Emptiness Filled
It was over.
There was nothing left. She was dead.
Or, at least, she was dead on the inside. There was no reason to continue. It had been nearly two years since the incident, and Glinda had done her job to the fullest extent. Everything in Oz was as it should be; the bans on Animal speech had been lifted; the Munchkins had their rights back; even old Dr. Dillamond had gotten his voice back (with the help of a little magic, of course), and was now Glinda's Chief Adviser. Though he knew the truth, Glinda had convinced him that it was for the better that Oz continue to believe that Elphaba had been wicked. And under the rule of Glinda and Dr. Dillamond, Oz was now prospering like it never had before.
But it wasn't enough to keep her going. The grief had consumed her, eaten away at her from the inside out. She had lost everything. Boq, Nessarose, Fiyero and Elphaba were dead. True, she had Dr. Dillamond, but it wasn't enough. The guilt and the anguish tormented her day and night; it felt as though she no longer had a soul. There was no "Good Witch" anymore. And so it was that Glinda wrote "Truth."
One morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise, Glinda took an old, unused journal out of her closet, sat at her desk and began to write. She wrote everything that had ever passed between her and Elphaba. From their first meeting at Shiz, to the day they left for the Emerald City, to the day when Elphaba had run off with Fiyero, to Elphaba's melting, right down to her discovery of the Elphaba's father, the Wizard.
She wrote long into the late hours of the evening, and didn't stop for anything. Though her hand began to cramp from constant use, she didn't stop. Though hunger gnawed at her, though she longed for even a small sip of water to quench her increasing thirst, Glinda didn't stop writing.
Finally, at around midnight, she closed the now filled journal. She took a green pen, and wrote 'TRUTH; The Story of Elphaba Thropp. By Galinda Upland of Gilikin' on the cover. After writing the title, Glinda took a small slip of paper off of her desk and wrote a note to Dr. Dillamond.
To my most trusted advisor, Dr. Dillamond,
I cannot live with it anymore. You and I both know that Elphaba was good. So I have written this book to tell all of Oz the truth. Do not worry about me getting into any trouble for this. I don't intend to stay in Oz. In fact, I don't even intend to stay on this earth anymore. And I think you know what I mean by that. I leave you as the ruler of Oz. I know that you'll be able to run this fine land smoothly, and I trust you will have my book published. Don't try to change my mind. I know what I must do, and you do, too. Farewell.
Forever your friend,
Glinda Upland
Glinda put the letter in an envelope, placed it in her book and carried it out into the hall of the palace in which she now dwelled. She set it in front of Dr. Dillamond's door, and whispered, "Take care, Dr." Than she fled to her room and grabbed three things; her wand, the bottle of Green Elixir that had belonged to Elphie, and the Grimmerie. She clutched the two memoirs of Elphaba under her left arm and with her right, cast her bubble spell and flew out the window of her room.
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The bright moonlight made the magical bubble that surrounded Glinda glisten. She didn't know how long she had been flying, or how high she was, but she knew it had been at least two hours since she had left. Finally, when she was sure she was far enough away from the Emerald City that no one could stop her, and with tears trickling down her cheeks, Glinda clutched Elphaba's belongings in her hands and whispered, "I'm coming, Elphie." Then she popped her bubble and fell. And the shock of what she had just done was so great, that Glinda passed out before she even hit the ground...
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Glinda moaned and tried to move. Wait, she was still alive? But, how? Why? Well, for now she just had to figure out where she was. But she didn't want to open her eyes. Ah, well. The cool breeze felt good as she flew through the air. Wait, flying! But she wasn't even in her bubble! And yet…
It felt nice.
She was sitting on what felt like… a stick? A tree branch was more like it. How it was flying, Glinda had no idea, but right now she didn't care. And she was leaning on someone's back. But who's?
Glinda tried to sit up, and a pain shot through every part of her body. She yelled out in anguish. It felt as though every bone in her body was broken, which very well may have been the case.
"Oh, thank Lurline," a voice said, sighing. "You're okay. I didn't think you would come to."
The voice sounded familiar. Like something from the distant past. No, Glinda scolded herself. This isn't anyone I know. It's just some stranger who saved me. Still, she might as well find out who had rescued her from her own thoughtless actions.
Wincing with pain as she turned her head to see the face of the stranger, Glinda opened her eyes and looked. Those soft brown eyes stared straight ahead, fixed unwaveringly on some unknown goal. Silky black hair whipped around her shoulders, like a river of ink flowing through the sky. The emerald green of her skin seemed almost to glow in the light of the full moon, giving her the look of a ghost.
Glinda stared. She tried to move to get a better look at her friend, but it hurt too much to even lift her head. "El… Elphie?" she managed to gasp through another wave of pain.
"Ssh…" Elphaba said, looking down kindly at Glinda. "Don't move, you'll injure yourself further." She looked ahead once more, focusing on the horizon. "I'm surprised you survived that fall, even if I was able to slow your descent somewhat. Those pine tree branches were not kind to you."
"H-- How did you know that I…" Glinda didn't finish.
"I had a dream that you would try to--" Elphaba paused. "Try to end it all. And I knew that it wasn't just an ordinary dream. I knew it meant something. So I flew out to the place I saw in my dream and waited."
Glinda smiled at how much her friend cared. The smile soon faded. "You let me think you were dead. You didn't even--" Glinda didn't finish her sentence. Another spasm of unbearable pain shot through her.
Elphaba put a hand on Glinda's fractured wrist. "I wanted to tell you, I really did. But I knew I couldn't. Not only would I be endangering you by revealing that we knew each other, I would be abandoning everything you gave me by sacrificing myself… plus, Fiyero wouldn't hear of it. But once I told him about the dream…"
"Fiyero's alive, too?" Glinda said in disbelief. "You both let me believe you were dead! Do you know how it felt to smile and pretend I was happy that the Wicked Witch was gone! And I had to live with it for almost two years! You can't imagine the pain I felt! The only good thing that came was that I was able to get Dr. Dillamond his voice back."
"Dr. Dillamond is back? Is he--" Elphie stopped. She narrowed her eyes at Glinda. "You think I don't know the pain? I had to live with knowing I could never see you again. With knowing that you would think I was dead, that I could never tell you that I was okay… And you promised that you would learn to read the Grimmerie! Well, now isn't the time to discuss things. You need to rest. We'll be able to talk once we reach Kiamo Ko… I'm sorry things had to be this way, Glinda."
"I forgive you, Elphie," Glinda whispered. "By the way, what are we riding? I though Dorothy took your broom."
Elphaba laughed. "You thought I couldn't make a new one?"
Glinda smiled, then rested her head on Elphaba's shoulder. Her tears of joy continued even as she began to drift into sleep. And as Elphaba smiled and flew towards the horizon, both she and Glinda knew that the emptiness that had ruled their hearts for so long was now filled.
Then End
Author's note: Yes, I know it's sappy. But the idea came to me one night and it was to good not to write! So here it is, a pointless little oneshot with no sequel in sight. Hope you liked it! Please review, it's my first fic!