Disclaimer: Not mine.

The not-so-Wonderful Wizard of Oz looked up when he heard footsteps coming his way. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands, thinking.

He still couldn't believe what he had so recently found out. He regretted every single thing he had said to her, now that he knew who she really was. His daughter. He had had a daughter. And he had been the most horrible father there had ever been – what kind of father ruined his daughter's life? What kind of father murdered his own daughter?

The footsteps stopped in front of his door and there was the sound of a key turning in the lock – he had locked the door from the inside, but there was someone else who had a key, too. Moments later, Glinda the Good stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. He looked up, but not all the way to her face; his gaze lingered about the height of her waist. 'Lady Glinda.'

'Your Ozness.' Her voice was cold as she came to stand across from him. 'I don't have much time to waste, so let me just cut straight to the chase.' Now he did look her in the eye. Her gaze was serious. 'I just got back from a press conference,' she said. 'I had to announce my leaving to the people of Oz.'

He was surprised by that comment. 'You're leaving?'

She nodded. 'There's some business I need to take care of in the west.' She didn't say where in the west, exactly, but he hadn't expected her to – her business was none of his anymore. He blinked. 'So… you're leaving. Does that mean I am, too?' She wasn't planning on leaving him here, was she? Stuck in this palace for many more months?

Glinda nodded again. 'It does, but not where you think you're going.' He lifted his eyebrows. 'I'm not going back home?'

She shook her head. 'You're coming with me.'

'What?'

'You heard me.' She looked at him with a stern expression in her blue eyes. 'You're coming with me. I can't let you leave just yet – I still need you for something. And I won't be leaving you back here. So, you're going with me. No discussion. I've arranged for an extra carriage – a prisoner's carriage, so you won't get any ideas about escaping while we're on our way.' She made a vague hand gesture and turned around to walk back towards the door. 'Better start packing.'

Elphaba was flying.

She was high above the clouds, soaring, flying, as if she had never done anything else in her life. She didn't seem to be needing her broom to do it, either; she didn't have it with her and she was still flying. It was an amazing feeling, the feeling of being free, and she closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them again, she was at a party, and everyone was staring and laughing at her. She recognised the scene as the night she had befriended Galinda – the party at the Ozdust Ballroom. Galinda walked up to her and started dancing with her, and soon, everyone else was dancing again, too – just as it had been when this had really happened, years ago at Shiz. For some reason, it didn't surprise her in the least that she seemed to be in the middle of a memory.

The scene changed again and now she was in her old room at Shiz, with Galinda bouncing up and down on the bed. 'Really? Your very first party ever?'

'Do funerals count?' Elphaba asked. She didn't know why she was reliving her memories, but she didn't mind. It felt good and familiar. Everything had been so much simpler back then.

'Let's tell each other something we have never told anyone – I'll go first!' Galinda jumped next to the green girl on the bed and took a deep breath. 'Fiyero and I are going to be MARRIED!' she squealed.

Elphaba stared at her. 'He's asked you already?'

'Oh, he doesn't know yet!' Galinda said, which made Elphaba laugh.

The scene shifted a bit and a clock-tick later, Galinda was fiddling with her hair, singing a song all the while, before handing the green girl a mirror. 'Elphaba, look at you,' she said in a tone that made clear she herself was amazed. 'You're beautiful!'

The next moment she knew, she was running, although at first she had no idea where she was going. She only realised which memory this was when she saw Fiyero run in front of her, carrying a cage. The day we rescued the Lion cub. The day I fell in love with him.

'Don't shake him!' Elphaba yelled and Fiyero shot her an annoyed look. 'I'm not!'

'And we can't just let him loose anywhere,' she continued. 'We'll have to find someplace safe!'

'I realise that!' He stopped and turned around to face her. 'You think I'm really stupid, don't you?'

'No!' she protested, but she couldn't help but add, smirking just a bit, 'not really stupid.'

'Why is it that every time I see you, you're causing some sort of commotion?' Fiyero asked and she shook her head. 'I don't cause commotions. I am one.'

'That's for sure,' he muttered, but she heard him anyway. 'Oh, so you think I should just keep my mouth shut, is that it?'

'No, I-'

'Do you think I want to be this way? Do you think I want to care this much?'

'All I'm saying is-'

'Don't you think I know how much easier my life would be if I didn't?' she went on, until he shouted, 'Hey!'

She blinked at him.

