A/N: Ahhhhh! I had the biggest scare of my life today! My laptop wasn't starting and I thought I'd lost all my stories, but I got it working. Phew. I was practically in tears. We're talking a Glinda-getting-fired-from-the-Council-of-Magic breakdown here. Anyway, because of my technology drama I'm posting now so that we can enjoy at least one more chapter before this thing explodes on me. If I don't get the next one up within a week, please call Elphie and tell her she's going to have to solve this love triangle on her own.

"Glinda, this is Nessa," Elphaba said happily, gesturing to her sister. "Nessa, this is Glinda."

Glinda stepped forward and offered a hand to Nessa. "Hello, it's lovely to meet you. Although Elphaba's told me a trillion things about you. It's like we've already met."

"Likewise," Nessa said sweetly, shaking Glinda's hand. "I'm so glad Elphaba's finally found a friend."

"Ha," Elphaba cut in, "you're funny Nessa."

Glinda took a seat across from Nessa and slid sideways in her chair to face Elphaba. "She was only kidding."

"Oh no, the two airheads are ganging up on me," Elphaba teased. As the older sister and the best friend, her duty was to keep them in their places. "I'm fighting a losing battle here."

Nessa ignored her. She was much more interested in the City of Emeralds than her sister's negative attitude. "So tell me about city life!"

"Glinda gets around the city a lot more than I do," Elphaba replied. "She's nearly head of the Council of Magic." Was it a coincidence or was she starting to sound a lot like Glinda bragging about her daughters? Parenting? Gross.

"Really?" Nessa exclaimed. "I've been trying to get on that for months! The Munchkin representative said I wouldn't be right for helping people with magic." She scoffed. "All I did was shrink my boyfriend's heart. Not that it could have gotten any smaller."

"I'll put in a good word for you," Glinda offered automatically. She had taken an instant liking to Nessarose. Maybe there was someone in Oz who had worse luck with men than she did. "It would be nice to have someone who isn't senile on the Council."

Nessa smiled and fired off her next question straightaway. "And how's therapy going?"

"I quit," Glinda and Elphaba answered at the same time.

Glinda blushed. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize..." She noticed Nessa's confused expression. "I was in therapy because I divorced my husband. We both took it very hard." It wasn't so difficult for her to explain anymore.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Nessa replied gently.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. Her skin was literally tingling from the false sentimentality and she scratched her elbows to assuage it. "Of course you are."

By way of answer, Nessa rolled her eyes too.

Glinda giggled. "I always wished I could have a sister." It had been at the top of her Lurlinemas wishlist for years. In fact, it still was. But Lurline just wasn't coming through for her.

"Mine's for sale," Nessa and Elphaba replied at the same time. They exchanged a look. "Actually, she's free," they continued in sync. They exchanged another look.

"You two are so cute," Glinda stated. "I'm going to pack both of you into my luggage and keep you forever."

Nessa crinkled her nose. That would be awfully cramped. Then she exclaimed, "Elphaba's cute? Since when!" Just as Elphaba said, "You actually want Nessa? There is a god!"

"Who am I meeting next?" Glinda asked as they stood on a street corner. She wiggled her shoulders and looked around the intersection.

Elphaba checked her watch. "Someone who's late."

"Elphaba!" a man's voice called from behind the green woman. "Got your wallet!"

Whirling around, Elphaba snatched her wallet back. "Shell, you annoying little—"

"Aw, your brother!" Glinda cried, pinching Shell's cheeks, even if he was twenty-six years old. "Can I keep him too?"

"Oh, who's this? She looks rich!" Shell rubbed his hands together menacingly and a sudden gleam came into his green eyes. It wasn't that he wasn't well-off. He still lived with his father and Nanny did all of his laundry. But he did have a knack for flaunting his sneakiness.

Elphaba introduced Glinda to Shell and they had coffee in a nearby cafe. She watched amusedly while Shell tried to explain the state of the economy to Glinda and Glinda pretended to understand. It was kind of cute.

And when Shell had to leave, Glinda started again. "Okay! Next?"

"There's no one else, Glinda!"

Glinda placed her hands on her hips. "Now I know you're lying. How about your daddy?"

"Oh no," Elphaba protested. "Not Frex." But Glinda pestered her until she gave in and took her to the house she had grown up in.

Sitting across from Frex, Glinda watched Elphaba look around innocently. It must have been a while since she had last returned here. Glinda smiled to herself. The home of the Thropps was a cozy little bungalow nestled in one of the quaint Munchkin neighbourhoods surrounding Colwen Grounds. Sometimes Glinda wondered what it was like to grow up this way, in such simplicity. She herself had grown up in a mansion and was cared for more by the help than her own parents. It was because of this that she liked seeing older parts of Elphaba's life, though she didn't like hearing Frex talk solely about Nessa. Her original goal had been to learn some embarrassing baby stories.

