A/N: Hey, just popping in to say thanks for all the reviews so far! A lot of them have been really great (and some of them quite fun to read, to boot)! Anyway, at least it didn't take as long as chapter 13 to come out, so... that's a plus, right? Other than that, I don't really have anything else to say. Enjoy the chapter!

It was mere moments after the strange figure had retreated into the forest and vanished from sight when everyone present, still recovering from the conversation that had just taken place, heard a rustling coming from behind them. Most of the soldiers in the group aside from the ones nearest the front—where the Witch was currently located—turned to the source of the sound. They were mildly surprised to see two dim but still recognizable shadows moving towards them, if only because they still had their minds on the strange dialogue that they had just witnessed. After a few more seconds of rustling, the noise suddenly stopped and a single voice broke the silence.

"What's going on here, then?" At the sound of the voice, the Witch's blood suddenly ran cold. Her eyes widened, and her breath stopped involuntarily, for she could've recognized that voice from anywhere. Her thoughts began to cloud as the panic set in, and all the while, one name was running through her head: Fiyero. She didn't have much time to think of a way out, however, as she heard the group split, forming a pathway connecting the Witch and the other two. The soldiers holding her, still keeping strong grips on her wrists, jerked her around to face the two people on the other end, and it was then that her thoughts had been confirmed, for the two that she was now facing were none other than the Lady and Captain themselves.

Once her former friends were fully in sight, the first thing the Witch noticed was the expressions on their faces. At the sight of her, their eyes widened, and the Captain stepped back in shock. The Lady crossed both of her hands over her mouth and let out a small gasp, and the two's eyes locked onto those of the Witch. What was strange, however, was the look they gave her; for a split second, the woman could have sworn that they looked…happy, almost.

"Looks like that guy was telling the truth," a soldier stated, breaking her observations. "Odd one, he was, though. Wore a cloak 'round his body." The soldier paused momentarily to steal a scornful glance at the emerald woman behind him. "Apparently, little Miss Witchie Witch here knew him, too. Ruined his life, she did." The Captain's face seemed to harden at these words.

"As expected from someone like her, I suppose," he stated coldly, and immediately the woman knew that it couldn't have been a look of happiness upon their faces that she had seen. If she weren't being hyper-observant at this moment, however, she may not have noticed the small movement of surprise the Lady made with her head towards the Captain, as if she were shocked at his words. Strangely enough, the Captain himself seemed to make a slight gesture with his eyes back towards the woman, almost as if he were assuring her of something. This silent communication between the two befuddled the emerald woman to no end. What did it mean? Did it even mean anything?

Maybe I'm just being too observant, and these little motions are meaningless, she thought to herself, though a small part of her clandestinely hoped that there was more to them than she suspected. Nonsense, she scolded herself mere moments after. I cast that spell on them; I, of all people, should know that they can't possibly harbor any feelings for me aside from hatred: pure and utter hatred. Not anymore, at least. That old feeling of regret welled in her stomach once more; no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise—that it was the right choice, that there was no better way to protect them—there was always that small voice in the back of her mind saying that she had acted too hastily, that she could have found a better way if she had just thought through it more back when it all began. Maybe then she wouldn't be going through this self-induced hell in which she had found herself. Maybe then she wouldn't be suffering by the hands of the ones she held closest to her heart. Yet here she was, just over a year later, brought down to her knees by those very people. Defeated and mentally exhausted, she let out a soft sigh, hung her head, and waited for the inevitable.

"Load her into one of the spare carriages." The Captain's voice broke through the Witch's bemused state. "We leave in the morning. Keep her constrained until then." With that, the Captain swiftly turned on his heels as the soldiers saluted, the Lady following closely behind. Most of the group dispersed, but the remaining men surrounded the Witch and hauled her over to a carriage designed for the transportation of prisoners and secured her into the chains within. The last thing the woman saw of her once-friends were the two entering one of the tents in the outpost before the back doors of the carriage slammed shut with a resounding bang.

It was difficult for Fiyero to say what he had said, but he knew that he still had to act like the person that everyone thought he was. Unfortunately, he had failed to inform Galinda of his intentions ahead of time, so once the two had gone inside the relative privacy of their own tent, the Grand Vizier wasted no time in berating him.

"Just what exactly was that, Fiyero?" These were the first words out of her mouth. "We just reunited with the person we've been looking for, and the first thing out of your mouth once you learn it was her is 'As expected from someone like her'?!" As Galinda was aware that this conversation could be easily overheard, she had taken to yelling at him in a loud whisper. Fiyero turned to face her, and he could see just from her face that she was angrier than he thought she would be. "Oz, Fiyero, what is wrong with you?!" He decided it would be best to defend himself at this point before she made herself even angrier.

"Ok, ok, I know I might have seemed a bit harsh on her," he said, holding his hands up so that his palms faced her, "but come on, Galinda, what were you expecting me to do? Rush over to her and scoop her up in a hug?"

"Well, no," she retorted, crossing her arms. "But you could've been a bit warmer to her." Fiyero let out a small sigh.

