A/N: So anyone who follows my tumblr may have seen this, but this story is coming to a close. After this there are two more chapters and an epilogue. Soooo I guess here's where I say thank you for everyone who has read/liked/reviewed, you guys are amazing. As always, you can check me out on tumblr (lily-onher-grave) for more stuffs.

Okay. That's all. Thank you! Enjoy the last few chapters!

"Hey! Who's down there?"

"Time to go," said Peric, unfurling his wings. He hopped into the air and glided smoothly out the window of the store. Elphaba hesitated, looking for an easier way out. They had come in through the window, but it sat a couple feet above her head. Still, the front door was barred, and from the footsteps stomping down the staircase on the far wall, she didn't really have the time for that.

"He makes it seem so easy," she muttered. She wished she had the broom with her, but she hadn't wanted to carry it around all night, so she left it at the corn exchange.

"After you, Fae," said Malky, hopping up onto the counter closest to the window. Elphaba rolled her eyes and climbed up beside him, then jumped to the window, scrambling through and dropping down to the other side with only a little awkwardness. Peric snickered at her as she stumbled through her landing. She gave him a look and stood, brushing off her dress.

Malky appeared in the window with a hiss and leapt straight across the alley onto the neighboring rooftop. He had barely made it out of the way when a ceramic dish came flying after him, followed by shouting from the store's owner.

"Shall we?" Elphaba asked, already hurrying out of the alley. Peric stayed close to her heels while Malky followed from the rooftops.

They only ran for a few streets before slowing down. Peric twisted his neck to look back the way they'd come.

"We lost them," he said with a little smirk.

Malky hopped down from the roof, landing lightly on his feet. He pushed his paws out in front of him and arched his back, stretching low to the ground.

"I'm getting too old for this," he grumbled, sitting up and yawning.

"We need to get you some wings," Peric said, holding one of his out. "It makes life so much easier."

"If I were meant to fly, I'd be born with hollow bones and straw for brains, like you."

"Didn't stop Fae," Peric said, but then he heard the rest of the sentence. "Hey."

Elphaba smirked a little and kept walking. "Don't worry, Peric. He's just jealous because he can't swoop down on people like some terrifying angel of death."

Peric leapt into the air, disappearing for a moment before materializing in front of Elphaba. He swooped down on her, talons out and beak snapping ferociously, and she stumbled back, swatting him away, trying not to bend over with laughter.

Malky chuckled and held his tail high, padding away from them. "Come on, you two. Some of us would like to get home at a decent hour."

"What was that about you getting old?" Peric asked innocently. Malky huffed and his tail flicked. They followed him, and Peric nudged Elphaba with a wing. "No, really. Even his whiskers are turning gray. Have you noticed?"

Malky pounced, taking Peric by surprise and knocking him to the ground. Just as quickly as it happened, he got up, licking his paw casually.

"Silly Peric," said Elphaba. "Don't you know the Cat always gets the Bird?"

Peric flapped his wings and got back to his feet, clicking his beak indignantly, despite the light in his eyes. "Whatever, Fae. You're still the slowest." And just like that, he took off, flying low through the alley. Malky let out a short laugh and chased after him, and Elphaba was left behind.

They raced for a few blocks, until they reached their neighborhood. Peric and Malky waited for Elphaba to catch up with them before starting for the corn exchange.

It was a pleasant night, the warmest it had been in months. A light breeze swept lazily through the city, making it still just a touch too cold, but at least winter was finally fading away.

The corn exchange came into view, but as they got closer, Elphaba grew agitated. Malky paused, hackles rising, and Peric lowered his head. She glanced at both of them, then around the street. When she didn't see anything, she crept forward.

The front doors were closed. The window above them was still boarded up. Everything seemed normal. And yet…

Elphaba looked back again. Peric and Malky nodded slightly, and she pushed through the doors. She held her hand out and the broom flew to her from across the room. Peric and Malky crept inside on either side of her. Everything was quiet. Elphaba glanced over at her makeshift bed. Nothing seemed to be disturbed. Peric tilted his head, his brown, beady eye meeting hers in the dark.

Something's not right.

She looked around the corn exchange, but it was too dark to really see anything. Her brow furrowed and she held up her palm, summoning a handful of flames. She raised her hand and the glow hit the far walls, illuminating several shadowy figures.

Malky crouched low, hissing, and Peric tensed and unfurled his wings. The figures rushed toward them and Elphaba threw her flames at the closest one, knocking him back. She hopped on her broom as the rest closed in, kicking off from the ground. She felt Peric rise beside her, clawing viciously at the figure who swung his rifle at him.

