DISCLAIMER: in chapter one...
A/N: Thank you for the kind souls that reviewed. Early update, cause I'm off to the beach. Please read, review and tell me if it needs more (sometimes, I think I was clear, but it ends up being only clear in my own head)
WALKING BACKWARDS
So much had happened.
But, watching her life for the past years rewinding itself at an extremely fast pace, Elphaba had to wonder if her impression had been oh, so terribly wrong. All her suffering and sorrow-filled days rushed backwards in the blink of an eye. Images blurred, words flew and soon Elphaba found herself, once again, submerged in nothingness.
And there she remained, what felt like at least, for an eternity. How long it really lasted, this complete absence of everything, didn't really matter. It was long enough. The green woman had time to consider her present condition and the moments right before the strange darkness had engulfed her body. Only one conclusion could be drawn, as far as she was concerned.
The witch had cast a spell in her moment of emotional distress and time, somehow, had changed direction.
Would she be the same?
Where would she go back to?
Sigh…
In the end, would anything be changed? Could anything be changed?
Dread overcame her thoughts.
She had no real conscious control of the obviously powerful magic responsible for this new turn of events. That meant that she had limited, if any, knowledge of it. It was possible that Elphaba would be forced to live it all over again, helpless to change anything. It was possible that…
It didn't do any good to wonder.
Anything was possible at that point.
Shudder.
After thousands of scenarios had managed to run through her overworked mind and frustration had been able to accumulate itself greatly, Elphaba rushed into wakefulness. With caution, she opened her heavy lids. A dark ceiling came quickly into sight. It took her eyes a moment, though, to adjust to the poor lighting and when it finally did, she sat up straight in bed.
Shiz.
A swirl of pink and lace stood to her left. Blonde curls peeked out from underneath the heavy covers and a slight snoring echoed through the room. A pile of books marked her own side of the bedroom.
The image helped determine her location. However, the green girl had spent almost two years at the ozian University, half of which had been spent in animosity with her roommate. Thoughts of how to behave around the perky blonde until their relationship status could be determined were abruptly interrupted when Elphaba spotted the black pointed hat sitting in the corner.
She released the breath she had been holding.
"Elphie?" Galinda's tired voice startled the girl. Since no answer originated from her friend's side of the room, the blonde sat up as well.
"Elphie?"
Sigh…
"Yeah?"
"Is everything okay?" There was a long pause and Galinda opened her mouth to ask again.
"No." the Gillikin closed her mouth, rose from her pink bed and walked towards her friend's darker corner. Elphaba slowly met her questioning gaze.
"Glin… Galinda… if you knew what was going to happen – terrible things – would you…" she hesitated. "Would you risk changing it?
Galinda was caught off guard.
"Did you have a vision, Elphie?"
"Maybe by changing it, you could risk even worse things happening… But, would you change it?" The way the green girl avoided giving details and the heavy sadness shinning through her profound eyes were enough to convince Galinda of the seriousness of Elphaba's question.
"If I had a chance to change… I guess I would." There was, of course, no right answer, but, by the way her emerald friend's eyes settled, resolve strongly shinning through, Galinda believed hers had been correct.
"Right." Elphaba's back straightened. "If you have the opportunity, you should at least try."
"Right." A nod for emphasis, the slight hesitation. "What did you see, Elphie?" she asked quietly.
And, in the deep brown of Elphaba's gaze, Galinda saw guilt and sadness, before her friend had a chance to avert it. She played a little with her long delicate fingers, then stilled.
"The Wizard called for me…" no happiness shone through and Galinda suppressed the squeal such a revelation would have evoked. The perky blonde found herself doing something she usually avoided at all cost; she frowned. "Bad things happened, Glin… Galinda. Horrible things." Sigh. "I became a fugitive."
Gasp!
Brown eyes flew up and Elphaba grasped her friend's hands in her own.
"Oh, Galinda! Nessa, Boq, Fiyero… All lost!" Unwilling tears sprung forth and Elphaba failed to swallow them down. "And…" Sob. "…you and I…" As quickly as she had reached out, she then withdrew, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them tight.
Galinda waited a moment longer, but nothing else was spoken. Sighing, she crawled closer to her roommate and embraced her, desperately trying to comfort the strongest person she knew. Soon, though, sleep claimed her and she leaned against her friend's shoulder.
Elphaba, for her part, remained wide awake, planning all her next days and the things she would have to do to prevent life from following down that same retched path.
Changes, indeed!
The stubbornness, the resolve and the strength that had served her well in her years as a fugitive resurfaced again and, in the darkness of the night, while she held her dear friend, Elphaba promised herself that things would be different.
That her loved ones would not suffer for her.
Never again…
A/N: Thank you for the kind souls that reviewed. Early update, cause I'm off to the beach. Please read, review and tell me if it needs more (sometimes, I think I was clear, but it ends up being only clear in my own head)