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Chapter Text

"Come with me." Elphaba held the broomstick in one hand and stretched out the other to her friend. 

There was a moment of silence as Glinda stared into her eyes, blinking away tears. Was she going to come? Elphaba wouldn't blame her if she didn't- she understood that while she herself had nothing to lose, Glinda had everything and everyone to lose. 

Footsteps thundered towards the wooden doors. The guards were approaching. It was now or never, and Elphaba gave Glinda a parting glance before turning to the open window. So be it, she would fly solo if that what was what it took to be free. 

Right before her feet hit the open air, a small hand tugged at her sleeve. 

"Wait, Elphie!" Glinda cried. "I'm coming."

Elphaba's eye widened, then crinkled into a smile. "Then you'd better hold on tight, my sweet." 

A high-pitched shriek, courtesy of Glinda, and a loud cackle, courtesy of Elphaba, tore through the sky as they soared past the guards. Elphaba clutched the broomstick and veered to the left, being mindful of her screaming passenger. Glinda sat behind her, thin arms wrapped securely around Elphaba's waist. Adrenaline faded to excitement, which morphed into exhilaration when they passed the borders of the Emerald City. They were free! And more importantly, they were together. 

But where were they going to go next? Elphaba considered returning to her family home and asking her father for help, but shook away the idea. Knowing him, the Eminent Thropp was more likely to serve his green daughter's head on a platter to the Wizard. Likewise, entering Gillikan Country was sure to result in Glinda's parents "rescuing" her from Elphaba's clutches. The best decision right now was to lay low and find shelter somewhere less populated. 

Elphaba settled on an abandoned flour mill in Munchkinland. The fields outside were overgrown with wheat, providing a bit of concealment for their activities. Taking Glinda's hand in hers, she swung open the door. 

"How...quaint," Glinda remarked at their new living quarters. "I've never seen such an exceedingly humble abode before."

Much to Elphaba's horror, Glinda was actually being underdramatic. The inside of the mill was smaller than their old dorm room at Shiz. A layer of dust mixed with flour coated the wooden floors, while black mold crept along the walls. Several large flour sacks were piled in the corner. A spiral staircase with random boards missing led to the upper level, which was sure to be equally destitute. 

Elphaba pushed a brave expression onto her face. "Well it's a good thing I brought a broom."

"I rather wish you had enchanted a queen-sized canopy bed instead." Glinda took a slight step to the side. "I'll be out here, let me know once you're done cleaning."

Amusement and exasperation flitted through Elphaba's mind. "You're not going to help? I hate to break it to you, but not having servants means we'll have to...GASP...do things ourselves."

Glinda beamed beneath her fluttering eyelashes. "Oh but Miss Elphaba, I do believe there is only one broom, and it only answers to you."

"You wicked little thing." Elphaba rolled her eyes, unable to be truly annoyed at her adorable companion. A stack of random farm equipment on the other side of the mill sparked an idea. There was a familiarly shaped object hidden among the pitchforks. "In that case, you can hold the dustpan."

After what seemed like hours of grunt work, primarily composed of Elphaba sweeping the dust and Glinda sneezing at the dust, the old mill was finally restored to a state of acceptable cleanliness. Ignoring the stale scent, Elphaba dragged a couple flour sacks together to form a makeshift bed. Her massive cloak would have to serve as a blanket for now. They were not, thank ozness, completely empty-handed. Each girl had a purse with whatever belongings they had brought to meet the Wizard with. 

They unpacked every item that could potentially be useful onto a rickety table. Elphaba had a coin pouch, the stolen Grimmerie, her glasses, a pocket knife, a map, and a flask. All essential things that would serve her well. Glinda had a substantially heavier coin pouch, a hairbrush, four different lipstick colors, concealer, a white handkerchief, her training wand, and a bag of candy. Questionably essential, but at least she had money. 

"Why did you need so much lipstick?" Elphaba questioned. 

"In case I changed my mind," Glinda said. "Why did you bring a knife?"

"In case I met someone I didn't like. I should've used it on the Wizard."

"Goodness, Elphie." Glinda placed a hand over her chest in astonishment. "But I suppose it'll come in handy now that we're practically...feral."

A snort escaped from Elphaba's mouth. "Only you would liken a dusty room to being feral."

"The windows don't have shutters! What kind of uncivilized house has holes for windows? I much prefer my windows without holes."

"No holes would swiftly defeat the purpose of a window." When Elphaba was met with a quizzical expression, she sighed and gave Glinda's arm a stroke. "Let's try to get some sleep. I'm sure you're tired from flying all day."

As they laid side by side on the flour sacks, Glinda's window complaint proved to be valid. Drafts blew in easily, casting a chill over the room. The cloak failed to provide sufficient warmth against the night. Elphaba glanced at Glinda, who was pretending to be asleep but obviously shivering. The poor girl had probably never gone a day in her life without a plush bed and multiple comforters at her disposal. Would she be alright under the strain of travel? 

Elphaba inched closer until their bodies were touching. Tentatively, she draped an arm over Glinda's cold shoulders. The corner of Glinda's lips twitched upwards as she turned to snuggle into Elphaba's chest, all while keeping her eyes closed to continue feigning sleep. Elphaba inhaled her sweet perfume, suddenly feeling much warmer. In that moment, she was flooded with gratefulness to have someone by her side. Her arms tightened around the smaller girl. She decided that Glinda Upland would be protected as long as Elphaba Thropp walked the earth. 

Chapter Text

“You’re hungry,” Glinda stated.

“No I’m not, you eat the last piece.” A low growl from Elphaba’s stomach betrayed her words.

Plucking the last piece of strawberry candy from her napkin, Glinda brought it to Elphaba’s lips and pushed it into her mouth. Even though her own stomach writhed in protestation, Glinda felt that Elphaba needed the energy more. The witch had been studying the Grimmerie and doing chores around the field all day.

“Aha, this spell summons a great flame that we could smite our enemies with,” Elphaba said after coming across a slightly singed page.

Glinda leaned her face over her shoulder to glance at the book. The words swirled into incomprehensible shapes, seemingly dancing across the paper. How in the world was anyone supposed to read this?

“Is there a spell for cleaning clothes…or people?” Glinda asked. Her skin itched, desperate for a warm bath and a fresh dress.

“Not that I’ve noticed.” Elphaba flipped through the pages. More dancing letters and shifting shapes. Suddenly, Glinda was drawn to a chapter near the back. Something about the words just gave off an air of cleanliness. “Take a look at this, Elphie,” she pointed out.

Elphaba squinted through her glasses. “You found it. A cleaning spell. That’s odd, I don’t remember seeing this.”

“Can you read it automatically, or is there something special you do?”

“I understand the meaning even if the letters are foreign; it’s not a literal translation, but rather the meaning behind the words. I don’t know if that makes sense.”

“Hmm…” Glinda stared harder at the page. An aura of cleanliness emanated from the paper, even if the words were nonsensical. Did this mean that she had potential, that she possessed some level of magic deep down? “Let me try to decipher it. I just have this feeling.”

Shifting the Grimmerie into Glinda’s lap, Elphaba gave her back an encouraging rub. “You can do it, my sweet. Focus less on the details and more on what your instinct tells you to do.”

The minutes ticked by and Glinda’s head began to hurt. She was growing irritated at the flimsy paper, which seemed to mock her unsuccessful attempts. All she wanted was to remove the dirt from her dress, was that too lofty a request? Come on, just clean the disgustifying and disgraceful filth already! Her hand clenched her training wand, which was beginning to glow.

“Argh! Give me a bath, you stupid book, or I’ll smear dirt into your pretentious pages!” Glinda screeched. There was a flash of light, followed by a cool mist on her skin.

“You’ve done it!” Elphaba exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

Glinda blinked and looked around. Her dress was freshly laundered, skin smooth and hair oil free. Elphaba was similarly clean, and even their surroundings seemed less dusty. “I did it,” she gasped. “I have magic!”

“I always knew you did.”

When both of their stomachs growled, Glinda set aside her desire to join Elphaba in magical studies. There was currently a better way for her to be useful in their travels.

“I should go to the nearest town and buy supplies. We can’t survive on candy and foraged berries,” Glinda announced. “You stay here; the citizens might recognize you. I don’t know how much wicked witch propaganda has been spread yet.”

Elphaba frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you venturing out alone.”

“But there’s so much we need- food, additional clothes, real blankets, camping supplies, and a bazillion more things I can’t think of,” Glinda protested.

“Alright, just buy the urgent necessities for now. And some kind of scarf and gloves so that I can accompany you next time.” Elphaba went and fetched her cloak to drape over Glinda. Even though her skin wasn’t green, the blonde’s beauty was capable of drawing equal amounts of attention. “Save the heavy items for me. And don’t spend all our money on clothes!”

Glinda slipped on her purse, checking to make sure her coin pouch was there. “Urgent necessities. So hair curlers and lash-extending mascara?”

“Glinda!”

“Just kidding. Mostly.” Getting onto her tiptoes, Glinda lifted her face to kiss Elphaba’s cheek. “Bye bye Elphie, I’ll be back before you know it!”

The nearest town was decidedly not so near. As Glinda climbed the rolling green hills of Munchkinland, she felt her feet ache from her stiletto heels. Should she buy more practical footwear? The thought of bulky boots made her shudder.

When she eventually reached the town, Glinda was horrified to see a large poster pasted in the middle of the square. An ugly green witch with a large black hat hissed at the passing townsfolk. The facial proportions were all wrong, transforming her lovely Elphaba into some evil creature. Shuddering, Glinda ducked into the nearest store.

Several packs of rations, a lightweight and foldable tent, soap, a disguise for Elphaba, and comfortable clothes for both of them. That seemed like everything necessatious. Glinda took a bit of extra time to pick out flattering outfits that were still suitable for travel. The most expensive article of clothing had actually been a pair of plain, gray slacks. They matched Elphaba’s shirt and cloak, but Glinda secretly just enjoyed seeing her friend’s legs in pants.

A curious sensation overtook Glinda as she lugged her purchases back across the expanse of land towards the flour mill. The corners of her vision dimmed and her head became fuzzy. For a brief moment, she felt out of breath and nearly dropped the shopping bags.

As quickly as it had come on, the sensation went away after she squatted and waited. Glinda stood back up and continued on her walk. She was probably just hungry and thirsty. It didn’t help that she could barely sleep on those awfully hard and lumpy bags. A bed! That’s what she forgot to buy. Next time, she would ask Elphaba to procure one. Surely the broomstick could support the extra weight, it was magical after all.

A mouth-watering smell greeted Glinda upon arriving home. Elphaba sat at the fireplace, roasting meat on a stick.

“You’re back! Let me help you with those,” Elphaba said, setting the meat on napkin. “Was everything alright? No one harassed or hurt you, did they? Was the walk too strenuous? I should’ve just dropped you off and picked you up.”

Glinda smiled and unloaded her purchases, showing off their new outfits. “You worry too much, Elphie. It went fantabulous and I bought these very handsome pants for you.”

“I hope you didn’t drop a fortune on these clothes.” Elphaba raised the pants to her waist and admired the high-quality fabric.

“If we’re to wear the same wardrobe every day, it better be fashionable. And relax, I didn’t spend all our coin.” The breeze blew another waft of the delicious roasted aroma. “Where did you get that meat?”

Elphaba grinned. “I killed a rabbit in the fields. It was an animal, not an Animal, of course.” Taking notice of Glinda’s weary expression, she slipped an arm around her slender waist and guided her to the fire. “Sit and eat, my sweet. Now that I have a disguise, I’ll be able to handle the next shopping expedition.”

For all of Glinda’s life, she had only ever consumed food meticulously prepared by chefs. There was no seasoning under the sun unfamiliar to her picky tastebuds. But here, sitting on a rock with her back nestled into Elphaba’s side, even a slightly burnt and unsalted rabbit tasted heavenly. It filled her up faster than expected, no doubt due to the satisfaction of resting after a laborious day.

“I must say,” Elphaba said in between bites, “I half expected you to buy me a frilly gown to traipse in. Those shirt and pants are surprisingly my style.”

“Of course, I bought them to suit you, not me. I would never wear such things, but I knew you would look…look…” Glinda flushed, her words catching in the back of her throat.

“Look what?” Elphaba whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

“Hot.” Glinda gasped and jumped to her feet. The world was starting to spin around her. “I mean I’m hot. I’m too close to the campfire. I…I need to lie down. Good night!”

Elphaba watched her leave, her own face growing too warm for comfort. So Glinda preferred her in slacks over dresses…good to know.

Chapter Text

Thanks to the disguise Glinda had procured for Elphaba, they were able to ditch the moldy flour mill and roam more freely through Munchkinland. It was quite a pretty disguise in Glinda’s opinion- a silky face veil imported from Samandra with matching sheer gloves. The reddish tint in both neutralized the green, a color tactic that she had learned via make-up techniques. She was pleased that her knowledge had some use in their life on the run.

Despite upgrading to a proper bed in an inn, Glinda still couldn’t shake her fatigue no matter how much she slept. And she slept a lot, to the point where she hardly saw Elphaba sleep because the witch went to bed later and rose earlier than her. But it was still fun to be by her side and learn magic together.

The Grimmerie seemed to be able to sense what the user needed and shift its contents to form a never-ending supply of spells. Elphaba cultivated an impressive repertoire of combat and levitation spells, while Glinda found a talent in transmutation. Mastering the cleaning spell had opened the doorway to transforming plain clothes into fancy ones, shrinking boulders into pebbles, and turning glass windows opaque. Unfortunately, her powers worked less than half of the time and only on minor objects.

“You’ll get the hang of it eventually, transmutation is a tricky specialty,” Elphaba reassured her.

Glinda groaned and flopped back onto the bed, placing a dramatic hand over her forehead. It felt a bit warm. “As much as it irks me to say her name, I wish I had paid more attention during Morrible’s sorcery seminars.”

“Speak of the devil.” Elphaba’s voice dropped in pitch. She sat up straighter in her armchair and nervously flipped the page of her newspaper.

“What? What is it?” Glinda rolled herself to the foot of the bed, close to where Elphaba sat in front of the fireplace.

Elphaba turned the paper so she could see the featured column. “Madame Morrible exiles vile beasts, including Shiz’s former goat professor, to the Western province of Munchkinland. Unable to be sedated by modern tranquilizers, they will be put to sleep in the Deadly Poppy Field before undergoing scientific experimentation.”

“That’s horrible! Horrible Morrible! Oh is that where her name comes from? Anyways, poor Dr. Dillamond,” Glinda sniffed.

A crease appeared above Elphaba’s eyebrow, a sign that she was deep in thought. After scanning the rest of the newspaper, she said, “Geographically, we are closer to the Western province than the Emerald City. We could make it there before they do. According to the article, the Animals will only be accompanied by a group of guardsmen. Shouldn’t be difficult to take them out.”

“Well then what are we waiting for? The night is young,” Glinda replied.

“The forests in the west are wild and dangerous.” Elphaba bit her lip, scrutinizing the blonde’s small and fragile frame. “I fear the land will be too treacherous for you to traverse.”

Glinda’s worst fear sprung out from hiding. This entire time, had she been dragging Elphaba down and holding her back? The fear crept up whenever they had to take a break so she could rest, go the long way to avoid danger, or stop for supplies because she couldn’t stomach raw food. Glinda knew that she was higher maintenance, which was why she was frantic about improving her magic.

“Am I a burden?” she squeaked out, afraid to look Elphaba in the eye.

“My sweet,” Elphaba gasped. She came over and knelt on the bed, taking Glinda’s face between her hands. “How could you suggest that? You are the reason I’m able to hide my greenness, the reason we didn’t become infested with mold and bacteria, and the reason I even made it this far. It’s precisely because you’re so precious that I’m afraid of taking you somewhere dangerous.”

“I signed up for danger when I decided to join you. Saving the Animals is our cause, not yours alone to shoulder.” A tear rolled down Glinda’s cheek. “I promise to be helpful, so let’s go together. Please?”

“Alright, but you must let me know if the going ever gets too rough. We have plenty of time to spare due to our proximity to the forests.” Elphaba caught the tear between her fingers. “In fact, we can wait until morning to depart. You look a bit flushed, why don’t you get ready for bed now?”

“Sleep with me?” Glinda asked, not bothering to correct the potential implications of her question.

Elphaba sucked in a breath, her own cheeks flushing. “I…I shall sleep next to you…shortly.”

That night, Glinda stayed up to watch Elphaba fall asleep first. It was mesmerizing the way her usually tense body sprawled into a most unladylike position. Her skin glowed like a verdant jade beneath the light of the candle. The even rise and fall of her chest soon lulled Glinda into a deep, dreamless sleep.

A dampness at her back woke Glinda before the sunrise. She rubbed her skin to find the source and nearly yelped in shock. Her forehead and nightgown were drenched in sweat. What was wrong with her? She never broke a sweat, not even during sparring class. A night terror that she couldn't remember, perhaps? Taking her wand from the nightstand, Glinda erased the moisture from her body. Elphaba didn’t have to worry about it, at least not until they made it to Dr. Dillamond.

“Good morning, Elphie!” Glinda cheerily greeted her roommate the next morning. She felt perfectly fine. She was fine.

As Elphaba had predicted, the forests of the Western province were rife with peril. Dulcibear had told her stories about ferocious beasts inhabiting the area when she was a child. Elphaba had assumed her caretaker was exaggerating to scare her away from exploring it, but now she wasn’t so sure. Low rumblings and hisses followed them through the dense trees.

Elphaba kept a firm grip on Glinda’s hand while they walked. Her broomstick dutifully floated after them, carrying a trunk of rations and camp supplies. Thorny bushes and gnarled tree roots frequently obscured the ground.

“Watch your step,” she warned Glinda when her toe nearly caught on a mossy rock.

Glinda proceeded to immediately trip over the rock, her eyes in a daze.

“Glinda!” Elphaba exclaimed, catching her by the waist and carefully setting her on her feet. “What did I just say?”

“S-Sorry. I was distracted,” Glinda responded. She pulled away from Elphaba’s hold to release a strangled cough into her handkerchief.

“Are you sure you’re well? You’ve been coughing for the past week.” Elphaba attempted to feel her forehead, but Glinda ducked to the side.

“We should keep moving. I thought I saw a wolf not far behind us,” Glinda warned.

Before Elphaba could react, Glinda grabbed her hand and hurried them away. Dry branches snapped beneath their shoes, announcing their every movement to the forest. A distant howl confirmed Glinda’s suspicion.

A squelch and flash of red stopped them in their tracks. Elphaba looked down to see a deer carcass lying on the grass clearing. The howling was getting louder and accompanied by thumping footsteps. Beady eyes peered at them through the bushes. This deer was the wolf pack’s dinner, and they were standing on the dining table.

Six silver wolves emerged from all directions, encircling the pair. Elphaba threw an arm over Glinda, pushing her protectively behind herself.

Glinda gripped a shaky hand on Elphaba’s shoulder. “Y-You don’t suppose they’re Animals, perchance?”

“I don’t think so. Stay behind me.” Elphaba raised her free hand and summoned a flame. She shot it at a wolf, who recoiled at the fire. The remaining wolves, however, dropped into a hunting stance.

“I’ll…um…enlarge the branches and block them!” Glinda declared. She pulled out her wand from her belt and pointed it at the trees. Nothing happened. A few more grunts and despairing shouts still failed to produce results. “No…No! Come on, please!”

It was too late, Elphaba’s survival instincts roared to life as the wolf pack descended upon them. Keeping Glinda at her back, she whirled around launching fireballs at the beasts. A wolf sunk its jaw into her arm; she used the momentum to swivel and lead the rest of the pack away from Glinda.

There was a frightening moment when Elphaba’s body was buried under fur and fangs. Using both of her hands, she bellowed and sent the wolves flying. Their bodies slammed into trees and rocks, ricocheting onto the ground. The surviving wolves whimpered and scampered off.

“Elphie!” Glinda scrambled to her side and hovered her hands over Elphaba’s arm, too afraid to assess the injury.

Elphaba peeled away the layers of shredded fabric. There was a shallow set of bite marks around her bicep. “Your choice in clothes saved me,” she chuckled. “My leather coat took most of the damage.”

“Does it hurt awfully?” Glinda sniffled. She traced her wand over Elphaba’s arm, absolutely bawling while cleaning the wound and repairing the fabric.

“Nowhere near as much as seeing you cry,” Elphaba murmured. “This little cut will heal in a day. Dry your tears, my sweet Glinda. My Slinda, my Gweet.”

“Gweet?!” Glinda choked on the ghastly nickname. “Please never refer to me as such ever again.”

“Can I take that to mean Slinda is on the table?”

Glinda huffed and cleaned her face. “You must be fine if you’re making hideodious jokes. Get up so we can continue the search for Dr. Dillamond.”

“With haste, my slin- my sweet.”

The dark and dense forest petered out along the edges of a vast, grassy valley. Flowers cropped up in colorful bunches, their petals swaying in the breeze. Nestled in the center of the valley was the Deadly Poppy Field. The sea of red flowers was as beautiful as it was precarious.

“It’s just like the poppy field we played in by Shiz.” Glinda leaned her head on Elphaba’s shoulder to take in the view. “That was such a fun day with you, me, Nessa, Fiyero, and Boq.”

“One of my best memories from school,” Elphaba agreed.

“Which memory was your favorite?”

“When you joined me at the Ozdust.”

Glinda shifted to face Elphaba, bringing their bodies together. “And I held you just…like…this…” Their faces grew closer with each word until their lips were an inch apart.

A flash of lightning snaked through the sunny sky, followed by a thunderous boom. Elphaba and Glinda jolted apart, confused by the contradictory weather.

“What was that? And where’s Dr. Dillamond? We should’ve heard or seen the squadron of guards and Animals by now,” Glinda questioned. She walked towards the poppies, trying to get a better view of the other side of the field.

Elphaba pulled her back. “Don’t get close to the Deadly Poppy Field. The scent is hundreds of times more potent than regular poppies. It makes people instantly faint.”

“Then how is that person walking on the flowers?” Glinda pointed to a rapidly approaching figure.

The winds picked up in speed, swirling into a vortex in the sky. A woman with white hair perfectly coiled atop her head trampled on the poppies, her sapphire dress billowing behind her. There was a familiar smirk on her face.

“Madam Morrible…” Elphaba uttered, her eyebrows furrowing in realization.

“Why is she here? Where is everyone else?” Glinda cried.

Elphaba stepped in front of Glinda. “There is no one else. No Animals, no Dr. Dillamond. This was a trap. To find me.”

Chapter Text

“How good of you to come, Elphaba,” Madame Morrible announced, flinging her arms open in a dramatic entrance. “I see you’ve also brought your prisoner, Miss Galinda Upland.”

“I’m not her prisoner! I chose to leave with Elphie,” Glinda shouted. “And it’s Glinda!” Another cough rose in her throat and she pushed it down in her chest, wincing at the resulting pain between her ribs.

Morrible tilted her head to get a better look at the girl. “Then why do you look so dreadful? A life on the run is not treating you well, dearie. Come back to the city with me and I’ll ensure you become a pampered princess again.”

With each menacing step that Morrible took, Elphaba pushed Glinda further and further back. “You shall not lay a hand on her,” Elphaba growled.

“I won’t need to. Both of you will be…complacent whether you want to or not.”

The clouds overhead darkened, an artificial storm conjured by Morrible’s weather magic. Glinda didn’t understand. Why wasn’t the sorceress affected by the poppies? And why had they been lured to this specific location?

A spicy smell tickled the inside of Glinda’s nose. Instantly, she felt the urge to sleep. Several feet in front of her, Elphaba swayed back and forth. They were a safe distance away from the Deadly Poppy Field, so why was this happening?

Glinda’s eyes darted between Morrible, the sky, and the poppies. The pieces clicked into place. Morrible was using the wind to blow the sedating scent away from her and towards the two of them. Her thunderstorm was sustaining a vortex of powerful winds. Once the rain began to fall, the scent would be soaked into their skin and clothes to last for an extended period of time. Long enough to transport them to the Emerald City.

There was a thump as Elphaba fell to her knees, straining against the flowers. Morrible was fixated on her, barely casting a glance towards Glinda's way. Clearly, Elphaba was the primary target.

Glinda ducked behind a tree to block the path of the breeze. She had to do something. If only there was a way to stop the thunderstorm, a way to freeze everything in place. Freeze. Glinda snapped her attention to the clouds. Water had many forms, endless transmutation possibilities. Holding her training wand to the sky, Glinda sent a silent beg towards the Grimmerie and an audible cry of desperation.

“What is this?!” Morrible bellowed in anger.

The air dropped in temperature. The clouds morphed from gray to white. Soft flurries of snow drifted over the field, blanketing the poppies and trapping the scent.

Morrible’s momentary confusion gave Elphaba enough time to recover. The green witch levitated off the ground and roared a ferocious spell.

Unfortunately, Glinda could do nothing except watch the ensuing battle. Her strength had finally run out and she collapsed against the now snowy earth. The chill felt nice against her burning skin. She was tired, so very tired. A rattling cough seized control of her body and caused black spots to dance in her vision. When it ended, Glinda saw crimson staining the snow next to her mouth.

Time was beginning to blur together. At some point, Elphaba secured a victory and forced Morrible to retreat. The gorgeous, triumphant smile on her malachite face morphed into a horrified expression as she turned around. Her senses muffled, Glinda couldn’t make out what Elphaba was shrieking while running to her.

All she felt was Elphaba’s strong arms lifting her up before everything faded to black.

The high-speed wind dried out Elphaba’s eyes to the point of burning, but she urged her broomstick to fly faster. She cradled Glinda’s feverish body to her chest. When they finally reached the inn, Elphaba made a dash up the stairs to their shared room.

It was easy to carry Glinda. Too easy. Elphaba’s heartbeat skyrocketed when she realized how much weight her love had lost. Her dress still fit perfectly, a sign that Glinda had been secretly altering her clothes to hide her thinness. But her pale and sunken cheeks, dark circles, and protruding collarbones were all too obvious beneath the candlelight. The change in Glinda’s appearance had been a gradual one, such that Elphaba couldn’t be sure whether it was simply due to stress or due to something worse. Now Elphaba had her answer. And it was all her fault.

Tucking Glinda into the bed, Elphaba pressed her lips against the girl’s burning forehead. “I’m so sorry, my sweet,” she murmured. She prepared a damp washcloth and a glass of water for the nightstand before going downstairs. There was a telephone on the wall of the inn lobby that she could use to call a doctor.

When Elphaba returned, Glinda was awake and staring at the ceiling with glassy eyes. Elphaba sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the washcloth to cool her forehead.

“How do you feel?” she asked. “I want honesty this time, because I know you’re not ‘fine.'”

Glinda’s voice came out hoarse. “I feel…quite horrendous.”

“How long have you been horrendous?”

“…Since we left the flour mill.”

The washcloth slipped from Elphaba’s fingers. Her blood pressure was spiking through the roof. “What?! That was weeks ago, Glinda! Why would you keep this from me?”

“I-It wasn’t this bad at first! I thought I was just adjusting poorly to everything,” Glinda stammered. Her chest rose and fell heavily. “And when things got worse, we got the news about Dr. Dillamond and it just…wasn’t the right time. I tried to hold out.”

“The right time? I always have time for you. I’m disappointed in you for needlessly risking your health, but I’m more disappointed in myself for failing to notice.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Elphaba was silent for a long time. She picked up the washcloth and resumed wiping down Glinda’s shivering body. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was at fault. Glinda had begged her to stay and apologize to the Wizard, but Elphaba had instead dragged the both of them on a reckless and extreme mission. She had been so swept up in the moment that she didn’t consider the practical implications.

They were sleeping in meager environments, walking and flying for miles without rest, scavenging for food, and constantly on high alert. Even the sturdiest of men might fall sick from such a lifestyle, let alone a girl as sheltered and delicate as Glinda. Stupid, stupid Elphaba for not thinking things through before acting.

There was a knock at the door. The doctor was here.

Elphaba quickly donned her disguise before ushering him in. The doctor was a Munchkin man with glasses thicker than a finger and a metal stethoscope that was rusting at the edges. His demeanor wasn’t any more reassuring.

“Ho ho, what do we have here?” The doctor could barely seem to see through his cloudy glasses. “Did you catch a chill, miss?”

“She is severely ill,” Elphaba said through gritted teeth.

The doctor slapped his stethoscope on Glinda’s bare skin, making her flinch. After a mere five seconds of listening in a single spot, he stopped to stick a thermometer in her mouth. The line of mercury wasn’t even done rising before he plucked it out to squint at her temperature.

Struggling against the profanities expanding behind her tongue, Elphaba cleared her throat. “Please, sir. She has been weak and feverish for weeks, and even coughed blood today.”

That sentence inspired the Munchkin man to pry open Glinda’s mouth and peer around her gums for blood. He gave her nose a check too, muttering to himself. The examination was concluded shortly and he scribbled a prescription on a scrap of parchment paper.

“This young lady has pneumonia. Get her some cough syrup at the pharmacy and she’ll be back on her feet in 2-20 days,” the doctor proclaimed. He shoved the prescription into Elphaba’s hands, swiped a couple coins from their countertop, and scurried out the door.

