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Chapter Text

It was a time of hardship across the nation for the majority of Americans. The Great War had been followed by an even greater economic depression. Businesses failed, people lost their jobs and homes, many children were left hungry and alone. This happened to be the case for many, and Dorothy Gale was one of them.

At the age of ten, the girl was left orphaned by the cruel, cold world that she lived. She, however, was one of the lucky few to have family able and willing to take her in. She had met her Aunt Emily and Uncle Henry only once before, when she was quite young.

Despite this, they loved the girl so much that they took her in with no hesitation. Henry even bought his niece a puppy, to make her feel more at home with her new guardians. They had no children of their own and had a fairly successful farm in the Kansas prairie lands, so they had the means to provide for another member of the family.

Until they didn’t.

Great dust storms scoured the lands, causing the crops to wither and bake in the hot sun. Drought plagued them, and soon Uncle Henry and Auntie Em found themselves with little food, little water, and two little mouths to feed. Despite this, they did what they could to provide. But sometimes, it wasn’t enough.

~~~

Dorothy sighed softly to herself as she looked out over the sun baked land. The world was brown and beige, and it made her heart ache as she watched the rickety old truck of her Aunt and Uncle’s nearest neighbors, The Wells Family, drive down the dirt road. The back was packed full of the family’s belongings.

“There they go…” she muttered wistfully, placing her hand atop her little dog’s head.

He was fully grown now, though he was still quite small due to his breed. She remembered the day Uncle Henry had brought the dog home. He had put the dog in a picnic basket, and when she had opened it, the wire fox terrier puppy popped his head out and wagged his little tail at her, a big ribbon tied around his neck. From that day on, she and Toto were nearly inseparable.

“Who dear?” Auntie Em asked from the kitchen sink, looking over her shoulder at her niece.

“The Wells’.” Dorothy replied, turning to look at her aunt. The stray hairs that had come loose from her singular braid tickled her face slightly. “Betty-Anne told me that her family lost their farm and that they were moving north to Wisconsin.”

“Oh dear…” Was all Auntie Em could reply, her face falling.

“Is that going to happen to us too?” Dorothy asked, knitting her eyebrows together in worry. “I know that this years’ harvest wasn’t what we had hoped, and then with Uncle Henry unable to work as much because of his leg-…” she trailed off, biting her lip.

Taking in a slow, deep breath through her nose, Aunt Em wiped her hands on her apron and turned fully to her niece. “Dorothy, you’re a woman now, and part of me wants to forget that.” She began, approaching the young woman and taking her hand into her own.

Dorothy gave her Aunt’s hand a slight squeeze, which Em returned.

After a beat of silence she said, “Things are hard right now. Harder than they’ve ever been. You’re right, the harvest this year was difficult, especially after your Uncle broke his leg. We don’t have very much money, and if things keep on as they are…” she hesitated before saying, “If they continue, we very well may loose our farm as well.”

Tears stung the corners of Dorothy’s eyes but she nodded. “I see…”

Auntie Em squeezed the young woman’s hand again and looked deeply into her eyes with so much love and fear that a sort of dread began to settle into the pit of Dorothy’s stomach.

“Which is why your Uncle and I think that it’s for the best that you move west to find work.”

“What?!” Dorothy asked, eyes wide in shock as she stood up from her seat so quickly that she had completely forgotten Toto, who yipped when he was practically flung off her lap and to the floor. Once she had confirmed that Toto was alright, she looked back at her Aunt in horror.

“It’s for the best, dear.” Emily told her, though her solemn expression said otherwise.

“No…” Dorothy said, shaking her head slowly as the tears welled in her eyes again. “No, no, no! I won’t do it, Auntie Em! I won’t leave you and Uncle Henry!”

“Please Dorothy,” Aunt Em said as silent tears streaked down her cheeks, leaving trails behind where they had cleared away the dust. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust these days. “Don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

“Then come with me!”

Auntie Em shook her head, gently cupping Dorothy’s cheek and wiping away the oncoming tears with a calloused thumb. “No, your Uncle and I are too old to make the journey. Besides, we only had enough for one bus ticket.”

The young woman shook her head, but she couldn’t speak. She couldn’t leave Kansas, this was the only home she had ever known after her parents died.

“You’re eighteen now, dear. There’s nothing left for you here. Your life is just beginning.”

“But that doesn’t mean yours and Uncle Henry’s lives are ending!” Dorothy sobbed, wrenching herself from Auntie Em’s touch before running out the front door of the house, her faithful little dog close behind her.

~~~

Dorothy lay in the hayloft of the barn for hours, replaying the conversation over and over in her mind. She cried for a while, but soon enough, her crying stopped and she was left staring at the ceiling as Toto curled against her side. She felt numb and heartbroken at the sad reality that, yes, she would have to leave her only family behind.

Around late afternoon, however, she was shaken from her dissociation by the sound of someone coming up the ladder to the hayloft. Slowly, she lifted her head and sat up, watching and listening as the person climbed up the ladder with some difficulty. It didn’t surprise her much when Uncle Henry’s head popped up over the lip of the loft.

“Whew!” Henry sighed, leaning against the loft to rest. “Y’know Dorothy, it’s awful cruel to make a man with a bum leg climb up a ladder.” He said jokingly, smiling and winking playfully at his niece.

When the young woman didn’t smile back, his face fell and he sighed again. “So then, I’m guessing your aunt told you…”

Dorothy’s legs curled up until her knees touched her chest and she hugged them tightly. She was quiet for a moment before she said softly, “I don’t want to go…”

Hoisting himself up into the loft, he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I know, darlin’. Trust me, we don’t want you to go either.”

Dorothy looked at him, her eyes big and sad. “You don’t…?”

Henry laughed and gently brushed a stray strand of hair from his niece’s face. His hands were rough from years of labor. “Of corse not! Dorothy honey, despite all the hardship we’ve been through, your aunt and I couldn’t be more grateful to have you in our lives!”

“Your Auntie Em always wanted to have a family, a big family with lots and lots of children.” He explained, smiling wistfully. “I did too. Though, if that couldn’t happen, I always told myself I’d be happy to just have a daughter. I told myself, ‘Henry, if you ever have yourself a daughter, then you’re goin’ to treat her like the best thing in this whole damn world!’ But…” his smile wavered and he shook his head. “It wasn’t meant to be…”

“Oh, Uncle Henry…” Dorothy said breathlessly.

Henry sniffed and looked at Dorothy, smiling again. His eyes were misty, but no tears fell. “But then, you showed up. And while your auntie was heartbroken by the loss of your parents, she was so happy to have you in her life. It had been a long while since I had seen her smile as big as she did the day you came to live with us.”

Toto stood and stretched his little legs before trotting over to Henry and laying down again, placing his little head onto the man’s knee and looking up at him. He smiled and scratched the little dog behind his ear. “Finally I had everything I had ever wanted. My own farm, a wife that I would love to the end of my days, and a little girl that I could spoil with all the presents I could give her. I had it all… until the drought made that impossible. And now… I have to send my little girl away…”

“You don’t have to send me away, Uncle Henry!” Dorothy insisted, placing her hand atop her uncle’s. His was much larger than hers was.

“No, I do…” he replied solemnly.

“But why?”

Henry looked at her and smiled bittersweetly. He wasn’t an old man by any means, closing in on his late forties now. But the hardships of a war, a drought that threatened to ruin his business, and raising his niece in a time where he can’t provide for her had aged him considerably.

“Because you deserve so much more than second hand dresses and starvation.” He told her. “And no matter how selfish I want to be, I would never forgive myself if that’s how you lived the rest of your life because you stayed.”

