Thoughts of Greater Importance

Disclaimer: Do I even have to say it? No I don't own Wicked! Nor do I own The Wizard of Oz.

A/N: I'm so close to being done with my story!

Picture a large stretch of beautiful, country land, with wide-open pastures and fluffy cloud that seem to pop out at you. Picture some old, weary houses that groan under the force of the swift wind moving across the scrub. Now, once you've pictured all that, take all the color out of it. This is where Toto landed.

The balloon had gently arrived on the ground, not in a splintering crash, which was good for the girl who stood right beside the fallen hot-air balloon.

She had a gray-blue and white-checkered dress on, and two braids ending with little bows. She had delicate plump hands, full lips and nice teeth. She had sparking eyes and long legs. She was perfect.

And to add to this disgusting display of perfection, she leaned down, truly concerned and let out a horrible perfect little cry. Toto sat shivering in the basket, half starved. She bent down, and heaved the tiny dog up, and held it in her arms. She caressed it, petting his silky hair. She gently kissed him on the crown of his head and murmured comforting words.

"You poor lost doggie, where do you come from? Surely you come from far away to have to come by balloon?" She twisted the dog around in her arms until she found the tag Elphie had unceremoniously stuck on Toto's collar. "Toto? That's your name? What a nice name! And where do you come from little Toto? Let me see…Oz? Where in the world is Oz?"

Toto just yapped happily, he didn't remember the last time he had heard such soothing words, or remember the last time the green horror had caressed him. It felt so nice! He just snuggled in closer to the girl and a small snort of elation escaped him.

"Toto, I'm sure your master is looking for you. I would so like to help you find him or her, but I have no idea where Oz is. And there are no directions on how to get there. So I guess I will have to keep you myself. Oh, and just so you know, I'm Dorothy."

Toto thought about the name. Dorothy. Dorothy and Toto, a nice paring. But as she spoke he did think back to when he was with the green horror. He didn't really remember why she was a horror. She was just so mean and she wasn't sweet like Dorothy. She never played with him, never cuddled with him, barely remembered to feed him because she always had her snout in a book. Why should he care if the green horror was looking for him?

"Toto? Do you want to meet Auntie Em, and Uncle Henry? I'm sure they'll let me keep you, they're farmers; so they have animals anyway. Would you like that? I'm sure you would! C'mon!" She let Toto down and watched to see if he followed her. He did.

She skipped across the meadows until she saw her Aunt and Uncle's house. It was rickety and pretty unstable, but it was perfectly safe. When her Aunt and Uncle saw her coming they went out to the front of the house to greet her.

"Dorothy! Where have you been?! I've been worried sick!" Auntie Em trilled.

"I found a puppy!" Dorothy smiled, white teeth flashing as she raised the puppy from the ground.

"He's very fine looking, a little scrawny, but we can fix that." Was her Uncle's blunt acceptation of the young dog, "but you're looking after it, not me." And he turned back to the fields.

"Oh Toto? Do you here that? I get to keep you!"

"Have you checked to see if he has an owner?" Said the more worrisome Auntie Em.

"I checked; the owner lives somewhere called Oz. I don't think I've ever heard of a place like that. Have you?"

"No, I've never heard of a place called Oz, I guess you can keep him." Auntie Em finally agreed, grunting when Dorothy ran into her Aunt's arms for a hug.

"Thank you Auntie Em! Thank you!" and she scurried off, Toto yapping at her heels joyfully.

"That girl, I've never seen her so happy."

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"Elphie! I've never seen you so sad!" Galinda patted the green girl's shoulder worriedly.

"I thought I was doing the right thing, taking in a stray, but all he does is run away!" Elphie tried not to sob so it wouldn't burn her. She lay face down in her pillow though, and her words sounded very tumbled.

"What?"

"I SAID," Elphie shouted from the pillow, "I thought I was doing the right thing, taking in a stray, but all he does is run away!"

"Oh, well, strays are like that, they're mean!" Galinda said with all sincerity.

"But Toto was different! He was ni-ni-niccccccccccce." And Elphie gave a loud sob.

"Elphie, don't cry, you'll burn yourself!" Galinda cried, breaking down into tears of her own. "I know how you feel, now there's no one to protect m from the fleas!"

"Shut UP! There are no fleas! Okay?! NO FLEAS! They're just a stupid figment of my imagination that you were not supposed to take literally! Now just SHUT UP! Can't you see I'm trying to feel better?! Explaining something so simple to one who just refuses to acknowledge ANY brain cells does NOT make me feel better!"

"Elphie! Stop it! I thought you were supposed to be sad! Not mad! You can't contain more than emotion than one, or else you'll explode!"

"GLINDA!" Elphie bellowed, slipping up on Galinda's name purposefully, because she knew how upset the blond got when that happened.

"FABALA!" Galinda screamed, equally loud. She had heard the name from Nessa, and just decided it would be a good comeback.

Elphie's face grew taught with anger, temples pulsing. "Don't you ever, EVER call me that again!" Elphie whispered mutinously.

"Fine." Galinda said, a little subdued at the anger in Elphie's voice. "I was just trying to make you feel better! You didn't have to start this screaming contest you know." She said, gulping and trying not to burst into more tears. "I'm sorry you lost your dog, I'M sorry! But maybe, like I said, he just wants to be wild." And Galinda said the thing Elphie had been dreading from day one.

"You're right." Was all Elphie said, before descending back into her pillow.

Galinda stared down at the girl, eyes bright with emotion. Elphie reminded her of Toto. The fierce independence, the desperate struggle for life, and the sweltering urge to be free.

A/N: Should I end it here?