A/N: Omg when was the last time I updated? *gasps* last year? I just so happened to remember this story while studying for my modular assessments (though how Chinese is related to Wicked, I have no clue). Anyways, I'm back now, with this second-last chapter — yes, it's coming to an end soon.

Oh, and I should mention, that I'M FINALLY GOING TO NEW YORK! (For the first time in forever...) I'm so excited, I think my friend'll hafta bring a rope to tie me down to prevent me from ricocheting ten feet into the sky whenever I see the Wicked billboard in Times Square, which will be quite often, since the hotel I'm staying in will literally be a stone's throw away...

Ok enough about myself. On with the story :]


It was two days later when Fiyero woke to a scream.

"Oh my Oz, omiozomiozomiozzzz!"

He sat up in bed, his neck creaking. "Shit!" He must've slept in a murderous position last night. Alack, the cons of being human.

He was at the dining room in approximately two seconds. "Elphaba, are you al – " He was tackled before he could finish his sentence. Luckily this time he managed to keep his balance as Elphaba's green arms wove their way around his neck, her lips soaring up to meet his.

The kiss was brief, and when she pulled back, he could see her eyes were dancing with excitement.

"I found it!" she cried. "I found a spell!"

Fiyero took a few moments to realize what the ecstatic witch was saying. Even then, it was too late to reply, for she detached herself from him and ran to the dining table, where the Grimmerie was sitting.

"It's rather simple actually, to build a portal to another world. All I need to do is to circulate enough energy and magic to shift the occultic ions in the air, augment a few celestial electrons and make them excited, and based on kinetic occultism theories, we should be able to use the movement of the electrons to generate a static connection between..." Fiyero switched off the minute he heard 'ions'. Elphaba had taken Kumbrican physics in Shiz, a subject people rarely took, or understood, for that matter. He certainly hadn't taken it – hell, he had been struggling just trying to understand elementary physics – studies, in general, was never his forte.

So he focused his attention to his gaze, which lay upon those red, glossy lips of his love. Oh, they were so cute when they moved...

"...and 'poof!' we'll be in the Other World!"

Fiyero started out of his reverie. "Wait, we?"

Elphaba met his gaze. "Why yes, who did you think I was doing all this research for?"

Fiyero gawked at the green witch. "D-Dorothy?"

"Who?" questioned Elphaba, puzzlement flickering across her features. "Dorothy? Oh, oh, yes! Her, the farm rat. I forgot about her, thought she'd gone home by now."

"Elphaba, she's been waiting for you to get her home!" gasped Fiyero.

"Well, she needn't have," replied Elphaba nonchalantly. "I'm sorry, I thought Glinda'd figured it out. After all, she was the one who enacted the spell after all – "

Fiyero interrupted, confused. "Wait, Glinda enacted what spell?"

Elphaba walked up to him, cupped his face in her two hands, and shook her head. "It must be so miserable being empty-headed," she said. "Love, Glinda practices Light magic, whereas Nessa was using Black magic. When Glinda gave Dorothy the shoes, she used a binding spell to fix them – they were nearly broken from the crash – and to fix them onto the girl. Glinda's spell added to the shoes at least kilojoules worth of magic. That's why Nessa couldn't touch the shoes when they were on Dorothy – her magic clashed. All Dorothy has to do now is click her heels to let the occultic ions collide – three times to generate enough magic – and the portal shall open, and bam! she'll be back at her rotten farmhouse."

Fiyero's jaw hung loose.

"What, do you not understand?" asked Elphaba. "Shall I repeat it again?"

"Wha – oh, no! I did hear you," said Fiyero hurriedly, forcing himself out of his stupor. He didn't need another lecture on Kumbrican physics and all this voodoo science."I was just thinking...so Dorothy could've gone home the minute Glinda gave her those blasted shoes?!" He couldn't help his rise in voice. He'd had to spend a whole few days with the girl, who would babble for hours on how the Wizard might get her home, when the key to her return was right on her feet the whole time.

"Yes, technically she could've," replied Elphaba. "Though she could probably end up in Narnia, or Camelot, or any of those other dimensions I've read about."

Fiyero opened his mouth in inquiry, before the doors of the dining hall burst open, and in swept Glinda – well, limped – with Dorothy trailing behind.

"What is all that shouting?" she demanded. "I swear I nearly thought someone was storming Kiamo Ko!"

"I'm sorry if we roused you from your sleep, sleeping beauty," said Elphaba, a smirk on her face. "But can't bottle up the joy when I found a spell!"

Fiyero swore the whole of Vinkus could hear the scream.

"I knew you could do it, Elphie!" and Glinda promptly tackled Elphaba with a bear hug. She drew away and grinned at Dorothy. "Now Dorothy'll finally be able to return to the home of her loved ones."

"Yes, yes, Dorothy shall have her happy ending," drawled Elphaba. "Now, Dorothy, I figured out how this works about two – "

" – hours ago," Fiyero cut across quickly. He didn't want Dorothy realizing she could've been home by now if Elphaba had just told her two days ago.

Elphaba shot him a befuddled glance, but to his relief, did not press the matter. "Anyways," she continued. "All you need to do is to click your heels three times, and say 'There's no place like home'."

"What, no more?" asked Glinda, surprised. "No hoodooing with portals and occultic ions and all that Kumbrican Physics gibberish I never actually understood?"

"What?" Dorothy's eyebrows were knitted together in confusion.

"Listen no more to Glinda's babbling, dearie," said Elphaba dismissively. "Of course that's not all. Now, in order for the spell to take full effect, you have to do it on the night of the Jackal Moon – yes, now I remember why I didn't tell you about it before, Yero."

