The room was destroyed. Clothes, furniture, and shoes were strewn everywhere. Everything in the room was either disheveled, up ended, or open. It looked like a tornado hit it. The act of nature was still currently whirling about the room, a pink tornado with blonde curls. Where she went destruction followed.
Glinda the Good was currently doing something she almost never did; not caring about her appearance. Normally arranged just so to give off the appearance of warmth but otherworldliness; she was in the same shape as the room. Her blonde locks were falling out of their style, her gloves had crumpled down to her wrists, and her pink, fluffy dress was hiked into one hand. She also darted from place to place. Glinda never darted; glided, floated or (on some occasions) sashayed, but never darted. It simply was unbecoming and gave off the air of worrying
Which was precisely what Glinda was doing. Actually, worrying was too mild a word. Glinda was desperate; desperately looking for something. Something she was never without. She flipped a hope chest without a thought. She did not find it, and grew more distraught. She could not even call for help or ask her ladies-in-waiting; they could not know she had it. But as she grabbed the upside down hope chest and shook free its contents she gave into despair. She balled her beautifully manicured hands into fists and crushed her eyes shut to fight off the tears. She was already flushed from the exertion and emotion; she could not have red eyes from crying.
Glinda threw open her eyes and hands. Why hadn't she thought of it sooner? She darted to her armoire and opened the compartment hidden in its base. In previous Upland's women's care it had housed jewels, ivory, or love letters. In Glinda's care it held something vastly more precious. A hat and a book. She picked up the hat and went to place it aside, but paused. Instead, she brought it close to her and inhaled deeply. She closed her eyes. The scent of her old friend still lingered slightly. She let out a deep sigh (now a bit calmer), opened her eyes, and replaced the hat. From the compartment she withdrew the book. The Grimmerie.
She righted her sewing desk and placed the book upon it. The cover still gave her chills when she touched it. After a few years of study she could grasp pieces of it; something she was proud of. Madame Morrible had told her she did not have the knack for sorcery but she showed her. With a lot of help from Elphaba. Glinda's mind wandered back to Shiz and the long nights studying, and then to a few years ago when her friend had handed her the book. Enclosed she had put a translation and pronunciation key of the levitation spell, her notes, and what looked like a key. Glinda had studied it every night, regardless of how tired she was (and her hatred for studying). Elphaba had thought it important, so she did it for her friend. And now, it would do something for her.
She lifted the cover and the book seemed to stick to itself. That was strange, since Glinda took immaculate care of it. She looked at the page it opened to, and for once the words did not seem to swim before her eyes, or change shape. They crystalized until Glinda could easily make them out.
"To Call the Lost Forward." She murmured, reading the title. That seemed like it would work. She began to chant the spell using her own intonations. While Madam Morrible sounded condemning, and Elphaba sultry, Glinda was light, musical. Like a cloud on a beautiful summer day. Glinda felt the power begin to rise, gathering from all directions. The breeze flowed through her; the ground rose up to engulf her; the sky cascaded into her. As she near the end of the spell her hair rose and she felt the sizzle and pop of the magic releasing. Something appeared in her hand and she closed her eyes at the familiarity, taking comfort in it. She felt a shift in the floor in front of her. She opened her eyes to see a scarecrow's face.
"Scarecrow?" Glinda said quizzically.
"Glinda…" was his reply, and she saw his eyes widen. He sounded different. Glinda was not sure this was the same scarecrow as the one who had accompanied Dorothy.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, putting on her Glinda the Good voice. She realized it may seem strange since she was in such disarray but it was a familiar fallback.
"I don't know. I was in the garden, picking vegetables for…" he trailed off and Glinda saw his eyes dart to something behind her. She started to turn. "Glinda! No, don't!"
But it was too late. She saw what, or rather who, he was looking at. A tall woman, draped in a light cream frock. There was nothing particularly notable about her appearance, aside from she was green.
"Elphie?" Glinda said, tears welling up into her eyes.
"Glinda, wait…" Elphaba's reply was cut short as Glinda threw herself at her, and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
"Elphie, I've missed you so much." She sobbed into Elphaba's chest. Elphaba stroked her hair (while noticing its disheveled appearance).
