AN:

Hey, surprise again!

I know this is a tick early, but I suppose most of you won't mind...

I just had a terrible day today and really feel like strangling cute, innocent Fiyeraba babies right now! But I decided to stay strong and desist. Instead, I'm giving you this chapter!

*O*O*O*O*

Guest:

I think Elphaba is kinda 'accidentally' funny xD But I'm glad you like her and the story! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! :D

*O*O*O*O*

As always, happy reading! :3

Chapter Thirteen: Burning Tears

Glinda felt faint. Bringing her hand up to her right temple and blinking her eyes a few times, she tried to will away the dizziness, but it was to no use.

"Elphie?" she whimpered miserably, "Could we perhaps finish for tonight? I feel like the room is spinning around me.

The emerald Princess looked up from the book she had been reading from, showing little empathy for the blonde.

"No wonder after the amount of wine you've head," she commented flatly and carefully set the book aside.

Cradling her head, Glinda pouted.

"Don't judge me, Elphie! You weren't there. I tell you, Avaric was being so obnoxious - no one would be able to bear that without being sufficiently inebriated."

"If you say so," Elphaba replied, shrugging her shoulders as she poured a cup of water. She handed the drink to Glinda and sat down beside her.

"So. When are you going back?"

It took the Gillikinese a clock-tick to discern the meaning of Elphaba's words, but when realization finally hit her, she felt her insides flip over. She took a big gulp of the water to hide her befuddlement.

"Quite eager to get rid of me, aren't you?"

She laughed as she said that, but the rising panic threatened to choke her. Anxiously, she dared a brief side-glance to gauge Elphaba's reaction. The raven-haired woman seemed too busy weaving her silken strands into a braid to answer and Glinda's lower lip began to quiver.

"You are!" she choked out, pure horror written all over her pale face and the first few glistening teardrops already pricking her eyes.

She grabbed the next best cushion and hurled it at Elphaba.

"You can't wait for me to disappear, can you?"

The pillow missed its target as Elphaba shot up in alarm.

"What? I never said anything like that!"

"Well, you don't have to say it to mean it!"

"No, Glinda, I…"

Elphaba let herself slump back onto the settee, exhaling noisily.

"Listen. It's just… Just think of all those Animals that are homeless and starving, being abused, locked up; there are so many things that need to be taken care of. That you need to take care of. Something has to happen as soon as possible, and you know that."

She looked up, holding Glinda's gaze, and the smaller woman found herself completely enthralled by the bizarre, yet beautiful admixture of burning passion and terrible sadness reflecting in the depths of those dark brown eyes.

"That's all. That's the only reason," Elphaba continued, and turning away, her arms tightly wrapped around her midsection, she very quietly admitted, "Of course I don't want you leave."

Glinda swallowed the lump that had built up in her throat and wiped away the tears she had spilt.

"But Elphie," she said, her voice still thick with emotion, "I'm not ready yet. Please, tell me I can stay a little longer. There is so much you can still teach me."

The green woman shifted anxiously, sliding her hands underneath her thighs. After taking a deep breath, she shook her head.

"These problems are not deferrable. It has been too long already."

"No, Elphie," Glinda protested. "I'm serious! Please. I need your help. I can't do this by myself. Not now."

She bit her lip.

"Maybe not ever, who knows, but definitely not now."

She watched Elphaba work her jaw, run her hands over her tired face, and finally nod ever so slightly.

"Only next time… make sure you drink less before we meet, so we can accomplish more studying than tonight."

With that, the taller woman rose to her feet.

"I'll be back momentarily. I need to use the facilities."

Galinda yawned and watched Elphaba disappear into the adjoining room. Feeling at least marginally better, she dragged herself off the sofa, across the parlour, and into her bedroom. She fell into her generously sized bed, releasing a relieved groan.

Barely a minute later, Elphaba entered the room, finding the petite blonde lying transverse on top of the plush quilt, already fast asleep. Chuckling, she shook her head before retrieving an additional blanket from the wardrobe. She first draped it over Glinda, then slipped into bed next to her, folding her lanky body in a way so she could still fit.

In the middle of the night, Glinda was woken by a loud thud. She bolted upright in bed, looking about frantically. Only now, she realised that it was storming outside. Angry wind whipped the rain against the windows, and a shiver ran down the delicate woman's spine.

