16.

Nine long months passed, Rain stared out the window, probably thinking deeply about something. Her hair was starting to grey, even though she was a young twenty-one year old. It wasn't hard to figure out that she was expecting a child; her stomach was well-rounded. There was nothing much to look at anymore. Ever since the Revolution began, Oz was in ruins. No birds chirped to greet the day, no bees pollinated the flowers; which weren't even around anymore. Everything was a desolate wasteland—a skeleton of Oz's former glory.
Tip had been trying to find work but always came up short-handedly because there was nothing close to home, or anything that ultimately led to the army militia of the New E.C.
"Hun, I need to talk to you," Rain said as her husband came home, jobless as usual.
Tip's brow creased. "What about?" He was confused.
She patted the stool next to her. "Please, sit down."
He nodded, still suspicious, and sat. "What is it, dear?"
Rain bit her lip. This was either hormones or just something she had felt very emotional to talk about….or both, it was hard to tell. "Tip, I want you to listen carefully. This is hard for me to say and I know it's going to be hard for you to hear."
"Well, just say it then."
She nodded and held his hand. "Tip, a couple months ago I went out to get some fresh air. On my way down, I saw the Time Dragon Clcok. I was startled at first, but then I realized that it was very possible for it to be alive again, just as Elphaba and Fiyero were alive. The clock pulled me in and I saw a vision of the future." She paused, making sure he was paying attention. "Tip, my life here with you is coming to an end."
Tip's lip quivered. "What….what are you talking about? You're talking nonsense!"
She shook her head.. She spoke softly, trying to be strong. "Tip, as soon as this baby is born, my work here is done. I'm going to the New E.C.."
"You can't! If you do, you'll get captured." Tip's voice was strained. "You can't leave me now, I need you, the baby needs you. We just go back together, and now you want us to separate?"
Rain let the tears flow. She stroked his face. "Do you think I want to leave you? Of course not. I'd give anything to be with you forever."
"Then, why don't you?" He squeaked, touching her hand.
She smiled weakly. "Because then I'd be putting both of you in danger. And, just as Elphaba stayed behind for a greater cause, I must give my life for something greater than me: You and the baby." She was choking on tears, seeing the hurt in Tip's eyes. With her thumb, she slowly tried to wipe away his pain. "I've had a wonderful, marvelous year with you," she said taking his face into her hands. "A wonderful, wonderful, year; I don't want to give that up. But the matter is out of my hands. I've thought long and hard about this and I have made my decision." She sighed, the tears now in bunches. "I want you to promise me that when this baby is born, that you'll name her Ozma."
Tip swallowed. "Ozma? Why Ozma?"
"Because she is the next in line for the throne. And," she added, "she is the only one who can bring peace and prosperity back to Oz." She paused, kissed his nose, crying more. "Don't think that I've left you for good, because I will always be with you; I've left a handprint on your hear."
Tip squeezed her hand, blinking out a fountain of tears. "You left more than a handprint."
Rain wrapped her arms around him, crying into the crook of his neck. "Oh, Tip!" He held her close, crying into her hair, which had turned completely white.
"Rain," he wept. "Let's not waste another minute, for as long as you're mine, I want to make every last moment last."
She looked at him, forcing a sad smile and she nodded. He helped her stand up. He took her right hand into his left. Holding her close, he then wrapped his right arm around her waist (the best he could, anyway), as she rested her left hand on his shoulder and her head on his chest. Quietly, tearfully, they swayed together in a little dance. They said nothing, for there was nothing to say, or maybe they were afraid to say anything at all. Rain nuzzled her head against Tip's neck as he stroked her long, white hair. She kissed him softly. He kissed her longingly, as if trying to make it less painful for him when it was her time to leave.
Tip couldn't think of a life without Rain. She was his whole world; she completed him. It seemed just yesterday they had reunited, and now they were being torn apart. He couldn't make ends of it, his heart was too fragile to have it be broken again. Rain broke the kiss, clutching her stomach. She looked up at Tip. Her eyes telling him that it was time for the baby to be born, but also telling him it was their last time together.
Rain—sweating and breathless—held her new baby girl, Ozma Elphaba-Joy Osqa'ami Thropp Tippetarius. The child was white as snow, and her hair blond like wheat. She was tiny, but she was strong. Her eyes opened to show off their brilliant, emerald-green color. Rain handed Little Ozma over to Tip, who smiled happily, but also sadly.
"She's beautiful, just like her mother," he said, attempting to sound level, but even so, Rain could look in his eyes and see the fear in them. She touched his tear-stained face, maybe as a gesture of a farewell, or just a way to bring comfort—either way, it didn't matter, she'd be leaving soon; he knew it.
After Rain cleaned herself up, she came back with an old suitcase, giving it to Tip.
"What's this?"
"A suitcase," she replied. "It has all your clothes, toiletries, and everything you need for the baby. Go somewhere up north: Gillikin, the Glikkus, or maybe even Quadling Country, just somewhere where there are no troops."
He nodded, but still, he didn't want Rain to leave him. "Please, I can't do this without you."
She smiled softly. "Yes, you can. I know you can."
"Isn't there something else you could do? I mean, you're powerful enough to stop Lekay."
She shook her head. "No, killing Lekay won't solve anything. People will see it as an act of revenge for the murder of my grandmother." She sighed. "No, the only person who can end this war peacefully is Ozma." She kissed her daughter's head. "Only her, which is why you must take her someplace safe—out of trouble; out of Le Kay's clutches."
"Why can't—" Rain cut him off, placing a finger over his lips.
"Not another word, I'm leaving and that's that. I love you, so much, which is why I must go. Good-bye, Tip." She kissed his cheek, and then she kissed Ozma's forehead; then, she left walking tall and proud off toward Emerald City.

***
Le Kay smiled triumphantly. "Any last wishes before your life ends?"
Rain said nothing, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She was then led up to the guillotine, which awaited her today.
The crowds that gathered there were cheering and waiting impatiently for the execution to begin. Rain looked at all of them and cried silently to herself. She kenw she had to do this, but why was she so scared? Was it because of Tip or was it because she hadn't accomplished the one thing she had wanted to achieve: Finding her parents and apologizing? Her return to Oz had been the best thing she ever did, even with a few heart breaking good-byes. Memories. Memories she thought she had lost, had been found; likewise, memories she had finally found, were now lost again. Her journey back taught her one thing: Wishing only wounds the heart. But that's all she could do, right? She shook her head. "No, don't wish, don't start. Wishing only…"
And then, the executor released the rope.

The End