Here, have a way overdue update. :D

"No, Elphie-"

"Think about it Galinda, it recognized me, it knew me... Someone sent it here, and I'm going to find out who."

"But how? You killed it."

"I may have killed the Wraith but I grabbed those crystals for a reason, those crystals are souls, and they'll know who sent that Wraith."

The doctor patched Elphaba up and the girls left immediately for their room. Upon entering Elphaba sat down on her bed and spread the crystals out in a circle in front of her. Galinda closed the blinds to give them a bit of privacy so that Elphaba could do whatever she needed to. The green girl sat with her legs crossed and allowed her scars to light up as she carefully tapped each crystal, a small sprite popping out of each one in the form of the soul's previously inhabited body. They looked around in confusion before quickly grouping up in the center of the circle, one of them started to panic and Elphaba lightly tapped her crystal while clearing her throat. All motion inside the little circle stopped and they eyed her warily until Elphaba set her hand down on the cover of her bed and allowed her own little liaison sprite to come into existence in her palm. The sprite smiled and stepped off of Elphaba's hand, a small tether connecting it to her. The sprite of the first victim stepped forward.

"Who are you? What happened? Why are we so small?" Elphiesprite walked forward and laid a hand on the girls shoulder, quietly explaining what had happened so far as she understood it and let the girl's own memories fill in the rest. The sprite practically collapsed from the shock of it and the little Elphiesprite caught her as she practically dissolved into tears. Elphiesprite talked to her quietly and comforted the girl until the others came forward to help their comrade. Elpahaba's sprite stepped back and allowed the whole congregation to comfort each other. While this was happening Galinda slipped behind the green girl herself and wrapped her arms around her thin waist. Elphaba laced their fingers together and brought the blonde's hand up to her lips, softly kissing the back of it before returning their joined hands to her midsection. The small congregation of glowing sprites collected themselves and the sprite that Elphiesprite had been talking to previously stepped forward again. Elphiesprite quietly inquired about the sprites' experience with the Wraith. They detailed all they could and at the end, as Elphaba's smaller form was walking back to her hand a timid looking sprite spoke up.

"Miss Elphaba." The Elphiesprite turned around and looked at her. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I know you may think that this was your fault, but there was no way you could have known. I was a witch as well and I knew I was going to die and I knew that it was necessary. Keep our crystals safe, we will be able to help you, and someday you'll be able to help us."

"How?"

"While we may never regain our bodies we can take over other forms. You'll figure it out."

"I appreciate the advice, I promise I'll do whatever I can to make this right." The other sprite nodded and Elphiesprite was turning to walk away when she spoke up again.

"If I were you Miss Elphaba, I would hold onto that blonde behind you, she's a keeper." Galinda blushed as the sprite walked back to her group as Elphiesprite returned to Elphaba's hand and Elphaba allowed her scars to dim and finally cease glowing entirely. The sprites zoomed to their crystals and the stones dimmed. Elphaba reached under her bed and retrieved a box, placing the crystals carefully into it.

"Well it's not as if I was going to let you go this soon." Galinda kissed Elphaba's shoulder. Elphaba turned her head to look at the blonde, taking in her appearance and appreciating her. "You really are beautiful you know that?" Galinda blushed again.

"Honestly? I think that you are a thousand times more beautiful than I could ever be." The blonde swept a loose strand of black hair behind Elphaba's ear, studying her with her eyes. Elphaba blushed lightly and ducked her head. Galinda maneuvered until she was sitting in front of the green girl. She took Elphaba's hands in her own, getting her to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not beautiful, not like you." Galinda moved her hands up from Elphaba's to cup her cheeks and bring her head up to look her in the eye.

"Listen to me Elphie. You are beautiful. I've been seeing it every day since the day we met, it's part of why I was so mean to you. You're beautiful and you don't even have to try." The blonde caressed Elphaba's sharp cheek bones with the pads of her thumbs and Elphaba's eyes fluttered shut at the contact, her lips parting slightly as she sighed.

"Scars and all?" Galinda chuckled lightly.

