Hello all! Welcome to chapter 26 of 'The darkness of the night'. We sees the conclusion of the battle between Glinda and Oscar. Then we will see the aftermath of it all. Oh, I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a good holiday and ate a lot of turkey. With that I will shut up now and let you all read on. Read and enjoy!

Chapter 26

Oscar is laughing in triumph when he sees the deadly hand is getting closer to his face. It looks like the more appealing side has won out in Glinda's head so he is waiting for the kill blow to hit him. He watches the flaming fist sail past his face before there is a loud crack next to his ear. This is not supposed to happen. He should be dead.

"What?" he mumbles in confusion when he doesn't get a fist full of fire in his face. Glinda is breathing raggedly with her eyes looking down at him. They have returned to their normal, crystal blue eyes the rage has all but disappeared and now filled with clarity on this whole situation.

"I'm not you, Oscar. I never will be." Glinda whispers to him as she pulls her hand out of the hole she made in the stage. Elphaba is right. She can't stoop to his level. It would destroy her in the end. The good witch knows she has to make amends for the soldiers she has killed, which she will do after is stripped of his power and rooting in the South stairs for life.

"You've killed. That will never go away. I'll make sure it haunts you for the re-"

His ranting is stopped cold when the good witch gives a hard, magic filled punch to the face. She breathes deeply through her nose after this before she gets off his body. That really felt exhilarating to say the least. She wanted to do that for the longest time. He should be out for a while.

"Glinda."

A small smile graces her lips as she turns around to see all of her family at her. Tears start to mist at her eyes when she sees that Rain is among them staring at her. She can't describe how much that makes her happy that she didn't lose her like she lost Silver. She will be forever grateful to the gods who let her come back to them. The blonde then couldn't help the tears that started to run down her face. She puts her hands to her face as her crying gets harder. The realization of it all being over is just starting to sink in. She is free and soon all the Animals will be free as well. Her shoulders haven't felt so light in years. The heavy burden she has been carrying is finally gone.

"I got you." Elphaba's voice floats into her ears as her warmth envelops the good witch's body like a protective cocoon. Glinda wipes away her tears before she looks up to her wife with a smile, which brings the green woman to smile at such a rare thing on Glinda's face. She didn't realize how little the blonde has been smiling over the years.

"It's finally over, Elphie." She says as she puts her hands on Elphaba's chest. The raven haired beauty puts her own hands on top the pale ones before bringing them to her lips for a loving kiss. This nightmare is over for them, finally.

"It is. I'm proud of you, Glin. You just showed good always triumph over evil." She says as she keeps a hold of her wife's hands. A part of her is afraid that the blonde would have killed her father and be lost for evil forever. It's something she would never forgive herself if it happened.

"Lady Glinda."

Glinda walks past Elphaba to see who has called her by her formal name. Her green colored wife keeps one of arms wrapped around the blonde's waist to show that she isn't going anywhere from Glinda's side. The blonde blinks her eyes when she sees a very familiar soldier wearing captain of the guard uniform.

"Tidus? Is that you?" Glinda questions in disbelief at seeing the young man she use to talk to back when she lived in the palace. Tidus gives a slight smirk when she says his name. It's nice to know that she still remembers him. Guess he is rememberable after all.

"Yes ma'am. I'm captain of the Gale Force now." The captain gives a pause as his throat tightens up in memory of what he had to do to her under Oscar's regime. He doesn't know how to put his apology into words so he gets down to one knee, the soldiers that have accompanied him quickly follow suit when they sees this, and bows his head. Elphaba blinks her eyes at what she sees. She is ready for a fight to happen because she thought they were going to take Glinda away for what she has done.

"As long as I'm captain of the Gale Force, Lady Glinda, Now harm will come to you as you rule Oz. I vouch for you to succeed the Wizard of Oz." Tidus says with his head still bowed in reverence to the good witch. Glinda almost faints at hearing this while Elphaba's eyes widen to the size of saucers. Here she thought they were going to be arrested for what they have done but now her wife is being asked to rule Oz. It's the last thing she thought would happen.

"I-I don't know. The people of Oz might not agree with this." Glinda replies with uncertainty as she puts a hand under her chin. Could she bring the people of Oz together again and rule in peace or will it be chaos because they love the Wizard so much.

"It's clear the people still adore you. Please consider. I know you can do it." Tidus counters as she lifts his head up to look at the conflicted good witch. She gives a weary sigh as she puts a hand to her now throbbing head. She is very sore and in pain from her fight. Now she has to make a major decision that will affect her life again. It's all too much.

