a.n. I'm baaaaaack! Have you missed me? OMG! So many reviews! I'm almost overwhelmed! BIG THANK YOU'S to ALL my reviewers, more plot in this chapter! But sadly, led Gelphie, oh well, you can't have it all, in the next chapter probably.
Disclaimer: When I own wicked I will be sure to let you know
Elphaba woke to sunlight streaming through the curtains, all signs of the storm of the previous night gone. She looked to her right and saw Glinda, with her arms still around her from her terror the night before. She smiled at the memory. There was only one person who had always been there for her, and that was Glinda. She looked so peaceful in sleep. Did everyone look younger sleeping? Because right now Glinda could be the eighteen year old Galinda that Elphaba had roomed with at Shiz.
Glinda suddenly gave a slight stretch, groaned and woke up. On seeing Elphaba lying beside her she smiled, "Good morning."
Elphaba grinned back, "Morning."
"Are you okay now? You were pretty scared last night."
Elphaba looked embarrassed, "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine."
"Now what's wrong? What are you so embarrassed about?"
Elphaba looked uncomfortable, "No one's ever seen me like that. I put up so many barriers to stop it, and you manage to get past them all."
"It's a gift." said Glinda, her eyes sparkling mischievously. They sat in comfortable silence before deciding to get changed into their day clothes, one at a time while the other turned their back.
"So, what have you got to do today?" asked Elphaba as Glinda changed.
Glinda had to think for a moment, "Well, I suppose I need to be seen at the celebrations of the death of the Wicked Witch of the West, they'll still be going on. I think the Witch hunters should be back already, I'll need to thank them personally. But other than that, I'll have to look happy in front of the Ozians and miserable in front of the Wizard and Morrible, so they don't suspect anything. You can turn around now."
Elphaba smirked at her, "You've put a lot of thought into that my sweet."
"I just thought about what I would be doing if you were actually dead."
Elphaba was about to reply when there was a knock at the door followed by an inquiring voice, "Lady Glinda? I need to speak with you."
The witches looked at each other in panic, "Hide!" hissed Glinda, causing Elphaba to hurl herself under the bed.
"Who is it?" sang Glinda in a falsely bright voice.
"It's the Scarecrow. Lady Glinda, can I come in?"
"Little bit foreword isn't he?" grumbled Elphaba from under the bed, "After all, you haven't officially met."
"Uum, just a minute! I'm getting dressed," She replied to the straw man still in a false high voice, "Get further under!" she hissed to Elphaba, "If I can see you so could he."
Elphaba rolled her eyes and sided further under the bed until she was completely out of view, Glinda sighed in relief and opened the door. The straw man stood in the doorway looking as troubled as a scarecrow could. "Can I come in? I don't want anyone to overhear."
Glinda nodded mutely, looking thoroughly confused, stepping aside to allow him entry, "What is the matter master Scarecrow? You should be festivating with the Ozians, they'd love to see you."
The scarecrow merely looked at her for a second, "How can you do this Glinda?"
Glinda looked bewildered, "How can I do what?"
"How can you sit there, looking so happy and cheerful? I thought you were a horrible liar, but right now, from the look on your face she might not be dead. I swear, Glinda, I didn't mean to, I couldn't remember who I was or what happened and now she's gone, and it's my fault." He looked on the verge of hyperventilation.
Glinda stared at him strangely, "Who? The wicked witch?! Of course I'm happy master Scarecrow; at last she's dead and gone. We can now live in peace once more." Elphie you know I don't mean it.
The straw man stared at her with a pained expression, "Glinda, it's me."
Glinda was on the verge of uttering an undignified 'huh?' when diplomacy kicked in, "Well of course it's you Scarecrow, you can't be anyone but you."
"Glinda, I'm Fiyero."
"WHAT?!?" screamed Glinda deafeningly, at the exact same moment there was a 'thump' from under the bed, as if someone had hit their head.
Fiyero looked at the bed in confusion, then dismissed it. "I was dying, after what happened in the cornfield they took me away to beat me for information. Then suddenly I felt different. The hits didn't hurt any more, and I felt numb. The soldiers all screamed and ran away, and I lost all memory of my life before being turned into a scarecrow. When Dorothy turned up, I joined up with her crew to try and regain my memory. I remember now, and I wish I didn't. She's dead Glinda." He was on the verge of tears now.
