It was strange, this silence between them.
Ever since their days together at Shiz, they had always had something to talk about.
Yes, they had fought.
Plenty..and with the introduction of Fieryo..
Even bitterly.
But there had never been this..
This unnatural silence between them.
Elphaba's heart sunk a little as she cupped her hands around the steaming pot of tea in front of her.
She carefully studied the amber liquid, oblivious of the fact, that Glinda, sitting across the kitchen table, was, in turn, intently studying her.
Some part of the blonde was now finally accepting the fact, that this was, indeed, real.
She was the lone ruler of Oz.
Mysterious powerful people were after her skin.
And Elphaba had returned from the as good as dead.
She took a careful sip of her own milky liquid.
She really was back.
Elphaba.
Glinda shook her head at herself.
The last hours had been surreal to say the least.
The way the green witch had suddenly appeared, with white skin, of all things, and in the uniform of the man that stood between them..
A dashing, young princess in the candlelight.
Glinda sighed into her tea.
The hot air reflected against her face immediately.
No wonder, that her head had been a little out of it, with the lack of sleep and all.
Her cheeks reddened a little as she remembered their close dancing.
The blonde rested them on her palms, watching Elphaba study her plain tea as though it was a textbook, over her own, steaming cup.
Her brain had not been able to process the fact, that the green girl was back, so her body had tried to believe, drawing in close, and trying to feel the familiar form against itself…seeking recognition.
Convince itself by touch rather than logic.
Her heart had known then, Glinda knew..but her mind still had trouble processing the news.
And there were quiet a handful, it turned out.
It was strange..strange, indeed, that Elphaba, now, so unexpectedly, was a mother of two.
It had always been silently agreed between the two of them, that Glinda would be the one to get herself married and have children, plenty of them, while Elphaba would go on to, well, greater things.
Change the world, become a scientist, a professor, or something.
Children and a husband had always been secondary to her career aspirations.
Or tercerary..or..well..at the bottom of a very, very long list.
The woman in question allowed her gaze to travel to the window again.
Probably thinking of her daughters, Glinda thought.
One who was named after her, she reminded herself, allowing her own eyes to follow and settle on a graying sky.
The fact still touched her.
Elphaba's youngest had been named after her old self, the bubbly and happy girl that had loathed her green roommate so much upon their first meetings.
A small voice in her mind piped up, wondering if history would repeat itself in that aspect.
Elphaba had left the little girl, after all.
Presumably with Fieryo.
Glinda knew him.
She knew him well.
Knew him better than Fieryo probably knew himself.
She had known him for enough a year, to know, that he would not have let Elphaba go with both children.
He loved fiercely and with great loyalty.
Not her, as it had turned out..but still…
He would be a great father.
Glinda had assessed this fact many an afternoon spent traversing the Castle's Gardens, while he was out looking for an emerald woman.
And Elphaba..
Glinda found herself wondering what kind of mother she was.
Her eyes settled on the half green, half white face again.
There was a gentleness in her, that most people had always chosen to overlook.
It had been visible in her never tiring patience with her very tiresome sister.
The great love she held for people..most of whom didn't deserve half of it.
Glinda studied the profile of a green jawbone.
She had put on some weight, which had successfully managed to soften her sharp features, and her eyes held a vulnerability and tenderness, Glinda had but rarely seen there before.
Her features were a blotchy white.
Especially where Glinda had rubbed the artificial color off before, stretches of green skin were finally clearly visible.
Somehow, of all things, this calmed the blonde.
It made it so much easier, to really believe that it was Elphaba, the real, live version of Elphaba who was sitting before her.
Not just a dreamed up, wishful thinking, or even magicked here by evil designs, illusion.
The collar of her uniform jacket had been loosened as had been the first few buttons.
A patch of unmarked emerald skin was visible just underneath her throat.
Real and unmarked.
Glinda had been surprised, when Elphaba had finally taken off her gloves to cup her hands around her tea.
They lay next to right hand on the table.
One of them smeared with traces of blood.
