Chapter Text
“It’s time to go,” Fiyero whispered, taking Elphaba’s hand.
Elphaba looked around at the abandoned castle she’d lived in for the past few years, and out the window, staring at the country that she could never stop loving despite its hatred for her. “We can never come back to O,z can we?”
Fiyero walked up to where Elphaba was in the window. “No.”
They stared out at the vast expanse before them one last time before Elphaba stepped back and turned away from the window. “I only wish-“
They both trembled, or maybe it was the ground beneath them that shook. Elphaba ignored it, staring into the distance as if she could will what was missing back to her.
“What?” Fiyero prompted, already knowing the answer.
Elphaba turned back to Fiyero, tears brimming in her eyes. “That Glinda could know... That we’re alive!”
The shaking worsened, and the pair grabbed onto each other to keep balance.
“Elphaba, what’s-“ but Fiyero’s question was cut off by the darkness enveloping them. They fought to hold on, but the magic was strong and ripped them apart.
“Fiyeroooooo!” Elphaba screamed. She was fighting for control of the magic, but it had a mind of its own. It was too strong. She felt herself being pulled away. Pulled to a new place, familiar but foreign in a way that’s long past. As she lost the fight for consciousness, her last thoughts turned towards Fiyero, towards Glinda, and towards the life that could’ve been if only they’d had another way.
✵✵✵✵✵✵
The first thing Elphaba registered was the itchy blanket wrapped around her. It provided little comfort, but it kept her warmer than sleeping without it would. She remembered being certain that her father had asked for the worst blanket they had when he first gave it to her, but she was grateful for anything that fath-
Elphaba's eyes flew open. This blanket? She hadn’t thought of it since she’d left for Shiz all those years ago. Except looking around, she was not in her dorm at Shiz, nor the woods she slept in after that, or in her room in Kiamo Ko, where she’d made herself a tentative home. The sight that greeted her sleep-heavy eyes was the pale grey walls of the bedroom she’d had as a child. Bare of all except a bed and a wardrobe, in the furthest corner of Colwen Grounds.
There was no blindingly pink bedding across from her. No soft fur of the animals that helped hide her. No warmth and steady heartbeat from Fiyero. No stone wall filled with sketches of that which she couldn’t have but couldn't live without.
Fear clawed through Elphaba's chest. What was she doing here? Where was Fiyero, Nessa, Galinda? The memories began coming back quickly. Flashes of hiding Galinda, of melting, of Fiyero, of the shaking, and then… nothing. The memories didn’t still the fear; in fact, it only worsened as she realized she had no idea what happened. How did she get here? Where was here?
Was it all a dream? No, it couldn’t have been. It was too real. Wasn’t it? Galinda, Fiyero, it had to have been real. They had to. Was it her magic that brought them here? She didn’t think so; it didn’t feel like it, but while losing control was rarer now, it was never impossible, and never too far out of reach. Wait! Her magic, if she did this, she could surely undo it. She carefully pulled at her magic, something small first. She used her magic to pick up her brush and bring it over to her. So it wasn’t a dream. No dream could result in that amount of control. But could she reverse whatever this was? She had to try.
Before she could start, though, she was interrupted by a loud banging at her door. “Miss Elphaba, you’re going to be late for helping your sister,” came Mrs. Alice’s voice. It froze Elphaba in her place. She hadn’t realized she’d forgotten Mrs. Alice’s voice. One of the few people in Munchkinland who was kind to her, and she’d forgotten her. Mrs. Alice plowed on, unaware of the tears now welling in Elphaba's eyes. “There’s that state visit today, the Vinkus royal family is visiting, so your sister must look her best.”
The Vinkus Royalty? Fiyero! If she remembered, maybe he did too. He had to. Right? Elphaba didn’t know what she’d do if he didn’t. Please, she couldn’t live through this alone. Not again.
Elphaba quickly got herself dressed, leaving her hair unbraided in a way that’s foreign to the girl in this body, yet feels so right after everything that’s happened, that hasn’t happened? Time magic is confusing. She made her way to her sister's room and knocked before letting herself in.
“Nessa?” She asked hesitantly, scanning the room. When her eyes landed on her sister, Elphaba felt the air leave her lungs. Nessa, her Nessa, was alive and well right in front of her. Her Nessa, whom she loved and hated and destroyed. Her sweet, selfish, spoiled Nessa. Whatever hell this was, she wouldn’t let her sister go down the same path again. She refused. She wouldn’t kill her sister again. She wouldn’t be the reason she dies again.
“Elphaba?” Nessa's voice brought her back to the present.
“Sorry, I guess I’m still tired.” Elphaba forced around the lump in her throat. “Mrs. Alice said you needed help. What can I do?”
“Oh,” Nessa said, quickly distracted from her sister's mood by her own needs. “Will you do my hair? The Vinkus royal will be here in an hour, and Father said I have to make a good impression. I don't know why we’re hosting those buffoons; they might be royalty, but they’re still Winkie freaks.”
It shouldn’t have surprised her to hear those words coming out of her sister's mouth, after all, their father's hatred for the people of Winkie country was no secret, but that didn’t stop the sting. “Don’t say that, Nessa. You’ve never met these people before. You have no idea what they’ll be like, at least wait to judge them til you meet them.”
“It’s just what father says.” Nessa defended.
“Father's opinion of things doesn’t have to be yours. Besides, father’s just mad that they outrank him, that’s why he doesn’t like them.”
