AN: I'm so glad I managed to traumatise you all in just one chapter :D. Don't worry, this will make you feel better... maybe. I'm not sure, actually. But hey, no-one dies and/or gets hurt in this chapter!

ONLY FIVE MORE DAYS. AAAAAAAAH.

Oh and I'm seeing Catching Fire this Tuesday night! :D There's a marathon, so the first Hunger Games movie is on at 9 pm and the second one will premier at midnight... and I'm there, with my friends. Hurray! Can't wait! (Even more so because I found out that this is one of the very, very few situations where the Netherlands are actually ahead of the USA. Finally, we're first with something!)

Chapter 2. Kiss me goodbye

She landed just outside the hospital, making sure to stay in the shadows – which was easy, given that dusk was already setting in. She leant the broomstick against a wall, slipping underneath Fiyero's good arm to support him. "It's okay," she whispered to him as they moved towards the doors together. "You're going to be okay."

He stopped her. "Elphaba…"

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and filled with fear, and he leaned down to capture her lips in a soft, sweet kiss. "I don't want to leave you," he said.

She lay her hand against the side of his face for a moment, looking deep into his sapphire blue eyes. "I know," she said simply. "But it's the only way."

He shook his head. "I'll be –"

"No." She gave him a stern look. "Don't give me that crap, Fiyero," she warned him. "You won't be fine if you come with me. I don't know the first thing about handling bullet wounds, and we'd never make it to the Vinkus with you in this condition. You'd bleed to death before we'd even be close. There's no other way, and he both know it." She kissed him again. "You'll be safe," she told him. "You'll be fine. You'll be safe."

"I know." He grimaced slightly in pain as he shifted his arm a little, and she placed one hand on his arm to stop his movements.

He looked at her. "But what about you?" he asked her then. "Will you be safe?"

She let out a hollow laugh. "I hope so," she said, which didn't really reassure him. His gaze only clouded more with worry.

She sighed and cradled his face in both her hands. "I'll try my best to stay out of danger," she promised him. "But only if you will do the same thing."

"I will."

She kissed him one final time. "Come on." She made to support him again, but he softly pushed her away.

"No, don't," he said, shaking his head. "You can't come in there with me. You can't be seen."

"Fiyero –"

"I can get inside by myself." He caressed her cheek, then kissed her forehead. "I love you. Take care of yourself."

"You, too," she whispered, leaning into his touch for a moment. Then she let go, and he slowly made his way over to the main entrance of the hospital.

She watched through the glass doors as he stumbled inside and nurses rushed towards him from all angles. She watched as they placed him on a stretcher and rolled him away.

She stayed just outside the hospital for the rest of the evening, shivering, but waiting. Every now and then, she'd fly up into the air, hugging the tree line to stay out of sight as she inspected every single window, peering inside. She didn't worry when she didn't see him. They'd have to get the bullet out, which meant he was probably still in surgery.

It was past midnight when she was making what must be her eighth or ninth inspection round when she finally located him. Third floor, fourth window to the right. She hovered just outside the window on her broomstick, drinking in the sight of him. He was lying in the bed, pale, but alive. Nurses breezed in and out of the room to check up on him every few minutes or so.

She found a thick branch in the tree behind her and set up camp there, dangling her legs from it as she sat there and watched. She watched over him all night, tired and frozen to the bone, yet watching. Ever watching. She couldn't leave for as long as she wasn't completely sure that he was okay.

When morning came and another nurse came into the room to check up on him, she called in a second nurse. Elphaba straightened up, mounting her broom again and risking coming a little closer to the window in order to get a better view. One of the nurses was pulling Fiyero's eyelids up, shining into his eyes with a light, as the other one moved around the bed, apparently checking some other things. When they moved away, Elphaba could see him again, and she smiled. Colour had flooded his cheeks again and his eyes were open, and though he looked a little dazed, he seemed to be okay otherwise. That was all she needed to know.

She took him in one final time, committing everything about him to memory.

Then she steered her broom away from the hospital and soared up high into the sky until she blended with the clouds above.

