A/N: I got a mixed reaction to my last chapter, I see! LOL that's all right, though, I'm glad to see some negativity. Sawyerzelda: I was actually wondering where you were! LOL yes…I can't just tell you what's going to happen, though! You'll see soon… whogirl: I was wondering where you were, too! –that's not meant as a criticism or anything, by the way- thank you very much for the compliments, I'm very glad you liked it! Countrybuttefly: Creeped out in a good way, or a bad way? Either way is good, just wondering. I was a tad confused by your last statement…cast-contraception and all that. Sorry, I'm just a tad stupid, though…thanks for reviewing! Skellum: Thank you! "IMUSTKILLGLINDA PHASE"…haha good stuff, made me laugh. : ) FrederickCharleston: Hunky dory is, like, the coolest phrase ever! Anyway, yes, I want things to be hunky dory also, so fret not! Hopefully…soon…yes. Kate: Yes, I didn't want to make Elphaba swear…but I didn't know how better to express that. Actually, you're right, it's out of character for her, but I didn't want to make her swear because it's musicalverse, and the musical is very clean. LOL oh well…glad you liked the chapter, though. Silvermoonset: LOL don't worry about it! It's all right, I understand, I just wanted to make sure you hadn't abandoned me! Glad to see you're still reading. : ) And hooray for Oveel's name! I actually don't like it very much, but it took me awhile to decide on one for him. Now on with the show! It's a pretty short one this time.

Elphaba slept well into the next morning, having not had a full night's rest in a long time. She sat up, and saw that Oveel had already brought her a new tray of food. It was odd listening to the people outside of her cell, as they were not ten feet from her, but none of them knew she was in there. She stood and went to the food. It was the same as the day before: bread and water. She ate the bread, and stared at the water. She hadn't had anything to drink in days…would it hurt her that much to drink it? She put it aside. The answer, she knew, was yes, and she'd have to swallow her pride and ask Oveel to please tell Glinda to send her something she could actually drink. She sighed, and retreated back to the back wall. She sat with her back pressed against it, thinking about Fiyero. She knew that if he was still following them, he should be there by then…or at least soon. And if he wasn't following them, fine. She could only help herself at that point anyway. Which she needed to find out how to do…Glinda was a liar, she didn't care about Elphaba at all. Glinda wasn't going to let her go, and she needed to find some way to get out.

…

Glinda sat miserably at her desk, replaying her and Elphie's reunion. She supposed she could understand where the anger was coming from. But she hadn't meant to hurt her! She had told Boq to be nice to her…she put her head in her hands. She hadn't thought things all the way through, she guessed. She had no idea what to do with Elphie now. She couldn't leave her there…but she couldn't just let her out. She had the rest of Oz to worry about. Not only would they be scared for their lives, but they would probably try to kill her. And she wasn't going to let Elphie go back to living her old life. In one way, that was selfish, but she was also looking out for her best friend. That was no way to live a life, she decided. She had done the right thing by bringing her there, and soon Elphie would realize that. She hoped.

But then, she didn't know…she heard Elphie's voice saying, "You took me from my home, from my friend, from my lover…" How quickly Elphie had forgotten about Fiyero! She observed silently. She felt a rush of anger at Elphie for stealing Fiyero from her so long ago, which surprised her. She wasn't mad at her, she had already forgiven her, she reminded herself. She sighed and sat back. She should try again tonight to talk to her, she decided. Without attendants. The thought frightened her for a moment, but she chastised herself for it. There was no reason to be afraid of Elphie…if she stood out of reach.

…

Elphaba put her head against the wall, bored. It was now late afternoon, and there was nothing for her to do, of course. She tightened her cape around her, though she wasn't cold. She swallowed, then tried to think of anything but how thirsty she was…or her wrists and ankles that hurt…or Fiyero…she closed her eyes briefly, sick of feeling sorry for herself. She tried to listen to the conversations of the citizens from Oz outside, but they were all a jumble. She sighed. At least back at Kiamo Ko, she had somebody to talk to…she winced, reminding herself not to think about that. But then she let her thoughts drift to Fiyero…and Damaran. She didn't want to think of either one, but especially not Damaran. She moved away from the wall and laid down on her back, facing the wall, with her arms behind her head. The image of Damaran falling down in the grass played in her head suddenly and she shut her eyes tightly from the image, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, hating herself. She knew that without her, Damaran would still be alive. And Nessa…

"No," she whispered to herself. She wasn't going to let herself think about her sister any longer. It was done, it was over. The same went for Damaran, she told herself. She had killed herself already, it was time to move on from it all.

…

Elphaba had gotten a lot of sleep the night before, and it was either very late at night or very early in the morning when she heard short, quick footsteps coming from down the hall that nobody had used before when coming to talk to her, at least. She was sitting with her knees drawn up, facing the wall, and she didn't turn around, guessing it was Glinda. She heard a voice from behind her, and her suspicions were confirmed.

"Hi Elphie," Glinda said timidly.

Elphaba didn't say anything, and heard Glinda clear her throat. "I wanted to see you…how you were doing."

Elphaba still didn't say anything, and didn't turn around.

"I didn't know…that Boq would…would treat you badly…I'm going to talk to him, you know."

Elphaba began to say something, but had to swallow and cough…her throat was too dry. "Just talk?" she said condescendingly, still facing the wall. "Are you aware of the entirety of what he did?"

Glinda paused a moment, and then, in dread, asked, "What did he do?"

"He let one of his guards kill Damaran. And he was just a boy! He was fifteen years old."

Elphaba heard Glinda gasp slightly. "I told him not to kill anyone…Elphie, I didn't know, I swear…tell me what happened."

"He tried stupidly to save me, I think it was the second day after Boq and his wonderful guard doused me with water and captured me. We were walking, and he tried to shoot them. Didn't manage to kill anybody, but they managed to kill him. I got tied up after that, in case you're interested."

Elphaba took pleasure in Glinda not speaking for a few moments. "I'm sorry, Elphie."

"You can call me Elphaba."

Elphaba almost felt bad after that statement, but didn't.

"Elphaba, then…" Glinda sounded very hurt, and also a tad angry. She was still making an attempt at false niceness, though. "I do care about you, and there was a reason for all of this, you need to understand that, things will be better for you – "

"Please, Glinda, you care about no one but yourself."

Glinda didn't say anything, but Elphaba heard a pause, then a rustle of skirts and a small clink of metal. "Here," Glinda said coldly to Elphaba's back. "I brought you some milk."

Elphaba turned around swiftly, puzzled, just to watch Glinda walk quickly away.