Elphaba sunk into her armchair and groaned, “What a quack. To think I even asked the operator to connect me with the best physician in the area.”

“Maybe it is just pneumonia,” Glinda weakly offered. “We both know that my body can be very dramatical.”

“You’d have far superior medical care in the Emerald City,” Elphaba said under her breath. A small part of her was thinking about what Morrible had said. ‘Come back to the city with me and I’ll ensure you become a pampered princess again.’  Would Glinda be taken care of if she returned?

Glinda pushed herself onto her elbows. “Don’t even think about it, Elphie! I am not turning myself in to the likes of Morrible and the Wizard.”

“Your life is in danger,” Elphaba snapped.

“You haven’t even given that doctor a chance! Don’t destroy my life, our life, over what could very well be something inconsequential,” Glinda retorted. A harrowing cough interrupted her and she grasped for her handkerchief.

At once, Elphaba was next to her and patting her back. “It’s okay. I’ve got you, my sweet.”

“Get-Get me that cough syrup. And see if maybe…I get better tomorrow. Please?” Glinda begged, tears welling behind her eyelids.

“Okay,” Elphaba gently lied.

Later that night, she fed Glinda a spoonful of poppy syrup. The angelic blonde slumped against the pillow, not to wake again for many hours.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Elphaba sobbed as she wrapped Glinda in the blanket and lifted her from the bed. Her tears wouldn’t stop streaming the entire flight back to the Emerald City.

Chapter Text

The cough syrup that Elphaba fed her was sweet with an odd kick at the end. It quieted the pain in her lungs and lulled her mind to sleep. Glinda smiled; it was already working. Tomorrow she would wake up feeling better and things could go back to normal between her and Elphaba.

She had a delightful dream that night, a memory from their time at Shiz together.

The morning sunlight streamed in from the glass balcony doors, pricking at Galinda’s eyelids and forcing her awake. She yawned and sat up in bed, feeling altogether rather loopy and dazed. What time was it?

Galinda looked across the room and caught Elphaba putting on her tie. The clock informed her that she had massively overslept.

“Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m going to be late!” Galinda screeched. She sprang to her feet and tossed her robe over her chair on the way to the bathroom.

“I didn’t think you’d want me to, seeing as how you loathe my voice,” Elphaba shot back. “See you in class, Miss Galinda. If you make it.”

“You’re positively infuriating, Miss Elphaba!”

Galinda thought she heard a cackle as Elphaba slammed the door shut. That green bean was making a mockery of her. Well she was not going to let this mishap besmirch her perfect attendance record. Despite the heaviness in her limbs and the tickle in her throat, Galinda got ready in record time and practically ran to the classroom.

Exactly one second before the bell rang, Galinda triumphantly slid into the seat next to Fiyero. She was a bit faint and flushed from the exertion, but it was worth it to see Elphaba’s disappointment at her punctuality.

“Good morning, class. Today we will be discussing the history of unionization in Oz,” Dr. Dillamond bleated. “Please turn to page 58 in your textbook…”

Ugh, Galinda was already getting sleepy again. Another boring topic. Her head felt stuffy, as if there was a pressurized tea kettle in her skull. Perhaps a little nap against Fiyero’s broad shoulder wouldn’t be too bad. The Winkie prince grinned and pulled her close.

“Sweet dreams, beautiful,” he whispered in her ear.

A rush of giddiness lifted the corners of Glinda’s lips. How blessed she was to have such a perfectly charming boyfriend. Weariness overtook her and she dozed peacefully with her face buried in his waistcoat.

What felt like moments later, a grating voice brought her back. Was class over already?

“Ew, is her nose running? We’re going to the Ozdust tonight, can’t risk catching her germs,” Shenshen said.

Galinda startled upright and clapped her hands over her face, completely mortified. Galinda Arduenna Upland of the Upper Uplands never displayed signs of sickness around others. It was beneath her.

Fiyero gave her his handkerchief and brushed the hair from her eyes. “It seems the princess has caught a cold. Shall I escort you back to your room?”

“Aw so sweet. So cute. Couldn’t be us. Feel better Galinda!” Shenshen and Pfannee linked arms and skipped down the hall. “Tata!”

Galinda was grateful for Fiyero’s accompaniment and used his arm as a support for her weakening legs. Her embarrassment grew, however, when she rummaged through her bag and realized something very important that she had forgotten in her rush that morning.

“I forgot my keys,” Galinda moaned. The dorm rooms automatically locked, courtesy of the enchanted gears and cogs that powered the university. That meant she would have to seek help from the last person on earth she’d ever want help from.

“That is a problem. But a problem easily solved,” Fiyero replied. Kicking the classroom door open, he cheerily interrupted a conversation between the artichoke and the goat. “Elphaba! Hey Elphaba!”

“Don’t, Fiyero,” Galinda hissed.

But the prince had no such qualms towards the green girl. “We need your keys to go back to the dorm room! Galinda is SICK and she forgot hers,” he all but announced to the entire school.

Galinda whimpered, her face flushing but only partially from her fever. Much to her surprise, Elphaba looked over in concern and immediately bid farewell to Dr. Dillamond. She peered at Galinda with those piercing green eyes that made her heart flutter in a funny way.

“She does look under the weather. Let’s go then,” Elphaba stated.

Wait what? Why was Elphaba coming with them? Galinda gasped as Elphaba supported her other arm, her and Fiyero practically dragging her body between them across campus. The confusifying ordeal continued once they reached the dormitory. Elphaba unlocked the door and walked into the room instead of leaving.

“W-W-Why are you still here?” Galinda questioned.

Elphaba stared at her as if she had asked an obvious question. “Because you need a caretaker and Fiyero cannot be alone in a female dormitory without a chaperone.”

“I’ll return and visit you with flowers tonight,” Fiyero said. He kissed her cheek and shifted her into Elphaba’s arms. “See you later as well, Elphaba.”

“You’re leaving me here with her?!” Galinda cried. Oh dear, what was going to happen?

The first thing Elphaba did after the door closed was strip off Galinda’s clothes. Well, the top layer of them.

“I-I can do this myself, Miss Elphaba!” Galinda yelped.

“Do it then, and head promptly to bed. Your face is pinker than your wardrobe,” Elphaba commanded.

And whose fault was that, Galinda sulked. After changing into her nightgown, she obediently slipped under the covers. Her body wanted to sleep, but she was in too much discomfort to drift off. Lying down caused her nose to become blocked and her throat stung with every swallow. Was there any misery worse than a summer cold?

The final piece of Galinda’s discomfort was the infernal clanking and shuffling of her green roommate. What on earth was Elphaba doing while she was trying to rest? Giving up on dreamland, she rolled on her side and opened her eyes.

Elphaba walked to her with a tray in her hands. There was an impressive assortment of items piled on the slab of wood- a glass of water, tissues, a steaming tea cup, a thermometer, both a hot water bottle and a cooling pad, painkillers, cold medicine, and honey lemon cough drops. She set the tray on the nightstand and pulled a chair over to sit by the bed.

“Oh my, what is all this?” Galinda asked. She was touched, to think her roommate cared so deeply about her.

“Before you start flattering yourself, half this stuff was purchased for Nessa and is reaching their expiration date. I don’t want my money to go to waste,” Elphaba explained.

Galinda rolled her eyes, the sentimental affection quickly leaving her body. “I’m glad I could be of assistance.” She plucked a tissue from the box and loudly blew her nose.

“You’ll breathe better if you elevate your head.” Elphaba leaned over and lifted Galinda’s torso to stack pillows behind it. “You also need to hydrate. Drink this tea before it gets cold.”

Before Galinda could react, Elphaba brought the tea cup to her mouth and let the steam soothe her airways. Galinda tasted chamomile and lavender with each sip. The warmth coated her raw throat and relieved a bit of the pain. She hated to admit it, but she was beginning to feel better.

“Are you hungry? I know you didn’t eat breakfast,” Elphaba said.

Galinda shook her head, her stomach in knots. “You’re quite good at taking care of others. Even the roommate that you loathe,” she said softly.

“It’s sort of an instinct after always being Nessa’s caretaker.” Elphaba’s eyes shifted to the floor. “Besides, I don’t entirely loathe you.”

“Really?” Galinda was suddenly very warm and woozy. “Truth be told, I don’t loathe you either. You’re just impossibly odd and strange and fascinating…and…pretty…”

Elphaba blinked at least twenty times in a row. “You…must be getting delirious.” She placed a hand over Galinda’s forehead and leaned in, resting her own green forehead on the other side of her hand. “Indeed, it’s the fever talking,” she murmured with her face mere inches from Galinda’s.

“If I’m the delirious one, why are you practically kissing me instead of using the thermometer?” Galinda mumbled. Her heart was doing interpretive dances inside her chest.

Elphaba’s eyes widened and she leapt backwards, stumbling into her chair. “It’s, um, more scientifically precise to measure temperature that way. Well, no, it’s actually not. I don’t know why I said that. I don’t know why I did that.”

“It’s alright. I’m glad you’re here.” Galinda smiled and nestled into her pillow. “Ama Clutch used to check my temperature like that too. You almost reminded me of her today.”

“Is there anything else she did for you when you were sick?”

Galinda put on her most irresistible pleading expression. “She used to sing me a lullaby.”

“Oh…I don’t really sing.”

“But I’m sick and can’t fall asleep because everything hurts,” Galinda whined. "I neeeed a song."

Elphaba sighed, completely defeated. “Very well. Just this once, and not a word of it to your friends.”

A low, rich melody that started off shaky before building in strength resounded from Elphaba’s lips. Beautiful. Her voice was beautiful. Galinda wanted to keep listening, but her eyes soon fluttered shut.

Glinda opened her eyes, expecting to see Elphaba’s face smiling down at her.

She instead saw the white walls of a hospital room, Elphaba nowhere to be found. The skyline of the Emerald City was visible from the window. Glinda panicked and struggled to get up, but there were tubes in her arms and an insurmountable weakness in her muscles.

No. NO! Hysteric sobs broke from her throat. Why did this have to happen? And when would she ever see her beloved Elphie again?

Chapter Text

Life was better for the brainless. That was the mantra that Fiyero followed. He didn’t need anything beyond surface-level interactions with others, any deep or difficult emotions. He was happier that way.

So then why had life become so miserable ever since two distinct girls left Shiz university? Fiyero’s hands longed for the touch of a certain blonde, while his ears couldn’t stop listening for witty remarks that fell from green lips. The company of the other students failed to fill the new void that haunted him day and night.

Within a week, Fiyero left Shiz to join the Emerald City guard. What exactly happened here to turn Elphaba Thropp into the Wicked Witch, enemy of the state and kidnapper of Glinda Upland? Fiyero knew that the kind and brave girl who loved Animals would never do such things. For her, it was worth dusting off his brain and putting it to use again.

“How deeply and beautifully tragic, the story of a prince trying to save his princess from the evil witch,” Madame Morrible had said when he arrived to see the Wizard. “The public is going to adore you!”

“And I will be the one graciously helping him,” the Wizard mused. “Fetch the reporter, we must get this article published at once.”

Standing next to Elphaba’s persecutors made Fiyero’s blood boil, but he knew better than to voice his dissent. He would play his role as the dense and chauvinistic prince, the man with more muscle than wits. Collecting information was a breeze when people didn’t think him capable of it.

The whisperings of the Gale Force, the Wizard’s elite secret service, made Fiyero stop in his tracks on the day that would change his life for good.

“Did you hear? Over at…hospital…there was a green…brought her back…” the men said in hushed voices.

Fiyero fell into step with them and searched for a subtle way to enter the conversation. “Green, you said?! Why, isn’t the WICKED WITCH green?”

“Shut your loud mouth,” a guard spat. “We don’t want the citizens to overhear and panic over a mere rumor.”

“What rumor?” Fiyero asked.

The Gale Force narrowed their eyes at him. “That is classified. Regular guardsmen, even if they’re a prince, are not privy to the Wizard’s inside reports.”

“Forgive me, gentleman. I will not probe further.” Fiyero drew his sword with a flourish. “Instead, I will shake down every clinic in the city and perform my own investigation. For the Emerald City!”

“You nitwit!” The Gale Force grabbed his arm to keep him from storming away. They muttered to themselves before turning to him and saying, “Look, the report was filed at the Regalia General Hospital. You can ask for your…girlfriend there. Just don’t kick up a fuss and do not mention us.”

Fiyero bid them an exaggerated thanks and headed towards the main hospital. The closer he got, the less he could hide the sheer anxiety in his eyes.

“I’m looking for the room of Glin-Galinda Upland,” Fiyero said breathlessly to the front counter.

The receptionist startled before recognizing his trademark blue diamond gambeson. “How do you know- Oh, Prince Fiyero! Of course, of course you would know. She’s on the eleventh floor in room one.”

“Thank you kindly, madam.” Fiyero winked, making the woman giggle and tuck her hair behind her ear. “Keep my appearance here a secret, won’t you? I want some privacy with my princess.”

The moment he rounded the corner, Fiyero dropped the lazy smile from his face and launched into a sprint. He didn’t bother waiting for the elevator and ran up eleven flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. The only thing that did make him sweat was the sight of Glinda in the hospital room.

She had always been a fragile girl, very much resembling a porcelain doll, and it was this fragility in tandem with her beauty that made everyone fawn over her. It had made him fawn over her too from the moment he laid eyes on her. But the girl lying in the bed, connected to medicine bags and machines, was a different kind of sickliness. It was the kind that struck fear into his heart.

Fiyero took hesitant steps towards her, as if the light breeze from his movement might give her a chill. There were dried tear stains on her cheeks and a single green rose on her nightstand. The crinkling of his shirt when he kneeled next to her caused her eyelids to flutter open.

“H-Hey,” he breathed, unsure of what to say.

Glinda’s eyebrows shot up and her breathing began to accelerate. “Fi…Fiyero. It’s you. Why…” She seemed to consciously stop herself from speaking further, taking a moment to decide what to do. “Go. Find Elphie,” Glinda said firmly. “Now.”

“But you…”

“I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. But she is.” Glinda’s head rolled back onto her pillow, eyes closing in exhaustion. “Please,” she whispered.

Without anything else to go on, Fiyero racked his brains for a clue on where to go. Glinda’s words implied that Elphaba was leaving soon, but leaving from where? There was a faint scent of cocoa oil in the room, the same oil that Elphaba used on her skin. That meant the green girl had been here not long ago. She couldn’t exactly walk out the front door after being spotted, and the hospital windows were bolted shut.

Fiyero went back to the stairwell and climbed an additional two floors. The chain that blocked the roof entry had been melted open with magic. Bingo.

Flinging open the door, Fiyero found Elphaba hunched behind the stairway wall. She sat with her back against the smooth brick, gazing into the midnight horizon. Her black fair framed a face that was as lovely as Fiyero had remembered, freckles adorning a green canvas.

Elphaba held a pink rose to her chest, the counterpart of the green one she had left with Glinda. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice Fiyero until he sat down next to her.

“Lurline above, what are you doing here?” Elphaba blurted out.

“It’s nice to see you too, Elphaba.” Fiyero gave her a genuine smile. “I would like it if I could continue seeing you.”

Elphaba softened and reached out to stroke his face. The touch made his heart swell with passion. “I would like that too.”

Reading the sorrow in her eyes, Fiyero responded, “But it’s not going to happen, is it? No matter how much we want it. I know there's nothing I can say to convince you to stay.”

“No. I guess you do have more than grass in that handsome head of yours,” Elphaba teased half-heartedly. She shook her head and took a trembling inhalation. “I have to leave. I was supposed to leave awhile ago, but something possessed me to linger on this rooftop.”

Fiyero grabbed her hand before she could pull it away and gave it a wistful kiss. “And I am ever grateful for that something.”

“It was probably Glinda’s astral projection, latching onto me with manicured nails,” she chuckled. But there was an immense amount of pain behind the laughter.

“What happened to her?” Fiyero inquired, his own voice starting to shake.

“She’s sick. She’s so sick that I’m scared she may be dying,” Elphaba broke into a whimper on the last word. “And it’s my fault. I let her worsen and wither away, not realizing the toll of the life I thrust upon her until it was too late.”

Fiyero gave her his blue handkerchief to dry her tears. “That’s why you returned her. In the hopes of a cure.”

“Take care of her in my absence. Please,” Elphaba wept.

“Both you girls say ‘please’ too much, as if I wasn’t entirely willing and on your sides from the start,” Fiyero murmured. He enveloped Elphaba in a deep hug, pressing her weight against him so that he could remember every bone and curve in her body.

“Farewell, Fiyero,” Elphaba said at long last, when the night threatened to brighten into day.

Fiyero wiped a stray tear from his eye. “This is farewell for now, not forever,” he declared.

Elphaba said nothing, but tucked both his blue handkerchief and the pink rose in her jacket pocket. Her black and green figure flew away on the broomstick, melting into the dark sky.

Chapter Text

“Momsie? Popsicle?” Glinda gasped at the two familiar figures at the door.

Highmuster Arduenna and Larena Upland’s arms were full to the brim with presents, flowers, chocolates, and stuffed animals. They had to seek the assistance of several nurses to carry them into Glinda’s hospital room. The colorful giftboxes formed a warm contrast against the white walls.

“Dearest, darlingist duckie!” They proclaimed while practically throwing themselves at her bedside. “Awful, it’s just awful what happened!”

Larena fixed Glinda’s curls with an ivory hairbrush, crying every time she looked her in the eyes. “Look at the state of you! Pale and gaunt as a corpse. What kind of monster would harm such a pretty little thing?”

“We mustn’t let her get away with this! Your popsicle will be investing heavily in the Wizard’s forces,” Highmuster asserted.

“What are you talking about?” Glinda questioned. She had been isolated in her hospital room for the past week, unable to follow the news. Although Fiyero visited her almost daily, he never wanted to speak of things that could upset her and potentially harm her wellbeing.

“It’s all over Oz,” Larena sniffled. “The Wicked Witch not only kidnapped you, but poisoned you with a deadly hex. She dumped your body at the Wizard’s doorstep as a warning, a demonstration of her destructive power.”

“What?!” Glinda screamed. The sudden volume sent a tearing pain through her lungs, and she dissolved into an intense coughing fit. The taste of blood coated her tongue.

Highmuster yelled for a nurse and grabbed a tissue for her to cough into. “Easy there, duckie. I know it must be shocking to be betrayed by a classmate.”

“That’s not what happened,” Glinda argued. “She’s innocent, this is all a lie spun by Morrible.”

“You’ve got it backwards, dear,” Larena chided. “Madame Morrible is the one who discovered the hex. She has graciously offered to brew medicine that will heal you, and even take you in as a sorcery student so that she can keep a close eye on your condition.”

Highmuster nodded. “A truly wonderful woman, that Madame Morrible. Gillikin Country is in her debt.”

“No…I won’t…” Glinda squeezed her eyes shut, her temples throbbing with frustration.

Fiyero’s voice boomed from the entranceway. “Yes indeed, we are grateful for that Morrible. Galinda will be most excited to enter her tutelage once her health improves.” He took several strides forward and shook her parents’ hands.

Glinda shook her head in confusion. “Fiyero what-”

But the Vinkus silenced her with a wink and subtly pressed a finger to his lips.

“Prince Fiyero, how lovely of you to visit,” Larena said. “We are ever so pleased to have you caring for our daughter.”

“I see you two have spared no expense in showering her with gifts.” Fiyero scanned the presents piled up in the corners with a bemused expression.

Highmuster stood up a little taller in pride. “Only the best for our duckie.”

“Would it be alright if I spoke with Galinda alone? I want to share my…good news,” Fiyero requested.

Glinda’s parents happily obliged and kissed her goodbye. “We must return to Gillikin, but do write to us often. Know that Momsie and Popsicle will be looking for you in the newspaper every day, always on top of what happens to our little girl.”

Fiyero waited until both the room and the hallway outside were empty before closing the door and taking a seat next to Glinda.

“Elphaba didn’t poison or hex me. Whatever I contracted certainly isn’t anything Morrible can cure,” Glinda said to him.

“I know. I’ve been doing my own investigations,” Fiyero responded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I wanted to wait until I had real evidence.”

“It’s okay. I haven’t exactly been in a condition to help, anyway.” Glinda shuddered, remembering the constant needles and sedation that had rendered the past week a delirious mess. Although she felt well enough to sit and converse now, she knew her battle was far from over.

Fiyero opened his peacoat and handed a piece of paper to her. Scribbled on it was a paragraph of confusifying medical terminology. “Just earlier, I broke into the medical records office and found your file. I copied down as much as I could before I had to leave.”

Glinda gripped the paper between her fingers and read its contents.

Patient Number 1101

History: patient reports 3-4 weeks of fatigue, fever, hemoptysis, night sweats, and unexplained weight loss. Unable to interview further as pt fell asleep

Physical exam:

• Temperature of 103.8ºF, tachycardic to 130bpm, hypotensive at 92/60 on admission. Improved to 101ºF,  98bpm, and 104/68 s/p IV antifungal administration
• Decreased breath sounds and inspiratory wheezing over bilateral lung fields
• II/VI systolic murmur best heard at apex, no rubs or gallops
• Pallor noted on skin examination, otherwise WNL

Assessment: Aspergillosis –bronchopulmonary, potentially invasive. Seek causes of underlying immunocompromise or lung disease (e.g. tuberculosis). Suspect exposure to environmental mold, such as decaying vegetation or stored grain

Plan: Continue IV amphotericin for one week, may switch to long-term oral antifungal therapy. Relapse common, prognosis uncertain

The vast majority of the words were foreign to Glinda, but even she could understand what “prognosis uncertain” meant. She had suspected her illness was more sinister than pneumonia, but receiving confirmation of it was a blow to her psyche nonetheless. Uncertain…Long-term therapy…Mold… The room was starting to spin.

“Truthfully, I barely understood anything. But I think Morrible is going to disguise the medicine as a magical potion of her own invention,” Fiyero divulged. “She wields control over this hospital so there’s not much we can do, but we can rest assured that she does plan to cure you.”

Glinda stared at the hopeful sparkle in his blue eyes. There was a piece of the puzzle that Fiyero was not aware of, and this made him optimistic. Perhaps that was for the better. She folded the paper and stored it safely beside her. After being discharged, she would find time to do her own research.

“I see…If I want to live, I’ll be forced to cooperate with her.” Glinda took a long breath to settle her spiraling thoughts. She had to keep it together and focus on the future, however bleak it may be. “What was the good news you mentioned? Or was that a made-up excuse for my parents?”

Fiyero placed his hand over hers. For a moment, Glinda was reminded of their carefree days together at Shiz, when they would hold hands in every classroom. “I’ve been promoted to an officer of the Gale Force,” he announced.

“Is that a good thing?”

“I plan to turn it into something good.” Fiyero traced circles over the back of Glinda’s hand with his thumb, determination settling in his voice. “Your return has heralded a new age in the political sphere, and it’s clear that the Wizard and Morrible want us as public figureheads. In light of your illness, we are in no position to defy them at the moment.”

Glinda bit her lip. “I still don’t see how any of this is good.”

“The more powerful we become, the more opportunities we’ll have to eventually topple their regime. But the Gale Force in particular is exciting because of the information I’ll have access to.” Fiyero paused before raising his eyes to hers.

“I intend to find Elphaba Thropp one day and hand her the world she desires,” he vowed.

“Oh Fiyero…You’re brilliant,” Glinda cried. “I will do everything I can to help, because I also…I also want to be with Elphie again!”

Unable to contain the avalanche of emotion within her, Glinda leaned forward and threw her arms around her boyfriend’s neck. He immediately hugged her back and soothed her while she sobbed.

“Things are going to be ok. I’m here, I’ll always be here for you,” Fiyero assured her. “You’ll be ok…duckie.”

Glinda froze. “What did you just call me?”

“It’s a very cute nickname. Momsie and Popsicle’s widdle duckie,” Fiyero teased. Although she couldn’t see his face, Glinda could sense his smarmy smirk.

“Fiyero Tigelaar, call me that again and you will not wake to see another day,” Glinda hissed.

Backing up to put space between them, Fiyero bowed theatrically before her over the bed sheets. “Forgive this liege’s insolence, Lady Glinda Arduenna Upland of the Upper Uplands of Frottica of Gillikin Country of the Land of Oz.”

A giggle burst forth from Glinda’s lips, her first giggle in many days. “The Lady Glinda Arduenna Upland of the Upper Uplands of Frottica of Gillikin Country of the Land of Oz forgives you.”

Fiyero’s fervent ambition and hope were starting to rub off on Glinda. Maybe, just maybe, things would be ok just as he said. Glinda blinked away her remaining tears. It was time to cease grieving and start plotting vengeance against the forces that slandered her beloved Elphaba.

All she had to do was ignore the flicker of pain that never seemed to leave her chest.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you don’t want to return to our room?” Fiyero cast a worried glance at his girlfriend. They had been posing for pictures and giving statements all morning, and it was clear that Glinda was becoming exhausted. 

“I’ve been waiting for the last reporter. I need my statement to be on the front page, so that everyone in Oz sees it. So that Elphie sees it and knows that I am alive and well,” Glinda replied. 

The final reporter had his assistant wheel in the latest camera in Ozian technology, a polished wooden and brass box that opened like an accordion. 

Fiyero placed a hand on Glinda’s waist to steady her trembling torso. They flashed a brilliant smile, crinkling their eyes and tensing their cheeks in the perfect places to feign joy. 

The reporter pulled out a notepad. “Lady Galinda, the people of Oz wish to know if you’re well. We are all praying for your health after the dastardly incident.” 

“I graciously thank the citizens for their concern,” Glinda started, “But please rest assured that the…hex placed upon me was temporary. The Witch of the West never intended to severely harm me. I improve every day and expect to make a full recovery. Let it resound throughout all of Oz that I am healthy!” 

“And it was all due to my potions,” Madame Morrible chimed in. She entered into the picture and wrapped her hand over Glinda’s arm. “She is my precious protégé, just as Prince Fiyero is the Wizard’s right-hand man.” 

“Don’t the four of you form a sentimental family,” the reporter gushed. “Truly the apple of the public’s eye. One last picture, let’s get the Wizard in too.”

Madame Morrible stood next to the Wizard in the center of the camera lens. They placed Glinda and Fiyero on the sides, instructing them to strike modest poses that mirrored each other. 

“Perhaps we could take a moment to share my next project regarding the railroad,” the Wizard began, but Madame Morrible cut him off. “That’s enough. Send the reporters back, Galinda is still weak and needs to rest.” 

There was a brief moment of tension between them. Fiyero took notice of the surprise on the Wizard’s face and the annoyance on Morrible’s. The formation of a cunning scheme took root in his mind as he walked with Glinda to their shared bedroom.

“Shall I carry you?” Fiyero brushed his fingers over her pale forehead to check for a fever, relieved to find it dry and cool. But her steps were still shaking and her shoulders slumped. 

Glinda smiled and politely refused. “I’ve spent more time in your arms than on the floor since leaving the hospital. At this rate I’ll forget how to walk. See, we’re already here.” 

The lavish honeymoon suite was their only safe place in the palace. Although the Wizard had offered them separate rooms, they decided that it was better to be able to convene in the privacy of their own space. Glinda was quick to have the gaudy emerald furnishings removed and replaced with pale pink décor. There were also light blue and gold accents because Fiyero had “no intention of living in a peach.” The only touch of green was a green rose that sat in a vase by the bed.

There was a click as the door closed behind them. Glinda wasted no time flopping onto the loveseat in front of the fireplace. Sweat beaded her temples as she released the quivering coughs that she had been holding back all morning. It wasn’t long before her tissue turned crimson in color.

No matter how many times he witnessed the sight, it always pained Fiyero to see her like this. Glinda, however, would have none of his pity, so he put on a brave face for her. He went to the console table and poured a cup of peppermint tea to soothe her throat.

“You’re becoming a real politician, saying all the right things to smooth over your illness with the public,” Fiyero noted. He sat next to her and helped her take a sip once her coughing fit ended.

Glinda downed the tea and set the cup on the coffee table. “I’m not letting Morrible drag out my recovery to garner sympathy and further besmirch Elphaba.”

“Did you see how she almost quarreled with the Wizard today?”

A smile stretched itself across Glinda’s face. To the average person, it was a sweet and innocent smile. But Fiyero knew her well enough to catch the calculating glint in her eyes.  

“It’s not the first time she’s been cross with him,” Glinda disclosed. “Towards the end of our last sorcery lesson, Morrible let it slip that she hates his railroad expansion plan. She thinks it’ll allow impoverished Quadlings to flee to the nice cities and ruin the opulence.”

Fiyero lifted an eyebrow. “That’s interesting, because the Wizard believes his railroad will increase tourism and raise the status of the Emerald City. I’m willing to bet there’s more they disagree on behind the scenes.”

“Even though Morrible is the one with actual magic, the Wizard calls all the shots. Their union is grand but fragile, like a bridge made of straw.” Glinda snapped her fingers and summoned a spark between them. “A little flame is all it’ll take to burn it down. The only question is, who will be the first to fall?”

