A/N: I thought I'd post this a little earlier than usual, to thank you all for the pleasantly surprising amount of reviews the last chapter received. Also, just to give you a little warning, there's a good chance that the rating of this story will go up when I post the chapter after this one, just to be safe. If anybody has a significant problem with that, please let me know, and if a number of people aren't happy with it, I'll try to tone it down before I post it so that the rating can stay as it is. Thanks!

Glinda had not, in turn, received permission to address Nessa without the honorific. Clearly something had gone amiss during their meeting, but Glinda still could not for the life of her put her finger on what it might have been.

21.

"I never see Elphaba any more, despite the fact that she was sent to Shiz to look after me," Nessa told Glinda frostily, "Why is that, do you think?"

"I- I don't know," Glinda replied, frowning. She was sure that there was a hidden meaning in the question, but could not work out precisely what it was that Nessa really wanted to know. "Perhaps she feels you're being adequately looked after by Madame Morrible."

"I don't need looking after; that wasn't my point," Nessa's voice was decreasing further in friendliness by the second, "She is my sister and I don't see her. How is she spending her time, to the extent that she is always too busy to visit me?"

"Well, she's been very busy with her studies, which I'm sure you can identify with," Glinda replied, whilst trying to remind herself that she was not being interrogated, that Nessa was simply concerned about her sister's general whereabouts. "I'll pass on the message that she should visit you more often," she offered, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.

Nessa's eyes had narrowed, however. "Studying?" she repeated, "That's the only reason she's been busy?"

"Well, I can only assume," Glinda frowned, still not understanding quite what Nessa was getting at, "I don't know wh-"

"So you deny that anything is happening between yourself and my sister?" Nessa interrupted, raising her eyebrows pointedly.

Glinda felt her heartbeat quicken, and a blush crept up her cheeks. Tell her, she urged herself internally. "H-happening?" she stammered instead, weakened by Nessa's disapproving frown, "Well, we- we're friends now, if that's what you mean?" Immediately, Glinda berated herself for not having the courage to admit that she and Elphaba were more than simply friends, but quickly assured herself that Elphaba might want to tell her sister of their relationship herself.

"Friends? Oh, don't even go there, Miss Glinda," Nessarose said scathingly, her hands gripping the arms of her wheelchair, "You might have been lying to me by omission for a while now, but that does not give you the right to lie to me outright. I may be stuck in this deplorable chair, but I am not blind and I am not stupid. I would like to know what is going on between yourself and my sister and I would like to know the truth."

Glinda stared down at Nessarose, shocked. What had she done to deserve this? But then, suddenly, Glinda recalled how she had briefly taken Elphaba's hand, had looked deep into her eyes right in front of Nessa. Was Nessa offended by their relationship? Was she annoyed that Elphaba had not confided in her? Glinda wished she knew.

She looked down at her hands and found that they were twisting together- an anxious habit she supposed she had picked up from Elphaba. Glinda chanced a look at Nessa and realised she was watching her hands with a steely gaze. Glinda knew intuitively that she too had made the connection between the action and Elphaba, and replaced her hands nervously at her sides.

"Okay, Miss Nessarose, you're right. Something is going on," Glinda began reluctantly, and then glanced again at the other woman. Far from looking triumphant at having been correct, Nessa looked, if anything, even more hostile.

"Do elaborate," she prompted coldly, and Glinda took a deep, deliberate breath. She wished Elphaba was still by her side and had not disappeared into the library, leaving her to deal with this alone. Had she been there, Glinda was sure that Elphaba would have defiantly told Nessa that Glinda was now her girlfriend, regardless of the disapproval it might prompt. But alone, Glinda felt powerless and ashamed before Nessa's haughty stare, despite telling herself repeatedly that she had no reason to feel that way.

"Elphaba and I… We…" Glinda tried, before wincing as she lost her words. Don't be ashamed, don't be ashamed, she reprimanded herself in annoyance, Do as Elphaba would do.

Finally, she removed her gaze from her shoes, and it was with Elphaba's intrepid stare that she looked unflinchingly into Nessa's uncompromising eyes.

