woodland59: I did know that. Completely disgusting!

aramenunicorn (Guest): *Looks at weapons and fire cautiously* Um… I'm just gonna… um… let you read the chapter.

I forgot to say this in the last chapter, but special congrats and thank you to my 100th reviewer Ultimate Queen of Cliffies! Here are some virtual chocolate cupcakes and a chapter dedication!

When Galinda opened her eyes the next morning, it was still dark outside. The moon was still up and her entire body still felt tired, whether it was from her disturbed sleep or what had happened to her, she's didn't know, nor care. Blinking, she wondered what had woken her up in the first place. The distant sounds of muffled voices reached her ears and she realized that was the reason why she was awake. She knew they were yelling something, but didn't know what they were yelling about. As footsteps approached and ran past, she was able to catch a few words.

"Knife… blood… Wizard… dead in bed…"

She sank away. The Wizard had been stabbed? By who? Why? She heard more rushed footsteps and hurried voices as she tried to get more information.

"Prince Fiyero… Princess Elphaba… crowned immediately…"

"… Getting ready now…"

"… Ready the guard…"

The coronation. It would be taking place immediately, before her execution. Galinda bit her lip. Could she be saved? The Wizard had the opportunity to save Nuna, but he didn't. Would Fiyero be the same way? Would he just allow her to hang?

The sun rose and hours passed. When no one came to collect her, Galinda began to think that she had been forgotten about in the chaos of the Wizard's death. But as most light streamed into the small cell, those thoughts were proved wrong when she heard someone unlocking the cell. She looked up and saw the guard who had whipped her.

"Relax," he said gruffly, which didn't do anything to help Galinda relax. "You're not going to die... today."

Galinda looked at him suspicious, not going to get her hopes up so quickly.

"The new king has declared that you are to be let go and brought before him. But don't get your hopes up." He undid her shackles and pulled her to her feet, ignoring how exhausted she was. When they got to the throne room, Galinda felt like she was going to collapse. The soldiers standing guard opened the doors and Galinda was pulled inside. What she saw made her gasp.

Fiyero was sitting on the Wizard's throne, which was technically his throne now. Elphaba was sitting on what would have been her mother's throne. Both looked extremely tired and sad. They were still in their coronation outfits; Elphaba in her gold and silver gown and Fiyero in a matching gold and silver suit. The green girl looked like she just finished crying, but her face lightened up a bit when she saw Galinda.

The guard forced Galinda to her knees and bowed to the royals.

"Leave us," Fiyero said.

The guard bowed and left. Galinda remained on her knees, not moving. She sensed movement coming from the thrones and a clock-tick later, Elphaba had her arms wrapped around her. The blonde hissed in pain and Elphaba gently pulled away.

"I'm sorry," Elphaba said as she gently took the blonde's hands. "I'm so sorry, Galinda."

Galinda looked up at the now-queen. For some reason, Elphaba looked older than she had a few days ago. A lot had happened to her. But a lot more had happened to the blonde. She lowered her gaze to the floor, avoiding Elphaba's eyes.

Elphaba knew it would take more than an apology to rebuild their friendship. She looked up at her husband, who was simply watching. Fiyero, seemingly knowing what his wife wanted, called for one of the maids to prepare a warm bath for Galinda. Elphaba moved to help her up, but she shielded away and slowly rose to her feet, but not without grimacing in pain. Elphaba's gaze fell on Galinda's baby bump and she stared at it sadly. All she could do was watch as Galinda left with the maid.

Fiyero came down from the throne and wrapped his arms around his wife. "Fae…"

"This is all my fault," Elphaba whispered, more to herself than to Fiyero.

"It's not, Fae."

"I could have helped her. I should have helped her. I should have begged for my father to show mercy on her. But I didn't. I was so angry and upset that I didn't."

"But you saved her life."

"It should have been done sooner."

Fiyero didn't know what to say. He knew his wife wouldn't listen to him, especially after everything that happened. After a brief back-and-forth, he managed to talk her into getting something to eat while Galinda had her bath. Elphaba couldn't remember the last thing she ate, but her mind was completely preoccupied.

Galinda had a long soak in the bath. The wounds from her whipping still stung, but the bath seemed to help a little bit. When she got out, she couldn't reach the wounds on her back with the ointment, so she simply just put it on her sides as far as she could reach. She changed into a simple pale pink dress and sat on her bed, running her fingers over the soft cover.

Someone knocked at the door a few minutes later, but Galinda barely registered it. The door opened and Elphaba came in, carrying a tray of tea and a sandwich.

"Hi," she said softly. "May I come in?"

Galinda didn't look up or answer.

"I figured that you… um… hadn't eaten in a while and… I brought you a sandwich and some tea," she said as she came in and set the tray down on the nightstand. She regarded her old friend as she sat down on the bed next to her. "I can't imagine what you just went through, Galinda, and to be quite honest, I don't want to. I cannot fathom how horrible it was for you. Are you… alright… considering everything, I mean."

The blonde still refused to answer.

"Galinda?"

No response.

"Galinda, please answer me."

Silence.

"Well, the least you could do is speak to me after I just saved your life!" Elphaba shouted at the top of her lungs at the blonde.

Galinda recoiled and shielded away from the loud voice, and Elphaba immediately regretted it. "I'm so sorry," she said sincerely, calming down. "I didn't mean to do that. But, please, Glin, talk to me."

