Chapter Two

AN: Thank-you readers, if you're following this story (and still reading it) - and even if you're not :)

I STILL DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS, OR WICKED, OR ANY OF THE FAIRYTALE PLOTS THIS STORY MAY INVOLVE.

Sorry this took so long, but every time I tried to write, the story wasn't going how I wanted. But I managed to squeeze this out, nearly a week after my last post. Anyhoo~

Comments, Favorites, and Follows of every kind are always appreciated! :)

Now please, enjoy the story :)

"Biq!" she nearly yelled, wanting to throw herself at him. "You are, well, you are-" again, she found herself fumbling through a sentence, "I'm just so terribly glad to see you!" she said in a relieved sigh.
Unlike herself, Biq, (or Boq, as he was actually called – unknown to Galinda) didn't seem so happy at this sudden, unlikely reunion. He just stood there; not with an annoyed expression, not a tired one either; it was more of an odd, puzzled look that he shot at her – as well as a reprimand involving keeping her voice down.

Once calm, Galinda tried getting through to him again – though he seemed to have had enough already.

"Biq," she said, "it's me – Galinda. From the Upper Uplands? From school? Your friend?" Honestly, though, she had never thought of Boq- or Biq, rather as a friend – but perhaps that's what he thought of her. Besides, it sounded more dramatic to her with that part added.

After a moment or two of sheer silence, it dawned on her. What if the others, too, had lost their memories? After all – Galinda couldn't remember anything before waking up in the meadow, so why shouldn't they, if they had come along for the ride, have forgotten things too? But her identity? Somehow that seemed unlikely – especially in Biq's case. He adored her – loved her; (the last one gave her shivers... of the utterly disgusted sort) how could he just forget her? She hadn't forgotten him, for Oz' sake! And she didn't care about him in the least. In fact, she'd remembered all her friends, she called them, for lack of a better title, so she figured Boq should remember as well. Then again, she had heard munchkins have small minds – but she quickly forgot about that.

Biq – or the Biq look-a-like – grinned with such amusement she thought he would burst. Or, at the very least, that his smile would touch both his ears. He let out a hearty laugh before saying,

"Galinda, yes, I'm well aware." he winked mimicking a debonair manner, something she didn't - scratch that never - wanted to see. Coming from him, that is.

"Well, good," she huffed in mock annoyance, "I thought you'd never 'come to', as it were." She found herself throwing him a playful wink as well, though she soon wished she could take it back. She didn't want him thinking of her... like that, though she knew he already did. Strongly. And she hated it – for the most part. Little known to her, she enjoyed the attention of almost anyone. And if Biq (Boq), was included, that truly meant everyone.

But she had to try and forget all that now, because as Biq had earlier stated, 'the time is now'. Which, as far as Galinda was concerned, didn't make much sense. It made about as much sense as waking up suddenly in a meadow and finding out you're a missing princess – or something – and that your wicked stepmother the Queen is trying to kill you.

"If you're really wondering what's going on," he began suddenly, in a hushed tone, "I can't say myself. I suspect you yourself encountered the same difficulties with, uh, memories?" he stopped, waiting for a response. Galinda nodded slowly. "Good – I mean, not 'good'... y-you know what I mean. Anyway, what I've been doing is following the plan."

Galinda stopped nodding her understanding nod. She, frankly, didn't understand.

"The what now?" she said confusedly. Boq smirked. He seemed to be enjoying having a hold on her emotions – that is, he enjoyed the hold on the suspenseful...ness of the situation. Galinda sighed deeply, growing increasingly impatient.

"The plan, Your Grace-"

"Biq, you don't have to continue the-" Galinda interrupted, but Boq, in return, shushed her with the quick gesture of his finger to his lips.

"The plan." he stated for the third time. Clearly he was milking this moment for all it was worth. "The plan, in this case, find a place where the Queen won't be able to find you. A place deserted and hopefully out of reach from the Magic Mirror – that I know she has contact with."

Galinda made a small 'hm' noise, which, to Boq, meant that – at the very least – she was paying attention to him. Point 1 for Boq, Point, uh, 9,897 for Fiyero, Boq calculated.

There is no need to explain that Boq and an unaware Fiyero had a 'deeply rooted rivalry' when it came to Galinda.