Dorothy’s heart ached at her uncle’s confession. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She couldn’t remember the last time she was able to get herself a new dress; all of the clothing she owned was handed down to her by Auntie Em or the ladies from their church, when they could spare it.

And even then, the dresses were often ill-fitting due to how thin she was. She had grown tall and lanky, but her ribcage was visible underneath her skin despite Uncle Henry and Aunt Em giving her the larger portions to keep her fed. The fact of the matter was if something didn’t change, she would likely never see her twenty-first birthday.

Just when she was about to speak, the barn door flung open and a boy rushed in, panting as though he had run a long distance and startling them both. Dorothy recognized him; he was Mr. and Mrs. Felton’s oldest boy, Charlie. Henry was immediately on alert when he saw the boy, straightening his posture.

“What is it, Charlie?” Henry asked the boy, who was no older than sixteen.

“I-it’s a twister, Mr. Gale!” Charlie stuttered out, finally starting to catch his breath again. “A twister, headed right this way!”

Henry’s eyes widened and he whipped his head to the hayloft’s window. Sure enough, the sky had grown dark and the wind had picked up considerably. And there, off in the distance, was the tornado.

Cursing, the man turned back to the boy with wide eyes. “Help me free the horses and the cattle, Charlie.” He ordered and then looked at Dorothy. “You go find your Aunt Em and get down the the storm cellar, you hear me?”

“What about you?” Dorothy asked, the anxiety rapidly creeping in.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” He told her and started to make his way down the ladder. He was much faster getting down than he was getting up, thankfully. “Hand Toto down to me.”

Nodding, the young woman did as she was told and handed Toto down to her uncle, who he promptly placed on the ground before getting to work freeing the horses with Charlie. Dorothy quickly made her way down the ladder so she could find her aunt and get to the cellar where it was safe, but in her haste she accidentally stepped on Toto’s paw. The poor little dog yelped in pain and ran, whimpering and crying the whole way out of the barn.

“Toto!” Dorothy gasped, running after him. “Toto, come back!” There was a chance she might loose her Uncle Henry today, but there was no way she was going to loose Toto too!

It took a good forty minuets for her to finally find him. She ran all over the farm, calling his name and looking in all his normal hiding places. By the time she got into the house, the wind was so strong that it nearly knocked her over a few times.

The storms howl was so loud that she almost didn’t hear the little dog whimpering under her bed.

“Oh, Toto!” Dorothy cried out and dove under the bed, cradling her companion in her arms. “Oh, Toto, I thought I lost you!”

The little dog whimpered and licked her cheek lightly. The wind was shaking the house and rattling the windows now.

“We have to go,” she said, crawling out from under the bed with the dog in her arms. “We have to get to the cellar, it’s not safe up here!”

Just then, a great gust of wind blew so hard into the house that the window shutter crashed through the window and shattered the glass, causing Dorothy to scream and crouch for cover while shielding Toto from the debris. Just as she had stood up and was about to make a run for the storm cellar, the other shutter flew off its hinges and and into the young woman, throwing her back onto the bed and causing her to slam her head against the wall.

That was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

Chapter Text

Dorothy groaned softly as she began to wake, her head throbbing. Sitting up, she felt the back of her head gingerly. No blood, thank goodness, but there was a good sized bump where her head collided with the wall. She would probably have to ice it, if she could find any.

Seeing that she was awake now, Toto crouched back on his haunches and barked to get her attention. The high-pitched sound made Dorothy wince and suck in a breath through her teeth.

“Toto, hush now please, that’s too loud.” She told the little dog, who obeyed and sat politely.

After a beat of silence, Dorothy’s eyes flew open and she gasped.

“The storm is over!” She exclaimed, scooping Toto up and kissing his little wet nose. “Toto, you little genius!”

She ran out of her little bedroom and called out into the house, “Uncle Henry! Auntie Em! Where are you?”

But there was no answer.

“Uncle Henry?” Dorothy asked, moving towards his and Aunt Em’s bedroom. But it was empty.

“Auntie Em…?” She tried, her voice quieter and more unsure as she checked the kitchen, but it was empty as well.

The young woman looked down at the dog in her arms and frowned slightly. “Where could they be, Toto?”

Toto whined, wiggling out of Dorothy’s arms and trotting over to the front door. He sniffed at it for a moment before scratching at it and looking back at his owner.

“Outside?” She asked, joining him at the door. The dog barked and scratched at the door some more.

The young woman shrugged and tried the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Huh?” Dorothy asked, confused as she tried it again. The deadbolt of the door was unlocked, but it wouldn’t budge. “Ugh, this darn thing! The storm must’ve jammed it shut!”

Blowing a strand of hair from her face, Dorothy thought for a moment before biting her lip. “Forgive me, Uncle Henry…” She murmured before raising her foot level to the door and stomped on it under the knob as hard as she could.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

CRASH!

The door finally open, Toto raced out of the house, barking all the while.

“Gosh darn it, Toto!” Dorothy cried, exasperated as she chased after him. “You need to stay with-!” She began, but cut herself short when she lay eyes on her surroundings.

Green. Vibrant, beautiful green grass. Not sun baked and beige like she was used to, but green! And there were flowers too, beautiful flowers so vibrant that it hurt her eyes to look at them for too long. Actually, now that she was looking around, everything was colorful.

“Oh… my… word…” She whispered, turning in a slow circle as she took everything in. “I… don’t think this is Kansas…”

Toto growled delightedly, rolling around in the green grass before standing up and shaking himself. A small cloud of dust came off of him as he shook, causing him to sneeze. Dorothy noticed then that her little dog, who she thought for the longest time was tan with brown spots, was actually white with black spots!

“Toto?” She asked in surprise. She then looked down and examined herself. Sure enough, she was shocked to find that she too had taken on some color!

Her dress, a cream color with a yellow collar, pockets, and tiny yellow flower detailing she had never noticed before. Her hair, platted in a single braid that lay over her shoulder, was not a dark brown like she had believed it to be all her life, but a lovely auburn color that had a copper-ish highlight to it when the sun hit it directly. The only thing that was truly brown were her shoes, but even then, they were lighter and more vibrant in color than before.

“Oh my…” she murmured to herself, trying to wade through the shock of it all.

Just then, Toto’s ears perked up and he looked up at the sky. The small dog crouched low and started barking, causing Dorothy to look up and around as well. There, off in the distance, she would just make it out.

A bubble.

A large, completely round bubble that had an iridescent sheen to it as the sun reflected off its surface.

And it was getting closer to her.

After a few moments of staring at the bubble, she realized that there was a woman inside! She wore a big, fluffy ballgown that was a pretty shade of pastel salmon and her hair was a strawberry blonde color that was thick and wavy. She wore a three pronged silver crown atop her head with a singular pink pearl in embedded into the middle prong.

She was the most beautiful woman Dorothy had ever seen.

Once the gigantic bubble was close enough to the ground, the lovely woman used the tip of a star-shaped wand to pop it, releasing herself and landing safely on her feet. Gingerly, she stepped closer to Dorothy, all the while keeping her big blue eyes trained on the girl. She stepped closer and closer to Dorothy until her face was quite close to the farm girl, causing the young woman to blush.

The woman tilted her head to one side, examining Dorothy before asking, “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?”

“I…” Dorothy blinked, gobsmacked. “I beg your pardon?”

The lovely lady took a step back, flicking her eyes down to Dorothy’s shoes, then back up to her face. Her expression was hard to read. “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?”

Dorothy knit her eyebrows together, confused. “I’m not a witch at all!”

“Are you sure?” She asked.

Dorothy nodded. “The last time I checked, yes!”