Nessa pouted, but she didn’t say anything else against the Vinkus, which Elphaba appreciated. She didn’t think she could handle her sister saying such things about Fiyero, even if she didn’t know it. Once she finished Nessa's braids, Nessa went to meet Father to finish preparing for the visit, and Elphaba slipped away to find out more about when she was. She vaguely recalled a state visit a month or two before Nessa left for Shiz, but she wasn’t certain. Elphaba made her way to the kitchen, with everyone making last-minute preparations for the visit, the small family kitchen Elphaba preferred was left abandoned in favor of the larger serving kitchen. After rifling through the mail that had been left at the door that morning, she finally found what she was looking for.
Animal Only School in Munchkinland Officially Shut Down
By Ronda Vou
While the headline caught her eye, it wasn't what Elphaba had been looking for. There in the top corner was the date. She hadn't been too far off in her prediction then. She had arrived nearly 2 months before they left for Shiz, but what did that mean for Fiyero? He was there when the spell was cast, if you could even call it that at this point. Does that mean he's here too? Or did she abandon him in Kiamo Ko? Oh, Oz, she hoped he was here. All those times he called her strong, all the times Galinda called her invincible, they'd all be lies if she had to do this again without them. She’d spent so much of her life alone, and the second she wasn't anymore, she was addicted. There was no way she could go through not having Fiyero, go through Galinda hating her again. She didn't think she was strong enough to survive it. Not again.
As if sensing her distress, Mrs. Alice trotted into the family kitchen, clearly looking for her again. Her appearance distracted Elphaba from her thoughts. “Miss Elphaba,” the wolf sighed. “I should’ve known I’d find you here. You’re Father-”
“My father,” Elphaba cut in with an eye roll, “wants me to disappear from even the possibility of being seen by his royal guests.” If memory served, Elphaba had spent the day in the woods behind the manor, picking berries and flowers with no chance of being seen. And no chance of finding out if Fiyero was here too.
Mrs. Alice gave her a sad look. “Your father is just looking out for you, Miss. Elphaba. He just wants to protect you.”
It was a lie, and they both knew it, but Elphaba wouldn’t disrespect one of the few people in her life who had been kind to her by calling her out on it. Instead, she grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “What room are they meeting in?” Elphaba paused to ask. “So I can avoid the windows.” That wasn’t why she wanted to know, but no one needed to know that.
“The yellow sitting room, the one that was-” Mrs. Alice cut herself off, but they both knew what she had meant. The one that had been Mother’s favorite.
Elphaba smiled at her and left without saying a word. It was silly. She’d barely known her mother. She hadn’t even turned 3 when Nessa was born, and mama- and her mother had died. Every memory she had of her was hazy at best, if not entirely made up, so why did it hurt so much anytime she was mentioned? Because it’s your fault. The voice in her head, which sounded suspiciously like her father, supplied. Perhaps he was right, it was her fault, and that’s why it hurt to be reminded of it, but Elphaba couldn’t help but remember that conversation with Galinda in the dorm the first night they became friends. Her friends' insistence that Nessas' birth and her mother's death weren’t her fault, without an ounce of hesitation, stuck with Elphaba.
“That may be your secret, but that doesn’t make it true.” She had said it with so much conviction that even Elphaba had believed it, if only for a second. Oh, how she missed her sweet Galinda. The girl might have thought of herself as dumb or useless or shallow or the million other words she used to describe herself during her spirals, but she had never been those things. Even when they hated each other, she was never quite mean, well, until the night of the dance, but she’d made up for that tenfold the second she started dancing with Elphaba. Oz Elphaba missed her dear friend; even if it’d technically only been days since she’d last seen her, it’d been years since they’d been together, years since they’d spent more than a few moments in the same room. How Elphaba missed their conversations at Shiz, the late nights when neither could sleep, working together on their magic, or sharing secrets they had never told anyone. Elphaba missed those nights more than anything. She missed the carefree days they spent with Fiyero, Nessa, and Boq in the woods near campus. She missed the poppies that always seemed to appear in their room anytime Elphaba was feeling down. She missed her best friend, her kind, charming, thoughtful, loving Galinda. There was no way Elphaba would survive Galinda hating her again. She’d rather just never see her again. It’d be easier. To just never go back at all. To just march to the Wizard's place and try to take him down herself right now. The worst that could happen is she’s killed, and hasn’t she already lived through worse?
Forcing herself away from that train of thought, Elphaba made her way towards the woods behind the manor, but paused as she heard the horses and carriage of the Vinkus royals pull to a stop at the front of the house. Unable to help herself, Elphaba snuck closer, hiding behind the rose bushes in front of the house to watch, to hopefully catch a glimpse of Fiyero, even if he was no longer hers. From her hiding spot, she watched as the tall guards opened the carriage door, and out stepped the King and Queen with their daughters, Princesses Amara and Lyra. Fiyero had talked a lot to the girls about his sisters; he always said he hoped they’d meet one day. They never did, but now, even from a distance, she could see so much of him in them.
Elphaba waited with bated breath for Fiyero to step out of the carriage behind them, but he never did. She watched her father descend the stairs to greet their guests, and, realizing that he hadn’t come, she turned back towards the woods to retreat. Unbeknownst to her, another horse rode up to the manor as she left, and while Fiyero acted quite princely in his greeting of the Governor and his favorite daughter, his eyes never left the woods, where he'd watched his green girl disappear. He wasn’t taking his eyes off that spot until he memorized it, and found her in a forest again.