Chapter 83. Memories

Rifiuto: Non Miniera

Thanks to Akasharouge, -TARDISgal-, and Elphaba1Fan for reviewing 82.

Question: What is Older Fae up to?

Answer: You'll see......err, read......

Question: If its been 12 yrs in the past, how long has it been in the 'normal' time? is it the same?

Answer: It's been about......five-six months in 'normal' time. The past runs faster than the present.

Elphaba slipped into her daughter's room back at Kiamo Ko. With the soft click of the door, Elphaba closed her eyes, and took deep breaths. Slowly, her dark eyes opened, and she looked around the room.

Fae's handcarved sleigh bed, made of the finest Quoxwood, sat across from the door. Her handcarved vanity sat next to the closet. Her emerald green plush armchair sat near the balcony window, in front of her bookshelves. The small Quoxwood nightstand-also handmade-sat next to the bed. The door to Fae's walk-in closet was still open.

Gently, Elphaba pushed herself away from the door, and moved about the room. Slowly, Elphaba reached out, and ran her hand along the foot of her daughter's sleigh bed. Then, she moved towards the vanity. Her daughter's make up and hair brush lay scattered on top. Taking a deep breath, Elphaba picked up her daughter's small, silver hand mirror. On the back, were Fae's engraved initals.

FIRT.

Fae Illnora Rose Tiggular.

Her own reflection stared back at her. Through her tears, she saw Fae staring back at her. With the blink of an eye, the image was gone, and Elphaba set the mirror down. She moved to the armchair, and picked up the book tucked into the corner of the chair.

Mirror Mirror. By Gregory Maguire.

"Hey. Time for bed, mi tesoro."

Fae looked up from her book, to see her mother standing in the doorway of her bedroom.

"But Mama, just let me finish this one chapter...."

"...and then you'll go to bed?" Elphaba finished, coming into the room and sitting on her daughter's sleigh bed. "Where have I heard that excuse before? Oh, yeah, I've used that excuse before."

"But Mama...."

"No excuses, mi tesoro. Bed. Now."

Fae sighed, and bookmarked her page. Then, she laid the book on her chair, and got up.

"Night Mama." She said, kissing her mother gently.

"Goodnight my darling." Elphaba whispered, holding Fae close. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mama."

Elphaba replaced the book, and moved to the bed. Her daughter's dark emerald green bedspread was smooth, and contrasted beautifully with the dark Quoxwood. Her eyes wandered to the stuffed cat Fae had had since she was a baby. The animal had been there when Fae was born.

A scream soon escaped her lips, as she pushed. After a few minutes, she relaxed, before moaning again. Another scream pierced the air, and she pushed hard. She let out a scream, as she felt every muscle in her body tense. Pain. Unadulterated, undeniable pain.

"Aah. I can't do this! Aah! Aaaaaaaah! Aah! Ugggggggggggghhhhhhh! Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

Finally, with one last push, her daughter entered the world.

Elphaba lifted her newborn daughter from between her thighs and held her against her chest. Tears welled in her eyes, and she wiped them away, as she got a good look at her child.

Black hair. Beautiful, raven hair. Warm brown eyes. And.....

...green skin.

The tears spilled over.

"My skin. She has my skin. Oz Fiyero, I'm so sorry. If I--"

"Shh. Azzittire, mi amata. She's beautiful. Simply beautiful. Green skin and all." He told his wife, kissing her temple.

"What are you going to name her?" Musetta asked. Elphaba thought a moment, lip between her teeth. Then, she sat up, looking down at the child in her arms.

"Fae."

"Fae?" Musetta asked. Fiyero looked at his wife, asking silently with his eyes. She nodded softly in return.

"Yes." Elphaba said, looking up at the two.

"Fae Illnora Rose Tiggular."

"Fae? Why Fae?" Musetta asked.

"Remember the story I told you, after Yero and I got married? It happened. And....Fae....was me. And when I.....when she......passed away.....I never forgave myself for somehow feeling responsible. Like I couldn't stop it if I wanted to. But.....I think I can feel peace with my little girl. My little Fae. I love her dearly." Musetta nodded.

"Well, then every royal child needs a royal pet." She said, pulling the stuffed pink cat out from behind her back.

"It's custom in the Vinkus for every royal child to recieve a stuffed animal from the grandparents. The animal has their birthstone on it and their name." Fiyero said.

"Like Liir's stuffed raven?"

He nodded, kissing her temple. Elphaba took the cat, and looked at it, a smile on her face.

The tears slid down Elphaba's cheeks as she held the cat to her chest. Slowly, she moved to the closet, and was met with the open closet door. She ran her hand over the clothing hanging in it, and stopped, her fingers gently rubbing the soft silk of the black dress Fae had worn on her sixteenth birthday.

"You think she'll like it?"

"She should. It's her party."

"Yero, you know she's like me. She's not exactly one for social gatherings."

"Didn't you enjoy your sweet sixteen?"

"I don't think I had one."

"Well, then this is yours and Fae's."

"Oh Yero."

The drums sounded, and the dancers stopped, to see Fae standing at the top of the stairs. Her long black hair was pulled back in an elaborate twist, like her mother's, and her black, off the shoulder, silk gown clung to her body, the slight bell of the skirt perfect for Fae's slight form.

"She's beautiful, isn't she, Yero?" Elphaba asked, pulling her husband's arms around her waist. "She's grown into a beautiful young woman." Her husband coughed.

"She's not a woman. She's a little girl." Elphaba rolled her eyes, and turned in her husband's arms.

"Yero. Don't go getting all fatherly possessive now. She's sixteen, and when she turns eighteen, she'll go off to Shiz. She's growing up, and you need to accept it." He snorted.

"She'll go off to Shiz over my dead body. And she's not sixteen, she's six, she just looks sixteen. And I can be fatherly possessive if I want. I have every right. I'm her father, and I'll be possessive if I damn well want to be possessive. I'm her father."

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Just.....don't do anything stupid to embarass her tonight, Yero. It's her sweet sixteen, let her enjoy it." He growled as he watched a young man approach his daughter to help her down the last couple of stairs to the ballroom floor.

"I won't make any promises." The queen rolled her eyes, and patted her husband's hand. Swiftly, he pulled his wife until she was flush against him, his eyes still on the young man conversing with his little girl.

"Oh Yero, you never do."

"Well, how was it? I didn't trip, or fall, or anything. Are you proud of me?" Fae asked, when she'd reached her parents.

"We'll always be proud of you, my sweet." Elphaba said, taking her daughter's hand. She felt her husband let go, and looked up, to see her husband take her daughter's hand.

"Yes, well, as the king, and your father, I have the honor of leading you in the first dance." Fiyero said.

"Daddy."

"Let him sweetheart. Otherwise, he'll watch the other men possessively all night. Well, he'll do that anyway, but just let him. He's your father, after all." Elphaba said. Fae sighed.

"Daddy, you won't, will you?"

"I won't make any promises." He said, leading her onto the dance floor.

Elphaba's shoulders shook, as she slid to the floor, and sat, the cat to her chest, sobbing.