Staring at her old dorm room made the tears well up in Glinda's eyes once more, bringing back a flood of memories. She had felt reminiscent of her college days ever since touching down at Shiz University; however, going back to her old room took things to a whole new level.
As she had been told, the dorm room had been left intact, almost like a shrine to two of Shiz's most famous alumni. The room was untouched, as neither Glinda nor Elphaba had ever returned to the room to collect their belongings. When they had originally taken that long train ride to the Emerald City, the girls had packed up a few essentials, anything that would be needed for a few days. However, everything else had been left in their dorm room, as they had intended to immediately return. However, as fate would have it, neither girl ever came back to collect their belongings. Elphaba, although she had very few belongings to begin with, was forced to abandon them as she went into hiding, afraid that she would be captured if she showed her face at Shiz. Glinda, on the other hand, had every intention for returning for all her material possessions, but the Wizard graciously promised to replace them all, for she was needed for urgent work in the Emerald City: to uphold the title of Glinda the Good.
Glinda had forgotten about their dorm room and its belongings years ago, but the Wizard's green bottle brought the memories flying back, and being back in the actual room was even harder to deal with. Glinda carefully moved the velvet rope meant to keep students out, and walked into the center of the room. She saw the pink flower barrette sitting on her old vanity, and it reminded her of the time she carefully placed it in Elphaba's dark hair, proving how beautiful she really was. She noticed the bright pink dress laying on her bed, the one she had worn on her first date with Fiyero. She walked over to her bookshelf, filled to the brim with brightly-colored pairs of shoes. Many of the shoes were out of style now, and all of them had collected a considerable amount of dust. She admired them for a moment, realizing how important her footwear used to seem. Everything had changed now, accessories were a miscellaneous detail these days…
Glinda finally pulled herself from her own belongings and turned her attention to Elphaba's half of the room. It seemed clear that Elphaba had not returned since their first meeting with the Wizard, for her few items remained untouched. She slowly walked over to Elphaba's bed, admiring the simplicity of her roommate's taste. Straightening her skirts, Glinda plopped down on Elphaba's old bed, hearing the springs creak beneath her. She turned slowly to the head of the bed, and slowly removed the two pillows. There, laying on the bed as it always had, was the green bottle.
The bottle was always a point of curiosity for Glinda when they were at Shiz University. She had often seen Elphaba pull it out from under her pillow before bed, studying it when she thought Glinda wasn't looking. Once, Glinda even worked up the nerve to ask Elphaba about its origins, and Elphaba had been forthcoming enough to explain that it had belonged to her mother.
Now, as Glinda held the bottle in her hands, she wondered what the connection was between the Wizard and Elphaba's mother. As she had a long time to study the bottle and its liquid, she knew that it was too random to be a coincidence, for she had never seen a bottle like this in her life. There was certainly more to the story, and Glinda was determined to find out.
Despite Glinda's determination, she was unable to stifle her large yawn. Nearly four in the morning now, and after such a long and trying night, Glinda knew it was time for sleep. She slowly stood up and walked to her old closet, located a nightgown from her college days, and quietly changed. She shook her pillows and bedspread, removing any residual dust before climbing under the covers. Glinda did not fear being found, for the students were on summer vacation, so the blonde took one last look around the dorm room, closed her eyes, and let her mind wander as she fell asleep.
Galinda awoke only a few hours later, not long after the sun had risen. She peered around the room, admiring her shoes once again. She started wondering about which classes she had that day, and turned over in bed to look at Elphaba. Only Elphaba wasn't there. Glinda started wondering where her roommate had gone until she saw the pale green ballgown crumpled on the floor. She slowly remembered that this scene was only a ghostly reminder of the past, and that her days at Shiz were long gone.
Although she still felt worn down from last night's events, Glinda forced herself out of bed. Even though the students were gone for the summer, she couldn't be certain that a janitor wouldn't show up and discover her. She sat at her old vanity for a moment, brushing her hair and applying her daily dose of make-up. She considered changing back into her green ballgown, but decided against it. The gown was now dirty, and was too formal to be walking around in during the day. Therefore, Glinda apprehensively glanced into her closet for an appropriate outfit to change into. She finally decided on the cream-colored blouse and skirt that had once served as her school uniform. It was a little dated and out-of-style, but Glinda was rather proud that the outfit still fit her. She plastered on a fake smile as she stared at herself in the mirror, displaying an empty gesture of happiness. It was like a momentary time warp, being in her old dorm room, in her old school uniform. However, Glinda no longer had the same twinkle in her eye, and her face looked aged from the stresses of the last few years. I look old, Glinda realized as she stared at herself. Well, not old like Madame Morrible, she smiled to herself. But time had not been a friend to Glinda, realizing that her youthful glow had probably disappeared quite some time ago.
