Making Good, Chapter 1
Bobby and Kitty's daughter Elizabeth gets a writing assignment for school and recasts Wicked with the XMen as characters! Sequel to "A Somewhat Familiar Fairy Tale" but can stand alone. Warning: May contain Wicked spoilers.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the X-Men. Or the Wizard of Oz, or Wicked. I just stuck them all together and got…this. Please don’t sue, I’m making no money at it.
Thanks go out to Beaubier for awesome beta-ness and to Oldprydefan for reassuring me that I was no more insane than usual.
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Making Good
By Sue Penkivech
Chapter 1: Dear Old…Chussets?
Once upon a time...
Elizabeth stared at the words for a moment, then turned her pencil around and made quick work of erasing them, the pad of paper bumping against her legs as she scrubbed at it. Too babyish. She could do better than that, and would have to if she wanted a good grade in the assignment. Real stories didn’t start that way. She raised the pencil up to her mouth and nibbled at the eraser, trying to focus her thoughts. She had the whole story in her head, but getting it down - that was the problem. As always.
She pulled the assignment sheet out of the back of her notebook and reread it. It was simple enough. Take a well-known story and rewrite it using people you knew, and make it address a social issue affecting our time. It sounded easy - and probably would be, once she got started. It was just getting started that was the problem. Her mom had told her stories when she was little, using the X-Men as characters in the Wizard of Oz. But as much as she’d liked them, she wanted to do it different.
And, well, Uncle Kurt had taken her to see Wicked last month in New York. It seemed the perfect compromise.
Finally, she lowered the pencil and leaned back against the tree, bending her knees so she could use her thighs as a make-shift table. And began again.
Katherine’s first sight of Chussets Academy wasn’t what she had expected. A white, palatially imposing building stood at the end of a long approach, and she took a step backwards toward the carriage, where her father was already helping Paige into her chair.
“Now remember,” he was saying, “if you need anything, let Katherine know. That’s why she’s here.”
The only reason, she reflected, trying to ignore the parting gifts their father was bestowing upon her sister. She was here to help Paige. And, perhaps, to be out of her father’s sight - she was fairly certain it had occurred to him more than once. She’d heard that other parents sometimes told their children that they couldn’t stand to look at them, but in her case, it was literally true. Her father looked at her as seldom as possible. Even now, his attention was focused upon Paige, and Katherine felt a slight pang as she saw him hand her a box. But only a slight one; it wasn’t as if the sight was unfamiliar. Nor was the sentiment behind it.
“A present for my princess,” he replied to Paige’s excited squeal, and Katherine forced a smile for her sister’s benefit.
“They’re beautiful!” Paige exclaimed, holding up a pair of silver slippers for her to see. “See, Katherine? Aren’t they pretty?”
“Only the best for the future Mayor of Munchkinland, darling,” their father replied, drowning out Katherine’s attempts at a reply. “Now, we’d better get you up to the school. Katherine,” he added without a look in her direction as he began wheeling Paige’s chair down the walkway, “you have the luggage?”
“I’ve got it,” she replied, more to herself than her family, and hoisted her sister’s bags in addition to her own smaller one. Flipping her braid back over her shoulder, she began following them down the path, but her forward progress was soon halted by the arrival of another carriage, which stopped directly in front of the path. Unsure as to whether she should wait or go around over the grass, Katherine simply stared as the driver helped an excited-looking blonde girl down from her seat.
“Oh, be careful with that!” the girl called out to another servant who was removing luggage from the roof of the carriage. “It’s so hard to find good help these days, don’t you think?” the girl complained over her shoulder, apparently aware of her presence despite the fact she hadn’t really turned around. “I swear, if they break anything, I’ll…” The other girl’s voice caught as she finally turned to look at Katherine, and the hand she’d been extending froze mid-motion.
Hardly a surprise. If shocked reactions were something you could save in a box, Katherine would have had a room full by now. Calmly, she extended one green hand toward the other girl, who simply stopped staring at her face in exchange for staring at her hand instead. They might have stood there indefinitely, for Katherine refused to drop her hand and the blonde girl seemed incapable of coherent speech, had not her father called out to hurry her along.
“I’m coming, father!” Katherine called out, then shot a wry smile in the befuddled blonde’s direction. “It’s been a pleasure,” she said dryly, then skirted the carriage and hurried up the walk.
“Should’ve known I’d find you scribbling,” she heard a voice say inside her head, and Elizabeth looked up from her paper to see Nic grinning down at her. She smiled back, despite the fact she was disappointed by the interruption, just as she was finally on a roll. Nicolai Starsmore was, after all, one of her best friends, and she hadn’t seen him in what seemed like forever.