“Huh…” She replied before sweeping past Dorothy in her big dress and towards the house.

“Who are you?” Dorothy asked the woman, following her.

She stopped in front of the house and looked back at Dorothy over her shoulder, batting her eyelashes sweetly. Her green eyeshadow shimmered in the light. “I am Glinda, the good witch of the North.”

Dorothy’s cheeks flushed once again, suddenly very aware of her messy braid and dusty clothing. “You’re very beautiful, Miss Glinda…!”

Glinda cooed softly, gently touching her fingers to collarbone. “Thank you, my dear… I know.”

There was a beat of silence before she motioned to Dorothy. “And, you are?”

The young lady’s blush deepened with shame, remembering her manners now. “I-I’m Dorothy Gale, from Kansas.”

Glinda hummed in response, giving Dorothy a closed, tight-lipped smile before turning back to look at the house.

“How queer,” She said. “I’ve heard of witches in flying houses before, but I was always told they had feet.”

“But I’m not a-“

“Oh!” Glinda said, pointing to something with her wand. “Here they are!”

“What?!” Dorothy asked, rushing over to Glinda’s side to see. And sure enough, there was a pair of striped-stockinged legs wearing silver shoes sticking out from under her house.

The younger woman cried out in shock and horror, causing Glinda’s eyes to grow wide and her smile to completely drop.

“Are you telling me these legs aren’t attached to your house?” She asked, her voice no longer light and ethereal in tone.

Dorothy shook her head, her face full of worry.

Glinda quickly looked back at the pair of legs, studying them. A look of fear and recognition flashed over her face, but only for a second before she straightened up and turned to Dorothy calmly.

“Not to worry, my dear.” She said, speaking once again in the light and ethereal tone of voice. “It would appear that your house has landed on the Wicked Witch of the East, the now former governor of Munchkin Land.”

“M-Munchkin Land?” Dorothy asked, tearing her eyes away from the dead body under her house.

“Yes!” Glinda said, gently taking Dorothy by the hand and leading her away from the house, faithful Toto on their heals. “Wherever did you think you where?”

“Well… certainly not Kansas…” Dorothy murmured, calming a bit.

“Kansas… is that where you’re from?” She asked, a tinge of concern in her voice. She could only imagine how traumatized this poor girl must be.

“Yes…” She said, gently squeezing Glinda’s hand.

After a beat, Glinda squeezed back.

“Why don’t we meet the Munchkins, hm?” She asked.

It was by this time that Dorothy noticed they were in a little town square. The streets were lined with shops and flower pots, and in the center of the square was a quaint fountain that burbled down into the basin below.

It looked completely deserted

“It’s alright everyone, it’s safe now.” Glinda called out.

Slowly, the doors to the shops began to open and people began to gather around the two women. To Dorothy’s surprise, they were all no taller than five feet or so!

The Munchkins had ears that were slightly pointed, and Dorothy noticed that they all had hair that was some shade of red. It made her smile a bit at how charming it was.

“Hello everyone..!” Dorothy said, waving slightly to them. The small crowd of people began to murmur amongst themselves. A few people waved back at her.

“Munchkinlanders,” Glinda addressed the crowd, causing them to hush and listen. “This young lady has saved you all! She has freed you from The Wicked Governor of Munchkin Land!”  

There was a moment of silence as they processed what Glinda had said before they all erupted into cheers of joy. Munchkins in the crowd began to cry with relief, collapsing into the arms of the closest person to them. Others kissed their loved ones and hugged them tightly. It reminded Dorothy of pictures she had seen in her history class of reunited families after The Great War.

“What about the Wicked Witch of the West?” Someone called out from the crowd.

The crowd’s excitement began to die down and they all began to murmur worriedly to one another again.

“There’s another Wicked Witch?” Dorothy asked.

“Yes!” A Munchkin woman said.

“And she’s much more wicked than her sister!” A Munchkin man close to the back added.

“What are we going to do, Glinda?” Someone else asked.

“Now, now, it’s all right.” She assured them. “I will keep you all safe from the witch, don’t you worry.”

“I think I’ve had enough with wicked witches!” Dorothy said, looking at Glinda. “I think I should really be getting back to Kansas.”

“Where is Kansas?” Glinda asked her.

Dorothy’s heart sank a little.

 “Kansas, it’s in The United States. I live there with my aunt and uncle and-!” The girl gasped. “Oh no, Uncle Henry and Auntie Em! They must be so worried about me! I have to get back!”

“But how?” The good witch asked her.

Dorothy looked at her, pleading. “Can’t you send me back?”

Glinda shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry dear, I wish I could help, but I don’t know how…! I don’t know where this Kansas place is.”

“Oh no…” the young woman said, tears welling up in her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hand. She was stuck in this strange new land all by herself!

“What about the Wizard?” An adolescent Munchkin asked.

Dorothy sniffled and wiped at her eye, looking at the Munchkin. “Who?” She asked softly.

“The Wizard of Oz!” Another person from the crowd said. “He can do anything!” The crowd began talking excitedly, their conversations overlapping one another.

“Yeah, the Wizard!”

“She should go see the Wizard!”

“The Wizard will know how to help!”

Dorothy turned to Glinda once again, a spark of hope growing within her. “How do I get to The Wizard?”

Glinda hesitated for a moment before motioning to the road that lead out of the city. “You follow the yellow brick road, it will lead you to the Emerald City.” She said, turning back to Dorothy. “But you’ll need protection for the journey.”

Glinda lowered her wand to Dorothy’s feet and muttered something under her breath as she waved it over them slowly. Before her very eyes, Dorothy’s shoes were replaced with a gorgeous pair of silver shoes with three rubies inlaid into the ornate tongues. There was a red ribbon that wrapped around her ankle and was buckled to keep the shoes secured.

“These shoes are very powerful, and will protect you as you travel.” Glinda told her. “But you have to promise not to take them off or give them to anyone, you understand?”

“I do!” Dorothy said, scooping up Toto and smiling at Glinda gratefully. “Thank you so much, Miss Glinda!”

And then, she was off.

Chapter Text

Glinda signed to herself as she waited on the hill outside of Munchkin Land. It was safe enough here for them to meet, she knew, as the Munchkinlander’s wouldn’t dare leave the safety of their border now that the “Wicked Witch of the West” had lost her sister. She heard footsteps in the grass behind her and turned.

Even though she hadn’t seen her in years and her eyes were covered by the wide brim of her pointed hat, she knew it was her. She would recognize her jade-green skin anywhere.

“Elphie, I-“ Glinda began, but the green woman raised her hand up for her to stop, so she fell silent.

After a beat, the woman sighed softly. “Where is she…?”

The good witch’s eyes saddened and she turned towards what she had been looking at before. A new and recently filled in grave.

“Here.” Glinda told her.

Elphaba stepped forward and fell to her knees in front of the grave, tears silently streaming down her cheeks as she stared at the tombstone.

Nessarose Thropp

Beloved daughter, loving sister

“Oh, Nessa…” The green woman murmured breathlessly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you,” Glinda told the woman, sitting on the grass beside her. “I didn’t want them to desecrate her body.”

“Thank you…” Elphaba said, wiping her tears with the heal of her hand. Her dark red hair wasn’t in their protective braids like they had been the last time she saw her, but now free and natural as the coils stuck out from under her pointed hat in a fluffy mass of hair. “How did this happen?”

“There was an accident.” Glinda told her. “A house fell on top of her.”

Elphaba lifted her head at that and looked at her, her full face in view now. Her lips parted and Glinda could see the slight gap between her two front teeth.

How could anyone ever believe that she wasn’t beautiful?

“A house?” The green woman asked.

