Later that night, after Galinda had gone to sleep and tried, not all too successfully, to forget everything that happened, something tickled on her face. Assuming it was Chuzzlewit licking her cheek again, which she absolutely hated whenever he decided to do it in the middle of the night, she tried to shove him away. But where her cat's body should have been, she only reached into nothingness.
Still, the tickling sensation didn't cease. Galinda groaned, pushing off the sleep mask she had put on earlier this night after-
"It was just a dream," she mumbled to no one in particular, rubbing her eyes. "A very strange dream, but still just a dream."
"Really?" a high-pitched voice asked and when Galinda's eyes flew open in shock, the girl the voice belonged to was only inches away from her own face. "I'd love to hear all about it!"
Galinda screamed, desperately scrambling away from whoever had made themselves comfortable on her bed, almost falling off the mattress in the process. When she did stand, her knees felt like they might give out any second.
Chuzzlewit, who had been startled awake by her scream as well, was cowering next to her, growling into the strange intruder's direction. Not that it seemed to intimidate the girl in any way. In that moment Galinda wished she had bought one of those scary dogs and not this lazy cat back when money finally allowed it. Maybe she would have to feel a bit less scared then.
"Who are you?" she managed to ask, gaping at the girl who had followed her to the edge of her bed, floating over it just like Morrible had.
That was about the only thing they had in common, if one didn't count their similar translucent appearance. Morrible had looked just like when Galinda had known in her real life; this girl, however, she had never seen before. She seemed young, maybe even still in her teens, and for some reason she was smiling at Galinda, her silver eyes twinkling with joy.
"Why, I am the spirit of Christmas past, of course!" she replied way too cheerily for Galinda's liking, silver sparkles escaping from her hands every time she moved them around. Which she seemed to do a lot. "Didn't Madame Morrible tell you I was coming?"
"Madame Morrible?" Galinda repeated slowly, still too much in shock too really contemplate what this girl was saying. So, all of what had happened hadn't been a dream? This night became stranger with every minute. Her tongue felt dry as sandpaper. "Is this another nightmare?"
The spirit, or whoever she said she was, giggled in response. "No, silly. I've come to take you to your girlhood Christmas! It's gonna be so much fun!"
Galinda could feel herself turning pale, all blood leaving her face.
"My girlhood?" she stammered, eyes widening in fear at the memories she had done her best to suppress for years. "I- I don't think that's a good idea-"
But if the spirit had heard her, she didn't let it show, only grabbing her by the wrist. Galinda stumbled after her, too overwhelmed to fight her rather tight grip. She barely even noticed Chuzzlewit clinging onto the seam of her long nightgown.
All she could concentrate on was the giant yellow sparkling portal which seemed to have appeared out of thin air into her bedroom, and the silver-haired girl was dragging her right into it. When her senses finally returned, it was already too late.
The three of them fell right into it, and for a moment the light inside was so dazzling that she had to squeeze her eyes shut in order not to blind herself. When she opened them again, the spirit girl was still tightly holding onto her hand, while they were floating through some kind of sparkling yellow tunnel, Chuzzlewit following by a few feet.
Galinda wanted to protest, to wrest herself free from whatever journey this girl was taking her on, but before she could sort out her brain, the girl started to bubble on in excitement again.
"Okay, so I didn't want to say anything at first, but I have to tell you that I am a huge fan of yours!" She let go of Galinda's hand to do a few twirls while giggling to herself but although she was now free of her grip, Galinda quickly realized that she didn't exactly have anywhere to go. "I just love your voice! Especially when you sing Christmas carols, that's like, well, it's like- … heavenly chimes, that's what it's like! And it's such an honor to-"
She paused at that, looking back over to Galinda who probably looked just as overwhelmed as she felt. "Oh, I'm sorry—is it odd for you that I'm such a huge fan?"
Galinda arched an eyebrow, glancing around. "That's not the part that's odd for me."
But instead of giving her a serious answer, or even a real one at all, the spirit just shrugged. "Hold on."
"Wha-" Galinda started but was cut off by a sudden acceleration of the speed in which they were floating through the tunnel and she barely managed to take the other girl's offered hand before they fell out of the portal.
Galinda expected it to hurt, after all, she could see the ground coming closer in what felt like lightning speed, but when they landed, her entire body seemed to be light as air. She bopped up as quickly as she could, hoping they had miraculously landed back in her bedroom.