"Trust me, Glin, I miss her too, but we can't afford to give any indications that we're not on board with the rest of them. I nearly broke a smile back there, and I'm sure that would've raised enough questions already." The woman's face seemed to settle some, but it was clear that she hadn't completely conceded yet.

"Ok, fine, you have a point," she said after a moment's silence, "but I just want to make it clear that I still don't quite agree with how you handled the situation." The Captain smiled slightly at this.

"That's ok. As long as you're not completely against it, you don't have to agree with me." Galinda smiled a bit sadly in reply and uncrossed her arms. There was another moment of silence between them before the Lady spoke up again.

"I'm sorry," she said abruptly, earning herself a confused look from Fiyero.

"Sorry? For what?"

"For blowing up at you. I didn't really think about why you acted like you did." Fiyero chuckled lightly at this.

"It's ok, Galinda. I suppose I would've reacted the same if you had acted like I did back there, as well." Galinda looked up at him, slightly confused.

"Really?" Fiyero nodded.

"Yes, really." He tentatively wrapped his arm around her, and when she didn't show any signs of resistance, he pulled her in so that her head rested on his chest. They had both been through a lot recently, and discovering that their lost friend was still alive was proving to be quite taxing already, even if it had only been no more than ten minutes beforehand. They stood there like that for a bit, but eventually, Galinda's voice broke the silence yet again.

"Fiyero?" He looked down at the top of her head.

"Yes?"

"What will we say?"

"What?"

"When we talk to her…what will we say?" Fiyero froze at this and gently pulled away from Galinda, making eye contact with her.

"I…I don't know," he said with a serious look on his face. He really didn't know what they were going to say to the Witch once they got the chance to have a private conversation with her. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but he hadn't yet figured out how he was going to say them.

"You don't know?" Galinda quirked an eyebrow at this before shrugging. "Well, I guess we'll have to figure it out soon, then, won't we?" She cracked a small smile, attempting to lighten the mood a bit. Fiyero smiled, too, letting out a small, light chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess we will." The two decided to retire for the night then, for they knew the next day was going to be a long one.

The following morning, the Witch was met with bright rays of sunlight piercing through the small windows of the carriage straight into her eyes. She let out a soft groan as she sat up, still half-asleep. Once her eyes had fully focused and she had realized where she was, she muttered a curse to herself and got onto her knees to search for a way out. Unfortunately, she wasn't very well-versed in the art of escape, and she could find no plausible means of doing so; the chains surrounding her hands were shackled to the floor of the carriage, and based on what she had seen of its exterior the previous night, there was a heavy metal bar lying across its back doors. The only way out that she could see would be through the use of the Grimmerie, which had been taken from her nine long months back when she had been foolish enough to "check in" on her former friends in the Emerald City. How naïve she had been then to think that nothing bad would happen to her! Hanging her head in defeat, she could do nothing but wait in this dim carriage until its doors opened once more.

It was about a half-hour later when she heard voices approaching the carriage. It didn't sound like anyone she knew, and when one of the voices ordered the guards standing outside to open the doors once they had gotten close enough, it confirmed that. The men standing before her were, she assumed, other high-ranking Gale Forcers. She was just beginning to wonder what they were doing there when one of them spoke.

"Good, you're still here," she heard him say, though she suspected it was more to himself than to her. He looked into her eyes with a sinister smile. "Hope you like the ride, Witch. Enjoy your view of the outside world…while you still can, that is." With that, he ordered the doors to be closed once more.

Shortly after this little exchange, their departure began. The carriage in which the Witch was located was surrounded, having been placed in the center of the group of soldiers. Inside, the green woman merely lay on the floor of it, chains affixed on one end to her hands and on the other end to the wooden flooring. After all, what else could she do? She could plainly see that attempting to escape would be futile, so she decided to savor the silence while it lasted, the only thing disturbing it being the occasional thump as the wheels went over some bumps in the road. The relative dimness of the cabin, she found, was actually quite comforting to her. It seemed to reflect her current situation quite well, at the very least.

In order to pass the time, she simply fixed her eyes on a certain spot on the floor and thought. While her eyes were being distracted by the constant fluctuations of light as the shadows cast by the trees came and went, her mind was busy reflecting for what felt like the fiftieth time on everything that had led up to this, and despite everything that had happened in between, it all came back to that one decision in the attic of the Wizard's palace. That one decision had cost her her friends, and now it had come back to take away her freedom. Thus, here she was, locked up in a mobile prison cell on her way to be locked away forever. To add insult to injury, her two closest friends even had the incredible honor of doing it themselves. All of what she had been through in the past year alone suddenly came rushing back to her, and no matter how hard she tried to fight it, she couldn't help but let out a quiet sob. Emotionally broken, she could do nothing but sit and wait for the inevitable as one final, fleeting thought ran through her head.

Damn you, Fate. Damn you.

So, yeah, a little bit of a somber ending there, huh? Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought! See you all next chapter!