"Yes Elphie, scars and all." Galinda kissed the fresh bandaging on Elphaba's shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Elphaba, bringing one hand up to stroke along the raised bump over the rough fabric of her top created by the linen and gauze. "Just so you know, I'm sorry." Elphaba had wrapped her arms around Galinda as well and was running a hand through her hair at this point.

"You have nothing to be sorry about my sweet." The blonde pulled away and looked at her, small tears beginning to glimmer in her eyes.

"If I'd just listened to you and stayed inside you wouldn't have been hurt again." Galinda had retracted her limbs and was picking at Elphaba's worn bed spread. Elphaba took Galinda's hand and laced their fingers together, bringing their joined hands up to her heart so that the blonde could feel it beat. She saw the blonde's eyes dart up and then back down as a couple tears fell onto the bed and in response Elphaba used her free hand to tilt the blonde's head up.

"Galinda, if you had listened to me, I would be dead. I wouldn't have known it was there until too late. This heart, the one that you feel underneath your palm? It would be gone. There would be no me. There may have been a body once that thing was done with me, but it wouldn't be much of one, I can guarantee you that. Given the chance to do it all over again, I would've done it all again in a heartbeat, and I hope you would too," Galinda was crying silent tears at this point, her palm now pressed flat against Elphaba's chest. Elphaba herself wiped away Galinda's tears with the thumb of the hand resting against Galinda's cheek, ignoring the slight burn they created and leaning in to kiss the blonde. Just before their lips met to whisper to the object of her affections. "because all of this, gave me you." With that the green girl kissed Galinda. The kiss was soft and loving, both trying to show the other how they felt because words just weren't even close to enough. Galinda left her palm over Elphaba's heart when the green girl let go of her hand in favor of wrapping her arms around her waist. On instinct the blonde moved to hover over Elphaba, her knees on either side of the girl's hips and her hands cupping the taller girl's jaw. Elphaba gently stroked Galinda's sides as the two parted for breath. "I love you." The blonde's words were soft and Elphaba's heart warmed at hearing them. Elphaba wrapped her arms around Galinda's waist and hugging her.

"I love you too. I probably shouldn't, but I do." As Elphaba spoke she caressed the side of Galinda's face and the blonde leaned into her touch, placing her hand over Elphaba's and turning her head to kiss a green palm, that's when she noticed the burn on Elphaba's thumb. She took Elphaba's hand in her own and held her thumb in front of her face, inspecting the purple and black skin.

"When did you burn yourself?" Elphaba bit her lower lip.

"I umm... I'm... alergic to water..." For a moment Galinda looked at her like she was insane, and then she laughed.

"Cute Elphie, but no matter how you got it you don't need to lie about a burn." Elphaba arched an eyebrow before reaching over to the glass of water on Galinda's side of the night stand between their beds, bringing it in front of her and spilling a bit on the back of her hand. The blonde's eyes widened as the skin sizzled and blistered in a blackened burn. Elphaba just sat there with a bemused look as the blonde scrambled around in the drawer of the nightstand for a bit of gauze and some cloth. She placed the gauze over the burn after gently wiping off the excess dampness, tying the cloth over the gauze to keep it in place. The blonde pursed her lips at Elphaba's expression. "You didn't have to do that you know." Elphaba chuckled.

"Yes I did, you wouldn't have believed me otherwise." The blonde rolled her eyes and sat back down in front of Elphaba, inspecting her bandaged hand.

"You still haven't told me how you got the burn on your thumb."

"It's from when you were crying." Galinda looked up from her examination of Elphaba's other digits with a quirked brow.

"Tears are diluted with salt and a few other chemicals, if you can drink tea then why do tears burn you?"

"Tea is considerably more diluted than tears. Plants have a significantly larger amount of different chemicals in them and when boiled most of those transfer over so that it's not potent enough to do any damage. If you looked at the contrast between the burn on my thumb and the burn on the back of my hand you'd see that the burn on the back of my hand is considerably more severe." The blonde looked down at the burn on her thumb again and indeed there were no blisters, just a small blackish purple spot that looked to be just a superficial burn. Galinda sighed and gently kissed the back of Elphaba's hand before turning it over and tracing the lines in her palm. Elphaba brushed a curly lock of blonde hair behind Galinda's ear and kissed the top of her head. "What are you thinking about?"

