Warning: This chapter contains very violent imagery as well as long scenes of extremely fluffy romance. Read at your own risk.


The only reason she let Glinda stay was Avaric. He agreed to play her husband. Yet at the very moment when he was needed, the imbecile had left. Off to hunt rabbit, he said a candlemark before. Elphaba fought Pfannee as the Munchkinlander pushed her down the stairs and closed the hatch, locking them into the dank room, sunlight falling like dust through the floorboards.

"I won't hide here! Not with Glinda out there!"

"Shhhh!" Pfannee hissed, gripping Elphaba's arm in the dark, "Listen, canker-blossom, I care for Glinda. She's the only decent one among you women. But whatever they do now, won't be half as bad as what they'd do if they found Glinda hid Munchkinlanders. They'll hang us first and Glinda next for treason."

Elphaba shook the girl's hand off. She couldn't catch her breath. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Glinda was to play a part. Not actually sacrifice herself!

"Why did you leave her there?" Elphaba hissed.

"Don't blame me! This witless charade wasn't my idea!"

There were no more words.

The cabin exploded.

The door was kicked open and Glinda tossed inside above them.

"Where is he, wench?" a man asked.

Elphaba's lungs wilted. Pfannee clutched her arm.

"He's here. I promise—Avaric, dearest!" Glinda called.

The cabin waited in silence. No one responded. Elphaba heard a slap. She swallowed a gasp as she heard Glinda stumble backward, Pfannee's fingers tightening around her bicep.

"Are you playing me for a fool?" another voice asked.

"I promise you, Sheriff. He's here," Glinda said, her voice shaking.

"Enri, go upstairs and check."

"Yes, Sheriff," the first man said.

"You better hope someone is, because if not, you little doxy, I'll show you how liars are punished."

Elphaba's knees shook. Why hadn't she been braver? Why had her last words to Glinda been I'm sorry? The girl had been so beautiful in that dress, so wanting of her approval. Why did she let Galinda win? Again and again. Galinda over Glinda. No more. If they survived this, Glinda would get she wanted: Elphaba's own amnesia.

The officer's feet came down the stairs like hammers, breaking any hope of Avaric's swift return.

"No one, sir."

"Get her out of this," the Sheriff said.

Elphaba shook her head. They wouldn't do that to one of their own! But then Elphaba remembered. Glinda's bruises. All those weeks ago. Of course they would.

"No! Please!" Glinda screamed, "Please—Riiiiip—Stop!"

They pulled and snatched, cleaved and sundered. Glinda's pleas and metal fasteners landing here and there until finally, a soft thud hit the floor: Glinda's garment felled.

"Would you look at that. Better than I expected," the Sheriff said.

"Please," Glinda begged. "I'll do whatever you want. Just take me outside!"

She was trying to save Elphaba, even now. Save Elphaba from hearing it happen, from feeling helpless, defenseless, useless.

"Take you outside so you can run away?" Enri laughed.

"No! I promise. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't do this here!"

"Gag her," the Sheriff said, "Then get the rope. We'll tie her to the table."

It was happening again. Just like with Sir Chuffrey. He stripped and tied her. And Galinda watched.

Know that once a wish is made, it shall be done, in full.

I take it back. I take it back. I take it back! Elphaba silently prayed. But there was no way to unravel her wish from the belly of their cabin.

She thought the worst of her first wish was over that night she took Glinda home from the Philosophy Club. She almost violated her. She had been so angry, so jealous. She justified it. Let herself believe that Glinda's kiss and Galinda's crimes were one and the same. That her own possessive desire for Glinda was not to be denied. And then she saw herself. Herself becoming Galinda, taking the same liberties, enforcing her will, making Glinda's body her own. The image was hideous. She ran to Avaric's, thinking she could end her wish by refusing to deflower Glinda like Galinda had done to her.

That night in Avaric's cabin, she admitted her feelings to him. She admitted that she cared for Glinda more than she ought. That she loved her. But she wasn't worthy of her. She wasn't who Glinda thought she was. She had done something that Glinda would never forgive. And Avaric surprised her.

She hadn't even known he was listening. She thought he would glibly tell her it would all work out. But instead, he said, he felt the same. He loved Pfannee but she would hate him if she really knew him. But he wasn't that man anymore. With Pfannee, he could be different. He could be better. Maybe they're our second chances, he said and asked if she thought he had a chance. If he was worthy of Pfannee? The way he talked about her, the little things he noticed about her, the sighs between his sentences. Elphaba knew it didn't matter what she said. Nothing could be done. He loved that rough-tongued, ruddy-cheeked, flat-formed Pfannee. Just liked she loved Glinda. After a few glasses of mead, the two made a pact to try and forget their pasts, to start anew.

Except Elphaba's old life wouldn't heed. Glinda's body was tossed onto the table above her, making their ceiling shake. The Gillikinese girl screamed while the rope wrapped around her, scraping the table limbs.

"Your sword," Elphaba whispered, holding out her hand.

"They'll kill you," Pfannee hissed back.

"Your sword," Elphaba whispered again. She wouldn't hide while Glinda was raped above her. She wouldn't go quietly, not like she had with Sir Chuffrey. She would kill them first. Or if she didn't, Pfannee ought to be able to escape with Glinda while she distracted them. Her death would be worth that.

"We'll both go. On three," Pfannee whispered, taking out a long knife from her boot. Elphaba nodded, her hand going to to the hilt of the Munchkin's sword.

"One," Pfannee mouthed.

Elphaba's heart raced. Even if they miraculously succeeded in killing the Sheriff, they would have to leave the forest. A sheriff was too high a position to disappear. If he didn't return, Gillikin would send a search party. But if Elphaba left the cabin, how would Shell ever find them?

