"You've disobeyed me for the last time." The Wizard tossed my weak and betraying body into a prison cell. "You know, this is this is the same cell that Elphaba stayed in? I hadn't known she was my daughter then, though." He frowned. "Oh, my bad. Tale, say goodbye to your father."

I sneered at him as he walked away. How I had I lost to him? That was a question worth asking. I had let everyone down; Tale, Glinda, Emir, Sahlah, Tasi…and most of all, Elphaba. She had counted on me to get our daughter back..but I had failed. I had failed.

I tried to stand, maybe I could slip through the bars. I was too weak to even pull myself farther than a sitting position. I had been beaten. Completely and utterly. "Elphaba," I murmured, hoping that she's somehow be able to hear me. "I love you." I felt a fiery pain heat up at the back of my feet, and begin to spread. The pain soared through my body, and I opened my mouth to cry out, or gasp, or something, but then I plunged into the cooling relief of a dark swirling vortex.

I stared at the ground for who knows how long. I could feel myself slipping slowly into a heated panic. "Elphaba?"

I stopped fidgeting like I had Parkinsons' and looked up, to face Glinda. "What?"

"Why did you leave Shiz?"

I couldn't believe that she was asking me that question now. "Glinda, I really don't feel like talking right now."

"Please do, I'm trying to take both our minds off of our fate."

She was trying to help. Oh, and boy, did I need the help. I shrugged. "After Dillamond was murdered, I didn't feel the need to stay there."

"You didn't? You didn't even know about that Goat until you got there, so it wasn't that. What about Nessa? Huh, what about her?"

"Why are you interrogating me? Don't be an instigator, Glinda."

"I'm sorry. It's just..that always made me curious. Why you left Nessa there, anyways."

"Shiz is great, really. If you want to be a warped politically correct zombie. I like having my own thoughts and actions, Glinda; not some else's."

She smiled then. "And you use them very well, might I add."

I shrugged. "If that's true, then why is this happening to me?" To us..

"I don't, Elphie..it just is, I guess. Things don't always go as planned. You of all people should know that."

Tell me about it, I don't think dear Melena and Frex signed up for this deal when they decided they wanted a kid.

"I didn't mean it like that, Elphaba."

Wow, she was smart. "I know. But I can't help think about that."

She nodded, then said nothing else.

I stood and walked to the edge of the clearing. We weren't all that far from the Emerald City, and I could see the rise of that damned green palace. I remembered what I had told Fiyero right before we had parted: Yero, you really are my hero. You know that, right?

"Elphaba, please, I'm not going to tell you not to worry; but come try and get some sleep." Tasi said, sounding like he had just woken up.

I shook my head. "It's stupid to even try. Believe me."

Tasi walked to me. "Elphie, he'll be fine."

"What if he gets captured? What if he's in prison right now?"

"Elphie, you know when I went with him to the city to get you?"

"Yes."

"He jumped out of a window to escape. One twenty feet above the ground."

"He's an idiot, I know. That's what got him into this mess in the first place."

Tasi looked at me blankly.

"I'm not going to tell you, so don't ask."

"Alright…?" It came out as a question.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm going down there."

"No, Elphie!" Glinda ran up to me.

"Yes! I have to, don't you see? Someone has to die before anyone else can be safe. I will not let Fiyero or Tale be the one to die. It has to me."

"No! What if you're wrong? What if he kills you, Fiyero, and Tale!" Cried Sahlah.

"I'm not wrong. I appreciate you guys trying to stop me, but it won't work. This was what I was born to do."

"You were born as a scapegoat! That's not fair!"

"Glinda, who ever said life was fair?"

She thought for a moment. "I guess you're right." She said softly. "Please don't do it, Elphaba. Fiyero will be able to get away!"

I shook my head. "No, we both knew that we would never see each other again. I guess that it was wrong, because before I do anything, I'm setting Fiyero free. Then we'll never see each other again, I guess."

"This is suicide, Elphaba." Said Emir.

"I know."

I began to walk back to that damned green city, and I could hear Glinda's muffled sobs behind me. I closed my eyes, trying to get that sound of my head. She was breaking my heart. Into thirds. This would be the last time I saw them, I realized. I turned around to face them, taking a mental photograph of them all together. "Guys, be careful. If you ever get married," I said, motioning to Tasi, "don't cheat. It'll end up like this. Glinda, try to find someone your age. And Emir, don't be afraid to take a chance. Goodbye."

