With the rising of the morning sun, Isabelle woke, praying that everything she had gone through the day before was real. The room was the same as the night before and Raiden was still sleeping beside her. The reality that she had a family began to sink into her mind.
Quietly, she slipped out of bed and wandered out of their room. For a while, she was content to gaze at the artwork draping the halls of the castle. Everywhere was vivid color and decoration.
"It is beautiful, is it not?" a voice asked from behind her.
Isabelle turned around to see Elphaba standing there and replied, "Yes, I have never seen anything so wonderful in my entire life."
"This castle once belonged to Fiyero's family, but they abandoned it years ago when Fiyero and I were attending Shiz University. However, they left all the original artwork and tapestries. When Fiyero and I decided to live here, we loved the art for the colors and the imagination behind it," Elphaba explained.
"Was there really no way that I could not have grown up here with you and Father?" Isabelle asked.
"Months before your birth, Fiyero and I discussed it and decided that you were safer far away from here. Also, you would have the opportunity for a semi-normal childhood, not locked up in a castle for most of your life," Elphaba answered.
"Did you think about me?" Isabelle inquired.
"Everyday since the day we placed you on that doorstep. I kept one of your baby blankets here with me. When I would start thinking about you and the things I was missing, I would hold that blanket in my arms and wish that somehow you were wrapped inside it. As the years wore on, I thought of your milestones that I would never see like your first word, first step, every birthday, picking you up when you would fall and hurt yourself, and most of all tucking you into bed every night," Elphaba said, tearfully.
By then, both of them had tears in their eyes, but neither cared that it burned. For the first time in eighteen years, Elphaba took her daughter into her arms. It was a serene moment not interrupted by hatred. Since she was a child, Isabelle had dreamed of this moment in her wildest dreams. Never had she hoped that it would become a reality years later.
"Mom," Isabelle said, breaking the hug, "Glinda misses you so much. You really should come to the Emerald City with Raiden and I to see her. When I first came here, she took me in after Raiden found me injured on the Yellow Brick Road by Munchkinland, regardless of my color. At first she thought I was you and almost cried at the sight of me."
"Your father and I talked last night about your proposal. We have decided to accept it. With the Wizard gone, perhaps the people of Oz will not be as easily mislead in their opinions of others. Besides, I need to see my one and only friend," Elphaba declared.
"Really?" asked Isabelle.
"Yes, we are tired of hiding because of who we are and what we look like. I mean, for goodness sake, your father was a scarecrow for a while," Elphaba said, pausing, before saying, "Never mention that in front of him, he is still sensitive about that subject."
Mother and daughter looked at each other before giggling softly with one another about the idea of Fiyero being a scarecrow. They continued down the hall, gazing at the artwork in passing.
"Come with me, there is something I want to show you," Elphaba said.
Elphaba led Isabelle down another hallway, leading close to the tower and finally up into the tower. At first, Isabelle thought she was being led back to her mother's room, but they turned to the left once they reached the door to Elphaba's room.
"This room is the most important room to me in the whole house. I have not moved anything in here for years," Elphaba explained.
Elphaba pushed the door open to reveal a nursery with pink, blue, green, and yellow decorating the walls. In the corner was a small cradle with the initials FN on the end of it. Inside was a yellow and pink quilt lining and a white blanket folded at one end. A rocking chair was placed beside the cradle. Isabelle could hardly believe her eyes.
"When you were born, we decided to keep you for a few days to get to know you. After giving birth to you, I could not bare to part with you right away. Fiyero made this room for you a few days before you were born. I knew you were going to be a girl, so I made him put pink, blue, green, and yellow in here. After you were named, he carved your initials in the cradle. I sat in that chair, gazing down on you as you were nursing in my arms," Elphaba said.
"You kept all of this exactly the same?" Isabelle asked.
"Yes. There were days, especially after we gave you up, that I would come in here and sit in the chair and look at that cradle, expecting you to be asleep inside it. A few weeks later, I decided never to change anything because I wanted to show you, if you were to ever come back," Elphaba answered.
