AN. This chapter answers a few questions I've been getting a lot! I've spent all afternoon putting together bookshelves- and now I'm exhausted.

Fifteen

If someone had told Elphaba six months ago that she would be best friends and roommates with Galinda Upland and dating Fiyero Tiggular, she would have laughed at the mere absurdity of such an idea.

Yet here she was, not only both those ideas a reality, but with a close and steady circle of friends.

It was March at Shiz, and she and Fiyero had been dating for almost two months. They were taking things slow and getting to know one another; Elphaba couldn't help herself from being unsure of herself, but as time went on, she was gaining more and more confidence. Neither knew how long it would last, but weren't really too worried about that at the moment. Elphaba was very conscious, however, of the fact Fiyero's parents didn't approve of her. Fiyero hadn't said as much, but after they'd been going out for a month, he'd told her about his parents and the conversation they'd had at Lurlinemas.

Elphaba had put on a brave face, and made light of it, she'd been rejected pretty much since birth- literally; and this was nothing different. Fiyero had felt bad, but Elphaba assured him it was much better she knew the truth from the beginning.

And Elphaba and Galinda's friendship was stronger than ever. Galinda had taken it upon herself to give Elphaba fashion advice, including encouraging her to wear her glasses only when she absolutely had to.

"You should show off your pretty eyes," she argued, until Elphaba gave in.

Elphaba knew she should have been happier than she'd ever been before, and in several ways, she was. But the more settled and confident she felt with her studies, friends and Fiyero; the more she had a nagging feelings something was missing. She just wasn't sure what.

"So, what are we doing for your birthday?" Fiyero asked her one day as they and Galinda were heading to class.

Elphaba was surprised. "You remember my birthday?"

Fiyero nodded. "April twelfth. You're an Aries. I told you our signs were compatible, remember?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, if our signs are compatible," she said sarcastically.

Galinda jumped in hastily. "Elphie! It's your birthday in two weeks, and you didn't say anything? How old will you be?"

"Twenty one," Elphaba replied reluctantly. "And we don't know for sure that that's when I was born."

"What do you mean?" Fiyero questioned.

Elphaba gave them the same explanation she'd told Nessa and Boq months ago. "I was found on the orphanage doorstep on April thirteenth. A doctor estimated by my size I was less than a day old, so they assumed I was born on April twelfth. But it's still just a guess."

Galinda dismissed that. "OK, so what are we going to do? Dinner? A party at the OzDust? Wait, what day is your birthday on?"

"A Sunday," Elphaba replied. "Galinda, we don't have to do anything."

"Of course we do!" Galinda insisted. "Let's see- so it's you, me, Fiyero, Nessa, Boq, Fyonn, Cailean... is there anyone else you'd like to invite? People from work, maybe?"

Elphaba thought about that for a moment, and then shook her head. "No one at work is really a friend."

Galinda nodded. "OK. So, maybe it's better just to have dinner then. So, you'd probably prefer not to go to Identity then. Where could we go?"

She and Fiyero began suggesting restaurants around town as possibilities. Elphaba half-listened, and then something struck her. She abruptly remembered what April twelfth was, in addition to her birthday. It was the anniversary of Nessarose's father death. Elphaba remembered Nessa saying it was a painful day, and she doubted Nessa would feel like celebrating Elphaba's birthday.

She thought of saying something to Galinda and Fiyero, but wasn't sure if Nessa wanted this to be public knowledge.

Instead, later that night, Elphaba slipped over to Madame Morrible's compartments, where Nessarose lived in order to be assisted as needed by the Headshizstress herself.

"Hi, Elphaba. What's going on?" Nessa smiled as Elphaba sat down in the chair offered to her.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Elphaba began and Ness frowned.

"Ok?"

"Galinda and Fiyero are planning something for my birthday," she explained. "And I just wanted to come and tell you… that I know that day isn't something you look upon with fond memories, so I will completely understand if you don't want to come. I won't be offended."

Nessa looked surprised, and she said nothing for a moment.

