Disclaimer- I do not own Wicked or Rent.
Elphaba looked cautiously toward the doorway. The room fell silent as they watched Glinda Upland enter and move toward the bed where her best friend lay. Fiyero gently helped Elphaba sit up, adjusting pillows behind her. Once he had, he relinquished his position to their old friend…but with a soft warning.
"I'm warning you Glinda, she isn't up to your usual hysterics. If you are here to help, great, but if you're not…well, now would be a good time to make yourself scarce. Fae's in no shape to…"
His wife stroked his cheek affectionately. "It's alright, Yero. I'll be fine. Glinda, it sounded like you wanted to help. Am I right?"
She looked at her old roommate with tired but frank and honest eyes. Glinda knew those eyes, that look, and soon she was engulfing her friend in a hug.
"Oh Elphie! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me…but I'm here now! I feel positively hideodious that I was all wrapped up in myself when you hurt so! But, don't worry! We'll find them, I know we will! After all, we have Fiyero, and you know what a good tracker and hunter he is, and Emrys has men to help us I'm sure, and we have us! Three witches? That's …that's…"
"Almost a coven?" Joanne murmured not quite under her breath. She did have the grace to look embarrassed when everyone turned to face her though.
"No," counseled Glinda solemnly, "but enough."
Joanne had reached the breaking point. She glared at Glinda now, remembering the image she had always held of her and comparing it to the reality. In Joanne's estimation, the reality fell far short. "You know, where Mark and I come from, every little child knows you. They watch the movie 'The Wizard of Oz', and they see Glinda…she's beautiful and smart and strong. She helps save the day more than once! But right here, right now, I have to tell you that you don't measure up."
Mark looked appalled and half under his breath issued, "Joanne!"
Glinda looked at Joanne with a small smile and was calm and unhurt by her outburst. "I absitivily have the first one down pat. Beautiful? But the other two…smart and strong? You have the wrong witch there. Your… movie? Movie… got that one wrong. Smart and strong? That's Elphie. She always was and always had to be. Me? I was nothing more than a stunningly beautiful blonde until I met her. You see, that was all anyone ever expected of me, Fiyero included…until her." She sat down beside her old friend and squeezed her hand lovingly.
"Elphie expected me to be more. She expected me to be strong and smart and wise and made me want to try to be in return. Even my parents only hoped for looks, but Elphie…Elphie demanded substance…the kind she has. I found some once I lost her. I kept thinking, 'What would Elphie do?'? It wasn't always easy. Sometimes it was downright hideodious and left me despondiary… like when Gorrian died and I forgot to remember, but I remember now." The Witch of the North looked at her old friend. "I remember now, Elphie. We'll find Elfie and Emmy! We will…or my name isn't Glinda Upland!" She smiled at Elphaba now and soon the green witch was held firmly in her embrace. The impact when Elphaba hit her almost tipped Glinda off the bed and onto the floor. Only Fiyero's hand at Glinda's back ceased the movement. They sat like that for a moment until Glinda pulled back and looking Elphaba sharply in the eye asked, "Now what's all this about you going into Emaurie's portent? Elphie! You know how dangerous that can be! You could have been lost there!! I want you to promise never to do it again! Promise me!"
Elphaba shook her head sadly. "Sorry Glinda, but you know I can't do that. It could mean the girls' safety. Besides, I gained enough information from that trip to tell me who killed Gorrian and who has the girls now. She's a Lioness named Zara…rather insane. She's taking them to Ev to meet up with her cohorts. Ev is northwest of Burzee."
Glinda shook her head and filled the others in. "Elphie's sharing of Emmy's portent opened her up to this last 'journey'. It consumes a lot of energy, portent shifting. No wonder you look like a lawn that needs to be thatched!"
"Glinda!!" It came from several mouths at once…everyone but Elphaba. Elphaba looked stunned at first and then began to laugh and laugh hard.