"Two," Pfannee whispered and Elphaba pulled out the sword and unlocked the hatch.

"Look at her," Enri said above them. "Spread out like jam on bread. Red and rosy in the center, isn't she?"

Elphaba's jaw trembled. Forgive me, Shell, she prayed.

"Three!" Pfannee hissed. But before Elphaba could fling open the hatch, the front door opened. Avaric called out.

"Look what I caught for—"

Elphaba heard Glinda moan.

"Get away from her!" Avaric shouted.

"Who are you?" Enri asked.

"Who am I? I'm the owner of this cabin and that's my wife!"

"What are you doing in the Great Gillikin Forest?" the Sheriff asked.

"Living in it. Surely a Gillikin man is allowed in his own forest," Avaric shot.

"It's the King's forest and no one lives here; it's haunted."

"I haven't been bothered by any. Except for you two fools," Avaric said.

"Watch your tongue! It's the King's sheriff you speak to and we know you've been trading with Munchkin bandits. Have you no honor?"

"I don't trade with enemies of Gillikin."

"You lie. We've seen your Munchkin stock," the Sheriff charged.

There was a pause, an unbearably long one. Was Avaric stuck? Couldn't he think of a lie fast enough to sound like the truth? Finally.

"No soldier who served in Gillikin's third infantry would have any intercourse with a Munchkin," he said.

"The third infantry?" Enri asked.

"You haven't heard of us?" Avaric asked, his voice taking a dark tone.

What silly story was he trying now?

"The third infantry killed more Munchkins in one day than any troupe in the war," the Sheriff said. "The best fighters were the Tenmeadow Chefs."

"Chefs?" Enri asked.

Pfannee's grip on Elphaba's arm tightened to an amputating degree.

"Two brothers from Tenmeadows. They called them chefs because they collected the tongues of every Munchkin they killed. Ate them in a soup. Right in front of the other Munchkin prisoners. Cut off their breasts and dicks too. Decapitated their victims. Placed a Munchkin head on the post of every fence."

Elphaba cringed. Pfannee covered her mouth. Collected the tongues of Munchkins? Ate them in a soup? Cut off their genitals? A head on every fence post? Like the head of her father? Elphaba heard rumors of Gillikinese soldiers like that. She'd seen the long lines of rotting Munchkins hanging from the trees, waving like Gillikinese flags as she fled her homeland. By Oz, she even heard from Sir Chuffrey himself! But Avaric? Could he do something like that? Had he done something like that? The man who had pulled her from the lake? The man who had nursed her back to health? Was this what he meant by an unforgivable past?

"But I heard the two brothers died in battle," the Sheriff said.

"And yet here I am," Avaric said, "Avaric Tenmeadows, eldest son of the Margrave of Tenmeadows, descended from the Shyrrel Clan, a protector of this forest from Munchkin trespassers, at Gillikin's service. Any stock of Munchkins you found here, I removed from their dying hands. Now leave this cabin, before my brother returns and we feel the need for another stew!"

It was a challenge. The men would either respect Avaric's claims or they would test them. Elphaba readied herself for a fight, her fingers twitching around the sword, her throat itching as she tried to swallow.

"Come, Enri. We'll go to Kelleen's," the Sheriff said.

"But—"

"Come, Enri!" the Sheriff said again. Enri sighed and the two retreated, leaving the cabin.

As soon as the door closed behind them, she heard Avaric rush toward Glinda. Elphaba threw open the hatch and flew up the stairs. Avaric had thrown his mantle over Glinda's body. He was on his knees undoing the ropes around her ankles. Elphaba came close and winced.

Glinda's hair!

It was cut short. Her curls mostly gone. Had those devils done this to her?! Elphaba blinked back the sting in her eyes. She snatched the wet scraps from Glinda's mouth. Glinda's eyes were damp. She glanced at Elphaba and then away, as if too ashamed to keep her gaze. Elphaba's chest burned. She knew such shame and hated that Glinda now knew it too. She cut the ropes with Pfannee's sword. When Glinda's limbs were freed, Elphaba returned Pfannee's weapon and scooped the mantle-wrapped woman into her arms. Glinda pressed her face into her shoulder.

"Please, take me upstairs," she whispered.

Elphaba nodded and turned to see Pfannee press her sword against Avaric's chest.

"Pfannee!" Elphaba called out.

"It's true, isn't it?" the Munchkin asked.

Avaric made no answer.

"You're the one who razed Nest Fallows. Aren't you?!"

He bowed his head.

"You lied to me! You said you never went there. My sister married into that village! They say they found her torn and butchered. Did you do that? Did you—did you eat her?"

"Please, Pfannee," he said looking up. "Please just hear me out."

"How could you? How could you even touch me?! Get of this cabin. Get away from us!" she yelled.

"I'll leave, but please know—"

"LEAVE! Leave me alone!" she screamed and Avaric turned and slipped out their door. Pfannee bolted it shut, falling to her knees.

Feeling Glinda shake in her arms, Elphaba had only one concern. She would deal with Avaric and Pfannee afterward. Rushing upstairs, she carried Glinda into their room. Resting the woman on their bed, she grabbed a clean shift and gave it to Glinda who slipped it on.

Glinda looked small and fragile. Her hair while cut short, framed her face in a way that looked younger than her years and unexpectedly erotic. Elphaba turned away, a soreness in her throat. How could she take the slightest delight in Glinda's misfortune?

"Please don't leave me," Glinda whispered.

Glinda had seemingly misinterpreted Elphaba's guilt as disappointment. Elphaba turned back.