"Elphie?"

She felt the empty space next to her. The sheets were still warm, but the green Princess was nowhere to be seen.

"Elphiiiiieeee?"

Her timid calls were answered by crabby grunting and moaning, and cautiously, she crawled to the edge of the bed, from where the noises seemed to be coming.

"Oh, Elphie!" she exclaimed when she spotted the Vinkun girl curled up on the hard floor. "Are you hurt, Elphie? How did you tumble out of the bed in the first place?"

"Well, it would appear that the tiniest people need the most space," Elphaba retorted grumpily.

"No! How could I possibly-"

A crack of thunder interrupted Glinda's sentence and made her shriek.

"Oh. I think I know what happened," she murmured sheepishly once she had recovered from the fright.

Elphaba pulled herself up and onto the bed, quirking an eyebrow.

"Do you always get nightmares when it's storming at night?"

The blonde nodded.

"Yes. Sometimes I even realise I'm dreaming, but other times I won't notice before I find myself sitting disorientated on the floor. It all began when I was still little and my mother and father died in an accident."

Elphaba, in a rare display of affection, wrapped her arms around her friend, guiding her head to rest against her bony shoulder. Then she began to rock her like Nanny had done with her when she had still been a small child.

"I'm sorry, my sweet."

Glinda nuzzled into Elphaba and heaved a shuddering breath.

"It's all right, Elphie," she whispered. "That was a very long time ago. It's terrible; I can't even clearly picture their faces anymore. Only the images of that night – they remain terribly unchanged, never fading, never loosing their bite.

They remained like this for a short while, until Elphaba felt Glinda nodding off, her body sacking even heavier against hers. Gently she prodded her friend.

"Come, let's lie down."

Glinda could have simply stayed this way all night, but maybe that would have been a tad uncomfortable for Elphaba, who needed her sleep just as much as she did. Albeit only grudgingly, she peeled herself off Elphaba's chest and, heavy as a rock, crashed into the pillows. Then she turned on her side and closed her eyes.

She could still hear the wind howl through the night and the rain patter against her window. She knew Elphaba was sleeping right beside her, but she couldn't feel her. For a clock-tick, she considered wiggling a little closer so the emerald woman's soothing warmth would shield and protect her from further nightmares, but she desisted.

Their previous conversation came to her mind and she struggled to stifle a small sob. Of course she would have to leave the Vinkus behind eventually, and with that her dearest friend. Even after such a ridiculously short time – a matter of mere weeks – it already seemed like she would have to actually learn how to live without Elphaba again. So she decided that she should probably begin practicing right this instant.

An hour passed and then another. There was no sleep for the upset blonde. Without Elphaba's help, she was too afraid to try in earnest. She wondered whether her future husband would provide enough comfort for her to fight those ghost that surely would still haunt her stormy nights for years and years to come. Would Fiyero ever make her feel as safe and calm as Elphaba did? She did remember a few quiet moments that she had spent wrapped in his strong, protective arms, yet she could not recall feeling particularly warm. Not on the inside at least. Not the way she felt the warmth circulating through her entire system when she sat beside Elphaba, cuddled against her scrawny frame, listening to her read to her from one book or another.

No, Fiyero would certainly not be particularly helpful in those frightening times.

Awfully tired, irritated and despondent, Glinda could not longer hold back the tears. She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her slender arms around them as a few salty drops ran down her cheek, accompanied by the sound of quiet snivelling.

Although she was still crying, she could feel how her body was slowly giving in to exhaustion. Her lids became heavier and her thoughts blurrier. She almost fell asleep, but then a long-fingered hand gently grasped her shoulder and made her turn onto her back.

"Still the nightmares, my sweet?" Elphaba guessed.

She looked only half awake, but seemed concerned enough to listen to whatever the shorter woman needed to get off her chest.

Glinda chewed the insides of her cheeks, unsure how to reply. She could simply lie and say it was just the dreams, asking her Elphie to hold her and try to go back to sleep. The most obvious alternative was to tell the Vinkun exactly what she had been pondering, but that seemed an impossible thing to do. It would only make her appear silly, crazy or, at worst, obsessed.

In the end, she devised yet another solution and shared a very different truth with her friend, something she had never even considered telling her.

"I'm not ready to marry Fiyero," she admitted, the astonishing words tumbling out of her mouth at their own volition.