Glinda nodded sadly. “Yes. It came out of nowhere, really. Just dropped right out of the sky! And that poor girl was so frightened when-!”

“Girl?” Elphaba asked, frowning. “What girl?”

“It was her house that fell out of the sky.” Glinda explained. “I don’t think she was controlling it, she seemed surprised to be here at all! Her name was Daisy, I think… or was it Dotty…?” She hummed in thought before saying, “No, no, it was Dorothy!”

“Dorothy? What a queer name.” The green woman said, puzzled. “Where is she now?”

Glinda made a face that Elphaba knew all too well from their days at Shiz. A face that meant she did something she was probably not supposed to.

“Glinda…” Elphaba said in a warning tone.

“She… went to see The Wizard…?” Glinda said, cringing.

Elphaba stood up suddenly, her eyes wide with horror. “You sent a defenseless girl to go see The Wizard?!”

“I didn’t sent her!” Glinda exclaimed, standing up as well. “It was those country-bumpkin Munchkinlanders who told her about him in the first place!”

Elphaba groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. She was trying not to explode. Count to ten, Elphaba. One… two… three…

“Fine! Fine…” Elphaba huffed, looking at Glinda. “I’ll see if I can find something in the Grimmerie I can use to keep an eye on her. I’ll go back to Kiamo Ko as soon as I get Nessa’s shoes.”

Glinda stiffened, her eyes wide. “Shoes?” She asked, her voice anxiously high pitched. “Which shoes?”

The green witch stared at her intensely.

 “Nessa’s shoes.” She said, stepping closer to Glinda slowly. Four… five… six…  “The silver ones with the ruby inlets in the tongue? The ones that have powerful wild magic attached to them?” She was inches from Glinda’s face now. “The ones that could be incredibly dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands?!”

“Oh!” Glinda giggled nervously. She could feel the sweat beginning to bead on her forehead. “Those shoes! They’re, um…” she gulped. “Out of town…?”

Elphaba’s eyes widened with rage. “You sent my sister’s shoes to the fucking Wizard?! Do you realize what you’ve done?!?!”

“Elphie-!”

“Don’t you ‘Elphie’ me!” The woman said, pointing a long green finger at Glinda’s nose. “You just sent an incredibly powerful magical item into the hands of an egotistical maniac!”

“The girl needed protection!” Glinda argued. “I didn’t know what else to do!”

Elphaba growled, turning away from Glinda and throwing up her hands as a string of curses flew from her lips, so nasty it would make even a sailor blush. After she was done she huffed and whirled back to Glinda, glaring.

“Looks like, once again, I have to do everything myself!”

Glinda scoffed at the snide comment, her cheeks flushing with anger.

“Fine!” The good witch snapped back. “Don’t let a house hit you on the way out!”

Elphaba flinched, glancing at her sister’s tombstone. Glinda’s anger vanished, realizing she had gone too far all too late. Before she could say anything else, Elphaba reached out her hand and let out a sharp whistle. Her broom was there in an instant.

And then she was flying westward, leaving Glinda behind once again

Chapter Text

Dorothy followed the Yellow Brick Road far out of the quaint little Munchkin City and into the country. Much to her surprise, the silver and ruby shoes were quite comfortable! She had expected her feet to hurt after the first mile of walking, but wearing them felt as comfortable as walking in her well-loved work boots from back home!

Home…

Dorothy’s pace slowed to a stop and she sighed, her heart aching. She was really starting to worry about her aunt and uncle. With her uncle’s leg still giving him trouble, trying to re-build the farm after the storm would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible for him. And that’s not even considering the cost of the materials to rebuild!

And poor Auntie Em, she was probably worried sick over Dorothy disappearing!

Dorothy sniffled, leaning against a white fence that bordered a large corn field as she felt tears begin to well in her eyes yet again. She felt so silly for crying so much lately.

“Such a shame, for such a kind and lovely face to look so sad. What troubles you?” A voice from behind asked her.

Dorothy blinked and looked over her shoulder in the direction of the voice. She scanned the field, expecting to see someone, but there was nothing but corn and… a scarecrow.

The scarecrow had a sack for a head with two green button eyes sewed onto his face, and an embroidered mouth. He wore a burlap hat atop his head that’s point flopped over to one side, as well as a faded red flannel shirt and patched up light blue overalls. His hands were made of dirty old gardening gloves that were tied on with red yarn to keep them in place. His straw-stuffed body hung on a pole in the corn field, arms outstretched as though he was welcoming someone after a long time.

Or as though he had been crucified.

The young woman squinted at the scarecrow, studying him. Surely it hadn’t said that… right?

But then again, she was in a magical land where people traveled in bubbles and Wizards existed.

She looked at him for a while before climbing up onto the fence. “Did you say something?”

For a few moments, he was still. But then, the scarecrow’s face split into a jesting smile and he winked his green button eye at her.

Dorothy’s face split into a smile of her own. “You’re alive!” She exclaimed with delight.

“Sure am!” The Scarecrow replied happily.

“I’ve never met a living scarecrow before!” She said, giggling a little. “My goodness, this place is full of surprises!”

“This place?” The Scarecrow asked. “Do you mean Oz?”

“Yes,” Dorothy said, holding onto the fence and leaning back as far as her arms would let her without falling off. “I’m not from here, you see, so everything is quite new to me!”

“Well, where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking?” The Scarecrow asked her.

“I’m from Kansas!” She told him.

The Scarecrow looked at her, puzzled. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Dorothy’s smile dropped and she sighed. “Oh dear, I really must have traveled a long ways away! Every time I tell people where I’m from, they always say they don’t know where that is!”

“Well, to be fair, I don’t know much of anything.” The Scarecrow told her. “You can’t do much knowing if you haven’t got a brain.”

Now it was Dorothy’s turn to look puzzled. “You don’t have a brain?”

The Scarecrow smiled and shrugged, shaking his head no. “Nope! I used to have one, but I didn’t use it very much. Now my head is full of nothing but straw and hair… at least, that’s what I’m guessing it is.”

“Oh, I see.” Dorothy hummed, nodding.

“I made a lot of mistakes, not using my brain when I had it.” He explained and sighed wistfully. “What I wouldn’t give to have another chance.”

The young woman’s eyes lit up and she smiled. “Well, I’m going to the Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz and ask if he can send me home to Kansas! Why don’t you come with me? I’ll bet if you ask him nicely, the Wizard might just give you some brains!”

This peaked the Scarecrow’s interest. “The Wizard?” He asked. He hadn’t thought about The Wizard since… “Well, I suppose I would be no worse off going with you than I am here.”

“That’s true!” Dorothy giggled, covering her mouth politely with one of her hands.

The Scarecrow gave her a charming, crooked sort of smile. “I’ll tell you what, if you can find a way to get me down, then I’ll come with you! It’s not as though I’m doing much aside from hanging around!”

Dorothy laughed at the pun, climbing over the white fence and into the corn field. “Well, even if The Wizard doesn’t give you a brain, at least you have a great sense of humor!”

“Thank you, my dear!”

Dorothy moved through the stalks of corn until she was face to face with the tall pole that held the Scarecrow up, Toto squeezing under the fence and now hot on her heals. From this angle, he was quite tall, and she had to crane her neck up to look at him.

“How do I get you down?” She asked him.

“Well, I don’t remember much on account of not having a brain,” He told her. “But, I think there should be three big nails you can jiggle loose. One in my back, and one for each of my arms. If you can pull those out, I should fall right off!”

“Let’s see…” Dorothy hummed, walking around to the back of the pole. “Oh! Here they are!”

