AN: Update!
LetItGoAndDefyGravity (love your username): I like long-winded, don't worry ^_^. Been through post-Wicked slump, but it was so worth it. I hope your experience will be just as amazing as mine was!
Musicgal3 broke the 'aww'-record... again. In Word, she wrote 627 pages of 'aww'. I want you to give her an applause for that. My darling twin sister, I'm going to give you lots of kudos for the record of breaking your own record so many times :P. Loved your review as always, though, you know that :). Everyone, check out her stories - they're so amazing!
Ozzie: Welcome back! :D
This chapter is for Steph and Xanne-Li, who are both extremely crazy and who managed to convince me to write a story for the Wicked Young Writers Award... through a long, very long conversation on Twitter :3. You guys rock!
Chapter 35. Rain on me
When Lori saw her son entering the sitting room with Elphaba in his arms, she couldn't believe her own eyes.
At first she thought that he had somehow found Elphaba's body and managed to bring it back, and she felt a pang at that. Maybe she needed to take him to a hospital. If he was going to hold on to Elphaba's body now, clearly he was even more damaged by her death than Lori had first thought him to be.
Then she realised that there was something wrong with that picture. Elphaba had legs, not a fishtail. It made her wonder what in Oz was going on here.
And then Elphaba turned her head to look at her, and Lori felt like she couldn't breathe.
Fiyero gently put Elphaba back on her own two feet. She wobbled slightly, but then she found her balance and she looked at Lori, not saying anything for a moment.
Tears sprang to Lori's eyes and she rose to her feet, slowly making her way over towards the green girl. "Elphaba… How is this possible?"
Elphaba shook her head. "I'm still not sure," she said. "But I must admit that I don't really care, either. I'm just really, really happy to be back."
Fiyero squeezed her hand at that, and she looked at him for a moment before looking back at Lori.
The Queen took another step forward, and Elphaba let go of Fiyero to step forward as well. Then Lori suddenly wrapped her into a tight hug.
"Sweet Oz, Elphaba," she muttered. "You never fail to amaze us, do you?"
Elphaba laughed softly. "Apparently."
Suddenly, the door opened and someone came in. "Lori," Cohvu said worriedly, "I can't find Yero again, I think he's…" He trailed off when he laid eyes on Elphaba.
"El?" he asked after a while, clearly doubtful. "Is that really you?"
"It's me," Elphaba confirmed, but her friend didn't seem convinced.
"Prove it," he said.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I mean it," he insisted. "How do we know you're not Morrible in disguise?"
Fiyero stiffened – he hadn't even thought about that possibility.
Elphaba, however, just looked amused. "Okay," she said. "So what do you want me to do?"
Cohvu narrowed his eyes at her. "What was the first word you said after we first found you on the beach and who did you say it to?"
"Cohvu," Lori protested, "she was six back then, and she was traumatised. Real Elphaba or not, I don't think she'd remember that."
Elphaba, however, just looked at him. "My name," she said. "To Fiyero."
"Hmm." Cohvu slowly circled her like a predator circling its prey. "Why did you and Fiyero sneak out of the castle every year in the early spring?"
"To watch the sea turtles hatch," she said. "Those are too easy, Cohvu."
"Oh, really?" He thought about it for a moment. "I punched Fiyero once in my life," he said. "Why was that?"
"Because he made rude jokes about my skin during his dancing-through-life stage and he refused to apologise for it," she said. "Though actually, that was the second time, because I heard you also punched him on the day you two first met, though that was before my time."
Cohvu pointed towards the fish tank in the corner of the table. "Manipulate the water," he said. "Make the tank explode."
She rolled her eyes. "I can't," she said sarcastically, "for three reasons. One: since my mermaid side is gone, I don't think I can still manipulate water. Two: I couldn't control my power over water even when I still had it, and I never really learnt how to control it after that. And three," she glared at Cohvu, "you should know better than to ask me to make a fish tank explode, because I would never kill innocent fish just because you don't believe me when I tell you it's really me."
A grin spread across Cohvu's face and he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up in the air, spinning her around. "It is you!"
She sniggered. "What, the fact that I refuse to kill the fish gave me away?"
"Actually, yes," he told her, putting her down onto her feet. "I know you'd never purposefully hurt animals if you could help it."
"Good point," she said.
"You're going to have to tell me the whole story later," Cohvu went on, "but I think I should go and get Galinda first."
"And I'll get Hamold," Lori said, hugging Elphaba tightly again and kissing her forehead before pulling away.
