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Chapter Text

Today was going to be the day. Miss Izara had promised. Galinda’s tiny legs didn’t quite reach the floor, which made it all the more enjoyable to swing them in anticipation. Shenshen and Pfannee didn’t mimic her enthusiasm for this exercise. They didn’t know why it was important to learn about all of Oz. They were perfectly comfortable in their little Gillikin bubble.

But even at the tender age of 12, Galinda had rejoicified at the opportunity to hide behind words. To talk to someone who didn’t know who she was. To have a semblance of anonymity that might help her bare her heart.

For there was much more to Galinda Arduenna Upland than what she chose to show the world. She had already learned how to curate what people saw of her. Her momsie had made sure she knew the importance of that.

None of that would matter right now. Miss Izara had decided it was a good idea for each of the kids in her class to have a pen-pal from another country of Oz. She had reached out to schools in Quadling Country, the Vinkus, and Munchkinland. And today they’d receive their first letter. Galinda would finally know who she had been matched up with. Even though she wouldn’t actually know. That was the beauty of the exercise. She’d be able to say whatever she wanted and the person on the other side wouldn’t know it was Galinda writing it. Or at least, she wouldn’t know what face to paste on her name.

It took forever and a minute before Miss Izara started handing out letters. Galinda held the simple off-white envelope in her hands as if it was her most priced possession. She didn’t even dare to open it until she was in the safety of her room back home.

The paper felt rough against her perfect skin. Slowly, she unfolded the parchment.

Dear whoever receives my letter,

When I was asked if I wanted to exchange letters with a complete stranger from Gillikin Country, I was quite excited. You see, whoever you are, I don’t have all that many friends. So, this seemed like a great opportunity.

Perhaps I should briefly introduce myself. My name is Elphaba, I’m 12 years old, and I live in Munchkinland. Before my sister was born, my family and I traveled through Quadling Country for a while, but I don’t remember all that much about it.

I have never been to Gillikin Country though. What is it like? Do you like living there?

Personally, I’m not really a fan of Munchkinland. I have this image in my head that there is this place out there, somewhere in Oz, maybe even in Gillikin, where I’ll feel at home. But I haven’t lived anywhere else, so it’s not like I know.

Anyway, what I mean to say is, I would love to learn more about it.

Kind regards,

Elphaba

Galinda’s hands were itching to scribble out a reply. Something long and eloquent that would show she was much smarter than people gave her credit for. She just wasn’t sure what to write. There were too many thoughts fighting for attention. Too many possible starts to this new journey.

It had to be good. No, not good, perfect. She had to impress Elphaba. First impressions were everything after all. That was the Upland motto.

Although, her whole joy with this endeavor was that she could write whatever she wanted. That Elphaba, this munchkin girl, didn’t actually know her. She didn’t have to be Galinda Arduenna Upland in these letters. She could just be Galinda. Whoever that was.

She twirled the pen around in her hand. If she wasn’t the image her momsie had told her to be, then who was she? Who was Galinda?

Her pen scratched a few words onto the paper, before she regretted it and ripped it to shreds. On her second try, she got a whole paragraph in before she threw the slip of paper in the trash.

Again and again, she tried, and again and again it wasn’t good enough. The only thing she was succeeding in was collecting a trashcan full of paper. When she eventually had a draft of her first letter finished, she was yawning behind her hand.

Miss Izara smiled when Galinda handed in the pink envelope. She had scrawled Elphaba’s name in her prettiest handwriting on the front. For all intents and purposes, it looked pristine and perfect. But whoever tore the envelope open and read its contents would see the flaws Galinda so carefully hid from view.

“How did you find the exercise, Galinda?” Miss Izara asked gently. As if she predicted that her student had had a rough time with it.

“I loved it. Thank you for this opportunity, Miss Izara. I think it was a marvelous idea.” Her hands slid down the shoulder strap of her bag. She was already anticipating Elphaba’s reply.

“I see you put in an effort into the form of your letter. Did you put equal effort into its content?” Somewhere behind those words there was an insult waiting to be discovered. Galinda simply smiled and nodded her head.

The pink envelope joined the white ones of her classmates. Later that night, after Galinda had gone off to bed, Miss Izara added Elphaba’s address under the beautifully written name. The next morning the pink envelope ended in a big cotton bag on the back of a horsedrawn carriage.

The carriage made its way from Frottica to the Emerald City where it was placed in another, much smaller bag that was put on another much smaller horsedrawn carriage. It was that carriage that entered Munchkinland and stopped in front of Colwen Grounds where the pink envelope reached its final destination.

Elphaba yawned as she made her way down the stairs. Her bare feet were cold, but her father had taken her slippers last week because she had angered him. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had done. Most likely it had something to do with Nessa.

She loved her little sister, more than anything. But sometimes she resented the girl for the love and affection she received. It was the worst thing in the world because it made her feel wicked and vile. As if her green skin didn’t already achieve that.

How could she expect anyone to love her when she looked so atrocious?

Her father didn’t lower his newspaper when she entered the dining room. In no way did he acknowledge her existence. Elphaba sighed and grabbed a piece of toast.

“Fabala.” Dulcibear pattered into the room. “A letter arrived for you this morning.”

“For me?” Elphaba frowned. It wasn’t a common occurrence for her to get a piece of mail. She didn’t think it had ever happened before. Unless she counted the one time the kids in town had pushed a note in the mailbox that told her she ought to leave Oz altogether. And she refused to count that.

“Yes, dear. It has your name on it. Right here,” Dulcibear answered, grabbing the envelope out of the front of her apron, “Elphaba Thropp,” she read and held the letter out for Elphaba to take.

Her green fingers stood at a stark contrast against the soft pink envelope.

“What’s that, Fabala?” Nessa wheeled her way in. Her eyes glued to the envelope. Elphaba clenched it and held it against her chest.

Someone had sent her a letter. Someone had written to her.

“It’s a letter. For me.”

“For you? Who would write to you?” Nessa didn’t look away from the pink within the green.

“I don’t know.” Elphaba’s voice sounded weak and uncertain. Maybe she was stupid to think that there could be something good hiding within the envelope. Maybe it was yet again an empty wish that could never come to fruition. Just maybe the munchkins had learned how to be creative and cruel with their threats.

“Well, open it.” Nessa smiled encouragingly, nodding her head.

Dear Elphaba,

How marvelous to meet you. Truly thrillifying. Even though I was not left a choice, I was positively enthusiastic to write to you. I believe one can never have too many friends.

But I can already hear you thinking, not really of course, that would be quite extraordinary. Anyway, what I was going to say was, you are probably wondering who I am.

My name is Galinda Arduenna Upland, from the upper Uplands in Frottica, Gillikin Country. I can assure you that I have never left Gillikin in my life. But it is my dream to visit the Emerald City. It must be beautiful and grand, filled with the best stores and the biggest castles. I believe it’s the closest to paradise one can get.

To answer your questions, Gillikin is nice. It’s home. I’m not sure how to describe it to you. It’s a nice place, you see. It’s warm and beautiful. Which is probably why it’s so weird that I want to leave.

I want to explore Oz, to see all it has to offer. I want to live in the Emerald City and carve my own path. There is a five-step plan I’ve thought out.

Step 1: Make sure I do well in school.

Step 2: Attend Shiz University.

Step 3: Get into Madame Morrible’s Sorcery Seminar. She doesn’t teach it every semester, so I will have to make sure I’m really special.

Step 4: Build a network of highly influential people.

Step 5: Become the greatest, most powerful, most popular sorceress Oz has ever seen.

My momsie says I shouldn’t get caught up in these fantasies. That it’ll be heartbreaking if it doesn’t go exactly as I’ve planned it.  But I think it just means I have to make sure everything goes exactly as planned.

I’m sorry to hear that you don’t feel at home in Munchkinland. Or well, to read it. Maybe when I’m the greatest sorceress in all of Oz, I can make you a home in the Emerald City. We could live close to each other and be best friends.

Am I getting ahead of things?

Either way, I’m looking forward to reading your reply. I’m sure we’ll get along perfectly.

Sincerely,

Galinda Arduenna Upland

Elphaba had forgotten about the project she had signed up for. She had forgotten that she wrote a note and sent it all the way to Gillikin Country. It had been a while after all. But now it all flooded back.

For some reason she had never expected to receive a letter back. It had all sounded too good to be true. Get a random penpal from a school in Gillikin and exchange letters with them for a few months in the comfort of blissful anonymity. This person would never have to know that Elphaba was, always had been, and probably always would be green.

Unless she got to meet the wizard. Because he would be able to grant her heart’s desire.

But apparently there really was someone on the other side of all this. One Galinda Arduenna Upland who seemed to have a talent for rambling.

“So, whose is it?” Nessa asked.

“It’s just something for a school project.” Elphaba slid the letter into her bag and nibbled on her toast.

Chapter Text

Dear Galinda,

It’s nice to put a name to the words. Writing that first letter was dreadful as it was filled with uncertainty. But once I read your reply it was worth it. You do have a way to make a person smile.

I particularly enjoyed reading about your dreams of the Emerald City. You see, I share them more or less. Not that I’m particularly fond of sorcery. But it is my dream to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I want him to grant me my heart’s desire because he is the only one that could possibly do so.

Or I’ll just have to patiently wait until you become the most powerful, most popular sorceress in all of Oz. Then you can make my wish come true.

I know I don’t really know you, but I think your momsie is wrong. I think it’s important to continue dreaming because if you don’t get caught up in your fantasies, in your dreams, your wishes, your desires, then you lose all ability to make them come true. And with that you lose a bit of yourself. You shouldn’t lose any part of yourself, Galinda. You seem perfectly exquisite as you are.

Not all of us can relate to that. I doubt you’d want me close by if you met me. But if you do end up making me a home in the Emerald City, I believe it would be the best home I could ever wish for. Surrounded by libraries, green palaces, people that wouldn’t even notice me as I walked down the street. And perhaps a chance to meet the Wizard. And it would be a perk to have a friendly face close by if you’d be there.

Kind regards,

Elphaba.

-

Dear Elphaba,

How delightful that I made you smile! You can’t see me but I’m smiling right back at you. You sound like a very smart person, Elphaba. I know most people in my class wouldn’t be able to form half the sentences you do in these letters.

It’s so great to meet someone who understands my wish to go to the Emerald City. Most of my friends don’t really care for it. Here in Frottica, they are all a big deal. In the Emerald City they would just be one of many. So, I guess I understand them. But wouldn’t it be so wonderful to become a big deal in the Emerald City? The city filled with the best and the brightest and the most powerful.

That’s why I want to go. To make a name for myself. To stop hiding behind what my parents have given me and be myself. Even if it is hard. Even if I have to struggle to achieve it. Even if sometimes it hurts.

But enough about me for just one clock tick. What do you mean that you are not perfectly exquisite yourself? I think you are. Even if I only know you from the two letters I have received so far.

And perhaps you don’t know me yet. But that is about to change, Miss Elphaba. For I will share all there is to know about me in these letters and then when we do meet in real life you’ll recognize me instantly for you’ll know me better than I know myself. And I will recognize you instantly for you will be my best friend.

So don’t you worry one moment. I will always be a friendly face.

Sincerely,

Galinda.

-

Dear Galinda,

I can’t say I’m not excited to learn all about you. The mere thought makes my head reel in a most thrilling manner. Then again, I am also scared to share too much of myself. The last thing I want to do is scare you away.

Maybe it’s different for me because I’m not a big deal in Munchkinland. Or at least not in a good way. The Emerald City would be my escape, not my challenge. But I do understand what you mean. That being a big deal isn’t worth all that much unless you’ve achieved it yourself. And I think you are quite right about that too. It will probably be scary, but I believe you can do it. I’m rooting for you.

Kind regards,

Elphaba.

-

Dear Elphaba,

Even though your last letter was very nice, it simply will not do. I have had to wait weeks for your reply to land in my hands, so I’m sure you can imagine my disappointment when I saw how short it was. You mustn’t be afraid to scare me away. Share everything and one thing more.

But perhaps you aren’t sure what to tell me. I took the liberty of asking some of my friends what they were writing to their correspondents. Most of them are simply asking about hobbies and interests. I’ll start us off, and I expect you to reply in length. Leave no detail behind.

I’m very interested in beauty in many forms. I care what I wear, how I present myself. But it’s not just my own beauty I care about. I love architecture. It’s weird to write it on this piece of paper because I haven’t shared it with anyone. Most people think I’m too shallow to appreciate anything other than fashion magazines. It doesn’t help that I actually like fashion magazines. The Ozmapolitan is my favorite.

But my real interest lies in architecture. In infrastructure. Design. Palaces, castles, and townhouses. How to combine something beautiful with something functional. How to build something sturdy and strong that can stand any weather, any disaster.

When I was even younger than I am now, I enjoyed drawing up poorly planned floorplans. Now I see that none of them would actually work. But it shows that my passion started when I was still very young and entirely unqualified.

And then there is sorcery. Magic sounds like the most interesting thing that exists. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we combined architecture and magic? I’m sure it has been done before in some olden time. But now that true magic has become so rare, it would be a real game changer, don’t you think?

It could change the world as we know it, Elphaba.

Isn’t that interesting? Isn’t that marvelous? Isn’t it just mind-altering? Oh, Elphaba, you understand, don’t you? The importance of architecture and sorcery and the combination of the two.

And does it truly make me shallow that I can appreciate beauty? We all do. It’s merely a human trait. We like pretty things. I don’t think that makes me any less than anyone else. It’s not because I like looking beautiful that I have nothing going on in my head, you know. I can think just fine.

So, now it is your turn. Write to me about your interests. Write to me about your passions. Write me anything at all, as long as it is long. I will not tolerate another disappointment, Elphaba.

Sincerely,

Galinda.

-

Dear Galinda,

Permit me to start with an apology. It was never my intention to disappoint you. Therefore, I will have to make sure this letter is long. As long as I can make it without repeating myself into oblivion.

I’ll start with a reply to what you wrote me and then I’ll answer your questions regarding my interests.

It is never easy for me to admit that I don’t know about something. I like to be smart, and I like to learn. But I don’t know all that much about architecture. Still, I believe you are on to something. When I look around, I see people living in shacks with holes in their roofs. The people who have actual houses live small, almost on top of each other, because they cannot afford the cost of builders.

But if we were to combine architecture with sorcery, we could create the functional beauty you dream of. It could permit for all of the people in Oz to live comfortably. It could end homelessness. It would change everything.

Beauty has never been my main concern when thinking about buildings. Nevertheless, it does have its benefits, doesn’t it? Beauty attracts people. It makes people want to achieve something. Whether it is to conquer someone’s heart, to make something equally as beautiful, to own a house or a painting, doesn’t even matter. It helps people work. It motivates them.

And no, I do not think that makes you shallow. In fact, I believe you are far from shallow. The things you write are profound. They show a level of intellect. To then picture you are beautiful as well might make things just a little unfair. Have you considered that people might want you to be shallow because they are jealous?

Now comes the time I share something about me. Because you so requested it.

Most of my days I spent reading. My father has acquired quite the book collection, and he does not pay enough mind to me to notice when I take one or two at a time.

I especially enjoy learning about the past. Recently, I read this book on the Great Draught and the consequences for the Animals. It was the most interesting piece of literature. Animals used to be respected. They used to belong to society just as much as humans do. But now? Now more and more Animals are blamed for something they didn’t do. Just because of who they are. Can you believe that? It is so unfair.

No one should be scorned like that. No deserves to be treated like that. Our society was better when we allowed the Animals to contribute instead of treating them like they are the enemy. Our society was better when we believed we were all equal.

What do we have now? What has it come to?

And also, why would we be better than the Animals? What makes us better and them less? Where does that believe come from? Because they are different?

How ridiculous!

I’m sorry, I can get quite passionate about these things. Then again, you did ask for me to talk about my passions. So, here you go. I hope it quenches your thirst for knowledge on me for the time being. Was this letter long enough? I’m certain I can make them longer if you want me to.

Sincerely,

Elphaba.

-

Dear Elphaba,

An apology is really not necessary. I hope I did not frighten you too much with my phrasings. My popsicle always says I have a flair for the dramatics.

But yes, that letter was long enough. Although, I shall never complain if you choose to write even more. I think your thoughts are very intriguing.

As you have admitted you don’t know much about architecture, I am not well versed in Animal rights. That doesn’t mean that your speech didn’t inspire me. Perhaps I should visit the book place and read one of those books on the past. Do you have any recommendations?

I can’t really answer your questions. I don’t know why we, as humans, would be better than the Animals. It’s hard to see much of a difference between the two. One of the shop owners here in town is a wonderful Deer and I do not see how she is any different from me. Except that she is older and owns a store, while I’m still in school and have no ambition to have my own store. Even though, it might be nice to have a store. I could sell the newest fashions. Dresses, blouses, skirts. Oh, and maybe I could design my own pieces. Have an entire fashion brand.

I’m sorry. I got a little carried away there. Sometimes I have a thought and can’t help myself from entertaining it. One thing leads to another and suddenly I have lost all direction.

Back to business. The Animals. I know people wouldn’t expect me to preoccupy myself with such manners, but I do think they deserve better. Especially after everything you just said. Why do we always turn against each other?

Oh! How have I forgotten to write about your wonderful compliment? I do think people are jealous of me. Does that sound conceded? I really don’t want to come of as arrogant. But I do look nice. There is no way around it.

That being said, I do think people are jealous, mostly because they don’t know me. People think I’m pretty and therefore they want my attention, but they never ask about me. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to anyone in the way I get to write to you. It’s like right now, as I’m writing this, there are no expectations. I can just write anything. It’s nice.

Can I ask you if it’s like that for you too? I so love hearing, or well reading, your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Galinda

-

Dear Galinda,

Is it really so? Do you truly want to hear my thoughts? Well, don’t mind if I do.

I have to say that it is exactly how I feel. I get to write what I want, what I feel, what I think, without judgement. There aren’t all that many people that care to speak to me. So, these letters are an outlet I didn’t know I needed. Writing to you has been quite a joy. You have made it a joy.

The way you can talk about anything I say. You don’t mind my essay on Animal rights. You even entertain me by asking for recommendations on books (I’ve added a list, this time I’m the one that got carried away. I realized my mistake when I reached title 37) and you seem to understand what I’m trying to say.

Even when you talk about things that don’t fall within my interests, I can’t help but be intrigued. Personally, I think you’d be a great fashion designer. But I also don’t think you should be one. You have far too many talents. I think you should focus on architecture. That is your passion. That is what you should do.

Feel free to ignore my presumptuous advice.

Despite a hint of fear that still hides behind my skin, I have to admit I thought about you the other day. It happened during dinner with my father and my sister. My father was checking out some of the mail that had piled up and that he had ignored that morning. One of the letters was a card from one of my very distant cousins, I don’t actually know the boy. But apparently, he now attends Shiz University. He is studying law, I believe. I heard the name of the college and couldn’t help but smile into my glass of juice as I recalled what you had told me in your letters.

It appears, my dear Galinda, that you have infiltrated my life more than I thought you would.

I can’t say I mind.

Sincerely,

Elphaba.

-

Galinda placed the letter back in her bag. She had reread it over seven times. This was what she had wanted when she asked Elphaba to write her thoughts. She smiled to herself, imagining what the other girl looked like as she wrote it.

“What are you smiling about?” Shenshen asked from beside her, leaning in closer so she could be heard as she whispered. The last thing she wanted was to be caught by Miss Izara.

“Nothing,” Galinda replied just as soft. She didn’t want to share Elphaba with her friends. She didn’t want to share Elphaba with anybody. These letters were just hers. The one place she could bare her heart and have someone bare theirs in return. As of now at least. Because these last letters revealed things about Elphaba that she hadn’t known before.

Every scrap of information was enough to make Galinda happy. But the more the better.

“Alright, lastly, the correspondent exercise will end with your next letter. So, make sure to say goodbye to your brand-new friends. I expect the full report by the end of next week. Make sure to add your experience and your opinions. It is meant to be a reflection.” Miss Izara said from the front of the room. And Galinda’s smile dropped.

It was too soon. She couldn’t lose Elphaba now. Not yet. Not ever.

She raised her hand, twirling her fingers in the air until Miss Izara called on her. “Miss, can we ask our penpals to continue writing after the project finishes?”

“Why would you want that?” Pfannee muttered under his breath. He hadn’t gotten all that lucky with his penpal. A boy from Quadling Country who wouldn’t stop talking about glass. Poor Pfannee would receive ten-page letters, essays really, on how to blow glass into special shapes.  

“Well, you can ask. If your correspondent agrees, I see no problem with it. Just make sure you exchange addresses. That way it won’t have to go through me any longer.”

And that was the end of it. Miss Izara moved on to another topic. Whether she considered the experiment a success or a failure, Galinda couldn’t be sure. But she surely considered it a success.

-

Dear Elphaba,

That letter was just everything to me. Thank you for sharing all of that with me. Unfortunately, my teacher has called the project to an end. But I don’t want this to end.

Please send your next letter to my personal address in Frottica. Added at the back of the page. And also, please send me your address, so I may continue writing to you.

But enough with the sad news. I was wondering if you knew anything about blowing glass into special shapes. One of my friends has a penpal in Quadling Country who won’t stop talking about blowing glass. And I remembered from your first letter that you spent some time there. I know you said you didn’t remember much from that time, but I thought I’d ask.

Sincerely,

Galinda.

Chapter Text

Dear Galinda,

Glass is not my specialty. My father knew someone who did work in glass though. Occasionally, when he thinks I cannot hear him, he mutters about this man Turtleheart. Which is an odd name but in Quadling Country you hear worse.

I do still own a small glass figurine that Turtleheart made for me when I was a baby. Apparently, I wouldn’t stop playing with the multicolored glass works that he ended up making me one. I’m not sure what it is meant to represent. Maybe he wasn’t very good at it. Or maybe he assumed it wouldn’t matter much since I was still a baby. Either way, my father seems to be jealous of it. I have tried to give it to him, but he will not take it from me.

What are your friends like? Are they anything like you? I have to admit I doubt it for you appear to me as one of a kind.

Sincerely,

Elphaba

-

Dear Elphaba,

You are most definitely right. I am one of a kind. I’m not sure how to describe my friends. They are unique and yet all the same. They like following the stream, they like having a leader. I guess they have made their leader because I want to be different.

Although, at times I wonder if they fully realize that I am not the same as them. I wonder if they think me the exact same as them. One of the masses that cannot think for herself. And really it is my own fault they should think that. I have played the part just like they wanted me to. Like my parents wanted me to.

How could I not do what I was told?

But I don’t want to do as I am told. I want to be unique and showstopping. Am I repeating myself? Have I told you this before? Oz, it is hard to keep track of what I wrote. I only have your responses to go off.

Please excuse me if I repeat myself. I will show you the same courtesy.

But in essence there is not much to say about my friends. My closest friends are Pfannee and Shenshen who I have known since daycare. My momsie approves of them so that is an added bonus. It was Pfannee I mentioned in my previous letter. He often complains about the fact that I still write to you. I think he is jealous.

Shenshen is more supportive, but it’s not like she really understands either. She just doesn’t see the need to expand her world. Why depart from her Gillikin household if it is so nice and comfortable. I doubt she’ll even go as far as college. Even if I wouldn’t mind having her along at Shiz.

I know it’s early to think of college and what lays beyond that. But have you thought about it? About what you want to do when you grow older? My guess is that you’ll become a true scholar. You’ll study at Three Queens College in the Emerald City and then when you have accrued your esteem you will fight for the Animal rights. You’ll make the world a better place.

But I might be wrong. And then you’ll just have to correct me.

I’d also love to hear of your friends. If you are better at describing them than I am.

Sincerely,

Galinda

-

Dear Galinda,

You can repeat yourself a thousand times in a thousand different ways on a thousand different topics and I’d still enjoy reading your letters.

