Thanks to all who have reviewed! I thought it was high time for another Elphaba chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Elphaba

Elphaba had decided to wait at least a week and a half before going back to see Glinda for the last time. Annoyingly, that week it had started to rain, and she had to be confined within Kiamo Ko. Fiyero left every now and then to hunt for food, leaving Elphaba alone in the castle. Her fingers twitched nervously, and she was constantly pacing, eager for something, anything to occupy her time.

Finally, after a morning of light showers, the clouds broke, and the sun appeared. Not long after this, Fiyero entered the room, a worried expression on his straw face. He went straight to Elphaba, his worry mirrored in her face.

"Fiyero, what's wrong?" Elphaba knew it had to be serious when Fiyero didn't say anything. "Fiyero please, what happened?"

He released a long sigh, then turned to look at her.

"Elphaba, do you remember, when we were at Shiz, that horrible little tik-tok thing that Madame Morrible owned?"

"Grommetik? Yes, the wretched thing, it almost served as another Madame Morrible when she wasn't around. I would have liked to give it a good kick."

"I think I saw it today. I'm not sure...but I heard a noise while I was in the forest. I looked into a small clearing, and I saw a brass machine thing seeming to survey the area. I would have thought nothing of it, but then I heard someone call out to it. A man, though I never did see where he was. I circled around to try and find them, but they had disappeared. It made me uneasy, they way they were investigating that spot. If they were to find Kiamo Ko..."

Elphaba was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"We need to keep a lookout on the area surrounding Kiamo Ko. I don't want them to stumble onto it without us knowing. We'll have to find somewhere else to go to, we can't stay here forever. Is there anywhere else we could go?"

Fiyero shook his head in frustration.

"No, at least not that I know of. This was the only place I could think of where we could be even remotely safe."

"That's what I was afraid of. We can't go back to Colwen Grounds, the Munchkins probably took control of the mansion after Nessa died. It wouldn't be a good idea to try and travel to my old house. It has either been sold to someone, or it would probably be one of the frist places that people would look for us."

"We'll just have to figure it out when the time comes. We could try and move to the far outskirts of Oz. As far away from the Emerald City as we could get. We would still need to hide, all of Oz knows about you, or knows what the Wizard advertised about you."

"I suppose that's all we can do for now. But I hate not having a plan beforehand. It's so easy to go wrong, and then we could both be killed."

"We'll just have to take that chance. I don't see what else we could possibly do."

Elphaba sighed, Fiyero was right, but she still felt uneasy about blundering into all of this. She gazed out the window, staring at the forest, wondering if whoever owned Grommetik was there, waiting for them to fall into his grasp.

About four days later, Elphaba was preparing for her final journey into the Emerald City. Perhaps one day, if things changed in Oz...she would see Glinda again, but it was simply too dangerous for her to continue sneaking into the city. Elphaba sighed as she wrapped her cloak around her. No matter how much Glinda had annoyed her in their school days, she was still the best friend that Elphaba had ever had, and she would never forget her.

Fiyero came into the room, placing a hand on her shoulder as if he knew what she were thinking.

"Don't worry, It's Glinda's time now, she can handle things." Elphaba placed her hand on top of Fiyero's as he was speaking, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"I hope so." She picked up her hat and her broom, starting for the secret door in the stairway. "Fiyero...if something were to happen, here or in the Emerald City, don't try and come after me."

"But..."

"I have already caused enough problems for other people! Please don't risk your life just to save mine." She paused, looking him full in the face. She put on a stony expression, carefull to hide the tumult of emotions threatening to burst out of her. "If anything happens, I will find a solution on my own." Then, seeing his defeated expression, she softed a little, her eyes locking with his. "I almost lost you once, I will not lose you again on account of my actions." She then pushed the secret lever, opening the door. She had ducked into the tunnel, nearly swallowed by the darkness when she stopped. "Fiyero...I love you."

"I love you Elphaba, please be careful, don't take any chances." She nodded slightly, then disappeared into the night.

After the long navigation through the secret tunnels, Elphaba emerged in the tiny alleyway beside her hidden room. Pulling her cloak tightly over her face she wound her way though the streets, taking care to steer clear of as many people as possible.

As she turned a corner onto a road leading to Glinda's house, she saw a familiar figure making his way through the streets. Elphaba's breath caught in her throat and she clutched her cloak even more tightly around her. The Tim Man was walking towards her, and Elphaba didn't want to think what would happen if she were to be discovered. He passed extremely close to her, his hard shoulder bumbing Elphaba's. She ducked her head and continued down the street, seeing Boq glance backward at her from the corner of her eye.

Breathing a sigh of relief when she was not followed, Elphaba hurried on towards the large castle-like structure that Glinda The Good lived in. Elphaba stopped before the entrance, hiding in the shadows, and began muttering a few words. She paused, then went inside. Everyone inside had been put to sleep by her spell. Elphaba hurried up the now familiar stair case, her footsteps falling lightly on the carpeted floor.

Quietly Elphaba entered Glinda's room, carefully closing the door behind her. Glinda had been sitting on her bed, looking at something. As Elphaba crept closer, she saw a familiar green glass bottle laying on the bedspread. It had belonged to her mother, and had been the only item of hers that Elphaba had owned.