Elphaba leant heavily against Fiyero, and he wrapped his arm around her. "Are you okay?" he asked her in concern.
"Fine," she said. "Just tired." She sighed. "I don't like the fact that I scared you all so badly," she admitted. "Twice. I mean, I probably scared you by dying in the first place, but I think me suddenly coming back to life again is even scarier."
He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "A good scary, though."
She laughed. "I guess."
The sound of high heels clicking in the hallway made them look up at the door. It was clear that Cohvu had been trying to prepare Galinda for what she was about to see – he was hovering over her, holding her hand tightly and whispering soothing words into her ear. It was equally clear, however, that it hadn't helped one bit.
Galinda stared at the sight in front of her. Her eyes slowly made their way up from Elphaba's bare feet to her dress, lingering for a moment at the former mermaid's obviously green arm, only to snap up to her face a moment later.
Their eyes met. Galinda sucked in a breath with a sharp hiss.
And then she promptly fainted.
Cohvu caught her, exchanging a look with Fiyero.
Elphaba just sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" she asked drily.
Cohvu had to chuckle at that. "Because," he said. "None of us are. We know Galinda, after all. You almost scared us into an early grave by suddenly showing up alive and well. I tried to tell her about you, but still, I kind of expected this."
"It's a very Galinda thing to do," Fiyero agreed.
By the time Lori and Hamold came into the room, Cohvu had moved Galinda to a couch and was holding her hand. "Glin?"
She slowly opened her eyes. "Coco?" she croaked. "I just had the weirdest dream. I thought that Elphie was…" Then she caught sight of Elphaba again and her eyes widened.
"Okay. Glin? Calm down." Cohvu placed his fingers under her chin and turned her head so that she was looking at him instead of Elphaba. "Honey, don't faint again. Okay?"
Galinda nodded slowly.
Cohvu squeezed her hand. "Elphaba is still alive," he said.
Galinda's eyes slowly drifted back to the green girl. Then she suddenly sat up, studying Elphaba intently. "Elphie?"
Elphaba smiled. "Hi, Glin."
Then the blonde let out an ear-piercing squeal and suddenly leapt to her feet, running up to Elphaba and jumping her, causing them both to land on the floor. "Elphie!" she shrieked, hugging her friend to the point where neither of them could breathe. "You're alive!"
"She won't be for much longer if you keep on squishing her like that," Cohvu said drily. Galinda quickly let go of the green girl and sat up, beaming her the former mermaid.
"Elphie!" she squealed. "How is this possible?"
"Yes," Hamold, who was staring at Elphaba and looked a little pale, said. "How is this possible?"
Elphaba smiled at him. "Hi. It's good to see you."
"Come on," said Lori, as Fiyero helped Elphaba up from the floor. "Let's sit down and talk."
Elphaba returned to the ocean the next day to settle the final things, and Fiyero insisted on going with her.
"I'm not leaving you alone again," he declared. "Look at what happened last time."
She had to smile at that. "Come along, then," she'd said. "It'll only be a day – two at most. Aurya can take things from there."
When she made the announcement that she was leaving and that she was transferring power over to her aunt and godmother Aurya, no-one was surprised… except for Aurya herself.
"Fabala," she said a bit worriedly. "Are you sure about this?"
Elphaba looked at her. "I've never been more sure about anything in my life," she told her aunt. "Aurya, I love you. I do. You're my aunt. You saved my life, you taught me so many things, you helped me in so many ways… and part of me wishes that I could stay here with you, but I can't. For more than one reason."
Aurya nodded. "I know, but leaving me in power –"
"You'll make a wonderful Queen," Elphaba cut her off. "I know it. My mother loved and trusted you, and so do I. I can't think of anyone better to rule the people."
Aurya's eyes had filled with tears and she had hugged her niece tightly. "I'll miss you," she said in a choked voice.
"I'll miss you, too," Elphaba said. "But I'll visit whenever I can."
"Tell me all about Shiz next time you come," Aurya instructed her, and Elphaba grinned.
"I will."
The moment everything had been arranged for, Elphaba had returned to Adurin Iir, feeling as if she was leaving part of herself behind, but she knew that it was the right thing to do. Really the right thing, this time.
It was a few days later that Fiyero found her in the kitchen, staring intently at a glass of water. "What are you doing?"
She jumped.
"Sorry." He chuckled. "Were you lost in thought?"
"No," she said a bit irritably. "I was trying to focus."
He sat down next to her. "On what?"
"Making the water move." She sighed. "I think my power over water is really gone now, though." She shifted a little, leaning her head on Fiyero's shoulder.
