Okay then… I like the first half of this story, and the rest is filler crap sort of, sorry. I think I'm only writing a couple more chapters…

I accidentally put a chapter of a different story on here, then deleted it. Sorry if it caused confusion…

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Wicked. It'd be amazing if I did, but I don't.

"What? Haven't you met an Animal before?" The Bird asked in a teasing tone. She was obviously used to surprise at her ability of speech. Elphaba had read about Animals, but never met one. She had to admit, she was slightly fascinated with the idea.

"Oh." The green girl recovered quickly and made an attempt to be polite. "No, I haven't. It's nice to meet you." If a Bird could smile, that was what this one was doing. She was smiling with her eyes, almost.

"And you, darling." She replied. "It's not often I get to have a civilized conversation with a human. I'm Tlena."

"I'm Elphaba." She told the little Bird. She must have been a Blue Bird, the green girl assumed, seeing the pretty sapphire markings.

"Elphaba. That's a very pretty name. Very exotic in a nice way. Your parents must be very creative." Elphaba laughed humorlessly, not bothering to be secretive as usual.

"Maybe my mother was, but my father sure isn't." She said with a sarcastic expression.

"Not too fond of him then?" Elphaba looked away.

"He hates me. And my mothers dead." Tlena fluttered onto her knees, which were near her face because of her curled up position.

"Now then, I'm sure it's not that bad. My mother died when I was very young, too. My father had to teach me and my siblings to fly. And my father… well I love him, but that Bird could be a military man, I swear. Not the kindest teacher in the world." She chuckled and Elphaba smiled.

"It must be amazing."

"What must be amazing?"

"Flying. I wish I could." She replied. "I think it'd be easier to be a Bird than a green girl." She muttered. Tlena laughed, a nice chirping sound.

"Oh, so that's what this is about? You shouldn't care, really." For some reason, Elphaba felt comfortable talking with this Bird, who was understanding and kind. So she opened up a bit.

"I don't care. They do." She mumbled, gesturing to the crowd of playing children in the field. "My father does."

"Well, I sure don't. I'm blue, who am I to talk?" Elphaba actually laughed at this.

"That hardly counts. You're a Blue Bird." She giggled.

"Oh really? How do you know? Perhaps I'm a Robin, and I'm blue instead of brown." Elphaba shrugged.

"No one would care if a bird was a weird color."

"Maybe so, but I have felt discrimination, young one. Animals aren't being treated well these days." Elphaba looked at the Bird, recalling some bit of information from a book about banns going into consideration these days. They were just ideas, but ideas morph into more if given time. "My own children were denied access to this school because of their species."

"That's horrible!" Tlena lowered her feathery head.

"Indeed. The principal of the school, Mrs. Leane, fought for them, but her decision to let them in was overruled." The Blue Bird sighed. "Just because they weren't born the same species, because they don't have arms and hands."

"But they have wings. That makes up for it." The green girl said, almost to herself.

"Dear, if you wish to fly with so much passion, maybe someday you will." Elphaba smiled sadly.

"I'll have to go against laws of nature first."

"Haven't you done that already? Nature says 'humans are black and white' and you didn't seem to care, did you?" She said it affectionately, as a complement, not an insult. Elphaba turned away and closed her eyes.

"I suppose not."

"I think that was the most boring recess of my life." Riamond mumbled when Elphaba met him inside. She shrugged, knowing he probably didn't mean it.

"I met a Bird."

"Like a bird that can talk?" He asked, curious.

"Yeah… She said her children weren't allowed here because they're Birds too. It doesn't seem right. I don't like it. It's wrong." Her words were passionate, and he nodded sadly.

"We've kids. There's nothing we can do." His voice was sad, almost as if he'd accepted the fact a long time ago.

"Someday I will." The green girl murmured. "When I'm older." They sat in silence, doing the work they'd been assigned.

"My Ma doesn't like you." The munchkin boy told her suddenly. "I'm sorry I made you meet her." She shrugged.

"I don't care." He looked relieved.

"Good. But she did say I wasn't allowed to be friends with you anymore." She looked up at him with a shocked and hurt expression. "It's okay! I'm not gonna listen to her. But that means we can't walk to the car line together." He looked proud of his defiance. She smiled a little bit and shrugged again.

"Okay."

"You're really good friends with that one boy, aren't you?" Nessa asked later, after Frex had conducted his daily interview of Nessarose. Elphaba was curled up in a chair reading and her sister sat next to her.

"I suppose so." The green girl replied, not much in the mood for talking.

"That's good." The younger girl said happily, then perked up. "Oh Elphaba! Did I tell you? I'm going to play with Abigail today! She's coming over!" Elphaba looked at her sister, confused.

"Since when?"

"Since Daddy talked to her Mommy. He says she's a nice little girl, perfect for me to play with." Though she was taken off guard by the information, the green girl smiled. She hadn't seen her sister this excited in a while. She was happy for Nessa. Just then the sound of the doorbell rung through the house.

"That must be Abigail!" Nessa chirped, attempting to push herself towards the door. Elphaba came up from behind to help.

"Yes, yes. Welcome Mrs. Flaf." The governor greeted the girl's mother, inviting her and her child in. Abigail looked at Elphaba with a weary sort of fear in her eyes, and the green girl remembered her being one of the girls who had screamed at their initial meeting. Frex shot her a look that very obviously said 'get out of sight before her mother sees you' and she complied, watching and listening from around a corner.

"I know it may just be a rumor, but I've heard things about you eldest daughters complexion. I hope you don't mind me asking if they're true." Mrs. Flaf asked as she was leaving. She looked scared of offending the governor. But Frex just grimaced.

"…Yes, my eldest is green." He managed, scowling slightly.

"How interesting. Is she here?" At this Elphaba prepared to walk out from her hiding place, but her father shot her another look.

"Not now." He lied easily. "She's visiting relatives."

"Okay then. It was nice to meet you, Governor Thropp." She called, walking toward her car. Elphaba went to find Nessa and her friend. She knew without asking that it was her job to supervise them and help her sister.

It turned out that, despite her fear of Elphaba, Abigail truly was an extremely kind girl, though the friendship did seem to be partially out of pity. But in the green girl's opinion, as long as Nessa didn't realize that, it didn't matter. The two girls played dolls (which Elphaba was more than happy to stay out of), a catching game, and a game that involved an imaginary world (that required the green girl to push Nessa all over creation). By the time it was time for the girl to go home, all three were completely worn out. They slept like rocks that night.

The next morning she woke up with high hopes. School was going okay, despite the cruel nicknames and such. She had a friend and Nessa was happy, so things seemed good.

As she got out of the car pushing Nessa, she saw a group of boys crowded in a circle, looking at something and laughed. The green girl recognized that laugh as one saved for victims. Worried, Elphaba easily pushed through to see what was going on. If they were bullying some helpless kid, she was going to stop them. But as the moved out of the way, the green girl saw that it was not a kid they were bullying.

It was Tlena.

Cliffhanger-ish… duh duh duuuuh

Review?