A/N: Yes, ruining the tone of the title was worth it.
Rated T for Elphaba's potty mouth (she's just frank is all) and the irrational anger Gelphie may cause when placed next to closed minded bigots. And for later stuff. I know it will be bad since I have a dark mind, even if I haven't planned it out yet.
Disclaimah: I don't own Wicked or any of its characters. Though I would love to. Especially Elphaba. Plus then I could have more than just Gelphie subtext in the musical and novel.
Glinda the Good had long since given up on her search for the remains of her Elphaba and for those of Fiyero. Perhaps the resistance had given them proper, unnamed graves. Since Morrible had been imprisoned, an interim headmaster had been appointed. Once the Wicked Witch events had died down, what the people required of the Good Witch had followed suit. Accordingly, she was the obvious choice for permanent headmaster of Shiz.
Many wondered why she had taken her old quarters over those of the previous headmaster.
Those that had seen the room wondered why there were two beds.
Even less were able to wonder why she slept in the plain brown bed rather than the frilly pink one that suited her much better. She also frequently stared off into her closet, half of which was empty save a pointed hat much resembling the Wicked Witch's. They suspected it to be a trophy, save the imprisoned few who knew of her friendship.
An even smaller amount worried about her insomnia, which only seemed to be quenched on nights of the new moon.
Rumors of possession circulated, considering her ability to sleep directly correlated with the moon cycle. No one, however, spoke of this in too loud a voice, as she had done too much for Oz.
* * *
Elphaba sat outside her old room at the Shiz, tucked behind a bush, gazing up at the nearly empty sky, broom in lap. Though her old broom had been taken when she faked her death, having used the flight spell twice, she was able to piece it together and enchant another broom. She could only afford to return on nights without the moonlight, as with too much light her…differences would certainly be spotted, as well as her odd means of transportation.
She slept more soundly on the nights when Glinda's perfume was permitted to escape through the window. She could not allow herself to sleep too deeply however, as she needed to disappear before morning.
She could only hope Glinda had read the note in her hat. She could only hope the next month, the anniversary of her demise, Glinda would leave the window all the way open, a sign that she trusted Elphaba to return, to keep what she had promised in the note. She could never dare to hope that Glinda would return her love, only to forgive her for it. If only she had known the rumors would die down more quickly, she would have set an earlier date. She would have reunited with her beloved sooner.
* * *
Glinda looked back and forth between the note and the hat stowed away in her closet. The fact that Elphaba had left a note left her in enough shock, but what it contained…
For the hands and eyes of only Miss Glinda Arduenna
Glinda manipulated her fumbling hands as best she could to open the small package once more.
If I am to leave, I, with no doubt, have left this hat behind, remembering the note within. Only you would care to keep this, and thus I feel I can write directly to you, my sweet Glinda.
I have kept this secret far too long, and cannot bear to leave you without imparting it. They say there is a fine line between love and hate, and now I truly believe this. After seeing you, I knew my emotions were too strong to keep indifference, and seeing as you would never return my feelings, I was compelled to hate a beauty such as yourself. As the months passed, however, I found you to be far too kind and gorgeous to ever warrant such feelings, even from someone as experienced as myself in suppression. And though I may be gone now and unable to return for a while for whatever reason, if any bit of my will still exists I shall return to our room on the new moon closest to a year after my departure.
To you, I relinquish my heart, my being, my existence, and beg for your forgiveness of this devotion.
Elphaba Thropp
She could hardly make out the delicate print behind the smudges from her own sweat and kiss marks. In a month, she would finally be able to know if her Elphie still existed, or if she had told any others of the promise she had made.
True, at first she had been appalled that Elphaba loved her as more, but after a week of sorting through her own feelings, she realized that all that had been keeping her from realizing her enthrallment sooner was what society had impressed upon her as normal. She became angry at herself, at the whole of society for not allowing her to share in love.
Tonight she could not sleep. Tonight, it was far too close to when she had the slim chance of being reunited with her best friend. She went out to the balcony, wrapped in one of Elphaba's blankets, and gazed out at the clear sky. She began to dream of being reunited, stretching out to meet the face of her beloved. At first she believed it to be a sensation from her imaginings, but she soon realized there was indeed no ground beneath her feet. A small cry escaped her mouth before she realized that she would have to explain herself if someone came to help. She was suddenly overcome with her lack of sleep, and blacked out.
* * *
A small yelp sounded above, followed by the billowing of what seemed to be a dirty pink sail. Elphaba stood quickly, readying to catch whatever made the sound, just to quiet it so none would come running. To her surprise, a blushing and fainted Glinda rested in her arms. Elphaba could not help but crack a wide smile. She had her broom hover, providing a bench for herself and situated Glinda on her lap. After feeling she gained her balance, she slowly raised the broom, ascending to the balcony of the room. She delicately laced Glinda's arm around her head and walked into their room, lying her love down on the pink fluff that Glinda somehow regarded as a bed, resting herself at the head of it in a cross-legged position.
Her eyes caught the note in Glinda's hand, which she deftly removed. After several moments of examining the prints of Glinda's mouth, as well as the numerous creases indicating much time spent regarding it, she realized the note was her own and her heart leapt. She sunk into the quilt for a few minutes, until realizing if someone were to check on Glinda, they would find her. She took the brown blanket Glinda had and bundled herself up in the closet, dawn was coming too close for her to return tonight, and she would have to risk a bit of moonlight tomorrow. After gazing at Glinda's peacefully sleeping figure, she quietly whisked the closet door behind her.
* * *
As the sun rose, Glinda shifted in her bed, fluttering her eyes. She would have continued sleeping, were she not shocked at the sight of pink. Glinda sat up quickly, blackening her vision. After regaining her sight, she scanned the room to find the blanket from Elphie's bed missing, a broom on the balcony, the note no longer in her hands, the closet door closed, and herself in a bed she had not used in over a year.
She sunk into the comforter, confused and disoriented. The last thing she remembered was falling from the balcony. Perhaps someone had found her. But that would mean they found the note and… A frightened gasp escaped her dry mouth.
* * *
Elphaba had long since awaken and grabbed a book to read for her stay in the closet. She was accustomed to sleeping lightly and waking early. She could not concentrate on her book however, with the lovely glob of pink just across the door. She had know Glinda needed her sleep, she had heard the rumors of insomnia. She rested her head against the closet door, planning out what she might say when the pinkness rose. She heard a gasp from the other room, and hit her head. Elphaba relaxed against the door, hoping to slow and quiet her breathing. She heard a slight ruffling from the other room, and closed her eyes with a quiet sigh.
* * *
Glinda heard a loud thump, gracefully emerged from her bed, and reached for her wand on the bed table. She stepped over the creaking floorboards, nearing the closet. She motioned for the door to open with her wand, and saw a green head descend to the floor, a book quickly falling on top of it. Glinda could not help but let a giggle emerge as she lowered herself beside her clumsy green friend, placing her head on her hands and her elbows to each side of Elphie's face, resting on the silky black layer rather than the wood.
* * *
Elphaba slowly reached up to pull the book from her face so she could see Glinda's reaction, but her view was blocked by a slender neck, and before she had time to react, pink meshed with green.