A/N: And so… This is getting longer than I intended XD But it's coming pretty good, to be frank. I'm excited to finish it already.
The places mentioned here are created by Gregory Maguire himself, as was mentioned in his two books Wicked and Son of a Witch. It felt wrong to establish a new place of my own in Maguire's Oz :D I'm not forgetting that Elphie and Glinda are still his property.
Chapter 4: Night Fire
An amiable silence took over the two girls as they soar over the vast Oakhair Forest.
The heat of crying died for Glinda, and the vicious cold returned. Thankfully, Elphaba's arm was still around across her neck and shoulders. Their close proximity allowed them to somewhat share some body heat, and the smaller girl was thankful for it.
It took her some time to realize that Elphaba was willing the broom to land. Lower and lower they glided. Glinda was even impressed on how Elphaba skillfully maneuvered the shady old broom through tangles of branches. They landed safe and sound deep within the woods.
Glinda felt her knees buckle as her feet finally felt the hard, uneven ground. It was ridiculously dark. The mass of towering trees and their clumps of branches had blocked all the natural light created by the nightly celestial bodies.
Glinda jumped and uttered an unintelligent squeak when she felt something brush against her shoulders. Calming herself, she realized that Elphaba had wrapped the cloak on her, mirroring what she had done for her in the attic back in the Emerald City.
She murmured her thanks, terribly grateful to finally warm here stone cold arms. She had her second surprise when Elphaba conjured a bright fire. She let her eyes adjust for a while at the sudden illumination.
When she decided to open her eyes, she looked down and saw Elphaba seated on the ground. She did the same, albeit with longer time since the pain on her knees were killing her.
"Whew…" she sighed as she let herself drop on the soft grass next to her companion, encasing herself further within the confines of the large cape.
"Does it hurt real bad?" Elphaba asked, a little hoarse after being exposed in the cold for so long.
"Oh, um…" Glinda uttered, sniffing. Her nose had pronounced itself jammed a quarter of an hour ago, "Not that bad, Elphie…" She caused her enough trouble for one night.
Elphaba looked at her skeptically. "Glinda, your wrists are still bleeding because of that infernal contraption," she deadpans.
Glinda sighed. If she was going to spend the rest of her days with Elphie, might as well start being more open. She can't pretend to be forever-the-tough-girl. Submissively, she unearthed her bound wrists from the cape and held them out for Elphaba to see.
She had to admit. Even she was surprised at the sight of more blood. Looking at it, the dull sting she had been feeling intensified to a whole new level.
"Mind if I borrow your pin?" Elphaba said after examining the bloodied metal.
Glinda nodded, and the green girl deftly unhooked it from her hair. She then tinkered with the tiny keyhole. The left cuff clicked, much to Glinda's bewilderment. The right followed suit within a minute.
Glinda yelped, and Elphaba cringed slightly; the right cuff had buried itself on Glinda's wrist. Elphaba swiftly pulled it, sending the after effects of pain a split second later. Heftily, she threw the damned metal, and it was lost into the darkness where it belonged.
"Sweet Lurline…" Glinda hissed in pain, looking with wide eyes at her open flesh. The sight of blood was dizzying. "I can't believe I didn't even feel it."
She hadn't noticed that Elphaba had taken out small bottles of various sizes and colors from her sling bag, which now contained the thick tome of the Grimmerie.
"Well, because maybe we were a little occupied," Elphaba said, smirking slightly, setting the bottles before Glinda.
Glinda's face fell again. "I'm sorry, Elphie," she said sadly, "I'm really sorry."
Elphaba smiled gently at that. The sight of her smile after a blur of chaos was a breath of life for Glinda. She simply looked so beautiful. One could never imagine how beauty could emerge from such simplicity.
"Think nothing of it, my sweet," Elphaba finally answered, uncorking the first bottle with cobalt blue oil.
The more you're calling me that, the more I'm losing my mind!... Or what's left of it anyway… Glinda's train of thought kept her silent. The things she's willing to do for Elphaba recently are seemingly limitless.
