Elphaba had to go back to Oz.
She needed to see Glinda again. It's been far too long. She should never have waited this long! It's been thirty years. A long, long thirty years. She's been so lonely, too.
After Elphaba and Fiyero had fled Oz, it hadn't taken a genius to realize they didn't love each other. They never did, not really. Elphaba loved someone else. It was always something she had tried to deny, but now she couldn't. It was just the truth.
She loved Glinda.
Which is why she had to go back.
It had only taken Fiyero a few years to leave. Elphaba often got frustrated at him, though she wasn't sure why. Maybe she was just annoyed that he isn't Glinda. Maybe she's annoyed because maybe, if he had at least let her tell Glinda she's alive...Surely Glinda is suffering with that knowledge. She must be!
So he left, and she was grateful for it. She's always liked being alone, anyway.
The night before she decides to leave, Elphaba can barely get a wink of sleep. She tosses and she turns, but she can't seem to get comfortable and fall asleep. But she must have, as after hours of laying in bed and thinking about where everything had gone wrong in her life, she wakes up.
She's restless. She got some sleep, but not much. It'll have to do. She had gotten everything she needed prepared the night before. So she just grabs her bag - filled with some food, the grimmerie, and a dagger, just in case - and her broom.
Before she leaves, she turns to look at the place she's been living in for the past few years. She's moved around a lot, but this house is perhaps the one she's spent the largest amount of time in. It's a small, rundown shack. But it was home.
And with that, she hops onto her broom and flies off.
As soon as she gets to Oz, Elphaba directs her broom in the direction of the Emerald City. There's no point in going anywhere else, that's the most likely place Glinda will be. And she doesn't want to see anyone else.
She lands among the city walls, behind a building. No one is nearby. She sets her broom down, tucking it somewhere where it isn't likely to be seen. She wraps her scarf a little tighter around her face. It prevents people from being able to easily see her face and also provides a bit of warmth. She went in the beginning of winter for just this reason. She can cover as much skin as possible without being too suspicious. She tightens her gloves and prepares to find Glinda.
As she starts walking down the street, she realizes she doesn't have a plan. Or, rather, her plan was to just come to the Emerald City and find Glinda. Anything other than that...well, she'd just have to figure it out as she went along.
There's a lot of people. And...not just people, she realizes with surprise. There's Animals, too. Walking down the streets, going into buildings. The sight brings a smile to her face.
"Are you lost?"
The voice causes her to jump. She hadn't been expecting it. Whirling around, she sees an old lady in a rocking chair on the porch of a nearby house. She's knitting.
She hesitates, but in the end, her curiosity wins out and she walks a little closer. "No, I'm just...looking for someone." She fidgets her hands.
The old lady's eyes twinkle. "Looking for someone, you say? Well, depending on who this someone you're looking for is, I may be able to help." She continues to knit.
"I'm looking for someone by the name of Glinda. Or...Glinda the Good, perhaps?"
The twinkle in the old lady's eyes dies out, and she frowns. She stops knitting.
The sight causes a twinge of panic to shoot through her.
"You're not from around here, are you?" the lady asks nervously, clearly trying to distract attention. To stall.
Elphaba's eyes narrow. "No...it's been a while. Do you know Glinda?"
"Everyone knows her, my dear."
"So then where is she?"
The lady hesitates. "Dear...What's your name?"
"That doesn't matter. Where is Glinda?"
"She's dead, dear."
The words cause a bit of dread to form in her stomach. She suddenly had trouble breathing. "No."
"I'm sorry."
"No! You must be lying. She can't be dead!" The old lady reaches out to her but she takes a step back, her eyes still narrowed.
"I'm sorry. It's been 2 years since she died. You just missed her anniversary a week ago." She seems to have stopped attempting to reach out for Elphaba and settles back in her chair.
"No!" Desperately, Elphaba thinks about what she had been doing 2 years ago. It's been so long...As she remembers, however, she nearly collapses. She holds onto the railing, gripping onto it for dear life.
2 years ago, she couldn't sleep. Something had been nagging at her the whole day, especially at night. She hadn't known what it was or why she had been feeling that way. But she distinctly remembers being annoyed at it. She had just wanted the feeling to go away, to let her spend her day and sleep in peace.
