Title: The Returnance

Author: AoN

Word Count: 5,300

Genre: Drama, Adventure

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: Please and thank you! Let me know what I'm doing right or doing wrong.

Summary: After many celebrations of the Wicked Witch's death, a new evil appears in the wonderful land of Oz, forcing Glinda the Good to confront the decisions she had made in the past and to accept a truth she cannot fully grasp.

Chapter Two

"No good deed goes unpunished. No act of charity goes unresented"

Time was of the essence. The guards would only be gone from their posts for a little while and that is all she needed to sneak into the private chamber. Once inside, she only needed a few minutes more to reassure herself that everything would be alright and then she would be on her way at last.

She willed herself to walk quickly and attempted to do so as quickly as possible. Reality of the matter was that each step echoed horribly off the walls. It was damn near impossible to be anything but noisy. That should not have mattered, the halls were empty and they would continue to be so for a little while longer. No one was around to hear her. That being the case, was she truly making a sound?

No! It was not the time to be philosophical! Not when she was in a race against it and the active guards on duty.

Damnit, was this hallway always this long? It felt as if it had been going on for an eternity – an eternity, just like the last year had been. Having to spend the majority of the last year hiding, truly she had lost track and perhaps even the concept of time.

Focus! It was not the time to let her mind wander either. She could not think about what-ifs and what-could-have-beens, they did not matter. What has happened has happened and she would not change that – she did not have the magic to change it either.

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest when she finally caught sight of the damned door she was looking for. She reached for the knob, turned and pushed it open. Thank Oz it was unlocked. She quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Only then did she allow herself to sigh a sigh of relief. She allowed herself to relax a little, but she still needed to pay attention. If she, herself, was able to get in here this easily, then so could someone else and then this would have been all for nothing. She could not risk that, this was too important to risk everything now.

When her heart rate calmed, she took a step forward into the room, scanning it with her dark eyes. It was messy, but she was positive it was the right one. She walked over to the bed and laid upon it the bundle she had been carrying before pulling back the black hood that hid her emerald features so well. Next, she pulled off the gloves that had served the same purpose. If she had been recognized or spotted, this would have definitely been for nothing.

Elphaba tossed the gloves onto the bed and walked over to the open window. It would be too chilly if it remained open so she took it upon herself to close it. She then picked up the blankets from the floor and piled it neatly on the bed before picking up the bundle and placing it on top on the pile. At this point, she had planned to just leave. It was supposed to be that simple, but Elphaba found herself lingering and asking herself if she was truly doing the right thing.

It was hard not to look at the bundle – at the baby. She could not just keep referring it to as the bundle. She had attempted to keep things as less personal as possible because she knew this was going to be difficult when the day did finally come, but there was no way to not humanize that situation.

She was a mother. And she was abandoning her daughter. Their daughter.

No, Fiyero had told her otherwise.

They would not be able to give this child – this child who thankfully was not green – the life every child so rightfully deserved. They were not abandoning this child. They were not. No. Theirs would be a life of secrecy and hiding. It would not be a life suited for a child who needed to flourish and grow. This was something that they had decided upon when they found out she was with child. They could not bring an entirely innocent creature with them to the other world they would escape to. They did not know what to expect in the other world, they could not put a child through what they would have to endure. So they had quickly settled it, the child would be born in Oz and they would make sure the baby would be taken care for, would be able to have the life any child deserved.

Of course, that rationality would not apply if the child had been green, but thank Oz the little girl did not wash up green. She was just a little lighter than Fiyero – no trace of green, they could continue with her plan. To tell the truth, Elphaba had mixed feelings about the situation. Yes, she wanted to give this child an excellent life and she wanted to provide that for her, personally. Not that she was not this way; she was going to give this child a better life doing this than actually raising the girl herself. A part of her did not want to give her up, but… they had to and… Elphaba could not think of a better person. She could not think of any other person she trusted more – she trusted no one else. It was as simple as that.

