Strength

A.N. Once again, thanks to all who reviewed so far-your advice has been greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

When Elphaba woke up, the cab was pulling up to a small, run-down looking inn.

"Why are we stopping?" Nessa asked groggily, also just awoken from her nap.

Fiyero jumped at hearing the voice behind him. He had almost forgotten that Nessa and Glinda were there. They had not said a word through the entire trip. "The cab driver asked us where we were spending the night, and I told him to just take us to the closest inn. I guess this was the closest inn.

After the travelers had unloaded their luggage, Elphaba and Fiyero began the project that was getting Nessa out of the cab. Fiyero held Nessa while Elphaba struggled with the wheelchair. The wheelchair was slightly wider than the cab door, and neither of them seemed to remember how they had accomplished getting her into the cab in the first place.

As Elphaba and Fiyero struggled, Glinda stood looking at the inn. It was positively tiny and looked as though no one had cared to stay there for quite a while. She fought back her instinctive urge to whine about the situation; after all, she had chosen to come to support Elphaba and Nessa.

After what seemed like hours but was actually only three minutes, Elphaba and Fiyero managed to get Nessa and her wheelchair out of the cab. The cab driver, happy that his cab made it through the ordeal with no major damage, quickly sped away as Elphaba, Glinda, Nessa, and Fiyero went inside the tiny inn.

Being that they were four collage students they did not have much money with them. Even with Glinda's prestigious background, the group only had enough collective money to rent one room for the night. Granted, they could have rented two if they had spent all of their money, but Elphaba reminded everyone that there would be another overnight stay on the way back to Shiz.

At first, the four of them had no problems about sharing a room. At least, they had no problems until they saw the room. The room was barely big enough for one person, with one double bed. It wasn't exactly the most well maintained place either. The paint was peeling in several spots and there was a strange smell in the air. But what bothered them most was the one bed.

"Well, I guess it's going to be a close night." Fiyero said as he rummaged through his bag for his pajamas. The three girls took the hint and waited in the hallway for him to finish changing. With some coaxing he did the same while the girls were changing, and then they began figuring out how to fit four people into one double bed. They decided that Nessa should be somewhere in the middle, because should she fall out ("which could very well happen to someone on the end when space is this limited", Glinda had pointed out) she would not be able to get back up again. In the end they decided that Glinda should be on one end, Nessa and Elphaba in the middle, and Fiyero on the other end. Elphaba was not thrilled about being so closely confined between two people, but once the arrangements were put into effect she realized that there was something very comforting about having another person next to her as she slept. It was nice, a feeling of protection. And it was something that she needed that night.

They slept peacefully for half the night, when Elphaba woke up to a strange sensation. Well, not strange. She had felt it before. There was a strong burning on her face, and it kept intensifying. She put her hand to her face to see what was wrong, and felt the burning spread to her hand. Just then, her ears picked up the sound of her worst enemy outside the window. She sat up, realizing what was going on.

It was raining, and the roof of the inn, having not been properly tended to in years, was leaking directly onto Elphaba. Combined with the burns from her tears the night before, her face was really taking a beating this week. Her first instinct was to go put her soothing oil on the burn to stop the pain; however, she quickly realized she was trapped between Nessa and Fiyero. Not wanting to disturb anyone, she pulled the thin blanket over her face, hoping that it would keep out the water. It did for a few seconds, and then the water began to hit her again. The burning intensified, and Elphaba began to look for any way to escape the bed. She needed that oil.

She decided to try burrowing her way out on foot of the bed. She succeeded in getting out of the bed, but not without pulling the blanket completely off of Fiyero, who was getting hit by water droplets as well. In fact, everyone except Glinda seemed to be a victim of the leaky roof. "Figures. The princess doesn't get wet but the one who's allergic to water gets trapped beneath a leak." Elphaba thought to herself as she rummaged through her bag looking for her oil. She quietly opened the door to the bathroom and turned on the light. The size and severity of the burn shocked her. The water must have been hitting her face for a long time. She poured some of the oil onto her palm and was in the process of spreading it over the burn when she heard another voice at the door.

"Elphie, what are you doing? It's the middle of the night. It's not time to put lotion on right nowÉOh sweet Oz! What happened to your face?" Glinda was more shocked at the burn than Elphaba had been.

"The roof has been leaking on my face since it started raining, who knows how long ago. I'm not putting on lotion, I'm putting oil on it to stop the pain." Elphaba replied. "It figures that you would be the one to wake up when you're the only one who wasn't getting hit with water.

"I'm very sensitive to light. Anyway, are you sure you're alright? That burn looks pretty bad. Hold on, stay right there. I think I have something that may help you." Glinda said as she disappeared into the main room.

"Glinda, I highly doubt that lip gloss or eyeliner is going to help in this situation." Elphaba said in a forced whisper. She was shocked to see Glinda come back into the bathroom holding a first aid kit. "You actually thought enough to bring that?

"Well, no. Fiyero did. But there must be something in here for burns stronger than that oil. Let's see, oh, here's a cute little book! Ok, burns, burns

Elphaba couldn't help but laugh at Glinda calling the first aid guide cute. Suddenly, she heard Glinda cry out "Oh, here it is! Burns. It says here that a burn should immediately be cleaned with water (well, that's one step we won't be doing) and that a soothing ointment can be rubbed on the burn to stop pain if necessary. And look, here it is! Ok, sit down there and relax.

Elphaba balanced herself on the edge of the shower, wondering if Glinda actually knew what she was doing. Glinda had never seemed to be the doctor type. She didn't say anything, however, because the pain was intensifying by the second. Once Glinda had figured out how to open the cap on the ointment tube, she sat next to Elphaba and proceeded to apply the ointment to her face. At first, the burn hurt when it was touched, but as the ointment was applied the pain slowly disappeared.

As the two girls exited the bathroom and somehow managed to fit back into the bed, Elphaba looked over at Glinda. She had once again proven herself to be an honest, caring friend, something that until two weeks before Elphaba would have never thought possible. Even until tonight she had been skeptical.

"Maybe there is something beneath the blonde after all" she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.