AN: Thank you xXStefyXx, ComingAndGoingByBubble and RavenCurls for reviewing! Also, thank you ComingAndGoingByBubble for sharing your very cool ideas with me :D. Thank her for writing April and Shelby in and also for the scene at the end of this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked or Glee. I wish I did, though.

'Loathing! Unadulterated loathing!' Glinda and Elphaba stood on stage, facing each other. 'For your face,' Glinda sneered.

'Your voice!' Elphaba retorted.

'Your clothing!' Glinda finished. 'Let's just say… I loathe it all!'

Rachel and Kurt were both impressed. They knew the girls to be best friends, yet they pulled this song off as if they actually loathed each other. Elphaba was doing an exaggerated impression of Galinda, tossing her hair and doing a stupid little dance, while Glinda brought out the Glee members that would play the Shiz students and they sang along with her. 'And I will be loathing, for forever loathing, truly, deeply, loathing you!' the blonde and the green girl sang, standing face to face and glaring at each other. 'My whole life long!'

'Boo!' Elphaba yelled, and Glinda jumped back in fake fear. 'Ah!'

Everyone clapped when they finished. 'Oh my God, that was so awesome!' Kurt gushed. 'You two are the most wonderful actors! It seemed like you really loathe each other!'

'We used to,' Glinda said with a smile. 'Or at least, I used to.'

'Believe me, the feeling was entirely mutual,' Elphaba assured her, and Glinda giggled. 'I thought so.'

Elphaba looked at Rachel and Kurt again. 'Your turn.'

They tried the song as well, and though it didn't go badly, it could have been better. Rachel sighed as she dropped down next to Elphaba. 'I'm just not as good as you are.'

Elphaba smirked. 'Well, I would start to get worried when someone was doing a better impression of me than… well, me.'

Rachel laughed, too, as she realised that. 'Yeah, of course. It's just… I don't know. How could I ever be anything like you? I always thought I could be anyone I ever wanted to be, because I'm such an amazing actress, but now that I've met you, I'm not so sure anymore.'

'You'll do fine,' Elphaba told her. 'You are an amazing actress, and an amazing singer, too. You're not me, but you don't have to be. Just be yourself. Give your own spin to the part. That'll only make it better.'

Rachel smiled at her. 'Thanks.'

Next up to rehearse was the 'As Long As You're Mine'-scene, and both Rachel and Finn were dreading it. Not because they didn't want to sing a love song together – they both loved that part – but because they feared they wouldn't capture their parts quite right.

'Show us,' Fiyero suggested. 'Just do the scene, me and Elphaba will watch, and we can give you tips on how to enhance your performance afterwards.'

They both nodded hesitantly and dropped down on their knees together while Mr. Schue gestured for the music to start. The other Glee kids were rehearsing elsewhere; Mr. Schue knew how hard love scenes like these could be and he didn't want the others distracting or teasing Finn and Rachel during their performance.

Their voices sounded perfect together, and the never missed a note, yet something was missing. Finn and Rachel knew it, too, and when the song finished, Finn punched the floor in exasperation. 'Why can't I get anything right?'

Elphaba knelt down next to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. 'You're doing well, Finn, really. You just need to put more emotion into it,' she explained to him. She looked at Rachel. 'That applies to you, too, Rachel. The man whom you have been secretly loving for three years, and haven't even seen once in nearly as much time, the man who was engaged to your best friend, the man you thought you could never have, he just confessed his love for you. He left the most popular and pretty and perfect girl in all of Oz – I mean, how do you say that here? On Earth – to be with you. You still can't believe it. This has been your dream for years, the one thing you thought you could never have, and now you have it. Try to convey that message to the audience.' She caught Fiyero smiling softly at her from where he was standing behind Rachel and she couldn't help but return his smile. 'What?'

'I never knew you felt that way about me,' he said. 'I mean, I knew, obviously, when we escaped the palace together, but I didn't know that had been going on for so long.'

She blushed and lowered her eyes. 'Of course it did. I have loved you ever since we rescued that Lion cub together. Only I thought I could never have you, because you were with Glinda, and, well, she was – is – just so much more… perfect than I am. I didn't think you'd even have to think about that choice.'

'I didn't,' he said, his gaze still fixed on hers, which only made her blush deeper. 'You see, Finn,' he said, looking at the young man now, 'I loved her since that day, too. Imagine being me. You have just spent three years looking for the girl that stole your heart. All of Oz hates her and you have to pretend that you do, too, that you want to capture her, when in reality, you just want to know if she's okay. And you want her to love you, of course, but you didn't think that was even remotely possible. So you looked for her this entire time, and now you found her. The one girl you love more than life itself…'

'Aw,' Rachel said softly, looking at him with large eyes, hands clasped together. 'That's so romantic!'

