Title: Revere
Author: dark_angel_874
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After defying gravity together for the first time, Elphaba wonders about her love for Glinda, and finds the answer to a question she has long asked herself.
Disclaimer - I do not own anything from Wicked.
A/N: This is my 5th Gelphie fic, and the 4th in my 'R' Gelphie mini-series. No, I don't mean the title. This is the sequel to
Reunion, which is a sequel to
Remember which is a sequel to
Rewritten.
-
'They’ll never bring us down’
-
The Wicked Witch Of the West, also known as Elphaba, smiled more that night than she had throughout her whole life. In fact, even now there was a grin on her face. And why?
Because she finally saw Glinda again.
Because she finally reconciled with Glinda again.
Because she confessed her love for Glinda...again (properly this time, however.)
But it wasn’t just the above that had the emerald woman smiling, oh no. These were just part of those reasons. Those exact reasons, you ask?
Because Glinda said that she loved Elphaba as well, for the first time.
Because Glinda had said yes to a life-changing question from Elphaba, for the first time.
Because Glinda was defying gravity with Elphaba, for the first time.
Oh yes, all these reasons were making Elphaba Thropp one happy woman. Much happier than she had been in a long while. And why wouldn’t she be? After all, here she was, doing one of the things she loved the most, with the person she loved the most. Having Glinda in her arms was a wonder all on itself to Elphaba, but doing so while flying on her broom (however difficult it was), was truly a great experience
Not that Glinda knew. She would...eventually. But not now. For at the moment, Oz’s ruler -or rather, former ruler- was too busy alternating between ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ at the new point of view from their height (it seemed she had never went too high for the Ozians to see her whilst in her bubble), and shrieking at Elphaba’s sudden change of pace or change in altitude.
Of course, Elphaba found all of that terribly endearing Well, except for maybe the squealing, but still, even that couldn’t stop Elphaba from keeping that smile.
And she kept on smiling, all throughout the night. She only stopped smiling when she had to release a jaw cracking yawn right when the sun began to peek over the horizon. Elphaba froze, and thought again.
The sun.
“Glinda?”
“Yes, Elphie?” Glinda asked drowsily. She had been so full of energy earlier, and only now was the fatigue starting to bother her. Elphaba supposed it was from the adrenaline rush both of them had received earlier when they took off on the broom, but it was that and other things that were keeping Elphaba awake.
After all, Glinda would never forgive Elphaba if she nodded off and ended up taking a swan dive right into a marsh.
“I’m going to land now.”
“Why’s that?” Glinda murmured, struggling to keep awake. The green woman couldn’t blame her; her own eyelids were beginning to grow heavy.
“To avoid being seen, we’re going to have to travel at night.” She said. Her eyes flicked down, and she itched to let go of the broom and cup Glinda’s face in her hands. “Plus, I can see that my sweet is growing tired.”
“Hush you. I’m not tired. Not tired at...” The un-named God probably decided to show Glinda up at that moment, for her sentence was disturbed with a loud yawn.
“Well...” She muttered, her cheeks brightening just a touch, “You’re tired too.”
Elphaba merely chuckled as the broom began to descend under its owner’s silent command. “I’m well aware of that Glinda.” She said as they came to a slow stop on the ground in a forest, next to a pile of rocks that seemed to have slid down the cliff that loomed high over them.
“Why are we here Elphie?” Glinda inquired with half lidded eyes.
“I sometimes used this cave to spend the night when I would travel between Kiamo Ko and the Emerald City. “ Elphaba explained, holding onto Glinda gently with one hand as they dismounted the broom.
“What cave?”
Instead of explaining, Elphaba lead Glinda over to the rocks. She leaned down, releasing the other woman for only a moment, then taking gentle hold once more after she moved a few carefully, strategically placed stones away, revealing the entrance to-
“That cave.”
Elphaba headed in first. Before she let Glinda in, she muttered a quick spell and the cave came alive with the glow of plenty of candles. She went back outside for a moment, holding Glinda’s hand all the while. She was going to head back in with Glinda sleepily trailing behind her, but thought better of it as she saw how tired Glinda really was. With one hand, she placed her broom inside, standing it against the entrance. With both hands now free, she reached down and literally swept the blonde off of her feet.
Glinda squealed as she realized she was once again off of the ground; it was a shock to her sluggish mind. She flailed for a moment before remembering that it was Elphaba. With the thought, Glinda giggled, ran a finger around the wide brimmed hat (‘how did she keep it on while flying?’ Glinda wondered) and snuggled up into the green girl’s embrace.