"Thank you," she said finally. "That's really sweet of you to say, Elphaba. And you're right, that isn't one of my favourite days," she admitted. "But you're my friend. I'd really like to celebrate your birthday with you."

Elphaba smiled. "Thank you. But if you change your mind, I understand," she assured her.

Nessarose laughed and leaned forward in her chair to hug Elphaba.

"I'll keep that in mind."

She was smiling, but she looked sad and Elphaba couldn't help but notice.

"You must miss him."

"I do," Nessarose nodded sadly. "It was such an awful accident…"

Elphaba hesitated. "What happened? If you don't mind me asking," she added hastily.

Nessa shook her head. "Of course not. Um… well, I was sixteen. He fell down the stairs and he broke his neck. He was killed instantly."

Elphaba's eyes widened. "That's horrendible. For you and your mother."

Nessarose nodded again, slowly this time. "Can I… can I confide in you, Elphaba?"

Elphaba was surprised. "If you want to."

The younger girl took a deep breath. "My mother had a drinking problem. For years since I was a child. That night, my father was helping her up the stairs because she was drunk. They were arguing, I could hear them from my bedroom. She tried to push him away, saying she didn't need his help, and then he fell."

Elphaba didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Nessa."

Nessa smiled faintly. "My mother's been through a lot. She and my father lost a baby two years before I was born. A girl, she was born stillborn. And I don't really think my mother ever recovered from that. When I was born and the midwife told my parents I'd never walk… I think that was the last straw."

"It couldn't have been easy, growing up like that," Elphaba sympathised.

Nessarose shrugged. "My father and I were very close, which helped. And my mother didn't really have a problem until I was about eight. But my mother's been sober for a year and a half now."

"That's really good," Elphaba smiled. "It must have been hard for her, going through everything like that."

"I didn't even know about my sister until I was five," Nessarose admitted. "It's too hard for my parents to talk about. I heard about it from Boq's mother."

The two girls spoke for a few more moments, and then Elphaba said goodbye and returned to her room.

The next day, Fiyero came up to Elphaba as she was leaving the building for a shift at Identity.

"Hey," he greeted her, kissing her quickly.

"Hi," Elphaba returned, smiling at him. "What's going on?"

"I," Fiyero sang, wrapping an arm around her waist as he fell into step with her. "Found the perfect place to have your birthday dinner, because I am the wonderful, amazing guy that I am."

Elphaba laughed and he raised an eyebrow at her playfully.

"Are you saying I'm not wonderful and amazing, Miss Fae?"

"I wouldn't dare," Elphaba deadpanned, trying to keep a straight face. "So, where is this perfect place?"

"I don't know if I want to tell you now," Fiyero said in mock hurt.

But he didn't last long under Elphaba's pointed stare before caving in. "Yeah, okay. You know that place Odessa's?"

Elphaba knew it, and her stomach dropped. That was the first restaurant she had gone to for work- the one that had threatened to call the authorities if she didn't leave.

She smiled weakly at Fiyero. "Yeah, I know it. Sounds great."

She didn't know why she didn't tell Fiyero about her experience there, the truth is, the memory of it still made her cringe. At the thought of going back there, she felt ill.

"Listen," she said suddenly, turning to him. "I've got to run or I'll be late for work."

Fiyero didn't question her. "Sure. What time do you finish?"

"Seven."

"I'll pick you up after?" he suggested and she smiled, more genuinely this time.

"Ok," she agreed.

Fiyero kissed her again and she hurried off, wondering what to do.

Every time the topic came up in conversation over the next few weeks, Elphaba contributed little to the conversation, but no one seemed to notice. Galinda and Fiyero were both excited about the plans, and Elphaba didn't have the heart to break the truth to them.

On the Friday before her birthday, when the mail was delivered, it brought Elphaba a lovely card and bracelet from Kistine. Some of the other children at the orphanage who knew Elphaba had signed the card, which made her smile.

"That's so sweet!" Galinda cried, looking at it as Elphaba displayed it on her nightstand proudly next to the framed horoscope from Fiyero.

