Listen Nessa :Wicked:

Listen Nessa...

A short Fic inspired by Boq and Nessarose and what happens to them. I got this image in my mind after finding the lyrics to the song Wicked Witch Of The East
Written May 2005

He didn't know how it had happened.

Elphaba and Fyiero had run out of the lecture hall with the lion cub and soon after, he had said farewell to Elphaba and the  beautiful Galinda at the train station. They were bound for the Emerald City to meet with the Wizard himself

That was the last he had seen of Elphaba. Apparently she had lost control of her powers in the presence of the Wizard. Galinda had come home in shock. No amount of questioning could get her to reveal what had really happened.

When rumors reached Shiz (eventually) it was said that Elphaba hadn't lost control, she had intentionally tried to cause harm.

Now she was gone. Rumor (if rumors could be trusted) had said that she had actually flown away - on a broom

Nessa came crying  to him that she was all alone. His heart had gone out to her. He loved Galinda, but he couldn't bear to see Nessa so upset. She had been very dependent on Elphaba and now her sister had abandoned her.

Now was not a good time to tell Nessa that he didn't love her. There would be a better time later.

Graduation came. Then Nessa's father died, leaving Nessarose in line to be the Governor of Munchkinland.



Again, she had come to him: "I can't do it alone Boq - please help me!"

So he had helped her get things organized, or just comforted her when she felt overwhelmed and stressed.

But soon Nessarose was comfortable in her role.

His thoughts traveled to Glinda in the Emerald city. She had been making a name for herself there. Glinda the Good.

Nessa was confident now, she didn't need him anymore to help her. He began to make plans to travel.

Then came the Ban. A law put into place by the Governor forbidding the citizens of Munchkinland from leaving the area without special permission.

And much to his surprise, his application to go to the Emerald City had been denied.

"Yes," Nessa confirmed, "There is no reason for you to leave."

"But-"



"No Boq," she said firmly, "I want you to stay here."

A few days after that conversation, Boq had decided, Ban or no Ban, he was just going to leave.

He reached the borders of the grounds of the palace and was stopped b the guards.

"Sorry sir," one guard said, "But we've orders from the very top not to let you leave."

Again, Nessa calmly confirmed that she had given the orders.

'She put me under house arrest??' he thought to himself once he was back in his quarters.

He couldn't believe that he had once felt sorry for her. A very strong feeling started to fill his heart - and it wasn't love.

No one could say that Boq wasn't doing his job over the next few weeks. In the history of Munchkinland, the governor had never had a more efficient servant.

But that wasn't what Nessarose wanted and they both knew it.

Boq was seated at a desk in the governor's's chambers. His pen was poised over a sheet of paper, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"Alright," she said, "Read it back to me."

He obeyed, reading back the letter that she had dictated to her ambassadors in the Emerald City. Yes, Munckinland had declared independence, but the governor's had wanted to keep tabs on what the rest of Oz was doing. His heart ached as he thought about the Emerald City.

"Good," she said, "That sounds perfect."

"Yes madame governor," he said, gathering up his writing materials, "I shall see to it that this is sent out as soon as possible. I will make sure that it gets there."

"Not personally," she said firmly.

"Of course not madame."

He stood up and folded the letter. "Will there be anything else madame governor?"

She sighed, "I've asked you to call me Nessarose, remember?"



He bowed, "Yes madame."

He did remember, but he would not call her anything but 'madame' now. It was his role.  He made his way out of the room, ignoring her attempts to call him back.

Boq went to the department in charge of mail and handed off the letter, repeating the governor's instructions as to how it should be sent out. He let out a soft sigh as he passed it on.

The letter was going where he could only dream of going.

'Sweet OZ! I'm jealous of a letter!' he thought, shaking his head and heading back to his room.

It wasn't fair.

Sometime later, someone knocked on his door. He opened it to see one of the other servants. "The governor is callin' for you Boq."

Boq sighed, "What does she want now?"

He gave a shrug, "I dunno, but she sounds pretty insistent."



"Alright... I'll go see what she wants."

He headed towards her rooms and indeed, he could hear her yelling his name.

"Boq, come here at once!"

He sighed, pulled himself together and entered the room with a bow. "What is it Madame Governor?..." he trailed off. She was seated in her chair like normal, but she wasn't alone... It was her sister!  "You!" he exclaimed, startled, and backing away quickly.

"Boq..." Elphaba said slowly.

"Stay back!" he yelped.

She held up her hands, "Boq, it's just me... I'm not going to hurt you..."

He slowly took a step towards the door. "You're lying! That's all you ever do!" he exclaimed, "You and your sister! She's as wicked as you are!"

Nessa looked startled, "Boq!"

Boq took a deep breath. There. He'd said it. It hadn't come out exactly how he wanted it to, but no matter. It was out now.

"What are you talking about?" Elphaba asked.

