Chapter 30

Let me dedicate this humble chapter to HC247, who deserves no less. Frankly, anyone in their final year of Law School should have a chapter of something, somewhere, dedicated to them. Hats off to ya, girl! May will be party time :)

She hadn't wanted this.

This.

This...petty, petty fight.

But here she was, right at the center of it.

And it wouldn't get better, not any time soon.

You and Glinda will make up...

Fiyero's words, his confident tone, replayed in her head and she fought a grimace.

Not anytime soon, Fiyero.

Maybe never at all.

She knew she was in the wrong, knew Glinda was acting out, was angry and hurt, over what had been done to her by her lover, and her best friend. She was not right, in her behavior, but it wasn't unjust, either. It was understandable.

She deserved it. She did.

But she was balancing on a very frail line, right now. She could feel herself slowly becoming unhinged, toes pressing down in her boots, trying to keep her cool. Struggling, desperately, to get herself under control. She would lose her patience soon, and she'd never had much to begin with. She'd lose the ability to see that Glinda was right. She could feel the pain of Nessa's death, the hurt that lingered from their last conversation. All the regrets she had. Fighting their way up with determination. She curled and flexed her toes, focused on counting each set. She needed to remain calm.

Don't go flying off the handle...

Glinda's words hit her with force, but she threw them aside.

One...

Two...

Her fingers holding on to the broomstick so tight, her knuckles were turning white.

Three..

Her mind flashed back to that attic years ago, when she'd chosen to go, and Glinda had chosen to stay. Had chosen to let her go.

She'd made a mistake in doing what she had done with Fiyero, and now she was paying for it. She lost the only friend she'd ever had because of a choice she had willingly made. This was the price and she had no choice but to pay it.

But Glinda had disappointed her too, in a way.

Not in staying. But in letting her go.

She'd gone to work for the Wizard. For Morrible. For the very people that wanted Elphaba dead. Who wouldn't even have glanced twice at Glinda, if it wasn't for Elphaba.

It hurt. It had always hurt.

She could rationalize it, could list all the reasons why Glinda had made the right choice. Had made all the right choices. But it hurt, and now, with grief rolling in from every corner of her mind, and her vision clouded by guilt, and love, and betrayal and longing, just longing, for Fiyero, even now...

She started counting again.

One...

"A lot of us are taking things that don't belong to us, aren't we?"

She was right, of course. Only she wasn't. And the words stung.

The words stung, and her natural reaction was to sting right back. She aimed her words at Glinda's pride and heart and it was as low as she'd ever sunken.

She was so torn. Torn between wanting to hurt Glinda more, wanting to bring her to her knees, and running forward, begging for forgiveness. Asking to do anything, anything, just to be forgiven.

But then the guards were there, Glinda opposite her and, despite it all, despite everything she had done to Glinda, it tore her to pieces that her former roommate, her best friend, would do this. Would betray her like this. Had had a part to play in this plot. Had actually cooperated to set this trap to capture her.

Using Nessa...

Nessa who was a million things she had ought not to be, but who did not deserve to die the way she had.

"I can't believe you'd sink this low. To use my sister's death as a trap to capture me!"

But Glinda's denial was drowned in a sea of commotion as Fiyero, Fiyero!, swung in on a rope and aimed his rifle at his former guards.

"Let the green girl go!"

It was maybe the first time in her life that Elphaba could not, could not, comprehend what was happening around her. She watched as the man she'd been sleeping with pointed a rifle at the woman he'd been engaged to, the woman who was supposed to be her best friend, who she was supposed to be a friend to, and who had used her sister to lure her here. She watched as Glinda conceded and threw her her hat. She wasn't aware of her arms moving, of her legs moving, but the did. She caught her hat, pleaded with Fiyero, who was focused only on getting her out alive, and she moved. She moved to the side of the field and watched.

She watched Glinda sink to her knees in forgiveness.

She watched Fiyero being dragged off on a pole, by the very men that used to obey his every command.

She watched, and tried to work out what to do. Because this could not be it.

This was not the end.

So. This is where I, once again, go AU. If that's not your cup of tea, you could stop here and pretend it all plays out like in the musical :)

For those who ARE interested...There's about 10 chapters left now, more or less. It's pretty much done but sometimes I split a chapter in two, or add some together.

Leave me a review, if you have the time. I just came out of a 6.5- hour meeting. Yes. I pity myself :)