Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey Elphie, what's that?" Galinda asked loudly as she gestured to a pink bottle sitting on the corner of Elphaba's plain black bed.

"Something of yours?" the green girl asked, not even bothering to look up from her book.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's yours," Galinda replied.

"Oh. Well. Then I guess it's mine," Elphaba responded carelessly again, still far too wrapped up in her book to be paying attention to Galinda.

"Well, maybe you could check just to be sure?" Galinda prompted.

"Why don't you, since you're so interested?" Elphaba asked back, still reading.

"Because it's on your bed and I don't want to go rooting through your stuff," Galinda replied patiently, knowing that it always took a bit of time to get Elphaba's attention if the green girl was reading.

"That is sweet of you," Elphaba acknowledged, nose still in her book. "But you have my permission to check for me."

"But I really think it would be best if you see, just in case it was meant for you?" Galinda pressed again.

This back and forth carried on for a couple more minutes before Elphaba finally caved, heaving a tired sigh and looking up from her book to the place on her bed that Galinda was pointing to. The pink bottle Galinda was pointing to was some kind of fancy, empty, perfume bottle.

"This is definitely yours," Elphaba snorted the moment she caught a glimpse of it.

"Look inside!" Galinda replied encouragingly.

"What?" Elphaba asked.

"Look inside!" Galinda repeated. Elphaba gave the blond a slightly bemused look, but she figured that unless she humored the blond, she wouldn't be allowed to go back to reading, so she decided to play along just long enough to satisfy Galinda's current demands. She picked up the bottle and unscrewed the top. Peeking inside, Elphaba could see... a scrap of paper?

It took a few moments of fiddling with, but Elphaba finally wedged the thing out of the bottle.

"Dine with me at the Suicide Canal tomorrow?" Elphaba read as she unfolded the tiny square of paper. So it was a message. Galinda had sent her a message in a bottle. Elphaba couldn't help but be amused by how far Galinda had gone just to ask her out. When Elphaba looked back up to give Galinda her answer, though, the little blond was nowhere to be seen. She had somehow slipped out while Elphaba had been fiddling with the piece of paper. Elphaba chuckled again. That sly dog! But Elphaba decided to humor her again. She pulled out her own tiny square of paper, wrote a reply on it, stuck it in the bottle, then left it on Galinda's bed for her to find whenever she chose to come back.

Over the next couple of months, the two girls turned the "message in a bottle" thing into a game. Every so often, one of them would leave a message for the other in that old perfume bottle. Sometimes, it was just a sweet little "have a good day" message. Other times it was another request to eat out. Sometimes it was a joke or a pun. Other times it was a playful insult. Sometimes it was a serious question or request. Other times it was just a doodle or tiny sketch of something. Either way, the "message in a bottle" game quickly became ritual to both Elphaba and Galinda.

"Why don't we ever use your little green bottle as well?" Galinda asked one day when it occurred to her that they had only ever used her own old perfume bottles and never the special little glass one Elphaba always kept around with her.

"It's a private possession," Elphaba replied, tone guarded. It was all Galinda needed to hear to know that this was still a sore subject for the green girl, so she only shrugged casually.

"I was just curious," she promised, and she asked no more about it. Besides, Galinda had more than enough perfume bottles to suffice.

"Speaking of the little green bottle, though, how did you know that I slept with it?" Elphaba asked. And this had been a question she'd wondered since the very first time Galinda pointed it out to her. See, usually, the bottle was tucked inside Elphaba's pillow case, yet somehow, Galinda had known it was there. It had occurred to Elphaba that Galinda maybe had been snooping around in her stuff, looking for something to use against her back in the days when they still both hated each other, but Elphaba had never felt comfortable enough to ask. At least until now.

"Oh. I don't know. I just noticed you holding it one night," Galinda replied carelessly.

"Ah. Ok then," Elphaba replied, then she felt silent again, satisfied with that answer. Meanwhile, Galinda turned away to breathe a sigh of relief.

In truth, Galinda had known about the bottle because she'd started falling in love with Elphaba even before they really became friends and she had been quick to notice all of Elphaba's little tics and quirks. During that first period of early infatuation, Galinda had paid extra attention to every little detail about Elphaba, and it had been during this time of attraction that Galinda had noticed the green girl with her little green bottle.

It was on a normal school night and Galinda was already in bed, but she was not asleep. Instead, she caught sight of Elphaba, who was returning from a late-night study session in the dorm lounge, go to her bed and pull the bottle out. She had given it such a sad, heartbreaking look that, even all the way back then, Galinda had wanted to know what that little green bottle meant to Elphaba, though of course, she hadn't dared to ask. At least not until they became friends.

But even then, that had been a bit of risky topic just because, of course, Galinda didn't want Elphaba to know that, during her crush-phase on Elphaba, she'd basically been stalking the green girl. So she successfully steered the conversation away from the rather awkward and iffy topic of that little green bottle and the matter was dropped entirely.

