me. You must have a thousand people asking to touch it, it's probably annoyifying beyond belief!"

"Actually, only three." Elphaba returned, guessing correctly what her ancestor meant by 'it.'

"I don't have to," Azalea sighed, finally able to breathe a little easier. "It was a silly thing to ask. I..I..." With no more words to say, she buried her head in the blankets on the side of Elphaba's bed, trying to regain her lost composure.

Strange feelings began flowing through Elphaba Thropp. She did not know what to make of them. It was like with Glinda; the same warm, fuzzy feelings she felt when having 'heart-moments' with Glinda, she now felt with this strange woman, her ancestor.

But she had to know.

"Your Eminence?"

"Hmm?" Azalea did not lift her head from the bed.

"Why do you care so much about me?" she queried. "I'm a stranger...and green at that!"

"You're much more than that," Azalea returned, her face rising up from the bed-side. "I feel like I know you, as close as one knows their closest kin. I-I can't explain it, I can't trace what part of the family you might be from, but I feel that our destines are tied somehow."

In more ways than you can imagine, Elphaba thought.

"But who am I kidding?" Azalea sighed. "You don't know me, and this is probably weird for you. I-I should go."

Azalea turned to leave, but suddenly stopped. A hand had wrapped itself around hers. Turning around, she saw that the hand belonged to the green woman. Before she could ask any questions, the raven-haired woman took Azalea's hand and placed it upon her stomach.

"Oh!" Azalea sighed, as she felt the baby moving just a few inches beneath her hand. "You have my blessing, Aelphaba. You and your child." She leaned in and kissed Elphaba upon the forehead. With a swirl of her black dress and her unbound reddish-brown hair, Azalea Thropp walked out of the room.

Once she was gone, Elphaba pushed herself up off the bed and walked over to Glinda's bed. Beneath it was the bag that Fiyero had brought with them when they left Shiz. She rummaged through it, heedless that her movements had roused Glinda from her slumber, and pulled out the object she had been looking for...

The Grimmerie.

"Elphie, what's going on?"

"No time to talk, Glinda!" Elphaba returned, a smile growing across her face and control on her mind. She was back in control again. "I think I know how we can save Oz."

"Elphie!" the little blond bounded off the bed and ran to Elphaba's side. "We can't be doing this! What if we damage the future, like you said before?"

"Unless something is done," Elphaba returned. "There won't be any future to be ruined."

She was now thumbing through the pages frantically.

"Elphie, please! Don't do anything rash! You don't know what the Grimmerie could do to you! And think of your condition!"

"Don't try to stop me, Glinda! I know what I'm doing!"

The Grimmerie was now open, its pages glowing violet in the darkened room, with the silvery characters dancing upon the pages. Elphaba's fingers traced across the page, then paused, and she spoke the spell.

Mentay Ventu Mentay Visu Oculu Visu Lepay Omnu. Mentay Ventu Mentay Visu Oculu Visu Lepay Omnu.

Over and over she spoke the words, spirals of magic flowing out of the book and around her body, coursing along her hands and arms as they wove above the pages. Glinda stood back, her hands over her eyes, in fear of what might happen.

Elphaba, meanwhile, was now slowly rising to her feet, both of her eyes fixated on the spectacle before her. It looked like the air had become water, rippling unevenly just a few feet above the ground. Within the ripples, there was a light that flickered between shining brightly and trying to reveal some kind of image.

"Sweet Oz, Elphie!" Glinda exclaimed, her eyes peeping out from in between her hands. "What have you done?"

"There it is!" she said, pointing into the rippling image. "That's where he is!" The waves dissipated, leaving no sign that anything had ever been there. Elphaba, now on her feet, walked over to the desk, writing down a quick note, and threw it upon the bed.

"Where are you going?" Glinda inquired.

"West." she returned, throwing her travel-cloak back over her shoulders. "It's where we should have gone in the beginning."

"Oh, then I'm coming with you!"

"No, Glinda! You have to stay here, tell them where I've..."

"Elphaba Thropp, you listen to me!" Glinda hissed, trying to sound serious and imposing. "I may not be as good a sorceress as you, but I refuse to be some cute little baggage, holding on to your skirt while you go off on whatever you're about to do!"

"It's too dangerous!"

"And traipsing through Mordor wasn't?"

Elphaba didn't have an answer for this.

"Now I'm going with you whether I have to run along behind you like a stray dog! But I'm not running away again!"

Elphaba smiled, wrapping her arms around the little blond's shoulders. It felt like the old days again, when they were just barely twenty, hiding in the attic of the Wizard's palace for their lives. Her heart was racing as they ran down the halls of the palace, looking for the one place they needed to be.

The stables.

(AN: Once again, LotR references I do not own)

(I created that Grimmerie spell, jsyk)

(Here's a question for all you Wicked-fans. What day should Elphaba's birthday fall upon? I'm thinking October 30th, since that was both when Wicked premiered on Broadway in 2003 and when I saw it with the 1st National Tour in Atlanta Georgia in 2008. If anyone else has a better idea, please suggest.)

(Here's a little odd thing. As I've stated before, this Elphaba was fashioned after Eden Espinosa. However, while I was writing this chapter, I kept seeing Jemma Rix as Elphaba in my mind rather than Eden. Idk why, but what does it mean? [I have never seen Jemma portray Elphaba, not even the boot-legs, so I don't know if I should re-model Elphaba after her since I would have no idea how to re-arrange the character and her mannerisms])

(I hope you recognized the dress that Azalea gave to Elphaba. I can't tell you what it is now because it might involve spoilers.)