You'll Be With Me
"Well? Are you coming?" Elphaba's voice reached Glinda. The blonde turned and saw her long-lost friend standing there, holding her broom. They were back in the Wizard's attic, surrounded by darkness except for a ray of fading light from the single window which illuminated the two friends. She wanted to run to the green girl and hug her. However, to her horror, she found herself looking at the ground, just as she had on that day so many years ago.
"I hope you're happy… Now that you're choosing this." Glinda knew, without looking at her friend, that Elphaba was trying to hide her disappointment.
"You too. I hope it brings you bliss," the green girl replied. Suddenly, a sound like rushing wind filled the air. Then Glinda did look up, only to find, to her horror, that Elphaba had changed. She was no longer Glinda's college roommate and friend. Instead, she was as she had been when Glinda had encountered her at Kiamo Ko. Cold, sharp, her dark eyes full of pain and despair. Still wearing the hat Glinda had given her, her cape swirling behind her. She looked like she hadn't eaten or slept in days – there were prominent dark circles under her eyes, and, although she had always been skinny, she now looked almost skeletal. She stared at Glinda, her gaze unwavering, and the blonde felt the guilt and dread building up inside her.
Elphaba finally spoke, the familiar voice Glinda hadn't heard in so long but which haunted her dreams.
"You let me die." It was something the green witch would never have said in real life, but it spoke directly to Glinda's worst regret.
"Elphie, I'm sorry! Please come back!" Tears filled Glinda's eyes. Elphaba merely tugged her cape around her shoulders.
"I can't," she snarled. "I can never come back. You're always going to be alone!"
With that, Elphaba and the room around her seemed to dissolve, leaving Glinda sitting upright in her luscious four-poster bed, gasping. Unconsciously, her hand slid under her pale pink pillow, grasping a hard, smooth surface. She pulled out her friend's green bottle, turning it over in her still-trembling hands. When she tugged open the ornate curtains covering her window, the bottle shone silvery green in the moonlight. She could just make out the faded inscription: MIRACLE ELIXIR! This, along with that tattered old hat, was all she had left of her best friend. It had been over a year since the Wicked Witch of the West had died, and Glinda had perfected her public persona. No-one in Oz would have guessed the guilt and loneliness which constantly plagued Glinda the Good. She had never really found anyone after Elphaba. Sure, there were plenty of well-meaning Ozians who adored her and would have jumped at the chance to be her friend, but she couldn't bear the thought of finding another friend. It felt like trying to forget the only real friend she had ever had. If only she had had the courage to go with Elphaba, that day in the Emerald City. If only she hadn't betrayed her friend and told the Wizard how to get to her. If only she had refused to let Elphaba surrender. If only…
Unable to rest, Glinda got up and paced the room, still clutching the bottle. Elphaba's words in the dream still echoed through her head.
"You're always going to be alone!"
She knew that the green girl hadn't hated her. Not in the end. They had both forgiven each other, and Glinda was glad of that, at least. On an impulse, she strode over to the window and pressed her face to the glass. The moon was almost full, casting an ethereal light on the sleeping city below. She could just make out the silhouettes of the Great Kells to the west. So if you care to find me, look to the western sky… Moonlight glinted off the emerald watchtower at the edge of the city. You look positively emerald… Glinda hoped that wherever Elphaba was, she was happy. She deserved to be. I hope you're happy in the end… Glinda sighed. Her head was filled with ghosts and memories. She cast her mind back to when she had first befriended her roommate. May I cut in? She knew that, if she hadn't met the green girl, she wouldn't be the same. Yes, she probably would have been happier, but she would have still been the shallow, self-centred airhead she had been at Shiz. Because I knew you, I have been changed for good…
Glinda gazed at the night sky. So many stars, so far away. A solitary owl – or maybe an Owl – winged its way across the sky. She envied it. It was so free, so remote. And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free… When she had been living here with Fiyero, she had spent hours staring out this window, looking for a glimpse of her friend. It had been so nerve-wracking, never knowing if her friend was okay or even alive. But even that was better than this horrible emptiness. I'm limited…
"Oh, Elphie," she whispered. "I'm so sorry…" As she stared out at Oz, she saw out of the corner of her eye another form gliding through the air. Probably another bird. Then, without her quite knowing why, a sense of peace filled her. She almost felt like Elphaba was with her still. A shooting star, one of the few Glinda had seen from the city, arced across the sky. It left a silvery trail behind it as it blazed its way towards its end. She remembered the childhood superstition that Elphaba had always scoffed at. Make a wish. She closed her eyes and wished, as hard as she could, for just a sliver of the green girl's indomitable spirit.
Glinda wasn't sure how long she stood, staring at the stars. Eventually, she lay back down in bed, tucking Elphie's bottle back under her pillow. Her last thought before sleep claimed her was that at least Elphie had to be in a better place now. Not because Glinda was certain about the existence of any sort of afterlife, but because, for Elphaba, anything would have been better than her life in Oz.