Fiyero laughed. 'It's true, though.' Elphaba smiled at him and he returned the smile before looking at Finn and Rachel again. 'So… Any questions?'

'Will you demonstrate it to us?' Rachel begged. 'Please?'

'Yeah,' said Finn. 'I think we can learn a lot by watching you guys do the scene.'

Fiyero immediately agreed. 'Sure.' Elphaba hesitated at first, but finally gave in. Performing the song for Rachel, Finn and Mr. Schue wasn't nearly as bad as performing it in front of the entire Glee club. 'Fine then. Just don't exaggerate the kissing part,' she warned Fiyero, and he gave her a mischievous grin. 'We'll see about that.'

Rachel and Finn left the stage and Elphaba and Fiyero sat themselves down on it. Elphaba started singing, her clear voice ringing through the auditorium, and after a verse and a chorus, Fiyero sang his solo. Rachel and Finn watched them in awe. There was so much emotion in their performance, so much genuine love; Rachel didn't think she'd ever be able to match up to that. They both sang like no one else in the world existed, like their small audience wasn't even there. They only had eye for one another as they were in each other's arms, singing their hearts out until the song ended and Fiyero kissed Elphaba passionately. They had never broken character once, but now Elphaba playfully slapped him away. 'Enough of that! What did I say about not exaggerating the kissing part?'

Fiyero wiggled his eyebrows at her. 'You call that exaggerating? I wasn't even getting started yet!'

She scowled at him, but finally gave in and chuckled. She looked at Finn and Rachel. 'So that's how it's done. You want to try it?'

'How about we try it together first?' Fiyero suggested. 'I pair up with Rachel, Finn pairs up with Elphaba, and that way we can teach them the basics before pairing them up together.'

They all agreed to that and they settled down on the stage. 'Look at me,' said Elphaba, gazing into Finns eyes. She nodded. 'Good. Like that. Now pretend I'm Rachel and give me the best loving look you got.'

Rachel managed to pull that off fairly well, but Finn only looked like a sad puppy when he tried it, which made Elphaba laugh every time. 'Oh my Oz, Finn! I said love, not despair! You look like a cute little stray puppy begging someone to take him home!'

'Well, how am I supposed to look?' he exclaimed in exasperation, and she thought about that for a clock-tick. 'How do you usually look when you sing Rachel a song?'

He tried to imagine that and Elphaba nodded enthusiastically. 'That's it! Keep it up. Now remember, put the emotions in your voice, in your face, in your entire attitude. Now sing for me.'

He did, and she applauded for him when he was done. 'That was amazing. That's exactly how you do it. Let's do it together.' They sang a chorus of the song in unison, gazing deep into each other's eyes, really entering into the parts. Fiyero and Rachel were watching them a bit warily. 'That looks amazing,' Rachel whispers. 'If I could do this even half as well as she can, I'll be the happiest person alive.'

Fiyero merely huffed. 'It wouldn't hurt her to keep it down a bit.'

Rachel gave him an amused glance. 'Are you jealous?'

He didn't say anything and Rachel laughed softly. 'And here I thought I was the jealous type. It's only acting, Fiyero.'

'Well, they're acting way too well for my liking,' he grumbled, just as Finn and Elphaba pulled apart and she congratulated him on his performance. 'Perfect. Now you and Rachel try.'

They did, and this time, they did an amazing job.

'Listen up, everyone!' Mr. Schue clapped his hand and raised his voice to attract attention from the Glee club. 'Since you're all doing so well on the songs, I propose we get started on rehearsing the entire musical this afternoon. It doesn't have to be perfect yet; it'll mainly be meant to determine which parts will need the most work.'

Kurt raised his hand. 'I just realised something. Do I have to kiss Finn?'

Finn choked. 'Dude!'

'In the musical, Galinda kisses Fiyero,' Kurt reminded him. 'And I'm sorry, but I'm really not comfortable with that.'

'Neither am I!' Finn protested. 'No way!'

Glinda made an unladylike sound. 'Well, if you're going to be so childish about it… I suppose we could change the kiss to a peck on the cheek, couldn't we, Mr. Schuester?'

Will Schuester nodded. 'Sure, we could do that. That, however, was not the only thing I wanted to talk to you about. I figured we could use some more help with this, since Wicked is a rather big challenge… and so I invited over some old acquaintances of ours. Boys and girls, please welcome two members of the original Broadway cast of Wicked… April Rhodes and Shelby Corcoran!'

