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Glinda was left with the aftermath of the melting. She cleaned up the Wizards post and let him go home with Dorothy. Years later, right when she believed she was well and truly over the whole ordeal, ready to settle into her quiet life in the spotlight alongside Chuffrey in the distance she saw a cape…that damn cape. She would recognize it anywhere. For a moment she thought…impossible as it was to think she knew something was up.
Soon enough she learned that the cape now belonged to a young boy named Liir. Handsome just like his father, she could see him in his eyes and the turn of his smile until she noticed the long limbs and raven black hair. He was not just a child of Fiyeros, this was Elphabas's child too.
And that realization had stung more than anything. After leaving she had heard she visited people like Boq and her sister. Glinda always suddenly visited where a sighting had been seen—always chasing a dream, Morrible warned once—And it seemed she had more than enough time to make amends.
Staring at this boy, who was scared, something in her felt…lighter…not all of Elphabas life was turmoil. She had people who loved her…of course she did. Elphaba was so easy to love.
As she was now throne minister, another great thing about everyone packing up and leaving he had asked her for access to the south stairs…. Dangerous but capable. She had agreed without hesitation and even got a guard to escort him. He had Elphabas determination.
Through the years she had continued to help him. Even if slowly she was getting closer and closer to getting caught.
One day he had asked why she would help him…though she always admitted knowing his father….she never talked about Elphaba. A band-aid she wanted to keep on for as long as she could. Some secrets had to be kept.
Though the shared kiss flashed in her mind of that fateful night she was left behind the first time. And she finally began to tell Liir about his mother.
“I had a friend before, and
(S)He was a lot like you
I helped (her) fight through war, but
(S)He had (her) demons too
And then we grew apart
Then (her) light went dark”
She spoke of the nights they shared at Shiz, sneaking into the library, running from Morrible, and their late-night talks inside their dorm. How fond of those days she was when things were simpler and Glinda could simply exist within those four walls. At that point the pair was unstoppable. They healed each other.
Though her story got bleak as she went on she recounted how Elphaba became obsessed. She would spend hours huddling over Dillamonds notebook attempting to crack the code and find the evidence of Morrible's wrongdoing.
How at first thought of it as nothing more than childhood fancy. She did not know the other was serious about what they had discussed. How could she have known? Elphabas eyes were different then, she remembers in hindsight. They had lost their light.
She also recounts the day it all went wrong. The day they both met the wizard. And how frightening he was. All that Elphaba had said despite Glindas protests. Talks of assassination as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“Elphaba…” she starts “or Aunty Witch as you knew her, was afraid of the world. Afraid everyone was out to get her. Big conspiracy theories that she was the center of. Maybe it was her self-importance. In the end—funny enough there was some truth to the whole thing.”
She’d say half-heartedly.
Elphaba was fighting invisible things she couldn’t even comprehend and that’s the day they drifted apart. Elphaba drew her line in the sand and once Elphaba had her line there was no taking it back…only problem was she left Glinda on the wrong end.
They never spoke again….until the day her sister died. Elphaba had flown by broom to visit her father and Glinda just so happened to want to pay her respects too.
Even then they got together and acted like children who couldn’t contain their joy. One glimpse and they were back in Shiz.
For a moment it was okay, they were back and walking the halls of Shiz as if nothing could touch them. It was Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch laughing like a pair of schoolgirls, a sight that would make anyone who saw look twice. Glinda held on as tight as she could…trying to convince Elphaba to become the eminence, take over, and be one within society again. It was her right after all. However, Glinda quickly learned that there was no point in that. The second shoes were mentioned, they were at odds again.
And the last thing they did was fight.
“And so, I thought
Maybe, if I made a different call
Maybe if I hadn't missed it all
Maybe, (s)he'd be fine”
Maybe we'd unwind”
They had both made mistakes; that much was obvious.
But the day they met the Wizard they had both made a choice. Glinda to follow the rules and be Good–whatever that meant– But that only helped to worsen their condition. It ruined what little friendship they could salvage. It did not help that Glinda had given away her sister's shoes.
She still thinks she had more claim to them than Elphaba who abandoned the poor girl but that was beside the point.
Had they made different decisions, had they just talked they could have been together still.
It was Glindas biggest regret
“If things had been different; I would like to think we would still be together. Had I reigned her in sooner….”
A sadness washed over the room, for what Liir could remember of Aunty Witch; she blamed herself. And here Galinda was doing the same.
