My first fic of 2022 is also my 100th fic! Yay me! *Confetti*
Glinda slowly knelt in front of the wreckage in the cornfield. She was convinced that everyone was gone, and she was finally allowed to have some peace. Sending the little girl from the star down the Yellow Brick Road had been easy enough, though, a part of her felt guilty for sending her on a possible-suicide mission to see the Wizard.
She firmly clutched a bouquet of poppies in her hands, forcing herself to relax before she accidentally crushed them. "Oh, Nessa…"
A twig snapped and she whipped around. She was sure she wouldn't be caught mourning the supposed Wicked Witch of the East, and didn't have time to come up with a convincing lie. Instead, she was met with a pair of chocolate eyes that seemingly burned a hole right through her heart. "Elphie…"
"Don't 'Elphie' me." The emerald witch stared at her with a blank expression that slowly morphed into pure, unadulterated anger. "How dare you. How could you?"
"I never meant –"
"Don't give me that. I saw everything. You celebrated Nessa's death and let that wretched little farm girl walk off with her shoes."
"Well, I had to do something." She rose to her feet and wiped her hands on her large skirt. "Nessa was being a tyrant, and you know it. Stripping the Munchkins of their rights and -"
"She was my sister and your friend. I thought she was your friend."
"We were all friends, weren't we? All at Shiz together, ready to make our way in the world. We all had a path we had to follow."
Elphaba stiffened and, in an attempt to block the blonde out, turned to the wreckage. The sight of her sister's legs sticking out from under the house brought her to her knees. She covered her mouth in a silent scream, her lungs contracting and expanding to keep herself from passing out. After a few moments of silence, something between a grunt, strangled scream, and cry pushed its way out.
Glinda could only watch as the carefully constructed façade of strongness her friend had created for herself crumbled like a slice of crumb cake. She'd never seen Elphaba look this defeated before. She remembered her confession back at Shiz that she was only sent to the university to look after her sister. Her heart shattered, and she wanted nothing more than to scoop her Elphie into her arms and apologize until she was blue in the face.
"Nessa… Nessa, forgive me."
Wait… Elphaba was asking for forgiveness? Why? None of this was her fault.
It's mine, Galinda thought. But I can't tell her that. She knelt next to her. "Elphie, don't blame yourself. It's dreadful, it is, to have a house fall on you. But accidents will happen."
Wait, did she really just say…
Elphaba froze, her mouth still agape in shock as she slowly turned. "An accident? You'd… you'd call this an accident?"
"Yes… or a coincidence… caused by a bizarre and unexpected twister of… fate." Bad choice of words, Glin.
Her words sunk in, and Elphaba pushed her away, rising to her feet. "A coincidence? You haven't changed a bit. You're really going to look me in the eyes and tell me you think cyclones just appear out of the blue? You're just as stupid as you were back then."
That low blow hurt, and she knew it was meant to cut deep. "Elphaba –"
"You've always had an easy life, with everything handed to you on a golden platter. You've never had to work for anything a day in your life. You're so blissfully unaware of everything that you can't even see how you've hurt me beyond repair!"
"I've hurt you? You don't think these last few years have been hard on me? You think I like hearing people say those awful things about you?"
"Everyone loves you, and that love is what gives you your power. Just look at me. I'm being hunted for sport. All you've ever cared about is how much and how many people love you. You love that everything thinks you're perfect! Because the more they hurt me, the more they love you."
"You don't know what it's like." Her face reddened. "You don't know anything! You don't have to put on a smile every day and pretend that you're the happiest person in Oz while people are trying to kill your best friend, and if you try to speak out, you'll be thrown down. The life of a public figure is hard, Elphaba! People expect a lot from me, and I can't expect anything from them in return."
"Not everyone is strong enough to handle the pressure."
"I'm not weak! I'm the hardest working person in the whole damn palace! Every day is a struggle, yet I keep going!"
"How hard is it to smile and wave while effortlessly lying through your teeth?"
