She's gone. I didn't even get to say goodbye.

I don't realize I've said out loud until Fiyero says quietly, "I know, Fae. I know."

"No you don't!" I cry suddenly, jumping to my feet from Yero's embrace. "You don't know her as well as I do! You never had sleepovers with her or was 'Galinda-fied' or talked all night or . . . or anything," I finished lamely.

"Didn't," he replies randomly.

"What?" I snap, glaring at him.

"I didn't know her," he explains.

I gape at him. "Glinda's . . . dead," I choke, "and you're correcting my grammar?!"

"That's just it," he whispers. "She's gone. In past tense."

"Here I was thinking you were a shallow boy who ditched class and didn't know a thing about anything," I retort, still mad.

Yero gives a half-hearted smile and tells me, "I paid attention in class. Sort of. But I brushed up once I started dating you so I wouldn't seem like a complete idiot."

My anger melts completely, and I collapse next to him. "You're so sweet," I say, starting to cry now. "And even if you are an idiot, you're still my idiot."

"Fae, I may not have known Glinda half as well as you," he agrees, "but I know she was a wonderful person that loved her friends very much. She would've wanted to go doing something like that, I think."

"I could've done something," I whisper brokenly, letting Yero wrap his arms around me. "I should've stopped her from sacrificing herself to save us. I should've been the one to finish Morrible, not her! It was my battle, my fight, and maybe I was losing," I admit, "but it should've been me that died. The world needs her more than the green Wicked Witch of the West."

"Don't say that!" Yero snaps, looking horrified. "The world needs you as much as her. I need you. What do you would happen to me if you died?" He closes his eyes and I see a tear escape though he tries his hardest to remain strong. For me, I realize. Me, the selfish green witch everyone hates but him and Glinda.

I hug him tightly and don't let go.

"We'll be okay, Fae," Yero says, sounding much more confident than he is. "We'll be okay. That's what she'd want."

Galinda "Glinda" Upland of the Upper Uplands

The Good Witch

Died heroically in a battle against a most evil foe, Madame Morrible.

May her beauterrific soul rest in clouds worthy of a princess.