"Of course I won't," she said and sat beside Glinda. Despite the noon sun high in the sky, Elphaba wrapped them both under the covers, holding the woman tight. She felt Glinda's small body release. Her cries started slowly but rose into a racking weep, her shoulders heaving, her arms squeezing Elphaba's waist. What could Elphaba say? Glinda had saved them. Risked herself in the face of those animals. All because of her wish.

Look at her. Red and rosy in the center.

Elphaba grimaced. She should have opened the hatch sooner. She should have never let Glinda try to protect her. Then it hit her. What if that wasn't the last of it? What if her wish wanted more? She squeezed Glinda. She wouldn't let anything hurt Glinda. Never again! Never like this.

"You were so brave, my pretty. So very brave. But I shall never let you be that brave on your own, ever again."

Glinda hugged her tighter.

"Did they do this to you?" Elphaba asked, touching the short blonde locks.

Glinda shook her head and looked up.

"Pfannee cut it."

"Pfannee?" Elphaba asked, trying not to get upset. Surely the Munchkin had a reason. "Why would she do this to you?"

"You don't like it?" Glinda asked, looking like she might burst into tears again.

"I didn't say that," Elphaba said, looking carefully, tenderly, as she slid through her fingers through it.

"They're disgusting," Glinda whispered.

"The Sheriff and his men?"

"The Gillikinese," Glinda said, "I hate them all. I wish I didn't look like her. Then you could love me, couldn't you?"

For her?! Glinda had cut her hair for Elphaba's sake?!

"Oh, my sweet!" Elphaba whispered. Elphaba had never said the words. Not properly. She was afraid. Afraid that once said, she couldn't reign it in, couldn't protect herself or Glinda from the onslaught of her feelings. But there were far worse things than love, weren't there?

"I already do, so very much."

Elphaba leaned down and kissed Glinda. The girl's mouth was tentative. Elphaba wanted Glinda certain. She wanted Glinda to know. Elphaba's kisses came one after the other, around Glinda's neck, down her shoulders, trailing her arms, catching her wrist, blessing every finger. Elphaba unbuttoned Glinda's shift. Soft white mounds. Elphaba thought nothing good had come from Galinda. But the Princess had taught her one thing. How a woman's body worked, how to make it feel, how to make it come alive. If only she could do that in a way that made Glinda feel more of herself than less.

"My sweet," she said, kissing around Glinda's breasts, watching the girl's nipples harden. Glinda's breath quickened. Elphaba touched her ribs, her hand coming higher, until she grasped Glinda's breasts in her hands with an urgency of a long suppressed want, watching Glinda's tips ripen into firm white cherries. She leaned down and licked a circle around each. Little pinpricks appeared on them. Glinda's hands wrapped around Elphaba's head, pulling her in. Elphaba took one point into her mouth, coating it with liquid warmth. Glinda gasped, her body rising sharply, pushing her hardened nipple further into Elphaba's mouth.

Elphaba had never tasted Glinda like this. Never put her mouth on Glinda's secret places. Her hand went to Glinda's thigh. She felt the length of it, massaging, until her fingers brushed Glinda's spot of hair between her legs. Glinda whimpered, covering her mouth with one hand, her body twisting.

Elphaba's finger played there, finding the indention of Glinda's slit, sliding her finger along, as she licked and sucked Glinda's breasts. She moved on top, so Glinda's jerks could be caught with her own body instead of fighting the air. Glinda's eyes met hers. Her expression was so vulnerable, so scared and yet so willing. Elphaba flushed.

Feeling moisture seep through Glinda's curly hairs, Elphaba's fingers parted Glinda's wet outer lips. Glinda jumped, clutching Elphaba to her chest. Elphaba's nose was forced against the side of Glinda's cheek. She smiled as she felt Glinda hips sway up and down against her fingers. She used her other hand to cradle Glinda's bottom, pulling Glinda toward her, as she slid two fingers up against a swollen knot.

"Ah!" Glinda burst, shaking her head, her thighs squeezing shut. She grabbed Elphaba's wrist between her legs. "I can't do this. I can't. It's too much!"

Elphaba remembered Galinda's bloodletting. How the Princess had begged and pleaded, but was cut. Over and over. She didn't want this to hurt, she didn't want Glinda to be afraid. She wanted her sure, she wanted her pleased. Slowly she removed Glinda's hand and placed it on the pillow above her head.

"I would take you gently," she offered.

Glinda's eyes searched her.

"Gently?" Glinda asked, nervously.

"Gently," Elphaba promised.

Swallowing, Glinda closed her eyes. Elphaba let the woman's wrist go and moved her fingers to the outside of Glinda's nether lips, squeezing them against each other, against Glinda's clit. The blonde bit her lip. The extra layers kept Elphaba's ministrations intense but not overwhelming. Elphaba rubbed. Glinda bucked, her leg shooting up between Elphaba's. The sensation surprised Elphaba. She rode it, already wet from watching Glinda. Their hips moved as one. Elphaba massaged faster, harder, until Glinda hands were gripping her back, until her fingernails were pressing into her shoulder blades. Tighter, deeper, faster. Glinda bit her shoulder, her body seizing. Keeping her pinned, Elphaba's finger slipped past Glinda's outer lips and moved directly against her slippery nub. Glinda thrashed. Elphaba's body shook. Glinda screamed, her body spasming, her thighs slamming shut.

"Please, please, please, please," Glinda murmured, her body twitching its last.

Elphaba, recovering from her own release, stilled her hand and removed it, wiping it on the bed sheet, before she took the limp girl in both arms. Glinda clung to her.

