AN: I've been debating whether I should put this up as an independent oneshot or whether I should just put it with my Drabbles, but I figured it's way too long for a drabble, even though it kind of has an open ending, and stuff... I don't know, my mind just suddenly came up with it and I wrote it down. I'm not making it into a multichap, even though it would be AU and stuff... I don't know... well, if any of you feels the need to expand it to a multichap, please go ahead :).

And I'm rambling again. Just bear with me, okay? Like I said, it popped into my head and it wouldn't get out again. Sorry if it's bad.

Disclaimer: Secretly, my name is Ultimate Queen Gregory Stephen Winnie Maguire Schwarz Holzman of Cliffies, and so I do own Wicked. Big time. (In case whoever it is that might want to sue me couldn't tell: that was sarcasm.)

'Glinda.' Fiyero smiled as the blonde descended the stairs, elegantly placing one high-heeled foot in front of the other, her pale pink gown glittering in the light. Her tiara was perched on the top of her head and her wand was securely in her left hand. She was wearing diamonds and all the glitter and glamour that she had always been so fond of.

'So what are you supposed to be?' he asked her, and she looked at him as if though he were crazy. 'I'm Glinda the Good, who else?'

He stifled a laugh. 'I got that, but dear, it's a costume party. You're supposed to dress up like someone.'

'So I'm dressed up like myself,' she declared smugly. 'I'm a public figure now, Fifi. I bet many girls will dress up like me, just like many boys dress up like the Wizard.'

'Are you comparing yourself to the Wizard now?'

She pursed her lips and tilted her head. 'No. I'm prettier. And more popular.'

'Aren't we modest,' he muttered under his breath, and she giggled and linked her arm with his. 'Don't pout, Fifi. You look gorgeous in your costume.'

He looked at her, faintly exasperated. 'This is not a costume. It's my Gale Force uniform. I have to work tonight.'

'Of course you don't!' She winked at him. 'I've arranged everything with the Wizard already. You're free tonight! Free to dance with me and have fun at the ball!'

'Oh, joy.' He sighed. 'I'm sorry, Glin. I know I promised not to be 'moodified' anymore…'

'But you miss her,' said Glinda seriously. 'I know. It's okay.'

A few weeks after Glinda had come back from the Emerald City by herself, more upset than he had ever seen her, he had told her. He had never gone back to his usual dancing-through-life self, and she had grown irritated with him, and finally, he had just told her about his feelings for her best friend.

She had been shocked and hurt at first, but finally, she had accepted it, much to his relief. They had agreed to stay friends and they hadn't countered the rumours about them being a couple, but the truth was that they weren't together anymore. Glinda knew that one day, he would find the green girl; and when he did, he would leave the blonde before she could blink her eyes. And though somewhere deep down, that still hurt, she could honestly say she was okay with it. She just wished she had someone who cared about her the way Fiyero cared about Elphaba.

'I miss her, too,' Glinda continued quietly. 'I wish that she could just be here and go to this party with us, if only so that I could hear her grumble about it…' She laughed softly. 'I would give her a makeover and she would try to kill me, and then I would force her to come and after an hour or so, I would catch her in a corner with a book and I would yell at her…'

Fiyero laughed, too. 'I just regret…' He shrugged. 'Not telling her. I regret that more than anything.'

She kissed his cheek. 'I know, Fifi. But you're looking for her. No one has been looking for her harder than you have, and one day, you'll find her. I know you will. And the two of you will be happy together.'

'Unless she hates me.'

'She doesn't hate you.' She fixed his uniform and pulled him with her. 'Now, come on and let's have some fun for a change, okay?'

Elphaba slipped between the costumed people and showed her invitation to the guards with an innocent smile. She hadn't been invited, of course, but stealing an invitation had been a piece of cake compared to the tasks she usually carried out for the Resistance.

The guard gave her back the invitation and nodded. 'Enjoy yourself tonight, Ma'am. I must say, your costume is really good.'

She smirked at him. 'Why, thank you.'

She entered the ballroom and looked around, a faintly amused expression on her face. There were many people there; most of them were dressed like either Glinda the Good or like the Wizard, but there were also princes, monsters, fairies, kings and queens… and Wicked Witches.

She rolled her eyes when she discovered the many, many Wicked Witches of the West among the guests. One of them had stuck a huge, black wart to her nose, with hairs poking out of it; others had made themselves look old and wrinkly, or they were wearing crooked plastic noses. She snorted derisively. A man – a man! – with green paint all over and a wig of awfully tangled hair beneath a huge pointy hat passed by, and her hand subconsciously flew up to touch her own soft and silky hair. 'Those imbeciles look nothing like me,' she grumbled under her breath as she made her way to a table to get herself some punch.

