I finally have a more solid plan of where this story is going! Hopefully that means I will start updating more regularly.
When the door finally clicked open again, Elphaba had drifted into a dreamlike sort of trance, the true severity of what had just happened having gotten to her. She grudgingly lifted her head at the sound of Fiyero's voice calling her, and stared up at him, blinking a few times to regain her composure. Eventually she spoke.
"So what now?"
"Well that's sort of up to you," he responded. "Do you still want to visit Glinda?"
"I do..." She spent a few seconds thinking it over; Fiyero had had to risk a lot for the sake of ensuring her safety. Was it possible that she could be putting Glinda in danger?
"I would like to see her," she continued. "But only if you think it's safe."
"I doubt there's anyone else still out there."
"And once I get there?"
His mouth twisted into a slight grimace. "That depends. If you don't stay long, there probably won't be any issues."
"Right. Thank you." She stood up. "I guess I'll take my chances, at least for now. I can't stay in this closet all night."
Fiyero stood to the side as she made her way out of the door. Suddenly she spun on her heel and looked back at him.
"You'd better go. I don't want to risk you being seen with the Wicked Witch."
"But you-" he tried to protest, but she cut him off.
"I mean it. You've done enough."
And without any warning she took off back down the hall where this commotion had all started, leaving him to start walking, slowly and reluctantly, in the opposite direction.
By the time she reached the door to Glinda's room, this time without any disturbances, she was already regretting her decision. She should have just stayed away. Now she was hurting everyone she cared about by dragging them down into this burning mess alongside her.
A few seconds passed as she debated whether or not she should just leave, and forget she had even come in the first place. Before long, though, she shook off these fears, telling herself they were unfound, steeled herself and reached out to gently knock on the door.
There was no turning back now.
No response came. Of course it didn't, it was the middle of the night; why would Glinda be awake? Elphaba closed her eyes and sighed. What had she gotten herself into?
Her eyes snapped open again, however, when she heard a click, and found herself staring directly into a pair of eyes she had missed so much. Too much.
They both regarded each other for a while, too shocked to do much else.
"What are you doing here?" The blonde woman finally asked, and Elphaba noticed that they were the exact same words that Fiyero had asked her just an hour prior. There was something upsetting about that; like she was no longer welcome with the people who had once been her only real safe space.
"I-"
"Actually, nevermind that now. We have to get you out of the hall where you could be seen."
She moved further into the room, beckoning for the witch to follow, and she did, slowly slipping behind the door before Glinda sealed it shut.
"So you've come to tell me your decision?"
"Yes. Well, maybe. I don't know."
Glinda looked at her quizzically.
"I've come to tell you that I can't make a decision. There's too much to think about."
She tilted her head to the side, her eyes getting a strange far-away look. "And I thought you were the master of thinking…"
"Glinda," Elphaba looked at her with a disapproving frown.
"Sorry," the blonde woman replied hastily, shaking her head.
"I just…" she walked to the other side of the room and sat down on the bed, her hand covering her face. "I just don't know what to do."
Glinda followed, sitting down next to her. "What do you want?" she questioned softly.
"I want things to be right again." She scoffed. "If they ever were in the first place."
"I understand."
The green woman looked up at her. "Do you?"
"Well, I guess not, actually," she looked at her friend. "But please, Elphaba. You're hurting yourself."
She didn't know exactly how to take that. Was it a plea for her to give up her cause, to surrender to the Wizard? Or simply an expression of concern? She still wasn't used to that concept, even after the changes brought about by their Shiz days.
Without really intending to, she let her eyes close, and her face sank into Glinda's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice quiet in a rare display of weakness. Something she only ever let one person see.
"Don't be," Glinda soothed her. "You've done nothing wrong."
This chapter is just kind of a filler, I promise it will get more exciting soon!