Now Glinda and Avaric were gone, the mansion was very quiet indeed. The maids had less work to do obviously and the Guards were often seen sitting for once. It just proved how much Avaric overworked them. She had a lot of time on her hands because of this, therefore giving her a lot of time to plan her journey and come up with an ideal time to leave undetected. She couldn't just walk out on the job, they wouldn't allow her. She had planned it all, step by step, she would leave in the middle of the night, fly by broom, rest during the majority of the day in case spotted and continue with her skin spell, which proved to be more useful then she could have ever imagined. She jumped to her feet at the chance of distracting herself from all this for now and so fetched a cup of tea as requested for the guest. She wheeled in the tea cart and poured the hot tea into the china cup.

''My throat is so dry lately.'' The guest stroked his throat and took the cup from Elphaba.

''Thank you.'' He smiled down at her, a little uncomfortable; he wasn't used to this new situation at all and as of late attention had been thrown at him in every direction for his brave rescue. Elphaba smiled back and curtsied ready to leave when he stopped her.

''Wait!'' Elphaba looked up confused by his sharpness, for a second she thought the idiot had spilt the boiling water on himself.

''Yes Sir?''

''I know you.'' He looked into her eyes; it was her eyes that were familiar to him.

''I haven't seen to you before Sir.''

''No I know you from somewhere.'' Elphaba stared back, although she knew for a fact she hadn't seen him before, there wasn't exactly many talking scarecrows walking around Oz was there? She blinked, knowing what she thought she saw in his eyes, surely it couldn't-

''Yero?'' She whispered cautiously. He laughed weakly and nodded.

''Is it really you Fae?'' She nodded back and the two embraced each other, not caring about the stares from the Guards at the other end of the room. Elphaba pulled away and patted his shoulder, examining his body.

''Good disguise but what in Oz are you trying to achieve?''

''I err it's not a disguise Elphaba.''

''Sorry of course it's not.'' Elphaba played along with the act.

''I'm like this now.'' The sorrow in his voice told her he wasn't messing. She reached out and touched him.

''What in Oz happened to you?'' He sunk his voice down to a whisper.

''They came to Kiamo Ko Fae, just as we suspected, there- there were to many of them. This strange woman with a southern accent came forth and the next moment darkness. I remember the sound of her voice haunting me-'' He paused, the memory stressful for him

''Ssh it's ok.'' She rubbed his back soothingly.

''I can't believe it, did she put a spell on you Yero?''

'I presume so, how else do you explain something like this?''

''I'm so sorry.''

''What are you sorry for?''

''For not being there.''

''You couldn't have done anything, I'm glad you weren't there, who knows what they would have done to you too.'' Elphaba stared into his eyes, the only trace of him being … him. She hugged him and the pair stayed like that for several moments.

''They've took her from me Yero.''

''We'll get her back I'm sure of it.'' He stroked her back.

''I'm going for her, tonight.'' She whispered in his ear, so no-one else could hear.

''They're going somewhere south, I don't know why but I'll find them there.''

''Whatever you do be careful Fae, I can't stand the idea of something like this happening to you too.''

''I will don't worry. Besides you're the temporary ruler of Oz enjoy it before the monster gets back.'' She pulled back from him and smiled.

''Everything will turn out ok I know it will.'' She spoke referring to them all and reassured him with the wink of her eye that he would too.

''Thank you Fae, now go you have much to do I presume.''

''Until we meet again.'' She hugged him one last time and wheeled the tea cart away with her.

And so when the night was at its darkest and the moon hid behind the clouds, Elphaba Thropp mounted her broom and took off into the darkness. The impact of the icy air impacted on her straight away and she could feel her hands go numb within a matter of minutes. But she kept on; she took the black backdrop to her advantage and flew as fast as she could go. Heading south was a new adventure for her; she had headed south when Glinda and she had travelled for Kiamo Ko, but had yet to see the region properly. She covered a lot of land that night, ignoring the harshness to the cold and pushing herself to get as much travelling done that night before the sun turned night into morning. She was thankful in a sense when the sun did shine onto her, for the heat warmed her up ever so slightly. The grey brick road transformed into the yellow brick road beneath her and Elphaba admired the way it shone in the morning sunlight. She flew lower to the ground, just in case she was seen flying high in the sky. In the distance she saw a sign post; the wooden pole was dug into the muddy ground and stood lopsided. She dropped from her broom and read the different places, in the directions. If she carried on going straight ahead she would end up in Munchkinland within a matter of hours, if he turned right and kept to it she would end up in Quadling Country, where she needed to go, but that would take longer. Her eyes drooping from the lack of sleep these past few days fought with her not to carry on right now. She wanted to get to her as soon as she could but when she stifled a yawn she realised that unless she slept she wouldn't be doing herself or Glinda any favours. She recast the spell for her skin and felt even more energy zap from her body because of it and before she could react fell to the ground in an unconscious sleep. She was leant against the lopsided pole with her broom in her hand and the Grimmerie by her side. And for the first time in days, sleep swarmed her mind.