Well, okay. It was more like a couple weeks, but sometimes that seemed like forever. Unlike most of the X-Men, her parents lived in Salem Center, and she went to school there rather than at the Institute. It wasn’t fair, in her opinion, but even her dad had been adamant that she continue going to public school, at least until she manifested some mutant ability.
Normally, she didn’t much care; she liked living at home better than she would’ve at the Institute, and she had friends in Salem Center. But she did miss Nic. Inching over slightly, she patted the ground next to her before replying.
Instead of coming to sit down, though, he crouched down in front of her, trying to peer at her notebook.
“It’s just homework,” she began, wrinkling her nose as she flipped the cover shut.
Nic let out a snort. “Homework? It’s spring break, Liz. No one gets homework during spring break. Even Ms. Munroe doesn’t give out homework during -“
“Yeah well, I don’t go to school here, do I?” she replied tartly, hugging her notebook to her chest as he reached out to snatch it. “It’s a trade off - you have to get up at 5am to get in the shower before they run out of hot water, and I have to do homework during vacation.”
“Don’t s’pose you want to help me wash Dad’s car?” Nic asked hopefully.
Elizabeth considered it for a few moments, then shook her head. It sounded like fun - they always ended up having water fights, and once his dad had even let her back the car out of the garage, but…“I’m on a roll,” she admitted. “Can I join you after I finish this next bit?”
Nic nodded and stood up. “’bout half an hour?” he suggested. “I’m hungry anyway; I’ll go grab something to eat and meet you out by the garage, okay?”
“Works for me,” she agreed, then called after him as he turned and headed off. “Hey, grab me a pop, please? I’m thirsty. And don’t shake it!” she added as an afterthought once he’d nodded an acknowledgement. He blew her the mental equivalent of a raspberry in response, and she laughed as she reopened her notebook. Maybe she could at least finish this scene…
Katherine nearly shrank back as she entered the foyer and the students, who had apparently gathered to ogle the new arrivals, turned their collective attention from Paige to her. And stared, for what felt like forever, before turning to each other to begin whispering.
Wondering just why she’d assumed things would be any different here than they’d been in Munchkinland, Katherine feigned ignorance of the hushed speculation. Stiffening her resolve, she focused her attention on her father and the white-clad woman with whom he was speaking and walked toward them.
“Well, of course we’ll make all due allowances for your daughter’s condition,” the woman was reassuring her father as Katherine approached. The woman’s hand was resting on Paige’s shoulder, something which seemed to sit well with both her sister and father, and she squeezed it reassuringly for emphasis. “I’m certain that once she settles in, she’ll be very -“ the woman’s voice broke off as her eyes fell on Katherine, but she covered her surprise almost immediately. “And you are…” she asked leadingly.
“My sister,” Paige answered petulantly, unhappy that the attention had shifted from her, even momentarily.
Katherine set down the luggage and nodded, mindful of the warning look her father directed toward her.
“Yes,” the woman replied in acknowledgement, stretching out one perfectly manicured hand without hesitation. “I’m Ms. Frost, Headmistress of Chussets Academy. Your father didn’t mention you in our correspondence, I’m afraid.”
“I’m not surprised,” Katherine answered dryly as she shook the woman’s hand. Her father cleared his throat and glared, but with the ease of much practice she pretended not to notice that as well.
“Yes, well, I want Paige to be comfortable, and she asked if Katherine could attend as well. Rather at the last minute,” he added, directing a fond glance toward his younger daughter and reaching down to squeeze her hand. “I trust there’s no problem?”
“None at all,” Ms. Frost assured him. “I should like to get the girls settled, though…” she said, a note of suggestion in her voice.
“Of course,” their father replied, bending down to give Paige a hug. “Now, if you need anything, let Ms. Frost know…”
“I’ll be fine, Father,” she assured him, and Katherine watched as he straightened up and turned his attention to her. “Behave yourself and take care of your sister,” he told her coolly, his eyes skimming the edges of her face.
“Of course,” she replied. For once, even Paige seemed to be uncomfortable with the difference between their father’s farewells and opened her mouth to protest. Katherine shook her head as their father turned to leave. It wasn’t as if it would change anything, anyway.
“Well now, Paige,” the headmistress began, “I’ve made arrangements for you to have the rooms next to mine, since your father was so concerned about your care. Katherine, I don’t have anything prepared for you, but…”
“But Ms. Frost, I thought I’d be sharing with Paige - my father was quite insistent,” Katherine replied with confusion as the woman began wheeling Paige’s chair down the hallway, obviously expecting her to follow.