Elphaba sighed heavily as she gazed down at the child who stared right back up at her with matching dark brown eyes.

"It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime…"

"I don't know why I feel like I have to explain this to you," Elphaba said softly, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress. "You don't understand, you'll never understand because you'll never know. Glinda already thinks of me dead and for my safety – and yours – I can't tell her the truth, but I know her and I trust her to take you in and be the mother you deserve and need, little one."

The child did not respond, she just watched intently. Since the baby had been born, this was the most Elphaba had spoken to her. It was heart breaking and perhaps, yes, a little wicked of her – for Oz's sake, the child did not even have a name, but they were all precautions.

"Based on my actions, you wouldn't know it, but I do love you, little one," Elphaba reassured. She hesitated at first, but Elphaba ran the back of her finger against the child's soft, pudgy cheek. "Just like I told Glinda… You'll be with me like a hand print on my heart."

Elphaba was about to say more when she heard a thump from outside in the hallway. The guard had returned to his post meaning that the morning opening ceremony was already over. GLinda kept it short – odd. The Glinda Elphaba knew usually had a hard time keeping quiet. Now she was not sure what to do, she had been expecting more time – a longer speech. She could fly out the window, but what if someone spotted her? That would definitely put a damper on things now wouldn't it? All of Oz was celebrating a year free of wickedness. If she were spotted it would send everyone into a frenzy that Glinda would have to later deal with.

Do not panic.

The window was out of the question and there was only one other option – the same way she came in, but she would have to take care of the guard somehow.

How was definitely the question.

She looked down at the child again. The little thing had already fallen asleep without a worry in the world. If only the guard would just do that! If only she had a spell!

That was it.

A spell.

The Grimmerie.

It had to be around here somewhere – she had given the book to Glinda during their last encounter. It would not be needed today, Glinda was only giving speeches today, right? The Grimmerie served no purpose today, so it had to be in this room, but where?

Elphaba was instantly on her feet.

Where would Glinda keep – or hide – the Grimmerie? It definitely was not something she could parade around with. It was an important and extremely dangerous book that could bring chaos if fallen into the wrong hands.

So where was it now?

Elphaba looked around at all the dressers lined along the wall. Why did Glinda need so many clothes? And she knew the second door in the room just had to lead to a walk closet. These were all potential hiding places which was good, of course, but vaguely annoying to Elphaba and her current situation.

One of the draws caught her eye. It was cracked open a little and maybe she should start there. Elphaba quickly and quietly crossed the room and pulled the draw out. Nothing but various articles of random clothing. Glinda was not what you would call organized.

A patch of black caught her eye. Eyebrows furrowing, she brushed aside the colorful clothing and pulled out the patch of black which ended up being her old hat – the hat that started everything.

"So here, out of the goodness of my heart!"

Her heart sunk.

Glinda kept it.

Oh how she wished she could tell her friend the truth! She wanted so badly to just wait here, wait for Glinda to return and then she could tell her everything!

That was not an option.

Well, it was, but it was too risky and would put Glinda in danger. She could not and would not do that to her best friend. It had to be this way; it just had to be this way.

"Glin, I'm so sorry," Elphaba murmured to the hat, momentarily forgetting about her hunt for the Grimmerie. She continued to stare at the hat in her hands. She turned it over a couple of times before glancing over her shoulder towards the bundle sleeping on the bed.

Elphaba may have been going against her better judgment, but… she would not be talking to Glinda directly. She would just be leaving a sign, a signal showing that she was alright – no! Then Glinda would know, then she would be in danger and that is what they wanted to avoid in the first place. As much as she wanted, Glinda would not know.

"I'm sorry, Glin," Elphaba repeated, placing the hat back in the draw and pushing it close. She had to continue her search for the book.

