No One Mourns the Wicked - But What About the Good?

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The light wakes Elphaba the next morning, and she opens her eyes. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she looks around the room. The drapes are wide open, morning sun shining through. Glinda is sitting up in bed, hair tousled with sleep. A large, dusty looking book lies across her lap.

"Oh, you're awake!" Glinda calls to her, sounding pleased. "I told the attendants to leave me alone until I summoned them, so we have the whole day."

Elphaba rises to her feet, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She takes a closer look at Glinda - she still has that look in her eyes. And that book in her lap... "Glinda, is that... the Grimmerie?"

Glinda giggles, and Elphaba can only stare in shock. "Yes!" Glinda says, turning a page. "Now that you're back, Elphie, we can do it... we can do it all over again! You have the power."

"No!" Elphaba is surprised by the force of the word coming out of her mouth. She tries to soften her tone. "No, Glinda. The power isn't like that. I can't just do whatever I want."

Glinda's eyes darken, and for a moment she appears to return to the small, sad woman Elphaba had encountered when she first entered the room. "Elphaba, don't you see what's happened?" She says softly, and her eyes search her friend's face. "How can things have gone so... wrong?" Glinda's voice breaks as she chokes out the last word. She can't shake the feeling of how badly things had turned out, it sits so heavily on her that she feels it pinning her to the bed. She has to change it, fix it. Somehow. She has to get out.

Elphaba is alarmed by the sudden shifts in Glinda's personality, but she attempts to placate her, drawing close to the bed and perching on the corner. "It's not that bad, Glinda." She says. "I'm here, you're here. We're together."

Glinda looks at Elphaba, her forehead furrowing into a frown. Her voice is thick with bitterness. "Sure. Everyone thinks you're dead, and they remember your life as wicked. Everyone thinks I'm... crazy." She pauses for a moment, breaking her eye contact with Elphaba to fiddle with the corner of the Grimmerie. "What about Fiyero?" She continues, softly. "What about Boq? What about Nessa? I helped kill your sister, Elphaba."

Elphaba is silent. She knows what she should say, she knows that she should protect Glinda's fragile feelings, but for once, she wants someone else to take the blame. She had been burdened with blame her whole life, and even that was her own fault. She doesn't speak, but her eyes flick towards the Grimmerie, open in Glinda's lap.

Glinda catches the motion, and nudges the Grimmerie towards Elphaba, retreating into her schoolgirl self again. Her old self, back when the big picture didn't matter. "Oh please, Elphie. Just take a look?" She pleads, with an ingratiating smile.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Elphaba mutters, but she is already feeling a bit of her former self come back. Bubbly Glinda was always the balance for serious Elphaba. Once she had gone into hiding, she didn't have anything to keep the darkness at bay. Even Fiyero couldn't lift her from it, while he was still there. And how long could you expect a scarecrow to last?

So Elphaba humours Glinda, and begins flipping the pages of the Grimmerie. Glinda watches, a huge grin on her face, her hands clasped under her chin like a child at a birthday party. Elphaba discards a few pages, and then her eyes fall on one page. It takes her a second to decode the script, but once she has it, she lingers on the page, reading it again. Glinda notices the pause and leans forward. Elphaba reads it through a third time, and then looks at Glinda. She allows a smile to break onto her face, albeit a small one. "I think I've found something." She says.

Glinda's eyes dance, and she squirms out from under the covers, sitting herself right next to Elphaba. "Really, Elphie?" She asks, excitedly. "What is it? Will it bring us back so we can fix things?"

"I don't know, Glinda." Elphaba says, her eyes on the book. "I have to study it some more. But I think it might help us." Elphaba is well aware of the damage rushing into things can cause. She intends to take her time with this - for once, she would use her powers right. She picks up the book and slides off the bed. "Do you have paper? I'm going to take some notes." She says, already absorbed in the task. She sits down at the desk and puts the book in front of her.

"Yes, of course!" Glinda says, nearly hopping as she climbs off of the bed and brings Elphaba some paper and a pen. "And I'll go find an attendant, to fix us some food." She says. She pauses at the door and pushes her hair into order, and then slips into the hallway. Elphaba remains at the desk, absorbed in the ancient language of the Grimmerie.

As Glinda leaves, Elphaba realizes that the glow in Glinda's eyes doesn't remind her of happiness. It reminds her of fever and delirium.

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AN: I do not own Wicked, Glinda or Elphaba. I do, however, love the story and the characters, and this creative outlet. :-)

Thank you to my sister Heather, and to my reviewers, and everyone that e-mailed me/messaged me. You all rock! This story would not exist without you.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
B