Musical Oneshots

Suffragettes - Wicked

Suffragette AU? Dedicated to Alice Paul.

"Excuse me, miss, would you spare an hour of your time for-"
"No thank you!"

Elphaba was cut off, and stared off at the little blonde woman as she continued into the crowded city streets. She was frustrated, this was the eighth person to turn her down in thirty minutes. She needed to get volunteers for The Emerald City's suffragette chapter, or they would lose any ground they'd gained.

However, even other women seemed to dislike suffragettes, and she and Fiyero had had little luck today, or ever. Speaking of, the young man poked his head out the office door.

"Your shift's over, Elphie, come inside. It's freezing out here." She sighed and followed him in. "Rough day, huh?" He asked as she slumped on the little sofa they kept in the office.

"Five hours!" She groaned. "Five fucking hours and not one person who'll listen." She dumped her packet of flyers on her desk, exhausted. "The people in this town are so small minded! I thought we'd have more luck here, but we just have a higher rent cost."

Fiyero nodded, sitting back down at his desk and continuing to scribble. "I know, nothing we do gets their attention or anything." He sat back in his chair, tapping his pen against his chin. "We need to do something different, something that they can't ignore..." And, before Elphaba could ask him what it was, he went right back to scribbling.

She decided to let him work, rolled off the sofa and started filing papers at her desk. One of the ones she looked at was the budget for the next month, and it didn't look good. She looked back at Fiyero, who was still intently scribbling. His brow was furrowed in concentration, his tongue peaking out from his lips and his pen pressing roughly into his pad. Elphaba chuckled to herself.

I wonder how he doesn't break that pen...

**********

After she had finished her work, Elphaba bid her roommate goodnight and went upstairs to the little apartment above their business that they shared. It was a little odd to the rest of the world, a young maiden and a handsome bachelor living together, but they were the best of friends, and they went through everything together, working side by side.

She took her hair out of its tight bun atop her head, letting her long black waves flow loosely. She brewed herself a cup of spearmint tea and changed into her nightgown, sitting on her bed and staring out the window.

There may not have been any stars, but the moon still shined bright. Despite all of the smog that tried to hide it, and the darkness that tried to quell its beauty, it was still there. However, the shimmering buildings of The Emerald City were there own type of stars.

Elphaba would gaze upon this every night, and every night they would glow. Even if the day had been absolute shit, they were still there, and so was she.

She laid down in her cozy little bed, ready to drift off and try it all again tomorrow.

We'll figure it out. Someway or another, we'll figure it out.

**********

Two weeks had passed, and Elphaba had nearly forgotten about Fiyero's odd scribbling that night. They had continued work as normal, except for one thing. Fiyero stayed in the office late for all of these nights, and he never really told Elphaba why. She would always ask if there was anything she could help with, and he'd always politely decline her offers.

Although a part of her would remain a little worried for him and his health, she decided to leave Fivero to his work. He was an intelligent man, after all, and had a work ethic that few others in the world could possess.

She kept working, and nothing changed yet, until one Tuesday morning.

Elphaba has gone to get the newspaper from her doorstep, and she'd seen something she'd never thought she'd see. She immediately called for Fiyero, and he wandered downstairs, half awake and still in his night shirt.

"What is this?!" On the front of the paper was a drawing of her, a yellow rose pinned to her hat and flyers in her arms, shouting on a street corner. It was gorgeous, almost like a real picture, but Elphaba recognized it as Fiyero's work. "How did this get on the paper?"

"Do you not like it?" Fiyero's eyes grew in hesitation.

"I love it! This is just what we needed!" She beamed. "But how? And why didn't you tell me?"

"I had a bit of money saved up, and I thought now would be the time to use it. I also knew you wouldn't want me spending it on you, even if it could really help us."

Elphaba smiled, and threw her arms around Fiyero. "Thank you, this is amazing," she whispered. Fiyero returned the embrace, a smile breaking across his face.

A knock at their door broke them from their hug. Elphaba opened it to find the little blonde woman she'd seen a few weeks ago, Fiyero's picture held delicately against her chest.

"Hello, my name's Galinda, and I'd like to help you win the vote." She looked a little nervous, quite a change from the confident disposition Elphaba had seen in her.

Elphaba held out her hand, her face graced with a warm smile she'd never be able to get rid of. "Elphaba, pleasure to meet you."