"I honestly think it's a good idea," Nessarose admitted.

"But when she's better, what if she wants magic?" Elphaba questioned her sister.

"Elphaba, do you know how she's going to react to the doctor and being isolated from us?" Nessa asked her. "If she kills the doctor, how will she get better? She'll get worse and worse to the point where she won't care about us. Those personalities or whatever they are might take over. Besides, her magic wasn't that great anyway, no offense to her of course."

"How can you be so… so indifferent?" Elphaba asked, concerned about her sister's calm tone as she spoke about the issue.

"I would say it's because I'm being realistic about it," she replied. She was currently reviewing a document Elphaba had no knowledge of, but she could tell by the way Nessarose scrunched he nose in disgust that it was not a pleasant one. "Listen," she said, putting down the papers. "In about a week, we will have to leave Glinda with the doctor who agreed to treat her. You won't be there, and neither will you. She will be alone. You know exactly how she will react when she's left alone for too long."

"But she loves her magic. Back in Shiz, that's all she wanted to do! She wanted to be a sorceress!" Elphaba argued. "Taking that away from her seems just wrong. There has to be another way!" Nessa slammed her hands down on her desk before standing up. She looked down at her sister who was still seated. She narrowed her eyes, a look on her face that resembled a dark period in her life when she was labeled the Wicked Witch of the East.

"Elphaba, this isn't Shiz. We aren't a bunch of kids with dreams anymore. I'm the Governess, she's got some personality disorder, and you're a college drop out. Things changed. I think Glinda most likely wants her sanity back and is willing to give up her magic if it means she won't murder anyone else unintentionally. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. I cannot be arguing with you at this moment," Nessa said. Before she could sit down, Elphaba stood and grabbed her wrist hard. Nessa went to pull away from her, but the green woman was stronger than her. "Oh stop it, Elphaba. You know I'm right." She released her grip.

"I'm sorry, Nessa. I…I just don't…" Elphaba faltered.

"I know," the younger one said. "It's hard for you to take away something away from someone you love, especially if it was her dream to use her magic for good. But I think that dream died the moment she was put in Southstairs," she explained gently. Elphaba closed her eyes and nodded.

It had to be done.

Elphaba shut the door behind her quietly after she had taken away Glinda's magic. The whole event had taken three hours when it should have only taken five minutes. As expected, Glinda fought back when Elphaba began chanting. It was strange how quickly she could change from thankful to hateful and angry. She had used her magic to fight, and Elphaba hated that she had to retaliate and use her own magic to stop her. It had been extremely difficult; she would have lost the entire battle in the gardens if Glinda hadn't stopped and looked at her with pleading eyes. She had told Elphaba that now was her chance, and the green woman tiredly dragged herself over and chanted the spell she memorized.

The ability for Glinda to use magic was no longer there. Elphaba hadn't been sure whether or not her magic had been sucked out of her, or if it was blocked somehow. That angry personality had come back quickly and tried to fight Elphaba. However, she only had Glinda's physical strength and natural endurance. She had pounded at Elphaba's chest pathetically before falling to a heap on the ground, sobbing. She rocked herself back and forth with the fire burning behind her from when she set the roses ablaze. Elphaba couldn't believe how fluidly Glinda used her magic when she was in her rage mode. "I'm sorry I failed you," Glinda muttered to herself.

"Let's get you put to bed," Elphaba said in a soft voice.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do. I love you, Elphie, but you might as well have chopped off a limb."

"Come here, my pretty," Elphaba said calmly.

"No I will not! I am not your pretty…I am not your sweet…I am nothing…nothing," Glinda cried. With her heart slightly breaking at the scene, Elphaba had picked Glinda up herself and carried her to bed. The blonde was exhausted and fell asleep almost instantly when her head hit the pillow.

"You did the right thing," Nessa said when Elphaba left the bedroom.

"Then why do I feel so horrible?" Elphaba questioned.

