Glinda looked out over the Emerald City as the sun set in the distance, the light splitting into thousands of little beams that seared her eyes with their brilliance. She shivered against the chill that had crept in unnoticed into her study, and she closed her eyes wearily as she leaned up against the wall.

"My lady?" Gabriel asked quietly as he entered the room.

She turned from the window and gave him a small smile, "Gabriel."

He hovered by the door, "I was told to come see you. If this is a bad time, or if you would rather…"

"Just have a seat, Gabriel," she said softly, shaking her head. "How many parts of Oz have you not searched for the Scarecrow?"

"The Vinkus and Quadling Country," he replied. "I was going to go west to the Vinkus and search the outskirts of the desert as well."

"I just don't understand," she murmured as she sank into a chair.

He looked up at her in confusion, "What, my lady?"

"Well, Boq says that the Witch turned him into tin out of spite. I just don't understand the reasoning behind turning him into tin if she wanted him to stay with her sister. It would have been much easier to put a spell on him that would make him fall madly in love with Nessa. The Witch was brilliant and powerful, and I know that she studied other spellbooks than the Grimmerie, and there are probably several spells that are less complicated than those in the Grimmerie that would have bound him to Nessa in some fashion," she explained.

"But, what about the Cowardly Lion?" he asked.

She waved her head dismissively, "The Lion blames the Witch for his cowardice because she rescued him from an experiment in one of her classes. And, Boq hates her for turning him into tin. It's the Scarecrow who doesn't fit because he never revealed a personal vendetta against her for something she did to him, nor did he seem very concerned about the Witch at all, though Boq tells me that the Witch continually singled out the Scarecrow when she would try to stop them on the road. Boq said she threw balls of fire at the Scarecrow, but he never would come right out and say anything bad about her."

"And the Scarecrow was found in the same cornfield where Fiyero died," Gabriel said quietly. "Do you think that the Scarecrow could be Fiyero?"

Glinda's head snapped up at his words, and she gave him a sharp look, "Do you think it is possible?"

"The Witch was a powerful woman," he replied. "I believe that it's very possible that she could have saved his life by turning him into the Scarecrow."

"But she told me that he died. She must not have known," she whispered, sinking back into her chair.

His ears caught her soft words, but he decided to ignore them, worried that he was hearing too much of Glinda's personal thoughts.

"Maybe the fact that she singled him out meant that she did know that Fiyero was the Scarecrow. It could have been an elaborate ruse to keep anyone from questioning him because no one would think that she would endanger the life of someone important to her. And, he could have been travelling with the Witch-Hunters as a way of getting to the Witch in the easiest and most direct way possible. Maybe," he hesitated for a moment before deciding to finish the thought that had just occurred to him. "Maybe they planned her death together, and the Witch only pretended to die."

"No," Glinda said in a low voice, her blue eyes glittering angrily. "No, she died."

"But, it's possible," he insisted.

"No, it's not!" she screamed, jumping out of her chair. "She died. I was there!"

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she slapped her hands over her lips, her eyes wide with the horror of the truth she had just uttered.

"I'm sorry, my lady," he said quietly. "But, I've known for a long time."

"Known what?" she asked, her voice trembling.

He shrugged, "That you were friends with her, even after she became the Witch. I know that you mourn her death."

She swallowed hard as her heart hammered with fear, "And what do you think about all of that?"

"I trust you, Glinda," he told her, giving her a reassuring smile. "I have the utmost respect for you as a leader. I will keep your feelings a secret because if others knew, you would be overthrown and killed. But, I believe it is possible that you are right about the Witch and that she was not a bad person."

Her breath rushed out of her lungs in a sigh of relief, and she smoothed her hair reflexively in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I…I need some time to think. If you'll excuse me…"

"Good night, my lady," he interjected, giving her a small bow. "I leave in the morning with my men. I hope this time we are successful."

"Yes," she agreed with a smile. "Good night, Gabriel."

