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

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Afternoon dwindles into evening, and the world outside the window is enveloped in the special glow of twilight, when children rush to finish their supper and meet their friends for a game, when parents spend a special moment together as the young ones finish their schoolwork.

Inside the room, Elphaba is at the desk, the Grimmerie open once more. She casts a worried glance at the sleeping form on the bed. Glinda had gotten herself very worked up. Elphaba thinks of how fragile the woman felt in her arms, the maddened look in her eyes, the unhealthy colour to her cheeks. After the outburst, Glinda had clung to her so desperately...

Elphaba sighs, brushing a hair from her face as she turns back to the book. She was going to do this now. Not for herself, but for Glinda. Anything would be better for Glinda than the life she has here. Elphaba looks around at the sparse, utilitarian room. It looks so cold and impersonal. Like an institution. She thinks of the woman, shut up here all alone, until Elphaba had dropped in. And what had Elphaba accomplished? Oh, she was just responsible for re-awakening Glinda's guilty conscience, pushing her further down the road to becoming nothing but an empty shell.

Elphaba scours the page, looking for something else to decode, something that would help her do this right. She wonders if she could really cast this spell - she had never been able to save anyone before, why would it help this time?

Elphaba is pulled out of her thoughts as Glinda shifts on the bed. Glinda stirs, and opens her eyes. She pushes herself into a sitting position against the pillows, and looks over at Elphaba, at the desk. Elphaba looks at Glinda's pale face, flushed a little with sleep and emotion, and forces out a small smile.

Glinda draws the blankets to her chin. "Isn't it cold in here, Elphie?" She says. Her voice sounds tiny and young in the silence. The room is warm, Elphaba is roasting in her black dress, but she nods. "Yes, Glinda. It is." She says, sadly, though the tone is lost on Glinda. Glinda simply nods in return, and turns her gaze to the window.

Elphaba picks up the Grimmerie, and sits down on the end of Glinda's bed. Laying the book in front of her, she draws her feet up beside her.

"Glinda," Elphaba begins, and is relieved to see Glinda's face turn towards her in response. "Do you remember that day we went to the Emerald city?" Elphaba is rewarded with a small smile, but the expression fades as Glinda's forehead creases.

"That was the day I changed my name." She mutters, in a barely audible voice. "Why did I do that?"

Elphaba remains silent, until she realizes that Glinda was asking a genuine question, and not just re-thinking past decisions. "It was because of Dr. Dillamond." She replies, gently.

"Yes... Dr. Dillamond." Glinda muses, softly. Her words come slowly, almost laboriously. "The Goat who taught at Shiz." She sighs heavily, and closes her eyes. Elphaba realizes that she is not raising Glinda's spirits. She opens the Grimmerie to the now familiar page, and sits up straight.

"Glinda?" It takes a sharper tone that Elphaba expected to rouse Glinda's attention. "I'm going to try the spell. I think it will help us change the past." She says, softly.

This brings a real, though weak smile to Glinda's face. "We can go back." She murmurs.

"Yes, Glinda." Elphaba responds, unable to keep the tremble from her voice. "We can go back." She still isn't sure if that is the case, but right now she needs to do it, for Glinda. She finds the spot on the page, and begins chanting.

Glinda leans back into the pillows. A tiny bit of excitement thrills through her at the thought of fixing things, finally, but it seems to be all the emotion she can muster. Exhaustion sits on her eyelids like stones. She watches Elphaba chant for a bit, admiring the way the words just flow off of her tongue. Elphaba stops chanting and looks at her. She has a funny look in her eyes... is it concern? Elphaba puts a hand over Glinda's but Glinda can't feel it. Her lips move, but Glinda can't hear it. Elphaba looks positively panicked, it makes Glinda smile. Elphaba was always so serious. The room begins to grow misty, first at the edges of her vision, and then the mist spreads through until Glinda can't even see Elphaba any more. Her eyes close, heavily. She watches the mist swirl, and then, through the mist, Glinda can see it.

It looks like Shiz University.

THE END.

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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. :-) This fic is based on the musical.

I know some of you are going to hate me for this ending, but I like leaving things up to the imagination, and there are several ways you can see the ending. I tested it out on a few people and got at least two very different interpretations. If you want to discuss it, I love getting e-mails. :-)

There are many people to thank for this fic. Everyone who read it, of course. All of my reviewers. nancystagerat and sweet saturn, for giving me constructive advice and e-mails. My sister Heather, for beta reading from the beginning. And Kyla, Shilo, Beth, Cullen, and Kris for helping me test out and polish the ending.

So that's it. It was never meant to be a long fic. This is the first fic I've ever finished. And no, I don't intend to write a sequel, sorry. This was a sequel, to Wicked. Besides, if you take the ending a certain way, there can't be a sequel. ;-) I'm sad that it's over, I didn't realize I'd get so attached to my characters, but it was just my first Wicked fic. I've already started on my next one. It's about Nessa. Look for 'The Girl in the Mirror' on a website near you. :-p

Fare thee well, and happy reading.
Love,
Jenny
(LadyBianca)