Chapter Text
It had been five years since Elphaba Margaret Cynthina Thropp-Diggs had left not only Shiz University and the Emerald City but *Oz altogether* with her childhood best friend Boq, her nanny/surrogate mother Dulcibear, the midwife Doctor Jenna Wolfe who had attended her birth, and her favorite teacher Doctor Arcturus Dillamond on a bewitched broom with nothing to her name but the black-as-always clothes on her back, a certain small green bottle, the Grimmerie of Oz written and crafted by The Wise Ones of long long ago, her childhood pop-up book about a certain 'Wonderful Wizard', and all the money that she had managed to squirrelify away over the years ever since she was six years old up until the day just before *THAT day*. -And for four of those five years, near bedtime, like clockwork, she would hear a soft sad sweet voice more often than not choked with tears singing quietly yet with all their heart. A male voice. *A CHILD'S* voice. An *ABANDONED NEGLECTED child's* voice. The voice of a broken concrete angel as much as herself...
And in those four years, Elphaba had not yet been able to find the owner of The Voice, though she had searched every nook and cranny and orphanage and home where domestic violence sadly sickeningly took place in her new home of New York City, New York, the United States of America up, down, high, low, to, fro, here, there, over, under, and all around and had scryed in Fire, Smoke, Water, Cloud, Crystal, *Crystal BALL*, and Mirror every Christmas Eve, Hallowe'en, New Year's Eve, and World Orphans Day (as those were the most prominent to her mind- not the least of which was the canonical events of 'Harry Potter' by J. K. Rowling). *Zilch*. Zip. Zero. NADA. *FRESH-LAID GOOSE EGGS OF FOOL'S GOLD*. He was still out there all alone in the world, this poor sweet boy whom Elphaba THOUGHT she recognized, if only faintly, but could never quite pin down the identity of any more than his location...
Will Stacks her sort-of business partner knew that she was a Witch complete with green-as-green skin, black pointy hat plus matching long sweeping cloak/cape, twiggy broom, cackling laugh, spellbook, and Familiar (though Malky was *white as milk or snow or flour* rather than as black as Elphaba's Official Outfit, as witches' cats were often stereotypically depicted if not ginger or brindled), and didn't give *a SINGLE FIG* about it- but he *DIDN'T know* about He Whom Elphaba Was Desperately Searching For. NO ONE did save for Mama Dulcie, Auntie Jen, Uncle Archie, Boq, and her cat (though quite possibly Stacks' lovely inside-and-out secretary Grace Farrell *suspected*, as she was what people in the good ol' USA called 'a smart cookie' and a little bit more *FRIENDLY-friendly* with 'the Wicked Witch of the West'). -*Oh*! AND her not-so-secret online friend a la 'You've Got Mail' and 'Cindy Ella'.
[By the way- electricity??? Was a MARVELOUS *WONDERFUL* thing! {Mama and Uncle Archie and Auntie Jen quite agreed, but while 'B' didn't mind movies and television shows and computers and the Internet, he was more of a reader- though OF COURSE he would make an exception every once in a while and either go see a movie in the theaters with 'Elphie' or they would have a themed movie night complete with PJs, favorite snacks and drinks, fuzzy blankets, and curling up on the couch}]
Yes- Elphaba Thropp had run away completely and utterly rather than staying to stand and fight; but not because she was a COWARD like her deadbeat con-artist so-called 'wizard' and 'king' of a father. *NO*- nonono!! It was because she was SMART. *Used her brain*, even though it hurt her heart and soul.
She had been instantly clocked as Twisted and Evil and Unworthy of Trust all because of her froggy ferny cabbagey complexion by one of the very few people she had unadulterately trusted (*even CARED FOR*) the moment she put her foot and spat '*NO*'. -And not just anyone, but one of the most PROMINENT AND POWERFUL people in the Land of Oz besides 'The Wizard' himself. Someone who could melt or blast or pierce her or drop a house on her with a single flick of her long elegant NORMAL fingers and a flash of her cold dark eyes and not shed a single genuine tear over it afterwards! -That someone being Madame Michelle Morrible. Who was the archetypical power behind the throne as well as the Dean of Sorcery at Shiz.