"Miss Nessarose, your sister and I are in a relationship with one another. I'm her girlfriend," she said with Elphaba's confidence, clearly and boldly. Immediately after speaking, Glinda felt a sense of relief flood over her. She had finally managed to speak those words to someone, and no matter how Nessa reacted, she couldn't take that brilliant achievement away from her. Glinda was very glad of this as, judging by the look on Nessa's face, she was certainly not dealing well with the news.

"You're what?"

The words were whispered with such denial that Glinda's newfound defiance was almost shattered, but she managed to cling on to her positive mentality- at least for the time being.

"We're-" she began, but Nessa cut across her.

"No, don't repeat it. I don't want to hear those dreadful words again. I was merely voicing my outrage at your statement; I was not requesting that it be reiterated. I didn't believe it at first when Boq told me; the concept was that inconceivable. But when I saw you two together, I just knew it. And now- you have the nerve to admit to it right before me?"

Boq again, Glinda realised, with a flash of annoyance. This soon faded, however, as she glanced back at the crippled woman. Nessarose's voice was still soft, but her words had left her mouth as hate fuelled hisses; and her hands were gripping the sides of her wheelchair so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Glinda took a small, instinctive step back, but immediately wished she hadn't when Nessa reacted to this by lifting her chin and wheeling herself even closer so that her face, contorted with defiance, was far too close to Glinda's own for the blonde's liking. Glinda stood rooted to the spot and braced herself.

"These are sinful practices that you've been encouraging my sister to partake in," Nessa proclaimed then, her struggle to keep her voice down becoming more evident with each angry syllable, "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of the Unnamed God? 'Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor-'"

"Miss Nessa, please! Please, don't. Elphaba and I are not doing anything wrong," Glinda told her desperately. She reached for the other woman's arm- a peacemaking action- but Nessa snatched it away as though she'd been scalded.

"It is a curse!" she breathed, her eyes flashing angrily, "A curse for being tempted, for allowing yourselves to stray from the Unnamed God, for rejecting his creation!"

"No, Nessa, you don't understand," Glinda pleaded, and to her surprise, Nessa looked directly at her, eyes fiery.

"What is it then that I don't understand, Miss Glinda?" she asked, in a far more level tone, "Do enlighten me, because as far as I can see, I understand a far lot more than you yourself do."

"I- I love Elphaba. I love her with every part of me and she loves me too," Glinda explained, desperately trying to remember what Elphaba had told her when she had posed to her the question about their souls, "If the Unnamed God is omni-… omni-… I mean, if, by being her girlfriend, I was truly committing such a sin, could I really be capable of feeling this strongly for her? And if I believe I can love her more wholly than any male in Oz, how can you possibly proclaim our relationship wrong?"

"Because it is not love that you are feeling," Nessa told her suddenly, the words startling Glinda into silence, "It is lust, an unnatural passion that you are simply mistaking for love. It is a test, a temptation that you are supposed to resist. And instead you are yielding to it."

"I am not yielding to anything but my heart, Miss Nessarose," Glinda replied defensively, "You can't understand how that feels because your intense love for the Unnamed God is rendering you incapable of feeling love for another human being. When you understand what it is for one person to become the whole of Oz to you- then you may criticise mine and Elphaba's relationship, not before."

"Oh, please. You possess nothing more than wilful blindness if you truly believe that my sister loves you," Nessa said; angry now, almost trembling with the effort of keeping her voice discreet, "If there is a Thropp who is incapable of loving, it is Elphaba, not I. She has never loved anybody in her life; not our father, not even me. If you think you can teach her how to love, you are sadly mistaken. So, by all means continue to practice your unnatural passions in private. That is your own free choice. But know that the Unnamed God condemns all such practices and he will judge your soul unfit for his kingdom. And the day that my sister vanishes without a word to you, remember how I warned you that it would happen."

"It is you who is mistaken, Miss Nessarose," Glinda replied, shaken by Nessa's words but standing her ground, "Elphaba will never leave me. I trust her not to hurt me with everything I have."

"Then you trust too easily," Nessa warned, "I've known my sister all my life, while you've known her for a few short months. I can tell you now that she isn't worth your trust."

