Title: Porcelain Doll

Rating: K

Pairings: None

Summary: After an initially terrifying encounter, one Ozian may find herself rethinking her original perception of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Hi hi everyone. This is just a little idea that came to me in the middle of Spanish class, and I decided to write it down. It's just a little oneshot, and it's a bit different from some of the other stuff I've done, but hopefully some of you will enjoy it anyway. The fic takes place right before 'Wonderful', and is shown from the point of view of an Ozian. There are some things I want to explain at the end, but for now enjoy the fic.

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The night sky grew darker with each passing second. Clutching her daughter's hand tightly, Garlena Artov hurried along the empty Emerald City streets. She and her five year old daughter Calmina had been visiting with some relatives out in Munchkinland and Garlena had quickly lost track of the time. Her relatives had insisted they stay the night, but Garlena had stubbornly refused, and now she was paying the price. A chill breeze swept the night air and she hastened her footsteps worriedly.

After a few minutes of hurrying along, the street lights came on, casting an even eerier glow upon the green pavement. Garlena knew she had to get home quickly. It was not safe to be out after dark these days. In fact, hardly anything at all was safe anymore since the Wicked Witch of the West had appeared. Now Garlena had never actually seen the horrid woman, but she'd certainly heard the stories. She knew that the Witch flew around Oz on a broomstick, terrorizing innocent Ozians and spreading terrible lies about their beloved Wizard. The Witch had a soul as black as ash and, what was worse, skin as green as sin. Garlena had heard many explanations for this, varying from the fact that the green skin was because the woman was so twisted to the rumor that it was because she was envious of the lives the Ozians led. Whatever the case, the woman was not natural, which that meant that she was dangerous and Garlena knew she most certainly did not want to run into the Witch.

The two turned yet another corner onto another empty street. The Emerald City had been practically deserted after sunset for the past five months. After the Witch had begun wreaking havoc on Oz, the Wizard had advised the Emerald City citizens to be in their homes after dark. Garlena had stuck to that curfew up until tonight, and by this point was beginning to regret turning down her relatives' invitation. The fact that she and her daughter were the only ones outside at this hour did nothing to calm her already frazzled nerves. Gripping her daughters hand more tightly, she tried to keep the shivers from running down her spine.

Calmina looked up at her mother with wide eyes, but said nothing as she was pulled along by the hand. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't be sure exactly what it was that had her mother so worried. She hugged a small porcelain doll close to her chest with her free hand, which brought her some amount of comfort. The small doll was her prized possession, and she carried it everywhere. It had been a gift from her father, the last gift he'd given her before he'd passed away almost a year ago. People often worried that such a small child would most certainly break such a fragile object, but Calmina always took the utmost care with it. She practically guarded the small doll with her life.

Suddenly, Garlena spotted something out of the corner of her eye, and her breath caught in her throat as she froze in place. Calmina stumbled as her mother suddenly stopped short, and she made sure to keep her doll clutched tightly in her free hand. Garlena drew her gaze up to the sky, hoping that it was only paranoia causing her eyes to play tricks on her. However, her fears were confirmed when she was met with the sight of a cloaked figure traveling through the night sky on a broomstick. Terrified that she and Calmina would be spotted, she changed direction and quickly pulled her daughter into a nearby alleyway. The small child whimpered softly as she was ushered into the dark crevice, and she threw her arms around her mother's legs for fear of losing sight of her.

The two stood stock still for several seconds, and for a moment Garlena thought they were in the clear. Then, without warning, there suddenly came a sound of rustling cloaks as the Witch swept down and dismounted her broom in the very same alleyway the two Ozians had chosen as their hiding place.

Garlena felt her breath catch again, and she found herself involuntarily backing up against the stone wall of the alley. She pulled Calmina in close, hoping against hope that the Witch wouldn't see them in the darkness of the night. Calmina didn't quite seem to understand what was going on, but thankfully she was frightened enough by the situation to keep her mouth closed.

However, luck was obviously not with them tonight, for after leaning her broom up against the wall the Witch whipped around and faced them. She froze, obviously having just become aware of their presence. Before Garlena could make a move, the Witch suddenly stepped to the side, blocking their exit from the alleyway. Fear constricted Garlena's heart as she realized that the Witch had them trapped. She could not see the woman's face, for it was veiled by the hood of her black cloak, but Garlena could practically feel the Witch's eyes boring into her own. For a few moments time hung suspended in the air, and the only sound was that of Calmina's frightened whimpers.

Then suddenly the Witch took a step forward and Garlena felt a sharp sense of foreboding, for she knew this was probably the end for her. She didn't know exactly what the Witch did to her victims, but Garlena had certainly never heard of any survivors. Still, she was not as concerned for her own safety as she was for that of her young daughter.

Suddenly hysterical, Garlena pleaded, "Please, I don't care what you do to me, but let my daughter go." Her voice was shaking terribly, and she could not bear to look at the woman before her. Nervously, she took a step to the side and stood protectively in front of Calmina.

Surprisingly enough, the Witch actually seemed a bit taken aback by Garlena's sudden outburst, and she froze mid-step. Slowly, the Witch reached up and pulled back her hood revealing her face. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you," she said softly, holding her hands out with the air of someone trying to coax a frightened puppy.

However, Garlena hardly even registered the fact that the Witch had spoken, for she was still reeling from the shock of seeing the woman's face. Her green skin shone eerily, even in the darkness of the alley, but surprisingly she showed no malice. Even more surprising was the fact that this woman was not the hideous old hag everyone assumed she was, but rather a young girl. In fact, she didn't appear a day over twenty. Garlena wondered how such a young girl could strike fear into the heart of an entire country when she looked like she should still be in college.