“You’re merciless as a viper, hidden beneath pink silk and tiaras.” Fiyero leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I like it.”

“It’s what they deserve for using Elphie as a scapegoat.” Glinda’s jaw trembled; her composure was slipping. “I really hope she’s okay out there by herself. What if she gets into trouble with someone? What if she’s cold at night? What if her outfit is atrocious for the weather? What if she’s starving?”

Fiyero scooted closer and let Glinda fall against his shoulder. “We must have faith in Elphaba’s strength…although I can’t say the same for her fashion sense.”

“I’m not joking around, Fiyero! I’m worried about her.”

“Me too. But if I let myself become serious, let myself fully feel the emotions I’ve suppressed, I’m afraid I won’t be able to crawl out of the pit that'll swallow me whole.” Fiyero clapped a hand over his mouth, surprised by what he had just said. The dam around his heart was splintering and threatening to snap. Grief, fear, regret, the scary emotions that he kept bottled up, were screaming to be released. There was another emotion being squashed beneath them, arguably the strongest of them all.

“Love,” Glinda stated. “You’re in love with her.”

Fiyero swallowed hard and met Glinda’s gaze. There was no anger or sadness in her eyes, only a deep empathy that intensified his guilt. “I’m sorry.”

“Why? I’m in love with her too,” Glinda said. “It’s part of what unites us. Don’t worry, she loves us back and I still love you.”

Fiyero furrowed his brows. Was she implying what he thought she was implying? “Is it really okay for me to love you both? For the three of us to be together without choosing? Such a relationship is unheard of.” In the past, Vinkus kings often had harems and concubines, but that was different than the equal relationship Glinda was envisioning. 

A bit of Galinda sparkled in Glinda with her next sentence. “All of Oz is in love with me, I hardly see what the issue is for you and Elphie to be as well. And I’ll love you both back equally. Such is the power of Glinda Upland.”

“I…Sometimes you amaze me.” Fiyero shook his head and planted another kiss on her blonde locks. He needed time to think about everything later, but his heart grew warm at the idea of spending eternity and forever with his soulmates. 

Glinda craned her neck up to face him. “Tell me about the moment you fell for her. I want to hear stories of Elphaba that I haven’t heard before.”

“I don’t know if there was a specific moment as opposed to a gradual feeling…” Fiyero spotted a petulant pout forming on Glinda’s lips and laughed. If his princess wanted a story, a story she would have. “Very well, there’s a memory I have of the three of us that you likely don’t remember.”

“Why wouldn’t I remember if I was there as well?” Glinda asked.

“Because you were utterly drunk.”

Glinda gasped, her cheeks reddened. “You lie! I’ve never been black-out drunk before.”

“Does a Fiddlestick Cocktail ring a bell?”

“…”

Fiyero grinned and launched into one of his fondest memories of the two most important women in his life.

Chapter Text

The Ozdust Ballroom was always full of laughter, music, and drinks beneath the glimmering lights. The perfect place to escape to on a Friday night.

Fiyero and Galinda were regular stars on the dance floor. Whenever they strode into the ballroom, the other partygoers parted to make room for them on the center stage. Fiyero reveled in the attention showered upon them as he twirled and dipped Galinda, making the popular girl’s skirt billow and bloom. Their friend group watched from the drink station, gossiping away.

Towards the end of the song, Galinda stood on her tiptoes and spoke into his ear. “You should ask Elphie to dance, she’s been standing in the back the entire night.”

Fiyero readily agreed, happy for a chance to interact with Galinda’s new friend. The green student had intrigued him ever since their chance meeting in the woods. Elphaba stood with her back to the wall in her black dress, perfectly content to observe the others without interacting.

“Might I have the next dance?” Fiyero approached her and held out his hand.

Elphaba blinked in surprise, but agreed. “Galinda put you up to this, didn’t she? She can’t imagine the possibility of enjoying a party without being in the spotlight.”

Fiyero placed his other hand on her waist while they swayed to the rhythm of the music. It was a slower song and therefore more forgiving on Elphaba’s less experienced movements. “Are you actually enjoying these parties? I thought the book place would be more your scene.”

“You mean the library?” Elphaba quirked the side of her mouth. “A girl is allowed to have more than one hobby. I enjoy listening to music and having the occasional drink.”

“Let me guess your order.” Fiyero used it as an excuse to trace his eyes across Elphaba’s unique features. She was really quite pretty despite the greenness. No, he thought as a beam of light illuminated her skin, she was pretty along with her greenness. “Absinthe?”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Very creative, the green liquor. I prefer whiskey or bourbon.”

Fiyero gave her a low whistle, impressed by her ability to hold her alcohol. He had never even seen her tipsy before. “You’re hardcore. Who’s tolerance is better between you and Galinda?”

“You’re joking, right?” Elphaba snickered. “Galinda gets Shirley Temples, her body has the alcohol tolerance of a senile fruit fly.”

“I didn’t know that. The pink drinks all look the same to me.” Fiyero frowned, had Galinda been pretending to drink in order to fit in? He looked over to where she had joined the rest of her friends. Shenshen and Pfannee were cheering her on as she chugged a glass of something red. “Is that the Shirley Temple you’re talking about?”

Elphaba’s eyes widened as she followed his gaze. “No, that’s something entirely different.” She stopped dancing and made a beeline for the drink station. Fiyero rushed after her. He didn’t like the mischievous look on Shenshen’s face.

“What’s going on here?” Elphaba demanded.

Shenshen and Pfannee helped Galinda down the last drop in her glass, giving her a round of applause. “Hello there, artichoke. You’re just in time to see Galinda finish a Fiddlestick Cocktail.”

Galinda hiccupped and swayed on her feet. It took her about ten seconds to process that Elphaba and Fiyero were there. “ELPHIEeeEEeeeee! And my princey wince Fiyerooo! Guess what? I just had a whole entire C-Coddlestick Fucktail because I’m a mature woman who drinks alcohol,” she exclaimed, a loopy smile lighting up her face.

“Why did you give her this?” Fiyero asked Shenshen, who shrugged and replied, “She wanted to try something other than a Shirley Temple.”

Elphaba glared at them. “And you thought the next logical drink was one with three different types of alcohol mixed in? Come on, Galinda, let’s get you home.”

“Whaaaa? But I wanna dance!” Galinda flung her arms open and spun in a circle. And kept spinning. And spinning. And spinning until she fell down.

Fiyero caught her before her head smacked the floor. Exchanging a glance with Elphaba, he scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. “I’ll take her back with you,” he said to Elphaba.

The full moon cast a reflection on the water as the boat glided through the waves, but the journey back to Shiz was anything but peaceful. Galinda screeched and danced around the boat, leaning over the hull to admire her own reflection in the water. Fiyero rowed the oars as quickly as he could, frequently checking on the girls.

“You’re going to fall into the water! Sit! Stay!” Elphaba commanded Galinda. “Good girl,” she sighed in relief when the blonde finally obeyed.

“Have you considered switching your major to dog training? You’re a natural talent, Miss Elphaba,” Fiyero quipped.

Elphaba gave his back a cheeky nudge. “Just focus on rowing, princey wince.”

The chaos did not end once they reached the mainland. Fiyero knew that both he and Elphaba had more strength in their thumbs than Galinda did in her entire arm, yet the little minx somehow managed to wriggle free at every opportunity.

“Flower! Pink flowers!” Galinda pointed at the camellia bushes and ran at an extraordinary speed in her dainty heels. She plucked them one by one, lifting the flowers to her hair in an attempt to find the best one.

“Oh gods, now she’s destroying school property,” Elphaba groaned.

Fiyero grabbed her hand to stop her from chasing after Galinda. “As long as she doesn’t wander too far, we can let her tire herself out. It’ll be easier to put her to bed later,” he advised.

The two of them stood watch over Galinda, breathing in the moonlit air and exchanging amused smiles. Fiyero noticed that Elphaba did not let go of his hand. He didn’t let go either. Over and over again, his eyes found themselves drawn to her black braid. Elphaba’s hair had a refreshing and earthy scent, similar to the morning dew. It was a shame that she didn’t let it down often.

“I let it down in the dorm. I simply prefer it out of the way during class,” Elphaba replied.

Fiyero stifled a gasp. Had he accidentally said his thoughts out loud? He always seemed to lose his cool composure around her. “Ahem…I think our little Galinda is tuckered out,” he said, changing the topic.

As if on cue, Galinda tossed the flower petals into the air and dramatically swooned to the ground. Her limbs were sprawled askew on the cobblestone, giving her the appearance of a wilted rose among the camellias.

Elphaba tugged on Fiyero’s hand, still interlaced with hers, and went over to the drunken flower. “I’ve got her,” she grunted while pulling Galinda onto her back.

“You’re pretty experienced at this,” Fiyero noted. Elphaba’s posture and hand placement were steady, preventing the blonde from slipping in any direction.

“Of course I am. I always take care of Nessa like this.”

“When was the last time someone took care of you?” Fiyero asked without thinking. The question had flown from his mouth before he had time to react. “Sorry if that was insensitive towards your family dynamics.”

A bittersweet smile painted Elphaba’s face. “Dulcibear. She stepped up to become my nanny after I was born, never bothered by my skin color.”

“Is she why you harbor such affection towards Animals?”

“She’s part of the reason, but I simply don’t believe in discrimination over superficial form when our minds share the same wisdom.”

That was the first crack in Fiyero’s flawless shell of emotional blunting. Elphaba’s poetic remark had stirred the deeper parts of his brain that he normally kept under lock and key. What an endlessly fascinating and frightfully resolute woman.

At the dorm room, Fiyero held Galinda in his lap while Elphaba cleaned off her make-up and unpinned her hair. The experience was like wrangling a fussy toddler, and Fiyero felt sympathy for all the parents in the world.

Galinda squirmed and whined, “I don’t wanna go to bed! My head hurts! Wait, where’s my pink flower? Let’s trade secrets!”

“Miss Galinda,” Elphaba said sternly. “How are we to trade secrets on the floor? That’s not very dignified. Please lie down on the bed so it’s like a proper slumber party.”

“You’re so right,” Galinda gasped. Without another peep, she dutifully crawled under the covers and laid her head against her pillow. Within a minute, her body relaxed and she yawned.

Fiyero looked at Elphaba in amazement. “You’re a genius.”

“Thank you for noticing,” Elphaba responded.

“Wait…” Galinda feebly cried out. “What about my goodnight kiss?”

Fiyero leaned over the bed and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. The little grin that emerged on her face was thoroughly adorable. Her doe eyes could win wars and make world leaders fall to their knees, Fiyero thought.

“Elphie? Goodnight kiss for me?” Galinda requested.

Chuckling, Elphaba brought her mouth to Galinda’s cheek. But to their shock, Galinda turned her head at the last moment so that Elphaba kissed her lips instead. There was no sign of surprise or remorse on her devious face.

“Galinda!” Elphaba gasped, blushing violet.

“Not done yet,” Galinda murmured, the time between her blinks elongating. “The momsie and the popsicle have to kiss each other too…” Her breathing deepened and she fell fast asleep.

Fiyero awkwardly turned to Elphaba. “Did she…um…mean us?”

“Yeah.” Elphaba scratched her head and cleared her throat. “Uh, or maybe she was thinking about her actual parents. I don’t…I don’t think we need to…Not that I don’t want to…I mean I don’t want to! Don’t.”

“Right. Me neither. Totally. Not at all,” Fiyero stammered. Kiss the green girl? Nonsense, who would want to kiss those soft and plump lips...rake their fingers through her ebony locks... Fiyero took a heaving breath to steady himself. “I should go.” He stood up and walked like a robot, not knowing where to put his hands.

“Thank you for tonight,” Elphaba whispered. Fiyero turned and gave a small nod before leaving.

“And that’s the story of the day we decided to never give you alcohol again,” Fiyero said to Glinda.

He looked down to find the petite blonde asleep on his shoulder. Some things never change, he fondly thought. Gathering her in his arms, Fiyero brought Glinda to bed and kissed her goodnight. The only thing missing was Elphaba at their side.

Chapter Text

“Focus, you bumbling idiot!” Morrible screeched. The sorceress slammed her palm against the table, making Glinda jump. “Amplify my lightning, triple it in size.”

Crackling bolts of yellow and blue formed a dome around them in the massive training room. Morrible’s thunderclouds loomed overhead, creating an almost deafening noise in the extreme proximity. Glinda tried to bolster the storm, but her entire body was shaking with fright. She hated thunder, to the point that she used to make Elphaba sleep in her bed on stormy nights.

Morrible had no sympathy for the trembling girl. “Transmutation requires a pre-existing object to alter, which means your magic is entirely dependent on others in combat. If you can’t even amplify my powers, what is the point of your magic? FOCUS!”

A sprinkle of rain fell onto Glinda as the dark clouds roared in anger. The flashes of lightning hurt her eyes and the thunder was giving her a splitting headache. Everything was cold, wet, too loud, and too bright. She didn’t want to amplify it. She wanted to shut everything out, mute the world.

The excruciating storm just kept going and going and going until…Pop! The rain went away, the thunder was silenced, and the lightning was obscured by a bubblegum haze. Glinda blinked the blurred tears from her eyes and looked around in wonder, clutching her new spiked wand to her chest. There was a large bubble surrounding her.

Morrible tapped on the bubble, but it refused to break under her touch. “What is this nonsense? What have you done?” Her voice was muffled; if only it would stay that way.

Glinda poked the bubble with her pointy wand in curiosity. It popped open and dissolved with ease. “I don’t know, but I think it will be useful. I like it.”

“Hmph. Doubtful.” Morrible waved away the thunderstorm and peered at the girl. “I wonder what kind of frivolous magic lies in your bloodline.”

“My mother’s side of the family is adept at magic.” Glinda put on a sorrowful expression, a sly idea creeping through her mind. “But alas, I shall always be known by my father. Isn’t it ironical, that women have so much power yet men wield all the control?”

This, evidently, struck a nerve in Morrible. The sorceress went silent, her nostrils flaring and her mouth disappearing into a thin line.

Glinda continued, taking immense satisfaction in riling up her tormentor. “Sometimes I think about how you possess magic, make the right decisions for Oz, and command the subordinates, yet you remain a shadow to the Wizard. I guess I’m just too foolish and girlish to understand politics. Madame Morrible, could you kindly explain to me what the Wizard’s purpose is?”

“…This lesson is over.” Morrible slid a glass bottle full of purple liquid to Glinda. “Take your potion and leave. I need some time to think.”

Glinda hurried out of the room, smirking at the enraged look on Morrible’s face. She clutched the potion and sighed. She held her very lifeline in her hands, encased in a glass bottle as fragile as she was. How long would she be dependent on the bitter-tasting liquid? And what would happen to her if her supply ever ran out?

Meanwhile, Fiyero lounged in the chambers of the Wizard. One of the privileges of being the Captain of the Gale Force was having free access to any room in the palace. Taking a sip of cognac from the Wizard’s personal cellar, he listened to his boss rant and rave.

“Who does she think she is, shooting down every one of my policies? The Land of Oz has become magnificent under my rule, yet I am continuously undermined by a mere sorceress.” The Wizard paced back and forth, now on his third glass of cognac.

Fiyero shrugged flippantly. “My Galinda would never embarrass me in front of the council like that. You know, she’s been progressing rapidly in sorcery as of late. Won’t be long before we won’t even need Morrible…”

“You speak audaciously,” the Wizard warned, but he did not appear particularly angry. He stroked his chin in contemplation. “Galinda the Good. That has a much better ring than Morrible the Horrible. The public would go head over heels for her.”

“They already are, sir. If I may be so bold,” Fiyero said in a smooth and confident tone, “Wouldn’t our engagement party be the perfect opportunity to present Galinda the Good to the public?”

The Wizard turned to Fiyero and drummed his fingers together. “Sounds like a plan, my boy.”

Fiyero and Glinda’s engagement party was the social event of the season, drawing in the highest of nobility across the land. Reporters from every nook and cranny camped outside the tulip fields, where the event was being held. Live updates were being provided to the citizens via radio broadcasting. The perfect stage for something grand.

Glinda sat in a stunning gown of lilac and aquamarine with a sheer white tulle overlay, a silver tiara studded with diamonds adorning her flowing hair. Over half of the reporters were zoomed in on her alone, taking pictures from every possible angle. She reached over and squeezed Fiyero’s hand, making sure to display the pink diamond ring on her finger. Her fiancé was equally ravishing in his tailored sapphire suit with silver threading.

Madame Morrible and the Wizard sat adjacent to her; the atmosphere was frigid between them. Although Fiyero’s parents were unable to attend, Larena Upland and Highmuster Arduenna were jolly enough to fill the table with pleasantries. The rest of the nobles were seated amongst the many white tables and chairs that dotted the lawn. There was a small stage at the front.

“Thank you all for being here. It's good to see me, isn't it?” Glinda addressed the crowd, raising a champagne glass that she had no intention of drinking from. Not after Fiyero’s story about her mortifying drunken shenanigans. “I’d like to welcome our esteemed guest, the Wizard of Oz, to the stage.”

Applause followed the Wizard as he strolled to the stage. “Thank you, thank you. It has been heartwarming to witness the courtship of our Prince and Princess-to-be. You all know that I am a sentimental man, which is why I would like to welcome Galinda the Good as my court sorceress. May we all remain a happy family in the Emerald Court.”

Everyone cheered except Madame Morrible, who abruptly stood up. Her voice quivered with rage. “Are you intending to replace me, Wizard?”

“We can discuss this at a later occasion, Morrible,” the Wizard replied.

“That’s Madame Morrible to you.” The irate sorceress stalked onto the stage and attempted to take the microphone from the Wizard, who grabbed it back. Appalled and offended, Morrible raised her arms to perform a spell.

Fiyero watched Glinda slip out of her seat and silently approach the stage.

“W-Wait, Madame,” Glinda exclaimed. Right as Morrible swept her arms in her typical flourish, Glinda positioned herself so that she was slapped in the face by the back of her hand. There was a collective gasp from the crowd as Glinda crumpled to the ground, her cheek bleeding from the rings on Morrible’s fingers.

Madame Morrible stumbled back, horrified by the turn of events. “G-Galinda, I didn’t mean to…”

“You have gone too far,” the Wizard bellowed. “Everyone, this is the true Morrible.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Morrible retorted. “Everyone, I am acting out of the interest of the general public. If you would let me explain...”

While the two leaders engaged in a heated debate, Fiyero went over to help Glinda to her feet. She put on a brilliant display of clinging to his arm and whimpering in pain. “I’ve got you, my love. Let’s take you back home for medical treatment,” he said.

They left quietly enough that the Wizard and Morrible barely took notice, too busy attempting to drag one another through the mud. The party attendants, however, most certainly noticed them leaving in tears. Larena and Highmuster in particular sobbed for their daughter’s ruined event. Together, Fiyero and Glinda made sure to pass by the cameras on their way out.

The next morning, every newspaper across Oz had the same headline: The Wizard and Madame Morrible Fight, Wrecking Royal Engagement Party and Injuring Galinda the Good! There was an impressive spread with photos of Morrible snarling, the Wizard cowering, Fiyero escorting a bleeding Glinda away, and Glinda’s parents in theatrics.

Fiyero and Glinda read the newspaper from front to back in the comfort of their loveseat, clinking their glasses of tea together in triumph. They basked in the warm light of the sunrise streaming in through the windows.

“Does your cheek hurt?” Fiyero asked, examining the healed cut on Glinda’s soft skin.

Glinda smiled sweetly. “It was barely a scratch. I did, however, use a bit of amplification magic on my blood to make the scene more dramatical.”

“Wasn’t Morrible the one who taught you amplification?”

“Why yes, she was.”

“You are diabolical,” Fiyero laughed. The complexity of Glinda’s mind never ceased to astound him. The vapid schoolgirl from Shiz was gone, or perhaps this side of her had always been simmering beneath the surface. Either way, he found himself falling deeper for the shrewd blonde every day.

Elphaba closed the newspaper and chuckled to herself. No one understood the ins and outs of popularity better than Glinda; letting her socially genius mind into the Emerald Palace was the greatest mistake of their lives. And with the charismatic Fiyero at her side? The pair would be unstoppable.

Plucking an apple for breakfast, Elphaba swung her feet over the tree branch and hopped to the ground. She looked to the horizon, wondering if her two loved ones were watching the same sunrise as her. Maybe one day, their paths would cross again.

END OF PART ONE

Chapter Text

~ One Year Later ~

“Breaking news, just one penny for the latest copy,” the paper boy hollered, waving his newspapers in the air. There was already a line of customers forming in front of him. “The Wizard of Oz exposed as a fraud, sentenced to lifelong prison. Madame Morrible to become the next leader, but do the citizens trust her?”

Glinda smiled at the scene below her, floating across the city in her bubble. She surveyed the areas that would need infrastructure improvements, renovations, or new construction projects. Later, she planned to submit her architectural ideas to the city council.

“This is amazing,” Fiyero gushed over her drawing for a multilevel shopping mall. “I didn’t know you had such talent for architecture and design.”

“It’s my parting gift to the citizens of the Emerald City. A safe and beautiful spot for people to gather,” Glinda replied.

Fiyero tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean by ‘parting’? If we leave now, we would instantly lose everyone’s trust and approval.”

“That’s because we don’t have a compelling story yet. Emphasis on yet.” Glinda brushed out her curls in front of the vanity and wiped off the remainder of her make-up. Her silk robe billowed behind her as she approached the king-sized bed they shared.

Setting down the drawing on the console table, Fiyero kicked off his slippers and crawled into his side of the bed. He noticed a key element missing from his fiancée’s nighttime routine. It wasn’t her twelve-step skincare routine or her hundred hairbrush strokes, but something much more important.

“Why aren’t you drinking your potion?” Fiyero inquired. They had spent months scouring apothecaries and poring over medical research papers in the hopes of a cure, but Glinda’s illness would stubbornly relapse without Morrible’s concoction. Her symptoms were sure to emerge if she missed her nightly dose.

Glinda snuggled into his side and pulled the covers over her small shoulders. “Morrible’s press conference is tomorrow.”

“That didn’t answer my question, my flower.” Fiyero nudged her before she fell asleep. My love, darling, honey, and just about any other pet name under the sun was acceptable for Glinda. The only thing he couldn’t call her was “my sweet,” as that was forever reserved for a special someone.

“Saying things outright is not the most effective way to sway public opinion. It’s much better to plant hints and let them think they figured it out themselves.” Turning her face to him, Glinda whispered the rest of her plan in his ear. Although Fiyero didn’t quite approve of her methods, he begrudgingly agreed that it was an excellent strategy.

As expected, Glinda woke up the following morning with a fever. She dusted a faint layer of concealer over her face, purposely leaving areas uncovered. The outfit for today was a lacey white dress that accentuated her waifish figure.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Fiyero asked for the tenth time on their way to the conference.

Glinda leaned heavily on his arm, her body soft but mind sharp as a dagger. “I’m clearing her name today. That alone fills me with energy.”

In an effort to showcase her overwhelming prowess, Madame Morrible held the press conference in the Wizard’s old throne room. His curtains and animatronic mask had been torn down, replaced by a solitary chair on an enchanted platform. Her message was clear- unlike the Wizard, she did not hide behind theatrical effects. Morrible did not need anything beyond her natural-born power to lead.

Madame Morrible sat on her throne, inviting over a dozen reporters to circle before her. Fiyero and Glinda were positioned behind her.

“One of the Wizard’s major plans was his railroad to connect the countries of Oz. How do you plan to approach the subject of free travel and immigration going forward?” the first reporter inquired.

“In my opinion, the world is divided into the powerful and the powerless. Mixing them together carelessly will breed envy, crime, and the eventual weakening of power through interbreeding. Exiling animals is only the first step towards creating a system that benefits everyone via geographic separation,” Madame Morrible explained. “Furthermore, I hope to…”

While she continued to talk, Glinda let herself sway and tremble. Everyone, except Morrible who faced the front, could see her stifle several coughs and struggle to remain upright. Fiyero held her against him and clenched his jaw in anxiety. He shot an angry glance at the sorceress atop her throne.

Finally, Glinda couldn’t take it anymore and let out a strangled cough. Blood dripped from her lips onto her white dress, creating an obvious stain. Madame Morrible barely took notice, too wrapped up in her impassioned speech about wiping out animal beasts that posed safety concerns to the humans.

One reporter had the courage to interrupt Morrible. “E-Excuse me, Madame. Terribly sorry to interject, it’s just…is the Lady Galinda alright? I thought she was cured of her hex.”

Glinda visibly flinched when Morrible turned around. “Of course I’m cured. I drink Madame Morrible’s potions every day. I-I-I mean drank,” she nervously stammered.

“The Wicked Witch’s poison is a troublesome affliction, but I will brew a stronger antidote tonight,” Morrible said through gritted teeth. “Now, onto more pressing matters…”

Fiyero stared down the cameraman with a strained expression. “The Witch of the West is most certainly the one who poisons Galinda. I mean, who else could it be?” His thumb twitched towards the throne.

“Don’t you mean poisoned?” the reporter mused.

“Let us move onto more…pressing matters, per the Madame’s desire,” Fiyero responded.

Through sheer force of will, Glinda remained conscious to observe the shifting atmosphere in the room. Very occasionally, she and Fiyero flickered their eyes in Morrible’s direction and mouthed the word “help.” They remained silent throughout the rest of the press conference as Morrible led all the discussions, blissfully ignorant of the concerning scene forming behind her chair.

“I hope that dangerous plan of yours worked,” Fiyero said in their bathroom that afternoon. He held Glinda’s hair back as she coughed up the rest of the blood from her lungs into the toilet.

Glinda wiped her mouth with a shaking hand. “You’ll need to sneak into town to find out.”

“What? Why? The newspapers should cover it.”

“Not necessarily. Do you know what spreads faster, wider, and most importantly, more unbridled than the press?” Glinda smiled; it was bittersweet to cruelly utilize what was once a fun pastime for her. “Gossip.”

When Fiyero arrived at a local pub, dressed in plain clothes and a cap, he was blown away by the rumors already circulating throughout Oz.

“Did you see the photo of Madame Morrible jabbering on while Prince Fiyero and Lady Galinda begged for help in the back?”

“I heard from a friend of a friend that Morrible was the one behind Galinda’s hex, but blamed it on the Wicked Witch of the West.”

“Impossible, why would she hex Galinda the Good?”

“Well it’s not the first time she’s harmed Lady Galinda. Remember the engagement party? Besides, it’s been a bloody year! Why else would she still be sick after ingesting Morrible’s so-called healing potions?”

“I still can’t believe the Wizard was a fraud. The Emerald Palace is full of lies.”

“A prince and princess trapped in the sorceress’s tower, forced to be her puppets. How beautifully tragic.”

“What if the Wicked Witch was also wronged by Morrible? I don’t know…just a thought…”

Fiyero reported everything back to Glinda. The two of them giggled ecstatically in front of the fireplace. Things were going positively swimmingly.

Suddenly, the double doors of their bedroom were flown open. The winged monkey guards stormed in with spears and handcuffs. In an instant, Fiyero was on his feet to protect Glinda from whatever was about to happen.

Morrible waltzed in with thundering steps, electricity crackling around her. “Did you two really think I wouldn’t notice the treason happening beneath my nose?”

Glinda scrambled to grab her wand from the side table. “Y-You can’t hurt us, we’re public figures!”

“Perhaps not, but I can drug you and remove your autonomy. Guards, seize them!” Morrible clapped her hands and the monkeys flew to surround the couple.

Sweeping her wand in a semi-circle, Glinda released a blast of magic that transformed their spears into foam toy weapons. Fiyero grabbed the twin swords that hung over the fireplace. He hurled one sword at Morrible to distract her, keeping the second in his hand.

The flying monkeys tossed their foam spears aside and charged at them, teeth and nails bared. Glinda replaced their armor with pink ballgowns that tangled in their wings; Fiyero used the momentary confusion to pick up a chair and smash open the window. Hand in hand, they leapt out of the window without wasting a second to think.

Glinda summoned her bubble around them, but the delicate sphere wobbled and sunk under their combined weight. “What do we do? My bubble can only carry me,” she shrieked.

“Get me to the stables! My horse will answer my whistle,” Fiyero shouted.

Fiyero’s trusty steed, Jack, burst out of the stable at the same moment that Glinda’s bubble broke. He landed squarely onto the saddle and held out his arms to catch Glinda. She held onto Fiyero’s neck as he seized control of the reins, galloping out of the Emerald City at top speed.

Glinda spotted the monkeys combing the skies for them and summoned a decoy bubble to float in the opposite direction. She patted the pocket sewn into her puffy skirt, relieved to feel her potion bottle there. Under the cover of night, they safely made it to the bordering forests without being spotted by the guards.

Taking a moment to let Jack rest and drink from a stream, Fiyero and Glinda pondered their next move.

“Oh dear, this is not at all how I planned our escape,” Glinda bemoaned. “We haven’t got our belongings, our clothes, or the faintest idea on where to go.”

“I have a pretty good idea of where to go,” Fiyero said.

“You do?”