The young woman reached her arm up to the first nail, standing on her tip toes to grab hold of it. With some effort, she was able to jiggle it back and forth until it was loose enough that she could pull it out.

The Scarecrow’s arm flopped limply down to his side and he let out a triumphant little laugh, picking the arm up and wiggling his fingers in front of his face. “Would you look at that!” He exclaimed.

Dorothy smiled and got to work on the other arm, jiggling the nail just like she had before until the other was free as well.

“Just one more!” She told him, grabbing hold of the last nail and trying to jiggle it, but it wouldn’t move. “Ugh, this one is pretty stuck!”

“Probably because it went right through my chest.” The Scarecrow said absently.

“What was that?”

“Um-!” The Scarecrow chuckled nervously. “Maybe try using the other two nails to pry it out?”

“Oh, yes!” Dorothy smiled, picking the two discarded nails off the ground. “I think I saw my Uncle Henry do something like this once when he misplaced his hammer!”

Taking the two large nails, she crossed them under the head of the third nail in such a way that the heads of the two nails in her hand trapped the head of the one still stuck in the pole. “You ready?” She asked.

“Ready for what?” The Scarecrow asked.

“One… two… three!” Dorothy said, bracing her foot against the bottom of the pole and prying the nail out with one quick movement.

Sure enough, the Scarecrow slipped off of the pole with a THWUMP, falling to the ground face first. It startled Toto for a moment, but he quickly recovered and rushed forward to sniff at the fallen straw man.

“Oh!” Dorothy exclaimed, dropping the nails and rushing to help him to his… well, they weren’t feet exactly. His overalls were bunched in a way to keep most of his straw stuffing inside, but some of it stuck out in a way that it gave him pseudo feet that looked like little brooms. “Are you alright?”

The Scarecrow wobbled a bit, but after a moment, he was steady enough to stand. Up close, Dorothy could see that one of his button eyes was slightly darker than the other.

“Yep! I’m all good!” He told her, lazily putting his hands into his pockets and slouching forward on account of having no spine. Dorothy figured he would be taller if he could stand up straight, but like this, he was about the same height she was.

“The great thing about being stuffed with straw and hair, you can’t get hurt!” The Scarecrow explained, but then frowned and scratched his head. “Well, unless it’s with a lighted match.”

“I see!” The young woman nodded. “Well, I’ll be sure to keep you away from any fires, then!”

The straw man smiled and tipped his hat to her. “I thank you kindly! May I ask your name?”

“Oh, yes!” Dorothy said, sticking out her arm for a handshake. “My name is Dorothy Gale!”

The Scarecrow chuckled, taking her hand and shaking it. Her grip was a lot stronger than his was, and his arm flopped up and down limply as they shook. “Good to meet you, Dorothy!” He then looked down at Toto, who was sniffing at his overalls. “And who’s this little fella?”

“Ah!” The young woman’s smile brightened and she picked the little dog up so he could see. “This is my dog, Toto!”

“Well, hello there Toto!” He smiled, letting the little dog sniff his hand. When Toto had and was satisfied that the straw man would do he or his owner no harm, his little tail began to wag.

Chuckling, he scratched the dog behind his ears. “Protective little fella, isn’t he?”

“What’s your name?” Dorothy asked.

The Scarecrow looked up to her and smiled. “Oh, how rude of me! My name is-!” He began, but then cut himself off with a nervous chuckle. “Ah, well, you can just call me Scarecrow.”

She looked at him, confused. “Haven’t you got a name?”

He shook his head. “Not anymore.”

“What happened to it?”

“You see, the thing about not having a brain is, you tend to loose a lot of things.” The Scarecrow explained.

“Oh, I see…!” Dorothy said, nodding slowly.

“Not to worry, though!” The Scarecrow smiled, putting his hands on either side of his head. “With us traveling together, I’ll be sure not to loose my” he lifted his head right off his shoulders and winked at her. “Head!”

The young woman laughed, setting Toto down on the ground. “You’re so funny, Scarecrow!”

The straw man chuckled, putting his head back onto his shoulders and tucking his neck back into place. “Thank you, Dorothy! I’m glad to have someone to make laugh!”

“And I’m glad to have someone to travel with!” She replied, helping him over the fence and onto the Yellow Brick Road before climbing over herself. “It’s much more fun to travel with friends!”

“Friends…” The Scarecrow mused, smiling softly as he helped Dorothy down from the fence. “It’s been a long while since I’ve had friends.”

“Well, I’d be glad to call you my friend!” Dorothy told him, linking arms with him and giving it a little squeeze. “Now then, let’s get you some brains!”

“And let’s get you home!” The Scarecrow replied, enthusiastically squeezing her arm back.

And so, they began their journey once more down the Yellow Brick Road.

Chapter Text

“So,” The Scarecrow said as he and Dorothy walked along the road, “You’re telling me that one man rules over your entire country, but he’s not your king?”

“That’s right!” Dorothy nodded. “There are no kings in America, only Presidents!” She explained, but then paused. “Though, a lot of people aren’t very happy with President Hoover right now…”

“Oh?” Scarecrow asked, raising one of his embroidered eyebrows. “Why is that?”

“Well…” Dorothy sucked a breath in and looked to the side, contemplating. “A lot of people blame him for the reason why everyone is loosing their jobs and don’t have enough money to eat or get new clothing. I don’t know very much about the situation personally, Auntie Em says that girls shouldn’t concern themselves with politics on account of the fact women can’t vote.”

“Well, that doesn’t make sense.” He said, shaking his head. “It’s not as though women are different from men. While The Wizard is the overall ruler, he doesn’t do it alone. Most of Oz is ruled by monarchies!”

“Oh, wow! Is that so?” She asked.

The Scarecrow nodded, smiling fondly. “That’s right! I don’t know who all is leading the other parts of Oz, but the last I checked, Queen Evanora of the Vinkas is who rules out in the west.”

“What about the Wicked Witch?” Dorothy asked him.

The Scarecrow paused, looking at her with an expression that was hard to read. It almost looked like he was… hurt. “Who?”

Dorothy knit her eyebrows together, confused. “The Wicked Witch of the West? I was told that she was as wicked as they come.”

Scarecrow shook his head, looking forward toward the road as they continued walking. “I don’t know about any Wicked Witch of the West.”

“Oh…” Dororty hummed, rubbing her arm. Had the Munchkinlander’s been mistaken?

After a few beats of silence, a loud growl came from Dorothy’s stomach and she flushed, wrapping her arms around her thin frame.

“Are you hungry?” The Scarecrow asked, looking at her with some concern.

“Ah, yes.” Dorothy admitted, feeling a bit ashamed. When was the last time she had eaten?

“Well, not to worry!” He smiled, pointing ahead of them on the road. “Look there!”

Not far ahead of them, Dorothy noticed that the Yellow Brick Road cut right through an apple orchard! The trees were twisted things with fat, juicy apples hanging from their branches just waiting to be harvested.

“Just our luck!” Dorothy gasped, running ahead of her companion to the orchard. She stepped off the path and up to a tree, her eyes wide with hunger. She knew that it was wrong to take what didn’t belong to her, but there were enough apples that she was sure the farmers wouldn’t miss a few of them.

She spied a particularly large apple in the tree and smiled, reaching up and plucking it from the branch. Before she could bring the apple anywhere close to her mouth, the twisted branches of the apple tree creaked and moved towards her, smacking the apple out of her hands.

“Ouch!” Dorothy exclaimed, rubbing her stinging knuckles.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” The tree asked in a gruff, weathered voice.

The entire trunk of the tree moved towards Dorothy and she could see then that the tree had a face! The face was made entirely out of twisted and gnarled bark, and was looking at her with the most sour expression she had ever seen in her life!