And as she continued her search, the voice in the back of her head kept persisting that she should leave behind something, something only Glinda would understand. Think about how much Glinda was suffering! She thinks and believes her best friend is dead, killed by that wretched little farm girl, that dog and her three companions. She believes that she melted away due to the bucket of water – how ridiculous! Leave a sign! Make her understand!

'No!' the rational part of her mind shouted back, ending the debate once and for all. It was not worth it! Leaving a sign might make Glinda realize the origin of the child. Knowing the origin would also put the child in grave danger. Could you imagine? The daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West – Elphaba shivered at the thought of the witch hunts. Neither the child nor Glinda could know for their own sake.

There, it was settled.

Both Glinda and the child would go on to believe the child was simply of Winkie origin. The baby already had patches of diamonds on her forearms – they did not exactly have a pattern like Fiyero's who guessed that perhaps it was due to the fact that the child was only half Winkie. The child definitely did not have as many diamonds as Fiyero had in his pre-scarecrow days, but Fiyero also guessed that the pattern would form over time, maybe more would appear as well. He did not know and Elphaba was even more clueless than he, but it did not matter. Elphaba had found them beautiful on Fiyero and they were equally beautiful on the child.

Maybe Elphaba was a little biased, but she knew the child would grow up to be beautiful – with Fiyero's skin tone and the diamonds along with her dark eyes and hair (at least they made Nessa tragically beautiful)… That is how she imagined the child – a slightly darker Nessarose who was simply beautiful, no tragic needed.

Yes, Elphaba had done a terrible job at not bonding with the child.

How many draws did Glinda need for the love of Oz! Where was the damn Grimmerie?

Maybe it was not in the room, but then where would Glinda put it? There was still hope, Elphaba still had no been near the walk in closet. This child would never wear the same outfit twice, Elphaba was sure of that much. Poor thing, but she could not help but smile at the idea. The child would be extremely fashionable and a master of tossing her hair. Great.

Alright, the Grimmerie was nowhere to be found in the bedroom itself. Elphaba had no choice but to brace herself for the closet where she faced an uncountable amount of various colorful dresses and shoes. The scary part – the closet was half the size of the actual private chamber and it was entirely full, ready to burst. Did one person really need this much clothing?

Well, maybe if you were Glinda – but even then just maybe.

"Hmm…?"

Something caught her eye. In the corner of the closet, practically hidden by dresses that appeared not to have been worn in a while was yet another dresser. That was it, Glinda clearly had a problem – an addiction if you will.

Giving herself a moment more to think, it finally did dawn on her. That dresser was not the same as the others, it was older and definitely out of place in this closet. It was also pretty hidden – you almost had to be looking for the piece of furniture.

It had to be in there. It was Elphaba's only and last hope. She really had nowhere else to check, there was no other hiding spot to turn over unless the book was tucked away in between dresses. No, it had to be there. It just had to be there.

Elphaba quickly crossed the closet, nearly tripping over a random pair of heels that were scattered on the floor. Glinda's habits definitely had not changed since their Shiz days – if Elphaba did not constantly tidy the room, they would have been lost in a sea of Glinda's personal belongings long ago. That did not exactly matter at the moment, no. Elphaba pushed the dresses aside, fully exposing the old dresser to the light of the closet when Elphaba momentarily had a panic attack – if this thing had a lock… No, it did not, she would not have to track down a key. Good.

Pulling the draws out proved to be a little difficult. The top was nearly stuck, but became free after a good yank. It was also empty – two more to go. The second was stuck also, but it was packed to the brink. It too finally came out after a couple good pulls and the problem had been caused by moth eaten blankets. Why did Glinda have moth eaten blankets to begin with? That did not seem like her. Elphaba was on to something.

Heart pounding furiously against her chest, Elphaba took the old blankets out. Removing a couple revealed two small green bottles. Her eyebrows furrowed, she was well aware of the existence of one of these bottles – it had been a keep sake, a reminder of her mother. Carefully, afraid they would break at her touch, Elphaba picked them up and examined them closely.

