Disclaimer: I don’t own Wicked. I doubt I will. If I get off my ass, work on my voice, go crazy with the school plays, and go nuts, I might be able to get the role of Elphaba. But beyond the fact I have a tone better suited for harmony, I also consider acting and singing a hobby and refuse to change that.

A/N: Originally, this was trashed and then reworked into what is now called “If We Let Them” so the similar bits come from that. However, it was trashed due to pacing issues, but I’ve been told this plot is reworkable. Just so the reader knows, the first six chapters are original, and when I get after that, I might say what I did and where I decided I wanted to stop.

Elphaba looked at the hat Galinda had given her. She thought it was nice, it was one of the few colors she liked. However, she knew nothing of fashion, so it could have been an elaborate prank. She also had developed an aversion to parties, something her father always forbid her from, so she really did not feel like she would be comfortable going to the party. She would much rather read. She might wear the hat some other day, though, but not tonight, and not at the Ozdust. She put it on her shelf and started to work on her homework.

“Hey, Greenie,” she heard her roommate say after a few hours.

Elphaba poked her head up. Galinda was holding a wand. “What is it, Upland?”

“Thanks for letting me into the sorcery seminar. Perhaps we should call a truce to everything.”

“Why would you call a truce?”

Galinda looked surprisingly “So we act well when we start sorcery together. However, it doesn’t mean I’d defend you from anyone else making remarks like those made before. I’m just not going to join in on them.”

“Alright then Upland, truce.”

“Perhaps you could be more formal, Miss Thropp.”

Elphaba nodded. “That is a fair condition to the truce, Miss Upland.” Elphaba found Galinda’s willingness quite interesting, but if it meant one less person teasing her, it was good.

A few days later, Elphaba had woken up later than her usual time. Galinda had woken up while Elphaba was in the middle of brushing her hair.

“It looks nice that way, Miss Thropp,” Galinda said. “You should wear your hair down more often.”

Elphaba shrugged. “It’ll get in my way when I’m reading, though.”

Galinda looked at her. “You can tie it back when you read, then. Just keep it down for today.”

“I’ll humor you, Miss Upland. If I don’t like it, it’s going into a braid again tomorrow despite your insistence.”

Galinda smiled. “One day should be enough to convince you to wear it down more often.”

Before her class, quite a few students said that they didn’t recognize her from behind and thought she was a new student. Despite the veiled insult that they would only befriend her if she was a new student, she realized the students were trying to be nice. Even Galinda’s boyfriend had gotten into the act.

“Did Galinda ask you to do that?” he asked.

Elphaba nodded quickly. “She insisted I try it out for one day. Shouldn’t she be in this class too?” She looked around to see if she could find her blonde roommate. She expected her to be draped on one of Fiyero’s arms every moment she was out of the room.

“You should listen to Galinda more often, Miss Thropp. It makes you look great.”

“That didn’t answer my question, Master Tiggular.”

“I guess she’s running late,” Fiyero said. “Like she seems to do often.”

Elphaba laughed. “Perhaps you aren’t as brainless as you make yourself out to be if you picked that up in a week.”

He nodded. “Thank you for the possible compliment, Miss Thropp. I better save her a seat in the back, so she can just slip in unnoticed.” And so he did.

There was bad news; Dillamond was deemed no longer fit to teach through a final decree by the Wizard’s assembly. The new man who took over revealed a Lion in a cage, all the students besides Elphaba, including Fiyero, crowded around the cage to see how it acted. She simply glared at them. That Lion cub must be scared out of his mind, Elphaba thought. I can’t believe no one is going to do anything. Don’t they have any sympathy? How would they feel if they were in a cage?

The students all took a sudden jump back. They started acting in an odd manner. It took Elphaba a few seconds to realize all of them were acting this way because she lost control of her powers.

“How long will this last?” she asked herself before taking the chance, grabbing the cage and running out to free the Lion cub.

“There you go,” she said quietly opening the cage a decent distance from the school. “This forest should keep you safe.” It looked at her fearfully.

“I know, that must have been scary, but trust me, little Lion, you’ll find a place in this world. And I know you’ll be able to talk. Now go, run away from here. I don’t want you to be caught.” Those words proved it a Lion. It understood her and with a little nod, ran deeper into the forest. She picked up the cage and looked at it with disgust. “I should probably return this,” she said to no one as she walked back to campus.