Thanks everyone for reading the story. Enjoy the next chapter.

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Boq is looking for Elphaba. He wants Nessa to go home with him. Most people have already gone home because it is late. But Nessa doesn't want to leave the party because it's her birthday party. She is stubborn and drunk. He hopes Elphaba can convince her to go home before something goes wrong. He feels frustrated and annoyed. Nessa had acted even more like a spoiled brat than usual.

He finds Elphaba on the dance floor with the others. He quickly explains what is going on. Elphaba quickly follows him, because when Boq is in a panic, there is a panic.

Nessa is surrounded by different people. Elphaba overhears her telling stories about their home situation to ShenShen and Pfannee.

"Ooh Nessa, glad I found you. Could I perhaps speak to you for a moment? It's important." Elphaba says quickly.

Nessa rolls her eyes. "No, I'm busy with my new friends."

The two girls glared at Elphaba. "Shouldn't you be cleaning the kitchen or something?"

"Or did you drop the tray full of lemonade glasses over your sister's friends again?" ShenShen asks.

Elphaba clenches her fists. "I was eight years old, and I tripped on the carpet. You weren't there. Nessa, can I talk to you NOW?"

"Allllways demanding my atttttentttion," Nessa says with a double tongue. "Has it never occurred to you that I don't always want to give my attention to you?"

Pfannee and ShenShen have stepped back to watch the show from a distance. As a result, tomorrow they will have a large group of people around them who want to listen to the gossip.

Glinda, meanwhile, has joined in. Fiyero and Boq have also joined the group as they look to minimize damage. Glinda takes Elphaba's hand. ''Let's both do not say things now that we will regret tomorrow. Let's go home while it's still fun."

"I don't want to go home at all." Nessa says stubbornly and turns to talk to ShenShen and Pfannee again, but she sees Fiyero walking away with the girls. Furious, she turns around. "This is all your fault." she hissed. ''This is my only chance to live a normal life. My chance to make friends and you scare them away with your hideous skin."

Glinda tries to intervene, but Elphaba stops her and shakes her head. Glinda doesn't understand but doesn't say anything.

Maybe it was the alcohol that gives him courage now or is it really the last straw, but he wants to stand up for himself and Elphaba. Boq gets on his knees and takes Nessa's hand. "So, I am not given the chance to live a normal life? I know what kind of person you are Nessa because we grew up together. But I don't like the side of you I've seen since we got on Shiz. I had hoped you would grow. This is your chance to discover who you really are. So far all I see is you hiding behind your sister. Sorry but I can't listen to this any longer.'' Boq stands up and walks away. Despite the fact that the music is still loud, everyone could hear from his voice how hurt he is.

Nessa is speechless.

"Come on, Nessie, let's go home. Tomorrow you can talk to Boq. Everything will be fine again." says Elphie lovingly. She empathizes with her sister. She wants to grab the handles of Nessa's chair.

Nessa twirls her chair hard. The handles hit Elphaba's hands. "This is all your fault. I told you that a party was not a good idea. But no, you had to push it if necessary. Elphaba, I hate you. I hate that you are my sister. I hate that you are green, and I hate that you are the reason I have to grow up without my mother. Now you're also the reason my boyfriend is running away from me. I hope you are left alone. You don't deserve to be in my shadow. It's all your fault."

Before Nessa can continue, she is slapped in the face by Glinda. "If you speak of Elphie one more time, you are dealing with me. You are an ungrateful brat. Do you know what Elphie has had to go through to make sure you feel happy?"

Before Glinda can move on. Fiyero shouts: ''Where are Elphaba and Boq?''

Glinda turns furiously, just catching the Elphaba going through the doors. Without saying anything, she walks behind her.

Nessa has also turned and goes looking for Boq. Nessa has to explain to him that it is not him, but her. That she's not the one who's good enough for him. That it's Elphaba's fault that she turned out like this.

Fiyero is left alone in surprise. Although he continues to live his carefree life act, he is still worried. He hopes that all is well with his friends. He goes back on the dance floor.

XXX

"Elphie, Elphie please wait." Glinda tries to run as fast as possible on her heels behind Elphie.

Elphaba stops and waits for Glinda. "Not here Glin. Please not here." She whispered.

Glinda looks around and sees people returning from their evening. She nods and takes Elphie's hand. They quickly walk to their room.

Glinda immediately turns around when Elphie closes the door. ''It wasn't true what Nessa said. Elphie, you have to believe that.'' she says quickly.