Fiyero placed his hands on Glinda’s arms and gently informed her, “Have you forgotten that I am the Captain of the Gale Force? Based on the latest classified reports, I believe I know exactly where Elphaba is.”

“Oh Fiyero!” Glinda jumped up and hugged him, her legs wrapping around his waist. “I love you so so so much right now.”

Chapter Text

Elphaba stood at the river washing meerkat dung out of her cloak.

The unpleasant scent was a small price to pay for helping a family of Sheep find shelter. The poor creatures had been exiled to a random location that wasn’t even suitable for wild sheep, let alone Sheep. It had been heartbreaking to find them surviving on weeds and muddy water. Fortunately, there was a colony of civilized Animals living by the Southern border of Winkie Country. Elphaba had escorted the Sheep there, but accidentally tracked dung in her cloak along the way.

When the water ran clear and the fabric returned to its normal shade of black, Elphaba wrung out the ends and tossed it on a tree branch to dry. At times like this, she missed Glinda’s instantaneous cleaning magic.

Memories of the giggly, excitable blonde twirling around played in Elphaba’s head over and over, like a film that never ended. She missed her friend so much that she thought she saw a flash of pink on the other side of the riverbank. The color, which she ironically once loathed, filled her with fond nostalgia despite being a hallucination.

Except the pink thing kept getting closer. It was accompanied by the sound of a horse trotting against the earth. Elphaba unconsciously held her breath. Could it be? Could it really be?

A large floating bubble stopped at the edge of the water. There was an ethereal, ladylike figure standing in it. Glinda! Only she would wear a tailored pink dress in the woods. Fiyero galloped behind her on a black horse, his dashing figure clad in a royal blue ensemble.

“Glinda! Fiyero!” Elphaba shouted, waving her hands in the air. They beamed and waved back. Argh, the stupid river was between them.

Unwilling to wait any longer, Elphaba held up a hand and parted the water in half. The Grimmerie in her satchel stirred in amusement, surprised that she would call upon its mighty power to defy a river. Glinda and Fiyero ran towards her, the horse hesitantly following.

“ELPHIE! Elphie, Elphie, oh ELphiEEEEE!” Glinda squealed and dived straight into Elphaba, knocking the both of them to the ground. She hugged her like a koala, her blonde head nestled into the crook of Elphaba’s neck. Elphaba chuckled and kissed the top of her head. Her neck was growing wet with Glinda’s blubbering.

“Don’t ever, ever leave me without warning like that again,” Glinda whimpered, sending a pang of guilt through Elphaba. “I swear with every inch of my soul,” she whispered back.

Fiyero was rather quiet, his face a mystery. He extended a hand to help her to her feet. Glinda did not release her grip, and Elphaba awkwardly stood up with the little flower still attached to her torso. “So, uh, it’s nice to see you,” she said to Fiyero over Glinda’s head.

“Elphaba…” Fiyero breathed. He took a step closer. The intensity of his piercing blue gaze made Elphaba gulp. What was going on in his mind, and why wasn’t he saying anything? All she could do was stare back at his rugged and handsome features, the way his lips twitched, and how magnetic his aura was.

Then Fiyero grabbed Elphaba’s face and kissed her, his fingers entangled in her braids. A dam broke in Elphaba’s heart; she kissed him back through the tears slipping past her eyelids. It felt so soft and warm and right. Their bodies moved closer and closer, the heat growing between them.

“Eek! I-I can’t breathe, guys,” Glinda’s muffled voice said.

Oops. Elphaba had nearly forgotten that Glinda was still between them. She gently set her beloved down on the ground and said, “Sorry, my sweet. I…I don’t know what came over Fiyero and I…” Oh no, she had kissed Glinda’s fiancé right before her eyes. What was she thinking?

Glinda pouted, her brows furrowing in anger.

Elphaba gulped. “I’m really sorry, I-I-”

“Where’s my kiss?!” Glinda demanded.

“Wait what? So you’re not mad about-” Before Elphaba could even finish her sentence, Glinda seized Elphaba’s shirt collar and yanked her face down. While Fiyero’s kiss had been warm and gentle, Glinda’s kiss was fierce and passionate. Elphaba’s knees weakened beneath the sheer dominance radiating from her deceptively dainty friend. The trio started taking turns, turning the world into a blend of pink, green, and blue.

By the time the pair were finished with her, Elphaba was breathless and completely flushed. “I, ahem, take it you guys missed me?” she joked.

“We’re never letting you out of our sight again,” Fiyero said firmly.

Glinda bounced up and down excitedly on the grass. “Guess what? We totally tricked Horrible Morrible into overthrowing the Wizard by making them super duper mad at each other, and then I made everybody think Morrible poisoned me and now they all hate her! So we can totally run away together now cause people still like us and maybe they’ll even like you if we convince them!”

“Your face is turning blue, take a breath,” Fiyero reminded her.

Elphaba let the weight of Glinda’s words sink in while she gasped for air. In just one year, they had completely dissolved the government and turned the public against Morrible. “It’s all about popular,” Glinda had once said. And she had been right.

Fiyero fixed Elphaba’s tousled hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ear. “I believe we can change the public’s opinion of you. The seeds of doubt have been sown, and all that’s left is to prove ourselves across the land.”

“This isn’t a dream, is it?” Elphaba questioned.

Glinda reached over and pinched Fiyero, making the man yelp. “Nope, not a dream,” she said cheerily.

Traveling together sounded perfect and incredible, except for one aspect. “I don’t think my broomstick can fit all three of us,” Elphaba pondered.

“I have a horse.” Fiyero gestured to his ebony steed. “And I have a bubble!” Glinda chimed in.

“A flying broomstick, a massive bubble, and a horse. That’s not conspicuous at all. Truly the epitome of stealth and secrecy,” Elphaba quipped.

“Exactly!” Glinda beamed. “By the way, Elphie, do you have money? We, um, sort of came here with nothing. Also you sort of smell like poop…no offense.”

“…Of course you did.” Elphaba sighed and shook her head, although her smile didn’t leave her face. “Come with me to my campsite. You can clean me up and make me pristine again.”

“Makeover time!”

Elphaba had acquired a fair amount of luggage throughout her travels, neatly organized in a gray trunk. Glinda undid all the organization within two minutes, flinging everything onto the ground and giving the belongings a touch of transformation magic. The girls bickered and giggled while Glinda created an entirely new wardrobe for them.

When Fiyero was finally allowed to look at them, his pupils dilated at the sight. Elphaba stood in a black vest over a white button-down shirt, her legs in a pair of gray trousers that were form-fitting without being scandalous. She was utterly handsome, strapping, even. Blooming at her side was Glinda, sweet and graceful in a cream sweater dress with her hair in pigtails.

“Isn’t our Elphie positively dashing? Go help her try on her cloak, I made it a bit shorter and more practical.” Glinda pushed Fiyero and motioned for him to take Elphaba away.

At once, Fiyero understood that he was to serve as a distraction. He grabbed the cloak and blocked Elphaba’s field of view while his fiancée hurried to take out her glass bottle.

The sight of the purple potion stirred a poignant sorrow in Fiyero’s chest. He tried to focus on the present and avoid thinking about their conversation about a week ago, maybe a little less.

~ About a week ago, maybe a little less ~

“You’re absolutely sure she’s in Winkie Country?” Glinda shouted from inside her bubble. She floated next to Fiyero, who was on horseback.

“For the one hundredth time, yes,” Fiyero shouted back. “Do you want to just ride with me?”

“And get bugs in my hair? No thank you.”

“There’s a clearing up ahead. Let’s stop and camp.” Fiyero pointed to a grassy section between the trees.

Glinda brought her ear closer to the bubble’s edge. “What? Let’s pop and glam?”

“Stop and camp!”

“Oh ok. You should’ve just said so.”

It was still early in the evening, so they took a break to watch the sunset before setting up a campsite. Fiyero found a flat, comfortable rock to sit on and dangle their legs over. His arm automatically opened to give Glinda a spot to snuggle in. If there was one thing the blonde enjoyed, it was physical contact.

“There’s something that you must keep secret from Elphie when we find her,” Glinda admitted after a long pause.

Fiyero frowned. “What is it? I don’t like the idea of keeping things from her.”

“I know, I’m sorry to ask this.” Glinda took a deep breath. “But please, please don’t tell her that I’m still sick. Can we pretend the incident at the press conference was a staged performance with fake blood?”

“That’s a terrible idea. How could we lie to her about something so major?”

“Because!” Glinda shrieked. She grabbed Fiyero’s arm to calm herself down, fingers trembling. “Because then she’ll want to know what the illness is. Remember what we read in the library? Aspergillosis is caused by mold exposure. It was from the flour mill…”

Realization began to dawn on Fiyero, sending a chill down his neck. He swallowed dryly. “The flour mill you lived in with Elphaba?”

“The very place she chose. Elphaba already blames herself for what happened to me; this would send her over the edge with guilt. Especially since…” Glinda stopped. She almost said “since I might die from it,” but remembered that Fiyero wasn’t aware of that part.

Last month, Glinda had secretly contacted a physician from Gillikin. She learned that she was exhibiting signs that the disease had spread beyond her lungs, invading her bloodstream. The subsequent mortality rate was…not in her favor, to say the least.

No, neither Fiyero nor Elphaba needed to know that, even if the secret destroyed her inside. Glinda buried her face in Fiyero’s coat so that he couldn’t see her tears. “Just please let Elphie think I’m healthy. I have the potion and I think I can refill it with magic. I’m sure it’ll eventually cure me and we can put this behind us,” she lied, mentally apologizing to her kind prince.

Fiyero pretended not to notice the tears seeping through to his shirt. He let her hide in his coat because it also meant that she couldn’t see his own pained expression. If it brought Glinda a bit of happiness, he could pretend not to know that she would never be cured. He could pretend that he didn’t eavesdrop on her phone call to the Gillikin physician. Even if the secret destroyed him inside.

“Ok. I promise,” he choked out. “Anything for my girls.”

Chapter Text

Things that were different were the callouses on Elphaba’s hands, the wiry hardness of her muscles, and her sharpened senses; all the result of living in the wild for a year. Being the target of hatred and prejudice had planted anger and paranoia in her heart. Glinda had lost a bit of innocence, cynicism forming a realistic lens over her mindset. The toll of illness was visible in her frail limbs and languid movements.

Things that were the same were Elphaba’s sarcastic humor, cackling laugh, and endless devotion to those whom she valued. Glinda was still her bubbly and fun-loving self, fussing over appearances and taking pleasure in comfort.

These two women were the reason that Fiyero had abandoned his old habit of being apathetic and air-headed. He couldn’t very well dance through life when he had people to cherish and protect.

He wasn’t, however, expecting to have to protect them from each other.

“What is this absurdity?!” Elphaba vociferated.

Glinda tilted her head in confusion. “Is something the matter?”

“You’ve transformed our sleeping bags into four-poster canopy beds! And they’re pink!”

“The canopy keeps out mosquitos, see?” Glinda hopped onto her bed and pulled the curtains shut around the four posters. She made a gap to stick her face through and bat her eyelashes at Elphaba.

But Elphaba refused to indulge her frivolous demand. “This is a recipe for attracting attention, and subsequently danger. Transform them back!”

Glinda’s mouth curved downwards and she took a heaving breath, which Fiyero recognized as the start of a tantrum. He hurried in between them to propose a compromise before things went south on their very first night together.

In the end, they settled on neutral-colored cots with mosquito netting. Glinda’s cot had an exorbitant amount of cushioning and a pink silk pillow in petulant defiance. After Elphaba fell asleep, Fiyero whispered for Glinda to change his pillowcase to silk as well. Surely there was no harm in using superior fabric.

“What do you recommend?” Elphaba asked Fiyero while they cooked breakfast on her iron skillet. “Out of the three of us, you know Winkie Country the best. We could go to Kiamo Ko if you want to see your family.”

“My family and I aren’t on speaking terms,” Fiyero admitted. Breaking off his child marriage and dropping out of multiple universities had soured his relationship with his parents, to say the least. Kiamo Ko would be a last resort should they ever require shelter. “There is a kingdom to the north that may be sympathetic towards Animals, Corabia. The citizens there were once turned into fish by the Samandran Sultan.”

Elphaba’s eyebrow lifted. “Fish? They should emphasize with having their speech and rights taken away, then.”

“I just worry about having to cross the desert,” Fiyero mumbled. His eyes flickered to Glinda, still curled up in her cot.

The aroma of fried wild greens and oats caused her to stir. Glinda stretched and said, “Good morning to me!” through a yawn.

“Good morning, my sweet,” Elphaba said fondly. “Are you hungry?”

Glinda floated out of bed and wrapped her arms around Elphaba’s back. “Hmmm hungry for you…” She couldn’t resist giving her lean green arm a little nibble.

“Did you just bite me?” Elphaba chortled. “You know I’m not actually made of broccoli, right?”

Fiyero plucked Glinda away like a mother cat disciplining a kitten, sitting her down and placing a plate of actual food in her hands. “She’s just overflowing with affection because she really missed you,” he told Elphaba. Turning back to the unapologetic kitten, he sternly commanded, “Eat properly, we have a long journey ahead of us.”

“Ooo fried herbs, yummy. I do love my greens.” Glinda winked at Elphaba, making the witch so flustered that she knocked her luggage trunk over.

First the Deadly Poppy Field, now the Deadly Desert. Whover was in charge of naming places in Oz deserved a demotion, Glinda thought. So far, the only thing deadly about this desert was how it killed her skin. She slathered moisturizing lotion on every hour to combat the arid air and held a lacy parasol to prevent sunburn.

Fiyero wouldn’t stop coddling her, fanning away her sweat until she grew chilly and giving her water until her bladder was about to burst. After having to stop for another bathroom break, Glinda got fed up and shooed him away to ride on Elphaba’s broom. She took his horse for herself, having grown fond of Jack. The stallion had an uncanny intelligence and Glinda swore she heard it talk once.

“Gallop lightly, I have a bit of a headache,” she instructed Jack. He neighed politely and took care to tread smoothly on the sand. To express her thanks, Glinda summoned a cooling mist for the steed.

Elphaba’s broomstick tipped back slightly from Fiyero’s weight behind her, and she realized that this was his first time riding with her. Unlike Glinda, whose slight body fit nicely on either side of her, Fiyero was bumbling and tense. He didn’t know where to put his hands and nearly flew off when they hit a spot of turbulence.

“It’s a broom, not a chair. Lean forward and hold onto me,” Elphaba chided him.

“Like this?” Fiyero slipped his arms around her waist. A wall of warmth and muscle hit Elphaba’s back, sending flutters through her stomach.

“Y-Yeah.” Between Glinda’s flirtatious antics and Fiyero’s natural suaveness, Elphaba had a feeling her pulse would never stop rushing.  

Although the desert was scorching hot during the day, the temperature plummeted after sunset. The intense shift in weather was borderline offensive to Glinda, who wanted to yell at the sand that she wasn’t ready for an outfit change yet. It didn’t help that Fiyero kept trying to cover her in unflattering blankets that so did not match her dress. What had gotten into him lately? Even Elphaba was going to get suspicious if he didn’t stop treating her like she was made of wet tissue paper.

“I don’t want another blanket,” she groused at him. “Go set up the tent so I can prepare our cots.”

“Guys…” Elphaba said in a dazed voice. She was standing with her head bent so far back that she nearly toppled over. The position reminded Glinda of something that made her grin.

“That’s not how you ‘toss toss’ your hair,” Glinda said. “Allow me to demonstrate.” Flinging her hair over her shoulders, Glinda craned her upper body into her signature move. The moment her eyes faced upwards, she gasped at the breathtaking view. So that was what Elphaba had been gaping at.

The night sky was lit up with millions of stars that stretched as far as the eye could see. Shades of peach, violet, and lilac formed a galaxy stripe that cut through the indigo sky. Constellations glowed, the larger stars blinking in and out to form a cosmic picture. The moon curved into a silvery white smile, refusing to be outshone.

Fiyero guided the awestruck witches to lie down on a blanket spread over the sand. As a prince of the Vinkus, this was his sky.

“Incredible, isn’t it? The desert is one of the best spots to stargaze,” he shared. “This sight is what I missed most when I left home.”

Glinda dropped her head against the blanket and felt tears pricking her eyelids. This moment, nestled in between Elphie and Fiyero below a dazzling galaxy, was worth everything they had been through. It was worth fighting through the homesickness of leaving Gillikin, the pain of nearly losing her life and losing Elphie, the suffocation of Morrible’s control, and the devastation of her diagnosis.

In the end, nothing mattered more than being together. Glinda didn’t know how much time she had left, but she was going to savor every minute of it. She carved every freckle and line of Elphaba and Fiyero's faces into her memory, so that when she eventually lost the strength to open her eyes, she could still picture her loved ones. 

“Look at that line of stars,” she said while pointing to a bright cluster above.

“That’s Orion’s belt,” Fiyero responded. “It’s a constellation made up of three stars- Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.”

Glinda slipped her right hand over Fiyero’s and laced her left hand through Elphaba’s. “I don’t know any of those people. How about Glinda’s belt? A fashion accessory in the sky composed of my three favorite people- you, Elphie, and me.”

Elphaba gave her hand a squeeze and spoke over Fiyero’s instant protestation. “I like it. Glinda’s belt. And dare I say that Capricornus looks more like Elphaba’s hat?”

Fiyero sighed in defeat. “Sure. While we’re at it, might as well rename the big and little dipper as Fiyero’s boots," he said sarcastically. 

"It's not quite as catchy as Glinda's belt, but good effort!" Glinda said in earnest.

"Uh...I wasn't..."

"Let's not quarrel!"

"...Yes, princess." Fiyero gave up. Elphaba shot him a sympathetic look, as if to say "I know exactly what you're going through."

Chapter Text

Elphaba knelt before the king of Corabia and told her story. She described how she had been the first to discover the Wizard’s falsehood and paid the price of escaping when Morrible framed her as the enemy. A somber atmosphere settled over the room as she revealed her covert operations to rescue hundreds of silenced Animals, all while living as a fugitive on the run.

Initially, the king had been hesitant to grant her an audience. Fiyero and Glinda had refused to take no for an answer, marching straight into the castle and using both influence and charm to give Elphaba a chance. It was thanks to them that, for the first time in a year, someone was listening to Elphaba instead of screaming and spitting at her.

“That was a most fascinating tale,” the Corabian king said at last. He had waited patiently for Elphaba to finish, likely due to the menacing presences of her powerful companions. The king regarded at her with curiosity and asked, “I can certainly emphasize with the Animal plight, but it is startling to see the missing Prince Fiyero and Galinda the Good with you. I hope they are not being coerced in any way, given your history of kidnapping Lady Galinda.”

“That is simply untrue, your majesty,” Glinda proclaimed, unable to stay silent. “One year ago, I voluntarily left with Elphaba Thropp and we are with her voluntarily today. Morrible is a master at spinning lies; she was the one who coerced Fiyero and I!”

The king nodded. “So I had heard through the grapevine, but I was unsure if the rumors were true. Now that I have confirmation, I will testify on your behalf at the upcoming delegation.”

“Delegation?” Elphaba asked.

“The country rulers across Oz are convening to discuss the change in leadership from the Wizard to the Madame. In fact, I believe the current Eminent Thropp, your sister, will be there,” the king replied.

Elphaba’s eyes widened. Nessarose was coming to Winkie Country? It was an earlier reunion than expected, but an opportunity that she wanted to seize. After thanking and bidding the Corabian king farewell, Elphaba brought up the topic of visiting Nessa.

“Of course we can swing by her hotel room, but why are you so anxious?” Fiyero inquired.

“Is it because her policies as ruler of Munchkinland are hideodious?” Glinda sniffed, vexed that their old friend had become rather tyrannical with power.

Elphaba shook her head. “I…have a gift for her. I’ve felt guilty about our father’s death and want to make things right with her. There’s a spell from the Grimmerie that I’ve been saving for her. It’s so powerful that it will permanently vanish from the book after I cast it.”

Did Nessa really deserve such a spell, Glinda couldn’t help but wonder, but kept the thought to herself. As an only child, she didn’t understand the emotions between sisters. It almost made her jealous that she didn’t have a sister of her own. There was a time when she thought Elphie was like a sister, but she decided she much preferred Elphie as a girlfriend instead.

Nessarose was shocked to see Elphaba, Fiyero, and Glinda outside her hotel door. She wheeled herself back and allowed them to enter, eyeing her older sister with wariness. She was even more shocked when Elphaba asked what her most prized possession was, cautiously gesturing to her silver slippers.

Elphaba knelt down before the silver slippers on Nessa’s feet. They were the same slippers that their father had gifted her upon their arrival at Shiz. A rush of nostalgia over her baby sister made her nearly choke up. Yes, gifting her this spell was the right thing to do.

“These slippers will now grant your heart’s desire,” Elphaba said. She waved her hands and chanted a powerful incantation that left her feeling bloodless and breathless. All her life, Nessa always wanted to be treated equally and given the same opportunities as others. Her wish would be granted now.

“My legs feel funny,” Nessa stated. They twitched and moved under her command. Slowly, she stood up from her wheelchair.

Elphaba smiled. “You’ve been healed. You can walk!” Glinda and Fiyero praised Elphaba, amazed by her powers. It was truly an amazing moment to witness.

But Nessa’s expression quickly turned irate. “What have you done, you idiot!” she shrieked. To everyone’s bewilderment, Nessa sat back on her chair and yanked the shoes off her feet.

“I-I don’t understand,” Elphaba stammered. “This was your heart’s desire.”

“Boq is going to leave me! He only stays with me because he pities me, I’m sure of it. Once he discovers I can walk, nothing will hold him back from leaving,” Nessa wailed. “You’ve ruined everything. I never needed to be fixed! Do me a favor and get out of my life before you destroy me further.”

Nessarose hurled the silver slippers across the room. One of them nearly went into the fireplace, but Fiyero caught it before it could go up in flames. The other smacked Elphaba square in the eye. Glinda gasped and rushed to her side, shooting daggers at the ungrateful brat of a sister. A twinge of guilt shadowed Nessa’s eyes, but she straightened in her wheelchair and pointed at the door.

Devastation clouded Elphaba’s senses so intensely that she barely felt the stinging pain of her bruised eye. She let Fiyero and Glinda usher her out of the room. The spell had also left her exhausted, her head growing hazy with the swirl of events.

The next time Elphaba blinked, she was suddenly at the campsite. Glinda cradled her head in her lap, pressing a bag of ice on her eye. Over by the firepit, Fiyero stirred a pot of soup that smelt rich and comforting. The silver slippers sat on top of the luggage trunk.

“Are you ok?” Glinda said softly. Her big doe eyes were wide with worry.

Elphaba touched her tender eye and winced. “It’ll heal. I’m fine.”

“I meant your heart, not your eye. I can’t believe Nessa was capable of such nastiness towards you. That wicked b-bitch of the east.” Glinda’s voice shook from uttering her very first curse word. It was almost cute enough to distract Elphaba from the hollowness inside herself.

“I underestimated how great her obsession with Boq is. In time, I hope she will move on and grow to appreciate my gift.” Elphaba said with uncertainty. “But it appears I’ve officially lost my remaining family.”

Glinda leaned over and kissed her green forehead. “You have a new family now. Fiyero and I love you unconditionally and we’ll be by your side f…” Forever, Glinda formed her lips to say, but the word stuck in her throat with the sharpness of a knife. She couldn’t lie again.

The abrupt end to Glinda’s sentence did not go unnoticed by Elphaba. Having lived with the blonde for many months, Elphaba was attuned to her every expression and mannerism, however subtle. Glinda was not the same as the girl she had taken to the Emerald City hospital a year ago.

Elphaba had chalked the changes up to the strain of politics and Morrible’s manipulation, assuming that Glinda had merely matured from life’s challenges. But Elphaba was starting to suspect that there had been a physical, rather than mental, shift in Glinda’s body. The blonde was still bubbly and theatrical, but she no longer danced or jumped or sang. She spent long nights propped up in her cot under the guise of beauty sleep, but Elphaba occasionally heard her cough or whimper in pain. By the morning, Glinda would be back to her “regular” self.

“Time for soup,” Fiyero called, interrupting Elphaba’s train of thought. He carried a tray of three bowls over to their spot on the log. Glinda helped Elphaba sit up, giving her eye another pat with the ice bag.

Fiyero sat next to them and passed bowls of soup around. Elphaba caught a glimpse of something purple swirling in Glinda’s bowl, which also contained less soup than the other two. Alarm bells went off in her head. Why had Fiyero served Glinda something slightly different? Did he know something that Elphaba didn’t?

“Let me see,” Fiyero said to her. He cupped Elphaba’s face in his hand and examined her black eye. “I should’ve walloped her before we left.”

The calloused touch of his palm was warm against her cheek, but Elphaba turned her head away. “No, it was my fault for being presumptuous. I should’ve asked Nessa what she wanted first. I always act before I think, an awful habit that’s ruined my family’s happiness. No wonder they detest me.”

“Elphaba Thropp!” Glinda said sharply. “You have catered to your father and sister’s every selfish whim since the moment you were born. They owe you everything and you owe them nothing. Do not mistake blood for love, because they would never treasure you the way we do.”

“It’s also time for you to start treasuring yourself,” Fiyero added. “Don’t be so hard on the green girl we love.”

Flashbacks of Elphaba’s childhood raced through her head. From forgotten birthdays to inconsiderate demands, her family had truly never treasured her. Nevertheless, she had loved them and desperately hoped to be loved back. When, along the journey, had she forgotten to love herself?

Glinda and Fiyero were right- Elphaba deserved happiness just as much as anyone else. The potent determination in her heart brought with it the tides of fury. No more hiding in the shadows like a criminal. Elphaba was going to seek vengeance on the people who had hurt her and overthrow the twisted prejudices of Oz.

Chapter Text

“It’s good to be home,” Glinda exhaled. The prosperous rolling hills of Gillikin made her heart leap with joy, even if having to walk uphill sucked the air out of her lungs.

After gaining political favor in the Vinkus, crossing the border to the north was the most natural next course of action. Gillikin was the wealthiest and most developed country in Oz. Locasta, the leader of Gillikin, therefore held enormous sway in public policy. Clearing Elphaba’s name here was going to be exceptionally easy given the people’s faithful reverence of Galinda the Good.

The greatest obstacle so far was the weather. A heavy snowfall had descended upon Pertha Hills, a mountainous region they had to traverse in order to reach the capital.

Glinda’s teeth chattered in spite of the multitude of layers she wore. The forceful winds caused the cold to seep into her bones. “I d-d-don’t remember the Gillikinese winter being so intense,” she grumbled. She was growing tired from the constant shivering.

“This is definitely unnatural,” Fiyero agreed. “Do you suppose Morrible figured out our location after the delegation? She could be manipulating the weather to slow us down.”

Elphaba pulled Glinda into her side and draped her cloak over both of them, concerned by how much the small girl was shaking.  “Normally I’d avoid exposing ourselves in public before we reach our destination, but I think we ought to stay in a proper inn until the blizzard passes.”

Nodding, Fiyero helped the witches onto his horse so they could avoid trudging through snow. He walked next to them and guided Jack by his reins to the nearest town. Their hats and scarves obscured enough of their faces that they didn’t bother with additional disguises. Elphaba, however, tugged on a pair of gloves after seeing her wanted poster on the side of a barn. There were two new wanted posters for Glinda and Fiyero, who were now accused of colluding with the Wicked Witch of the West. This was less of a concern because people had graffitied hearts and words of support over their pictures.

A blast of warmth relieved their frigid limbs upon entering the inn. Gillikin was truly on a different level from the other countries- even a random dairy farm had polished buildings and advanced central heating. Their hotel room had four-poster beds, a sitting area, and an ensuite bathroom with marble fixtures. No wonder Glinda’s standards for everything were so high.

The three of them thawed before an intricate fireplace that was more decorative than functional, as the space was already heated via vents on the ceilings. Lounging on the velvet couches, Elphaba and Fiyero laughed over their ugly wanted posters and how they should design one for Morrible in retaliation.

“We’ll need to add at least twenty more wrinkles to her face, maybe give her a bald spot,” Fiyero suggested.

Elphaba cackled, imagining a poorly drawn picture of the sorceress with patchy white hair. She glanced at Glinda, who had been very quiet the whole time. The room was plenty warm, but Glinda was still shivering.

“Is everything alright, my sweet?” Elphaba moved to the other couch and pressed her hand to Glinda’s suspiciously flushed cheeks. “You’re running a temperature,” she gasped.

Fiyero was at once on his feet. “What? Are you-”

“A cold!” Glinda cut in, blinking back to reality. “I must’ve caught a cold from the weather. Nothing serious.”

“Are you sure?” Elphaba’s heartrate began to quicken, flashbacks of Glinda’s pneumonia last year haunting her. Come to think of it, had she confirmed what exactly her illness had been?

Sensing Elphaba’s unease, Glinda flopped dramatically onto the cushions and flung her arm over the side. “Actually, I can feel my pedicured foot in the grave. Quick- carry me to bed, Elphie! Before I fade into a gorgeous ghost,” she moaned.