Elphaba picked up the small bottle, her emerald fingers making a pretty compliment to the green glass. Elphaba remembered leaving it behind for Glinda to find. She hadn't needed it anymore, it had been her last tie to her old life, and Elphaba had finally let it go. She barely remembered her mother, but from what she'd been told by Nanny, her mother hadn't exactly been a role model.

Elphaba set the bottle on the bed again, glancing up at Glinda. She was sprawled on top of the bed, her golden curls splayed around her head like a halo. Elphaba grinned, Glinda always managed to look made up no matter what.

"Glinda...you really haven't changed much have you?" Elphaba whispered, standing up and walking to a side table on the opposite side of the room. "I came to tell you that I'm leaving...and I won't be coming back. There's been some...trouble, and I feel that it's time for me to go." Elphaba felt tears threatening to overflow, and she stubbornly fought to hold them back.

"You know...you're a lot stronger than you think you are. I never told you but you helped me survive my time at Shiz, no matter how annoying you could get. You saw me for who I was...and I thank you for that. You...you really are the best friend I've ever had."

At that moment, Elphaba heard Glinda groan. Her eyes going wide, Elphaba turned to see Glinda stirring on the bed. At the same time she heard footsteps coming down the hall. Elphaba hurried into Glinda's spacious closet, closing the doors until just a tiny slit was left for her to see through. Elphaba didn't have time to wonder how her spell had been broken, because just then a strange man she had never seen before walked into the room.

As he walked in, Glinda sat up, her eyes flying open. Whe she saw the stranger she quickly stood, brushing herself off trying to primp in what little time she had. Elphaba noticed that Glinda had quikly hidden the green bottle under her pillow, and Elphaba grinned. Glinda looked at the man and batted her eyes a little.

"My, what a surprise! I wasn't expecting company, what can I do for you Mr...?"

"My name is not important, I have matters much more pressing than formalities." Elphaba saw the man walk slowly towards Glinda's window, but he got out of Elphaba's view before he reachd the window.

"I have a few questions I would like to ask you about a certain,...aquaintance you had when you were at Shiz University."

"Oh?" Glinda's voice sounded just the tiniest bit nervous to Elphaba, and Elphaba held her breath, her heart pounding against her rib cage. This did not sound good. "I'm not sure I can be of much help, I had many, many aquaintances at school, why I even..."

"You would remember this aquaintance, she would be impossible to forget."

"O...oh?...How so?"

"She was green." Elphaba watched as Glinda's eyes grew wide, and her mouth hung open for a split second.

"Oh,... yes, green from envy. There were many of that kind at Shiz, it's very trying being so popular..."

"You know who I'm talking about Glinda! Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of The West!" The man was shouting now.

Elphaba clapped her hand over her mouth, willing herself not the breathe. In the other room she saw Glinda doing much the same thing.

"Oh! That...one...well,...yes I-I do remember her, somewhat. But we never really knew each other you see, we weren't exactly...compatible, I suppose you could say."

"I've been told that you were friends."

"Well...we were...yes we were friends, in a way...but I really don't see how this is going to..."

"I need you to tell me everything that you know about Elphaba, down the smallest detail."

"But why?...Elphaba's dead,...she was melted..."
"I have reason to believe otherwise." As the strange man said this, Elphaba's eyes went wide, and she clutched her chest, willing herself to breathe normally. Fiyero had been right...someone had found out about them, or at least about her. Why had her sleeping spell worn off? Was it because of this man? Who was he?

"Wh...what do you mean? I saw her with my own eyes sir."

"I will not ask you again...what do you know about the Wicked Witch?" The man's voice was icy as he glared at Glinda.

"There's not much to tell,...she was moody, thoughtful, always suspecting a conspiricy behind every corner. She had an odd alergy to water...and she had a very sad home life. I don't see how any of that could help you."

"You wouldn't happen to remember a certain...book she had do you?"

"A...a book? What kind of book?"

"A Gimmerie."

"N...no...I mean, she did have one...but I don't know what happened to it. I suspect it was destroyed, or shut away somewhere."

Elphaba watched as the man came within an inch of Glinda's face, his eyes boring into hers.

"You had better not be lying to me...as it is I don't suspect that you've told me everything you know. I don't think that your friend ever died, and I am going to find her. If you refuse to cooperate, that's your problem." He strode the door, opening it. "Oh, and Miss Glinda." He puased in the doorway, "This conversation is not over...I will find you again too."

The door closed, a faint click being the only sound that echoed throughout the silent room. Elphaba watched as Glinda sank to her knees, her face burried in her hands. Elphaba slowly unclenched her fists, staring at the small cuts in her palms from her fingernails.

"It can't be true...it can't be." Glinda's voice was barely above a whisper. "She can't be alive...she would have found a way to let me know...she would have told me...oh Elphie."

Elphaba shook her head sadly.

"I can't Glinda...if only you understood." For the rest of the night Elphaba remained there, with only a few feet between her and her best friend, yet it seemed as though they were miles apart.

Sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up. I haven't had much time to write. But I'll try and be quicker on the next few chapters.