"You." The blonde leaned against Elphaba and the girl laid down so the she could hold the small blonde in her arms and let Galinda's head rest on her chest.

"What about me my sweet?" Elphaba's words were quiet as she allowed the smaller girl to play with her hand, soft fingers tracing over caluses and eventually down to a scar on her forearm.

"Everything, but mostly how amazing you are. You've been through so much, and yet here you are. A beautiful, amazing woman, and I'm lucky enough to be the one that you love." Elphaba chuckled, lacing their fingers together and bringing the blonde's hand up to her mouth to kiss her knuckles.

"Well I'm not quite what most would consider a woman." Galinda looked up at her curiously and then down, then back up to her face with a raised eyebrow and Elphaba laughed. "I'm going to put this as delicately as I can, while I may have all the required parts, and no more mind you, I'm still a virgin." Both girls blushed a bit at this before the small blonde chuckled.

"Well if it makes you feel any better I'm still a virgin too." Elphaba looked mildly surprised.

"Really? I would've thought that with all the boys that have been so keen on you here that one of them would've won the honor." Galinda shook her head, her chin now resting on Elphaba's sternum and her arms wrapped around the taller girl's waist as a green hand gently played with a golden curl.

"None of them have really," Her face heated and she blushed a bit. "excited me, to the point that I'd even consider it. A lot of the boys I've been around have had really high standing and some were great guys and all but... They're so rough, it's a bit scary to be honest." Elphaba leaned down and kissed the girl softly, Galinda moving up her body to put less strain on Elphaba's muscles.

"And how do I compare to them?" The blonde was straddling her at this point and she seemed to pause, thinking, before moving to lay a kiss on her forehead.

"You're smart." She moved down to kiss Elphaba's closed eyes. "You see the world differently, it's not black and white, beautiful and ugly, sex and violence, it's elegance, beauty, you see everything and act before anything bad can happen." A kiss to Elphaba's throat, over her vocal chords, followed. "You've got a fantastic voice, and you're brave enough to use it." The next kiss fell on Elphaba's wounded shoulder. "You instinctively protect me, and just being with you makes me feel safe." Soft pink lips landed over her heart next. "You're so brave that it makes me swoon sometimes, and yet you're always there to catch me." She straightened up and took Elphaba's hands, turning them so that they were palm up and placing a kiss on each one. "You use your hands to care, not to hurt unless it's absolutely necessary." The blonde laced their fingers together, holding them there with one hand while using the other to gently caress Elphaba's cheek, kissing her lips softly. "You don't love me just because I'm pretty or a piece of tail for you to chase, you love me for me." Elphaba brought up her free hand to trace a finger over Galinda's cheekbone and down to cup her jaw.

"Do you want to know what I think of you?" Galinda nodded shyly and Elphaba smiled before flipping them over. She started at a pale forehead, just like Galinda had done to her, placing a gentle kiss on it.

"You have a beautiful mind and a beautiful personality to match, you're smart even if you don't always show it." The next kiss was to the side of her throat, dark lips sucking softly, causing the blonde to bite her lip. Once Elphaba was with the small mark created she spoke. "You have a voice that I would know anywhere," She continued to pepper kisses down along her pale neck, eliciting more soft mewling sounds Galinda. "you use it to speak words that can effect anyone, your voice is a siren call that I would recognize anywhere and anytime." After her neck Elphaba's lips descended on the spot over her heart, kissing it gently and nuzzling it slightly. "You have a heart of gold, you're capable great forgiveness and even greater love." She softly kissed her way up to a blushing cheek. "You wear your heart on your sleeve, even though it isn't always obvious, and that makes it easy to be around you, you aren't overly given to deceiving or being deceived." Elphaba softly kissed along her cheek bone to her ear. "You hear through all the lies people tell you, and you don't just hear what you want to hear, you hear the truth." Next she was kissing down Galinda's neck, across her collar bone and shoulder down to her bicep. "You have a strength to you, both magically, mentally, and physically that you don't show to many." Elphaba moved back up Galinda's body to kiss her lips softly, freeing the lower one from the blonde's teeth. "You're eloquent, yet you speak with great emotion. You love me like no one ever has before, like I thought no one ever could, and you express that with your words, you captivate me, body and soul." The green girl nuzzled her neck softly. "I love you." Galinda pecked her softly on the lips again.

