A/N: Happy Lurlinemas and a happy new year fellow Ozians!
Three weeks had passed, and Elphaba had slowly been integrated into his family, starting with the rest of his sisters, and the last to be introduced to her was his parents who had come to them the previous night.
Having not been used to a family fussing over her and worrying over her, she had become overwhelmed very quickly and had retreated to another room as soon as she had been able to, leaving Fiyero to explain everything, and still managing to keep their impending pregnancy a secret.
"Fae?" he called as he entered their bedroom. He grinned like a fool when he saw her, curled up in their bed, dressed in a deep turquoise coloured dress that his brother had found for her, her hair tied in a loose bun at the back of her neck to keep it out of her way.
"Mhm?" she hummed, not looking up from her book and she turned the page.
"I've got something to show you."
She paused then and looked up at him. "What is it?" She took the slip of paper handed to her, glancing at the address written before looking back at him. "And this is...?"
"Your brother's most recent address."
"Wh-...? I don't understand..."
"Riya tracked him down. We started in the Greater Kells."
"But this is the opposite side of Oz in Quadling Country..."
He nodded. "He moved and changed his name around the time the whole Wicked witches of the East and West started up. He was in support of you until Nessa decided to turn on the Munchkins. And then he distanced himself from the family name."
She cringed. "So he won't want to see me..."
"You don't know that unless you try."
"But if he didn't want people to know he was related-"
"For all you know he just didn't want to be associated with Nessa. Oz knows I wouldn't if she was my sister, no matter how responsible I'd have felt."
"I suppose. What is he doing all the way down there anyway? There's nothing there except swamps and mines."
"Why don't you ask him."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Oh, I don't know, he could scream 'witch' and send us both packing to Southstairs!"
"Or he could be a really concerned brother and want to know everything. Besides, I'm not saying we should travel that far." Not yet at least.
She rolled her eyes at him and went back to her book. "It's a wonderful suggestion, Yero, but we should probably wait until we have this child before I put myself into a situation where I could potentially be arrested on the spot."
He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Fae, it's just a letter. If he doesn't want to know then at least you tried."
"What time did Glinda say she would be here?"
"One-thirty." he reminded her, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the subject change.
She glanced at the clock beside her. "An hour. Okay." she nodded.
"Want me to come and get you when she's here?"
"Yes, please." she smiled when he kissed her and she watched him leave and then went back to her book. A short time later, she stopped reading once she felt the faintest flutter in her stomach and she put her hand there, waiting. One minute... two... She sighed with disappointment and shook her head. Maybe I imagined it... she thought.
"Everything alright?"
She looked up to the voice, smiling a little when she saw Ambram in the doorway. "Yeah... I just thought... never mind." she shook her head again and closed her book, getting out of bed.
"It will happen in its own time, Miss Elphaba." he smiled and walked to her.
"I know." she nodded. "I guess I'm just impatient. I've never been good at waiting." she sighed and allowed him to draw her into a hug. "What are you doing up here anyway?"
"My brother said you were a little distracted."
"I'm...not distracted... I'm just... hiding."
"Why?"
"Your parents were a bit too... full on last night, and I wasn't really prepared for how they would be." she shrugged. "I'm sure your mother meant well, worrying about how skinny I am, but I just... I've never really had anybody worry about me before. I'm sure you've heard Fiyero curse my father every name under the sun before."
"I... wasn't aware that that was who he was talking about," he admitted.
She smiled a little and shrugged. "He used to do it a lot at school too. It irritated him that he would so openly favour Nessa and not even acknowledge my existence, even after I told him why."
"And why is that, Miss Elphaba?"
"For years I was made to believe I was the cause of my mother's death and for Nessa's disability. It wasn't until Shiz... until I became friends with Glinda, and later Fiyero, that I started to see that none of it was true. My mother chewed those milk flowers willingly, continued to do so even after she was warned by medical professionals not to, well into her second trimester. I was just a three-year-old girl, I held no power over a grown woman who couldn't keep her activities with her husband in her marital bed." Elphaba spoke bluntly. "I mean, aside from being greener than grass, I'm sure that's why my father hated me so much. It's highly likely that I was never his blood. Whomever I belong to, it wasn't Frexspar, and I'll never find that out because the only person who can tell me died giving birth to her third child."
"Won't your brother know?"
"I don't know... I don't know if he'll want to see me."
"You could always reach out to him. Do you have an address?"
"Yes, but-"
"So write to him. The worst he could do to you is ignore the letter, right? With a return address being from this place, if he knows his history, he would know you can't be touched here. And couple that with your relationship with Fiyero and the impending little heir..." he smirked.