'Do you ever let anyone else talk?' he asked. She flushed a bit. 'Oh. I'm sorry.'

He opened his mouth to say something, but she was faster. 'But can I just say one more thing?'

He looked a bit annoyed, but didn't say anything, so she continued, 'You could have walked away, back there.' Saying that, hearing herself say that in the memory, made her realise it hadn't been just then. He could have walked away from her so many times since they'd been together, and she was sure most people would have walked away. He, however, never had. He must really, truly love her…

'You're having delusions of grandeur!' someone shouted, and she was standing in the attic of the palace, broomstick in her hand. She looked over at her blonde friend, standing not too far away, and said, 'Come with me!'

Glinda nearly choked. 'What?'

'We could be the greatest team there's ever been! Come with me, Glinda!'

The blonde girl hesitated and for a moment, Elphaba actually thought she was going to say yes. But then she opened her mouth and said slowly, 'I hope you'll be happy, now that you're choosing this.'

'You, too,' Elphaba said softly and they hugged. Then the soldiers burst through the doors and Elphaba readied her flying broomstick. 'It's not her you want!' she called at them when they seized Glinda. 'It's me!' She rose, flying, and looked once more at her best friend, before turning her gaze towards the soldiers. 'Tell them,' she said, softly, but clearly audible, 'how I am defying gravity. I'll be flying high!' And with those words, she flew off, out of the window, towards the western sky. The day she had freed herself had also been the day that marked the beginning of her ending – or at least, the ending of her old life.

Suddenly, she was in a network of caves, and Master Gold was smiling at her. 'Thank you so much, Elphaba. You've saved them.'

She looked around at the Animals in the caves. She immediately recognised the ones she had saved back then; all sorts of Animals, Bears, Cats, Wolves, Goats. They still looked underfed and some of them were wounded, but there was an expression of utter relief on their faces as the other Animals, the ones that had lived here for some time now, welcomed them and took them away to take care of them.

'It's not enough, though,' Elphaba said sadly, turning back towards Master Gold. 'It will never be enough.'

Then she was in the Throne Room at the palace, looking after the flying Monkeys as they fled. She discovered Doctor Dillamond and told the Wizard that she would never work with him, that she would fight him until the day she died. He then called the guards… and that was the first time in years she saw Fiyero again.

Upon seeing him and reliving the scene, she remembered how incredibly hurt and desperate she had felt when she thought he had changed. When he ordered his men to go fetch him some water, she had wanted to lay down and die, right there and then. Until he dragged the Wizard from his hiding place and pointed his gun at him, that was. 'Elphaba, I'll find Doctor Dillamond later, now get out of here!'

'Fiyero, you frightened me,' she said softly, relief washing over her. 'I thought… I thought you might have changed.'

He looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. 'I have… changed.'

Then Glinda came in and the scene seemed to be skipping a few clock-ticks, because the next thing she knew, Fiyero was looking from Glinda to her before stating, 'I'm going with her.'

'What?' Glinda exclaimed, shocked.

'What?' Elphaba repeated, dumbstruck. She felt as if she was about to faint – something she would never really do, of course, but at that moment, she came awfully close. That might just have been the most surreal moment in her entire life, she thought, before finding herself in a forest a few hours later, in Fiyero's arms for the very first time. 'I just wish I could be beautiful, for you,' she said softly, and he looked at her as if he was about to say something. 'And don't say that I am,' she said quickly, lowering her eyes. 'You don't have to lie to me.'

He cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head a little to force her to look him in the eye. 'It's not lying,' he said convincingly. 'It's looking at things another way.'

Other memories came and went in a blur – Nessa's death, Fiyero's torture, discovering Fiyero to still be alive, saying goodbye to Glinda, and finally, how she had pretended to melt, causing everyone in Oz to believe she had died. After that memory, everything went pitch dark for a few clock-ticks, and then everything was a bright shade of white that almost, but not quite, hurt her eyes, and she was soaring again. Is this dying? she wondered, a bit absent-mindedly. Reliving your best and worst memories, and then fly off towards… what? Heaven? She didn't really believe that, but she wasn't quite sure what else to believe, either. Maybe I'm not even dying. Maybe I'm just dreaming…

The feeling of a cool hand on her forehead jerked her back to reality. Everything went dark again, but this time, she wasn't flying anymore - she was falling. And then she suddenly stopped falling, without actually hitting ground, and she was hearing voices.

