Disclaimer: Oh, you think Wicked belongs to me? *laughs* Oh, man, that was a good one! Can you tell me another?

A/N: Well, here we go, the final chapter... maybe. It depends. I'll explain more later. For now, though, enjoy! ...And please don't kill me...

The pain that radiated from the wound was bad. Very bad; excruciatingly bad. It was even worse than the whip that had come crashing down on Elphaba nine months earlier. Her body was urging her to scream in pain, but her resolve held strong: with much effort, she managed to bite it back. For a moment, the pain lessened, but it came back full force when the bayonet was forcefully jerked out of her stomach. She felt a strange mixture of bile and blood rise up in her throat. Willing her eyes to focus in front of her, she would've gasped if the stab wound hadn't prevented her from doing so. Fiyero was looking at her, a mixture of anger and solemnity etched onto his face. In his hand was the gun to which the bloodied bayonet was attached. The red liquid steadily dripped off the dagger-like weapon, each drop making a sickening plop as it landed. As she took in the entire scene, time appeared to be frozen, but in reality, it was only a second later when the blood began to come out of the wound in a steady flow. Overcome by a sudden wave of nausea and weariness, her knees buckled, crashing to the hard, stone floor; the rest of her soon followed suit.

She collapsed to the ground, her stomach slamming onto the floor. The blood leaking from the wound began to pool underneath her. She could feel her spirit slowly slipping away as her body became weaker with each passing second. She heard the dull sound of footsteps receding away from her as her hearing began to fade. Her body went limp as the world around her faded to black.

Fiyero had signaled his men to leave after impaling the Witch, comfortable in the knowledge that she wouldn't make it out alive. The bayonet had cut far too deep, and she would be dead very soon based on the rate at which her blood was exiting her body—she would bleed out long before anyone could save her. He would send for his men to get the body later, but for now, he relaxed as he made his way back to where the soldiers had left their horses. As he got on the horse, he noticed that he had a minor headache, but he just shrugged it off, assuming that it was a result of the stress surrounding the mission. It had gone smoother than anticipated… not that he was complaining or anything, but he was a bit surprised at how she seemed to have given up. He couldn't speak for her, of course, seeing as he had never known her, but it seemed very uncharacteristic of the Witch to do so. He thought it was going to be a bit more of a challenge. He couldn't deny that it was a bit disappointing, but he also couldn't deny what he had just done; he had rid Oz of its greatest enemy, and what little disappointment he had was overwhelmed by exhilaration at that revelation. Not bothering to give it any more thought, he focused back in on riding the horse, leaving Kiamo Ko far behind him.

The ride back to the Emerald City was unexpectedly tough. The headache he had had only worsened as he rode, and the sun shining bright in the now-clear sky didn't exactly help. It wasn't like other headaches that he had had before, however. He couldn't exactly explain it, but it felt kind of like something was pushing out from the inside as opposed to pressing in from the outside. It almost felt like something was trying to escape. He thought this odd, considering, from what he'd been told, that's not the way that headaches usually feel, but once again, he just shrugged it off, focusing on trying to ignore it as a whole instead. Overall, he managed to get to the City well enough, but he definitely wouldn't have minded retiring to his bed for a while.

The trip back took a few hours—about the same as it had to get to the castle—and they were all tired, for they had departed early in the morning, so as to surprise the Witch under the cover of darkness. When the group had finally gotten to the palace, Fiyero headed straight to his and Galinda's apartment-like section of the palace, eager to get some rest. He entered the room to find Galinda lying on their couch with what appeared to be a cold compress—perhaps a damp washcloth or something of the sort—covering her eyes and forehead.

"Glin?" he called as he shut the door behind him. Hearing his voice, she snapped her hand up to the fabric on her head and whipped it off. The next second, she was sitting straight up on the couch, the beginning of a smile already forming on her face, but she scrunched her eyes in pain at the sudden movement and moved her free hand up to her head.

"Oh, hey, Fiyero," she said in an unexpectedly soft voice. He looked at her in slight confusion.

"What's wrong? I thought you would've been more excited to see me." She looked at him somewhat wearily, now rubbing her temples with her hand.

"Oh, it's not that I'm not excited," she began, "but I've just been dealing with a pretty bad headache for the past few hours." He was a bit surprised to hear this, considering he was in a similar situation.

