Elphaba awoke. She did not know how she did, but she did. Her first thought was that the pain brought her back. However, as she moved, she realized it was bad, but not so much as to wake her from a fever-sleep. That is when Elphaba realized she was hot; hotter than she should be. The green woman sat up. Wiping her brow first, she carefully opened her dress and pulled it from her shoulders. The night air of the Vinkus was still hot, but the sweat on her skin cooled her.

"Awake I see." a man's voice said.

Elphaba turned towards the man approaching the cart. By his side was a woman she would have known anywhere. Her mind slowly cleared and she realized who they were. Duran and Glinda. Both had firewood in their hands. Elphaba glanced around, and noticed the Great Kells were on the wrong side.

"We made it through Kumbrica's Pass?" she asked.

"Yesterday." Glinda answered. "You've been in and out for awhile now."

"Healing and sleeping draughts?" she asked.

"Sleeping; and only halves. The healing supplies ran out a few days ago. Besides, you do not need them."

Elphaba gingerly slid from the back of the cart. Her body groaned from the stiffness of days lying there. The pain was bad, but manageable. She tested her leg. Weak, but it would come back quickly. As she started to move the strength came back to her body. Strangely, too much so. Elphaba had been wounded severely before, and knew she should still be weak. And she was still burning up. Taking a deep breath, the woman cast a light water spell to put a cooling mist over herself.

And ended up soaked. Elphaba sputtered and dragged wet hair from her eyes. The light giggle from Glinda did not help matters at all. Glaring at the blonde, she wondered if she was so far off that her spelling ability was out of sync. Calling forth the flame to her hand, a spell she could never get wrong, it roared into being, an inferno not beckoned for.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" asked Glinda.

"My spells are much too strong." she answered dreamily. Elphaba flicked her hand, and a large gust of air blew past them. "That was a light wind spell."

"Strange." Glinda answered, concern evident on her face. She placed the firewood down and walked over to Elphaba. The blonde put a hand on her head. "You're burning up."

"I'm always hot."

"No, it's more than usual."

Whatever Glinda kept saying Elphaba paid no mind. The blonde woman was so near to Elphaba she could feel the heat off her. Not just the heat, but the smell of the woman was something comforting that Elphaba had missed. Something she had not known she had missed until-

"Whoa, whoa! Elphie, what are you doing?" Glinda's surprised voice came back to her. Elphaba realized she was leaning down towards the blonde.

"Uh...I felt light headed." she covered quickly. Glinda was not buying it.

"That was not what it looked like."

"Uh. Sorry. My head is really foggy. You just seem so...uh…"

"Intoxicating?" cut in Duran's voice with a smile. Elphaba was glad to look away from Glinda, and took a step back.

"Yes." she answered slowly. "How did you know?"

He chuckled lightly.

"Come on, ladies, I know this high magic is new to you, but you've got all the pieces there."

"What?" Elphaba said. Her mind ground forward for a moment, then said, "My magic sight. It uses all the senses. But I've pulled it back almost completely, so why?"

"You said your magic is off. That's probably why." Glinda answered. Looking at Duran she realized he was waiting for more. "But why it is off is the question we should be looking for."

"Getting there." he prodded.

"I've been drugged in a sleeping coma for a few days after nearly dying, that could be it…" Elphaba mused out loud.

"Your magic is infused in your blood." Glinda dropped in awe. Elphaba turned.

"Mine? Well, yes, but-"

"Durandal's."

Elphaba looked at the man. He had a big smile on his face. Her eyes slowly opened.

"You can only do magic that has been woven into you." Elphaba said in slow realization. "And you did a blood transfusion. I thought that was a dream."

"No, it was real."

"You could have killed me!" Elphaba admonished. "Blood transfusions are not often successful!"

"Yes, but my blood is able to go to anyone without issue. And that's how you lived."

"And it is better: holds more oxygen, clots faster." Glinda added. Elphaba turned to her. "Had this conversation when you were bleeding out."

"Clots faster. Heals faster." Elphaba mumbled. She looked back at Duran. "That's why I didn't die. Your blood. But that can't be. The amount…"

"Was quite more than I even let Glinda know." answered Duran. "You'd lost nearly three pints by the time of the healing draught; it stymied the loss long enough for me to transfuse five more into you."