“I-I beg your pardon!” Dorothy apologized as The Scarecrow and Toto finally caught up. “It’s just, I was so hungry that I didn’t think to ask! I keep forgetting I’m not in Kansas.”

“Oh, you were hungry, where you?” Another tree jeered at her, turning its wooden face to look at her. The faces on the trees where neither masculine nor feminine, and there was something incredibly unnerving about them.

“Now now, she didn’t mean anything by it!” The Scarecrow tried to tell the apple trees, putting a protective hand on Dorothy’s shoulders.

“Stay out of this, Scarecrow!” One of the trees spat bitterly.

“Yeah!” The other said. “How would you like it is someone came up and picked something off of you?!” It asked, reaching one of its twisted branches out and tugging on Dorothy’s braid.

The young woman yelped out and jumped back, Scarecrow’s arms wrapping around her with the concern and protectiveness of an older brother. “Here,” he whispered low in her ear, “let me show you how to get some apples.”

The Scarecrow frowned and huffed, turning up his orange nose. “Come on Dorothy, let’s keep going. You don’t want any of those apples!”

“What are you insinuating, huh?!” One of the apple trees asked.

“Nothing at all!” He said, and then gave the trees a sly smirk. “I just figured she would prefer apples that weren’t sour!”

“Sour?! Why, you-!” The apple tree growled, rearing its gnarled branch back and flinging the apples attached as hard as it could at them.

The Scarecrow pulled Dorothy behind him in the nick of time, the apples that did make impact solely hitting him. He laughed, making a mocking face at the trees before turning around and pushing the Kansas girl towards the edge of the apple field. Once they were safe from the wrath of the apple trees, he stopped and smiled at her.

“Well, I think we have enough apples now!” He said, sweeping his arm around at the apples that now littered the Yellow Brick Road leading out of the orchard and into the woods.

“Oh my!” Dorothy said, eyes wide with awe and hunger. She had never seen so many apples in her life! “I would say so!”

The two started to gather up the apples, Dorothy stuffing the pockets of her dress as much as she could for the journey ahead. Once she was satisfied, she picked an apple up of the ground and polished it on her sleeve. She then turned to her friend and paused, raising an eyebrow at him.

The Scarecrow had one arm full of apples, while his free hand unclasped one side of his overalls and got to work unbuttoning his flannel shirt. As he had told her, underneath the shirt was mostly hay, with some clumps of dark curly hair mixed in here and there. He hummed happily to himself as he grabbed one of the apples and held in towards his chest.

Dorothy let out a small gasp when the hay moved around and a small field mouse popped out from inside his stuffing. She blinked a few times, looking at her friend.

“There’s a mouse inside you!” She told him.

“Well, technically there’s a family of mice inside me.” He told her nonchalantly. “Thirteen, to be exact!”

“Oh…!”

Scarecrow looked up at her and blinked. “Did I not introduce you?”

Dorothy shook her head no.

“Oh!” The Scarecrow laughed. “I’m sorry! Dorothy, this is Claire!” He said, motioning to the little brown field mouse sticking part of its body out of his stomach. “Claire, this is Dorothy!”

“Hello…!” The young woman said, waving to the mouse.

The mouse took the apple from Scarecrow’s hand and seemed to study it, nose twitching all the while. It let out a few high-pitched squeaks before disappearing with the apple back into the Scarecrow’s body.

The straw man gasped and looked down at the place Claire the mouse had been.

“Mind your manners! That is no way to talk to someone!” He said and then huffed, looking back at Dorothy while re-buttoning his shirt. “I’m sorry about her. She’s probably the cattiest mouse that ever lived!”

“Oh, um…” Dorothy gave him a puzzled look. “That’s alright.”

Scarecrow sighed, shaking his head as he fixed back the strap of his overalls. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

The two friends and the little dog made their way into the forest, finally leaving Munchkinland behind. Dorothy snacked on her apples as they walked, and she was simply amazed by how delicious they were! They were sweet and juicy and crisp! It took everything in her power not to completely devour her first and second apples.

She was nearly done with her third apple when something further in the tree line caught her eye and caused her to stop.

“What is it?” Scarecrow asked, using the momentum of his leg that he was going to step forward on to turn back to her.

“I think I saw something shiny over there.” She said, motioning to the area of the tree line that caught her attention before walking towards it.

The two moved off the road and into the tree line. Dorothy moved branches out of her way as she moved further and further in. She caught glimpses of the sun glancing off of something every so often as she moved towards it. Finally, they made their way through the underbrush and found what it was that had caught the young woman’s attention.

There, standing in the clearing, was a man made entirely out of tin.

Chapter Text

“It’s a Tin Man!” Dorothy exclaimed, moving further into the clearing to get a better look. 

The Tin Man certainly looked as though he had seen better days. He was holding an axe high above his head, posed as though he would swing it down at any moment. His body was rusted over in places, and the moss and lichens that grew on him indicated he had been there a long time. There were shaved curls of copper that peaked out from under a sort-of can shaped hat that were beginning to turn green from oxidization. 

“Goodness, it looks like it’s been here a while.” Scarecrow said, watching as Dorothy got closer. “Hey, be careful, will you?” 

“I will!” She assured her friend as she approached the Tin Man. 

Dorothy hummed softly, reaching out and gently brushing a few dead vines off of the statue man. The metal was cold to the touch under her fingertips. 

“Mmmph!” 

The young woman gasped and jumped back, looking at the Tin Man with wide eyes. There was no doubt, the sound had definitely come from the metal being. 

“What is it?” Scarecrow asked, rushing over to her. 

“He’s alive!” She exclaimed.  

“Mm-hmm!” The Tin Man hummed insistently, the green copper disks he had for eyes glancing upwards with some effort. 

“What was that?” Dorothy asked him. 

A sound like a huff came from the frozen man and he hummed again, “Mm-mm. Hmm.” 

“Two words.” Scarecrow guessed, scratching the brown yarn hair under his hat. 

“Oh dear, his mouth and jaw are rusted shut.” Dorothy mused. 

“Rusted…” The straw man followed the Tin Man’s eyes and gasped, pointing to the hat on top of the metal man’s head. “Dorothy, that’s an oil can!” 

“Of course!” She said, hitting her hand against the side of her head. It was so obvious! 

Quickly, the young woman grabbed the oil can and went to work oiling the hinge of the man’s jaw and along his mouth. 

Tentatively, the Tin Man moved his mouth back and fourth a few times, testing to see if it was properly loosened. He then opened his mouth as wide as he could, jaw unhinging completely before he brought it back and spoke. 

“My… my mouth…!” He said, his voice horse and grinding from years of disuse. “I can talk again…!” 

“Where should I oil next?” Dorothy asked. 

“My arms,” He said. “Please, oil my arms!” 

Dorothy did as she was asked, oiling the joints of his arms and hands. She then pried open his loosened fingers, the axe falling to the ground with a heavy THUD!  

“Oh…!” The Tin Man moaned, his arms rotating backwards and to resting at his sides now that they were loose. “Thank you! That axe was heavy!” 

“What happened to you?” Dorothy asked as she oiled his neck, Scarecrow carefully bending the Tin Man’s metal arm joints to make sure they were properly oiled. 

“It was just awful!” He replied, moving his neck back and forth while she oiled so he could get full movement back. “I was out here chopping wood one day, when all of a sudden, it started to rain! I should have stopped, but I was so lost in thought while working, that I didn’t realize I had been in the rain for hours before it was too late! I was about to swing my axe down on the last log when the rust finally set in and I was frozen solid!” 