"The Jackal Moon?" queried Dorothy.

"It's a lunar event that occurs once every generation," explained Fiyero.

"The Jackal Moon is when the most celestial energy is directed upon Oz. It is the only known period wherein the proper crossing of dimensions can occur," added Elphaba. "Make any attempt any other time, the crossover has very little chances of success."

"So I'll hafta wait for this event to occur before I can go 'ome?" asked Dorothy. "And till then, I'm stuck 'ere? Oh the cruelty of time! I shall never get to see Aunt Em or Uncle 'enry before this generation is up!" She began to cry.

"Surely, Fae, there must be another way to send her back," insisted Fiyero.

"There is no other way," replied Elphaba, her voice level.

Dorothy's sobs got louder, and Glinda moved to comfort her.

Elphaba sighed. "However, you are one very lucky farm brat, I must say," Elphaba said, looking down at Dorothy. "The Jackal Moon so happens to be tonight."

Fiyero's eyes widened in disbelief, and Glinda's in anger. "Elphaba!" Their voices rose in unison.

Dorothy's eyes, on the other hand, grew in delight. "Really?" At once her face was like a burst of sunshine. "Oh you wicked thing! Tricking me into thinking I was trapped 'ere till the next Jackal Moon!"

"I did not trick you," Elphaba pointed out. "It's hardly my fault you jumped to conclusions."

"So I can go 'ome tonight?" asked Dorothy.

"Meet me at the garden at 8 o' clock – it's the most open since all the trees are dead – you'll receive the most energy there. I'll instruct you from there. For now, Glinda'll bring you back to your room." She turned to Glinda, "If it's alright by you?"

"Certainly," said Glinda, taking up a now smiling Dorothy's hand and leading her away.

The minute the train of the Good Witch's cloak disappeared round the doorway, Elphaba rounded on Fiyero.

"Pack your things, Yero, whatever you need."

Fiyero was taken off guard at this sudden order. "What?"

"To prepare for our trip," said Elphaba. "Don't want to run around naked in the Other World, do you?"

"Wait, Fae, are you meaning to tell me – "

"Oz, Fiyero I already explained it before Glinda and the rat came barging in."

"You were serious?"

Elphaba nodded, a smile of happiness playing on her face.

"Dorothy isn't the only one leaving Oz tonight."


Glinda escorted Dorothy to her room, only half listening to the girl as she raved on about what she was going to do when she got back to her land named 'Cansis'. Perhaps after the girl was gone, she and Elphaba and Fiyero could come and stay in the Emerald Palace with her. She could clear Elphaba's name, and they would live happily ever after. They'd all have their happy endings.

"...and I'd say hello to everyone in the neighborhood! Do you think they'll be 'appy to see me, Miss Glinda? Oh, don't answer that, of course they'll be 'appy! I'll be able to 'elp Aunt Em and Uncle 'enry with their farm again. I wonder 'ow Billina is doing; she's a chick, just a few days old now. Oh dear, I 'ope Uncle 'enry 'asn't killed her yet! It would be terrible, it would – "

"Erm, Dorothy, dear?" asked Glinda, interrupting her rant. "I think I left my purse in the dining room. Do you think you'll be able to make it up to your room without me?"

"I most positively think I can," she replied jovially, and skipped up the stairs humming a light tune.

Ridden of her chatterbox companion, Glinda turned and headed back to the dining room in silence.

"...elope together!" Glinda halted in her tracks. Elope? Who was planning on eloping?

"Fae, you are sure about this."

"Yero, isn't it all we ever wanted?" she heard Elphaba's voice, laced with excitement and happiness. She'd never heard her friend so happy before.

"Well yes..."

"We can finally be together, alone – no one'll recognize us outside Oz! I even found a spell that could change my complexion! No one will be able to pull us apart again. Ever."

"It's tempting..."

Glinda felt her stomach drop. They were planning on leaving. Elphaba and Fiyero, the only two people who were truly her friends, were planning on abandoning her. A sense of betrayal hit her.

"I'll take that as a yes. Oh, we must tell Glinda of this! She'll be so happy for us!"

Happy?

"No, Fae, wait!" She heard Fiyero's urgent voice. Yes, Fiyero, decline...say you'll stay, say that I'll be able to find lodging for you both! "We can't."

Relief washed over Glinda.

"We can't tell Glinda."

What?

"What, why?" She heard Elphaba's shocked voice mirror her own voice in her head. "She's my best friend!"

"Yes I know, but Glinda's not exactly the type to let go easily. She'll delay us...try to convince us to stay," Fiyero's voice was heartbreaking, as if it pained him to say such things about her.

There was a moment of silence, before it was broken by a tired sigh. "I...I suppose you're right, Yero. Our goodbyes will never end," admitted Elphaba. There was a pause, before she continued, her voice aching and strained. "We leave tonight, after I cast the spell for Dorothy. I'll make Glinda a potion so she won't remember our living."

"Wait...she won't know we existed?"

"No, she'll know we existed, but I'll alter her memories so that she continues to believe you died in the cornfield and I died...well, by that bucket of water. The possession never happened either," Glinda could tell that Elphaba was choking on her words. "It's for the best...I won't risk her knowing we are alive."

Tears pricked at the edge of her eyes. She was going to have her memories removed? She was going to think Elphie dead?

Glinda could stand it no longer. She whipped around, fleeing from the dining room as fast as her legs could carry her – as fast as the tears spilling down her cheeks.