"Five...I should have died. You would have died. "

"You would have died if I was a normal person with normal blood, even that amount. I would have died. But I am not."

"And your magic is in your blood…" Glinda continued. "And your blood is now in Elphaba."

"A lot of it." Elphaba added. "And if that blood has a magical effect, it is now in me."

"Temporarily." he said with a smile. "But yes."

"Is that why my magic is so much more powerful? And Glinda smells…"

"Alluring?" Duran answered.

"Well...yes." Elphaba looked down, her cheeks violet.

"But I don't have any spells on me." Glinda rebutted. "She shouldn't be able to sense any magic."

"If it was only the magic sight, I would agree." he smiled. "But I have a lot more senses than that. Aura sense, for instance. I can see people's auras, and magical users are much more vibrant than non."

"Do you have something that enhances your magic?" Elphaba asked. Duran shook his head.

"No. That is strange, but I've never transferred so much blood to a magic user before, nor one of such power."

"And Elphaba is half-Ozian." Glinda added. Duran looked at her.

"She's what?"

"Half-Ozian. Her father is not from Oz, but the other world."

"Glinda!" Elphaba chastened but Glinda waved a hand at her.

"That would explain a lot of things." Duran nodded. "Half-Noneseticans have great power in Nonesetica. Something about the other world's low amount of magic, and this one's high amount. Probably because the fact that anyone who travels here from their world must have a large amount of magic to do it."

"You say that as if you met more." Elphaba asked cautiously. Duran nodded.

"They're few, but there have been some. And before you ask: they've not been of different colors. I do not know why your skin is the way it is."

"Could these changes be permanent?" Elphaba asked. Duran shrugged.

"I don't know. As I've said, I've never transferred so much to someone, or someone like you."

"I just feel so...restless. Like I need to do something."

"That's probably the spell that keeps me awake. It makes you feel energized all the time."

"Well that's nice."

"Yeah, but we need to work on your meditation."

"Yeah, meditation has never been my thing. I'll pass." Elphaba shrugged, and turned back to Glinda.

"Well, it's going to become your thing; unless you feel like going mad over the coming week." Duran retorted cheerfully. Elphaba turned back to him.

"Mad?"

"Yeah. Remember the whole 'legendary knights lose their minds' thing? Guess who is going to have to deal with that now."

"But...for how long?" Elphaba's face narrowed. Glinda thought she was pouting. Duran shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably at least a month. Most likely you won't know it ends until you get tired and fall asleep."

"That seems inconvenient."

"Make sure to get mortally wounded at a better time, then."

Glinda let out an unladylike snort and tried suppressing her giggles. Elphaba glared down at her.

"And what's so funny?"

"You, acting like a petulant child at being told you have to meditate for thirty minutes a day so you don't have to sleep the next month. Elphaba at Shiz would have worn pink for that opportunity."

"Har har." Elphaba replied. Then, she sighed. "You're right, but I just don't want to . I feel like there's so much else to do."

"Like what?" Glinda retorted. "We're stuck in the middle of nowhere going to Kiamo Ko. Do you have, like, an appointment with a Duck or something?"

"Alright. Let's just get on with it." Elphaba grumbled. Duran smiled.

"Okay, come with me then."

"We can't do it here?"

Duran's smile grew wider.

"Glinda is a bit too distracting to help you meditate."

Elphaba scowled at him. Glinda raised an eyebrow. Needless to say, the pair walked away from camp. Glinda could not help but call after her.

"Elphie? You may want to pull your dress back up." she paused. "Or not. Your call."

A loud swearing was heard from the retreating green woman, and the black clad dress went back up over her shoulders. Glinda chuckled to herself as she finished making camp.

"Can I talk to you?" Elphaba asked. Glinda looked up at her. The green woman had her hands clasped together, but they were still nervously fidgeting.

"Sure. Did you want to do it here or…?"

"Somewhere a little away from the fire." Elphaba responded. Glinda nodded and stood. Walking a dozen paces away from the fire, Glinda stopped.