There are so many reasons why. Of course because I enjoy what you have to tell me, but also because I do not have any other friends. What can I say? Munchkins don’t make great friends. They are small minded and too superstitious. Does that make sense?

I don’t know how much of what I say can be understood by anyone that is not me. I spend so much of my time stuck in my own head that it becomes hard to communicate with anybody else, you know?

I’m sure that didn’t make sense.

Either way, yes. I have thought about my future. And how futile it is for me to dream. I would love to go to Three Queens College as you have imagined for me or Shiz University as you have imagined for yourself. Crage Hall, Briscoe College, Ozma Tower, even Deckens College nearby doesn’t sound all too bad. It’s the only one in Munchkinland and even that one is at the border with Gillikin Country. We shouldn’t complain though. Quadling Crounty doesn’t have a single college within its borders. I’m not sure about the Vinkus but I haven’t heard of any there so they can’t be all that good.

Unfortunately, for me it will only ever be dreams concocted by me and you in tandem. My father has assured me that he will not allow me such frivolity as college. I don’t think he ever went either. He just reads a lot. So, he believes that is all one needs to be truly knowledgeable.

And of course I need to take care of my sister. Therefore, I cannot leave, you see. My future is not mine to write or even dream off. It has already been planned out. Just like yours. Only you planned your own.

I quite like what you have planned for me, though. I wish it could be the one I actually live. A scholar, fighting for Animal rights. If only I could.

Maybe in this reality you have constructed for me, you could join me in making the world a better place. We could do it together. You could build shelters and homes. I could fight against the prejudice with papers and readings and lectures. Changing one mind at a time. And then a little while later, everything will have changed, and the people will have a better Oz.

It's a nice dream, isn’t it? Thank you for sharing it with me.

Sincerely,

Elphaba

-

Dear Elphaba,

That really does sound lovely. Oh, I already have so many ideas of how to make the shelters as optimal as possible whilst still giving them some flair. They’d still have to be pretty.

But I have just decided that I will not do it without you!

You deserve everything you dream of, Elphaba. And so much more. Your father has no right forbidding it from you.

No one should you control you but you. Not your father, your sister, your mother, your brother, your aunt, your uncle, or your household cat.

I used to have one. A stray little thing. A cat, not a Cat. She could not talk. She could not do much of anything. Yet I still took care of her and loved her throughout much of my childhood. I had forgotten all about her until right now.

Do you think I have a heart for animals and Animals? Or is it just a little bit of you that has ingrained in my mind?

Either way, I am glad for it. I think you might be making me into a better person. How marvelous.

I think you have a good influence on me. I’m sure my momsie would love it if you kept doing it.

Anyway, we were talking about you and your future. And how you deserve so much better than what your father has in store for you. You are such an exquisite person, Elphaba. You are smart and kind and strong. You should be determined to make something off your future. Don’t let your family stop you from achieving your full potential. Make your dreams come true.

If you need any help, you just let me know. Anything I can do, I will do. And that is an Upland promise.

Not that that’s a saying or anything. I just heard my popsicle say that an Upland was good for his word so I decided it must mean something.

Sincerely,

Galinda

-

Dear Galinda,

I doubt there is anything you can do to help me get rid of my father. Though, I appreciate the sentiment of your promise. As long as it comes from you, it will forever mean something. Upland promise or not.

My father may claim the opposite for your effect on me though. You are quite actively trying to convince me to rid myself of him altogether. Although not in a criminal sense, I believe. You are urging me to put his fatherly advice down next to me as if it does not matter. And perhaps you are right to do so. But he still wouldn’t enjoy it if he knew.

Luckily, he does not care much about what I am up to and therefore if he even notices I receive letters, he would not suspect they come from a Gillikin girl that has decided to hate him.

Unfortunately for him, you are getting a foot on the ground. I may have to enquire about scholarships if father refuses to pay. Some colleges must have them.

I’m aware this letter is quite short, but I must rush out to help my sister. Hopefully, you’ll understand my urgency in wanting to get this brief note to you as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Elphaba

-

Dear Elphaba,

Oh, Elphaba, I am quite charmed by the fact you decide to write to me even when you do not have the time. I do so hope that everything is alright with your sister.

Your father would not be wrong though. I have decided to hate him. He does not treat you the way you deserve to be treated. If he has the money, he owes it to you to pay for you further education. He should be delighted that his daughter wants to study to her heart’s content.

I know my popsicle is delighted. Yours ought to be too.

Either way, I have decided to make myself useful in the hopes of pulling a longer letter out of you in reply. I have been doing some diligent research on colleges and scholarships. Some people did give me funny looks, since we’re only 12. But I did find some information. Let me indulge you in all I have uncovered.

I started with Shiz, for I am truly selfish and awful and hope to find you there. Shiz University is known for handing out scholarships to the brightest of the bunch. They only give scholastic scholarships. Applying is about as extensive as meeting the Wizard of Oz, but it can be good practice.

Three Queens College in the Emerald City gives scholarships as a reward for the best application papers. It’s more of an honorary price than anything else.

Ozma Towers also in the Emerald City gives out scholarships for special talents. I haven’t quite discovered what they mean by that. It was unfortunately all I could find. Though I am pretty sure they do not mean the fact I can touch my nose with my tongue. I think that is a special talent.

Crage Hall and Briscoe College, both in Gillikin, give out scholarships for scholastic achievements. But they also have extensive financial aid options for those less fortunate to be able to afford their education. I personally think Crage Hall fits you much better than Briscoe College. Briscoe may now allow female students, they are still in a minority. Crage Hall, which is kind of like its sister, has the opposite problem.

Deckens College, which is the cheapest option, gives full scholarships to those that are unable to afford their own education. So, might be a good last option if you cannot make it closer to me. It’s also in Munchkinland, so close to home. How much can your father truly have against that?

My popsicle is insisting I apply to all the known colleges in Oz anyway. Therefore, the research could never be in vain. But do not forget that I did do it for you in essence. I want to be as helpful to you as you want to be to the Animals. That way when you save Oz from the horrendible injustices it now performs, I can hide myself behind the notion that I have helped you achieve it.

It would quite the beautiful feather on the cap of the greatest, most powerful, most popular, sought-after sorceress in the country. In any country. In Oz and the world beyond it. When they know my name, our names, in Ev and Ix and any other nation in the existence of the universe, they’ll know it as the most compassionate name they’ve ever heard.

Lady Galinda Arduenna Upland and her wonderful companion Lady Elphaba saved the world together and apart. The two most marvelous creatures in the world. Weren’t we all a bit more like Lady Galinda and Lady Elphaba.

I can already see it written in bold lettering on the front page of the Gillikin Gazette, the Daily Ozian, the Emerald Post, the Emerald Newspaper, the Shiz Gazette, the Frottica Daily Times, the Munchkin Journal, the Quadling Daily, the Vinkus Post. All of them and then some.

Is that too shallow of me?

Sincerely,

Galinda

-

Dear Galinda,

Thank you, a thousand folds. I am overwhelmed and appreciative of what you are doing for me. I hadn’t even considered how to start, and you have already done all the work. You may think yourself shallow, but you are hard working. That is exactly how you will achieve all the goals you have set for yourself.

Whether I will stand by your side, I cannot predict. Not because I imagine that I will not want to be there. But because I am not yet sure you would want me there once you know me without the shelter the written word offers. Right now, I hide behind the page. Someday you won’t allow me to do so anymore. Then and only then you might regret your decisions.

One tiny element I must correct, before I continue a lengthier response. You have stated in your letter that we are only 12 years old. But since we have begun writing I have passed into my 13^th lifeyear.

Now on with my response. Or the remainder of it. Which I will try to make extensive for your amusement.

There are not many things I am certain of in life. But one thing I do know. I would be delighted to attend Shiz University alongside you. I do not know if it lies in my future. I will not make any promises. But I do believe that I will try. I will apply to Shiz University, to Three Queens College and to Deckens College. And maybe Crage Hall. I should not let my father stop me from at least giving it a shot.

And if I do get accepted to Shiz University, and I arrive on that very first day, I will look around in the hopes of putting me eyes on the lovely girl that I have written to for years. And I’ll be so delighted when, if, I find you. Yet I am not yet sure I’ll be brave enough to face you at that moment. We’ll have to see.

I do know that the stress of the new beginning will fade just a little when I recognize the friendly face you have promised me before.

I have to admit that you do know a lot of newspapers. Is there truly a Frottica Daily Times? You must send me a copy with your next letter. It would be so delightful to read what is going on in your hometown. If you would be interested, I can send back a copy of the Nest Hardings Novelty. It is amateurish at best, but still entertaining. You might enjoy it when you are in need of a good laugh.

I once had a poem published in it actually. I do not think I could find you another copy if I wanted to. And I am not entirely sure I want you to have it. It feels awfully embarrassing now.

Forget I even mentioned it. Won’t you? Oh Oz, you probably won’t. Just like me to embarrass myself without even intending to.

I must try to cover it up with some other nonsense.

You have asked me if my sister is fine and I can ensure you that she is. It is just that occasionally she needs some help here and there with small things. Overall, she is quite independent. In our family that is a necessity. Even if it was far more important for me than it ever was for her.

Still, life for her is not as easy as I may like to pretend it is. In the end me and her are much in the same boat. I’m just the one needing to row the hardest.

Or maybe I pity myself too much until I drown in the emotions. I believe your letters are the only lifeline I have gotten so far. They keep me afloat for a moment. The thought of the next letter arriving is the main reason I fight against the tall waves hoping to swallow me whole.

Never mind all that. I’m inclined to scratch out this whole letter and start over, but I do not have the strength for such a thing. I’ll have to be strong and hope you meant it when you said you wanted to learn more of me, all of me. This is just a minor glimpse. I’m sure many more will follow.

Sincerely,

Elphaba.

Chapter Text

The letters kept coming. Always in pink envelopes, with Elphaba’s name scribbled on the front. It seemed like her smile grew every single time. Her cheeks would ache all day when another envelope arrived. She hoped that Galinda felt the same when her letters arrived in Frottica. She imagined it. Prayed for it to the Unnamed God, Lurline, and Oz himself, even if she didn’t really believe in any of them.

Okay, maybe she believed in Oz, just a little bit.

But none of that compared to how she believed in Galinda Arduenna Upland. Something about this girl had pierced her heart and now she coursed through her veins. The words on the pages whirled around in her mind when she tried to get some rest.

When she closed her eyes, she pictured what Galinda looked like. Whether she had brown hair or blonde. Blue eyes or brown. Whether she was tall or short. Elphaba had made many different combinations, many different images. They were all perfect.

It took several years, but by age sixteen Elphaba had realized she had fallen in love with Galinda.

The epiphany came when she was reading one of the letters that arrived shortly after her sixteenth birthday. She had only briefly mentioned that her birthday was coming up. Just an afterthought. But Galinda had picked up on it.

Did you seriously hide your birthday for this long? How wicked! I added a little present in the envelope. Happy sixteenth, Elphaba. Happy birthday.

With the letter Galinda had sent an emerald ring. Just a simple green band that Elphaba stared at for hours. The inside was engraved with the words that Elphaba would never forget. Just a little bite of our emerald dream.

It was hard to bear the sight of the ring on her green finger. So, she had bought a golden chain and now the ring rested right over her heart whenever she leaned just right.

And then one day, about six months later, the letters just stopped.

They grew shorter first. The many passages became just one or two. Until even that turned out to be too much.

It was embarrassing that Elphaba had been surprised and hurt. Of course, Galinda would lose interest. But they had been writing for so long. Over four years of exchanging letters and suddenly that wasn’t enough anymore. Suddenly Galinda didn’t want to hear from her anymore.

But Elphaba kept the ring hanging around her neck. She still held on to that emerald dream that she had shared with Galinda once upon a time.

She was still wearing it as she stepped off the boat at Shiz University. On this day, as she took in the stature of the college, of the majestic buildings, it was hard not to think of the girl that had been obsessed with studying here. The girl with the passion for architecture. She wondered if Galinda had seen these buildings, the girl would probably swoon. Elphaba wondered if Galinda was here, ready to start studying. She wondered if any of the girls she saw right now were the girl she’d given her heart to.

Her hands clenched around her suitcase. She wouldn’t admit that her choice of college had anything to do with her long-distance penpal and the only friend she ever had. How torturous that with every step she hoped to see a glint of recognition in blue eyes, brown eyes, grey or green. She didn’t even know. She had no idea what she was meant to look out for.

Until she saw her.

Just her back with the flowing blonde hair, like golden silk, the perfect posture, and hadn’t she mentioned her favorite color was pink? Somehow, she just knew that that was Galinda.

The girl slowly turned around. This would be it. The moment that they would recognize each other just as Galinda had predicted all those years ago. Just one moment more and…

The blonde shrieked. And all hope was lost. Even if it was the girl she had been looking for. She still couldn’t look past the obvious.

“What is it? Do I have something in my teeth?” Elphaba asked with a practiced ease. She had been here before. The same old spiel.

“No, it’s just… you’re green.” It didn’t sound as cruel or disgusted as it usually did. But it still left a bitter taste in her mouth. Why was that the only thing people ever saw?

“I am?” She turned her hands over in front of her, inspecting them as if she had only just realized. But no one laughed. Possible-Galinda didn’t laugh. “Alright, let’s get this over with. No, I’m not seasick. No, I didn’t eat grass as a child. And yes…” she turned towards the blonde as she said these last words, “I’ve always been green.”

The possible-Galinda was nodding her head. “Well, I, for one, am so sorry that you have been forced to live with…” The girl just pointed at her. It was enough to make her heart ache. “This,” she finally finished.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And it is my intention to major in sorcery.” The blonde turned towards their audience, as if this was one grand performance. But to Elphaba it was just confirmation. Galinda, for surely it was Galinda, turned back towards her. Brown, her eyes were brown and soft and beautiful. It was unfair. “So, if it at some point, you wanted to address the uhm… problem.” Oh, she looked so proud of that word.

“Problem,” Elphaba repeated, casting her eyes down. She couldn’t take looking into those brown eyes or seeing that satisfactory smile. Not as she was being made a fool of.

“Perhaps I could help,” Galinda continued. Oh, how everyone loved her. They were clapping. They were honest to Oz clapping.

She should have kept her mouth shut. Especially now that all eyes were off her. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t stand here and keep her mouth shut. “Offering to help someone you don’t know with skills that you don’t have. I’m sure everyone is duly impressed.”

“I could care less what others think.”

“Couldn’t.”

“What?”

“You couldn’t care less what others think. Though, I doubt that.”

Galinda seemed almost impressed with the display. Or maybe there was just a hint of recognition in those doe brown eyes. Just maybe…

“Elphaba Thropp!” Her father came rushing forward, helping Nessa through the crowd. He wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for her younger sister. Even then, Nessa had to beg for three weeks to get him to relent.

Galinda had turned towards the new guests. How unfortunate. She had wanted to see the reaction to her name echoing across the docks. But that, like so many things, had been stolen from her.

What did it even matter? Would it be better to know Galinda had forgotten everything they shared or that she regretted sharing it with someone who was green? Elphaba breathed, trying to force her legs to approach Nessa, even if it meant passing by Galinda. And then she did, making sure not to look.

If she had looked, turned her head just slightly to the left, she would have seen the startled expression in those brown eyes. But beyond the confusion was a sense of familiarity. Maybe some shame, and just the tiniest hint of longing.

Galinda rushed towards her friends. She was going to lose her footing. After all this time, there she was. Elphaba. Her Elphaba. And Galinda had just ruined it. Ruined everything. Why had she said all of that?

It had been a few years since she had gotten a letter from Elphaba, but she could forgive that. It didn’t even matter anymore now that the girl was here, right in front of her. Not that it hadn’t been hurtful when the letters stopped coming. First, they grew shorter and shorter until they were barely a paragraph long. And then suddenly, nothing at all. How awful.

But Galinda hadn’t even recognized her. For some reason she had expected that she’d see Elphaba and immediately she’d know. Maybe because despite all these years of no contact, Galinda was still in love with the words on those sheets of parchment. She even had packed them to take to Shiz. They were probably awaiting her in her private suite.

Elphaba had always been the only person that truly believed in her. That saw beneath the surface because she wasn’t allowed to see anything else.

Her eyes were trained on the green girl as she spoke with the Head Shizstress. Something was wrong. Galinda could almost predict what would be said next just from Elphaba’s expression.

And then the Head Shiztress was walking towards the girl in the wheelchair. If only she was standing closer, perhaps she could hear what was being said. The Shiztress grabbed the back of the chair, wheeling the girl away.

“LET HER GO!” Elphaba screamed. And then everything started flying around.

All Galinda could do was stare at the green woman, the green witch. Pfannee and Shenshen pulled her away from a flying bench. Yet she just kept looking in awe of what was happening. How had Elphaba never mentioned this before? She had magic. Real, true, undiluted magic.

The Shiztress, Galinda really should learn her name, had stepped aside in fear. But her place wasn’t empty for long. Madame Morrible had taken her spot in front of Elphaba. The Madame Morrible. Galinda’s one true idol. Even if she hadn’t accepted her in her sorcery seminar.

Despite that, Galinda was still entranced with the green girl. She couldn’t even hear Madame Morrible’s speech.

“Who is willing to share a room with—”

Galinda raised her hand before Madame Morrible could finish her question. She’d share a room with Elphaba. She would love to share a room with Elphaba. This would be perfectly perfect.

“Oh, how good of you, Miss Galinda.” With that Madame Morrible pulled Elphaba away. Galinda could feel her heart break as she heard the woman’s words. I’ll take no other students.

“What just happened?” Shenshen asked, rushing to her side. As if Galinda had gotten further than two steps away from her.

“I don’t know,” Galinda answered honestly, “I think I need to lay down.”

-

The room was perfect. Already filled with her suitcases and trunks. It was spacious with a balcony. Enough space for a second bed to be dragged in by Miss Coddle herself, Galinda had finally found out the name of the Shiztress. She’d have to move her luggage to make space for her new roommate. But she just couldn’t right now.

With a huff she fell down on her bed. Someone had already made it with her pink sheets. Which meant she really shouldn’t be on it in her outside clothes. She just couldn’t care right now. Oh Oz, she was so screwed. Her plan was already falling apart, and she was only at step two.

While she wallowed in that disaster, her mind was already racing with the next plan. How to make up with Elphaba, whose last name was Thropp and who was and always had been green and who possessed true magical powers, and become best friends as they had always been destined to be?

Step 1: Volunteer to share her spacious, private suite with Elphaba. Check!

Step 2: Show Elphaba that she is not as shallow as she portrayed herself in their first ever in-person interaction. Perhaps share a belief in Animal rights.

Step 3: Bond over shared interests. Maybe she could start frequenting the book place. Elphaba would love it there.

Step 4: Share everything with each other like best friends do. Like they used to do in their letters.

Step 5:…

Good plans always had five steps. She needed a step 5. Otherwise, the plan was doomed to fail. But what was there after they became best friends?

She jumped up when the knock vibrated through the room. That must be Elphaba. Quickly she eased the wrinkles out of her outfit and fluffed up her hair. Moment of truth. Even if she hadn’t quite figured out her plan yet.

Her heart was beating too fast. Was she having a heart attack? Slowly, she eased herself into it. Placing her eye in front of the peephole to see that beautiful green face. Elphaba was quite striking, wasn’t she? One last breath and she pulled open the door. “Come in,” she said with a drawl that was far too seductive.

It was only when Elphaba had made her way to the middle of the room that Galinda realized she had never moved her trunks. Everything was still covered in pink. Elphaba’s bed was hidden behind a clothing rack that she definitely didn’t put up herself. Oh Oz no. This was not how the place was meant to look.

“Do you really think this is fair?” Elphaba asked taking it all in.

“Oh, oh no. It’s— I was promised a private suite.” That was all the explanation she had within her. She was too tired to say much more. But Elphaba would understand. Elphaba knew her better than anyone else.

All the green girl did was hum and walk towards the open balcony doors. Galinda rushed after her, trying to prevent her from closing the doors. It was entirely too warm in the room all of a sudden. The air was the only thing keeping her from combusting.

“Could you not?” Galinda asked, blocking Elphaba’s path. “It’s just…” What was it? What was she doing? Since when had she lost all ability to act like a normal, functioning person? “I just so love air.” And then, because she hadn’t acted ridiculous enough, she leaned back to allow the air to sweep her hair around her head.

What had gotten into her?

She needed to speak. Perhaps she could use some humor to break the ice. That had worked in the letters, hadn’t it? They had joked about anything and everything. “Oh, I did save you some space, by the way.” She rushed towards the clothing rack, pushing some dresses out of the way to show the bed that was hidden behind it. The smile on her face was just a little teasing.

It didn’t work. Nothing seemed to work. Because Elphaba seemed even more put off than before. And that was saying something.

“I see you’ve already impressed Madame Morrible. You’ll have to share how you did all of that. Because that was you, wasn’t it? How did you do it?”

“I don’t know!” Elphaba shouted, as if something inside of her just broke. Galinda took a step back as the balcony doors banged together and stayed shut. But now the glass was cracked and broken and air continued to cool down the room. “There you go. Enjoy your air.”

“Elphaba?” Galinda tried to sound soothing, but Elphaba just walked past her and fell down on her bed.

Was this really how they were bound to meet? After everything.

She looked at Elphaba’s back, those green shoulders and that black hair. The brown suitcase that was resting against the white sheets. Was that all the luggage the girl had brought? One simple suitcase that looked like it was purchased in a different century.

Galinda grabbed one of the trunks that was positioned close to Elphaba’s corner and started pulling it away. If they couldn’t take properly, she’d have to find another way. She could show her intentions with acts. Or…

The trunk stayed abandoned in the middle of the room. Close to where Elphaba had stood when she first entered.

Where was the Oz-damned box? The white one with the pink flowers. It had to be here somewhere. She was sure she packed it. It had to be here!

Galinda scampered from one end of the room to the next. There was no way that she would have forgotten that box.

“Are you alright?” Elphaba asked. Apparently, the chaos had caught her attention.

Galinda hummed. “Just looking for something.” She lifted one of the smaller boxes and… Aha! There it was. “Found it.” She kept her back turned from her roommate, as if it mattered.

When she opened the box, she was hit with the smell of nostalgia. Her teeth dug into her cheek as the left corner of her mouth quirked up into something like a smile. It was nothing like what she usually showed her audience. It was small and sad and just for her.

Her fingers stroked over her own name before she pulled the paper out of its confines.

Dear Galinda,

I still think about what you told me. How you said that everyone deserves to be granted their heart’s desire.

For the longest time, since I was born, really, I knew what my heart’s desire was. But now, I’m not so sure anymore. It is you that has made me consider other wishes. Things that might be more important than I first thought.

Suddenly, I’m dreaming of living in the Emerald City and seeing your face every day. Even if I still don’t know what you look like. I’m dreaming of being seen, instead of being invisible. It’s still scary, it’ll always be frightening, but it suddenly seems worth it. Because of you. Is that insane? Is it stupid? Is it presumptuous and impulsive? Probably. But after all this time, I believe that I can share these things with you. After all this time, it seems worth it to tell you.

I eagerly anticipate your next letter.

Yours Truly,

Elphaba.

Galinda read the letter a few times as her mind formed a plan. She’d gotten it after three and a half years of correspondence. It was the one letter she still read over and over again. Or at least the one she read the most. Something about this letter had nestled into her heart, her skin, her being.

She knew how to turn things around. If Elphaba wouldn’t listen, perhaps she’d read.

As Galinda read the letter one last time, thinking of all those promises they used to make, she realized the last step. She realized what step 5 needed to be.

Live happily ever after.

Chapter Text

For some unknown, idiotic reason, Elphaba had thought it would be different here. The last school where Animals were allowed to teach was bound to treat her with more respect. Was that really such a foolish thing to expect?

