Nessarose stopped the wagon when she came face to face with Kiamo Ko. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought the place was deserted. She looked at the old stone building and swallowed hard at the thought of approaching Elphaba; would she accept Nessa walking into her home? Or would she chase her away? She hoped her sister would give her a second chance to prove she wasn't here to cause trouble or demand her servitude. Despite being angry at Elphaba, Nessa still missed her sister and realized she had taken her for granted. She had been a rotten sister in the past. But she wanted to change that; she wanted to be the best little sister there was. "Are you sure someone's here?" Boq asked her. "It looks pretty deserted."
"That Crow is the best detective in all of Oz, I'm pretty sure," she replied. "If he says she's here, then she's most definitely here. Now, help me find the door," she said and hopped off the wagon. She unhooked the horse from it and brought it over to a shallow stream. The horse drank, and she figured he wouldn't run away as long as there was water and grass to graze on.
"Hey, Nessa-er-Madame!" Boq yelled to her. "I found the door." Nessa ran as fast as her legs could carry her. The two stood in front of the large castle doors doing nothing and saying nothing. "What do we do?" he asked her.
"Not entirely sure," Nessarose said, tilting her head slightly to the left. "I guess we knock."
"Oh, yes, Madame, that is definitely what we do," Boq said sarcastically. "Because that makes all the sense in the world! It's that-simple?" Nessa had knocked on the door, and it slowly opened. When nobody showed themselves, she slowly pushed Boq in front of her.
"Check it out," she whispered.
"Of course now you aren't so bold," he grumbled. He poked his head into the dark castle and saw absolutely nothing and reported his findings. Reassured, the Governess of Munchkinland pushed the door open and walked into the castle. "Hello?" she yelled. Her voice echoed, and she slightly startled herself and gasped.
"Madame, please, keep it down," Boq whispered.
"How else will she know I'm here?" Nessarose said normally. "Hello? Elphaba? It's me, Nessarose! Your sister! I, um, just dropped by for a visit!" After a moment of complete silence, Boq put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe she isn't here."
"But she has to be!" Nessa yelled at him, shrugging his hand off of her shoulder.
"Shhh," Boq said. "You hear that?" Nessa listened and she heard footsteps.
"Who's there?" a voice questioned threateningly. It was most definitely male, and the duo stepped back slightly.
"I-I was told my sister was here, but I seemed to have mistaken. We will just be leaving now and-" the brunette stuttered.
"Nessarose?" the stranger questioned. "Is that you…and you're walking?"
"He knows my name," Nessa panicked and hid behind Boq. She was thankful he was about her height and not as short as a majority of the Munchkins.
"Relax, it's just me," the stranger said and stepped closer to reveal himself.
"Fiyero? Well, you are most definitely not Elphaba!" Nessa exclaimed, coming from behind her terrible hiding spot. "I came all the way out here to see Fiyero! Oh, this is just great!"
"I'm quite dandy, and how are you, Miss Nessarose?"
"Don't mind her, Fiyero," Boq replied. "Nice to see you." Nessa continued to pace back and forth angrily as the two men continued to speak. "She was looking for Elphaba, but I see the detective she hired failed."
"Oh no, the detective didn't fail. She's here, but she's quite a few floors up."
"Well why didn't you say so?" Nessarose asked annoyed. Fiyero shrugged and mentioned that she was quite like Elphaba when she was angry. The governess narrowed her eyes at him before she forced herself to calm down. She didn't think she was as hotheaded as Elphaba, but apparently Fiyero and Boq thought otherwise. At least, she thought, she didn't run away from her family when things didn't go her way.
"She's up the stairs on the top floor," Fiyero explained.
"Of course she is," Nessa replied, wishing that Elphaba could just be on the first floor for once to make her life easier. "I'd like to go alone, if you don't mind."
"Go on right ahead, but should I tell her you're here first? She's rather…cranky today, to say the least."