Some officials had brought their children, and a small boy dressed up like a prince tugged at her dress. 'Miss?'

She looked down at him and smiled. 'Hi.' It was nice to talk to a kid nowadays without them running away in fear the moment they laid eyes on her.

'I just wanted to come and say that your costume is really good,' he said. 'You can barely tell that the green skin is just paint!'

She sniggered – if only he knew. 'Thanks, kid.'

'Only you look too young to be the Wicked Witch,' he told her earnestly. 'She's really old and ugly, and you aren't.'

She stared at him, not sure if she should take that as a compliment or as an insult.

'But otherwise your costume is good,' he reassured her. 'Bye!'

She slowly exhaled through her nose. 'Old and ugly…' she muttered under her breath. She sighed and turned around…

…only to lock eyes with Glinda, who was making her way down the stairs with Fiyero by her side.

She was smiling and waving at everyone, but then her eyes caught Elphaba's and she froze, halfway down the stairs, eyes wide, arm still in the air from where she had been waving it earlier. Elphaba gave her a grin and with a squeal, Glinda shook off Fiyero and jumped down the stairs, very unladylike, before pushing her way through the people until she was standing right in front of Elphaba. She eyed her up and down for a moment, assuring herself that it really was her friend standing there; then she threw her arms around the green girl and hugged her tightly. 'Elphie, what are you doing here?' she hissed when she pulled away. 'You're not even wearing a costume!'

'Of course I am!' Elphaba spread her arms to allow her friend a good look at her. 'I'm the Wicked Witch of the West!'

Glinda pulled her aside. 'Not funny. If someone recognises you…'

'They won't,' said Elphaba confidently. 'Just look at them.' She snorted. 'I just had a boy coming up to me telling me that I'm not old and ugly enough to impersonate the Wicked Witch of the West.'

Glinda giggled. 'Oh, Elphie…' She hugged her again. 'It's so good to see you again! I was so scared that something had happened to you…' Her voice trailed away and she wrapped her arms around herself. 'Elphie…' she said, her voice quavering a little. 'I'm so sorry I didn't come with you-'

Elphaba shook her head. 'Don't do this, Glin,' she said gently. 'Don't torture yourself like that. You made your decisions, and I made mine. Yours gave you fame and power, popularity, and Fiyero…' Her eyes got a faraway look for a moment, and Glinda giggled to herself when she saw it. She recognised that look. It was the one Fiyero would get whenever Elphaba was mentioned. Oh, they would be so cute together!

'And mine…' The young witch laughed a bit bitterly. 'Well… mine gave me… witch hunters and a life on the run, I guess.'

Glinda squeezed her arm. 'That's not true, Elphie. Yours gave you courage and a cause to fight for. I was too cowardly to come with you that day, but you were brave enough to do it by yourself. I know you saved so many Animals, Elphie, and I'm so proud of you.'

Elphaba smiled. 'Thanks, Glin.'

'And I never really had Fiyero, you know,' Glinda added nonchalantly, secretly loving the stunned look on Elphaba's face. 'All this time, he had been in love with someone else.'

Someone else… 'With whom?' Don't be stupid, Elphaba. Don't even consider for a clock-tick that it could be you. Never you, remember? Not that girl.

Glinda winked at her. 'Why don't you find out? I'm going to talk to those people over there – please come and find me again before you leave, okay? I want you to talk to Fiyero, but I don't want you to leave without saying goodbye.'

'I won't,' Elphaba assured her, and the blonde made her way through the crowd.

Fiyero stopped her halfway. 'Glin? What happened? Why did you run away like that?'

Glinda smiled up at him, a bit sadly. 'Oh, Fifi…' She sighed. 'I want you to know that I always loved you, in some way. But… I will let you go now. Because she deserves you… more than I do.' She swallowed. 'Take good care of her, please?' she croaked. 'And of yourself, too…' She leaned up to kiss his cheek before leaving him to stand alone in the middle of all those people, confused and bewildered.

Bemused, he turned around, and his eyes found hers immediately. His breath hitched in his throat and he held it, afraid that she would vanish once he let it go. She blushed and lowered her eyes, and that gave him the courage to make his way towards her and look down at her, his hand coming up to caress her cheek, but stopping at the last moment, lingering at a safe distance. 'Hi.'

'Hi,' she said, steeling herself, trying to get back to her usual sarcastic self. 'So how is Mr. Dancing-through-life? Still genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow?'

He gave her a lopsided grin that made her heart flutter. 'Not anymore. I never really was, you know.'

She swallowed. 'I know.'

Her eyes darted around the room, clearly nervous. 'So I heard you've been cheating on Glinda.'

