Disclaimer: I unfortunately own nothing of WICKED. All characters/places belong to Gregory Maguire and L. Frank Baum.
Author's Note: This is the penultimate chapter! I feel this part of their lives is winding to a close as the aspect of 'waiting' that surrounded this story no longer exists, but I have already started the sequel to this story. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the anonymous reader James Birdsong who has reviewed almost every chapter. Thanks so much! And please say hello if you're reading - I'd really like to know what you think!
Enjoy! xx
"The Wizard will see you now."
No other phrase could both thrill and terrify Elphaba and Galinda. The big and stylishly bearded guard who would lead them into the throne room turned exactly one hundred and eighty degrees to his right and flicked his staff over his shoulder. The ceremony of it contrasted oddly against the utter boredom of their five hour wait. Galinda had paced anxiously since their arrival at nine o'clock and only grew more frantic as the hours ticked by. After three long, hot and nervous hours she was firmly told to remain seated, after which point Galinda transferred her anxiety to her nails and Elphaba had to hold her hand to prevent her from skinning herself.
The guard harrumphed when they did not respond in enough time to his over-zealous flourish. Still, they stood hesitantly, Fiyero hovering behind them. They had to think carefully to remember how to walk. One foot in front of the other and slowly, allowing the guard to stride further ahead of them.
The governmental buildings were a fascinating sight to behold. Everything and everyone had a purpose. It was on a scale the likes of which not a single one of them had ever seen before. Huge pillars standing over seven levels revealed gloriously green mezzanines and the marble shone so brilliantly they were almost blinded. Of course they had expected nothing less: as with any major city, Elphaba had observed when they were sat in the waiting area, the areas most populated by tourists and officials would be the most cared for. Every urban centre had its poor and destitute., one need only look for them. Galinda sighed at the realisation that her friend would probably want to do exactly that.
It was a long walk to throne room, apparently. The pillars whose bases were taller than six foot high Fiyero drifted into their peripheral vision as no more than walls, and their eyes adjusted to the bright shining stone. Galinda's proud and practiced walk was faltering as her shoes dug into her feet. The clicks of their feet fell out of rhythm and when they finally reached the door, the guard was the only one of their party to remain in his original position and posture.
He said nothing as the doors parted before them but gestured that they should enter and stepped back, leaving them alone, for which they were all very glad.
"I actually cannot see an Oz damned thing." Galinda said, shouting above the whoosh and shump that she guessed were the noises of whatever machine was creating all the mist and smoke. "This has better not be steam, my hair does not respond well to humidity!" She lamented, her features puffing up into a pout.
"I'll say." Elphaba laughed. "When she comes out of the bath and leaves her hair without rollers it goes into such tight curls that you can barely see her face! Like a lion's mane it is!"
"Shut up, Elphie! It's horrendible!"
"Galinda," Fiyero placated her, patting her tamed curls. "Can't you smell that?" He waited and she sniffed, looking confused and annoyed. Elphaba kept laughing. "It's smoke. Steam would be making you sweat, too!" He added as a positive, but Galinda panicked as though she had not heard the first part of his sentence and dabbed her face with a tissue.
"Am I? Oh Oz!"
"I AM OZ!"
"Aaaahhh!" Galinda screamed, jumping behind Elphaba as they stared wide-eyed into the slowly clearing smoke. It parted well, right in the middle like fog in a forest clearing, and they stepped forward together as one entity. Ready to stand together for courage and support.
"I AM OZ! THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE!" A deep and machine-like noise blasted across the cavernous space. As more smoke cleared they could see green and gold lights dancing in the middle distance. "WHO ARE YOU?" Not a voice spoke. They were far too mesmerised by the enormous puppet-like golden head hovering dangerously on a red velvet throne. Elphaba could see that the room was made from Emerald Marble, too. "WHO ARE YOU?"
"Elphaba!" Hissed Galinda, shoving her friend forward.
"Galinda? What are you doing?" Fiyero demanded, reaching out to pull Elphaba back. "What if he shoots at her or something?"
Elphaba ducked from his arms and moved further forward, her eyes dancing with curiosity, almost mirroring the head as she documented its movements. "Don't be ridiculous." She straightened up and raised her voice, proudly. "I am Elphaba Thropp, your terribleness," she exclaimed, more of a break in her voice than she had intended. She dropped a curtsey just in case. "And this-"
"Elphaba?" Came a voice. A softer, more human voice from behind the mammoth head, cutting her off and thoroughly confusing them all. "Elphaba? Is that you?" It asked, incredulously. Suddenly the head dropped dramatically with a deafening clang and Elphaba ran back into Fiyero's arms to await whatever or whoever would come out from behind such an alien structure.
Each of their expressions bore complete surprise when from the throne emerged an average-sized man, grey-haired, wrinkled and not too fat. He wore a grey pin-stripe suit and long coat. He pushed back strange leather goggles Fiyero had once seen pilots wearing and they saw that the lenses were stained black from the smoke of his machine. Was this the famed Wizard of Oz?