Galinda slowly lifted her gaze to Elphaba. She began searching the green girl, though she wasn't quite sure what she was searching for. Elphaba gently took her hand and she looked down. Could she trust the green girl again? "Th-Thank… y-you," she finally said before turning away quickly.

Elphaba would have been hurt by the blonde seemingly fake 'thank you', but she knew she was just reacting to everything. She gently reached out to touch her friend, but stopped. "Can I… get you anything?"

Galinda shook her head.

"Are you… okay?"

A pause, and Galinda shook her head again.

"Is it your back?"

A nod.

Elphaba got up. "I'll be right back."

Galinda heard Elphaba leave and when she came back, she was carrying the ointment. Sitting back down, the green girl gently moved to help the blonde remove her dress. As a reaction, Galinda immediately jumped up and scurried away, ignoring the pain shooting through her body.

"I'm sorry," Elphaba apologized for the third time. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I just want to help you."

Galinda looked at the queen with scared eyes. She wanted to trust her, but she couldn't. So much had happened, to both of them. She slowly backed into the corner, her eyes never leaving Elphaba.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I just want to help make you feel better," Elphaba said softly, taking a small step towards the blonde. "Please let me help you." Another step. "I know you don't fully trust me yet, but please let me do this for you." She kept taking small steps until she was an arms length away from Galinda. She gently reached out and took her hand. Galinda stiffened, but didn't pull away, which Elphaba took as a good sign. She gently guided Galinda back to the bed and helped her remove her dress and sit down.

"Lay down," she said gently.

Galinda hesitated, but with a gentle, encouraging smile from Elphaba, she slowly laid down and hugged her pillow against her chest. Elphaba scooped out the ointment onto three fingers and, lifting Galinda's slip to reach her back, gently applied the ointment. Galinda whimpered and stiffened in pain, but soon relaxed as she felt the cool, soothing medicine on her back.

"Is that better?" Elphaba asked as she closed the bottle.

"Y-Yes," Galinda said, allowing Elphaba to help her put her dress back on. "Th-Thank you."

Elphaba nodded and put the ointment back. When she returned, Galinda was still on her bed, still hugging her pillow. "Do you… want me to stay?"

Galinda looked up and nodded slowly. She scooted over and Elphaba sat down. "I've missed you."

Galinda looked up at her. "I d-did… too."

Elphaba looked down at her abdomen. "A-Are you going to… um…"

Galinda looked down and bit her lip. "D-Don't know…"

"You don't have to get the procedure. It's very dangerous, especially since you're so far along. I don't want anymore else to happen to you."

The blonde nodded and looked at the bottle of red pills on her nightstand.

"Do you still want it?"

Galinda shrugged. She felt a flutter inside of her and sighed. She couldn't kill this life. Maybe she could put it up for adoption when it's born. Life in an orphanage was tough, but the child couldn't stay here. Especially not with Avaric still around. Plus, she wasn't even supposed to be a mother. She was sure she wouldn't make a good one, anyway.

"This is your decision, Galinda. I just want you do know that… despite everything… I still consider you my best friend and I don't want you to get hurt any more than you already were."

"O-Okay," Galinda whispered, her hand resting on her abdomen.

The girls sat in silence for a moment until Elphaba decided to speak up. "Um… I just wanted to let you know that Fiyero is working on some new laws to help protect women… and girls… who go through what you went through. He knows that things need to change in Oz, and though it won't be overnight, he's going to try his hardest. And I am, too."

Galinda's lips twitched. "Th-Thank you, El-phie."

Elphaba smiled at the use of her nickname and gently hugged her friend, careful of her wounds. "You're welcome, Glin." She gently pulled away. "Get some rest. You've been through a lot. Drink the tea before it gets cold and the sandwich is still there if you get hungry."

Galinda nodded and watched as her friend turned to leave, but she called her back.

"Yes?" Elphaba asked as she turned.

"I… I'm s-sorry a-bout… your f-father."

Elphaba stiffened and Galinda immediately knew that it was the wrong thing to say at the wrong time. She moved to apologize, but Elphaba just held up her hand to stop her. "It's okay. He had a… good reign. Now it's Fiyero's and my turn, no matter how much sooner than we thought. Fiyero has been telling me he wanted to change some of those laws. Now he gets the chance to."

Galinda nodded and watched as the queen left. She was really trying. And Fiyero was going to change some laws in Oz. Laws that needed to be updated and rewritten to protect every citizen of Oz. As she drifted off to sleep, she realized that everything would be fine.

The blonde slept for the rest of the day, and Elphaba didn't expect any less. She checked up on her, as promised. She would stay for a few minutes, making sure Galinda was alright and her back wounds didn't need any more ointment before she would leave.

That night, Elphaba was startled awake. She blinked the fogginess out of her eyes. She didn't hear any noises, and she didn't have a nightmare. She hadn't been accidentally slapped by Fiyero, who was peacefully asleep, his back turned to her and soft snores escaping his slightly parted lips. Her mind immediately flashed to Galinda and she jumped out of bed and twirled her robe around her shoulders, ignoring her husband's senseless mumbles. She hurried to Galinda's room and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she pushed it open and found a horrifying and unexpected sight.

Galinda was lying on the floor, motionless and covered in blood, with an opened bottle of the red pills in her hand, half still in the bottle, and half spilt out onto the carpet.

"Oh, Oz! GALINDA!" the green girl screamed at the top of her lungs, rushing to the blonde's side and kneeling down next to her.