Doglover645: Well, there's no Fiyeraba romance. There's Fiyeraba friendship. It really wasn't the main focus with this story, since I wanted to get Elphaba and her father to a point where they tolerate each other, and adding a boyfriend would have been too much for Elphaba.

Wanli8970: Yeah, they were. I don't know if "pranks" is an appropriate word.

LifelongLeahstar: Thank you. And, as I told Doglover645, there isn't a Fiyeraba romance in this story. They become friends and they have a moment together.

That night, Glinda went to bed thinking about what she would say to Elphaba. Since she wouldn't let her apologize, she would start with that. Then, they would start talking and sort everything between them out. For the first time in a while, Glinda slept peacefully through the night without a nightmare.

The chirping of birds woke the blonde up the next morning and she smiled, pushing herself up and stretching. She quickly got washed and dressed and ran out of the room before the maid came. She hurried to Elphaba's room and calmed herself before knocking three times on her door.

She heard Malky start to bark and Elphaba's soft voice say, "It's okay, Malky." before the door opened, revealing the emerald princess in her nightgown. "Oh, Miss Glinda," she said slowly.

Glinda smiled and curtsied. "Good morning, Your Highness. Did you sleep well last night?"

"I… did," Elphaba blinked, still not knowing why the blonde was standing outside her room.

"I was wondering if you would be coming down for breakfast this morning," Glinda said, trying to best to sound chipper.

"I… I wasn't planning to."

"Your father set up a place for you, next to him."

Elphaba shifted awkwardly. "Well… maybe."

"Great!" Glinda smiled.

Elphaba nodded and Malky ran out from in between her legs and rubbed his cheek against Glinda's leg.

"I'll go get ready," Elphaba said as she grabbed the first dress she saw and disappeared into the bathroom.

Glinda lifted Malky into her arms and stroked his fur as she slowly lowered herself onto the princess' bed to wait for her. She heard the sound of water running and splashing before Elphaba emerged, wearing a simple, long sleeved dark purple dress.

Glinda immediately stood. "Before we go down, I have to say something."

Elphaba visibly stiffened. "Yes?"

"I want to apologize."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do. Please. I shouldn't have said what I said. I was… angry and I needed someone to blame, and you happened to be on my mind at the time and… I know there was no excuse for my behavior yesterday. Please accept my apology."

"Apology excepted," Elphaba said, her lips curling into a small smile.

The blonde smiled back. "So, um… I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"How did you make yourself look like a ghost? And get out of the tower?"

Elphaba chuckled softly. "It's a simple spiritual spell from a book my aunt got me. Technically, I couldn't leave the tower, so I casted the spell on myself and it allowed me to briefly separate my spirit from my body so I could wander through the castle. It took a lot of energy, so I wasn't able to do it as frequently as I would have liked. I casted another spell on myself to make myself corporal while in that state long enough for me to grab the red paint and use it."

Glinda smiled softly. "You seem to be gifted in magic."

"A bit. I learned to control it over the years during my time in total solitude. Maybe something good came out of that," Elphaba sighed softly.

The two ventured down the stairs to breakfast. The Wizard looked surprised to see Elphaba joining them, but quickly smiled and pulled out her chair for her. Elphaba sat down wordlessly, refusing to look at her father.

"Good morning, Elphaba," the Wizard said.

"Morning," Elphaba said, picking at her food.

"Still a picky eater?"

Even though the Wizard's voice was light and playful, Elphaba still scowled and set her fork down.

"Elphaba, I was only kidding."

"Maybe you were," Elphaba said coldly.

The rest of breakfast was a silent affair. Glinda occasionally looked up at the princess, who barely touched her food. After they ate, Elphaba was the first to excuse herself and left rather hurriedly. Glinda excused herself and followed the princess.

"Your Highness?"

Elphaba stopped and turned around, seeing the blonde approaching her. "Yes?"

"I was… um… wondering if you wanted to go for a walk through the gardens with me."

Elphaba looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You… you seem like you could use some company, and if you're still mad at me… I want to fix that."

Despite herself, the princess' lips twitched. "There's no harm in going outside now. If someone's hiding in the bushes, let them hide. I've been announced to Oz anyway."

