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Glinda the Good was long gone. In her place was an imposter: Glinda the Broken. She had taken over completely. And she wasn’t showing any mercy. She could have seen the incident a mile off. Innocent Dorothy from some Can’s Ass with her little pail of precious water. She was a murderer. She had burned her Elphie alive and reveled in the glory. She had showed no remorse whatsoever, which only angered Glinda further. She wished nothing more than to rip the girl to shreds and leave her for dead. She wanted to burst into tears. But she couldn’t. They’d know something was the matter with her and she didn’t have the mental strength to lie anymore. She couldn’t bad mouth Elphaba any longer. She wanted to scream. On one hand, she wanted to protect Elphaba’s name and dignity. She wanted them to realize what they’d done. On the other, she could hear Elphie’s voice telling her not to get found out. She couldn’t let them all know what they were. But she wanted to! She wanted the world to know the pain that was burying itself deeper and deeper into her soul.
“My lady?” One of the Gale Force guards asked, edging himself wearily toward her. After all this time, Glinda still flinched at the term. The title gave her so much power, she no longer cared for it. She only cared for one thing.
-
“Elphie come on!” Galinda giggled, skipping happily down the banks to the Suicide Canal. Elphaba was trailing a few steps behind, her head buried in a book she had recently swiped from the library in a rush.
“Hold on a sec! Oz!” The green girl huffed, laughing to herself.
The two girls had planned a day by the canal, free from the stress of exams and classes. Just two best friends relaxing in the other’s company.
Galinda went back on her path and grabbed Elphaba’s hand, pulling her down the banks with her. Elphaba’s balance stumbled as she almost went flying. She clutched her book in one hand, determined to finish the last sentence of the page before closing it. Galinda’s laugh danced through Elphaba’s mind, sounding like magic.
Galinda sat them down under a quoxwood tree, laying out the blanket underneath them. She plopped herself down and patted the space next to her, asking Elphaba to sit down beside her. Elphaba stuffed her book back into her bag and sank onto the ground.
Galinda found herself lying her head on Elphaba’s shoulder from the moment she sat down. She sighed contently as she felt Elphaba’s chest rise and fall every few seconds. Galinda took notice of a lock of dark hair that rested underneath the blonde’s head and flowed down the green girl’s chest. She picked up the silky strands and began to play with it. She didn’t fail to notice the girl’s shiver at the contact.
“Elphie, can we talk about something?” Galinda whispered, looking up at her best friend.
“Of course. What is it you wish to talk about?” Elphaba asked. Galinda let go of the raven hair wrapped around her fingers and instead played with the ring that permanently lived on the girl’s right ring finger.
“The kiss.” She said quietly. It barely came out as anything but a breath. Elphaba visibly tensed under Galinda and subconsciously held her breath. The hand Galinda was holding froze.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love our friendship and all that comes along with it-”
“But you don’t want it anymore.” Elphaba finished, cutting her off. She turned her head to the side, away from her friend. Or was it former friend now? She wasn’t really sure anymore.
Galinda whipped her head up quick enough to nearly give herself whiplash. She knew the self-deprecating thoughts that were without a doubt attacking the girl’s mind. She reached over to lift Elphaba’s chin with her finger, and guided it to look at her.
“No Elphie, not at all. I was going to say that I don’t want to be just friends,” Galinda offered a small smile “I want to be with you Elphie.” She whispered. She stared into the cosmic mixture of green and brown splashes of Elphaba’s eyes.
“You do?” Elphaba asked incredulously, not quite trusting her ears to do right by her. Galinda's giggle brought her uncertainty to light. The small blonde shifted over so that she was straddling the green girl’s thighs.
“I do.” Galinda slowly leaned her head into Elphaba’s as she kept hers still. Galinda knew she had minimal experience in the matter; their first kiss had been her first altogether.
“Just follow my lead.” Galinda whispered. She cupped Elphie’s cheek and gently placed pink lips on green ones. The feel of soft lips on her own felt magical and for a split second, she believed she could do anything. Their lips moved in sync as Galinda took Elphaba’s hands and placed them on the small of her back. A once frozen Elphaba was growing slightly more comfortable with the feeling of Galinda’s body on hers..