Apparently.

Because Elphaba was not treated better. People ignored her, walked in big circles around her. Some of Galinda’s friends had even shown their disdain with cruel words that would have hurt if Elphaba wasn’t so used to it all.

So, at the end of her first full day at Shiz University, she had made her peace with the fact that nothing would ever change. People would always look down on her for something as foolish, shallow and mundane as the color of her skin.

She still had one class left before she could retreat to her room, the one she shared with Galinda, and that was her sorcery seminar. It had never been her intention to take this class. Sorcery wasn’t her thing. She had always viewed her powers as a flaw, just like everything else about her.

But Madame Morrible hadn’t left her a choice. And she was looking forward to getting her powers under control. Last night, breaking that window, it was another reminder of what was wrong with her. She hadn’t meant for that to happen. Galinda had just been so… so different.

It was probably unfair to portray this ideal image onto a girl she had just met. But Galinda had never seemed this shallow in her letters. She had always written with depth. All of that had been thrown out the window now that she knew Elphaba was green.

“Elphaba, you need to focus. Keep your emotions in check and use them to make the coin float,” Madame Morrible instructed.

Levitation shouldn’t have been an issue. She had made tons of things float throughout her lifetime. And yet now nothing happened. The coin didn’t move. It had been like that for an hour.

Morrible sighed. “Perhaps you need some rest. We’ll try again the day after tomorrow.”

The disappointment filled Elphaba to the brim, oozing out in the tears that sprang to her eyes. Madame Morrible was the only person that treated her like she was normal. Or well, like she was something good, at least. Yet she couldn’t even make a stupid coin float. That was all that her tutor asked of her.

And now she had to return to Galinda and wallow in the silence that felt utterly suffocating. She knew too much of her roommate to feel so ill at ease around her.

Her hands reached for the doorknob, slowly pushing it open and revealing her room. Her shared room. Because nothing ever was hers.

“I know you’re going to ask but really—” Elphaba stopped her prepared lecture when she noticed the pink bed was empty. Galinda wasn’t here. The Unnamed God had finally listened to one of her prayers.

She dropped her books on her nightstand and noticed a white slip of paper.

Elphaba,

Sorry for the rough start yesterday. Hope to make it up later!

If you need me, I’m in the book place.

Galinda.

After all these years, and many corrections, Galinda still called it the book place. As if the word library didn’t exist.

Elphaba bit the inside of her cheek to keep the smile at bay. Why did this girl always sound so perfectly pleasant on paper, even in just a few short sentences, but never in real life? Or maybe she had judged too soon. She was basing her entire opinion on one single interaction. Maybe it had really just been a rough start.

A yawn escaped her as she opened the sorcery book Madame Morrible had insisted she read. She wouldn’t disappoint again.

-

Her intention had been to find a topic that would interest Elphaba to wow her in their next conversation. But then Galinda had found a section on the building of the Emerald City and had just completely lost track of time. It was just al so marvelously interesting.

She sat surrounded by piles of books when the librarian, she did know the word but wasn’t it cutesy how she kept pretending she didn’t, approached her. “I’m afraid I’m closing up, dear. Do you still have an awful lot of work?”

“Oh.” Galinda startled, pulled from a section on the Wizard’s palace. “Oh, no. I’m practically done for the day.” She shut the book just a little too loudly and collected one of the piles in her arms. Where had she even found these?

“You know you are allowed to take some of these with you to your room. You’ll just have to put your name down.”

Galinda worried her lip between her teeth. She would like to finish reading that section, and wouldn’t it just be wonderful to do that from the comfort of her bed.

“Here, I’ll take these back and you take this one with you.” The librarian smiled sweetly as she started walking off with some of the books. The book she had indicated for Galinda to take, the one containing the infamous section, was now held in her dainty hands. She’d take just this one.

As she walked back to her dorm, she opened the book and continued reading. It slowed her down significantly, but she was in no hurry. Maybe if she took long enough Elphaba would already be asleep, and she wouldn’t have to figure what to say just yet.

It wasn’t like her to be lost for words. Galinda Arduenna Upland didn’t get lost for words. Unless pretty green witches were involved apparently.

She opened the door hesitantly and poked her head through the opening. “Elphaba,” she whispered.

No reply.

“Elphaba,” she whispered just a tad louder.

Still nothing.

She exhaled in relief and stepped inside. Lurline was graceful this evening. Her bed looked inviting, but first she’d need to shower, slip into a nightgown, remove all her make-up, do her hair routine, put on her lotions, and then if she hadn’t fallen asleep at her vanity yet, she’d read the book.

Her hands had already wrapped around her towel when she noticed the paper on her pillow.

Galinda,

Was it really just a rough start? I know we had never discussed my skin. Yet, I had assumed it wouldn’t matter to you. Was I wrong?

Also, you know it’s called the library.

Elphaba.

Galinda smiled. Progress.

-

Dear Elphaba,

It really was just a rough start. I never intended to hurt you. No, you weren’t wrong. You are still the girl I shared my soul with during my youth.

And yes, but the book place sounds cuter. And I have to keep up the act. Wouldn’t want people to get too jealous.

Yours truly,

Galinda

Elphaba reread the note before she hid it in her notebook. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Galinda sitting in the back of the classroom. It was distractifying. She wanted to focus on the professor. Not on Galinda’s perfect golden hair. Did she have a thing for blondes?

That didn’t matter right now. Focus, Elphaba. Focus on something other than Galinda’s pink lips. Focus on the professor with the grey beard and the dull eyes. Nothing like those brown orbs that drew her in.

Oh, Oz. Something really had changed within her when she met Galinda.

Her pen drew circles on the otherwise empty paper. She was meant to be taking notes, if only she had heard the last ten minutes of the lecture she would have been writing down something legible.

She didn’t like this feeling. Even if it did make her feel all warm inside.

-

Galinda twisted her neck. It had grown stiff over the hours of sitting in lecture halls. She moved her head from left to right trying to get rid of the knots in her muscles. The magazine that lay open in front of her was not enough to distract her from the pain.

No one had come around to fix the window quite yet, so the blonde was able to enjoy a gentle breeze. She had already talked to Miss Coddle about it and had been assured that it would be fixed immediately. Their definitions of the word seemed to differ just slightly.

The door creaked open behind her, announcing Elphaba’s return. Galinda turned the page to keep herself from turning around.

Instead of that hauntingly special green face, her brown eyes took in the sight of a pretty, emerald ballgown. It looked gorgeous. She wondered if it would suit her skin tone.

Elphaba coughed somewhere from her side of the room. “Is—” Galinda looked up, seeing those hesitant green eyes stare back at her. “Is that the Ozmapolitan?”

The smile bloomed, opening up Galinda’s face. Something thrummed beneath her skin, burning her from the inside out. This was not an appropriate reaction to such a silly, mundane question. But the Gillikin girl jumped up to her knees and bounced on her mattress.

“It is! Did you remember?”

Elphaba hummed, nodding her head. “You mentioned it in your letters.”

“I did!” Galinda couldn’t keep the singsong lilt out of her voice. Her heart was beating out a rhythm to accompany her, even if her roommate couldn’t hear it.

“I remember.” What Galinda didn’t know, couldn’t have known, was that Elphaba remembered every single word that had been written in those letters. She could barely remember anything else.

“I can’t say I’m entirely surprised. You are just so smart.” The blonde lowered her head causing the stiffness in her neck to act up again. As much as she tried, she could not contain the groan. Her hand flew up to massage the skin as if that had ever helped her before.

“Are you alright?” A crease had formed on the perfectly green forehead.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Galinda sighed, “It’s just my neck has been acting up. It gets like this some time. At home my momsie would take me for a massage once a week because according to her I was just fragile.”

“Oh.”

“It’s nothing really. Just some knots that should be untangled. But I’ve dealt—”

“Do you need me to do it?”

Galinda’s eyes widened. She watched green hands clench and unclench, as if even they were debating what to do. “What— What do you mean?”

“I could… do that. Massage your neck. If you need that.” Elphaba stumbled over her words, which was a new thing. At least to Galinda. The girl always seemed like she knew what to say. “Although, may I point out that it is entirely your own fault. How do you expect not to be in pain when you toss your hair with enough force to give a lesser person whiplash?”

The laugh that tore its way out of Galinda’s mouth could only be described as a cackle. Unpolished and not pretty in the least. But all too real. “Well, I have been tossing my hair for years. Shouldn’t my neck be trained by now?”

“I don’t think it works that way.” The hint of a smile couldn’t be missed. “So, do you need my help?”

She wondered what the right answer was. Her momsie would tell her it was polite to decline the offer. When someone asked if you needed help, you always said no, thanks. That’s what she had been taught.

But her momsie had never met Elphaba. This situation was something different than what the Uplands were used to. And it would really help to feel those long fingers push into her skin.

“Only if you don’t mind.” That seemed safe enough.

“I’m no wicked witch. I’m not going to dangle relief in front of you, just to refuse it.” The green girl made her way to the overtly pink bed. “Perhaps it would be easier if you turned around.”

Galinda swallowed before silently turning her back towards the other girl.

“Last chance to back out if you don’t want these filthy green hands on you.”

She could feel the energy of Elphaba moving closer, could hear the bed creak under the added weight. Her eyes were drooping shut as the words registered. “Elphaba, there is nothing filthy about you. And I do want your hands all over me.”

It was the uncomfortable chuckle that made her realize what she had said.

“For the massage. I want your hands all over my neck and shoulders for the massage. That’s all.”

“Of course,” Elphaba laughed.

Finally, the sweet relief came. Hands wrapped around her shoulders, moving inward to the bare skin around her neck. And then they started kneading. Pressing into the sore spots. Softly at first but then harder and harder until sounds started spilling from Galinda’s lips. Whines and whimpers that turned into soft moans as the pain slowly faded into a much more pleasant feeling.

“Right there,” she sighed as Elphaba’s palm pressed into a particularly pesky spot.

“Thank you for the note.”

“Huh?” It was hard to focus when Elphaba made her feel this good.

“The note you wrote me. I appreciated it.”

“Oh yes, yes. And I appreciate this.”

“It must have been really bad if you’re allowing me to touch you.”

That pulled Galinda from her pleasure high. “Why do you assume I wouldn’t want you to touch me?”

“Well, I’m just basing myself on our first time meeting.”

“In my mind our first time meeting was me receiving that first letter back when we were twelve. And as for my entirely unacceptable reaction on seeing you for the first time… It was a mistake. I’m sorry.”

Elphaba pressed a little harder and Galinda yelped. “Would you have thought it was a mistake if we hadn’t written letters to each other when we were kids?”

“Elphaba,” Galinda pushed away her hands and turned around, “I had never seen a girl with green skin before. It caused me to react in a rude manner. I admit that and I am willing to face to consequences. But do you actually think I care about the color of your skin? Have you not noticed one of our professors is a Goat? And there is that one boy who is practically yellow, although I’m fairly certain he is ill and should get checked out in the infirmary.”

“So, you don’t care that I’m green?”

“Why would I?” Galinda asked genuinely.

“You said you’d help me fix my problem when you majored in sorcery?”

“I did say that. Not because I think you should change, but because you might want to. I saw the way people looked at you and well, how we are perceived is instrumental to our future. That’s what momsie always says.”

“Are you saying you don’t think I’m disgusting?”

“Of course not. And I do not understand why anyone else can be so preoccupied with the color of someone’s skin. You are still prettier than most of the students at Shiz.”

Elphaba scrunched up her nose. “So, everything you said… You meant it well?”

“You thought I didn’t?”

“Galinda, you have to admit you were acting like a privileged, superficial… brat.”

The girl in question gasped, placing her hand over her heart, pretending to be offended. “I can see how it can be perceived that way,” she admitted after a moment. “But Elphie,” another gasp, “can I call you Elphie?”

“I don’t know. It’s a little perky—”

“I know, I’m gonna call you that. Well, Elphie, the first step to being popular is being confident. Do not let these peasants dictate your worth. The second step is being pretty, but I think you have that down already.” She watched with delight as Elphie’s cheeks bloomed a darker green. “Then there are the proper connections, I can be that for you, and you have managed to get into Morrible’s good graces which must help. Before you know it you’ll be popular. Just not quite as popular as me, of course.”

“Of course,” Elphaba said with an amused smile. “I’m sure I wouldn’t even compete.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Galinda whispered so softly she hoped Elphie didn’t hear her.

“How is your neck?” Elphaba’s hands hovered in the air as she waited for a reply.

“Much better already.” Despite her words she turned around, moving her hair out of the way. “But do you think you could go on for just a moment longer?”

Chapter Text

Dear Elphaba,

It is ever my pleasure to help you with anything you need. Anything! You do not even have to ask. All I require in payment is the plethora of compliments you already shower me in.

Do please forgive me for making that small error. Although, I am eager to place the blame on you for you have not yet shared your birthday with me. Someday you ought to tell me when it is. Either way I am certain I will find out, just as I found out all about those colleges.

I am ever so grateful you have taken my comment to heart. The responses you have lately shared with me are long and informative and everything I could hope for.

Now enough of these pleasantries. You have shared some real Elphaba information with me. I love getting a glimpse into your soul. Yet it hurts me that that is what you believe. You do not truly believe I would not want you by my side if I met you in real life? You think I would regret my decision of being your friend? Why would I ever?

I will make you one promise, or one promise more. When we both get accepted to Shiz University and arrive there on our very first day, I will look for you and make a pleasant introduction. Because I do not allow you to hide from me longer than is absolutely necessary. And whatever your presence will reveal, I’ll still want, no, need, to be your friend. It has become a necessity, Elphaba!

You have poetically described what my letters mean to you. Now, allow me to let you know yours mean just as much to me. I may not be as much of a poet as you, Elphaba. But I can say that life in my shallow ponds turns from boring to existentially dreadful in less than a moment’s notice. Your letters are the depths that keep me present within my body and within my life.

It is something I can’t, and won’t, give up. You are something I won’t give up.

I hope not a single one of my tears drop onto the page. Perhaps it is time we move on to a lighter subject. The Frottica Daily Times is very real. It is a daily read of me and my parents. Our house is filled with them. I have added a couple of pages of yesterday’s edition to my letter. Folded one too many times. I worried they may not be legible anymore.

A few weeks ago, or a month or two, I was featured in a piece too. I haven’t found the copy yet, but I am certain we have several at home. Once I find one, I will send it your way. It wasn’t much. It didn’t even feature a picture of me. Yet I believe it should be shared. Therefore, I must find it and therefore, I will.

Until then I will keep my silly mouth shut. You have to experience it for the first time as you read it. Oh, I simply cannot wait to read your reaction when you get to read the small piece written about your dear friend, Galinda.

Though it was no poem. Not that I know of anyone who wrote a poem that was published within their local newspaper.

Still, I will take a copy of the Nest Hardings Novelty if you have one to spare.

My momsie will be proud that I am broadening my horizon. She recently told me I am spending too much time with my fashion magazines. As if she wasn’t the one pushing them into my hands when I was a toddler. Either way, I will simply be delighted to experience a sliver of your world.

Is it nice to have a sister? I do not have any siblings myself and I must say I enjoy the attention, but I miss the companionship of a playmate. My parents can get distracted despite everything and then it can get lonely here at Pertha Hills. That is the name of the estate we live on, I still reside in Frottica.

Oh, how I hope someday to share it with you. The gardens are just lovely green with flowers everywhere. And the house is grand and exquisite. You would love it, I am sure. After we meet at Shiz University, on that first day, you must allow me to courtesy of showing you my home during one of our breaks. It would just be ever so delightful to show you all around. I should already start planning. I will be getting on that right now.

Sincerely,

Galinda.

Chapter Text

Elphaba sneezed. That was what woke Galinda up. A loud sneeze. It was too early for her to react to such a thing. She groaned and turned on her side.

Another sneeze. “Oz bless you,” Galinda murmured but her roommate didn’t reply.

That seemed like the end of it. The blonde had nearly stumbled back into dreamland when another sneeze pulled her back. One was unfortunate, two was annoying, but three… That was just too much.

Galinda opened her eyes. The moon was still out, right outside their window. That was enough to show a very sleepy Elphaba sitting up on her bed and swiping under her nose.

“I’m sorry for waking you.” The voice that had become so familiar to Galinda now sounded much more nasal and somewhat hoarse.

“It’s okay,” the Gillikin assured, “Are you alright?”

The green girl started nodding her head. “I’m fine.”

There wasn’t much use in debating it. Elphaba must know how she felt better than Galinda could predict. So, she shuffled back under her duvet and waited for sleep to take a hold of her again. In the process she ignored the sneezes, the sniffles and the occasional coughing fit.

Not that it didn’t worry her. Her heart ached to act. There just wasn’t all that much she could do to help in the dead of night.

-

It wasn’t like Elphaba to sleep in. She would not allow herself to waste time with silly things like sleep. The early mornings were peaceful, perfect times to read in the early light without being disturbed by gibbering students that showed no respect. She wouldn’t even be surprised if people started dancing and singing in the library of all places.

Galinda was different in that regard. It had happened more often than once that Elphaba had been forced to wake up her roommate, so she’d be on time for their shared lectures.

Which was why it was shocking that when Elphaba reluctantly opened her eyes, she awoke to an empty room. The pink bed devoid of its usual occupant.

When she leaned over to check the time, she noticed a porcelain cup of tea and a simple note in familiar handwriting.

Couldn’t bare to wake you. Hope you feel better. If not, drink the tea.

I’ll take notes in class

Galinda.

She knew that it was meant well, that it was a sweet act, but why hadn’t Galinda woken her up. That would have been the right thing to do. Now, she fully relied on the blonde’s notes, and she doubted those would be particularly useful.

She had seen some of Galinda’s notes and they left much to the imagination. Half of the pages were covered in surprisingly detailed doodles. Whilst they were beautiful and nice to look at, they would not help her pass her classes.

This was a disaster. Elphaba sipped the tea, a delicious herbal blend that cleared her head, and rushed to get dressed. She had only missed most of one lecture so far. If she made quick work of her outfit and hair, she could make it in time for her second lecture. She jumped into her black boots and ran to the lecture hall.

Most of the other students, including Galinda, were already seated in their usual spots. Which meant that speaking to her roommate would have to wait until after class.

Elphaba shuffled towards her seat on the first row, trying and failing not to look at the pretty blonde girl in the back. Galinda, for her part, looked surprised but glad to see the green girl and lifted her hand in an almost shy wave.

It was impossible to ignore the gesture. So, Elphaba nodded her head in acknowledgement as she sat down.

Now that the damage was controlled, she realized Galinda had only meant to do well. The panic faded and was replaced with a fondness that warmed her up.

It had just been one class she missed. She’d find someone who wouldn’t mind sharing their decent notes with her and she’d read the textbook.

-

A yawn escaped her perfectly glossed lips as Galinda got up from her seat. Her brown eyes caught a glimpse of green pushing its way towards her. Probably for a quick thank you before lunch.

“Galinda, may I have a word?” Elphaba asked.

“Certainly. You may even have a whole conversation, Elphie.”

“Oh, of course. Shall we go somewhere more private?”

Galinda’s heart skipped a beat at the implications that had most definitely not been made. “If you so wish, lead the way.”

For some reason she had expected to be dragged to their room. Because the only way to be thanked was with a kiss and some feeling up, of course. It was foolish to jump to such stupid conclusions. And it wasn’t like she wanted Elphaba to kiss her.

So, why she was so utterly perplexed at being dragged into an alley between two of the school buildings was even beyond her.

“Well, Elphie, this isn’t really the proper place for a lady,” she joked even through her trembling voice.

“You’ll have to excuse me. I have never had the company of a lady before I met you.” Sometimes Elphaba said this type of stuff. These comments that were on the thin edge between pleasant, platonic banter and outright flirting. And Galinda was wooed every time. Her burning cheeks were visible proof of that.

“What did you have to say, Elphie?”

“I wanted to talk about this morning.”

“Oh, it really was nothing. I was planning on making tea for myself either way. And I just thought that you might like some after such a horrendous night.”

“Yes, that was very nice. But that’s not exactly what I meant.”

“Oh?” She swiped the sweat from her palms on her slightly wrinkled skirt. “Was there something else?”

“I know you were trying to be nice, but I can’t believe you forced me to sleep through my first lecture.”

“Excuse me?” Galinda took a step back, hitting the wall and using it for stability.

“It’s alright. Just for future reference.”

“Are you serious? You are upset with me?”

“That’s a big word—”

“I did a nice thing. I took care of you after you kept me awake for half the night. And now you are acting like I’m in the wrong. You are something else, Elphaba Thropp. To think I put in so much effort to make notes for you.” Galinda retrieved the sheets of paper that contained a meticulous account of the first lecture of the day and pressed them against Elphaba’s chest. “There you go. I promise I won’t try to help anymore in the future.”

With that, and a dramatic toss of her hair, Galinda stormed off towards the dining hall, where she joined Shenshen and Pfannee as well as some other Gillikin students. Pfannee had already gathered her a plate of lunch. How thoughtful.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, something Elphaba should have done. It really was that simple.

She poked her fork into the pile of peas without actually catching any. It was a pitiful display of her emotions. Her momsie would scold her for this behavior.

“Are you alright, Galinda?” Shenshen asked.

The blonde just nodded her head, continuing to play with her food. Was the green of the peas the same color as Elphaba’s skin or was she truly going crazy?

“I saw you speak to the green bean. What did she need?” Pfannee jumped in. Maybe he actually thought he was helping.

“Oh no. I forgot you were rooming with her. That must be awful,” one of the other people at the table, another freshman girl, said.

“Who are we talking about?” the boy next to her asked.

“The green girl. Didn’t you see her on the first day?” the girl continued, “She’s such a freak.”

Galinda wanted to say something. She wanted to bite back and defend her ungrateful roommate. But all she could think about was the brief interaction she had just had with said girl. It caused the words to elude her and before she realized what had happened the entire table was laughing at Elphaba’s expense.

She must have missed something. And then she almost missed another thing when the infamous green girl walked into the dining hall and Pfannee said: “There she is! The artichoke!”

He had spoken too loudly because Elphaba turned towards their table and frowned. It had been a stupid comment that wouldn’t have mattered if it wasn’t such a sore spot for the girl.

The blonde refrained herself from jumping up to comfort her roommate. Instead, she turned towards her friend. “Do you feel better now? Did you get it out of your system?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Pfannee asked. The atmosphere around the table started to shift. From easygoing to uncomfortable.

“You laughed, you made fun of her, you made sure she heard you do so. So, do you feel better about yourself now that you tore someone else down?”

“I— I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“You didn’t?” Galinda asked.

“No. We were just being silly.”

“Shall we ask Elphaba if she thought it was funny?” Everything began to boil up within her and without thinking of the consequences she turned towards the green girl and raised her voice. “Elphaba! Come here for a moment?”

Elphaba turned towards her and started shaking her head.

“Galinda, what are you doing?” Pfannee muttered.

“Making sure we’re all having fun,” she replied quickly, “Elphaba! Did you think Pfannee’s comment was funny?”

Elphie’s eyes widened. “What?” the girl shouted back.

“Galinda, stop it,” Pfannee said through his teeth.

“No.” Her expression was void of its usual niceties. She turned back towards Elphaba and continued the conversation that almost everyone in the dining hall was following. “The comment he made! About you being an artichoke! Did you find that funny?”

“Not particularly,” Elphaba replied with dark green cheeks.

“There we go, Pfannee. It wasn’t funny. Next time think before you start shouting terrible jokes and comments in poor taste.”

The boy didn’t say anything and simply stared at his plate.

It should have been a victory, but Galinda still felt hollow.

-

Elphaba knew she had said something wrong when Galinda stayed utterly quiet as she entered their shared room.