Glinda had regained herself somewhat, "Fascinating theory though that is master Scarecrow-" the use of this name did not go unnoticed, "Is there any way you can prove it?"
"Uuuumm, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, something only you and I know, something only you and I know… OH! The Wizard and Morrible lied about what happened when Elphaba ran away. You followed her up to the roof and you barricaded yourselves into the attic, before she enchanted a broom to fly and asked you to go with her, but you were too scared. You told me that every day and night you wished you could have gone with her."
Glinda stared at him for a moment, then grabbed him in such a huge hug that it would have broken his ribs, if he had them, "Oh Fiyero! I've missed you!"
He hugged her back, though not quite as hard, "I've missed you too Glinda. I'm sorry about leaving you, I really am, but I don't love you that way. I don't think I did Elphaba either, it's just, if there's one thing I can't do, its lie about someone I care about. I would never have let people say those kinds of things about you, so how could I Elphaba? You're like the sisters I never had."
Glinda smiled at him with tears in her eyes, "Why Fiyero, do believe you've grown up. It's okay; I think I only hung on to you for so long because I lost Elphie."
"But you still haven't answered my question; how can you be so happy when Elphaba's dead? I'm devastated, and if I'm not very much mistaken, you cared about her more than I did."
Glinda grinned sheepishly and blushed at his implication, "Oh, yeah, right, just turn around for a second. I've got something to show you."
Fiyero turned around, baffled, as Glinda tried to help Elphaba out from under the bed as quietly as possible. They stood, side by side for a moment before Glinda said, "Okay, turn around."
Fiyero turned around, still with a look of complete bewilderment on his face, which changed to shock, and again to joy at the sight of the green witch standing before him, "Elphaba! You're alive!" he cried, before sweeping her up into a huge hug.
Elphaba laughed as he spun her around, "I've missed you too Fiyero, but I need air, unlike some." She said it teasingly.
He released her, standing back, "My Oz Elphaba, what happened? How did you survive?"
She smiled at him, gesturing for them all to sit down on the bed, "For starters, yes, I am allergic to water, but what that child threw on me was not water, it was oil." She paused to be sure he was following her.
"You know in that particular room there was a trap door, about where I was standing? As she threw it I fell through, leaving my hat and my mother's bottle behind, for me to collect later, but someone had turned up before to try and talk me out of giving up. This someone saw what had happened from my wardrobe,found my hat and bottle and got a little bit angry." here she shot Glinda a teasing look.
"What?!? I thought you were dead! Of course I was upset!"
Elphaba rolled her eyes, "Anyway, our little blonde friend here got a bit violent and started beating the floor. The latch was loose on the door, and she fell straight through."
Fiyero snorted, "Now that I'd like to see."
The girls simultaneously hit him. "Ow! Oh wait, hang on. I can't feel pain can I?" he said mischievously.
They all grinned at this, although Elphaba's was tinged with sadness. She should have been able to do better than this in saving him. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. There was nothing she could do about it now.
"Anyway, as the princess here was trying, quite desperately I must say, to convince me not to leave, I had a premonition, that when Dorothy leaves Oz, the Wizard will go with her."
Fiyero's reaction was much similar to Glinda's, minus the squealing, "Elphaba that's great! With him gone it's just Glinda, she can clear your name!"
"Amazing, that's exactly what I said." Glinda remarked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"No need to rub it in, I'm staying aren't I?"
They all smiled again and Glinda and Fiyero went out to the celebrations of Elphaba's death. As soon as they were gone Elphaba lay back on the bed with a contented sigh. She was glad that Fiyero was not in love with her, that made things slightly less complicated. But still very complicated.
She snorted and looked out the window to see Glinda's bubble floating over the Ozians as they celebrated. It really was a remarkable invention, and the fact that Glinda actually had invented it made it even more impressive. It's going to be a long day. She thought as she meandered around the room, looking for something to do.
When Glinda returned to her room several hours later Elphaba was lying on the bed with several balls of blank paper, scrunched up, throwing them repeatedly at a bin on the other side of the room.