Although Elphaba was nodding off herself, she still managed to carry Glinda almost bridal style indoors, close up the entrance, place her sleeping love onto a surprisingly comfortable bed of leaves and assorted ferns, and muter the counter-spell that snuffed every single one of the candles. The bed was only covered by an old blanket, and she was mildly disappointed that there were no other blankets to keep them warm in the cool cave, but Glinda solved that by blindly reaching a hand into her enchanted bag, and pulling out a massive blanket. Elphaba had to shake her head, for it just had to be in a shade of bright pink.
Elphaba didn’t complain about the colour however, when only moments later she was spooned around Glinda underneath the blanket, both of them fast asleep.
-
The bright sunlight that flittered through the gaps between the stones was what woke Elphaba up later on as it shone into her eyes. She sat up, yawned, and stretched in an almost feline way.
As the green woman finished stretching, she happened to look down and wonder idly why she was covered in a blindingly bright pink, luxuriously soft blanket. The sleep induced fog cleared from her mind right then, and the memories from the previous evening came back to her- along with the silly smile.
Elphaba pushed the blanket that still lay around her off, careful not to disturb Glinda. She headed outside, making sure that she didn’t make too much noise when she pushed the rocks away. She also made sure that no Gale Force guards were snooping around outside. By now, Elphaba figured that Glinda must have been discovered missing, and while she didn’t think that the guards would come looking around their neck of the forest- no pun intended-, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Glinda was still asleep by the time that Elphaba had come back with water. The witch had kept preserved food in the cave, and so all food within the cavern now was fresh - she had stopped by and restocked her rations before heading to the palace- or could be kept without fear of spoiling.
Elphaba left her water in the floor in a bucket, and crawled back underneath the blanket with Glinda. She closed her eyes, but didn’t bother to try to sleep; all she did was lay there, and relish the feeling of being so close to the blonde.
Unbeknownst to Glinda, Elphaba used to watch Glinda while she was sleeping quite often. Almost every night when they were back at Shiz. While her days there were spent with studying, going to class, and retorting and ignoring weak taunts thrown at her from everyone, the highlight o those days was the night. Those moments where she could, the only moments she would, let the world around her melt away. Where she could pretend that the world didn’t hate her, where she could admire Glinda’s beauty openly. Where Elphaba could just be.
It had been a while since Elphaba had done this though. In fact, the last time she had was before she defied the Wizard, and gravity. Although back then, she wasn’t as physically close to Glinda as she was now.
Elphaba blinked out of her musings as Glinda rolled over onto her side. Instead of facing the ceiling of the cave, she was now facing the green woman. Elphaba’s lips twitched with an almost smile. ‘Some things never change.’ She thought, as she remembered many a night where she saw Glinda roll over like this in her sleep. ‘Old habits die hard, after all.’
“Why do I?” She asked herself out loud, as she continued watching Glinda. Her chest, covered by the simple pink dress, rose and fell in timed, even breaths. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Elphaba found it hypnotizing, as she always had. She let herself be drawn into the rhythm, Inhale, exhale. And soon, her eyes focused on nothing, and her thoughts overcame her once more, as she asked herself one of the only questions she had not been able to answer.
‘Why do I love her? Or rather, how many reasons are there for loving her?’
‘I know it’s not just her body.’ Brown eyes trailed over her object of affection’s, and she gulped unknowingly. ‘Well, not just for her body anyways.’
‘Her looks, as well.’ Her view trailed over to Glinda’s sleeping face. Blonde curls framed a pale-skinned face. Glinda’s eyes were closed at the moment, but Elphaba could picture the clear shade of blue that Elphaba had always wanted, but never allowed, herself to get lost in. A perfect nose, and pale, pink lips that were parted slightly.
She knew, she definitely knew that she now had two reasons for loving Glinda. Her looks and figure were reasons, but Elphaba knew that it was under the skin and beauty was what really mattered.
‘Her Glinda ways.’
She thought about the quirks and characteristics of the slumbering woman. The way she dressed so fashionably, the way she always was the centre of attention. The elegant speech, the adorably annoying way she would huff when she became upset, and the way her face lit up when she was truly happy about anything.
And for the first time, Elphaba drew to a conclusion on her question.
Those three reasons were part of why she loved Glinda, but there were so many more. So many that, Elphaba realized, she’d never ever be able to count them all. But, Elphaba knew the biggest factor to her affection for the blonde.
Glinda’s friendship.
