AN: I'm actually considering changing the title of this story to 'Made to be broken' (yes, Failey, that does have something to do with your review ;))... What do you think?

'You know? You actually seem vaguely familiar,' Elphaba said a few days later, when she and Cyara were both lying on their cots in their respective cells.

She could hear Cyara laugh softly. 'My mother always said I reminded her of Glinda the Good. I took that as a compliment.'

'It is a compliment,' insisted Elphaba. 'And it's true. I guess that's why you look familiar – you remind me of her in our days back at Shiz…' She paused for a moment. 'I love the colour of your eyes.'

'Emerald,' Cyara replied immediately. 'The exact same colour as your skin.'

Elphaba chuckled faintly. 'It looks better on your eyes than it does on my skin, though.'

'Maybe. But I don't think it looks ugly on your skin, either. I kind of like it.' The girl paused. 'My grandmother had green eyes, too, but my parents and my brother all have blue eyes – like Glinda's, only brighter. Glinda's eyes are like… cobalt blue. My family's eyes are azure blue. Like that lake near the Emerald City – have you ever been there? It's beautiful out there, the water is like crystal, so clear…' She sounded dreamy and Elphaba pictured the lake she was talking about in her head. Azure blue… Immediately, Fiyero's eyes filled her mind and she blinked a few times to get rid of the image. 'That sounds beautiful. You pay lots of attention to colours, don't you?'

Cyara giggled. 'I love colours. I paint – perhaps that explains it.'

Elphaba smiled faintly, even though the other girl could not see that. 'Yes… that would explain it.' They lay in silence for a few moments. 'What do you paint?'

'Everything,' Cyara said softly. 'People – my family, mostly. Landscapes. Animals. Usually, I just see something and I feel the urge to paint it, and then I do. My brother used to love the pictures I painted… He kept a few of them in his room, hanging them on the wall…' Her voice trailed away and Elphaba knew she thought of her family now. 'Don't worry, kid. You'll be out of here in no time.'

'Two more weeks.'

'Exactly.'

They fell silent again. Then Cyara said, 'You know, if you insist that I stop calling you 'Miss', you should stop calling me 'kid'. I'm only five years younger than you.'

'You're under eighteen. That makes you a kid.'

Cyara grumbled. 'Fine. If you insist.'

Elphaba cackled.

Just then, the door to the dungeons creaked open and a few guards marched down the stairs. Elphaba sat up as they stopped in front of her cell and one of them opened it. 'Miss Elphaba Thropp?'

She straightened her back and one of the guards grinned at her maliciously. 'We've heard rumours about you knowing the location of several Animal hideouts, and Madame Morrible has sent us to pry that information from you.'

Elphaba eyed them wearily and with just the tiniest bit of amusement. 'Oh please. We all know that she's not really interested in the locations of the Animal hideouts – just as we all know I would rather bite off my own tongue than say anything to you about it. She's just using it as an excuse to torture me. Am I right?'

The guard's grin widened. 'You're right.'

She stretched out her arms in front of her, so that they could handcuff her. 'Go ahead, then.' She looked at Cyara when she walked out of her cell. 'I'll be back.'

The girl looked at her with wide, scared eyes as the guards led the green girl away.

They took Elphaba to the torture room they had been in earlier, and they chained her to the wall, with her back towards them. She heard the cracking of the whip – had expected to hear it – and it lashed across her back, ripping open her dress and the skin underneath it. She bit her lower lip hard to refrain from screaming. She could taste blood. They whipped her again, and again and again, but she managed to keep her head up and remain silent, which infuriated them. They finally stopped and unchained her, leaving her hands and feet tied; they forced her on her knees then and waved a torch in front of her. 'Still don't care to say anything?'

She spat in his eye in reply – something she seemed to be doing an awful lot these days – and he wiped it away furiously. Then he snatched the torch from his soldier's hands and brought it close to her face. She didn't even blink.

'I'm warning you, witch,' he spat. 'Try that once more and I swear-'

She spat again.

He buried his hand in her hair and pulled it, yanking her head back, before hitting her hard across the face. He handed the torch back to his soldier and went to retrieve a poker from the other side of the room. 'Let's give you a taste of what you will feel next week, when they burn you,' he grumbled, holding the poker in the flame of the torch. Elphaba eyed him warily, knowing what would happen next, but not able – or willing – to do anything about it. He pulled the glowing poke from the fire and pressed it against her bare shoulder. This time, she was not able to stifle her screams.