"What is it, Elphaba?"

"I want to...talk."

"I surmised as much when you said that." Glinda paused. "About what?"

"About...us." Elphaba answered hesitantly. Glinda's eyebrows rose.

"What exactly about us?"

"We haven't been getting along since...well...that time."

"You mean when you left with Fiyero from the Emerald City?"

"Yeah. I know it wasn't the right way to do things, and it was complicated, and everything, but I don't want there to be this gulf between us."

"The gulf didn't start then, Elphaba." Glinda answered quietly. "It started when you brought Fiyero back. When you kissed him in front of the entire Emerald City."

Elphaba winced.

"Yeah, I know-"

"And you know," Glinda interrupted Elphaba, her voice quivering slightly, "I could get it. I could have understood that with Fiyero back things would be different. Really, I could. Even though I was all in after choosing you as a partner. Something I did not do lightly-"

"Glinda, I-"

"I could have stepped back and let you two be together, and we could have saved all of...this!" Glinda waved her hand angrily. "If you would have just told me. But you didn't. You just slowly withdrew from me. And maybe if you had been obviously affectionate with Fiyero, it would have worked. But you didn't, you weren't really any more affectionate with him. So I had no idea what was going for months as we played the 'who will she choose, oh and also, she might die' game."

"I'm sorry-"

"And then, after all of that ," Glinda kept on, giving a nervous laugh, "you left with him. And I get it. But it feels like you wanted to forget that year between us, and you got your happily ever after. Which I can't tell you how happy I'm for you . Really, it makes we want to explode in joy sometimes but it also wrapped up in this immense pain that makes me feel like I was just a stopgap, and used . And that's why this is here. Yes, I hate the fact you tend to think me helpless and always need rescuing, but then again, the track record isn't exactly completely wrong there. Or you think I make bad decisions, like we're still at Shiz. But I can get over all of that easily enough if I didn't feel like I was just used and then discarded as a second choice."

Glinda took a deep, shaky breath.

"So that's why there's a gulf between us. Not because things got messy, but because of making me feel like you were ashamed of our relationship. Ashamed of being with me."

"Glinda I was never ashamed of being with you." Elphaba contested

"Have you told Fiyero?" she asked pointedly. The other woman looking away gave her the answer. "I thought so. Why not?"

"Well...it just seemed…"

"Easier?" Glinda supplied. "Since no one out here knows we had a relationship, it's easier to let Fiyero believe it never happened? That you never took a partner after him?"

"Yes." Elphaba agreed after a moment.

"And that's why we have this gulf between us." Glinda said with finality. "You did not do right by me, Elphaba Thropp. It is forgivable because you did not do it out of malice, but it does not mean the wound is not deep. In fact, it would not hurt so much if it was of malice, as it would not have to be forgiven."

"So what can I do?" Elphaba said. "You are right. I was confused at the time, and didn't know whether I was going to live or die and then there was all things about money and titles and politics and it was all just so confusing and stressful. But that doesn't mean I didn't know I was hurting you. I knew, somewhere, but I did not want to face it. I thought maybe if I didn't everything would work out. Maybe you would stop caring for me so much, or Fiyero, or I'd be killed and that would solve that. But none of that happened. And I hurt you, and I'm hurting Fiyero too."

Elphaba looked at her again.

"So what do I do?" Elphaba pleaded, hands out to her. "How can I fix things?"

Glinda shook her head.

"I don't know how, Elphaba. Other than time."

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" she asked weakly. Glinda paused a moment.

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry, Glinda." Elphaba said, and her body started shaking. Her hands darted to her face to cover it as she tried to hold in her sobs. "I'm just so, so sor-sorry. I n-never want-ed any of this. I d-don't want t-to lose y-you. Y-your my be-be-best friend."

Glinda could never see Elphaba hurting and not comfort her. She stepped forward and wrapped Elphaba in a hug. The blonde gently shushed the woman.

"You're not going to lose me Elphaba. I know you didn't mean it, and I know you're sorry. But it will take time."

