AN: I know it's been a long time, but here I finally present my new story to you. I hope it was worth the wait :).

1. An Ally

"Alright," Nessarose Thropp whispered, unable to believe herself that she was actually saying this. She was the governor of Munchkinland – an unelected official, as she had emphasised before. She could get in major trouble for this.

But how could she refuse? She had been angry with Elphaba for leaving her, back at Shiz; but she had not forgotten everything the green girl had done for her when they had been younger. Her sister had been the only mother Nessarose had ever known. She had bathed her, fed her, held her when she was scared, and read her stories before bed. She had always put Nessa first. Always. And Nessa realised that she could not resent the raven-haired witch for the one time she had put something else – not even herself or another person, but an actual cause; something that could be seen as the greater good – before her little sister.

Nessarose looked down at her feet, which were adorned with her father's most precious gift to her: her beloved jewelled shoes. Her shoes, which had always been a beautiful accessory and were now the very things that granted her deepest wish, namely the ability to walk. She could stand in these shoes. She could walk in them. And that, too, was thanks to her older sister.

Elphaba had apologised for leaving the younger girl and she had tried to make it up to her by enchanting the shoes, enabling Nessa to walk. Now it was time for Nessa to forgive her and to help her in return.

Right now, Elphaba was looking at Nessa with wide and hopeful brown eyes. "Really?"

Nessa nodded and even managed a shaky smile. "Yes." She reached out for Elphaba, who clasped her hand between her own green ones. "You're my sister, Fabala. I love you. After all you have done for me, I think it's only fair of me to do something for you in return. So yes. I will help you."

The green girl embraced her sister tightly. "Thank you, Nessa."

"It's alright." Nessa's smile was more genuine this time. "You can stay here for the time being. It's your house, too, after all. We can discuss the details in the morning – is that alright with you? I am feeling rather tired."

"Of course," said Elphaba. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me, Nessie. For you to help me, to stand by me..."

"I don't know how much of a difference it will make," Nessarose warned. "I am not exactly a beloved governor." She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I was only thinking about making Boq stay... and now he is gone despite all my efforts," she murmured bitterly, "and I have victimised the entire Munchkin population in the process."

Boq had left her a few weeks prior, after declaring that he simply could not take it anymore. He had hurled reproaches at her, yelling at her that she had ruined his life and that she was a wicked witch, and promising her that one day, she would regret it. He had stormed off after that and he had never returned.

His leaving had made her look at her own behaviour in a different way and she had been ashamed to admit to herself that he was right. She had been a horrible governor and perhaps an even more horrible person. With her sister a wanted fugitive and her father gone, she had grown bitter and she had taken it out on her people and her servants. She knew that now. She only wished it were enough to bring Boq back to her.

"Nessie," Elphaba said in that same soft, gentle tone she had always saved only for Nessa, and the young governor suddenly realised how much she had really missed her sister. "Everyone makes mistakes. The most important thing is that you see what went wrong now and you learn from it."

"Have you made mistakes?" Nessa asked in a small voice and her sister snorted a mirthless laugh.

"Have I made mistakes?" she echoed, looking amused, but there was a pain in her eyes that told Nessa the amusement wasn't genuine. "Oh, my pretty, my entire life has been one giant mistake. But that does not mean yours has to be as well." She took Nessa's hand. "Everything will be fine, Nessa, just you wait and see."

"If you say so." Nessarose watched her sister closely for a moment before turning around. "I will be going to bed now. You... you can have your old room," she said quietly. "There are blankets in the wardrobe and the books you left behind are still there."

She couldn't help but smile as Elphaba's face lit up at that. Only Elphaba could be so happy about her books having been preserved. "They're still there?"

"Everything is still there," Nessa said. "Father wanted to clear out your room, but I pleaded with him not to. I was mad at you, but I didn't want to erase all evidence of your existence." She didn't tell Elphaba that in the beginning, she had often gone to her sister's room and buried her face in the sheets as if they still smelt like her, crying over everything that had happened.

Elphaba softened and smiled at the younger girl. "Thank you, Nessie."

"It's alright." She waved her away. "Goodnight, Fabala."

She wheeled herself away. Elphaba stayed where she was for a while, simply drinking in her surroundings and relishing in the fact that at least her sister, the one person she had loved from the very beginning, had forgiven her for everything she had done.