"Because what you did is hard to do," Nessa hugged her sister. Elphaba stiffened at the contact, but eventually let herself relax. She was too tired to protest.

"She's going to remember this and hate all of this."

"No, Elphaba. Trust me, when Glinda is in her right mind, she appreciates everything you do for her, and this is one of them. I think to her, magic was a burden and only resulted in destruction. The only thing she really liked to do was fly in that bubble of hers and I'm sure you could make one yourself," Nessa explained as she walked her sister into the sitting room for tea Boq had just made for them.

"You're right," Elphaba sighed in defeat as the two began to drink their tea in comfortable silence. After dinner, they talked about happier times and Elphaba couldn't remember a better time she had with her sister. They played chess twice, with Elphaba winning each game. "Pretty good for a college dropout, huh?" she smirked.

"Stop it, Elphaba. We both know that skin of yours comes with an abnormally high IQ," Nessa had said playfully.

"The joys of being a green bean, I presume," she laughed.

"Hey, it would make a great book title," Nessa joked.

"And write about that wonderful childhood of mine?"

"Not everything about it was bad," Nessa piped.

"You didn't even see the half of it," Elphaba said and sipped her wine. She wasn't one for drinking, but the two had decided that after today's events, they most definitely needed it. Her childhood wasn't something she enjoyed reminiscing about, but she didn't need to start a fight with Nessa about the things that had already been done.

"I didn't see it, but I heard it," Nessa quietly admitted. "You don't know how many times I yelled at father to stop mistreating you when you were outside reading a book or something."

"If you heard it, why didn't you come in and try to stop it?" Elphaba asked, but calmly. She most definitely didn't need to start a fight. The wine had calmed her, and she was just curious about things that had gone unsaid for many years.

"I'm not sure, really. I was just a kid in a wheelchair. Half the time you and father were up in that attic and I couldn't very well climb up there. I will admit," Nessa let out a ragged sigh before taking a sip of her drink. "I tried climbing that ladder once, but failed," she paused. "He used to threaten me. He told me he'd leave me upstairs to rot up there, and I honestly got scared."

"But he adored you!" Elphaba exclaimed in shock.

"There is no doubt that he did, but he hated how much I loved you. I know I didn't-er-I don't show it a lot, but I do love you, Elphaba."

"Oh, Nessa, I love you, too."

"I honestly don't know how you can love me," Nessa took another sip. "I wasn't very nice to you all the time. I shouldn't have treated you like a…like a slave sometimes. It was a horrid thing to do to feel like I had some kind of power. It's hard when you're helpless and you can't fight back," she said the last part quietly, as if she didn't want to say that last sentence out loud.

"Nessa, did father really adore you as much as I was led to believe?" Elphaba asked.

"I honestly don't have an answer," Nessa said. She downed the rest of her wine. "Where's the whiskey?" she asked getting up and went over to the bar area. She grabbed a glass, filling it with ice and pouring herself a new drink. She drank it quickly, and it burned her throat. However, she needed this if she was going to reveal to Elphaba the secret she had been harboring for years.

"Nessa, what do you mean by that?" Elphaba asked carefully as Nessa poured herself another drink and sat back on the couch. Elphaba was still sitting in the chair across from her.

"Father was an odd man," Nessa started.

"I could have told you that."

"Do you want me to tell you, or do you want to continue to interrupt me?" she snapped.

"Go on, I'm sorry," Elphaba replied, ignoring the bite to her sister's voice.

"Some days, father was very good to me. But other days, he would lay his hands on me inappropriately. He was good at hiding the marks, only making the ones visible underneath my clothes," she confessed.

"Father used to hit you, too? But I never heard you scream."

"He didn't hurt me like he hurt you. He didn't touch you like he would touch me," she explained.

"Sweet Oz, he didn't…" Elphaba said, unable to say those horrible words. Nessa nodded.

"Only with his hands. He never actually…" she trailed and took a large, unladylike gulp of her drink. "He would stop himself before it got that far. He'd cry and said he didn't mean it."