A gunshot rang out as she flew higher. She jerked instinctively and the broom surged upward, out of harm's way. It was dark again, her fire out, but Elphaba saw movement on the broken floor of the second story. She narrowed her eyes. The elephants' skull seemed to be glowing faintly, and just barely silhouetted by the light was a soldier, raising his gun.

Elphaba urged the broom forward, diving toward him. He held his ground, moving his rifle to follow her, but she got there first. They collided and fell to the ground, rolling back several feet. The skull was definitely glowing, and in the light Elphaba could see the green and gold of the soldier's uniform—Gale Force. He got up first and aimed a kick for Elphaba's side, but she rolled out of the way and jabbed upward with the broom, hitting him in the gut and giving herself time to climb to her feet. He regained his breath and pulled out a short sword, but Elphaba raised her hand, summoning a burst of energy to throw him back. He hit the ground hard and stayed down.

"Fae!"

Elphaba slipped back onto the broom and glided down to the first floor, where things seemed hopeless. They were surrounded and outnumbered. She couldn't see Malky, but Peric was flying low over the soldiers' heads, dodging swinging swords and guns. Elphaba dove, forcing a couple soldiers to the ground, then pulled back up. She looked across the room at Peric, meeting his gaze for a split second. His eyes were wide, unblinking.

The shot echoed through the corn exchange, but it was strangely muffled compared to the screech that left Peric. Elphaba stared, frozen, suspended in the air as his wings folded in and he dropped, plummeting to the ground. Faintly, she heard Malky's snarl as the Gale Force descended on Peric.

Blood rushed through Elphaba's ears, deafening her, and she felt more than heard the yell that tore through her throat. The room seemed to blast apart. Soldiers were thrown back into the walls. Guns and swords skid across the floor into the shadows. Not even Elphaba was spared from her magic. The broom bucked as the wave of energy hit her, and she crashed into a tower of crates before falling, limp, to the ground.

Her heart pounded, drowning out any other sounds, and her vision was too blurred to see clearly. She blinked a few times and three Gale Force officers came into view, approaching her cautiously. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a smear of white leap up into the window. Malky looked back, but the little light that reached the room caught his eyes and reflected blankly, making his expression unreadable.

Elphaba felt the broom slip through her fingers. She heard voices, rough and cruel, and she knew they were talking about her. The edges of her vision darkened, but she forced herself to look at the boarded up window. Go, she mouthed. Malky hesitated another moment, then slipped through the hole in the boards, disappearing into the night.

Only a couple of days had passed since she saw Elphaba, yet it felt like years. Glinda barely slept in that time. She spent most of the day in her room, staring out the window, scanning the streets for a glimpse of the guards, dreading the moment when she would see them dragging in a certain green girl.

She felt like she was constantly holding her breath, waiting for the inevitable. Every morning she woke up to no news, but it did nothing to relieve her. Her lessons with Morrible went on as usual. She must have known Glinda would be on edge, because she invited a few of the other palace sorcerers to their sessions. Normally, Glinda would have been grateful for the relief that came with them, but not this time. More people in the room meant Morrible didn't push her to her breaking point, but it also meant that she couldn't blow the old hag to pieces, as she was dying to do. Glinda compromised by pouring herself into her lessons, impressing them all. It meant she was exhausted by the end, but that wasn't exactly unusual, and the scowl on Morrible's face brought her a little satisfaction.

She did what she was told in her lessons, and she put on a convincing smile whenever she was near anyone else, but the second she was alone, Glinda would fall apart. The guilt ate at her. The desperation made her breathless. The anxiety made her sick. And still, time dragged on.

On the third night after seeing Elphaba, Glinda managed to fall asleep with a little bit of hope. If they hadn't caught her yet, maybe they wouldn't. Maybe she had outsmarted them. Maybe she had managed to get away. Maybe…

She woke early the next morning, and was pulling a brush through her hair when someone knocked lightly on her door.

"Come in," Glinda called from where she sat in front of the mirror.

The servant entered, an older woman whose wrinkled hands shook a little around the breakfast tray she carried. "Good morning, Your Goodness," she said cheerfully. "I know it's getting a little warm for it, but I brought you some cocoa—made with milk, just the way you like it."

"Thank you," Glinda said, crossing the room to help her set the tray down. "What's the occasion?"

"Oh, it's just wonderful, Your Goodness. The most wonderful news."

Glinda's heart sank. She picked up the mug of cocoa and held it tightly between her hands, lowering herself to the bed. "What…what happened?"

