AN: Mwahahahaha! THE QUEEN IS BACK! And your reviews made me laugh :). I love all your theories about why they could be kissing - involving spells and Shadows and things like that... it's not that. But you'll see. I decided to relieve you from your pain and update soon - aren't I nice?

Lily: Your review actually almost made me kind of cry. Which is pretty pathetic, since I'm the one writing this story and we all know that indeed Elphaba's heart must have cracked at the sight, but just the way you put it was... yeah :3.

I hope you're happy, I hope you're happy now...

Chapter 25. Betrayal

When Fiyero had gone to investigate the noise, he had found Glinda roaming the streets, singing her heart out – very much off-key, as Elphaba had predicted – and hiccupping every now and then. When he had gotten closer to get a hold of her, he had smelled her breath. Alcohol. She'd been drinking. Elphaba had told him about her breakdown earlier, so he suspected what had happened – Glinda had been disappointed that Cohvu didn't love her, and so she had gone off to drink. She didn't do that often, but Fiyero had seen her like this once before, right after a breakup between her and her boyfriend back then. She was definitely drunk – she could barely even walk straight.

'Fi-' hiccup 'Fifi! What brings you here on this-' burp 'beautiful day?'

'You're drunk,' he stated, and she started giggling. 'Hihi, Fifi, you're so funny! Hey! That rhymes! Hihi – Fifi…'

'That doesn't rhyme, Glin.' He pulled her arm around his neck to steady her and started taking her back to where Cohvu and Elphaba were waiting.

'Whooo, princey boy!' Glinda struggled. 'Let me go!'

He did, and she nearly toppled over. She leaned closer to him conspiratorially and whispered in his ear, 'Did you know that Cohvu doesn't love me?'

He sighed and pushed her away. She smelled like perfume and alcohol, a slightly nauseating combination. 'Come on, Glin. Let's get you back.'

'No.' She folded her arms and pouted like a small child. 'He doesn't love me. I'm not going back.' She batted her eyes at him. 'Do you love me, Fifi?'

'You very well know the answer to that, Glinda. You're a great friend – when you're sober, anyway – but I don't love you.'

The blonde lost her balance again and with a squeal, she fell against Fiyero, wrapping her arms around his neck. She fluttered her eyelashes again. 'You're handsome.'

'And you're drunk.'

'Will you kiss me?'

'Of course not.' He was starting to grow irritated and tugged at her arms. 'Come on, Glin, work with me here.'

'Elphaba doesn't have to know,' she whispered sensually, and he pushed her away. 'Glin-da.'

'Fi-fi.' She started giggling again. Then suddenly, she pushed him against a wall with more strength in her small body than he had expected, and she started kissing him.

She took him completely by surprise and therefore he didn't react right away. As soon as it had dawned on him what exactly was happening, though, he started pushing her away. 'Glinda, are you insane?' he wanted to know, but then she squealed. 'Hey! Look who's here! Coco, who doesn't love me!' She squealed again. 'And Elphie! Hi, Elphie!'

Oh, no. Please no. Not now. Not this moment. Please let Glinda be hallucinating, he begged silently. Please let Elphaba not be here right now.

But when he turned around, she was there. And judging by the hurt look on her face and the tears brimming inside her large chocolate brown eyes, she had seen exactly what he had never wanted her to see.

He pushed Glinda away harder and took a step towards the dark-haired witch. 'Fae…'

She took a step back, shaking her head and holding both hands in front of her protectively. 'No.'

'I swear, it's not what it looks like!' he tried. 'She's drunk, and she-'

'No!' She turned around and ran. Fiyero didn't hesitate for a clock-tick before going after her. 'Fae! Fae, please, let me explain!' he begged. He was surprised when she actually stopped and turned around – he nearly ran into her. 'What's there to explain?' she wanted to know, and her voice broke. 'I think it was pretty obvious what happened back there.'

'Fae, I-'

'I gave you my heart,' she whispered incredulously, her voice trembling. 'I didn't want to. I've been so careful – but you made me trust you. You made me believe that there were still people in this world who loved me and who cared about me, despite everything. And I gave you my heart, because I thought it would be safe with you. Because I thought that you were the one person in this whole damned world that would never break it.' She spoke quietly, but he could hear the pent-up emotion in her voice and when she lifted her gaze to look at him, her eyes were filled with hurt and betrayal. 'Thanks for proving me wrong,' she spat, and then she turned and fled again. This time, he didn't go after her. He would only chase her further away.

With slumped shoulders, he returned to Glinda and Cohvu. The blonde was now hanging around Cohvu's neck, still giggling, and Cohvu was wearing that same expression of betrayal and disbelief Elphaba had had, mixed with a large portion of confusion. Fiyero almost couldn't look at it. He had betrayed the one woman he loved and his best friend, and he hadn't even wanted to do it.

'Please,' Cohvu said in a dangerously low voice, but Fiyero noticed that his voice was trembling a little, too. 'Explain.'

Fiyero sank down on a bench burying his face in his hands. 'I'm so sorry,' he said, his voice muffled by his hands. 'I found her, and she was drunk…'

'Why is she drunk, anyway?'