“You poor thing!” Dorothy gasped, handing over the oil can to Scarecrow so he could get the man’s lower body and feet. “What was it that you were thinking about that had you so lost in thought?” 

The Tin Man sighed wistfully. “Lost love.” 

“Lost love?” Dorothy asked. “I didn’t realize that tin men could love!” 

“Well, I didn’t always used to be this way.” He explained. “I was human, long ago, and I was hopelessly in love! She was the most beautiful, most wonderful, most good woman in all of Oz!” 

The Scarecrow paused his work, raising an eyebrow as he listened to the Tin Man’s story. 

“But she wasn’t in love with me.” The Tin man said, his expression growing darker. “She only tolerated me to get to him. She told me that I should pursue another girl to keep me pacified.” 

“Did you?” Dorothy asked, enraptured by the story. 

He nodded solemnly. “I did. I tried to love her, truly I did! She was a wonderful girl, kind and dotting, and she always wore the loveliest pair of…” His eyes slid downwards, locking onto the silver and ruby slippers on Dorothy’s feet. Recognition flashed across his face. “… shoes… Say, where did you get those?” 

“These?” Dorothy asked, looking down at the slippers. “They were given to me by Glinda the Good Witch! She said that they would protect me on my way to see The Wizard, and made me promise that I wouldn’t take them off or give them to anyone.” 

“Glinda?!” The Scarecrow and Tin Man asked in unison, the latter loosing his balance and falling backward with a loud crash. 

“Yes!” Dorothy said, quickly moving to help him stand again. “Do you know her?” 

“Yes!” He responded, but then quickly backtracked. “I mean, no! I mean,” he shook his head, “I know of her! Everyone knows who Glinda is!” 

“Oh! Well, I suppose that makes sense.” Dorothy hummed.  

“And you said that she is the one that sent you to see The Wizard?” Scarecrow asked for clarification.  

Dorothy nodded her head. “Yes, that’s right! She told me that if I just follow the Yellow Brick Road, I’ll eventually get to The Emerald City.” 

“Why are you going to see The Wizard?” The Tin Man asked, cringing away from Toto as the little dog sniffed at him curiously. 

“Well, you see, I’m not from here.” Dorothy explained. “Toto and I are from someplace very far away, and we’re trying to get back there! See, I live there with my aunt and uncle who I love very dearly, and I want to get back to them as soon as I can!” 

“I see…” he hummed, nodding. “It must be nice, to be able to love someone.” 

The Scarecrow scoffed slightly, standing up and dusting his overalls off. 

“What do you mean?” Dorothy asked. “Didn’t you say that you were in love with a girl?” 

“Emphasis on were .” Tin Man said. “You see, after a while, I had to tell the girl with the beautiful shoes that I couldn’t love her. She was heartbroken, but also very angry with me.” 

“Rightfully so.” Scarecrow murmured under his breath. 

The Tin Man glanced at him before continuing. “I was nothing special, so I figured that a beautiful girl like her would get over me quickly. I moved out here into the woods and met the kind old tinsmith that lived in that cottage over there.” He said, pointing to a small house on the edge of the clearing. “He was old, and I was looking for work, so he agreed to let me live with him in exchange for help with the chores.” 

“The tinsmith and I grew quite close while he was alive, and he even taught me a little about tin smithing. One day, he gave me this beautiful axe to chop the firewood with.” 

Dorothy watched as he bent down and retrieved the axe from the ground. Despite how it had aged, it was quite beautiful with it’s decorative heart cut out in the blade. 

“I took the axe out here to chop some firewood, when it slipped and cut my leg clean off!” The Tin Man told her, causing her to gasp. “Thankfully, the tinsmith heard my cries of pain and took me into the cabin. Once he had stopped the bleeding and gave me something to help with the pain, he made me a new leg out of tin.” 

“Oh, well, that was very kind of him!” Dorothy said, relaxing. 

“It was!” He agreed. “And once I was fully healed, I did everything in my power to repay his kindness. But little did I know that the beautiful axe he had given me was cursed! Each time I went to use it, it would slip from my grasp and hack off another body part! Eventually, the tinsmith had made me entirely out of tin in order to keep me alive.” 

“But he forgot one thing,” The Tin Man said, tapping the left side of his chest with a metal finger. 

Dorothy’s eyes saddened. “A heart…” She finished for him. 

He nodded sadly. “That’s right.” 

“Well…” Dorothy hummed in thought before smiling. “Why don’t you come with us, then?” 

“What?!” Scarecrow asked incredulously. 

“Really?” The Tin Man asked, his spirit’s lifting. 

“Why not?” Dorothy asked, taking his metal hand in hers and smiling sweetly. “You could come and see The Wizard with us! I’m sure that if you ask him kindly enough, he will see the good in you and give you a new heart!” 

Something in the Tin Man softened, and for the first time, Dorothy noticed something she hadn’t before. On the left side of his chest, a little plant was growing out of a small vent above the temperature gauge. 

“Do you really mean that…?” He asked, his voice gentle and… well… heartfelt . 

“Of course I do!” She said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. It was slight, but she felt a feather-light squeeze back. 

“Dorothy, it’s starting to get dark,” The Scarecrow said, catching both of their attentions. 

Dorothy looked up at the sky and knit her eyebrows together in worry. “Oh dear, you’re right…!” 

“Well… I suppose you could stay here for the night.” The Tin Man said, fiddling with the clasp on his worn leather axe holster and jerking his head towards the tinsmith’s cottage. “No point in getting going when it’ll be dark soon.” 

“Oh, thank you Tin Man!” Dorothy exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in a great hug. The metal under her warmed slightly and she gasped, pulling back and looking at him apologetically. “I’m sorry! I should have asked you your name instead of calling you Tin Man!” 

“No, no, it’s alright!” He said, putting the axe into the holster around his waist and clasping it so it was secured. “You can call me Tin Man. No one has called me by my real name in so long, it wouldn’t feel right to be called it now.” 

“C’mon Dorothy,” The Scarecrow said, putting his arm protectively around her shoulders and leading her away from the Tin Man. Her confused look was met with an easy smile.  

He would recognize that smile anywhere.  

“Let’s get the place cleaned up so you can rest comfortably.” The Scarecrow winked at her and grinned. “I can sweep the floor by dancing~!” 

Dorothy’s expression brightened with wonder, the odd interaction forgotten for the moment. “Really? How wonderful!” 

When the old cottage was sufficiently cleaned, the trio and Toto spent the rest of the evening chatting and getting to know each other more. Dorothy told The Tin Man and the Scarecrow all about her life in Kansas while she warmed herself by the wood stove and ate a few more of her apples. Claire the mouse made another appearance, nearly scaring the Tin Man out of his riveting. The Scarecrow laughed so hard that he split the stitching along his side. 

Once Dorothy and Toto were fast asleep, The Scarecrow shuffled over to The Tin Man and sat down next to him on the other side of the furnace, plucking a loose emerald-green thread from his hair and rubbing it between his clumsy gloved fingers. Tin Man's oxidized copper eyes flicked up at him for a moment before looking back at the wrist joint he was tightening with a screwdriver. 

It was silent for a moment, until the Scarecrow spoke. 

“Boq…” 

“…” He let out a small huff. “ Fiyero …” 

“It’s been a while…”  

Chapter Text

“Come along now, Boq!” Galinda called after the munchkinlander boy, looking down from the top of the grassy hill.  

“C-Coming Miss Galinda!” The copper haired Munchkin panted, struggling as he tried to carry everything the party of four needed for their picnic.  

Elphaba sighed, shaking her head at him. “Here Boq, let me help.” She said, taking a few things from his arms to lighten his load.   