"I love you too Elphie." Elphaba shifted so that she was on her side, facing Galinda with her arms wrapped around her waist. The blonde turned in her arms and kissed her shoulder again, lightly placing her hand over the wound. Elphaba held the blonde closer to her in response and took the hand that rested on her shoulder, bringing it up to her lips and kissing her fingers again. The two were tired after their eventful night and before they knew it they were asleep, Elphaba holding Galinda and keeping her warm.

When Elphaba awoke the next morning, the sun was already up fairly high in the sky and she groaned, realizing that if she didn't wake Galinda they'd be late for sorcery class. Looking down at the blonde in her arms she smiled remembering all that had been said between the two last night and deciding to try and wake her up gently. She kissed the blonde's shoulder, softly nuzzling her neck. The blonde stirred slightly, cuddling up to Elphaba and mumbling something.

"Galinda." Elphaba's voice was soft, but the blonde responded anyway, opening her eyes slowly and blinking a couple of times, smiling as memories of the events of last night came back to her. The taller girl smiled at her. "Good morning my sweet." She raised a hand to lightly caress a green cheek again before leaning in and kissing dark lips. Elphaba hummed her approval, continuing to smile contently.

"Good morning Elphie." Elphaba chuckled then, remembering why she had woken the blonde.

"You won't think so in a moment, we only have half an hour to get to Horrible Morrible's sorcery class." The blonde shot up with a gasp and dashed around the room, trying to get ready in time. Elphaba just chuckled and changed clothes, slipping into the outfit she wore to her day job. Galinda was still scrambling around for her books by the time Elphaba was ready to go, sitting on her bed, legs crossed. When the small blonde noticed Elphaba's pensiveness she halted her process and came over to sit beside her.

"Elphie? What's wrong?"

"Galinda... You're with Fiyero." Galinda chuckled nervously and blushed.

"Umm, well, about that... we kind of aren't... together, anymore." Elphaba's head practically shot up and she looked at Galinda with a surprised curiosity.

"What? When? Why?"

"You know that necklace he got me?" The green girl nodded. "Well he noticed that I wasn't wearing it when we went on a date a while ago. He got offended and asked why I wasn't wearing it and when I told him that I'd just forgotten to put it on he got jealous and concluded that there was someone else, he confronted me about it and after the way he was acting about it I just told him that I had feelings for someone else, I didn't tell him who though."

"Am I right in guessing that I was the someone else?" The blonde nodded. "How did he react to finding out that you liked someone else?"

"He was a total prick about it and made a bit of a scene, but there were a couple of guys nearby that didn't take to kindly to the way he was treating me so it could've gone worse." Elphaba frowned slightly.

"Did he hurt you?" The blonde shook her head no. Elphaba seemed to sigh slightly in relief and Galinda smiled at her, wrapping her arms around the taller girl and kissing her cheek. The green girl returned the favor and after about a minute of just reveling in each other's presence Galinda spoke up.

"What made you ask about Fiyero?"

"Last night when you'd already gone to sleep I was thinking and I was wondering about where we stood now, then I remembered that you were with Fiyero as far as I was aware, and well... I just thought 'what if when we wake up in the morning, she regrets it all and goes back to him?" Elphaba looked guilty for even thinking it while she spoke and Galinda felt guilty as she realized that Elphaba had been worried about this because she hadn't told her. The blonde cupped Elphaba's jaw and kissed her lovingly.

"Listen to me Elphie, I love you. I love you so much that sometimes I wonder how I could've ever thought I hated you. I will never go back to Fiyero, and I will never leave you, I promise." Elphaba wrapped her arms in a tight hug around the smaller girl and Galinda could tell just how worried she'd been about this and she hugged her back just as tightly.

"I love you too Galinda, and I'll never leave you either." And Galinda smiled, content just knowing how the taller girl felt about her.

A nice and fluffy chapter for once, I'll try and update more often and I'm terribly sorry for the long wait.