Glinda's back was sore. The dull, throbbing pain of her shoulder muscles was pulling the blonde from sleep's warm embrace. As consciousness returned Glinda realized that she was lying on a bed. Not only that, but something soft and oddly scratchy was pressing against her aching shoulders. Feathers? But why would there be so many feathers on a bed? Had someone shredded the pillows?
Curious Glinda pried her eyes open. She was immediately met with a worried, green face, bathed in the soft glow of twilight. "Glin!" Elphaba exclaimed softly. "You're awake."
"Uh huh," the blonde confirmed. She was surprised that her voice was scratchy, as though she'd been crying. The room in which Glinda found herself was furnished with opulent quoxwood furniture and decked out in relaxing shades of turquoise, jade, and lime. She shook her head, disoriented. "What happened? Where are we?" Elphaba flinched.
"We're in the Emerald City."
Everything came rushing back in a fearful wave. The last thing Glinda remembered was immeasurable pain exploding across her back. Panicked, the petite girl shot upright in bed. Two large, golden objects whooshed erect along with her. She could make out yellow feathers at the edges of her vision.
"Elphie what's going on?" Glinda whimpered. A pale hand reached tentatively towards her back. It encountered two bony expanses of muscle and down. Wings.
The blonde's eyes widened with horror just as Elphaba began to tear up. "I'm so sorry Glinda," she wept. "It was a total accident. I didn't mean to hurt you."
Glinda didn't react. Her features were nothing more than a stiff mask of absolute shock. Totally overwhelmed her body began to shake violently. Elphaba rushed forward to embrace the shivering witch. "I'm sorry," she murmured, rocking her friend. "I'm so sorry Glin. I promise I'll find a way to reverse this. I won't rest until everything is fixed." The green woman repeated these words like a mantra, as if enough repetitions could make them true.
Glinda knew otherwise. Even as Elphaba swore up and down that this wasn't permanent Madame Morrible's words drowned out every empty promise.
You can't reverse a spell; spells are irreversible.
Eventually, after several long, surreal moments, the blonde returned to reality. Her frozen limbs went limp in Elphaba's arms and she began to sob. It was in this messy position that the Wizard of Oz found his two guests upon entering their suite.
The emerald girl detected him first. Her piercing hazel eyes narrowed balefully into his. "I'm sorry to interrupt," he defended quietly. The unintimidating man held up a tray of luxurious, palace food. "I heard that Miss Upland had been given a clean bill of health and thought you girls might be hungry."
Elphaba looked down at Glinda's prone, sniffling form. Her wings, which had been cleaned and now matched the blonde's hair color exactly, drooped pitifully. Glinda seemed to understand that her protective friend was seeking confirmation, so she gave a weak nod. "I'm a little hungry."
With that prompt the Wizard set his offerings down on a nearby quoxwood table. "What would you like to drink?" he questioned brightly. "I brought tea, hot chocolate, water, juice…"
"Leave the food and go," Elphaba growled. The Wizard's face crumpled.
"I understand that you don't trust me," he responded. "Really I do. What you went through in that attic was my fault; I shouldn't have pressured you so in the throne room. Please understand that I just want to help." The girls gave no outwards sign that his words had made a difference, so Oz's ruler left them to their dinner.
By now Glinda had taken steps towards regaining her composure. She'd stopped crying for long enough that Elphaba thought it ok to prepare a mug of hot cocoa. The blonde took it gratefully. For several long, agonizing minutes they sat in silence.
"Can you ever forgive me?" Elphaba's voice quivered as she voiced the query that had been plaguing her for hours. Glinda took one look at her friend's terrified expression and managed a weak smile.
"I always wanted fairy wings when I was little. Sometimes I would grab the ends of a yellow towel, hang it over my shoulders, and pretend to be an angel."
"You didn't answer my question."
"It was an accident Elphie, and you're my best friend."
The green woman's shoulders slumped with profound relief. "Thank you." Glinda nodded feebly and slipped off the bed. She stretched one wing sideways to examine it. Directing an extra pair of appendages felt distinctively strange, but the magic seemed to have wired wing control into Glinda's brain.
"They're actually kinda pretty," the blonde observed. "Not like those grotesque, batish things on Chistery." Another pang of guilt rippled through Elphaba's chest. Until now she'd all but forgotten about the Monkey. "Do you think people will stare?"
"Not like they stare at me. They'll probably think you're an angel."
Glinda's eyes brightened considerably at this comment. "Really?"
"Boq will think he's died and gone to heaven." The blonde grinned for a moment, but then an unpleasant notion fouled her smile.
"Will we go back to Shiz?"
"I don't think the Wizard will let us. We know too much."
"He told us he wanted to help," Glinda pointed out optimistically.
"He also told Oz that he's an all powerful Wizard." Elphaba's voice was edged with razors. "I don't trust that man. There's probably a battalion of guards outside our room."
"So what will we do?"
There was no response. The tidal wave of emotions she'd endured that day had extinguished the inner flame that fueled Elphaba's fiery purpose and blazing passion. She was spent. "I don't know," the thin witch admitted wearily. "For now let's just eat some food and go to bed."
"Sounds good to me," Glinda agreed.
/
After such a trying day the girls slept together on the suite's decedent, emerald bed. It took Glinda awhile to situate her wings comfortably. She eventually wrapped them around her and Elphaba like a giant, downy duvet. They were exhausted and even the green woman's innate wariness couldn't keep her awake for very long.
Once both witches had drifted off a shadowy figure cracked open the door to their room.
So how was it? Ideas and suggestions welcome!