“She would hate you for that you know…she was a stubborn green bean.”
Liir would say and the sadness dissipated like that. Laughs filled the air and the two shared a knowing look. Standing on the balcony of her estate things were not looking so bad, the view of the citizens of Oz, the view of hustle and bustle of people coming and going as if they had not lost the most important person in their life, and the sounds of the train coming and going from the station.
Maybe, if I help another soul
Maybe, if I helped you reach your goal
Life could be that bright
I could sleep at night
She’d spent so much time with him because it was a way to get closure. She learned more about Elphaba’s later years through Liir, how she lived, and what she was like..though stubborn always seemed to be a constant. That was the original reason.
Eventually, Glinda came to love the boy like any mother would, he had that same strange charisma his mother had. The one that drew you in before you even knew it.
“So the answer…is maybe if I help you, Liir; I can do some good. If I help you find Nor and set some things right maybe I can feel whole again.”
However unlikely that that was, there was no doubt Glinda just wanted to do this one last thing for Elphaba. It was fate, after all, that brought the boy to her. If that was how it was then who was she to deny it?
She was hoping to sleep better too. Knowing Elphaba was at peace somehow that her son was being watched over.
“(Glinda) , I don't know who your friend is
I don't know what (s)he's like, but
My time with you has been splendid
The bеst day of my life
'Cause I got in a fight, and I didn't die
I'vе never felt strong before”
Despite living with The Wicked Witch for more years than he has been alive Liir can not say he knew her or even understood her motivations and he had made that clear. More than anything the woman they called Aunty Witch denied any motherly ties to the boy. It was not till after her death that he understood the truth.
That was his mother.
And now here he stood with her best friend since their Shiz years, something he knew even less about somehow. The two filled the gaps Elphaba left and it was better than having nothing. His time with Glinda was far more interesting to him, however short it was. She was kind and she quickly became someone the boy got attached to.
Because of her, he was able to get a lead on Nor, he owed Galinda more than he may ever care to admit primarily after she took on Rain years later.
Because of her, she left his mother's shadow and felt like his own person. It was she who helped him through all that.
You're my friend, I couldn't ask for more
And so, I think
Maybe, if life wasn't spent as planned
Maybe, it's time that you lend a hand
I don't think he'll mind
If not his friend, then mine
The pair had become friends, not only mentor and mentee…Liir could not use magic but when his daughter Rain could it was clear that they would need to hide her. For that reason, they went straight back to Glinda who took on the challenge without much issue.
Their lives had been nothing like they had planned. Glinda was meant to be the face of the Wizards movement but when it came to Rain years later she took up against Liirs own uncle. Freezing his army in their tracks with a spell from the Grimmerie.
“Do you think she would mind?”
He would ask one day the night before he left Rain.
Glindas response he would never forget.
“You are an idiot. She kept her cards close to her chest…not to hurt us…to protect us in her own stupid way. It's not that she did not care it's because she cared so much that she would not share with us. It does not make her reasoning any less idiotic, however.”
Elphaba always seemed aloof. She never seemed to care for anyone or anything….but both of them had come to the conclusion she loved them in her way years ago. She kept them out of danger and protected them from realities they did not want to face. Of course, it did not help alleviate the hole she left in their hearts or the amount of work they had to do because of her.
“Maybe, to fall is to learn one way
Maybe, it's all gonna turn out great
I know we'll be fine
I know it's light you'll find
You're a good kid
Thanks”
Together, their lives had been very different. Together they had worked to find Nor when he was younger. Glinda had been there when he married Candle. She was the one constant in his day-to-day life. Now, he stood at her heel once again asking for help. Of course, she would never say no to him, she couldn’t.
“Maybe she wanted to fail…to give into the Wizard.”
‘I would not put that past her, if it meant whatever was after her was going to end with her she would do just about anything to stop it.” Galinda agreed.
They once again shared a knowing glance and sighed in unison before looking over the lake, Rain in her crib as the two had one final moment of peace together.
Mentor and mentee.
Mother and son.
Daughter and Father.
Who knew what was coming for them next with Shell sitting on the throne and Glinda hiding both the Grimmerie and the one thing that would challenge Shell's claim to Throne Minister there was sure to be a rough road ahead.
Yet, Glinda's smile never faltered. She stood tall her dresses always extravagant and never a hair out of place said one final thing to him.
“We will be fine.”
“I know, we got no choice. For her.”
Though whether they were speaking of Rain or the dearly departed Wicked Witch one may never know.