FemSlash 2010 is here
Title: Heritage
Series: (1/1) complete
Recipient: Mo & Erin, [info]in_themeantime
Fandom: Wicked bookverse
Pairing: Elphaba/Glinda mentions Trism/Liir
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,200
Disclaimer: I own nothing. No infringement intended.
Summary: There are some things that have to remain a secret, but Glinda doesn’t want them to die with her.
“Well, what did your Father tell you?” Glinda took a careful sip of her tea. Winters in the Upper Uplands were formidable and the tea was heated accordingly. It gave the drinker a duel sensation of scalding hot pain and deeply pleasurable warmth.
The green girl seated across from her rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated huff of air. “Father is Father. He talks more about the man he never knew than the woman who raised him.”
Glinda closed her eyes for a moment. “Yes, I suppose he would. But,” her eyes opened again and she pinned the girl with a piercing look. “Liir never really knew his mother either.”
“What do you mean?”
Glinda set the tea cup down, one hand moved to toy with the edge of her shawl. If she had been younger she would have blushed. “It’s not important,” she murmured. “Forgive me, I-”
“So you did know her then?” The words burst forth in an excited exclamation as the girl surged forward in her chair. Her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. “Sorry, for speaking out of turn, I was just.”
Glinda held up a hand to forstall the apology. “It’s all right Geema. It’s been a long time since I ruled Oz and I no longer feel the need to stand on ceremony. Especially not,” G’linda sighed and shook her head. “Yes, I knew her but more than that I should not say. Oz needs her to be a villain. Do you understand? I can tell you nothing more about the Wicked Witch of the West than what you have read in your histories at Shiz.
“But,” Glinda fixed Geema with another evaluating stare. “I can, and this doesn’t leave this room, tell a little about Elphaba Thropp to her granddaughter.” Glinda’s lips curved up into an unconscious smile as the Wicked Witch’s name left her mouth. “To be honest,” she lifted the tea pot and poured them each a fresh cup. “I don’t want it all to die with me.”
…
“Must you eat so loudly?”
Elphaba glared around the edge of her book at the girl propped up on a small fleet of pillows on the opposite bed.
Galinda held a finger in front of her mouth as she finished chewing, noting that Elphaba’s frown was becoming more and more pronounced with each passing second. Finally she swallowed. “It’s an apple Elphie. How do you suggest I eat it?”
She took another crunch of the fruit provocatively.
“Elsewhere.”
“Ah,” Galinda smirked. “But then I wouldn’t get to enjoy the view.”
Elphaba’s cheeks slowly turned a darker shade of green.
“You know, you could always give me something better to do with my mouth.” For a good measure Galinda winked, taking another loud bite.
…
Geema’s mouth had fallen open. “You, and she. I mean, you said you hated her when you first met. You really?”
G’linda’s eyes crinkled as her lips curved upwards, but her expression was more wistful than happy. “She was the greatest love of my life. The only, actually.”
Geema’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly a few times. “What about your husband?” She finally asked.
…
“Do you think you should do that?”
Galinda glanced over at her lover, seated beside her at café’s shaded table.
“Do what?”
Elphaba gestured at the back of the young man slinking away from their table.
“Turn them down like that.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Would you rather I said yes?” Galinda asked incredulously.
“You might want to consider it.”
Galinda rocked back in her chair like she’d been struck. Grabbing her bag, clumsy with blurred vision, she stood and bolted from the table.
…
Geema’s eyebrows pinched together. “Why would she want you to find a husband? Didn’t she love you?”
G’linda took another careful sip of tea. “Of course she did.”
…
“My sweet?”
Galinda pulled her covers tighter over her head. “Go away!” She tried to quiet her sobs as she felt the bed dip under Elphaba’s weight as the green girl sat next to her lump of covers.
“Please Galinda.” Elphaba’s voice was barely audible through the blankets. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
If Galinda had been willing to emerge she would have struck Elphaba at that moment. “Then how did you mean it?!”
“People are starting to talk, Galinda.”
“Let them,” Galinda said fiercely. “I can’t believe you, of all people, are worried about public opinion. Are you afraid I’ll sully your reputation?”