"She's worth a far lot more than you give her credit for," Glinda argued, finally snapping and allowing her voice to raise in volume as tears began to sting her eyes, "If this is what she has to live with, then I pity her. I thought very highly of you before I met you, Miss Nessarose, simply because of the way Elphaba speaks of you- with nothing but praise and compassion. But now, having spoken to you, I don't believe you deserve a sister like her."

Nessa's face was so red now, her fists so white, that she looked as though she might explode from anger. But when she spoke again it was in a hushed tone.

"Fine," she said, "Fine. If that's the way you both feel, then do as you like with her. But you can tell Elphaba from me that she is no longer my sister. And as for you; I cannot wait for the day that she hurts you and I'm proven right. Not that I'll be anywhere near you to witness it."

And with that, she pushed herself away from Glinda, turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees and began wheeling down the hallway at such dangerous speed that several students were forced to leap out of her way in fear of being steam-rollered.

"Miss Nessarose, wait!" Glinda shouted, panicking, but Nessa did not stop or even look around. Glinda clutched at her arms, digging her nails into her skin. Sweet Oz, what had she done? Elphaba loved her sister. Even when she complained about Nessarose, she always followed or preceded it by stating that she loved her. And now Glinda had caused Nessa to disown her. Elphaba was going to be furious.

"You caused Nessa to declare that I am no longer her sister?"

Elphaba's eyes were narrowed in unmistakeable anger. Glinda had found her at a desk in the library, her letter to her father written and sealed. She now had a newspaper open in front of her and a pile more to her left, but had paused in what she was doing when the blonde had rushed in and now all her reading resources lay forgotten.

"I'm sorry, Elphaba, truly I am," Glinda pleaded miserably, "Maybe she didn't mean it; she was very angry."

"Nessa never says anything she doesn't mean," Elphaba contradicted immediately, "Even if that statement was said in the heat of the moment with no thought behind it whatsoever, she'll still feel that she has to follow through with it now that it's been said."

"Elphaba, I'm so sorry," Glinda repeated worriedly. She moved to take Elphaba's hand, but her girlfriend pulled it away abruptly. Glinda blinked, trying to contain her tears; but to no avail. They were spilling down her cheeks before she could control them.

"Let's look at this objectively," Elphaba said, deliberately looking away from Glinda, "What did you say which caused her to reach the conclusion that I'm no longer fit to be her sister?"

Glinda hesitated, sniffling, until Elphaba began to glare at her. "I-I said that I pitied you for having to live with her. I told her she didn't deserve a sister like you," she whispered.

Elphaba's face relaxed slightly. "Glinda…" she began in exasperation.

"Well, it's true!" Glinda countered defensively through her tears, which were falling thick and fast now, "Forgive me for saying this, as I know she's your sister and you know her much better than I do; but you're a far better person that she'll ever be. You're kind and considerate and smart and brave and loyal and trustworthy and-"

"Alright, I get the idea, Glinda!" Elphaba interrupted hastily, pink spots appearing on her cheeks.

"- And beautiful," Glinda finished tearfully, and Elphaba's cheeks grew pinker.

"That one doesn't relate at all to my being a better person than my sister," she protested.

"I know," Glinda said softly, "But while I was listing your qualities, it didn't feel quite right to omit that one."

"You're not going to win me over that easily, Glinda. I'm still furious with you for causing my sister to disown me," Elphaba warned; but after a moment's pause, she looked at Glinda sideways, her eyes suddenly uncertain. "You can't really think me beautiful," she said slowly. The words were a statement; there was no question in them.

"I can and I do," Glinda argued immediately, looking deep into Elphaba's eyes, "Everything about you is breathtaking to me."

Elphaba stared at Glinda for a long moment as though trying to establish whether or not she was lying. Glinda stared resolutely back into her girlfriend's eyes, determined to show the other woman that she was not. Finally, Elphaba dropped her gaze and sighed heavily.

"I don't know whether I should be flattered or concerned about how you see me so differently to everyone else," she admitted, shaking her head.

"I prefer the first one," Glinda said, tracing her fingers across the newspaper open in front of Elphaba and then moving them gently over a green forearm. Elphaba shivered beneath her touch, before catching the hand and entwining it with her own.

"I'm still mad at you," she murmured, her thumb gently stroking the back of Glinda's hand.

