Elphaba felt her stomach turn into a knot of dread as she looked into the face of her new dance partner.

"Boq," she said in a half strangled whispered.

"So glad you to see that you remembered me. Then again how could you forget a face such as mine?" the Tinman replied coldly. He tightened his grip on her. He wanted to crush her right then and there, but he would have to wait. Now was not the time.

Elphaba could feel the increased pressure with which he held her hand. His expression was cold, like the place where his heart should've been. She could tell that he had become bitter. If only Nessa had listened, if only she had stopped Nessa, or never even come at all. It pained her to see him like this; the once shy and timid Munchkin boy had become a frozen, remote being all because she had tried to save him.

"I'm sorry. I only meant to save you," she replied sincerely.

"The irony, it kills me," retorted the Tinman.

"What are you implying?" snapped Elphaba, feeling slightly indignant.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm simply trying to remind you of the fact that you have so obviously forgotten in your return to the side of good."

"I know being in a Tinman is not the most desirable form, but still, wouldn't you agree that it's good you're at least alive? It's not as if being made of tin prevents you from reaching all your goals."

"Ha! Why did you save me anyway? After you stole my heart? You could've finished the job easily. Then again the wicked do like to see the innocent suffer don't they?"

"You should be one to talk! Look what you did to Nessa! You lied to her, led her on, and then shattered her heart at the last moment! You were her world!"

"At least I didn't get her killed!"

Elphaba's words froze momentarily. "That...was...not...my...doing," she said slowly as she gritted her teeth. At that moment, her sympathy for him vanished. She was sick of being labeled as the cause of all evil. She was through taking the blame for other's faults or deeds, especially Nessa's. "She was my sister, and yes, she was a selfish bitch too, but I loved her! She's dead, may she rest in peace, but the Hell I'm going to be taking the blame for her actions anymore!"

"You're always trying to shift the blame from yourself. Things haven't changed much. First it was the Wizard, and now Nessa. You couldn't have loved her; you didn't even know her, and in addition you abandoned her! I knew her though. I stayed by her side for all those years after Shiz. Although my heart wasn't with her, my intentions were good; I felt obligated to stay with her. She was so distraught when you were left! Imagine what would have happened if I had left her then!"

"Listen to yourself! Don't portray yourself as being so righteous! Don't you see! You're as wicked as I am! Both of us did things the wrong way, but our hearts were in the right place! Although, now, it seems your heart never proved of use as you never followed it until the time was too late!"

"You never had a heart!" he said venomously. With that the dance ended. The Tinman let go of his vise-like grip on Elphaba. He stiffly bowed then removed himself from her presence. Elphaba was left stunned.

She moved aimlessly past the other guests who were politely applauding the orchestra. Eventually, she found herself outside on the lawn behind the ballroom. There were several ornate wooden benches outside. A few amorous couples were striding around, whispering words of affection to one another, or sitting down, gazing endlessly into each other's eyes. Elphaba paid them no heed. So long as they were relatively quiet, she didn't care what they were doing. She wanted a place away from the glittering lights and bustle of the party; somewhere she could be alone with her thoughts.

Finding an empty bench, Elphaba sat down. Her mind wandered, as it so often did, to the past. Again, she found herself questioning her decisions. Though the night was balmy, a chill ran down her spine, causing her to shiver ever so slightly. Thoughts raced through her mind, but her body remained still. In this state, Glinda found her.

"Elphie, this game of hide and seek has got to stop," said Glinda exasperatedly, interrupting Elphaba's ponderings. "You know how tiring it is to have to search for you every five minutes? Anyways, the party's been underway for at least an hour now, and you've hardly done anything. I intend for you to have a marvelous time, and that means that you have to interact with people. Besides, Fiyero will be half out of his mind if I don't bring you back. Now come on, get up."

Elphaba couldn't help smiling as she obliged. Glinda always had the best of intentions. Good intentions, people were full of them, but did they ever prove to any avail? As Glinda had taken a firm hold of her and was leading her inside, Elphaba was forced to put her thoughts aside.

AN: Lovely, lovely, lovely. I finally did this. Being a college student is kind of rough, but fun. When I do have time to write, I'm often too tired to write, or inspiration has yet to strike. I'm going to try to make writing one of my priorities though. This chapter started out as two sentences and stayed that way for a long time until I randomly woke up and couldn't go back to sleep at three AM one morning. I like to think of it as a sort of "deep thought" chapter; I hope it's satisfying enough for now. As always, thanks go to my readers and reviewers, especially those who provide constructive criticism.

P.S. Lady Bianca is responsible for the title of the previous chapter.

A few notes:

Yvi and Lady Bianca: You're awesome people in addition to being excellent writers and my biggest motivators.

Bella Luna 1213: Yes, Black Magic Roses do exist.

Fritz: I'm glad you found the last chapter to be relevant as well as engaging.

SilverMoonset: In an ongoing conversation between characters (especially a long one), you can put quotation marks at the beginning and close them at the end so long as you aren't mentioning the speaker or their tone (i.e. "What happened?" asked Fiyero). I'm sorry if some of the conversations were slightly confusing for you; I thought everyone could tell who a speaker was by what he or she was saying. Thanks for looking out for my grammar though.