Fiyero sighed. 'Look, Cohvu… Glin made Fae enchant a necklace. It was supposed to glow or something whenever the one who's wearing it looks at the person he truly loves.'

Slowly, it dawned on Cohvu. 'Is that why she enchanted it? To see if I love her?'

Fiyero nodded. 'She was devastated when you came downstairs for your date and the thing wasn't glowing. She said she had asked you to wear it to your date.'

He frowned. Then his eyes widened. 'Oh my Oz…' he breathed. 'I forgot.'

Fiyero looked at him, puzzled. 'You forgot what?'

'I forgot to wear it!' Cohvu pulled the collar of his shirt down. 'See? I'm not wearing it. She had indeed asked me to, but I was late and in a hurry and I completely forgot! I never wore the thing!'

Fiyero was astonished. 'But… but she said it wasn't glowing!' he protesting. 'How would she know it wasn't glowing if you weren't wearing it?'

'He was wearing a high-collar shirt,' Glinda muttered, standing with her back towards the boys as she was lovingly stroking the rough stones of a wall. 'I just looked if there was a glow under his shirt and there wasn't.'

Fiyero grew angry. 'That is why you got upset and then downed two bottles of wine at a café?' he demanded. 'Because you didn't see the glow under his shirt, while he wasn't even wearing the necklace?'

'How should I know he wasn't wearing-' hiccup, followed by a giggle 'the stupid necklace?'

Fiyero pulled at his hair. 'You shouldn't have gone looking for love spells in the first place!' he yelled at the petite blonde. 'It would have spared us all a lot of problems!'

Cohvu slowly started to comprehend it. 'So she got drunk, and when you found her…'

'She pretty much fell around my neck and started kissing me,' Fiyero finished. 'I didn't want her to, I swear. And I'm sure she didn't really want to do it, either. She doesn't know what she's doing.'

Both boys watched as Glinda pressed her cheek against the wall and closed her eyes. 'Wally loves me,' she mumbled. 'Don't you, Wally?' She patted the wall and stuck out her tongue to lick it.

Cohvu grimaced. 'I think you're right about that.' He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. 'Fine. I believe you, Yero. I know you would never do that to me on purpose.'

Fiyero felt immensely relieved. 'Thank you.'

'Where is Elphaba?'

His face fell again. 'She ran off,' he said quietly. 'And I don't blame her, either. It took her so much courage, to open up to me… I was so happy when she did. And now I've blown it all.' Now he felt tears stinging his own eyes, and Cohvu placed his hand on the prince's shoulder and squeezed it. 'It wasn't your fault, Yero. I'll go talk to her, okay?'

He nodded, knowing that she would most likely run again if he was the one going to talk to her. 'Okay.'

Cohvu squeezed his shoulder again and said, 'Take Glin back to the inn, will you?' Then he left.

He found Elphaba in the forest, sitting under a tree with her back leaning against the trunk, crying her heart out.

Wordlessly, he knelt down next to her. She pushed him away. 'Get away from me!' she screamed at him. 'All of you! Why can't you just leave me alone?' She started sobbing again, and he softly rubbed her back. 'Those were my best friend and girlfriend, too, you know,' he said quietly, and she cried even harder. 'I'm sorry! I hadn't even thought about that!' she sobbed, and he let her cry against his shoulder, meanwhile rubbing soothing circles on her back. 'That's okay.'

She looked up at him, her face stained with tears. 'Aren't you mad at them?'

'Of course I am.' Cohvu sighed. 'But Yero explained, and… well, I believe him.' He took her hands in his. 'Em… they would never intentionally want to hurt you. Or me, for that matter. Fiyero loves you, more than anything in the world, and Glinda…'

More tears poured out of her eyes. 'I thought she was my best friend,' she whispered brokenly, and Cohvu wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. 'I know. She's drunk, Em. She doesn't know what she's saying or doing. Just now, she tried to lick a wall because she believed it loved her.'

That made her chuckle softly despite her tears, and he smiled. 'If I tell you what Yero said happened, will you listen to me?' he asked, and she nodded.

He explained everything to her and she was silent for a while. Cohvu thought he almost had her – just one more little push. 'Em…' She looked up at him and he gazed into her eyes solemnly. 'I know Yero. I know how he feels about you. I've never seen him like this before. He loves you more than anything in the world, more than life itself, and he would never, ever do anything to hurt you intentionally. Ever. And neither would Glinda.'

She took a few deep, shaky breaths, and he rose to his feet and extended his hand invitingly. 'Come with me? I think we need to talk. All of us. Assuming Glinda is anywhere near sober again, that is.'

She hesitated for a moment, but then she took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. He grinned at her and handed her a handkerchief to dry her tears with. 'There. Much better.'

'Much better, indeed,' a new voice said triumphantly, and both of them whipped around to face the owner of the voice. Cohvu cursed softly and Elphaba's breath hitched in her throat. The Cobra tribe. They'd found her again.