He was surprised. 'What? No! We're not even together to begin with – we broke up a few weeks after you…' He cleared his throat. 'Um… left.'

She smirked at his discomfort, but quickly grew serious again. 'You two broke up? Why?'

'Because…' He took a deep breath and looked down into her huge chocolate eyes, and he knew he had to say it now. Inwardly, he braced himself for her reaction, but he had to know. He had to tell her and find out if she felt the same way. 'Because the girl I really loved had flown off on a broomstick a few weeks before.'

Her eyes met his, stunned and incredulous, but he looked back with all the certainty he felt inside. She let out a small, nervous laugh. 'Exactly how many girls do you know that fly on broomsticks?'

He didn't waver for a clock-tick, keeping his eyes locked with hers. 'Only one.'

She blushed. 'You're crazy.' He opened his mouth, but she cut him off with a stern, 'If you're going to reply with "yes, about you", I'm going to puke.'

He quickly closed his mouth again and she smirked, relieved to have even the tiniest amount of control in this situation. Teasing him, and being sarcastic, were things she felt comfortable with. She could do that. 'That's what I thought.'

He gave her a sheepish grin, but then he became serious again. 'You can laugh at me, but I mean it, Fae.'

Feelings. That was something she was not comfortable with. Especially since she knew for sure that he was lying. What else could it be? As if he would ever love her!

She shook her head. 'No, you don't. You can't. You're absolutely insane.'

He took a step closer. 'I love you. I have loved you ever since the day we rescued that Lion Cub together.'

She stepped back, still shaking her head. 'No. Fiyero, you don't know what you're saying,' she said pleadingly. 'You can't-'

She was cut off because he stepped forward, moved one hand to the back of her head, pulled her closer and kissed her.

The moment she felt his lips on hers, she forgot what she had been about to say. Her knees buckled and she was sure they wouldn't hold her weight up much longer, but his arms were around her, holding her up and pressing her closer to him, and her own arms slid around his neck almost as if they had a will of their own. She melted into his embrace, forgetting everything and everyone around her, and all her objections and doubts disappeared.

When he finally pulled away, they were both out of breath. He didn't let go of her for a clock-tick as he looked down at her and breathed, 'I've been wanting to do that for two years now.'

She kept her mouth shut, since she was sure that she wouldn't be able to produce any coherent sound right now, and he suddenly seemed insecure. 'Please say something. Was I too straightforward? I was, wasn't I? Oz, Elphaba, I'm so sorry – I didn't even ask you if you felt the same way about me. I just started kissing you! You must think I'm a jerk! But if you didn't feel the same way about me, wouldn't you have slapped me by now? Do you feel the urge to slap me right now? Fae? Please say something?'

She giggled. Yes, that's right. She giggled. She'd never giggled before in her life, and the sound that escaped her lips now was giddy and silly and awfully Galinda-like, but she didn't even care. She heaved a shaky sigh and blinked up at him, but a faint smile played around her lips. 'I… Yes.'

'Yes,' he echoed. 'Yes what? Yes, I was too straightforward? Yes, you want to slap me?' He was rambling, and he knew it, but he couldn't stop. He was so nervous suddenly. What if she didn't want him? What if she hated him now?

She looked up at him, her brown eyes soft. 'Yes, I feel the same way about you.'

Slowly, a goofy grin spread across his face and it felt like all of his intestines were doing a little dance inside of him. 'You do?'

She was still looking at him. 'I do,' she confessed in a whisper. 'Though I can't really comprehend that you would ever feel the same way about me…'

'I do,' he told her truthfully, cupping her cheek. She leaned into his touch and he gently tucked a strand of raven hair behind her ear. 'Because you're beautiful, and smart, and funny… and there's nothing I regret more than not telling you how I felt back at Shiz. I missed you so much, Fae.'

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to marvel in his touch. 'I missed you, too.'

His one hand moved to her waist and rested there, and she let him pull her closer. 'But Glinda…'

'I meant what I said,' he said, gazing down into her eyes. 'We've broken up a long time ago. She knows that I love you, and she has also always known that the moment I would find you, I would leave her here and go with you.'

She drew in her breath and stepped away. 'But…'

He shook his head. 'You can say whatever you like, I won't change my mind. I've spent years looking for you, Fae. I'm not letting you go now.'

'You tried to kill me,' she stressed. He shook his head again. 'Never. I only became Captain of the Gale Force to find you. Only I never did… until now.'

'Technically, I found you.'

'True,' he smiled, taking her hand and resting his other hand on her waist, before slowly starting to sway to the music with her. She sighed. 'But…'

'No 'but' tonight,' he whispered. He leaned down, so that their foreheads and noses were touching. 'I love you, Fae, and only you. And I'm coming with you, no matter what.'

