Disclaimer- I don't own Wicked or Rent.
Emrys stepped forward, a smile on his face and Emaurie by his side.
"Welcome to Burzee. I'm Emrys."
Emaurie whispered to Mark and Joanne in a loud enough voice to be heard by everyone, "He's the king. And, he's my Daddy."
She had a bright smile on her emerald face. Emaurie tugged on her father's hand, "We did it, Daddy! We brought them here for Mommy's birthday!"
The king looked down at precocious daughter. "So I see. We'll have to talk about this, won't we?"
Suddenly Emaurie was solemn. "Elfie too?"
Emrys looked quickly to Fiyero and then answered, "Elfie too."
The king now turned and addressed Joanne and Mark again. "As I said, you're very welcome here. Although, I'm really sorry that the girls chose to practice their magic on you. But while you're here, this is your home."
Maureen had slipped in beside Emrys, and Mark noted how easily their arms slid around each other's waists, how natural it all was. The filmmaker in him also noticed what a colorful family they were—Maureen's fair skin, Emrys's dark skin, and Emaurie's green skin. They really were a striking family. He noticed something else as well—they were happy…they were content.
Apparently, Maureen had finally found what she had always looked so hard for.
He was pulled out of his reverie by Emrys's voice. "I'd like you to meet Prince Fiyero Tiggular of the Vinkus, Elphaba's husband."
Elfie reached over and pulled Emrys's pant-leg. She simply looked at him meaningfully.
Emrys smiled a warm smile at his niece. "Forgive me, Pixie. My manners need work." Once again, he looked to Mark and Joanne, "And he is Elfie's father. This is Princess Elfie Tiggular."
Standing nearby, Elfie's face glowed. "Thank you, Uncle Rys."
Fiyero stepped forward and shook Mark's hand. "You're Mark. We saw you, you know. When we were fighting Morrible and Angel led us to the mirror. Maureen's past came up on it; we saw both of you, so we know that you're Maureen's friends."
Joanne coughed slightly under her breath.
"Let it go." whispered Mark.
The prince then looked to Joanne. "It's very nice to meet you too. Though I wish it were under different circumstances. I'm sure Elphaba will have a chat with the girls later."
Joanne shook her head. "I still don't understand this. Suddenly, I'm supposed to believe in magic? And not the sawing-the-lady-in-half kind…"
"Ewww!" This, from Elfie and Emaurie. Although, Emaurie looked slightly interested. Elfie, on the other hand, looked taken aback.
Joanne rushed to explain, "Not really sawing a lady in half…it's just a trick and…they call it magic…and for God's sake, Mark, do something!"
"Why? I'm having more fun listening to you."
Joanne shot Mark a look that could stop a truck. It still didn't wipe the grin off his face.
Elphaba shook her head. "I can't see any way that we can prove this to you. I understand that this must be a shock and difficult, but how could we prove to you that we're telling the truth?"
An uneasy silence settled around them. Elphaba had gotten an idea, and she was silently planning to go get her or Maureen's broom. However, before Elphaba's plan could be carried through with, there was a knock on the sitting room door.
"Yes?" Emrys called.
The doors swung open to admit what looked like a Horse. He stepped forward, all four hooves clicking on the floor, and bowed slightly before Emrys. "Your Majesty, I have the diplomatic pouches that you asked for."
The Horse spoke!
With a shake of his head and a somewhat wry expression on his face, Mark spoke up, "That'll do it."
Joanne stood with her mouth open and, for once, could think of absolutely nothing to say.
Maureen jumped suddenly. "Oh! The Animals here talk! You don't have Animals that talk."
Elphaba looked aghast. "No talking Animals? No Animals?! How is that possible?"
Maureen shot her sister a look, "That's the way it is, Faba. Just deal with it. And no, there was no secret plot. They just don't exist in that world."
Maureen looked meaningfully as Mark and Joanne. "Well, does that prove anything to you? Do you believe us now?"
Finally closing her jaw, Joanne took a deep breath. "I think… that I need to sit down."
She did so, practically collapsing on the sofa behind her.
"This is not happening. It's just not!" Joanne kept repeating over and over to no one in particular.
Maureen spoke up, "Look, no matter what you want to believe, believe this; you're here and magic is very real. Joanne, you'll have to accept that."
Joanne lost her temper. Joanne Jefferson liked to feel in control, whether it was in a courtroom or not. Maureen had always had the ability to push her buttons and now that they had been pushed, Joanne exploded.
