DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. Way too many other people do. I won't bother you with names. Just know that I mean no disrespectation and no profit; I'm just having fun!

A/N: Yes, I have other three fics in the works, but they are mostly finished, I just haver to post them. This one is a more recent one. I have some chaps written and a pretty good idea of where I want it to go (though I still accept suggestions). Please read and if time allows, review!

SETTING: before Fiyerpo waltzed in, the rest follows the musical, with some book thrown in.

So, without futher ado, I present...

IT's a LONG WAY to FALL

By bloodymary2

CHAPTER 1: No news would have been better

A letter from Frex

That couldn't possibly mean anything good.

Elphaba Thropp sat on her bed, bare legs swinging back and forth. Dark locks cascaded down her back and around her shoulders. Green hands twisted the dreaded letter in a slow, continuous motion. Elphaba stared at nothing, eyes unfocused.

What could her father want to say?

The envelope twisted, the clock ticked and the emerald skinned girl remained there, unwilling o open the letter. Not yet. She was so lost in thought, in doubt and indecision, that she hardly noticed her pink roommate barreling through the door. Galinda Upland came in, nose held high. The few words exchanged between the girls usually consisted of hostility and sarcasm.

"What with exams due in a week, Miss Elphaba, I would have hoped to find you at the Library." The blonde dropped her small purse onto her vanity, took a moment to check her hair in the mirror, then turned to face her freak of a roommate. It was only with this final gesture that she caught the faraway look Elphaba wore.

No books to keep her deeply entertained.

Curious, Galinda stepped closer, finally succeeding in drawing attention to herself. "Yes, Miss GAH-linda?"

Pink ruffles jumped back and a delicate hand came to rest upon a pounding heart, seeming to hold it in place. Elphaba smirked, momentarily distracted. Galinda was simply annoyed.

"Honestly, Miss Elphaba! I believe you do this only to see me dishelmed." Galinda was expecting the other girl to retort, as she normally would. Not that she would ever admit it, but the blonde almost enjoyed the constant repartee with the social outcast of Shiz. No reply this time, though. "Miss Elphaba?"

Again, no response.

She took another step closer, only then noting the letter the green girl held distractively in her hands. Galinda twisted her upper body a bit, trying to read what was 

written on the envelope in question. No luck. The blonde raised her eyes to check on Elphaba's awareness of her and stopped short.

Instead of vacant eyes, she was met with an unexpected brown, apprehension-filled gaze.

"It's from my father."

There was nothing particularly frightening about those words, but the dread they were spoken with, told Galinda completely different story. She stepped back slowly, plopping down onto her frilly bed.

"What does it say?"

Nothing good.

Elphaba took the moment to really look at her unusually annoying roommate. Galinda seemed serious in her question and honest in her interest. Not normally one to open up to a stranger, who had given her no reason to do so in the past, the emerald-skinned woman hesitated.

"Why do you want to know?"

Galinda shrugged.

"You just seemed off and I…" She cut herself short before allowing the word 'worried' to escape her lips. Was she actually being civil with the Artichoke? "Never mind." Galinda rose and stepped towards the big wardrobe beside her bed.

"I don't know yet."

The blonde stopped ruffling through her many dresses and turned to face Elphaba. Her roommate sat still, teeth chewing her bottom lip in expectation. Galinda recognized the olive branch she was being offered. A moment was passed in silence. Should she accept it?

"You should open it. I'm sure you are imagining things far worse than they actually are." Her cream covered shoulders shrugged, eyes downcast.

Galinda had a point, though. Unfortunately.

Elphaba sighed, resigned, and slowly opened the letter. She could sense the other girl's gaze upon her and dared not to look up. The one paged note was very short, to the point and so much worse than she could have possibly imagined.

Tears welled up in her eyes, unchecked. Her mouth opened, as if to speak, but no sound came out.

Apprehensive, Galinda called her name, dropping the honorific for the very first time. She saw Elphaba moved her lisp, mouth opening and closing; she saw her fail to find the words. The blonde didn't know what to do.

"Elphaba?"

In a daze, Elphaba got up, crumpled letter still clutched in her hand. "I… I got to go…" She avoided Galinda's questioning gaze and left the room, never looking back. It was only after she had completely disappeared from sight that the Gllikinese girl noticed the big black boots lying on the floor by th bed.

Elphaba was barefooted.

But Elphaba was not her friend or anyone Galinda wanted to be seen with, so she pushed the worry aside, suppressed the impulse to follow the green freak and sat down to study. She, herself, had a couple of exams the following week and it wouldn't sit well with popsie if she failed.