While silence wasn’t entirely uncommon between them, it felt loaded now. Mostly because over the past few days, after the impromptu massage Elphaba had given, they had started gossiping in the evening. Or well, Galinda gossiped and Elphaba pretended not be interested in all of the stories of their school mates.

She’d never admit it, but Elphaba had grown accustomed to, even fond of, these late-night conversations. So, when they suddenly ended, it was a disappointment. And a clear indication that something was wrong.

Maybe the whole scene at lunch should have been enough of a sign.

Or the way Galinda had walked off after handing over the notes. The notes Elphaba still hadn’t looked over.

Now that she did check what Galinda had found essential during that first lecture, she was astonished. They held even more information than Elphaba would usually aim for. There wasn’t even a doodle in sight, which for some reason left Elphaba wanting.

“These are really good.” She looked up, wanting to see Galinda’s reaction to the compliment.

All the blonde did was hum. She did not even look up from her notebook.

“What are you doing?”

Galinda sighed dramatically. “Just drawing something.”

“What are you drawing?”

“Just something.”

Elphaba bit the inside of her cheek. There had to be something that would trigger a conversation. Galinda adored talking.

“Did you know there is a myth of a Love Magnet?” The green girl sat up straighter, watching for the hint of curiosity on her roommate’s face. There was a soft twitch around those pink lips. For now, that was enough. “They say whoever possesses it will be loved by all living creatures. The reason I bring it up is simply because I was wondering something.”

“And what’s that?” Galinda asked in return.

“Well, I was wondering if you held it in your possession, for you are so loveable.” Flattery usually got her everywhere with Galinda. But not now. All she got was a hum in reply. Not even a word. Not even a smile. “What’s wrong, Galinda?” Elphaba sighed loudly, giving up on civility and subtlety.

“What is wrong? I would imagine you know what is wrong, Miss Elphaba.” The velvety voice had grown rough and sharp.

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

“I don’t know what the Munchkin customs are but in Gillikin when someone does something nice for you, all you are meant to do is say thank you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Galinda groaned, closing her notebook with a bang. “I think I’ll go draw somewhere else.” She swung her legs of her bed elegantly.

Elphaba stumbled from her own spot, striding towards the door to block her roommate’s path. “I won’t let you leave until we’ve settled this.”

“You’ll hold me hostage in my own suite?”

“If I have to.”

“Do you think me a fool, Miss Elphaba?” Galinda crossed her arms over her chest. It briefly drew Elphaba’s attention to her breasts.

“I wouldn’t think such a foolish thing.”

“Then stop treating me as such.”

Elphaba swallowed the lump in her throat. “I didn’t think I was—”

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Elphaba Thropp, or I will scream. You think me just as shallow and stupid as everyone else. That was why you couldn’t have missing today’s lecture. Because you didn’t trust on me to bring you up to date. Isn’t that right?”

 “No. Not at all. Galinda, I do not think you shallow or stupid.”

“Then why scold me for doing a nice thing?”

Because there was truth in what Galinda believed. She had not trusted her roommate to do what was necessary to relay the lecture to her. But she couldn’t say that. “It was never my intention to hurt you. I now see that I made a mistake.”

The blonde turned her back to the other girl and dropped on her bed.

“I think you’re smart and capable and… and powerful. You know I have always believed in you,” Elphaba continued.

“You believed in me before we met,” Galinda spoke into her pillow. The anger had faded and left vulnerability in its wake.

“I still believe in you today.” All the reply she got was a muffled chuckle. “What has brought this on? Is this really all because of my lapse in judgement this morning? I was too drowsy from my poor night’s sleep to think clearly. For if I thought clearly, I would have never said what I said.”

“It’s not just that.”

“Then what is it?” Elphaba sat down on the edge of the pink bed. Her hand hovered over the girl’s back, debating the best course of action.

“Nothing is working out. You say people love me, but they don’t.” Galinda sat up, unknowingly pushing away the green hand. “They love a curated image of me that I can barely hold up. But the real me they don’t care for.”

“I like the real you. I’d much rather hold a conversation with the girl in the letters than the one making a fool of me in the dining hall during lunch.”

“I wasn’t trying to make a fool of you. Pfannee was the one insulting you and I wanted to put him on the spot. I’m sorry if that came off wrong.”

Finally, Elphaba decided to place her hand on Galinda. Just safely on her shoulder. “It’s alright. Let’s say we’re even in miscommunications.”

-

Later that same night, as the dust had settled and after Galinda had spent an hour indulging in the habit of sharing stories of their classmates, Elphaba snuck out of the room.

She had spent enough hours memorizing Galinda’s thoughts to know what was truly wrong. And she believed she could potentially fix it.

So, even though the sun had already set and the hallways of Crage Hall were covered in a cloak of darkness, Elphaba made her way through. All the way to Madame Morrible’s private quarters. It was a gamble at best not to wait until morning. The professor could have chosen to leave campus, or she could be drenched in a deep sleep.

Elphaba knocked anyway. And when there was no reaction, she knocked a second time. At last, the door opened revealing Madame Morrible in a nightgown with her hair pinned up.

“What’s the matter, dearie?” the professor asked, worry on her face.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Go on.”

“I wish to include Galinda Upland in our sorcery seminar.”

Madame Morrible laughed. “Why would you want such a thing?”

Elphaba briefly faltered. For some reason she had expected that Morrible would simply agree. “That doesn’t matter. I need her to be included in the seminar. Or else… Or else I will quit the seminar at once.”

“Quit? You can’t quit. Dearie, you have too much talent. Quitting would be foolish.”

“Then do not force me to do so, Madame Morrible.”

The professor took a step back, taking in the green witch with bewilderment. And then, she nodded her head in agreement. “You may tell Miss Upland to join us tomorrow at four and not a clock tick later.”

“Actually,” Elphaba said before the professor could retreat, “I thought that it would be good of you to tell Galinda yourself, tomorrow over breakfast, perhaps?”

“Is that truly what it takes?” Madame Morrible asked with annoyance exuding from her entire being.

“Is it truly too much to ask? I simply want you to teach one of the students at this college.”

“One who holds no power nor talent. And you have requested more than her inclusion. You also want it to be a public affair.”

“I think it’ll motivate her if you are the one who tells her that she shall join our seminar. It will bring out the best in her. And if I may, Madame Morrible, I believe you are wrong about her.”

“I hope I am, but I sincerely doubt it. Anything else, Miss Elphaba?”

The green girl shook her head and returned to her room victorious. Her heart would not stop hammering in her chest. Nor would the smile fade. Even when she carefully pushed open the door, she had to refrain from laughing with joy.

“Where were you?” Galinda asked sleepily.

“I needed some fresh air and went for a brief walk.”

The Gillikin accepted the poor excuse and floated away again, just out of reach. Elphaba on the other hand couldn’t remotely sleep. She spent her night staring at her ceiling and imagining how Galinda would react to the surprise that awaited her.

Chapter Text

Breakfast wasn’t really Galinda’s thing. The food was fine and all but getting up in the morning and immediately putting on her mask was tiring. It was quite unfortunate because back home breakfast had been her favorite meal.

Either way, there was nothing to be done about it. Every morning, she got up, dressed nicely and pretended perfection came naturally. Today wasn’t any different. Galinda simply perched herself on a seat in between Shenshen and Pfannee, as she always did, and started eating oatmeal and crackers and fruits. Her nails dug into the peel of an orange. Some of the juice spilled on her fingers and she was forced to place them in her mouth, sucking it straight off.

It was precisely during this action that her eyes somehow locked with Elphaba’s bright green ones. She released her finger with a pop. Her lips remained puckered even if they had already let go of the intruding digit. And her eyes remained on the green girl.

They hadn’t talked all morning. Not that Galinda hadn’t wanted to. She had woken up with the remnants of a dream lingering in her mind and the resolution to forget everything that was wrong. It could be a fresh start, clean slate, start over now that both of them had failed at being friends.

Both of them had fucked up just enough to give them a decent shot.

But when her eyes had caught the first glimpse of green, all resolutions went flying through the no-longer broken window. They took her words with her. Just stole them right out of her brain. She had floundered and flayed in search of them. And then she had gotten dressed and walked down to the dining hall.

This display between the two roommates didn’t help. It seemed like starting over wasn’t in the cards. Not now that something had shifted.

“Galinda,” Pfannee hissed as Shenshen pushed her elbow into Galinda’s arm. It shook her back to herself.

“What?”

“Madame Morrible is right there. I think she’s walking over.”

Galinda looked and was startled to see the professor making her way to their table. Out of pure instinct, she righted her back and pushed back her shoulders. “Madame Morrible, hi—”

“Miss Upland, come here.”

Galinda shot up and walked to the other side of the table. Just in reach of the professor. “Madame Morrible, you are— Really, I admire you so—”

“Enough,” Madame Morrible interrupted. The older woman reached into her mantle and retrieved a simple glass wand.

The Gillikin student gasped, pressing a hand against her chest. “A wand?” Was this really happening? Or was she still dreaming?

“It’s a training wand.”

“A training wand? For me? Madame Morrible, how can I express my gratitution? It is my heart’s desire to become a sorceress. Thank you for having faith in me.” This was really happening. She wasn’t sure what had changed. Why Madame Morrible suddenly changed her mind. Even if the renowned sorceress still looked rather annoyed.

“I expect you to join Miss Elphaba at four this afternoon. Don’t be late.” The woman turned on her heels and stormed out of the dining hall.

“I won’t be,” Galinda called after her, holding the training want against her chest. She wanted to shriek, to scream, to dance on the tables. Things were starting to fall into place. She twirled around, it was all she could do not to jump up and down, kicking plates of tables. That wasn’t allowed. Because she was Galinda Arduenna Upland and she was civilized. So, she had to restrain herself, keep control over her enthusiasm, and move on.

There would be several lectures before four that she’d need to follow. And even though, none would compare to what awaited her, they were all important. Her lips trembled with the hint of laughter as she imagined Elphaba’s voice saying those exact words.

-

“Alright, eyes shut, toes clenched. Now, levitate the coin.”

Galinda did exactly as she was told. Trying to forget that Elphaba was right there. The powerful green witch that could make most anything float through the air. With one swoosh of her wand, she… didn’t do it.

The coin was left right there on the table. It hadn’t moved an inch.

Madame Morrible sighed. “Disappointing, but not unexpected.”  Heels clicked against the floor. The door was swung open. “Keep practicing, Miss Upland. Or I will have to demote you to a feather.”

Galinda held on to her training wand as she walked out of the room. As if she worried that Madame Morrible would try to rip it away from her. That this one failure would be enough to rewind the clock to when she wasn’t allowed to set foot in this room. But Madame Morrible allowed her to leave, clutching the training wand for dear life.

Once the Gillikin dreamer was far enough away from Morrible’s chambers, she exhaled. Her fingers stroking her forehead, hoping that might keep the tears at bay. Her heart was breaking in real time, and Galinda decided she quite hated the crunchy sound it made as it snapped in two.

Just a few hours ago, she had been floating towards the seventh heaven. Now she felt smaller than ever before.

“Galinda?” Elphaba called out. The blonde could hear those heavy boots rap against the floor. Her instinct was to run away, but where would she go? Her room that she shared with Elphaba? The book place that Elphaba loved to frequent and that might be closing up? One of the locked classrooms?

There was nowhere for her to go.

“Galinda, are you alright?”

It should have been hard to turn around to face the girl that had more power in her pinky than Galinda had in her entire soul. It should have been hard to face the girl with a smile. But it wasn’t. She turned with flair and the smile simply appeared. “I’m quite alright, Elphie. Couldn’t be all that much better, in fact.”

Somehow the words didn’t even feel like a lie. Not entirely.

“Madame Morrible is like this to bring out the best in us. You can’t take it personally.”

There was no bone in her body that believed what Elphaba said. She believed that Elphaba believed it. It just wasn’t true.

“I’m not taking anything personally. I’m just happy to have a chance to learn sorcery, and from one of the greatest sorceresses of our time. The only thing that could possibly be better was to be taught by the Wizard himself.” She wasn’t sure, yet she believed her voice cracked and broke over the words.

The green girl sighed, disappointment ringing through that one breath. “You don’t have to do that, you know?”

“Do what?”

“Pretend that everything is okay when you are hurting on the inside.”

Galinda gasped and for once it wasn’t performative at all.

-

“Float!” Galinda’s voice sounded shrill as she shouted at the coin for the umpteenth time.

Elphaba had already turned off her light and was trying to sleep. After two sleepless nights she would have done just about anything for some rest.

Her roommate’s shouting made that difficult. It was enough to make her regret having included the girl into the seminar. At least, until she turned over in her bed and saw the way Galinda looked, sitting on her bed with her legs under her and the wand in her hand.

“You’re not doing it right,” the green girl murmured.

Galinda huffed. “That much is clear.”

Elphaba smiled. It was too entertaining to prod the Gillikin girl. In another life, she could see them being rivals. In this one, she couldn’t see them be anything other than what they were. Tentative friends. Pleasant roommates. Maybe something more that neither of them would name.

“You’re tensed up.”

“Morrible specifically told me to clench up.”

“I don’t think she meant this.” Elphaba sat up and pointed at Galinda’s shoulders through a yawn.

“I should just give up. I’m never going to do it.” The wand was dropped on the bed and the blonde flopped down.

It was too hard not to get up and approach the other girl. So, she made her way towards the pink bed, something she found herself doing all too often. “I didn’t expect Galinda Arduenna Upland to give up this quickly. I thought she was going to be the most powerful, most popular sorceress that had ever roamed the country of Oz. That girl wouldn’t give up this easily, would she?”

“That girl grew up,” Galinda mumbled back.

“I don’t believe that. I refuse to believe that. The girl I wrote to can’t be gone. She’s still in there and I want her back. Because that girl was going to be the best thing that has ever happened to this country. She has the power to make this silly, little coin float.”

One brown eye peeked out from behind one of Galinda’s pillows. “You really think so?”

“I know so,” Elphaba affirmed.

The girl pushed herself up, grabbing her wand and twirling it in the air. “Float!” she shouted with frustration.

The coin did not float. It didn’t even move. Instead, it sparked a few times and then Galinda’s pink blanket caught on fire.

Elphaba reacted instantly, grabbing the cup of cooled down leftover tea from her nightstand and pouring the liquid over Galinda’s bed. Now that the flame was gone, the two girls just stared at each other. “It didn’t float,” the blonde whispered.

-

The pink sheets were ruined. There was no salvaging them. The fire and the tea had ruined them beyond repair. Therefore, Elphaba was forced to stare at a pouting Galinda sitting on her stripped down mattress with her legs crossed in front of her and her hands in her lap. The girl looked like she was waiting for something.

When those brown doe eyes glimpsed over before averting again, Elphaba understood what the girl was waiting for. “Do you think you’ll be able to sleep in your bed tonight?”

Galinda drew in a breath as if she hadn’t expected her roommate to speak. But then she smiled and cocked her head to the side. “I’m sure I’ll make do.”

“Did you bring extra sheets?”

“Oh, no. I had to prioritize my clothes. But my momsie promised to send some more once she got back to Frottica. So, I’m sure they’ll be arriving shortly.”

“You came here with Oz knows how many trunks and not one of them holds a spare pair of sheets?”

“Twenty-six.” Galinda showed one of her most prideful smiles.

“What?” Elphaba responded.

“I came here with twenty-six trunks and none of them hold a spare pair of sheets.”

Twenty-six bags? Elphaba got to Shiz with one simple suitcase, and Galinda had brought twenty-six cases. How was this the same girl that had written about not wanting to be perceived as shallow? How was this the same girl that had elaborately talked about building plans and stability pillars?

It seemed almost impossible to unite those two images of the same girl. And yet, here she was. Sitting on her bare mattress with goosebumps on her arms and the expanse of her pale legs.

“If you want, we can go into town tomorrow to buy some new sheets. Just so you have some spares when your mother’s package arrives.” Elphaba watched the twinkle in the blonde’s eyes at the prospect of going shopping.

“Oh, Elphie! That is a marvelous idea!” The Gillikin damsel, now no longer in distress, quite literally bounced on her bed. “Only,” with that the girl stilled again, “it doesn’t solve the problem of tonight.” As if to clarify, she held up the edge of her duvet that looked odd without its pink cover.

Elphaba sighed, knowing she had already lost the fight. “You know you’re not being subtle, right?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Galinda placed her hand over her chest, right where her heart would be hiding beneath her skin.

“Just come here already.” The green girl pulled back her own blanket to welcome her guest who was more than delighted to jump into bed with her.

“Thank you, Elphie.” Galinda was beaming, which was a particularly nice sight this close by. The single dimple in her cheek, the bright smile, those damned brown eyes. Elphaba really liked those eyes. When she stared into them long enough, like she was doing right now, she could read every word Galinda had ever written to her in them.

“Do you remember the letters you wrote me?”

Galinda, who must have been caught up in her own thoughts, blinked a few times. “I remember writing to you,” she said.

Elphaba nodded her head as far as she could without lifting her head off the pillow. “But do you remember what you wrote to me?”

Those pink lips puckered up, as if in thought. “I don’t remember the exact wordings I used. But I know what I shared with you.”

Again, Elphaba nodded her head to the best of her current ability. She wasn’t entirely sure why she had asked. Or what she hoped Galinda would have said in reply. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered when Galinda was this close.

After a couple of moments of silence only broken by their breathing, Elphaba turned around, facing the wall instead of her friend. It helped to still her heart, even though she could still feel the heat radiating off Galinda’s body. A body that was clad in a scandalocious nightgown.

Some shuffling followed from the other side of the bed. The mattress dipping with every move Galinda made. It was distracting. It was already going to be hard enough to fall asleep with the sound of another person’s breathing this close to her, but now sleeping was entirely out of the question.

“Oh my, Elphie.”

“Yes?” Elphaba mumbled, keeping her eyes closed for some reason.

“I can barely believe it.”

Elphaba still didn’t turn around, she still hadn’t even opened her eyes. The darkness was a protection. It allowed her to imagine that she was the only person lying in her bed. That Galinda was just at the other side of the room where she belonged. “What can’t you believe?”

“You kept it.” At this point it became obvious that Elphaba would have to turn to her roommate if she wanted to know what this was about. She considered whether it was important to her. But when she heard a melodious laugh, she couldn’t restrain herself.

So, she turned in her bed and saw Galinda lying on her back holding a piece of jewelry. “I—”

“I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have gifted you an emerald ring if I knew. I think pink would have been better. Pink goes good with green, you know.”

“Goes well with green,” Elphaba corrected on instinct.

“It so does.” Galinda’s fingers twirled the ring around. “I should get you a new one.”

“No, don’t. I— I like this one.” Her hands reached for the ring not with the intention of taking it from Galinda, but simply to touch it herself. Her fingers overlapped with the other girl’s around the piece of jewelry.

Both of the girls inhaled sharply at the contact. “Are you sure, Elphie?”

“Yes.”

At that Galinda let go, dropping the ring back into Elphaba’s care. “Alright. But I’m getting something better for your next birthday.”

“Alright,” Elphaba relented. Although, she doubted there was anything that could be better. Before Galinda could start about potential gifts, the green girl jumped to a new topic. “Should we talk about your magic?”

Galinda groaned in a less than lady-like manner, causing a smile to appear on Elphaba’s face. “What is there to say?”

“I thought you’d be happy. You do have magic. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“It’s hard to imagine a good sorceress only being able to make things explode.”

“You didn’t actually make anything explode. You just put your bed on fire.”

Another even louder groan. Galinda turned her head into the pillow that she was sharing with Elphaba. “I don’t think that’s better.”

“Well, you’d be great to have along on a camping trip.”

That did pull a laugh from the blonde. “I wish I was more like you.”

“You don’t mean that. I have about as much control over my powers as you do, and I’m green and disgusting.”

“Don’t say that. You’re not disgusting!” Galinda sat up on the bed, staring at Elphaba with conviction in her gaze. “You are wonderful.”

There was a warmth thrumming in Elphaba’s cheeks. “We should go to sleep. It’s getting late.”

“I’m not going to rest until you admit that you are not disgusting.” The girl crossed her arms over her chest, causing her barely covered breasts to be pushed up slightly.

“Alright. I guess I’m not disgusting.” There was no feeling in her words. But Elphaba needed a way to end this entire interaction. She wanted to close her eyes, go to sleep, and forget about all of it. She could not take a third night of no sleep.

“I’ll take it for now. But you should be more confident. It’s the start of everything.” Galinda shuffled back down on the bed.

Elphaba turned back towards the wall and closed her eyes. Right when she was about to drift to sleep, an arm wrapped itself around her waist and Galinda placed her face against her shoulder. She tried to focus on her breathing. But the flowery smell that nestled into her nose clouded her mind entirely. When she did fall asleep, she only dreamed of candy and poppies and beautiful, blonde, Gillikin women.

-

Galinda’s shoulder ached when she woke up. There was something warm pressed against her body and the smell of freshly mowed grass and herbal tea enveloped the space around her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the relaxed face of her green roommate. She smiled, sighing contently and snuggling even closer. It was Saturday today. No classes and a promise of a shopping trip awaited her.

But they had time. Galinda allowed her eyes to roam over the face in front of her. As she looked at the closed, slightly fluttering eyelids, trying to keep the light out, and the plump lips and the freckles that dusted those green cheeks, she began to feel the urge to lean in. To press her own lips against that skin, against those lips.

Startled she pulled her arm back.

Oh.

Oh, no.

She was falling in love with Elphaba Thropp.

Chapter Text

Dear Galinda,

If there is anything I can do in return for your kindness, other than complimenting you, do let me know.

I am glad my responses to your letters have been deemed adequate in length and content. If there is anything specific you want me to share, you only need to ask.

Of course I cannot know for certain whether or not you would want to be my friend after you meet me in real life. Do not think I am making a judgement of your personality by suspecting you may not want to remain as close to me after our meeting. I am only judging on my past experiences.

Back in Quadling Country I almost had a friend, but that was an Animal. A Dwarf Bear named Neri-Neri. And as a child I possibly encountered a Monkey, though I don’t know much about that. At least not anymore. I have come to call that Monkey a Polter-Monkey.

Even my sister Nessa is not all that keen on my company. Unfortunately for her, she is forced to deal with it more often than not. I don’t really have anywhere else to go.

Despite these past experiences, I am still hopeful you will keep your promise. I am still looking forward to this hypothetical first day at Shiz University. Finally getting to speak to you, seeing what you look like. The anticipation is nearly unbearable.

To me it has also become a necessity to be your friend, Galinda. You have weaseled your way into my stone-cold heart. As long as it falls within my range of possibilities, I will not give up on you either.

Moving on to the topic of the Frottica Daily Times. I have had the greatest pleasure reading through the pages you sent me. The article about the man who believed he turned his daughter into a toad made me chuckle. Perhaps if it had been a Toad he could have just asked.  I have to say the small section on new businesses made me eager to visit. The restaurant looks so nice. And then the report on the vandalism. Great journalism there. Even if the case was lacking in tension.

The latest copy of the Nest Hardings Novelty will be added to this letter. I’d love to hear your reactions on our poor provincial life.

I assume that overall, it is quite pleasant to have a sister. On most days we get along. Often, we scream with laughter or cry with joy. Not that our Nessarose has a lot of humor in her body. I remember I used to sing her to sleep most nights. She would coo over the lullabies I often made up on the spot. Especially in rural Quadling Country, it was essential for me to sing, or she would not sleep at all. And it is the duty of the eldest daughter to take care of her siblings.

Sometimes I do regret having a little sister, though I would never tell her. Father loves her more. It is clear. I do not like to admit it, but it hurts my heart to see the way he coos over her while I lay abandoned in the corner like a rejected doll.

