Chapter Thirty-Nine: Trust Me

Things never were uneventful for long, it seemed. Not with Elphaba. He had noticed she'd been a bit more… sentimental since the miscarriage. She had tried her best not to show it, but there was very little she could hide from him, though she tried. The week after they got back, Elphaba requested Glinda have Nessarose come visit – with Nanny, of course. For some reason, she allowed Fiyero to be there, too. She didn't tell any of them what this was about, be he had a good enough guess.

When Nessa entered, Elphaba seemed to falter for a moment. She was seated on her bed. Fiyero sat in a chair by her desk quite a ways away, knowing that this wasn't a moment he needed to intrude upon more than he already was.

Nessa looked at Glinda expectantly. Glinda turned to Elphaba. And Elphaba took a deep breath. "Nessarose, there's something I think you need to know."

Nessa seemed confused, but nodded. Behind her, Nanny gave Elphaba a gesture, telling her to continue.

"I'm not quite sure how to explain this, or where to start. You know I was raised in a mauntery, right? That I don't know who my parents are?"

She nodded. "But at least you had the Unnamed God."

Elphaba was clearing fighting not to argue on that. She bit her lip, but went on. "Nessa, a little while ago, I found out a little bit about my family. In fact, I met my sister."

"That's wonderful. But I don't understand what this has to do with me."

"Just get to the point already," Nanny huffed.

Elphaba was usually quite good at that. Fiyero watched her struggle with what to say. In the end, she decided to just say it. "Nessa, you are my sister."

Nessa's first reaction was to look at Nanny. Nanny nodded at her solemnly. She turned back to Elphaba. "But… but why?"

"Look at me, Nessa. Just think about how that would look, with your parents being who they are."

"Still, I don't understand."

"I can't explain it to you. Maybe they can. But I'm not going to ask."

"You're not?"

"I'm not."

"I see." Nessa nodded slowly. She looked over towards Fiyero. "So I guess that makes you my sister's boyfriend?"

Fiyero raised his eyebrows. No one had told Nessa that Fiyero was anything more than a friend to Elphaba. "I…"

Elphaba laughed, which surprised him. "It does. I guess I can't hide that from my own sister, can I?" She smiled gently at Nessa.

He watched Elphaba carefully. She was being sweet, almost nurturing towards Nessa. Perhaps it was because she blamed herself for Nessa's disability. Perhaps it was because she had never had a family before. He wasn't sure, but it intrigued him.

"Then can you tell me a little about your life, Elphaba?" Nessa asked. "I want to know how you grew up. What happened after you were left at the mauntery? How did you get here?"

He wondered exactly how much Elphaba was going to tell Nessa, what she'd leave out. There was so much that had happened since she'd arrived at Kiamo Ko.

"Well," Elphaba began, "when I turned sixteen, the oldest maunt approached me. If I wasn't going to take up the faith, it was time for me to leave."

"Why didn't you take up the faith?"

"I had been in the mauntery for as long as I could remember. If I took up the faith, I'd never really see much of the world."

Nessa nodded. "I suppose I can understand."

"They sent me to the Vinkus, to…" Here was where it got complicated. "I was to be a schoolmarm for the royal family of the Arjiki tribe, and a servant. And I was to tutor Fiyero, who is the crown prince, to prepare him for Shiz." She exchanged glances with Fiyero. What, exactly, was she going to tell Nessa about their situation, about his impending marriage? "Eventually, Fiyero's parents decided that it would be a good, um, investment to send me to Shiz, so I'd be better educated to teach his siblings."

"And you and Fiyero fell in love?"

Fiyero noticed that Glinda was watching this encounter with as much interest as he was. They were the only two people who knew the whole story. Glinda said, "It would seem so, wouldn't it? They're so cute together."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "And then I got here, ended up rooming with Glinda and that's about it."

And then Nessa asked the question he knew Elphaba had been hoping she wouldn't. "Are you and Fiyero engaged?"

Elphaba swallowed hard and looked at her lap.

Nanny could tell that something was going on. She was looking at Elphaba with a curious look. But perhaps she thought not to push it in front of Nessa, because she said, "Nessa, I know she's your sister, but that's a bit personal, isn't it?"

"Oh! I apologize. I'm just so curious."

Elphaba smiled uncomfortably. "It's fine, Nessa. And the truth is, Fiyero's parents don't even know. Um, since I'm a servant and all, we're going to give them some time to get used to the idea before we tell them we're dating. That's why we're keeping it a secret." In a way, that was mostly true. "But I'm sure now that we're starting to get to know each other, we'll have plenty of time to talk about all of that," she said. After that, she quickly turned the questions around and directed them at Nessa.

It was late in afternoon when Nessa and Nanny left. Fiyero finally got up from the chair, limping a little as he found one leg was asleep. He walked over to Elphaba's bed and sat beside her, taking her hand. "I'm glad you're trying to get to know your sister."

Elphaba didn't seem as happy. "I feel like I'm lying to her. When it got to talking about you, or about Kiamo Ko… it's just too complicated. She'd never understand."

"Maybe when you get more comfortable, you'll be able to tell her," Glinda said.

Elphaba just shrugged.

He could tell she was still a little bothered, but thought it best to let her work it out on her own. "So, it's getting close to evening. Why don't you come back to my apartment?"

Glinda frowned. "I don't see why you guys don't spend more time here."

Elphaba snorted.

Glinda blushed. "Oh, yeah… that."

Fiyero tried to hide his grin, but Elphaba caught it and glared at him. "What?"

"I know what's on your mind, that's what."

"And it's not on yours?"

Her response was merely to raise her eyebrows at him. She grabbed her schoolbag, which already had everything she needed for the next day, and headed out the door with him. As the door shut behind him, she said, "Glinda prods me enough about our love life without you saying anything."

"I didn't say anything!" He protested.

She shrugged and looked around her.

"Elphaba, no one is watching us. No one cares enough to, anyway. Who, exactly, is going to tell my parents, Fae?"

"Madame Morrible. She wrote them when I was ill…"

"Of course she did. She didn't want them finding out something like that from anyone else – you found Dr. Dillamond dead. That leaves her liable. This," he took her hand, "is not her problem."

She pulled her hand away. "I don't trust her."

"She's never out and about campus on Saturdays."

"She has… spies."

Elphaba was talking about the tik-tok creature she was sure had murdered Dr. Dillamond. He sighed and let it drop. "Fine."

They entered his building and walked up the stairs. "Sometimes I don't know who I can trust."

"You can trust me, Fae." The idea that she didn't upset him.

"I don't even think twice about you, Yero. I'm not referring to you. But Nessa. She seems sweet, and she's my sister, but... and the old woman… and sometimes I even wonder about Glinda."

"You really are paranoid. Glinda?"

"I don't know. Madame Morrible loves her. She's always fussing over her in class. She's her advisor."

"That means nothing!" Fiyero unlocked the door to his apartment. He was starting to worry about Elphaba's paranoia. She'd become angry lately. And fierce. She was always fierce. But it was different now. And her inability to trust anyone else… this whole Animal rights thing was more serious than he thought.