She could hardly begin to comprehend the fact that Nessarose had actually consented to help her; to stand by her and support her cause. For over two years, she had fought by herself. She had tried to help the Animals in any way she could. She had written articles and secretly printed them in the local papers, aided by some undercover Resistance members working at the press; she had listened for any rumours about Animals being trapped and she had flown there to try and free them; and she had visited camps in the woods where fugitive Animals were hiding, helping them to re-build their lives and fend for themselves, and sometimes even spending months on end there to try and teach them how to speak again.

Despite all of that, though, it had always felt like a hopeless fight. She was alone and aside from her unstable and unpredictable magic, she had no power whatsoever. The Wizard and Morrible held the political power over all of Oz, not to mention the power of propaganda. She had never had the illusion that she could beat them on her own.

With Nessa's support, however, things could change. It still was not enough to take up against the Wizard, but at least Nessa, as the governor of one of Oz's major provinces, had a voice. She could try to tell people the truth – if not about Elphaba herself, then at least about the Animals. Maybe with Nessa on her side, she would actually be able to make a difference.

She slowly moved out of Nessa's quarters and peeked out into the hallway, which was completely empty. Clutching the Grimmerie to her chest with one hand and holding her broom with the other, she soundlessly made her way to the other end of the hallway and pushed open the door she found there.

Nessa had been right – her room looked exactly the way she had left it. Her bed was not made, her empty mattress the only thing on it; but everything else was still the same. The window sill where she used to sit and read one of her many books as she gazed out across the back garden of the governor's mansion. The wardrobe in the corner that had always been half-empty because she had never owned many dresses – her father hadn't seen the need to buy her many and she herself hadn't seen the need to own many, either. There was her nightstand right next to the bed, an almost-burnt-up candle still sitting on it. In the other corner was a vanity, which was covered in a thin layer of dust. So was everything else, Elphaba noted. She'd have to take care of that in the morning.

She put her broom away in an empty corner and stuffed the Grimmerie back into her satchel, removing it from her shoulder and hiding it at the bottom of the wardrobe. She then walked over to the bookshelves next to the bed and lightly ran her fingers over the backs of the books still occupying it. There weren't many of them; she had taken most of her books with her to Shiz. She supposed they must have been sent back here, but she had no idea what could have happened to them. She hoped her father had not burnt or sold them. She'd have to ask Nessa in the morning if those books – and her other belongings from Shiz as well – were still being kept somewhere.

She took off her hat and placed it on the vanity. She locked the door and closed the curtains, just to be sure; then she took off the wrap she had been wearing around her shoulders and slowly started unlacing the bodice of her dress. Letting it fall down and pool at her feet, she moved into the bathroom and took her time washing up, thoroughly enjoying getting clean again after going so long without being able to do so. She couldn't even really remember the last time she had taken a proper bath. It had at least been a few weeks ago – probably longer. She always tried to keep herself as clean as possible, but that was hard when one did not have access to any buildings and could not be seen by any people.

When she was finished, she padded back into her bedroom, feeling cleaner than she could remember feeling in a long time. She found a nightgown in the wardrobe and put it on. Then she made the bed and sat down at the vanity, staring at her mirror image for a long while.

The woman staring back at her was someone she did not know. If it weren't for the green skin, she would have doubted this woman was even really her. The last time she had taken the time to really look at her own reflection, she had still been a girl; twenty-two years old, studying at a university, just finding out about friends and love, and so excited about everything that was happening to her.

Now, she could hardly call herself a girl anymore. Her features were sharp and angular, even more so than usual because she had grown to be so skinny due to lack of food. Her once long, shiny, raven hair was shorter now, her having cut it off a couple of months after she had defied the Wizard because it was easier that way. She had regretted it almost instantly and tried to grow it back, but it was still shorter now than it had been back at Shiz, reaching midway down her back instead of all the way to her waist. Her eyes were sunken in and weariness was written all over her face. Through the dust covering the mirror, she looked like a ghost. A spirit come back from the dead to haunt the living.

She brushed her hair, enjoying that feeling as well, without looking at her mirror image again. After that, she put the brush down and crawled into her own bed, marvelling at the feeling of sleeping in an actual bed. It was soft, warm, and more comfortable than anything she had slept on in the last two years; and despite her fear of what was to come and her natural vigilance and wariness, she fell asleep in a matter of mere minutes, overwhelmed by all the new developments this day had brought her.

Tell me what you think! This is going to be a pretty dark one again (you know, in case the title did not give that away).