"The Wicked Witch is in custody!" The woman beamed. "Apparently the Gale Force brought her in last night. She's in Southstairs right now. At last, our city can breathe a little easier again."

The mug was too hot in Glinda's hands. She pressed her fingers tighter around it, welcoming the burn. "That's wonderful," she managed. "Such a relief." She didn't sound relieved at all, but the woman was too excited to notice. She curtsied, still smiling wide, and hurried out of the room, probably to go gossip with the rest of the palace staff.

Glinda set her cocoa down and got to her feet. Elphaba was here, in the palace—well, below the palace, in jail. She rushed out of the room, not caring that her feet were bare and she was still in her nightgown and she didn't have a trace of makeup on. They could stare at her all she wanted. She needed to find Elphaba.

What did they do to her? Was she hurt? Was she—no, she had to still be alive. They wouldn't bother putting her in jail if she was…

"Your Goodness?"

Glinda had reached the staircase leading down to the dungeons, but the two guards posted there stood tall and stepped in front of her. They didn't look threatening, just confused, but they stopped her nonetheless.

"I…" Glinda swallowed. "Is it true? Is the Witch down there?"

"Yes, Your Goodness," said one. "She was brought in last night."

She hesitated, considering. It was a long way down to the dungeons. She had only been once, on one of her walks. She had been curious about what the underground part of the palace looked like, and it was all too easy to charm a couple of the guards into escorting her. There were several staircases, locked doors, guards posted every hour of the day. She could easily knock these guards out and go down, but she would never reach Elphaba like that. And they would never just let her go down there. At least, not without permission from the Wizard or—

"Where is Madame Morrible?" Glinda asked. "Do you know?"

The second guard gestured down the staircase. "With the Witch."

There went that idea. Glinda's knees shook as she imagined what Morrible was doing to Elphaba. It took every last shred of willpower for Glinda to smile and thank the guards, and then walk away. She wanted nothing more than to blast her way down to the dungeons, but she knew she wouldn't make it. Not with Morrible down there. She would only get herself locked up, and then how could she save Elphaba?

No, she needed to wait. She needed to think of a plan. She needed to act later, when she was more prepared, and maybe when she had actual clothes on.

Glinda stared down at her bare feet as she made her way back to her room. She hoped, suddenly, that no one else had seen her running through the palace, but she knew they probably had. Sighing, she slipped into her chambers and shut the door gently behind her.

There was an envelope on her desk with her name on it. Glinda frowned a little, but she vaguely remembered Ambree setting something on her desk the other day. She had been distracted ever since and forgot about it entirely, but now…well, she had nothing better to do at the moment.

Glinda crossed to her desk and sat down, carefully opening the envelope. It was another letter, from Fiyero again, and she hesitated before unfolding it. Her fingers trembled, shaking the paper slightly. She took a deep breath and smoothed the page across her desk, then took another and began to read.

Glinda,

I've been sitting here for nearly an hour, trying to figure out how to make small talk to open this letter. I really can't think of anything, and since the first letter seemed to get to you with no trouble, I'll assume that this one will be the same and just get straight to things.

With only a couple months left until the end of semester, Crope, Tibbett, and I have been discussing summer plans. I'm going back to the Vinkus. With Munchkinland's secession and whatever unrest is sure to be on its way, the people want to be prepared. I'm not sure I'll be able to return to Shiz next fall.

Crope and Tibbett don't want to stay here alone for the summer, and they're also uncertain about finishing school. I think they're relying a bit on my decisions. Of course, they're a little put out at the idea of going home, but lately they've been spending all their free time in the library, reading about different cultures. They were throwing around the idea of travelling for a while, but recently they've been picking up business books as well. Tibbett told me the other day that they feel as though they've learned all they can from Shiz. If they don't return next semester, I'm sure it'll be because they've opened up their bar in the Emerald City. Of course, it's all just ideas and plans right now, but they're getting quite serious about it. In fact, I don't think I've seen them this studious since…well, since Dillamond's research.

Maybe that's where all of this started, way back with Elphaba. If it weren't for her, I don't know if any of us would consider the idea that we can change Oz. But here we are—me, about to go help lead the Vinkans. Crope and Tibbett, trying to make connections and start their business—which, if you ask me, sounds like it's going to be as much of a cover as it is a bar.

Even Boq hasn't given up hope. His letters have been getting more and more obscure. He won't say what he's up to—I don't know, I think it might just be planning at this point. But he is on to something. He told me that if he was going to be in Munchkinland, then he was going to help it in whatever way possible. It's funny. I think, before you took Morrible's offer, he was just going to go home and do whatever he could to survive. Now, he's pushing for more. We all are.

