A/N: Maybe I should make this story an every-two-days update thing, because it's been two days between chapters both times. But I'm not sure that would make much sense as there's only one or two chapters left anways!

----------------------------

Boq

It's due to her I'm made of tin

Her spell made this occur

So for once I'm glad I'm heartless

I'll be heartless killing her!

And the Lion also has a grievance to repay

If she'd let him fight his own battles

When he was young

He wouldn't be a coward today!

With satisfaction, I climbed clumsily down from the dogcart and stepped back, watching the murderous citizens express their desire to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. My words had only added to their certainty that something had to be done.

I felt the slightest twinge of sympathy as I pictured Elphaba – the Witch – up the hill in her castle, anticipating our arrival, perhaps even frightened, lonely. But then Nessarose's face flashed through my mind, and I gathered my resolve. The Witch deserved what she was going to get. As if accenting my decision, my leg joint squeaked. I winced but knew I would have to live with it until I could get the oil can from Dorothy. The little farmgirl was only an alibi to my real reason for accompanying the mob to the castle – a reason which I had just revealed. Revenge.

It was time to go; the men were gathering up their weapons in preparation for the march. One stopped to speak to me.

"That little dog knows the way to the castle, is that right?"

I nodded once.

"Well, we want it to lead the way and the three of you can follow. We'll come behind you."

My eyes narrowed. I resisted the temptation to ask the man who exactly was in charge here…who had been sent on this mission to get rid of the Witch in the first place. Instead, I turned my back on him and looked around for the Scarecrow and the Lion. The latter was prancing about nervously, waiting for instructions. I rolled my eyes and continued to scan the throng for the straw man.

I finally spotted him standing at the edge of the woods. He was looking anxiously over his shoulder into the ominous darkness. Something fluttered behind him, but it was impossible to make anything out in the shadows. Instead of jumping away in surprise, however, the Scarecrow merely put his back to the movement and folded his arms. That was suspicious…

At that moment, he looked up and locked eyes with me.

I smiled and approached him, reading his expression. He looked nervous, which I decided to credit to Dorothy's imprisonment.

"Don't worry Scarecrow. We'll rescue her, and then you'll get your brain, the Lion will get his courage, and I'll get my heart."

He didn't answer, so I shrugged and asked, "Are you ready? They want us to lead the way. Actually, they want Toto to lead the way, and us right behind."

He nodded anxiously. In fact, ever since we'd been given the task of retrieving the Witch's broom, he'd seemed subdued. I didn't understand why – he was on the path to getting his brain. I would have attributed it to fear, but that was the Lion's suit. I also got the idea he didn't like me very much, but I didn't know why. So far as I knew, we'd never met before, though he did seem somewhat familiar to me in an offbeat way.

The Lion appeared just then, cutting off further speculation. "It's not that I don't want to rescue Dorothy – because I do – but, I mean, that's the Witch's castle up there! What if she's expecting us? What if-"

The Scarecrow laughed as we began moving along the overgrown path with the mob following and Toto loping at our heels. "Of course she's expecting us, Lion! She probably saw us in her crystal ball ages ago."

I looked up quickly. "How do you know she has a crystal ball?"

He looked flustered, which aroused my suspicions at once.

"I…uh…well, all witches have one! Maybe she doesn't, how should I know?"

I definitely wasn't satisfied, but I rearranged my expression to look that way and retreated into my own thoughts. There was something so familiar about this scarecrow! I knew I had never met a scarecrow before, but maybe he reminded me of someone…or maybe, he, too, had been transformed by a spell. He had never, in fact, told us about his origins. Though the Lion and I had been plain about our emnity towards the Witch, the Scarecrow had remained slightly mysterious.

I chanced a sideways glance. Both of my companions appeared to be deep in their own thoughts as well. My musings turned to the Thropp sisters, as they did so often when allowed to stray. Both sisters had been willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted. Though actually, Nessarose had always somehow seemed the one more capable of actual cruelty, especially in later years. I remembered all too well the time I had spent as her servant, forced into submission along with all of the other Munchkins. In her deluded mind, Nessa even thought she was really being kind. It never crossed her mind that I did not love her. Or perhaps it had, and she refused to believe the plain truth. Whatever the reason, Nessa had not been a very good person, and I could not help but feel glad that she was dead, and I was free.