-
Glinda rarely ever allowed herself to think about her green girl; it only ever upset her and she couldn’t cry in front of others. Sometimes when she was alone at night, memories would come flooding back to her. Nights where she wasn’t alone.
-
Galinda could hear the wind howling through the trees outside their window. She had always had a fear of storms, especially the wind that accompanied it. The green girl that laid next to her whimpered in her sleep as she turned to face the blonde. Her eyes stayed shut as Galinda silently admired her. She reached underneath the covers and her shirt and gently drug her fingers up Elphaba’s hip. She kept drawing her fingers up until they hit the side of her breast. Galinda knew Elphaba wasn’t in a deep enough sleep to ignore the tingling sensation that was almost definitely creeping up the girl’s body. Instantly Elphaba’s eyes fluttered open sleepily, as she proceeded to curl into Galinda’s outstretched body.
“Hey,” Elphaba said sleepily, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Galinda couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of her adorable lover. She also happened to notice the pout on Elphaba’s lips and the furrowed brows at the loss of contact on her body. Galinda returned her fingers to the girl’s hip and continued caressing her side.
“I love you Lin” Elphaba whispered in the blonde’s ear as her arm draped itself around Galinda’s midriff.
“I love you too Elphie”
-
She had no idea how long she’d been crying but the tears wouldn’t stop coming; as soon as she wiped them away, fresh ones poured down her cheeks.
-
Galinda opened the dorm door ready to tell her girlfriend all about her day; she’d finally cast the levitation spell she’d been trying to do for months. Madame Morrible had been adamant that she was not strong enough to perform the spell successfully, she was convinced Galinda could only harm herself.
She couldn’t do that however, as what she was greeted with when she stepped into the room was not the mood she was looking for.
Elphaba was sat huddled beside her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them and her head hidden in them. She was crying. She hadn’t cried in a while, it had been a few weeks since Galinda had seen the green girl let her more dejecting emotions show, but Galinda hadn’t given it a second thought.
She was at the girl's side in seconds, dropping to her knees to equalize the level between them. Elphaba pulled her legs closer to her, to the point that she must’ve been uncomfortable.
“Elphie? What happened?” She asked softly. Elphaba’s sobs were filling the dorm and breaking her heart. Her head had lifted from her knees though and was leaning on Galinda’s shoulder. She wrapped her arms around the green girl and let her get it all out.
A few minutes had passed and Elphaba had calmed down a fair bit. She had stopped crying but her breathing was yet to smooth out and regulate. Galinda still had no idea what had happened. She thought maybe Pfannee had said something hurtful to her, but she always had a comeback and the comments never affected her this much; it was nothing she hadn’t already heard from others previously. She really couldn’t think of anything else it could be.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” She whispered into the girls hair. She felt her pull back from her so she leaned back to look at her.
“I messed everything up” Elphaba mumbled.
Galinda’s brow creased in confusion as she tried to understand what she was saying. “Give me a second to go to the bathroom and we’ll talk about it okay?” She soothed. Elphaba nodded her head slightly and then tensed up, as if coming to a realisation. Galinda pushed herself to her feet and quickly hurried to the bathroom so to get back to her love quicker. She closed the door behind her, her breath shaking slightly. Why was Elphie so upset? How did she ‘mess everything up’?
Her internal rant was interrupted by something askew on the sink top catching her eye.
What is that?
She picked the invading stick up to look at it. It was a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test. What was a positive pregnancy test doing in their bathroom?
Wait.
No. It couldn’t. It had to be someone else’s. Elphie wouldn’t have cheated on her.
Without thinking, she picked up the test, strutted over to the door and flung it open. Elphaba had returned her head to its original spot on her knees and, from the sounds she was making, was clearly trying to keep herself from hyperventilating.
She crouched back down on Elphie’s side and put a hand on her shoulder. The other one was wrapped tightly around the test.
“Is this yours?” She whispered softly. Elphaba’s hands tightened around her legs and she nodded her head slightly.
“Is this what you’re so upset about?” She prodded.
She nodded again.
“Who’s is it?” Galinda asked, starting to get emotional with the green woman. She would never cheat on her. Right?! Galinda wasn’t sure what to do. She couldn’t end the relationship. Oz no, she loved her too much.
“Avaric” Elphaba mumbled through her arms.