We were talking the other day. Do you remember the old lady from town, who sat on the street corner and gave out cider to everyone passing by? Do you remember what she told us? She said we still have a future, and she asked us what we could do about Oz. I think she was telling us that we could make a difference. I think she was right. I know that I want to.

You do, too. That's why you took this job. It's why you've gone through hell, losing Elphaba, suffering Morrible, and it's why you're still putting on a smile and doing what you can in that palace. I know it's hard, and you're tired. I can't imagine the things you go through there. But we're with you. I know you'll find a way to help Elphaba.

Until then, stay strong. Crope and Tibbett say you have the city wrapped around your finger—I bet the palace is the same way. That's pretty damn useful, if you ask me.

Love and miss you,

Fiyero

Glinda sat back in her chair and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins. She set her chin on them and stared sadly at the letter. Fiyero didn't know what had happened, of course. How could he? As far as he knew, Elphaba was still safe, and Glinda hadn't led her straight into the Wizard's grasp. They didn't know Elphaba was in the palace right now, being questioned by Morrible. Tortured, more like, Glinda thought, and she had to bite down hard on her lip to keep from crying.

Glinda tried to imagine a Shiz without any of them in it, but it was hard. Their little circle had truly fallen apart, hadn't it? The group of friends had once seemed like they would last forever. And now here they were, scattered across the country, ready to be blown further away from each other.

Did that mean the end, though? Glinda reached forward, keeping her other arm wrapped around her legs, and tugged the letter closer. Fiyero had written about their plans. He was going back to his people. Who knew what the Vinkans would do, now that Munchkinland had seceded. Morrible had said she thought the Vinkus would be the next country to revolt. Was the Wizard going to go after them next? Either way, Fiyero was going to be there, leading his people. And Crope and Tibbett—Glinda had no doubt they would accomplish whatever they wanted. They already had connections in the city. If they travelled, and they met more people across Oz, if they started their bar and established themselves in the Emerald City… And Boq, whatever he was doing, was helping people.

Glinda let go of the letter and wiped at her eyes. She uncurled herself and stood up, smoothing her palms down the front of her dress and taking a deep breath. Calmly, she walked away from the desk and into the bathroom. Her reflection stared back at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her lashes were clumped and messy from her tears. Glinda tilted her chin up, inspecting herself. Then she got to work.

She ran a hand towel under the water and pressed it to her cheeks, cooling them down. When her skin was dry again, she pulled out her powder and brushed across her face, paying special attention to the darkness beneath her eyes. She still looked pale, so she pinched her cheeks and bit her lips to make them redder. She redid her eyes and dabbed perfume across her collar and her wrists, then she found her brush and did her hair, pinning it so it fell perfectly around her face.

This time when her reflection stared back at her, it looked fierce. It looked dangerous. When she put on her best smile, it looked like it could charm the whole world. Fiyero was right. The entire palace was dazzled by her. The servants and the Gale Force would do anything for her. All she had to do was keep playing her part.

She couldn't afford to break down anymore, and neither could Elphaba. Now, more than ever, she needed to keep her image up. She would find a way to save Elphaba, but until then, she would be Glinda the Good—sweet, kind, innocent, perfect.

Glinda went back into the main room and crossed to the desk. She refolded Fiyero's letter and tucked it back into its envelope, stashing it in a drawer with the first one. There was no point writing back to him while she was still in the palace, but she would keep the letter safe until she could.

"Your Goodness?" a servant girl called through the door.

Glinda smoothed the skirt of her dress, unnecessarily, and looked up. "Come in."

"I was asked to invite you to lunch," said the girl, ducking into the room. "A few of the governors are dining together at noon, and they would like you to join them."

"Tell them I'd be honored," Glinda said.

The servant nodded, then caught sight of the tray near Glinda's bed. "Your Goodness, you haven't touched your breakfast. Is everything alright?"

"Oh." Glinda laughed a little. "I just got distracted, I suppose. I was fixing my hair. Do you like it? Or do you think I should try something different?"

She turned toward the mirror at her wardrobe and gently touched her curls. The servant girl gushed over her appearance, saying she didn't need to change a thing. Glinda thanked her with her most convincing smile, and she blushed and nearly tripped over herself as she curtsied on her way out.

Sweet, kind, innocent, perfect. It was a part Glinda had come to despise, but oh, she knew it well.