"Glin, what else am I supposed to do. I haven't heard anything else since my mother's death. Maybe I should put up with it. The others are right. If it weren't for me, Mother wouldn't have had to take anything to keep Nessa from looking like me." She looks down at her hand and sees a bruise starting to form.

"No, Elphie. It's not your fault. What happened tonight is not your fault." Glinda takes off her coat. She also helps Elphie, who can only look at the ground.

"You heard it yourself. And Nessa is right. If I wasn't so preoccupied with myself, I could have kept an eye on how much Nessa had been drinking. I could stop her before it's too late."

"Elphie for Oz's sake. She is an adult woman. She can decide for herself when she has had enough to drink. Everyone crosses that line at some point, that's how you learn to deal with alcohol. We have also been drinking and know what our limits are. We're all tipsy. It's not your fault. It's Frex's fault. He should never have put the blame on you. Believe that."

Elphie says nothing more. She doesn't know what to say. She lowers herself onto her bed and Glinda sits down next to her.

"It's late, let's go to sleep. Tomorrow you can think about what you will do. But you're not going to apologize to Nessa. Nothing is your fault. Maybe we can talk to Boq. He must also have been hurt by Nessa."

"I don't want to sleep." Elphie says defeated. "Maybe you can sleep. But it hurts too much. Glin, what should I do?"

Glinda wraps her arms around Elphie. "Let yourself cry." she whispers with tears in her eyes. "Let it all go. I am here for you.''

It takes a while for Elphie to let go. But she cries long and hard for all the pain she felt. She cries for herself. She cries for her mother's death and she cries for the words Nessa said. After a while, Glinda notices that Elphie has cried herself to sleep.

Glinda gently lays Elphie in her bed. She goes to the bathroom and takes off her makeup. She's glad Elphie won the fight that she didn't want makeup, otherwise it would be a lot of work to take it off tomorrow. Glinda thinks back to what happened that night. She feels herself getting angry again, but the anger subsides when she sees Elphie sleeping peaceful. Somewhere deep inside her is a feeling that even Glinda blames herself. She quickly dismisses the feeling. She knows that Nessa is good, to make everyone do anything for her, by stirring up guilt. It works with Elphie and certainly with her father.

She gets an idea. She doesn't know if it's going to work, but she has to try something. Glinda is not a worry person, she's a try person. She has to move into actions. She knows that she won't be going to sleep soon anyway, because she still has too much alcohol in her blood. Glinda does everything she can to give Elphie a carefree day. She sees the spell book on her desk. She flips through the spells. She finds a spell that might help her. She reads the instructions. When she is confident enough, she starts to say the spell: Make all worries disappear. Bring back the time of the carefree times. Take her back in time where she was still happy. Take away her memories and age. This way she will remain care-free forever, which she deserves. Glinda waves her wand and looks expectantly at Elphaba who continues to sleep.

Disappointed, Glinda casts the spell again. But nothing happens. After the third attempt, she goes to bed and hopes that everything will be better tomorrow.

XXXXX

Glinda wakes up from her alarm clock the next morning. "Elphie, why do you still have that thing on?" she growls as she turns around. She expects Elphie to turn off the alarm clock at any moment. But it's taking longer than expected. Glinda turns back and looks with one eye to see where Elphaba is. When she doesn't see Elphaba, she gets up herself to turn off the alarm clock. ''Elphaba where are you?'' Glinda asks angrily. She walks to the bathroom. But she doesn't see her roommate anywhere. She grunts and investigates their room again. "Elphie?" she calls now in a worried voice. She looks at their door, where Elphie's things are still lying. Glinda looks around in surprise. She can't imagine that Elphaba is playing a game with her or that she went out without shoes. "Elphaba Melena Thropp if you don't show up now I will." She actually had no idea what she would do. She's worried. Glinda looks behind and in the cupboards before going under the beds. In the far corner under Elphie's bed, she sees something moving, but she can't make out what it is. Carefully she lifts the mattress. She drops the mattress again in shock when she sees a green little creature. She hears someone scream.

Panting, Glinda holds her heart. She can't believe what she saw. It must be because of the alcohol. Carefully she lifts the mattress again. This time all she sees is a blanket. She gently pulls the blanket off and looks into the eyes of a terrified green girl with black hair and chocolate brown eyes wearing an oversized nightgown. "Elphaba," Glinda whispers.