"Excuse me, sir," Glinda interrupted, "but you have two daughters. I asked you about Elphaba. Now, I know how it is. I favour one of my daughters too, but I don't make it so blatantly obvious! Think about how Elphaba feels right now."

Elphaba snapped out of her trance and gaped at Glinda in disbelief. She pulled the blonde up off the couch, before Frex started on the rant she could see forming behind his eyes. "Well, it was nice seeing you, bye!" And she left with Glinda before anything escalated.

However, Glinda froze outside the door. She wasn't going to let this drop as easily as Elphaba assumed she would. "Elphaba! Why don't you stick up for yourself?" she demanded. It was already clear to her that no one had ever stood up for Elphaba to her father. And Elphaba was guiltiest of all.

"It doesn't matter." Elphaba continued down the pathway and opened the little iron gate at the front of the yard. With the tilt of her head she informed Glinda that she was going, blonde in tow or not.

"Yes it does!" Glinda rolled her eyes. "There is no reason for him to be so open towards Nessa and so...horrendible to you!"

Having put up with it for some thirty-three odd years, Elphaba didn't see the point of arguing over it. "I don't mind—"

"Well, you should!"

"He has his reasons," Elphaba snapped.

"That's like saying just because Jillian is blonder I like her more than Ariana!" Glinda cried. "You know that's not true! Not even I'm that shallow!"

"He treats us like that because I'm responsible for Nessa being in a wheelchair!" Elphaba blurted and then covered her mouth with her hands as though she had said something she shouldn't have.

Glinda stood there helplessly.

"My mom took some wacky thing when she was pregnant so Nessa wouldn't come out like me. It killed her," Elphaba explained. She had given too much away. But it didn't matter. She trusted Glinda. "And it almost killed Nessa."

"But that's not your fault!" Glinda retorted passionately. "That's not your fault at all!"

"Then whose fault is it?" Elphaba put her hands on her hips and waited for an answer. Preferably one that was logical.

"It's no one's!" Glinda stepped forward. "Things like that happen, Elphie. There's nothing we can do. And if your father deals with it like this then he's not much of a father, is he?"

Almost immediately, Elphaba dropped the argument and Glinda wasn't sure why. That didn't seem like Elphaba. "I have to make two more stops, Glinda. Will you come with me?"

"Of course." Glinda took Elphie's hand and then started off away from her old house and away from her childhood.

"So..." Elphaba said, smirking, "you favour Ariana?"

Glinda pressed a finger to her lips. "Shh! You didn't hear a thing."

Elphaba's first stop was to a florist. She bought a bouquet of roses and kept them with her on their way to their next destination. When Elphaba came to a halt, it was by an old fence that Glinda was too petite to see over. She had to peek inside through one of the knotholes in the wood when her curiosity got the best of her. "Oh no, Elphie, I don't think I want to go in there."

"Please, Glinda?"

There was a sadness in Elphie's voice that Glinda had never remembered hearing before. She relented and followed Elphaba into the cemetery. Dozens of tombstones stood in rows, but Elphaba bee-lined for one near the front row and stood blankly in front of it. By the time Glinda caught up to her, she had already laid down the roses and was staring at the name in the inscription.

Both of Glinda's parents were alive. All of her grandparents. All of her relatives. She had never lost anyone, but she remembered how empty she had felt when Fiyero left. And it was Elphaba's mother! Glinda called her own mother weekly and visited bimonthly. She couldn't imagine getting along without her. Searching through her mind for the right words, for the first time Glinda wished her brain wasn't so blonde. In there it was all rainbows, butterflies, princesses and happily-ever-afters. Or, at any rate, it was when Elphaba was around. When Elphaba was making everything okay. Maybe that meant she had to settle for something a little more real than words.

So Glinda slid her arm around Elphaba's waist, pulling her in tight, and laid her head on her friend's bony shoulder.

"I miss her."

"I know, darling," Glinda crooned. "I know." She stroked Elphaba's hair and Elphaba bowed her head down against Glinda's.

They weren't sure how long they stood there, but it seemed a short period. Finally, Elphaba pulled away. Glinda reached down and broke one of the roses off of its long stem, clearing it of thorns. She pushed Elphaba's hair behind her ear and tucked the rose in to hold it there. The contrast of the red and the black against the green shocked Glinda.

She'd never seen anything so lovely.