After dinner, everyone got ready for bed. The baby was put into her crib, a functional cloth piece that could easily be traveled with. Fiyero lay on the floor in the other room, not sleeping, and the position not bothering him in the slightest.
He was his own pillow.
Meanwhile, in the cabin's one bedroom, the two best friends shared the bed. Still woozier than she'd let on, Glinda soon fell asleep, and, being a heavy sleeper, didn't wake when Elphaba got up and went into the kitchen.
In the morning, Glinda rolled over, and, finding the other side of the bed empty, bolted straight up. She ran into the kitchen, jumped over Fiyero, who was reading on the floor, and looked around wildly.
Fiyero didn't bother to look up.
Elphaba, at the stove, stirring a pot over the fireplace with one hand and holding her baby with the other, resting her on her hip, stared at her with wide eyes.
Glinda saw her and relaxed immediately. "Sorry," she said, addressing the confused and worried look on her friend's green face. "You weren't next to me when I got up, and I panicked, I guess. I just found you. I don't want to lose you again."
Elphaba smiled at the sentiment and walked over. "I'm an early riser," she said, handing Galinda to Glinda. "You know that." Then she turned back around and continued cooking.
Glinda sat at the small table in the middle of the room, holding the baby out a bit. It was spooky how much this baby actually did look like Elphie. And what was a Quadling doing so far north, let alone outside of Oz? The baby clapped her hands and dove forward, making Glinda bring her closer to be cradled against her chest, and take the strain off of her aching hand.
The baby cooed and grabbed one of Glinda's golden curls, and promptly put it in her mouth.
Elphaba looked over when she heard Glinda's laughter, and smiled at her friend and her daughter's playfulness. Glancing down at the pot, Elphaba noted that breakfast was done, and used a roughly carved ladle to pour the cornmeal into two wooden bowls. She carried them to the table and sat across from Glinda, pushing one of the bowls towards her and motioning that she let the baby sit on the floor.
Elphaba ducked her head and began eating her breakfast, but Glinda stopped after one bite to examine her bestest friend in the whole wide world. When Elphaba looked up with a questioning glance, Glinda quickly looked away, choosing instead to take a better look at the house.
"Sooooo… What do we plan to do when we get to Kansas?" she asked tentatively.
"I honestly have no idea," Elphaba admitted. "I think maybe… Just explore for a while. See what kind of magic such a place holds…" Her voice was taking on a dreamy tone, and Glinda cut her off, slamming her spoon down onto the table, causing Elphaba to look up sharply.
"I'm sorry. This is all so-- It just struck me; we haven't seen each other in over seven years." Glinda looked down at her hands. "How do we know we're even the same people anymore? How do you know I haven't changed in some undesirable way?"
Elphaba considered it for a moment, then smiled. "Why, Miss Upland, I never knew you to be so contemplative!"
"That's exactly my point!" Glinda stood abruptly and threw her hands in the air. "I wasn't! I never really thought things through back when we were at Shiz!"
"Plus she hates me now," Fiyero piped up from the floor on the other side of the room.
"Quiet, you!" Glinda pointed a menacing finger at him before turning back to face Elphaba. "I just can't help but feel that we don't really know each other anymore."
"Glinda," Elphaba began, "What's there to know? What could have changed us so much?"
"Your death!"
Elphaba's smile disappeared.
Glinda was trembling, struggling with her words and emotions. "When I thought you'd died… You have no idea. Yes, I smiled. And I waved. And I… died, too." Her shoulders slumped. "Back when you started your campaign against the wizard, I could function well enough. I could tell myself you were alright and following the path you wanted. And I could go on. But when I saw you… melt… It was like it became final. I'd betrayed you. I'd worked for the man you abandoned your dreams to fight because it was the right thing to do. I sold out… And I couldn't say I was sorry. And I am… so sorry. I should have gone with you. I should've gotten onto that broom."
Elphaba, for once, was speechless. What could she say to that?