They were completely identical, every single detail was the same, but why were there two? Did Glinda have the other specially made to serve as her own keep sake? But why? The hat was more personal to them, right? And frankly, Glinda had teased her about this bottle when they were both university students. Well, she teased her with the hat also, but that was an entire different story.

As much as she wanted to continue pondering the existence of the second bottle, Elphaba knew she could not. She carefully placed both of them on top of the blankets she had already taken out and rested on the dresser. Pulling back another blanket, Elphaba's heart skipped a beat.

There it was.

The Grimmerie.

With shaky hands, Elphaba picked up the book and immediately opened it. She instantly began flipping through pages. She was not exactly sure what she was looking for, anything that would be useful and she had to be careful. Spells were not reversible – a lesson she had learned first hand

Those poor monkeys.

Boq.

Fiyero.

The first two were truly tragic events. The monkeys, she meant them no harm, she had been tricked, and Boq… She had been trying to help him, trying to fix what Nessa had done, but he was lead to believe that Elphaba was behind it all – her and her wickedness. The last case… her precious Fiyero… it had been the only good deed to come from using the book. It saved his life. She saved his life. Elphaba had always been one to believe that looks simply did not matter, she was just glad that she was alive and still with her. If he had not survived, she was not sure where she would be.

Elphaba stopped flipping when a certain spell caught her eye. She glanced it over and reread it. This would do and would not cause harm to the guard outside, but it would give her an opportunity to sneak out of the room – and the palace in general. She reread the spell multiple times, committing it to memory, after all, she could not take the book with her. Once she was able to recite it from memory, she attempted to put everything back the way it was before, they way she found it.

Walking out of the closet, Elphaba closed and leaned up against the door. Her eyes had settled on the quiet sleeping bundle on the bed. She had mentally prepared herself for this moment, but truth be told, one really could not prepare themselves for this.

"For her own good," Elphaba reminded herself as she walked over to the bed. She picked up and pulled on the gloves, hiding her green hands and wrists. She even tugged down on her sleeve to make sure not an inch of green was showing, she could not be spotted. No one could know she was here at all.

She tried not to glance over at the sleeping child, but a part of her wanted that final glance, a mental imagine she would hold dear for the rest of time.

"It well may be that we'll never meet again in this life time…"

Elphaba was attempting to convince herself that she did deserve that last glance while the voice in the back of her mind was reassuring that she truly did not. Laying before her was a nameless child that she barely held at all, but that was all for her own good! Wasn't it…? Why would she allow the child to bond and fall in love when her birth parents had already decided to abandon her months before she actually arrived into the world?

No, they were not abandoning her!

They were giving the child a life they were not able to provide. This way the girl would grow up with no connection to the Wicked Witch of the West. She would not be discriminated against due to her heritage, she would grow up fearing the Witch like all other Ozians – and she would be like all other Ozians. Glinda promised she would not under any circumstance clear Elphaba's name.

BAM!

"Oh sweet Oz!" Elphaba hissed, nearly jumping out of her skin. Her heart was beating rapidly against her chest – did the guard drop his weapon in the hallway? Whatever the case, Elphaba needed to get out of here.

"Little one," she said softly, turning to the slumbering child. In the end, Elphaba did dserve it – she had the child's best interest at heart. Her eyes began to sting as she expected them to. She leaned over and placed a kiss on the girl's forehead. "Make me proud, make Oz a better place…"

Not wanting to prolong the moment any more, Elphaba quickly walked over to the door, pulling her hood up and over her head. She sighed heavily and grasped the knob. It was now or never.

She cracked the door open slightly, catching the guard's attention. "Direct orders form Glinda," Elphaba stated. "No one is to enter her private chamber for the rest of day."

"What? Who-"

Elphaba had immediately started chanting and soon enough, the guard had collapsed on to the floor. He would be out for a while and hopefully when he woke, he would go straight to Glinda to report the happenings. She pulled the door open to confirm that the guard had passed out; he had fallen into a deep slumber. He would awaken hours from now feeling well rested – there should not be any negative consequences to the spell.