She paused and raised an eyebrow at him. "Did he put you up to this?!"
He shook his head quickly. "Nope," he told her honestly. "All he said to me was you could do with cheering up. And you weren't listening to him."
She scowled at him for a moment longer before shaking her head.
He grinned. "Go on. You've still got some time before your friend arrives."
She groaned. "Alright, fine!"
He laughed and walked with her to the library.
"I don't need a babysitter. And if this is your dear brother's doing I know a spell-"
"I'm just bored. Fiyero has nothing to do with it." he rolled his eyes.
"You're always bored, and you're also a bad liar."
"I'm also not gonna go running to him when you lift something heavier than a book," he smirked.
She laughed at that. "Alright, fine. He got me in this situation, he does not get to act like I'm made of glass."
"He may have done, but I doubt you did much complaining, did you?"
"Shut up. Oz, you need a boyfriend..."
He laughed. "I'm happy with being free to do what I want, with who I want."
"It's obviously a family trait to be annoying." she sat at a table, grabbing the previously abandoned notepad and the pen and she paused before writing.
Ambram smiled and busied himself with a book and giving her the space to write the letter.
How do I even start a letter like this?! she thought. Come on... I'm good with words... I can talk myself out of most things almost as good as I can talk myself into them... She sighed, eventually putting pen to paper and started to write. She didn't look up until she heard a female voice calling for her.
"Elphie!"
She rolled her eyes, smiling, looking at her sixth draft of a letter to her brother, almost completed. Well, I guess this will have to do...
"Elphie!"
Elphaba laughed quietly, finishing the last paragraph and she tore the pages out. She looked at Ambram. "Call me Elphie and I will not be responsible for my actions," she smirked. "The only reason she gets away with it is because she's small, blonde and cute. She's also my best friend." she walked out with him.
"I can see why my brother likes you. The vicious side is hot," he smirked.
She rolled her eyes and laughed again. "Well... he doesn't complain."
"Elph- oh, there you are!" Glinda gasped and ran over to her as quickly as her heels would allow. She barrelled into her and hugged her tightly.
Elphaba let out a soft 'oof!' at the contact and hugged her back. "Lovely to see you too, Glinda."
"You seemed upset in your letter, I just had to come and see you. But you look fine you don't look sad."
"Glinda!" she cut through her friend's ramblings with a laugh. "Breathe." she smiled.
The blonde nodded and took a deep breath to calm down, then spotted the male with them. "Who is he?"
"I'm hurt, Ms Glinda. You don't remember me?" he teased.
She stopped and looked him up and down. She gasped. "Ambram!" she let her go and then hugged him. "Oz, I'm sorry! I've been so busy and distracted with the whole... Emerald City thing and now my best friend needed me and..." she paused again. "Wait... what's going on?"
Elphaba laughed again and linked her arm with Glinda's and walking away with her. "I just... missed you, that's all."
Ambram shook his head, grinning and he watched them go. He headed off to find his brother.
"Okay, so what exactly is going on in the city?" Elphaba asked as they walked outside into the woods.
"There's a lot of political upset that I wish you were there to make sense of it all so it would help me..."
"Why?"
Glinda looked at her. "Did Fiyero not tell you?" she asked and sighed. "Well... he did look a little unwell when I saw him..."
"When was this?"
"About three weeks ago? What? Why are you smiling like that?"
"Don't worry about it for now... tell me what he was supposed to have said to me."
"Morrible is locked up in prison and the Wizard left in his balloon."
"Do I even want to know how that came about?"
Glinda studied her for a moment. "Probably not. Anyway, because he's gone that means I now have to step up while a replacement is found and I have no idea what I'm doing."
"And what if your replacement is worse than he was?"
"They won't be! I'll make sure of it. Anyway, there are things I want to put right before that happens. I want to try and overturn the Animal Banns and reintegrate them back into society... I just... don't know how... And I want to try and clear your name too."
"Glinda, you can't. You can't make them turn on you too."
"But Elphie, they think you're dead. That you died in that horrendible fire."
"And so it should be. Glinda, things have changed now. Before all of this, I would have given anything for people to see me the way you do, or the way Fiyero does."
"What's changed? I can still do this."
"It's too fresh in their minds. That man has had twenty-three years to get people on his side. Twenty-three years of believing his lies, you won't be able to undo that. Besides, there's not just me to think about. There is Fiyero, his family, you."
"But... If we leave things this way, that means you can never leave these lands and... if you do, you have to be hidden."