And we can get into quite terrible fights as well. Those are nasty. The problem with fighting with your sibling, especially if you usually get along, is that you know each other’s insecurities and can say the things that will leave gaping wounds to infect the other’s view of herself. I know many of my insecurities have been poked at by Nessa. I believe I must have returned the favor.

When it comes to Pertha Hills, I can confidently say I would be honored to visit. Maybe we could go to that restaurant that is mentioned in the Frottica Daily Times. In return I should offer to show you Colwen Grounds, where I reside. I will not though. Merely because it does not hold any memories worth sharing. And it would be my pleasure to forever keep you from meeting my father. Call it what you want but I’d like to keep you to myself, and I would not want him to hurt you with any of his cruel words. Nor would I want him to try to convert you to his faith. He has a tendency of going on lengthy spiels when the Unnamed God is mentioned. Is that something you believe in?

Lastly, I have to admit I hope you do find a copy of that article. My curiosity has been piqued by the paragraph you dedicated to it. Especially due to the omission of anything of substance on the content of the article. I cannot wait to find out why they featured you in the paper. Though, I am certain there must be plenty of reasons.

Sincerely,

Elphaba

Chapter Text

The sun was brutal. Galinda hadn’t expected this. It was meant to be cooling down, easing Shiz into a mild fall which would lead to a kind winter. Yet today the weather had decided to be nothing but pure heat.

Oh Oz, she was beginning to sweat through her blouse. At this rate, there’d be a quick-change before lunch and another before dinner.

No one else seemed bothered by it. Students were sprawled out on the grass and at the docks enjoying the unusual weather. Maybe they didn’t care that they were sweaty or maybe Galinda just couldn’t stand the heat as well as some others.

Elphaba for her part had decided on wearing that Oz-damned black frock. Could her verdigris impact her perception of the temperature? No, that was silly. Or was it?

“Galinda? Galinda?” The Munchkin boy with the red hair and the awkward stance stood in front of her blocking her path. “Have you heard?”

“Heard what?” Galinda asked with a forced smile.

“There’s going to be a new student. A prince. Isn’t that exciting?” Bick continued. He was smiling so brightly one would almost think Lurlinemas came early.

“A prince?” It could be a good distraction. Something to keep her mind off that dreadful revelation of that morning. Something to keep her mind off her green roommate. Where was Elphie right now? Had she already heard that a prince was coming to Shiz?

“Oh yes, from somewhere in Winkie Country.”

“Well, thank you for telling me, Bick.” Galinda walked on, not even caring that her shoulder brushed against the Munchkin for one moment. She’d find that prince and she’d forget that she had feelings for Elphaba and then her and Elphie could be the bestest of friends and nothing would ruin it. That made sense. That made perfect sense.

Because this was clearly just a phase. An infatuation that would waft away over time. And then everything would be ruined. She would have screwed it all up by confessing. Even if, and that was a massively big if, Elphie felt the same way about her.

Elphaba would probably be more into this mystery prince. Or maybe she wasn’t into anybody at all. Not everyone longed to be loved in the same way Galinda did.

What was she even worrying about? Galinda herself would probably fall for this prince the instant she saw him. He’d be attractive and confident and so rich. He’d be perfect and they’d be the perfect couple, ready to rule Shiz University and then the rest of Oz. That would work. Even if she still dragged Elphie along. Maybe they could get a house with an extra bedroom. They could all live together. They’d have enough money to build their own place. She’d start drafting the plans tonight.

There would be two bedrooms, at least, maybe a third one for company. A bathroom for each of them, clearly. A living space with comfortable couches. She’d need a walk-in closet. Oh, and a library for Elphie with more books than she’d possibly be able to read in her lifetime. An office for Elphie to continue her research on Animal rights, and no those can’t be one and the same. The office would have to be separate from the library, as to not distract Elphie during her work. One room for work and one for pleasure. In the gardens they’d plant poppies in all the colors that they came in. They were Elphie’s favorite flower. The basement they could transform into their sorcery laboratory. Oh, it would be just—

“Excuse me.” Two large hands grabbed her shoulders to keep her from slamming into a broad body. “Are you quite alright?” The man smiled seductively. His brown hair was perfectly cut, and he wore a clearly expensive blue suit and boots. And then there was the accent. Most people would swoon for the accent alone.

“I’m fine.” She rolled her shoulders back, hoping the man would pull his hands away.

“You seemed miles away.”

“I was right here. I’ll assure you that much.” Although, she hadn’t been. She had been in a made-up house somewhere close to the Emerald City designing Elphaba’s library and custom-made poppy field. What was she doing?

“I’m happy to hear that. Because it seems this place would be better having you around.” A prince was flirting with her. One she couldn’t yet name. Still, she was meant to be elated by this news. So, why was the only thing she felt indifference?

“You are certainly right about that,” Galinda said with a toss of her hair.

The prince chuckled. “Fiyero Tigelaar, Winkie Country.” He finally pulled back his hands to hold one out for her to shake.

“Galinda Arduenna Upland, of the Upper Uplands.” She couldn’t find a reason not to shake his hand, so she placed her dainty fingers around his rough palm. Letting go as soon as she could.

“How lovely to make your acquaintance.”

“That’s what they all say.” She wasn’t even trying to play hard to get. Her mind wasn’t in the game of push and pull that she was meant to be playing. But it still had the same effect. The prince was intrigued and before long he’d be begging to go out with her. Would something like that work on Elphaba?

Probably not. No, Elphie required a very different approach. Not that Galinda would take it. But purely hypothetically speaking, she probably could figure out what would allow her into that wonderfully kind heart.

Kind gestures. Actions did speak louder than words. She’d have to do something to show her devotion to the green girl. Not that she was devoted. But she had tried kind gestures before. She had made Elphie her favorite tea a mere few days ago and that only seemed to make her roommate angry.

So, maybe it really were words that would do the trick. Compliments and sonnets. Although… She had been writing to Elphie for years and all that resulted in was radio silence and the need for a fresh start.

The only thing so fat that had appeared to have a semblance of a positive effect had been the ring she had gifted years ago. Elphie didn’t seem like the materialist type, but it was worth a shot. They were still supposed to go shopping later.

Not that she was planning on trying to woo her roommate.

That just simply wasn’t something Galinda would do.

-

Shiz town mirrored Shiz University in architecture and flair. It felt like a comfort to Elphaba who had begun to see Shiz University as a home. The girl walking next to her most definitely had something to do with it.

“Maybe we can stay in town for dinner too? I’m honestly already over the dining hall food. What do you think?” Galinda asked hanging on Elphaba’s arm.

“I don’t know if I have brought enough money for that.” For her it was the first time she was going into Shiz town. Besides Galinda there was no one who really wanted to go into town with the green bean. Therefore, she hadn’t been sure how much money she would need. And, despite her father’s position of power, she didn’t have all that much money to spend anyway.

“Pish posh. I’ll pay for everything.” To emphasize her words, Galinda patted Elphaba’s arm.

“You really don’t need to do that.”

“I know. That’s what makes me so nice.”

Before Elphaba could protest again, she was pulled into a store with piles of sheets. Galinda dove for the pink ones, which made her friend smile. It hadn’t taken long for Elphaba to associate her only friend with the bright color.

The green girl twirled around, allowing her fingers to slide over some black satin pillowcases. They had a pattern stitched on them that made them look fancy. Which they clearly were.

“You want those?” Galinda was holding several pairs in her hands, all various shades of pink. “They look nice.”

“Oh, no. It’s alright. Do you need help deciding?” Elphaba pointed at the different options her blonde friend was holding.

“Deciding? Oh, no. I’m getting all of these. Why pick one when you can get several?”

“That’s like seven sets.”

“Yes, and?” Galinda raised one eyebrow. “Eight now.”

“What?” The blonde leaned forward to retrieve the black sheets Elphaba had been looking at. “You really don’t have to.”

Galinda grabbed it anyway. “Are there any other stores you wanted to go to?” She was already walking towards the register where a middle-aged woman was staring at them. Her gaze could only be described as disapproving. “What’s the matter?” Galinda spat out at her with that same forced smile she showed Bick.

The woman didn’t reply, just averting her gaze and checking the different sheets.

“Have you never seen a green girl before? Alright, let’s get this over with. No, she’s not seasick. No, she did not eat grass as a child. And yes, she has always been green. Anything else?” Galinda rambled on.

The woman shook her head.

“You didn’t have to do that either,” Elphaba whispered once Galinda was holding her bag.

“I know. But you don’t deserve to be treated like this, Elphie. If that means I have to defend you every once and a while, so be it.” The Gillikin locked her arm with Elphaba’s again. “You never answered though. Were there any stores you wanted to go to?”

-

They ended up going to seventeen clothing stores that Galinda had been dying to visit. Elphaba had barely protested despite all the sighs. She had answered every question the blonde had thrown her. At times she had turned to a blubbering mess.

But eventually, they both grew hungry and tired and decided to look for a place to have dinner. Shiz town was filled with small and cozy restaurants. Most were hidden in between the stores, a fact Galinda abused diligently. She’d make them stop in front of nearly every show window, talking about the exquisite dresses and the wonderful pants. Oh, and wouldn’t that blouse look just divine on you, Elphie. 

That last comment had tripped up the green girl.

Only one time did Elphaba stop in her tracks. Not because Galinda, who was still holding her arm, pulled her back. She wouldn’t have dared to halt her step if her eye hadn’t caught the title in the window. A book Elphaba had been trying to procure for eons. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and His Policies: How One Man Changed All of Oz.

The book was particularly rare. It had been written by a professor who had graduated from Three Queens College and went on to teach and continue her research at Shiz University. Shortly after the publication of the novel, many copies had been destroyed. No one really knew why. Dr. Mendowes, the professor in question, later published a think piece on why her book was not allowed to succeed. She had placed the blame on the Wizard himself, that he wanted to protect his mysterious persona.

Elphaba hadn’t been entirely convinced, but her interest had been piqued and ever since she had the urge to read the tome. A task not easily achieved with only seven copies left in all of Oz. She had hoped to find a copy in Shiz’s extensive library but hadn’t succeeded.

“Do you want it?” Galinda asked, leaning her chin on Elphaba’s shoulder.

She almost said yes. Her mouth was forming the word but halted halfway through when her eyes caught the price. “Oh no, it’s alright.” Even if her heart clenched in her chest with the hint of longing. She would probably never get this close to a copy ever again.

“Are you—” Before the Gillikin girl could finish her question, Elphaba had already proceeded her walk to an appropriate restaurant.

A block or two further they found the cutest little place. One Galinda insisted on, as she so often did. Not that her companion minded in the slightest. It was much nicer than the green girl was accustomed to. Galinda chose the table, one slightly off center but still enough in view to showcase herself and her friend. Galinda ordered them drinks, a strawberry lemonade for herself and an iced tea for her roommate. The blonde smiled as she took in the options for their meals.

“Oh, Elphie. I have just realized the most dreadful thing,” she said after a few sips of her lemonade.

“What is it?”

“I have forgotten something in one of the stores we visited today. Do you think they’ll still be open?”

It seemed likely they would still be open for now. But waiting till after dinner was entirely out of the question. By then the doors would be shut and locked still containing Galinda’s priced possession, whatever it was. “What did you forget?” Elphaba wasn’t keen on rushing through the streets of Shiz again. She was finally relaxing with her iced tea. She also wasn’t keen on losing her company for any period of time.

The blonde pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth for a second before releasing it again. “My wallet.”

“Galinda!”

“I know, I know. But you know what, you stay right here, and I’ll run to the store and get it. I have a good idea where I had it last. I won’t be longer than a clock tick.” 

Elphaba wanted to protest, and she would have if she had only been granted the chance.

-

Galinda had not forgotten her wallet anywhere. She may be a blonde, but she was not that stupid. No, Galinda had ulterior motives for this escape, and it wasn’t that particularly lovely skirt she wanted to try on.

Instead, she was putting her plan in motion. Although, it wasn’t really a plan. It was more of a test of sorts. The outcome didn’t matter for anything more than to soothe Galinda’s curiosity. She was not trying to pursue her roommate. She was not!

In fact, she was only trying to rectify a mistake she had made years ago. If she had known about Elphaba’s wonderfully, spectacularly, unique skin, she wouldn’t have gotten her an emerald ring. Now that she knew, she was just simply getting a replacement gift. Something Elphie would actually want.

She knew exactly what that something was meant to be.

The bookstore’s door was closed but not locked. A bell rang out when the blonde stepped inside and smelled paper and ink with a hint of dust.

“We’re closed!” a voice called out from the back.

“No, please, it’s an emergency!” Galinda shouted back.

“An emergency?” A Raven entered the room somewhat hesitantly. “One that involves books?”

The Gillikin girl nodded her head rapidly. “Oh yes, you see, there is someone I like dearly and that book you’ve got is the only present that might melt her heart.”

“Which book?”

“The one on the Wizard and his policies. I almost know the title for we stared at it through the window for several moments.”

The Raven smiled before flying towards the book in question. “Just this once I’ll grant your desire, miss, but only if you keep what you saw here strictly between us.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Haven’t you heard, dear? Animals are no longer permitted to work, let alone own a shop. I usually have a lovely Munchkin boy help me out to hide my presence but seeing as we were closed, I sent him home.”

“Oh.” Galinda took a step back. “That’s plainly horrendible. But you mustn’t worry, I shall not tell anyone. Except perhaps the person I’m buying this for, but that’s the same as telling no one. She’s very kind you see and specializing herself in Animal rights. She’d never do you any harm.”

“In that case, she’ll definitely enjoy this book. It’s not brand new for it used to be my own.”

“Then why are you selling it?” Galinda asked, stepping closer to where the Raven was ringing up the book.

“I was hoping someone like your love would come around to read it. We need more people on our side before it’s too late. Here you go.”

The blonde dove into her purse to retrieve her money, and to hide her blush at what the shop owner had said, paying more than the Raven was asking for. Just because. “What’s your name?”

The Raven startled back, scared. “Why do you need to know?”

“I was hoping I’d be able to introduce you to my friend.”

“Rima, my name is Rima.”

“I’m Galinda. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, miss Galinda.”

The Gillikin girl walked back into the air that was finally cooling down, holding the book in her arms. Before she returned to the restaurant where Elphaba was still waiting for her, sipping her iced tea slowly and telling waiters her friend would be back any minute, Galinda walked into the boutique where she had seen the skirt.

She walked over to the register without retrieving the item she had had her eye on. “Good evening, I was wondering if you had any spare bags.”

The woman behind the register frowned. “You just want a bag?”

“Yes, just a bag please. How much would that be?”

“Our bags are free, miss.” The woman still looked confused at the interaction she was having. Yet she still pulled a bag from behind the counter and handed it over.

“Thank you very much. I’ll be back for one of those pink skirts another day. You’ve been very helpful.”

Galinda put the book into the newly acquired bag and then finally returned to the restaurant. She already knew what Elphaba would say at her return. What she was wondering, was how the girl would react when they got back to their dorm and Galinda revealed what she actually had been up to.

Her green pal, because Galinda would ignore her feelings for as long as she could, was seated with her back to the door. Something the blonde took advantage of by staring for a brief moment before actually walking towards her. There was a smile trying to pull through. One that wasn’t like her usual smiles. One that was much too revealing. It was a recurring problem around Elphaba Thropp.

“You did not go shopping while I was waiting here?” Elphaba complained the instant Galinda sat down.

“I was in the store anyway.”

“That bag is from a store we didn’t even enter. You just stared into the window and kept saying the pink skirt was just made for you. You never forgot your wallet, did you? You just wanted to get the skirt.”

Almost, Galinda thought, you are almost right. “Have you decided what you wanted to eat?” She bit the inside of her cheek, refraining herself from already revealing her surprise.

Chapter Text

Any expert on Elphaba Thropp, which was only Elphaba herself, would have assumed that she and Galinda Arduenna Upland would not mix well. On first glance most people would assume that Galinda Arduenna Upland could never like someone like Elphaba Thropp.

Yet both of these things were true.

That much was clear for anybody who could see the two girls at dinner. The two girls talked amicably, laughed pleasantly, and stared at each other with adoration in their gazes.

Some might have assumed to two were tangled together in a blossoming romance.

-

By the time the two girls got back to their dorm room it had passed midnight. Galinda was giggling, allowing her bags to swing around her. Her heart hammered in her chest with enthusiasm and a little bit of nerves. It was time to hand over her incredible gift.

If it was anyone other than Elphaba, she’d assume she’d get a thousand thanks. But after her last good deed was punished with a stern talking to, she wasn’t sure what to expect.

“Elphie?”

“Yes, Galinda?” Elphaba didn’t turn around, instead facing her bed. It should have been easier that way. It wasn’t. The blonde could feel her resolve fading and her palms starting to sweat. “Did you need help with the sheets?” Elphie asked, turning around at last.

“No… Well, yes. But that’s not what I wanted to say.”

“Oh?”

She could have said something else, explained herself. Yet, she didn’t. Her hand just held out the bag with the book inside.

Elphaba frowned. “I don’t want any clothes, Galinda.”

The comment struck the blonde the wrong way. “First of all, when someone gets you a present, you are just meant to say thank you. Secondly, maybe check what it is before you complain.”

The green girl blinked, realizing her friend was right. She nodded her head and accepted the bag. Any further comments were kept to herself. Her fingers pushed open the bag and she peeked inside.

Galinda kept her eyes on Elphie’s face. Watching for every minute change that might reveal what she should be prepared for.

“What?” the green girl gasped. Her fingers gripping the item that she had been gifted. Her forehead creased, her lips quivered, her eyes glistened. And her mouth, her mouth simply fell open and stayed that way, ready to catch a fly if any had dared to come close.  

Galinda quite liked this look on her. She never wanted to look away. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip. Pushing her feelings down might turn to be trickier than it had appeared before. But her lips quirked into a smile. Would it really matter?

At least for now she’d indulge herself.

“It is. Oh, Galinda, you shouldn’t have.” But everything in Elphaba’s tone indicated she most definitely should have.

“I wanted to, Elphie. When will you understand that I want to do nice things to you.”

“F-for me? For me, right?” Elphaba corrected with darkened cheeks.

The slip-up hadn’t even registered to Galinda. She hadn’t even realized her mind was going to such scandalocious places. “That’s what I said. What did you hear?” She hoped the red on her cheeks was not all too obvious. Hopefully her rouge was hiding it.

“I— I— Nothing.”

“Very well. Do you like it at least? Spoil me a little, Elphie, won’t you?” If her teeth pressed any harder, she’d be drawing blood.

“I’m afraid I do not have the resources to spoil anyone, let alone Galinda Upland.”

“Oh, Elphie, all I require is some attention and many compliments. Won’t you allow me a small victory at least? There must be something about me you like.” Oh please, let there be something about me she likes.

“I doubt you need validation from the artichoke.”

“Elphie, please.” She stomped her foot on the floor.

“My apologies. I cannot say I’m used to social pleasantries. Shall I correct myself?” Elphaba’s focus was drawn by the book she was paging through.

“Please do. It would be ever so kind.”

“Let me give it a try. Galinda, you are as sweet as you are beautiful and that is saying much, for I doubt that any mortal being, or immortal being for that matter, could ever compare to your beauty.” Elphaba instantly beat herself up over her response. It was entirely too much, too soon.

But Galinda swooned, pressing one hand over her heart, the other finding a place against her forehead. “Oh, that is just perfect, Elphie. The bestest compliment I have ever gotten.”

In fact, the blonde worried a heart attack was imminent at her friend’s, her love’s as Rima would have said, words. If she were to die right now, at least she’d die happy.

“It is only fair after such an extravagant present, my sweet.”

Oh, the Gillikin’s heart skipped a beat. More than one. Her heart had stopped altogether. How could Elphie be such a flirt? How unexpectedly marvelous. This was something she had to take advantage of.

“And don’t you forget it,” Galinda said with faux confidence.

-

The book was better than Elphaba could have imagined. More interesting than any paper on the subject had ever been. That was exactly why she did not notice when a boy sat down next to her. The stares she wouldn’t have noticed either way, for that was something she was used to.

The boy cleared his throat, but even that didn’t pull Elphaba out of her book. The tap on her shoulder did do the trick though. Her head shot up. “What?” she snapped.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you. I was just wondering—”

Elphaba sighed. “No, I’m not seasick.” 

“Neither am I.”

“No, I did not eat grass as a child.”

“You didn’t? I did.”

“And yes, I have always been green.”

“And the defensiveness, is that a recent development?”

Elphaba took in the sight next to her. It was hard to make sense of the boy with his smug smile and his kind eyes. A contradiction, just like Galinda was. She hummed, without replying, and turned back to her book.

“Fiyero Tigelaar, Winkie Country,” the boy next to her continued, now reaching out his hand to make her acquaintance. Still, Elphaba did not react. She desperately wanted to finish reading this paragraph before class was going to start. “You do not care for me, do you?”

“Not particularly.”

The last thing she had expected was for the boy to laugh in response. “I appreciate the honesty. I will do you the curtesy of doing the same. The thing I had been wanting to ask was whether or not you are acquainted with Galinda Upland.”

There was no point in continuing her mission of finishing her reading once that name was uttered. She shut the book with a bang and turned her full attention on this Winkie boy. “Why do you want to know?”

Fiyero chuckled uncomfortably. He was not used to people questioning his motives. Especially not girls. Therefore, he wasn’t sure what he was meant to say. “I’m just trying to get in touch with her. We met briefly this weekend.”

“I’m sure you’ll meet her again at some point. You’re both students here. I don’t see why I should get involved in this.”

“So, you do know her?”

“I don’t see why that matters to you.” Elphaba just wanted this conversation to end. Yes, she knew Galinda. They shared a room, for Oz’s sake! But she did not want to share any information of what she and Galinda had with this Vinkun.

“I did not mean to offend,” Fiyero excused with a slight frown. It was clear that girls didn’t treat him this way. His smile was usually enough to make most anybody swoon. Anybody but the green bean. And Galinda Upland, but Elphaba didn’t know that.

Fiyero Tigelaar seriously began to doubt himself. He struck out with Galinda, but only slightly. It had felt more like a challenge than a failure. But now yet another girl was giving him the cold shoulder. Much less polite at that. Her rude quips felt like true annoyance. Maybe the girls in Shiz were different than what he was used to. He would have to revise his tactics.

-

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Elphaba was late to her sorcery seminar. This was especially worrisome for Galinda who was now sitting alone with Madame Morrible who clearly despised her.

“Have you been practicing?” Madama Morrible stood with her arms crossed. Perhaps she expected that the blonde didn’t try her best, that she wasn’t willing to give this her all. But nothing was less true.

“I have, but—”

“Show me then. Make the coin float.”

“Well, that’s the thing, Madame.”

“No, I will not hear your excuses, Miss Galinda. Make the coin float. Prove you have been putting in effort. Proof me wrong.”

The words stung. Even more than that, they confused her. What exactly was it that she was meant to proof wrong? “If you did not believe in me, why did you invite me to the seminar in the first place?”

She knew she shouldn’t have asked the moment the question left her mouth. Perhaps if she had ever learned to think before speaking. The answer wouldn’t suit her. How could it ever?

Morrible sighed. “This was your roommate’s idea, not mine.”

“I’m confused.”

“Miss Elphaba has requested that I include you in our sorcery seminar or else she would quit. I can’t risk losing her, so here we are.”

It had been Elphaba’s doing. Of course it had been Elphaba’s doing. Galinda’s shoulders slumped forward, and her hands loosened around the training wand. Everything in her demeanor screamed defeat as loudly as anything Galinda Upland did. Despite this, Madame Morrible continued: “My personal opinion, dear, is that you do not have what it takes. I hope you end up proving me wrong. I doubt you will.”

If the Gillikin’s heart wasn’t broken already, it sure was now. And since it had already cracked before, it was downright shattered after those last comments. She did not have what it takes. Madame Morrible did not have faith in her. Her plan had exploded in her face. This must have been what momsie had meant when she told her not to dream too big.

