There was already sunlight threatening to spill onto her face when Elphaba opened her eyes again. She blinked drowsily for a few seconds before sitting up with a jolt.

She was still in Glinda's room. When had she fallen asleep?

She turned to try and catch sight of her friend, but looking around the room, she saw no one else. Glinda was gone. Unwillingly, she started to feel a familiarly unwelcome sense of panic. She knew she should trust her friend, especially after everything that had happened between them, yet a part of her couldn't help but assume the worst.

Had this all been an elaborate scheme to capture her? It was a bit far-fetched, she knew. Or maybe Glinda had taken liberties she certainly didn't have any right to, and gone to beg Elphaba's forgiveness while there was no one to stop her.

She got up, off the bed, and began to collect the few possessions that she had, all of which had been dumped the previous night in a corner next to Glinda's dresser. She was running purely on instinct; the innate response to flee from any possible danger, which had reached a whole new level in recent years. This was typical of her.

But then there was the other side, a new feeling that she had acquired not too long ago, which told her to wait. To trust. It scared her, in a way, but she couldn't help it, and as she crossed the room once again, to sit down on the chair at Glinda's desk, she felt an unusual calmness.

Why was it that she always ended up back in the same place, back with Glinda? She hadn't really thought about what she was doing last night when she broke in, she had just needed to be here. To see her again. She had been craving that sense of purpose that was void while on her own.

These thoughts were clouding her mind, when she was snapped back by the sharp click of a lock, and turned to see a flash of blonde hair racing up to her.

"You're awake. I was hoping you wouldn't get up until I got back."

"Where were you, Glinda."

She looked uneasy, Elphaba noted. Her fingers fidgeted with each other, and her face gave away her nervousness. "Elphaba..." She stopped then, just for a moment, before continuing. "They know you're here."

Elphaba's face lit up with alarm as she stood up, the clutter in her head instantly scurrying to the side to make way for this newfound intensity. "What?" Her voice was quiet, but it did not succeed in hiding her panic.

Glinda glanced at the ground before fixing her gaze back on her friend and taking a breath. "I was woken up early this morning. There was something happening outside, I could tell by all the noise, so I got up to investigate. After all, I wanted them to see me before they came looking in my room," she added.

"And oh my Oz, Elphaba, I've never seen the palace in such commotion. There were guards everywhere, palace officials rushing from one room to the next. I was grabbed by one of the Wizard's advisors and rushed into a room before I could even ask what was going on."

"And what was going on?" Her tone was dark.

"They said the cleaners had discovered an open window when they began their first shift today. The windows are always locked shut at night, so this was an obvious red flag."

Elphaba could swear her heart stopped in her chest. "I used magic to open that."

"Yes, that is what they assumed. And on top of that, there were a few small strands of straw found in the same corridor." She looked down at the broomstick that was still clutched in the witch's hand.

Elphaba turned away then, and began pacing the length of Glinda's room. "What am I going to do? For Oz' sake how could I have been so stupid!" She knew she should have stayed away, she knew it - how could she have ever thought this would amount to any good? It seemed there was only one hope of escape now.

"I have to leave." It was a simple sentence when spoken aloud. They both knew the weight it truly carried.

"But Elphie, they'll see you. There are people everywhere."

"I know. But what other option is there? I can't endanger you by staying here."

Glinda's wary expression threatened to argue, but eventually sighed in resignation. "All right," she spoke in a dangerously quiet voice.

"I'll go through the window. Hopefully they won't see me. Or, well, if they do, I'll be too high for them to do anything. You can tell them I got in while you were away." She picked up the bag she had dropped, and placed her symbolic hat back on her head as Glinda rushed over to the window.

"I need to unlock it. I use a spell to prevent break ins."

Despite the severity of the situation, Elphaba could almost have laughed. "So that's why I could never get in this way."

The blonde witch's head snapped suddenly in her direction, and her face flushed a light pink. "You tried that? Elphie I'm sorry, I didn't realise-"

"It's fine. There's nothing we can do about it now." She stopped walking just as she reached the window, and Glinda stepped back. "Be safe, please."

"I will."

Glinda moved further away, out of sight from the window, before Elphaba drew back the curtains and opened it, all in one swift motion. She mounted her broom and flew out into the crisp morning air.

Was this chapter a bit OOC? I'm not really sure... Anyway, thanks for reading!