Elphaba was a very different case altogether, and the cause of most of my recent unrest. At Shiz, Elphaba had been passionate but not at all 'wicked'. She was sarcastic and bitter, but that was only to be expected after her difficult childhood and adolescence. I mean, green skin didn't exactly get her invited to all the coolest parties! When we started hanging around together in our group, I saw that she was really a decent person who cared about her friends. It was only after the events in the Emerald City that I became confused. Most Ozians saw her as wicked, and it was so easy to believe what other people did, and even more so as Nessarose kept me by her side. Like younger sister, like older sister, right? And just recently, Elphaba had shown up at the governer's house and turned me into tin. But had it really been Elphaba's fault? Or was it Nessa's after all? I couldn't remember, and most of me didn't want to. I just wanted to be angry without considering other options. I just wanted this over with. Elphaba was wicked. She was. I closed off my stream of thoughts just in time to hear the Lion asking the Scarecrow a question.

"…you all right, Scarecrow?"

I glanced over. The Scarecrow looked shell-shocked, as if some revelation had just hit him. When he saw us looking, he nodded and cleared his throat.

"Just…just ready for my brain, that's all."

I looked ahead and grinned. "Well, you won't have to wait long. We're here." I myself was surprised at how quickly we'd arrived at the castle. It loomed overhead, the moon perfectly framed behind the highest turret. For a moment, all else fled my mind as I remembered another full moon and a picnic with Nessarose, years ago. She spent the whole time leaning on me; I spent the whole time gazing up at the moon and wishing I was anywhere but there. The moon looked exactly the same tonight…

A great, shuddering boom tore me from my thoughts. Some of the Witch hunters had just battered a giant log into the front doors, which gave way with a crack. Shaking my thoughts away, I surged forward with the rest of the crowd as we forced our way in.

The first thing I noticed was how high the ceiling was. Almost simultaneously, I saw her. Elphaba. The Witch. She stood in the direct center of the room, tall and green and defiant. The look she bestowed upon all of us was both condescending and frightened. Her eyes raked each person's face. When our eyes met, she stiffened and her jaw tightened.

I twitched impatiently, still gazing at my one-time friend, waiting for someone else to make the first move. That move came in the form of Dorothy, who burst out of an upstairs chamber and galloped downstairs with the general air of a little girl. She skidded to a stop right between Elphaba and the rest of us and looked around blankly.

Elphaba took a half-step, and Dorothy gave a little squeak, seized a bucket of water I hadn't noticed before, and dumped it on the green witch, drenching her.

Instantly, the air was rent with a terrible scream, the most awful noise I had ever heard. It hardly seemed to come from Elphaba as it echoed around the room, almost like the sound of an animal in horrible pain. As the yell bit into the air, Elphaba slowly sank down to the floor, steam coming off her clothing. Was it possible? Was she…melting?

The sound tapered down into nothing, just as Elphaba had. Only her cloak and hat were left behind, marking the spot of the murder.

The silence in the hall was so complete you could have heard a pin drop. Then there was something like an explosion, and chaos reigned. Dorothy was hugging everyone; I forced a smile despite the continued confusion I felt, which did not seem to have disappeared when Elphaba melted. In fact, it had only intensified.

I was vaguely aware of Dorothy receiving the broomstick; of the crowd dispersing. Then I realized that the eyes of my companions were on me because I had not yet moved towards the door as they had.

I cleared my throat. "Let's go to the Wizard!" I announced. All within hearing cheered in response, and we plunged towards the outside.

As we made our way down the lane, my thoughts swirled in an endless vortex. Nessarose was dead. Elphaba was dead. Both Wicked Witches were vanquished; peace was in control.

So why did I feel so confused?

--------------------------

A/N: This chapter was done a little differently, with more deep thinking. Well, obviously I couldn't use "deep thinking" in Fiyero's chapter, because he hasn't got a brain, lol! But I kind of wanted to show how confused Boq was during the melting. I hope it showed. Review?