A/N: Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. The idea for this story actually came to me in a dream...weird I know. I hope you all are enjoying this and I will continue to update as much as my computer lets me, haha.

Chapter 4

Elphaba was not exactly sure how she would get to Glinda. Her palace in the Emerald City was heavily guarded. One could never take too many precautionary steps when it came to Glinda the Good.

Elphaba had ridden all night to the Emerald City in the cloak of darkness. It was a long way from her castle of Kiamo Ko to Glinda's house. The sun was just starting to rise when her journey was finally over.

Elphaba hopped off her broom and hid in a nearby bush. She knew she would have to learn the guard's patterns before she could attempt anything. She had to calculate to the second when they went on break and when they returned. After three hours of doing this Elphaba grew very tired. She hadn't slept the night before for she had been traveling.

Against her will her eyes fluttered closed and she drifted off. She was not sure how long she had been asleep in that bush when she woke to the sounds of laughter. Elphaba was still a little dazed as she looked up over the hedge and saw Glinda and her daughter playing on a swing set nearby.

"Oh sweet Oz." The green girl whispered. The blonde was even more gorgeous than Elphaba remembered: her long golden locks falling over her back, her pale luminescent skin, and her giggle. Oh sweet Lurline that giggle. It was enough to drive the green witch crazy with desire. She wanted to come out from the bush and go to the blonde. She wanted to embrace her with all the strength she had and never let go. She wanted to tell Glinda how she loved her and how she had loved her all those years. She wanted so much.

Elphaba was pained by desire when she finally heard another giggle, this time coming from the little girl on the swing. Elphaba assumed it to be Glinda's daughter.

"Oh Glinda if I had known…" she trailed off as she was mesmerized by the little girls voice. She sounded like her mother. She had that same joyous attitude that was magnetic. She looked uncannily like her mother too. Although Elphaba figured her to be around the age of two or so she was a little short for her age. She had curly hair just like her mothers. The only difference between the two was the shade. The little girls was a sandy brown color.

Elphaba was too far away to get a good look at the little girls face since she was turned with her back towards her. Elphaba figured she probably had blue eyes though since Fiyero's and Glinda's were both blue.

Elphaba's face suddenly went from soft to harsh as she thought about Fiyero. How could her leave Glinda to raise this beautiful girl on her own?

Elphaba was too lost in concentration to notice that the little girl was no longer on the swing. Glinda was now in her place and swinging herself. She was facing towards Elphaba and so the green girl could get a good look at her.

She looked sad and older than she was for her age. Elphaba knew that these past few years had been hard on her. Stress was evident on the blonde's face. Elphaba still thought she looked beautiful though.

Elphaba was too lost in her beautiful face that she didn't hear the footsteps coming towards her.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around in horror. She hadn't come all this way to get caught.

Her relief dissipated as Glinda's daughter stood behind her. Elphaba had nothing to fear from a two year old.

"Hi." The little girl managed to get out. Elphaba looked at the girl. She did look exactly just like Glinda from close up too. Her eyes had been blue, as Elphaba had guessed. They were not the crystal blue that Glinda had though, they were more like Fiyero's, a darker blue. The thought momentarily made Elphaba mad.

"Hi." Elphaba managed a response. The little girl giggled.

"Your green." She stated. It wasn't a question. The little girl then touched Elphaba's face. "Does it come off?" She tried to rub the green off the woman's face.

Elphaba was a little taken aback at this action. Hadn't Glinda ever taught her daughter not to talk to strangers? Especially green creepy ones hiding in bushes.

"No it doesn't come off." Elphaba was a little agitated. It had been years since someone had even commented on her skin color. She was unused to this much attention, especially from the love of her life's daughter.

"Oh." The little girl seemed disappointed and let her hand fall limp at her side.

Elphaba regarded the girl carefully. She didn't seem shocked at Elphaba's appearance, just curious. She was about to say something to the little girl when she heard Glinda call out.

"Ella! Where are you Ella?" Galinda called out for her daughter who Elphaba now knew was named Ella.

The little girl looked towards the voice of her mom and then back towards Elphaba. Only when the little girl looked back nothing was there except the bush. The green woman she had been talking to had vanished.

"Ella Rosalie Upland, if you don't come out this instant then no dessert for you tonight!" Glinda's voice rose. She knew if she threatened her daughter with no dessert she would come out in an instant.

Ella took one last look towards where Elphaba had been and left her spot in the bushes. Glinda caught sight of her daughter and gave a grateful sigh.