He burned her shoulder first, trailed burning marks down her arm, then continued and burned her leg, her hip, her waist, even her face, keeping the poker pressed to her cheek until her air was gone and her voice was hoarse with screaming. Only then did he pull away.

She fell to the floor and they started kicking her in her stomach and against her head until she fell unconscious. After that, they took her back to her cell.

Cyara clasped both hands over her mouth as she saw the soldiers throw Elphaba into her cell. 'Oh, Elphaba…' she whispered. The guards left and Cyara kept watching until the other girl stirred. 'Elphaba?'

The dark-haired witch huffed and Cyara felt a little relieved. 'You okay? Sort of, I mean.'

'I'll be fine,' Elphaba said, but she was slurring a little. She spat out some blood and wiped at her face with her torn sleeve. 'I'll be fine.'

'You don't look fine.'

'That's why I didn't say 'I am fine'. I said 'I'll be fine'.'

'Clever.' Cyara felt better knowing that Elphaba apparently felt good enough to be sarcastic. 'Why did they do it?'

'As I said before,' she mumbled. 'Just because Morrible wants to break me. She doesn't realise I'm already broken. It's a lesson I hope you'll never learn first-hand, dear, but let me tell you this: physical pain is much easier to bear than emotional pain is.'

Cyara's heart ached for the other girl. 'I'm so, so sorry, Elphaba,' she whispered. 'I wish I could help you.'

The witch shook her head. 'I'm beyond help, kid. All you need to do is help yourself.'

Glinda strode through the hallways and burst through the door of Madame Morrible's office. 'Madame Morrible!'

The woman looked up from her paperwork with a small frown. 'Is something wrong, dearie?'

Glinda stopped in front of the desk and put her hands on it, leaning forward. 'I was just informed of the fact that you're planning on proceeding with-' she could just swallow her friend's name '-the Witch of the West's execution, despite the Wizard's orders.'

Morrible merely smiled at her. 'Yes, dearie, you heard right. I figured we might as well get rid of her now that we have the chance. Don't you agree? I thought you hated her so much?'

I don't hate her, Morrible. Not at all. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever hated a person as fervently as I hate you. 'Of course I hate her, Madame, and I want to see her dead as soon as possible. I just don't want to go against the Wizard's orders.'

Morrible waved her protests away. 'Don't worry about that, Glinda dear! The Wizard has just received some shocking news and he's not himself – his orders are not to be taken seriously. And since he left me in charge, I don't think you're in any position to argue.' She narrowed her eyes and Glinda backed off. 'I'm not arguing, Madame, I was just checking with you. If his Ozness really left you in charge and you want to go through with it, then of course I'll help you with it.' She curtsied, and Morrible actually looked pleased as the blonde girl left the room. Glinda hated herself for doing this. She loathed that awful fish-woman and she despised the fact that she had to comply and play nice all the time, but she knew she had to convince Morrible of her loyalty before she could do anything, anything at all. Why had Elphie told her not to try and save her best friend? For what must be the thousandth time, Glinda wished she had just gone with her friend that day at the Palace. Would things have been different now? Together, would they have been able to overthrow the Wizard and change things for the better in Oz?

She sighed. She would never know that now.

'Would you sing again, Scarecrow?' the Lion asked the next morning, as they got closer to the Emerald City. 'I liked it when you sang. It made me feel more comfortable.'

Fiyero suppressed a groan. 'Sorry, dude. I'm done singing.'

Dorothy giggled. 'Ease on down…'

'Stop it.'

Boq chimed in, smirking as he annoyed the Scarecrow. 'Ease on down the road!'

'Stop it!'

'Don't you carry-'

'STOP IT!'

They started skipping again, Dorothy and Boq and the Lion, as they sang the silly song at the top of their lungs. 'We're almost there!' Dorothy chirped and Fiyero finally rolled his eyes and joined them, not really sure what else to do.

When they approached the magnificent gates of the City, they all quieted down a little. They entered the city without much fuss and went straight over to the Emerald Palace, where the Tinman announced in a loud voice that they wanted to see the Wizard.

The guard at the door looked faintly annoyed at that. 'His Ozness is not available at the moment.'