"I was hiding for four years, Glin. What's a lifetime more?" She looked at her friend. "Besides, you'll still be able to come and see me. I hope. As far as I'm aware, this place is our home. Close enough for you if we need to see each other. And I know I'll be needing you soon."
"What does that mean? You're smiling weirdly again. Elphie, what are you not telling me?"
"I know why Fiyero looked sick three weeks ago."
"Why? You don't have it too, do you?"
Elphaba laughed and shook her head. "No... I have a different kind of sickness..."
"Elphie, stop talking in riddles! You know I can't think that much!"
"Fine! Spoil my fun!" the green witch pouted for a moment. "I had it confirmed three weeks ago. As of today, I am around eighteen weeks pregnant."
Glinda stopped fidgeting and stared at her for a moment with wide eyes. She then squealed happily and hugged her friend tight. "Oh, my! Elphie that's wonderful! So he wasn't sick, he was just in shock!" she giggled.
Elphaba nodded, grinning. "Yep. He was in that state for the rest of the day, and he's been wanting to tell everyone about it but I said I wanted you to know first. But you're the second person to know... Ambram wanted to know why he was quiet so we told him. I didn't want to tell you in a letter."
"So by pretending something was wrong, you knew I'd come to you as soon as I could?"
"In fairness, Fiyero wrote it, I don't actually know what he wrote."
Glinda huffed at that. "Well, when I get a hold of him-"
Elphaba smiled. "When I told him to write to you, I didn't mean freak you out."
"When is your next appointment?"
"In a couple of weeks... She wants to see me every few weeks because of how small I am... also I have to go into hospital for the birth."
"Why?"
"Because certain things happened to me that mean I can't deliver safely."
Glinda gasped, a horrified look on her face. "Elphie, what exactly happened to you out there?!"
"Too many things... And I'm still trying to process it all and I still wake up in a screaming fit."
Glinda sighed and hugged her again. "Elphie..."
"Don't. I'm okay now, I'm safe."
"Fine..."
Elphaba smiled a little bit and they both headed back inside. It would take longer than four months to get over the shit I went through... she thought tiredly. Both women headed to the kitchen after deciding they were both hungry.
"Ooh! You have cake in here!" Glinda squealed as she looked in the fridge.
"Yeah, Fiyero is sort of... hinting at getting help in this place, so I've let him look at getting a cook." she shrugged. "The last one we had yesterday was quite possibly one of my favourites because the cakes he made were so good."
"It makes sense... you are living in a castle. As good as you are with cleaning and cooking there's no way you'd be able to maintain it all by yourself."
"The irritating thing about that is I know you're both right." Elphaba groaned. "Just... shut up and bring me the cake." she pouted.
Glinda giggled and obeyed her friend, taking out the plate filled with various leftover cakes from the day before and they both sat down, picking at the food and talking, giggling together.
Once the cake was eaten, the two walked through the castle once more, huddled together in a whispered conversation.
"What are you two conspiring about now?" Fiyero smirked lightly when he saw them.
"Nothing for you to worry about." Elphaba smiled, shaking her head slightly when Glinda let her go to crush him in a hug and squealed her happiness and congratulations in his ears. "Just girl stuff."
Glinda nodded when she let go and linked her arm with Elphaba's again. "I know Elphie won't actually need one but I've decided I'm going to be her birthing partner. Of course, I'm going to be godmother to this one and any other babies you have."
"Are you now?" His voice had an amused edge to it as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yes! I'm her best friend... well... her only friend!"
Elphaba opened her mouth to argue, paused and closed it again. "Fair point..." she conceded.
He laughed and shrugged. "The only reason that is is that you don't like people."
"Exactly... With the exception of you two. And she doesn't count because she got lumped with me and it was a case of get along or we kill each other." she smirked. "And you... I don't know what the hell happened. And don't say a spell."
"Fine," he smirked. "But it's true."
She rolled her eyes. "Again, you're not funny."
"I think I am."
Glinda smiled, watching the back and forth between them and she shook her head. "I guess falling in love is sort of like a spell."
"See, Glinda gets it!"
"Do you have to encourage him? You realise I have to live with this." Elphaba groaned and walked away from them.
He rolled his eyes at her with a grin and they both followed her. "Come on, Fae, you should know by now that I don't need encouragement to tell the world that I love you."
"Oz, I wish you wouldn't," she smirked.
He grabbed her by the hand and spun her around to face him, making her laugh and he kissed her. "I love you."
She ducked her head, blushing. "I love you too."
A week later, Elphaba was stood at the top of the western tower, gazing out the window in the direction of the city she once called home. She shivered and pulled her black cloak tighter around herself.