Glinda did wonder what had prompted such action from the other woman, but chose to not ask, sensing, that she did not want to hear the answer.
What amazed her though, wasn't the blood stain on the white, but the fact, that no green hands emerged.
Elphaba had even taken enough care to conceal her hands, lest the gloves should fail her disguise.
It showed her agitation and fear over a possible discovery.
Glinda could only guess, what it must have taken the former Wicked Witch to walk into a ballroom full of people, not few of whom had set out against her with pitchforks only a few months prior, with only a thin veneer of color to protect her against their vice.
A part of her wondered, why Elphaba had never bothered with using that solution to her greenness at Shiz..or even prior in her life.
But she knew the other girl well enough, to know, that this whole masquerade was against Elphaba's very being.
It wasn't only the greenness of her skin, that had defined her..but she had always chosen to be who she was..do what she believed in, not act according to the conformities or wishes of others.
Therefore, it had never been a choice really.
The greenness only had given Elphaba the chance to be even more just exactly herself.
Glinda smiled to herself.
The girl she had known might even have painted her skin green for a statement just like that.
She defied everyone who didn't manage to look past the glaring color anomaly.
And she defied them fiercely.
Elphaba, forever the judge and conscience of society.
No wonder, that it had been quite the chore to make her popular, back in the day, Glinda sighed to herself.
And the blonde had to admit, just how sad that was..had always been.
It hadn't been Elphaba who had been strange or wrong somehow..but society at large.
There she had been, in plain sight, in a ballroom full of people tonight..and no one had recognized her.
Thank goodness..but..
Glinda knew, for a fact, that there were some of the witch hunters among the crowd, who were bound to have seen Elphaba at least once..
But no one had, even then, seen past her greenness.
Cared to.
And now, the white, pretty woman, was a different person to them altogether.
Glinda took another sip of her tea.
They would be faced with the task of either concealing Elphaba, hiding her, or disguising her again, soon enough.
Mem would be making her way towards them in under an hour.
And Glinda knew, that she needed to get ready for a new day of obligations to start.
There was a pain in her at the thought.
As much as she had wanted, yearned, begged the skies for Elphaba to come, and help her, live with her, keep her company, and just share her day to day life at the beginning of her term as Ruler of the place.. in these endless and empty halls…
There was, ironically, a pain now, that her wishes were fulfilled after she had given them up.
All the pain of abandonment, solitude and hopelessness were concentrated in certain kind of bitterness that she could almost literally taste on her tongue.
And then..she was also mortally afraid, lest she should grow attached to the green girl again.
Her heart had been broken twice, by Elphaba's abandonment.
She wasn't going to let herself get pulled back in by their easy banter, and the very comfortableness of her company, just to have her disappear again, as soon as she had gotten used to it all and begun to relax.
Last night, the joking, the dancing..
It had been a mistake.
They had simply slipped back into their old familiarity, out of habit, out of awkwardness for anything better to do…to say.
And, after all, because Glinda had been too shocked, to realize, that it had all been real.
This was the woman, who had gone away, and let her mourn her, she thought bitterly.
And she had been that girl also, who had flown away, because Glinda had not shared in her particular dream.
Elphaba had betrayed her, by living the life she, Glinda, had dreamed of, with the man she had chosen to live that dream.
The blonde sipped at her tea..
Of course, she would not send her away.
A small voice in her mind whispered, that she needed the green witch, but Glinda shushed it quickly.
She knew, that she mustn't become dependent on her.
Again.
The Ruler of Oz swallowed hard.
She had been, hadn't she?
But no..no more of that.
Elphaba and her daughter, of course, were welcome as long as they would stay.
Oz knew, that Glinda could use some relief..especially on the whole dark forces magic front.
It would make her life just so much easier.
But she vowed to herself to harden her heart against the green woman.
She mustn't..she simply mustn't grow attached to Elphaba again.
Her heart betrayed her resolution, when she suddenly found brilliantly green eyes stare back at her.
Oh, this wasn't going to be easy.
But she mustn't.
She quickly tore her own away to stare out of the window her old friend had looked out earlier.
She simply mustn't.