"No, I need to see my sister," Nessa said. The two men nodded, understanding her need, and she climbed the stone staircase. Her legs were almost cramping before she made it to the top. Why in Oz would Elphaba want to climb up so many stairs? It must have taken Nessarose a good fifteen minutes to finally get to the top. She hunched over with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "How…in…Oz…does…she…do this daily?" Once her breath was finally caught, she knocked on the only door in front of her.
"I told you to stop bothering me!" she heard Elphaba's voice through the door. Nessa swallowed hard and nervously went to speak. Her sister sounded very angry, and she had to admit, she was somewhat afraid of her. But why should she be? Nessarose reminded herself that the green woman behind the door was just her older sister.
"Elphaba, it's me, Nessarose, your sister." After saying the last part, Nessa wanted to slap herself in the face. Of course she was her sister! Lurline, why must she sound so stupid in front of Elphaba who was basically a genius? Why did Nessa feel as if she was a nervous school girl?
"Nessa? No, it can't be."
"It can," Nessa persisted. "Just please open the door." When the door opened, she wanted to cry when she saw her sister's face for the first time in person in years. She let herself smile stupidly before she forced herself into Elphaba's arms for a hug. And it was the first time that she realized how much she measured up to Elphaba height-wise. Luckily (or so she thought), Elphaba was only about two inches taller than her.
Elphaba had returned the hug for a brief moment before she pushed Nessa away, eyeing her, but with awe. "Sweet Oz, you can walk? How? When?"
"I'll explain everything. But please, let's just sit. My legs are killing me from those stairs." Elphaba had always had a soft spot for Nessa, and the brunette could tell considering she led her over to a chair willingly and let her deeper into the attic room. Bookshelves lined the walls and were stuffed with books, there was a desk, and a couple of chairs. They sat down facing each other.
"Please, tell me, how have you been?"
"I've been pretty good. I see you've been well seeing as you're living in a castle and never invited me to come over," Nessa joked, but Elphaba tensed.
"You're walking now," the raven haired woman replied.
"It's quite a long story and a miracle. You don't want to hear it." She didn't want to bring up the fact that Glinda had used her magic and was living under her roof.
"I've got time," Elphaba persisted, her patience dwindling.
"Well, one night I was outside going for my one in the morning roll to a plot of empty land in Munchkinland. And then, I found Glinda and she used her magic and now I can walk," she explained quickly, hoping Elphaba would just go along with it. However, Nessa learned that not everything could go her way, and when it didn't, it was usually very inconvenient for her.
"Glinda's dead," Elphaba replied and stood quickly. "Don't you dare say her name!"
"What? Elphaba, she lives with me in Munchkinland. Surely she's alive," Nessa said, staying seated. She had to be the calm one in this situation.
"That isn't possible. Have you come in here just to torment me? Now, get out! Get out!" Elphaba pointed at the door.
"No, I will not!" Nessarose proclaimed and stood, unable to keep herself calm after being yelled at. "Glinda is very much alive. I'm sure you've seen here- sweet Oz, she's the Wicked Witch of the North! Everyone knows that much!"
"Glinda wasn't wicked! She never was. She's dead and gone. I don't know who you're living with, but it most definitely is not Glinda Upland."
"What makes you say she's dead?" Nessa asked, trying to understand Elphaba's train of thought.
"Because I watched her die! Morrible made me watch her execution through an Ozdamn glass ball! I saw the Gale Force torture her and kill her. She's dead…she's dead…I couldn't save her." Reaching her pale hands out, Nessa grasped Elphaba's green ones and held them. Tears fell from Elphaba's eyes.
"Elphaba, I promise you Glinda isn't dead. I've been taking care of her. She is very much alive."
"How can that be? I saw her…"
"Morrible is the only wicked woman in all of Oz; not me, not Glinda, and certainly not you. Elphaba, Glinda was sent to Southstairs the day you defied the Wizard because she was affiliated with you. Before you blame yourself, please don't. The whole prison system was messed up at the time," Nessa explained. "Well, mostly Morrible and the Wizard."
