AN: Sorry, guys, but inspiration hits when it hits! I'm currently working on the final chapter of Made to be broken, and I'll update it soon, but this one popped into my head and as usual, it refused to get out again.

I guess the summary says it all.

Disclaimer: Again, I'm not going to put this up for every chapter because I'm too lazy to, so pay attention now: I. Do. Not. Own. Wicked. Period.

Chapter 1. We All Got Bruises

'Glinda… Come with me!'

'What?!' Glinda squeaked. She jumped backwards, shocked. Elphaba held out the broom to her in an inviting gesture. 'Think about what we can do… together! We'd be unlimited!'

Glinda swallowed. She could see it – her and Elphie, flying around Oz on this weird broomstick, rescuing Animals… Perhaps they could change things in Oz together. For the better. With the Grimmerie, Elphaba's magic and Glinda's… well… charm… they would be unstoppable.

No! What was she thinking? She couldn't go with Elphie – it would mean giving up everything! Her education, her friends, her boyfriend… even though she didn't like them all that much anymore now that he had started thinking… and her popularity. She gasped. No, she could never leave her popularity behind… could she?

'Glin,' Elphaba said pleadingly. 'The Wizard and Morrible are evil. They're taking away the Animals' ability to speak! Someone has to do something, and I'm going to, Glinda. I want to help the Animals. With or without you.' She held out her hand. 'But I really prefer doing it with you.'

The guards pounded on the door. 'Open up, in the name of his supreme Ozness!' one of them shouted. Glinda looked back at the door, frightened, but Elphaba ignored them completely.

'Just you and I,' said Elphaba quietly, trying to convince her friend. 'Defying gravity.'

'They'd never bring us down…' whispered Glinda. In a clock-tick, she made her decision. Elphaba positioned herself on the broom, ready to fly away. She looked at her friend a bit uncertainly. 'Well? Are you coming?' She really did hope Glinda would come with her. She was her best, and only, friend, and she would miss her an awful lot if she were to stay behind.

Glinda hesitated only a moment before jumping on the broom with Elphaba.

'Alright, go!' she yelled, and Elphaba kicked off, just as the Gale Force burst through the doors. They aimed their rifles at the two witches and tried to shoot them down. Glinda shrieked, covering her head with her arms, and Elphaba gritted her teeth as she steered the broom towards the open window and flew out of it. The Emerald City glistened beneath them, in all its green glory, and Glinda slowly removed her arms. 'We made it?'

Elphaba nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. 'We made it.'

Glinda squealed and threw her arms around her friend. 'We made it!' she exulted. 'Bye bye, Wizard! You're going down!'

Elphaba couldn't help but laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. She knew it wouldn't be that easy. Not by far. It was going to be a long, hard journey, a battle for justice, but in the end, it would be worth it. As she sat here, on this broom, flying high - with her best friend clutching her waist in order to keep herself from falling off - and the strong wind whipping her hair around her face… she felt free. For the first time in a long time, she felt completely free and she felt strong, as if she could take on the entire world. She threw her head in her neck and laughed, letting go of the broom and spreading her arms, feeling the exhilarating rush of flying. When she was little, she had often wished that she could fly, and now her wish was granted… and it was every bit as amazing as she had imagined it to be.

Glinda's giggles turned to shrieks and she clutched Elphaba tighter. 'Elphaba Melena Thropp, please tell me you are not flying without hands right now!'

Elphaba grinned. 'Yes I am.' She felt like a playful child, but just for this moment, she didn't care. She always kept her composure, she was always so serious… but right now, she felt like yelling and laughing and singing, she felt like acting childish, and she didn't even try to hold it back. 'Woohoo!'

'Get your hands back on that broom!' Glinda shouted. 'Get a hold of that broom again right this instant or I swear I'm gonna…'

Elphaba suddenly dipped the broom lower, just to tease her friend, and Glinda cut herself off with a terrified squeal. 'Iiiiieeeeh!'

Elphaba laughed again, but did as Glinda wished. She flew in the direction of the Great Kells. She figured they would be safe there for a while; they could find a cave or something to hide in, at least for tonight, and they could come up with a plan. She was planning on joining the Resistance, helping them bring down the Wizard, but to do that, she would have to find them first.

Her happy, carefree mood faded when she thought about what she had just done. She had defied the Wizard. She had flown off on a broomstick, and she had dragged her best friend with her. Without a second thought, she had left everything behind, everything that she had ever known.

