The area had been evacuated and the illusions eventually faded. Nessa pushed her way through the crowd, surprising Elphaba with her boldness. She hurried after her sister and stopped suddenly when she saw her sister confronting Morrible. No longer was Nessarose her timid seventeen year old self, but she had turned into someone who didn't take, well, crap, from anyone anymore. Elphaba was surprised at how similar Nessa sounded like herself when she yelled at Morrible. "I know you talked to her," the brunette growled. "What did you say to her? Did you mention your stupid idea to put her in an institution? I told you she'd react badly to it! She doesn't do well when she's told to stay put, especially if it's somewhere where'd she be locked up! What in Oz were you thinking?" Nessa ranted.
"I feel it is my duty to help her, and that is the best option for Miss Glinda," Morrible replied, shaking off her fear from the nasty illusions.
"Yes, because locking up someone in distress from being locked up is definitely the best option. Oz, why didn't you just leave her alone? She was fine under my watch," Nessa sighed, too tired to deal with all of this.
"She was far from great under your watch, Miss Nessarose. Look what she has done!" Morrible shouted.
"You must have said something more to her-you, guard," Nessa said, pointing towards the Gale Force guard who had almost been killed. "Tell me what Morrible said to Glinda."
"Glinda, as in the Wicked Witch of the North?"
"Did I stutter?" Elphaba gasped at her sister's words. She was shocked, to say the least, that she wasn't watching what she was saying. As much as the green woman wanted to step in, she couldn't find words to do so. She was too shocked at her sister, too shocked at how strong Glinda's magic was, too shocked that Glinda was about to murder someone right in front of everyone for all to see. The blood-thirsty look she had given that guard as she pressed the knife to his throat replayed in Elphaba's mind over and over again.
"She mentioned that she had scars on her thighs and said someone wouldn't love her…I forget who it was, honest!" he quickly replied. He was a younger guard and was frightened easily.
"Thank you, go along and never lay a hand on her again," Nessa said. The man nodded and ran off, wondering why he actually listened to a woman who was probably younger than himself.
"But what made her come here?" Elphaba wondered aloud, the two women turned towards her.
"Correction, why would Boq think it would be a good idea to bring her here?" Nessa looked at him with anger in her eyes.
"I think I could answer that," Boq said. He stepped up and handed Nessarose the note; since Nessa had practically made herself in charge of Glinda, he figured she should know first as she would be able to understand her link with Dr. Dillamond more than Elphaba would.
"Oh, sweet Lurline," Nessa gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks as she read Dr. Dillamond's last words to Glinda. "Is it true?" she whispered.
"Unfortunately so," Boq admitted. "We looked through the obituaries, and his name was listed. She said she had to come see you, and I couldn't bring myself to deny her. If it was because she simply couldn't sleep, I assure you that I would have given her a book to read or something to eat since she skipped dinner again."
"She shouldn't be alone right now," Nessa said quickly.
"What's going on?" Elphaba asked, concerned for the blonde. She felt her heart quicken at Nessa's sad face. Her younger sister thrust the letter towards her. Elphaba read the letter quickly and gasped; she never thought her favorite professor from Shiz would ever commit suicide. But the things that had happened to him while in captivity were very real. If Glinda's experiences were just as bad, Elphaba couldn't imagine as to what she was feeling. "Where do we start looking?"
"She probably went to the north," Nessa decided as they hurried out of the building.
"How in Oz do you know she went to the north?" Elphaba asked her.
"Because she was called the Wicked Witch of the North."
"She can't be that predictable," Elphaba replied.
"You were, Wicked Witch of the West who currently resides in the Vinkus," Nessa reminded her. "I bet you she went into the mountains."
"I highly doubt she would go into the mountains," Elphaba said as the three approached the carriage. "She wasn't very good in the cold."
"Elphaba, right now, I think I know her better than you do," Nessa snapped, a look of worry on her face.
"Nessa, I don't think so," Elphaba snapped back at her sister.