"It's hard to believe…why should I believe you?"
"Well, I'm your sister. But I think you're just going to have to try and trust me. I know we haven't spoken in ages, but I would never lie to you. And besides, who else would have approached me back during my dictator days?" Nessa smiled when she saw her sister let out a small laugh at her attempt at humor.
"I'm going to believe you for now," Elphaba said and squeezed her hands. "Did they…did they hurt her?"
"Yes," Nessarose answered truthfully.
"How?"
Nessa bit her lip nervously. "You don't want to know."
"I must, Nessa. I care about her deeply."
"How deep?"
"I would go as far as to say I love her."
"They'd beat her and rape her," Nessa whispered. "But that's all she has said. I don't know how bad they hurt her, but I can infer that it was terrible. It was so bad that she can't sleep alone in her own room."
"Sweet Oz," Elphaba whispered and squeezed her eyes shut. "And you've been taking care of her?"
"I never let her go a night without me there," she assured. "Between Dr. Dillamond and me, we've been doing our best. She's deeply scarred, Elphaba. I've been trying to help her mentally as much as I can, but I can't do any more because she can't talk about it. That's why I found you, Elphaba. I found you so that you can heal the abandonment she feels from you. I know you didn't abandon her, but I know that feeling is still there. I can't fix what happened to her in Southstairs, but I can fix this, or at least try."
"Where is she? Did you bring her with you?" Elphaba asked.
"She's in Ev right now on vacation with Dr. Dillamond."
"Why isn't she with her parents?"
"They didn't want a daughter who spent five years in Southstairs. Glinda said it was due to their social status. She lost everyone."
"I'm such an idiot! I should have known Morrible lied to me. I'm such a fool."
"Elphaba, there's no way you could have known. Please, don't blame yourself," Nessa replied, thankful that this was going smoothly.
"You came here for Glinda, but you didn't want to see me for yourself, did you? If Glinda wasn't around, you probably wouldn't have found me," Elphaba pointed out suddenly, and Nessa cringed. The sad part was, it was true. However, that didn't mean that she didn't miss her sister. Nessa stood up straight, releasing Elphaba's hands as she smoothed out her dress. If Elphaba wanted to be a jerk, so could she.
"It's not like you made any kind of effort to see me after your little trip to the Emerald City."
"Nessa, that's not fair, I-"
"You decided to abandon your family and friends to trot off with a bunch of Animals you didn't know. You should have come back, but you didn't. Instead, you're hiding in this stupid castle!" Nessarose threw her arms over her head for emphasis.
"You're just a selfish bitch," Elphaba hissed. "You always have been, and always will be."
"Oh, yes, me the selfish bitch. I heartily agree, Elphaba. In fact, I even took your place as Governess of Munchkinland because you graciously gave it to me! And I'm so selfish that I took in Glinda, who I might add, is emotionally and mentally unstable, and cared for her for over a year and a half, maybe two years by now. I'm so selfish that I came all the way out here on a horse and wagon across Oz to see you! Exactly, Elphaba, you have me exactly right. I am a selfish bitch," Nessa yelled at her, tears falling down her face. Elphaba was speechless as Nessa continued to angrily yell at her, letting out all of her pent up frustration. "I'm such a selfish bitch I sit at the dinner table with Glinda for three hours to make sure she actually eats something. I'm such a selfish bitch that I sing her to sleep or comfort her after her nightmares when she wakes up in the middle of the night screaming 'where's Elphie? Come back to me, my Elphie, come back'."
Elphaba held Nessa tightly as the two sisters cried, both of them apologizing for everything they had done and everything that had been said. They didn't speak as they sat on the attic floor in each other's arms, comforting one another. Nessa closed her eyes and fell asleep against her sister's shoulder.
Sorry for the delayed uploads! School has me swamped right now (even on my spring break) so I don't have as much time to write as I'd like, but hopefully this longer chapter makes up for it! I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading and reviewing!