"I didn't realise how much I missed some of the kids," she admitted. "But it's nice when you know that some of them are missing because they've been adopted."

"It must have been hard," Galinda said quietly. "Growing up and watching all the other children get adopted."

Elphaba shrugged. "By the time I got to about ten, I knew it wasn't going to ever happen. Most people want to adopt babies. Once you get over five, it's rarer and rarer you'll be adopted."

"And you don't know anything about your birth parents?" Galinda asked.

Elphaba hesitated. "No. I mean… not official."

Galinda frowned. "What does that mean?"

Elphaba took a deep breath and sat down, looking at Galinda solemnly. "I have dreams. For as long as I can remember. They never make sense, and they're usually just… flashes. Kistine took me to see a woman once about it… Yackle. A magic woman. Yackle seemed to believe that these… dreams, were signs about my birth parents."

Galinda's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Sweet Oz! Really? Dreams? Like magic?"

Elphaba shrugged modestly. "I don't know, I guess. Like I said, I don't know what they mean."

"What kind of flashes do you get?" Galinda demanded, eager for details.

Elphaba sighed thoughtfully. "It's usually a few same images. Lightning… an Antelope…"

Galinda looked confused. "That means…"

"Nothing, I know," Elphaba finished. "See what I mean? The only other thing I have is this."

She reached into her nightstand drawer and pulled out the green glass bottle, which she handed to Galinda.

"This was with me on the doorstep."

Galinda took it gingerly. "Wow. I've never seen anything like this before."

"Me neither."

"You've never thought of trying to use this to find anything out about your parents?"

Elphaba shook her head. "There was a time when I was about fifteen when I used to look in all the shop windows that sold stuff like this in case I saw something similar, but… then I gave up. I mean, my parents… they gave me up for a reason. Which I'm guessing isn't really a mystery," she muttered, looking at her green hands.

Galinda frowned and jumped up to sit on Elphaba's bed next to her friend. "Elphie, you mustn't think like that! For all you know, your parents had a very good reason for giving you up! Maybe they couldn't take care of you. Maybe they- they died. You don't know. You shouldn't assume the worst," she scolded lightly.

Elphaba smiled slightly. "Thanks, Galinda."

The blonde hugged her. "You're welcome."

When Elphaba's birthday finally dawned, she was rudely awoken by a knock on the door. Galinda woke up at the sound too, and groaned.

"What time is it?" she croaked sleepily.

Elphaba reluctantly rolled over and looked at her alarm clock, and then she groaned too.

"Seven o'clock," she replied.

"Who in Oz name is up at this hour on a Sunday?" Galinda demanded.

"Answer the door and find out," Elphaba retorted, shutting her eyes again.

There was another knock, louder this time.

"You answer it," Galinda snapped back. She was so not a morning person.

Elphaba was tempted to argue back that it was her birthday, which meant she shouldn't have to answer the door, but instead she got up and grabbed her robe, running her fingers through her hair as she headed for the door.

She jumped slightly as she opened the door to find Fiyero, Fyonn and Cailean standing in the hall. Fyonn was holding the strings to a large bunch of balloons; Cailean was holding a candlelit cake, chocolate with the words Happy Birthday Fae in green icing; and Fiyero was in the centre with a bouquet of flowers and a present.

Before she could say anything, they began to sing.

"Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Elphaba, Happy birthday to you!"

Elphaba blushed furiously with embarrassment. They were making no trouble to keep their voices down, and she was worried the noise would wake other students up.

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Galinda exclaimed, appearing at Elphaba's shoulder.

Elphaba didn't know whether to laugh or hit them.

"You guys," she began, but didn't know how to finish it.

"Happy birthday, Fae!" Fiyero grinned, leaning forward to kiss her.

"Quick, blow out the candles," Cailean ordered her, stepping forward with the cake.

Elphaba was about to protest, but at pointed looks from all three boys and Galinda, she merely rolled her eyes and did as requested.

"These are for you," Fyonn said with a small obeisance, handing her the balloons.

"And these are for you," Fiyero added, handing her the flowers and the present.