"Accept? Accept? Even if I do accept it, what choice do I have? And why?! Why?! Because your little girls have about as much self-control as you do! Thanks a lot, Maureen!"
"Joanne!" This came from Mark, who had accepted everything much faster and was now trying to act as peacemaker. There was an uncomfortable silence and then they all heard a soft sound. A sniffling noise came from Elfie. When everyone turned to look, they saw tears running down the child's face. She looked completely devastated and guilty. Her soft voice filled the quiet.
"I'm sorry…We…we only wanted to…."
Unable to finish, Elfie burst into sobs and fled from the room. At that moment, two significant things happened. The first was when Mark watched in horror and looked to Elphaba and Fiyero, "Please, let me? Let me help?" His voice was soft and when Fiyero would have dashed after his daughter, his wife stopped him.
She nodded to Mark. "Thank you." Elphaba had a feeling and Yero was wise enough to realize it.
Mark ran from the room after the sobbing four-year-old. The second event was Emaurie advancing on Joanne with fire in her brown eyes. The little green girl stopped before her and drew her attention.
"I don't like you!! You made my cousin Elfie cry! We only wanted to bring Mommy's friends here so she wouldn't miss you all so much and you could visit her. It's her birthday and we wanted to make her happy and you made Elfie cry! She said she was sorry and if Elfie says it, she means it. Why did you have to make her feel so bad? I wish we had never brought you here!"
With that, Emaurie spun on her heel and dashed after her cousin. Joanne was stunned. She had never meant to hurt the children…only Maureen, she realized now. She was angry because Maureen had found what she wanted in life, while she herself still had not.
"I didn't mean to hurt her…"
"I know." This came from Elphaba. "You wanted to hurt her Aunt Reena. Oops, missed. Elfie will be back. Apologize to her, if you can."
Emaurie found Elfie in the hallway with Mark. He was drying her eyes and trying to make her smile. Emaurie liked Mark, he cared about people and the way they felt. Elfie and Mark looked up when she caught to them.
"Are you okay, Elfie?"
Elfie nodded, an arm on Mark's shoulder. He was squatting down near the floor so that he could look in Elfie's eyes…Emaurie's eyes now as well.
"Joanne can get cranky sometimes. She's a control freak. I understand what you did and why. I think your reason for bringing us here was wonderful. Anybody can wrap a birthday present, what you two did took a lot of thought and love."
Elfie spoke up. "We didn't get a chance to give her the rest though."
"The rest?"
Emaurie finished for her cousin. "We have a song to sing for her. It's a song our angels taught us. Whenever we're scared or whenever we need to feel good, our angels would sing us to sleep at night."
Elfie nodded in agreement. "They always have. They sing us the same song and it makes us feel better. We were going to sing it for Aunt Reena tonight, but now…"
"Now, what?" asked Mark. "I say you should sing it! There's only us."
Mark saw a surprised look passed between the cousins.
"Do you know our song too?" Emaurie asked quizzically. Mark looked confused.
Elfie added, "That's the beginning of our song. 'There's only us, there's only…
"This…" he finished, a look of complete shock on his face.
"Yes! How do you know it?"
Mark smiled. "I think I know your angels. Come on, you need to give Maur…I mean, your Mommy the rest of her present. Trust me. I'll handle Joanne."
People were pacing in the sitting room. Emrys was upset that his niece had left in tears, yet proud of his daughter for her loyalty. Maureen was busy glaring at Joanne. Only Elphaba seemed calm. Fiyero knew she had a feeling about all this and he had long since learned to pay attention to her instincts.
Mark came into the room, Elfie in one arm and holding Emaurie by the hand.
"Could you guys sit down for a minute? The girls have more of their present to share. Joanne, shut up and pay attention."
He deposited Elfie next to her cousin and stepped back.
"Ladies, will you share the song you learned from your angels?"
The girls nodded and looked at each other and began softly.
"There's only us,
There's only this,
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss,
No other road, no other way,
No day but today."
When they finished, the room was silent. Maureen had her hand up to her face and tears in her eyes. Joanne looked absolutely stunned. Elphaba simply smiled and Fiyero and Emrys looked on proudly.
It was Maureen who spoke first.
"That was… beautiful! But what angels?"
The girls repeated to their parents about their angels and their song. Joanne was quiet when she looked at Mark.
Emaurie explained, "They've always sang it for us. We wanted to share it with you as a birthday present. You believe us, don't you?"
Sitting on the sofa, listening to this, Joanne believed.