"I've noticed you have changed," Glinda continued. "At least a little. You seem really… light-hearted now. Happy-go-lucky."
"Is that a bad thing?" Elphaba demanded.
"No, but… It's just not you. You were always either neurotic or apathetic. Never really relaxed. I'm happy you're happy. But, you're not the same. I'm not the same…" She held her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do. I should be happy, but I just…"
Elphaba thought her friend's words over, and stood and walked over to where Glinda covered her face to hide her tears.
"We'll just start over, then." Elphaba smiled reassuringly at her friend
Fiyero's quiet laughing drew their attention.
"What are you laughing at, Straw-Boy?" Glinda asked, annoyed, wiping her eyes.
"You've traded places."
"What?" they asked in stereo, one in confusion, the other grumpily.
"Personality-wise." Fiyero chuckled again. "Elphaba found love and learned to open up. And, I am sorry, but Glinda finally felt real loss, and… well you're kinda cynical now."
Glinda glared so hard at him, as if to set his stupid straw aflame.
"Fiyero, darling, are you saying that I was a cynical youth?" Elphaba said, in a playfully dangerous voice.
"Uhhh.. Anyways, so if you've traded personalities, you needn't worry. If thigns really get that bad, you should both still like each other, but only after a small period of discomfort, remedied by an act of kindness or of good faith."
"Just like last time, eh?" Elphaba looked pensive, though. "Hey, now. If she's really got the sunny disposition I bore in college, then she's only acting so heartless to you because she still has feelings for you…" Elphaba slowly turned her head to look at Glinda through suspiciously narrow eyes.
Glinda did her best to hide behind baby Galinda, who was trying her hardest to look behind her and see what her namesake was doing. "I do not," she said meekly. "I have completely gotten over him and the horrible… gut-wrenching pain his abandonment brought."
Elphaba tilted her head away from her friend and took a calming breath. "I am confident enough in mine and Fiyero's love and in our friendship that I will not let this bother me," she said in a soft voice, obviously trying to convince all of them, including herself. "I won't."
Glinda felt there was an underlying threat in that statement. "I really think there's more anger there than anything else." She looked at Fiyero pointedly. "I don't exactly hate you, but boy, do I resent you."
Fiyero smiled both amused and smugly, infuriating Glinda. Elphaba was petulant.
"Why don't we talk about something else?" she reasoned. "We're going to be traveling soon, and we don't want to be angry at each other at a time like this." She turned to Glinda. "Do you feel up to traveling?"
Glinda tore her fiery gaze away from Fiyero and shrugged at her friend. "After a good couple of meals and a full night's sleep, I'm well enough. Just make sure I don't have to walk beside him."
Elphaba smiled slyly. "Who said anything about walking?" She walked into the bedroom.
Glinda wrinkled her nose in confusion, making Elphaba smile at the sight of a Galinda-ish trait. "How exactly did you plan to get to Kansas, then?"
"I was thinking," Elphaba reentered the kitchen holding a few worn-out pieces of parchment, "Maybe a change in the weather…"
Howdy all! I have inter-web access! Here is the chapter I wrote on the horribly long and uncomfortable road trip I took on the way down here! Yay! As you can see, them getting back together again is not the answer to all of our heroines' problems. Will they work through it? Will there be an explosion of festering feeling flowing from the fabulacious Glinda formerly known as "the Good?" Maybe. Maybe not. I'm making this up as I go along. There is, of course, a real plot, but I am really just winging it as I go.
On a side note:
Okay, so yeah, I'm in Florida, and I just got back from DisneyWorld, and I had the sooo much fun! I rode Space Mountain so many times I'm on a first-name basis with all of the folks who run the ride. It was a blast! And I was the only adult to sit in for story-time with Belle. I'm so immature.
I love it.
Anywho, so that's the new chapter! Thanks to all those who have reviewed, and put me on their favourites lists, and keep on reviewing! Lemme know what you think of new developments as they show up! Thanks!