Galinda cleared her throat. “Excuse me,” she said as she got up and collected her stuff, debating whether or not to keep the training wand. Her hands fought for the object, but her heart was eager to let it go. In the end she slipped it into her bag.

Madame Morrible shook her head as Galinda walked out of the study, yet she did not try to stop the student in any way.

-

In the meantime, Elphaba had made herself comfortable on her bed. The book she had been gifted opened in her lap. Her sorcery seminar couldn’t be further from her mind. Maybe if she allowed herself to think about the person who had been kind enough to purchase her the book, she would have remembered.

It was just that if she started thinking about Galinda, she wouldn’t be able to think of anything else. Especially after the events of this weekend.

The shopping trip was meant to have been a drag. But she had enjoyed Galinda’s enthusiasm and even her whims. Not to speak of the way the blonde had defended her honor. That had made her heart do weird fluttery things. If she hadn’t permitted herself the occasional romance novel, she would have assumed her end had been near.

Then there had been the dinner. The lovely, comfortable, delicious dinner. She had been able to drop her thick skin and simply laugh and joke with her roommate in earnest. It had been a mistake to allow herself that, but it was too late now.

Lastly there had been the present. The very book she was drowning in. It was the most wonderful gift she had ever received. Not that that was saying much. She had only received three gifts in her life, two had been from Galinda and the third had been a drawing Nessa had made.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

Elphaba hadn’t even realized her roommate had come back. “Tell you what, my sweet?” It was impossible not to utter the new endearment so fresh on her mind.

If she had dared to look up, she would have seen the blush on her roommate’s cheeks. “That the only reason I was allowed in the sorcery seminar was because you threatened to quit.”

“I didn’t see how that mattered.” A vision of the Vinkun appeared in front of her mind’s eye and she decided it was time to look at her blonde roommate.

“Of course it mattered, Elphie.” Galinda couldn’t be too angry if she still used that nickname. “I thought Morrible came around and saw my potential. Maybe she had reread my essay: magic wands, need they have a point?”

Elphaba couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She didn’t really want to either. “I just gave her a nudge.”

“She would have never allowed me in the seminar. She hates me.”

“I don’t think she’s allowed to hate any of her students.”

“I guess I’m her exception.” Galinda sat down on the edge of Elphaba’s bed. “Why weren’t you at the seminar anyway?”

In response, Elphaba simply lifted up her book with a guilty smile.

“If I had realized the consequences, I would have thought twice before buying that tome for you.” The blonde girl deflated even more. It was enough to pull the green girl from her literature. Something most of her professors hadn’t succeeded in.

“I’m sorry. It was a mistake.” Her hand drifted towards the Gillikin’s knee, right where the pink skirt had ridden up. “I won’t leave you again, my sweet.”

Galinda melted slightly at that. Her lips repressing a smile that showed anyway. “Thank you, Elphie.”

The green girl considered mentioning her interacting with the infuriating Winkie. She truly did. But that soft smile scattered her mind and the last thing she wanted was to ruin the mood by mentioning this Fiyero. Instead, she’d focus on the girl in question. “How was your day, my sweet? I have barely seen you at all.”

“Perhaps because you kept your nose in that dusty book,” Galinda chided, but there was a softness to her tone. “My day was quite alright until the sorcery seminar. I still haven’t been able to make the coin float, and I unfortunately didn’t set fire to Horrible Morrible’s study.”

Elphaba laughed loudly, cackled really. The release of tension combined with the blonde’s words was enough to break her.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure it’s hilarious for such a powerful sorceress.”

“No, no. I’m not laughing at your expense. I think you are funny, Galinda. Not the situation. And I do think we’ve made it clear you have quite some power within you. You did nearly burn down your bed.”

And she’d do it again to be granted another night in Elphie’s arms, but Elphaba didn’t need to know that.

“I don’t see how setting fires will be useful. We have matches to do that job for us.” Galinda shuffled closer towards her roommate.

“It is not because matches exist that your power is useless, and we do not know the full extent of what you can do. There might be more within you than we know off. All I can do is make things float. Is that so special?” Elphaba could feel the heat rising in the room. Or maybe just within her.

Galinda shrugged. That was a victory in Elphaba’s book. If it also caused the girl to move just a little bit closer still, that may be a second victory. Even if it was a double-edged sword.

Chapter Text

Dear Elphaba,

I do not know if I believe you are not fibbing me. It seems preposterous that you would have never had a friend before. You are so pleasant to write to and so nice in your own letters. Has there never been another soul that has had the intelligence to be your pal?

Never before in my life have I met a Dwarf Bear. That must have been so exciting. How ever did you meet Neri-Neri? Or are they just common in Quadling Country?

I’m also a little intrigued at this Polter-Monkey. Whatever is the story there?

Your sister should be ecstatic that she gets to spend time with you! Do not let her convince you otherwise. If she does not enjoy being your friend, she does not deserve your kindness.

Elphaba, do not doubt me. I do not break my promises. You are stuck with me from now on and until forever.

I have had a blast reading the Nest Hardings Novelty. There were so many stories on neighborhood feuds. I don’t know why I had expected Munchkins to be more amicable. But no, they are ready to tear each other apart. And always over such petty things. Shared fences and potentially stolen crops. It reads like my momsie’s drama novels. Not that she allows me to read them, but occasionally I break the rules.

Oh. My. Oz. You did not tell me you could sing! That is just excellent and thrillifying. Oh, when we meet, you must sing to me.

I’m quite a good singer myself. Momsie made me take vocal classes starting when I first started to speak. Fun fact: my first word was ‘green’ as it was the color of my momsie’s sweater. At least that is what my momsie tells me. I’m sure she must have been trying to get me to say something and that word just stuck for some reason. It’s a nice color, though. Green. I don’t often put it in my own collection, but the right shade just brightens stuff up. I fully understand why the Wizard chose emerald for his city.

Wait, what were we talking about?

Do you think we could sing a duet? Oh, karaoke night will be such fun! I hope our voices match well. I have a feeling they will.

Say no more. I have no interest in meeting your detestable father. Anyone who has treated you poorly does not deserve my presence nor my attention. From what I have heard, even your sister is on thin ice. Instead, we can just make wonderful memories at Shiz University and Pertha Hills. I’ll even take you to the restaurant you saw in the Frottica Daily Times. So far, I haven’t been myself so I cannot yet say if it is worth it.

My parents are undecided about whether or not they believe in the Unnamed God. My momsie in particular has always believed in Lurline. It is how she was raised. Therefore, she is not keen on abandoning that for a God that will not even allow us to name Him. My popsicle is more open minded but that is probably because of his political friends. Many of them seem eager to shift to this younger faith.

Recently, he took a trip to Munckinland actually, to speak with the Governor of Munckinland. That man is obsessed with the Unnamed God. I believe he may have been a preacher before his wife convinced him to go into politics. That is what popsicle said, or something like that. I had missed a part of his story for I was reading your letter.

Yes, you are more important than my parents’ jabbering about politics and religion. Although, I don’t know how much of a compliment that is.

I am a little jealous that my popsicle got to go to Nest Hardings and he did not take me. I would have loved the chance to visit you, just for an afternoon or so. I do not know if I can forgive him this disgrace.

Either way, the damage is done, and it means our meeting is postponed until we get to Shiz. I am already counting down the days, the hours, the minutes.

Until then I will cherish each of your letters as they reveal more and more parts of you.

Sincerely,

Galinda

P.S. I have added a copy of my article! Enjoy!!

Chapter Text

Dear Galinda,

It’s hard to communicate what it is that drew me to you. But I hope we never stop communicating with each other. You have succeeded in planting dreams in my mind I never knew I could want. It may be the first time that I’ve allowed myself these hopes.

A girl like me is usually not permitted such frivolous thoughts. Thoughts of people believing in them, for example. Or the thoughts of the Emerald City that you’ve convinced me is the best place in all of Oz. I’ve been having thoughts of you coming to Munchkinland to drag me to a townhouse in the Emerald City. Thoughts of meeting the Wizard and having my heart’s desire fulfilled.

All silly things, as you can see.

But these thoughts have made me happier than I’ve ever been before. I had come to terms with remaining alone for the rest of my tragic life. Until now. Until you. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I am not trying to insinuate anything. Most people would twist my words, making it into something that would ridicule me. But I trust you to not do that. To leave what is left of my dignity intact.

I am sorry for placing this weight on your shoulders. You did not ask for it. You did not know the consequences of your words. Please do not hold it against me. I wouldn’t be able to bear your resentment.

It is you that has brought back life into my existence. I am forever grateful for that. I hope to receive a reply soon.

Yours truly,

Elphaba

Galinda folded the piece of paper up. This had been one of her favorite letters since she’d received it. Which was only a few days before her sixteenth birthday. What a wonderful birthday present that had been.

It was a little bit weird to read the letter with Elphaba sitting in the same room. But Galinda had been forced to indulge. Her hands had been twisted and turned until she had grabbed the letters out of their box and found the one she longed for. Not as much as she longed for the girl on the other side of the room, though.

The girl in question was engulfed in making notes. What for wasn’t entirely clear. Probably one of their classes.

Hopefully nothing too urgent.

Did they have homework to do? Had she missed any of their shared classes? Was Galinda falling behind? School wasn’t her main priority but failing at Shiz University, in her first year, was just not an option. She thought she had caught up with everything.

“Elphie?”

The green girl hummed.

“What are you doing? Did we have homework or something?” The blonde was still holding the letter when Elphaba looked up from her notebook. Questions swam in those deep green eyes. But Elphie didn’t ask any of them and just stared at her roommate for a few moments.

After a moment, the munchkin started shaking her head. “No.”

“Then what are you doing?” Galinda saw Elphie’s gaze drift to the piece of paper in her hands. It felt idiotic, but her hands moved the letter behind her back.

“Oh,” Elphaba gasped, her face turning back to her notebook, as if she didn’t remember what she had been doing before Galinda interrupted. “This? It’s nothing. Just some thoughts I needed to get out.”

It wasn’t really a lie. Elphaba was in fact writing down some thoughts that had been bothering her. Each and every thought, though, was focused around the girl that had posed the question. There were many questions written down that she wanted answered. She had hoped that seeing them would bring an epiphany to her.

It hadn’t.

Most of the question all came down to one thing. One curiosity that Elphaba couldn’t wrap her head around. Why had Galinda stopped writing to her?

Everything about their interactions showed a certain affection. Something Elphaba also couldn’t understand. But it was there. How else could she explain the blonde’s behavior? The shopping and the gifts, the conversations and the closeness.

But then why the years of dreaded silence? How could that be explained?

“I wish I was surprised. But you do have so many thoughts in that pretty, little head of yours. What is it you are writing? What thoughts couldn’t you keep contained, Elphie?” Galinda asked from her island of pink in the sea of… well, pink. Yet still the bed stood out.

“It’s nothing, just—”

“Just what? Oh, Elphie, do tell. I want to know,” the Gillikin said with a sing-song tone. The girl’s boredom, at least Elphaba imagined she had been bored, evaporated instantly.

“I was just wondering— Why did you ever stop writing to me?” Elphaba pushed the words out as if it ached.

Galinda stared, the pleasure having faded. She blinked once. Twice. Three times. Four. “What?” Her entire head shook as she said the one word that contained her confusion.

“Well, all of a sudden you stopped writing. No, it wasn’t entirely sudden. The letters had been growing shorter but— I don’t know. I just don’t understand.”

“I only stopped writing because you stopped writing. My momsie always says I can be a bit much, so I thought I might have scared you off.” One of the Gillikin’s hands toyed with the edge of her blouse.

The conversation shouldn’t have ended there. Elphaba wanted to respond, reply, and retort. She would have too, if there hadn’t been that knock on the dorm room door. Both girls turned towards the offending noise that had disturbed their peace. For a moment neither of them reacted. One blissful moment.

By the time the second knock echoed through the room, Galinda had already gotten up and made her way to the door. She fluffed up her skirt once and opened it.

Fiyero Tigelaar was used to being greeted by swooning girls. So, Galinda Upland’s slight frown felt foreign to him. “Hello?” the blonde greeted.

Fiyero cleared his throat and showed off his most award-winning smile. “Hello, Miss Galinda. It is a pleasure to see you again.”

“Have we met?” Galinda searched her brain for any interaction with the handsome boy in front of her. She couldn’t recall it. As the smile fell off the man’s face, she almost felt like lying. She could pretend, right?

Elphaba laughed loudly behind them, drawing the attention to her. “Oh, Miss Elphaba. I wasn’t made aware you were residing here as well. How do you do?” Fiyero bowed in the doorway.

The green girl didn’t reply with much else than a scoff. Galinda turned on her heels to look at her roommate and then turned back to the man. Her previous pity at not having recognized him was replaced by a confusing, festering feeling that she couldn’t quite explain. But, for now, she’d call it protectiveness. Over Elphie. Her Elphie.

“Who are you?” Galinda asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Fiyero coughed. “I’m not used to having to re-introduce myself. Fiyero Tigelaar, Winkie Country,” he said with flair and held out his hand. A twinkle of a memory flashed through Galinda’s mind, but she paid it no attention.

“Well, Fiyero, was there anything you needed?”

“I was hoping you’d accompany me to the Ozdust Ballroom this evening or the next.” To Fiyero it appeared the girl was simply playing hard to get. But he would get her anyway. He always did.

The request did thaw Galinda a little bit. Yes, he was one of those, an admirer of her beauty, but he was kind about it. It wasn’t like Bick who had cornered her twice in the last week. Both times it had been quite awkward and uncomfortable.

This Fiyero was different. He smiled nicely and acted like a real gentleman. Maybe she should give him a chance. Her affection for Elphaba was only meant to ruin their friendship that was still blooming, and being seen with Fiyero might push Bick at a safer distance.

It was just hard to agree to the outing with Elphie’s eyes boring a hole into her back. She rolled her shoulders back. What was the right answer?

Galinda remembered what her momsie used to say to her. To never say no when a man asks you to a dance. Because if she had said no, she would have never met Galinda’s dad.

And if she didn’t go, if she stayed cooped up with Elphie every single night, the girl would grow sick of her. Something that may or may not have happened before.

Therefore…

“Tonight is no good, but I could join you to the Ozdust tomorrow.” That would be fine. That she could manage. It seemed like the best of both worlds. Elphie and Fiyero. This would be perfect.

Fiyero perked up. He really did get what he wanted, whenever he wanted. “That sounds wonderful. Shall I pick you up here, at 9?”

Galinda hummed and nodded her head. She wasn’t all that excited for the excursion. But if she dreaded it now, it could only prove to be better than expected. She just had to remain as positive as she could. And maybe she would have to keep herself from dragging Elphaba with her. It was essential that she occasionally gave Elphie her alone time. It was clear the girl was fond of it.

“Great! I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Miss Galinda, Miss Elphaba.” He waved at both of them much to Elphie’s dismay since she grunted and groaned until the man had finally left her view.

Galinda had to keep herself from laughing. When she finally closed the door, she let a giggle slip. “Had you met him before?”

“We have a class together?”

“Which one?” Galinda asked. She hadn’t noticed the boy sitting in any of her classes. They might share History, she hadn’t had that class today.

“Introduction to historical literature and the arts.” Elphaba had fallen back on her bed. Her notebook laying unprotected in front of her. Galinda could take a peek. But she shouldn’t. Should she?

“Oh,” she breathed. There was nothing else to say. She hadn’t taken that class because it didn’t fit her schedule and she hadn’t yet known that Elphaba would be taking it. In her defense, she hadn’t even known that Elphaba would be attending Shiz at all. If she had known, she would have made sure to align their schedules. Something she was sure to do next year.

“I can’t believe you are going out with him.” It sounded like a complaint. Like Elphaba wanted to make clear she did not agree with the decision.

“He asked,” Galinda replied. As if it was that easy. Because it was that easy. If Elphie had asked her to the Ozdust Ballroom she wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes. If Elphie had asked her anywhere, she would have said yes. Even the stuffy library sounded thrillifying if Elphaba Thropp was sitting next to her.

So, yes, it truly was that easy. When someone asked Galinda out on a date she said yes. Unless they were sort of terrifying. She was pretty sure she had seen Bick spy on her through their window by climbing in a tree once. Though she wasn’t entirely sure.

Anyone else, anyone that was decent and kind and respectful, would get a yes if they dared to ask.

Maybe just once and never again. Maybe twice if she was willing to forgive a mistake. Maybe thrice if she was really in a good mood, or if the person was awfully enticing. Never more than thrice though.

Despite her reputation throughout all of Gillikin Country, she had actually never had a real relationship. That’s not to say she hadn’t dabbled here and there. And it surely doesn’t mean she was a prude. She had enough experience to be called promiscuous if anyone had taken the time to gain the knowledge. Or if anyone had disliked her enough to throw the word around.

But no one called her a prude, and no one called her promiscuous, and even if she had never had a relationship that didn’t mean the people didn’t create their own realities to make the image of her fit in them.

Because going out with Galinda Upland was seldom about Galinda. It was about the attention of everyone else. It was about the name and the story. It was putting on a show so that one girl in your linguification class thought you were a desired man that she had to go out with. Or so your parents could boast to their friends. Or so the entire school suddenly sat at your lunch table.

It never really meant anything. She doubted it would mean something this time.

“Are you that easy?” Elphaba sounded like she was judging, but the glimmer in her eyes betrayed a joke. “I didn’t know. If I had suspected such a thing, I would have asked you out weeks ago.” There was self-deprecation laced in her humor. There so often was.

Not that it mattered. Galinda’s cheeks rouged anyway. “Maybe you shouldn’t have waited until someone else asked first.” She turned her back towards her roommate so the obvious flush couldn’t be noticed. All thoughts of Fiyero were gone. Her hands kept busy with folding up one of her discarded skirts. It was better than having to face the soft shake as she waited for a reply.

Elphaba laughed, cackled, and then sighed. “Are you really pretending that you would have said yes to me if I asked you out?”

Galinda turned back towards the green witch. There was no sense of pride stronger than the outrage she felt at Elphie’s horrendible words. “Why would I not?”

“Because I’m—”

“Do not!” She placed her hands on her hips. “Do not say it’s because you are green. I happen to appreciate your verdigris. And if you must know, I wouldn’t have refused you a date with Galinda Arduenna Upland. If you had asked, I would have said yes. I really don’t understand why you always have to talk so awfully bad about yourself.”

“Perhaps because no one seems to be able to look past the color. They’ve all decided that I’m wicked, haven’t you heard?”

“I must certainly have not heard anything of the sort. And if I do, I will make sure whoever said it knows how wrong they are. You should not let unknowing peasants dictate what you are and are not, Elphie. Someone as smart as you ought to know better.”

Elphaba simply stared at the blonde. For once she was at a total loss for words. What a victory. Nothing had ever felt so good. Not even when Dr. Dillamond told the entire class that her paper was one of the best and that she had made significant progress. Not even when Madame Morrible allowed her in the seminar, before she knew the truth.

“Exactly.” Galinda grinned widely.

“Do you like Fiyero?”

“What?” The jump in the conversation left the Gillikin dizzy.

“It’s just… If you do like him, I think you should wear that pink dress with the little orange in it. It makes you look like a sunset after a magical day. If you don’t like him though, you should wear that yellow summer dress.”

There was just too much to comment on. The fact that Elphaba knew her closet by heart, apparently. The fact that she was considering what outfit made her look best. Comparing her to a sunset after a magical day, that wasn’t something friends said about each other, right? The fact that Elphaba was kind enough to explore both options.

“Are you saying I don’t look nice in my yellow summer dress?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen you wear it. That alone is part of the reason. You don’t wear yellow, it’s not your thing. Pink is. But also, the yellow dress is more casual. It doesn’t fit a date at the Ozdust Ballroom. Wearing that would indicate that you didn’t try to look nice for him and just threw something on. While the pink dress… It would make you look…”

“Like a sunset after a magical day?” The words were playing like a broken record.

“Don’t make me regret I said that. It’s just that, it would make you look special. Even more so than you already do.”

Galinda hummed, content with the compliments. They sounded so much sweeter when spoken in Elphie’s delicious voice. She kind of wanted to swim in the compliments that currently showered over her. But only if Elphaba was the one doing the showering. Only ever Elphaba.

She bit the inside of her cheek as she recalled all the moments where she had unconsciously chosen Elphaba back before they met. Back when Thoran had taken her out to dinner and all she could think about was what she’d write to Elphaba later that night. Or when she skipped Dawna’s birthday party because she had just received a new Elphie letter and she needed the night to indulge. Or when she shut herself into her room because it had been three months with no new letter and reality was starting to sink in. Shenshen and Pfannee tried their best to get her to come shopping, but she simply wouldn’t.

The thought brought back the earlier conversation. Before Fiyero had interrupted to admit his affection towards her.

“Elphie?” she asked, crawling into bed with her notebook and a pencil. She waited for her roommate’s reaction, a soft hum, and then finally dared to speak again. “Why did you think I stopped writing to you?”

“Because you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why are you lying to me? Do you think that’s better than just being honest? If you are scared I’ll be mad, I promise I won’t be.” Elphaba sighed and dropped her pencil.

“I’m not lying. Why do you think I’m lying? And don’t you dare just say that it’s because I am. Because I am not.”

“If you didn’t stop writing to me, how come we lost touch for 2 years?” Elphaba asked.

“Because you stopped writing,” Galinda reasoned.

“I didn’t.”

“That just doesn’t make sense. Do you think one of your letters, or mine, I know you’re going to say that, got lost in the mail or something?” Galinda’s pencil started doodling in her notebook.

“I guess it’s possible. But that doesn’t explain why your letters grew shorter and shorter.”

“That I can explain.” The blonde stopped doodling as she looked up at the green girl with shame in her eyes. “It’s my fault. Or well, my momsie’s fault. She found out about the letters I was writing to you, and she was so supportive. But behind my back she opened one of the envelopes that were addressed to you and then she started telling me that I was trying too hard and that I was scaring you off. That probably you didn’t even like writing to me but were too nice to tell me. It scared me, so I decided I should be less.”

Elphaba just frowned at her story. As if she didn’t believe her. It took a few moments of the two girls looking at each other before Elphie said anything. But when she did, it was worth the wait for the Gillikin. “You could never be too much,” Elphie said with so much emotion that Galinda’s heart swelled.

Chapter Text

Elphaba watched her roommate pull out dresses from her various suitcases. It was excruciating to watch the blonde prepare for her date with Fiyero Tigelaar.

The Gillikin girl had decided to ignore Elphaba’s advice. Neither the yellow summer dress nor the pink dress with the hint of orange were contenders for her Ozdust Ballroom outfit.

Therefore, she couldn’t really estimate what Galinda felt for the Winkie Prince. Whether there was attraction or even, Oz forbid, lust between the two.

“What do you think of this one?” Galinda held up a simple pink dress to her chest. It wasn’t the first time that Elphaba’s opinion was requested. Not that it seemed to matter what the green girl said. All dresses ended up on a pile on Galinda’s pink bed.

Elphaba pushed her glasses further up her nose and took a long look at the dress. “It’s nice.”

“How nice?”

“What does that even mean?”

“Don’t act dense now, Elphie. You clearly know. Is it sunset after a magical day or is it not my thing?” Galinda smirked as she said it.

“I’m not answering that.” Elphaba turned back to her book, the one Galinda had gifted her. She had been reading this paragraph for over fifteen minutes. It wasn’t making sense, and her roommate was distracting her.

“Alright well, let me rephrase. Would you be eager to take this off me?”

“Why would I do that?”

Galinda wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “I think you can figure it out.”

