Glinda floated home is a bubble full of questions. She was debating with herself as to whether or not she should try to find Elphaba or leave her to live out her life with Fiyero. At least now she knew that Elphie was alive, or at least, that she had survived the melting.

When she arrived at the Emerald city she was greeted with hundreds of smiling faces and warm words of welcome.

"Oh Glinda we missed you so!"

"Glinda give us a smile please!"

And so on and so forth. But Glinda was melancholy. She trudged up the stairs to her bedroom and almost ran straight into Boq, the Tin Man.

"Miss Glinda! I have been looking for you everywhere, where in Oz have you been all day?"

"I had business in the West Biq which is none of your concern."

"But Miss Glinda we have all sorts of problems, we need your final decision on the theme colours for the midsummer ball next week and Lion wants you to help him choose a bow tie to wear to the Celebratory Dinner tonight and…"

"Biq I cannot deal with this right now." Glinda said and promptly slammed her bedroom door in his face. Then she flung herself dramatically onto the bed and pounded her tiny fists into one of the feather pillows a couple of times.

The next morning she sat at her looking-glass while an array of servants fixed her makeup and her hair. None of them noticed that she wasn't her usual bubbly self. (See what I did there?)

By eight o'clock she was looking perfect and polished in another extravagant gown and glittering tiara. By nine o'clock she was signing decrees that she knew nothing about. By eleven she was discussing foreign trade with the Lion who was still grumpy because, without Glida's advice, he had chosen to wear a puce bow tie which clashed terribly with his skin tone. By one she was trying to eat her lunch in a lady like manner, which is impossible when your lunch is Buffalo wings, it just doesn't work. By two she had made her decision. She was leaving. There was nothing for her here in Oz, she had no real friends and though everyone loved her she had never felt more alone in her whole life.

So, instead of attending the palace musical production of the life of Ozma of Oz she grabbed her wand and her book again and flew out the window.

When Boq came to find her that afternoon he found an empty room and a pink note. It read:

"Fellow Ozians, I regret to inform you that I have taken an extended leave of absence and am not sure at all when I shall return to the Emerald City, if ever. The reason for this absence is simple; I have left to find my best friend, Elphaba, or as you know her, the wicked witch of the west. My dear people, she is not wicked at all and I will explain to you why when I return with Elphaba and Fiyero again. Until that day, farewell and adieu, Your Glinda the Good xxxxxxx"

Boq read the note once, twice, a third time and then crumpled it, ripped it and threw it into the fireplace. Oz was his now.

Glinda was flying towards the castle once more but this time she knew what she had to do. Elphaba and Fiyero wouldn't have been able to leave the castle without being seen so they must have found a way to get over the Rainbow from there. The Wizard had done it, and that little girl, what's-her-name, why couldn't she? Sure, she didn't have a balloon or a pair of ruby slippers but she did have a bubble and that was infinitely better.

Elphaba was standing at her kitchen sink scrubbing a soup tureen. Out the window she could see Fiyero standing in their corn field. She waved at him.

There were a few good things about living in this world, for one, her skin wasn't green here, because, well, nothing was green there, or any other colour for that matter. She just looked a slightly darker brown than everyone else. Also nobody ever tried to kill her or her boyfriend or called them wicked, of course, they hardly ever saw anyone else; the nearest farm was an hour's walk away and they couldn't even nearly afford a car.

There were things she missed though, like singing and dancing, colours, her books and, of course, her only friend, Glinda.

It was crazy and she knew that. Why on earth did she miss that annoying little pink puff of a girl? The girl who didn't even know she was still alive. Even though she tried not to, Elphaba remembered the look on Glinda's face that last moment before she left for the third time that day. No matter how much time passed she could never get that image out of her head and she would never in a million years forgive Fiyero for not letting her tell Glinda that she was alive. And for what? Who on earth was going to come out here to find them? And even if they did there was no way that anyone would recognise her now without her green skin and in her new gingham wardrobe.

She sighed, it was pointless to deny, she was depressed. She hated their house that was falling apart at the seams, she hated being so alone and she hated farming. Farming was the worst.

She looked up at the sky and something there glittered. A tiny speck that reflected the sunlight. A tiny speck that started to grow until it was a tiny bubble. A tiny bubble that floated ever so lightly over their picket fence and landed on the front porch with a grace that could only mean one thing. Glinda had come to visit.

Elphaba dropped her tureen into the sink spraying water all over the kitchen bench and her apron. She ran outside so quickly that she tripped on their door mat and fell straight into Glinda's arms.

"Elphie!"

"Glinda!"

They were both weeping instantaneously and hugging each other with such a force that Glinda's dress was getting crinkled.

"How on earth did you find me?"

"I just followed your trail of destruction until I saw this dump of a shack and I thought who else could possibly live somewhere as tacky as that?"

"Thanks a lot," said Elphaba, breaking free from the embrace.

"Goodness Elphie, you look so washed out."

"It's not just me, look in the mirror."

Glinda stepped inside and looked in the hallway mirror.

Then she screamed.

Then she fainted.