"I smile and wave, and I have to keep my mouth shut! And it's not effortless! It takes all the strength I have to continue playing this game. I'm limited. All the influence I have is inaccessible to me! And what exactly have you been doing, besides riding around on that filthy, old thing?"
"That's not a very nice way of describing Fiyero." As soon as the muttered words left her mouth, and Glinda's face went from surprise, to horror, to hurt, Elphaba realized her friend was referring to her broom. The broom that bought them a few extra valuable clock-ticks in the attic that fateful day. As unintended as that punch was, she didn't regret it.
"I meant the damn broom, you thick-headed –"
"Well, we can't all come and go by bubble." Her fists shook at her sides. "Whose invention was that? The Wizard's?"
"No. It was mine."
That caught Elphaba off-guard. She blinked, her tense posture relaxing a tad. But she couldn't afford to lose her ground. "And you're proud of that?"
"Do you really think my brain is so blissful and blonde that I can't come up with my own creative ideas? That I can't come up with anything on my own?" She straightened. "The bubble wasn't about the public's opinion of me… at first. I created it because maybe, just maybe, I liked the idea of defying gravity like you. And yes, I am proud of it. It makes it easier for people to spot me. I was never as powerful as you. I… I'm not as powerful as you, but I'm just as strong. I've still worked hard. And at least I have something that makes me happy. If I can't have Fiyero, what can I have to be truly happy?"
The green witch breathed out a humorless laugh. "For someone who can have anything she wants at a drop of a hat –"
"I want my best friend back."
The soft confession stopped her. She looked confused for a moment, then softened. "And this is how you decided to get me back? Or rather, get back at me." She stood her broom upright and leaned against it. "I suppose the Wizard's not smart enough to come up with something like that on his own. The bubble is very… you."
That was as close to an apology as Glinda was going to get, and she knew it.
"You're like Fiyero; smarter than you appear to be, and being okay with hiding it."
"What a pair we would have made."
She inhaled deeply. "Glin, I never meant for this to happen. I never meant for him to come with me. He didn't give me a choice."
"He wasn't happy. I knew he wasn't. No matter what I did or how much I tried to hold onto him, I knew… even though I tried to ignore it. I knew he felt just as trapped as I did, and we made a silent pact to help each other through it, but when you came back, he no longer had a reason to. He had his way out. He was tired of staying silent."
"I suppose it can be hard to have a lot of influence, but no voice."
"And I suppose it can be hard to have a voice, but no influence."
The two friends glanced at each other and exchanged soft smiles. Glinda wanted nothing more than to reach out to her and capture her in a hug. Or, well, perhaps 'capture' wasn't the best word, but she wanted to hold her and never let go.
There was so much she wanted to say. Perhaps she should start with an apology. Or maybe a question. "How long?"
"How long what?"
"How long have you and Fiyero been together?"
"We're not… he's not…"
"You don't get to call me a liar, then lie to my face."
"We never did anything behind your back, Glin. It really wasn't like that. I thought Fiyero had changed when I found out he was the Gale Force captain. Everyone changed."
"I never changed, Elphie."
"I thought you did. I wasn't in on your 'fake it 'til you make it' plan. That day in the Throne Room…" She shook her head. "He never should've come with me. I told him to go back, to tell everyone that he's sorry and that I had bewitched him, but he wouldn't listen."
"He joined the Gale Force to find you. No one had to know his intentions behind it. He did his job; he found you, and once he did, there was no reason to stay."
"I'm sorry, Glin."
That was the second time Elphaba apologized. The sparkly witch knew she should probably clear the air, too, lest she lose her friend forever. She had to come up with something.
You want what I have.
I want what you have.
I've missed you.
I never meant for all this to happen.
I'm sorry.
But she was interrupted before the words traveled from her brain to her lips.
"Those shoes still weren't yours to give away."
She brushed her curls behind her ear. "This isn't about that, and you know it. You've never shown any interest in those shoes. They're probably too small for you, anyway."
