As expected, the council exonerated the Wizard, with even its leader commenting on his bravery and agreeing with the majority of Ozians present that he acted in self-defense. "Congratulations", China Girl remarked as the throngs of city goers began to empty out of the auditorium.
"No, thank you", The Wizard remarked. "Thank you for believing in me. I don't know if I could have done this without you."
"It was a pleasure", she said. "Because I always believed in your innocence. Especially when I heard your side of the story. You are a brave man, Wizard." Bravery. This is not something that the Wizard thought he had. For the longest time, he thought he was a coward.
After the auditorium emptied, the only two who remained in the room were Finley and Theodora. "Come", the Wizard said as he stood from his seat. "I need to speak with someone". When they met the pair, the Wizard asked for Finley to stay with China Girl as he motioned for the witch to follow him out into the hallway. They both began to walk slowly.
He started to speak first. "Thank you", he said with much candor in his voice. "Thank you so much for everything." He looked at her as they slowly strolled leisurely through the long hallway of the palace, but Theodora was being uncharacteristically quiet. She was thinking.
"You could have voted the other way", the Wizard said with a mild hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"I could have", she said.
"Why didn't you", he asked as he looked at her sincerely.
"Because you are the Wizard", she said as she looked at him earnestly. "Your place is here. This is where you belong."
The Wizard stopped as she did the same. He grabbed her hands and looked her in the eyes. He still couldn't believe how different she looked while in uniform.
"Stay here with me", he said. "Your place is here, too. This is your home."
The witch pursed her lips as she tilted her head away from him and gazed down the long hallway. "This hasn't been my home for a long time, Wizard. I…I don't know."
"Please", he began to plead. "You could—"
But Theodora interrupted him as she looked into his eyes once again. "No. My duties are with the Winkies. I have a lot…I have a lot of things I need to think about. I have a lot of things I need to consider…and much thinking of my own to do." She moved her hands away from his.
He smiled at her. "I understand." He looked down as his gaze almost faltered, but then he looked at her once again. "But there is something I want you to do for me."
Her stare was unflinching. "Which is, Wizard?"
"I don't want any special treatment from you. I can handle the council and everyone else on my own. But…but I just want you to know, that you have a friend here. I want you to know that you have…that you have an ally." He smiled warmly at her again. "I just want you to know that."
Theodora then touched him on the shoulder. Her frown was subtle as her lips parted, not knowing what he was going to say in response. "Is this goodbye? Is that what this is?"
He pursed his lips and answered honestly. "This is me getting on with my life. If you want to be part of it, it is up to you."
One year passed. In that time, a great deal happened in the Land of Oz. The Wizard came out with a flurry of inventions that he had worked on during the past few years. The phone. The washing machine and the dryer. He was even on the cusp of finishing his cooling system. These inventions were incredibly useful for the land.
During this year, the Wizard kept his head down and focused mainly on these projects. He wanted to take a more direct role in his rulership but hesitated in doing so. Instead, he made it a habit to have more meetings with ordinary Emerald City citizens, even if it was only in the throne room and in his ethereal form.
Additionally, he was disappointed to learn that in his old age, the council leader—one of his biggest allies—had retired and largely disappeared from public life. In his stead, the council elected a new leader, the short dark skinned munchkin woman who was largely antagonistic to the Wizard. He knew this would set the stage for an eventual confrontation. Because of this, he spent the year rehabilitating his name and improving his reputation in the city irrespective of what the council thought of him. Glinda would intermittently make appearances at the city, but she largely remained at her castle in the Quadling Country
Something else also happened. Something strange. Several months after the verdict was reached, and to the shock and surprise of everyone, farm hands and other laborers from the Winkie Country began to arrive at the Emerald City almost on a weekly basis. They brought with them food, saying it was from the personal granary of the witch herself and that she desired to trade with the city. While the council refused to ultimately trade with the Winkies during this time—and the Wizard did not want to cause controversy by overriding them—Theodora's Winkie subjects continued to travel to the Emerald City and left food for them without demanding anything in return. On other weeks, they would bring wood as well. The witch's messengers would tell the city that she knew they were going through a food and wood shortage, and she wanted to do her part to ameliorate the city's plight. They began to say how the witch finally allowed them to travel and that things were starting to change for them. How their children were now being educated and not having to work. How they were being paid more. How they had greater time off for play. How things were improving in their life.
However, the Emerald City's citizens could not believe this. The Wicked Witch of the West suddenly had a heart? How could this be possible? According to rumor, the witch did not have a heart at all. She was cold as ice. She was devoid of one. Many people who resided at the Emerald City could not believe it. Some outright refused to believe it.