And if there were, did it matter?

"Let all of Oz be agreed, I'm wicked through and through…"

The Ozians had no trouble embracing her wickedness, why shouldn't she? After all, they were out, or would be out, in full force today celebrating it.

"I swear someday there'll be, a celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with me!"

A celebration indeed, Elphaba thought, slipping through and closing the door. It definitely was not the one she had hoped for, needless to say, but she did technically get what she wished for. Ozians are celebrating today because of her and her downfall. Allow them to – Elphaba did not care about what they thought about her, not as long the people she cared about were safe.

Moving quickly down the hall and to the stair case, Elphaba's eyes were darting back and forth, attentive, positive that there would be more guards on duty. If anything, they would be posted at the entrance – may be security would be more lax inside. Obviously, finding the guard right outside Glinda's chamber would be enough to prove that theory wrong, but Glinda was a public figure – her private chamber would be guarded, but the rest of the place? She assumed guards would have to be present at all the ceremonies today, especially where Glinda would be making public appearances. Therefore, less guards here.

Whatever the case, Elphaba should be prepared for the worst situation. She glided down the stairs, no other soul in sight. So far, so good. Now she would just had another million hallways and staircases to navigate her way through – this place was a maze, even more so when she was trying to sneak out through the backdoor. Ultimately, Elphaba wanted to be sneaking her way through a hidden passage leading her to the outskirts the palace's grounds, just outside the walls. It was an escape route they learned that the Wizard himself planned – just in case. Of course he did. If the people of Oz had not believed in him, then he would have needed a way out, right?

Damn sneaky bastard.

Why would Glinda stay in such a place?

It took her a little bit longer than expected to reach the entrance to the hidden passage, mostly due to sneaking past guards. She did not want to bewitch any if it was not needed; the only one she had to was the guard standing watch at the entrance she needed.

Elphaba, with a little difficulty since it was a little stuck from disuse, pulled the heavy door open and closed it behind her, finding herself in a narrow hall where the walls were emitting an emerald glow. The child had been cooing loudly in this hall, she had truly enjoyed it. It definitely seemed emptier now without the cooing.

She took the hall in a slow run, wanting to move quickly, but also remain incredibly silent as well. This hall echoed just as much as the ones inside, more even and if there was a guard on the outside, she did not want to give him an advantage of any kind. She even slowed down some when she knew she was close and walked up the small amount of steps, bracing herself and ready to chant, but no guard emerged.

In fact, the guard was already knocked out at the foot of the exit. Elphaba's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stared down at the fallen guard.

"Fae!" someone hissed.

Elphaba's attention immediately jerked up at the voice belonging to her beloved scarecrow – was he holding a wooden stake? "Yero?" she replied, putting the details together. "Fiyero! Tell me you didn't!" she hissed back, glancing back down at the guard.

"Alright, I won't," Fiyero answered simply, tossing his makeshit weapon on the ground. "He thought I was a scarecrow – a real one, he didn't see that coming."

"You really are brainless, you know that, right?"

"Who is going to believe that he was attacked by a scarecrow?" Fiyero shot back.

"If Glinda finds out-" Elphaba began.

"If Glinda finds out, she won't figure out it was us," Fiyero pointed out. "She doesn't know I'm a scarecrow, Fae. She believes I'm dead, we're dead."

That last statement lingered in the air for a moment.

Then Fiyero continued. "The only thing she'd conclude is that the scarecrow who helped Dorothy snuck into the palace."

A dark look passed over Elphaba's face and Fiyero knew why – he mentioned the wretched little farm girl's name which was recalling Nessa and her tragic death for certain.

"And then that wouldn't even matter," he went on. "They'll be able to find Biq-"

"Boq," Elphaba automatically corrected.