"I suppose I must look like I need to be thatched." Suddenly, she was serious.
"Please Glinda, I spoke to the girls and they're going to be smart and not provoke her, but we need to save them…now! Emmy is masquerading as Elfie because Zara assumed Emmy was my daughter, and Elfie won't leave her. If anything goes wrong, if Zara finds out they have been lying, if anything happens to Emmy because of me…"
Emrys stepped forward now and addressed his sister-in-law and childhood friend. He was firm and set. "It will not be your fault! You had as much control over Emmy's verdigris as you did over her kidnapping! Elphaba, you would give your life for Emmy! Don't you think we know that? You tried to get the girls away, to safety…how were you to know that they would sneak away to visit Grale's grave?"
Maureen spoke up now, reassuring her sister. "Faba, you taught Emmy how to be proud of who she is and what she looks like. You showed her that the person within is the only person that truly matters. She loves you, looks up to you; don't forget all you taught her now."
Elphaba sat back against the pillows. She had listened to what everyone said and now she was thinking about all they had said. She wasn't to blame. She had tried to be a positive influence on Emmy, unlike how she had been raised, ashamed of her appearance and made to see herself as an abomination. She would give her life for both girls. Fiyero could see the resolve return to his wife's countenance.
"Fae, if we work together, we can do anything, anything! Just believe, love. Believe."
Glinda pushed a few locks of raven black hair off her friend's forehead. "Enough, for now, Elphie. Rest, get your strength back, and then we'll plan. I'm sure Emrys and Fiyero can get things started while you sleep." She bent forward and kissed her friend's forehead as she rose. As she did, she waved her right hand before Elphaba's face and whispered words that most of them didn't understand. Immediately, Elphaba's eyes began to grow heavy and she fought the sleep that Glinda had induced.
"Glin, no fair!" She yawned as she finished speaking. Glinda smiled and waved Fiyero over.
"She'll sleep now. It's just a simple sleeping spell. When she's had enough rest, she'll wake up right as rain…and just as refreshified." Glinda watched her now, a scowl on her face; Elphaba was fighting and fighting hard to stay awake. "She can be so intense!"
Fiyero sat down beside his wife and looked at her lovingly. "Leave this to me, Glinda."
Fiyero leaned forward and ran his fingers down Elphaba's cheek lightly. Leaning in, he brought his lips to her temple and kissed it softly and in barely a whisper he soothed near her ear, "Sleep, my Fae, sleep… I'm here. I'm right here and I'll stay here. Sleep now, love."
Elphaba yawned dramatically. "Yero…hold me? Aaaah…" This last was a yawn.
"With pleasure, Fae, with pleasure." As the others began to tiptoe out, Fiyero lay beside his wife, fully dressed, but spooning her length into his own. At the feel of his body against hers and his arms around her, Elphaba drifted into a calm, deep sleep. Until he knew for certain she was completely asleep, Fiyero sung to her very softly. It was an old lullaby, one that his mother had sung to him and they had sung to Elfie.
Elfie! Looking down at his wife's peaceful profile as she slept, he could see just how much Elfie looked like her mother. He had watched their daughter sleep enough to know. Apart from her skin tone and eyes, she was the very picture of the little girl Yero had seen several years ago in the mirror that had helped each sister see her sibling's past. Their Elfie resembled that little girl so much and yet, she was her own self. The child in the mirror had been green; Elfie had his own fair skin tone.
The eyes of the girl in the mirror had been deep brown and full of pain; whereas Elfie's eyes were as blue as his own and full of joy and life. Fiyero made his mind up right there and then to see that their daughter's eyes stayed that way. For now though, he could serve her best by helping her mother heal.
As they lay there, Fiyero had a notion and the longer he thought about it, the more promise he thought it had. The mirror! Perhaps they could use the mirror to keep track of the girls and avoid the portents. That would allow Fae to regain her strength and prepare to face their enemies. Perhaps, just perhaps…