Chapter Text
Everyday was a show. A performance by Oz’s newest symbol of hope and prosperity. A reminder that the times ahead weren’t all shrouded in shadows and wickedness.
Glinda hadn’t been in the square an hour before the conversation had shifted back to Elphaba. Perhaps it was the darkening of the sky as a cloud passed over the sun causing everyone to glance up with unease, or because the bank nearby had been raided by the resistance only a few nights before and the scars hadn’t quite been sewn back together. Maybe it was because, as the Wizard insisted, people didn’t want to unite for good, they wanted to unite against evil. They enjoyed it, craving a common enemy.
So that's what Glinda gave them. Trying to assuage rumors about her best friend was like trying to stem the ocean’s tide, it was simply impossible. And with Morrible's hand squeezing her shoulder painfully, and the eyes of hundreds on her, it was all Glinda could do to give them what they wanted.
“Yes, the Wicked Witch hasn’t been found yet.”
“We’ll be alright with the Gale Force to protect us.”
“Please report any sighting directly to the castle. We have troops ready and waiting around the clock to shoot her out of the sky.”
Now, as the sun dipped below the horizon casting long shadows across the city, Glinda found herself standing on the edge of her balcony, staring out at the ever darkening sky.
Gripping the railing tightly, she leaned further over the edge, squinting her eyes against the wind that buffeted her but refusing to look away from the sky out of the small, childish hope that she might see who she had claimed to be so frightened of.
She hadn’t been lying about being afraid. She was deathly afraid. Afraid every night as she heard people gathering on the streets below with pitchforks and barbed wire and torches–anything they could use to ward off the wicked witch. Afraid of the Gale Force finally tracking Elphaba down. Afraid of not knowing where she was or if she was even alive. Afraid of finally finding her again, broken and bloodied and so very cold.
Afraid of being the reason.
Come with me.
She had been so close, staring into Elphaba’s hopeful eyes, wrapping her hand tightly around the splintering handle of that godforsaken broom. Elphaba gave her a chance, but Glinda had been too afraid to take it.
Glinda wrenched her hands away from the railing as suddenly as though she had been burned, stumbling backwards into her room and slamming the doors so hard the paintings on the wall rattled. Her chest heaved as she fought to take in enough air, breathing enough for both of them just in case…
“...Is everything alright, madam?” A cautious voice sounded just outside her door. A reminder that Glinda couldn’t afford to fall apart.
She closed her eyes, running a hand through her hair and forcing on a polite smile even though the servant couldn’t see her through the thick mahogany wood.
“Everything's just fine, thank you!”
“Of course, your Goodness.”
As the footsteps faded down the hall, Glinda let the act fall once again. She pulled the curtains shut, blocking her view of the sky completely, then finished changing out of the heavy gown and into a simple nightgown. She washed the makeup off her face, took her lavish earrings out, and brushed her hair until only her soft natural curls remained. Until she looked like somebody no one wanted except Elphaba. Then she collapsed on the bed.
Moving into the castle had been an adjustment, but anything was better than spending more time at Shiz. After their meeting with the wizard, Glinda had returned to the school alone. She pulled away from her friends and focused more on her studies, working herself to the bone to avoid thinking about how empty her room was.
But she missed her so much. Every time she went to sleep without the sound of pages turning a few paces away. Every time she walked past the forest next to campus where they used to picnic. Every time she sat alone in class and no one answered the professors questions. Every time she passed the crumbling library where the green girl had spent so much of her time. Every time it rained. God she missed her.
She was a shell of herself that last semester at Shiz. Sometimes she would cry herself to sleep, chest tightening so much with guilt and regret that she genuinely began to fear for her own life. Other times she wouldn’t feel anything at all, the weeks slipping away while less than a breath seemed to pass. When she got a letter from the Wizard offering her a job, she didn’t hesitate. She would do anything to get away from Shiz, away from the memories and closer to Elphaba.
Glinda knew her friend was in the Emerald City. She could feel it as much as she could feel the bottle she now curled her hand around under her pillow. Elphaba hadn’t taken the keepsake to the city when they came to visit. Glinda remembers finding it on Elphaba’s bed the night she returned home. Alone. She had cradled that little green bottle and collapsed on her roommate's bed, finally letting the tears fall from her eyes. She hadn't slept in her own bed after that.
Her bed in the castle was excessively large, decked out in the softest pillows and plushest blankets money could buy. It was something Galinda would have been thrilled about. Glinda didn’t care at all.
The bell tower chimed the hour, and Glinda knew most of Oz would be locking their doors and tucking their children into bed with a kiss and a promise of protection from the Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda also knew Elphaba would be waking up around now, getting ready to risk her life instilling chaos around the city. Perhaps another break-in, or maybe she’d finally get around to vandalizing the giant statue of the Wizard in the city square where Glinda had been just that afternoon.
Glinda had snuck out of the castle many times under the cover of darkness hoping to catch at least a glimpse of Elphaba, but she was elusive. There were several times Glinda could have sworn she saw a pair of eyes glowing in the darkness or heard the swish of a cloak overhead, but Elphaba was never there. Or maybe she was, she was just avoiding Glinda. Keeping her out of her life at all costs, probably under the guise that it was for the blonde’s own protection.
She won’t let me find her. The realization had stung, and after that Glinda stopped sneaking out. She fell into a routine at the castle where at least she had some influence about the happenings of the city. She could ease the tensions, make people believe they had nothing to fear from Elphaba. Then they could be together again.
She clutched the bottle tighter, closing her eyes and at last letting herself fall into that foolish dream.