Disclaimer: The plot and the OC's are the only things that belong to me. Nothing else is mine.
A/N: Not a word. Not. A. Word. Let's just pretend I got stuck in a time machine and got sent forward three weeks, okay? Deal? In all honesty, though, this chapter just took forever to write for some reason (I guess because it's one of those chapters that aren't really too eventful but still necessary to the plot). Now if you'll excuse me, I have some reviews to respond to (you know, since I haven't done that in quite a while):
Broadwaygirl (ch. 9): I know :P.
Broadwaygirl (ch. 11): I will...maybe...
rcorp (ch. 1 [it was posted after ch. 9, in my defense]): Yeah, I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
The next three days passed slowly for the Lion leader of the village. He was anxious at first, but as he was informed by the doctors whenever he came to the clinic that the green Witch was improving quicker than anticipated, that feeling had died down some. Even so, he was still nervous about meeting the deadline that he had set in that letter; it was the morning of the third day now, and he couldn't be sure that she was going to be conscious by dusk. He could still bring her while she was still unconscious, sure, but that would most likely arouse suspicion from the villagers, and the last thing he needed was them following him. Suddenly snapping out of his thoughts, he stood up and turned to the door of his house.
He expected this visit to be like any other: he'd go in, get a brief (yet informative) status update on the odd patient, perhaps come into her room briefly, leave, and come back again in a few hours or so. Though he was certain someone would come to him as soon as she woke up, he really wanted her to wake up as soon as possible so he could get it over with, and some irrational part of him had decided that his presence might make some sort of difference. Even with that knowledge, though, he still found himself visiting on a routine basis. This time, though, it was different.
"Ah, hello, sir," Aulis said as the Lion entered the clinic. The leader nodded in response.
"Good morning, Aulis. Have there been any significant changes in her condition since we last talked?" The Tiger shook his head.
"It looks like she's improved slightly since last night, but nothing major, no." The Lion pursed his lips. Truth be told, he was expecting it, but he still felt a bit disappointed at the news. Just then, the other doctor on duty—who just happened to be the Goat from a few days earlier—emerged from the door leading to the patient rooms, looking excited and anxious at the same time.
"Oh, sir!" he said, noticing the Lion. "Well, this makes it easier. I was just about to send somebody out to fetch you."
"Oh? And why is that?" the leader asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"It's Miss Elphaba, sir," the doctor replied, using the name that the Lion hadn't heard in months. "She's awake."
Just a few moments after the Goat left the room, Elphaba was greeted with the sight of him and two others walking through the door. One was a Tiger dressed in similar clothing as the Goat, and the other was a tall Lion that looked oddly familiar to her.
"Hello, ma'am," the Lion said, smiling. However, the smile looked off to Elphaba—like it wasn't one of happiness. She merely shrugged it off as being a bit disoriented, however, and another voice drew her attention.
"How are you feeling?" It was the Tiger to speak this time.
"Fine, I suppose. A little lightheaded, but otherwise fine," she said, and then she creased her brow in confusion. "Hold on… where am I? Why am I here?" The two doctors took on expressions of slight concern at this statement.
"Do you not remember?" the Goat asked. "You were dragged here about a week ago on the backs of these flying Monkeys. You were all bloody and barely alive; in fact, I'm actually quite surprised you didn't die in the process of being carried here." The green woman's face seemed to scrunch up in concentration, but her features soon changed to carry a mixture of horror and surprise.
"Oh," she said quietly. "I remember now." The way in which she said those two sentences made it clear that it wasn't something she would want to talk about, so no one questioned her any further. Seizing the opportunity, the Lion decided to speak.
"Aulis, Farin, would it be all right if I have a word with her? Privately?" The two doctors looked at each other, and they began whispering. The Tiger eventually nodded and turned around to face the Lion.
"Yes, that should be fine. It doesn't appear that she needs any further monitoring, so we'll leave you two alone." The Lion simply nodded in response.
Once the two Animals had left, the Lion walked over to her bedside. The young Witch had a surprised look on her face.
"Did you just call one of them 'Farin'?" she asked, and he nodded. "No wonder he looked so familiar…. I thought he had died months ago, though. Come to think of it, you look rather familiar as well." She seemed to study him for a long while before realization dawned on her face.
"Leon?" she asked incredulously, and though he felt a surge of anger at the familiarity with which she said his name, his face betrayed no emotions. Curling his mouth up into another smile, he answered her.
"Yes, it's me," he said, trying to seem as friendly as possible.
"Leon! I thought you had died in that attack on your village; I heard that no one survived, so I just assumed-" At this point, he coughed, and at the clouded look in his eyes, Elphaba shut her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you don't really want to talk about that, huh?" Leon shook his head.