"Promise me, Elphie."

"Anything, my sweet."

"Promise me you won't ever leave me."

Elphaba cupped Glinda's face.

"Never will I leave you." And as the words left her mouth she knew she meant it. "I love you, I love you, I love you…."

"Oh, Elphie…"

The two fell asleep in each other's arms. Several candlemarks later, Elphaba awoke with a start. Her bedroom door had flown open and hit the wall.

"Elphaba!" her sister shrilled behind her. Elphaba blinked. Glinda rustled in her arms, her eyes mounting with panic as Nessa screamed, "Have you no shame?!"

"Stay here, my pretty. I shan't be long."

Glinda nodded and Elphaba tucked the blanket around her, keeping the girl's modesty while she slipped out of bed. Turning toward Nessa in the doorway, she scowled and grabbed her sister's arm, pulling her into the hallway and closing the bedroom door behind them. She whipped a huffing Nessa into the adjacent room, shutting the door, and asked,

"What is it now?"

"What is it? What is it?! I come back home after Avaric told us the Sheriff returned and find you wrapped around that body of that naked filthy disgusting slut—"

Elphaba wanted to pound the words out of Nessa's mouth.

"NESSAROSE! I'll not suffer any more of your malice! You will call her by her name or refrain from referring to her at all!"

Her sister looked horrified. Elphaba followed Nessa's gaze and saw she had raised her hand. Elphaba never raised her hand in anger. Especially not toward her sister. Catching her breath, Elphaba lowered the traitorous limb.

Resuming her snarl, Nessa crossed her arms and asked,

"Oh? And which name is that, dear sister?"

"You know which name I meant!"

Nessa huffed.

"You are the Eminent of Munchkinland! Why are you doing this? Why are you debasing yourself?"

Elphaba admitted her feelings to Glinda hours earlier, but as she faced Nessa's glare of revulsion, her words met difficulty. She knew how it looked. She thought it herself. Who was she to take taking the Princess of Gillikin—a woman whose house killed her father and whose lust ruined her brother—into her arms, her bed. Yet it wasn't how it seemed. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she explained, "I love the person she's become, Nessa."

"Love?! Oh, dear sister, a bird and a fish can fall in love, but haven't you heard? In Gillikin, the bird pierces the fish, pecks out its eyes, and eats it. That woman is a mirage! When she finds out—"

"She won't. Galinda's gone. There's no one who remembers her!"

"No one but her family? Her royal family! Do you think the King will stop looking for her?"

"He might keep looking, but he won't search here."

"Elphaba, this isn't love. It's lunacy! Do you think for an instant that that woman would love you if you told her the truth?"

"The past isn't the truth! It is an account of what was, not what ought to be. What if I'm saving her?"

"Saving her from whom?"

"From herself!" Elphaba said. Is that what she was doing?

"Would she consider it a saving?" Nessa asked, "Have you even given her a choice? Would she really choose to trade her life in the castle—her suitors, her riches, her gowns, her servants—for a night in your bed? Ha!"

"As if you cared about her life!"

"You're right! I don't. Unlike you, sister, I care about the life of this family!"

"Nessy, it's gone, our life in Munchkinland. Why can't you let it go!"

"Nothing's gone. We've been defeated not obliterated. Our people, our tradition, our culture: it's still here. I've spent time with the Munchkins. There's talk among them of fighting Gillikin, of regaining our homeland. They just need a leader. Someone who knows how to command, how to strategize, how to train them."

"Nessa, listen to yourself. A band of peasants and merchants armed with swords and cooking knives will not beat the Gillkinese army? Anyone leading them into a war would be marching them into their graves!"

"Not if we trained them. Even if many die, Munchkinland might live. Isn't that worth it? Isn't it better to be cut in glory than to sink into indigence?"

But Elphaba wasn't sinking. She was falling into Glinda. She felt loved and it was the closest she had ever come to feeling human. For once, neither her skin nor her opinions got in the way. Glinda gazed at her as if she was the most glorious creature to grace all of Oz. No bloody war could best that.

"Will you keep our people in hiding and thievery?" Nessa asked. "When you're skilled in archery and you know the insides of that castle. You could tell us how to get to the King. How to kill him. Leave that girl. Sell her to a Glikkus trader and let's go home."

"There is no home but this one! And where I am Glinda shall be also."

Nessa stamped her foot and opened her mouth, but Elphaba cut her off.

"Stop! Not a word more! I don't care what you think! And I don't care how it looks—not to anyone! And I certainly don't care about some fantasy of Munchkinland. If you try to fight them, the Gillikinese army will squash what little is left of us."

"I refuse to die here!"

"Nessarose!"

"No, Elphaba! If you want to ruin yourself with that girl, then be my guest. I won't say anything more, but don't think I'll be stuck in this miserable forest forever! Just you wait and see!"

Nessa was out of sense and Elphaba was out of patience. She returned to her room. Glinda was wrapped in a blanket, sitting atop their bed, watching her face. Had the girl heard more than she should? Elphaba felt her heart hiccup until Glinda asked,

"Does Lady Nessa want me to leave?"

Elphaba sighed and said, "My sister doesn't get to decide that," and came beside Glinda, scooting them under the safety of their blanket.