I turned and ran then. I couldn't stand looking at them any longer. It took less than ten minutes for me to reach the border. I walked onto the cobblestones of the city, realizing then that something was wrong. The city wasn't deserted anymore. There was a large group of people huddled near the palace entrance. I shrunk back, not wanting to be seen.

I squinted trying to get a better look at them. Then I realized, these people wouldn't hurt me. They were Fiyero's people.

My heart beating out my chest, I went to the lead of the group. "Who are you?"

The dark-skinned man opened his mouth to answer me, but before he could say anything, I heard someone call me. "Elphaba!"

I turned, facing a dark-skinned woman. She was remotely pretty-not that I could say anything if she was ugly-and a little pudgy. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Sarima. Remember? The one who sent you that letter."

"Oh..yes, Fiyero's wife."

She nodded. Fiyero's wife. This was her. I tried to hate her, but I couldn't. How could I hate someone who tried to help me?

"What are you doing here?"

"We've come to find out what's happened to my husband, and to clear your name."

"If we could get in." Said the man who I had first run up to. "I'm Akkada. And we won't be finding out what happened to Prince Fiyero if we can't get the gates unlocked."

"They're locked? They weren't locked when..earlier."

"Well, they're locked now." Said Sarima.

Well duh. I stared up at the gates, surveying the lock on them, and got an idea.

I put my foot on one of the horizontal metal bars and lifted myself up. I climbed to the top and then flipped over to the other side, climbing down. "Wait here." I said.

I wouldn't be able to let the Arjikis in, I knew, but they didn't need to be in. I was going to free Fiyero, then my daughter, and then I was going to…So my name didn't need to be cleared.

I ran to the side of the palace, to where Tasi and Emir had led us. I knew no other way to get in. Luckily, we had left the door slightly open. I took a deep breath before stepping inside. It was just me this time, no Fiyero. I took one shaky step into the smelling hell-hole and walked into it. I closed the door behind me. I heard rustling.

"Hello?" I called. I could feel someone else in there with me.

I got no response except for a low moan. Fiyero.

"Fiyero!" I ran to where I had heard the moan, and sure enough, there lay Fiyero. I pressed myself against the bars and took his hand. "Fiyero, what happened?"

He raised his head to look at me. But he dropped it back to the ground. He was weak.

I stared into his eyes, they were glassy and blood-shot. "Fiyero, you should of let me stay! You idiot. I'm getting you out of here." I stood up, detaching Fiyero's hand from mine.

"No." I heard Fiyero's scratchy voice say.

"What?" I looked back at him.

"No..don't..save Tale, save yourself. Leave me."

"No. You've got children.."

"So do you."

"You've got a wife. She's waiting for you, outside."

"I don't care."

"Neither do I. But she does."

"Elphaba, you'll get yourself killed."

"Probably. But that's not important-"

"It does to me."

"Fiyero, please don't make this any harder than it has to be. The Wizard isn't going to stop, do you understand? We'll always be chasing one another, Yero, but I have to do this. It's my purpose: To get rid of the Wizard."

"No! I won't let you. Your 'purpose' will kill you, Fae. Is that getting through that thick skull of yours?"

I shook my head. "I know, Yero my hero, we all die sooner or later. Mine happens to be sooner."

I turned around again, searching for something I could use to open the prison. Turns out that the Wizard was a dumbass. He had dropped the keys twelve feet away from the cell. "Here." I swung the door open and Fiyero slowly got to his feet. "You alright?"

"He beat me, Fae. I don't know how. But he did. I'm seeing stars right now, give me a second." He stood, holding onto my arm for support, like that for a few minutes. "You're really going to do this?"

"Yes. Don't try to stop me, Fiyero."

"Would it matter if I did?"

"No."

"I don't want to leave you, Elphie. I love you."

"Please-don't. You're going to have to." He stared at me. He wasn't letting up. "Fine. Come with me to get Tale, then you leave. Got it?"

He looked thoughtful for a minute. "Okay."

I began to walk off, towards the infirmary. "Fiyero? Let's go."

He followed after me, slowly at first, but slowly gaining speed until he was walking normally. We didn't say anything, and I was glad. He was already making me hurt.

I walked up to the Wizard's office door once more. I was having déjà vu. I, without hesitation, turned the knob and walked in. "Hello, Father."

"Elphaba!"