'But I need courage!' the Lion protested. The guard shook his head. 'No exceptions.'

Fiyero pushed forward. 'Please,' he said beseechingly. 'We've come a long way. This girl came from Kansas and she desperately needs to get back home. Glinda the Good sent her here.'

The guard sighed. 'Well, I suppose I could get Miss Glinda down here. Hold on.' He disappeared and they waited. He returned a few minutes later with a bubbly Glinda trailing behind him. She flashed them all a beaming smile. 'Oh, hello everyone! I don't think we're acquainted yet, now are we? I'm Glinda the Good,' she said, curtsying.

Fiyero bowed. 'I am the Scarecrow, and these are my friends Lion and Tinman,' he introduced them, meanwhile not taking his eyes off his ex-fiancée. 'We've accompanied Miss Dorothy here to her destination.'

Glinda smiled warmly, but Fiyero could see the pain behind her eyes and he knew she must be hurting. She had just watched him, her ex-fiancé, been dragged to his death, and she probably had no idea where her best friend was. Yet she managed to keep up her bubbly façade. 'Well then, thank you all for escorting Dorothy. Come with me, please! I'll assign you rooms so you can freshen up and then we'll talk, okay?' She swirled around and walked away, and they didn't have a choice but to follow her.

Glinda apologised, telling some maids to take care of her guests, then told them she had pressing business to attend to and disappeared. Fiyero followed one of the maids to his room. It was a nice room, large and stylishly decorated; there wasn't much he could do, however. He was a Scarecrow; he couldn't very well sleep or wash up. So he just sat on the bed for half an hour or so until he finally decided to leave his room and go find Glinda.

He met Dorothy in the hallway. She looked slightly embarrassed. 'What are you doing here?'

'I could ask you the same thing,' he said pointedly, and she shifted a little uncomfortably. 'I just really wanted to see that Glinda lady so that she can take me to see the Wizard,' she confessed. 'No offense, I like it here, you know, Oz, and all… but I really, really want to get home.'

He smiled at her. 'I understand. Let's go get Lion and Tinman and we'll find Glinda.'

After retrieving their travelling companions, they asked for directions and ended up knocking on the door of Glinda's personal chambers. Her voice called, 'Come in!' and they pushed open the door and entered tentatively.

She looked a bit startled by their appearance, but smiled nonetheless. 'Well, hello there! What can I do for you?'

'We want to see the Wizard now,' Fiyero told her bluntly, and Glinda's gaze shifted towards him. She squinted a little and for a moment, he feared that she would recognise him, but then she shook her head and her gaze drifted towards the others. 'Well…' She faltered. 'He's not exactly… present.'

Fiyero heard Boq curse under his breath. 'What do you mean, not present?' the Tinman asked gruffly. 'Where is he?'

Glinda avoided his gaze. 'His Ozness has recently received some disturbing news and has retreated for a few weeks to gather his thoughts on the matter. He won't be returning for at least another week or so. But you can talk to Madame Morrible,' she offered. 'She's his Press Secretary and she's a sorceress, too.'

They brightened a little. 'Where can we find her?' Dorothy asked and Glinda gave them directions.

They emerged in the Throne Room, where Morrible sat in a chair, tapping her nails against the arm, thinking. When the travelling companions entered the room, she looked up, slightly exasperated. 'What…'

Once again, they explained the situation, but Morrible's expression didn't change. 'Well, as Glinda has told you, his Ozness is not here.'

'She said you might be able to help us,' said Dorothy, and Morrible sighed. 'I can't help you.'

The Lion sighed sadly. 'I was so looking forward to receiving courage.'

'We'd be willing to do something in return,' Boq offered a little too eagerly. 'Like kill the Wicked Witch of the West.'

Fiyero nudged him with his elbow – hard – but Morrible smiled her malicious smile. 'Oh, that's a very kind offer, Master Tinman, but there won't be any need for that. You see, we've captured the Wicked Witch a few weeks ago. She will be brought to death within a few days, burned at the stake, as she deserves. You can attend the ceremony in the middle of the Emerald Square, if you want,' she suggested with a sickly sweet smile. 'It's going to be quite the celebration.'

Fiyero's head was spinning. They had her. They had captured her. They were going to execute her within a few days. He felt as if he might faint, although he wasn't exactly sure that was possible in his current state.