Days passed into early summer. The season started with a hush. Their cabin, usually teaming with visitors, had quieted. Avaric had disappeared after the Sheriff's visit. Elphaba went to his cabin a few days later. She even cut open his canvas window when he didn't answer the door. But his house was empty, his belongings gone. She realized then how much he meant: he was the friend she never had, the friend by which she gauged the normalcy of her feelings. She needed that normalcy more than ever as her relationship with Glinda changed. But as much as she missed him, Pfannee missed him more. When the Munchkin did visit, she never mentioned him. It was as if he had never been. But his departure was clear. With him, he took Pfannee's joking, her drinking, her dancing, and then there were the times she would look off into the distance, unable to hear her name called, as if her spirit had long turned to stone. Boq, too, stayed away. He hadn't visited since Glinda rejected him. And although Elphaba didn't miss him clinging to the blonde, she did miss the way Glinda laughed at all his bad jokes. Most of all, Elphaba missed her sister. Nessarose was like a specter, visible but never present. She returned to their cabin but rarely spoke to either of them, spending the mornings in her room and leaving in the evenings for the trees.

And yet despite the many new absences, Elphaba found a strange, silly, unexpected…fullness. In the quietness of those early summer days, Elphaba and Glinda found a new rhythm with one another. In the morning, the two would tend to their goats, their garden vegetables, their cabin chores and in the evenings they would read by the fire, until Elphaba would look up to find Glinda staring with pressing fondness. Elphaba returned her gaze with equal affection, reading aloud again until Glinda would kiss her ear or trace her collarbone. When Elphaba could no longer manage, she closed the book in mock frustration, and took Glinda upstairs and thoroughly explored her. On one such evening, the two sat in bed—Glinda, naked, under Elphaba's arm, her head on Elphaba's chest.

"Why don't you ever let me look at you?" Glinda asked.

"You always look at me," Elphaba returned.

With a finger, Glinda hooked Elphaba's chin and turned it so Elphaba couldn't look away.

"Not like you look at me," she said and raised their sheet, revealing her nakedness.

Elphaba blushed and looked at the ceiling. If only she had fallen asleep a candlemark earlier. This was the one thing she didn't know how to give. She had hoped Glinda wouldn't ask. She had hoped Glinda wouldn't notice that she never stripped, not completely, that she always made sure Glinda's hands were where she could see them. It's not that she didn't want Glinda's touch. She imagined it constantly. How would her fingers feel there? Would Glinda's touch be as soft and sensuous as her kisses? As piercing and passionate as her gaze? Or would it feel like it before, diminishing and demeaning? What if Elphaba couldn't tolerate it? What if she remembered her other life? The life she had neatly buried under the joy of Glinda's smiles. If Elphaba was in control, she could please them both. But if Glinda took the lead what if she wanted to stop? What if she wanted to stop indefinitely? She'd be no good to Glinda then.

"I don't know how to let you," she whispered.

"Don't you trust me?" Glinda asked.

"It's not that."

"Well, we could try…together?"

"Together?" Elphaba asked, swallowing. The word never sounded so frightening.

"What if you took my hand?"

"Took your hand?" Elphaba asked. How would holding hands fix this problem?

Glinda bit her lip and waited, looking up at her through her eyelashes. Suddenly. Elphaba understood. Her face blistered with fever.

"You want me to—to—"

Glinda nodded with a shy smile, raising her hand, wiggling her fingers. Inhaling, Elphaba took the warm thing and set it on her chest. Over her clothes, of course. Glinda held her breath. Apparently she hadn't anticipated Elphaba accepting. Elphaba smirked. And perhaps it was this tiny pleasure that allowed Elphaba to continue. To unbutton her dress. Down to her navel. And slide Glinda's hand inside. And perhaps it was the shy rapture in Glinda's face, the way her mouth parted, the way she licked her lips that let Elphaba slide Glinda's hand to other places. Many. Other. Places. After they finished a long passionate session of together, Elphaba could barely breathe. Her orgasm had turned her body into jelly. How different, how very enchanting it was to have Glinda's hand on her. It didn't feel like Galinda at all. Especially not the way Glinda cradled her face after, showering her in words of love. They lay beside one another and Elphaba turned to see a smiling Glinda smelling her hand.

"What are you doing?" Elphaba asked.

"Smelling you," Glinda said, "Do you know how wonderful you smell?"

Elphaba laughed. "You're mad."

"It's the first thing I fell in love with."

"But you've only just smelt…me," Elphaba said, whispering the last word.

"I mean your other scent," Glinda said. "The smell of your skin and your oils. It was like I'd smelt you before. I think it reminds me of home."

Elphaba was hit by a wave of nausea. Glinda rolled on her stomach, scooting closer.

"Do you think the fairy tale is true? Do you think we've met before? Do you think we've known each other as St. Aelphaba and St. Galinda?" Glinda asked, grinning.

No. Their beginning wasn't a fairy tale. It was a nightmare. It was Galinda who remembered for Glinda, the woman who had smelt both between Elphaba's legs and her oils.

"Perhaps, my pretty," was all Elphaba could mumble.

Bit by bit, Elphaba tried to forget Galinda, forget the castle, forget that night. Bit by bit, she started to live in the fantasy she created for them. And as the weeks passed into high summer, Glinda nourished Elphaba into a bloom. Elphaba stopped waiting by the window. According to Yackle, Shell would come home. But it didn't mean he would come home tomorrow, or this year, or the next one, or the one after that, or even the one after that. They might never meet until they were old and gray. In the meantime, Elphaba would have to mean. She would have to find other goals, other desires. She had to live. And she had a reason now. She had Glinda. The girl encouraged her to keep teaching. She invited the Munchkins to their cabin for lessons. At first, Elphaba taught several advanced students in their kitchen, teaching them how to compose letters, essays, and stories. But as word spread, more students came each day, so that Glinda started to teach too, a beginner's reading course in their basement.