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
“What? You cheated on me with Avaric?” She yelled. She saw Elphaba flinch at the sudden raise in volume, but she couldn’t care less. If Elphaba didn’t care about her, why should she care about Elphaba?
“No. Galinda-“ Elphaba reached up to take Galinda’s hand, but she snatched it away. “I didn’t mean to,” she whimpered.
This angered her. “How can you not mean to sleep with someone? You may as well have ordered a pizza, finished the whole thing and then say you didn’t mean to eat it! There’s no way to unintentionally have sex with someone unless he-“ she stopped herself. Her heart stopped with her. Oh god, please no.
The silence that filled the room however, confirmed it.
She didn’t want to.
Avaric had forced her.
She felt sick to her stomach. What could she do? She did the first thing that came to her; she dropped to the floor and pulled Elphaba into her arms. She felt the girl break down all over again and knew this was going to be a long night.
“Elphie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything I said, I overreacted, I’m so sorry.” She was taken aback to say the least. She was speechless. For once in her life, Galinda Upland had no words. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She felt Elphaba shift a little against her as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Were you too embarrassed to tell me?” Silence. “You know this isn’t your fault, right? It’s his and he’s nothing but a disgusting prick.” Elphaba clearly didn’t have the strength to talk yet, so Galinda carried on, “I love you so much. I can’t even begin to explain how happy you make me.”
Galinda cleared her throat and asked the question she needed to know. “How long…?” She drifted, not really knowing how to ask it. Elphaba shifted in her arms a little and wiped her sleeve along her nose. “Almost 4 months.” It came out as no more than a whisper, though Galinda knew it was meant to be louder.
“You didn’t know? It’s okay if you didn’t Elphie,” She reassured her. She felt Elphaba shake her head against her chest as they tried to regain her breathing together.
-
Some of Glinda’s best memories of Elphaba were during her pregnancy; they’d stay up some nights just talking about the future or names for the baby. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to be involved with Elphaba and the baby. They’d spoken about it one night after an emotional breakdown on Elphaba’s part, and she had come to ask Glinda if she would help parent the baby with her. She had happily cried for hours into the night, long after Elphaba had fallen asleep.
-
“Come on Elphie, you’ve got this. You’re almost there.” Glinda cooed as she squeezed Elphaba’s hand. It had been 11 hours and it was almost over; just a few more pushes. But it wasn’t that simple. It took strength that Elphaba wasn’t so sure she had anymore. Her entire body ached and she was exhausted. Glinda had been by her side guiding her through the whole thing.
“I can’t! I can’t do it!” Elphaba cried, thrashing to find Glinda’s other hand. Her heart broke for her girlfriend, wishing she could take the pain away for her.
“Yes you can Elphie. You can do it. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere. We’ll do it together okay?” She soothed, as she stroked her matted hair and kissed her fingers. Glinda took a deep breath in and encouraged her to do the same. Elphaba complied and continued with her pushing. Glinda was mesmerised by it all. In a few moments, there would be a brand new life in the world. And that life was up to them to take care of. In a few moments, they were going to be parents. And she got to do it all with her best friend.
A few seconds went by, accompanied by a loud scream from Elphaba, and Glinda’s hand hurt from her girlfriends squeezing, but she didn’t care. Her baby was about to be here.
“Here she is!” The midwife exclaimed with a wide smile plastered on her face. A small bundle of limbs were flailing around in her arms as tiny screams, almost like Elphaba’s, pierced the air. Glinda was no longer able to keep the tears back. She watched the woman as she cut the cord that lead from their baby’s stomach.
The midwife moved to pass the baby to Elphaba, but she stopped her, “Glinda gets to hold her first.” She whispered, clearly and quite rightly exhausted. Glinda’s jaw fell as more tears clogged up her vision.
“Really?” She breathed, her hands pushing her hair back. Elphaba nodded slightly and gave Glinda’s hand the gentlest squeeze she had ever felt. The midwife stood smiling at the interaction, waiting to pass the baby to the small, crying blonde.
The warmth that filled Glinda when the little girl was placed in her arms overwhelmed her and she cried once again.
“Do you have a name for her yet?” The midwife asked, stroking Elphaba’s hair out of her face as she began to close her eyes.
Glinda looked down at her girlfriend with a smile that was quickly returned as the two shared a knowing glance.
“Avina Upland-Thropp”