Chapter 26. Graduation
Rifiuto: Non Miniera
Thanks to Elphaba1Fan and Akasharouge for reviewing 25.
Finals were over and the students were getting ready for graduation.
Well, the third years anyway.
The other students were getting ready to head home for the summer holidays.
As for Fae, well, she spent most of her time with either Glinda or Elphaba, in the library or cafe.
Glinda spent most of her time shopping for graduation presents for her friends, and Elphaba and Fiyero spent more time together. It wasn't unusual to see the two kissing under the cherry tree or walking along the Suicide Canal, holding hands.
Finally, the big day arrived, and Fae awoke, to find both Glinda and Elphaba getting ready. Glinda was trying to decide between dresses, and Elphaba was pulling her robe on. She had decided on a nice, strapless knee-length black dress with a white sash on it, and then pulled on her black robe. She also wore a pair of strappy black heels, and her long raven hair was pulled back off her shoulders, falling in a pile of black curls from the back of her head.
Her makeup was done in nice blacks and pale pinks, and she wore the necklace Fiyero had given her at the Kumbrica ball.
She turned back to her bed, where her sashes and mortorboard lay.
Silent, she reached down, grabbed the sashes, and went to the mirror.
Fae studied the colors of the sashes. Blue and white for Shiz University, then blue and red for her double major in Life Sciences and Sorcery, and green and gold, for her double minor in theater and dance. Then, she turned to Glinda.
Glinda finally picked a dress. She had finally decided on a very pretty pale pink spagethi strap dress. Her hair was straight, and she wore her make up in pale pinks and greens. She slipped into strappy heels, and then pulled on the blue and white sash, followed by the yellow and purple sash, for her major and minor- fashion design and art. Then, she put on her motor board.
"Well?"
Fae looked at Glinda.
"You look great." Smiling, Glinda wrapped Fae in a hug. Then, they turned to Elphaba. She stood quietly going over her speech, and looked up when she felt them staring.
"What?"
"You look great Elphie." Glinda said. "Right Fabla?"
Fae nodded.
"You look beautiful, Mama." She whispered. Elphaba gave her a small smile.
"Thank you."
After making sure they had everything, the three left Crage Hall. Fae joined the others who were watching. All too soon, the graduating class moved towards the seats on the lawn. The ceremony started with Madame Morrible giving the opening speech, and then they went through the various speakers, before getting to the salutitorian, historian, and fianlly, the valadictorian.
Elphaba stepped onto the stage, and moved to the podium. Taking a deep breath, she began,
"By this point in our lives, we are no longer being told to clean our rooms, brush our hair, or go to bed at an early hour. At this point, we know that staying up all night will cause us to oversleep, that failing to fix dinner will mean we go hungry for a night, and that drinking too much coffee will cause us to bounce off the walls and give us major headaches, but we do it anyway."
She looked out at the rest of the class.
"As we close this book, we turn to a new, blank one, ready to begin our lives as individuals, with our own degrees, our own businesses, our own lives. Some of us will open restaurants, some hotels. Some will marry and raise families," She made eye contact with Fiyero. "and some will remain single." She then looked at Glinda. "But no matter what we do, we will have the support of our families and the knowledge that we worked hard for our dreams and goals." She sighed. "And then there are those rare few," a lick of the lips. "who marry into royalty. For me, it seems that I will take the easy road, living in the lap of luxury, with a thousand people's whims at my fingertips. But I don't see it that way. The fact that I married into royalty, is just that, a fact. For even though my husband and I may very well recieve the crown, it doesn't take away the fact that we, just like you, strove to get our degrees. I, opted for a degree in my own name, rather than my husband's. We support each other and work together towards our achievements." A sigh. "As this whole class has, for the last three years. We've supported each other, working towards something that is ours, and ours alone. Each of us should be proud of what we've achieved. For we've become exactly what we strived to be when this story began three years earlier: ourselves. Congratulotions! We did it!" The whole class erupted in applause, as Elphaba made it back to her seat.
Once done, the diplomas were handed out, the tassles changed, and the hats thrown. They were now allowed to congregate in the gazebo, where friends and family waited.
Fae moved through the crowd, searching for Glinda and the others.
"Glinda!"
"Fabla!" The blonde creampuff rushed to her, wrapping the girl in her arms and hugging tight.
"Congratulotions!"
"Thanks."
"Have you see Elphaba?"
"I saw her with Fiyero, but I'm not sure where." Glinda said, brushing a curl off her cheek. "Come on, let's go look."
They searched, until they found the prince and princess standing with the King and Queen of the Vinkus, three little girls with them. Elphaba held one in her arms.
"Elphaba!"
"Elphie!"
The small group looked up, to see Fae and Glinda hurrying to them.
"Hey! Congratulotions!" Fae said, wrapping her arms around Elphaba.
"Thanks."
She hugged Fiyero, before saying something about the girls.
"These are my younger sisters. Sarima, Illnora, and Baxiana. Fabla, these are my parents, Musetta and Manzel. Mother, Father, this is Fae's cousin, Fabla."
"Nice to meet you." Fae said, shaking their hands. Musetta studied her for a minute, as if she'd seen her somewhere before.
Once introductions were over, the small group caught up, and then slowly disperesed. The dorms had been cleaned, and all suitcases and bags sent home.
At the end of the night, as Fae was boarding the carriage-for she was going home with Elphaba and Fiyero- she searched for the two. Slowly, they came out of the shadows, holding hands and talking softly. With a gentle kiss, Fiyero helped his wife into the carriage, climbed in himself, and they settled down for the journey to the Emerald City. They were staying there for the next couple of weeks, due to business, then they'd return home.
Home.
The one thing Fae wanted more than anything.
To be home.