But when she looked around, her hopes were crushed even before her mind could fully form them into words. She recognized this. She remembered this very room, cold and drab like every other room in the house, she remembered the way the sunlight had trouble finding its way through the opaque window, and most importantly, she recognized the girl sitting alone at the kitchen table, lost in her own thoughts.
Her rebellious blonde curls hadn't changed since she had been a child, and neither had the even features every other girl had always envied her for. Galinda had done her best getting rid of everything else that reminded her of this time in her life, except for Elphaba of course.
"Something's not right!" The spirit's voice brought her back to reality, if one could call this bizarre situation that. "We were supposed to get here on Christmas. I must have made some mistake-"
"No," Galinda said, cutting her off, eyes still fixated on her younger self. "This is right."
"It is?" The spirit turned around to face her before shaking her head, gesturing towards the room. "But it can't be! There's no tree, no stockings, no presents, no decorations, no-"
The girl's eyes went wide when she was finally hit with realization. "Oh … you poor thing."
Galinda swallowed, breaking their eye contact to face the floor. She didn't want to be here; only seeing herself back in this very room brought back a thousand unpleasant memories and she already knew exactly how it would all end-
"Galinda?" An all too familiar voice said, and Galinda herself as well as her younger version jumped at their name being called. Madame Morrible walked in, looking exactly the way she did when she had visited the blonde earlier this night, except for the chains of course. But she looked right through Galinda this time, not taking any notice of her presence although she was standing right in front of her.
All her eyes were fixated on was the younger Galinda's plate, which she had quickly emptied when she had heard Morrible calling her name. "I'm all done, Madame Morrible. Can I go over to the Thropp's house now?"
The grey-haired woman scoffed. "Of course not. After dinner we rehearse."
"I know," young Galinda said, her voice softening in hope of changing her foster-mother's mind. She hadn't yet learned that such a thing was impossible. "But I thought maybe we could make an exception today because it's Christmas! They all said they'd really love to see me there. Elphaba even said it would make her Christmas!"
"Make her Christmas?" Morrible repeated mockingly, holding onto the table as she leaned closer to her young foster-child. "Make her Christmas? What about your Christmas? And more importantly, what about your future? You do want to be a star, don't you?"
Galinda looked down at her plate, not able to meet Morrible's gaze. "I do, but-"
"More than anything else in the world?" Morrible pressed on, not even letting her finish.
"Yes, but-"
"Then what that green-skinned freak and her family want doesn't matter. What do I always tell you?"
The young Galinda sighed, and for the first time in forever Galinda dreaded the words that would come next. "In a selfish world only the selfish succeed."
"That's right," Morrible praised and patted her on the head like she was an obedient dog. "And if you want to succeed, you must use every second of your time selfishly."
"Yes, Madame Morrible."
"Good choice. I'm proud of you. Now go work your scales until dinner's ready." With that her foster-mother took her plate and left the room, more than certain that the young blonde would stick to her commands without any more questions.
Galinda watched her younger self standing up with a sigh, but before leaving for her room, she opened the window to look outside. Despite her unfavorable spot in the room which didn't allow Galinda to see the view herself, she remembered the way the invitingly decorated Thropp manor was only a short way down the hill well enough. Elphaba and her family were never far away, and yet in that moment, their worlds couldn't have been further apart.
"Wait!" Ally interrupted her story, staring up at Glinda with an open mouth. They had settled on the bed a while ago when the beanbag chair became too uncomfortable, Glinda sitting on the edge, still wary of her giant dress, but Ally had fully ensconced herself. "Madame Morrible is making Galinda work on Christmas?"
Glinda couldn't help but chuckle at her disbelief. "Well, every day. But yes, on Christmas too."
"But that's not fair!"
"It's not," Glinda agreed, nodding.
"And there is nothing Galinda can do about it? That's horrible!"
Barely able to keep herself from smiling to herself, Glinda faked a small cough. "Wait a minute. I thought you said Galinda was mean?"
"I did," Ally admitted, her little face screwed up in confusion. "I mean … she was, but-"
"Maybe it's just tougher to judge when you know the whole story," Glinda finished her sentence when she seemed lost for words.
Ally almost looked compunctious. "Maybe. Tell me what happened next!"
"Alright. So, Galinda stayed in her room and practiced her scales for an hour."
They had been listening to her younger self practicing at the piano for quite some time now, and Galinda grew more and more anxious with every minute. She knew what would come next, and yet in her mind she silently begged her younger self not to do it. Judging by her appearance, she could very well pinpoint which year this was exactly, and she didn't want to live through that again.
