Hello everyone! I have had this typed up for quite a while and I thought that it was time to share! This chapter is more of a prologue than it is a first chapter, but it is really informative. So enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any of it's characters.

It was hard to understand; why she deserved to live. To her well-organized mind, there was nothing in her life worth preserving. She had told Fiyero this and he had seemed rather upset. "I love you," He had told her in reply. She nodded her head and went on her way, not bothering to see the confused look on his face, even though she knew it was there. Ever since "the incident", Elphaba had been solitary. Fiyero blamed himself for her change in demeanor, but it wasn't his fault, not really. How could he have stopped Etai from kidnapping her while she was sleeping? How could he have heard her muffled screams as Etai brought the rawhide whip down onto her back again and again? Like she said, it wasn't his fault. Fiyero said that it was his love and affection that had brought this doom upon her. She shook her head and shrugged his comment off. It wasn't because of him. His love had saved her, to be honest. As Etai snarled profanities at her, she had stayed strong for Fiyero. As Etai repeatedly scourged her, she had stayed strong for her love.

But Elphaba was healing quickly. The faint throbbing in her back and the scars that covered her body were the only reminders of what had happened. There was one particular scar that ran from beneath her right breast, over her shoulder, and finished at her left hip. That one scar was what pained her the most. Etai had dragged the whip across her body, taking a layer of smooth green skin with it. Shuddering, Elphaba banished the horrifying thought from her mind. There was no use in dwelling on such agony.

She knocked on the furnished down and adjusted the tea tray in her hands. "Madam, will you be receiving tea this morning?" The woman called, waiting for a reply.

"Elphie, why do you even ask anymore?" A high-pitched voice penetrated the door and Elphaba allowed herself to chuckle a bit. Turning the tray so that she could hold it with one hand, she opened the door to greet her mistress.

Glinda was sitting up in bed, running a pale hand through her golden locks. It had been almost a year and a half since the incident, but the blonde looked the same. Behind her, Boq was groggily rising from bed, looking around for his discarded shirt.

"Was I interrupting something?" Elphaba questioned, pouring tea for the two. Ever since Boq and Glinda had been married, Elphaba was forced to hold back her feelings of hate. She didn't exactly like him now, but she held back her snide comments for the sake of her best friend.

"Of course not. You're right on time, as always," Glinda remarked, causing the two of them to laugh.

"Am I missing something?" Boq switched his gaze between the two women in confusion.

"Elphaba is never on time, dear." Glinda patted his hand gently and spoke like she was explaining it to a young child.

"I resent that," Elphaba snapped at her, smiling. It felt good to smile. It felt good to let go of some of her pain for a little while. There were a few moments of clouded silence before Glinda spoke up.

"Momsie is at the Assembly, Elphie. They're trying to bargain for your release." There was a keyword here: trying. They had been trying for so long to get Elphaba out of slavery. Normally, the court would just order Elphaba to pay a certain fee (which the Uplands would pay, of course) and then she would be released. But that was for slaves who were bought into work. Well, Elphaba technically was bought into slavery, but they couldn't tell the court that without revealing everything that had passed between Melena and Carole. So she was stuck.

"Let them try, Mrs. Upland. Nothing's going to happen," Elphaba addressed her as Upland for Boq's parents had died so long ago that no one really knew his last name.

"Something will happen eventually, Elphie. You know that." The green woman snorted and cleaned up the tray.

"Enjoy your morning, Mrs. Upland." Glinda hated that she was so formal towards her, but there wasn't much that she could do about such a thing.

Elphaba closed the door behind her, slumping against the wall. The doctor at the hospital did a terrible job of patching her wounds and "the knife" (which was the long scar that dragged around her back) would spontaneously burst into searing agony. She ran her hand into the back of her dress, trying to massage and dull the pain. A slight whimper escaped her lips for she promised herself that she wouldn't scream no matter how bad it hurt. That would just put her more into Etai's thrall, even though he was dead. Even though he could no longer hurt her, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was in pain.

The woman slowly rose to her feet, taking deep breaths as she attempted to calm herself. She picked up the tea tray and stumbled down the hallway. She was so focused on her pain that she didn't notice that there was someone coming her way. She collided head-on with Fiyero Tigelaar and he knocked her to the floor.

"Fae, honey, are you okay?" He cried, alarmed. The prince reached down to draw her to her feet and he took her in his arms.

"Yes, I'm fine," She answered, rubbing her temple and looking at him. Aging a year and a half had only made him more handsome. His body was more in shape, his hair seemed to be more shiny and full, and those blue diamonds seemed to be more lustrous. Elphaba still couldn't believe that he belonged to her.

"You're in pain, aren't you?" He questioned, seeing the affliction in the dark eyes that he loved.

Elphaba slowly nodded. She despised telling him things for he always overreacted. He would rush her to his room, make her rest, and go on a hunt for something that would rid her of pain. "You can't do anything about it, Yero. You can't erase what happened."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say and Fiyero's eyes clouded with unreadable emotion. He hated that she was so traumatized by the incident. He hated that he couldn't have saved her earlier. "Fae, you know that I'm doing everything to help you."

Elphaba nodded and broke away from him. "I know you are, Tigelaar." (He was pleased that she was feeling well enough to send a sarcastic comment towards him). "Everything is just so confusing right now. I'm still a servant and I feel like the pain is going to kill me before I get released. You're the only thing clear to me right now."

Fiyero smiled at her and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you so much, Elphaba. We are all trying our best." He informed her, linking their fingers intimately.

If only they could try a little bit harder, Elphaba thought.

So how did you like it? If you liked it, tell me in a review! Thank you so much! - Meghan