Glinda had been her first and only friend. After all, who would be friends with the fiery green bean? If people hung around her for too long, it was rumoured that that green would start to rub off on them as well. No one ever stayed long enough to find out, which was why it remained a rumour. She was a horrible thing anyways, and not a person- or whatever she was- to acquaint themselves with
Elphaba had heard such things whispered, or by the less than subtle, spoken around her at Shiz and Munchkinland before that. In a way, Elphaba realized, she had began to believe what they said. She used their lies as her shield, her wall between whoever would try to befriend her. She knew what would happen; someone, whoever they may be, would attempt to earn her trust.
And once they had, they would use that trust to knock her down, and turn their back on her. Elphaba wasn’t dumb, and she wouldn’t let that happen. And she would voice her theory, exposing their motives before they could even set their plan into action.
“Why be friends with me?” She would say when they would try to act at least somewhat civil to her. “According to everyone- that would include you,- I’m a no-one. A social reject. You all hate me. You’re just going to try to become friends with me, while you plan to hurt me. Then, you can laugh about it later. And I’ll tell you now, if you think you’re plan is going to work, you’re even stupider than I thought you were.”
Most of the time, the green girl’s prediction was right. And so Elphaba lived for years, shunning and hating those around her for even thinking of stabbing her in the back, thinking of abusing her friendship.
And then Glinda came along.
Elphaba had assumed that Glinda was simply another one of the masses that loathed her. She was wrong- she wasn’t another one of the masses, she was practically the ringleader of the masses. She seemed to hate Elphaba the most; And Elphaba hated her back with equal, if not greater passion.
But then Glinda, Galinda then, just had to be nice to Nessa, even if it was a trick. And then she gave Elphaba that hat, and it wasn’t long before she had wormed her way past the walls of hatred, broken her shield, and became one of the few people that Elphaba truly cared about, became a friend.
It was for that, that Elphaba looked up to Glinda. (Not literally though, for Glinda was actually...vertically challenged.)
The first, the only person that succeeded in earning her friendship and trust...and cared enough not to break it. The only person that stepped up and finally looked past the green skin, to the intelligent girl underneath. The only person that had ever, and would ever, hold Elphaba’s heart.
It was the biggest factor to her love, and the most important reason, the one that stood out above them all. They were the huge reasons as to why she loved that woman s much that it hurt sometimes. In fact, she loved Glinda so much that she-
Elphaba’s thought were interrupted again as Glinda began to stir. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she yawned in a way that was so cute, that Elphaba wondered what was wrong with her.
Glinda sat up and raised her arms over her head, stretching in a typical fashion. She fell back, arched her spine and tensed and twisted her arms and legs, making sure to hit all the spots her previous stretch would not let her.
She finished and heaved a happy sigh, one that can only be heard from a person who had achieved maximum stretching pleasure. Glinda looked over to her side, and rolled over once more, letting a smile grace her lips. “Good morning Miss Elphaba.”
“Really Glinda, I think we’re past such formalities.” Elphaba said in such a deadpan voice that Elphaba couldn’t resist a giggle. ‘Laughing feels wonderful.’ Elphaba thought. She hadn’t really had anything to laugh about in a while.
“So what were you doing before I woke up?” Glinda asked casually. Elphaba shrugged as best she could while lying on her side. “Thinking.”
“About?”
“You.”
‘Aww, Elphie.” Glinda cooed. She wriggled closer to Elphaba, and planted a kiss on Elphaba’s cheek.
“You didn’t let me finish.” Elphaba tsked.
Glinda rolled her eyes. “And you say I’m whiny.”
Elphaba shot Glinda a look, but continued on nonetheless.
“Anyways...I was thinking of you, and all the reasons why I love you. And it all eventually came down to me realizing something. And do you know what that is?”
“No. Care to tell me?”
Elphaba rolled over, taking Glinda with her until the woman was on her back once again, and Elphaba was atop of her, one hand on either side of her head.
“I’ve realized that I love you so much, that it’s come to the point where I can say I revere you.” She stated, before lowering her head and pressing a chaste kiss to Glinda’s lips.
Glinda smiled brightly when Elphaba pulled back.
“So I guess that means I’m your Goddess then, hmm?”
“Exactly.” Elphaba smirked, leaning in and kissing Glinda again and again and again.
“Then if I’m your goddess...” Glinda purred between each languid lip lock, “ I should...be worshiped...shouldn’t...I?”
“Most definitely.” Elphaba answered.
“Well then.” She grabbed the collar of Elphaba’s dress, and pulled her down so their noses were almost touching. “As your goddess, I command you to worship me.”
Elphaba shivered, then grinned roguishly
“Whatever my sweet, sweet goddess wants.” She murmured, as she placed one last kiss on Glinda’s lips before trailing them lower, and lower...
The end.