He stroked her hair. "Would that be such a bad thing?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "Not really. But still." She heaved another sigh. "It's just not easy, you know? First I have no memories of my past, then I discover these creepy magical powers, I turn out to be a half-mermaid with the Governor of Munchkinland being my father, then I lose my mermaid side and become human again, and now I have to get used to not having all these creepy magical powers anymore. It's just… confusing." She sniggered softly. "Cohvu would say I'm falling from one identity crisis into the other."
Fiyero chuckled, too. "Give it some time," he said, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her into his lap. "You'll be fine."
"I know." She absently stirred the water in the glass with her little finger. "And I'm glad to be alive, too. That I get a chance to do it all over, you know…" She trailed off and stared at the glass. Then she slowly pulled out her finger, studying it.
Fiyero grew slightly worried at her lack of response. "Fae?"
"It's not burning," she whispered. She let out a soft, incredulous laugh. "The fresh water isn't burning!"
Fiyero grabbed her hand and studied her finger now as well. "No burn marks."
"And it doesn't hurt." She shook her head. "I must admit I kind of suspected this," she admitted. "You know, given that I'm not a mermaid anymore, and it was my mermaid side that was allergic to water, not my human one. But still…"
"This is amazing," Fiyero voiced her thoughts.
She nodded. "It is." She stared out of the window, where the rain had been pouring down all day, and suddenly, she had an idea.
"Let's go outside," she said.
"Outside?" Fiyero protested. "But it's raining!"
She looked at her wet finger, then back outside at the falling rain, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
"Exactly."
It was adorable, really, to watch her getting acquainted with the rain. Fiyero knew she would kill him if he ever called her that to her face, but it was true.
She just stood there in the doorway for a moment, staying completely still; then she reached out one hand, tentatively holding it out into the rain, holding her breath. When she realised it really wasn't burning her, a smile spread across her face and she leant forward, allowing her entire arm to get wet, then her other arm, before she ran out into the rain completely. "I'm not allergic!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down like a second Galinda. "Fiyero, look! I can touch the rain!"
He just laughed and stepped outside with her, gazing up at the sky. The rain was pouring down, and no-one in his right mind would probably want to go outside right now, but who cared? This was a special moment for her, and he wanted to share it with her. Wherever she was, he would be. For the rest of her life.
She turned around to face him, her eyes shining. "Yero, I can touch rain!" she said again, almost giddy with excitement.
He laughed. Then he suddenly swept her into his arms, pulling her flush against him and kissing her deeply.
When he finally pulled away, she asked him breathlessly and a bit surprised, "What was that for?"
"For you being you," he replied, punctuating his statement with a kiss. "And alive." Another kiss. "And here with me." A harder, lingering kiss this time. "Forever."
She kissed him back, tasting the raindrops on his skin, which made her smile. She detached herself from him and threw her head in her neck, spreading her arms and spinning in circles as she tried to catch as many raindrops on her skin as she possibly could. Fiyero just kept on watching her with a soft smile on his face.
It was only when they were both completely soaked that she agreed to go back inside, and they made their way upstairs to change clothes before snuggling in front of the fireplace in the sitting room together. Fiyero pulled a blanket around them both and drew her into his arms, pressing his cheek against her soft raven hair.
"I wrote to my father yesterday," she murmured, burrowing into his arms.
He raised his head to look at her. "Really? You wrote to Governor Thropp?"
She nodded against his face. "I asked him to come here," she said softly. "Like… talk things over, and stuff. I received his reply today."
"And?" Fiyero prodded gently when she didn't continue.
She turned her head to look up at him with those large dark eyes of hers. "He agreed," she said. "He's coming over this weekend, and he's bringing Nessarose." She scrunched up her nose. "My half-sister, I suppose."
He played with her hair. "What do you think about that?"
She shrugged. "I guess it's nice," she said. "To have another sister, and a father… I don't know how we'll go from here, or what kind of relationship we'll have, but I think I'd like to stay in touch."
Fiyero kissed her hair, pulling her even closer. "I'm proud of you."
She blinked. "What?" she asked with a small laugh. "Why?"
"Because," he said, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. "Everything you've been through, everything you did… you were so brave. You always choose other people's happiness over your own, and though I must admit that's extremely frustrating at times, it's also very admirable and it only makes me love you more. What you did wasn't easy, Fae, but you did it anyway."
She snuggled deeper into his arms. "I love you," she sighed.
He smiled. "I love you, too, a chroí."