"And you get cake when you get dressed and meet us in the courtyard," Cailean chimed in. "Nessa and Boq are meeting us there. Be there in ten minutes, or I can't guarantee you'll get a piece."

Elphaba stared at him blankly. "I'm not sure if I want cake at seven in the morning," she said.

"Trust me, you do. Ten minutes!" Cailean cried, and he and Fyonn headed back down the hall, carrying the cake away.

Fiyero grinned at Elphaba, still clearly proud with himself for what they'd done. "Happy birthday," he said again. "I'll see you downstairs."

Then he kissed her cheek and followed his friends, leaving Elphaba standing slightly shell-shocked in the doorway, holding the flowers and balloons and the gift from Fiyero.

"I can't believe them," she said finally, closing the door.

"I know. Ten minutes is nowhere near long enough to get ready!" Galinda complained.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Not what I was referring to, Glin."

"Oh, right. Well, you have to admit Elphie, it was sweet. Here, I'll put these in water for you," she offered, taking the flowers from her.

Elphaba wondered what to do with the balloons and finally put them in a corner, watching them float towards the ceiling.

"What did Fiyero get you?"

Elphaba opened the present and found a beautiful journal and pen inside.

"Wow," she said in surprise, not really expecting anything at all.

"That's lovely," Galinda commented admiringly, even if it was nothing like she would have wanted for her birthday. "Come on, we should get ready or we'll miss out on cake."

"Isn't it too early for cake?" Elphaba asked.

Galinda laughed. "Elphie, it's never too early for cake!"

The blonde placed the vase on Elphaba's desk, then approached her and hugged her warmly.

"Happy birthday."

Elphaba smiled slightly. "Thanks."

When the girls finally got downstairs, they found Cailean and Fyonn mysteriously missing, but Nessa and Boq were there, both of whom greeted Elphaba with a warm "happy birthday."

"What happened to the cake?" Galinda asked in horror.

Elphaba looked over her friend's shoulder and laughed. There was perhaps a quarter of the cake still standing; the rest was a pile of crumbs and frosting.

"Um… Cailean and Fyonn got bored waiting," Fiyero explained sheepishly.

"Food fight?" Elphaba asked knowingly, and he nodded.

"Yeah, they've just gone to… clean up a bit."

Elphaba laughed even harder when the boys returned, still with cake stained on their clothes and hair.

Galinda was horrified, but all the others thought it was hilarious.

For her birthday present, Galinda had taken Elphaba shopping for something to wear to dinner that night. And finally, three hours later, Elphaba had reluctantly given in and chosen something to wear. She'd found a simple charcoal grey dress, which fell to her knees and had cap sleeves.

Galinda pronounced it "simply elegant" and Elphaba had only smiled. And Nessarose had lent her a pair of shoes when she'd discovered they had the same size foot, a pair of simple grey shoes with a small heel. And she wore her hair simply, long and straight, with a long thick silver ribbon acting as a headband to keep her hair off her face.

"You look great," Fiyero greeted her when they all met up outside the girls' building.

Elphaba blushed faintly. "Thank you."

"Shall we go?" Boq suggested.

Elphaba felt the knot of dread that had been in her stomach since Fiyero had first mentioned Odessa's grow tighter and tighter as they headed into town, and she felt positively ill as the restaurant came into view.

"Hi," Fiyero greeted the maître d when they arrived. "We've got a six-thirty reservation under Tiggular? Party of seven?"

The man checked the book before him and nodded. "Of course. This way please."

Fiyero took Elphaba's hand lightly in his as they began to follow, and as they entered the dining room, a woman passed by. A woman, Elphaba immediately recognised her, as the manager. When she saw Elphaba, her eyes widened.

"Excuse me," she said, stopping the group in their tracks. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Unconsciously, Elphaba's grip on Fiyero's hand tightened. Fiyero didn't notice as he frowned at the woman.

"I'm sorry?" he asked in confusion.

She looked directly at Elphaba, her eyes hard. "I told you the last time, I don't want your kind in here. You'll ruin my business. Please leave."