She sighed again and let her head fall against his chest. He rested his chin on top of her hair, drinking in her scent, and he smiled.

Glinda saw them and she smiled, too, albeit a bit sadly, as she made her way towards them. 'I've always known it, deep down inside.'

Elphaba lifted her head to look at her blonde friend, confused. 'What?'

Glinda squeezed her shoulder. 'That you two were meant for each other,' she said simply. 'I just didn't want to see it at first.'

Elphaba detached herself from Fiyero to wrap her arms around her best friend. 'Oh, Glin…'

The blonde smiled. 'Don't worry about it, Elphie… You deserve each other.' She hugged the green girl. 'Just don't forget me.'

'Never,' Elphaba told her. She grinned at the blonde. 'Just make sure to throw a costume party at the Palace every now and then, and we'll drop by to see you.'

Glinda shook her head. 'You shouldn't. It'd be too dangerous.'

'I don't care,' Elphaba said sternly. 'I'll be careful. I can't not ever see you again, Glin. I can't just leave you behind.'

The blonde heaved a shaky sigh. 'I love you, Elphie. You were the sister I never had. I can't believe I loathed you at first!'

Elphaba cackled her Wicked Witch-cackle. 'Oh, but you did! And believe me, I returned those feelings, too.'

Suddenly, the small boy from before was tugging at her dress again. 'Your cackle was wrong, Miss,' he said seriously. 'That's not how the Witch cackles. This is how she does it.' He threw his head back and let out a sound that much resembled a piglet being strangled. 'See? That's how she does it. So yours was wrong. But your costume is still good.' With that, he disappeared into the crowd again.

Elphaba gaped after him, mouth open, speechless. 'But… you… what… I…' she spluttered. She turned to face Glinda and Fiyero. 'Did you hear that?' she demanded. 'My cackle isn't right. It's not how the Wicked Witch cackles. I am the Wicked Witch! It's my cackle!'

Glinda snickered, and Fiyero deadpanned, 'I think the boy's cackle was better.'

'I do not sound like a dying pig!' protested Elphaba, and Glinda burst out in a fit of giggles. 'Oh, Elphie… Don't believe everything people say.'

Elphaba huffed, and Glinda wrapped her up in a hug. 'I'll miss you, Elphie.'

'I'll miss you, too,' the young witch replied, hugging her friend back. 'You were the only friend I've ever had, and you'll forever be with me. Like a handprint on my heart.'

Glinda's eyes filled with tears. 'Oh, Elphie!' she sniffled, and she hugged her friend again. Then she suddenly jabbed a finger into Fiyero's chest. 'And you! Keep her safe, or I'll find you, and hunt you, and kill you! And don't you dare do something stupid!' She moaned and buried her face in her hands. 'Who am I kidding? I'm asking the commotion to stay out of trouble and the brainless prince to not do anything stupid. I'm doomed.'

Elphaba laughed. 'You know me, Glin. I don't seek out trouble, but it always finds me.' Fiyero sent her a significant look, and she knew that they were both thinking the same thing. I don't cause commotions, I am one.

'But I'll try my best,' continued Elphaba. She squeezed the blonde's hand. 'And you try your best. Try to keep Oz safe, Glin. As Glinda the Good.'

'I'll make you proud,' the blonde girl promised, and Elphaba smiled softly at her. 'You already have.'

She gave her friend one last hug, and Fiyero kissed Glinda's cheek. 'Bye, Glin.'

'Bye, Fifi,' she whispered, tears brimming in her cerulean eyes. 'Bye, Elphie.'

She walked them to the doors of the Palace. She watched as Fiyero wrapped his arm around Elphaba's waist and kissed her hair, and Elphaba turned her head to kiss his lips. She kept watching them as they disappeared into the dark night together.

The Gale Force soldier standing next to the doors followed her gaze. 'Isn't that Prince Fiyero? Where is he going?' he inquired, and Glinda looked at him. 'He's…' She swallowed. 'Following his heart.'

The guard looked at her and quirked an eyebrow. 'With that girl? Who's she?'

Glinda smiled softly. 'My best friend.' She sighed and turned around to face the guard. 'They're both my best friends, and they found true love with each other.'

The guard, knowing Glinda's reputation of being awfully romantic, just stared at the spot where the couple had disappeared. 'That sounds beautiful,' even he had to admit gruffly.

Glinda's smile broadened and to the guard's utter surprise, she suddenly kissed his cheek. 'It is. Remember that, next time you go after the Wicked Witch of the West,' she said solemnly. And with that, she left him behind to stare after the bubbly blonde in confusion.

Love it? Hate it? Want me to crawl into a hole and never come out again? Let me know :).