As more days passed, Pfannee slowly found herself again. She didn't dance but she smiled on occasion, mostly for Glinda. She visited regularly, teaching Glinda how to cook. Gone were their potato-only meals. Glinda learned the secret lives of vegetables and fruits. And the many flavors of Munchkinland. Its thick spices, its rich heat, its delicate sophistication. Until Pfannee proclaimed Glinda the best Munchkin cook in the forest and had her cooking dinner for the students before they left for the trees.

More days passed and Boq returned to their cabin one afternoon for a taste of Glinda's food. He stood shyly in the doorway with Pfannee. Glinda grabbed his hand with a warm smile and invited him in for supper. When they all finished eating, he took Elphaba aside privately and apologized, asking for her forgiveness for his overreach, saying he hadn't known they were together. Elphaba blushed so hotly at the word she opened a window. Too embarrassed to look at the Munchkin, she looked away and nodded. Elphaba never knew how word got around, but it wasn't long before every Munchkin knew she and Glinda were lovers.

In time, even Nessarose accepted Glinda. In her own way. Glinda had taken to doing little niceties for Nessa: cooking Nessa's favorite meals, sweeping her bedroom, and finding ways for Nessa to be alone with Boq. At the dinner table one evening, Elphaba caught Nessa complimenting Glinda's cooking and threw her look: a—she's rather wonderful, isn't she?—kind of look. Nessa snorted but cleared her plate all the same. Glinda—her classes, her cooking, her dances, her smiles—enchanted the whole forest.

On one unbearably hot summer day in mid-August, Pfannee invited all three women down to the nearby lake for a swim. Elphaba declined but didn't want to Glinda to refrain on her behalf.

"Elphie, are you sure you'll be okay here by yourself?" Glinda asked.

"I'll be fine," Elphaba reassured, turning Glinda around in the doorway, toward Pfannee and Nessa who were already several feet ahead. "Go enjoy yourself, my sweet," she said and patted Glinda on her bottom. Glinda gasped, her hand clutching her behind as she spun around and gave Elphaba a quick peck before running to catch up with the women. Elphaba grinned, refusing to shut the door until Glinda disappeared into the woods.

With the cabin empty, what was she to do now? Back in Munchkinland, Elphaba loved the quiet. The quiet of her library, the quiet of the gardens, the long quiet hallways of Colwen Grounds, but now the silence felt awkward and heavy. And the heat didn't help. They left Munchkinland after the summer scorched its last and all she took were thick autumn and winter dresses. She unbuttoned several of her top buttons and sat in a chair. Perhaps if she didn't move, she would survive. How would they sleep tonight? If downstairs was intolerable, upstairs would be twice as sweltering.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

And in an instant, Elphaba felt a winter chill return to her bones. No Munchkin knocked on their door. Not anymore. Not since they started teaching. Their students came and left as they pleased. Pfannee and Boq announced themselves and walked straight in. Whoever was standing on the other side of her door was no friend. Had the Sheriff returned? Had some other Gillikinese official come instead? Elphaba shivered. She stood slowly, quietly, preparing to hide in the basement, when the door opened by itself.

"Stop! Don't come in any further!" she screamed.

The door stilled.

"Please, Elphaba," she heard a man's voice ask.

"Avaric?"

The door opened a bit more and there he stood, in the clothes the Munchkins had made him, shoulders stooped, beard unshaven.

"Where have you been?"

"I missed her," he said. "I missed everyone."

"Come in," she said.

He did, and they sat at the kitchen table, uneasily, not saying a word. Until Elphaba asked,

"Did you really cut Munchkins like the Sheriff claimed?"

Avaric nodded.

"Did you go to Nest Fallows?"

Avaric nodded again. Feeling sick and ready to ask him to leave, Elphaba stood and asked,

"Did you…did you eat…Pfannee's sister?"

Avaric shook his head.

"I didn't kill Pfannee's sister! And I've never eaten anyone!"

"Why did they call you the Tenmeadow Chefs?" Elphaba asked.

"It's true that we marched on Nest Fallows, my brother and I, both part of the third infantry. But we were ambushed in Nest Fallows. The Munchkins buried land mines all throughout the fields. They blew up around us while they shot arrows at us from the trees. Our troop scattered. One nearby explosion tossed me in the air. I lost consciousness. And when I woke up, I was in a house owned by a young Munchkin woman and her daughter. She saved me. The two had gone to scavenge the fields after the fighting ended for food left behind by the dead. They were hungry. The war meant that Munchkin men who should have farmed beside their wives were gone fighting instead. And then there were all the fields of theirs we burned or poisoned. Despite their severe want, when they saw I was still alive, they didn't leave me to die. They carried me back to their cabin on their donkey. They nursed me back to health, sharing what little food they had. It was their kindness that made me realize everything I learned about Munchkinlanders had been a lie. There was more bravery in their women than there was humanity in our men," he said, going quiet again.

"You haven't answered my question," Elphaba said, crossing her arms. "Why did they call you the Tenmeadow Chefs?"

"My brother, Furic," he said and swallowed, "His best friend was cut down beside him by a Munchkin soldier months before Nest Fallows. Ever since that time, he collected the body parts of Munchkins we chopped off, burning them on skewers over the fire. I cut and he burned. So they called us the Tenmeadow Chefs."

Elphaba held back a retch and asked,

"Where is he now?"

Avaric stood to look Elphaba in her eyes.

"I spent a week in Nest Fallows," he started, "I started to heal and was out by a river trying to catch a rabbit for the woman and her daughter. When I came back, my brother and another Gillikinese soldier were there. They had hung the girl and had killed her mother and were raping her corpse. You see, that man wasn't my brother, not anymore, not then."

"What happened, Avaric?"