But the girl next to her remained completely oblivious to her fears, mesmerized by her younger self's talented but not fully trained voice.
"Okay, I know that it's devastatingly sad that this is how you're celebrating Christmas," she said to Galinda who tried to keep her face neutral at her words. "But I can't even tell you how amazing it is to experience the Galinda Upland's early years! I mean, am I lucky or what?"
Galinda rolled her eyes at her apparent infatuation with her younger self, but her mask of indifference quickly faltered as her younger self's voice faded away. "Wait, why did you stop?"
"You'll see," she replied as they watched young Galinda tiptoeing towards the living room, where Morrible was loudly snoring in her favorite armchair. When she was certain that she was in fact sleeping, the young blonde quietly climbed out of her bedroom's window.
She had done it often enough to know exactly where to land, and the thick layer of snow covering the ground additionally cushioned her jump.
Galinda looked at her travel companion to see if she was adamant on following her younger self, but the silver-haired girl was already pulling her towards the window. But instead of climbing through it like they had just witnessed, she pulled her right through the wall.
They emerged on the other side as if there hadn't been a firm stone wall in their way, and if that wasn't enough, they also flew after the young blonde instead of walking. Or taking a sled as Galinda was just doing. It was just a short ride down to the Thropp manor, and Galinda remembered it as great fun, but as she was flying down with the spirit girl in one hand and tightly holding onto Chuzzlewit with the other, she couldn't wait for it to end.
This was too bizarre for her mind to fully comprehend; all of it, but flying and walking through walls really brought matters to a head.
Her travel companion, as always, seemed not to notice. "Oh, this is so much fun! Did you do this all the time?"
"As often as I could," she replied with just a hint of sadness.
When they finally arrived in front of her best friend's home, Galinda was close to heaving up the little dinner she had had, but her younger self didn't seem to have any such concerns. Skipping over to the grand door, she eagerly knocked a few times, drawn towards the delicious smell of cookies and hot cocoa and the promise of a warm and friendly home.
The door opened soon after and the younger version of her best friend appeared, a bright smile adorning her emerald features the second she saw who was standing in front of her door.
Galinda couldn't help but smile as well when she saw Elphaba, not older than eleven, but still much taller and lankier than Galinda would ever become. She was even dressed for the occasion, although Galinda could very well remember her reluctance to dress up despite her passion for making clothes for others.
"Glinny!" The green girl exclaimed happily before throwing her arms around the smaller girl. "I'm so glad you made it!"
The smile faded from Galinda's face when she heard the nickname. Elphaba hadn't called her that for years, but just like everything else, that was her own fault. She herself had told Elphaba not to use the childish name anymore and had herself stopped addressing her best friend by her nickname. She had pretended not to see the hurt expression on Elphaba's face back then, quickly turning away, but sometimes it still haunted her in her dreams.
"I can't believe I'm back here," she said to no one in particular as the two girls entered the house and closed the door behind them. "This was my favorite place in the world."
She looked around, spotting the snowman they had built a few days prior with his slightly lopsided hat because even Elphaba had barely been tall enough to reach the top of his head.
"I remember-," she started to say, not even sure which one of her memories she wanted to share with this strange girl, but she never got any further, as she made the mistake of leaning against the red brick wall.
She squealed in surprise when she fell right though the wall, her head and upper torso inside, while her legs were still dangling in the snow outside.
"Didn't I mention that we float right through every wall?" the girl said sheepishly as she followed her into the house and helped her up. "And no one can see or hear us as longs as we're here, but I guess you've already figured that one out."
Before Galinda could scold her for forgetting to indulge such information, although they had floated through a wall before and she had in fact subconsciously conjectured the rest for herself, her companion's attention was quickly directed at something else entirely. "Oh, a party!"
She ran off without paying Galinda a second glance, and the blonde only rolled her eyes to herself before following her. When they arrived at the living room, the scent of gingerbread and cinnamon hit her first, memories flooding through her. Elphaba's entire family was gathered in the festively decorated room, talking and laughing together without a care in the world.
Galinda even spotted her best friend's younger sister, probably around seven or eight, chasing a few other children in her wheelchair, skillfully dodging every obstacle in her way.
"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Galinda said, lost in her own thoughts.
"Oh, look, there you are!" Her companion exclaimed, pointing towards her younger self who was standing in front of the fireplace with Elphaba.
