"She did what?!" Elphaba shrieked upon hearing of her friend's stunt.

"There was no time to argue," Fiyero explained. "Glinda's a grown woman; she can take care of herself."

"What does she plan to do about Morrible?" the green girl demanded.

"I don't know," the Winkie admitted. "But I'm sure she had everything figured out before she acted."

"Glinda's a blonde," the witch pointed out. "There's bound to be a flaw in her plan if she even had a plan. There are so many ways this could go wrong."

"Chistery's keeping an eye on her," Fiyero soothed, rubbing his wife's back. "Have a little faith in your friend."

"I have a lot of faith in Glinda," Elphaba assured her husband. "But that faith is currently being crushed by an overwhelming tidal wave of worry." There was a pause. "We've got to do something."

"I have a no..te from Miss Glin..da!" Chistery announced as he glided through the open window, brandishing a letter.

"Give me that!" Elphaba snapped, grabbing the piece of pink stationary.

"What she means is 'thank you'," Fiyero amended. Chistery gave the Winkie a knowing look. He understood how the green girl got when she was concerned about something. Suddenly an enormous grin spread across the witch's face.

"Glinda's a genius," she announced. "You were right; she can take care of herself."

"What did she do?" Fiyero wondered.

"She told the guards that she'd escaped from the 'Wicked Witch' and that the next day she needed to make a speech to all of Oz," Elphaba began, laughter in her eyes. "Then she demanded that they lock Madame Morrible and Raeb in a room to keep them safe from me."

"It worked?"

"Everything is going smoothly," the green girl affirmed. "But I am worried about the public's reaction to her speech. We need to be around in case things go wrong."

"Do you think you've healed enough to take the broom?" Fiyero wondered.

"Miss Glin..da also told me to give you this," Chistery interrupted before the witch could answer. He pulled a small piece of parchment from his pocket.

"It's a healing spell," Elphaba realized.

"Did she copy it out of the Grimmerie?" the Winkie inquired.

"No," the green girl sighed, reading Glinda's note at the bottom of the paper. "Morrible's got the Grimmerie hidden somewhere. However the palace's library has a large quantity of less powerful spellbooks. This should patch me up pretty well."

***

"I wonder how Glinda escaped from the witch," Selky mused as she and Corusca jostled for a view of the raised podium before them. They were cutting class to hear Oz's ruler's speech about her experience with a certain green woman. "How do you think she got free?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," the Antelope sighed. "Why do you always have to think so much? Just listen to what the Good Witch says and stop asking questions."

"Questions lead to answers," Selky pointed out. "And answers lead to knowledge."

"And having knowledge that you shouldn't have gets you in trouble," Corusca added. "You know that from experience." The two friends shared a meaningful smile. At that moment Oz's beloved blonde witch stepped up to her podium, an unusually bright smile upon her face.

"Fellow Ozians," she began with her usual greeting. "I understand that you are all worried about a certain witch who we assumed dead. However I believe that your worry is unnecessary."

"Unnecessary?" someone in the crowd squawked. "The witch kidnapped you!"

"That was a lie!" Glinda announced boldly. "In fact most of what you know about the witch is a lie. As I'm sure you've heard I knew her personally in school. However our relationship went much further than that. Elphaba Thropp, the girl you know as the Wicked Witch of the West, was my roommate and…my very best friend." A wave of silence rushed over the crowd. No one wanted to miss a word. "I have come up here today to tell you that the Witch of the West isn't wicked. She was in line to become the Wizard's grand vizier, but when Elphaba met with the Wizard she discovered that he was responsible for the oppression of Oz's Animals. He was the reason that they were being put in cages and losing their ability to speak. The Wizard offered Elphaba a comfortable life working in alliance with him but she was brave enough to refuse. Instead Elphaba chose to become a fugitive, freeing Animals from bondage and fighting against the Wizard. All her life she sought to do good and make Oz a better place."

Selky's heart stopped beating and her jaw dropped. For a second the entire world was drowned in eerie silence. Then an explosion of angry voices erupted and Glinda's hopeful face flooded with dread. "You lie!" a shrill voice shrieked. "The witch murdered my parents!" It took Selky a moment to recognize that those words had come from her mouth.

"We've got to get out of here," warned Corusca, the more level headed of the two friends. "This is gonna turn ugly really quick." However the Antelope's raven haired friend was swept away in the sudden and undiluted rage of the crowd. Soon several citizens were clamoring to get at Glinda, and the guards' efforts at pushing them back were rather halfhearted.

Most of the people there probably wouldn't have gone after their beloved ruler under other circumstances, but in a crowd emotion travels fast. One person's decision can cause an immediate ripple effect that changes everything. All it takes is one individual willing to defy convention. And in this instance one individual did defy convention. Someone pried a loose cobblestone from the street and launched it with uncanny aim at the blonde witch's head.

However moments before the projectile struck a flash of emerald fire knocked it away. Suddenly the infamous green witch was hauling Glinda onto her broom as more impromptu weapons were hurled at them. Then the witches were zooming into the sky, pursued by nothing more than irate words. "How could she say that?" Selky whimpered to Corusca, hugging her roommate. "How could Glinda the Good betray us like that? I thought she cared."

"I'm sure she does care," the Antelope assured her abruptly devastated friend.

"Then why would she tell us that that green scumbag is innocent?" the raven haired girl demanded. "Only an evil person could believe that there's even a shred of good in that wicked, murderous, monster."

***

"I can't believe they tried to kill me," Glinda sniffled, trying her very hardest not to cry. Elphaba, who had her arms wrapped around the blonde from behind, squeezed her friend tighter. They were soaring over Oz on a broom and the petite woman wasn't wearing the best clothes for flying. She shivered.

"Your speech was lovely," the green girl assured her. "But everyone's been telling them about my wicked deeds for so long that it's ingrained. I doubt I'll ever be free of my reputation."

"If we overthrow Madame Morrible maybe…"

"No," Elphaba snapped bitterly. "If you ever became Oz's ruler again they'd try to throw you out after what you said. I guess we'll just have to go into hiding and resort to my old methods."

"There's got to be another way," Glinda insisted stubbornly.

"Maybe Boq or Brrr will have an idea," the green girl shrugged.

"Boq's ok?"

"Caya was almost finished oiling him when I left to keep an eye on you," Elphaba explained. "And Brrr hasn't stopped eating since we brought him home."

"Is that what Kiamo Ko is now?" Glinda wondered somewhat regretfully. "Home?"

"I wish," the green girl sighed. "But after what happened today I doubt we'll ever have a home again. It's just like Jaybo said. My life is a restless one and I'll never know peace. However he didn't say that I'd steal peace from those I care about."

"He did say that I had to make hard choices," the blonde reminded her friend. "And today, for the first time, I made the right choice. When you fled the Wizard I was too scared to go with you. Last night when I slept in my old room I realized that I could have everything back if I wanted. But whatever happens now I'm glad I stood with you."

Another slowish chapter but I figured you guys could use a break from all those cliffhangers…more action will commence shortly…don't worry!