When Glinda woke up the next morning, the sunlight was shinning right in her face and she groaned, turning over. Only when the smell of bacon and coffee reached her nose did she decide to get up and get ready for the day. The events of the night before haunted the back of her mind. Would she see the princess again today? Was she done trying to kill her?

"What have I done to her?" Glinda whispered to herself as she walked down to breakfast.

"What did you do to who?" a voice said from behind her.

Glinda yelped and whipped around, seeing the princess standing behind her. She blinked, then quickly curtsied. "Good morning, Your Highness."

"You didn't answered my question," Elphaba said, taking a step towards the blonde.

Glinda involuntary took a step back. The princess intimidated her and she didn't like feeling intimidated. "I… wasn't talking about anyone. Just… talking to myself," she lied.

The princess' eyes narrowed. "I know you're lying."

Glinda gulped. "I…"

Fiyero's room door opened and the captain emerged. Glinda had never been so happy to see Fiyero since the day they met.

"Oh, good morning," Fiyero greeted, giving the princess a wavering smiled. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine, Captain," Elphaba said before Glinda could open her mouth. "I was just leaving." She turned back to Glinda and smirked. "Enjoy your breakfast." She turned and walked back down the hall and disappeared behind a corner.

"Glin?" Fiyero asked, reaching for the blonde.

Glinda pulled away and clenched her hands against her sides. "She's… awful."

Fiyero wanted to agree, but he simply escorted the blonde to breakfast.

Once everyone was seated, Glinda noticed that an extra chair was placed in between her and the Wizard. She assumed that it was for Elphaba, but she wasn't there.

The Wizard stared at the empty chair for a while, then sighed and began to eat his breakfast. Glinda was slightly relieved that the princess wasn't going to join them. She didn't seem to like her.

"Does Elphaba like her new room?" the Wizard asked once Glinda and Fiyero had left.

Morrible sipped her tea. "It will take her a while. It's hard to tell if she likes anything."

"Did she at least enjoy the ball? She was avoiding me the entire night."

"She certainty played the part well enough."

The Wizard sighed. He didn't know what else to do. What else could he do? He slowly rose from his seat and walked out of the parlor.

Glinda had taken a walk through the gardens after breakfast, trying to clear her head. After a few hours, she decided to go back just in case the Wizard went looking for her. She sighed as she walked into her office, but stopped. Her hand flew to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. All of her plans for new schools, laws and other political issues were torn up. Shreds of paper covered most of the floor. Not a single plan was kept in tact.

Biting her lip, the blonde slowly walked inside. She knelt down and picked up a torn piece of paper, not even knowing what it was for anymore.

"What happened in here?"

Glinda turned around and frowned, seeing Elphaba standing in the doorway. One thought crashed into her mind, Elphaba had done it. Biting back a growl, she rose to her full height. "Come to gloat?" she hissed, forgetting her manners.

"I beg your pardon?" Elphaba asked as she stepped into the room.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Why would you do this?"

"What? I've had nothing to do with this."

"Don't lie!" The blonde was now in tears. "I worked so hard on these plans!"

"Miss Glinda, I can assure you that I had absolutely nothing to do with this."

"You're lying! You know it and I know it! Why are you tormenting me?"

Elphaba was speechless. The petite blonde actually came off as being a bit scary when she was angry. "I…"

"First, you ruin my induction ball. Then, you give me nightmares!"

"How did you –"

"And if that's not enough, you've been spying on me and then you scare my half to death by writing 'Get out!' on my mirror in blood!"

"It was just red paint."

"And now you rip up my plans and sabotage all of my hard work!"

Elphaba blinked. "Miss Glinda…"

"Well, whatever I did to upset you, Princess Elphaba, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. You've won." Now sobbing, Glinda hurried past the princess, her face buried in her hands.

Elphaba was left alone to her thoughts. She didn't rip up Glinda's plans. She was in the gallery the entire time. She slowly bent down and picked up one of the blueprints Glinda was working on. "I'm sorry," she whispered to no one in particular.

Glinda's face was buried in her pillow as she sobbed. She couldn't believe the princess had done that to her. She had done nothing but torment her since she began working at the palace. She wanted to quit. She wanted to leave. She didn't want to be under the same roof as the Princess of Oz any longer.

Sitting up and wiping her eyes, she remembered what her Ama had always told her.

Galinda, dear, she had told her little charge. You are not a quitter. Uplands never give up, no matter how rough things get. Always remember that.

Well, her Ama had obviously never met Elphaba. The girl was downright horrible. Princess or not, Glinda was sure that she never wanted to go near Elphaba ever again.

Pull yourself together, Glinda, the blonde told herself. You're better than this. Just do your work and do your best to ignore her.

The blonde was pulled from her inner pep talk by a soft noise from outside her door. She stood up and opened the door, surprised to see Malky sitting outside.

"Well, hello, little guy," Glinda cooed as she lifted the puppy into her arms. "Where did you come from?"

Malky barked and wiggled to get out of Glinda's arms and hurried down the hall, tripping over his own feet.