Rachel squealed and the Glee kids all started cheering for the two women, but Elphaba and Glinda looked at each other in confusion. 'The original Broadway cast? What does that mean?'

'They're the actresses that originally played the parts of Elphaba and Glinda in the musical Wicked,' Tina whispered to them. Glinda snorted. 'Original cast… If anyone here is original, it's us!'

'Excuse me,' Shelby interrupted. 'Who are this?'

Will sighed. 'Believe it or not, but these are Elphaba, Glinda and Fiyero. The real ones. They got stuck in our world…' The same ritual followed – the women not believing them, Mr. Schue and the Glee kids trying to convince them and eventually Glinda forming a bubble and Elphaba changing Finn into a frog again, which elicited an irritated groan from Rachel. 'Elphaba…'

Glinda gave Elphaba a stern look and opened her mouth to say something, but Elphaba rolled her eyes. 'Yes, yes, Glinda, I know. I can't just go around turning people into frogs. It's rude. And sorry about your boyfriend,' she said to Rachel, before turning Finn back.

Again, it took a while to convince the newcomers, but finally they accepted the fact that the three Ozians were real and they looked forward to working with them. Mr. Schue nodded, satisfied. 'Let's get ourselves to the auditorium then, shall we?'

They started with the song 'Good News', in which Kurt surprised everyone, including Glinda, with the high notes he managed to reach almost effortlessly. Glinda squealed. 'You're like a male me!'

Elphaba merely rolled her eyes, leaning back as she watched the Glee kids perform, arms crossed. She knew it was a bit childish, but she couldn't get herself to like this first part. The mere knowledge that this was actually real, these people celebrating her death… It stung. It still did, after all this time.

Fiyero, as usual, detected her mood and sat down next to her, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him until her head was resting on his shoulder. 'It's over now, Elphaba. I know it must hurt, but it happened like this, and there is no way to turn back time. It's no use reliving the past.'

She sighed and leaned into him, eyes still fixed on Kurt. 'I know. It's just…'

He gently wrapped his other arm around her as well and kissed her forehead. 'I know, love. I know.'

Watching Quinn wheel around in Artie's wheelchair – they hadn't gotten to purchasing props yet – stung, too, for it reminded her so much of her sister, but she resolutely pushed the feelings aside. This was only a performance, after all, and she would help them through.

'Dancing Through Life' came and went, and Finn actually did quite a fine job in his tight pants – he was already wearing them to 'get used to the feeling', as he had put it. Elphaba watched with a smile on her face as she and Galinda became friends, with Kurt performing 'Popular' just the way Glinda had taught him to, and then they left for the Emerald City and met the Wizard… It was like reliving her life all over again – in some weird, twisted kind of way.

Rachel started 'Defying Gravity' and Elphaba jumped in to assist her. 'Try to convey the determination,' she tried to explain. 'You can't go on with this, now that you know it. And Glinda – I mean, Kurt…' Everyone laughed at that. 'You feel like you can't go with her because you can't leave your popularity behind. You can't live without people loving you.'

Glinda nodded solemnly. 'You're feeling torn. You don't want to let her leave on her own, but you don't want to go with her, either. Try to persuade her to stay, to talk some sense into her…'

'Excuse me?' Elphaba interrupted, feeling slightly offended. 'I was being perfectly sensible!'

Glinda waved her hand in the air dismissively. 'No, you weren't. You were acting on your emotions – by which I don't mean you didn't do the right thing, Elphie.' She looked at Kurt again. 'Basically, you're just to cowardly to go with her. You'll regret that decision later,' she said softly, looking at Elphaba, 'but by then, it'll be too late.'

Elphaba smiled a bit sadly at her friend and squeezed her hand reassuringly. 'We all made decisions we regretted later. And it turned out fine, didn't it? Well… considering the circumstances, anyway.'

Glinda nodded and turned back to Kurt. 'Try to look desperate. Pleading.'

'And you try to be determined and firm,' Elphaba told Rachel. They both nodded and started over again, performing the song very well.

'All right, guys, let's wrap it up for today!' Mr. Schue called. 'We'll perform act two tomorrow afternoon, so make sure to look through it tonight! Class dismissed!'

'Is there anywhere we can party out here?' Glinda asked Quinn and Santana. 'I feel like I haven't been to a party in forever, and I really feel like dancing today.'

April, who overheard them, tapped Glinda's shoulder. 'I know just the place. I can take you there tonight, if you want,' she offered.

Elphaba looked doubtful. 'Glinda, I'm not sure that's a good idea…'

'Of course it is!' Glinda beamed, smiling at April. 'I'd love to go with you tonight! Can I borrow some clothes of yours? We look about the same height…'

'Sure,' April agreed immediately. 'Why don't you come with me right after school and I'll drop you off at Rachel's when we get back?'