"You put up my stocking!" Galinda heard her say to her best friend.
She smiled at her younger self's excitement. "They always did."
"We always do, silly," Elphaba said in a similar manner before grabbing her friend by the wrist and pulling her towards the Christmas tree to their right. "And have you noticed the pile of presents under the tree? I think there's more for you than for me or even Nessa this year."
Her younger self looked at the many colorfully wrapped presents in amazement, while Elphaba was picking up one of the boxes, smiling tentatively.
Galinda noticed herself coming closer before she had even made the decision. She knew what came next and she didn't want to miss a single second.
"Here," Elphaba timidly said as she held out a present in gold and green wrapping paper for Galinda to take. "For you."
Although her younger self's body was turned the other way, she could hear her giggle while she opened it, and she didn't need to see the snow globe to know it was inside.
"Oh, Elphie," the blonde breathed, carefully spinning the wheel at the side. Her favorite Christmas carol, O Christmas tree, was being played by the little toy and inside three tiny figures were twirling with the melody.
"You sing that song so beautifully," Elphaba replied, her face a few shades darker green than normal. "It made me think of you."
"Elphie … thank you so much! I love it!" They exchanged a bright smile, but soon after Galinda's own faltered. "But I couldn't bring a gift for you. Or your family."
Elphaba chuckled, tapping her against the forehead. "Are you kidding? You're here, silly. That's more than enough."
They stood there a little awkwardly for a few seconds, Elphaba letting her hand fall before anxiously fumbling with her fingers.
Galinda smiled fondly at this younger version of her best friend; although both she and Elphaba had grown up by now, most of her friend's little mannerisms that she adored so much hadn't changed a bit. Not that she had noticed for the longest time now, it just came back to her right now, watching her and herself as children.
Finally, her younger self let out a giggle before dragging her friend out of the room. "Come on, we need to get ready!"
"Ready for what?" A voice right next to her asked and Galinda jumped a little in surprise. For a few moments she had completely forgotten about the spirit of Christmas past and all that, too absorbed in living out these precious memories again.
"What?" She asked before recovering herself. "Oh, nothing special. It's just a little thing we did every year."
Shortly afterwards her younger self's head appeared around the corner, urging everyone to sit down and get ready for their show.
"Oh, a show!" Her travel companion squealed, clapping her hands before shoving Galinda towards the fireplace where they could see better.
Galinda did her best to seem nonchalant, inspecting her fingernails. "It's not like it's a real show. We literally just fooled around a little."
In that moment she and Elphaba entered the room, both of them wearing self-made dresses Elphaba had sewn. Her younger self's dress was pink, just like she had asked and with a big white ribbon around her waist, while Elphaba had opted for a dark purple herself. That had been the compromise for her not to choose black for her own dress, and just like she had been back then, Galinda was mesmerized by her unique beauty.
All her life everyone around her had complimented Galinda for her pretty face and stunning hair color, but while she could see what they meant when she looked into the mirror, her own perception of beauty had always been different. For her, Elphaba's immaculate emerald skin and long raven hair were the epitome of perfection. And what made her even more stunning in Galinda's eyes was the fact that she didn't consider herself anything close to beautiful.
She hated wearing the dresses she made herself, and rarely did, with the exception of when Galinda asked her to. And on Christmas, to put on this little show as they had always called it, Galinda did ask. And although Elphaba wasn't nearly as comfortable in the spotlight as the blonde had always just naturally been, she did have a lovely singing voice and her brilliant mind could remember the choreography even during a serious case of stage fright.
While her younger self almost skipped to their spot in front of the Christmas tree, Elphaba followed somewhat reluctantly.
"Their dresses are stunning this year," Elphaba's aunt said to her father sitting next to her on the couch.
"I know," Frex said, almost bursting with pride as he watched his eldest daughter and the girl who was like a third daughter to him. "She has been working on them since august and Galinda's been planning the arrangement and choreography just as long."
"So you just fooled around a little?" The silver-haired girl next to her, who had obviously overheard the conversation just as much as she had, repeated her earlier statement in disbelief.
"Fine, so it was a big thing for us then," Galinda relented grudgingly. "It's still just kid's stuff."
The girl didn't get a chance to reply something as they started their performance at that moment. That year Galinda had chosen the song Jolly Old Saint Nicholas but had adjusted the lyrics to fit herself and Elphaba. The choreography, as Frex had somewhat hyperbolically put it, didn't consist of much more than some twirling around and a few simple steps, and yet one could see that they had put some thought into it.