Oscar's heart was thumping. He wondered whether they were half as nervous as him. As he rubbed his tired eyes and swept his forehead with a handkerchief, he tried to prepare himself one last time before he laid eyes on his daughter. "Elphaba Thropp?" He asked again, as if he wouldn't know which girl she was.
Elphaba took a step in front of her friends. "Yes?" She heard Galinda cough behind her. Oscar stifled a laugh when he saw her roll her eyes before finishing, "your Ozness."
He let himself laugh now. "Ah yes. I'm sorry about that," he gestured back to the steaming head, "you know, it's important to give people what they want. And people expect this sort of thing!" Elphaba nodded, in complete awe. She put out her hands behind her and felt them filled by Galinda and Fiyero. "And you know, it's hard to hear back there!"
"Of course," She smiled, "uh, I mean of course, your Ozness."
He smiled back at her warmly, more so than any of them thought the man who ran Oz ever could. "Well." He said, and took her hand from Galinda's, leading her forward. She looked just like her mother. Beautiful. Looking at her was like looking at Melena and it only served to strengthen his resolve. "I'm so happy to meet you, Elphaba."
The green girl grinned and excitedly turned to Fiyero and Galinda, ushering them to her side to introduce them. "Thank you, your Ozness. I'm happy to meet you too!"
"Well that's good!" He exclaimed, perhaps too excitedly and then apologised.
"Your Ozness, these are my friends Fiye-"
"Prince Fiyero Tiggular?" He finished. "Honoured to meet you, young man. I know how fast you are becoming the most prominent male in your University. And I hear there's not a finer hunter in all of Oz." Fiyero looked at Elphaba, who shrugged. She was highly impressed by his knowledge of them, though she supposed it was merely research: how difficult was it really to find out about Fiyero? "And Miss Galinda Upland! Of the . . Upper Uplands?"
"Yes!" She responded eagerly, taking his outstretched hand to stand next to Elphaba.
"Ah yes! You are a Sorceress, too. You are very proficient, young lady. I suspect," he said, tapping his nose, "that we shall be seeing you in the public eye in the not too distant future!"
Galinda blushed, stammered for the first time in her life and curtseyed so low Elphaba thought she would have to act as a lever to bring her back up again.
"I'm so happy to be here!" Elphaba said, shaking his hand. "You see, we're not just here for us. I wanted to talk with you about the suffering and persecution of the Animals in Oz."
"Well yes." Oscar responded, lifting half-moon glasses from his breast pocket and placing them knowingly on the bridge of his nose. He prepared the performance he had carefully cultivated over the past weeks for Elphaba and her friends. "I'm very concerned, as you can imagine."
Elphaba exhaled. Truth be told, there was a part of her that worried the Wizard might know of the problems and be permitting them because he could not be bothered, or worse, because he sanctioned them. After all, he did come from another world: perhaps Animals were viewed more harshly in his dimension or maybe they did not exist at all. "I had been noticing the changes at home and at Shiz, and then our professor Doctor Dillamond was taken away and I thought that you ought to be man to appeal to."
"Very shrewd of you Elphaba." He led them to a corner where a meeting table covered in papers, maps and pen and ink stood. It looked important and official. They were all afraid to touch it. "I am aware of the situation. It is quite deeply ingrained in the system, which disturbs me." He leaned over the table. Elphaba frowned at how frail he looked. She softened towards him, thinking how much of a burden it must be on him to have such worries on his mind at such an old age. "Of course, as soon as it became obvious to me how advanced the issue had become I took steps to reverse what I could. I had thought it was the product of the poor and uneducated creating a scapegoat for their problems. As you know, the Animal community is very successful and it does seem to be borne from jealously, though not in every case. I can tell you that you should begin to notice drastic changes to the laws that had been put in place under my nose, for which I am," he sighed, "utterly ashamed."
Elphaba thanked him. "This is . . . such good news. I'm so happy. I don't know what to say. I wonder . . . I wonder then what has happened to our professor." Elphaba was speaking to Galinda, who shook her head. "I'm sorry, he was a very great Goat. He understood how I felt because of . . . well." She said, knowing he was aware of the condition she referred to. Oscar felt a pain in his heart.
"I shall make you a promise, Miss Elphaba Thropp." She turned to fully face the Wizard of Oz. "I shall make it my personal task to discover the whereabouts of your Doctor Dillamond, and bring him in safety to Shiz."
"I cannot quite believe that just happened." Elphaba was the first to speak once they had left the throne room. Not a word was uttered between them as they were led (this time down a different passage) from the building and out into the sunshine. It was a wonderful day. "Oz!" She exclaimed, excitement rushing through her suddenly. She squealed, making Fiyero jump as she threw herself into his arms.
"I'm so proud of you, Fae." He said, pulling back to kiss her.
Further down the street, Nanda and Minas Tiggular watched their son pull his girlfriend in for a kiss on a public street. A year ago, this would have humiliated them and resulted in a long and pointless argument. Now, they smiled and exchanged looks. They looked forward to the day Fiyero would tell them Elphaba was to be their daughter-in-law. As Nanda squeezed her husband's arm, she caught eyes with Galinda Upland. "Well hello there, Miss Upland? How are you? Still reeling from your visit? Speechless?"
