Visions

By

Ghost of Eternity

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Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. I wish I did… so much money ($$)... Wait a minute, stop thinking capitalist thoughts!

Summary: Remember how the Miracle Elixir gave Elphaba dreams about the Wizard? Well, it gave her visions too…

Pairing: Glinda/Elphaba meaning… Gelphie goodness!

Author's Notes: I personally believe that close to the end of the book, Elphaba was at her breaking point, going slowly insane. I think she was insane by the end though. Maybe this helped her go over the edge. Thanks to the writers of "Hold Out" and "I Could See the Stars". Great job guys, thanks a bunch! Mucho love and hugs!

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"The Witch had taken the green glass bottle, whose label still read MIRACLE ELI-, and placed it on her bedside table. She took a spoonful of the ancient elixir before sleeping, hoping for miracles… She woke, gagging, terrified beyond telling…" –Wicked by Gregory Maguire, pages 384 and 385

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­ The Witch was tired. She hadn't slept, even with that potion she had concocted for herself. It had only made her insomnia worse, and that she had taken to just staying awake.

She looked out over the orchard, smiling ruefully as she thought of the girl, Dorothy, who was on her way to kill her. Ha, let her try!

But somehow, the Witch knew the end was coming. Maybe not from the girl, but it was coming just the same.

She only wished…

"No," she told herself, standing upright and turning away from the window, "Don't do this. Don't go thinking about that. You have more important things to worry about, like getting the shoes from Dorothy."

The rest of the day went the same, going through the mundane tasks she had set for herself.

But then it had happened.

It was late at night. The only one awake; she was working on translation of the Grimmerie, trying to fight sleep when suddenly she saw it: a flash of golden hair.

The Witch sat up, put down her pen and peered into the darkness beyond the wan light of her candle. What was that? It couldn't have been… could it?

There it was again! It came within inches of the light, and she could see it glimmer off golden curls of hair. She stood now, wrapping her shawl around her tightly, even though it wasn't cold in the room.

When it flashed the third time, it was echoed by bubbly female laughter. The Witch knew that voice… Impossible!

It echoed again, and when it did, it was a voice that haunted her every waking moment, the voice she could single out anytime from the multitude of demons that followed her. "Elphie…"

The Witch clutched at her arms so tightly her fingernails made welts into her skin. It couldn't be... She had imagined it!

And yet… maybe...

She picked up the candle and stepped forward warily. This time she did hear the voice; it called out to her, beckoning softly. "Elphie… Elphaba… come here…"

"Where?" she answered back, following the voice now, out of her room into the hallways, her bare feet touching the cold stone floor. The candle sputtered out, and for a moment, the Witch was again the frightened little girl of five who screamed for her father when she had been locked into cellar by accident, afraid of the dark. She shook her head and muttered something akin to "Idiot".

The voice called to her from the darkness in a sing-song tone, "Elphie, why won't you follow me?"

"Because I can't… I can't see you," she replied, her voice a lot shakier than it had been before. The demons, ghosts of people she had known, that haunted her dreams were nothing compared to this. For the first time in a long time, what seemed like forever in her thirty-eight years, the Witch was… afraid.

This time she saw ghostly blue eyes shining out at her from the darkness, demonic and beautiful all at the same time. "Just follow my eyes."

She nodded, letting the shawl fall at her feet, her naked green arms full of goose bumps as her thin black sleeping shift offered no comfort from the cold of Kiamo Ko.

The voice laughed again and said, "Come on Elphie, try and catch me." She now heard the sound of feet running down the hallway. After a moment, she followed after.

The Witch ran like a madwoman, her feet slapping against the cool stone as she dashed through the immense fortress, careening after the apparition. She had to catch it—her—whatever it was; she had to know what it was that was causing her to act this way.

They had made their way out into the orchard, and Killyjoy leapt up, tail wagging at the sight of his mistress running.

He barked once, watching as the Witch ran after something that he couldn't see. After a moment, he sat down, curled up and went back to sleep. Whatever it was, she didn't need his help.

The Witch tore after it, the stones and twigs ripping at her feet, the wetness of her blood stinging her skin. She lost all track of time, of place or thought. All she knew was the frigid air filling her lungs in heaving breaths, the pounding of her aching feet and the bounce of the curls of the phantom before her.

Finally they stopped. She leaned heavily against a tree, gasping for air and panting. After a moment she stood up and looked around. "Blast it all, where did you go?" she huffed angrily, closing her eyes. She began to berate herself, realizing her stupidity at running after something that was obviously a hallucination and thinking—

"Well, you managed to catch me, didn't you?"

When the Witch opened her eyes, she started in surprise. She was… she was in her old dorm room at Shiz.