"You will freeze to death up here." Riya scolded gently with a smile, a blanket in her hands. She approached the young woman and draped it around her shoulders.
Elphaba smiled gratefully, having realised too late that her magic didn't want to work for her, and was unable to perform a heating spell on her old cloak to keep her warm.
"Looks like we could get snow soon. Just in time for Lurlinemas too."
"Yeah." she nodded.
Riya cocked her head to the side. "Penny for your thoughts, Miss Elphaba?"
"Something is blocking my magic... it's like... it's like there's a barrier there, and it wants to show me something first but I don't know what it is." she told her after a silent moment. "I thought being up here would be helpful to..." she trailed off, discreetly pressing a palm flat against her stomach, this time, feeling the first flutterings from within. Before she could stop herself, a smile broke out on her lips.
"What is it? A happy memory?"
"Something like that..." she nodded.
"Would you like me to leave you be?"
"Would you mind?"
"Not at all." Riya smiled softly, knowing there was something she wasn't being told, but she wouldn't pry. She left the tower quietly, locating her brothers in the library.
"Show me that again," Elphaba whispered softly and waited. She knew her visions well enough to know it took time, and she chuckled softly as the snow started to fall, hopefully, this meant that the block on her magic was lifted. Ten minutes later, she made her way back down the stairs, shivering a little bit, the memory of two visions now in her head.
"Ouch! What was that for?!" Fiyero grouched, rubbing the back of his head where his sister whacked him.
"You're hiding something. And you never hide anything."
"What the hell are you talking about now?"
Riya raised an eyebrow. "You and Elphaba. You're being secretive."
Ambram smirked and said nothing, pretending to be busy with a book from a shelf.
"If Fae hasn't told you anything during your girl talks, I can't help you." Fiyero shrugged, about to cross the room to his brother, but his sister stopped him again.
"I will find out, little brother. One way or another." she looked at Ambram. "He tells you everything. D'you know?"
The eldest Tigelaar raised his hands. "Leave me outta this!" he smirked. "That woman, small in frame she may be, terrifies me!"
"How come he knows but I don't?! He's even worse at keeping secrets than that pretty blonde thing you keep around!"
"Glinda knows when to keep her mouth shut and knows that pissing Elphaba off is not a good idea," Fiyero smirked. "Fae will tell you when the time is right for her. I'm doing things her way, I'm not gonna rush her into anything."
"Fine, whatever." she pouted and laughed.
"At least Iona loves her more than she does Glinda." Ambram grinned. "Glinda was, in the words of a five-year-old, too loud and too pink."
Fiyero nodded. "And she only met her once... At my graduation. But Glinda wouldn't be Glinda if she wasn't pink."
Later in the evening, Fiyero looked up as Elphaba entered their bedroom with a smile on her face, he grinned and he couldn't help but think himself the luckiest man in the world. "What's got you looking so happy?" he teased.
She started to take the hairpins from her hair and her dark, wavy locks tumbled down her back, and she got herself ready for bed. "Just... something I saw earlier." she smiled.
"What did you see?"
"It was sort of like a dream..." she said quietly. "Only, it wasn't a dream. I think I had a vision of our baby."
He listened to her in awe and just a twinge of jealousy that she could see it and he couldn't. "What was happening?"
She climbed into bed beside him. "It's probably better if I can show you. Do you trust me?"
"Always."
She smiled and softly pressed her fingers to his temples and whispered an incantation.
He closed his eyes as the vision projected into his head, and he held her hands in his.
Squeals and peals of laughter rang through the air, a child's voice yelling out and demanding "again!" at whatever was happening to them. The child must have got their wish, for the laughter started again.
Finally, the scene focused, and now Elphaba saw what was happening. She saw herself sat at the edge of a riverbank, laughing, watching Fiyero and a small, dark-haired, pale-skinned boy.
"Come, I think that's enough for now, you'll be too sick to eat!" she laughed again at the boy's pouting and she shook her head.
"I think we should do what mama says. She'll get mad at me if we don't." Fiyero grinned, swinging the child from around his shoulders and put him on his feet. The child then immediately ran over to her and threw himself into her arms, Fiyero following behind at a slower pace.
She watched him carefully as the vision came to an end, taking in the wonderment in his face, the awe and the love in his eyes.
"Fae... Is that...?"
She nodded. "I could only call that one to memory... I've had two visions... That one was more recent."
He silenced her with a kiss, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. "He looks so much like you."
She shook her head, smiling. "He gets it all from you." she chuckled softly when he moved down the bed until he was facing her stomach, she stroked his hair when he began whispering to the child within.