There was no doubt in her mind that she had made the right decision. The only thing she regretted was that she had to leave Nessa behind, but she knew that her sister would be okay. She had Boq to take care of her. Other than her, there was nothing Elphaba would miss. Her home had never been a home to her in the first place, her father never a father. The students at Shiz had only shunned her and made fun of her. She briefly thought of Fiyero and that one moment in that clearing with a Lion Cub, but she quickly dismissed that thought. All she was leaving behind was pain. Pain and illusions. No, she didn't regret leaving at all.

She was uncertain, however, about the fact that she had brought Glinda with her. Had that been the right thing to do? Out of the two of them, Elphaba had always been the passionate one, the one that wanted to meet the Wizard and actively change things in Oz. Glinda, though not nearly as shallow as she sometimes appeared to be, had never thought that far. She had just wanted to marry Fiyero, have children, and be popular, meaning she would get to show off her husband and children and look pretty herself at every chance she got. She wanted parties and shopping sprees, and now, she would never have that again. Elphaba wasn't sure what the Wizard and Morrible were going to do now, but she didn't doubt for a clock-tick that it wouldn't be pretty. Soon, they would probably be wanted in all of Oz – she had stolen the Grimmerie, for Oz's sake. And now they were looking for Glinda, too.

She looked back at the blonde. 'Glin?' she asked hesitantly, and the blonde, who had been lifting her face up to the sun, eyes closed, now cracked open one cerulean eye. 'Hm?'

'Are you sure you want this?' asked Elphaba quietly. 'To come with me? I mean… making a change in Oz… that's always been my thing. My dream, my cause. Not yours. You gave up everything, Glin… I could still take you back, you know – the Wizard would forgive you if you apologised. You could still have all you ever wanted.'

'But I don't want it,' said Glinda seriously, holding Elphaba's shoulders, squeezing them softly. 'I can't want it anymore.'

Elphaba scowled playfully at her. 'Don't you throw my own words back at me, missy.'

Glinda giggled. 'I'm sorry. It just fitted.' She nodded confidently. 'I'm sure, though, Elphie. My old life was boring. I'm up for something new. I want to do something greater than just being popular and looking pretty. I want to be bigger than that. You made me see that, Elphie – you made me realise that I could be so much more than just the bubbly little blonde, and now I get a chance to be just that. To start over.'

'But Glinda-'

'Stop protesting, Elphie,' the blonde said sternly. 'I have a brain. I can decide for myself. I'm coming with you.'

Elphaba closed her mouth and flashed her friend a smile over her shoulder. 'Thanks, Glin.'

By the time they reached the base of the Great Kells, night was falling and it had gotten darker. Dark clouds gathered above their heads and thunder rumbled in the distance, and Glinda's grip on her friend tightened. 'Elphie?' she asked in a small, quivering voice.

'Don't worry, Glin,' the green girl said, gaze fixed on the sky in front of her. 'I'm going to try and outrun that storm, okay? It's not far now. We could make it.'

Glinda bit her lip. 'I hope so.'

Elphaba flew on for a while. She steered the broom lower, towards the ground; but just then, a particular strong wind captured them and spun them around. They both screamed as the wind threw them towards the mountain tops, and Elphaba tightened her grip on the broom to the point where her knuckles turned white; she yanked it upwards and, still spinning, they flew higher again.

Glinda was crying. 'Elphie, get out of here!'

'I'm trying!' the dark-haired witch shouted above the howling wind. 'But I can't! The wind is too strong – the storm caught up with us!'

Glinda squeezed her eyes shut. 'We're gonna die!' she cried, and Elphaba set her jaw and struggled to get the broom under control. 'Hold on, Glinda!'

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, and Glinda screamed again. The rain lashed against their exposed skin and poured into their eyes, making it difficult for Elphaba to see where they were going. The wind was still howling and pulling at the broom, and Glinda buried her face in Elphaba's hair, too frightened to look. Elphaba was panting with the effort to keep them up in the air; the truth was, however, that she didn't have any experience with flying at all, and the wind was too strong for her to keep the broom straight. She wiped the rain from her eyes. 'I'm going to try and land, Glinda!' she yelled over her shoulder. 'Hold on tight!'

Taking a deep breath, she steered the broom down again. The wind gripped them and pulled them down harder, sending them flying in all different directions, throwing them back and forth. Glinda screamed in fear and Elphaba swore under her breath as they were pulled down; they spun upside down and then the wind threw them sideways, towards a solid rock wall.

