I love how Australia be like, "Nine months of Summer and then a poor excuse for Winter that may as well just be a slightly colder Summer!" Needless to say, it's Autumn and it's still quite warm around here.
Huge thanks to Fae'sFlower who had agreed to help me with my ideas and some betaing duties!
Also, lets all give a big fanfiction welcome to Frostbite! One of us! One of us!
The Gilikin is renowned throughout the land of Oz as the wealthiest and most cultured quadrant beside the Emerald City, and the Upper Uplands was the pinnacle of these traits. The place practically oozed wealth with each house that dotted the mountainous terrain putting even the largest Munchkin estate to shame, and with the arrival of spring the country had erupted into a vast array of life both flora and fauna, and the residence of the Upper Upland family was no exception. Gleaming white terraces, perfectly pruned gardens, land extending to the river below; indeed, Galinda's father had it made.
When the carriage pulled into the gravelled driveway and stopped at the front door where a battalion staff stood waiting to greet the returning family, each bearing an item of clothing in the signature Gilikinese purple.
An elderly butler in a black suit and purple cravat stepped forward and opened the carriage door.
"Thank you, Mavis," said Galinda's father, Domious, who was not only a noble, but held a cabinet seat in the Gilikin government.
The butler, Mavis, bowed and moved to assist Domious' wife, Mirana, soon followed by Galinda who was exclaiming about how much she had missed her home.
"I'm glad to see the grass isn't purple..." Elphaba muttered as she got down from the carriage, declining Mavis' offered hand.
Domious chuckled. "An old goat's tail!" he declared, but added in a mock whisper behind his hand, "But there is no lack of purple faced politicians."
Elphaba laughed while Galinda tried her best to be the mature one.
"Now, Popsicle..." Galinda chided which only resulted in her father laughing all the more. Mirana chuckled along, although with a little less enthusiasm, looking just like an older version of her daughter.
"Galinda, dear," her mother said, moving in to get her daughter's attention. "Why don't you show your friend around the estate while your luggage gets taken in? You can show her to her room later."
"Of course!" Galinda beamed, latching onto Elphaba's arm and dragging her down the side of the house to the gardens.
She showed Elphaba the grounds as much as she could without having to walk too far, for fear of sweating which was in no way good for her complexion, the rest she pointed out from the shade of the back terrace.
"Down there on the bank is where I used to try and catch Mist Maidens!" Galinda giggled as they sat looking over the valley. "Oh Elphie, we are going to have so much fun together!"
Elphaba smiled vaguely, worried that Galinda's sense of fun would involve copious amounts of shopping and socialising.
"We'll have to invite Fiyero to stay with us at some point!" Galinda said. "We left the Emerald City so suddenly we had no time to tell him of departuration!"
"Of course." Elphaba smiled at her friend, hoping she looked convincingly excited to see the prince, and tuned her out, taking the chance to survey the mountainous view of the Upper Uplands.
"-and then when we've done that we'll have dinner with Momsie and Popsicle!" Galinda finished with a squeal.
Elphaba, having gotten nothing of the plans besides dinner, looked blankly at the blonde.
Galinda sighed, "I was just saying that there are market on in town tomorrow, but today we shall spend settling in before dinner with my parents."
Elphaba nodded her consent before frowning. "I don't think your Mother likes me."
"Nonsense, Elphie," Galinda said. "She just needs time to warm up to you."
"It's not nonsense, Galinda," Elphaba said. "I'm abnormal, and people don't tend to like abnormal things, especially those who love perfection. Like your mother."
"If that were the truth then we wouldn't be friends, would we?"
"You only became my friend because you felt bad for me."
Galinda looked as though she were about to protest but, after a moment, she shrugged, "That's true, I suppose."
Elphaba let out a bark of indignant laughter, to which Galinda was quick to elaborate. "But it grew into a true friendship after that!"
"I'm going to hold you to that forever!" Elphaba laughed and Galinda tried to look hurt but soon joined in.
"True friends..." Elphaba said after they had calmed down sufficiently.
"That's right."
"I don't think I've ever had a real friend. At least not since..." Elphaba trailed off, her throat tight, looking out over the river.
Galinda reached across and took hold of her green hand. Surprised, Elphaba looked down at the the blondes small hand covering her own. No one had touched her in order to comfort her for years. Her chest seemed to warm and a small smile pulled at her lips.
The two simply sat for a moment in each others company and, by some miracle, Galinda didn't say a word in the topic.
After a few moment, the blonde stood, reverting back to her usual perky self, and said, "Well, let's go see your room!"
No sooner had Elphaba complied than Mavis the butler appeared and, with a bow, led the way to the guest room.
"Your butler looks like he's attending a funeral."
Galinda giggled behind her hand, "A conversation with him certainly feels like one!" to which Elphaba snorted.
After climbing a set of stairs and walking down seemingly endless hallways, the pair plus butler arrived at a door which Mavis opened for them. Inside the room was simple, yet elegant, and far more than Elphaba had ever had before. The bed was large and looked ready to swallow her whole in its comfortable pillows and mattress, her trunk sat at the foot of the bed and had been unpacked neatly, her books were on top of the dresser and bedside table. In short, Elphaba felt quite spoilt.
Behind her she heard Galinda say, "Thank you Mavis." The butler bowed and left the girls to see the room.
"What do you think?" Galinda asked.
"Is it really alright for me to stay here?" Elphaba replied hesitantly to which Galinda giggled.
"Of course, silly! I wouldn't have offered and dragged you all the way here if it wasn't!"
"In that case, the room is wonderful, Galinda." Elphaba smiled as she relented and sat down on the bed, relishing in the comfort as she sunk into the mattress.
Galinda plonked herself down onto the opposite end of the bed and bounced there for a moment, surveying the few visible belongings that the maids had placed out.
"You still have so many books even though we made sure to return those few from the Emerald City Library!" the blonde exclaimed.
"Four books is hardly a lot, Galinda."
"Maybe not," Galinda conceded. "But they're big books! Like this one." See reached over and picked up a particularly large book from the bedside table. "See? It's huge-" Galinda stopped, a frown painted her pretty features as she stared at the book in her hands in confusion.
It was the Grimmerie.
Elphaba's eyes widened with shock. She didn't know what to do. Panicked, she snatched the book out of the blonde's hands and clutched it close to her, ignoring the tingle of magic that ran up her arms. As soon as the Grimmerie left Galinda's grasp she blinked and gave her head a small shake. She looked at the book clutched close to the green girl's chest and frowned again, all the while Elphaba watched on, fearing the blonde's reaction.
A tense moment passed as the two girls looked at each other until, with a shake of her blonde curls, Galinda stood and forced a smile, snapping back to her usual perky self. "Well, my room is just down the hall on the left, so we're close by!"
With a quick, "See you at dinner!" Galinda had rushed from the room leaving Elphaba alone to gather her thoughts and prepare for dinner.
This story is taking on a life of its own! I'll have something planned for a particular chapter, or want something to take place a particular way, and next minute I'm somewhere else entirely! The characters and the plot take their own way, dragging me along with them saying, "Trust us…"
It was Mary Poppins! Congrats to Frostbite and Fae'sFlower! The stage production is a phenomenon worth watching, believe me!
Next: Gilbert and Sullivan wrote many plays and musicals. Which one included the songs, "Poor Wandering One" and "When The Foeman Bares His Steel"?