AN. I got so many reviews for the last chapter about people crying that I felt quite bad!

Twenty-One

Elphaba had really been in no mental or emotional state the night before to get more information or to discuss further the information Melena had given her.

Eventually, they had gotten around to eating dinner, but no one had really been hungry- except for Boq.

And then Elphaba had returned to Boq's and crawled into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

After breakfast the next morning, Elphaba excused herself to Boq and his family, and went next door. Melena met her at the door and invited her into the living room.

"Nessa's still asleep, I don't want to disturb her," Melena explained, sitting in the chair Elphaba had been sitting in the night before.

"That's fine," Elphaba said, sitting somewhat awkwardly on the couch.

"Would you like some tea?" Melena offered, but Elphaba shook her head.

"I'm fine, thank you."

There was an awkward silence, which Melena finally broke.

"I'm sure you have many questions."

Elphaba nodded. "I do…" she trailed off, unsure how to address her.

Melena seemed to pick up on that. "Why don't you just call me Melena for now?" she suggested gently. She'd love nothing more than for her first-born daughter to refer to her as 'Mom', but didn't want to rush her.

It sounded fair to Elphaba, who agreed. "I don't really know where to start," she said, somewhat shyly.

"Perhaps I could start?" Melena asked. "Last night… Nessa and I spoke after you left. She told me about how you came here, what you'd figured out so far. And she mentioned that- that you have dreams?"

Elphaba was slightly startled, she hadn't given her dreams much thought the night before. Yet here was a chance to finally learn what they might mean.

"Yes. Just a few things… they've never really made sense."

She explained them in as much detail as she could remember, including the extra information that had appeared after her birthday, and when she'd finished, Melena let out a long breath.

"Wow. Um, okay… well, it was raining the night you were born. We had an incredible thunderstorm, the rain was torrential, so I'm guessing that would be the lightning you saw. Omega is an Antelope, so that's relatively self-explanatory. The balloon… I can't explain that. Or the sound of glasses, I'm sorry," she said apologetically.

Then she grimaced uncomfortably. "The voice you heard would most likely be Frex. And if the magic woman- Yackle, was it? If she's right and they all mean something to do with- with me… the falling sound… could also be Frex."

Elphaba frowned. "How do you-?"

She stopped as she realised what her mother meant. The falling sound could very well be linked to Frex's death. It was a lot to absorb, to suddenly find your mother and sister and realise your father was dead, especially when he was the one who had essentially sent her away. Elphaba was struggling to compute all the information and its implications.

"What's the song you mentioned?" Melena asked curiously.

Elphaba blinked, lost in thought for a moment. "Oh. Um… well, it's…"

Self-consciously, she hummed a small part of the melody and watched as Melena's eyes filled with tears once more.

"I wrote that," she said softly. "I wrote it when I found out I was pregnant. And I sang it to you… well, my stomach every single night until you were born."

Elphaba's eyes were huge. "I used to hear it every night in my sleep," she explained in a whisper. "It wouldn't go away, so I had to write it down. I used to call it my lullaby."

Melena beamed. "So did I."

Elphaba reached for her bag, dug through it, and pulled out the green bottle she'd been found with.

"This was left with me, at the orphanage. I wondered if it meant anything to you?"

Melena drew in a soft breath as she took the bottle from her. "I thought I'd lost this."

Elphaba's heart leapt. "So, it does mean something to you?"

Melena grimaced. "Yes. Oz, I don't know how to tell you this…" she muttered.

Elphaba was worried by her tone. "Tell me what?"

Melena got up and sat next to her, taking her hand in hers. "I don't know if this will make you feel better or worse," she said honestly. "But I think I owe you the truth."

"Ok," Elphaba said hesitantly.

"Frex… Frex was not your father," Melena told her, as gently as possible.

The news felt like another blow to Elphaba, on top of everything else.

"I'm sorry?" she demanded, her voice raising an octave or two in shock.

Melena reddened as she nodded. "Around the time you were… conceived… I had an affair. It was barely even that, it was just… a travelling salesman stopped by and stayed… for a few days. And then after… I realised I was pregnant."

"Did- did Frex know?" Elphaba asked, the thought suddenly occurring to her that if he had known, it could have served as another motive to give her away.

But Melena shook her head. "No. He didn't know."

"So, who is my father?"

Melena shrugged. "He was a travelling salesman, as I said. He was new in Oz, he said his name was Oscar. He stayed for a few days, and then he left. The- the bottle was his. It contained some kind of elixir in it, which we drank and he left behind the bottle when he left."

Elphaba was quiet for a long time. "Did you love him?"

Melena winced, but reminded herself that she had decided Elphaba deserved the truth. "No. I barely knew him. Frex was new at being Governor, and working all the time… I was lonely. And Oscar was there."

Elphaba had one more question. "What happened? The night Frex died?"

"Nessa said she told you I used to have a drinking problem?" Melena answered readily, and Elphaba nodded. "The truth is, after losing you, and then what happened to Nessa… I didn't cope very well. I felt guilty for not being able to find you, and then for agreeing to taking the milk flowers. The night it happened… it was your eighteenth birthday.

I knew. I knew it was your birthday, I never forgot. And that day was always worse for me, the pain seemed fresher. So, I drank more heavily. Frex was trying to help me upstairs, and I was furious at him. Because he'd given you away, and I'd lost you. I was so mad, I didn't want him touching me at all. So I pushed him. And he fell. It- it was an accident," she added, looking at Elphaba pleadingly.

Elphaba nodded faintly. "I believe you."

Melena looked at the bottle in her hands and then handed it back to Elphaba. "It means a lot to me. That you kept this."

