Well isn't this a nice little chapter.


When Galinda arrived at the village, she introduced herself as Glinda, and most of the people immediately took to her. She enjoyed the attention afforded to her by the boys in the small town, but only flirted back for the sake of flirting. She made a point of meeting the Thropps and Doctor Dillamond. The Thropps would have nothing to do with her, and Doctor Dillamond wouldn't either, until she told him that she was fond of Elphaba, and explained their friendship. After begrudgingly listening and eventually understanding the exchanges between the new blond and his old friend, he treated Glinda mildly. He could not admit that he cared much for her, but their mutual friendship caused a form of respect to form between them.

Many weeks after Galinda had gotten settled in the homey little village, she heard a knock on the door to her tiny house. When she opened the door, it was Grommetik, Tiny Time Dragon, and Madame Kreig. However, they were no longer tik-tok mechanicals. They stood on Galinda's front porch, as human as they were when the blonde was born.

Grommetik was a pudgy little man wit short legs and a bushy but well-groomed mustache. Tiny Time Dragon, who was called Drake before the curse, was short but thin. He smoked a pipe and his pocket watch poked out from behind his vest, as it always did when he was younger. Madame Krieg was a warm woman, round with soft grey hair, kept up in a bun at all times.

"Grom? Master Drake? Madame Kreig?" Galinda asked excitedly.

"The others are in town, looking for a proper lodging. We weren't sure we'd find you."

"You're human!"

"We had the same reaction, my dear." Madame Kreig responded as she laughed. Each hugged the blonde, and smiled as they were invited inside.

"This is so wonderful. You all look wonderful." Galinda smiled widely, "How's Elphie? Is she okay? I bet she's read everything in the library by now, hasn't she?"

"Well, my dear, I was meaning to get to her," Grommetik began, and instantly Galinda's joy began to fade.

"She's okay, isn't she?"

"Well, Miss, she was well enough to save us from the curse."

"But is she okay?" Galinda demanded. Tiny Time Drake put a hand on her shoulder as Madame Kreig explained.

"She was near obsessed for a time, trying to get us human again. We couldn't get her to eat much of anything, but we assumed it was from her focus being on us. Well, when we became human again, her focus shifted to getting us out of the castle. Even then, she was too focused to do much else."

"But it was so easy for her to make the mirror for me."

The adults looked briefly among themselves. "Which is why we're concerned."

"Truth be told, Miss, we hadn't really seen her since you left. She shut herself up, and we weren't allowed in. She just cast her spells from the other side of her door," Tiny Time Drake admitted.

Galinda's eyes widened slightly and she went to the kitchen. After scrambling around in her bag for a moment, she pulled out the mirror Elphaba had enchanted for her.

"Show me Elphaba," she requested slowly. In the mirror, all she could see was Elphaba's form under the covers of her bed, shivering lightly. "She must be sick. We need to get to her," Galinda decided quietly. She began towards the door but was stopped when Master Jacques, who had once been a broom, was at her doorstep.

"Miss, it's wonderful to see you."

"You as well, now, really Jacques, we have to go."

"Go where? We just got here."

"To the castle."

"Oh. Well, there's some fellows from town, already on their way there."

"What?"

"Me and the other fellows were talking some and this man came up to us and asked us what we were talking about. We told him about the spells and such, and he got really livid, called his fellows together, and made way to the castle."

"What?"

"I think they thought we'd a witch at our castle, Miss."

"Jacque must you be so incredibly dense? We do have a witch at our castle, and I - goodness. Grom, we need to go. Tiny Time Drake, you too. Madame Kreig, stay here and once everyone else gets here, bring them back to the castle."

"Yes, Miss."


Elphaba felt deftly at her cheeks, wincing at the pain doing so brought. She was beyond tired, despite having been in bed for a long time. She couldn't remember how long, exactly, but she remembered that she'd begun by trying to convince herself that the quiet was welcome.

Elphaba wasn't born for the rose and pearl. Or company or friends or anything nice. Even the tiniest rose, or the cheapest pearl, were not meant for her. It hadn't been so hard to accept that before.

It took too much energy to think, so Elphaba returned to poking her burnt cheeks as she tried to doze off.


Galinda and the staff began their journey to the castle shortly behind Fiyero's men.

For some reason, the little blonde was desperate and commanding as they made their way through the woods. More than anything else, she just wanted to find her best friend again. She couldn't help but think about how cold it must be in that castle, and how lonely Elphaba must have been without anyone there. Maybe it was loneliness that made her sick - the thought impaled Galinda as they walked on.

She thought about how Elphaba had previously described Fiyero, and wondered why the green girl had sent the blonde with him. Had she always sounded so desperate to leave the castle, so desperate that she would go with someone who hated Elphaba? Yes, she answered herself, sad at the answer. It didn't matter now, she decided, because now she was willingly going back. Now, she would make it up to Elphaba, by caring for her, as Elphaba had cared for the blonde.

But there was the mob to be taken care of first. The mob approaching her castle. Her Elphaba. No. Her Elphie, who was probably sick and shivering under the covers, and probably in no shape to retaliate against Fiyero's men.

They loathed her. Galinda had, too, once loathed her. Was loathing someone always so dangerous?

But Elphaba loathed nearly everyone. She was often tired and tried by people. And yet, Elphaba had saved Galinda before.

Maybe Elphaba just didn't let her feelings interfere with her actions, or lack thereof. That's must be it, Galinda thought. Elphaba would never do anything just because of how she felt. No, she's too bright for that.

It stung slightly when Galinda's mind wandered back to how desperately she had hated the castle, and how easily she had left.