But now that she knows…"No," she whispers, the word barely a breath.
A moment later, Elphaba opens her mouth, but pauses. Hesitates. But the curiosity wins her over. She wets her lips, as they had gone incredibly dry. "How…?"
The lady hesitates. It's silent for some time. Enough time that Elphaba grows frustrated.
"Well? On with it!"
"It's just...you see…." Elphaba grows visibly more frustrated and angry, and the old lady sighs. "It was suicide."
Elphaba goes rigid, the anger dissipating in an instant. "S...suicide?"
"She was always so unhappy. You'd see her up there, talking to all the citizens. She loved us, she did. And she'd done so much for Oz. Animals are back and able to live freely, and there is little unrest. But she was always so sad. One could see it in her tone of voice, in the way she acted. That's what it was, really. An act. All of it. She did her part. As soon as Animals were accepted back in society, and everyone was happy, she…"
Elphaba couldn't believe what she was hearing. Glinda wouldn't really...would she? She realized she had no idea if Glinda would've done something like that. They'd never had a situation like it when they were in Shiz. And Elphaba had been away for so long…
"Why?" she manages to croak out.
"She'd visit the Animals and those less fortunate. I used to be one of them. And she'd sometimes talk about how she lost someone. Someone she loved." Elphaba can barely manage to bite back the sob that was threatening to rise within her. "The person she loved had left her. She never went too much into detail. But one had to wonder…" Elphaba could feel the lady's eyes scrutinizing her. She didn't dare to look at her. "On the day the wicked witch's death was celebrated each year, she was never anywhere to be found. She'd always gotten someone else to do a speech about it." She stops talking for a moment, then opens her mouth.
"No." Elphaba is quick to cut her off. She can't hear this, not now. Not ever.
"It's you. You're the one who left her." The voice isn't accusing, just realizing.
"No! I...I had no choice."
"You had all the choice in the world."
Elphaba fully collapses. She sits there, on the ground, her head in her hands as she struggles and fails to hold back her tears. "I know. And I chose the wrong one," she whispers with a dejected voice.
A pause. And then, "Was there...anything left? A note?" Elphaba asks. She had to know. She wasn't sure she could live without knowing.
Silence. Then, "Yes. It's on her grave." Elphaba's breath hitches.
"Where…?"
The old lady tells her. So, with tears gathering in her eyes that she is desperate to not let fall, she goes.
By the time Elphaba does get there, the tears have started to fall.
She lets them.
It's easy to find the grave. It's not alone, but it is obviously hers. She walks up to it, her fingers grazing against the stone. Her eyes trail down the writing etched onto it.
"Glinda Upland
'Glinda the Good'
I held out"
It's those last words that catch her off guard. With a cry, more tears come pouring down, and she falls to her knees beside the stone.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, my sweet." More tears fall, staining the granite.
She stays there until sunset. Light streaks across the sky. She pays it little attention. It's only then that she gets up.
And notices the other gravestone.
She pauses, staring at it. Slowly, she walks closer.
"Elphaba Thropp
'She died alone'"
Elphaba sobs. The tears don't stop, and just keep falling. She can't see anything out of the mess of tears. She collapses beside the gravestone.
"I didn't, my sweet. Not yet. But you did."
Through her tears, she sees a flash of white. It's a lily, surprisingly well-kept on her grave. She feels a shimmer of magic around it.
Elphaba stays there until dark. She couldn't bring herself to move until then. The only light she sees is from the city. Buildings light up the area, so bright you can't see the moon or the stars.
She's going to miss them.
As she gets up, she only has the feeling of solid resolve. She knows what she must do, and nothing will stop her from doing it. She takes her bag and grabs just one thing from it.
The dagger.
She didn't know what had compelled her to bring it, just that she knew she had to. For whatever reason.
That reason is clear now.
Upon grabbing it, she accidentally cut herself on it, sending a trickle of blood down her wrist. She closes her eyes, bringing the dagger up.
In just a flash, it's over.
The wicked die alone.