She caught sight of herself in the window and gasped as staring back at her was the eighteen-year old version of herself wearing the dress she had bought once on a whim; long and black with no back and a plunging neckline. She gulped; what was going on? It was the first time in a long time that the Witch hadn't been in control of her feelings, and she didn't like it.

"You look beautiful. Turn around so I can get a better look at you."

No. If she turned around, she'd really know she'd gone over the edge. If she turned around, she'd never be able to wake up. She wouldn't turn around, she wouldn't!

Warm arms wrapped around her waist, and the Witch went rigid as a head laid itself on her back. "Elphaba, why won't you look at me?"

"Because… if I do I know I've finally gone and lost it. I won't have any sanity left to cling to," the Witch breathed out shakily, even as she relaxed into the embrace.

"Oh dear Elphie… always choosing reason over her feelings. Come now, please?" the voice murmured in her ear, gently nibbling on the lobe.

Oh sweet Oz… she knew it. She had to turn around…

…and she did.

There in her arms was the love of her life… the one she had longed for, the one who had filled her mind even when she was with Fiyero.

"Glinda…" she sighed, burying her head into soft golden curls that smelled of cherry shampoo. "Oh Glinda… is it really you?"

"Of course it is, you goose. Who would it be?" the Gillikinese girl said as she looked up at the Witch, the aquamarine eyes she loved smiling at her. If this was indeed a dream, she didn't want to wake up ever again. Let Nanny, Chistery, Liir, the Wizard, Dorothy and everyone else be damned. She was with the woman she loved; let the whole world go to hell without her.

"I'd… I'd always hoped that…" the Witch murmured against the pale forehead, breathing in the familiar scent that was always there in her dreams… "…that we could be together like this…"

"Elphie, darling, what are you talking about?" Glinda replied, looking at her quizzically.

The Witch looked down into her eyes and took a deep breath. Lurline, this was harder than she thought it was going to be. "Glinda… I…"

"Yes?"

"I… I love you. I always have and I always will." There, she'd said it. If it wasn't a dream, maybe she wouldn't be rejected.

"Oh Elphie, I know. I know you do, because I love you too."

The Witch could've burst. She couldn't believe it; Glinda loved her too! "Sweet Oz, please don't let this end!" she begged as she pulled the other woman closer, the sweet burn of her wet tears tracing down her cheeks. She suddenly felt Glinda's tongue on her cheek, gently licking the tears away… and then finally the gentle touch of her sweet lips to her own.

By the Unnamed God, the kiss was everything that the Witch had imagined, and more than that! Glinda's tongue then slipped into her mouth and her own entwined with it as the kiss deepened. She moved her hands over her form and over the soft lace and silk of the other woman's dress. Her hands then slid up and began to fumble with the fastenings of the dress---

And then her hands met only air. What?

She opened her eyes and gasped as she lifted her head up off of her pillow. What had happened?

And then the Witch saw the empty bottle of elixir clutched in her hand, the stopper clutched in the other. She had obviously mistaken it for the other potion she had made and had drunk the whole bottle… which explained why her delusion was so real.

She sat up and stared at the bottle in her hand. She began to shake with anger as her grip tightened around it. "Damn you…"

She looked up at the glass oval that Turtle Heart had made for her on the wall, and in it saw Glinda's gentle face. She leapt up from the bed, threw the bottle onto her desk, strode across the room, snatched it up and shook it.

"Damn you, damn you, damn you DAMN YOU!" the Witch shrieked angrily. She flung open the window and pitched it out the window, watching it sail into the courtyard and smash against the ground, shattering into a million pieces. She began to laugh hysterically; higher and higher, then realized what she had done.

The Witch looked up at the moon and began to cry for real this time, her body trembling with anger, rage, frustration and sadness. She sank to the floor, wrapping her arms around herself, her anguished sobs her only comfort.

Liir had awoken when he'd heard the shatter of glass. He had gone to his window and looked out, seeing the Witch standing in the window. He watched as she laughed, then sunk down onto the floor below the ledge. He heard her sobs, and wondered what it was that made her cry. He got his answer when he heard her voice echoing out across the grounds and across the Vinkus. Liir clutched the blanket tighter around him as he realized that it was the sound of a soul dying, of a heart-breaking…

"GLIIIIIINNNNNNNDDDDDAAAAAAAA!"

And in Gillikin, Lady Glinda sat up in bed, her chest heaving and drenched in sweat as she was taken away from the sweet dream in which she was with her true love.

When she realized that it had been a dream, she too, wept, tears falling down her face as one word escaped her lips in a whispered sob…

"Oh… Oh Elphaba…"

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3/18/2006 9:07 PM Review please! I'll give out cyber hugs!