Her father nodded and just smiled. "Go be with your friend. Go hug someone who really needs it."

--

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Apple Tree

The moon cast an eerie glow on the small garden behind the cafeteria kitchen of Shiz University. A lone girl sat, cross-legged, underneath the single apple tree. Her hood was pulled over her head, her hair tucked neatly underneath her coat, and her hands laid lifelessly on her lap. Her head was bowed and her lips moved quickly; forming silent words sent on a breathless wind to an Unnamed God she didn't even believe in.

She was praying for forgiveness.

If her father could see her, if her sister could see her, they would be proud. Her prayer would have been a sign of her redemption to them. But they didn't see her, no one did.

She sat alone.

Her hand twitched on her lap and she frowned, slowly lifting her head to stare at the base of the apple tree's trunk. Tears flowed from her eyes; leaving trails of red welts in their wake. She had not the strength, nor the heart, to wipe her tears away.

Two small mounds of dirt protruded, side by side, out of the ground near the base of the tree. A yellow rose laid, diagonally, on each mound. A present the girl – the young woman – had placed there.

Her hand slowly moved to her pocket. She fingered the small bottle that sat there. A bottle half-full of a poison that had lead her to where she was now. She stared at it, twirling it between her fingers. It was tiny.

She wondered how something so small could cause so much pain.

She unscrewed the lid, letting it fall and disappear into the long grass. She tipped the bottle slightly and the poison it held poured on to the ground. She watched as the dry dirt soaked it up with greed.

She vaguely wondered it if would kill the grass.

A sharp motion sent the now empty bottle flying. It hit the tree trunk and shattered in to multiple pieces of shared glass that flew every which way. One piece reflected directly backwards and struck the young woman in the face. It left a small, straight cut across her cheek.

She didn't even notice.

"Elphie?"

The woman on the ground jerked slightly at the sound in surprise and then turned her head away. She didn't acknowledge the newcomer and blanetly ignored her as she sat down.

"Elphie?"

"Go away." The words were a mere whisper, barely audible above the wind that swirled around them.

A pale hand reached out and grabbed hold of a green hand laying on the young woman's lap. She looked up at the touch and brown, grief-filled eyes met blue ones.

"Galinda… please…" Elphaba was barely able to speak around the lump in her throat. "Please... leave me alone."

Galinda shook her head. Blonde curls bouncy about her face. "It's not your fault," she whispered.

Elphaba turned her head away, staring at a small branch nestled in the long grass. "How can you say that?" she muttered. "I killed them."

"You did what you thought was right."

Elphaba shook her head. "I did what I did out of fear, nothing more."

"Be that as it may you can't change the past."

"I'm a murderer."

Galinda sighed. "You're not Elphie," she whispered. "You're not a murderer, you're not even a bad person. You're the nicest person, the nicest friend, I've ever met."

"The world doesn't agree with you."

"The world is superficial and that's below you."

"I'm nothing. A nobody. A useless freak!"

Galinda squeezed Elphaba's hand in her own and then placed her free hand on the green girl's cheek. She turned Elphaba's head to face her and their eyes met. "That's your father speaking," she said. "Not the truth."

"You lie."

Galinda frowned. "I do no such thing."

"I'm a murderer!"

Galinda closed her eyes to still her own tears. "Whether your decision was a mistake or not is no longer the point Elphie. They're gone. You're children are dead. I know it hurts, how can it not? But what's done is done. What you did doesn't make you a murderer. You were terrified and for Oz's sake you're still a child yourself! We… we all are."

Elphaba grabbed hold of Galinda's hand on her cheek and pushed it away. "They didn't deserve to die. Their conception wasn't their fault. It was not my right to take their lives away before they were even born!"

Galinda opened her eyes to be met with the sight of a distraught Elphaba before her. Tears streaked down the green skin unchecked and unnoticed. The blonde smiled sadly and slowly stood up. "Come on Elphie… let's go to bed."

The green girl nodded and stood up. Galinda still held her hand and tried to led Elphaba away but the distressed green girl seemed impossible to move. Galinda turned back to find what was wrong to see that Elphaba seemed transfixed on the two small mounds of dirt, the two graves, underneath the apple tree. An apple, not completely matured, had fallen from the tree and landed directly in the middle of the two graves. It's green skin was dotted with freckles of red.

"Elphie?" the blonde questioned, concern lacing her voice. "Elphaba?"

Elphaba turned to face the blonde, her green hand still within Galinda's pale grasp, and suddenly collapsed to her knees. Her hand slipped from Galinda's and she seemed to fold in on herself as suppressed sobs wracked her body. Galinda was there in a second, kneeling before her friend and laying a comforting hand on her shoulder for silent support. However, the blonde soon found that such minimal support was not enough for the now hysterical Elphaba.

So she hugged her.

Elphaba stiffened immediately at the contact but eventually relaxed in to Galinda's lithe frame. The blonde was soon supporting all of Elphaba's body weight as the green girl, for the first time in her life, found herself comfortable enough with another human being to truly let herself feel.

Elphaba Thropp was finally letting her grief out.