Disclaimer: I do not, nor shall I ever, own any of the WICKED characters or places. They belong to Gregory Maguire and Baum.
Author's Note: This is chapter is a bit of filler, but necessary. I would never give you a pointless chapter!
Enjoy! x
Galinda felt slightly more at ease with herself and her actions after a few well-made cups of tea and reassurance from Elphaba. She had settled on trying to put it behind her and had, in her Galinda way, decided that within roughly two weeks they could all discuss it again and she would laugh with them at her own stupidity. Elphaba had nodded along at this plan, knowing that giving it much more attention would make her friend think it was worse that it really was.
Elphaba did wonder at Galinda's reaction though. That it had been more about her not keeping herself for her husband and less about her own humiliation. She had calmed once she had been convinced that no one of importance could have seen her: Fiyero had reminded her that she had put out such a persona of goodness and obedience that no one would believe such a rumour even if it was spread all over campus. Elphaba knew how groomed all of those Gillikin girls were and how planned out their entire lives had been and she hoped that Galinda could see that she was so much more than a Sorority Wife.
She thought of her own life: her father certainly didn't think enough about her to consider her future. Sometimes she thought he intended her to remain at home after University and care for Nessa, or that she would become the Eminent Thropp. She knew he hated the idea of his green unwanted daughter as the head of the family and the whole of Munchkinland, but her position as the eldest was nonnegotiable and she was glad of the job she had been born into because it would give the rest of her life some purpose and drive.
Then she had come to Shiz. Elphaba had never thought she could be anything more than what Munchkinland would give her, but here was a whole land of opportunities and a whole new breed of people that thought like she did. People and Animals who were motivated and not easily fooled.
Frexspar had brought up his girls under strict religious codes and practices and Nessarose, being the youngest and desperate to please had lapped it all up as the undeniable and incontrovertible truth. Elphaba, largely ignored during her childhood and not treated as much more than a housekeeper and second Nanny for her sister, had dismissed most of it and used what she could to learn about people and how they thought. She was always an observer and it served her well. Now she soaked things up like a sponge and she never felt more alive than when she was learning.
Or when she was with her friends. She knew the type: people of like-mindedness to oneself who shared similar backgrounds, interests and feelings. Of course this genuine concept of trust was now not completely new to her, and she was learning through these people what it meant to share. Fiyero had been a big leap for her and he had forced her to change her attitude about herself for the better. Friends she had never had but always wanted, and so it was not totally shocking when she finally made some. But a boyfriend? A lover? Truth be told when she was little she sometimes thought of being kissed and she knew from a younger age than was probably appropriate what sex was, but love was not something she had ever considered to belong to her. Every time Fiyero said he loved her she felt incomparably happy.
But all his comforting words and all her intuitive learning could not ease her nerves as the date of her meeting with the Wizard drew closer and closer. On the outside, Galinda was the mess as she was to come, too, being part of the Sorcery tutorial group. Fiyero cared on behalf of Elphaba but was particularly worried. According to his mother's letter, Fiyero had been before to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard and though he had not actually seen him the experience had been fairly forgettable as far as nerves went.
"I don't know how you can be so relaxed." Galinda huffed at her friend as she flipped over her laminated 'Emerald City Checklist' for the hundredth time. "I couldn't sit down!"
Elphaba turned the page of her book, making a drama of how at peace she was and for once taking pleasure from Galinda's high-pitched demands and silly assumptions about how much could and would go wrong. "You're not trying. And since when do you ever just 'sit down'? It would be a waste of time anyway. But I will say that you've checked everything and everything has been packed. May I remind you however that we are going for two days not two weeks." She added with a nod to Galinda's reticules.
"But I need to account for every eventuality. What if it rains? What if, Oz forbid, the whole fashion scene has changed since I last looked and I am completely out of style, hmm?" She whined.
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Since you last looked? When was that? Five seconds ago?"
"Maybe." Galinda admitted, sheepishly.
Elphaba slid off her bed and put her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "You are going to be fine. It's not as if he's going to ask us to do magic. He'll ask us about what we're studying etcetera and then hopefully he'll let us ask a few questions. Now close those cases and relax and I will get the door."
Galinda frowned. "There's no one at the door!"
Elphaba paused a moment. Sure enough, excited knocks sounded from the suite and Galinda smiled, impressed. "That's them, then. Come on, be excited! This evening was your idea!"