“I just want you to be safe!” Elphaba snapped. “Love like ours… things in Oz are getting bad, and I’ll not let you be a target just because of me.”
“Don’t you think I get to decide that?” Galinda sat up, shoving the blankets aside. “Elphie,” swollen, puffy tracks streaked down green cheeks. “You’re crying.” With shaking fingers Galinda tried to wipe the moisture away before it could do more damage.
“Galinda,” Elphaba captured her hands and squeezed them tightly, desperately. “The thought of you with someone else makes me sick, but the thought of you getting hurt… Please just consider it.”
…
G’linda rubbed a hand over her face. “I refused the idea at first. But Elphie was nothing if not persistent. You must understand that there was nothing Elphaba would not do to see the people she loved safe. Its why she became the Wicked Witch.
Eventually, after she left, I did as she wished, but I never gave up trying to find her.”
“But she,” Geema glanced at her hands, embarrassed. “Never mind.”
A pale hand stretched across the table to rest on Geema should her. “I don’t begrudge her,” G’linda intuited where Geema’s thoughts had gone. “Finding a little happiness and familiarity in those crazy years. I’m glad she had it, in fact.”
G’linda smiled at the green child before her. “You forget, I was there with her and Fyero at Shiz. Whatever they had between them after, it never threatened what we had.”
…
Father and Papa Trism were waiting at the station for her when her carriage arrived.
“Gee!” Trism pulled her into a tight hug. “How did it go? Did she answer your questions?”
“She gave me a lot to think about,” the girl answered truthfully.
“Was she as intimidating as you thought she’d be?”
“Yes, no,” Geema laughed. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, what I can anyway. After I get a sleep and a bath, in no particular order.”
…
“So,” Elphaba said as they lay curled together, “Will you think about it?”
“Ask me later,” Galinda whispered, turning her head so it tucked under Elphaba’s pointy jaw. “You leave for the Emerald city in a few weeks, let me have until then.”
“As you wish, my Sweet,”
Galinda sighed and held her tighter. It was so short a time, but for now, she could pretend it would last forever.
The End
Series: (1/1) complete
Recipient: Mo & Erin, [info]in_themeantime
Fandom: Wicked bookverse
Pairing: Elphaba/Glinda mentions Trism/Liir
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,200
Disclaimer: I own nothing. No infringement intended.
Summary: There are some things that have to remain a secret, but Glinda doesn’t want them to die with her.
“Well, what did your Father tell you?” Glinda took a careful sip of her tea. Winters in the Upper Uplands were formidable and the tea was heated accordingly. It gave the drinker a duel sensation of scalding hot pain and deeply pleasurable warmth.
The green girl seated across from her rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated huff of air. “Father is Father. He talks more about the man he never knew than the woman who raised him.”
Glinda closed her eyes for a moment. “Yes, I suppose he would. But,” her eyes opened again and she pinned the girl with a piercing look. “Liir never really knew his mother either.”
“What do you mean?”
Glinda set the tea cup down, one hand moved to toy with the edge of her shawl. If she had been younger she would have blushed. “It’s not important,” she murmured. “Forgive me, I-”
“So you did know her then?” The words burst forth in an excited exclamation as the girl surged forward in her chair. Her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. “Sorry, for speaking out of turn, I was just.”
Glinda held up a hand to forstall the apology. “It’s all right Geema. It’s been a long time since I ruled Oz and I no longer feel the need to stand on ceremony. Especially not,” G’linda sighed and shook her head. “Yes, I knew her but more than that I should not say. Oz needs her to be a villain. Do you understand? I can tell you nothing more about the Wicked Witch of the West than what you have read in your histories at Shiz.
“But,” Glinda fixed Geema with another evaluating stare. “I can, and this doesn’t leave this room, tell a little about Elphaba Thropp to her granddaughter.” Glinda’s lips curved up into an unconscious smile as the Wicked Witch’s name left her mouth. “To be honest,” she lifted the tea pot and poured them each a fresh cup. “I don’t want it all to die with me.”
…
“Must you eat so loudly?”
Elphaba glared around the edge of her book at the girl propped up on a small fleet of pillows on the opposite bed.