Elphaba was singing a little more quietly than Galinda was, but nothing less beautiful.
Nonetheless, despite her assurances that it wasn't that big of a thing, Galinda found herself enjoying it. And when she looked around the room, she was mesmerized by the bright smiles all around. Everyone present seemed to enjoy this little show even more than the audience who regularly paid a horrendous amount to see her at the theatre.
The two best friends finished the song beaming into the room and were rewarded with an applause that seemed more enthusiastic to her than all of her standing ovations last night combined.
"And you said you didn't bring gifts for anyone," the spirit of Christmas past said, playfully smacking her forearm.
Galinda could barely tear her eyes away from her younger self's happy face to answer. "What do you mean? I didn't."
"Your talent!" She replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look how happy it made everyone!"
She gestured towards the people now coming over to them and congratulate them on their performance; even Elphaba looking somewhat comfortable with all that attention.
Galinda couldn't help but smile at the sight. "I guess it did. I never really thought of it that way. Performing has always been about work and being a star. Except then."
But she had barely said those words before a loud, almost angry sounding knock drowned out the excited chatter.
She knew what would happen. She had known ever since they had landed here in the past, but for the last few minutes she had been so absorbed in those last perfect memories that she had pushed that knowledge to the back of her mind.
Now, every last bit of that warmth and fuzziness the images of her and Elphaba as children had given her vanished as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head.
"Take me home," she pled her travel companion and the girl who had gotten them into this mess in the first place, taking Chuzzlewit under her arm. At least her cat's warm fur reminded her that she wasn't that ten-year-old anymore. "Now."
But of course the girl was too dim-witted to detect the desperation in her voice. "Why? We're having so much fun!"
"Now!" she begged, not even caring about how frightened she sounded. Another knock, even heavier than the first resounded through the room as the door wasn't opened quickly enough for Madame Morrible's liking.
"Where is Galinda?" Her foster-mother all but screamed into the house the second someone opened the door, turning everyone's attention towards her.
Galinda couldn't bear to watch her entering, the look on her face already vivid enough in her memory, but she did see her own face screwed up in shock and guilt that she had been found out. And perhaps that was even worse.
Wordlessly, the spirit of Christmas past used her wand to open up a portal to send them back. Quickly enough to avoid having to listen to what came next, but not in time to prevent the silent tears running down her face as the image faded in front of her eyes.
"I'm so sorry," the silver-haired girl assured her a little while later back in the safety of her bedroom, one hand placed on her knee in comfort. Galinda had curled herself up on her bed, arms hugging her legs as she tried to force what had happened afterwards far back into the farthest corner of her mind where it belonged. "I didn't realize. We should have left when you told me to. I had no idea."
Galinda sniffled, staring at her blanket. "She ruined the whole holiday— just stood there screaming for what felt like forever. At me, at Elphaba, at the Thropp family … it was horrible. That was my last Christmas there. Madame Morrible never left me alone for even a second after that."
She looked up only to be met with a face of pity. "I really am sorry."
Her pitiful stare only made it worse; Galinda had managed to wipe away her tears quickly enough not to let the other girl see them but now they were threatening to spill over. But Galinda did not want her pity.
That wretched spirit was the only reason she sat here like a heap of misery in the first place, mourning a past that was long gone! However beautiful her Christmas had been back then, her life had changed for the better ever since. And crying over the past would not get her anywhere.
That was why she drew back her knees, letting her comforting hand fall down, and tossed back her hair.
"Don't be," she said as venomously as she could as she scrambled to her feet. "Madame Morrible was right. I wasted time on those silly Christmas pageants with the Thropps. After that, I concentrated on myself. And you know what happened? I made my debut in the Emerald City at thirteen. Thirteen."
In truth, she didn't even know which one of them she wanted to convince. But it seemed to do the trick, as the silver-haired girl looked at her with more disappointment and sadness as she had done the entire night.
"Don't you have someplace to go?" She put on a fake smirk which Elphaba had always told her looked bitchy. "You're not even real anyway. I'm sure I'm just dreaming all of this and when I go back to bed, you'll be gone."
With that she just walked around her, pointedly ignoring her presence, slipped back under the covers and put her sleep mask on. When she took it off only a few seconds later, her room was empty.
"See? It was a dream," she said to herself and tried to go back to sleep, trying to ignore the doubt that remained at the back of her brain.