"We've found her in the freezer before. She said it made her numb, physically, because of the cold," Boq replied. "Now please, stop feuding. We have to find Miss Glinda. It's bad enough you two are wasting time here."
"Boq's right," Nessa replied, able to control her temper more than Elphaba who was fuming. "We have to go to the Gillikun now."
"I'll take my broom," Elphaba said as she summoned it, the broom flying from seemingly nowhere.
"Where in Oz did that come from?" Nessa put a hand to her heart. Elphaba rolled her eyes as she mounted her broom. "Elphaba, wait!" Nessa said and grabbed Elphaba's wrist. "We need to get back to the mansion so we can pack a bag and get coats," the brunette replied reasonably.
"There's no time," Elphaba snapped.
"Because freezing to death on a mountain seems like the better idea. No, we are going back and we won't be stupid about this, Elphaba."
"You two maybe should take the broom? I'll follow in the carriage. I'll pack everything and meet you at a hotel near the mountains?" Boq spoke up. The sisters looked at him, one with narrowed eyes and the other with a happiness, or a look of relief, to hers. Boq had originally thought Nessa was one of the most stubborn people he knew, but apparently, that was Elphaba. The green woman glared at him, knowing that her sister loved the sound of the idea.
"Let's go!" Nessa exclaimed. "So how do you ride this thing? Do I get on the back or front?"
"Get on the front," Elphaba decided and Nessa mounted onto the broom in front of her. The broom rose, Nessa's feet leaving the ground. She shifted a bit, wondering how Elphaba found this mode of transportation desirable. She felt an arm hold her securely around the waist as they flew off towards the mansion. Nessa was thankful that Elphaba listened to her and Boq; the brunette most certainly did not want to freeze in the mountains. She loved the blonde very much, but what good could she do for her if she was dead? Before she knew it, Elphaba landed the broom carefully and slowly, their feet touching the ground.
Elphaba followed Nessa into the mansion. The younger woman ran through the halls and right up into her room. She grabbed a bag and began to prepare an overnight bag, making sure to pack a few things for Glinda as well. Elphaba watched as Nessa moved quickly around the room, stuffing random odds and ends into a medium sized bag. She saw her grab a journal off a desk and threw a pen in there. Could that have been Glinda's journal? Elphaba was curious, but she didn't want to invade the blonde's privacy, so she didn't ask to see it. "Are you ready?" Elphaba asked her.
"Almost," Nessa said, grabbing scarves and coats. "Now I am. Let's get going." The two ran outside, taking off on Elphaba's broom yet again. Nessa wasn't too fond of flying. In fact, it was utterly terrifying; she just told herself not to look down and imagine she was on the road, safely in a carriage. She trusted the green skinned woman not to let go of her, but since when did she put so much trust into Elphaba, her sister who had abandoned her to go off and live with a prince while fighting for Animal rights? Nessarose wondered if Elphaba knew Glinda was the one who managed to do what Elphaba had been striving to do in a week rather than years.
"Nessa, what's your relationship with Glinda?" Elphaba questioned her.
"We're friends," Nessarose answered quickly. "Best friends. Why do you ask?"
"I get this vibe that you're something more."
"Why's that?"
"Because of the way you reacted to Morrible tonight," Elphaba reminded her.
"Well, I mean, someone had to put that…that horrible woman in her place!" Nessa exclaimed. "Glinda's become like a sister to me and-"
"I'm not buying it. Please, Nessa, just tell me the truth." Elphaba heard Nessa sigh, realizing she couldn't win this battle.
"It's very complicated," Nessarose admitted. "She is a very dear friend, but I am more of a caretaker, maybe so far as to say a mother of some sort to her, but not in the traditional way. I mean, I have to make sure she doesn't do certain things. I have to sleep in the same bed as her, or else she can't sleep. She has horrible nightmares and I have to comfort her through it. I do my best to get her to eat. Things like that."
"Have you…slept with her?" Nessa blushed, thankful that the sun had set long ago.
"I just told you we share a bed every night so that she can sleep," she replied, pretending to be naïve about the subject. However, Elphaba didn't believe she was stupid (to her dismay, this one time) and bit her lip when Elphaba didn't respond. "Yes."
