Chapter Text
The wicked die alone. And so would Glinda Upland at this rate. She looked at the walls of her now private suite, lined with hundreds of pink dresses and shoes, never worn. But they didn’t spark the usual sense of joy in her today. So she would just buy more. That would fix it.
But she knew the real reason. There was no one to impress. She could walk around Shiz in her nicest clothes, and flirt with the prettiest boys, but it wasn’t the same. Because everyone got insecure about some things, even Glinda. And Elphaba was her every insecurity. She could be beautiful without making a spectacle of herself, how she could be awkward but still kind, and more than that, was confident without needing a reason to be.
First she hated her for it, but it was impossible to resist her, so Glinda started to worship her. Should she have gone with her that night?
“Of course not!” Pfannee and ShenShen had assured her immediately. “You have hundreds of people who like you right here. Why sacrifice it for one girl?”
But Elphaba Thropp was the only person who really knew Glinda. She saw past the sparkles and the sequins, and she found a deeply lonely girl. Everyone loved Glinda, but not a single person asked how her day was. Everyone laughed at Glinda’s jokes but no one could make her laugh.
No, she wouldn’t be sacrificing anything if she went after Elphaba. Because that one girl was her whole life. Once she had experienced true love, nothing came close to it. Now that she knew what she had been missing, there was no going back.
She thought it was Fiyero who was perfect for her. It made sense. She would marry her college sweetheart, just like her mom had. A purely transactional relationship. But what was really perfect was the awkward, nerdy, teacher’s pet girl. She evened Glinda out, gave her a place to be herself.
And Glinda was perfect for her. The girl who was shunned by her father from the moment of her birth, ordered to hide herself, made to hate herself was suddenly being chased by the most beautiful, popular girl at school. She helped Elphaba as her confidence grew.
Glinda dragged a rack of dresses away from Elphaba’s side of the room. Just in case she came back. And if she did, her bedroom would be neat and pretty to show her just how much she had been missed. But as Glinda cleaned, she couldn’t help but think how beautiful all of her dresses would look on Elphaba. She had to stop herself from daydreaming about their wedding, and Elphaba in a blush coloured gown, with a rose tucked behind her ear.
And of course the daydream wedding happened in the Emerald City. Glinda’s mind seemed to have settled on it. There was just no place as pretty. The cobblestone road, the bustling city. And the green colour of the buildings which would compliment Elphaba’s skin so very well. If only Elphaba could be welcomed back here.
She tried to stop herself from thinking about every what if. “What if I had gone with her?” That fateful night, Glinda hadn’t decided her fate until it was decided for her. She didn’t know if she wanted to fly away with Elphaba that night, she was scared to let go of everything she had. But now she had nothing. And she replayed that night over and over again in her mind until it froze at the moment a guard pulled her back. But now she knew. She would have gone with Elphaba. Yes. Absolutely, unequivocally yes.
Now this was her forever. She didn’t want to give up everything. But it seemed she had. The wicked die alone. And so did the good it seemed.
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The wicked die alone. Madame Morrible wished that she wouldn’t. She woke up that morning feeling well-rested. Still, a sadness hung over her that she couldn’t shake. She looked over at the Wizard sleeping next to her and sighed. Her heart’s desire. But they had been too young to know what their hearts truly desired.
Her heart’s desire had changed. She had watched thousands of students come and go as her hair turned grey and her body became thinner. She had always wanted a child, a daughter. She had tried to show kindness to her best students, she made tea and cookies for the most homesick 1st years.
But no student had made her feel most like a mother than the girl who was motherless. Elphaba Thropp had taken to her immediately. She supposed she was just excited to have someone who believed in her. Still, she wondered in a normal life, would Elphaba still have wanted her as a role model? As a mother figure? She had hoped Elphaba was fond enough of her to surrender whatever battle she was fighting with the animals, to come live in the Emerald City. She told The Wizard of these hopes, and though they never outright said it, they hoped to take her in as a daughter.
But she knew the exact reason she hadn’t become a mother when she had the chance. “What if my children hate me?” she always wondered. How cruelly ironic that her only daughter did hate her. She was now facing everything she had protected herself from.
She thought bitterly of how Glinda had chased her around campus, trying to get her attention. “She doesn’t need someone,” she had thought. “She has everyone.” Now the girl wouldn’t even look at her.
And as the pain washed over her, so did an ambition, a crazy ambition. What if she could find Elphaba, and bring her back? She would easily give up everything, all of it, to have her daughter back.
The wizard stirred as she turned on a lamp, then he woke. “Dear Oz, turn that off, will you?” Madame Morrible ignored him. She dressed, not in her usual robe and cape, but a simple black dress.
“Wait, where are you going, honey?” mumbled The Wizard, pulling the blankets over his eyes.
“I’m going to find her.” Madame Morrible stated, fighting to keep her voice even. She didn’t wait for a reply as she turned around and slammed the door.
The wicked die alone. But she didn’t have to.