So their little game resumed and Galinda's perfume bottles were the modes used to transport the messages. Elphaba's little green bottle stayed hidden away with Elphaba. But this was fine with Galinda. A couple decades later, however, that little green bottle wound up back in Galinda's possession, though she would've gladly given it back if she would've been able to undo the circumstances surrounding the events that led to her becoming the little green bottle's new owner. To make a long story short, Elphaba had been murdered by a ragtag band of Ozian misfits. With Elphaba dead, that bottle had been passed on to Glinda. She received it when Elphaba's flying monkey friend, Chistery, handed it to her as she mourned the loss of the only friend that had ever really mattered to her.

"Oh! Elphie!" she wept as she knelt beside Elphaba's robe and hat. It was all that was left of her, the rest of her body having literally been melted away into nothingness. Glinda buried her face into Elphaba's robe and sobbed. That was when Chistery appeared.

"Ms. Glinda?" he asked as he hobbled on over to her.

"Chistery?" Glinda responded, voice wet with tears. He bobbed his head up and down in affirmation before extending a paw out to her. Resting in it was the little green bottle. Elphaba's little green bottle. The only other thing of her that had not been melted away. Glinda held it to her chest as her sobs redoubled. Now, all she could see were all of her stupid, late-night chats with Elphaba, and all their silly little schoolgirl games. But as she clutched that little green bottle to her chest, Glinda realized something. She actually had seen this very same vial somewhere else. Just recently, in fact, and it had been in the hand of the Wizard of Oz himself. He'd offered her a drink from it to calm her nerves...

Just a week later, Glinda had blackmailed the Wizard of Oz right out of Oz, using that little green bottle as the proof. Realizing that he was Elphaba's father (why else would they and Elphaba's mother all have been in possession of that exact type of little green bottle?) Glinda was able to get the Wizard out of Oz and take the throne for herself, finally shaping Oz into the country it had been before the corrupt Wizard had come in and laid the kingdom to ruin. Now, with the Wizard gone and Glinda on the throne, prospects were looking up for Oz, but it was not going to be an easy task. Instead, Glinda had her hands full for nearly the entire first month of her reign. 30 straight days of nothing but work. At last, however, she managed to catch a small break.

"Whew!" she declared as she finally took some alone-time to just sit on her bed and breathe. "What a busy month!" but even though it had been busy, she already knew she wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. Not now that she knew that she was doing what Elphaba would've wanted. What Elphaba would've wanted...

Although Glinda had thought about Elphaba every day since she died, Glinda hadn't ever really had the chance to get to mourn the green girl properly. She'd just been too busy, horrible as that sounded. But with the little bit of downtime she had now, Glinda finally decided to grieve and reflect and think. She sat back up and got off her bed, going to find that little green bottle which she had hidden away in her vanity, so that no one would ever find it and ask the story behind its presence in her bedroom. She picked up the little green bottle and gave it a sad smile, silently speaking to its previous owner about all she'd managed to accomplish in her first month as queen alone. Sure, she still had an awfully long way to go, but things weren't looking that bad, all things considered.

"You would've loved it, Elphie," Glinda whispered to the little green bottle, tears sparkling in her eyes once again.

But then, right as Glinda started to put the little green bottle away again, she noticed something. There was a tiny paper inside of it. A message in a bottle. Just like so many years ago...

One year after I "melt", meet me in the place where we said our farewells. I will be waiting for you, my sweet.

From: "The Only Friend That Mattered"

Chapter Text

As Elphaba stood waiting by one of the clocktowers on Shiz campus, she couldn't help but wring her hands. Galinda had been occupying more and more of her mind lately and one of her crazier thoughts insisted that maybe Galinda actually liked her. Like, like-liked her. Normally, Elphaba would've dismissed the thought with a mere scoff, but with each passing day, she couldn't help but become more and more confident in her assertation. She may not have been a love expert, but Galinda was leaving so many little cues and clues. It was kind of frightening.

Even though Elphaba was waiting for Galinda's class to end so that they could spend some time together, Galinda's face was still burned into Elphaba's mind. She'd become hypnotized by those gold curls and bright eyes. But now, Galinda wasn't around, and that left Elphaba down when she wanted to be defying gravity. Elphaba felt like little more than a face in the crowd, another student among hundreds, and a flicker of self-doubt arose in her heart. Why would Galinda want someone like her when there were so many other students to choose from? But nevertheless, Elphaba kept waiting, reaching out for Galinda, even though she was terrified.

