A flicker of emerald skin in between brown and green branches, and worried green eyes met mine one last time before then she was gone, leaving me with a useless lanturn on the ground and a furiously beating heart.
"Elphaba..." I whispered to myself, reveling in the taste of her lips that were still on mine, closing my eyes briefly to collect my thoughts from what had happened the night before-the wonderful, fantastic night before-and what was happening right now.
My eyes opened quickly as I remembered why Fae had gone away so quickly, and I squinted them while looking to the western sky, searching for what Elphaba had tried to explain to me.
"Do you hear that? It sounds like someone in pain...oh, sweet Oz! Fiyero, i-it's Nessa!"
I remembered her bright green eyes looking at me with such worry and pure fear, and I knew she was already gone-gone from the wonderful memories of the night before, gone from my arms and gone from my sight.
She had to save her sister, because of her fierce loyalty to her and because she had this strange notion that Nessa was the only thing she had left that possibly loved her in this crazy, twisted world.
"Fae, you drive me crazy sometimes." I muttered to myself as I bent down and picked up the lantern that had been overturned on the ground, "Like I don't care about you-even Glinda, for that matter..." I muttered, pausing to blow on the small spark that was still on the wick of the candle, making it glow with fire yet again, "Imagine-a house flying through the sky on some insane twister..." I scoffed, shaking my head at the notion before something else dawned on me, "...almost as if it was made by magic." I concluded in a whisper, my heart pounding fiercely as I realized what had happened.
It was a trap.
"Elphaba!" I shouted before I knew what I was doing, grabbing my captains uniform from off the ground and hastily putting it on, not bothering to button it, as I ran through the trees and the brush, anxious to find Elphaba quickly, before anything horrible could happen to her.
I ran for a while, longer than I thought I could with that lantern banging against my side the entire time, before I could start to hear voices through the trees.
"...and I know it's hard for that, blissful, blonde brain of yours to comprehend..." Fae was talking fiercely, and from the adjectives she had used, to Glinda, "But it's happened. It's real. And nothing you can do will ever change that-"
She broke off, and the sharp crack of a slap rang through the air, and my jaw dropped in realization.
They were fighting over me.
Sweet Lurine, I thought tiredly to myself as I dodged another tree to try and get a better look at them, didn't they know there were better things to talk about at a time like this?
What happened to dancing through life? A voice in my mind, sounding suspiciously like Elphaba said mockingly, thought it was your motto, Master Triggular. The old you would have been watching in delight at the cat fight happening before you. When did that change?
When I met you, you ridiculous artichoke, I managed to say back fondly to the voice, unable to hide a smile as I did so, you and that blasted lion cub. You changed me for the better, my Fae.
"Halt, in the name of the Wizard!"
My mind was jerked from my mental conversation at these words, and I watched between the branches in horror as my former men-former friends-grabbed Elphaba and grabbed forcefully, one of them actually taking a firm grip on her hair to hold her back-as if she would do anything to hurt Glinda.
A red hot anger went up my spine as I watched Fae cry out in pain, looking at Glinda with watery, betrayed eyes, hurt and anger reflected in them, such a contrast from the night before.
And before I could think, before I could do anything else, I had already jumped out from behind the trees and yelled loudly;
"Let the green girl go!"