"Where are you going?" Glinda asked as she followed the puppy down the hall.

Malky led the blonde to her office. Once Glinda realized this, she stopped. "Oh, no. I don't want to go back in there."

Malky barked once and went right inside. Glinda groaned and followed him in and stopped short. Her office was clean. She hurried to her desk. Her plans were fixed and neatly stacked on her desktop. She slowly ran her fingers over a proposed bill for the Wizard to sign she had been working on and laughed. It looked like nothing had happened to it. They were all fixed, as if by magic.

"Glin, what's going on?" Fiyero asked as he walked inside.

Malky turned and ran to the prince. Fiyero laughed as he lifted him into his arms. "Where did this cute puppy come from?" he laughed, stroking the puppy behind his ears.

"I don't know. He found me. But look!" She smiled as she held up a blueprint for Fiyero to see. "These were ripped a few hours ago and now they're fine."

"Who ripped your plans?"

The blonde frowned. "Princess Elphaba."

"How do you know -"

"She's been tormenting me ever since we started working here. I don't know what's with her, but whatever she has against me, I couldn't care less about right now. I just wish she would leave me alone."

"Glinda, she is the Wizard's daughter."

Glinda sighed. "You're right. I know I shouldn't talk this way about her, but she's downright evil. Her green skin was just an outward appearance of her twisted nature. She's the reason I've been having nightmares lately. I don't know how she did it, but she did it."

Malky barked and wiggled out of Fiyero's arms. He ran out of the room and looked back, obviously wanting Glinda and Fiyero to follow him.

The two young adults got the message and followed the puppy down the hall, carrying him up the stairs when he tried and failed to climb them himself. The two followed him into a dark bedroom before he disappeared into the shadows.

"What's in here?" Fiyero asked, searching for a light.

"Not 'what', 'who'," a voice said. Fiyero and Glinda looked up and saw Elphaba emerge from the shadows, holding Malky in her arms.

Glinda stepped back, her hard gaze never leaving the princess. "You."

"Glinda," Fiyero warned gently.

"I know you must have mix feelings about me right now," Elphaba said gently.

Fiyero noticed the unusual softness in Elphaba's voice, but Glinda didn't.

"Mixed feelings? That's the understatement of the year!" Glinda growled.

"Glinda, manners," Fiyero hissed.

"It's alright, Captain. Miss Glinda and I got off on the wrong foot when we first met," Elphaba said. She waved her hand and the room lit up and the door closed.

"Why did you have this sweet, innocent puppy bring us here?" Glinda asked, her gaze still hard.

Elphaba looked at the puppy cradled in her arms and smiled. "I'm surprised Malky actually understood what I was telling him. He is only a puppy after all."

"You casted a spell on a puppy?" Glinda gasped, horrified.

"A spell, no. Though, that would have been much simpler. I do have a heart, despite the fact that my green skin is an outward appearance of my twisted nature."

Glinda saw the somewhat hurt expression on the princess' face and softened slightly. She had heard her say that? She looked up at Fiyero, who looked at her with an expression of disapproval.

"And I knew you wouldn't want to talk to me if I came to you myself," Elphaba continued softly.

"What did you want to talk to us about, Princess?" Fiyero asked before Glinda could say anything.

"Well, I actually just wanted to speak with Miss Glinda, but you tie in as well." She waved her hand again and three chairs, two together and one across from the two, appeared. "Please, sit."

Fiyero moved to sit, but Glinda hesitated.

"It's alright, Miss Glinda. I promise," Elphaba said sincerely.

Glinda looked at the emerald princess before slowly moving to sit next to Fiyero. Elphaba sat across from them, nervously playing with her fingers. Malky made himself comfortable next to Elphaba's chair, chewing on a toy.

"First, I would like to apologize to the both of you," Elphaba began, lifting her head to meet their gazes. "I acknowledge that my 'pranks', for lack of a better term, were taken a bit too far."

Glinda was shocked, and didn't do a good job of hiding it.

"But, Miss Glinda, there is one thing I want you to know," Elphaba said, turning her attention to the blonde sitting across from her. "I did not ruin your projects and plans. After you left, I noticed teeth marks on the pieces of paper and realized that Malky must have gotten into your office and had a field day. I apologize."

"It's… it's alright," Galinda said, softening a bit.

"No, it's not. He's my responsibility, but I just wanted you to know that I didn't send him to do that, or cast a spell on him."

A thought suddenly popped into Glinda's head. "It was you who fixed them, wasn't it?"

The princess smiled faintly and nodded.

The blonde smiled back. "Thank you."

"I knew how hard you worked on those plans. I looked some of them over and they all seem really good. It would have been a shame for you to start again from scratch."

Glinda looked at the bowl of her lap, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. "Your Highness, I…"

"No, please don't apologize," Elphaba quickly interrupted her. "I was out of line in doing what I did, and no matter how bad my life was, you did nothing to deserve my wrath."

Glinda looked up at that. The princess had a bad life? How could she? She was the princess of Oz. She could have anything she ever wanted.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," Elphaba said, taking a deep breath. "When I was younger, my parents and I… we were happy. Or so it seemed to me. I was your typical princess; stubborn, picky, inquisitive and the like. But I was never allowed outside."