"Well, how coincidental," he said jokingly. "I've been dealing with one myself, as well." His voice died out at the last word as the throbbing became a sharp pain. The world around him seemed to suddenly fade out as a new visual took its place. He was no longer in his bedroom in the Wizard's palace; he was instead in a green clearing outside of a collection of buildings, and it didn't take long for him to recognize the place as Shiz University. What concerned him, though, was not the fact that this was abnormal, but rather the fact that the figure in front of him looked strangely familiar. The person was, as far as he could tell, female, but he couldn't see her face as her back was facing toward him. She stood a bit shorter than him, and she was wearing a dark blue frock and a blue knit cap. Her black hair was wound into a braid that extended past her shoulder, and she appeared to be holding something in front of her; he supposed these to be books, considering where they were. The familiarity of the young woman unnerved him, but just as he was about to get a closer look, the sound of Galinda's voice hit his ears, bringing him back to reality.

"Fiyero?" He blinked a few times as the Shiz campus faded, bringing into focus Galinda's worried face in front of his. The look of worry on her face quickly changed to that of relief, however, and she brought him into a hug. "Oh, thank Oz! What happened to you? You were talking, and all of a sudden, your face just went blank. I tried to get your attention, but you wouldn't respond!" They pulled away, and Fiyero shook his head a few times, trying to clear his mind of whatever it was that he just saw.

"I'm sorry, Glin," he said after a few seconds. "I was just… thinking of something, that's all." It was a weak excuse, he knew, but what else could he have said? Fortunately, if the blonde had any doubts, she didn't question him any further.

"Okay, well, don't do that again. You really scared me. Now, if you'll excuse me, my head is pounding. I'll just be going to bed now, okay?"

"Okay. I was planning on doing the same, anyway." She smiled at him.

"Good." She walked away, but when he didn't follow, she turned back around. "Fiyero? Are you coming?" He looked up at her, having been lost in thought for a brief moment.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few." The blonde looked at him suspiciously for a second before responding.

"Okay, just don't be too long." He gave her his most charming smile.

"I won't; don't worry." After she left the room, Fiyero sat down on the couch, temporarily ignoring his protesting head. A thousand questions seemed to be flowing through his mind all at once. Who was that girl? Why did she look so familiar? What did Shiz have anything to do with it? Had he known her somehow? Thinking about these questions was proving to be rather overwhelming, and his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp throbbing. I should probably go and join Galinda, now, he thought, and he got up, walking towards the bedroom.

"Hey, Glin," he said once he closed the door behind him. She looked up at him as he climbed into bed.

"Hey," she said, smiling faintly. They only talked for a moment longer before they fell asleep, the outside light darkened by the heavy drape covering the window.

Fiyero's dreams were fragmented: it was like someone had broken a mirror, and the shards of broken glass now lay strewn across the floor. Each shard, with its random shatter pattern, represented one of his dreams: broken, unpredictable, and so on. They were vivid enough, but they seemed to be a little fuzzy as well, like there was something missing. They leaped between different time periods, but they all seemed to be centered on one location: the grounds of Shiz University. What is it about this place that's so important? he remembered thinking during one of the countless dreams. And what is it about this girl that's so important as well? Indeed, the girl seemed to be another common theme in his dreams. Time after time again, she would reappear, always wearing that same dark blue outfit. One peculiarity that he noticed, though, was that he could never see her skin. Her face was constantly obscured by a shadow coming from some unknown source, and her sleeves always seemed to cover her arms and hands. It was almost as if she was being blocked from his dreams for whatever reason, but he cast that thought away as quickly as it came. He could hear her voice, though. It sounded familiar—too familiar for his liking. It was sweet and mellifluous and oddly endearing. The message that it carried, however, was anything but. It came during his last dream.

Fiyero…

He jolted at the sudden voice. "Wh-who is that?"

Fiyero, don't you remember me? His eyes went wide in a bit of panic.

"Remember who?" Suddenly, he found himself face-to-face with that odd girl once again. "Y-You…" His voice shook in surprise before he narrowed his eyes in sudden anger. "All right, who are you?!"

Fiyero…

"Stop saying that! How do you know my name?! Who are you?!" Getting nothing in response, he only got angrier. "Answer me!"

Fiyero, please remember…

"Remember what?! I'm tired of playing these ridiculous mind games with you! Just tell me already!"

Fiyero…

He was jolted awake suddenly, drenched in a cold sweat. He realized that he had been breathing rather heavily while he was sleeping. To make matters worse, his headache had only progressed. I should probably see a doctor since it's obviously not getting any better, he thought. Sitting up, he jumped a little as Galinda let out a small moan. She opened her eyes blearily, taking a few seconds to focus them.

"Fiyero?" He looked back at her, feeling a little guilty.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up," he apologized.

"No, that's okay. I was pretty much awake, anyway."