Elphaba scooted closer and folded her gangly limbs around Glinda's tiny waist, immediately causing a surge of warmth to spread throughout her body.

"Is my brother not to your liking?" she chuckled, and when her breath brushed the Gillikinese's neck, the warmth turned into a wave of heat that made her heart beat faster.

Glinda blushed. Somehow this closeness felt unusually intimate, even though it seemed hardly more so than all those other touches they exchanged on a regular basis. Was it the nature of the issue that was being discussed, she wondered, or her earlier thoughts where she had literally compared Elphaba to the person she would soon share the nuptial bed with? Her blush spread like a wildfire, adding to the heat already raging through her. She decided to blame the wine and her drowsiness, and forced herself to answer. There was no point in evading the topic now.

"No, that's not it," she replied, uttering a tiny sigh. "Who wouldn't like Fiyero? He's quite perfect. Except… Maybe you're right and he really wouldn't be a good choice as King of Oz."

Elphaba took some time to reply, but then she told her in a strained voice, "Contrary to what I said earlier, I believe that you would be a very capable queen. And maybe you even have enough brains and backbone for the both of you." She couldn't hold back a wicked, little smirk. "I actually think the two of you wouldn't make such a terrible duo."

Hearing Elphaba say such things about her, made the blonde's chest swell with pride and her face beam with confidence. The effect didn't last long, however, and as quickly as her spirit had lifted, it fell again, triggering another torrent of fresh tears.

"Oh, Elphie! What in Oz will I ever do without you?"

The green woman's long fingers combed through golden curls. They brushed away the strand that had fallen over Glinda's forehead, making space for thin, grey-green lips to plant a feather-light kiss.

"Marry my brother and live happily ever after. That's what you will do."

Wiping away some tears, Glinda snuffled.

"I know, I'm being really childish, but I have come to realise that my feelings for him will most likely never exceed a basic level of infatuation and adoration. And the more time I spend thinking about this, the more the idea of spending the rest of my life together with a man I don't love terrifies me.

"Appears like you were right after all; what a complete and utter ingénue I am, crying over the absence of love when I should worry about running my country. A fine queen I'll make!"

Elphaba's swallowing was loud enough for Glinda to hear, and the uncontrolled beating of her heart was strong enough for Glinda to feel, yet what these small signs might mean, was too mysterious for the blonde to even attempt venturing a guess.

"H-how do you know you don't love him?" the emerald Princes wanted to know.

Glinda shook her head.

"I just don't feel anything. If I were in love, I'd know, and since I don't, I'm not."

"Ah…"

"And how could it possibly be love when he takes me to the most romantic places and plans out the most amazing rendezvous' for me, and all I can think about is how I'd rather spend the time in your ridiculously small and dilapidated room, huddled up on your squeaky, old bed, under that terribly scratchy blanket of yours, discussing Animal rights with you?"

Her explanation was met with wide, brown eyes that stared at her in what she interpreted as plain disbelieve. Then these eyes suddenly dropped, self-consciously searching for a different object of interest.

"I-I don't know," Elphaba muttered. "I mean, how could I possibly know? It's not like I was made for loving, or for being loved for that matter.

Glinda pouted at that and lightly cuffed the Vinkun's bare upper arm.

"Don't be ridiculous, Elphie!"

Elphaba brought up her hand to rub the spot, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

"But this does sound to me like you are excellent queen material."

Glinda was sceptical as far as Elphaba's interpretation of her words went, but she realised, that she might already have said too much. Setting out to explore their true meaning, was a potentially dangerous undertaking.

"... But Elphie says it wouldn't matter, because even though the link between Animals and humans has already been well established by the scientific community, the Wizard still chooses to pretend that the evidence is vague and circumstantial at best."

Galinda sighed as she finished her summary of yet another Animal rights issue she had been discussing with Elphaba.

"Sweetheart," Avaric chuckled, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. "Do you actually realise how incessantly you talk about her? Makes one wonder whether you ought be courting the beanstalk, rather than poor Fiyero here."

The young lady stared at him in shocked silence. She didn't know what was worse: being called out for her inconsiderate blathering, or Avaric's liberal tongue.

She felt a warm hand covering her own.

"It's all right," Fiyero murmured, and lowering her blue eyes, she whispered an apology.