"How do you figure?" questioned Galinda after a moment or two of silence from Boq who had been preoccupied calculating meaningless numbers and statistics of such kinds – unknown, of course, to Galinda.

"I figure, Princess, that because – for one, I awoke in the palace. I saw the door open a crack in the Queen's quarters and without a doubt, I say, there was that horrific magic mirror and the Queen herself; conjuring up tricks and other dastardly plans, I shouldn't wonder... one of them, as I overheard, being to kill... you, Your Excellency."

"As you've said, as you've said."

To be quite frank, Galinda was becoming fed-up with the munchkin boy already, finding him utterly impossible to understand... using big words like 'one', and 'up', and well- okay, they weren't big words exactly, but they were Biq's words, and she hated every one of them. On the inside.

"Yes, I guess I have," Biq agreed, combing his hair gently with his fingers, "but the urgency remains that we get out of here – way, way, far away out of here." he finished.

Galinda sighed. She didn't like the idea much. She figured that running, jumping, and high-impact tripping would probably come packaged with this bundle of nonsense.

"First," Galinda said loudly just as Biq was turning to leave, "tell me how you made it out the palace alive. Surely the 'wicked' Queen wouldn't have just left the door open for some bumbling servant like you...r cohorts," she smiled, hoping to cover up her rather minor mistake, "right? I mean, if I had a magic mirror I wouldn't just leave door flying open- she might as well have had a sign on the front of the door or the whole palace saying: COME WATCH THE QUEEN PERFORM HER DAILY...EVIL-WITCH-Y-STUFF ROUTINE... I mean, right?"

Boq laughed. On the inside. Galinda may have been a bit on the ditsy side, but she sure was pretty... and he was getting way off track. He replied,

"A rookie mistake, yes, but one that can happen to anyone."

"But surely she must have seen you – if her mirror can see throughout the land, surely she could see a bumbling...you..." Galinda wanted to kick herself. Not because she turned a simple contradiction into a full-out insult, but because she could not get the hang of the art of cover-ups.

Boq coughed awkwardly.

"Yes, well, she did see me, actually... b-but I escaped!"

"Obviously." Galinda shot back; uncharacteristically dry in her tone of voice.

"Obvious it may be, but it was harder than you think."

Galinda rolled her eyes,

"That well may be Your Biq-fullness, but I do not happen to care at this time. Nor do I plan on caring any time hereafter." She let out a triumphant humph. At least she could play well in the game of comebacks.

"This is no time to argue," Biq chided, interrupting Galinda's moment, "now is the time to get a move on!"

Galinda grunted indescribable words, which, most likely, weren't words at all. She seemed rather fed up with all this – but she resolved to follow Boq anyway. After all, she had no-one else to turn on- ...to. She had to find the others, and maybe Boq knew how. If only she could get her hands on that magic mirror...

"Galinda!" yelled Biq, waving his gloves hand in front of her face. Galinda blinked repeatedly, promptly slapping his hand away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she wailed, slapping him once more for good measure.

"Ow, ow- OUCH! But I di-"

"SUSH!" she screeched. Boq did as he was told. Then he tried to talk some sense into her.

"Galinda, we need to leave now, okay?"

The softness of an oncoming breeze allured her so, she almost left anyway, forgetting the flim flam Biq mentioned time and time again...

Boq sighed. Getting Galinda to pay attention for long periods of time was going to be tough, but for now, as long as she was entranced by the soft, calming wind he figured he might as well lead her on – whether she was aware of it or not.

Many minutes of traveling soon turned to hours; just as the sun became the moon and stars in the ever-changing sky. Galinda was now fully aware of the plan – or rather, that there was a plan. In fact, Biq had been quite vague about the whole thing, only letting her in bits at a time like an old rusty-hinged door...

She remembered he'd said something about a forest running a straight line down the middle of some well-known part of the land, (she didn't care much for remembering names) and something about a river that led away from the castle, but, again, she didn't know much. She figured it to be best if she waited for Biq to inform her of further plans than to waste precious brain-cells.

She would just have to wait.

PS: I might not be writing/posting for a while because, as I'm sure you know, Halloween is approaching and my costume isn't anywhere near done... But I'll try and get something down when I can.

Wish me luck, and Happy (early) Halloween!