"I know. I'm sorry I had to trick you into thinking I died but-"
"Elphie, please" Glinda cut her off, lightly thumping her on her chest. "Do you really think me that airheaded? At first I was sad, but on my way back to the Emerald City I started thinking-"
"The horror." Elphaba deadpanned, and was thumped again.
"I started thinking about you being melted and realized: I've seen you get wet plenty of times!"
"Glinda, you never saw me get wet. I never went swimming, or got caught in the rain."
"Elphie, I lived with you for two years. You don't think I'd have noticed if you hadn't taken a shower?"
"Glinda, I never took a shower when you were around." There was a pause. "I'm not very comfortable with people seeing my body."
"That's true, but I'm not clueless enough to miss the puddles you left on the bathroom floor because of your annoying habit of not drying off completely, or that you started using my rose shampoo after I made you over."
"Actually, I did that the first week." Elphaba replied sheepishly. "I wanted to get back at you, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. It just made my hair feel so nice I kept using it."
"Hmph. That's why your hair looked so terrible when I saw you at the Emerald Palace. You weren't taking care of it."
"I was a bit preoccupied."
"I can understand that. But now you're back. And I've missed you so much. It's been so hard these last five years without you. I couldn't even leave to look for you! People would have noticed!"
"You were never inconspicuous, I'll give you that. But Glinda, you know I used to oil my skin. You even helped a few times. How did you know I didn't clean myself like that?" Elphaba: ever the logical debater. Glinda did not respond, simply tucked her head closer into Elphaba's chest and mumbled something.
"Pardon."
She mumbled something again but this time Elphaba caught "how far" and "green". Elphaba began to chuckle. Glinda thumped her a third time, glared at her, and turned away in a huff. Adorably.
"It was Pfanee and Shenshen's idea! They wanted to know!" she pouted.
"Before we were even friends? Why, Miss Glinda? How scandal- wait, how did you put it- oh, right- how scandalacious?" Elphaba chuckled again, and leaned close to Glinda ear. "Did you satisfy your curiosity?" she asked in that low voice she could get.
Glinda jumped and took a few steps away. "There was so much steam I couldn't see anything!" she replied huffily. Elphaba let out a peal of laughter in that hideous tone she could get (Really, such vocal range! thought Glinda) and the scarecrow began to chuckle along.
"And why are you here?" Glinda said sharply, mostly trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Glinda." Elphaba's voice was husky and Glinda turned to look at her. "Scarecrow… Fiyero…"she stopped and looked down. Glinda looked to the scarecrow and back to Elphaba.
"What about Fiyero?" she breathed, but Elphaba shook her head, and Glinda looked back to the scarecrow. He smiled and stepped towards her, doing a twirl in the process and ending in a bow. He then looked into her eyes.
"You're still as beautiful as ever, Glinda." He said, and Glinda froze. She knew him. It was Fiyero.
"But…But…" Glinda swooned. She dimly heard someone who sounded like Fiyero yell "Grab her!" before everything went black.
She came back to see the Scarecrow – no, Fiyero – fanning her with his hat. She also noticed she was cradled in Elphaba's lap on the floor. He smiled as he noticed her come around and she reached up to touch his face.
"Oh, my poor Fiyero. What did they do to you?"
"Actually, it was me." Elphaba said quietly and her face tightened. "My spell did this to him."
"Why?" Glinda asked.
"To save me." Fiyero replied, "They tortured me and left me to die in that field. They didn't need to, either. They knew where Elphaba was hiding. They did it merely to punish me. Anyway, I passed out and thought it was the end. When I came to I saw a little girl with a large, brown rat following her. I don't know what made me talk to her, but the rest, as they say, is history."
"Oh, Fiyero." Glinda said, and tears began to fall.
"Now don't cry for me."
"But how? It's so sad. I can't imagine how you feel."
Fiyero cracked a smile. "Don't you know, my dear, that I'm always happy?"
Glinda managed to eke out a little laugh, and pulled him close in a hug. He hugged her back and, when Elphaba joined, they stayed like that for a long time.