"Boq," Fiyero repeated. "They can find him and Brr, but they don't know anything. They may trace her to me, the Scarecrow, but not to Fiyero. So they won't be able to trace her to you-"

"To the Wicked Witch-"

"Don't call yourself that, Fae."

"If she's traced to Elphaba Thropp, then only Glinda would know, if she's related to the Witch, she's in danger," Elphaba pointed out. "All of Oz would hunt her down because of me."

Fiyero sighed heavily, knowing that there was nothing he could do to get her to change her mind. Elphaba was always stubbornly set in her ways, but it did not hurt to try. "If the circumstances were different, if she knew her cultural background, she would've been very proud to call you her mother, Fae, especially for what you've tried to do to better Oz," he reassured, reaching out to lower her hood which she quickly pulled back up.

"Are you crazy?" she automatically snapped. "If I'm spotted then this would be all for nothing!"

"Fae, trust me – you're head-to-toe cladded in black, it already looks odd," Fiyero snapped back. The tension between them had been high the last few days leading up to this plan.

"Yero, we need to get out of here," Elphaba said, clearly annoyed. "Oz knows how long we've put it off already."

"Are you ready?" he asked, holding out his hand. "We can never come back to Oz."

Elphaba, who was looking down at his hand, really did not need that reminder. Her eyes trailed away as she glanced over her shoulder toward the exit she had come through. Her gaze lingered there for a moment before returning to Fiyero. Finally, she reached out and took his hand. They had no idea where they were going, but they would be together and the little one would be safe regardless. Their eyes met and they both nodded. Elphaba lowered her head and closed her eyes as she began to concentrate and focus.

Although her eyes were indeed closed, Elphaba was still blinded by an extremely bright light causing her to shut them even tighter. It did not end there, the next moment it felt as if someone had set her entire body on fire. She bit down on her lip, trying to suppress a scream. She knew Fiyero was experiencing the same thing because she heard him yelp in front of her. Before she could give his hand a small squeeze to remind him that she was still here, a force separated them and Elphaba gasped.

Instantly, her eyes snapped open and she tumbled forward. The bright light had disappeared, so had Oz and Elphaba now found herself in a forest wilderness she was not familiar with.

Wait a tik-toc…

Where was…?

"Fiyero?" Elphaba called out, a little frantic. "Fiyero, where are you!"

"Fae?" she heard the bush in front of her mumble. For a split moment, she was convinced he had been turned into the plant somehow until he stumbled his way out. Immediately, she covered her mouth with her hands – she could not believe what she was seeing.

There was no straw. No stuffing – there were no diamonds either, but Fiyero was standing before her, the Fiyero before she had casted that spell that saved his life. "Yero…"

"Oh, Elphaba…"

Fiyero was looking back at her with a matched expression of disbelief on his face. He took the few steps that separated the two of them and took her gloved hands into his own.

"I can't believe it either, Yero – you're not a scarecrow anymore."

He did not respond. Yes, he was surprised as well, but for a whole other matter. He ignored her statement and looked down at their hands. He pulled off one of her gloves and held up her hand.

Her non-green hand.

Elphaba's eyes widened. No, this was not her – yes, she double checked. It was her hand. Shaking uncontrollably, she removed her other glove. No green.

She had been degreenified…

xxxxxx

The sun had gone down and evening had already approached throughout Oz. The palace had spent the day mostly in silence and the child mostly asleep. It was not until the fireworks had gone off that the child was rudely awaken. In fright, she began to whine and cry.

The young child was not the only one to wake. The guard outside had jolted from his sleep. He quickly took his post again, embarrassed that he had fallen asleep on duty. Just how long had he been asleep for?

When the fireworks died down, he was able to hear the strange noises coming from within Lady GLinda's private chamber. Someone, something was inside! The guard was about to burst into the room when he recalled the orders he had been given – no one was to enter the room.

Something was not right.

He had to find Lady Glinda.

There had been a breach in security

To be continued