She automatically reached for the locket, but then she realised she'd left it in Munchkinland. For the first time, she regretted that decision. It might be safer for the three Objects to stay apart, but it wasn't really safer for her; without being able to draw magic from the locket, she wasn't nearly strong enough to take on four… no, five… Shadows by herself.

'Cohvu,' she said, gaze fixed on the Shadows, but she felt her friend's presence behind her. 'If anything happens to me, and you can get away, I need you to go and keep the locket safe for me, okay? That's the most important thing – that the locket stays safe.'

'But I don't know where it is!' he protested and she glanced at him briefly with her dark brown eyes. 'Look for it in the place I spend exactly one night each year,' she said mysteriously, and he panicked a little. 'I don't know what that means!'

She looked at him again. 'Tell Nessa, Boq, or Amaia,' she said quietly. 'They'll know.'

One of the Shadows laughed. 'Are you trying to convince us that you don't have your Object of Power with you?' she snarled. 'Well played, little Keeper, but don't think we buy that for even a clock-tick!'

She met their gaze seemingly steadily, though inside, she was trembling with fear – like every time she met these creatures. 'Search me,' was her only reply. 'You won't find it.'

Two Shadows came forward to grab her, and a third one started to search her pockets. He pulled off her cloak and searched that, then started groping her body, but she didn't even flinch. One of the Shadows frowned. 'I think she's telling the truth.'

The female Shadow snarled. 'Where did you hide it?' she demanded. 'Speak up, or I'll kill your friend!' She aimed a ball of crackling magic at Cohvu, and Elphaba paled. 'No! Don't!' She hesitated for a moment, then said quietly, 'It's in the basement of my old home.'

'Send someone there,' the Shadow told one of the others. Elphaba looked at Cohvu and gestured with her head for him to run. He shook his head stubbornly. She narrowed her eyes at him. 'Go!' she hissed quietly, but he still hesitated.

She gave him her most deadly glare and finally, he complied and dashed off between the trees. By the time the Shadows noticed, he was long gone. Elphaba smirked slightly. Who said wordless conversations were a girl thing?

'Take her with us,' the female Shadow commanded. 'I don't believe she's telling the truth about the location of the locket, but we'll get it out of her eventually.'

One of them sent a cloud of gray smoke in the young witch's direction and suddenly, her head started spinning. Then she passed out.

When Cohvu burst through the doors, panting, Fiyero and Glinda both looked up. The prince had been feeding his blonde friend cup after cup of black coffee and she was slowly returning to her normal self.

Upon seeing the panicked look on Cohvu's face, Fiyero immediately jumped to his feet. 'What's wrong?' he asked urgently, and Cohvu tried to catch his breath. 'Elphaba…' he managed to choke out. 'She's gone.'

'Gone?' Fiyero felt as if someone had dropped a giant weight on him. 'What do you mean, gone? Where is she?'

Cohvu shook his head, still out of breath. 'I don't know… the Shadows… They took her…'

'Shadows?' Fiyero's eyes widened and he covered his eyes with his hands. 'This is my fault…' he whispered. 'It's my fault she ran in the first place!'

'Yero!' Cohvu snapped, and the prince spun around. 'What?'

'You couldn't help it.' Cohvu locked eyes with him, looking more grave than Fiyero had ever seen him. 'It wasn't your fault, Yero. Glinda was the one kissing you, not the other way around.'

'Did you…' Fiyero gathered his courage to ask the question. 'Did you talk to her?' He wasn't sure he wanted to know what she had said, but he had to.

Cohvu nodded. 'I did. She was just about to come back with me to talk it out.' He looked at his friend sympathetically. 'If it helps at all… I think she believed what I told her, Yero.'

Fiyero let out a breath and slumped back onto the couch. 'We have to save her.'

'I know.' Cohvu sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. 'But how?'

Glinda was blinking at the two of them, dazed. 'I don't understand,' she declared, and somehow, that sent Fiyero into a fit of rage. 'You don't understand?' He jumped up again and placed his hands on either side of Glinda, on the arms of the chair she was sitting in, leaning over her in a slightly intimidating way. 'Let me explain it to you,' he hissed. 'Elphaba has been kidnapped by the Shadows because you felt the sudden need to get drunk and kiss me, and now she might die. Do you hear me, Glinda? She might die!' His voice broke, but he went on angrily. 'And if she does, she will die thinking that her best friend and her boyfriend both betrayed her!'

Glinda seemed shocked, though still not entirely lucid. 'But…' she spluttered weakly. 'I never meant to…'

'I know you didn't! But you still did it, Glinda!' Fiyero straightened his back and ran his fingers through his hair again in an almost desperate gesture. Suddenly, he whirled around to face the blonde. 'If she dies, it's your fault!' he yelled at her before running off towards his room.

Glinda's lower lip started trembling and she looked at Cohvu for support, but he stayed still in the chair he was sitting in. He wanted to defend his girlfriend, he really did, but he couldn't. It was true, after all. If Elphaba died…

He turned away from Glinda to hide the look in his eyes. Glinda drew her knees up to her chest and started weeping quietly.

So... are you happy now? *smirk* I bet you're not. Heheh. Review please! :D