The green woman sobbed onto her friend's shoulder. Glinda stroked her hair. Despite all the tangled emotions and pain, Glinda still knew Elphaba meant well. While it would be a while since they healed, they would heal. Whether as close or not was yet to be seen. Elphaba's breathing slowed.

"Let go of me, Glinda." came her voice, deep and stern.

"What?" Glinda recoiled, and let her go. "Elphaba, what is going on?"

"Step away from me. Please."

"I don't understand."

"Please! I don't want to do anything stupid!" she begged.

Glinda blinked. Her mind rewound.

"Oh!" she scooted back several more paces. "How is that?"

"B-better." Elphaba said, and sat on the ground. She folded her legs and hands, and started taking deep, slow breaths. After a minute, she opened them and gave Glinda an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I completely forgot."

"Yeah."

"Are you feeling...better? More in control?"

"Yeah." Elphaba nodded. "It was close there. Once you touched me it washed everything else away. Took me a moment to realize what happened."

"Guess sleeping next to you in the cart is out."

"Probably because I won't be sleeping."

"Oh yeah." Glind sighed. "Well, that's at least one thing."

"Yeah."

Both women looked at each other. Their faces were taught, both exhausted from the moment.

"Shall we get back to the fire?" asked Elphaba.

"Probably a good idea."

The trio made their way across the drawbridge of Kiamo Ko. Both the Witch Guard and Fiyero's personal guard turned out for them. Some eyed Duran skeptically, but most seemed to assume he was part of Glinda's retinue. Duran gave them no reason not to, easily slipping into the role. Elphaba, for her part, was jittery. She had made up her mind to come clean to Fiyero. The fact the man was coming to her now was probably the issue.

"It's so good to see you both safe." he said with a big smile. The two witches smiled tiredly at him. "It looks like you had it rough. I don't know why you didn't fly here."

"There were...complications." Glinda said. Fiyero nodded.

"I thought as much. Anyway, let's get you both in the house. There's a big bath with your name on it, Glinda."

"You always were such a dear." she smiled at him. Fiyero still was charming. Her smile fixed one her face as he wrapped an arm around Elphaba.

"Come then."

"Fiyero…"she heard Elphaba grumbled and rolled her shoulders. Glinda's heart sank.

"What? Are you hurt?"

"No...well, I was but I'm fine. I just…"

"What?"

"It's…"

Glinda silently prayed to whomever could answer that she would not do this here. Not in front of everyone in the courtyard.

"What?" he asked, stopping to look at her. She shrugged his arm off.

"I'm just feeling a bit warm and claustrophobic right now."

"You look flushed." he frowned and put a hand on her head. "You're really warm."

"Just stop!" she said, giving him a gentle shove. Fiyero stepped back, wide eyed. He took another step back, hands up.

"I'm sorry, Elphaba. I'm just concerned."

"I know, but I can...I can...take care…" the woman started swaying.

"GLINDA! COOLING SPELL!" Duran shouted at her side. Glinda jumped and pointed her parasol. It started transforming. "FIYERO! BACK UP!"

"Wha-" was all he got out when Elphaba flared up.

She was surrounded by fire. Unfortunately, it was not the heatless version where she disappeared. It was honest fire. Glinda's wand finished and a blast of cold water vapor hit the woman and kept it on her until the flames died. The green woman had crumpled to the ground in the ensuing blaze. Duran moved over to her quickly. The guards were coming over, weapons drawn. Fiyero moved forward.

"Fiyero!" Duran said. "I need three things from you. One, back up!"

"But-"

"She does that again and we won't be having a conversation, okay!" he snapped. The man nodded his head and stepped back.

"But what about you?"

"Don't worry about it. Two, get them to relax." he said. Fiyero swiveled his head and saw the guards approaching. He motioned his hand downward, and they lowered their weapons. Pushing his hand out, they moved back.

"Three?" Fiyero asked.

"We need a room with little flammable objects and some place to lay Elphaba."

"I know the place. What is going on?"

Duran bent down and scooped Elphaba into his arms. Fiyero eyes flashed but the man held his composure. Duran flicked his head towards Glinda, who came to his side.

"Let's walk and talk." he answered the Crown Prince. Fiyero nodded, and led the way.