The mood remained subdued throughout most of their lunch engagement. Eventually, Avaric decided that it would be up to him to once more breath life into the conversation.

"Hey, Yero; how long has it been since the two of us last went to a Gillikin horse race?"

"Probably a while," the Prince replied after thinking for a clock-tick. "I can't even remember. I guess that means it's about time we went again."

Avaric made a face and shook his head.

"There's no point now. Have you heard of Shadow Fox?"

Tensing as the young Margreave mentioned her horse's name, Galinda kept poking at her peas, all attempts at spearing one with her fork remaining unsuccessful. He was talking to Fiyero, yet it seemed obvious to her that his real motivation was to tease her.

"No," replied Fiyero, "but I'm going to guess it's one of the horses."

"A true champion," the Gillikinese lord answered, nodding, his voice dripping with an unnatural excess of admiration. "One of the very best Oz has ever seen. Yet his owner, to everyone's great surprise, retired him right after he won his most recent race. At the apex of his career, can you imagine this, Yero-boy? What a shame, what a waste!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Fiyero managed a noncommittal "Yeah, odd..."

"You saw him competing." Avaric suddenly turned to Galinda. "Don't you also think that horse races will be rather boring now that his only real rival will lead the field alone until a new marvel like Fox has been found?"

After clearing her throat quietly and tossing her hair elegantly over her shoulder, the blonde initially responded to his question with nothing but a sweet smile. Fiyero didn't appear to pay much attention anyway, but Avaric cocked an eyebrow at her, and so she rolled her eyes before answering:

"Well, I imagine the owner might have re-evaluated the risks every single one of those races holds for their animal and finally decided to put him to other uses."

"How dull," Avaric commented, but at least he did not insist on ploughing on.

After they had finished their lunch, Fiyero told Avaric to efface himself as best he could for the rest of the day. He would have much preferred to send him away altogether, however, for the young couple to explore the town entirely unchaperoned, would only have reflected discredit upon Galinda's virtue and given rise to unwelcome gossip.

Walking arm in arm, they passed small coffee shops, colourfully decorated shop windows and street vendors offering all sorts of snacks and treats. They talked a little about the upcoming ball in honour of Fiyero's twentieth birthday, and Galinda did her best not to let the feeling of dread welling in her chest filter into her voice as she spoke. When she had first learnt about the ball, she had briefly entertained the notion of feigning sickness, so she would have to - 'most regretfully' of course - stay away from the event. But hearing how enthusiastic the Vinkun was talking about everything he and his parents had planned, she knew she wouldn't possibly have the heart to follow through with such a scheme when the time came.

With his mood so greatly improved from their conversation, Fiyero felt like he should be more generous to his darling Lin, so he asked her to pick something she liked from any of the stores. The blonde hesitated, yet could hardly reject his kind offer. He was, after all, officially courting her, and thus there was no good reason for her to not accept whatever favours he wished to bestow upon her.

They first entered a boutique that sold beautiful traditional Vinkun jewellery. Although she admired the showcased pieces for their beautiful shapes and designs, she decided that none of them would suit her or the dresses she owned. After that, they rummaged through several more stores, yet all of Fiyero's efforts to find something for his love came to nothing. Unbeknownst to him, there had been a couple of things she liked, but Galinda had long since come to the conclusion, that nothing would be wrong with her only pretending to look for a potential gift.

By the time they reached the last shop at the very end of the main street, Fiyero was already exhausted, and so was Galinda. Naturally, a true lady would never show any signs of weariness in public, so she put on a brave face with a pretty smile, and walked through the door, adamant to find some small and inexpensive token for her royal suitor to buy for her. Maybe then, she hoped they could at last end this silly game and finally go home.

The store was surprisingly large on the inside, given the fact that all they sold were scarves. Granted, there were a host of varieties – woollen scarves, silken scarves; thick scarves, thin scarves; multi-coloured ones and plain ones – but there was still nothing else to purchase but scarves!

Much to Galinda's surprise, she soon found that she couldn't stop herself from inspecting each one of them, studying their hues and patterns, rubbing them against her cheek to feel their softness. The salesperson told her all about the ancient tradition of weaving in the Vinkus, and how particularly large scarves had for centuries been all a woman of the steppe would ever wear in her life. But she heard barely half of all this, too absorbed in this fascinating world of colours and textures.

