DISCLAIMER: in the first chapter...

A/N: And, here it is!! Didn't leave you waiting long, now, did I? Hope you guys like it. Please review!

CLEARER BY THE SECOND

"It's okay, Mommy. You already have the answer already. You know what to do."

Elphaba's eyes snapped back towards Morrible, her lips forming a thin line. She had a determined look about her. A look Morrible herself worried about. The older woman followed her former pupil's actions with sharp distrust. However, she seemed pleased when the green girl grabbed the Grimmerie, reading the dancing words upon its paper, which never settled into anything when the Press Secretary looked.

Elphaba started chanting.

It sounded beautiful, her voice sweet and harmonious. No comprehensible words could be understood, but it sounded like a song. After a few verses, Galinda finally caught the melody and suppressed a smile. It was the song Elphaba hummed to Liir every day. The amusement however, didn't last; worry replaced it. Galinda shuddered to imagine what Morrible would do when she discovered the farce.

Elphaba, for her part, paid the rest of the room no second thought. She didn't know exactly what she was supposed to do, no matter how many times Liir's words echoed in her mind. But she knew that she couldn't do nothing. So she summoned all the love she felt for her son, for her dear friend Galinda, for her husband Fiyero. She thought of all the terrible things Morrible had done to the people of Oz and all the anger she felt at the old witch. Her chanting words meant nothing but a way for her to focus. Elphaba didn't know of a spell to do what she wanted to do. So, she just imagined what she wanted and willed it to happen. Just like she had that day on the open field when she had, unknowingly, cast the time travel spell.

With tremendous focus, she imagined Morrible as she stood before her. Next, she conjured up a strong gust of air that hit against the woman's body. Instead of having her swept by it, Elphaba imagined her body disintegrating into dust. She willed all of her power and determination into that single thought…

Expunging her life of that horrible, overgrown fish.

After the green girl's chanting had grown silent, her eyes distant and her arms limp, Morrible tentatively stepped forward. "Is it done?" She got no answer, which only served to anger her. "I don't feel it the way I should have, Miss Elphaba! Stop playing around and get the spell done!"

The pregnant woman didn't rouse, seemingly oblivious to Morrible's angry words. Undeterred, the former shizmistress stepped all the way to Elphaba's bedside, pushed Galinda out of the way and grabbed the green girl by the arm. She was rough, in her anger, and actually took a few moments before she noticed the glow of her prey's emerald skin.

Morrible tried to step back, but couldn't; her hands remained frozen.

Something inside of her started to stir and desperation overtook her. She hadn't believed Elphaba capable of properly controlling her powers, especially without any more training than she had provided at Shiz. Perhaps, she had underestimated the girl. When the glow grew stronger, Morrible's eyes widened, unbelieving. Elphaba's head snapped up.

"I'm not making the same mistake with you twice, Morribe." In one swift move, faster than any pregnant woman had any right to, Elphaba was up on her feet. Sparks flew widely around her body.

Morrible's hand burned and she was finally able to withdraw it. Her respite was short lived, however. Her body shuddered violently, completely beyond her control. In the blink of an eye, she was down on the hard floor. Her mouth had frozen around unsaid words, lips forming an almost pout that made her resemble a fish more than she already had before.

Looking into her grey-blue eyes, you could see, effortlessly, the absolute fury.

Exhausted, Elphaba slumped back. The Wizard caught her around the waist and helped her sit carefully down on the bed. Elphaba looked up at him, almost surprised and offered a small smile in gratitude. Galinda soon materialized by her other side and hugged her tight.

"Are you okay, Elphie?"

Elphaba nodded, but said nothing.

Could it be over?

She desperately hoped so…

But Elphaba was too much of a pessimist to actually believe that without proof. So, she stared at the older woman's cool blue eyes with piercing intensity. Morrible, unable to move, stared back defiantly. A strange thing for a woman who could hardly move enough to even breathe, much less scrounge up her face in a frown.

Tired of it all, Elphaba took in a deep breath and allowed her eyes to close for a second.

Galinda, arms still around Elphaba's slightly trembling shoulders, had tears down her rosy cheeks and watched her friend, rather than her former headmistress. With her head against the green girl's long black tresses, Galinda remembered her promise to protect her always strong best friend. Resolution set.

And the Wizard? Well, Jonathan, after helping Elphaba to sit, had stepped back, keeping a bit of his distance; something he believed she would prefer. They weren't past being strangers yet. He hoped to change that.

It was thanks to that distance that the Wizard was able to catch movement out of the corner of his eye. His head snapped left, eyes widened and he stepped forward. A lightening bolt escaped Morrible's raised hand; it trembled with the effort. The power surge would have hit the pregnant woman right in the stomach if John hadn't placed himself between the two. A scream of agony escaped his lips and he crumbled, as if his body had been made of nothing but straw.

Elphaba's head shot up, eyes flying open. She indulged in a moment of confusion, gaze fixed upon the unconscious man… The one she had despised for years and who had just saved her life.

And Liir's.

Unclear, what happened next.

The lights in the room flickered a couple of times; Galinda clutched Elphaba even tighter, keeping the girl's shaking body up; the Wizard remained unmoving. The floor beneath their feet trembled wildly. Darkness was dominant for a long moment, then was superseded by a light so bright that it burned their eyes.

When the floor stopped moving and the lights returned to normal, Elphaba was slumped in Galinda's arms and Morrible was so completely frozen that her stiff body lay in a very awkward position. And her eyes… vacant and dead, stared ahead unwavering and unseeing.

She wouldn't be doing much of anything anymore.

Galinda felt herself alone, as seconds passed like an eternity. Afraid to leave her friend to go get help, she also knew that would inevitable have to happen. So, defeated, as she prepared to lay Elphaba gently onto the bed, Galinda was surprised to see the doors bursting open and Gale Force guards pouring in. With green and gold uniforms, arms at the ready, they made quite a scary sight.

The blonde paid that no mind.

"Arrest that woman! She just tried to assassinate the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"

The guards, understandably, were a little lost as to what had to be done. Believe that petite blonde woman? The captain of the guards stepped forward and glanced down at Morrible. Then, his eyes traveled upwards, catching Elphaba's large stomach and unconscious state. Finally, seeing the tear tracks marked by mascara upon Galinda's delicate face, he made a decision.

A nod was all it took from the captain. Morrible was quickly whisked away; hard to carry in her stationary state. Satisfied that the guards were moving, the blonde returned to her friend's side. She couldn't rouse Elphaba. "Get a doctor in here!"

Galinda didn't even allow herself to think that the Wizard wouldn't be alright and that Elphaba might be more hurt than a doctor could heal.

No.

She believed, with all her being, that things would be alright.

They just had to.