Glinda smiled and walked beside the princess down the stairs to the door leading to the gardens. She opened the door and began to walk outside. She paused when she didn't feel the princess' presence beside her. She turned around and saw Elphaba standing in the doorway. She looked very apprehensive about going outside. The blonde smiled softly as she walked back to the princess and offered her her hand.

Elphaba stared at the pale hand offered to her before she slowly took it and followed the blonde outside.

Glinda made sure to be mindful of her steps, making sure she didn't pull the princess behind her. A sudden breeze swept through, making the girls' hair dance behind them. Elphaba gasped and stopped, unconsciously pulling her hand away from the blonde. Glinda turned and saw the princess standing stiffly behind her. She stumbled back and Glinda moved to help her, but Elphaba quickly caught herself. Glinda quickly remembered that it was the princess' first time ever outside and she slowly walked back and gently took her hand. That seemed to snap Elphaba out of her haze and she looked at the blonde with wide eyes.

"It's okay," the blonde said softly.

Elphaba nodded slowly and continued to follow the blonde through the garden. As they walked, she slowly began to relax. Once she sensed that she was relaxed enough, Glinda stopped and turned towards her. "Princess, take off your shoes."

Elphaba looked at her. "Why?"

"It's… freeing."

Elphaba blinked, but did as the blonde requested and took off her shoes. Slowly, she rolled her foot onto the soft, dewy grass and gasped. Glinda was worried that the princess had stepped on something, but a smile soon lit up the green girl's face.

"Now… we run," Galinda said in an excited whisper.

"I have no reason to run, Miss Glinda," Elphaba said, raising her eyebrow once more.

Glinda smirked and snatched the princess' shoes before taking off. "Now you do!"

"Hey!" Elphaba exclaimed as she ran after the blonde, who was laughing as she zigzagged through the garden. The emerald princess chased after her, a hearty laugh escaping from her throat as the wind whipped through her hair and against her face. She finally managed to catch up with Glinda and tagged her shoulder. The blonde stopped and Elphaba bumped into her, causing both girls to fall onto the grass. Elphaba laughed and tried to catch her breath as she turned over onto her back, her hands sprawled out to the side. Glinda was laughing next to her, having not run like that since she was a little girl.

"That… was… fun," Elphaba said in between breaths.

"It was, wasn't it? I haven't had a good run like that since I was little."

"I've never run like that. Of course, I ran through the castle when I was little, but when I was six, that changed, obviously. You were right, that was very freeing."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Your Highness."

Elphaba rolled onto her side to face the blonde. "Miss Glinda?"

"Yes?"

"You may drop the honorific. Just call me 'Elphaba'."

The blonde beamed. "In that case, you may call me 'Glinda'… Elphaba."

Elphaba smiled and rolled onto her back, her eyes slowly closing as the blades of grass brushed against her fingers. The two girls laid on the grass together in a comfortable silence.

"Elphaba?"

"Yes?"

Glinda turned and saw that the princess' eyes were closed. "Now that we're friends…"

The emerald girl's eyes shot open at that. "Friends?"

Glinda bit her lip. Was she moving too fast for the princess? "Well, you agreed to come out here with me, and we dropped the honorifics, and now we're sitting in the grass barefoot…"

"And… is that what friends do?"

"Why… yes."

Elphaba rubbed her forearms subconsciously. "I've never had any friends before. And being locked away in a tower really didn't help my social skills. I don't know the first thing about being friends."

"I can show you."

"You really want to be friends, even after everything I did to you?" Elphaba asked, searching the blonde's face.

The blonde nodded and gently took Elphaba's green hands in her own. "There's blame to share from both of us. We both weren't very understanding of each other. And yes, I still want to be friends with you, but only if you want to be friends with me."

Elphaba thought for a moment before slowly inclining her head towards the blonde. "Yes. I would like to be friends with you, Glinda."

The blonde smiled and gently wrapped her arms around Elphaba in a friendly hug. The green girl stiffened, not expecting such close, physical contact, but relaxed and slowly returned the hug.

"It's been a while since I've had one of those," Elphaba said once they pulled away.

"A hug?"

"Yes." Elphaba hugged herself and smiled. "It felt… good, just like I remember it. I'm…" She slowly forced herself to look up at the blonde. "I'm glad we're now friends."

"Me too, Elphaba," Glinda smiled.

Three more chapters!