Elphaba rolled her eyes at the antics. “If you have the energy to be dramatical, I can rest assured that it’s a simple cold.”

“Off to bed you go,” Fiyero said as he hoisted Glinda from the couch. He kept his tone light-hearted, but his body was tense with fear. What if this was the final straw before her condition deteriorated? What if Morrible purposely sent the blizzard, knowing that it would destroy her health? It didn’t feel fair to keep the truth from Elphaba. He decided that tomorrow, he would come clean about everything.

But in the meantime, during their final night of fabricated peace, Elphaba was enjoying playing nurse to a whiny Glinda.

“Noooo I don’t want porridge, I want pudding,” Glinda pleaded. She looked comically small in the center of the bed, surrounded by throw pillows and fur quilts.

“Pudding is not a proper dinner,” Elphaba chided her. “What about beef stew? You like stew. Well, I like stew.”

Glinda crossed her arms and pouted. “I want pudding. It’s a Gillikin specialty, we have the best dairy cows in all of Oz. Please? My Ama used to make it for me.”

“No. Fiyero and I are going to buy real food.”

“Elphie you meanieeee….” Glinda trailed off and pretended to collapse in a mountain of pillows.

But Elphaba was a complete softie beneath her tough exterior. Fiyero couldn’t stop laughing when she stopped at the very first store to purchase a cup of deluxe pudding.

“You folded faster than a sheet of paper in a swimming pool,” he teased.

Elphaba blushed and nudged his arm. “Oh hush, you fold for her too. Now help me find a restaurant that sells stew, I’m starting to crave it.”

Fiyero looped his elbow through hers as they browsed the streets of Pertha Hills. They passed by a jewelry store with various necklaces and rings on display. The glittering bands of silver and gold caught his eye. Although Fiyero had proposed to Glinda, it had partially been a publicity stunt. He still needed to give both her and Elphaba proper symbols of his love.

Walking across the snow-flecked cobblestone, window shopping and chatting about nothing, was close to Fiyero’s idea of a perfect date. Add in some music and he could spend an eternity bantering with the sarcastic witch.

“I do not fold for Glinda,” Fiyero scoffed as they emerged from a local diner, containers of the aforementioned stew wafting aromatic steam from their takeout bag. They had found the place with ease via Elphaba’s keen sense of smell.

“Yes you do. She’s your little princess,” Elphaba muttered. The disgruntled crease between her eyebrows made Fiyero’s own eyebrows shoot up.

“Are you jealous?” he said with a grin.

Elphaba glowered at him. If it weren’t for the heavy bags of liquid in their arms, she would’ve given him a pinch and a twist. “I am not jealous of the princey wince and his flower.”

“Yes you are. You’re jealous that the two of us don’t have nicknames for each other,” Fiyero asserted. “Allow me to fix that, my…baby Brussel sprout.”

“I’ll have your head on a stick if you call me that again!”

“Fabala? Baba?”

“Don’t remind me of my father.”

They rounded the corner and Elphaba stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening into peridot saucers. “This is bad, Fiyero,” she uttered.

Still oblivious to his surroundings, Fiyero continued ribbing her. “That’s not a nickname, my jade. Oo I like that one. Why don’t you call me Fi?”

“Stop. Look,” Elphaba whimpered.

Soldiers marched in from every direction, covering the white streets with emerald uniforms. It was the uniform of the Gale Force. They each carried either a sword or a spear in their hands, ready to strike. The townspeople scattered like rats to make room for them. The soldiers surrounded them in with ferocity beneath their fur hats.

Gulping, Fiyero pushed Elphaba behind him. “Go. Run away,” he whispered to her.

“Fiyero Tigelaar, you are under arrest,” a soldier shouted. “Per the decree of the Madame, you are to be placed under trial for deserting the Gale Force and plotting high treason with the Wicked Witch of the West.”

Elphaba raised a hand to summon magic, but Fiyero shoved her back. “There’s too many soldiers and onlookers. I’ll raise a ruckus, so slip out when you have the chance.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Elphaba said in a frenzied whisper.

“You have to. You don’t need me to appeal to Locasta. Yes, you must go back to Glinda. She’s…” Great sorrow marred his eyes for a moment. “Just take good care of her, my love.” Fiyero dropped his bag of groceries on the ground and brandished his sword. With a great clamor, he charged forward and began fighting the Gale Force.

“Seize him!” the guards yelled. A whirlwind of emerald brushed past Elphaba, who was still hidden beneath her disguise.

The clang of metal resounded harshly in Elphaba’s ears as she ran away, sobs hitching in her throat. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. She apologized over and over in her head. This wasn’t over. Together with Glinda, she would come back for him.

The room spun in circles as Glinda clutched the bedsheets, desperately gasping for air. She coughed until her throat became raw, soaking her handkerchief with bright red blood. Each inhalation stabbed daggers into her lungs. Was this the beginning of the end for her?

Each excruciating minute ticked by. Gradually, her breathing improved and the pain faded from her chest. Thank Lurline, Glinda thought as she crumpled against her pillow. Her time wasn’t up yet. She was too tired to magically make herself look better, but managed to hide her bloody handkerchief in her nightgown pocket.

Glinda suspected that she had indeed caught a cold due to the chilly weather, but the subsequent weakening of her constitution had triggered a relapse of her ongoing illness. This was worse than the time she skipped her potion for Morrible’s press conference. It would likely take longer to recover from this setback, but that was alright. In terms of public opinion, they were in a stable position, so Glinda could afford to spend extra days in bed. She giggled at the thought of being spoiled by Elphaba and Fiyero simultaneously. Perhaps this cold wasn’t so bad after all.

The door opened with a creak. Elphaba dropped her bags onto the floor and silently walked over to Glinda’s bedside.

“You’re back,” Glinda rasped. She cringed at the sound of her own voice. She must’ve lost it from coughing too hard.

Elphaba sat on the edge of the bed and sunk her face into her hands. “Oh no, you look awful. Everything is a mess,” she cried.

“What? Why? Where’s Fiyero?” Glinda asked.

“The Gale Force found him. He’s been taken back to the Emerald City to be put on trial,” Elphaba said hollowly. She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I intend to rescue him. But in our current state, we’re hopeless against Morrible’s forces. We’ll need to make preparations, seek allies.”

Glinda’s heart dropped. What were they going to do? What was she going to do?

Elphaba felt Glinda’s forehead and grimaced. “We can talk more in the morning. I’m worried your cold is worsening.”

There was no time to spare. Glinda had to get better quickly in order to save Fiyero. What she needed was a burst of strength, something to temporarily give her the energy to fight through the next few days, maybe weeks. She could worry about the repercussions of it later.

Once Elphaba fell asleep, Glinda tiptoed over to her purse. Even the effort of tiptoeing nearly caused her to faint. This was a dire situation. She took out her potion and murmured an amplification spell on it, filling the container to the brim.

The glass bottle held about seven days’ worth of medicine in it. What would happen if she drank all of it at once?

Glinda gazed into the swirling purple liquid. Bottoms up.

Chapter Text

Glinda was awake the entire night, hunched over in the bathroom. Waves of nausea and cramping pain rolled over her stomach. So this was the side effect of overdosing on medicine. It was awful, but it was worth it. She felt her fever recede and her lungs clear. A newfound stamina spread through her quivering muscles and her heart pulsed with a thrumming vitality. She could bear a little stomach upset in exchange for temporary strength.

The rays of dawn poked in through the glass windows and she hurried back to her bed. Right as Elphaba’s sheets rustled, she curled up in a sleeping position. Glinda pretended to snore as her roommate padded across the floor and knelt next to her. She gave a very convincing yawn and eye flutter.

“You look much better,” Elphaba smiled. “How did you sleep?”

“Perfectly. I’m perfect.” Glinda’s voice, still a bit hoarse from yesterday, cracked on the last word. Tossing her covers aside, she cleared her throat and declared, “Let’s hit the road.”

Elphaba grabbed her by the shoulders and laid her back against the headboard. “Woah there, not so fast. We skipped dinner last night and haven’t had breakfast yet. I’ll heat up the stew.”

Stew? Glinda’s stomach churned and she swallowed the bile rising in her mouth. “I-I don’t think…I don’t want…” she struggled to express.

“Picky picky,” Elphaba tsked. Opening the icebox, she took out a glass cup full of golden custard, tied with a red ribbon. “Just this once, I’m allowing you to indulge.”

“Pudding!” Glinda exhaled in relief. The chilled dessert was something she could reliably keep down when she was queasy.

The two witches ate very different meals across from one another on the bed. Glinda picked away at her pudding and took tentative sips of ginger tea, while Elphaba sat cross-legged with a hearty bowl of stew and bread between her hands. The blizzard had died down into a light snowfall outside. It would have been a fuzzy moment if it weren’t for the missing third member of their party.

“Do you think you could convince Locasta to rally troops against Morrible?” Elphaba pondered. “If we could get both Winkie and Gillikin Country on our side, we’d have a fighting chance. It’s a shame Quadling Country is too far away and Nessa won’t budge on Munchkinland policy.”

“Unlikely. Locasta is kind, but she’s non-confrontational.” Like most Gillikinese, the leader was content to stay in her own bubble of prosperity. She shared striking similarities with Glinda’s old self, a contrite reminder of her ignorant past.

More importantly, they didn’t have time to waste on coaxing decrepit leaders. Glinda didn’t have time. The transient improvement in her symptoms would wear off at any point; she shuddered at what the rebound effect on her body might be. How could they save Fiyero within the week? Old history lessons swirled in her head. They were in her country, surely there was something she could utilize.

Glinda took a sharp inhalation and set down her teacup. “I know. We can take the railway to the Great Gillikin Forest. Forget politics, let’s form an army and attack Morrible ourselves.”

Elphaba dropped her bread into her bowl with a splash. “What? Are you delirious? Should I recheck your temperature?”

“I’m seriously serious. There’s a tribe of Bears and Lions in that forest, who I’m sure would love to smash in some emerald heads. I have magic, you have magic. Let’s kill a sorceress and save our prince.”

“…Ok, I’m in. We can do this. Together,” Elphaba breathed, slipping her hand into Glinda’s.

“Together we’re unlimited.” Glinda repeated their old phrase and gave Elphaba’s hand a squeeze. Both giddiness and heartache rose in her, for this could very well be her final hurrah. Of all the ways to go out, at least going out with a bang was her style.

Glinda rested her head on Elphaba’s shoulder while they rode the Great Gillikin Railway. They had snagged a private booth with a sliding door, allowing Elphaba to remove her disguise. The winter landscape of snow-capped mountains and lush valleys passed by the frosted glass windows.

“This reminds me of when we rode the train to the Emerald City together,” she murmured.

Elphaba nestled her head closer. “We were so young and excited, blissfully unaware of what awaited us.”

“We read those boring pamphlets from front to back multiple times.”

“You curled up on my lap and slept like a kitten, even though there were plenty of open benches behind us.”

“That was on purpose.” Glinda giggled at the fond memory. “I think by that point, I had been in love with you for a long time. I seized any opportunity to be near you or touch you.”

Elphaba gave Glinda’s cheek an affectionate pinch. “You still do, my sweet.”

“Hehe. Yeah, I do.” Glinda slid down the seat until she was lying across Elphaba’s lap. It was as warm and safe as she remembered. “Play with my hair like you did that day,” she requested.

“You’re full of demands today. But I can’t help but spoil you when you have a cold.” Sighing, Elphaba obliged and ran her fingers through Glinda’s blonde tresses. They quietly enjoyed each other’s company, watching the scenery through the window. Elphaba opened the Grimmerie and used Glinda’s back as a table for the book. There was a slim chance, but not zero chance, that there was a spell on how to behead a white-haired woman who could control the weather.

“What will you do once we overthrow Morrible? Will you take over as the ruler of Oz?” Glinda mused.

“I don’t know. Being passionate about a specific cause isn’t enough to lead a country. I have no experience or talent in politics,” Elphaba admitted, flipping through the pages. “What about you? You’re well-versed in being a public figure. What do you see in your future?”

Glinda fell silent, unable to form a lie without breaking into tears. Her future…didn’t exist.

“Glinda?” Elphaba said softly.

Closing her eyelids, Glinda feigned sleep. If she focused on Elphaba’s scent and the rattling of the train, she could pretend they were teenagers again on the way to see the Wizard. Maybe in another timeline, she would refuse Elphaba’s offer to fly away on the broom. They would work in tandem, Glinda from within the palace and Elphaba from the outside, until the day they would reunite and rule Oz together. Maybe in that timeline, they would all be healthy and happy.

Elphaba wiped a lone tear that had fallen from Glinda’s eye. What sorrowful secret was her beloved keeping from her? And what had Fiyero been trying to tell her before he was taken away? Leaning back against the headrest, Elphaba kept her arm draped over the precious girl in her lap.

“You can’t hug the Bears just because they’re shaped like teddy bears,” Elphaba warned Glinda.

“But they’re so big and fluffy!”

“No, Glinda, they’re grown adults. Come on, put on your diplomatic face.”

“Fine,” Glinda huffed. She held onto Elphaba’s arm as they carefully approached the settlement of Animals in the Gillikin forest. They lived in sprawling huts and tents that were engineered to accommodate their large sizes. Atop a great boulder, a lion with a majestic mane laid next to an enormous grizzly bear. Feathers and beads were braided into the fur on their heads, indicating their rank.

The Bear and Lion chieftains tensed their imposing bodies, wary of their sudden visitors. Glinda dropped into a curtesy and Elphaba bowed.

“It is an honor to meet you,” Glinda said politely. “I am Glinda the Good, and this is Elphaba Thropp. For the past year, we have plotted to remove Madame Morrible from power and restore Animal rights across Oz. The time has come for the final strike. We stand humbly before you to request your aid in attacking the Emerald Palace.”

Chapter Text

“Hello. Er, fancy seeing you here.” Fiyero waved at the Wizard, who was his new prison cellmate. “How’s it going?”

The Wizard awkwardly waved back. “Oh you know, just rotting around, same old same old. So…what’s been going on with you?”

“Long story.”

“Hey, I’ve got nowhere else to be.”

An army of Bears, Lions, and any other vengeful Animal they had encountered along the way stormed through the streets of the Emerald City. The citizens screamed and fled into their homes, but the intelligent Animals made sure to avoid hurting innocents. Rather, they spoke and beseeched the terrified people to understand their perspective. One of the Bears even laid down his weapons before an elderly couple and offered to escort them to safety.

Do not attack unless attacked had been Glinda’s advice for the Animals. Win over people’s hearts with honey, not stingers, she’d stated. The most brilliant part of Glinda’s plan was for the Animals to protect the citizens from the guardsmen that rushed out, wreaking havoc upon the gentle intruders without regard for collateral damage. They knocked the guards unconscious instead of going for the kill, demonstrating mercy before the countless onlookers.

While the vast majority of soldiers, including the Gale Force, were being lured into the city, Glinda and Elphaba flew straight to the palace. They craftily used one of Morrible’s own clouds as a cover to travel in stealth. Glinda huddled against Elphaba on the broomstick and enjoyed the winds whipping around them. She had missed the thrill of flying together.

Winged monkeys stood around every corner of the palace. The shock of seeing their former Lady Galinda made them pause before attacking. One of the monkeys seemed to recognize her green companion. It was the one whom Elphaba had personally given wings to.

“Chistery,” Elphaba said to the monkey. “I remember your name.” Against Glinda’s protestations, she knelt onto one knee in a show of peace. “I’m sorry about everything.”

Chistery gripped the spear in his hands and opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“Can you undo what the Grimmerie did to him?” Glinda asked. She remained standing, wand in hand, in case any monkey decided to attack her Elphie.

Elphaba shook her head. “Spells cannot be uncast. I won’t, however, give up on restoring speech to the Animals. I want to free you, Chistery. Please let me free you and all the silenced Animals.”

Glinda’s eyes trailed down to the shackles around the monkey’s ankles. Lifting her wand, she transformed them into a pair of cute bracelets. “See? We are not the villain.”

A clap of thunder reverberated in the room so loudly that Glinda’s ears rang afterwards. Slow, menacing footsteps followed the deafening rumble. Madame Morrible strolled forth in an ostentatious green gown with a high collar. From either reflex or fear, Chistery and the other winged monkeys scrambled to their positions.

Morrible did not look surprised to see the young witches. Her white eyebrow curved in amusement. “Villain? There is no such thing as heroes or villains, only the powerful and the powerless. Naïve as always, my little pupils. If you wanted to visit, you should’ve come through the front.”

A bolt of electricity snaked from her fingertips and shocked the monkeys through their metal shackles, causing the Animals to howl in pain. Madame Morrible clapped her hands. “If you don’t want the next bolt to go through your hairy chests, serve your Madame and exterminate the wicked witches!”

Feathers and fur swirled in the air as the winged guards descended in a flurry upon them. Glinda and Elphaba shrieked, running and dodging the blades being swung at their bodies.

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Elphaba yelled as she summoned spheres of fire and earth to hit the flying monkeys.

“We won’t hurt you,” Glinda amended. When Elphaba’s potent flames neared the monkeys, Glinda used her magic to turn them into sparkling fireworks. They exploded in a flash that did not injure them, but temporarily blinded them with light.

Elphaba chanted a spell that pulled the stunned monkeys to the ground. “Can you make the floor metal?” she asked Glinda.

Glinda was confused, but pointed her wand at the polished marble beneath their feet. Turning stone into metal was a bit of a stretch, but she gritted her teeth and forced the material to bend to her bidding. There was a rush of heat in the room as Elphaba welded the shackles on the monkeys’ ankles to the floor. As promised, they were stuck but ultimately unharmed.

Only Chistery remained afloat, bracelets adorning his ankle instead of shackles. The monkey glanced between Elphaba and Morrible. Then he raised his spear and charged at Morrible.

“Foolish beast,” Morrible spat. She snapped her fingers and sent Chistery flying across the room. There was a sickening crack as he smacked into an emerald pillar and fainted.

What Morrible didn’t notice during Chistery’s attack was Elphaba covertly setting fire to the edge of her long dress. With a flick from Glinda’s eyebrow, the flame rapidly expanded and consumed the sorceress. A guttural screech emanated from her wrinkled throat.

The thunderclouds overhead poured rain over room and doused the fire, but the damage had been done. Morrible shakily rose to her feet in tattered clothes, burns snaking over her welted skin.

“Oh dear, I hate getting wet,” Elphaba said through a smirk. She strode up to her former teacher and raised her hand, levitating the sorceress several feet in the air. Just for fun, she swung Morrible around like a rag doll a few times.

Madame Morrible went limp. Glinda held her breath, wondering if the battle was over. But then Morrible coughed and uttered a sentence through charred lips, “How good of you to levitate me away from the floor.”

“What?” Elphaba said.

A single spark. That’s all Glinda saw before lightning coursed through the rainwater coating the metal floor that she, Elphaba, and the monkeys were all standing on. Pain arched from her feet through her spine to her head. Everything went black.

“I can’t even be mad, my boy,” the Wizard said after Fiyero concluded his tale. “That was quite brilliant. In fact, I’m almost proud of you.”

Fiyero stretched his limbs out on the stiff bed. The prison walls were made of the same gleaming emerald as the rest of the palace, but they were the only indication of grandeur in the meager cell. Dressed in simple garb and hair unkempt, the Wizard looked like a regular old man in the corner. There was a mellow yet rough look in his eyes, as if the regal pomp had been washed out of his system.

“Don’t call me your boy. I don’t want anything to do with you. You’re an awful person, marginalizing an entire population of innocent Animals for personal gain,” Fiyero replied.

The Wizard shrugged. “I did what I had to do to remain powerful. In the end, all I wanted was for people to adore and love me. I could never bear children, you see, so my citizens became my makeshift family.”

“The Animals were your citizens too.” Not wanting to talk any further, Fiyero rolled onto his side. His torn jacket caught on the bedframe and the contents of his hidden pocket spilled out. A ring box and a green bottle clattered against the ground.

Fiyero hastily grabbed the ring box first and tucked it into his clothes.

“What is that?” the Wizard breathed. The old man scuttled over and grasped the bottle.

“Give it back,” Fiyero demanded. What was Elphaba’s bottle doing in his jacket? He must’ve took it by accident while packing up their campsite. “It belongs to someone else,” he told his cellmate.

“Who? Who?” the Wizard said in a frenzy. There was a strange mixture of horror and wonder spread across his features.

Reluctantly, Fiyero responded, “Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West.”

“Elphaba Thropp…and her mother, Melena…what have I done…”

The Wizard did not speak again for the next several days, until one morning he turned to Fiyero and said, “Do you want to help me break out of this cell?”

The taste of metal pooled in Glinda’s mouth. Something smooth and curved was beneath her. She opened her eyes and saw bubbles encasing herself, Elphaba, and Chistery. They were alive. Mildly electrocuted, but alive. Her bubbles had lifted them from the conductive surface almost instantaneously, preventing serious damage to their organs.

Morrible was huddled against a column. Unfortunately, she was breathing.

Glinda turned the water on the floor into ice, recalling that solid ice was a poor conductor. The bit of magic depleted her energy and the bubbles dissipated, dropping them a few centimeters. Elphaba stirred from the minor impact and met Glinda’s gaze. They shared a smile of relief, too dazed to move the other muscles in their bodies.

The relief did not last long. Morrible’s eyes shot open with ferocity. Picking up a fallen spear, she crawled over and plunged the tip towards Elphaba’s heart.

Chapter Text

Elphaba could only watch in horror as Morrible came towards her with a spear. In the corner of her eye, she spied two male figures running in their direction. If Morrible was going to end her life, so be it, as long as Glinda could be spared.

Droplets of blood dripped onto the icy floor.

They did not belong to her.

They belonged to the Wizard.

The Wizard had intercepted Morrible and shielded Elphaba with his own body. With the spear still lodged in his chest, he punched Morrible in the face and sent her tumbling back. He then fell to his knees, a red stain soaking through his flimsy prison clothes.

“Why did you do that?” Elphaba wondered out loud.

“I’m a bad man,” the Wizard muttered through a strained exhalation. “But you are not like me. You are everything that is good in this world, my daughter.”

Daughter? Elphaba struggled to get up, her limbs numb and weak from being electrocuted. There were so many questions she needed to ask him, but the Wizard soon toppled over and became motionless. The majestic Wizard of Oz was gone, replaced by a humble man who smiled so sweetly at her whilst drawing his last breath. Elphaba didn’t understand. Why had he suddenly sacrificed himself for her?

Strong arms encircled Elphaba’s waist and lifted her to a standing position. Fiyero. She stumbled and leaned on his chest for support. “You’re supposed to be in jail. We came to rescue you,” she stated.

Fiyero planted a kiss on her head and checked her for injuries. “Yes, well, I’m here to return the favor.” His steady hands did not let go of her waist until she regained strength in her legs.

“I’m okay. Go tend to Glinda,” Elphaba reassured him. The blonde witch was still lying on the ice, shivering from the cold. For some reason, she was covering her mouth.

While Fiyero rushed across the room to examine Glinda, Elphaba set her sights on Morrible. Her fingers twitched with magic, but frankly it would be more satisfying to strangle her. Or perhaps she should burn an effigy of the weather witch outside for the citizens to see.

Morrible sat against an emerald pillar, the tips of her white hair singed. “Congratulations on winning this battle, but I’m sorry to say you have lost the war.”

“You’ll never know because you won’t be living to see the end of the war,” Elphaba shot back. She curled her fingers into fists and took a looming step forwards. With audacity conjured from thin air, Morrible wagged her finger at Elphaba.

“If you kill me, who is going to rule Oz? You’re a wild green bean who’s been living amongst shrubbery for the past year. The citizens would sooner fall into anarchy than listen to you. And Fiyero? Good luck instating a man without magic after the fiasco with the Wizard.” Morrible’s lip curled into a sneer. “You need me, Elphaba. They need me.”

Elphaba scoffed at the delusional woman. “You’re forgetting about Glinda, a sorceress who is beloved across Oz and trained in diplomacy. Between her, me, and the Grimmerie that we both can read, we’ll be fine without you.”

“Galinda?” A shrill, barking laugh twisted Morrible’s sneer into a grin. “She’d set the record for the shortest term in Ozian history.”

Ridiculous, Elphaba thought. After all this time, Morrible was still underestimating Glinda’s capabilities. A short term? Glinda surely had the potential for a long and flourishing reign. “You’re senile,” Elphaba spat.

Morrible blinked, then drew in a delighted breath. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“You really don’t know?”

“What?!”

“Galinda Upland is dying. And it’s all your fault.” There was a malevolent glee in her beady dark irises. “Her body teems with toxins that are only found in destitute environments. Environments that you exposed her to.”

Lies. Morrible was lying. She was lying, right? Elphaba’s throat closed so tightly she could scarcely breathe. Fragmented puzzle pieces began snapping together in her brain. The mysterious “pneumonia” that gradually emerged after the flour mill. Glinda’s vehement denial of illness both publicly and privately despite her sickly appearance. Her unnaturally long hours of “beauty sleep.” The purple liquid in her soup. Her strange sense of urgency and refusal to speak of the future.

Fiyero darted to Elphaba’s side; he carried an unconscious Glinda as gently as one would a newborn fawn. “Shut your mouth right now,” he warned Morrible.

“Why? Because you knew everything but did nothing, you spineless prince? The two people closest to you were lying to you the whole time, Elphaba.” The burns on Morrible’s skin were starting to blister, but she spoke with exhilaration. “And that’s not even the worst part.”

He knew? Fiyero knew? Of course he did. Everyone knew except Elphaba, the stupid stupid fool. The room was starting to tilt. 

“That’s enough,” Fiyero started, but Elphaba motioned for him to let Morrible continue. No matter how excruciating it was, Elphaba needed to know the truth.

Madame Morrible tsked at the heap of pink in Fiyero’s arms. “The most beautifully tragic part is that Galinda might’ve lived if she stayed with me. I gave her the best medicine money could buy and kept her sheltered in luxury- she was my most useful pawn, after all. But she wrecked her body time and again in order to be with you and support your cause. You, Elphaba Thropp, are the cause of her demise.”

No. NO! Elphaba sunk to her knees. Her hands dropped limply at her sides. 

“Leave and let me continue presiding over Oz. You do not deserve a throne that was won with your best friend’s blood,” Morrible commanded.

Elphaba couldn’t see. Everything was blurred together through her tears. She didn’t know what to do. Her fault. Her fault. It was all her fault. She didn’t deserve the throne. She didn’t deserve anything. It was all her-

“It’s not your fault,” Fiyero affirmed. He knelt next to her and forced Elphaba to look at him. A pale, shivering Glinda was against his chest, dried blood next to her mouth. “Do not diminish my and Glinda’s actions by stealing the responsibility for our consequences. We wrote the past so that you could write the future. Whether you want to stay in the palace or walk away, we will support you.”

Elphaba looked at the anguish and love in Fiyero’s blue eyes. She looked at the blood in Glinda’s hand, the frigid arrogance on Morrible’s face, and the winged monkeys strewn around the room. Outside the windows, Bears and Lions roared in a stalemate against the Gale Force. One person, a Munchkin, stood in front of a Lion to protect the Animal. Hope. That person was hope for a unified future.

When Elphaba was alone in her fight for the Animals, Glinda and Fiyero had faith in her despite the abysmal odds of success. They had sacrificed everything to support her. Why weren't they afraid of failure? What gave them the strength to keep going?

"I don't know what to do..." she whimpered. 

Fiyero smiled at her. He was obviously in agony, how could he manage a smile? "Me neither," he choked out. "I'm scared. But I'll follow you to the ends of the earth."

He was scared. That sentence was a revelation for Elphaba. Of course he was afraid, and of course his strength was running out. Her companions had been terrified, barely holding it together, while she had been happy in blissful unawareness. They had poured their strength and hope into her, which meant it was now Elphaba's responsibility to be strong and hopeful. This was her penance. Her time to return the favor, so to say. 

“Let’s leave,” Elphaba decided. Turning to Morrible, she clarified, “I am not leaving because I’m giving up. I’m leaving to find a cure for my girlfriend because I can rest assured that the citizens will overthrow you themselves. We have done our part in igniting change for the Animals, and those flames of change are so strong that your rain cannot douse them. Soon enough, you will wake up to find everyone pointing knives at you. When that day comes, I will be there to watch you fall. Mark my words, both Glinda and Fiyero will be there with me.”

Elphaba’s tears spilled onto Glinda’s porcelain cheeks as she kissed her feverish forehead. This was far from over, perhaps only the beginning of their lives. “I am Elphaba Thropp, the daughter of prophecy and wielder of the mythical Grimmerie. The future is mine to write,” she said to both Morrible and herself.

Madame Morrible chuckled in defeat. “Go, then. You always were my best student, Elphaba. You may very well surpass me, but no one can say I didn’t go down without a fight.”

“Come on, Fiyero.” Elphaba rose to her feet. She picked up her hat that had fallen amidst the turmoil and placed it on her head. “We’re going to save Glinda’s life.”

END OF PART TWO

Chapter Text

Elphaba dropped Fiyero off at a stable along the border of the Emerald City, where his horse had been patiently waiting.