Dorothy tugged his arm. 'Are you okay?' she whispered and he managed a small nod. She smiled, reassured, and directed her attention back towards the woman in front of her.

When they left the woman's quarters and headed back to their rooms, however, Dorothy cornered him. 'Spit it out.'

'Spit what out?'

'You're acting strange,' she insisted. 'I didn't think it was possible for a Scarecrow to pale, since you have no blood and all, but you managed to pull it off – when they said they'd captured the Wicked Witch.' Her eyes widened when realisation hit her. 'She's the girl you love, isn't she?'

'Ssh!' he hissed, clamping a hand over her mouth and looking around frantically. Fortunately, no one seemed to have heard, and he caught her arm and took her to his rooms. Only when he had safely locked the door behind him did he turn around. 'Yes.'

Dorothy sat down, trembling slightly. 'But… she's wicked! She tried to kill me!'

'She's not wicked,' Fiyero insisted, anger flaring up inside of him. 'She's just… too stubborn for her own good, I guess. She's a good person, Dorothy, I swear to you she is. She is incredibly caring, sweet, loving, but also strong and determined…' His voice trailed off and he shook his head. 'I'll give you the short version of the story: the Animals, you know, the talking animals we have here in Oz, were in trouble. They were being suppressed and arrested for no reason. Elphaba went to see the Wizard, she wanted to ask him for help with the problems the Animals faced, but instead, she found out he was the reason they were mistreated in the first place. So instead of helping him with his evil plans, she took off. The Wizard and Morrible declared her a Wicked Witch. And everyone has believed that ever since.'

Dorothy took a few moments to progress this new information. 'So you're saying the Wizard and Morrible are evil, but the Wicked Witch is not?' she asked a bit sceptically, and Fiyero sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. 'Yes. I know it must be hard to believe, but it's the truth.'

'But why did she try to kill me then? Back in – what did you call it? Munchkinland?'

'She had just lost her sister, Dorothy,' he said quietly. 'She was grieving. I don't think she really intended to hurt you – she sometimes loses control over her powers when she gets very emotional.'

'So she is a witch, then.'

Fiyero nodded. 'Just not a wicked one.'

Dorothy thought about this some more, then nodded slowly. 'Okay.'

Fiyero was surprised. 'Okay? You believe me?'

'I believe you,' she said, still looking thoughtful. 'Well, I believe you believe she's not wicked. I'm not sure if I believe that too. But, well, I can see that you love her a lot, and I think that's sweet, so…' She looked at him questioningly. 'You probably don't want me to mention this to anyone?'

He sighed. 'If you do tell someone, you'll be signing my death warrant. Although I'm not really sure if I care about that if she really is to be brought to death in a few days-'

She looked a little shocked. 'I won't say anything. I promise.'

'Thank you… I guess,' he said tiredly. 'Go to sleep now, Dorothy. It's been a long day.'

She nodded and left the room, and he sat down in the window sill, staring at the brightly glittering green City outside. Oh, Fae… He needed to come up with some kind of rescue plan, but to be completely honest, he couldn't think of anything. He should talk to Glinda… tell her who he was. If anyone could help him save Elphaba, it was Glinda.

'Did you know there's a girl from another world in Oz?' asked Cyara.

Elphaba peered at her through the darkness. 'How do you know?' she countered. She knew about that Dorothy girl, of course – they'd met in Munchkinland. She wanted to hear what Cyara had picked up first, however.

'I overheard the guards talking the other day – while you were out being…' She hesitated and Elphaba helpfully offered, 'Tortured?'

Cyara glared at her. 'Don't sound so casual about it. But yes. That. Anyway, they talked about this girl – apparently she says she's from a place called Kansas, and she wanted to see the Wizard to ask him to get her back home, only she can't, because apparently he left after receiving some shocking news.'

Elphaba stared at her. 'He left?'

'Temporarily,' Cyara hastened to explain. 'I didn't catch all the details, but I'm pretty sure that 'shocking news' means him finding out that you're his daughter.'

Elphaba snorted. 'Yeah, right. Because that must have been shocking. If he truly did care, he would have ordered for my execution to be procrastinated.'