'Wonderful!' Glinda exclaimed, skipping through the auditorium. 'Don't wait up for me!' she called to Rachel and Elphaba, before disappearing from view.

'So then,' April continued, laughing, while taking another sip of her cocktail, 'during my very final performance of 'Popular',' another pause to take a sip, 'I pulled out this book and I told Elphaba – Shelby – that I wrote a book, 'How to be popular'.' She downed the rest of her drink at once and called for another one, giggling all the while. Glinda was giggling, too, since she was at least as drunk as her fellow blonde. 'Ooh! I wish I had had that idea!' she chortled, nearly falling off her bar stool. 'I could have made millions! What did you say after that?'

'Heheh,' April chuckled, remembering the performance of Wicked she was talking about. 'I told her to shower every day, because no one likes a stinky witch.'

'True,' Glinda agreed cheerfully, winking at the hot bartender as he poured her another drink.

'To wear clean underclothes, and that that was all I was going to say,' April giggled. Glinda nearly fell off her stool again with laughter. 'That is awesome!'

'And for her to keep her beautiful smile.'

'Aw!' Glinda squealed. April laughed again. 'Yeah. But she was mean to me. I cried during my final 'Defying Gravity', and Shelby just stood there laughing!' She swayed dangerously, but managed to stay put. 'She did say she really missed me, though, when she had to play Elphaba with another Glinda… Ah well…'

'Yeah…' Glinda drank some more. 'Popular!' she sang, very loudly and very falsely. 'You're gonna be popu-ular!'

'I'll teach you the proper…' April thought about it for a moment, then giggled, 'noise! When you sleep with boys!'

Glinda once again nearly fell off her stool with laughter. 'Ooh! April, you are so bad!'

April dilated her eyes in innocence. 'Me? But I'm so good!'

'Yeah…' Glinda said dreamily. 'We're good.'

'We're awesome.'

'We're the best.'

April raised her newly poured drink. 'To the best!'

'The bestest of the bestest!' Glinda added, raising her glass as well.

'To perfect!'

Glinda half-closed her eyes and tried to look seductive. 'You're perfect.'

April did the same. 'You're perfect.'

'So we're perfect together!' they both yelled, laughing, as they toasted and emptied their drinks at once.

'One short day,' April started softly, swaying back and forth on her stool.

Glinda immediately chimed in. 'To get totally wasted!'

'One short day…'

'To have fun at a bar!'

'You know,' April said, giggling again. 'This one time, during 'Popular',' she was already laughing so hard that she fell forward, her upper body practically draped over the bar, 'there was this technical… thing… that went wrong and, and my bed didn't come out!' She doubled over with laughter again. 'And I was all singing like, 'I want my bed, I want my bed!', and it was so funny! And then I was like, 'Elphie, use your powers!' and Shelby was just laughing her a-… I mean, head… off… And in the end she just said, 'Why don't you come sit with me?' and I was like, 'Okay!' and we were just laughing so hard! Ah, the good old days…'

Glinda, this time, had actually tumbled off her stool and was now climbing up again, still laughing. 'Oh my Oz, I wish I could have seen that!'

The DJ started a new song and April jumped up. 'Oh my God, I love this song!' she screeched, immediately climbing on the bar and starting to sing. 'I'm going out tonight, I'm feeling all right!'

'April! Get off the ba-ar!' Glinda giggled. 'You're making a fool out of yourself!'

'THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING A WOMAN…'

'April!'

'Come on, Glinda, have some fun with me!' April stretched out her hand and the bubbly blonde took it and let herself be dragged onto the bar, where she started singing along – the lines weren't all that difficult and she picked up on the chorus easily, even in her drunken state. The two girls bounced and danced all over the bar, with the other visitors in the pub cheering loudly for them as they performed the worst version of the popular song the world had ever seen. They both emptied another glass before facing each other and screaming in each other's face, 'MAN! I feel like a woman!'

'Whoo!' Glinda shouted, jumping up and down. She danced across the bar, but slipped in a pool of beer and fell off the bar – on the wrong side, too, so that when she looked up, she was facing the hot bartender. She smiled goofily. 'Hi. You're hot.'

'You're drunk,' the boy replied, helping her to her feet. She fell into his arms, giggling hysterically. 'I know!' She lowered her voice and fluttered her eyelashes at him. 'You want to know a secret?'

'What?'

She bent closer to him and whispered in his ear, 'I'm drunk!' She started giggling again and the boy sighed deeply before handing Glinda to his colleague and walking over to the phone to call the drunk blondes a cab.

Reviews are very welcome! :)