"Now this might, um, hurt a little," Elphaba confessed.
She used her own handkerchief to dab some oil on the wounded wrist. Their eyes met for a short while… And then Elphaba lowered the cloth on the flesh.
"Oh my— OH, OZ!" Glinda screamed, feeling as if the wound was submerged on fire. She writhed slightly. Elphaba looked pained, but with her free arm, she held Glinda in place. It was not that difficult, seeing as Glinda had a slight figure.
"Ow, ow! S-stop—NO!" Glinda screamed and screamed. It was maddening for both of them. Tears welled in Glinda's eyes again, but it was nowhere near crying. There was simply pain, a lot of it.
The task was over within thirty seconds. And that was just her right wrist. There will be the problem of both the knees.
Elphaba immediately dropped her handkerchief and brought Glinda in her arms. "I'm sorry, my sweet," she whispered tenderly.
The blonde looked down to see what had caused her so much agony. She was somewhat relieved and astonished that the deep cut had turned into nothing more than a pencil sketch on her skin.
"Well, it's effective," she said hoarsely after emptying her lungs, trying to enliven the moment, "And clearly painful too." She felt that the hug served as an awarding reparation for such an ordeal. Such warmth… She could get wounded every minute if Elphaba will keep bringing her this close to her.
"This is going to take a while," Elphaba noted, absentmindedly stroking Glinda's soft curls.
Glinda giggled. "I can tell."
The two of them weren't sure of the existence of other living creatures in the forest, but they were certain that Glinda had awakened them all with her ceaseless, ear-shattering screams.
Half an hour later, Glinda lay on the ground, tightly wrapped around Elphaba's massive cloak, chasing the breath that had escaped her. Elphaba sat cross-legged next to her, letting her thigh serve as the exhausted blonde's pillow.
"Well you wasted all your strength on screaming," Elphaba quipped, her verdant fingers gently combing their way across the blonde's tresses.
"I can't imagine myself at childbirth," Glinda muttered dejectedly, eyes fluttering close, "The child might as well be born deaf to save it from its misery."
It took the two of them a minute to take in the words. It was a harmless thought Glinda blurted from out of the blue, but blood rushed to both of their faces.
Oh Lurline, Glinda thought, eyes flying open, Where did THAT come from?
The prospect of getting into a romantic relationship and settling down with someone was too much to hope for the two of them. The guy had to live up to the life of exile; basically, give up everything for the sake of a doomed relationship. Not to mention, having a child was out of the question. It would have to be raised knowing that its mother was an enemy of Oz.
There was only the two of them now. Elphie and her. Against Oz, against all odds.
Glinda hadn't really realized that she was easing her way to sleep, nor did she immediately notice that Elphaba had laid down behind her.
Her breath hitched to her throat when Elphaba's arms brought her once again into her protective arms after assuming that the blonde was asleep. Glinda stilled herself as she felt Elphaba settle her face against her blonde hair. She felt the green girl sharply inhale whatever was left of her shampoo on her hair.
"Glinda…" she said tenderly.
With all her willpower, Glinda clamped her lips shut to keep herself from uttering any sound.
There goes those stupid butterflies in the stomach again, thought Glinda, What is wrong with me? Ever since the Ozdust ball, things had been weird. I went with her to Emerald City on such quick notice. I haven't even packed my stuff, but I jumped on the train with her! And then there's this whole fiasco… For heaven's sake, the things this woman is making me do!
Elphaba's breath had deepened, signaling her slumber.
Glinda, meanwhile, relished the wonderful feeling of slender but tender arms keeping her warm, keeping her company. Dreams soon found her, and they were plagued with the images of her green guardian.
A/N: Oh well… My eyes are protesting… So is my battered brain.
If there's anything wrong with this chapter, please tell me. I have to know if my head is still functioning properly … I apologize if this chapter is somewhat boring to some. I'm panicking myself to finish this because my college days are starting next week, less than five days T_T Working overtime here