“Nonsense,” the headmistresses said dismissively. “Your concern for your sister is admirable, but I’m quite capable of - “
Katherine’s anger flared, and with it came a burst of energy, one she struggled to contain as soon as she realized she’d let it loose. Sheer, undirected power - or at least, directed by her subconscious rather than her conscious will. In this case, it pushed the headmistress and several students away from her sister, whose chair spun and began wheeling itself back toward her. The flowers on the hall table toppled, and one of the female students screamed.
Had her face been capable of reddening, Katherine would have blushed. It had happened…again. She was lucky that her father had already left; she’d promised him, no more outbursts, all the while knowing she couldn’t realistically keep the vow. It wasn’t as if she wanted to be any more of a freak than she already was, but…she couldn’t control it. And while it didn’t happen often, this was hardly the first time. She took a few steps backwards, preparing herself for the Headmistress’ declaration that she should leave immediately. Which would be less punishment, she knew, than she would have faced from her father. Still would, most likely, when she had to explain why she’d been sent home. “I’m sorry,” she asserted. “I didn’t do it intentionally.”
“Sorry? You’re sorry?” Ms. Frost replied, and Katherine was amazed to see that the woman was actually laughing. “Such power - I don’t know if you realize, but I’m something of a sorceress myself.” Taking the barely perceptible shake of Katherine’s head for admittance of ignorance, she continued. “Nothing like yours, for sheer undirected power, though I’ve been known to dabble with the weather. My dear, never apologize for your abilities. Don’t you realize what an incredible gift you have? I really must bring you to the Wizard’s attention as soon as possible. With some diligence on your part, who knows how far you could go?”
For once in her life, Katherine had no idea what to say. The Wizard. All her life, she’d dreamed of meeting the Wizard, the wonderful being who ruled Oz and cared for its people. She’d never thought, never even dreamed that it would actually happen - and certainly not like this. The power she’d had for as long as she could remember, that she’d tried to hide…would actually make the Wizard want to meet her? It was almost impossible to believe, and a rare smile lit her face as she resisted the urge to pinch herself.
A reality check came from an unexpected quarter, however, as the blonde girl she’d been speaking with outside threw open the doors and entered, with servants carrying a substantial number of bags and boxes in her wake.
“Ms. Frost! You have no idea who I just met outside - oh, you do,” the girl added as she realized that Katherine was already speaking with the Headmistress.
“Oh good, you’re already acquainted then,” Ms. Frost said coolly.
“In a manner of speaking,” the girl mumbled, and Katherine saw her glance over to a group of students as if for sympathy. Apparently she found it, because the girl’s irritable expression faded, replaced by a mischievous grin that Katherine had a feeling meant trouble.
“Just as well, Illyana, since Katherine will be your new roommate,” Ms Frost informed her.
Illyana’s mouth fell open for an instant, but a coy smile replaced it immediately. “But, Ms. Frost, you promised me my own room this term,” she said. “My father paid extra, and I’ve brought all these things...”
“And I really should be with Paige,” Katherine inserted quickly. For what she suspected would probably be the only time, ever, she and this Illyana were in complete accord. She wanted to share Illyana’s room even less than the other girl wanted her there. There was a definite limit to sheer…blondness she could tolerate. And she suspected she was nearing it already.
“I’ll make sure he’s reimbursed,” the headmistress replied to Illyana in a tone that made it clear she’d accept no argument, then turned toward Katherine. “And while your concern for your sister’s well-being is admirable, I assure you’ll be far too busy with your extra lessons to take sole responsibility for her.”
“She’s Ms. Frost’s new sorcery student,” Katherine heard one of the girls whisper to Illyana, whose face assumed an outraged expression.
“Her? But…I applied for that!” the girl announced in a furious whisper. “I did a paper! I even typed it - all about why it was absolutely necessary that wands have points!”
Oooh yes, Katherine mused as Ms. Frost cut short her roommate’s tirade and directed them off to their room. She’d most definitely hit her limit. It should be a very interesting term.
Elizabeth smiled as she wrote the last words with a flourish, then closed the notebook. There. It wasn’t done, not by a long-shot - but it was a good start, and her hand was starting to cramp. She rubbed at it with the other, then caught sight of her watch and grimaced. Ten minutes past the time she’d told Nic she’d meet him in the garage, which meant she didn’t have time to stash her notebook in the room in which she was staying for the week. Jumping to her feet, she broke off at a run. Maybe if she hid the notebook in the garage before they started she could manage to avoid him reading it.