Elphaba shrugged modestly. "It was the only thing I had of you," she explained quietly.

The two women sat there in silence for a few moments, and then Melena asked Elphaba questions about her life. Her childhood growing up in the orphanage, in the Emerald City, everything. She wanted to learn as much about the young woman her daughter had become as possible. Elphaba felt like she had been talking for hours before they heard sounds from the back of the house.

"Nessa's awake," Melena said, wiping her eyes. "I should let you two talk, I'm sure you both have lots to say to one another."

Elphaba nodded, she had been expecting they would have lots to say.

"Should I mention to Nessa… about my father?" she asked Melena hesitantly.

Melena paused then shook her head. "I think that's something I should tell her myself. Later."

Elphaba nodded. "Ok."

"I'll just go check on Nessa," Melena excused herself.

Elphaba leaned back against the couch and exhaled deeply, closing her eyes.

She'd been in Munchkinland for three days and suddenly she had a mother; a sister, who was suddenly her half-sister; a father who had ordered she be taken away against her mother's will, who had then become her step-father, who had been accidentally killed by her mother; and a mysterious father named Oscar, which had to be the weirdest name Elphaba had ever heard in her entire life.

Elphaba opened her eyes again as she heard the sounds of someone enter the room, and smiled somewhat shyly at Nessa as she wheeled herself into the room.

"Hi."

"Hi," Nessa replied, looking just as shy.

She wheeled her chair up to sit next to the couch and self-consciously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"How did you sleep?" Elphaba asked.

"Pretty good. It wasn't a long sleep, but I slept heavily. You?"

Elphaba nodded. "I don't even remember falling asleep." She chuckled faintly. "I remember thinking how Galinda is going to die when she hears everything that's happened, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up."

Nessa laughed, picturing Galinda's reaction and the awkwardness between the two was broken.

"This is so weird," Elphaba said honestly.

Nessarose was in full agreement. "I know. Do you think it's just a coincidence that we became friends, not knowing… everything; or was it a sign?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Nessa, with the dreams I have, I can't really not believe in signs."

"True," Nessa admitted.

Then she looked uncomfortable again. "Elphaba… can I tell you something?"

Elphaba was surprised. "Sure. What is it?"

Nessa blushed faintly as she looked down at her hands. "I- I was just thinking last night… that if this was going to happen… with my- our father and everything…" she trailed off, and Elphaba tried not to flinch, thinking that it wasn't "their" father.

"I'm glad it's you," Nessa finished and Elphaba met her gaze with a slight frown.

"What?"

"I'm glad it's you, that's my sister. Because, well… we're friends. And I've never really said anything, but I really admire you Elphaba. You have so much strength, to be able to come to Shiz alone and work so hard not only at school but with everything. And to hold you head up high when people have been so horrendible…It's really inspiring to see."

Elphaba was touched at Nessa's words. She'd never thought of herself as strong, she'd just done what she had to in order to survive.

She was almost hesitant to say anything in response, but realised that Nessa was no longer her friend, but her sister. They were family, they shared bloodlines, and if she wanted a relationship with her sister- which she definitely did, she'd have to get used to making herself vulnerable.

So she leaned forward and hugged Nessa tightly, and she was grateful when the younger girl returned it with no hesitation.

"Thank you, Nessa," she said quietly. Then she smiled, "For what it's worth, I think you're the sweetest girl I've ever met. And I'm really glad I'm your sister, too."

Nessa positively beamed.

"Can I ask you something? What happens now? With our mother?"

Elphaba wasn't surprised by the question, it was only natural to ask, but she wasn't sure of her answer just yet.

"I think we're still getting to know one another," she said honestly. "Twenty-one years is a long time."

"Do you want a relationship with her? As a mother, I mean?"

"Honestly, in my head, I'd never got beyond finding out who my parents were," Elphaba admitted. "I think… I think I would. Or that is… I do. But it's going to take time. I'm not even sure if I really need a mother anymore," she said painfully.

Nessa squeezed her hand. "Everyone always needs a mother," she said gently and Elphaba smiled.

"It's not stupid?"

"Absolutely not," Nessa said firmly.

When Melena entered the room a little while later with a tray of tea, she was almost brought to tears again by the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen- her daughters, both of them, sitting together and talking.

She knew she'd have to talk with Nessa later to tell her the truth about Elphaba's father, and whilst she was worried about how that would affect her relationship with her youngest daughter; she was confident in hoping that Elphaba and Nessarose would have a strong relationship as sisters.

"So, what are we talking about?" Melena asked brightly, setting the tea down on the coffee table.

Elphaba sighed slightly. "We're trying to decide how we're going to tell other people."

Nessa nodded. "I offered to write to Galinda. As much as I know she'd want to hear it from Elphaba, I think it's more important for you to tell Fiyero," she said to her sister.

Melena's ears pricked up at that. "Fiyero?"

"Fiyero Tiggular. Elphaba's boyfriend," Nessa informed their mother, as Elphaba blushed.

"The Vinkun prince?" Melena asked, stunned.

"Yes," Elphaba confirmed.

Melena was torn. She knew Fiyero's reputation, as all in Oz did; but she'd never heard of him referred to as a boyfriend before, which told her there was more to this than the stories she'd heard of the scandalacious prince. Plus, she wasn't sure if she had yet earned the place to question Elphaba's relationships.

But she had only one question. "Is he good to you?"

Elphaba thought about Fiyero, with the horoscope, and everything he'd done since they'd been dating, in supporting her.

"I'd say he's too good to me," she answered softly.

Melena smiled. "Good."