"I killed him. I killed them both," Avaric said. "And so I can't ever go home. How could I return to Tenmeadows without him?"

Elphaba's mind asked similar questions. How in Oz could she be forgiven? How in Oz could she face Shell after what she let happen?

"I was an animal, Elphaba. I murdered so many. I was his older brother. I was supposed to protect Furic, to teach him how to live like a man. And I killed him. Is there anything worse than slaughtering your own brother?"

Elphaba was among her own. Avaric knew disgrace as intimately as she did.

"Sleeping with him," she said.

Avaric stared at Elphaba.

"They made us do it. In the castle," she heard herself say, as if watching someone else confess. She told him all the events that brought her to his lake so many months ago. In the end, she wept as he held her and said,

"You're not to blame. Those bastards did this to you. You're not like me at all."

It was then that the cabin door opened with gasps and shouts. The two broke away from each other. A drenched Pfannee had drawn her sword. A wet-haired Glinda stared. Nessa peeped from behind them.

"What are you doing here?" Pfannee asked him.

"I came to see you," he said.

"I told you to leave me alone and if you hadn't noticed—I'm not green!"

"He didn't kill your sister," Elphaba said.

"Stay out of this!" Pfannee shouted, her eyes not leaving Avaric's.

"Please let me speak to you. Just once," Avaric begged.

Pfannee wavered. Elphaba looked at Glinda. Her blue eyes started to mist, her bottom lip trembling. Whatever it was, Elphaba wanted to go to Glinda immediately and soothe her. But she waited for Pfannee's reply.

"Outside," Pfannee answered. "And if I don't like what you say I'll run you through with my blade."

As soon as Pfannee and Avaric left, Glinda rushed upstairs. Shutting the front door, Nessa said,

"Elphaba, really, isn't one scandalous affair enough?"

"What are you talking about?"

Nessa rolled her eyes. Elphaba didn't have time for her sister's games. Something had hurt Glinda. Was it something at the lake? Had Nessa said or done something unkind? Had something scared Glinda? Full of worry, Elphaba dashed upstairs. Their bedroom door was closed. Elphaba knocked. Nothing. Elphaba knocked again. Nothing. She pressed her ear against the door and hearing only silence. She opened it. Glinda, with her back to her, was sweeping the floor.

"Didn't you hear me?"

Glinda kept sweeping.

"Glinda?"

More sweeping.

"Glinda!" she said and stood in the blonde's way.

Glinda didn't stop. She merely moved around her and said,

"Your buttons. They're undone."

"It was hot," Elphaba said, buttoning them.

"And his hands?" Glinda asked. sweep-sweep. "Were they on you because it was hot?"

"His hands?" Elphaba repeated. "Oh, my! You thought that Avaric and I—that we were—oh, my sweet." Elphaba cackled, giddy that Glinda's tears weren't due to something serious. "My pretty, it wasn't anything like that."

"Don't dismiss it!" Glinda said, looking at her. "The way he held you. The way you cried with him. You've never cried like that with me. How long has he been back?"

"Why just this afternoon! Surely you don't think that we—"

"What were you talking about?"

How could Elphaba answer this?

"You can't tell me?" Glinda asked, backing away toward the door, shaking her head, dropping the broom. "What can you tell him…and not me?"

Elphaba couldn't let her leave. Not like this. She grabbed Glinda's arm. Glinda pulled away. Elphaba grabbed both of her shoulders.

"Let go of me!"

"Listen to me."

"Apparently you have nothing to say to me! Shall we call for Avaric?"

Elphaba wrestled Glinda toward the bed. Her height gave her leverage. She leaned them onto the bed. Rolling on top of Glinda, she pinned both of Glinda's wrists beside her head while Glinda squirmed.

"Stop! Please just stop and listen to me!" Elphaba shouted.

Glinda went lax, turning her face away.

"Have I any choice?"

Embarrassed at how she manhandled Glinda, Elphaba released her grip and rolled off the woman.

"I didn't mean to force you. Please, would you hear me out?"

Glinda didn't speak. Elphaba explained anyway.

"It's not like that between us. I don't love him like I love you. I never have and I never will. Don't you know how much I care for you? Don't you know… the things…the things we've done! I could never do with anyone else!"

Glinda's stoic expression shattered into a cry. She covered her face.

"It was unbearable," Glinda said. "To think that he had seen parts of you, knew parts of you that I didn't. It made me sick. What's wrong with me?" Glinda asked.

Elphaba had felt the same about Glinda on several occasions.

"Nothing. Or whatever malady you have, I share," she said.

Glinda looked up surprised.

"You must know it. My behavior after the Philosophy Club…" Elphaba said, feeling the sharpness of that shame all over again.

"But Boq comes over every week and you're never cross with him nor me. And yet I see you with Avaric for a moment and—and—"

"I just don't tell you," Elphaba said. Every time she remembered the Philosophy Club, she wanted to clobber Boq with a hornet's nest. "It happens many times and it's not just Boq. The whole forest has fallen in love with you!"

"What do you mean?"

"Your students. The way they look at you."

"They're just excited about their lessons."

"That's not all their excited about! Sometimes I wish I could hide you away."

"But you must know that I love you, only you!" Glinda pleaded.

"I do, my sweet, I do." Elphaba said, "That's why there's nothing to say. And now you must trust me when I say I love only you."

"I—" Glinda stopped.

"What is it?"

"It still feels unbearable."

"The way you found Avaric and I?"

"That you have secrets."

Elphaba had many. Their love required them. But perhaps she could give Glinda just one. Choosing her words carefully, Elphaba said, "Avaric came for Pfannee. We talked about the war. How he lost his brother in Nest Fallows. It reminded me of my own brother."