'She's gotten worse.' That was Fiyero, she could tell with absolute certainty. He sounded extremely worried and a bit angry. 'I told you it was a bad idea to move her!'

'You agreed that we had to do it!' Glinda protested – was Glinda here too? What was she doing here? 'It was our only option, Fiyero, you know that!'

'I know.' She felt rather than heard him sigh and it was only then she realised that she was lying down with her head in his lap and that he was holding her. She felt him stroke her hair and she tried to move, but her body wouldn't work with her.

'I just…' Fiyero sighed again. 'I wish she would just wake up.' His voice was quiet, defeated, and she desperately wanted to hold him and assure him that she was all right – even though she wasn't quite sure if she actually was all right. She still wasn't able to move, however, and so she had to settle for listening to their conversation.

'Could you hand me another blanket?' Fiyero asked. 'She's shivering.' She hadn't even noticed that herself, but now that he mentioned it, she found that she was indeed shivering. She was feeling hot and cold at the same time – was that even possible? She tried to wake up, open her eyes, but once again she failed. Slowly, she started remembering what had happened so far – the last thing she remembered was falling asleep after she had tried to walk around the room. But what had happened after that? Why were they moving her? Where were they taking her?

She felt how Fiyero wrapped a blanket around her and she collected all of her willpower to try and say his name. 'Yero?' She was slurring, so it came out a bit unclear, but the effect was immediate. She still couldn't open her eyes, but she felt Fiyero hover over her, and she heard Glinda hold her breath. 'Is she awake?'

Yes! she wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Her body felt as if it wasn't hers, awkward and heavy.

'Fae?' Fiyero's voice was gentle, but urgent. 'Are you awake?'

Finally, she managed to half-open her eyes and the sight of his sapphire eyes fixed on hers would have made her smile if she had been able to smile, which she wasn't. 'I'm awake,' she muttered, still barely audible, but apparently audible enough, because Glinda let out an enthusiastic shriek and Fiyero held her a bit tighter. 'Are you sure?'

She nodded, which made her feel dizzy, and she closed her eyes again. 'I'm so tired…'

'Go to sleep, then,' Fiyero told her gently. 'I'll still be here when you wake up.'

She relaxed and drifted off to sleep, this time without any memories haunting her.

Fiyero felt like dancing – and so did Glinda, apparently, because she was actually doing a little dance around the carriage. 'She's awake! She's going to be all right! She's getting better!'

Fiyero's laughed, feeling ten tons lighter now. 'Yes she is,' he agreed, looking down upon Elphaba with a loving look on his face. She seemed to be sleeping much more peaceful now, her face soft, her breathing steady, her body relaxed. He rested his head back against the head rest and closed his eyes for a moment. He was so very tired, and although he didn't really want to go to sleep, he didn't think he would be able to stay awake for much longer now that his nerves had been eased somewhat.

Glinda watched as he fell asleep. She couldn't blame him – he hadn't slept in days now. She was so very glad that Elphaba had woken up. Even if that didn't necessarily mean that everything would be fine, at least it was much better than her being unconscious and not responding to anything.

She looked out of the window. It was nearly sunset, but they wouldn't stop to find a hotel; no one could see Elphaba and Fiyero. They were to go on day and night, until they got to the Great Kells. They would only stop to swap drivers every now and then, since they couldn't really ask one man to stay awake for almost a week to drive a carriage.

In front of them was Doctor Quork's carriage and behind them was the prisoner's, which contained the Wizard. She hadn't liked bringing him along, but she hadn't really had a choice; she still wanted Elphaba to know the truth and she didn't want the Wizard to leave until she did. She couldn't leave him, either – he might just find a way to escape – and so she had had to bring him with her. She wondered briefly how Elphaba would react, but banished the thought from her head. That wouldn't be an issue for the time being – Elphaba would have to get better first.

She stared at her friend, lost in thought, so she nearly jumped when Elphaba suddenly opened her eyes and stared right back. 'Sweet Oz, Elphie!' she gasped. 'You nearly gave me a heart attack!'

The green girl managed just the tiniest hint of a smirk and Glinda smiled as if she was about to burst into tears – which she did just a clock-tick later. 'Oh Elphie,' she wept, 'I'm just so glad you're awake! I thought you were going to die!'

'You're being overdramatic, Glin,' Elphaba said, her voice soft and a bit unsteady. 'As always.'

Glinda squeaked, which made her friend laugh softly, and she tried to wipe her tears away. 'But you might have died! Doctor Quork said so!'