Glinda smiled a little and edged onto Elphaba's chair beside her. Elphaba put her hand inside her sleeve and used it to gently dry Glinda's eyes. The blonde sighed, resting her head against the green woman's shoulder. "Yes, you certainly still seem mad," she mumbled.

"It must be nice to be you," Elphaba told her, frustration in her tone, "Did you know that you're completely impossible to stay mad at?"

Glinda snuggled closer as Elphaba's arm settled around her. "It's an achievement I've been working towards for quite some time."

"Have you also been working towards distracting me entirely from very important research?" Elphaba asked with a nod to the pile of newspapers in front of her.

Glinda wrinkled her nose, eyeing the newspapers. "What important research?"

"I'm looking for some current case studies that show the progressive loss of rights for Animals so that I have some solid facts to share with the Wizard," the green woman explained, frowning down at the page closest to her, "Such stories seem curiously ignored by the tabloids however, which initially made me wonder if the media know that they're taking place at all. But the only reportings about- or indeed by- Animals I've managed to find are hidden at page thirty or so of the less renowned newspapers."

"Why is that, do you think?" Glinda asked, not really seeing the significance.

"Well it seems to me that either the media know exactly what is going on and are simply choosing to hush it up for some reason, or else they don't believe the affairs of Animals are significant enough to report. Either way, the Wizard needs to know about the state of things and that some of us care enough to work alongside him in changing them."

Glinda smiled at the passion in Elphaba's eyes as she spoke. She still didn't quite understand why the state of Animal affairs was so important to her girlfriend, but the knowledge that it meant so much to Elphaba was enough for her, and she vowed to herself that she would support the green woman in this aspiration as much as she could. She nuzzled into Elphaba's neck.

"If there's any way in which I can help, Elphie, you only have to ask," she whispered.

Elphaba paused, before turning her head slowly to face Glinda so that there was only an inch between their faces. "Actually, there is one thing you can do for me," she said softly.

"Anything."

"Would you come to the Emerald City with me?"

Glinda felt her eyes widen in excitement at this proposition. "Really? The Emerald City? With you?"

Elphaba nodded. "I'm afraid I might become so intimidated upon meeting the Wizard that I'll jumble my words, and perhaps even forget why I'm really there," she admitted softly, indicating the newspapers, "I'd feel much less nervous if you were with me."

"Then of course I'll come," Glinda assured her, "Though I can't really imagine you becoming intimidated or doing any of those other things."

"Oh, I can imagine it," Elphaba disagreed grimly, "Don't forget that this is the Wonderful Wizard of Oz we're talking about."

"You'll be brilliant," Glinda promised, "It'll all turn out fine, you'll see."

"I hope you're right," Elphaba sighed, then Glinda was taken by surprise as she stood up suddenly, forcing her off the chair too. "I'm going to go and find Nessa now that she's had a little time to cool off and see what I can do about this situation," she said, her tone suddenly business-like as she began to gather up her newspapers, "She's stubborn, but she isn't completely unreasonable. Perhaps she'll allow me to make amends."

"Would you like me to come with you?" Glinda asked, "I'm not sorry for what I said after the comments she made about you, but I can tell her I am if you-"

"No Glinda, I think I'd make more progress if I went by myself," Elphaba interrupted firmly, "If you want to be helpful, you can take these newspapers back to the room for me."

"Of course." Glinda bit her lip as the enormous pile was thrust at her. She realised that Elphaba was more upset about what Nessa had said than she was willing to admit and couldn't help feeling incredibly guilty.

Glinda did not regret defending her relationship with Elphaba against Nessa's judgement, but wished that she had not lost her temper; it seemed she had lost more by hurting Elphaba's relationship with her sister than she had achieved. "I'll see you back in the dorm?" she broached and Elphaba nodded.

"I'll be right back as soon as I've finished talking to her," she promised. She began to stride towards the door, but paused after a few steps and turned back to Glinda. "Try not to blame yourself too much for what happened," she told her quietly, "Nessa has strong opinions, but she often uses them to conceal what she's really upset about. It's difficult sometimes to know how to handle her." Then she turned away and continued towards the door without waiting for Glinda to respond, leaving the blonde with the pile of newspapers and a sad smile.