Isabelle's heart was touched by her mother's actions. She gazed at all the rocking chair and could picture her mother sitting there with a baby in her arms. That baby, she knew, was herself.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I always wondered what my real mother was like. Now, I know that you really loved me and never wanted to let me go. I understand you did what you did to save me, but I hope that now that we have found one another that we should never part again," Isabelle confessed.
"I will never let you go again. It tortured me to leave you there," Elphaba said.
"How old was I exactly when you had to give me up?" Isabelle inquired.
"Almost two weeks old. Your jet black hair had just started to curl into tiny ringlets at the base of your neck," Elphaba said.
"Was I really green from birth?" Isabelle asked.
"For sure," Elphaba replied laughing, "there was no doubt in my mind that you were my daughter. It was undeniable. You looked so much like me that Fiyero was jealous."
"I was jealous of what?" Fiyero asked, walking into the room. "You were not in bed, so I figured you came here."
"Jealous that I looked so much like mom," Isabelle replied, smiling.
"Was not," he replied, his face flushing in embarrassment.
"You were too jealous. From the moment she was born you kept telling me, 'Elphaba, she looks so much like you and almost nothing like me!' Just admit it," Elphaba said to Fiyero, laughing.
"Alright, maybe I was a tiny bit jealous. In a way, though, I am glad that you look more like your mother. She is the most beautiful woman in all of Oz," Fiyero said.
"I agree with you," Isabelle said. "From the time I was a child, I always wondered what my parents looked like and now I know."
Isabelle looked at both of her parents and could see herself in each one. True she had her mother's green skin, but she had her father's eyes and nose. For the remainder of the morning, she talked with her parents about her childhood and experiences in Kansas compared to Oz. Halfway through, Raiden joined them and answered questions about Glinda's well being from Elphaba.
"So, Glinda has been doing well all these years?" Elphaba asked.
"Yes, she has been doing quite well. Though, when she was alone, though she would never admit it, I saw her crying a few times with a green glass bottle in her hands," Raiden answered.
"That belonged to me a long time ago when we went to Shiz together!" Elphaba exclaimed. "Back when she first called me Elphie. Though I would never admit it then, I actually liked that nickname."
"I think on some level, she knew. When I was about twelve, she told me about you for the first time. She told me that you were never 'wicked' to begin with and that all the rumors the Ozians told were lies. At one point, she even showed me the Grimmerie and said that she had been learning to read it like she promised you," Raiden continued.
"Glinda always kept her promises," Elphaba said. "I feel awful that she could not know that I have been alive and safe all these years."
"Mother would be so happy to see you again. When I brought Isabelle to the Emerald City, she immediately thought that she was you," Raiden said.
"So I have heard, but I can see why she would though," Elphaba said, smiling. "After all, she does have the same color skin and Glinda has only known one person with green skin."
"Glinda did tell me the whole story of your friendship from the time you both were at Shiz up until she saw you melt here. She told me that the entire time she knew that you loved father, but never said anything," Isabelle said.
"Why would she do that?" Elphaba asked.
"I guess she wanted you to admit that on your own terms and do what your heart said," Isabelle answered.
"That sounds like something Glinda would do," Fiyero said.
"Indeed, it does," Elphaba agreed.
The conversation continued on about Glinda, Boq, and the changing times in the Emerald City. Isabelle wished her whole childhood could have been like that, with her family around her always. She thought of how much easier it would have been to have had her mother there with her to help her cope with her green skin. Her thoughts drifted for a while, before she brought herself back to reality.
"Mother, you said that you and father decided to come back to the Emerald City with Raiden and I," Isabelle said.
"Yes, we have," Fiyero and Elphaba said in unison.
"When would be the best time to travel then?" Isabelle asked.
"Most likely at night," Elphaba answered. "Less likely for us to be seen by others."
"Then we will travel at night," Isabelle said.
The plans were made and arrangements were taken care of. Now, the four of them waited for nightfall when they could set off for the Emerald City.
A/N: So, another chapter down. Like it so far? Let me know and I will post faster.