Minas laughed his booming chuckle., dipping his head in a subtle bow to the blonde. "Galinda Upland, speechless? That'll be the day, don't you think Miss Upland?"
Galinda smiled and skipped forward to them. "Please, it's Galinda, your Highness."
"And it's Minas, Galinda."
"How was it? Good, I hope?" Nanda inquired, after insisting she also call her by her first name.
"Oh! OH! It was exceptional! You know, he said that there were careers waiting for all three of us here, in the Emerald City, when we graduated! Can you imagine it? I'm so happy! It's like all my dreams have come true all at once. And you can ask Elphaba, she is on cloud nine!" Nanda giggled at the sheer joy she saw in Galinda Upland. "Well, but this is such a surprise seeing you here! Were you visiting?"
"No indeed." Minas replied, beaming in anticipation of asking what the Wizard had promised Elphaba and Fiyero, whom he could see still in each other's arms on the promenade. "Fiyero invited us." Galinda smiled. "A surprise." He half-whispered.
"Well this is fantabulous! Oh goodness, what a day!"
Elphaba kissed Fiyero's chin, tickling the hair on the back of his neck. "This is the greatest day of my life."
"Yes?" He asked, holding her arms and kissing her upper lip once, twice. "What a coincidence, mine too. I never though I'd be in a position like this."
Elphaba wondered if she were the happiest person in Oz on that day, having just met the Wizard and standing in the embrace of the man she loved. "You know, Yero. I wanted this so badly, and yet I don't think it would be half so good if it weren't for Galinda and you, my hero." Fiyero looked into her eyes, brimming. "You make me happier than I ever thought I could be. I love you."
"Same goes, sweetheart. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you, too." He pressed his lips to her forehead and looked up. "Oh look!" He said in the direction of his parents and Galinda. "They're here." Elphaba craned to see them and a new smile spread across her features. "A surprise. They're taking us out tonight."
"Fiyero! You should have told me and I would have looked forward to it. I don't really like surprises, either. But I love this."
"Really? Well thank Oz for that." Elphaba batted his arm playfully and laughed. "Let's say hello then."
Nanda watched her son and the love of his life approach and interrupted her husband in the middle of his speech. "Minas, look. We should speak to them now while they've torn themselves apart long enough to converse with other people."
Elphaba knew she meant it as a joke, but she was still embarrassed and reminded herself that she did not like it when he kissed her so passionately in public. It was the emotion of the day that had gotten to her and she knew she would give into it again and more than once before the night was through. If they were going out, that meant dancing and Fiyero would want to do just that with her.
But she brushed away her dread of dancing. It was not a day for bad or worried thoughts: they had spent so much of the morning in such a state that she decided to help make the rest of it as happy as possible. "I'm so sorry about that. He . . . uh I . . . we just-"
Nanda held up a hand. "No need, Elphaba. I hear you lot are set to be the next big thing in our little land. Congratulotions, my dear." She leaned forward and kissed Elphaba on the cheek, trying not to blush when she caught the scent of her son mixed with the perfume she knew he had given her. So they were that close, then. Nanda lit up inside. Elphaba really did deserve her son and that was something she never thought she would say. But after all, what other girl had ever had such a positive effect on Fiyero? Woman, Nanda corrected herself, taking in Elphaba's stature and demeanor, she is very much a woman.
"Now, has Fiyero told you? We are taking you out this evening." Minas informed them.
"What? Really?" Galinda waited for them to nod their affirmation. "That's so lovely of you."
"Ah but this is not just any evening out." Nanda watched Fiyero's face go from knowing excitement to pleasant confusion. His expression now matched the girls'. "Your father and I are hosting a dinner for the family and friends here in the City to celebrate . . . well all of us happening to be here, it just seemed too coincidental to let it pass by and now," she paused, looking to Elphaba, "we are also celebrating you all."
Elphaba flushed at her pointed reference to her relationship with Fiyero. "Wow." Was all she could muster, but she heard Fiyero thank them from behind her and felt him squeeze her hand. She saw Galinda looking over at her, sending her a warning look. "It sounds wonderful, but we didn't bring anything half so suitable for something like that-"
Nanda put up a hand. "I won't hear of any protests my dears. We will of course be spending this afternoon in the City and it shouldn't be too difficult to find appropriate dresswear."
"Shopping?" Nanda nodded. "Shopping!" Galinda squealed, trying to calm herself when she remembered Elphaba would not react in the same way to this news.
"Don't worry, Elphaba." Minas whispered. "We'll be with you the whole time, and we are definitely seeing some museums. I demand it."
Elphaba took Fiyero's arm when he offered it. "Thank Oz for your father, Yero. Or you'd be watching me run in the opposite direction right now." Fiyero only held her tighter, frightened that by the end of this surprise family evening, running was exactly what Elphaba would want to do.
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