Calmina seemed to have a different reaction to the Witch's unmasking altogether. She seemed to register nothing but the green skin, and cried out in alarm as she realized that it was the Wicked Witch of the West standing before them. A moment of silence followed this, which was broken suddenly by the sound of porcelain shattering against emerald pavement. Suddenly oblivious to the situation going on around her, Calmina cried out once more, this time out of horror over what she'd just done. Her beautiful porcelain doll lay ruined in the middle of the street and so, like any young child, she began to cry. Garlena's initial shock was once more replaced by fear as she looked to the Witch to see how the woman would react to this.

Unexpectedly, the Witch's expression morphed into one of fear rather than rage. "Please, please be quiet. I can't be found here," she whispered urgently.

Garlena was surprised once more as she listened to the woman's voice. The Witch did not speak in the cruel, cackling voice that one would expect, but rather one that was softer and exceedingly more human. Garlena could hear genuine fear laced through each syllable. Slowly and carefully she stooped down and took Calmina into her arms, never removing her gaze from the Witch as she did so. Calmina continued to sob, but she was considerably quieter in the safety of her mother's arms. The Witch visibly relaxed and watched Calmina cry for a few moments before casting her eyes down to he porcelain fragments that now littered the ground.

"The doll?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious as to why the broken doll had caused Calmina such distress.

Garlena was taken aback by this question, and was unsure of how to respond to it. Her eyes darted to the alleyway's opening, and for a moment she considered making a run for it. However, she decided against it almost immediately. The Witch was still blocking her path, and even if she and Calmina did manage to push past the woman they'd be caught immediately if the Witch decided to give chase. Garlena shivered a bit. Sure the young woman didn't seem very threatening right now, but who was to say it wasn't just a trick? After all, Garlena couldn't forget who she was dealing with here, or what this woman had done to Oz. Garlena decided that it was best to keep the Witch talking for now.

Taking a shaky breath, she responded, "It was a gift from her father. He gave it to her before he…passed away." She tried not to glare at the Witch for asking such a question, even if she couldn't have known the answer was so personal. She wasn't sure whether or not this woman was just toying with her.

The Witch nodded, looking back at Calmina, who was still sobbing with tears running down her cheeks. For a moment she seemed lost in her own thoughts, and Garlena once again considered making a break for it. After a moment the Witch appeared about to reach for her broom, and Garlena watched her with wide eyes.

Then, suddenly, the Witch seemed to remember something, and she reached into a black pouch that was hanging around her waist and pulled out a large leather bound book. Garlena tensed once more and eyed the green woman warily. She was not sure what the book was, but she was pretty sure that this was the reason the Witch had landed in the alleyway in the first place. Quickly, the Witch skimmed the pages until her eyes seemed to find what she was looking for, and she read it over three or four times. When this was finished she moved to close the book, but then seemed to realize something else and returned her eyes to the pages once more. All of this happened in the span of about ten seconds, and the Witch was on her feet once more before Garlena had even had a chance to react.

For a moment it appeared as though the woman would just leave, but instead she turned to face them once more. Before Garlena could even register what was happening, the Witch began to chant quickly in a language that Garlena could not understand. However, she could pretty much assume that the Witch was casting a spell, so she squeezed her eyes shut and hugged Calmina tightly, anticipating some sort of attack. However, she waited for several seconds and absolutely nothing happened.

After a while Calmina began to struggle in her mother's arms, and Garlena's eyes flew open immediately. She was more than surprised to find that she and Calmina now stood alone in the alleyway once more, and the Witch had seemingly vanished into thin air. Garlena looked around apprehensively for a moment, as if expecting the Witch to jump out from behind the corner. However, it actually seemed that the Witch had left them, inflicting no harm on them in the process. Garlena could hardly believe this as she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Calmina continued to squirm, and finally succeeded in freeing herself from her mother's arms. Looking down, Garlena finally discovered the cause her daughter's strange behavior. There on the ground in front of them, completely intact and looking good as knew, was Calmina's porcelain doll.

Garlena could do nothing but gape as her daughter picked up the doll and hugged it close to her. Calmina, being a child, did not question or care about how this miracle had come to pass, but Garlena was a different story. She was pretty sure she knew who was responsible for this, and the thought unnerved her somewhat. None of what had just transpired made the slightest bit of sense.

Taking her still ecstatic daughter's hand, Garlena finally stepped out of the alleyway on shaky legs. She was finally able to continue on her way home, but for some strange reason her steps were actually slower and more relaxed rather than more frantic. Something about the air of the night had most certainly changed over the course of the last five minutes, and for some reason her earlier fear had evaporated. Calmina skipped happily at her side, obviously feeling the same change in atmosphere that Garlena had.

After a few moments, Garlena absentmindedly drew her gaze to the sky once more, and for a moment she could have sworn she'd seen a speck of black against the dark night sky. However, no fear came with this thought at all; quite the contrary actually. As she returned her gaze to the road ahead, Garlena could feel the ghost of a smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

Ok, that's it. Like it, hate it, was it boring? There are just some things I'd like to clear up, in case anyone was confused. First of all, as I said, this fic takes place right before Wonder. Elphaba is on her way to the Emerald Palace to free the monkeys, and she stopped off in the alleyway to check on how to perform a spell just in case she needed it. It just so happened that she chose the exact alleyway where these two Ozians were hiding. After she hears about the doll, she also looks up a spell and repairs it for the little girl.

Now if you're wondering why it looked like they were all just standing around, keep in mind that this entire scene took place over the course of about 4 or 5 minutes. The reason Elphaba didn't just get the heck out of there as soon as she realized she was spotted was because she was completely caught off guard by this. She was basically trying to keep the two of them from alerting the Emerald City to her presence by crying out for help, because no one can know she's there.

Well, that's all I really have to say. What did you think? Please leave me a review and tell me. Thanks for reading!

S.P.