“Oh!” Elphaba’s eyes widened. Her cheeks rouged. “I— I don’t think so. I mean… No, no I would not be eager to take that off you. Of course not. You’re my friend. Roommate. Friend. We’re friends.”

The blonde hummed and watched herself in the mirror. “I think I’ll wear this one.” One of her dainty hands gripped the edge of the dress and pulled it open so it covered the side of her legs better. “Yeah, this will work.”

To Elphaba it didn’t look like an Ozdust worthy dress. But what did she know? Galinda had told her plenty of times that she wasn’t quite fashionable. So, if Galinda thought it would work, it surely would work.

“I’ll try it on. Don’t go anywhere, Elphie. Don’t even move.” The Gillikin was almost singing as she held the dress over her head and rushed towards the corner of the room where she had positioned a folding screen for a sliver of privacy in their shared space.

Even if she had wanted to, Elphaba wouldn’t have been able to move. She was still rooted in her spot by the entire interaction that had just played out. Her eyes were still fixed on the space behind Galinda’s full-length mirror.

It didn’t take long for the blonde to return, now in the pink dress she had been holding. The piece of clothing reached slightly passed her knees. Her shoulders were just barely covered.

“What do you think?” Galinda twirled around revealing a gap in the back of the dress where all Elphaba could see was perfectly pale skin. It looked so soft. So perfectly soft. The green girl wanted to touch.

“It looks good.” Her pointy teeth dug into her tongue. Don’t even dare to wish it, Elphaba, don’t you go there. She wouldn’t even entertain the thought of Galinda Arduenna Upland liking her back. It had been hard enough before she knew who Galinda truly was, when it were just her words that brought comfort, but now… Now it was impossible. So, she wouldn’t even think it.

“Yeah?” It might have been the first time that a real crack in Galinda’s confidence had been showed to the outside world. But it was just Elphie. And Elphie already knew her so well.

“Are you doubting that? Galinda, you could give a person a heart attack in that outfit. Or in any outfit.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“How could it be anything else.” Elphaba’s fingers were twitching around the corners of the pages. As if they were waiting for permission to turn them over. They wouldn’t be granted that any time soon. Not as long as Galinda was looking at her like that.

A nod. “Of course.” Galinda was practically beaming when the knock at the door disturbed the peace. “Must be Fiyero.”

“Yeah, Fiyero. Your date awaits, Princess.” She waved her green hand towards the door.

“I— It’s—” Galinda stammered. After a moment, she shook her head. “No need to wait up tonight, Elphie.”

-

It was too quiet. After weeks of complaining over Galinda’s constant chattering, she now longed to hear it again. Maybe because the blonde was out wandering with that damned Winkie boy.

Elphaba was trying to focus on writing a letter to her sister, but the silence was too loud and pressed on her shoulders heavily. She could barely keep control of the hand that held the pen.

Every so often the image of Fiyero’s cocky smile pushed through and she’d press the tip of the pen through the paper. It had caused her letter to look like it got destroyed in battle. In a way it had. Because Elphaba had certainly ended up attacking it. If she had imagined the smug face of a foreign royal… well, that was no one’s business but her own.

Three holes ago she had already decided to start over, but this was still a great first draft.

A knock broke through the silence, causing Elphaba’s pen to slip and scratch out an entire paragraph. The green girl groaned as she finally discarded the unfinished letter. There was no use keeping it now that much of what she had written was illegible.

“What?” Elphaba greeted the guest as she swung open the door. It couldn’t have been Galinda, she had a key, and she had only just left. So, she did not feel the need to be kind.

She vaguely recognized the frowning face of the red-haired boy that stared back at her. Yet, she could not name him, not even if her life depended on it. So, for a moment they just stared at each other, as if waiting for a third person to interfere, to ease the tension. Unfortunately, there was no one else. Just like Elphaba’s shared room, the halls were quiet.

The boy cleared his throat, which turned into a cough, and finally started speaking. “Hi, Elphaba, right? Is Galinda here?”

“Yes, and—”

“Can you get her?”

“No.” Elphaba would have said more. She would have explained herself. But the boy, who was clearly a Munchkin just like herself, was so incredibly rude that she did not feel like it. Instead, she merely leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Why not?”

“It would be too much of a hassle.”

“Why? If she’s just in there, it won’t be that hard to get her?”

“If she’d be in here, it wouldn’t.”

The Munchkin frowned even deeper than he had when Elphaba had opened the door. It was awfully entertaining.

“But you said that she was in the room?” the boy complained as if he was a child being refused a cookie after finishing their dinner.

“No, I did not. Perhaps if you had let me finish my sentence you would have realized. I said yes to your first question, whether or not I was Elphaba. I was in the process of adding that Galinda was not here, when you rudely interrupted me. She’s not here. She’s on a date.”

The rudeness apparently would not stop at the interruption. The Munchkin boy pushed Elphaba out of the way and entered the bedroom that he had not been invited into. Before he could open his mouth to start complaining about how terrible his life was because the most sought-after girl in all of Shiz, potentially all of Oz, had found someone else to go out with, Elphaba broke. “Who in the name of Oz are you?”

The boy, who had already opened his mouth, gaped at her. He closed his mouth, opened it again, closed it again and sighed. “You don’t remember me? I’m Boq. Boq Woodsman from Munckinland. We went to daycare together when we were toddlers.”

“Yes!” Elphaba called out, pointing her finger at the Munckin. “Boq, I remember you.” She did remember him. But she remembered him as being this wannabe kid that always followed around the kids that bullied her. She wasn’t fond of him. “What are you doing in my room, Boq?”

Boq sat down on the edge of Elphaba’s bed, which once again rubbed the green girl the wrong way. He should have asked. “I was hoping to ask out Galinda. My roommate, Avaric, had been amping me up for days and I finally felt confident enough to do it.”

“Does Avaric hate you?”

“What?” Boq seemed offended by the question. He definitely should have been. “No, he does not. We are very amicable.”

Elphaba hummed. “Odd.”

Boq simply shook his head. “Why are we talking about Avaric?”

“You started it.” Oh Oz, now she was acting like the child. How infuriating.

“What? No! I did not. I just mentioned him to explain what I was doing here. You are putting words in my mouth, Elphaba.”

“Trust me, there is not a single thing I wish to put in your mouth,” Elphaba replied quickly. Quick quips were her forte.

Boq spluttered for a moment, staring at the green girl as if she had suddenly turned purple. Elphaba had to resist the urge to check her reflection to make sure she hadn’t. Even if the idea alone was ludicrous.

“Let us move on,” Elphaba said before Boq had recovered, “how were you planning on asking out dear Galinda?”

“I was just going to ask.”

The green girl blinked a few times. Why was everyone acting as if that was such an easy thing? If it was an easy feat, Elphaba truly would have asked out her roommate many nights ago. She wouldn’t have waited for an attractive and arrogant Winkie to swoop the love of her life off her feet.

Was it really this easy to everyone else? It clearly had been for Fiyero. Galinda had acted like it was no big deal. And now even Boq found it all so obvious.

“What were you going to ask her to do? You know, on this date.” Elphaba perched herself on the edge of her desk and paid attention to the boy on her bed. His face didn’t scrunch up like it had at some of her previous questions.

“I thought it would be nice to go into the city for dinner. There are many nice restaurants. Me and Avaric have gone to plenty. So, I thought that would be nice.” Despite his beaming smile, the overuse of the word ‘nice’ gave away his nerves. Apparently, he cared what Elphaba thought of this idea.

The girl in question could only think of the last time she had gone into the city. That had been on Galinda’s shopping trip. They had ended that day with dinner at a nice restaurant. What made that different from what Boq was now struggling to describe? What made the boy’s outings with Avaric different from what he wanted to do with Galinda?

At least, Fiyero had come up with something extraordinary. The Ozdust Ballroom had made sense to Elphaba. It was glamorous, it was special, it was scandalocious. It was the perfect place to take a girl like Galinda Upland who thrived on glamor and scandal.

But a simple dinner?

“You should ask her tomorrow at breakfast. Although perhaps you should pay attention on whether there is a Winkie boy wrapped around her.”

“You think so?” The boy perked up, much happier than he had been throughout the entire interaction.

The truth was that she suspected that the boy would be rejected. But she was testing a theory. It didn’t feel good, but she had to know. Galinda had promised that she said yes to everyone that asked her out. That was a statement that had to be tested before Elphaba jumped off the cliff’s edge. So… “Yes, you should give it a shot. You lose 100% of the risks you don’t take. Or whatever they say.”

“That’s what Avaric said too. I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“Good, you should.”

“Thank you, Elphaba. You helped me a lot. You don’t even know it.” Boq walked over as if he was going to give the girl a hug but ended up just tapping her shoulder twice before finally walking out of the room.

The quiet returned. Elphaba exhaled as she fell on the bed. Her entertainment had ended once again. She’d have to get back to her letter now.

-

Galinda had never been to the Ozdust Ballroom before. Not many Shiz students, especially first years, frequented this place. It was much like visiting the Philosopher’s Club. Although, she was convinced some of the boys she had met so far had spent some time there.

The fact remained, Galinda had not been to the Ozdust before. The rumors she had heard of this place made it sound like the place to be. The most scandalocious place in all of Shiz, other than the Philosopher’s Club clearly. A group of last year law students that Galinda had conversed with briefly that afternoon had described it as a place filled with drinks and sin. Not quite like the Philosopher’s Club though. They had assured her that much when she had made her worries clear.

It was just that now that she was standing at the edge of the dancefloor with Fiyero Tigelaar, Winkie prince, it didn’t feel all that scandalocious.

The music was nice, that was true.

There were a lot of people, for sure.

Most of these people were dancing and laughing and having fun. She’d admit that.

But it wasn’t anything special. She had been to more exciting places back in Frottica. In fact, Galinda was half convinced she had spotted some of her professors, which did not help for the Ozdust’s reputation.

What also didn’t aid Galinda’s night was the fact that Fiyero, though glib and charming, was not all that interesting. Many people had described her as shallow, but they surely hadn’t met Fiyero. It was impossible not to let her mind drift to a certain green roommate.

“Have I lost you?” Fiyero asked with the same bright smile he always showed her.

“Huh? What?” Galinda shook her head, trying to focus.

“What are you thinking about?”

No one would have called Galinda Upland a fast thinker. Not even Galinda herself. Therefore, the only thing she could say was… the truth. “Elphaba.”

“Oh, that’s—” Fiyero laughed. “I can’t say that’s happened to me before. Then again, Elphaba is an intriguing person.”

“Isn’t she?” Galinda asked with a smile, but her eyes didn’t hold the same joy. Her insides seemed to protest at the mere thought that anyone else was thinking of Elphaba Thropp. It was so silly.

“Unfortunately, I do not think she likes me very much.”

That did mend some of the gaping wounds his interest had struck. “She’s a tough nut to crack.” Galinda wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. But it had been said of her several times. Usually by her parents. To their friends.

It always brought a laugh. Something that it also drew out of Fiyero. “Truer words have never been spoken. But the two of you seem to get along.”

“We sure do. She’s the bestest roomie a girl could wish for. And the bestest friend.”

“Is that how you two met? Because you are roommates?”

Galinda rapidly shook her head as she took a sip of her drink. “We’ve known each other since we were 12 actually.”

“But you said you’re from Gillikin Country, right?”

“Yes.”

“And Elphaba is from Munchkinland, isn’t that so?”

“It most certainly is.”

“Then how did you two meet when you were kids?”

“Oh, well, I went to this very prestigious school and this one new teacher decided to have us learn of the different countries of Oz by having a penpal somewhere else and mine was Elphie.” She was getting intoxicated not so much by the drinks that were flowing freely but by the talk of Elphaba.

“How curious. You two ending up here together, I mean. “ 

“It must have been fate.” How she longed to go back to her room where a certain someone might be waiting up for her. Probably not though. She had told her not to wait up. But when did Elphie listen?

Hopefully not this time.

“Fate, huh?” Fiyero grinned. As if it was all a grand old joke. Maybe to him it was. But Galinda couldn’t see the humor in what she’d said.

“Yes, fate. Don’t tell me you don’t believe in that.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever had much reason to believe in faith. But perhaps you could convince me of its existence.”

Galinda shuddered. “I’m not sure I can.” She took another sip to hide her grimace. It wasn’t a good look on her. Or so she’d been told.

“That is unfortunate.” But Fiyero didn’t look disappointed. He still had his tell-tale smile on his face and there was a soft twinkle in his eyes. It didn’t look like he was faking a smile to hide his true feelings. He looked genuinely happy that was subtly rejecting him. “Should I take you back to your roommate?”

She tried desperately not to sound too excited when she agreed to leave the Ozdust Ballroom. Fiyero’s laugh indicated she did not do a good job.

Chapter Text

Galinda had taken off her heels, just in case Elphaba had drifted off to sleep already. She placed her hand on the doorknob and slowly, softly, opened the door. It took effort not to make a noise. And even despite the effort, the door still creaked.

The blonde pressed her lips together, as if that would help the quiet return. But the damage was already done. Elphaba groaned from her bed. “Galinda? Is that you?” the green girl asked, sitting up on her bed.

“Elphie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”  Galinda gave up all pretenses of keeping quiet. There was no point now. Elphaba was already awake.

“You didn’t. Not really. I was barely asleep.” There was a drawl in her voice that indicated her lie.

The Gillikin girl tried not to beam. At least not so much that she’d brighten up the place and blind Elphie. “Were you trying to stay up for me, Elphie? Be honest.”

“I wouldn’t think of doing such a thing,” Elphaba replied through a yawn.

“You wouldn’t think it, you just do. Isn’t that right, Elphie?” Galinda dropped her shoes on the floor and started taking the pins out of her hair. The sooner she could go to bed, the better. She was downright exhausted.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Miss Upland.”

Galinda gasped dramatically. “Don’t you dare. I have never been Miss Upland to you. You can either call me Galinda, or you can call me your sweet. But don’t you dare call me anything else.”

“I thought you appreciated it when I called you princess.”

She pondered over Elphie’s reply. “You are mistaken. I tolerated it, but it was nothing like when you call me your sweet.”

Elphaba’s fingers tapped against the wood at the side of her bed. “Be careful, Galinda. Some might think you are flirting with me.”

“And would that be such a bad thing?” She was almost tempted to undress right in view of the green girl, but she didn’t want to scare her away. So, she disappeared behind the folding screen, before Elphaba could respond.

“Depends how you look at it.”

“What do you mean?” Galinda unzipped her dress and let it drop to her feet.

“You wouldn’t want anyone to think that you are into the weird green girl.”

She stepped out of her dress as the words reached her ears. “Why would I not want that? You think me that superficial?”

“You are starting to confuse me, Galinda.”

She poked her head from behind the folding doors. “Will you really not spoil me just a little? Call me your sweet just once? Please?” While her eyes still remained on Elphaba, her hands gripped her nightgown. She retreated and put on her nightwear.

“You are a peculiar one, my sweet.”

Galinda cheered in a high-pitched voice. “Thank you so much, Elphie.” She stepped out from behind the folding screen.

“It is too late for me to try to understand you. Can we continue this conversation in the morning?”

“If that so pleases you, Elphie, I will leave you alone until the morning.”

Galinda crawled into her bed. She tossed some pillows to the floor, the ones she only owned for the beautification of her bed, she shuffled until she was comfortable and stared at the ceiling for a moment. It was already growing difficult to keep her promise to Elphie. She was starting to open her mouth to say something, when Elphaba beat her to it.

“How was your date?” When Galinda turned her head to look at her roommate, she saw that the green girl was propped up on her elbow.

“It was fine.” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to say more about it. She just wasn’t sure what else there was to say. It had truly been fine. And that was it. She surely wasn’t going to tell Elphaba that the best part of her date had been when she and Fiyero talked about… well, Elphaba.

“That is a not a very Galinda-esque answer. I was preparing for a seventeen-minute monologue. They’re great at lulling me to sleep, my sweet.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint. There really isn’t all that much to say about it. It was fine. We went to the Ozdust Ballroom and danced and had some drinks. Mostly we talked. Which is a very normal first date activity. And that is it.”

Elphaba hummed. “Will you be seeing him again?”

“I’m certain I’ll see him all around. We do both attend the same school, Elphie, you know this.”

A bright, relieved laugh reverberated through the room. “And you know that that wasn’t what I meant.”

“I doubt it.”

“You doubt that you know what I—”

“No. I doubt that I will see him again… in that way,” Galinda interrupted. The honest answer left Elphaba speechless. For a moment, neither of the girl’s spoke.

“Well… Goodnight, my sweet,” Elphie said after a while.

“Goodnight, Elphie.”

-

Galinda didn’t feel like her perky self that fine morning. It could have been because she’d been out late. Or because she had vivid dreams of being in the Ozdust Ballroom with Elphaba. It hadn’t been the most relaxing night.

But another day awaited her. The people wanted to have Galinda Arduenna Upland amongst them and who was Galinda to deny such a thing? She was only the person behind the image. No one cared about her. And no one wanted her to break the façade by showing her humanity. At least not like this.

So, she dragged herself out of bed. There was nothing else to do.

The true disappointment was how empty the room was. Elphaba had already left. That was the working hypothesis, since her bed was empty.

How unfortunate.

There was a specific pink dress that she wanted to wear today. It was a pretty, little thing. Although, little may have been an understatement. The time had come that Galinda was going to seduce Elphaba Thropp.

-

Elphaba was used to sitting alone during all of her meals. Occasionally she even took her food into the library. Which was definitely against the rules, but the librarian was one of the only people that liked Elphaba and allowed it. So, on that morning she grabbed her breakfast and took her seat at an empty table.

Only for once she wasn’t left on her own.

For years she had wanted friends to sit with her to eat. It had been one of those small things that would make all the difference for her. That fantasy had not taken into account Boq Woodsman though.

The moment the Munchkin boy sat down next to her, Elphaba started missing the peace and quiet. Boq immediately started rambling about his plan to ask out Galinda, something his unwilling audience had already forgotten about.

His words only had the effect of lulling Elphaba back into a slumber. That and apparently they summoned Galinda Upland who strode towards their table in a short, short dress. Everyone in the dining hall was staring at the expanse of Galinda’s pale legs. Elphaba included.

“Good morning, Elphie,” Galinda greeted with a beaming face as she fell down on Elphaba’s other side.

“Good morning, Galinda.” The blonde pouted. “Good morning, my sweet,” Elphaba relented because she already missed the smile. Her words reached their goal and Galinda smiled once again.

“Miss Galinda,” Boq said, perking up in his seat. Galinda turned towards the intruding voice with something similar to annoyance. “I was hoping to speak to you for a moment.”

That smile Elphaba loved so much now appeared like an awful omen. “I was hoping to speak with Elphie.” Galinda even placed her hand on the green girl’s upper arm. As if to indicate who she was talking about. “Maybe later?”

“Oh, I really don’t think it can wait,” Boq replied at the same time Fiyero Tigelaar approached their table.

“Miss Elphaba, do you have a moment?” Fiyero asked.

“She does not,” Galinda replied for her friend. Boq, in the meantime, was still continuing his speech.

“I think she can decide that on her own, Miss Galinda.”

“What do you know about that, Fiyero?”

Elphaba stuffed her mouth with some pieces of fruit, trying to block out the increasing chaos around her. She should have taken her breakfast to the library.

“Galinda! Galinda!” Two shrill voices screamed as Pfannee and Shenshen ran towards the now crowded table. “We need to know how the date went with— Oh, hi, Fiyero.”

“Hello,” Fiyero replied kindly.

“— So, I believe it would be a good idea if—” Boq continued powering through.

“I will tell you about the date later,” Galinda said to her friends. But Pfannee was entranced by the Winkie prince.

“How are you doing, Fiyero?” Pfannee asked.

“Quite alright, I was just hoping to speak to Miss Elphaba.”

“Why would you want to speak with her?” Shenshen instantly responded.

“Because she’s a wonderful conversationalist, Shen,” Galinda jumped to Elphaba’s defense.

“— Would you be willing to maybe consider—” Boq was still talking.

“You really are always defending her, but have we forgotten she’s green?” Pfannee said.

“She’s right there,” Fiyero reasoned, pointing out the obvious.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elphaba saw Madame Morrible enter the dining room. There was just a tiny spark of hope within her chest that Morrible might need her for something. Anything. Please, save her. If she could, she would make her message known from across the room.

But before anything else could happen, while the group was still talking loudly amongst each other, the chandelier hanging from the ceiling exploded into millions of tiny pieces of broken glass.

Several students started screaming. Some even fell to the floor with their arms over their heads. Galinda did not scream or fall to the floor, she simply stared at the broken glass that floated through the air with her mouth very slightly opened. “Why did you do that?” she whispered to Elphaba.

Only Elphaba hadn’t done anything. She had been focused on Madame Morrible. Which meant… “I didn’t do anything, my sweet. This was all you.”

-

Madame Morrible had seen the whole display of power. One that rivaled Elphaba’s on her first day. Only this time the woman was not happy. She had not spoken a word to either of her two students since their seminar started.

Galinda and Elphaba had wisely kept their own mouths shut. Quite a difficult task for the blonde. Not as difficult for the green girl.

“Miss Thropp, will you please explain to me why you blew up that chandelier?” Madame Morrible asked after the agony had been stretched out for long enough.

“I didn’t do it,” Elphaba admitted.

“You want me to believe the chandelier exploded on its own?”

“No, I do not think you that foolish, Madame Morrible. I’m just saying it wasn’t me.” Elphaba could almost see the words from that one book written all over Madame Morribles dress and cloak. She had been reading some of the paragraphs over and over again. Because she couldn’t believe it. No, that wasn’t it. She didn’t want to believe it.

“Then who?”

The green witch turned towards her roommate, not even saying a single word. It must have been clear from the gesture. At least, it should have been. And Elphaba much preferred the sight of the Gillikin girl over the sight of the old professor.

“Her?” Madame Morrible sounded insulted. Just the idea of Galinda possessing magical powers seemed too much for her.

Galinda opened her mouth but couldn’t get a word out.

“Yes, ma’am. It was all Galinda. I could feel it, sitting right next to her. The power was being exuded out of her body a moment before the chandelier exploded. There is only one explanation. Galinda did it,” Elphaba defended.

“I didn’t mean to,” Galinda added quickly, waving her hands through the air.

Madame Morrible stared intently. “Do you think me stupid? She can’t even make a coin float.”

“And yet she can make a chandelier explode into a million pieces. Is it so hard for you to admit that you were wrong. You should have taught her the magic she possesses instead of focusing your efforts on mine,” Elphaba shouted. She had finally lost her temper, with the words still dancing in front of her eyes, doing all types of twists and turns.

“You watch your mouth, Miss Thropp, or—”

“Or what? I am done folding for your tyranny. Why don’t you make a coin float? Why don’t you show us any type of magic? You expect us to follow your orders, but you have not proven yourself once—”

“Because that is not my task!”

“Why not?”

“I am the teacher here—”

“Then show us how it’s done!”

“Elphie, maybe we should calm down.” Galinda placed her hand on Elphaba’s shoulder. Trying to calm down her friend. Trying to gain control over the escalating situation.

“No! I’m done staying calm!”

“Elphie, Elphie, look at me.” Galinda turned her head. “You need to stay calm. You are making the room shake and you can’t forget that we’re in here too.”

“Listen to your pet, Miss Elphaba.”

“You need to stay quiet!” Elphaba screamed. The room shook even more. Even she could feel it now. She tried to focus on her breathing. Galinda was right. It would be no help if the room collided in on itself.

“Don’t listen to her, right now. Just focus on me, Elphie. Listen to my voice.”

“You don’t know what she did,” Elphaba whispered, almost falling into Galinda’s arms. “You don’t know.”

“Later, Elphie. You can tell me all about it later. When it’s just you and me. Alright?”