“Take Glinda with you, I fear there is too much wind and turbulence atop my broomstick,” she suggested.

The fragile blonde stirred as they carefully placed her on Jack’s saddle, although her eyes remained shut. “I’m cold…” Glinda whimpered. The simple effort of breathing seemed to sap her energy.

Elphaba removed her cloak and draped it over Glinda. “Stay with us, my sweet. We’re going someplace warm.”

“Where did you have in mind?” Fiyero asked. In a deft move, he swung himself onto the saddle behind Glinda and cradled her to his chest.

“Quadling Country, to the south. My childhood home before we moved to Munchkinland.”

It was only after she was in the air and out of earshot that Elphaba allowed herself to break down. She sobbed and sobbed the entire broomstick ride, her tears becoming one with the sky. Although she had never been a pious person, she prayed to the Unnamed God, the fairy queen Lurline, and anyone else in the cosmos who might be listening. A silent plea for her loved one’s life.

The temperature rose to a pleasant and toasty degree as they made their descent into Quadling Country. Winter did not seem to exist here, as evidenced by the lush trees that extended vermilion leaves over the flourishing meadows. Misty waterfalls and rivers rippled around a hill, the surfaces of the waters reflecting reddish hues from the trees.

“I thought Quadling Country was a giant, dilapidated swamp,” Fiyero remarked.

“Most of it is, but we certainly didn’t live in those areas.” People tended to forget that Elphaba hailed from nobility, ignoring her surname in favor of ridiculing her skin. Elphaba herself preferred to live modestly, which was why she was almost bashful to lead her companions to her old house.

Fiyero’s jaw fell open when they reached their destination. A palace studded with rubies stood at the top of the hill. “Why were you scrounging around in the dirt when you had this at your disposal?” he wondered.

“I don’t mind the dirt; this place is too flashy for me. There’s also not much to do here in terms of politics.” Elphaba made a decision gazing at the sleeping figure in Fiyero’s arms. “This ruby palace will be Glinda’s from now on. I’m gifting it to her. A sunny and peaceful place for her to recuperate.”

“Gee thanks, Elphie. Red goes good with pink,” Glinda mumbled.

Elphaba gasped and rushed over. “Glinda! You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Nauseated, but that’s probably from being pressed against Fiyero’s sweaty armpit for days,” she grumbled. Despite her light tone, Glinda's complexion was awfully pale. 

“That’s the first thing you comment on after regaining consciousness? You wound, nay, devastate me,” Fiyero professed. “I can’t help having the musk of a man.”

“Let’s get you to bed and you to a bathtub,” Elphaba said to Glinda and Fiyero, respectively. The door to the palace creaked open on rusty hinges that were in need of repair. In contrast to the grand exterior, the furnishings within were kept minimal and practical. The Thropps weren’t made of money like the Uplands, after all. Outward appearance mattered more to the late Eminent Thropp.

There was a corner bedroom on the second floor that overlooked the waterfalls and trees. It happened to have a pale pink blanket, as if the house was expecting Glinda. While Fiyero settled into the adjacent room and drew a bath, Elphaba tucked her girlfriend under the covers and propped pillows behind her head.

“Where’s your potion? You weren’t able to drink any while you were asleep,” she fretted. Glinda watched with glassy eyes and flushed cheeks as Elphaba rummaged through her bag to procure the invaluable glass bottle.

“About that…I have something to confess,” Glinda said. Ducking her head down like a guilty puppy, she explained how she had nearly overdosed on the medicine when she caught a cold. Although it had temporarily rejuvenated her, the rebound effects were hitting her body hard right now. Glinda had a feeling that her regular dosage would be insufficient as a result. She wasn’t sure, however, if her stomach could handle more. It was already twisting in anticipation.

Exasperation followed by remorse flicked across Elphaba’s face. “That was reckless of you. Do not do that again; although, ingesting an extra dose may not have been a bad move. It’s possible that you require a greater amount now that the infection has spread to your bloodstream.”

Swirling the liquid in the bottle, she pondered what the best option would be. Considering how dubious Glinda’s appetite was to begin with, searing her stomach lining with a cup of intense medicine was unwise.

“H-How do you know that?” Glinda stammered. She didn’t recall Morrible sharing such details with Elphaba.

“Fiyero told me on the ride here.” The sound of running water in the bathroom next door indicated the Winkie prince’s nearby presence. “Months ago, he overheard your phone call with the Gillikin doctor,” Elphaba revealed.

Glinda curled her fingers around the blanket. “No wonder he was so nervous around me. The two of us sure are good at keeping secrets, truly a perfect match,” she muttered.

“Are there any further secrets that need to be aired?”

Glinda shook her head. “No. I’m sorry I lied to you, Elphie.”

“I’m sorry as well for indirectly causing everything,” was Elphaba’s solemn reply.

“I’m the one to blame.”

“No I am.”

Fiyero burst into the room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, water dripping from his damp chestnut locks. “Enough with the guilt and despair, ladies! Why don’t we all say sorry to each other and call it even?” he declared.

“Fiyero! You-” Elphaba yelped and covered her eyes with her hands, heat rising to her cheeks. N-N-Naked, he was half-naked! She was tempted to peek from her fingers, but dutifully refrained.

On the other hand, Glinda quirked an eyebrow and smirked at her fiancé. “You should wear that more often. Water looks good on you, my prince.”

“Should the three of us match? There’s more towels in the bathroom,” Fiyero teased.

Elphaba removed one of her hands to toss a throw pillow at him. “Get out and put clothes on! Y-You’re going to, um, overexcite Glinda.”

“I’m not the one tripping over her sentences, Elphie,” Glinda laughed. “You’re such a pure soul.” The laughter that rippled through her chest triggered a cough that fortunately didn’t last long, but left a lingering pain behind her sternum. Glinda winced and rubbed the sore area.

“Shall I make the preparations?” Fiyero asked Elphaba, who nodded and gave him directions to the wine cellar beneath the kitchen.

Confusion distracted Glinda from the mounting ache in her head. “Are we going to drink together?” she questioned after he left the room. “Oh I know, we’re making a toast to celebrate burning the hair off Morrible’s head!”

“I’m afraid not,” Elphaba responded. “Fiyero and I made a pit stop to call your family’s physician for advice yesterday. He’s going to find a hard liquor to sanitize your arm.”

Glinda instinctively moved a hand over her elbow. “And why is that?”

“Consider it an escalation in treatment.”

“No, please, I don’t want it!” Glinda cried. She tried to resist Fiyero’s hold on her, but it was useless. In her current state, she could barely fight a heavy blanket off her body.

Fiyero rubbed her back in circles and murmured words of encouragement in her ear. “You’ve done this before, you can handle it. This is going to make you feel better fast.”

“It’s precisely because I’ve had them before that I know I hate needles,” she protested.

Elphaba paid no mind to their conversation, her eyes laser-focused on drawing the purple liquid into a syringe. Finding a vein on Glinda’s pale skin was easy, but the anxiety of getting the wrong angle or going too deep plagued her thoughts. When Elphaba was in Munchkinland, she had volunteered with the medical tent at an Animal refugee camp. The steps of an injection were familiar to her, but she was used to the patients having fur.

“I can also do it,” Fiyero offered upon seeing her hesitation. “I’ve injected certain…recreational substances in the past.” When both witches paused to judge him, he emphasized, “In the past. Nothing crazy, just your standard Ozdust party drugs. There’s a reason why poppies don’t affect me.”

“Oh just do it, Elphie. Fiyero has ruined my dramatical mood,” Glinda huffed. A rising fever was overtaking her senses, such that she begrudgingly recognized the necessity of the needle.

“Alright, stay still.” Taking a deep breath, Elphaba slid the needle into Glinda’s arm vein and pushed medicine into her bloodstream. She did not release the breath until she bandaged and massaged the area, making sure the injection was successful. “There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Hmph,” Glinda managed to get out. Her eyes closed against her will as she succumbed to fatigue.

Elphaba helped Fiyero lay her back down. They left the room to let Glinda rest while they worked on tidying up and repairing the palace.

The miscellaneous odd jobs did little to quiet Elphaba’s mind. Switching to intravenous medication would buy them time, but it was still up to her to find a permanent solution. Some sort of healing magic, perhaps? But it was unlikely that she could surpass what the Emerald City hospital had already tried. What was something unique that Elphaba could do?

As if sensing her stress, Fiyero pulled her aside to massage her shoulders. “You’re not alone in this, Elphaba. Remember to take care of yourself and cherish the better days we have together.”

“You’re right,” Elphaba exhaled. Her tense muscles relaxed under his touch. “When did you become so wise?”

“The grass I ate as a child was psychedelic. My brain is on a higher plane of consciousness,” he joked.

Elphaba scoffed at her mischievous boyfriend, hiding the smile that grew from within. Whenever Fiyero spoke, she felt like things were going to be okay.

Chapter Text

“That’s beautiful,” Elphaba gushed, looking over Glinda’s shoulder at her drawing. It was a pencil sketch of Fiyero’s black stallion, his mane whipping in the wind mid-gallop. They were sitting next to each other in bed, Elphaba leaning against the headboard and Glinda leaning against Elphaba.

“The shading still needs work,” Glinda said shyly. She glanced longingly at the Grimmerie in Elphaba’s hands. “I miss sorcery, can’t I try just one spell from the book?”

Elphaba thumbed through the pages. There were a few healing spells that she had attempted to learn, but they didn’t do much beyond mending paper cuts. The nature of healing magic was too different from the levitation and destruction that Elphaba specialized in. Glinda’s transmutation held strong potential for healing, but would it be counterintuitive for her to cast the spell on herself? Not to mention how draining the spells were…

“I don’t want you to expend energy right after your fever finally went down,” Elphaba finally said. “But maybe tomorrow if you continue feeling better.”

Glinda nuzzled into Elphaba’s arm, resisting the temptation to bite her again. “Tomorrow it is. The fresh air and tranquility here rejuvenates me every day. I’m even starting to get a little hungry.”

Right on cue, there was a knock at the open door. Fiyero stood in one of Dulcibear’s old frilly aprons, carrying a tray of assorted food. “Breakfast in bed is ready!” he announced.

Elphaba narrowed her eyes at Fiyero to make sure he was fully clothed before he joined them. Yesterday, he had arrived wearing only an apron, causing her to nearly trip into the fireplace. It was exasperating how much he relished getting a rise out of her.

“Smells…fascinating,” Glinda remarked. A bowl of lumpy brownish slop sat next to two plates of pancakes with butter and syrup.

“It’s a blend of kale, fish, lentils, beets, and a spoonful of peanut butter. I packed in as many nutrients as I could to ensure a balanced di- hey, why are you eating my pancakes? Nooo those are mine,” Fiyero exclaimed. Despite his complaints, he made no physical effort to stop Glinda from stealing his pancake stack. The twinkle in his eye made Elphaba wonder if this was all a ploy to trick her into eating more.

Snatching the second plate of pancakes, Elphaba thought of a way to get revenge on Fiyero for his incessant teasing and attempts to make her flustered. “Why don’t you eat your nutritious creation? Mustn’t let such a gourmet meal go to waste.”

“Oh it’s not actually…” Fiyero trailed off, unable to meet Glinda’s innocent eyes. He resigned himself to his fate and picked up the bowl of slop. “Delicious,” he spluttered through a face of sheer disgust.

After breakfast, Elphaba moved to the desk by the window. She had a stack of biology textbooks and sorcery manuals taken from the study. If the Grimmerie refused to be helpful, she would engineer a cure herself. She was, after all, a former top student at a prestigious university.

Fiyero sat in an armchair with a toolbox and a broken radio. Newspapers weren’t delivered to this remote part of Quadling Country, so he wanted to get the radio working to stay on top of current events. Scratchy, muffled sounds went in and out as he fiddled with the gears.

“I’m bored,” a small voice came from the bed.

Elphaba lifted her eyes from her studies to peer at the source. Glinda looked positively despondent under the covers, lips pouted and eyebrows drawn up. “I’m bored,” she repeated.

“I’m afraid I’m in the middle of something important, my sweet,” Elphaba apologized.

A screeching violin blasted from the radio and Fiyero hurried to lower the volume. “It’s working. It’s stuck on one station, but working,” he announced. He adjusted the knobs to improve the audio quality. Upbeat orchestral and jazz music flooded the space. The notes were a pleasing tempo that made one want to…

“Dance,” Glinda said. “How long has it been since we danced with one another?”

Fiyero stood and stretched his long legs out. “I think we can afford to take a quick break. What do you say, Elphaba?” He half-walked and half-strutted to her desk and held out a hand to her.

Casting a glance at Glinda, who nodded excitedly, Elphaba took his hand and let him lead her to the center of the bedroom. “I’m not sure I remember how to-” she began.

At once, they were floating and waltzing across the wooden floor. Fiyero held her by the waist and whirled her in circles that left her dazed. The tempo of the music increased and they quickened their movements in responses. Taking a hop back, he stomped his feet to the rhythm and combined it with an arm thrust. Elphaba matched his steps and added her own twist at the end.

Glinda clapped and cheered, “Faster! Give her a spin!”

“Are we your court jesters, princess?” Elphaba countered, but her tone was giddy with elation.

Fiyero complied with Glinda’s request, lifting Elphaba’s hand and twirling it over her head. He spun her faster and faster until she could scarcely control where she was going. The world whipped around Elphaba’s eyes and she spiraled all the way across the room until she collided with the bed.

“Oof. Lurline above, Fiyero,” she muttered as she fell onto the bedspread. Pushing herself upright and shaking the stars from her eyes, she found herself face-to-face with an amused Glinda. She expected to be laughed at, but Glinda was quiet.

Smiling softly, Glinda placed the back of her hand on her forehead and wiggled her fingers. It was their signature move from their first dance together at the Ozdust. Elphaba’s hand moved to her forehead on its own to mirror Glinda. They locked gazes and held the pose for several moments.

Flashbacks of their time together played in Elphaba’s head like a movie reel. The first day they met, becoming her roommate, insulting each other, embracing and forgiving each other, falling in love and flying away together, separating and reuniting. Like twin stars, their fates were always intertwined. Except Glinda’s star was fading so fast that Elphaba was afraid to blink, lest she miss even a moment of her ephemeral existence.

They remained seated on the bed as the next steps flowed from muscle memory. Glinda and Elphaba tossed their arms in a circle, brought their hands to their stomachs before touching them to each other, and traced the air with bent elbows. But this time, it was Elphaba who reached to brush a tear off Glinda’s cheek.

“It’s okay,” Elphaba whispered.

Glinda blinked the remaining moisture from her eyes, her breathing already labored from the mild exertion. “Will I be able to sing and dance again someday?” she whimpered.

Emotion swelled in Elphaba’s chest at the bottled-up grief behind the simple question. “Yes you will. I’m going to cure you and you’ll be able to run, bounce, sing, dance, and toss your hair as much as you want,” she promised.

“Pinky swear?” Glinda said with a wobbling lip. “I miss having energy. I miss being truly alive.”

Looping Glinda’s fragile pinky in hers, Elphaba responded, “I swear with all four pinky fingers and toes.”

Glinda nodded in earnest, then made a face as she processed the sentence. “Just your fingers is enough. I don’t want to hold toes.”

The sight of her spark returning was enough to flood Elphaba with delight. “In that case, you have to obediently take your injections and eat your meals. Otherwise I’ll take my socks off and come at you with my green, unmanicured feet.”

“Ew, Elphie!” Glinda yelped. “Don’t plant that image in my head! And it’s pedicure, not manicure.”

“I hate to interrupt whatever oddity is happening right now,” Fiyero piped up and interjected, “but I think I found the news station.” He brought the radio over to the nightstand and cranked up the volume.

Elphaba held her breath. What was happening with the Animals and Morrible? Had it been a mistake to leave her alive? Her only hope was that their immense efforts hadn’t been in vain. Please, she prayed, let the world be okay without them. The last thing she wanted was to have to leave Glinda again.

Chapter Text

This is Avaric Tenmeadows, reporting live for the Shiz Gazette.

Uprisings have been happening across Winkie and Gillikin Country as support for Animal rights grows amongst the citizens. There are even reports of people in the Emerald City illegally harboring Bears and Lions in their homes. Daily protests occur outside Madame Morrible’s palace and the monkey guards have stopped enforcing her commands. Her rule hinges on a single source of support- Munchkinland.

Despite widespread disapproval, Munchkin Country remains aggressive in silencing Animals and closing their borders to outsiders. Will Eminent Nessarose Thropp become the most infamous leader in Munchkin history? Her husband, Boq, has reportedly filed for divorce and fled the country. You know, I was his roommate before they left Shiz. Rumor has it, he was always in love with Galinda Upland.

This brings us to our next segment: Where have the nation’s prince and princess gone? Sources say that former Captain Fi…

The radio glitched and emitted a static white noise. No amount of button pressing or knob turning would bring back the audio. Eventually, Fiyero gave up and powered off the device. A heavy silence replaced the static.

In the grand scheme of things, the news had been quite positive. As Elphaba had predicted, the citizens of Oz were making strides against Morrible and her policies. Glinda knew, however, that there was a reason for Elphaba’s joyless reaction.

“You’re thinking about Nessa,” she guessed.

Elphaba sighed and looked at the suitcase by the door. The silver slippers were stored there because she had been too sentimental to throw them away. “I hate the type of ruler she’s become, but I can’t hate her as a person. She’s my baby sister, too sheltered and naïve to differentiate between what she wants and what is right.”

“I was also sheltered and naïve once. It’s not an excuse for malicious actions,” Glinda retorted. She refused to forgive Nessa after the incident with Elphaba’s black eye. No one was allowed to hurt her Elphie and get away with it.

Fiyero patted Glinda’s arm to calm her down. “Even so, losing Boq must have been quite a blow to her.”

“All because of my dumb spell. I didn’t expect things to spiral like this,” Elphaba muttered.

Rage flared in Glinda’s chest, such that Fiyero could not stop her from leaping out of the covers and pouncing on Elphaba. “Dumb?! That spell was nothing short of a miracle, granting her the ability to walk. If Boq never loved her, it was only a matter of time before he left. You did both of them a favor,” she hissed, grabbing Elphaba by the shoulders.

Elphaba could only blink in response, stunned by the sudden blonde on top of her.

“Oo, head rush,” Glinda said, swaying on her knees. Fiyero extricated her from Elphaba and swiftly tucked her back in bed. “I’m going to have to agree with Glinda on this one,” he added.

“Hmm…excuse me for a moment,” Elphaba murmured. Getting up from the bed, she swiped the Grimmerie from the desk and walked out in a haze. The gears in her mind were spinning from something Glinda had said. Had the solution she had been seeking been right under her nose the entire time? That spell was nothing short of a miracle…

“Why?!” Elphaba growled. “You’re telling me that an ancient tome with near unlimited power can’t save one human life? Grant my heart’s desire, just like you granted Nessa’s.”

To an outsider, Elphaba would look utterly insane talking to herself while levitating cross-legged over the carpet. She was talking to the Grimmerie, which sporadically gave her telepathic responses. There was some sort of sentience within the ink and paper, albeit a rather sassy one.

“Answer me!” Elphaba commanded.

“That spell was permanently erased,” the book finally said. It had no voice of its own, which meant Elphaba was hearing her own voice inside her mind. When it spoke to her for the first time, Elphaba had suffered a brief quarter-life crisis in which she thought she was having hallucinations. She had almost sought therapy from a Duck out of desperation before realizing it was the Grimmerie.

Elphaba gestured with her hands, growing animated with frustration. “Give. Me. Something similar, then. A cure-all spell or a body reset spell.”

“You are not a healer. You are only able to read spells that are within your capabilities.” When Elphaba started folding dog-ears onto the sacred pages, the Grimmerie snarled, “Stop that. Stop. Oh very well, the ‘body reset’ you mentioned may be an avenue to explore, specifically the ‘reset’ part.”

“Are you referring to time magic?” The most rare and powerful magic of them all, Elphaba thought. Tampering with time was an ability that surfaced maybe once in a millennium. “Could I turn back time on Glinda’s body?”

The Grimmerie snorted. “You’d be lucky to rewind the clock on a hat. It takes decades, if not centuries, to master time.”

“How about a pair of shoes?” Elphaba quirked the side of her mouth into a smirk. She had just discovered a loophole. “If I rewind the silver slippers to the day I enchanted them, I could reuse the heart’s desire spell on myself. I share the same blood with Nessa, so the slippers should answer to me.”

“Clever girl. I knew I fell into the right hands.”

Fiyero was enjoying a peaceful evening with Glinda, something the two of them hadn’t had in a while. He sat on a chair pulled up to her bedside while they indulged in one of their favorite games. It was a game that Elphaba never really wanted to play with them for some reason. Back when they lived at the Emerald palace together, they often spent nights playing cards or giving the monkey guards makeovers. Anything to bring them a bit of cheer during dark times, really.

“Do you have any fours?” he asked.

“Go fish.”

“Darn it,” Fiyero muttered when he drew an eight from the pile. His opponent had an airtight strategy and an impossible poker face.

Glinda took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes at her cards. After careful deliberation, she decided to ask, “Do you have any kings?”

“Ha ha ha.” Leaning back in his chair and flashing a roguish grin at her, Fiyero forced Glinda to wait several seconds before he dramatically lowered his voice to whisper, “Go fish.”

“Oh…” Glinda’s hand hovered over the stack of cards in between them. Her concentration seemed to break and she swallowed audibly. The rise and fall of her chest began to quicken.

Fiyero waved a hand in front of her disoriented face. “Glinda? You have to go fish.”

“Go away. Leave,” Glinda groaned.

“You can’t just end the game because you’re losing,” he chided. When Glinda dropped her cards to press her hands over her mouth, Fiyero bolted upright in his chair. “Hey, what’s going on? Are you alright?”

A greenish hue crept into her cheeks. Realizing what was about to happen, Fiyero rushed to get a trash can for Glinda. He grabbed her hair while she expelled her dinner into the bin, muscles heaving and tears pouring from her eyes. Glinda sniffled and turned her head away in embarrassment after she finished.

“Sorry, that was disgustifying,” she croaked. With a flick of her hand, Glinda sacrificed a bit of energy to magically clean the trash can. She couldn’t stand being dirty or even worse, causing dirtiness.

Fiyero placed the bin beneath the bed and handed her a tissue to dry her eyes on. “Don’t apologize, this is nothing to feel shame over. Is this a new symptom? Or was my cooking truly that atrocious?”

“I think it’s the medicine. Large doses make my stomach feel horrible,” Glinda confessed. “I know I need the injections, but I’m having trouble keeping things down.”

Slumping onto the bed, Fiyero pulled Glinda into a hug. Her shoulders felt thinner than he remembered. He really hoped Elphaba was close to finding a cure, because they couldn’t keep drowning her in medicine. “I’ll make you something easier to digest tomorrow. What sounds good?”

“Candy.”

“Other than candy.”

“I don’t know, maybe fruit.” Glinda fiddled with the frayed ends of Fiyero’s shirt. She longed to give him a fresh wardrobe. Sketching outfits for the three of them would be a nice way to stay occupied while in bed. “Can you try turning the radio on again?” she requested. A bit of music would boost her creativity.

Fiyero took the device from the nightstand and pressed the button. After a bit of finagling with the wires, its speakers emitted a warped but comprehensible voice.

…swears she had nothing to do with the sudden tornado that swept across Munchkinland. While her integrity is questionable at best, I must admit that it makes no sense for Madame Morrible to attempt to assassinate her only supporter. It is simply a case of misfortune that this natural disaster demolished Eminent Thropp’s manor. A body has not been found yet, although that hasn’t stopped some Munchkins from celebrating the supposed end of her reign.

“Oh gods,” Glinda murmured. “We have to tell Elphie.”

Chapter Text

“I’m not leaving you guys,” Elphaba said.

“But Nessa is missing, we were sure you’d want to go to Munchkinland to search for her,” Fiyero replied. Deep down, he didn’t want her to go, but he also didn’t want her to have any regrets.

Elphaba paced back and forth in front of the window, watching the fireflies illuminate the meadows outside. A long time ago, she and Nessa had played in those picturesque fields. She would pick flowers and catch fireflies to toss on her sister’s lap, earning little squeals of joy from the toddler. But those days were not a part of their present or future. “You two are my family now, and I won’t abandon my duties here to chase after a person whose love exists only in my memories,” she decided.

“I’m sure this is a painful choice to make, and I sincerely wish for Nessa to be alright,” Fiyero said. “You can always talk to us and share the worries you carry.”

“Thank you.” Elphaba reached over and gave his hand a squeeze.

“Now, are you going to tell us what you’ve been working on in your study? I heard shouting earlier, which is odd because you were alone.”

With excitement gleaming in her misty eyes, Elphaba revealed her plans to learn time magic and take advantage of a loophole to recast the greatest spell in the Grimmerie.

Incredible, Glinda thought. Elphie was incredible. She very much wanted to join the conversation, but she didn’t have enough air to speak. The disgustifying incident had left her feeling increasingly short of breath. There was also a growing pain in the left side of her chest. Did her heart just skip a beat? It was fluttering very fast, but she was awfully tired.

“Has Glinda fallen asleep?” Elphaba walked to the bed, frowning at the crease between the motionless girl’s brows. She brushed her hand over Glinda’s forehead and was dismayed to find it cold and clammy. “Fetch another blanket, Fiyero. And maybe…maybe we’ll skip tonight’s injection.”

Apparently, there was a reason few witches tapped into time magic. The sensation was nothing like anything Elphaba had ever experienced before. In a bad way.

Every fiber in her body was being seared apart and pasted back together with each incessant tick of the pocket watch hovering before her. Elphaba stared at the small object, willing the second hand to move counterclockwise. A splitting pain behind her eyes blinded her vision and she dropped it with a clatter.

Panting on the floor, Elphaba levitated the Grimmerie in front of her. Dimming the lights to ease her impending migraine, she gritted her teeth and continued practicing the spell. She repeated the words over and over, even as stars danced in her periphery and blood dripped from her nose. Her own perception of time was warping; Elphaba had no idea how many hours had passed since she began.

Grief over deserting Nessa and fear over Glinda’s deterioration weighed on Elphaba like two anvils on her chest. She needed to succeed at this spell. She needed to do better. Everything was relying on her magic.

“Take a break,” the Grimmerie hissed. It was unusual for the book to initiate conversation.

“I can’t. I’m failing,” she groaned.

“Are you sure about that?”

Crawling onto her forearms, Elphaba picked up the pocket watch. She compared it with the reliable grandfather clock in the corner. Her heart soared. The watch was running five minutes late.

The anxiety melted from her body and Elphaba collapsed onto her back, bursting into delirious giggles. Her muscles were sore and her temples throbbed, but she was satisfied. The goal for tomorrow would be to increase her limit from five minutes to five hours, eventually reaching weeks and months.

A rumble in her stomach reminded Elphaba that she had bodily needs. Stumbling across the room, she opened the study door to find a tray sitting outside. A cup of coffee, fresh bread, and a bowl of her favorite stew greeted her. There was also a blue anemone in a vase next to a note from Fiyero.

“Take care of yourself, my love,” he had written in cursive.

Elphaba pressed the flower to her lips and dug into the stew. Despite having cooled to room temperature, the broth was rich and comforting. She could taste the care Fiyero had put into it; next time, she would take a break and join him at the table.

Fiyero felt useless. While Elphaba was working herself to the bone and Glinda was fighting to hold on, he was milling around playing housekeeper. Keeping the witches fed and taken care of was certainly important, but his contributions seemed insignificant in comparison.

There were only two things to do in his free time: watch Glinda sleep or listen outside Elphaba’s door. Both were extremely anxiety-inducing.

Elphaba grew more tense and haggard as the days dragged on, practically living inside her study. Dark circles had taken up permanent residence beneath her eyes. Fiyero constantly left food by the her door and urged her to sleep, but he trusted and respected her too much to force her into anything. Waiting. All he could do was wait.

In the background, his culinary skills were skyrocketing. Fiyero carved apples and oranges into the shapes of rabbits and swans, plating them in an aesthetic way. It was an attempt to make them more appetizing to Glinda. Unlike Elphaba, Glinda desperately tried to eat but her body wouldn’t cooperate.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Fiyero murmured while rubbing Glinda’s back. She had started choking on a piece of orange pulp. Even water was difficult for her to keep down; her lips were dry from dehydration. If this continued, the electrolyte imbalances could cause her heart to fail.

“The fruit is very pretty,” Glinda said weakly, offering him a faint smile for his intricate creations. In the same breath, she wheezed and coughed a puddle of blood onto her pillow.

Many of her old symptoms were returning, except for the fever. If anything, her body felt dangerously cool even as she shivered under multiple blankets. It was a sign that her immune system couldn’t mount a proper response anymore. The potion was about as useful as a lozenge at this point.

The sound of Elphaba shouting and smashing something resonated across the hall. Another fizzled spell, perhaps. How had everything spiraled so quickly? Fiyero’s stress reached a breaking point and he couldn’t hold back a small sob, viciously rubbing his tears away before Glinda noticed.

Glinda did notice, and her weakening heart shattered to see her prince so broken. “Please don’t bottle up your emotions,” she begged.