There was a pounding at the door that awoke her next. She, slightly fearful, arose and looked out the window. Under the grey skies and the beginnings of rain was a small militia, armed with pitch forks and torches. For a minute, Elphaba contemplated going back to bed. But she remembered that this castle had once belonged to Galinda, and felt her a loyalty to the blonde convincing her that she ought to defend it.

Deftly, she conjured a few booby traps in the foyer, and a few catapults at her windows. She charmed them - and laughed sadly at the word 'charmed' - to fire at will, and went to the tower in the west wing. From there, she watched the chaos unfold with disinterest.


A few hours passed and many of the men were in the castle now. Elphaba sent a few charmed weapons to defend the downstairs, but truly was not very dedicated to the battle. Until Fiyero noticed from whence those charmed objects came, and made his way up to the west wing.

"You wicked witch," he spat, and Elphaba turned around to glance at him. He unsheathed his knife and Elphaba felt the familiar prickling of fear. For some reason, it motivated her into fighting back, and her hatred for the brute further encouraged her as the scramble wore on.

The rain began after only a few minutes of fighting, and Galinda arrived in the West wing with it. Fiyero was the first to notice her, and quickly grabbed her wrist before Elphaba could see her. When Elphaba's eyes did land on her, she softened, and her breath seemed to come easier.

And then, Elphaba saw Fiyero's hand on her wrist.

Anger had never existed before she saw that.

"Get the hell off of her," Elphaba growled, and grabbed Fiyero's wrist, forcing him to drop Galinda's. Within moments, the two of them were wrestling, struggling for the upper hand. Fiyero forced their fight to the balcony, and Galinda nearly cried when welts splattered over Elphaba's skin, as she was forced to struggle beneath the rain.

"Elphie," Galinda whispered, unsure herself if it was a cheer or a desperate request for the girl to come back to safety.

Elphaba didn't hear that cheer or request, but focused on forcing herself away from the edge of the balcony. "I told you not to touch her," Elphaba growled, and Fiyero nearly cackled.

"You think anyone in the village would respect the word of you, Green Girl?" He spat, "You're nothing but a waste of space."

Elphaba instantly saw hands grabbing at Galinda, hurting her. Her fury built and quickly she was holding him against the ledge. "I didn't expect anyone to respect my word." She shifted, holding him roughly by his collar. "I expected you to fear it." She shook him my his collar roughly, pushing his back against the railing of the balcony, and growled, "Fear it yet, jackass?"

"Elphie, don't," Galinda spoke, just loud enough to be heard. Elphaba glanced to her. "You won't be able to live with the guilt. Just, come inside. Where it's safe. You're getting wet." As Elphaba's head was turned, Fiyero grappled for his pocket knife, thanking Oz for the distraction that the little blonde provided.

Elphaba turned back and glared at Fiyero. "Awe, did someone finally get the bitch on a leash," Fiyero whispered tauntingly. Anger tightened Elphaba's chest, but with Galinda's request still in her mind, she only growled threateningly at him, and noticed for the first time how much the rain hurt.

She let go of him with a glare and a small threat to stay still, then made her way back to Galinda. Before she could get two steps, though, Fiyero thrust his knife into her side.

Elphaba felt the pain, the blood seeping through her dress. But in that moment, all she could think of was that he could do the same against Galinda. She whipped around, taking the knife from his hand, and pushing him backwards.

He laughed, gesturing to her side, "Great job, Green Girl. You got me, got that knife, right in the nick of time, huh?"

Elphaba glared at him, then turned to Galinda exasperatedly, "he jests at scars that never felt a wound."

"Elphie, no. Come here," Galinda pleaded. Elphaba threw the knife off the balcony, and obliged the blonde weakly.

Galinda's focus was drawn to Fiyero for a moment as his laughter moved him backwards. He chuckled and stumbled backwards, near the edge. With one final cackle, he stepped too far, and fell from the side of the building, screaming in his panic.

Elphaba didn't notice, instead falling on her knees. Galinda's eyes snapped back to Elphaba and she quickly gathered the green girl up and brought her inside.

"Elphaba, Elphie, can you hear me?" Galinda asked, staring into the eyes that were starting to glaze over. Elphaba nodded weakly, and tried to stand. "No, Elphie, it's okay. Stay here." Galinda briefly touched Elphaba's face, taking account of the rain's damage, and the damage too severe to be rain. It took her a mere moment to realize that her cheeks were an angry pink because of tears.

"No," Galinda murmured, holding Elphaba's face and wishing away the tear stains. "No, no, no. Elphie, you, you should've..." Galinda couldn't finish her sentence as Elphaba leaned into her, slowly losing all of her strength as the water and her blood trailed down her skin.

"Grom!" Galinda called out, desperate. "Grom, Madame Krieg. Please!"

Elphaba winced at the volume and sadness of her voice, wanting to ease whatever pain caused it. She realized the storm was the most likely culprit, and decided that she ought to comfort the blonde as she often did during a thunderstorm. "Elphie, please, just talk to me. Please."

"I'm here," Elphaba muttered, her eyelids growing heavy as pain threatened to overtake her consciousness. "I'm here."

"How do we fix you? Do you have an oil for this or something?" Galinda panicked as Elphaba's body shuddered with her breathing. "Elphaba, please."

"It's fine, Glin. I'm here." She picked herself up just enough to hug Galinda weakly. "You don't have to worry, a storm can't hurt you. It's okay. I'm here." Her breathing slowed into small wheezes as she began to fade, and Galinda failed to hold back tears.

"Grom! Tiny Time Drake! Please," Galinda cried, hugging her friend as closely as she could.


I love re-reading my own stuff. I know I can always be better. But it's entertaining. Read and Review