She knew if she took any more, he would feel embarrassed and argue with her.  

“Oh!” He blinked in surprise, looking up at the green woman and giving her a sheepish, gap-toothed smile. “Thank you, Miss Elphaba.”  

She smiled, rolling her eyes playfully at him. “Elphaba is just fine.”  

“Elphaba!” He let out an anxious, high pitched giggle as they walked up the rest of the hill together. “Got it.”  

“Elphie~!” Galinda squealed, throwing her arms around the young woman. “I’m so glad you came! I thought for sure you were going to lock yourself in the library until finals were over!”  

The tips of Elphaba’s pointed ears flushed a dark shade of green and she cleared her throat, breaking the hug by putting the armful off picnic supplies on the ground.   

“Yes, well, I needed a break anyways…!”  

From above them, the branches of the large tree rustled and Fiyero appeared seemingly from nowhere, startling them all.  

“Boq!!!” The upside-down prince exclaimed, his light-green eyes twinkling with excitement. Expertly, he flipped down from the tree and ran over to his friend, clapping the shorter man on the shoulder.   

“You legend! I heard you passed Professor Nikidik’s environmental studies final with a perfect score!” Fiyero said, brushing some of his dark kinky hair out of his eyes. “I heard from an upperclassmen that only two other people have ever done that in Nikidik’s entire career! The man is three-hundred and fifty years old! ”  

Boq chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as his own slightly pointed ears flushed this time. “It was nothing, really!”  

“No, not nothing!” The prince said, taking the rest of the picnic supplies from Boq and putting it on the ground. “I couldn’t have done that!”  

“I’m sure you could’ve if you studied hard enough.” The other young man said, giving a half shrug and a smile.  

“Yeah, right!” Fiyero laughed. “Maybe if you were tutoring me, I’d have a sliver of a chance!”  

“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed if you wanted to study together…!”  

“Ah!” Galinda gasped, latching onto Fiyero’s arm and hugging it. “Idea~! What if we all do a study group next semester!?”  

Elphaba snorted, trying not to laugh too obnoxiously. “You? Study? ”  

The strawberry blonde whipped her head towards the green girl, giving her a dirty look. “Rude!”  

“I’m just joking, you know that.” Elphaba smiled, tossing her long red braids over her shoulder. “Come on, are we going to have this picnic or what?”  

“ Right!” Galinda said, that determined look on her face. She let go of Fiyero’s arm and whipped out her translucent training wand. “Stand back, everyone!”  

The other three took a step back from the picnic spot and watched with baited breath, ready to jump out of the way if they needed to.  

Galinda closed her eyes and focused, stretching her wand-arm out and pointing the tip at the pile of picnic supplies. She murmured lowly under her breath, words barely recognizable as she flicked her wrist upwards and to the right.   

The supplies levitated slowly off the ground, much to everyone’s amazement. The pink and white checkered blanket unfurled itself, spreading out on the ground without a crease in sight. The dishes and cutlery set itself in an elegant manner while the picnic basket was unpacked by invisible hands, the spread of fruits and fine meats and cheeses making their mouths water. Cushions found their places along the inside border and a bottle of champagne nestled itself back into a bucket of ice after it had popped its cork and poured each person a glass.  

Once the magical display was over, the trio clapped for their friend, all of them filled with pride and awe over her accomplishment.  

“That was amazing, Galinda!” Boq exclaimed.  

“How long did it take you to get that one down?” Elphaba asked her roommate, beaming at her with pride.  

“Oh, you know!” Galinda giggled, resting the upper end of her wand in her free hand. “Only about-“ she deflated a little, her sunny demeanor suddenly turning to gloom. “-three weeks .”  

“Hey,” Elphaba said, gently lifting the blonde’s chin with her hand so she met her gaze. “You’re doing really well. You’ve improved so much! You should be proud.”  

Galinda’s cheeks flushed a rosy pink, looking away shyly as she bit back a smile and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. The finger-waved bob framed her face perfectly.  

“Thanks Elphie…~!”  

“A toast!” Fiyero declared, giving each of his friends a glass of champagne and lifting his aloft. “To the end of finals and the coming summer vacation!”  

“To good friends.” Elphaba added, lifting her glass as well.  

“And to good food!” Boq chimed in, joining the toast.  

Galinda smiled, looking at all of her friends, her eyes lingering on Elphaba for a bit longer before finally lifting her glass.   

“To the future.”  

~ *~*~

The friends ate and drank in the slow dying light of the summer evening. By the time golden hour had rolled around, they were all sufficiently tipsy, drunk off of the warmth of a perfect summer day and off the bottle and a half of Gilikaneese champagne.  

They were all sprawled out on the picnic blanket, soaking in the last rays of sun before twilight set in. Galinda was planted in Elphaba’s lap, giggling flirtatiously as she twirled one of the green girl’s red braids around her finger and listened to her talk about the latest book she was reading.   

Fiyero, on the other hand, was looking up at the darkening sky with Boq and telling him Vinkan folk tales, pointing out pink and orange clouds as they rolled lazily by if they added to the story. Boq was nestled into his side as he listened, their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces. He could feel the warmth of Fiyero’s skin and the steady beating of his heart. The Munchkin boy hadn’t realized how rich the prince’s skin looked against his own; it was so pale in comparison.  

Once the sun had finally set, the quartet of friends packed up their picnic and made their way back to their dorms, stumbling and slurring in hushed voices. Fiyero, ever the gentleman, wanted to make sure that the girls were safely back in their dorm in the tower of Craige Hall before he and Boq retired to their own dorms in a separate tower of Shiz, Briscoe Hall.  

“Here you are,” Fiyero said, opening the door to Boq’s dorm room and helping the drunk Munchkin inside. The room was decorated with thriving houseplants. “Home sweet home!”  

“That was so fun~!” Boq hiccuped, cheeks and pointed ears flushed from his drunken state. “We should do that every day!”  

“Ah, but if we do that, it won’t be as special!” Fiyero chuckled, helping Boq to the bed. He then grabbed a glass and filled it with a near-by pitcher of water, handing it to him.  

“Oh yeah…” Boq mused, taking the water from him and running his finger along the rim. “You’re so much smarter than you think you are.”  

Fiyero’s cheeks heated slightly and he smiled at the young man. “Thank you, Boq. That’s really nice of you to say.”  

“I’m just telling the truth!” He said, tipping his head back and downing the water in a few gulps. When he was finished, he held the glass out to Fiyero.  

The prince took the glass and re-filled it, putting it on the bedside table in case Boq wanted more later. “Do you need anything?”  

“Mmmm…” Boq leaned back on his hands, legs splayed open over the edge of the bed. “Don’t think so…”  

“Alright!” Fiyero smiled, ruffling his friend’s copper hair affectionately. “You’ll let me know if you do? I’m just down the hall.”  

Boq made a soft, disappointed noise and took Fiyero’s hand in his. He pressed his flushed cheek against the back of the prince’s hand and looked up at him with big, brown eyes.  

Fiyero’s cheeks flushed, breath hitched in his throat as their gazes locked. “What’s wrong…?”  

“Stay with me…~?” He asked, nuzzling Fiyero’s hand.  

The prince chuckled softly. He would be lying if he said he didn’t find the Munchkin boy attractive. He took his free hand and brushed some of the stray curls from Boq’s forehead. “Only if you want me to.”  

Boq stood up from the bed, pressing his lithe frame against Fiyero’s muscled body. “ Please~?” He begged, a hint of a whine in his plea.  

Fiyero hummed, heat growing in his abdomen as his hands went to Boq’s waist, keeping him pinned in against him.  

“For you, anything .”