I tried keeping my expression cold and hateful, but I couldn't. Tale was asleep in his arms, she was pale and looked sick. He wasn't taking care of her. "What did you do to her!" I demanded.

"I'm taking care of her, of course. That's better than what I can say about you two. You know, Fiyero doesn't want her. He told me so himself."

"Give it rest. I don't believe you. Fiyero wouldn't do something like that. You're crazy. Give me my daughter."

"No. She's mine! You can't have her! She is Ozma, she's been reborn!"

He was crazy. Not just borderline crazy, schizophrenic crazy.

"Hand her over, man."

"Never! I've already be-"

Something caught the corner of my eye. It was that green glass bottle. That he hit Glinda and I with. An idea was proliferating in my head. I glanced at the Wizard and at Fiyero. Fiyero was doing a pretty good job of keeping the Wiz busy, so when I turned and walked towards the bottle, he didn't notice me. "Take this!" I bashed the bottle over his head. I heard a crack. I thought that maybe I had crushed his skull, but it was only the bottle. It lacerated my hands when it broke.

I grabbed Tale and hugged her. "You'll be safe now, that mean man will never touch you again." She opened her eyes for a minute, but then closed them and rested her head on my shoulder. "Here." I reluctantly handed Tale over to Fiyero.

"No. This is our chance, don't you see? Come with me, Elphie. We can go now."

"No, we can't. Some poor unsuspecting soul will wander here, then what?"

"Elphaba, my love, The Wizard is crazy. It won't be long before he ends up slitting his throat, or castrates himself."

He was right, I guess. But something didn't feel right. "What if he's not as crazy as he lets on? Huh, what then?"

"He'll go crazy then. I've got this all worked out."

And he did. I could see it in his eyes. "Fine."

He smiled. "Thank you, Fae." He hugged me close, and I fell against his chest. It was then that I realized how tired I was.

"Let's get back to the others. I'm exhausted."

"I don't want to burst your bubble, Elphie, but my wife is outside."

I jerked away from him. His wife. He had to go back to his wife. That hurt..more than anything. "At least you'll be safe now."

"What? No! I'm not going back to her! I'm staying with you, Elphaba."

"That's taboo."

"I don't care. Sarima is not you. I can't go back to her now that I've had you."

"Please, you've only seen me sporadically."

"I don't care how sporadically I've seen. I've seen you enough to know that I love you, and that nothing can ever change that."

I couldn't say it, but I felt exactly the same way about him. "What about your kids?"

"Please, they barely know me. They don't care. Sarima will find someone else. If she hasn't already."

Fiyero took my hand and kissed it. I couldn't pull away from him anymore. "I love you." I said quietly.

He smiled. "And I you."

Still smiling, he took me by the waist and led me away from the Wizard.

They thought they'd beaten me. I wasn't so easily beaten, though. I would of thought that Fiyero would have learned that by now, but I guess not. I needed a plan, a way to get rid of them. I wanted to do it myself, but anyone would do now. Unable to think of a plan on my own, I called in my dear friend, Madame Morrible.

"What is it you need now, sir?"

"I need a way to get rid of Elphaba. Preferably Fiyero, Emir, Tasi, Sahlah, and Tale, too. But she'll do by herself."

"Might I suggest the Force?" Madame Morrible said irritably.

"No. She's too clever for them. Both Emir and Tasi were on the Force, now look."

She nodded. "I guess that that's true."

"Any suggestions?"

"Yes!" She cried. "I have the perfect idea!"

"Please tell."

"Well, the other day, a house flew from out of the sky. It landed on Miss Nessarose Thropp."

"Elphaba's sister?"

"Yes. Anyways, in it was a girl. Her name is Dorothy. She was told by the Munchkinlanders to come here, to the Emerald City. She should be here in a matter of days. She's just young and innocent enough to work. This is perfect! Don't you see!"

"Yes. She sounds perfect. How long until she's here?"

Morrible walked to the window. "She's already here, look!" She pointed, there, outside, was a girl with dark hair, a dog, a scarecrow, a tin-man, and a Lion.

"Let them in and bring them to my office."

"Yes, sir."

Morrible disappeared for a few minutes, then she walked back in with the group.

"Are you Dorothy?"

"Yes, sir, I am. I was told to come here, because you could help me get back home. Can I please go back to Kansas, sir?"

"You want to go home? Okay. But first you need to do something for me."

"Anything!"

"Kill the Wicked Witch."

Ohhhh...what do you think is gonna happen? R&R for more.