A/N: So I had a poll going for what to publish next. This one didn't get any votes, but it was in the best condition so I thought, why not?

Boq gets a lot of hate from the fandom. I for one, disagree with most of the fandom. *ducks to avoid flying tomato* Just hear me out, okay? Or rather, hear Boq out. I he vent read the book, so apologies if I get things horribly wrong, I'm working with Musical!Canon here.

Sorry if I get eye colors wrong, BTW. Those are details that are hard to see from the audience, and, as I said before, I never read the book.

I do not own Wicked or any of its characters or plot.

Dancing Through Life

"Miss Galinda?" Boq said tentatively.

"Hmm?" She turned to face him. If Boq hadn't been so mesmerized by the girl, he might have noticed the bored way her eyelids fluttered. But all he noticed was the way her brilliant green eyes sparkled in the sunlight.

"I hope you'll save at least one dance for me," he told her, "I'll be right there. Waiting. All night."

"Oh, that's so kind," The delighted munchkin did not catch the demeaning tone in her half-hearted response. Her voice was music. She took him by surprise when she continued, "But you know what would be even kinder?"

He blinked. "What?"

Galinda put a hand on his shoulder and directed his line of sight. "See that tragically beautiful girl? The one in the chair?"

Indeed he did. The dark-haired girl was Nessarose, daughter of the Mayor of Munchkinland. Her elder sister was Elphaba, the green girl whom everyone loathed. But no one had quite decided what to think of Nessarose.

"It seems so unfair," Galinda said, "We should go on a spree, and not she! Gee," she put her other hand to her chin, pondering, "I know someone would be my hero," here she glanced at Boq, who stood up a little straighter, "If that someone were to go invite her."

"Maybe- Maybe I could invite her!" Boq suggested excitedly.

"Oh Biq, really? You would do that for me?" Galinda fluttered her eyelashes irresistibly.

At the prospect of doing something good for Galinda, he didn't even mind that she had gotten his name wrong- again. "I would do anything for you, Miss Galinda."

"Good," Galinda smiled. "get to it," she pushed him a little in the direction of Nessarose.

Boq stumbled a little. Glancing back for a moment, he saw Galinda give him the thumbs up before turning to talk to Fiyero. Boq swallowed. Nessarose was staring at the sky wistfully.

"Uh- Miss- Miss Nessarose?"

"Yes?" She looked surprised to be addressed. "You're Boq, aren't you?"

"Ah- yes, I am." He replied.

"Don't you have a ball to get to? Someone to invite?" She said bitterly, looking down at her useless legs.

"Yes, but, actually, I was wondering- that is, would you- were you planning on coming?"

"No."

"Well, would- would you plan on going, with... With me?"

Nessarose looked up, genuinely shocked. "Are you- inviting me?"

"Well Miss Galinda and I were thinking that it would be a shame if you didn't come along too, so..." He trailed off.

Nessarose's face lit up in a bright, beautiful, real smile. "Of course I'll go with you! Thank you, Boq!"

Boq smiled back, a little awkwardly maybe. "So, I'll see you there?"

"Absolutely!" Nessarose responded gleefully. "Oh, I have to get to class. Goodbye, Boq!" She turned and rolled away, leaving Boq behind to puzzle over her Thank you, Boq!

The Oz Dust

The Oz Dust Ballroom was full of students from Shiz laughing and dancing. Boq and Nessarose- Nessa- stood on the sidelines watching them.

It wasn't that Boq didn't enjoy Nessa's company. Not only did she feel free to talk about herself, but she listened to Boq when he spoke. He found that Elphaba's sister was an amazing person, sweet and encouraging and lonely sometimes. But he continued to watch Galinda dance out of the corner of his eye a they talked.

And he felt horrible for it.

Finally, he said, "Nessa, I have something to confess. A reason why, well... Why I asked you here tonight."

She gazed at him sadly. "Oh Boq, I know why."

"You do," he was relieved. He didn't have to be the one to tell her. She had already figured it out.

"It's because I'm in this chair."

Boq blinked in surprise.

"And you felt sorry for me." She dropped her gaze to the green floor. "Well, isn't that right?"

"No!" Boq replied. Of course it wasn't her. Nessa was flawless, graceful, kind. He didn't look down on her. But his heart still belonged to Galinda. "No, it's because-" he looked to Galinda, who was dancing with Fiyero. If I tell her I love Galinda, she'll think it's because of her. "Because..." He looked to Nessa again. "Because you are so beautiful!"

She smiles again, that smile so full of joy. "Oh Boq, I think you're wonderful!"

Wonderful.

Many things are wonderful in Oz. The colors that painted the sky at sunset. Galinda's good heart. The Wizard was woderful, it was said. Boq had never been described as wonderful.

Wonderful.

"And we deserve each other, don't you see, this is our chance!"

She thinks I'm wonderful.

"We deserve each other, don't we, Boq?"

He looked into her eyes, her brown eyes so full of life. So full of hope. He saw that hope and

didn't

want

to

crush

it.

So I'll be wonderful, he thought.

He said aloud, "You know what? Let's dance."

Nessa laughed bewilderedly. "What?"

"Let's dance!" He moved around behind her and pushed her wheelchair onto the dance floor, spinning her and laughing with her.

And for a time he didn't think once about Galinda.

For a time everything was wonderful.

No, for a time, everything was perfect.

A/N: So that's my psycho-analysis of Boq. Take into account that I have only ever seen the musical, I never read the book.

I wanted to call attention the Nessa's use of the word "wonderful" in the segment "Dancing Through Life." It may not seem like much; it's a word we use every day. But not every word is the title of a later song in the same musical. The song "Wonderful" describes how things are what they are percieved to be by the public. "It depends on which label is able to persist," the Wizard says. The Wizard is called wonderful many times, though we find out that he is not as wonderful as the general public believes. I highly doubt that the writers of Wicked used this same word in "Dancing Through Life" by accident. Nessa thinks Boq is wonderful. Elphaba thinks the Wizard is wonderful. Both are proved wrong by the end of the musical

I also painted Galinda in a bit of a bad light here. This is because she was like this; shallow, self-absorbed. She didn't even bother to learn Boq's name. And of course he would do anything for her, she reasoned, she's Galinda: perfect, gorgeous, popular, wonderful (if you will) Galinda. Please know that I don't hate Glinda- I appreciate how far she's come as a person from the beginning to the end, but I must portray this realistically, okay? This is Galinda as I saw her at this point in the musical. You are entitled to your own opinion.

Thank you for your time. Apologies if my Author's Notes were long-winded. Criticism is appreciated, so if you have some other ideas I would love to hear them, so PM me or leave a review! Thanks again!

Nightstar Phoenix