But deep inside, the Wizard knew the truth. He knew that the witch had a heart all along, but it simply became cold due to how she had been treated by Ozian society. They dismissed her and she experienced chronic rejection at their hands. She felt heartbroken by the way she had been treated and feared, even though she covered it up to the best of her abilities. But like water that slowly corrodes metal, all of this took its toll on the witch. She finally snapped when the Wizard's unintended behavior sent her over the edge. All these things contributed to her downward spiral, her bitterness, and her feelings of loneliness, hate and shame. But all she really needed was someone who believed in her. Someone who cared. All she really needed was support and empathy.
For even the witch herself, there was never a eureka moment to this change. There was never a time where she suddenly had a life altering realization that she needed to change. Instead, her change in how she viewed the world, how she saw the Winkies and how she saw the rest of Oz took time. It was a slow and steady process.
As the Wizard's saw these events unfold and slowly started to play out over the course of a year, there was something still bugging him, a nagging feeling that never went away. Immediately after his trial concluded, he started to ask himself the same persistent question he had always asked: who wrote the letter? Who impersonated Glinda by asking him to venture to Theodora's castle? Because if he had never received that letter, he never would have traveled to the Winkie Country to begin with, and things might have played out entirely differently. Sure, he never would have killed Agatha, but would he have reconnected and reconciled with Theodora? He knew he would have never gone there on his own accord. Still, these questions were nearly impossible to answer.
But after several months of wondering and with no additional leads in sight, these lingering questions began to fade from the Wizard's mind. He forgot about the mysterious letter and instead started to focus on other matters in the city. Maybe these questions would never be answered? Maybe the letter writer would always remain a mystery? Soon, questions about the letter and the identity of the writer started to fade from his memory. Life went on.
Nearly one year to the anniversary of his verdict, the Wizard was sitting on a chair in the old king's bedroom. For the first time, he was testing out his invention: the landline phone. In the time since his invention came out several weeks prior, he had a phone placed in Glinda's castle. But he also sent one of the Tinkers to another location in the past several days: Theodora's castle. Initially, the Tinkers flatly refused to do it, but after much convincing and prodding, they finally relented. And after they installed the device, the Tinkers told the witch the day and time that the Wizard himself would be making the first phone call to her. For the first time in nearly a year, he would be speaking with Theodora once more.
"Wizard?", Finley asked excitedly as he answered the phone.
The Wizard smiled. "Testing…testing 1, 2, 3. Hi monkey…can you hear me?"
But even though his friend could hear the Wizard clearly, Finley was still having trouble holding the phone the right way. "W-wait, how…how does this work?" His voice was garbled.
"Finley, hold…hold the phone this way", he responded. But since he could not see the Wizard, his voice still did not come in clear. This new technology would take some time to get used to.
"Wizard how…how do you hold the phone…wait…wait I think I got it. Can you hear me?" Finley's voice was now becoming clearer.
"Yes!", the Wizard said excitedly. "You got it!"
"Ummm…Wizard", the monkey said. As he spoke, the Wizard could clearly hear the witch near the phone repeating the words that Finley was using.
"Ask him when he is coming to visit", Theodora's sweet and exuberant voice was heard in the background. "When are you coming to visit", Finley repeated.
"I'm going to come in four days", the Wizard said as he smiled. Some additional small talk was made, but the phone call was quick and brief. "Okay, work beckons, but I will see you in four days", he said as he then hung up the phone.
The Wizard then received an unexpected knock on the door. "Come in", he said. It was his messenger.
"Sir, you have received a letter", he responded. However, today was a busy day for the Wizard. Not only did he just test out his new phone, but he also had to finish his blueprint for the cooling system. Because of this, he simply asked his messenger to place the letter on the bed.
The Wizard did not think much of the matter as he continued to work well into the evening. Finally, he stopped work and remembered the letter. He eyed the envelope sitting on the bed. He then picked it up. It did not have a return address on it and the only thing that was written on the cover was "The Wizard". He opened the envelope and began to read the short one-page letter.
Wizard,
By now, I am sure you have been wondering who wrote you the initial letter that set these events into motion. The time for waiting is at an end and it is time to reveal who I am. Come to the tallest mountain of the Winkie Peaks, the only one whose top is filled with snow. You will go to the base in two days' time. There, you will meet the person who will take you up. All will be explained when you arrive.
It is time that you find out the truth.
The letter was unsigned. The Wizard slowly placed it on the bed. He couldn't believe what he was reading. Over the past year, he had nearly forgotten all about this. But this time, he was not going to make the same mistake twice. Unlike going after Glinda when he first arrived in Oz, he was not going to go by himself. He had planned to pay the Winkies a visit in another four days, but he decided to surprise them the next morning.
He knew how much Theodora was changing. He heard it all from the Winkies themselves who had arrived on the steps of the Emerald City palace. Because of this letter, he decided to speed up his visit and arrive at her castle unannounced the following day. He also had a surprise for her, but he was not sure if she was going to take him up on what he was going to surprise her with.
But before he told her his surprise, he was going to ask her to venture with him to where this mysterious letter writer was located. He was not going to take any chances. If this was a trap, he would be ready.
One way or another, he was going to find out who this letter writer was.