It was sunny and warm. They'd all decided to eat outside that day- her, Fiyero. Glinda, Avaric, Nessarose, and Boq. The picnic tables weren't really meant for more than four people, but Nessa was able to slide her chair up at the head of the table and she and Fiyero were sitting awfully close to one another so it didn't really matter. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into him even though it was warm outside. Time normally dragged for Elphaba, but it wasn't then. She was very reluctant to remind Fiyero, as well as everyone else that they had lives to get back to. "So you have class in ten minutes," she murmured to him.

He frowned, but then a curious grin played across his face. "You already memorized my schedule?"

"I already had three classes with you, Linguistics, Ozian History, and Life Sciences. Picking up the other two wasn't hard," she said, poking him in the ribs.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Excuse me for hoping my girlfriend would go out of her way to memorize something about me."

"You're excused," she said, gently pulling away from him and standing up. She tried to wipe the goofy smile off of her face that had formed as soon as he had called her his girlfriend. "And now you should really get to class."

He pretended to whine as he stood up and collected his text books. "You're ruining my reputation, Elphaba."

"Your reputation as what, exactly? If you're Shiz's Bad Boy, we're milder than I thought," she shot back. She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, still innocent and shy about displays of affection. Really, still innocent about most things.

"Elphie? Fiyero?" A gentle voice accompanied a gentle touch, shaking her awake.

Elphaba blinked a few times. Glinda had sat down on the edge of the bed, still slightly bleary eyed, a blue silk robe over her nightgown. Her hair hadn't been brushed yet and she had a tired, weary look. Behind her, Elphaba could see that the sun had just begun to rise. It was barely morning. "What's wrong?" She asked as she sat up, pulling the blanket with her. Fiyero sat up beside her, his arm wrapping around her mostly out of instinct.

"Elphie..." Glinda looked down into her lap, reaching out for her best friend's hand. "Elphie, Nessarose is gone."

She dropped Glinda's hand. "What?"

"She died last night in her sleep. A maid went in to wake her this morning but couldn't. She was already dead." She removed the silk robe and wrapped it around Elphaba's shoulders, moving out of the way as Elphaba stood up, walking over to the window.

She leaned her head against the cool glass of the windowpane, tears already flowing down her face. "It was Boq, wasn't it?"

"I... There was a syringe next to her bed. It looked like someone gave her an injection after she'd fallen asleep. I'm confident she didn't feel anything. She didn't suffer at all. She just looked like she was asleep. She seemed very peaceful." She reached out to gently touch Elphaba's shoulder, but she shrugged her off. "Elphie, I'm so sorry."

"It was Boq, I know it. If he didn't do it himself, he knew it was going to happen." She twisted around, by that point her face was soaked with tears and she could hardly speak. All the same, she rasped out, "And the two of you knew it, too. I-I'm not angry.. I just..." She ran a hand over her hair, trying to gain some sort of composure. Fiyero had located his clothing and had gotten up. He approached her tentatively, but she would not let him touch her. "All three of you were asking me, trying to see if I ever planned to do anything, and you know I couldn't. Together you did what I couldn't. You all did the right thing, but I-" a sob was able to crack through then, and speech was beyond her.

Again, the both of them reached for her and she stepped away, her back pressed against the cold window. "Elphaba, please. Let me-" Fiyero's arms were open to her, just ready for her to collapse into.

But no, she couldn't do that. "No...I just need a little time alone." Fiyero and Glinda exchanged an anxious look. "Really, I promise you, I know you were just doing what you had to do. You can tell... who else knows? Boq? Avaric? Tell them I'm not angry. I just really need to be alone. Please."

Reluctantly, they left her, both dragging their feet out the door. Once they were gone, Elphaba slid down the wall, feeling it's coolness through Glinda's robe. Oh Oz, how she wished she could have allowed herself to take comfort in Glinda or Fiyero. But she couldn't! Nessarose had never been able to take comfort in a best friend. She had never been able to fall into a lover's embrace. She had always had people there to take care of her physical needs but she never had really had anyone to take care of her emotionally. The golden daughter had lived a cold, lonely life. The problem child had found love.

No wonder Nessarose had become the monstor that she did!

She had not been lying when she said she did not blame any of her friends. She did not consider her sister's death murder- not anymore than she considered her father's death murder. It was a tragedy, but it had surely saved Munchkinland from worse pain. It would have been easy to blame them for the pain she was experiencing. Boq for encouraging the sisters to visit, and probably for doing the deed. Glinda for managing things. Fiyero for loving her so damn much and keeping her distracted. It would be easy to hate them all forever.

But she couldn't. All Boq had wanted was his freedom. Glinda wanted to try and protect the country she had been charged with, Oz- and Munchkinland had never truly stopped being a part of Oz. And Fiyero had wanted to ease her pain, save her from both her sister and herself. They all had possessed nothing but good intentions. Elphaba herself had said many times that sometimes death was necessary, pain for one was often for the greater good. Nessarose's death was the only way Oz could heal. No one had wanted her death, but there had been no way to save her and the people. Elphaba knew it all.

But it still hurt.

She had no desire to go wail over her sister's body. She didn't even want to see the corpse for one last time. She knew Glinda had not been lying when she had said that Nessarose had not felt any sort of pain at her death. Boq would not have caused Nessarose pain; he still remembered the girl she had been before everything had gone so wrong.

She didn't know why it had surprised her, it only made sense. Nessarose had no children and they had no younger siblings. She was the only legal blood relative of the last ruler of Munchkinland, and as such Elphaba was proclaimed the next Governor. Her first action had been to free the Munchkinlanders. Her second had been to sign a treaty with Glinda, reuniting Munchkinland and Oz. Her third had been to proclaim that her successor would be elected in a free election after her death. Then she did very, very little. Publicly, anyway. She lived in Colwen Grounds and allowed Boq to deal with Munchkinland's day to day problems.

A visit from Fiyero had become extended, and he lived at her side for the rest of their lives. They never remarried and could not flaunt their intimacy, but it was enough. She never believed him when he told her she was beautiful. She didn't believe he loved her, but she knew she loved him as she had for years. He told her she was a hypocrite, and she told him that he was much easier to love than she was. Love her or not, he never left her and pouted horribly whenever she kicked him out of her rooms.

Glinda ruled Oz for roughly ten years before stepping down, claiming she didn't think it was a wonderful idea for anyone to rule a country indefinitely. She remained a public figure and her beauty never faded. She and Avaric had three natural children together, giving her plenty to do in her retirement.

Laelia grew into a beautiful, intelligent young woman. Elphaba claimed it was because she physically took after Fiyero and Glinda had raised her well. Fiyero claimed it was because she had blossomed due to good genetics-from her mother. Although she was sometimes tempted to, and had everyone's full support, Elphaba never told the girl of her true parentage. She didn't want Laelia to feel tainted by her bloodlines and didn't know how she would be able to explain it to the girl. She was just glad to be able to watch her grow up with safety and love.

And Elphaba was finally able to come back into herself. An older, wiser, calmer version of herself, who again had faith in those around her and was not afraid of what the future held.

The End

So that's it! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. If you enjoyed this, I encourage you to keep an eye out for my chapter stories Born To Be Forever and With The Stars Aligning... and perhaps something else, soon. Thank you all so much for reading.