Her face darkened, their temporary truce momentarily forgotten. "You don't get to claim that's the reason, nor brush me off. All that was left of her were those shoes."
It was so much easier to deflect rather than face the facts. She knew this wasn't the best coping mechanism, since it was clearly hurting Elphaba, but she had to do what she always did to protect herself. "They're just shoes."
"You don't understand." She turned away. "And I was foolish to think that, for a clock-tick, you could."
Snap!
The two witches whipped around. The tall corn stalks hid whatever, or whoever, made that sound, which raised their anxiety. Neither had been aware how long they were standing there arguing.
"Did Fiyero follow you here?" Glinda whispered.
"I hope to Oz not. I told him not to." She squinted in the direction of the noise, but when no movement followed, she relaxed. "Then again, when was he ever good at following directions?"
"You're right," she giggled, and Elphaba cracked a smile.
In a slightly out-of-character act of acting impulsively, the good witch closed the distance between them and quickly wrapped her arms around her friend. She felt her stiffen, and was afraid she would pull away.
After years on the run, Elphaba's body wasn't used to this close, physical contact. Even during her childhood, hugs were rarer than her smiles. But it felt wonderful, and she relaxed and returned the hug, pulling her closer and delicately kissing her hair.
"I've missed you, Elphie," she whispered.
"I've missed you, too."
"You still smell like oakwood soap."
"And you still smell like lavender water. It's always been my favorite scent of yours."
Their moment was ruined when a single gunshot rang. The girls screamed as crows cawed and scattered up, darkening the sky right above them. Before they had a chance to decide whether to fight or flight, shadows among the stalks moved and five Gale Force soldiers burst from concealment.
Before Elphaba could summon her magic, the soldiers grabbed her, forcing her hands behind her back, and dragged her away from Glinda and her broom before forcing her to her knees. "Let me go!"
"What in Oz name…"
One of the guards pointed his rifle at Elphaba's face. "Sorry it took us so long to get here, Your Goodness."
Use her sister.
In all the chaos, Glinda completely forgot that this elaborate scheme was a plot to capture her.
Oh, Shiz.
Elphaba had no reason to suspect Glinda was behind this, but that statement got her thinking. "I can't... I don't believe... all this... was a trap? Glinda?"
She couldn't meet her gaze. She couldn't face her, nor own up to the hurt she had caused her. She must've seemed so fake, watching her get captured right after they seemingly made up.
Once the truth sunk in, Elphaba looked like she'd been slapped across the face. "You've changed," she hissed, her voice full of venom.
The guards slapped handcuffs on Elphaba's wrists, tightening them until she winced.
"Wait!" Glinda cried, shooting a blast of pink, sparkly magic from her fingertips.
The guards froze before collapsing, unconscious, on the ground. The handcuffs disintegrated and Elphaba grabbed her broom before pushing herself up, her eyes darting around before resting on Glinda.
"Go," was all the blonde said.
"Glinda –"
"Don't argue, you stubborn green thing!"
The old nickname from their Shiz days didn't spring her to action. She wanted to leave, but her feet were rooted to the spot. "How did… you… why…"
"They won't stay unconscious for long. They won't remember a thing when they wake up. Just go! Do it!"
Elphaba turned away and mounted her broom, giving the blonde one final look over her shoulder before kicking off and disappearing above the clouds.
Glinda knelt next to the guards, waving her hand over the faces as she chanted a memory spell. Once she finished, she wiped her hands on her large skirt, and circled her hand above her head, creating her bubble. As she floated above the cornfield, she whispered the apology she should have said earlier, but she knew it was too little, too late. And she'd never find out if she'd received that forgiveness or not.
Did I want my 100th fic to be my fluffy, Nia-brand, Fiyeraba multichap? Yes, but it's not ready yet. I'm currently back in musical theatre writing grad school, and writing songs takes up most of my time, but I'm still working on my next fic bit by bit. And I really wanted to get something up.
Hope y'all enjoyed it! See you in my next story!