When Galinda Upland returned to her dorm room one day, closing the door behind her and turning on the light, she did not expect to see the Wicked Witch of the West sitting in the window sill, legs tucked underneath her, a book in her hands.

Galinda stared at the picture for a moment, not believing what she was seeing. She blinked. She rubbed her eyes.

The raven-haired witch was still there.

Then Galinda let out an ear-piercing shriek.

"Elphaba Thropp!"

Elphaba finally looked up from the book and flashed her best friend a grin. "Hi, Glin."

Galinda let out something between a cry and a howl and flung herself at Elphaba, nearly squashing her in a hug. "Elphie! OhmyOzElphieIcan'tbelieveyou'rereallyhereImissedyo usomuch! WhathappenedpeoplearecallingyouwaWickedWitchandIdo n'tunderstandandwhereisFifi?"

Elphaba laughed. "Slow down, Glin. One question at a time."

Galinda beamed at her. "Oh my Oz, Elphie. You're here!" she cried, throwing her arms around her friend again. "You're really here! I was so worried about you!"

"Really?" Elphaba asked.

Galinda gave her a weird look. "Um… Yes, of course," she said, as if that must be self-evident.

Elphaba fidgeted a little. "I mean… about this whole Wicked Witch-business…"

Galinda shook her head. "You didn't think I would believe that, did you?" she asked incredulously. "Sweet Oz, Elphie! I would sooner believe that… that…" She clearly tried to think of something. "That Morrible was actually a man!"

Elphaba snorted a laugh. "Sweet Oz, I've missed you, Galinda."

The blonde beamed at her and just hugged her once more. "Oh, Elphie! Tell me everything! It was so horrendible when I came back from my weekend with Momsie and Popsicle – suddenly your picture was in all of the papers, and they called you a wicked witch, and I had no idea what was going on!"

"I'll tell you," said Elphaba. "But I have to warn you first – I will have to leave again soon. It's too dangerous for me now to stay in one place for too long."

Galinda nodded. "Of course. Just… just tell me what happened, Elphie."

And she did. Elphaba told her former roommate everything about the day she spent in the City with Fiyero, about the Wizard being a fraud and her defying him, and about Fiyero coming with her.

"We were flying," she said. "We were flying on my broom, and then…" She shrugged. "They started shooting."

Galinda gasped.

"Fiyero got hit," Elphaba said softly. "Somehow I managed to shake them off and get us into the woods, but…"

"But he was already dead?" Galinda whispered as if that was the only logical conclusion.

Elphaba looked at her friend as if she had lost her mind. "Do you really think I would be sitting here with you like this if Fiyero had been dead?" she asked pointedly. "Don't you think I would be a tiny little bit more upset if that was the case?"

"So…" Galinda tried to wrap her mind around that. "He's not dead?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Of course he's not dead, you blonde bimbo," she said teasingly, reminding Galinda of a time so long ago, back when they still hated one another. It made her grin.

"Well," she said, "if he's not dead, then what did happen, little Miss Artichoke?"

Elphaba stuck out her tongue. "I took him to a hospital."

"Without being seen?"

"I dropped him off and hid. He went inside by himself."

Galinda shook her head. "And then what?" she asked.

Elphaba shrugged. "I stayed until I was sure that he was okay," she said. "Then I spent some days in the woods, trying to lay low… and then I came here."

Galinda just shook her head once more. "You're crazy," she declared. "Elphie, what in Oz are you going to do now? You're alone, you're wanted by all of Oz…"

"And here I was all this time, thinking that no-one in Oz could ever want me," Elphaba smirked.

Galinda scowled at her friend. "Not funny, Elphie," she chided her.

Elphaba sniggered, but quickly grew serious again. "I wish I could take that back," she said. "I wish I could go back to the time when my biggest problem was avoiding Fiyero because I didn't want to admit to him that I actually loved him."

Galinda giggled. "Oh, Elphie…" She hugged her friend. "Things will be okay," she promised. "Really, they will be."