Elphaba nodded her head. She would tell Galinda everything she had learned. Together they’d be unlimited. But not yet. Not right this moment. “Alright. But I don’t want her to say these things about you.”

Galinda’s mouth quirked into a smile. “Thank you for defending my honor, Elphaba Thropp. My hero.”

-

All three of the parties involved had decided it would be best for them to cool down and resume the seminar the next day. Which meant that Elphaba and Galinda could start their evening.

Elphaba remained restless, even when they were back in their own room. Her leg was bobbing up and down as she sat on the edge of her bed, and her fingers tapped patterns against her thighs.

“What is going on?” Galinda felt oddly worried about her roommate. This behavior was unlike her.

The green girl didn’t reply, causing Galinda to fall as if in prayer in front of her, placing her hands on the girl’s knees. “Please, talk to me, Elphie. What’s wrong? You’re starting to worry me.”

“It’s her fault,” Elphaba said, as if that would clear everything up.

“What is?”

“The current treatment of the Animals. It’s all Madame Morrible and the Wizard.”

Galinda shut her eyes, shaking her head. “How do you know this?”

“The book.” Elphaba leaned to her left to retrieve the tome from her nightstand. “It explains all of it. How they needed a common enemy and chose the Animals. As if they didn’t matter. But they just didn’t care. They didn’t care about all the harm they were doing, Galinda.”

The blonde tried her best to follow Elphie’s train of thought. But she hadn’t read the book. “Are you sure there is no other explanation?”

That was not the right thing to say. Elphaba instantly shut up, pulling her walls back up. “You don’t believe me,” she said matter-of-factly.

“No, that’s not it. I do. I just haven’t read the literature. Elphie, don’t pull back. I’m here, I believe you. Alright?” But Elphaba was shaking her head. “I’m on your side, Elphie. I just want you to explain it to me.”

The green girl didn’t say anything.

“Elphaba, I care about you. I lo— I care about you. I’m just not all that bright. So, what I was asking was—”

“Don’t do that.”

“What?” Galinda startled back at the bruteness of Elphie’s voice.

“You always pretend to be stupid. You’re not stupid. Stop putting yourself down. You are bright and you do understand.”

Galinda fell back on her butt, staring up at the green girl. The one that had been inhabiting her head and heart for a while now. Her comment seemed to nestle the girl even further into the Gillikin’s being. Suddenly it became impossible to fathom a world in which she had to live without Elphaba Thropp. How could they ever untangle the two of them again? Galinda knew she didn’t want to try.

“I—” she stammered for a moment, trying to organize her thoughts, “What did you read in the book? And more importantly, what are we going to do about it?”

-

Apparently Elphaba’s idea of a first date was reading a massive piece of literature together. But who was Galinda to complain? They could sit in utter silence in different corners of the room, and it’d feel better than all the dates she’d previously been on. Including the Ozdust.

So, she did not complain. She did, however, shuffle closer to Elphaba and pretended her eyesight was not working like it usually did. At times she even ventured as far as to ask Elphie to read to her because, oh, her eyes were growing so tired.

Despite the theatrics, she did take it all very seriously. It may have been her mission to use this to seduce Elphaba, something she had been wanting to do since she woke up that morning, but she also saw the truth of what Elphie had told her. It didn’t really make sense, but there was no way Madame Morrible was not involved with this.

Galinda leaned back a little. Her mind was working overtime. “I’m thinking.”

“Alright,” Elphaba replied. She was more patient than usual.

“Did I tell you about the wonderful shop owner of the bookstore where I bought that?” Galinda pointed at the book in Elphie’s lap.

“Can’t say I remember you mentioning it.”

“Maybe we should go see her. She mentioned having read the book herself before selling it.”

“You think it could help?” Elphaba truly cared about the blonde’s opinions. She had been asking for them all night. It was borderline addicting.

“It can’t hurt, can it? And she seemed knowledgeable on the topic. She may have a fresh perspective for us.”

Elphie nodded her head. “We’ll go this weekend. We can make it into a whole research day.”

Was this flirting? Was Elphaba trying to ask her out? Why couldn’t she be clearer about her intentions? Why couldn’t it be easy? Never mind, though. She’ll take what she can get. Whether that was just some quality time or an actual romantic outing.

“It’s a date!” Galinda called out, sliding off Elphaba’s bed. It was getting late, and she wanted to go to bed. If she also got to avoid seeing Elphie’s reaction, that was just an added bonus.

“A date? Like… a date?”

The Gillikin would have to double down. This was her chance. She hummed, tossing her hair. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“It is. I was just wondering what you meant by it. Did you mean like an outing?” Elphaba was stammering and stumbling over her words. It was adorable.

“Well, I assume we would be going out, wouldn’t we? Out into the town, together.” Galinda finally turned toward her roommate.

“Yes, that is what we are going to do. Is that also what you meant with the word ‘date’?”

“Sure,” Galinda said, lifting one of her shoulders seductively, “If that’s what you want.”

“I don’t understand what you are trying to say.”

“Oh, Elphie, don’t do that. You are oh so bright and I’m sure you understand perfectly.”

Chapter Text

“No, Elphie, I am sure it was here,” Galinda protested, stomping her foot on the cobblestones beneath them.

“Do you see it here, Galinda?” Elphaba replied, feeling just as frustrated. They had been walking around Shiz town for hours and her feet were starting to get tired. She could only imagine how awful Galinda’s must feel in those pristine high heels.

“Oh no. You are truly upset at me.”

“I’m not upset, my sweet. I’m just tired.” Elphaba sighed. Lately, the only way to keep Galinda happy was to use the pet name that had slipped out just once and now would follow her forever. There were worse things, she supposed.

“Are you not sleeping well?” With the one throwaway comment, the store they had been looking for was forgotten. At least, Galinda had forgotten it. A new priority had pushed its way into her mind.

“I— What?” The Munchkin wasn’t sure what was happening. Any conversation with Galinda was like walking through a maze. One riddled with landmines that would trigger pouts and doe eyes. She hadn’t quite figured out how to move through it. It had been easier in the letters.

“Are you not sleeping well? I know sometimes you cough and sneeze at night, but it seems like it doesn’t interfere with your rest too much.”

“Can we focus on finding this store?”

Galinda pursed her lips, took in the expression on the green girl’s face, and nodded. “Sure, but I will be resuming this conversation later.”

“Of course.”

“I think it must be around the corner.” The blonde stormed off in the direction she assumed the store was in. Elphaba had lost faith that they’d actually find the book shop. It had been too long.

Then again, it wasn’t possible for a store to just vanish. It hadn’t been that long ago that the two of them had passed the exact building they were looking for right now. That meant it had to be somewhere.

It didn’t make any sense that they still hadn’t found it. They had retraced their path twice already, passing every other store they had been to on that day.

If Elphaba herself hadn’t looked at the window of that shop and noticed the book, she would begin to think Galinda had lost her mind. Now, it was still possible that they were suffering from folie a deux, but she wasn’t convinced that was the answer to their current predicament.

They rounded the corner and… nothing.

Galinda frowned. “This doesn’t make sense.” Elphaba agreed with her roommate. It didn’t make any sense. “I didn’t imagine it! You saw it too!” Galinda began to defend herself, as if she had been able to peek into Elphaba’s doubts.

Wait, no. Not nothing. A dark window surrounded by the brightly lit ones. “Galinda, could it be this one.”

“Oh,” the blonde sighed, “that just isn’t fair.

“I know, let’s just go back home.”

The blonde gasped. “Home? Oh, that sounds lovely, Elphie. You call it home! Yes, let’s go home.”

Elphaba shook her head and started leading the way.

-

There was a worry starting to form in Galinda’s mind that she was gaining green spots. While Elphaba surely made it look quite attractive, she doubted she could pull it off. But with more and more of the green witch rubbing off on her, she wouldn’t be surprised if she’d have to find a way to sport a green skin.

The reason these thoughts were starting to manifest was that she was sitting against her headboard with the book she had gifted her dear friend open on her lap. Now, it wasn’t that Galinda Upland didn’t like reading. She was just more to type to indulge in fashion magazines and the occasional architecture book.

Not this type of political manifesto.

Yet she hadn’t been able to stop reading. Each time she turned a page, she just got pulled in more.

It had gotten to the point where she was sacrificing her beauty sleep for it.

“When I asked you to read the book, I didn’t mean you had to finish it by morning,” Elphaba remarked while yawning.

Galinda hummed, still drawn into the paragraph she was reading. “The wizard is a fraud! Did you read the section on Ozma possibly being abducted by the wizard? There are suspicions that the wizard paid off a witch named Mombi to keep the child away from her rightful position.”

“Yes, my sweet, I did read that.”

“That’s just wrong!” Finally, Galinda shut the book with a bang and placed it on her nightstand. Her body was protesting by giving her a headache and she could spend the next day reading as much as she wanted.

“I agree,” Elphaba yawned.

“We still haven’t talked about you not sleeping well. What’s the matter?” Galinda sank further down her bed until her head hit the pillows.

“Nothing’s the matter.”

“Elphaba Thropp, don’t you dare lie to me.” The blonde turned on her side to watch her roommate. The girl appeared significantly amused by Galinda’s tactics, only pushing her to go further. “I will not sleep peacefully if you do not share your troubles with me, Elphie. So, if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me.”

A loud, dramatic sigh erupted from the other side of the room. Maybe Galinda was rubbing off on Elphaba as much as the other way around. “I honestly don’t know. I haven’t been sleeping well since I got to Shiz but it got worse after…”

“After?”

Another deep breath. “After that one night we shared my bed. I think it may have been the only night I slept well.”

“Oh,” Galinda replied. Just one insignificant sound. She had slept particularly well that night as well. The only reason she had never mentioned it was because she worried that Elphaba would be able to link that one sentiment to the much bigger feeling she had for the other girl.

“Yeah, it’s odd.”

“If it would be helpful, you are always welcome to come sleep in my bed with me.” Galinda quickly turned the other way after she offered up her bed.

“That’s very nice, but I would not enjoy being an inconvenience to you.”

“Don’t be silly, Elphie. It would not be an inconvenience. I wouldn’t have offered it if it would have been. If it helps you sleep, I’d be more than happy to sleep with you.”

Elphaba started coughing violently. It was awfully worrisome for Galinda to have to endure hearing it. She had never known what to do when a person got a coughing fit. So, she stayed put and simply watched with dread knotting in her stomach.

“Elphie? Are you alright?” The question was posed in a soft and scared tone.

“Yes, quite alright, it’s just— Never mind.” The coughing had somewhat stilled. It caused the palpitations in Galinda’s chest to calm somewhat as well.

Her muscles relaxed and her eyes were starting to droop shut. “Come cuddle if you want. I’m going to sleep.”

The open invitation hung in the air for a moment. The Gillikin assumed it would go unanswered, as it so often did. But the unmistakable sound of shuffling and sighing kept Galinda awake until there was a dip in the mattress. “Are you sure this is alright?” the girl whispered oh so softly.

“I wouldn’t have offered if it wasn’t, Elphie. Now, come here.” It took more braverism than she had expected to turn over in the bed and grab one stray green arm that she tightly wound around her waist.

She could feel the arm tense up around her, the muscles shaking just a tad bit. And then the fist opened, and the muscles slacked.

Galinda listened to the evening out of Elphaba’s breathing before she fully sank into sleep.

-

The library of Shiz University was open on Sundays. Though, not many students seemed aware of it. It was the first time Galinda had decided to spend a Sunday in the library, so she couldn’t really blame the other students for staying away.

Before Elphaba Thropp tumbled into her heart, Galinda would have never been seen dead in a library on a Sunday. But now she was surprisingly enjoying herself. Elphie was sitting next to her with a pile of books. The sound of her breathing and the flipping of the pages was shockingly comforting.

It sounded better than the best lullabies that had been sung to her back when she was a little girl.

“You should be reading, my sweet,” Elphaba said without looking up from the book her eyes were glued to.

“I am.”

“I don’t think there are any words tattooed on the side of my face.”

Galinda squeaked. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she whispered. In front of herself lay the book she was currently ignoring in favor of Elphie’s face. It was the copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and His Policies: How One Man Changed All of Oz that she had purchased for her roommate, friend and current crush. She had finally memorized the title, which filled her with pride.

Whilst the book was quite interesting, it did not hold a candle to Elphie with her perfect verdigris and that focused stare and those damned pursed lips that looked oh so kissable.

Keep it in your pants, Galinda.

She rolled her shoulders back, clearing her throat, trying her best not to think of the throbbing between her legs. Because kissing would lead to touching and touching would lead to… She wondered if Elphaba’s long talons were removeable.

No! Bad Galinda! Naughty, naughty Galinda! Those were not appropriate thoughts for a Sunday filled with library research.

For the third time that day she read the same paragraph. She had finally succeeded in being pulled into the tome when a distinctly male voice coughed. A smile appeared on her face as by instinct. It was her greatest weapon. With the clearly fabricated smile, she looked up from the book.

“Yes?” she asked. It was an immense feat not to sigh when she saw the Munchkin boy grin at her.

“I was hoping I could speak to you in private for just one moment. Just over there.” Bick turned his entire body to point at a corner of the library. Galinda had not forgotten the last two times she had been alone with the boy, neither time had felt good.

“Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Elphie.”

That apparently pulled all the excitement out of Bick. At the same time Elphaba perked up in her seat, finally finding something more interesting than her pile of books. The green girl leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for the show to start.

“Alright, of course.” Bick shifted from one leg to another. His hands slid over the shoulder strap of his bag. “I have been trying to ask you something for a few days now. But it seems to always go wrong. Which is why I’m so relieved having found you here today.”

Galinda nodded her head, urging him to speak faster. She just wanted to get this over with.

“So, what I was really wondering is… I heard there is this great restaurant in town.”

Elphaba began to laugh, drawing the attention of both other people to her. Galinda couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s antics.

“I— Uhm, so yeah, I was wondering— Would you want to go to that restaurant with me?” Bick finally finished his speech. The boy once again grinned, as if content with his performance.

Elphie’s laugh turned into a cackle which she hid behind one of her hands.

“What do you think, Elphie? Do you want to go to this restaurant?” The perk of being perceived as dumb was that she could play these games without being seen as cruel. The truth was that she wanted to see Bick splutter as he tried to make clear that he was asking her on date.

“Sure, sounds fine to me,” Elphaba replied, playing along before Bick could say anything in his own defense.

“No, actually, I was hoping it could just be you and me.” The boy rocked back and forth in such obvious discomfort at being misunderstood.

“Oh, ooohhh, did you mean as a date?” Galinda asked with faked shock.

“Yes, exactly!” Bick shouted. The librarian poked her head from behind one of the bookshelves close by and shushed him.

Galinda’s mind whirled, because she did not want to go out with this Munchkin boy. And there was one thing that was always on her mind. Her hand slid towards Elphaba. “In that case, I will have to disappoint you. It’s not even that I don’t want to go out with you, Bick. But I’m already spoken for.” As she spoke, she grabbed one of Elphie’s hands and squeezed it. A silent plea that she play along as she had done before.

The Gillikin girl, of course, wasn’t aware of the conversation Elphaba and Bick had had when she was at the Ozdust with Fiyero. Which was why the display of affection caused the boy to frown.

“I’m confused. You told me to ask her out,” Bick said, turning his attention to the green girl.

“Why would you do such a thing, Elphie?” Mostly she just didn’t understand why Elphaba would tell Bick to ask her out. She also couldn’t understand when that had happened. But there was also a nagging feeling gnawing at her insides that maybe Elphie had done this outrageous thing because she hoped to ship Galinda off with the first man that showed interest, and when she made clear that Fiyero wasn’t the one for her, another suitor was send her way.

“It was before this happened, Boq. I wasn’t planning on asking out Galinda. I didn’t think I had a chance but then one night we were talking and one thing led to another, as these things so often do. I’m sorry for misleading you.” Elphaba honestly looked as if she regretted the mistake she made.

“Oh,” Bick-Boq sighed.

At least Elphaba was playing along. So, even if she was trying to set Galinda up, she was taking her opinions to heart. If Elphie really was trying to set her up, she’d have a hard time, because she doubted she’d like anyone that didn’t have a perfectly verdant skin and more wit than the smartest professor at Shiz.

Her resolution to forget about her crush on Elphaba Thropp had withered away long ago. Now she just wanted to pull the girl into her bed and hold her there forever. Would she like being tied up?

“I understand,” Bick continued, startling Galinda. Was he still here?

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Boq. But I’m sure you’ll find someone else who is worthy of your heart,” Elphaba replied.

Someone who didn’t mind being stalked.

The Munchkin boy nodded his head and walked off without saying another word. It was entirely impolite, but Galinda didn’t point that out. She was just relieved he had finally left them again.

The two girls were still holding hands though. Galinda didn’t want to ever let go. Elphaba, though, did. The hands parted, upon Elphie’s lead. Back to business they went.

-

“Float!” Galinda sat on her bed with a coin in front of her on the duvet. It had been a while since the blonde had dared to try to make anything float. Or do any magic at all. At least, on purpose, that is. The explosion of the chandelier wasn’t too long ago.

Despite the clear evidence of her powers, the coin still wouldn’t move.

“You shouldn’t care too much about making anything float,” Elphaba said. She had shared that same sentiment before.

Galinda huffed. “But I want to make things float.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you remember? I want to be the greatest sorceress there ever was. That includes making things float.” The Gillikin socialite once again pointed her training wand at the coin.

“The greatest, most powerful, most popular sorceress Oz has ever seen, wasn’t it?” Elphaba replied with a smirk.

“You do remember!”

“How could I ever forget?”

Galinda hummed contently. “Float!” She swung the wand at the coin again without any result. “Float, Oz-dammit! Why won’t you float?”

It was hard for Elphaba to watch the scene unfold. She hated to see her friend struggle. “How about…” Her thoughts were escaping her before they had fully formed. But they had instantly captured her roommate’s attention. The blonde’s head shot up with hope evident in her entire body language.

Elphaba got up from her chair placed in front of Galinda’s vanity that she was currently using as a desk. She sat down on the other side of the coin. “I was thinking… Come here.” Her arm reached out for Galinda’s.

“What?” The blonde’s mouth hung open.

A green hand folded over a pink one. “Try now. Focus on breathing in and out. Your muscles need to be tensed but your mind needs to be relaxed and utterly focused on making the coin float.”

“How can my mind be relaxed and focused at the same time?”

“You need to clear your head of anything other than making the coin float. The only important thing to you right now is making the coin float.”

Galinda nodded her head. With their hands still clasped together, she took a deep breath and pointed her wand at the coin. Something tingled in the hand held by Elphaba, her left hand. It spread up her left arm into her shoulder and slowly filled her chest, her stomach, her remaining limbs.

Her mind filled with nothing but the will to make the coin rise up from her duvet. Her lips weren’t even able to form the word that she had shouted so many times.

The coin raised up a little and then a little more until it hung right between the faces of the two girls. Elphaba smiled brightly as Galinda looked at the golden object in shock. The coin began to turn around its own axis. 

Galinda gasped and the coin dropped back down. The tingling feeling subsided alongside it, being left right there on the duvet. “I did it. I actually did it.”

“You did, my sweet.”

It must have been the adrenaline. At least, that was what Galinda and Elphaba would tell themselves afterwards. But it happened, nonetheless. It started with Galinda jumping into Elphaba’s arms, pulling her into an impromptu gratitude hug.

This caused the closeness. When a moment later they pulled apart, Galinda once again closed the distance. Although, she was certain that Elphaba had been leaning in first. And there had been a look. Or so she’d claim for years after the fact. The fact remained that Galinda leaned in and pressed her lips against Elphaba’s.

Time stood still. The air around them thrummed. The tingling feeling returned exponentially stronger. Galinda’s skin was on fire. Her lips felt sensitive. She was certain that her lips had been made to kiss Elphaba. That her entire life only had one purpose. And it wasn’t becoming a powerful sorceress, it was to hold Elphaba Thropp.

Everything was perfect. And then Elphaba pulled back as if burned. Leaning back and falling to the floor. “Uhm, I have to go.” The green girl jumped to her feet and rushed out of the room. Galinda ran to follow but couldn’t do anything but shout out in hopes it would be enough.

She watched Elphaba grow smaller and smaller and as the girl vanished altogether, her heart broke.

Chapter Text

Dear Galinda,

How I enjoyed reading that article. I feel like I know you so much better today than I did yesterday. Perhaps a foolish thing to say, to even think, but it is the truth, and I do not wish to lie to you about anything. Do allow me to quote some of my favorite phrases, although I suspect you know it by heart.

Galinda Arduenna Upland has a beautiful heart to match her beautiful appearance. Therefore, it cannot surprise the citizens of Frottica that the heir to Pertha Hills has been dedicating her time to helping the less fortunate.

I, of course, did not need to be told that you have a golden heart. But it is so pleasant to see it written in black ink by someone other than myself. I agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly though. For over the time I have been permitted to get to know you I have noticed nothing but kindness emanating from your letters.

Questions have come to mind though. How can anyone, in Frottica or beyond, think you are shallow when you spend your free time feeding the homeless and the poor? Are they truly so suspicious to think you are merely doing it for attention and love? As if you would need to do anything for either of these things.

I could probably continue speaking of you for hours. Could write novels of your excellence. Could dedicate my life to the study of Galinda Arduenna Upland. But there have been other things we have been talking about. Questions you have posed me that I am eager to answer. Yet at this point I cannot promise I won’t occasionally refer to my admiration of you in the rest of this letter.

Where to start with everything else? Perhaps at the beginning.

I assure you that I would not fib about something like this. I would never want any fake sympathy from a friend so dear to me. Nor do I particularly enjoy that minor fact about myself.

I met Neri-Neri at the edge of the woods near Ovvels. Nessa and I were going for a walk when we stumbled upon her. She was pleasant, even through my terrible shock. Believe it or not but I had never been told of talking Animals before that moment. She was kind enough to entertain my whims when I begged her to speak to me again without my sister there. We only met a handful of times, but each one was precious to me.

The Polter-Monkey may have been a figment of my imagination, or it may have been an actual Monkey. I was much younger then and more likely to doubt my own mind. The Monkey, if we assume it was really there, heard my singing and came to my voice where I stood in camp at the early nightfall. My father though had assured me that no Monkeys or monkeys had been left in that part of Quadling Country.

I do fear I have made an error in mentioning of my singing. I do not know if my voice sounds pleasant, but now I believe you will not rest until you get your duet. If you promise to remain my friend if I disappoint, I may give in.

What shades of green do you tend to like?

My first word still remains a mystery to me. It probably forever will. My father does not seem to care, which I’m sure you are not surprised by, though I appreciate your outrage at his behavior. And Dulcibear, my nanny, have I mentioned her before? Well, she said she was not present for the occasion. Or maybe she has forgotten and is too scared to tell me that much.

I do eagerly anticipate seeing Frottica with my own eyes and with yours. I am certain that any moment spend with you will be a delight, but there is something specifically nice in seeing where someone grew up. It reveals so many details that I can only ever know from your accounts of them. Things I wish I could have experienced with you. For believe me, I wish we had met much sooner, despite not knowing how that would have gone.

I cannot believe your father was so close and did not think to bring you. It would have been possible, nay inevitable, that we would have met if he had. In fact, it seems likely I met your father on the occasion. Not thoroughly. I do not believe we were made acquainted with each other for then I would have been able to ask him all about his darling daughter who is so dear to me.

But this does not change anything for neither of us had counted on an opportunity to meet before the beginning of our academic journey at Shiz University. The waiting may feel unbearable, but it will only make that first meeting all the sweeter. Believe me that I imagine it every night before sleep overtakes me.

Oh, how I hope that was not too much. But I believe that even if it was you will forgive the indiscretion. For you are too kind to hold it against me.

I am holding my breath for your next reply.

Yours truly and sincerely,

Elphaba