The green girl's eyes widened just a bit. 'Doctor Quork is here?'

Glinda shook her head. 'I'll tell you about that later, all right? It's quite a long story.'

Elphaba nodded and fell silent for a moment. Glinda took her hand and squeezed it. 'I'm really glad you're back, Elphie.'

'I think you made that clear,' Elphaba said drily. 'But thanks all the same.' She looked up at Fiyero, who was still holding her, even in his sleep. His head was tilted backwards and his mouth was hanging slightly open. Glinda followed her friend's gaze and giggled. 'This is definitely not his most flattering look.'

Elphaba chuckled softly. 'Well, I can't even begin to imagine how flattering I must have looked while I was unconscious,' she said. It still seemed strange to her that she had apparently been unconscious for quite some time without remembering anything. The past few days were just… gone.

'Oh, don't worry,' Glinda assured her. 'You were actually quite elegant – for a sick person. I mean, you didn't drool, or snort, or throw up, and your mouth wasn't hanging open like that,' she nodded meaningfully at Fiyero, 'although you must know that I would never, ever, ask you to give me a rat for my birthday.'

Elphaba blinked. 'I said that?'

Glinda nodded, giggling again – not so much because it was all that funny as because she was just so relieved. 'Yes. You said 'Galinda, stop whining! I'm not going to buy you a rat for your birthday!'.'

Elphaba thought about that for a moment. 'Now that you mention it… I remember having this strange dream.' She shook her head, dizziness once again washing over her when she did that, but she ignored it. She looked at her blonde friend and imagined her cooing over a rat. The image instantly made her chuckle. 'I did think it to be an odd request, especially coming from you,' she said, trying – and failing – to hide her smile. Glinda pulled a face. 'Thank Oz it was just a dream.' A painful look shot over her face as she thought of something. 'Elphie? Please don't get any ideas.'

Elphaba looked at her friend with a mischievous shimmer in her dark eyes. 'Why not? I'd love to see your reaction when you'd open your present and see a nice fat rat,' she chortled. 'And speaking of reactions… How did Fiyero tell you about us? That we were still alive, I mean? I don't remember anything between the soldiers beating me at Kiamo Ko and you two hovering over me at the palace.'

'I still can't believe how he managed to do that,' the blonde muttered, more to herself than to Elphaba. 'He brought you on horseback – he had been riding for an entire day – and somehow, he managed to break into the palace and force his way towards my chambers, where he somehow convinced the guards to let him in without them even knowing who he was. Really, I think it's quite amazing.'

'What did you do when you saw him?' asked Elphaba. 'I hope he broke the news to you with just the tiniest bit of subtlety – although that might not be one of his strengths.'

Glinda made a face once again. 'You could say that. He barged in, claiming to need my help and telling me not to 'freak out' when he'd tell me who he was. And then when I asked who he thought he was, telling me what to do, he was all like, 'your ex-fiancé'. He nearly gave me a heart attack.'

Elphaba chuckled once again. 'That sounds like him. And did you? Freak out?' She didn't feel like she really had to ask that question - she knew her friend, after all - but she did, just to make Glinda admit it.

'I never 'freak out'!' Glinda protested. 'And I didn't then! I just…' She fell silent when she realised that her reaction back then had be quite the example of 'freaking out'. 'Uhm… Well, I… I sort of thought you guys were spirits who had come back to haunt me,' she confessed, which made Elphaba grin. 'That does sound like you. That thought came with the necessary dramatics, I imagine?'

'Only if you count collapsing onto the floor and sobbing hysterically as 'dramatic',' Glinda said, sighing, but quickly defending herself. 'I thought you were spirits. Anyone would react that way if dead people suddenly showed up in front of them.'

'Only we weren't dead.'

'Which Fiyero told me right after that,' Glinda said. 'Although I couldn't really grasp the fact at the time. No one doubted even for the slightest second that you two were actually gone, and so I didn't either.'

'So he told you that we were still alive,' Elphaba stated. 'What did you do then?'

Glinda looked really unhappy now. 'Well, uhm… I sort of…' She sighed and admitted grudgingly, 'I might have fainted just a little.'

The corners of Elphaba's mouth curled up. 'How do you pull that off, faint 'just a little'?'

'All right, I fainted,' Glinda conceded, glaring at her friend. 'Happy now?'

Elphaba smirked. 'Yes, I am,' she told her friend. 'I wouldn't have expected anything less from you.'

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