“I’m fine,” Fiyero said through clenched teeth. “No one needs to worry about me. The least I can do is stay strong and optimistic for you guys.”

“What do you mean the least you can do?”

Fiyero ran his fingers through his uncombed hair. “I’m useless. Elphaba’s busy defying the dimensions of time and space while I’m just some moral support dog in the back. I shouldn’t have even said that, I shouldn’t have burdened you with my irrelevant worries.”

A spurt of energy allowed Glinda to sit up and grasp his hand. “Useless? You’re the one keeping us from falling apart. Do not belittle the importance of nourishment, humor, and hope.”

“I second that,” Elphaba said from the doorway. There was a bit of soot on her face and her hair was windswept. “Just earlier, I restored my broomstick to the condition it was half a year ago. It may have created a blast that annihilated my study…but anyways, I couldn’t have made such progress without your support.”

“Besides,” she continued as she joined his bedside vigil, “Aren’t you the one who said enough with guilt and despair? We need to be there for one another, and that includes you.”

Glinda nodded. “Let it out.”

The floodgates in Fiyero’s heart, after being compressed shut for so long, ruptured open.

“I’m constantly scared but I don’t know how to express it, so I hide behind jokes. Being tough all the time wears me out, but I’m terrified I’ll become a burden if I’m not. And sometimes I do anything to avoid thinking too hard about the things that hurt me…” Little by little, Fiyero opened up. He finally showed the girls his insecurity, frustration, anguish, and overwhelming anxiety.

Glinda and Elphaba quietly listened, restraining their own tears to give him the platform. Many of his hidden worries directly mirrored what Glinda had gone through at Shiz, such as masking her insecurities and using air-headedness as a form of self-protection. Elphie had healed her and created a safe space for her to be herself. It was time for them to do the same for him.

The three of them sat in a circle on the bed, Glinda propped up against the headboard. They cast all distractions aside for the next few hours to focus on each other. Huddled together by the crackle of the fireplace in their secluded ruby palace, they unpacked the trauma that they had been too busy or too afraid to address. Elphaba’s soul-crushing loneliness while on the run, Glinda’s constant battle against the threat of death, and Fiyero’s desperation to find happiness for the trio. It was easy to forget how young they had been, and still were, when their world was thrown into turmoil.

“I’m not fully okay yet. None of us are,” Elphaba admitted, “But we don’t have to be okay right now. We just have to keep going.”

“Together,” Fiyero added.

“Together,” Glinda prayed, linking her trembling pinkies through theirs.

Chapter Text

Elphaba woke up curled on the foot of Glinda’s bed. The sun was high in the sky, blaring early afternoon rays through the thin curtains. Fiyero snored across from her, his feet dangling off the side. The two of them flanked Glinda, who was a small mound of pillows and blankets in the center. That’s right, they had stayed up most of the night talking and crying.

The anvils on Elphaba’s chest were gone. The fluidity of her muscles surprised her when she stretched, an indication that she previously carried excess tension in them. Sighing contentedly, she laid back down to gaze at her girlfriend and boyfriend. She unconsciously scooted to the very edge in order to widen her field of view.

The sunlight illuminated Glinda’s curls into spun gold that belonged in a fairy tale. Her long eyelashes curled over skin that was softer than fine velvet. She was so small next to Fiyero’s athletic frame. Elphaba traced the lines of his sharp jaw, roaming past his chest and sturdy arms to his long fingers. Breathtaking, the two of them were breathtaking.

“It’s impolite to ogle, Miss Elphaba, no matter how attractive your subject is,” Fiyero said. He cracked open his eyes and lazily rolled onto his elbows.

Elphaba squeaked and toppled off the bed with a thump.

“Hmm?” Glinda stirred and rubbed her eyes. “What are you doing down there, Elphie?”

Fiyero grinned. “She was-”

“Stretching. Morning stretches. Yoga is good for one’s body,” Elphaba made up on the spot. Unable to think of a single pose, she panicked and spread her limbs in a star shape.

As someone who did know yoga, Glinda balked at the horrendous position. “Oh Elphie, if that’s your idea of yoga, it’s no wonder you’re so stiff.” Suppressing a cough, she continued, “After I’m better, I’ll teach you how to properly bend and contort your body. It’s all in the core.”

“You really don’t have to do that.”

“I know,” Glinda smiled. “That’s what makes me…”

“So nice?” Elphaba finished her sentence. Chuckling at her predictability, Elphaba rejoined them on the bed. “What else do you, both of you, want to do once this is all over?”

“Eat!” Glinda immediately exclaimed, a hint of rouge returning to her pallid cheeks. “There’s a great dessert buffet in Gillikin, three stories tall. Cakes, pudding, croquembouche, fruit tarts, macarons, piles of whipped cream, merengue pie, and more! All baked with our signature dairy products, of course.” There was more she wanted to share, but her throat was too dry.

Fiyero laughed and patted her leg. “Absolutely, my flower. We’ll fill you up and restore your energy. Afterwards, perhaps we could visit the Merry-Go-Mountains. It’s an amusement park in Winkie Country, built on whirling rubber mountains.”

“What about you, Elphie? What do you want to-” Glinda asked. A wave of nausea hit her and she promptly shut her mouth.

Elphaba wracked her brain for something a little more peaceful to balance their ambitious suggestions. The field of scarlet flowers outside the window sparked an idea. “Story Blossom Mountain, located right here in Quadling Country. A garden where every flower tells a story,” she settled on.

“That’s a beautiful idea,” Fiyero remarked. He turned to Glinda, who was rapidly losing color.

Unable to find the right words, Glinda gave a little nod instead. Her heart pounded and skipped a beat. She was so excited for their vacation plans that she could scarcely breathe. Actually, she flat out couldn’t breathe. A strange sort of pressure crushed against her chest.

“Ow…” she whimpered, clutching a hand to her chest.

“What is it? Where does it hurt?” Elphaba swiftly replied.

The pain was like a fist gripping Glinda’s heart. She had experienced stabs of pain there before, but this was on another level. Why had it come on so suddenly? Her head was growing woozy and her stomach felt funny.

Fiyero’s fingers were on her wrist and her neck. “I think she’s having a heart attack. Her pulse is racing, but it’s very faint,” his frantic voice echoed.

A heart attack? Surely she was too young for that, Glinda thought. She clenched her jaw and willed the pain to go away. “Ugh…no…wait,” she mumbled.

One minute passed, then two, then three. Through sheer will, Glinda remained conscious. The pressure partially lifted from her chest and she took a tentative deep inhalation. Another inhalation. Cold sweat dampened her pink peignoir.

“It went away. I think,” she panted. Weariness caused her limbs to go limp.

Fiyero directly placed his palm over her heart to make sure it was beating normally. “I’m not sure. Your pulse is still a bit unsteady.”

“Well, I guess…this is pretty bad,” Glinda sighed. Groaning in discomfort, she shut her eyes and let sleep take away the pain.

“Stay with her, Fiyero. I’m going to attempt the spell right now,” Elphaba commanded.

Elphaba snatched the silver slippers on her way out, barreling full-speed into her study. Ash and splintered wooden beams nearly smacked her in the face. She had forgotten that her magic had demolished the room yesterday. Yanking the Grimmerie from a pile of soot, she decided to go outside. It would be terrible if Glinda or Fiyero were damaged in an explosion.

The front yard was wide and empty, an ideal spot. Elphaba considered jumping straight out the second-story window, but took the stairs instead to conserve magic. The vastness of the palace frustrated her as she dashed across the hallways.

Although she wasn’t confident in the spell yet, she knew it had to be today. Her own father, Frexspar Thropp, had instantly died from a heart attack. Glinda was lucky that hers wasn’t fatal, but she was headed towards a steep decline. This was a sign that her organs were failing from systemic infection, malnutrition, and dehydration.

Elphaba knelt onto the grass and laid the slippers in front of her. Grasping the Grimmerie, she summoned every inch of power from every crevice of her soul. The window of time between when she had enchanted the slippers and when Nessa had used them was extremely narrow, thirty seconds at most. And precision with magic had never been Elphaba’s strong suit.

The familiar agony of her muscles being torn apart made Elphaba bellow. Blood vessels roared in her brain, which burned the inside of her skull. There was no clock, but she could hear a ticking noise reverberating in all directions.

“Cease this, you’re not ready,” the Grimmerie warned.

“I will succeed and you will help me!” Elphaba ordered.

There was a blinding flash of light and a gust of wind that snapped a nearby tree in half. Elphaba glimpsed the slippers twinkle in and out like a star. Scarcely a second later, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

The sun was still shining when Elphaba came to her senses. Based on its position, an hour or two had passed. Sore and weak, she examined her surroundings. Several trees and the corner of the palace was smashed. Luckily, Glinda’s room was tucked away on the opposite side. The lawn was decimated into dirt in a massive circle around her. The Grimmerie and the slippers were fine.

Based on the destruction, the spell had definitely worked. The only question was, did she get the timing correct? Elphaba rose from the ground and picked up the slippers. There used to be a speck of blood on the left shoe from when it gave her a black eye. It was gone. Hope thudded against her ribcage.

Loud footsteps and fumbling on the hillside broke Elphaba’s concentration. Her sharp sense of hearing had alerted her to a potential trespasser. Setting the Grimmerie and the slippers on a cracked tree stump, she wobbled across the dirt to confront the person on their porch. Each step sent a dull ache through her exhausted legs.

Never in a million years did Elphaba expect to see Nessa there, attempting to unlock the front door. There was a young girl with auburn pigtails carrying a trunk next to her.

“What are you doing here? And who is that?” Elphaba said incredulously. “I thought you…”

Nessarose crossed her arms. “My house was destroyed, my husband left me, and my citizens hate me. Of course I’d come live in my palace. This strange girl blew in with the tornado, joining me in my misery, so I made her my servant.”

“My name is Dorothy Gale,” the redhead chimed in. She had a strange accent. “I’m from Kansas, not Oz. I don’t know anything or anyone here, but Miss Nessarose has graciously offered me a job at her side. What I’d really like, however, is to go ho-”

“Stop talking,” Nessarose interjected. “What I want to know, Elphaba, is what are you doing here?”

Well this was awkward. Elphaba looked at the ground as she disclosed, “Actually, mother left the ruby palace to me in her will. I’ve gifted it to Glinda. We’re living here along with Fiyero.”

Icy, contained fury blazed in Nessarose’s eyes. “How lovely. First Boq, now my childhood home. What will that vixen take from me next?”

“I’m sorry, Nessa. I didn’t think you’d even remember this place given how young you were when we moved. Please don’t be angry at Glinda, she's not well and I really need to go help her,” Elphaba pleaded.

Nessarose furrowed her brow, taking notice of the objects sitting behind them. “Are those MY shoes?”

Chapter Text

“Are those MY shoes?” Nessarose asked, creeping towards the slippers.

Elphaba shot out an arm to halt her. “Yes, they’re the ones you threw away. I need them for something.”

“Maybe I want them back. They were a gift from father.”

Why was this happening? Why now of all times? Elphaba cursed and debated how much to reveal. How much could she trust her own sister? “Look, Nessa, let me wear the shoes for a moment and then you can have them. Glinda is dying from an illness as we speak and only the enchanted slippers can save her.”

Nessarose widened her eyes in surprise. “Dying? So that’s why she went missing. How tragic.”

For a moment, Elphaba thought she saw remorse on her sister’s face. They had once been friends, after all. There was no way Nessa would want Glinda to die, right?

“Wait,” Nessarose said. “Does this mean the slippers can grant someone their heart’s desire again? I could get my country back. I could get Boq back.”

“Don’t even think about it!” Elphaba shrieked, her temper rising. “Glinda’s LIFE takes precedence over the consequences of your own actions.”

Nessarose’s nostrils flared. “I have nothing right now. I’m alone and hated by everyone. You’re not even going to consider helping me? After everything she stole from me, I didn’t expect Glinda to steal my sister too.”

“Have you ever helped me? Even once?” Elphaba said quietly. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“I deserve love too, I deserve to have Boq! And they were my slippers to begin with!”

Years of pushing her wheelchair had made Nessa’s arms disproportionately strong. She shoved Dorothy at Elphaba with such force that both girls tumbled to the ground. Nessarose broke into a sprint across the lawn and dove for the slippers.

“Apologies,” Elphaba muttered to the innocent redhead as she pushed her aside to chase after Nessa. Her legs barely had the strength to stand, but Elphaba slammed herself into Nessa and yanked the shoes from her hands.

The sisters wrestled on the dirt, holding back fewer and fewer punches as the tussle dragged on. Finally, Elphaba sent Nessa soaring through the air with a blast of magic. Each sister held one of the slippers in their hands. A stalemate.

Elphaba levitated Nessa against a splintered tree, but her power was fading. She was too exhausted from the time spell. The trembling of her muscles did not go unnoticed.

“Servant girl,” Nessarose screeched, “Attack her and get my other shoe!”

Dorothy brushed the dirt from her blue gingham dress and matter-of-factly said, “My name is Dorothy. But very well, I’ll fetch it for you.”

Elphaba scrambled to think of a plan as the young girl calmly strode up to her. “Wait. Dorothy Gale, right? You mentioned something you really wanted earlier. You wanted to go home?”

“By golly, you remembered,” Dorothy replied. “Are you a nice witch? You’re not ugly, so you must not be a bad witch.”

“Yes, I’m a nice witch,” Elphaba assured her. “And you can see that I have real magic, right? Nessarose does not have magic. She will keep you around as a servant forever, but I could help you return to Kansas.”

Dorothy considered this proposition. “That would be wonderful if you’re being truthful, Miss Elphaba. See, I remembered your name too.”

Nessarose struggled against Elphaba’s levitation. “Don’t listen to her, Doris! That’s the Wicked Witch of the West, we saw her on the wanted posters!”

“So we did.” Dorothy studied Elphaba’s features. “She’s much prettier in person.”

“Please.” Elphaba sunk to her knees to grovel at the girl. For Glinda, she would gladly toss aside her dignity. “The girl I love most in the world is fading. All I want is to save her life. If you get me the slipper, I’d do just about anything for you in return.”

“Oh, my! Well in that case…” With an unreadable expression, Dorothy went over to Nessarose. She tightened her pigtails and cracked her knuckles. “Miss Nessarose, I have told you over and over again that my name is Dorothy. You have been very ill-mannered to me throughout our journey together, which by the way was not pleasant. I think I prefer the green one.”

Nessarose scowled. “You can’t do this to me. I’m your employer, I’m your-”

There was a thump as Dorothy’s fist collided with Nessa’s stomach. Elphaba released her levitation spell so that the Kansas girl could jump onto Nessa and start whaling away. Dorothy went straight for Nessa’s jugular, strangling the living daylights out of her. She wrenched the slipper from her hands and gave Nessarose a thwack on the forehead for good measure.

“Here you are, Miss Elphaba,” Dorothy said cheerily. She skipped over and resumed a demure, ladylike posture.

Setting her sheer shock aside, Elphaba thanked the girl and kicked off her boots. Before anyone else could interrupt her, she slid the slippers on. Please cure Glinda, please grant my sincere wish for us to be happy and well, she voiced to the universe. A zap spread from her toes to the top of her head and Elphaba shuddered. Both her body and mind felt lighter.

Had it worked? There was only one way to find out. Elphaba motioned for Dorothy to come with her, leaving Nessarose behind in the dirt.

Nessarose merely sighed and watched them go. “The girl you love most in the world, huh? I remember when that used to be me,” she muttered. “I hope you’re happy.”

“She’s waking up,” Fiyero gasped. He was sitting on the bed, cradling Glinda in his arms. Elphaba knelt before them, her hands clutching one of Glinda’s. Almost an hour had passed since she’d bolted to the bedroom in her socks, carrying the delicate silver slippers in case they’d be needed again. Dorothy, who was unusually level-headed for her age, had settled herself in a guest bedroom to give them space.

Elphaba held her breath. Rosiness had returned to Glinda’s cheeks and the bruises beneath her eyes had faded. Her chest no longer heaved and wheezed with each inhalation. When Elphaba touched a hand on her forehead, it was neither feverish nor clammy.

“Elphie? Fiyero?” Glinda’s eyes fluttered open. Bit by bit, her surroundings came into focus. Her senses were clear, sharp without the haze of fever.

“How do you feel?” Elphaba asked in a shaking voice.

“Hmm…” Glinda stretched out her fingers and made a fist. Aside from some inevitable muscle atrophy, there was otherwise no trembling or weakness. She rubbed her sternum and smiled when nothing hurt. For the final test, she took a deep breath and sung in her full operatic voice. The piercing soprano note made Fiyero and Elphaba flinch in surprise. Glinda hadn’t been this loud in a long, long time.

Tears burst forth from Glinda’s eyes. She hadn’t been able to sing since the start of her illness due to her weak lungs. Finally, singing didn’t trigger any pain or fits of coughing. It was glorious and she never wanted to stop. “I’m okaaaAAaaaaaaay,” she belted with a vocal run. “I’m okay,” Glinda repeated normally, almost in disbelief.

“It worked!” Elphaba sobbed. “It really worked.”

Elphaba threw her arms around Glinda and Fiyero threw his arms around both of them. The three of them hugged and squeezed each other, a complete bawling mess.

“You did it, you brilliant witch,” Fiyero wept.

Laughter fused with Elphaba’s tears. “That’s right, I did do it. I’m brilliant.”

“That’s our girlfriend,” Glinda praised. “I looooooove you,” she gushed, singing the word “love.”

Extracting herself from the tangle of limbs, Glinda hopped to the floor and stretched out her joints. Her body felt so light and free that she was practically floating. Just for fun, she ran to the fireplace and ran back. Climbing onto the couch, she started jumping up and down on the cushions. “Weeee, look at me!” she proclaimed.

Elphaba melted into Fiyero’s side and laid her head on his shoulder. They watched Glinda bounce and toss her hair in the air, enormous smiles on their faces.

Glinda twirled and danced around the room until she ran out of breath. Panting and leaning against the couch, she lamented being extremely out of shape from weeks of bedrest. Yoga lessons with Elphie would be next on the agenda. Suddenly, she dropped to her knees.

Fiyero and Elphaba rushed over in concern. “What’s wrong?” they shouted in unison.

“I’m…” Glinda pressed a hand to her abdomen. A massive rumble came from her stomach. “I’m hungry! Unbelievably hungry. And thirsty,” she remarked. Relief washed over her companions.

“What does our princess want to eat? I can cook anything,” Fiyero said with pride. He really could whip up a feast with ease now.

Elphaba put her hands on her hips. “Not candy or pudding.”

“How about a three story dessert buffet in Gillikin? Followed by a trip to the Merry-Go-Mountains and Story Blossom Mountain?” Glinda pleaded, batting her doe eyes at them.

“We will do all of those things. Not right at this very moment, but I promise we will,” Elphaba replied.

Fiyero cleared his throat. “Attention, subjects of the ruby palace! May the Lady Glinda Arduenna Upland of the Upper Uplands of Frottica of Gillikin Country of the Land of Oz please make her way to the formal dining room. Your humble prince wishes to present a meal to her highness and her royal sorceress, Lady Elphaba Thropp.”

Glinda dissolved into giggles. “Lead the way, my liege.”

Elphaba winked at Glinda and stretched out her hand to her. Glinda wiped her eyes dry and happily interlaced their fingers, falling perfectly into step with her.

“By the way, we have an additional guest. A girl from Kansas who is very innocent, but tough as nails,” Elphaba mentioned as they descended the staircase.

“Who’s Kansas?” Glinda asked.

Elphaba chuckled and pulled her beautiful girlfriend in for a kiss, supporting her waist in a passionate dip. Magic swirled around them, causing the pair to float a few inches off the ground. She continued to hold Glinda’s waist, swinging her around in a hug after they landed. Burying her face in her golden curls, Elphaba knew that her heart’s desire truly had been granted.

Chapter Text

“For the locust pose, keep your knees straightened and your stomach on the ground. Lift your legs and upper torso in the air behind you, so that your body resembles a bowl shape,” Glinda instructed. She attempted to follow her own directions, but only managed to get her feet a few inches off the ground.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at the wriggling girl on their living room carpet. “You look more like a plate than a bowl. Is that a locust or a worm?”

“Do as I say, not as I do,” Glinda retorted. “Just imagine that my legs are higher with that big ol’ brain of yours.”

Rolling onto her stomach, Elphaba felt the burn in her thighs as she lifted her body in accordance to Glinda’s directions. Her muscles were strong enough to support the position, but her back was too stiff to form the bowl shape.

“I can do it,” Fiyero said cheerily. His form was perfectly bent, limbs extended with impressive flexibility. “Dancer’s agility,” he winked.

Glinda clapped and cheered. “That’s exactly it! Copy Fiyero, Elphie!”

“Excuse me, I’m terribly sorry to intrude,” Dorothy said, tentatively walking in. She stood at the archway and tried her best not to judge the three grown adults rolling around on the floor. “If Miss Glinda is feeling better now, perhaps we might discuss how I’m going to get home?”

Elphaba put her limbs back where they belonged and rose to her feet. “Of course, I will definitely repay you for your assistance, as promised. I’ve been thinking…”

“I heard,” Fiyero couldn’t resist interjecting.

Shooting the prince an eye roll, Elphaba continued, “I’ve been thinking that I could use the slippers. If I turned back time once, why can’t I do it again? We could theoretically have infinite wishes.”

“Absolutely not!” Glinda interjected this time, sitting up and crossing her arms. If she was trying to look menacing, she was failing. With her blonde pigtails and little pink exercise dress, Elphaba thought she resembled an adorable baby rabbit. The bunny pouted and said, “I don’t want you to use time magic anymore. It causes you too much pain. What if you overdo it and your body doesn’t recover?”

“Where is this Kansas?” Fiyero asked. “I have a horse.”

Dorothy tried her best to stay composed. “With all due respect Mister Fiyero, if Kansas was reachable by horse, I would’ve been long gone by now. I would not require the help of a green magical lady.”

“I believe Dorothy is from another world,” Elphaba explained. “Unless we recreate the tornado that brought you here, the slippers are our best bet.”

Glinda pursed her lips in thought. “I’ll do it, then. Not time magic,” she quickly added upon seeing the immediate disapproval on Elphaba and Fiyero’s faces. “If there is even a hint of enchantment left on those shoes, I can draw upon my amplification magic to boost its power.”

“Are you sure it won’t be too taxing?” Elphaba fretted. Even though she knew Glinda was free of infection, she couldn’t release her intense protective instinct. Glinda was still a delicate person by nature, and her constitution would likely never be the same after such a prolonged illness.

“Please, Elphie,” Glinda insisted. “You’re not the only one who’s honed her sorcery skills. I know my limits and I’m confident in my abilities.”

Fiyero backed her up with an encouraging nod. “She’s really quite powerful at her craft.”

“Very well. I’ll let Glinda the Good work her magic.” Elphaba gave in. As much as she wanted to hold her girlfriend tight and keep the world away from her, Glinda deserved freedom more than anyone.

It was true, Glinda was an excellent sorceress. Dusting off her sparkly wand, she flounced around the palace and added her touch to the interior. Pink curtains, ruby carpets, silver chandeliers, and vases full of roses soon adorned the halls. A necessary warm-up before tackling the slippers, she claimed.

Glinda came upon the broken radio and waved her wand. Repairing a technological gadget was more challenging, but she knew she could do it.

“Elphie, Fiyero, Dorothy, come here! I found the news station,” she called. Her housemates flocked to the sound of her resonant voice. Elphaba and Fiyero squeezed themselves onto her loveseat, sandwiching her in the middle. Dorothy politely kept her distance on an armchair.

The restored radio produced a clear audio without any hitches.

Are we good to start? Ok, roll the cameras.

Good morning Oz, it’s your trusty reporter Avaric Tenmeadows with the Shiz Gazette. For those of you tuning in at home, we are seated here today in the Emerald City event hall with none other than Madame Morrible herself.

“Ugh, her again?” Glinda curled her lip in annoyance.

“Lower the volume when she starts talking,” Fiyero muttered.

Tell me, Madame, to what do I owe the honor? It is highly unconventional for the interviewee to request a specific interviewer.

You were once my student, Avaric. Consider it fondness for the past. I’d also like to leverage your insider knowledge about former Shiz students.

I’m all ears.

Elphaba frowned and leaned in closer. “What does she have up her sleeve?”

After investigating the cause of the Munchkinland tornado, I have discovered the perpetrator. It brings me no joy to announce this, as I dearly loved her, but Galinda Upland is responsible for it!

“What?!” The trio shrieked simultaneously.

Fiyero slammed his fist on the armrest. “I should cut her lying tongue off. Silence her permanently.”

“How does that even make sense? I was a bit busy dying during the whole ordeal,” Glinda snarled. Her hands clenched around the radio, knuckles white with rage.

What? But she’s been missing for weeks. I also don’t believe her capable of such wickedness.

I didn’t either, not with her pretty little face, but Galinda has always opposed my ideas to revolutionize Oz. She ran away to aid the Wicked Witch, so it should come as no surprise that she plotted the demise of my greatest supporter, Nessarose Thropp.

But I don’t think she would or could summon a tornado.

Let me ask you this, Avaric, did she get along with Nessarose Thropp at Shiz?

On the surface level, yes, but there was deep-seated jealousy on Nessa's side. 

And what type of magic was Galinda especially good at when you were students together?

…Air magic.

So that’s what she needed Avaric for, Elphaba thought. A neutral third-party who could prove her point. Taking note of how Glinda’s nails pressed painfully against the metal, Elphaba took the radio from her. When Glinda started digging her nails into her palm instead, Elphaba passed the radio to Fiyero and placed her own hand into hers.

And there you have it. In fact, I’d like to welcome a special guest who will further support these allegations. Eminent Thropp, please show yourself.

Nessa?!

Hello, Avaric. Thank you for inviting me, Madame Morrible.

“I was wondering where Nessa went after our fight,” Elphaba said. “I should’ve known she’d run straight to Morrible.”

This time, it was Glinda who kept Elphaba from clenching her fist too hard.

“I don’t know much about Miss Nessarose, but she talked a lot about a bawk during our travels,” Dorothy piped up. “Perhaps she ought to get a pet bird if she’s so lonely.”

Elphaba relaxed her hand a bit at the young girl’s unintentionally humorous remark.

Please tell our watchers and listeners all about how that awful tornado ruined your life. Tell them about how Galinda ruined your life.

…

Tell them, Nessarose.

That tornado demolished everything I owned and nearly killed me. My life is in shambles and I am truly alone now. Have people forgotten that I am just a young woman who was disabled for most of her life? I have committed mistakes, but all I wanted was to love and be loved. I dare not beg for forgiveness, but I at least beg for a shred of sympathy.

Fiyero shook his head. “When will she ever learn to take accountability for her actions?”

And who did this to you?

…You did.

Silence fell over the room.

Excuse me?

You sent the tornado. Don’t blame Glinda. She-She doesn’t deserve it. I should know, I tried to blame everything on her. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you listening, Elphaba? I’m sorry! Please don't abandon me forever. 

This interview is OVER! Cut the cameras and turn the broadcast off!

Elphaba stood up, shaking off everyone's concerned stares. “Please excuse me. I need to be alone for a bit.”

“Here you go,” Glinda said. “I even shrunk them a bit so that they’d fit your feet.”

Dorothy slid her feet into the silver slippers, marveling at how they were a perfect fit. “Why thank you, Miss Glinda! What do I do now?”

“That’s easy, what is your heart’s desire at the moment?”

“I want to go home,” Dorothy immediately answered. “Oz is magical and lovely, but there really is no place like home.”

Glinda smiled at the spirited redhead. “There’s no place like home. You’re so right. Hold onto that phrase and think really hard about it.”

Closing her eyes and grunting, Dorothy tried her best to picture her farm in Kansas. “What if it doesn’t work because I’m not a witch?”

“Relax, it’ll work. You just need to worry less and feel more. Although, I might’ve accidentally added my touch to the slippers.” Peering at the silver slippers, which now had a pinkish red tinge, Glinda thought for a moment. “Maybe you need to embody me for the shoes to obey you.”

“How would I do that?”

“Oh I don’t know, toss toss your hair? Sing and dance?”

Dorothy did not know what “toss toss” meant, but she knew how to line dance. A step to the side, cross over the leg, step out, then bring the heels together. As her heels clacked, she repeated the phrase “no place like home” in her mind. A warm and floaty sensation rose in her body.

“Farewell, Dorothy Gale,” Glinda said as the girl dissolved into sparkles and vanished from their world. The slippers had disappeared with her, never to be seen again. Perhaps that was for the best. Anything with enough power would eventually become a source of contention and rife.

The same could be said for any person. Morrible’s reputation was truly beyond the point of salvation now, and it was unexpectedly thanks to Nessa. As much as Glinda wanted to continue living blissfully in the ruby palace, she knew it was time for the trio to return to politics. The only question was, who was going to replace Morrible as the ruler of Oz?

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you don’t want to see her?” Glinda asked.