"Uh...could she have time to think about it? We all need to recover from this." The green woman speaks up for her wife while she pulls the now pale woman to her body. A nice rest and relaxation will be extremely helpful right now. Glinda shoots her a grateful look at hearing this. Elphaba just gives her a wink because she is still leery of Tidus and the soldiers behind him. The captain nods his head in understanding before standing up.
"Of course, take all the time you need. I will have my soldiers escort you all inside where the staff will give you all rooms. We will take care of the Wizard. Don't worry the Gale Force is on your side now. We will make sure you are all safe." Tidus promises to the two witches that now harm will come to them as they stay in the palace to recover from their injuries while mulling over their future.

"I-ok." Glinda agrees with a nod of her head. She has a lot to think over and discuss with Elphaba along with everybody else. Though, right now a nice warm bed with a shower and medicine sounds very good. Tidus nods his head before turning around to tell his men what they need to do. The good witch leans into the sturdy body of her wife and closes her eyes. Elphaba leans down before kissing the top of her head with affection. They have a lot to talk about but she can put it on hold for now. They just need to focus on recovering now.

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Glinda opens up the door one of the servants showed her and Elphaba to. She gives a slight gasp when she realizes that she has been escorted back to her old room she stayed in when she lived at the palace.

"I thought he would have destroyed my room when I left." Glinda mutters as she walks in. It looks like nothing has been taken out or destroyed in anger. She wonders why that is. Honestly, the good witch feels out of place like she has stepped back in time or into a different life. Elphaba peers in to look at the room. She gives a "hmph" at not seeing a speck of pink in any part of the room. It's mostly shades of blue and white.

"No pink?" The green woman had to as she finally walks in with a watchful eye. A part of her is paranoid that this is just another trap by the Wizard. Glinda starts to give a chuckle but stops with a wince of pain coming from her throat. The injuries she has sustained from the lightening assaulting her throat are starting to rear its ugly head. It's starting to throb along with a faint numbing sensation on the area he held. It hurts to laugh and it's getting tough to speak.

"I outgrew it. I found blue really suits me." The blonde's voice starts to crack and grow weak with each word. She clears her throat before she walks over to a white vanity mirror to see the damage finally. Brown eyes watch her move to the far side of the room to stop in front of the mirror. Glinda puts her hair behind her and pulls down her tattered shirt to get a good view of her throat.

"Ew..." She whispers at seeing blisters forming on parts of her throat. She could mentally outline the imprint of the Wizard's hand left on her skin. He really did a good amount of damage to her. She knows she needs to clean this up before putting a cool cloth on it along with a lot of pain medication. Her eyes look away from her injury when Elphaba appears behind her. The good witch gives an internal sigh. She knows that there is stuff she needs to answer for and the two really need discuss a lot of things. Glinda is afraid what the raven haired beauty will do after they talk. She is scared that, for some reason, Elphaba will leave her for all the things she has kept a secret. She turns around to face her wife. It's now or never.

"Elphie…I know there is much we have to talk about and I want to start off by saying I'm sor-" Glinda is cut off by warm, green lips pressing gently on her chapped, pink ones. Her heart does a flip in her chest. This is a good sign. She closes her eyes to return the kiss. The green woman breaks the kiss before placing a loving kiss on her wife's forehead.

"Yes, we do have a lot to talk about but right now your injuries need to be taken care of. Then a well-deserved rest." Elphaba says as she runs one of her hands through the golden locks. Glinda opens her mouth but closes it when she realizes how bone tired and how much pain she really is in.

"That sounds nice." She whispers but gives a surprised squeal when Elphaba suddenly picks her up and holds her in a bridal hold with a smile on her face.

"Elphie put me down." Glinda protests but the green woman just shakes her head. She wants to take care of her wife right now. That's all her focus is going to be the two of them really needs this after all they've been through.

"Not a chance." Elphaba replies as she starts to walk towards, what she think is, the bathroom where she can clean up the blonde. Something she can finally do without being burned by water. Glinda looks up to her with a deep love for the green woman carrying her.

"I love you, Elphaba."
Elphaba pauses for a second and looks down at the blonde with a big smile. She will love this woman till the day she dies. Nothing will ever change that feeling.

"I love you too, Glinda. I always will." The raven haired beauty replies truthfully before bending her head down and capturing the waiting lips for a deep kiss. Glinda closes her eyes before she melts into the lanky body. It feels like the tide of fortune is going in their favor. Glinda hopes that it will last for them for a long time. It's time to start their new life and she knows she will get through it as long as Elphaba is by her side.

I think you all knew that Glinda wouldn't kill have killed the Wizard though some of you want him to die, eventually. What happened to Morrible will be brought up in the next chapter along with the discussion Elphaba and Glinda will have about the secrets about the potion and Glinda knowing that Oscar is her wife's father. There shouldn't be any angst or death in the rest of the story unless my mind comes up with a sudden idea. Lol. I'll try to keep it to a minimum. Anyways, the next update will on Monday. Till then, my faithful readers.

DWK