It was their last night in Shiz before they left for the Emerald City and Galinda had organised a little rendezvous in their suite to celebrate (her words). That entire morning had been spent decorating, though Elphaba had made some serious demands about keeping the theme light: "We are not hosting an evening for the Wizard, Galinda, put the sequins away." She had warned. It had been an effort removing Fiyero from Elphaba's side in itself and Galinda had had to call in Boq and the boys to distract him. She could hear them all arriving now and her nerves disappeared to be replaced with happiness.
"Fae!" Fiyero exclaimed when she opened the door. He was in front, stepped towards her and caught her in a much more fervent kiss than she was usually happy to display publicly.
"Yero!" She whispered into his lips, pulling on his shirt angrily though Fiyero certainly didn't take it that way. "Not in -"
He kissed her quiet. "We're not in public. They don't care."
"Kiss away, lovebirds. We don't care." Crope echoed from the sofas.
"Well of course you don't care." Elphaba remarked, allowing Fiyero to pull her in for longer.
Once they had all settled, Crope, Tibbett, Boq, Galinda, Fiyero and Elphaba cracked open the smuggled in alcohol and kept it flowing.
"Okay, but not too much for some people." Tibbet winked in Galinda's direction. Elphaba shot him a look but it seemed to her that Galinda was deciding whether or not it was time for her to be able to laugh. She could almost hear the blonde counting the number of days in her head. Eventually, as the number reached fourteen and then fifteen, Galinda made a face and chuckled. "Well, thank Oz for that. Though you were gonna lynch me there for a moment, Galinda."
"Well, I mean really!" Galinda responded non-committally. She delicately sipped her wine. It was imperative, now that she had broadcast her little impromptu sleepover to her friends, that she up the ante on her 'Upper Uplands' attitude.
"What's Uni for, except making random uh . . . visits like Galinda's?" The blonde frowned at Boq, though not really mad. "S'not as if she's doing it every hour, like these two!"
"Hey!" Elphaba snapped. Fiyero belying her defense by kissing her neck. "Yero, you don't help things."
They continued, much in the same fashion for hours. No one could remember exactly when they had arrived or how long they had been there. No one cared to look at a clock and the wine and beer were gone through until the suds that had risen in their glasses swam hazily in their eyes. Eventually, as it dawned on Galinda that they really did have an early morning and that it would not be prudent to be throwing up on the train journey, she began to shove them out the door. Boq thoughtfully helped clean the stained glasses and made a nice pile of the chaotic number of empty bottles scattered over the coffee table.
"Remember us when your faces are plastered all over Oz, girls!" Bog shouted as he waved goodbye.
Galinda found it utterly hilarious that Elphaba was so taken with the beauty of the Emerald City. Fiyero had woken them, sleeping quietly on the train after their late night, so they might watch their approach to the famous town. Galinda had been almost shrieking with excitement, but it was Elphaba who was near tears with joy and she linked her fingers with Fiyero's just to be sure that it was all real. For Fiyero, he found it more amusing to watch his girlfriend and the smile that spread across her features he had never seen before. It lit a fire in both their hearts that Elphaba was about to face her future.
Elphaba figured she had more of a chance of success here than anywhere else. Here, the playing field was leveled out and everyone was equal. No one could see that she was green and no one stared, not even out of curiosity. Her voice would speak for itself and Elphaba felt like she could fly.
As they drew closer, the spot of glinting green that had hovered poignantly in the distance for hours became gradually more defined and more brilliant. It shone and dazzled them before they had even arrived. The modernity of it all was thrillifying! The skyscrapers tickled the sky and loomed beautifully like canopies protecting them from the ignorance that was abundant and fell like monsoon rains in the rest of Oz and were more inspiring than frightening. They had been worried the importance of it all would intimidate them, but that they were there together, as a trio, provided each person with the security that allowed them to feel more liberated than if they were on their own. It helped that Fiyero had been there before, that Galinda had read those broadsheets and that Elphaba had read the newspapers: between them they could avoid the backstreets of boredom and keep themselves fully occupied with sightseeing, dining and shopping.
Though Madame Morrible had, before her death, arranged for them to stay in City Student Hostels, Fiyero had called and cancelled when he had been invited. "No girlfriend of mine is staying in those wretched rooms." He had argued, and though Elphaba had protested that she and Galinda were perfectly capable of looking after themselves in the city, her words fell on deaf ears once Fiyero showed them where he was booking and Galinda had laid eyes on their accommodation. She had piped in that her parents would be much more amiable to their new rooms and Elphaba had been vetoed.
"Oh Sweet Oz, Fiyero, these rooms . . !"
