Nessarose finished reading a letter from Dr. Dillamond. Glinda had managed to get his job back teaching at Shiz as well as continuing his research and writing books on Ozian History. The blonde hadn't wanted to live with him due to the fact she had been on the run as well as psychologically torturing Madame Morrible and the Wizard, and occasionally her parents. Although Glinda still continued to bother Morrible and the Wizard if they didn't keep their word on a few things, she never sent anything to her parents. Glinda had laughed at the fact that her parents had no idea where she was. I don't need them, anyway. I'm better than them because I'd never abandon anyone like they did to me. I never thought that my parents' love would be conditional. The words were heartbreaking to Nessa, and she had comforted Glinda when she broke down afterwards.

Nessarose knew the blonde was deteriorating mentally. She couldn't control water like she once could, and her levitating skills were going away. The illusions she made were becoming more demented and twisted, or so she heard from the Wizard when she had meetings with him every two to three months.

Dr. Dillamond's note had a request about taking Glinda with him on vacation to Ev for about a month. He mentioned that it might do her some good to get out of Oz, but of course, he wanted Nessa's professional opinion on the matter. As far as she knew, Dr. Dillamond was the only one who knew she had a degree in psychology as well as political science. She had hid the fact from her father. She had become interested in the mind of people when she found out Elphaba had defied the Wizard and abandoned everyone who cared about her. Nessa often wondered why people were able to just get up and leave everything that mattered.

Nessarose immediately threw the letter in the fireplace. If Glinda knew how she and Dr. Dillamond communicated in regards to her mental health, the blonde would probably leave and do things she didn't think Glinda capable of doing.

It was easier and better, Nessa had decided, not to tell her.

She was told to give this second letter he enclosed in a smaller envelope to Glinda if she agreed. She left her chambers and happily walked downstairs to eat lunch with Glinda who was waiting for her. "You're late," Glinda pouted jokingly.

"I am terribly sorry, princess. I was reading some boring old letters and lost track of time," Nessa said and put her hands on her shoulders, kissing the top of her head. She sat down across the table from her.

"I guess I can forgive you," Glinda laughed. Moments like these were the ones Nessa cherished. The ones where she found Glinda on the bathroom floor passed out or hurt were the ones that she feared.

"Well, I would hope so; how would I live with myself?" she joked. "Oh, and you got a letter today."

"From Dr. Dillamond?" she questioned excitedly as she took the piece of mail. It was silent for a moment as she read it, but her blue eyes lit up at the mention of the words vacation. "Dr. Dillamond invited me to go to Ev with him!" she exclaimed.

"Really?" Nessa asked, faking the shock, but not the happiness.

"I leave in about a week. Oh, you don't mind if I go, do you? I can ask him if you can come!"

Nessa chuckled. "No, no, you go and have fun. You haven't seen him in a while. I'll manage without you for a month. But I'll miss you," she said genuinely.

"I'll miss you, too. I'll be sure to get you something very nice, I promise! Ev has amazifying jewelry." Glinda got up from her seat and began to run from the room.

"I thought you wanted lunch!" Nessa shouted after her.

"Not hungry anymore!" she yelled back. "Oz, Nessa, I have to respond right away!"

"At least eat as you write. You skipped breakfast again, and dinner last night."

Glinda had grabbed a pen and paper. She sat back down at the lunch table and ate as she hastily responded to a man who, Nessa assumed, became like a father figure. As she wrote back, Glinda stopped when she noticed the bandages on her wrist. Frowning, she stopped writing and held her left wrist in her right hand, examining it closely. "Nessa," she scrunched her nose in confusion. "Why do I have bandages?" This was becoming routine lately. Every time she saw Glinda inspecting her wrist, she'd want to cry because the blonde couldn't remember the previous night's events. It always seemed to happen late at night at around two in the morning about two or three times per week. The frequencies of these incidents increased as time went on.

"You cut yourself again, remember?" Usually when she said this, Glinda would get brief flashbacks.

"Oh," the blonde looked down, embarrassed. "That's right. I'm sorry…I…don't mean to do it," she bit her bottom lip lightly.

"I know you didn't," Nessa said soothingly. "I think it would be best if you saw a psychologist."

"No, they'll put me away; I know I'm crazy. But I will not be put away again!" the blonde cried. "I won't, I won't," she repeated, shaking her head.

"Glinda, it's all right," Nessarose said softly as she reached for Glinda's delicate, bony hands. She held them gently so as not to make the other woman feel constrained. "You don't have to see a psychologist. Just promise me you'll keep talking to me." Glinda nodded slowly as the tears fell from her eyes. Nessa knew she was easing into somewhat of a session with her and waited patiently for Glinda to open up. Usually, she'd talk about anything but what she was feeling. However, today Glinda seemed to be making some progress by acknowledging that she had self-harmed right away. Nessa could only hope.

"Why do you put up with me, Nessa?"

"I don't put up with you," the brunette said. "You're my friend, Glinda; you've become my best friend."

"And you're my best friend," Glinda said. "There are a lot of things that happened to me. There are reasons why I am the way I am, but Nessa, I just can't bring myself to say them out loud. I can barely think about them without nightmares or just…doing these things to myself in the bathroom," she explained, holding out her wrist.

"Is that why you hurt yourself? Because of those painful memories?" Nessa questioned her.

Glinda nodded. "They were awful. I can't begin to…oh, Lurline," Glinda cried. Nessa had gone over to her side and pulled a chair up beside her. She wasn't sure when, but the smaller woman was on her lap and crying into her chest. The governess rubbed Glinda's back in soothing circles. She let her own tears fall as she was unable to keep them back this time. She couldn't help but feel her heart hurting for Glinda, but, at the same time, she was so proud of her for finally acknowledging why she was hurting herself.

"I know you can't talk about it yet, but maybe you can start to try and write things down," Nessa explained. "If I got you a journal with a lock on it, would you be willing to let out all of the pent up emotions?"

"I think I'm ready to do that," Glinda said.

"I'm so proud of you," Nessarose kissed the top of her head. "Now, do you know what you're going to bring to Ev?" Glinda looked up at her and nodded enthusiastically, a smile on her pretty face.

Sorry for taking forever to upload. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading!