Fiyero knocked on the door to Glinda's room. There was no answer. He shot a disapproving look behind him, and the many students that filled the hall outside of Glinda's room, hoping to get the chance to console her, all looked away guiltily. Fiyero knocked again, and then saw down the other hallway, to his right, the small blonde girl shutting the door, coming out of another room.
She couldn't help breaking into a smile when she saw him. She broke into a quick run and threw herself into his waiting arms. He stroked her soft curls, leaning his head into her shoulder. They heard giggles behind them, but they were oblivious. Glinda broke away and stepped past him, opening the door to her room. Wordlessly and no longer smiling, she held it open for him, and he went inside. She followed, closing the door.
Fiyero looked at both beds. He had been in the room several times before, and even the first time he could tell which bed was Glinda's. He took a seat on Elphaba's, and looked up at Glinda, who was still standing.
Glinda and Fiyero stared at one another for a moment, and then Glinda's hands rushed to her face as she let out a sob. "Oh, Glinda," Fiyero murmured, feeling awful for her. He stood up and took the few steps towards Glinda, holding her. She let herself fall helplessly into them, her shoulders shaking and the tears soaking her face and his shirt.
"I didn't know what to do, and then they said she did all of these horrible things and I had to go along with it…" Glinda choked out.
Fiyero was frozen. When he had heard the news, he didn't want to believe it - he couldn't believe it – but then again…what else was he supposed to believe?
He couldn't say anything for a moment, not while she was so upset, so he waited for her sobs to die down. When they did, he pulled away from her, and she sniffled and wiped her eyes. Quietly, he led her over to the bed – her bed. They both sat down on it, and he faced her. "Glinda…what did happen there?"
She looked scared, and looked around. "Fiyero…" she lowered her voice, as if someone was watching. "I can't tell anyone…I already told Nessa, they might find out…"
Fiyero looked around slowly. "Glinda…there's no one here…"
"You don't know that!" she shouted. She looked around again, and then lowered her voice. "They're using monkeys as spies."
Fiyero stared at her, not sure whether or not she was mentally stable. He took her hands in his. "Can you please tell me what happened?" he asked softly, looking into her eyes. He knew he needed to know, not just for him, but for Glinda.
Glinda took a deep breath. "Okay," she decided.
As Glinda told him, Fiyero felt his heart lift until finally he was being pulled up to the sky. Elphaba wasn't really some…wicked witch, as they had been calling her. But he came crashing down to the ground within a second as he realized that it hardly mattered what she really was – what mattered was what the Wizard told everyone she was.
Glinda's eyes were still tearful, and he breathed deeply, not sure whether to feel elated or heavily burdened by what Glinda had just told him. He tried to focus on Elphaba having not really done any of those things, but found himself distracted by the fact that she was not only an outcast, as she was at school, but she was actually feared. That, and she was probably alone, and cold, and hungry…and scared. Fiyero took a deep breath and turned towards Glinda. "So you're going to join the Wizard after you graduate?"
Glinda shrugged and nodded slowly. "What else is there to do?" she asked him, her brow furrowed. "If I don't join him, he'll declare me as wicked as she is." She caught her breath, and quickly corrected herself. "As wicked as he says she is, I mean." Glinda suppressed the tiny part of her that was also saying that she wanted to be as celebrated as the Wizard.
Fiyero turned away, nodding. He understood, of course. "So what are we going to do now?"
Glinda looked slightly surprised. "Do? What is there to do?"
Fiyero stood up and began pacing between the beds. "I have to do something…" he muttered. He stopped, and turned to face Glinda. "I'm going to go find her."
Glinda looked at him like he were crazy. "What?" she breathed out.
"I'm going to go find her." He began to nod to himself. "She needs my help. I'll find her, and we'll…I don't know, I'll explain it to the Wizard…or something…" he trailed off, turning away from Glinda. "I've got to find her…"
"Fiyero!" Glinda exclaimed, near tears again. She stood up. "Fiyero, you can't. You don't understand, it'd be crazy! Think about it for a moment, think rationally. You don't know if you'll find her. You don't know if she'll accept your help if you do find her. And then, if you find her, and she accepts your help, then what have you got? You're just as good as she is, in the eyes of the Wizard. He'll spread lies about you, too, and then you'll make it even more difficult for her – hiding one person is probably easier than hiding two. The only thing you'll provide for her is one more person to worry about."
Glinda made a good point, and both of them knew it. Fiyero chewed his lip. "Okay," he told Glinda after a moment. Glinda smiled slightly. She had Elphaba taken away already – she didn't want Fiyero taken away from her, too.
…
Elphaba stood in the open street, looking about her cautiously. Behind her was Cirnella's house. After a deep breath, she tucked the Grimmerie under one arm, and straddled the broom. Feeling scared (as it had only been the second time she had ridden it) she stood for nearly a minute, trying to work up the courage. Finally, she kicked off from the ground.
She loved the feeling of flying. She went higher, until she was almost certain that she blended in with the night. One-handed, she felt kind of like it was an accomplishment – doing a trick, or something. She smiled to herself, and leaned forward, telling the broom somehow to go forward. It did. It moved quickly, when she wanted it to…but she didn't really want to. The wind rushed through her hair, almost knocking her hat off. With still blurry vision, she looked down at the ground. No one was out yet – she loved that time. She remembered being eight years old, after everyone else had gone to bed, and going for long walks in the woods. She was never afraid of the woods like Nessa always was. Nessa was always terrified that a bear or some other wild animal would eat them – and if Nessa didn't want to go, it was unlikely Elphaba would ever be allowed to. It was hard to move Nessa through the woods anyway. Her wheelchair caught on the roots.