"Oh. Is your head feeling any better?"

"No. Actually, to tell you the truth, it's gotten worse. What about yours?"

"Same." He was about to move on to a different topic when a great pain surged through his head. It was unlike any of the other pains that the headache had induced; no, this was much greater. It was like someone was taking a sledgehammer to his head. He thrust his face into his hands, crying out in pain. Galinda was on the verge of shouting out to him when a similar thing happened to her. Never before had the two experienced anything like what they were feeling right now. That strange "pushing" feeling that Fiyero had taken note of returned, but this time, its strength was tenfold. It felt as though his head might burst then and there. And that's when it happened.

It was like the floodgates had opened, spewing out into the recesses of his mind. That girl from his dream returned… but it was different this time. The visions seemed so much more vivid, and they began playing anew. The biggest difference, though? This time, he could see her. The shadow that had seemed to cover her was no longer there, and he was taken aback by what he saw. Standing in front of him, there was a young woman, appearing to be in her late teens or early twenties… and she had green skin. Not a sickly green, mind you; it was more like a pale emerald color, like the Wicked Witch…. No. It couldn't be, could it? The woman from his dreams was…? But… impossible! Yet here she was, right in front of him. And yet… no one at Shiz was green. No one; he was sure of that. Wasn't he? And then he heard it. It was just one word, and even so, it was so much more.

Elphaba.

The name hit him like a brick wall, and it suddenly made sense.

Elphaba. The green girl. The Artichoke. The green bean. The Wicked Witch of the West.

Elphaba. Elphaba Thropp.

The memories flashed by him in a blur of colors. The day they first met. The day they rescued the Lion cub. The day she cast that spell over a year ago.

The day she died. By his hand.

The colors stopped suddenly, leaving him in a sort of stupor. His arms had fallen away, and he was left staring at the mattress as his brain processed what he had just seen. His headache had suddenly ceased, and by this point, so had Galinda's. Now, the two just sat there in a moment of stunned silence.

The young blonde was the first to recover. Looking at Fiyero carefully, she tentatively asked him the most pressing question on her mind.

"Fiyero… did you, just now, did you… see anything?" Wordlessly, he nodded in a painfully slow manner. She merely nodded in response, not pressing the matter any further. "Fiyero…" Or maybe not. "You didn't know. You couldn't have." She tried to comfort him, but he merely glared at her.

"It still doesn't change the fact that she's dead," he said venomously. She immediately recoiled, having never heard him use that tone with her.

"Fiyero…"

"Don't," he hissed, body trembling, but with anger or sorrow, she couldn't tell. "She's dead, Galinda. Dead! I could've saved her, but what do I do? I drive a bayonet through her abdomen!" He was shouting by this point, tears building up in his eyes. "After everything that she's been through, after everything that she's had to endure, I kill her!" Galinda was about to say something, but Fiyero didn't give her a chance. Breathing sharply as he tried to hold back his sobs, he swiftly got off the bed at left the room, slamming the door behind him. It was only a few seconds before the blonde heard pounding coming from the main room. Getting off the bed and going to the door, she opened it cautiously, peeking out into the room that Fiyero was in. What she saw nearly broke her heart.

He was at the wall to her right, slamming his fist into it repeatedly as he half-muttered to himself, tears rolling down his face. She slowly approached him, tears at the verge of spilling over onto her face, as well.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it…" She heard him mutter brokenly through his tears, yet still managing to keep in time with his strikes on the wall.

"Fiyero?" she asked timidly, barely managing to keep her composure. He looked at her through misty eyes, shaking as his sobs racked his entire body.

"I killed her." His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper. Stepping up to him, she wrapped him in a tight embrace. He returned the hug tightly, clinging to her as if she was the last sign that Elphaba had ever existed.

"Shh," she comforted like a mother would with her child. "I know, I know…" But his crying was making it harder for her to stay collected.

"I killed her, I killed her…" he repeated through his sobs, and finally, she couldn't take it anymore, and her tears spilled as well. And there they stood, sobbing into each other's shoulders, for a long while, trying to figure out what they would do next. They couldn't stay like this forever, they knew; Elphaba wouldn't have wanted it that way. All they could do was press onwards.

So, remember what I said in the Author Notes? Well, it's kind of like this: if, for some reason, you really want this to be the ending, then by all means, go ahead. I wrote the ending to this chapter that way for a reason. If you want the other ending that I have planned... well, stay tuned! In the meantime, though, you should try this magic thing called reviewing! I heard that it might make a few select people feel a little better, if you catch my drift...