Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Wicked franchise. But if I did, I would have Gregory tied up in my basement and Idina under my bed, then force them to write/sing for me! Which sounds really creepy, but I can explain... It sounds creepy because it IS creepy :)
That damn girl has my shoes. Well, really my sister's shoes, but still. I'm going to kill that little farm girl. Because I'm the Wicked Witch of the West. Right? I'm supposed to be cruel and cold-hearted, going insane over a pair of slippers? That's what every Munchkin, Ozian, Winkie (save for my beloved Fiyero), and any other stupid nationality I'm surely forgetting would assume I would do. Elphaba began pacing, but her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the large wooden doors of her beloved castle.
Glinda burst in, forgetting her manners. But then again, manners aren't important at a time like this. So screw manners. She saw poor Elphie, her green companion. She looked so different. Almost... hungry. But not for the shoes. Glinda had most certainly felt that hunger before, and though it could be quite powerful (like the time I saw those darling little pink heels with the sparkly bows...), it was never this intense. This was not about the shoes, but something much bigger. To Elphie, the shoes represented what she longed for the most in life: the love of another.
"Glinda?" Elphaba's voice perked slightly, seeing the unmistakably bubbly blonde barge through the heavy oak doors.
"Let the girl go," the Good Witch said in her squeaky falsetto, "And her little dog... Dodo!" Her voice echoed off the stone walls, traveling straight through Elphie. She stared at Glinda's mess of buttery curls, her eyes like pools of gleaming sapphires. Her entire physic was beautiful, especially when compared to Elphaba's murky brown irises, her greasy black hair that hadn't seen a comb in weeks. Why must her skin be green, while her dear friend sits pretty with a delicate porcelain complexion?
Elphaba shook her head, a way of silently rejecting the blonde's orders, and turned away. The look on Glinda's face was too much to bear. "Elphie," Glinda said, watching her shudder at the pet name, "You don't have to do this! Just let little Dorothy go and we can fix this. Fix everything!"
The Wicked Witch let out a harsh laugh. There was too much irreversible damage to fix everything. "You don't know what it's like." She turned to face her friend. "You'll never understand how it feels to live a lie, Glinda. Never." Hot tears rolled down Elphie's cheeks, but the only burning they caused was in her heart. She wiped a confused tear off Glinda's silken cheek with her slender finger. To tell her that all would be okay, that they would see one another again soon, would be a lie. Elphaba couldn't lie anymore. It will only break her heart into even smaller pieces.
Glinda stared at her, knowing the sadness on her face was infecting Elphie to the core. "You think I don't know what it's like to live a lie?" Her pitch was slowly raising until it hit a cracked screech. "My life has been a giant lie since that day in the Emerald City! I had to love a man who was head over heals for my best friend. I've been acting like everything is perfect just so I can keep up this stupid sham. I got close to the Wizard to try and find you, Elphie. As soon as he found out where you were, he would tell me. I just knew it. And then I could go and find you. So I could HELP YOU!"
"I thought you never wanted to see my ugly green face again?" Elphie's lip quivered and she turned her face downward, attempting to hide her tear-stained face.
The words cut Glinda. That's just terrifying. A world where I can never see my best friend's beautiful face again is a world not worth living in. But she couldn't say that for some strange reason. All she could think to say was, "Don't be an idiot, Elphie. You're supposed to be the smart, collected one."
To make up for her poor choice of words, Glinda took one of the Witch's icy hands and pulled her into a sitting position on the floor, her powder blue dress crumpling with the motion. "I love you, you know. You're the only real friend I've ever had, the only person who has ever truly... known me, in every sense of the word."
"Funny," Elphaba replied, though in reality it wasn't a humorous statement. "I would assume you had a lot more friends than just little old me." Elphie averted her eyes momentarily. "But I love you too. You're the best friend I could have asked for."
"We're quite the odd pair though, don't you think?" Glinda giggled, but soon felt sorrow once again. "I'm gonna miss you, Elphie."
"I'll miss you too."
"I can't wait and be here for you, can I?"
Elphaba sighed. "It's better for everyone if you just leave. I don't want... You can't... That's not how I want to be remembered. For the way I left."
"And how are you doing that?"
"One way or another, I suppose." Elphie smiled at the thought of her untold plan, but a tear still trickled down her face. The plan didn't, and never could, include Glinda.
"Please stop crying. Oh, Elphie!" Glinda pulled the green girl into an embrace, which was quickly returned. And that's when Elphaba had an epiphany. Glinda had truly changed her life. Without her best friend, she would never have experienced something magical: love. Not the intimate love she had shared with Fiyero, but something stronger. This was what she had always wanted but never received from her father, mother, or goddamn sister. This love meant that you could never live without that special someone, and you never had to. They were forever in your heart.
As Glinda held her dear friend, she too felt this way. Her bond was stronger though, as it had always been. Yes, she loved her sweet Elphie like no other, but she had always secretly wished Elphaba felt the same way. The green woman's heart was held by two, yet Glinda's had belonged to Elphie and Elphie alone from the day they became friends, when she pulled back that mess of black hair to reveal a truly remarkable beauty. Glinda stood on the tips of her toes and kissed Elphie's tear-stained cheek, wishing this wasn't the first and last time she would have the chance to do so.
"Oh. Oh Glinda, I-"
"Just go. Please, be safe. Remember me when you're out there doing whatever it is you plan to do."
Elphaba pursed her lips and nodded. She reached out a hand and pulled the Good Witch close, planting a firm kiss to her pale forehead. Glinda let out a raking sob, and Elphaba was not far behind her. The stream of tears on each girls' cheeks could have flooded the tower if given the chance. But alas, the opportunity was never there. The witches' goodbyes were interrupted by pounding and shouting from beyond the large wooden doors.