Wonderful | wicked | book 2/3

Elphie

I'm furious.
More than furious, I'm livid.
I can't believe that Boc would say those things, in front of Nessa.
He's wrong.
She needs me.
She's always needed me and when she needed me the most was the last time she could walk and i...
I left her.
I understand that Boc is angry, I really do but Nessa has tried so hard to make it right and now he's just making things difficult because he's in love with Glinda.
There's a noise behind me, I turn round sharply and glare.
"Woah, calm down Elphie it's only me" Fiyero whimpers.
I throw myself into his arms.
"It's going to be okay" Fiyero mutters into my ear.
"I know, the book said that it should only last a few days" I say reassuring myself.
Fiyero nods.
"How's Nessa?" I ask, my voice wobbles when I say her name.
"Still on the floor with Glinda, you should come back and talk to her" Fiyero suggests,
I don't want to go anywhere where that sentient tin can is.
No, I shouldn't say that, I know what it's like to be called names, that's not fair of me and it's my fault that he looks that way so I have to be at least a bit sympathetic.
"Okay, I'll follow you in." I say politely.

Just as Fiyero said, Nessa is still leaned up against Glinda on the floor.
Glinda is humming a familiar tune and periodically Nessa joins in with parts of it.
Bocs standing in the corner of the room, I glare at him and then make my way over to Glinda and Nessa.
I crouch down, Nessa tilts her head to look over at me.
"How are you feeling?" I ask gently,
Nessa tries to sit up, but is too shaky to do so, Glinda helps to prop her upright.
Nessa leans forward into my arms.
I hold her tightly, I feel like crying.
I'm so worried about her, but I'm so happy to be here,
Holding my sister.

"How about we go and sit on the sofa?" I suggest.
Nessa nods, she staggers to her feet and walks cautiously over towards the sofa, I follow closely behind and sit next to her.
She examine the room, I see her eyes scanning everything, they fixate on her wheelchair.
"Sorry for shouting at you" Nessa mumbles sadly,
I hold her hand gently.
"It's okay, I understand." I whisper.
Boc huffs and storms out of the room.
"Boc what's wrong?" Glinda says, scurrying after him.
"Glinda just leave him, in a foul mood" I call, but she doesn't listen. "Why are we letting him stay here?"
I turn to Nessa, she looks sad.
"Because I messed up his life and this is what he asked for" she says her eyes full of tears, "Elphie I promise, when this headache stops you won't have to prioritise me, I can look after myself"
Nessa eyes are wide and sad but her words make me scared.
I don't know what to do with myself if I'm not looking after Nessa.
It's all I've ever done and I don't really want it to change.
I know how horribly selfish that sounds but I just feel as though looking after her these past two years is the only thing I've done right.
"Nessa, you know I'm always here if you need me" I say, my voice shaking.

Nessa stands up suddenly.
She looks around the room.
"Everything feels so much better" she announces exitedly.
Oh god, red flags begin to fly, Nessa doesn't need me anymore.
"Elphaba isn't this wonderful!"
"Of course" I beam through gritted teeth.
Fiyero raises an eyebrow towards me.
But I chose to ignore him.
Nessa twirls around the room, her and Glinda lock eyes I'm the hallway.
"I see your feeling better, Nessa" I hear Glinda chime.
I watch Nessa dash out the room, I rush after her, she scampers up the stair joyously.
"Elphie, come upstairs with me!" She calls excitedly.
I follow my sister up the giant staircase and into our old bedroom.
I've not been in here in years.
"It's not changed," Nessa mutters, suddenly frozen in her tracks.
She's right, everything is the same, possibly faded slightly but it's still the same.
The painting of the kites and clouds above Nessas bed is peeling a bit though.
"It feels like we're kids again" I whisper awe struck at my perfectly preserved childhood room.
I look at the wall beside my old bed.
There's barley any pictures left, and the ones that area missing are all concealed inside my dorm at Shiz university.
"It's perfect" I say putting and arm around Nessa.
"I thought I'd never be in here with you again" Nessa sniffs, turning to look at me.
"All those times you carried in and out of bed..."
Nessa slowly drops to her knees.
"... and I didn't thank you nearly enough"
Oh Nessa.
I crouch down by her side and put my arm around her shoulder.
"Nessa your the best sister I could have ever asked for and now you can do anything you want." I say happily, even though I'm sad that she doesn't need me anymore.
"Elphie, thank you for bringing me back"
Nessa closes her eyes and leans against me for a moment until she jumps up again.
"I'm gonna go outside, in the garden" she announces excitedly.
"Okay" I chirp "be careful"
Nessa waltzes down the stairs and out of my sight.
I know it's for the best that she can walk but I can't help feeling like something is going to go wrong soon.
Everything went almost too well since we got here.
And I'm scared that it won't last.
Perhaps I'll get another vision that will help me figure it out.
I hope not, I hope nothing goes wrong ever again.
Maybe this is it, our happy ending that we have been waiting for all this time.

I walk over to the window and look out into the garden at Nessa.
She's lying on her stomach on the grass, her head perched neatly on top of her hands.
She look so peaceful.
I'm so happy for her.