Elphaba had always liked the night better than the day when she was a child. It was harder during the day to be invisible. She had always been shy when she was younger, and hated when everyone would stare at her. She hated everyone asking her questions – always about her skin color, never about how old she was, or what she wanted to be when she grew up, like they asked Nessarose. Always why she was green.
The only person that never took notice of her when she wanted him to was her father. Oh, he noticed her whenever Nessa needed to be taken care of, and he noticed her when he saw something of her mother's laying around…that hurt the most. When he noticed her then. There was only resentment when he noticed Elphaba after seeing something of her mother's.
That was why she always loved night. At night, no one saw her, and she wanted to be seen by no one. She was certain there were wild animals in the woods – she had seen them before. But she hadn't run upon seeing them, and they hadn't run upon seeing her, and they had an understanding that way. She preferred animals to humans anyway, they treated her as if she were just like them, and they weren't afraid of her, and they accepted her. Animals were so unlike humans.
Elphaba stopped thinking about her childhood. It didn't matter, anymore; she could have had the most loving family in the world and it wouldn't change where she was at. She slowed her broom down as she realized that wasn't true. If her father did accept her, she could have gone to him immediately after all of…this. He was extremely influential; he was the governor of Munchkinland! He could fix everything. Elphaba slowed down even more. He still could fix everything, she thought to herself. She stopped her broom completely and it was still, hovering. If she went to her father…and just asked for his help…he would help her, he'd have to. His own daughter? He might not love her as much as he loved Nessa, that was nearly certain, and he might resent her because of what she did to her younger sister and her mother, what with the milkflowers, that was definite, but…she was his daughter.
She thought for a moment, and then kept going. He might help her, and she could have everything back the way it was. He might not, and she could very well be caught. It didn't matter. She wouldn't go to him. She'd have to be completely desperate to ever want his help in anything.
…
Recognizing where she needed to stop flying and start walking, she made a clean dive for the street. She swung one of her legs over before she had completely touched the ground and stumbled a bit as she landed. She got the Grimmerie out and opened it. She had stashed Cirnella's instructions inside of it, and she got them out and read them again. She was going in the right direction…but it was odd. She was heading into town, and not out of it, where the homes were. She pushed a brief thought from her mind that Cirnella and Kint could possibly be telling her to go to someone's house who would want her captured, and kept following the directions.
A little while later, Elphaba stopped in front of the address Cirnella had given her and shook her head. "This can't be it," Elphaba murmured. She checked the address again. The numbers matched. She could see the sky gaining the slightest twinge of pink. Within the next hour, people would be waking up, going to work. She looked back up at the building she was supposed to be at. It was a blacksmith's shop – the man made the weapons the Wizard's army used. He worked for the Wizard. She checked the instructions again desperately. She must have made a wrong turn, or something…
She heard the squeak of the door opening, and her head jerked up. She was immediately frozen into place, and she saw a very large man with a balding head, his clothes ragged and stained. Their eyes met for a moment, and he squinted at her. "Who are you?" he demanded.
She didn't say anything, but then remembered who she was and looked down hurriedly, pulling her hat over her face quickly. "Mistake," she mumbled. "Sorry." Trying to look as if it were completely normal to be carrying around a broom, she clutched her things in her arms and turned to go.
"Stop."
Her eyes widened, but she didn't look at him. He came down the steps to his shop and walked very close to her. She grew very tense as he peered at her, feeling his breath upon her neck. Unintentionally, she leaned away from him slightly, still looking in the opposite direction.
"Well, I'll be," the man said wondrously, nearly frightened. "Dillamond was saying it, I didn't know if it was so…" he walked back up the steps, and she didn't watch him. It was silent for a moment, and Elphaba hoped that he would just go back inside, she'd go back to Cirnella's or something, even if the man had mentioned Dillamond, this had to be a mistake…
"Well, don't just stand there. You have instructions to come in, so come in." She looked up at him just as he walked inside the building. She hesitated a moment, and then, seeing it grow brighter every second, walked in the building.
…
A/N: Sorry I didn't do an author's note last chapter! I forgot. This one is for this one and last one…
PinkElphaba: Thanks for the compliments, and I'm awfully glad that it's not like what you were thinking of!
Fortinbras, Dave the L's Gal: Thanks for reviewing!
Lyndalion16: I'm not sure if Cirnella and Kint will come back! I know they probably won't be main characters, but they might come back…no, I don't know actually, don't listen to me…
Blufair: Thank you! You must be excelling in English or something, you read into stories very well. (You probably don't even know what I'm talking about…) You always describe everything so perfectly…like, what's happening, or rather, why it's happening. If anyone needs any clarification on why I put something in, just ask this person, I'm sure they know a lot better than I do…
Anna Marie Raven: Thanks for reviewing! Glad you like the Dr. Dillamond thing, I've always liked that character…
Jemima: Yea! I'm glad you're here, I was hoping some reviewers from my last story would turn up! Yes, I'm quite proud of my nice long chapters. : ) Glad to see you again!