Galinda held a finger in front of her mouth as she finished chewing, noting that Elphaba’s frown was becoming more and more pronounced with each passing second. Finally she swallowed. “It’s an apple Elphie. How do you suggest I eat it?”
She took another crunch of the fruit provocatively.
“Elsewhere.”
“Ah,” Galinda smirked. “But then I wouldn’t get to enjoy the view.”
Elphaba’s cheeks slowly turned a darker shade of green.
“You know, you could always give me something better to do with my mouth.” For a good measure Galinda winked, taking another loud bite.
…
Geema’s mouth had fallen open. “You, and she. I mean, you said you hated her when you first met. You really?”
G’linda’s eyes crinkled as her lips curved upwards, but her expression was more wistful than happy. “She was the greatest love of my life. The only, actually.”
Geema’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly a few times. “What about your husband?” She finally asked.
…
“Do you think you should do that?”
Galinda glanced over at her lover, seated beside her at café’s shaded table.
“Do what?”
Elphaba gestured at the back of the young man slinking away from their table.
“Turn them down like that.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Would you rather I said yes?” Galinda asked incredulously.
“You might want to consider it.”
Galinda rocked back in her chair like she’d been struck. Grabbing her bag, clumsy with blurred vision, she stood and bolted from the table.
…
Geema’s eyebrows pinched together. “Why would she want you to find a husband? Didn’t she love you?”
G’linda took another careful sip of tea. “Of course she did.”
…
“My sweet?”
Galinda pulled her covers tighter over her head. “Go away!” She tried to quiet her sobs as she felt the bed dip under Elphaba’s weight as the green girl sat next to her lump of covers.
“Please Galinda.” Elphaba’s voice was barely audible through the blankets. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
If Galinda had been willing to emerge she would have struck Elphaba at that moment. “Then how did you mean it?!”
“People are starting to talk, Galinda.”
“Let them,” Galinda said fiercely. “I can’t believe you, of all people, are worried about public opinion. Are you afraid I’ll sully your reputation?”
“I just want you to be safe!” Elphaba snapped. “Love like ours… things in Oz are getting bad, and I’ll not let you be a target just because of me.”
“Don’t you think I get to decide that?” Galinda sat up, shoving the blankets aside. “Elphie,” swollen, puffy tracks streaked down green cheeks. “You’re crying.” With shaking fingers Galinda tried to wipe the moisture away before it could do more damage.
“Galinda,” Elphaba captured her hands and squeezed them tightly, desperately. “The thought of you with someone else makes me sick, but the thought of you getting hurt… Please just consider it.”
…
G’linda rubbed a hand over her face. “I refused the idea at first. But Elphie was nothing if not persistent. You must understand that there was nothing Elphaba would not do to see the people she loved safe. Its why she became the Wicked Witch.
Eventually, after she left, I did as she wished, but I never gave up trying to find her.”
“But she,” Geema glanced at her hands, embarrassed. “Never mind.”
A pale hand stretched across the table to rest on Geema should her. “I don’t begrudge her,” G’linda intuited where Geema’s thoughts had gone. “Finding a little happiness and familiarity in those crazy years. I’m glad she had it, in fact.”
G’linda smiled at the green child before her. “You forget, I was there with her and Fyero at Shiz. Whatever they had between them after, it never threatened what we had.”
…
Father and Papa Trism were waiting at the station for her when her carriage arrived.
“Gee!” Trism pulled her into a tight hug. “How did it go? Did she answer your questions?”
“She gave me a lot to think about,” the girl answered truthfully.
“Was she as intimidating as you thought she’d be?”
“Yes, no,” Geema laughed. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, what I can anyway. After I get a sleep and a bath, in no particular order.”
…
“So,” Elphaba said as they lay curled together, “Will you think about it?”
“Ask me later,” Galinda whispered, turning her head so it tucked under Elphaba’s pointy jaw. “You leave for the Emerald city in a few weeks, let me have until then.”
“As you wish, my Sweet,”
Galinda sighed and held her tighter. It was so short a time, but for now, she could pretend it would last forever.
The End