'Cause she could be the one that I love, and I could be the one that she's dreaming of… But even though these were the thoughts that swirled around Elphaba's head, she knew in her heart that she'd never have the courage to say them out loud. Instead, once both of them were back in the dorm, Elphaba got a new idea. While Galinda changed out of her school uniform into something comfier, Elphaba noticed the corner of her little green bottle sticking out from under her pillow. Now she really felt silly, like a dewy-eyed schoolgirl with a crush, leaving love notes on lockers. But…A message in a bottle is all I can do…

She managed to hastily shove a piece of parchment inside the bottle and leave it on Galinda's nightstand all before Galinda finished changing. Now, she could only hope that Galinda would notice, and take the time to actually open the bottle and read the note. If she did, she would see that the note said, "You could be the one that I keep And I could be the reason you can't sleep at night." Once again, Elphaba was left waiting, hoping, reaching out, terrified.

ooo

Glinda ran tired fingers through frazzled hair. These days, she was restless, and workdays were endless. Being the Wizard's Grand Vizier was so much more than just smiling and waving, or standing there and looking pretty. The only solace she had anymore were in the memories she had of Elphaba, and their time together at school.

Look how you've saved me, changed me… Even though they were no longer together, she still held onto those memories, and they held onto her. Even the slowest of meetings or most boring of speeches could be alleviated by remembering Elphaba. Time moves faster replaying your laughter. Oh, what a little, love-struck disaster she'd been back at Shiz. She would've given anything to go back to those days because…

Now, Elphie, you're so far away and I'm down without you. I should've accepted your offer to defy gravity years ago. I'm sorry I was too much of a coward. Now I'm nothing but a face in the crowd. Even though her job required her to be more than just that, there were plenty of days where she still felt like she was only that, not just in relation to the Ozians, but to Elphaba.

If Elphaba were to come back right this second, would she recognize Glinda, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, too? Or was Glinda nothing but a face in the crowd now to Elphaba? Just another airheaded puppet of the Wizard while Elphaba was out saving the world and changing it for the better. But even though these tumultuous thoughts and feelings rattled around Glinda's skull, she was still reaching for Elphaba.

'Cause she could be the one that I love, and I could be the one that she's dreaming of… These were things Glinda could no longer tell Elphaba, at least not in person, but here was the thing… Even though they hadn't seen one another in years, and couldn't do so even if they wanted to, for both of their personal safeties, they still had a way to communicate, albeit sparsely.

One late night, Glinda snuck away from the palace and out of the EC altogether. On the outskirts of town, there was a willow tree. It was fed by part of Restwater, part of the canal that ran near and around the EC. Shifting some of the roots aside, she reached her hand into the underground and left a perfume bottle there.

It was empty of perfume, but contained a small slip of parchment. Once it was secure, she put the roots back into place and departed back for the EC. She had to return before she was noticed missing. An hour later, she was back in her royal chambers, looking to the starry western sky. All she could do was hope that her message got to Elphaba.

ooo

How is it where you've been? Where are you while I'm wondering if I'll ever see you again? Even after all the time and distance between them, the two were still very similar. While Glinda looked to the west, Elphaba looked to the east. She held her little green bottle close to her heart. It was full of all the messages she had yet to send to Glinda: You could be the one that I love And, now, I'm standing here hoping it gets to you! But, over the course of the rest of Elphaba's life, she and Glinda would continue their little game of "message in a bottle". Even though they couldn't send much, and they couldn't send often, they made it work.

But one day, Elphaba's "career" caught up to her, and she was executed for her crimes (read: rebellion) against the Wizard. Now Glinda was truly alone, she didn't even have the messages in a bottle anymore.

"Oh, Elphie!" she wept bitterly. Now it was her turn to clutch the little green bottle close to her heart. It was one of the only things left of the "wicked witch" of the west. And when Glinda realized what was in it, every note she'd ever sent to Elphaba before, she only started to cry even harder. She, too, had another empty perfume bottle hidden under her pillow back in the palace. Just like Elphaba's bottle, it was full of every message she'd ever received from the other woman.

As soon as Glinda got back to the palace, she set the green bottle right beside the pink perfume bottle, both of them stuffed with letters. She kept them like that for a good long while, but eventually, she decided that they needed to go. She wasn't trying to "move on", per se, it was just a little risky to keep something like the "wicked witch's" personal "potion flask" in her bedchambers, especially next to her own empty perfume bottle, especially since both of them had rather forbidden material hidden away inside.

It was exactly a year after Elphaba's death that Glinda finally returned to the willow. The space under the roots would be the bottles' eternal resting place, together forever. Glinda could still visit them, just not every day, but it was safer to store them here than the palace. But, before she left, she added one final note into her bottle.

'Cause you are still the one that I love. Am I still the one that you dream of? A message in a bottle is all I can do, standing here hoping it gets to you! You could be the one that I love, my love…

Glinda lingered at the willow for a little while longer, standing there, hoping that wherever Elphaba was now, the letter still got to her somehow.