"I'm talking about my life - or the little that's left of it!" he exclaimed, all of his anger finally coming out, "I'm not free to leave Munchkinland anymore - none of us are!" He glared at Nessarose, "Ever since *she* took power, she's been stripping the Munchkins of our rights - and we didn't have that many to begin with!" He took another breath, "And do you know why??"

"To keep you with me," Nessarose answered in that calm matter of fact voice that he had gotten so used to. Then a smile spread across her face, "But none of that matters anymore. Look!"

Much to Boq's astonishment, she rose to her feet, taking a few steps away from her chair. She could walk now? He had known for a long time that Nessarose wasn't the helpless woman she pretended to be, but now...

He looked to Elphaba, "You did this for her?"

"For both of us!" Nessa added delighted, walking over to him.

"Nessa..." he started.

Her face lit up at that. He had called her by her name.



"This changes everything!" he said.

She smiled and reached out for his hand, "I know."

Boq took a breath, "Nessa..."

"Yes?"

He gave her a small smile, "Uh Nessa... surely know I'll matter less to you and you won't mind my leaving here tonight."  She wasn't helpless, especially now. She didn't need him. This was his chance...

She let out a gasp, "Leaving??"

"Yes," he answered, "The ball that's being staged announcing Glinda is engaged

"Glinda??" she exclaimed.

"Yes Nessa, that's right," he said, And I've got to go appeal to her - express the way I feel to her." He looked to her, "Nessa, I lost my heart to Glinda from the moment I first saw her. You know that."

Nessa stared at him in shock for a moment and then her eyes narrowed in fury. The heat from her glare was almost enough to make Boq take a step back - almost.

"Lost your heart?" she growled, "Well we'll see about that!" She took a step towards him.

"Nessa... let him go..." Elphaba said softly.

Boq took a step back, he'd forgotten about Nessa's new found ability to walk. Before, he had figured that if nothing else, he could out run her. He took another step back - nearly to the door now...

"Did you think I'd let you leave me here flat?" Nessa glared at him

"Don't come any closer!" Boq ordered, sounding a lot braver then he felt. Was he actually afraid of her? Afraid of Nessarose? He couldn't believe that she was the same girl he had asked to the OzDust that fateful day...

Suddenly a strange glimmer came into Nessa's eyes, "You're going to lose your heart to me I tell you! If I have to..." she trailed off, apparently unable to think of a good enough threat, "If I have to... magic spell you!" She reached out and snatched the book that Elphaba had been cradling in her arms.

She flicked it open and started reading out of it.

It sounded like complete gibberish to Boq. But for some reason, he couldn't quite bring himself to take that last step out of the door.

"Nessa don't!" Elphaba , "You're pronouncing the words all wrong!"

He would have to take Elphaba's word for that. It all sounded like nonsense to Boq. This was a magic spell? If it was, nothing was happening...

Suddenly he let out a groan of pain, his hand convulsively went to his chest. There was a painful tightening in his chest, his heart was constricting... almost... shrinking?

He collapsed to the ground, doubling up in pain. It was getting harder to breathe... harder to move... everything started to spin around him. His muscles twitched and then went still. Through a cloud he heard Elphaba screaming Nessa's name.

'What has she done to me?' was his last coherent thought, as he dropped down into darkness....

When he came to, Elphaba was gone. Nessa was sitting back in her chair, like normal. Everything looked so normal in fact, that he wondered if he had imagined the whole thing.

But no... something didn't feel right...

"Where am I?" he asked blinking in confusion, "What ... what happened?"

"Nothing," Nessarose answered, "You fell asleep."



But he could see in her eyes that something was wrong. "What is it?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

He sat up slowly, hearing an odd grinding sound, like metal on metal. He rubbed his eyes and then gasped at the sight of his hands. They were silver... they looked... metal.

'Metal?'

He scrambled to his feet and looked down at himself in horror. His whole body was the same silver-gray color as his hands. And it wasn't only gray...he was made out of metal.

A spell... Nessa was chanting a spell before he passed out... He remembered...

'What has she done to me??'

"It wasn't me!" Nessa exclaimed, "It was her! I tried to stop her! Please, I still --"

He couldn't stay here - not anymore. He couldn't listen to her. Not like this. Not after what she and her sister had done. He turned tail and ran, hating the sound of his feet clanging against the floor as he ran down the hallway and out of the place.

"It was Elphaba Boq!" Nessa screamed after him, "It was Elphaba!"

His life as he knew it, as the second in command of Munchkinland, was over. He would not regret the loss of that. His life of catering to Nessarose was over as well. He didn't regret the lost of that either.

He would never be able to tell Glinda his true feelings. That was something he would mourn. But he couldn't, not really.

As he later found out, the spell that Nessarose had cast to take his heart had worked - literally. Elphaba had then turned him into a tick-tok - a man made out of tin.

Boq the munchkin was no more.

Much later he was to learn that he hadn't *really* lost his ability to feel, and he hadn't really changed all that much. And he was to learn that by changing him into the tin man, Elphaba had actually saved his life. But by then, Elphaba and Nessa were gone.