"I should let you fall right about now," Elphaba snarled.
"No!" Nessa yelled, holding onto her sister's arm as if it was a lifeline. "I promise you it meant nothing between us! We were filling a void of some sort," she panicked.
"Explain."
"Well, she's deeply in love with you, but you weren't there, and I'm still in love with Boq, but he wouldn't show me any kind of affection, so when two lonely people get together…"
"How could you?" Elphaba hissed.
"Well excuse me, Miss Perfect," Nessa replied, drying her tears that she hadn't noticed before. "However, I seem to think you were…diddling around with Fiyero!" When Elphaba didn't respond right away, Nessa knew she was right. "I think if you really wanted Glinda that badly you would have come to her. She wasn't that hard to find, you know. In fact, she told me the night she was claimed wicked, she saw you and you flew off!"
"I regret that," Elphaba said quietly, but frighteningly. Nessa swallowed hard, remembering the quarrels Elphaba would get in when they were younger. She could be quite harsh. "You always have to take what's mine."
"First of all, she isn't yours. Glinda doesn't belong to anyone. And second of all, you should be happy to know I am not a lesbian or bisexual. Glinda and I were just…playing around," Nessa replied.
"You don't love her?"
"I love her like I love you," Nessa stated truthfully. "Well, I'd never sleep with you like…that…okay, bad example. I told you, it's complicated. It's like…you and Fiyero. You love him, but not like that."
"I think I see your point," Elphaba reasoned, her voice calming. "Will you sleep with her again, given the chance?"
"As long as you're here and you stay in her life, no. I don't need her like that. But I need her as a friend."
"I will accept that."
"I was hoping so, because it could be the other way around and we could have been feuding in laws," Nessa joked, trying to lighten the mood. In fact, she was trying to get her mind off of Glinda who was missing and probably cold, lost, and scared. She tried not to picture the poor girl shivering amongst the snow crying for help. Glinda was most likely exhausted, too, because odds were she didn't get any sleep while Nessa was away for those brief few hours.
"I just…don't understand," Elphaba began. "I don't understand Glinda anymore. If someone were to say something to her that was cruel, she would go hide in her room or she'd find someone. Why would she just run off like this?"
"She's terrified, Elphaba. I've been scared before, but never like her. She's terrified of many things now, Elphaba."
"What is she afraid of?"
"She's afraid of being locked up or forced to being confined to one place."
"So when Morrible told her she was going to put her in an asylum…"
"She completely freaked out. And she's also afraid of abandonment. So, when Dr. Dillamond sent her that letter and she found out..."
"She couldn't handle it. Sweet Oz, it's all my fault she's like this. I shouldn't have defied the Wizard. I should have apologized like she said."
"Hey," Nessa said, twisting her body to face Elphaba. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known," she assured. Elphaba gave her a small smile before looking ahead of her.
"Thank you for taking care of her, for saving her." Nessa heard the quiver in Elphaba's voice, as if she was about to cry.
"No need to thank me," Nessa replied. "Hey, what are you doing!" Nessa exclaimed when she noticed they were lowering to the ground. "The mountains are more that way! They're over there! Elphaba!" As she protested, she felt her feet hit the ground, Elphaba forcing her off of the broom. "What's going on?"
"I'm not going to let you go up that mountain. It's too dangerous. You get us a nice hotel room and I'll meet you there."
Not wanting to argue, Nessa nodded. Besides, she couldn't use magic to help her like Elphaba and Glinda could, so it was better for her to stay in the hotel at the base of the mountain. This way when Elphaba found Glinda, she could already have a fire going. "If I can't go, at least take my scarf," Nessa said. She wrapped it around Elphaba's neck and face, laughing at Elphaba as she rolled her eyes as her mouth was being covered. "Be careful. If you aren't back in two days, I'll go hike up there myself."
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll find her, Nessa, I promise."
Thanks for everyone who's reading, and especially reviewing! Hope you guys enjoyed the sisterly bonding in this chapter.