"Shell?" Glinda asked.

Elphaba nodded.

"Why did he leave you?"

"There were things done to us at Runcible. Humiliating things. Things they made us do things to each other. Things I couldn't protect my brother fro—" Elphaba's voice broke.

"You don't have to say it!" Glinda said, clutching Elphaba to her.

"With Avaric, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Please believe me—he's only a friend."

"I'm so sorry. So very sorry. Forgive me, I was so terribly jealous! Such a terrible terrible fool."

Elphaba rolled atop Glinda. This time Glinda didn't squirm. She hugged Elphaba fiercely. Until Elphaba whispered,

"I'll forgive you, but if you ever doubt my love for you again, Glinda, I shall have to punish you."

Glinda gasped and then whispered,

"Over your knee, I hope?"

The two burst out laughing. Then growing serious, Glinda asked,

"Give me something that's ours, Elphie."

"Hm?"

"A touch only for me."

"I've given you plenty of those already. I don't play Together with just anyone in the forest!"

Glinda giggled and said,

"I meant a touch for outside the bedroom. A touch that only we know about."

"Like a public secret?" Elphaba asked.

"Yes, exactly like that!" Glinda said, grinning.

Elphaba wrapped an arm around Glinda and spun her so the blonde was on top of her. Her thumb rubbed the indent of Glinda's lower back.

"This space," Elphaba said, "and this touch," she added, rubbing in a line, "is only yours and mine, my dearest."

Glinda's pupils dilated and she lowered herself to kiss Elphaba. They stayed there until many physical confirmations had been given, until they were covered in sweat, until Elphaba's hips were too sore to continue. When they did emerge from their bedroom, Pfannee and Avaric had found their way back to each other. They weren't amorous, but they sat together at the kitchen table with Nessa, Avaric waiting on the women hand and foot.

The end of the month came too soon for Elphaba. It was the last day of August and Elphaba locked their cabin door as all six stood outside ready to walk to the Wizard's carnival deep in the forest. Turning toward the group, she put her arm around Glinda, rubbing the small of her back. The blonde beamed at her, looping her arm around hers despite the heat. Avaric and Pfannee led the way, with a foot of distance between them. They weren't as before, but Pfannee seemed to be trying to find a way to forgive Avaric. Watching them, Elphaba had missed the beginning of Boq's questions.

"Well, why not?!" he asked.

"'Well why not' what?" Elphaba asked.

"Why doesn't Glinda want to ask the Wizard for her memory back?"

Elphaba's heart went limp like a weed. Because she demanded Glinda not to. Back so many months ago when Glinda was barely a friend. How did Elphaba have the gall? How had Glinda said yes? Would Elphaba have given up her past so easily?

"I'm happy with my life as it is," Glinda answered, squeezing Elphaba's arm. Elphaba should apologize, renounce her request, give Glinda the freedom to make her own decision. But she couldn't. She couldn't do anything that might imperil the woman Glinda had become.

"But how do you know?" Boq asked. "Wouldn't you be happier if you knew your family?"

Elphaba glanced down to see Glinda bite her lip. Milla. Glinda's face looked stunningly similar just then. Did Milla miss Galinda? She must have. They had been inseparable. How was the girl managing by herself in that ghastly castle?

"I have all the family I need," Glinda insisted.

"But how can you say that? Don't you want to know your mother? Your father? Your siblings?" Boq asked again.

"I—They—" Glinda faltered.

"Oh, Boq, leave her alone. You're making her uncomfortable!" Nessarose said.

This made everyone stare. For they all knew the last thing on Nessa's mind was Glinda's comfort.

"What?" her sister asked. "Can't we talk about something other than the Gillikinese? Is that too much to ask for one evening?"

"What a wonderful idea!" Glinda said, "Boq, why don't you tell us about your family?"

Boq agreed and started in on a story about Nanny, his aunt's cousin. Elphaba pretended to listen, glad to be caught up in nods and smiles, anything to avoid looking down at a suddenly quiet Glinda.

It wasn't long before they saw the carnival. On the horizon like a tiny dot, no bigger than a candle flame. In half a candlemark, they were queued outside the entrance with other Munchkins—some familiar, many not—the forest trees dressed with lanterns, the air thick with the smell of fried dough. The carnival was a series of tent attractions and food stands, all hidden behind a tall carpeted fence.

Boq continued chatting as they entered.

"Nanny didn't just lose her love," he said. "She also lost her child. Gillikin didn't allow unmarried women to keep their children."

"That's dreadful," Glinda said, hardly listening, as she took in the throngs of people.

"I thought we weren't talking of Gillikin tonight!" Nessa hissed.

"Ah, yes, my dear!" Boq said.

So Nanny had a child. Elphaba remembered the old woman's words of long ago.

I've seen the dangers of a flattering man. His words as sweet as the freshest honeycomb, but its a ruse, Your Eminence. He'll bundle you in all sorts of praises to pull the one thing he wants from you.

Elphaba had been so caught up with her own suffering at Runcible that she had no time to think of anyone else's. How horrible it must have been: to be betrayed by the person you loved and then to lose your child for it. "Please send Nanny my regards when you see her," Elphaba whispered to Boq.

The man grinned and said,

"Tell her yourself! Nanny's coming tonight! How it thrilled her to hear Your Eminence would be here too!"

Elphaba stomach fell to her feet. Nanny. Here? If the old woman saw Glinda, they would be done for! They had to get out now! But before Elphaba could think of a reason to rush Glinda back to their cabin, she looked down to see her love running off, following a man who bore an uncanny resemblance to Shell.