Elphaba tried to avoid it, but she couldn't. The wall came closer and closer, and they both squeezed their eyes shut, bracing themselves for the impact.

Then they crashed into the rock and smacked down onto the floor, both of them unconscious.

When Glinda opened her eyes again, she found herself staring into the face of a Sheep.

With a shriek, she shot up and scrambled back, away from the creature. The Sheep grinned at her. 'She's awake!' she announced, and others, humans and some Animals, came standing around the blonde girl.

Glinda screamed again. She found her purse, the one she had brought with her when they fled the Throne Room, right next to her, and she grabbed it and started swatting at the people with it. 'Get away from me!' she shrieked.

'Glinda, relax!' The blonde froze at that voice, and when she saw Elphaba approaching her, she burst into tears. 'Elphie!' she wailed. 'Those people are attacking me!'

Elphaba chuckled. 'They're not attacking you, silly. They're helping us.' She studied her friend. 'How's your arm?'

Glinda looked down at her right arm, which was bandaged tightly, and she paled visibly. 'What happened?'

'We crashed into a rock wall,' said Elphaba matter-of-factly. 'Remember the storm?'

Glinda did, and she gasped. 'But… we hit rock!' she protested. 'Aren't we supposed to be dead?'

Elphaba chuckled. 'Well, thank Oz we're not! They,' Elphaba gestured to the people around them, 'found us and brought us here. You're not going to believe this – they're part of the Resistance!' Her eyes were shining.

Glinda shook her head. 'How long was I out?'

'Three days,' replied Elphaba, and the blonde's eyes widened. 'Three days?!'

Her friend nodded gravely. 'You broke your upper arm and you had a concussion. You had me pretty worried,' Elphaba admitted. 'How are you feeling now?'

Glinda tentatively touched her head and moved her arm, but when she did that, she blanched in pain. The Sheep dashed forward. 'Don't move your arm!' she urged. 'You'll have to keep it still for a few weeks, so that the bone can heal.'

Glinda grumbled. 'Ugh. Just great.' She touched the back of her head, only to find another bandage there. 'Elphie, what happened?!'

Elphaba sat down next to her friend. 'We crashed into that wall sideways,' she said. 'We hit it full force – we're lucky to have gotten out with only minor injuries. It could've been a lot worse.'

'Minor injuries?' Glinda looked at her arm and brought her fingers up to her head in disgust. 'You call that minor?'

'A broken arm, a head wound, a concussion and some bruises? Yes, I call that minor,' said Elphaba sharply. 'We could have been dead!'

Glinda fell silent at that. 'What about you, Elphie?' she asked finally, softly. 'Are you okay?'

Elphaba shrugged. 'A few bruised ribs, a broken arm as well, and a few stitches in my forehead. That's all. I'll live – and so will you, thank Oz.'

Glinda reached out and squeezed her friend's hand, knowing, as always, what she was thinking. 'It wasn't your fault, Elphie,' she said gently. 'It was a storm. You couldn't help it.'

'I was flying the broom,' said Elphaba quietly. 'If you had…'

'But I didn't.' Glinda squeezed the green girl's hand again. 'We're gonna be okay. So what happened afterwards?'

Elphaba shifted a little, crossing her legs. 'Well, we both fell unconscious at the impact,' she said. 'Nurya here,' she nodded towards a small Blackbird, 'found us. Mey,' she indicated the Sheep, 'is a Resistance nurse, and with help from the others, she took care of us. I woke up yesterday, and they told me everything. They're part of the underground Resistance that wants the Wizard gone.' Her eyes were shimmering again. 'And we're going to help them.'

Glinda propped herself up against the wall. 'How?'

'They agreed to train us,' replied Elphaba. 'They'll teach us everything we need to know about being part of the Resistance, from stealth and distraction techniques to stealing and combat skills. There's even a Resistance sorceress in Quadling Country who could teach us how to better control our magic!' She squeezed Glinda's hand happily, clearly excited at the mere prospect. 'We'll truly be unlimited, Glinda!'

The blonde hugged her friend. She'd made up her mind. What was happening in Oz was wrong, and these people – and Animals – seemed nice. If she and her best friend could help, could really make a difference, freeing Animals from oppression and slaughter… then who was she to turn her back on them?

She took a deep breath and looked into Elphaba's eyes. 'Let's do it.'

Please let me know what you think so far! The next chapter will be... ah... different. You'll see.