Fiyero's eyes flashed dangerously. "Her kind? What do you mean by that?" he demanded coldly.

"Yero, don't," Elphaba begged in a whisper, but he either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her.

The manager faltered only slightly under Fiyero's glare. "My customers don't need to be faced with someone like her while they eat," she said stiffly.

Elphaba flushed in embarrassment.

"It's small-minded people like you-" Fiyero began hotly, but Elphaba placed a hand on his arm softly.

"Fiyero, please just drop it. Let's just leave," she suggested.

"No, Elphaba," Galinda said firmly, but the woman caught Fiyero's name and put two and two together.

"Prince Fiyero? Of the Vinkus?" She asked, her eyes widening. "Well... I mean... that's a horse of a different colour! I'm sure we can work out-"

Fiyero interrupted, still furious. "What because I'm a prince, you've changed your mind? You'll stick us somewhere in the back where no one can see us and try and assure us it's a private room and we're getting special treatment; rather than a way to get my money and be in my good graces? Because let me tell you-"

"Fiyero!" Nessa cut him off loudly.

He turned, angry but distracted. "What?"

"Elphaba just left," Nessa pointed out.

The group looked around and saw that she was right- the green girl had gone. With one last glare at the manager, Fiyero turned on his heel and hurried out of the restaurant, the others following.

Elphaba was only halfway down the street, but Fiyero still had to jog to catch up to her.

"Fae, wait!"

She stopped walking but didn't turn, so Fiyero stood so he was facing her.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently.

"Sure," she said flatly.

Fiyero felt horribly guilty about what had happened. "Why didn't you say anything when I suggested the place?"

"Because I was embarrassed, okay?" Elphaba burst out. "How was I supposed to tell you or Galinda when you were both so excited about this? And what would I have said? That I went there looking for work and she threatened to call the authorities before I was two feet in the door?"

There were tears in her eyes, but Elphaba refused to let them fall, even as Fiyero drew her into his arms and held her comfortingly.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Elphaba shook her head, as she pulled away. "It's fine."

Galinda was crying quietly as she hurried forward to hug Elphaba tightly. She hadn't realised just how awful people treated Elphaba until she'd become friends with the green girl, and Galinda was pretty sure that had been the most awful thing she'd ever seen.

Finally, Cailean spoke what they were all thinking.

"Jeez, what a bitch!"

Even Elphaba laughed, despite herself.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Fyonn chimed in. "Let's go to Identity, have a nice dinner and let Elphaba give us an employee's discount on the bill?"

Elphaba smiled. "I might even be able to swindle free cheesecake for dessert for my birthday," she agreed.

"Sounds good," Boq grinned.

"The dinner or free cheesecake?" Nessa asked him.

"I wouldn't say no to either," the Munchkin replied honestly.

As they headed towards Identity, Fiyero slid his arm around Elphaba's waist and held her close.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear, and Elphaba stopped walking and looked at him, startled.

"What?" she asked, thinking she'd misheard him.

But Fiyero met her gaze steadily. "I love you."

Elphaba was surprised by the burning tears in her eyes at those three little words. No one had ever said them to her before, and she hadn't really expected Fiyero to say them to her now. She didn't know what to say in return. Did she love Fiyero? Yes, the answer came to her suddenly and she wasn't sure how she knew it, she just did. It took her a moment to figure out how to talk around the lump in her throat.

"I love you too," she said shyly, and Fiyero kissed her temple softly as they fell into step with the others again.

That night, Elphaba lay in bed for a while, trying to fall asleep. She couldn't work it out. After the incident at Odessa's, they'd had a really nice night. Idonea had given them free dessert, as Elphaba had predicted, and all the staff had sung happy birthday to her- much to her embarrassment. She'd had a lovely night with wonderful friends, and her boyfriend had told her he loved her.

Elphaba had no doubt that he did, or that she loved him in return; so the empty, somewhat lost feeling she was experiencing in her gut left her feeling confused.

She just couldn't work it out. What was missing?

AN. Did anyone pick the Wizard of Oz line in this chapter?