He smiled at her before leaving the room, the door closing soundlessly behind him. Glinda just stood there, her mind still in shock from everything he had said.

"It could be…" she shook her head impatiently. "No. She died. I can't hope for the impossible."

Taking one last look around her study, she left the small room as she fled from the memories that haunted her.

Fiyero looked up at the night sky from where he was laying on the ground. Sighing, he grimaced at the memory of the past few days. Elphaba had tried another spell to make him human again, and with its subsequent failure, she had refused to talk, to eat, or even to sleep. He had finally broken through the barrier she had thrown up, but he knew that he hadn't tried for a long while because he was just as disappointed and even a little angry with her. He shifted uncomfortably with guilt and refocused on the stars above him. Something had changed between them, and he had no earthly idea how to fix it or even what had happened. All he knew was that as long as he was there, Elphaba was going to keep trying to change him back, and he was afraid of what she would do if the next spell didn't work. His mind meandered along the path of possibilities and solutions for the obstacle between the two of them as the night wore on into the morning. As the sun slowly crept up over the horizon, he sat up. He looked back at the house where Elphaba was asleep and walked in the opposite direction.

Rolling over in the bed, Elphaba opened her eyes slowly as the sun fell across her face. She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she got up and walked to the kitchen. She looked around and frowned when she didn't see Fiyero anywhere. She wandered through the other two other rooms in the small house as panic swept through her. When she didn't find him, she ran to the bedroom and threw on a dress before rushing out the door. She raced through the village to the river and stopped short when she saw Fiyero standing in the distance with his back turned towards her. Slowly, she walked over to him and placed a hand hesitantly on his arm.

"Fiyero?" she said softly, looking up at his sad face.

He gave her a soft smile, "Hey."

"What are you doing out here?" she asked as she took a step back and wrapped her arms across her chest against the chill of the early morning.

Sighing, he moved her straying hair away from her face affectionately, "I'm leaving."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "Where are we going?"

"No, I'm going by myself," he told her. "And, I'm not coming back."

Her face fell as she felt her heart break, "What?"

"I'm leaving, Fae," he said softly.

"But, why?" she asked as she met his sad eyes.

"It's best for both of us," he explained.

"No, I can…I can change. I love you, Yero. Surely we can try to work it out and…" her voice trailed off as she tried to keep from sobbing.

"I love you, too, Elphaba. I love you so much," he whispered as he cradled her face in his hands. "But, maybe it's time to realize that there are no such things as happy endings, and that the one thing keeping us from being happy is me."

"No. I promise, things will be different. Please, stay with me," she said quietly, pleadingly.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, Fae. But, I can't make you happy anymore."

"You're wrong," she protested angrily. "I just need one more chance, Yero, to put things right. I promise, only one more spell."

Backing away, he closed his eyes, "No, Elphaba. There is no guarantee that the next spell is going to work, and I can't let you spend the rest of your life trying to make up for me."

"I'll do it anyway," she told him firmly. "Whether you leave or not, I'm going to find a way to change you back."

"I can't let you do that to yourself. It's destroying you, and I'm the cause of it," he replied, his voice trembling with his emotion.

Desperately, she pulled him into her arms and kissed him fervently, her hands framing his face. He sighed and leaned into her as he returned the kiss, savoring the slight pressure of her lips; a few moments later, he pulled away.

"No, Fae," he whispered. "Not this time. I love you."

Slowly, he walked away, leaving her behind with her arms still slightly outstretched towards him as if she was going to catch him and hold him there forever. He started to look back, but he kept his eyes on the horizon, knowing that if he saw her, he would never leave. As he strode off into the distance, Elphaba stayed behind, watching and knowing that she couldn't follow him. He would go somewhere far away where she would risk her life and his if she attempted to be with him. She could feel her heart shattering into a million pieces. Before he walked too far away, he chanced a look back, unable to resist the need to see her again one last time. She stared into his eyes, the depths of her despair breaking his heart. He watched as tears slipped from her eyes, and with a heavy sigh, he walked away.