About halfway through the entire range of silk scarves – Fiyero and Avaric had meanwhile found a seat in a remote corner and accepted some herbal tea from one of the assistants – the blonde found something she thought was truly special. It was a medium sized, triangular shawl with pretty fringe tassels lining the two shorter sides. Compared to most of the others, this one was less vibrant, with a black background and a pattern of deep red roses.

She loved it, and she knew she simply had to buy it. Not for herself, of course – were she to wear such dark colours, she'd appear sickly pale, and lifeless like a ghost! No, the scarf was beautiful, but the only person that could ever help it find complete expression, was most definitely Elphaba. She imagined her wearing it together with the lovely bordeaux gown she had first seen her in and smiled. However, soon the smile gave way to a hint of discontent. Tilting her head thoughtfully, and slightly furrowing her well-groomed brows, she then decided, that it would be an insult to the cloth's smooth and delicate texture to drape it over a garment of such humble design and make, when it could otherwise rest directly on her Elphie's divine, emerald skin.

This last thought lingered for a moment, then Galinda snapped out of her contemplations, the full realisation of what sort of picture it was that she had been envisioning causing her entire body to flush. To hide her embarrassment, she quickly diverted her attention to another section of the store and spontaneously chose a long, narrow scarf of pink wool.

"This one is lovely," she said as she finally walked over to Fiyero to show him the item she had picked.

The Prince had clearly expected her to choose a slightly more expensive gift, but not keen on spending much more time on this shopping venture, he only shrugged and handed the merchant some money.

They were about to leave, and Avaric was actually already out of the door, when Galinda suddenly turned on her heels and hurried back to fetch the black shawl with the roses from the rack.

"This one as well, please," she told the salesperson, trying not to blush.

Fiyero, who had noticed her volte-face, quickly crossed the shop floor, money ready, but Galinda had already handed over the due amount.

"It's for Elphie," she explained when confronted with the Prince's questioning look, not trusting herself to make eye contact.

They arrived back at the castle around dinnertime, which only left a few minutes to freshen up and a change of clothes. After dinner, Fiyero asked Galinda to stay and play piano with him, but hoping to see Elphaba as soon as possible in order to give her the present, she declined, affecting tiredness.

She returned to her room and changed into her nightshift. In a small bag, she packed the old biology textbook (they were nearly through now), and the shawl. Then she whipped on her dressing gown and put on her slippers. They had agreed to meet in Elphaba's room that night.

All the way up the stairs and to the abandoned reading room, she did not encounter a single soul, for which she was immensely thankful. When she opened the old, squeaking door, however, her luck ran out.

Already standing at the top of the long winding staircase, she could hear two loud voices. They were shouting, arguing about something, she realised, although she could not make out any of the words. Now if she had been a little shrewder and a little less nosy, she would have turned away at that point, and waited for the voices to fall silent. But curious and imprudent as she was, she began her descent.

After only a few steps, a loud bang echoed though the empty space as a door fell shut. The shuffling of hurried footsteps came quickly closer, and suddenly gripped by panic, Galinda froze. Soon Fiyero emerged, and the petite blonde greeted him with nervous giggling.

"What are you doing here Fiyero? It's quite late."

The Prince stopped just two steps in front of her.

"Well, that's a very valid question indeed, especially if I were the one asking you."

Anxiously playing with the strap of her bag, she thought of the book.

"I-I just remembered that I still have to return Elphaba's biology text. I keep forgetting, so… so… um… I decided to do it now, before, well, before I forget again."

It was difficult to tell from Fiyero's expression whether he really believed her story, but at any rate, he did not challenge her.

"Perhaps this is not the best time for that," he replied. "My sister seems to be rather unagreeable tonight. You better wait until tomorrow."

"Oh."

He took the next two stairs, so that he stood right beside her.

"Come, I'll walk you back to your room."

Galinda nodded, biting back her annoyance and disappointment.

The following morning, she made sure to see Elphaba before breakfast. She floated down the stairs in her layered, yellow chiffon dress, and ripped open the door to her shabby room. The green woman sat on her bed, reading a book – already awake, but still in her nightgown.

"Elphie!" Glinda squealed, as she hopped onto the frail bed.