"How is it that you do not have one book in your entire room?"
Glinda rolled her eyes, "Unlike some, I do not have an unnatural obsession with inanimate objects that give you headaches. What have you been doing?"
Elphaba gave her a look, "Looking for a book to read, failing to find a book to read, bemoaning the fact that there was no book to read, wishing there was a book to rea-"
"Alright! I'll get you a damn book. Have you done anything else?"
"Not really, mundane things that I resorted to doing through lack of a book to-" She was cut off as Glinda gave her a death stare.
"Nothing really. Throwing balls of paper into a bin, played myself in noughts and crosses, which got very boring very quickly, I think I played the same game several times, filled my mother's bottle up with water to see if it changed the color of the water. It didn't in case you're wondering." She said as she held up the bottle.
Glinda frowned on the sight of the bottle, "Elphie can I see that?"
"Sure, but don't drop it."
"As if I would… it looks familiar."
"It would Glin, you have seen it before."
Glinda didn't even take the bait, "No, not from you, somewhere else… Oh my Oz. Elphie, I need to check something, can I take this with me?"
"Fine, but-"
"Yeah yeah, 'don't drop it'"
And she sped from the room.
*****************
Glinda's mind was in turmoil. It couldn't be the same bottle could it? She'd never seen another like this one. If it was then this begged the answer to a lot of questions. Just before entering the throne room she stopped and decomposed herself, trying to look as miserable as possible. Just remember how you felt the other night. And suddenly there were tears in her eyes. She burst through the doors.
The Wizard and Morrible seemed to be half way through a conversation, "Well, I don't know why you're so despondiary, I thought it went quite well! They seem thrilled to shreds with their brains and their hearts, and this and that.... Oh, Glinda! I thought you'd be out festivating."
How Glinda despised that woman. She knew that Elphaba was her friend, and was mocking her for no reason other than her own personal pleasure. Glinda drew a shakey breath.
"This was Elphaba's." She said, holding out the bottle.
The Wizard seemed to be listening to her for once, "What's that you say?"
"It was a keepsake. It was her mother's. She told me so herself. I've only seen a little, green bottle like this one other time. It was right here, in this very room." She slowed down a bit, handing him the bottle, "You offered me a drink from it."
The Wizard looked confused, then devastated "But... oh my Lord... I am a sentimental man, who always longed to be... a father..." He sank to his knees as he realized that he had planned his own daughter's demise.
Morrible didn't seem to care about this piece of information for the bomb that had been dropped, so much as an explanation of Elphaba's superior skill, "So that was it. That's why she had such powers! She was a child of both worlds!"
The Wizard was in tears and paying no attention to the drama playing out.
Glinda realized what she had to do, "I want you to leave Oz. I'll make the pronouncement myself: that the strains of wizardship have been too much for you and you are taking an indefinite leave of absence!"
He still didn't seem to notice, "Did you hear what I said?!"
Now he nodded "Yes, your goodness."
Glinda couldn't help but feel a shred of pity for this man. He wasn't evil at heart, but weak and most definitely not made for leadership. "You'd better go get your balloon ready" and she realized a way to get rid of Morrible as well, "Guards!
Morrible's tone had changed completely now, from mocking to falsely sweet, and in a few words, sucking up. "Glinda, dear, I know we've had our miniscule differentiations in the past..."
Glinda inwardly rolled her eyes, miniscule? "Guards!! Madame, have you ever considered how you'd fare in captivity?"
"What?"
Oooh, she was going to enjoy this, "Captivity... prison! Personally, I don't think you'll hold up very well. My professional opinion is that you do not have what it takes. I hope you prove me wrong. I doubt you will. Take her away!"
Morrible screamed all the way to Southstairs. When she was thrown in her cell she started plotting.
a.n. so, there you go! PLOT! Wow! There's gonna be a bit of time travel later, I'm going to follow the DOCTOR WHO RULES TO TIME TRAVEL, I didn't want to make Fiyero a villain, cos he is a nice guy, despite what some Gelphie shippers might think. Not sure whether to bring in Boq or not.
Reviews are love!