Finally pulling herself away from the mirror, Glinda reached down to pick up her wand and abandoned her beautiful ballgown as she left the room. As she pulled the door closed, she took one last look in the dorm room, taking a mental picture and letting the memories seep in one last time. Sighing lightly, Glinda finally let the door close behind her. She went back downstairs and out into the Shiz University courtyard, summoning her bubble so she could travel to her next destination.
It took Glinda quite a while to reach her next destination, mostly because she kept changing her mind. In an effort to locate Elphaba, Glinda kept trying to think of the most likely place to look. However, she quickly realized that Elphaba was far too smart for that, that she would be certain to go somewhere unexpected. After all, after being in hiding for all these years, Elphaba must be quite the expert at avoiding others now. Even after Fiyero dedicated all his efforts to finding her…
Glinda stopped herself. She found herself wondering if this whole time, he had just been looking for Elphaba so they could run away together. I wonder if he had always planned on leaving me, she thought sadly, if it was only a matter of time before I was abandoned. Glinda made a last-minutes decision to land her bubble in a small clearing, for she needed to have a good cry. She had been so overwhelmed the last twelve hours that she hadn't really taken the time to let it out. So she sat on a large boulder and cried. She cried without holding back, knowing there was no one around to judge her. She bawled like a young girl, letting the pain wash over her body, hoping to expel it as best she could through her tears.
After about half an hour, the sadness, anger and pain had not left Glinda. In fact, it only exhausted her, which did not do anything to mitigate Glinda's emotional turmoil. However, Glinda seemed to have finally run out of tears, for she couldn't cry anymore. Her tear-stained face was now void of all the make-up she had applied earlier in the day, but Glinda didn't care. She slowly dried her eyes, returned to her bubble, and continued on her journey.
Finally, Glinda saw Munchkinland come into view. The blonde sighed slowly as she descended for a landing, both excited for and dreading her next encounter. As she landed lightly in the town square, she noticed a few of the Munchkins emerge from their homes, looking excitedly at Glinda and her bubble.
It was moments like these where Glinda hated her fame and notoriety. She wanted to run from the town square, to avoid the stares of the Munchkins. She always felt like an animal in a cage at moments like this, being pointed at and stared at like some strange science experiment. However, Glinda knew that the support of the Ozians was all she had, and it was the only thing stopping her from falling to pieces. So she chose to embrace the citizens, plastering the familiar fake smile on her face as the Munchkins approached.
"Look, it's Glinda the Good!" one of the Munchkins cried out happily, causing many others to emerge from their homes.
"Hello fellow Ozians," she offered up her most diplomatic greeting to match her façade of a smile.
"What brings you to our fair city?" one of the older, more regal looking gentlemen asked. Even with his two-foot-high top hat, he was still slightly shorter than Glinda, making her giggle slightly, which she immediately covered up by clearing her throat.
"Well, my dear friends," she continued while smiling, "I was hoping to speak with Governor Thropp."
The Munchkins' smiles were quickly wiped from their faces at the mention of Governor Thropp. "You mean the Wicked Witch of the East?" the Munchkin replied while cringing.
"Well…I…" Glinda tried to respond, but was stumped by their negative reactions. She wanted to correct them, tell them that the governor was truly a good person, but she reminded herself that the satisfaction of the citizens was the key to her popularity. So Glinda chose not to correct them, and instead asked, "So where did you say I could find the Governor?"
The Munchkin pointed to the large, looming house that sat on top of Munchkinland's highest hill. Glinda smiled at the Munchkin, and politely said, "Thank you so much for your kindness! I hope you all have a lovely day!" Even though the sadness and pain still coursed through her body, Glinda had been trained from a young age to put those feelings aside. Glinda continued to smile and wave as the Munchkins returned to their homes, and she walked off towards the Governor's mansion. She finally reached the front door, rang the bell, and waited for someone to answer.
