A/N: WELL! Yesterday I went to see Wicked with my Grandma for my birthday, and we got stall seats for £25 each with our OAP/Student rail cards :D. We got there an hour and a half early by accident, so we went to the stage door for a while, then went back to the steps. Then I looked down to the stage door and saw a bald head, so I basically walked really quickly and met Andy Mace and got a photo just as he was going in. Then about 10 minutes later, I was back by the steps and I saw a guy in sunglasses cross the road in front of me, and I was like "OMG OLIVER TOMPSETT!" so I basically followed him to the stage door. I got a photo, and he signed a leaflet I had cos I forgot my program. He spent a while trying to find somewhere to sign, in the end he just wrote "Oli x" on the white witch on the logo. I was very happy! I was also happy cos I got to see Nadine Cox as Morrible, and she was awesome! :D
Anyway..On with the story! Don't forget to r&r!
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In the days after the Wizard's death, Oz descended into a state of shock. Nobody was quite sure if they could believe what had happened; the sky was regularly checked for any balloons, so certain were some of a conspiracy. Oz had been descending into madness, and many people were unhappy. Could the Wizard have..escaped? Faked his own death to avoid confrontation about his way of ruling? But no, the body was shown, in a rather vulgar fashion, to a huddled crowd of near hysterical citizens of the City of Emeralds, and it was indeed the Wizard; a frail old man who had spent his time hiding behind a machine.
Elphaba had retreated to the library, absorbing knowledge about anything, everything, to distract her from the grief she felt. He was the Wizard, he wasn't meant to die. All her dreams, gone, destroyed by the hands of extremist Ozians desperate for an end to the regimes and changes inflicted by the Wizard. Elphaba could understand their desperation; but to murder an unsuspecting old man made her blood run cold. There had to have been another way to solve the problems.
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A month or two after the death of the Wizard, Elphaba was walking home from the library, earlier than usual. The sun was just setting in the sky, but Elphaba felt exhausted. She'd spent weeks trying to find out where Dr Dillamond was, and when he would be reinstated into the faculty. It felt like a hopeless case, and Elphaba wondered if Dr Dillamond would even want to return. The Banns may have been lifted, but prejudice remained.
"Elphaba!" Elphaba stopped at the sound of Fiyero's voice and turned around, an eyebrow raised. "Hi." He tipped his head to the side, as if trying to work out what was wrong. "You ok?"
She nodded. "You?" He nodded back, and Elphaba had to stop herself laughing at the stupidity of their conversation. Fiyero was staring at her, and she twitched nervously. "W-what?" She squirmed slightly under his gaze. Fiyero snapped back to life at the sound of her voice, and blushed slightly.
"You have something in your teeth." He lied, smoothly, and watched with delight at the deepening green splodges on Elphaba's cheeks as she frantically scraped at her food free teeth. "Its gone." He said quickly.
"Thanks." Her tone of voice indicated she wasn't particularly thankful at all. "Anyway, I better go, it's err..getting late." Fiyero looked at his watch.
"It's quarter past eight." He peered at her curiously. "What are you, some kind of reverse vampire?" He smiled his most charming smile, and Elphaba couldn't help but smile.
"Galinda said that she needed me to, err..help her with an assignment." Fiyero raised an eyebrow.
"So is that why I'm on my way to pick her up to take her to dinner?" Elphaba could swear he had a smirk plastered on his face. "I'll walk with you." Before she could protest, he slipped his arm in hers. Elphaba squirmed, and tried to move, but his grip was too strong.
"Fiyero, you don't-"
"Oh come on." He grinned. "You scared?"
"Of course not but-"
"Lets go!" He started to skip, leaving Elphaba flailing behind him until she reluctantly joined in, skipping less enthusiastically, but to the same rhythm.
After a few moments he stopped hurriedly, yanking his arm away from hers. Elphaba was puzzled, until she saw Avaric approach them. She sighed, and continued walking towards her dorm, leaving Fiyero.
"Fi, what were you doing?" Elphaba turned her head, and even from a distance she could see Avaric was under the influence of that Winkie beer he favoured. He was swaying, his hand on Fiyero's shoulder for support. Fiyero's brow was wrinkled in distaste. Elphaba carried on walking, not wanting to hear his answer. She found his voice followed her.
"I was walking with Elphaba."
"Fuck that, you were skipping!" Avaric let out a peal of manic laughter, and Elphaba wrinkled her nose. "You were skipping with the artichoke! What are you, gay or blind?" He laughed again, and Elphaba quickened her pace, wanting to get away before she could hear Fiyero's answer.
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When Elphaba arrived home, unlocking the door with more force than was possibly necessary, she found Galinda in a state of distress. Her hair was wrapped in a towel, as was her tiny body. She was crying noisily, and Elphaba rushed to her side.
"Galinda, what's wrong?" Elphaba shifted uncomfortably, her concern sounding fake to her own ears. "What's happened?" She pulled the blonde into a hug, and Galinda snuffled into her shoulder.
"It's my Grandmumsy. She's..she's..she's" she broke off, swallowing "dead" she added in a whisper, and she burst into more noisy sobs.
"Galinda, I'm sorry." Elphaba stroked her back in what she hoped was a soothing manner. "Are you going back to the Uplands for her..?" The word 'funeral' went unsaid for fear of upsetting her further.
Galinda nodded. "I'm leaving tonight. I got word from Mumsy this afternoon. The funerals in a week, and it takes two days to reach the uplands. I'll stay there for two weeks after that or so." She got up and walked to the bathroom and peered at her alarmingly red face in the mirror. She squeaked a little at her appearance then gasped.
"Elphie, Yero will be here in a minute. Can you tell him I can't see him, and will be absent for three or four weeks?" She sounded so sad that Elphaba merely nodded rather than suggesting Galinda told him herself, or at least wrote a note, and passed Galinda the clothes laid out on the immaculate purple bed sheets. "Thank you, Elphie." She sniffed, and closed the bathroom door gently.
A moment or two later, someone knocked on the door. Elphaba recognized it straight away as Fiyero's knock, three sharp knocks one after the other, and one softer one at the end. She stood up, smoothing her skirt and dabbing at the wet patch on her shoulder. She opened the door, and immediately stepped out into the hall, signalling Fiyero to join her.
"Galinda's grandmother has died." She said curtly, and Fiyero looked concerned.
"Is Galinda ok?"
"Not really. She told me to tell you she won't be able to see you tonight, and that she'll be away for a month or so." Fiyero sighed.
"Can I see her?" Elphaba shook her head, shrugging her shoulders.
"She's too upset." Fiyero sighed, and turned to walk away.
"I'll see her when she gets back, then. Elphie?"
"Yes?"
"Can you tell her I love her?" Elphaba nodded, and Fiyero walked slowly down the hall.
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A/N: This chapter is basically starting to set up some stuff. Hope you enjoyed it, drop me a review, you'll get cyber gluten free cookies! I'm working on a couple of one shots, one about tattoos (don't ask :S) and one about drunken antics of Fiyeraba/Gliyero etc etc etc. Anyway..reviewww!