"Ella sweetheart where have you been? Mommy has been calling you for awhile now." Glinda picked up her daughter and walked in the direction of the palace.

"There was a person." The two year old managed to get out. Glinda just nodded her head and allowed her daughter to continue. Ella usually made up stories of grandeur.

"She was in the bushes mommy. Why was she in the bushes?" Ella asked her mother. Glinda played along.

"I don't know sweetheart. Maybe she lived in the bushes." Ella's eyes opened wide.

"Really?" she asked. Glinda just laughed at her daughter's excitement and continued this little charade.

"Yep." Glinda replied to her daughter.

They were now back inside the palace and in Ella's room. It was decorated in all pink, just like her mothers had been when she was Ella's age.

Glinda placed Ella down on her bed and sat beside her to tuck her in.

"You've had a tiring adventure it seems sweetheart." Ella only looked back up to her mother and nodded her head in approval. "It's time for you to take a nap."

Glinda finished tucking Ella in and got up from bed. She was about to turn the light off in her room when she heard her daughter ask her a question.

"Hey mommy?" Ella asked timidly. She wasn't sure if she should tell her mother everything about her experience with the green women.

"Yes sweetheart?" Glinda turned around to see Ella now sitting back up in bed.

"Does everyone who lives in bushes turn green?" Glinda was confused at this statement. Ella saw her confused look and continued.

"The woman, you said she lived in the bush." Ella confirmed with her mother that that was what she had said. Glinda nodded and Ella continued. "Well do all people who live in the bushes turn green?"

Glinda was still a little frustrated at her daughter for not being clear but she pretended to understand.

"Of course all people who live in bushes aren't green." Glinda knew that there was only one girl she had ever known to be green and that girl had died before Ella was even born.

"Oh." Ella seemed disappointed. "Then why was that girl green?"

Glinda's eyes opened wide. Had her daughter just said she had seen a green woman? She needed her to elaborate.

"What do you mean sweetheart?" She went back into the room and sat back on her daughter's bed.

"The lady in the bushes, she was green." Ella confirmed. Glinda had never spoken to Ella about Elphaba before. She was not sure where she would get this crazy idea of a green woman unless…no. Glinda wouldn't let herself think that Elphaba was miraculously alive. She was there when Elphaba had been killed. She saw her dissolve into nothing.

"Sweetheart this is really important to mommy. Can you describe this woman to me?" Glinda needed to know. Her thoughts were going every which way.

"Umm..." the little girl tried to remember. "She had a cloak on so I couldn't see really."

Glinda was disappointed. She had hoped her daughter would remember more than that. The disappointment showed on her face and Ella noticed it. She was smart for a two year old. She picked up on emotions easily.

"Oh mommy, don't be sad. I'm sorry I don't remember her." Ella was sad she couldn't provide her mother with more information about this mysterious woman.

"It's okay sweetheart." Glinda kissed the top of Ella's head and headed back towards the door. "Now get some sleep."

Glinda shut the door to Ella's room and headed off towards her own suite. She needed time to process what had just happened. Had one of the staff told Ella a story of the Wicked Witch of the West? This was certainly unaccepted. There were few rules in this house and one of them was to never speak of the Wicked Witch of the West, or as Glinda knew her, Elphaba.

Glinda rounded the corner and almost knocked down one of the statues of armor. She had sped up her pace without realizing it. Emotions Glinda thought she had suppressed long ago were coming to the surface once again. She tried not to think about Elphaba so much but it became harder and harder everyday she was around Ella.

Elphaba had promised to help Glinda raise her child and she had broke her promise. She went off and got herself killed by the wizard before Glinda had the chance to tell her.

The night Elphaba was melted was the night Glinda went to tell her. That is why she had been there when the Gale Force arrived to capture her. Glinda had lost the nerve to tell her before she was killed. The blonde regretted her decision everyday. Maybe if she had had the courage to tell her things would be different. She wouldn't have married that awful man, she wouldn't be raising her child alone, and most importantly Elphaba might still be with her.

Glinda couldn't let herself dwell on the past too much. Elphaba was gone and there was no changing it. Glinda just had to figure out which of her staff members broke her rules. She was not going to accept that sort of behavior in her house.

The blonde now knew what she had to do and so she called for her head of security to meet her in an hour. She needed to settle this once and for all. Any person who spoke of the green witch would get fired immediately. Glinda could not raise her child properly with the interference of false stories. She would not allow Ella to think that Elphaba was wicked.