Galinda had trailed off into hers once they had arrived and followed the burdened porters, while Fiyero watched Elphaba walk to the window and stare almost dreamily at the view. Emerald City nightlife was incomparable and the happiness radiating from her, palpable. He fought through it to put his arms around her.
"Thank you, Yero." She whispered finally, the peppy tones of Galinda drifting through from next door to reaffirm the sentiment. "You didn't have to do this."
"I wanted you to have the best of the City, at least when you're sleeping. You can know that you'll return somewhere warm and comfortable and that you're things will be safe."
"My things?" She asked.
"Alright, Galinda's things." Elphaba laughed.
When darkness had fully settled on the Emerald City and the clock tipped over to declare it was the next morning and therefore their day of reckoning, they went to bed to sleep off the last of the alcohol from the night before and allow themselves an easy morning.
Elphaba's eyes opened lazily, not like the snapped reaction she had when she was having a nightmare. She'd had a vision. Hazy and vague like they always were but a vision nonetheless. This one was unusual in that it had been in her sleep, her only clue that it was a vision and not a dream was her calm response to it and how real it had been. She could smell that it had taken place in the Kiamo Ko library and that she had been resting against Fiyero's back. As was expected, it had been difficult to put her finger on what exactly had happened, but it was happening in her mind and it would happen one day.
She could not, however, shake the feeling of worry from her mind. It was definitely nothing to do with the Wizard, that had been far from it, and she sat up in an effort to more clearly remember what had been the point of the vision. Was it just the literal personification of her belief that she and Fiyero would be together forever and happily so? It seemed like it had been more than that.
She just could not remember, and the more she tried the more the memory of it slipped away piece by piece, image by image. The warmth and darkness of the room that had brought her comfort before now seemed constricting and suffocating. She grew frustrated and panicked at her own inadequacies. "Oz!" She cried quietly and put her hands over her ears, blocking out the quiet. It was too quiet.
"Elphaba!" She suddenly registered Fiyero's face in front of hers. He put his hands over hers and brought them down slowly. "It's alright, you're fine." He said, soothingly. "Fae . . . what happened?" He asked, feeling slightly worried that she was not speaking. "Sweetheart." He put his arms around her and held her close. Elphaba closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, breathing deeply. In and out. In and out, until her heartbeat matched his.
"Sorry," she said. "I had a vision."
"A vision? How do you know, are you sure it wasn't a nightmare?" Elphaba explained to him her reasoning. He kissed her softly to bring her out of her self-imposed stupor. Elphaba kept her head still, and let him touch their lips together again and again. She smiled. "You said you were happy in the vision?"
"We were both happy."
"Then let yourself forget about it. You don't need this now, Elphaba. You'll meet the Wizard today. The Wizard of Oz, Fae!" He succeeded in coaxing a smile from her. Elphaba knew the vision was important and she could tell he thought so, too. But he was right: she did not have the time or energy to be dealing with it in the middle of the night. Tomorrow, maybe, when they had finished in the government buildings, she could close her eyes for a bit in the hopes that it might drift back.
"Yero, my hero." She whispered as they lay back onto the pillows to sleep and he let her wrap her body around his.
In his own bed, the Wizard lay comfortably. He wondered how excited Miss Thropp and her friends were, and he hoped he could live up to their expectations. Months had gone into the preparation of this meeting and he had resolved to reveal his human form to them. He reasoned that it would instill in Elphaba the idea that he trusted her more than most, more than anyone. He had offers to make her. Opportunities to give, especially when he had learned what her life had been in Munchkinland.
That it had broken his heart to think she was his and yet so badly treated was a severe understatement. Her father (he supposed the man still deserved the title) Frexspar was little known to him, though they had met whilst he had stayed in Colwen Grounds. Oscar wanted to make amends with Elphaba for whatever he had failed to provide as the man who had raised her. He had everything to give and more.
In his research, Oscar had noticed the volume of time she had spent with Fiyero Tiggular, the Crown Prince of the Vinkus and second in line to the throne. He discovered that she had holidayed at his castle in the winter. She must be in love with this boy, and though he too was aware of the less-than-favourable reputation of Prince Fiyero he knew he had no right to be making such judgements for Elphaba, no matter how much she belonged to him biologically.
But he was getting ahead of himself. First step was to merely make it known to Elphaba that she had a life, a career here if she wanted it, to continue his efforts to hide his part in the oppression of the Animals and to emphasise his attempts to reverse all the laws and negative attitudes against them.
That night Oz prayed to the Wizard and the Wizard prayed to God.
The Wizard will see you now!