"I'd appreciate it if we didn't." After a brief moment of silence, he spoke once more. "Would you like for me to see if you can be released now?" The Witch looked faintly surprised at this for a second.
"Sure," she agreed, and the Lion got off the bed and walked out of the room. Elphaba could hear a bit of talking coming from the hallway, but she couldn't quite decipher what exactly they were saying. After a minute or so, Leon appeared in the doorway.
"Okay, you're good to go." She was a bit surprised by this.
"Really? Just like that?"
"Yeah, both of them said that they see no point in keeping you any longer; there isn't any lasting damage, which is pretty miraculous given how long you've been in here-" This brought up something in her mind, making her interrupt him.
"That's right, Farin said that I was only brought here a week ago. How have I healed in such a short period of time?" The Lion raised an eyebrow.
"I figured you, of all people, would know why your body was shimmering all throughout your convalescence." This resulted in her looking up at him, clearly shocked by what he had said.
"Come again?" Leon nodded as if to confirm what she had heard.
"Yeah. I imagine it was some sort of magic or something." He thought of something just then. "Say, if you can bring yourself back from near-death condition like that…"
"I didn't even know I could perform magic without the aid of a spell. I've tried before, and it's never worked. Besides, you said it took a week to recover, and that was in a building specifically designed for treating the injured, so… I guess it's not really something to behold. Still, though… who knew I could do that?" Her face took on a look of wonder and confusion as her gaze shifted towards her hands. How come I've never been able to do that before? I've tried, but nothing has ever come out of it. I can't even do it now, and I've apparently already done it… Perhaps it's some kind of subconscious thing? An act borne out of self-preservation? That would explain while I still feel a bit tired, I suppose…. Leon's voice drew her out of her thoughts.
"Well, are we just going to sit here all day?" She startled a bit at the sudden noise.
"Oh, sorry. Let's get going," she said somewhat distractedly, already making to walk to the door.
Nothing major had happened for the next few hours after they left. The two split ways a few minutes after exiting the clinic; Leon retreated back into his house, and Elphaba went around the village a bit, greeting the various Animals that lived there; she even managed to hold a few conversations with them about differing subjects. Nearly everyone in the camp was overjoyed to see her alive and well, but perhaps the Animals were even more excited to be meeting her in person after hearing about all that she had done for them.
After most of the commotion had settled down, Leon met Elphaba once more near the edge of the village. The young Lion looked a bit off, a bit… distracted by something or other.
"Hello, Elphaba," he greeted as he walked towards her. She nodded to him in response.
"Hello, Leon." Noticing his expression, she raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, no, nothing's wrong. I've just, uh, been wanting to talk with you since we didn't talk for very long after you were dismissed from the clinic." She nodded once more, her mouth forming a silent "oh" in understanding.
"Well, what would you like to talk about?" she asked. Stealing a glance to the northwest side of the forest the camp was located in and noting the sun slowly coming closer and closer to the horizon, he turned back to meet her face as a stream of thoughts suddenly entered his mind. What was he doing? Why had he written that letter in the first place? Had he forgotten who she really was in the months since that attack? These were all thoughts that had been swimming in his head since after he had gone back to his home, but telling himself to stop thinking about it, he had come to a conclusion. It's too late to turn back, he reminded himself, suddenly feeling a wave of some strange emotion pass through him—was it guilt? If I don't bring her tonight, they'll certainly start searching for her, and once they find this camp… He shuddered slightly as images of blood splattered all over the ground and an all-consuming fire reaching up towards the black sky above came back to him. Refocusing his vision on the emerald woman in front of him, he opened his mouth.
"Say, Elphaba, would you like to go for a walk?" he asked, blinking away the few tears that had suddenly come to his eyes. She looked up at him quizzically.
"What for?"
"Oh, no reason. I just thought it'd be a nice chance to clear our heads for a bit," he said a little nervously, silently hoping she would accept. After a long moment, Elphaba shrugged.
"Ok, sure." Internally, the Lion let out a deep sigh of relief. "But won't we need to be disguised in case of any rogue strangers we might come across?"
"I've already got it covered," he said, pulling out a pair of heavy black cloaks from the small bag he had been carrying. And with that, he set off to the northwest with Elphaba in tow, unsure of what was to come next.
See? Leon's not completely bad... I think of him more as a bit lost and misguided, considering what happened to him when he was a cub. Speaking of Leon, I'm thinking of possibly making a companion piece showing what happened to him during the nine-month gap between chapters 8 and 9. Does that sound interesting, or would it just be a waste of writing? Let me know what you think!