She had *HATED* to leave... but she'd HAD TO in order to save her Mama, her surrogate aunt/unofficial godmother, and her favorite teacher who was now like the uncle she'd never had. *What ELSE* was there for her, now that her dreams had been cruelly shattered rather than gradually coming true??? *NOTHING*, if she wanted to SURVIVE and not just Live. N-O-T-H-I-N-G...!!
So she had then flown away after singing her crushed bleeding heart and wounded burning soul out to all and sundry. *AWAY away*. Not just out of Munchkinland, Shiz University, or the Emerald City, but BEYOND. *Beyond The Deadly Desert that surrounded Oz*. With G(a)linda *NOT by her side* anymore than either Nessarose or Fiyero.
(At least she had saved *a couple of* Animals- including the poor little caged Lion cub whom she'd met the day of Doctor Dillamond's 'retirement' and the Snow Leopard from the secret late-night "Something Bad" meeting a week before [whose name was 'Alexi', by the way]. So that counted for SOMETHING! -Right??)
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He was singing again- "Empty Heart" from Disney's 'Geppetto' (the kindly old woodcarver's side of the story- at least according to Mr. Stephen Schwartz of 'The Prince of Egypt'). And then WISHING, afterwards. On a star...
Elphaba might be a Witch, but she quite agreed with both Sir Jiminy Cricket and Miss Blue Faerie on 'A *VERY LOVELY thought*, -but not at all PRACTICAL...!' and 'Just because *it's MAGIC* doesn't mean it's EASY, your life is *solved*, or *CONTENTMENT*. You need *MORE THAN Magic*...!' -However, that didn't mean she scoffed and sneered at/scorned those who were more whimsical than practical. First off, *RUDE*-!!! Second... *she WAS* Magical herself; meaning it was IN HER BLOOD. In *her very DNA*! And third-
Well, Third was that SHE Wished, too. Had ever since she was a toddling thing. And it hadn't ever really stopped anymore than for Cinderella, Aladdin, Quasimodo, Hercules, Cosette, Rapunzel, Ro(sella) of 'Barbie and the Island Princess', Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Harry James Evans-Potter, Frankenstein's Creature, Erik the Phantom of the Opera, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Jackson Overland Frost, Yoshioka Haru from 'The Cat Returns', or almost any of Tim Burton's heros and heroines, even if it seemed like she had...
Because what abandoned abused neglected cast-out child *DIDN'T dream and wish and hope and pray*, if only a little??? For Hope? For Love? For FAMILY? For Friendship? For *ACCEPTANCE*??
-Which was why, tonight, 'Elphie' Wished along with him while looking sadly and longingly out her bedroom window at the North Star that could *just* be seen amongst NYC's cloud of smog along with a couple of others.
~"I KNOW my heart is *LARGE*-
That's why it feels *so empty*...
If I could have *ONE wish* come true,
I'd fill this empty heart...
I fill *my DAYS* with Work;
I fill my NIGHTS with dreaming
And wait in hopes of a Someone who
Can *fill this empty heart*...
Like an ocean shell on the shore,
Like a riverbed dried up of all water,
*NOTHING'S* growing here anymore-!
Is it TOO LATE
For Life *to START*...??
On such a magic night,
When all the world is *shining*,
-My foolish prayer,
May it *travel FAR*;
I even WISH
ON THE WISHING STAR...
To *FILL this empty-
Heart*...~
Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight...
I wish I may; I wish *I MIGHT*-
*Have the wish I make tonight*..." '*I wish to FINALLY FIND HIM one day*- my poor sweet hurt broken child. My Lost Boy whom I hear sing almost every night...'
(And when *she DID* find him, she would love him NO MATTER WHAT his appearance or personality or state of mind or religious preferences or sexuality. As she had never been even *tolerated* by either of her own birth parents, let alone her stepfather. He would be her pride- her joy- her heart's darling...!
This the not-so-Wicked witch with the brains of a Ravenclaw, the intuition of a Slytherin, the heart of a Hufflepuff, and the soul of a Gryffindor vowed as she fell fast asleep after marking her place in her book, finishing off the last of her nightly mug of tea, switching her bedside lamp off... and blowing a kiss towards the window before murmuring, "Good night, my sweet boy. Sleep well- have sweet dreams. ONE DAY, *I WILL* find you, son- I promise...")