"Oh, Nessie," Elphaba said and rushed to her sister's side and put an arm around her. "Why didn't you tell me? Or someone?" Nessarose looked up and gave her sister a sad smile while Elphaba took the drink from her. She knew Nessa didn't have as high of a tolerance for alcohol as she did, or she assumed. She was actually surprised how well she was handling everything she drank already.

"Probably the same reason why you didn't tell someone how he hit you."

"But people would believe you. I was that weird green one that everyone hated. You were that cute little girl in the chair whom everyone adored. Surely they would have believed you," Elphaba explained.

"It doesn't matter," Nessa shrugged. "It started when I was eleven, so I didn't suffer as much as you had. I figured if you could endure the horrid things he did, I could handle his touch, even if it made me want to puke. Oh, sweet Oz, how I wish I could have kicked him and ran away!" Elphaba could tell that the only reason why she had started telling her all this was because the wine had already made her tipsy earlier. These stronger drinks were just adding fuel to the fire.

"Oh, Nessa."

"I also never said a thing to you because he said he'd start touching you, and I felt just going through this protected you from him sometimes."

"Nessa," Elphaba said, as if she was a bit angry with her.

"No, stop. I'm glad I did it. It was the one thing that saved you some torment, then so be it." Tears fell down her cheeks as she rested her head against her sister's bony shoulder. "He didn't do it all the time. It wasn't like it happened a lot."

"It shouldn't have happened at all. How dare he!" Elphaba sat up straighter.

"Don't get mad at a dead man," Nessarose said soothingly. "Just sit here with me. You're the first person I told this to. It explains why I became a wicked witch briefly, huh?"

"Oh, Nessa, don't joke about this," Elphaba sighed and blinked her own tears back.

"I'm so glad you're back in my life, Fabala. I just…I…" Nessa stumbled on her words. "I want you to know that back then, I would have taken you with me and we would have run away if I had working legs at the time. We would have had such great adventures! It would have been you and me against all of Oz!" Nessa paused. "Well, not really against Oz. But, well, you know what I mean, don't you?"

"Yes I do," Elphaba said and hugged her sister close.

"But I'm glad how things turned out. And once Glinda's better," Nessa yawned, "Everything will be the way it should be. And when Boq and I get married and have kids, we will be great parents. None of that abusing stuff will go on."

"Of course it won't. You and Boq are great people," Elphaba replied. Nessarose nodded in agreement.

"And when you and Glinda get married and have kids, well, you guys will make great parents, too."

"Nessa," Elphaba pressed her lips together for a moment. "That isn't possible."

"You most certainly can adopt," Nessarose rolled her eyes. "Glinda told me she'd name her daughter Melena after mother. How beautiful is that! You chose a keeper there," Nessa yawned again.

"I think it's time for bed," Elphaba said and patted her sister's back, not wanting to get into a discussion about babies. Nessa yawned yet again and nodded in agreement and sat up.

The two said goodnight before they headed to their respective rooms. Elphaba carefully opened the door so she wouldn't wake up Glinda. She knew she had to slip into bed before she woke up in terror of being alone. However, Elphaba assumed she was just so exhausted that it wasn't possible for her to wake up until morning. After changing into her nightclothes, Elphaba noticed a piece of paper on her pillow. She went over to the desk across the room and noted a candle was still lit. Had Glinda already woken up once to write this? She sat down and began to read the letter.

Dearest Elphie,

I did wake up alone and afraid, but I made myself get over it before I panicked. That must be progress, correct? I just wanted to write you this note to say how horrible it was of you to do this to me. How in Oz will I protect myself now? Without magic, surely a man will come by and violate me with ease. Is that what you wanted? Do you want me to continue to suffer? As much as I love you, I sometimes hate your actions. Spells are irreversible, so I hope you're happy you left me in such a state. I will try to forgive you, but I feel like I will always resent you for this.

Yours truly,

Glinda

As unnerving as the words were, what scared Elphaba the most was that this was not Glinda's handwriting.