Elphaba shook her head. "I'm not so sure," she said. "But if it's a Wicked Witch the Wizard wants, it's a Wicked Witch he'll get."

"Oh, no," Galinda said apprehensively. "I know that look. Elphie, whatever it is you're thinking right now, stop thinking it. Think the complete opposite and act on that instead."

Elphaba chuckled. "Oh, come on. My ideas aren't that bad."

Galinda raised one eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe they are," Elphaba admitted. "Sometimes. But not this time." She sighed and moved to sit onto Galinda's bed. "Glin," she said. "I just… I want to do something useful. I want to help." She looked up at the blonde. "I'm going to help the Animals."

Galinda thought about that for a moment. "You know?" she said in wonder. "That's actually not even a completely horrendible idea."

"Horrible."

Galinda glared at the green girl. "Remind me why I missed you again?"

Elphaba just laughed. Then she looked at the time, and she rose to her feet. "Glin, I have to go," she said apologetically.

Galinda's face fell. "Already?" she pouted, but Elphaba was firm.

"I don't want to put you in danger," she said. "If anyone sees me here, the consequences won't be just for me. I'm really sorry, Glin." She squeezed the blonde's hand. "But I'll try to visit," she promised. "I'll check up on you every now and then. You still are, and always will be, my best friend, Glin."

"Oh, Elphie," Galinda blubbered, hugging her friend tightly. "You'll always be my bestest friend, too!"

They let go of one another, but Galinda wasn't ready to let Elphaba fly out of the window just yet. "Elphie?"

"Yes?"

Galinda looked at her. "What are you going to do about Fiyero?" she asked softly.

Elphaba was quiet for a while. Then she said, "He'll be fine on his own."

Galinda gasped.

"Oh, don't look so horrified!" Elphaba burst out. "It's not like I'm leaving him all to himself! They'll take great care of him at the hospital, and he never did anything wrong – he'll be safe there!"

"He came with you!" Galinda protested. "What if the Wizard wants him, too?"

Elphaba shook her head. "They're not looking for him," she insisted. "Every paper I've read, every story I've heard… they're all about me. Not him. None of those stories even mentions him. Just me. He's safe, Glin. No one is coming after him. I'm the one with the crazy magical powers. I'm the threat, not him."

"But Elphie," Galinda said pleadingly. "You can't just leave him!"

"I have to." Elphaba looked away in an attempt to hide the fact that her eyes were filling with tears. "For his own good."

"Elph-"

"If he stays with me, he'll get himself killed!"

"And what if he comes out of the hospital?" Galinda asked pointedly. "What do you think he'll do then?"

"I don't know!" Elphaba threw her hands into the air. "He might come back to Shiz, or perhaps he'll go to his parents in the Vinkus… that bullet wound is going to take some time to heal. I think he'll lay low for a while."

"And then what?" Galinda wanted to know. "He'll start looking for you, you know that, and he won't stop until he finds you."

Elphaba shook her head. "He won't," she said. "By the time he's healed and in any condition to travel, he'll have long forgotten about me. And that's for the best, too."

Now Galinda was shaking her head as well. "Elphie…" she sighed.

Elphaba took her friend's hands. "Glin?" she said, her voice sounding thick. "Promise me something?"

Galinda squeezed Elphaba's hands. "Anything, Elphie."

"If Fiyero comes back to Shiz…" The green girl swallowed. "Keep an eye on him for me?" she asked quietly.

Galinda hugged her tightly for a moment. "Of course," she said. "I will. You take care, okay?"

"I will," Elphaba said, and Galinda smiled at her.

"Good."

Elphaba mounted her broom and climbed into the window sill, opening the window. She looked over her shoulder. "Bye, Glin."

"Bye, Elphie," Galinda whispered.

Elphaba looked ahead of her, taking a deep breath. Then she leapt out of the window.

Galinda rushed towards it, leaning on the window sill as she watched her best friend shooting through the sky on her broomstick, ebony cloak and hair billowing behind her as she raced past the moon, then disappeared from view completely.

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