The three of them were sitting in a large bubble high in the sky, floating towards the Emerald City. When Glinda was sick, her bubble could only hold her own weight. The blush of health seemed to have transferred to her magic; her improved bubble was strong, expandable, and had a rainbow sheen that sparkled off the pink sphere.

“One apology cannot erase years of mistreatment. Although…I might send Nessa a card for the holidays. Baby steps.” The Thropp manor had been rebuilt, and although Nessa would never govern the country again, the Munchkins tolerated her residence there.

Elphaba traced the smooth, effervescent curve with her fingers. This was the first time she rode with Glinda and not the other way around. Traveling by bubble was dainty, climate-controlled, and perky. The complete opposite of Elphaba’s austere aesthetic, sharp lines, and pointy hat. Nevertheless, she loved anything that was associated with Glinda.

“The city is almost unrecognizable,” Fiyero said, looking down at the emerald skyscrapers. Clues of hidden conflict marred the pristine capital, best seen in the anti-Morrible graffiti and blood-smeared rubble that flourished in the alleyways. Despite the roughness, it had been changed for the good. Humans and Animals walked the streets together, laughing and chatting as if they had always been friends.

The sight made Elphaba glow with gratification. “Good. That means they’re ready for us.”

“But are we ready for them?” Glinda pondered. Anxiety rattled over her wraithlike frame and caused the bubble to wobble.

Elphaba pressed a reassuring hand on her. “There’s no fight we cannot win, my sweet.”

Every inch of space before the Emerald City palace was occupied by people and Animals. They stood eagerly in the streets to watch the candidates for the throne present themselves to the public. Beyond the capital, the citizens of Oz tuned in via radio or live telegram updates.

Madame Morrible was in prison, convicted for the attempted assassination of Nessarose Thropp. Having lost hope in the prophecy, the people turned to diplomacy to elect their next ruler. Leaders from each of the four countries were present, all hoping to receive the coveted promotion.

No one expected three people to literally fall from the sky in the middle of the election. Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero tumbled through the window of the throne room. They were less interested in the high-ranking figures here and more interested in the citizens outside below the balcony.

“Who dares interrupt our grand proceedings?” Locasta of the North demanded, her old eyes widening when she recognized a certain blonde sorceress.

The Sultan of Samandra brandished an angry finger. “Someone tell the monkey guards to seize them!”

The winged monkeys fell into formation in front of them. Chistery met Elphaba’s eyes and took out his spear. The pink bedazzled bracelets, from when Glinda had transformed his shackes, were still around his ankles. Elphaba opened her mouth to plead with him, but Chistery surprised her.

Instead of using his spear to attack her, he laid it on the ground in a show of peace. The rest of the monkeys did the same with their weapons, remembering how the pair had spared their lives during the fight with Morrible. Although they could not speak, the poignant mercy and respect in their eyes communicated everything Elphaba needed to know. 

“What is this nonsense?” the Sultan scoffed, but the ruler of Corabia raised a finger to silence him.

The Corabian king had not forgotten Elphaba’s story about all the Animals she rescued. “Go forth, young witch,” he said tenderly while gesturing to the balcony.

Elphaba wrung her hands nervously and took a deep breath.

“You can do this. I know clandestinely, we can do this,” Glinda encouraged. They had swapped places, Glinda reassuring an anxious Elphaba. She reached over and fixed Elphaba’s hat before pushing her forward.

Elphaba stepped onto the balcony, the sharp sunlight putting her on display for the thousands of people in the streets below. Gasps and murmurs rumbled through the crowd at the sight of her. Whisperings about the “wicked witch” resounded, but no one screamed or ran away in fear. They were merely curious and confused.

“Citizens of Oz,” Elphaba began, “I am Elphaba Thropp, daughter of the Thropp Second Descending. You may know me as the Wicked Witch of the West, a moniker thrust upon me by Morrible. I need not convince you of her lies, as those are well-known, but I do need to convince you of my truth. I have always been on the side of good. While Morrible was slandering me as a scapegoat, I was covertly rescuing thousands of Animals without want for recognition or reward. My goal is simple- let no one needlessly be silenced or discriminated.”

Chistery lead the winged monkeys outside, flying in a synchronized circle above Elphaba’s head. They landed on the ground and knelt before her in allegiance. The Bears and Lions in the crowd immediately knelt down as well. One by one, every Animal joined in, forming a sea of fur and feathers that were eternally grateful to their savior. In the distance, a Goat with glasses and a tweed suit smiled at her.

The humans were still not convinced, standing straight amongst the bowed Animals. “How are we supposed to suddenly trust you?” a Munchkin shouted.

“Because if elected, I will not be ruling alone,” Elphaba responded. Reaching a hand behind her, she turned and waited. Glinda stepped forward and laced her fingers into Elphaba’s.

Dazzling was the only word to describe her. The sunlight illuminated Glinda’s golden tresses, her rosy and healthy cheeks, and her signature pink gown that had once captivated Oz. Immediate shrieks and cheers answered her arrival.

Glinda gave the people a brilliant smile. “It’s been a long time, but I hope you have not forgotten about me?”

“Never!”, “Our princess!”, and “Galinda the Good!” were all hollered.

“It’s Glinda now, but I’m sure everyone wants to know where I was,” Glinda said. “I will be honest. I was extremely ill, not poisoned or hexed, but genuinely ill. It was none other than Elphaba Thropp who put her own life on the line to save me. She saved me just like she saved the Animals, because that’s the beautiful type of person she is. I’m who I am today because I knew her.”

A Gillikinese man waved his hand to get her attention. “What about your fiancé? Where’s the prince?”

Elphaba reached out her other hand for Fiyero to make his entrance onto the balcony. He flipped his hair as he strutted forth, earning whistles from the crowd.

“Hello, hello,” Fiyero greeted the people. “I’m right here. I was with them the whole time and can vouch for Elphaba’s goodness. She saved my fiancée’s life using an ancient spell from the Grimmerie. She’s also our girlfriend, but we can talk about that later.”

Gasps echoed against the emerald marble. “Grimmerie?”

“That’s right, both Elphaba and Glinda can read the Grimmerie. They are your true prophesized queens!” Fiyero proclaimed. Chistery flapped his wings and flaunted his bracelets as proof, gesturing to the witches.

“Will you be ruling with them too?” another Gillikinese person inquired.

Fiyero chuckled. “Oh no, I’ll be their house-husband. I’m content knowing nothing matters to me more than supporting them. Take it away, Glinda!”

“Thank you, my prince,” Glinda replied. Fluttering her long eyelashes at the enamored citizens, she projected her rich voice for the entire city to hear. “I, Glinda the Good, have returned and am here to stay. It would be my honor to reprise my role as your princess, nay, queen. I cannot do it, however, without the wisdom and bravery of Elphaba Thropp by my side. Will you place your trust in me once more and love me as much as I love all of you?”

A familiar Munchkin with curly ginger hair yelled, “Long live Glinda, Elphaba, and Fiyero!” Boq waved excitedly at them from the crowd, tears welling in his eyes. He got on his knee and dipped his head in devotion to his old friends.

A wave rippled from Boq as more and more people knelt onto the ground. They joined the Animals until a unanimous movement was created. Every Ozian, human and Animal, as far as the eye could see, bowed to their new rulers. A roar of applause followed.

Unable to maintain her composure, Elphaba started crying. To go from the most hated person in the world to someone worth celebrating was something she never imagined would happen. Her wish from years past had been fulfilled- a celebration throughout Oz that’s all to do with her. Except it wasn’t the Wizard who had made it happen, but the two incredible people standing next to her.

Glinda and Fiyero wrapped Elphaba in a hug, the three of them huddling on the balcony and waving to their citizens until the sun went down.

Madame Morrible sat in a cell at the bottom of the Emerald City prison, anti-magic gauntlets welded onto her wrists. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were in tatters.

Two visitors came to see her.

Elphaba walked up to the bars first. “Hello, Morrible. It would seem that the student has surpassed the teacher. Any advice for the successor to your throne?” she said sarcastically.

“You were always a vile and ugly creature. I’ll see how long you manage to last,” Morrible spat.

Glinda stormed over and curled her fists, deciding to forgo her pacifist intentions in light of the insult. “No you won’t.” Nodding to Elphaba, she combined her air magic with Elphaba’s fire magic to create lightning. Together, they summoned a massive bolt to strike their former oppressor.

Without even a chance to scream, Morrible’s body seized and slammed against the wall as electricity coursed through her veins.

“Now you get to feel what all of your victims felt when you electrocuted them. No one will mourn you when you die alone, you wicked witch,” Elphaba said to her charred remains. Morrible opened one eye, her chest shaking with diminishing breaths.

“I don’t think you have what it takes to survive prison. I hope you do not prove me wrong,” Glinda hissed, throwing back the words Morrible had once said to her. “Let’s go, Elphie.”

Hand in hand, the pair permanently locked the door to the lowest level of prison. They rejoined Fiyero at the top of the stairs.

“Did you kick her ass?” Fiyero asked.

Glinda grinned. “She got what she deserved. What should we do now?”

“Anything,” Elphaba said, winking at her companions. “Our future is unlimited.”

END OF FINAL PART

Chapter Text

START OF EPILOGUE

Glinda’s jaw hit the floor when they entered the Gillikin dessert buffet. Towers of pastries, cakes, and cookies were piled so high that enchanted ladders were provided to reach the top. An ornate chocolate fountain with jets of white and dark chocolate spanned the full three stories, serving as a centerpiece nestled inside the spiral staircase. The tables and chairs were hand carved from white metal. A flower vase rested on the checkered pink and teal tablecloths.

A waiter dressed in pink and teal lead the trio to a private, VIP booth. As Oz’s new royal throuple, they practically had the restaurant to themselves.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Glinda gushed. She grabbed her porcelain plate and spun in a circle to take in her options. “Whatever, I’ll start over there!” Leaving her partners behind in the dust, she skipped to the cake tower in the back.

Fiyero passed a plate to Elphaba. “What are you going to get?”

“Probably something with dark chocolate. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth,” Elphaba replied.

“Me neither. I suppose I’ll lick the salt off the salted caramel,” Fiyero mused.

Elphaba shook her head at their combined distaste for overly sweet things. “What are we even doing here? We’re the worst customers for this establishment.”

It was a rhetorical question because the two of them knew exactly why they were here. They would’ve jumped into a vat of straight sugar if it made their little flower happy. Seeing Glinda’s appetite return in full force, even if it was for heaps of whipped cream, was well worth a toothache.

Still, Elphaba had to maintain a semblance of strictness when Glinda returned to their booth with a skyscraper of cake on her plate. It was so tall that she couldn’t even see the petite blonde behind her greedy pile.

“Be careful, you’ll make yourself sick if you eat too much too quickly,” Elphaba cautioned.

Glinda flapped a little hand at her. “It’s fine, I can definitely finish this.”

Wolfing down the semisweet crackers on his plate, Fiyero didn’t bother getting a second plate. He sat back and waited for when Glinda would inevitably get full after ten minutes and beg him to help.

And just like clockwork, a whiney voice emerged from the cake stack. “Um, Fiyero? Do you want some cake by any chance?” Glinda sheepishly asked.

Just to mess with her, Fiyero said, “No thank you.” He and Elphaba hid behind a menu to silently crack up while Glinda let out soft cries of distress. When the blonde began to groan and rub her stomach, he relented. “Pass me your plate, I’ll finish it.”

“Thank you!” Glinda chirped, pushing her skyscraper across the table. She scooted out of the booth to get more food.

“Where do you think you’re going? I thought you said you were full,” Fiyero accused her.

Glinda smoothed the front of her dress and flashed him a toothy smile. “I never said I was full, I merely asked if you wanted any cake. Enjoy while I go peruse the pastry aisle.”

“That crafty fox,” Fiyero said, staring at the monstrosity of cake that was now his responsibility.

Elphaba burst out laughing at him for falling into her trap. “I’ll help you finish this,” she kindly offered after taking a moment to savor his agony.

“Mark my words, I’ll get my revenge tomorrow,” Fiyero stated.

The next day, a pink, green, and blue hot air balloon brought the trio to Winkie Country. They landed at the front gates of the Merry-Go-Mountains, Oz’s largest amusement park. Rollercoasters of all shapes and sizes looped around the magical spinning mountains. The largest one was the Oogaboo Plunge, boasting a ninety degree, 200 foot drop.

The trio started the day off with the smaller rollercoasters. They engaged in a heated battle to see who could spin their teacups the fastest. Elphaba won. After a quick lunch break, Fiyero made the girls cringe on the carousel by making theatrical poses atop his white horse.

“What next?” Glinda pondered, browsing the pamphlet map. An indoor show sounded delightful to her, a calm way to pass time in the afternoon heat.

Fiyero immediately pointed to the Oogaboo Plunge. “Let’s go on that one!”

“Okay,” Elphaba shrugged. None of the rides particularly scared her; they were tame in comparison to that time she flew her broomstick through a hurricane.

One pair of feet remained planted to the ground when they headed towards the entrance line. Glinda quaked in her pink and lavender heels, squinting through the sun at the top of the colossal rollercoaster. “M-Maybe I should stay and watch our belongings,” she proposed.

“Are you scared? You’ve been higher than that in your bubble,” Elphaba questioned.

“Well I’ve never plummeted 200 hundred feet straight down before! I glide and float gracefully,” Glinda retorted. “My bubble is also far more trustworthy than that rusty metal contraption.”

Fiyero snuck up behind her and grabbed her by the waist, swinging Glinda over his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll positively enjoy it. Come on, Elphaba, before the line gets longer!” He cackled as Glinda shrieked and flailed around, cursing him out in Gillikinese. This was payback for the cake-induced stomachache he’d suffered yesterday.

By a stroke of luck, they ended up in the first row. Glinda insisted on being in the middle, squeezing Elphaba and Fiyero’s hands with outlandish strength. Her eyes were shut tight. The rollercoaster began a slow, creaking ascent to the peak.

Elphaba grew impatient at the snail’s speed in which the cart rolled up the slope. Peering around her shoulder, she smiled at Fiyero’s excitement and Glinda’s pitiable yet cute display of terror. Their cart tipped over the edge of the drop, paused for dramatic effect, then plunged downwards in a supersonic rush.

Glinda’s bloodcurdling screams were loud enough to shatter glass. Wrenching his hand free to cover his ears, Fiyero almost regretted bringing her along. Elphaba laughed and raised her free arm in the air, letting Glinda latch onto her other one. The thrill was different from her broomstick because she didn’t have to control anything. The exhilaration was almost soothing.

“You…I’ll get you for this,” Glinda breathlessly growled at Fiyero once they got off. Her head was spinning and her legs were jelly. Leaning heavily onto Elphaba, she searched her surroundings for something he would hate.

Elphaba wrapped a supportive arm around Glinda, who was a faint shade of green. “Do you want to stop and rest for a moment?” she asked in concern.

Feeling sorry, Fiyero opened his mouth to apologize, but Glinda cut him off. “I’m fine. In fact, I want to go on that,” she said while pointing to a haunted attraction. It was the Pumpkinhead’s Mansion, a ghastly ride shrouded in shadow with zombified creatures that popped out to scare people.

“Really? You want to ride that?” Elphaba gaped at her soft and sweet girlfriend.

“Oh yes. I simply adore horror and the occult,” Glinda said. “How about it, Fiyero? Scared?”

Fiyero gulped at the undead paintings on the attraction sign. He could charge into battle against regular enemies with ease, but ghosts and zombies were another story. Unwilling to admit fear, he agreed to go anyways.

Rather than individual seats, the trio was placed on a moving bench inside a fake carriage that coursed through the track. The mansion was pitch black, adding to the chilling atmosphere. Eerie creatures scuttled around and jumped onto the carriage without warning. It was all special effects and animatronics, Elphaba thought. Surely no one would be frightened by it, right?

Wrong. Elphaba sighed as Fiyero and Glinda nearly crawled into her lap, shouting their heads off at every minor jump scare. She could barely even see what was going on through the mess of blonde and brown hair clinging to her neck. “There, there,” Elphaba muttered while patting their backs.

“Are the two of you quite satisfied now?” Elphaba reprimanded them afterwards. She had bought Glinda a bear-shaped popsicle to calm her down.

“Yes, Elphie,” they conceded in unison. The shared embarrassment had made Glinda and Fiyero call a truce.

Fiyero guided them to a bench and waited for Glinda to finish her sweet treat. “Is there anything you want to go on?” he asked Elphaba.

“Hmm…” Another rollercoaster would hit the spot, but Elphaba could sense that Glinda was running low on stamina. The wind had been knocked out of her sails twice in a row, and the small sorceress sullenly nibbled on her empty popsicle stick. A massive rotating circle caught Elphaba’s attention. “The Ferris wheel,” she breathed.

“How romantical,” Glinda squealed, instantly perking up. She tossed her stick in the trash and stretched her legs, which were sure to be sore later. Shaking away her tiredness, she pulled Elphaba and Fiyero towards the Merry-Go-Wheel.

The cabin was designed for two passengers, but Glinda was more than happy to share a seat with Elphaba. They chatted away like schoolgirls during the Ferris wheel’s ascent, freed from the burdens they had carried for far too long. Fiyero was uncharacteristically quiet. He kept patting his jacket pocket and lapsing into thought.

When the Ferris wheel reached the top, they stood up to admire the scenery. The lights and machinery of the amusement park whirred in a colorful square below. Beyond the mountains, the valleys and deserts of Winkie country sprawled into the horizon. The setting sun cast an orange glow over the sands.

Glinda pressed her hands to the glass window. “This might be the best vacation I’ve ever been on. And that’s saying a lot, because Momsie and Popsicle once took me to a dress emporium on a magical isle.”

“This might be the first real vacation I’ve ever been on,” Elphaba admitted. Her family hadn’t taken many trips due to Nessa’s condition and her skin, and Elphaba had been too busy serving as a caretaker on the trips they did take.

Fiyero reached a hand into his pocket. “I…I have something to ask the two of you,” he began.

The cabin suddenly swayed in the air as it started moving again. The violent jolt caused Glinda to lose her balance and tip over. Elphaba tried to catch her, but it resulted in the two of them colliding with Fiyero. All three of them fell onto the seat, squished together between the walls.

“Oof,” Glinda grunted.

“Is everyone ok?” Elphaba inquired, receiving murmurs of confirmation in response. They carefully unsquished themselves and returned to their original seating arrangement. The Ferris wheel stabilized itself and resumed a smooth movement, slowly moving with the sunset. 

Glinda rested her head on Elphaba’s shoulder, sleepiness worming its way into her bones. She was totally going to stay awake and enjoy the rest of the night. Just a little rest while the Ferris wheel descended…

The cabin came to a stop at the bottom of the wheel. Fiyero exited first and held the door open for Elphaba to emerge, a conked out Glinda on her back. They walked around a bit together, mindlessly conversing about Fiyero’s unexpected weakness with the supernatural.

“If you think about it, being afraid of zombies is a primal instinct. They represent decayed humans, a sign of disease or conflict. In other words, it is very manly to hate them,” Fiyero argued.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “If you say so. Was there something you wanted to ask us earlier?”

“It was nothing. Another time,” Fiyero said, brushing his fingers against the ring box in his pocket. “Should we head back to the hot air balloon? I think Glinda is about done for the day.”

“Yes, we should get some rest. There’s still another item on our itinerary to tackle,” Elphaba said. Shifting Glinda on her back, she eagerly thought about the special surprise she had planned for their final stop- Story Blossom Mountain.

Chapter Text

Rather than the mountaintop itself, Story Blossom Mountain referred to the grassy meadow that stretched in the space between the range. The grass was luscious and dense, in shades of seafoam and chartreuse. Dozens of flower species sprouted from the ground, coating the field in a rainbow of petals. There was a loose cobblestone path provided to avoid trampling on them. The breeze had an interesting quality that resembled whisperings.

“Oh Elphie, this view is simply divine,” Glinda exclaimed.

Taking care not to step on any blooms, Elphaba led her companions to an open space by a tree. “Isn’t it? When I lived in Quadling Country as a child, I desperately wanted to visit. We never came because my father was a Unionist and the garden was created by Ozana, one of Lurline’s fairies.”

“That’s a shame, but at least it means we get to experience this for the first time together,” Fiyero replied. Setting his basket down next to the tree, he unfolded a gingham picnic blanket and spread it out over the grass.

Keeping her surprise a secret for now, Elphaba nodded and took a seat on the blanket. Glinda scurried to her side like a mouse in her white, fluffy sweater. “What foods did you pack?” she asked Fiyero, who was lounging close by with his back against the tree.

Fiyero opened his basket to reveal an assortment of finger sandwiches, scones, cookies, and cut fruit on a platter. There was also a bottle of wine tucked in the corner. “The wine is for me and Elphaba,” he sternly instructed Glina. “I brought a box of grape juice for you.”

That made Glinda narrow her eyes; she fully intended to sneak a few sips of wine when they weren’t looking. “There’s so many different flower species here,” she said, changing the subject.

“That’s because each species tells a different kind of story,” Elphaba explained. Plucking a pansy from the ground, she held the petals up to Glinda’s ear. “Pansies tell fairytales.”

A gentle voice emanated from the violet petals, tickling Glinda’s ear with a magical tale of kings and fairies. “How enchanting,” she breathed, taking the flower from Elphaba to hold onto.

“And tiger lilies provide thrilling adventures about beasts in a jungle,” Elphaba said, handing one to Fiyero. He heard a fierce and booming voice in the speckled orange blossom.

Flowers of all colors and shapes dotted the gingham blanket as the minutes ticked by. Sometimes they would find a particularly interesting or moving tale; Glinda would cast her amplification magic on the volume so that they could listen together. They laughed at the raunchier ones and discussed the thought-provoking ones, escaping into a fantastical world. When their stomachs began to grumble, Fiyero took out the contents of his basket.

Eating outside reminded Glinda of that bland, burnt rabbit she had shared with Elphaba during their first few days together on the run. Looking back, it truly was incredible how far they had come.

Around the time the afternoon sun shone the hottest, Fiyero and Elphaba laid down for a nap. While Glinda normally would’ve been the first to doze off, she had other plans today. She reached into her purse and took out her sketchbook, the same one she had used when she was stuck in bed at the ruby palace. Flipping to the pages of her little surprise, she added finishing touches by drawing inspiration from their surroundings. She also helped herself to a bit of wine.

Elphaba woke up to a giddy and giggling Glinda playing with her hair. There was a suspicious rouge across her porcelain cheeks.

“Just what have you been up to while we were asleep?” she asked.

“It’s a secret!” Glinda laughed, grabbing a fistful of petals and tossing them into the air.

Glancing at the slightly lower wine level in the bottle, Elphaba clicked her tongue and kicked Fiyero awake. “You’re tipsy,” she stated.

“No, you’re tipsy,” Glinda attempted to contend. Her argument was deflated when she swayed and crashed backwards into Fiyero. He pulled her into his lap and held her captive so she couldn’t reach for the bottle.

“Your face is positively flushing,” Elphaba teased. She leaned over on her knees to place her palm on Glinda’s cheek.

Glinda nuzzled into her touch and whispered, “Come closer to us, Elphie.”

Elphaba obeyed. Lifting an arm to make room for her, Fiyero held both girls against his chest. As usual, Glinda was the first to initiate, tilting her head up to plant kisses on him and Elphaba. She dug both hands into Elphaba’s hair and deepened their kiss. Fiyero let his lips roam over peridot and cream collarbones, experimenting with how much force each girl preferred. Glinda enjoyed being pampered with silky touches and gentle attention, while Elphaba…Elphaba had a high pain tolerance. The dichotomy of the witches was an intoxicating balancing act, such that he would forever be in worship of their demands.

The hours melted into an everlasting yet ephemeral moment as they used their bodies to harmonize their souls.

Once everyone had a chance to catch their breath, Elphaba cleared the empty dishes from the picnic blanket so that they could lie down. They splayed gold, raven, and chestnut locks on the gingham. The stars had just begun to twinkle in the twilight sky, the perfect time to cuddle up. Fiyero passed around a bag of homemade popcorn to snack on, anticipating a long wait until dinner.

Glinda pointed to a faint constellation. “Look, there’s Glinda’s belt!”

Fiyero didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was pointing at the wrong place, and that those stars were entirely unrelated.

“Yep, there it is,” Elphaba agreed. She shot him a knowing wink.

The night deepened until a smattering of stars painted the indigo canvas. While they could’ve easily spent the entire night on the blanket, the darkness created the perfect backdrop for Elphaba’s surprise. She waited for Glinda to shiver a bit beneath a breeze that she may or may not have created.

“Are you chilly?” Elphaba inquired. “I know somewhere warmer we can go.”

“Where? It better not be a damp and dirty cave,” Glinda griped.

Chuckling, Elphaba stretched her hands out to the two of them and hauled them to their feet. “Follow me.”

She led them to a secluded field that was hidden behind tall bushes and thick vines. Unlike the rest of Story Blossom Mountain, which was a heterogenous mix of flowers, this field was a sea of red poppies. Glinda and Fiyero gasped in awe, but Elphaba kept pulling them towards the center. There was still more to come.

“Don’t worry, these won’t put you to sleep,” Elphaba mentioned.

Glinda twirled in a circle, amazed by the patch of scarlet within the rainbow meadow. “How gorgeous, we should’ve come here while the sun was still out.”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to do this,” Elphaba said. With the sweep of her hand, dozens of tiny lanterns emerged from the grass and floated into the air around them. She snapped her fingers and lit them with fire, radiating warmth and casting light over the flowers.

“They’re like fireflies,” Fiyero remarked. “When did you…”

“Still not done,” Elphaba grinned. “Pick a poppy, any poppy.”

Crouching down, Glinda carefully plucked a flower and cupped her hand beneath it. When she heard her Elphie’s voice resonate from the petals, her other hand flew to her mouth in astonishment. Tears spilled over her cheeks as the final story of the day played for them to hear- their story.

Once upon a time, a lonely and ugly girl came to a school called Shiz. She was assigned a roommate who was in every way her opposite. They bickered and tussled from dawn to dusk, never passing up an opportunity to insult one another. The girl was annoyed, but she didn’t feel quite so lonely anymore. There was tenderness beneath the insults and excitement beneath the annoyance. The day her roommate became her friend was the day she discovered she was beautiful.

While this was happening, a prince nearly trampled her with his horse. He was careless and frivolous, hiding a sorrow that no one except the girl could see in his cerulean eyes. Few words were needed to understand the connection they shared.

The girl did not expect love from the world, let alone love from two beautiful souls. From stargazing in the desert to dancing to a broken radio to usurping the government, they lived a lifetime of memories in the short years they shared. There are many more years to come, and the girl can’t imagine spending a second without them by her side.

“Will the two of you marry me?” Elphaba asked, kneeling down on one knee. “I’m sorry I don’t have the rings yet.”

Unleashing a violent sob and a screech of joy, Glinda sunk to the ground and wrapped her arms around Elphaba’s neck.

“You beat me to the punch. It seems I can never win against you,” Fiyero laughed through his tears. He got on his knee and mirrored her pose, taking the ring box out of his pocket. “Allow me to provide the jewelry for my queens."

He popped open the box to reveal two rings: a round pink diamond on a silver band, the metal cut into a flower design, and a triangular emerald on a gold band, the metal cut into the shape of branches. There was also a simpler band for himself, bronze with inlaid sapphires. "Will the two of you marry me?" he whispered.

Elphaba felt her jaw tremble as he slid them on each of their hands. “They’re perfect, Fiyero.”

It took quite a while for Glinda to stop crying long enough to speak. She kissed the new ring on her finger and took a shuddering breath. “I…I want…” she hiccupped, “I want to ask the question too. But I…” She stopped to sniffle. “I left my surprise on the picnic blanket!”

“Oh dear. It’s okay, my sweet,” Elphaba soothed her, “What was it?”

“The cake, dresses, tuxedo, altar, venue, I custom designed all of it. Drawings and blueprints that are detailed right down to the lighting,” Glinda wailed. “I even have options in case you didn’t like it.”

Fiyero enveloped both of them in a hug. “I’m sure we’ll love every single design because I know how much consideration for others you put into them. Go ahead, you deserve to ask it too.”

“Yes, go ahead. I can’t imagine how many hours that took,” Elphaba encouraged. The thought of Glinda doing intricate measurements and patterning while bedbound was nothing short of incredible.

Glinda blinked the tears from her eyes, wanting to gaze clearly at her loved ones. “Okay. W-Will the two of you marry me?” she said sheepishly, a little embarrassed about going last.

“Shall we answer each other’s questions at the same time?” Elphaba suggested.

On the count of three, Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero shouted a resounding “YES!” before fervently kissing each other in the poppy field. Magic and joy illuminated from them, recoloring the poppies with pink, green, and blue. Their constellations winked at the lovers from above, meteors streaking through the sky in celebration. Nobody, in all of Oz, could be happier than them in that moment.

As for the future, that was up to them to write together.

FIN

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Hi guys, I didn't want to officially say anything on this fic until I was sure that I would continue it, but I'm currently writing a prequel! If you're interested in Shiz-era Gelphie shenanigans with a hint of supportive Fiyero, check out Budding Flowers and Bitter Expectations :)