'He has,' said Cyara softly, to Elphaba's surprise. 'They said something like that. Only Morrible proclaimed him unstable and plans on proceeding with it, behind the Wizard's back. That's why they were talking about it – they weren't sure whether to follow the Wizard's orders or Morrible's, but they finally decided that since the Wizard's not here and Morrible is, the safe option would be to listen to Morrible and proceed with the execution.'

Elphaba was silent for a while, processing this new information. 'Doesn't change anything,' she finally said softly. 'I'm still going to die. I still want to die. I don't really care about any of this.'

Cyara couldn't really comprehend the depth of Elphaba's feelings. 'It's because of him. That you don't want to live anymore.' It was a statement, rather than a question. She knew it to be true – she could see it in the other girl's eyes, and it broke her heart. If love hurts so much, how can it be the beautiful thing everyone always says it is?

Elphaba only nodded.

'You must have loved him very much,' whispered Cyara, feeling a pang at the thought. She felt so sorry for the other girl. Even though she herself was also hurting – the mere thought of her brother being dead made her feel like she was unable to breath – somehow, Elphaba's heartbreak hurt her even more. It was awful to watch. She truly liked Elphaba and she didn't wish this upon her. She didn't wish this upon anyone.

Elphaba's voice was soft as she answered. 'I did.'

'She killed your sister, didn't she? That Dorothy girl?'

Elphaba shrugged. 'It wasn't really her fault her house landed on Nessa. But yes, technically she killed her. I met her shortly after that… I kind of threatened her,' she confessed. 'I was grieving for my sister – I didn't think straight. But, well, apparently she's fine. I wonder if there's anyone in all of Oz capable of getting the girl home, though.'

Cyara giggled. 'Glinda?'

'She's Dorothy's best chance, I bet.'

'Besides you.'

'I'm to die in a few days. Dead witches don't do spells very well.'

Cyara scowled. 'Stop talking like that. You sound like you don't care.'

'I already told you – I don't.'

'I didn't think you meant it.'

'Well, I did.'

They were silent again. Then Cyara said, 'She picked up some companions on the way. A Scarecrow, a Tinman, and a Lion.'

Elphaba didn't say anything.

'The Tinman must be the Munchkin boy you turned to tin to save, right? I mean, I don't know of any other Tinmen walking around Oz.'

Elphaba sighed. 'Yes, it's probably him. My guess is that he wants to talk to the Wizard to see if he can change him back. What he doesn't know is that the Wizard is a giant fraud.'

Cyara huffed, then sighed. 'I wish my family could just escape the Emerald City… Like I said, we were rich before. Back home, the Wizard doesn't have that much power, but he's keeping my parents here – he told his guards not to let them out of the City. I suppose he thinks they'd be too much of a threat if they got back home – they've got a lot of influence where we come from.'

The witch sat up a little. 'He's keeping your parents captive in the City? Because he's afraid they'd overpower him?'

'I don't know if they'd have the strength to overpower him, exactly,' Cyara said thoughtfully. 'But I suppose he just doesn't want to take the risk. Which means that when I get out of here, we'll still be stuck here. Without any of our possessions or power, without even any money…'

Elphaba wrapped her fingers around the bars of her prison cell. 'Listen to me, Cyara. When you get out of here, you need to talk to Glinda, okay? She'll help you – I know she will. She'll help you and your family escape the City, so that you can go back home… and if your parents really are as influential as you say they are, please convince them to at least try to overthrow the Wizard and Morrible. Let them collect allies, Glinda can help from the inside… There's nothing I can do anymore, but it's not too late yet for other people to do something. Things can get better in Oz. Better for everyone.'

Cyara looked at the green girl, jaw set in determination, dark eyes glistening and fiery, and for just a moment, she could see the strong person she knew her to be. Elphaba had remained as good as emotionless during her stay in the dungeons, but Cyara had known that wasn't who she was. Now, however, she could really see the fire, the determination, the strong emotions behind the walls. She could imagine the dark-haired girl defying the Wizard, flying on broomsticks, rescuing Animals, but also caring for her younger sister, developing a strong friendship with her complete opposite, loving a man with all her heart. She could see the real Elphaba.

It only lasted a fraction of a clock-tick, but it was enough for Cyara to feel determination rushing all over her herself. She knew there was nothing she could do to save Elphaba, but she also knew she would never forget the green girl, and she would try to honour her legacy in any way she could.

'I'll try,' she promised. 'I'll try my hardest. I promise.'