By now fairly used to the blonde's sometimes quite rambunctious nature, Elphaba remained unfazed, and took her time finishing the page before looking up.

"Oh, Elphie, I'm so terribly sorry about last night," the smaller woman immediately apologised. "But I ran into Fiyero and he insisted I went back to bed."

"I suspected as much," the Princess nodded.

"But look, I brought a present for you!"

"A what?"

Galinda quickly fished the scarf out of her bag and held it out it to her friend. At least her nightly encounter with Fiyero had given her a chance to search her room for a nice ribbon to tie around her gift. She had been quite pleased when she had found a thin, apple green satin sash in one of her hatboxes.

"You really didn't have to," Elphaba muttered, her hands still resting in her lap.

"Oh, but I did! Don't you see? It suits you so perfectly, the weaver must have thought about you when he made it!

"And now take it already before my arm falls off!"

"That's silly," Elphaba replied, but gracefully accepted the gift. "It is very beautiful. Thank you."

"You're most welcome."

The emerald Princess gingerly removed the ribbon and unfolded the shawl, holding it up so she could study it more closely.

Then Glinda gasped.

"Elphie! What's wrong with your hand?"

Elphaba quickly dropped her hands and hid them between the folds of the soft fabric of the shawl.

"It's nothing."

"Poppycock! I'm not blind!"

When the petite blonde lounged forward, her hands darting for Elphaba's, the raven-haired woman tried to ward her off, but no matter how fervent her resistance, Glinda's persistence won in the end.

"Are those burn marks?" Glinda asked with wide eyes. "It's waterburns, isn't it?"

"As I already said, it's nothing."

"But when in Oz do you ever handle-" the blonde stopped midsentence, dropping her friend's injured hands and covered her mouth with her flawless ones.

Ever since she had learnt about Elphaba's unusual allergy, she had been watching her. She hardly ever went near water, and if she did, she always proceeded with the upmost level of caution.

"This is my fault, isn't it? The other night… I cried and you… Oh you silly, green thing! You should have stayed away from me!"

"The marks will be gone in another day or so. They mostly don't leave scars," Elphaba responded flatly.

But Glinda was inconsolable.

"My poor Elphie. Does it hurt? I bet it hurts, it already hurts me just to look at it!"

Then she once more bounced at the green woman.

"Where else did I burn you?" she demanded to know while struggling with her.

"Nowhere," Elphaba gasped out with a laboured grunt as she pushed her back and against the wall.

Still holding Glinda's hands pinned above her head to prevent another attack, she panted.

"My nightdress soaked up most of the moisture. It's only my hands that were uncovered. Now please calm down."

The blonde nodded and ceased her struggling.

"Well, I know that you don't want me to apologise, so instead, please promise me to be more careful next time. Either use a rain cape, or push me away. Understood?"

Elphaba regarded her with a confused look on her face, but Glinda left it at that.

"So, what are we going to do today?" she asked, all of the sudden chipper again.

"Well, today's lesson will be a practical one. We'll mingle with the laundry maids."

Seeing the blonde's dumbfounded expression, Elphaba had to seriously fight not to laugh.

"What in Oz- Elphie, what ever for?"

Grey-green lips formed a wicked smirk.

"Worried I put those dainty hands of yours to hard work?"

Glinda briefly examined her delicate, soft hands, then pouted and looked up to Elphaba who broke into a loud cackle.

"No worries, Princess, this isn't a washday – or do you think I out of all people would be particularly keen on splashing around in soapy water?"

Glinda had to agree that Elphaba had a point.

"Anyway, I'm sure collecting the dry linens form the laundry line won't do much harm. And if you really have to, you could just stand by and keep us company."

Although feeling considerably reassured at that, the smaller woman was still puzzled.

"Very well, but please be so kind as to enlighten me: why are we doing this?"

"Oh, right. Well, most of the laundry maids are Animals, you must know. I'd like you to get to talk to them, get to know them and hear their stories. Some of them are refugees from the Emerald City and surrounding towns and villages."

"I see."

Nodding, Glinda stood.

"Very well then. But first I need to go back to have some breakfast. And perhaps a change of clothes is in order."

"That would be sensible indeed, my pretty," Elphaba agreed as she watched her friend heading for the door. "I'll meet you in the kitchen as soon as you're done?"

Once more, Glinda bobbed her head, and with a wide smile, disappeared.