"Outside the palace walls?" Glinda asked softly.

Elphaba shook her head. "Outside in general. Not even into the palace gardens."

"Why not?"

Elphaba brushed a section of hair behind her ear. "When I was born, my aunt suggested that I remain hidden until my twenty-first birthday, when I would have my official introduction ball. She was worried that because of my… verdigris, someone would try to harm me. Some Ozians are very small minded and would have done anything to stop a green ruler from taking the throne."

"Your aunt?" Fiyero asked.

"You went to Shiz, correct? You may know her as the Head Shiztress."

"Your aunt is Madame Morrible?" Glinda asked, blinking.

"Yes. Well, technically, she's my great-aunt, on my mother's side."

That explains a lot, the blonde thought, but decided that it was best not to voice her thoughts at the moment.

"So, up until I was six, I was confined to the palace. I've never stepped foot outside, due to the fact that there could have been some deranged person hiding in the bushes just dying to get a glimpse of me."

"What happened when you were six?" Fiyero asked, expecting a change for the better.

Elphaba stiffened and her breath caught in her throat. Glinda noticed this and her heart went out to the green girl, for she knew what she was about to say.

"Your Highness, if you don't want to tell us…" Galinda began.

"No, it's alright," Elphaba whispered, exhaling. "When I was six, my mother died. All of Oz was heartbroken. So was I, but no one as much as my father. He was so stricken with grief that… that…" Elphaba took a deep breath, forcing herself to continue. "He locked me in the West Tower."

Fiyero and Glinda gasped. "That's why the West Tower was off limits," Fiyero whispered.

"Wait, but Salmya told me that the ghost of Ozma lived in the West Tower," Glinda said.

Elphaba smiled softly. "That's what they were told to tell you if you ever asked about the West Tower. They were forbidden to speak about me. Please don't be mad at Salmya for telling you that story. It's not her fault she had to lie." The green girl took a breath before continuing. "One night, I just went to sleep as usual, and the next morning, I found myself in a new room. I ran down the stairs to the tower, but the door was magically sealed shut."

"So, you couldn't get out and no one could get in?" Glinda asked.

"No, my aunt modified the spell just so I couldn't get out, but others could come in. The spell deflected people with magic except for her, since she's the one who casted it. Since I am –was– the only person with magic in the palace, it only applied to me. It would have also applied to you, Miss Glinda, had you tried to enter the tower."

"Your aunt casted the spell?"

"She had to. My father can't do magic."

"Could your mother?" Fiyero asked.

"No, which made it even more strange that I could. But anyway, the only visitors I got were my aunt and Salmya or one of the other maids."

"Your… your father never…" Glinda questioned softly.

"No," Elphaba said, a bit too harshly. "No," she repeated, calmer. "He didn't. He claims that he couldn't bear to look at me because I look so much like my mother and he was afraid that he couldn't be the father he used to be anymore, but I don't believe him. I don't know what I believe, but it isn't that."

"You couldn't just undo the spell with your magic?" Glinda asked.

Elphaba shook her head. "No. My aunt used a spell from an old, powerful book called the 'Grimmerie'. You've probably heard of it. Once a spell from that book has been cast, it cannot be altered or reversed. She set a time limit on the spell to wear off in fourteen years on my twenty-first birthday."

"But… where do Glinda and I come in?" Fiyero asked.

"When you and Miss Glinda came, I saw that my father and Miss Glinda were becoming close. At first, I just thought he was trying to be nice, but then he… you… started to go on miniature outings together, something he could never do with me. I became jealous and made it my personal mission to try and get rid of you."

"So, you saw me as a threat to your relationship with your father?" Glinda asked, suddenly seeing a different side to things.

"Our relationship was damaged when he locked me up and forgot about me. I was simply jealous. I know it was petty and –"

"No, I understand," Glinda said gently. "You felt that I was replacing you in your father's life. Princess, that was never my intention."

"I know. You probably didn't even know I existed."

Glinda looked down. "No, I didn't. And I'm sorry."

"So am I." The princess rose to her feet and stretched. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. Thank you for staying." Elphaba turned and sat on the edge of her bed, her back facing them. Malky followed her and she lifted him into her lap.

Glinda and Fiyero also stood and left.

"I feel awful," Glinda whispered, her head hung.

"It's not completely your fault, Glin," Fiyero said, trying to make the blonde feel slightly better.

"I may have been raised by my Ama because my parents were too busy, but at least they never locked me in a tower for fourteen years without even visiting. I'll talk to her again later. She must want someone to talk to."

"And you think she'll talk to you?"

"She wants to talk to someone. And if I'm not that someone, she'll tell me to leave. I don't want to just leave it like this, Fiyero. I… I have to make this right."

Fiyero smiled and kissed the top of the blonde's head. "I'm proud of you, Glin. So proud."

So now that Glinda and Fiyero have the whole story, do you think they'll be more understanding of Elphaba and what she did? Reviews are most appreciated.