The girl nods slowly and pulls the blanket back over her. Glinda lowers the mattress. She walks to the bathroom and closes the door. She turns on the shower. She starts screaming. "Oh My OZ." She looks in the mirror and throws the water in her face. She shakes her head and bites her lip. She paces around the small room. She tries to think of what could have happened.

When she has calmed down, she turns off the shower and opens the bathroom. She just sees Elphaba's head shoot under the bed again. Glinda takes a deep breath. She sits down on her own bed and thinks about an approach. "Elphaba, you don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to harm you. I was just shocked when I saw you. I expected a grown woman, not a little girl,'' she says in a soft tone.

"Who are you?" a small voice asks.

"I'm Glinda Upland. I'm your girlfriend."

"I have no friends named Glinda Upland. Only my mother, Rabby and my books.'' sounds from under the bed.

"Rabby?"

"Only my friends know who my friends are, if you don't know who Rabby is, then you're not my real friend."

"Can you tell me about Rabby." Glinda can imagine why adult Elphie never said anything about her cuddly rabbit.

" Rabby is my best friend. I went to sleep with him yesterday, but now I've lost him."

Glinda gets an idea to win little Elphaba's trust. "Can you describe what Rabby looks like?"

''He is white with a black tail. He has a spot on his long ears. And he's the softest rabbit you've ever seen."

Glinda tries to picture the rabbit. She begins to cast a spell. "I may not have the real Rabby, but I did find his brother."

Elphie looks out from under the bed. She has to admit that the cuddly rabbit the woman is holding up looks a lot like het Rabby. But she still finds it all scary. She crawls back under the bed.

Glinda sighs and sits down on the floor. "Listen Elphaba, I understand that you find it all scary. I also find it all scary. I may know what happened... ''

Elphie sticks her head out from under the bed and looks questioningly at the lady. "Do you know what happened, Miss?"

Glinda looks perplexed. ''Yeah, I think so.''

"Will you take me back to mine mommy?"

''Mommy? How old are you?''

"I'm three and I can go to the bathroom by myself," she says proudly.

''Three?''

Elphie nods. ''Why do you repeat everything I say?'' Elphie asks in a small voice and hides under the bed again, afraid that Glinda will do something.

"Repeat everything?" Glinda blinks, only now realizing what she's doing. "Sorry, everything is a bit confusing." 'Of course, everything is confusing, who would expect her friend to turn into a three-year-old. Oz what should I do.' Glinda thinks in a panic.

Elphie's head slowly comes out from under the bed again.

Glinda smiles when she sees Elphie's innocent eyes. Her eyes are still red from crying. 'The poor kid must be more confused than I am.' thinks Glinda "What can you remember?"

"Mommy and I baked cookies, then Mommy read me stories for me and my baby brother. Then mommy gave me and Rabby a hug before I had to go to sleep. I woke up in a strange bed"

"Baby brother? What is his name?''

Elphie shrugs. "He's still in mommy's tummy. Mama says it could be a girl too, but I want a little brother."

''Why?''

"If it's a girl, mommy will love her more than me, if it's a boy she'll always love me more because she's a girl herself. Elphie says in a tone as if it's the most logical explanation there is."

Glinda is silent for a moment. She had to think about that statement for a moment. 'She's just a three-year-old who longs for her mother. Oz, what should I do.' thinks Glinda, she notices that she is less and less panicked. Of course, she still has concerns, and she is working on a solution, but Elphie gives her a strange sense of calm. "She will always love you. You're her big girl."

"Mommy has been saying that too. Do you know her?''

"No, but I'd like to."

Elphie looks surprised. "If you take me home you can get to know her. She's the sweetest Mommy in the whole world."

''That is not possible. My mom is the sweetest."

Elphie gets angry. ''Not true. My mommy is the sweetest. We always make cookies together, and colour together. She tells the best stories and says she loves me. She always calls me her little green bean."

Glinda smiles. Little Elphie is pretty cute. "Would you like to get out from under the bed? That's a little easier to talk to you."

Elphie doubts.

"Come on, I won't hurt you. I'll see if I can bring you back. There must be a spell I can cast. You must have come here magically. "

"Magically?" She quickly crawls out from under the bed. "Can you also do magic like me? Are we sisters?"

Glinda giggles "No, we both learn to be wizards at Shiz college." Glinda is only now seeing what Elphie looks like. "Oh my Oz." says Glinda, startled. Only now does she see that Elphie's clothes haven't shrunk.

Elphie looks around anxiously and wants to crawl back under the bed.

''No sorry. I just mean that you're wearing way too big clothes, that shouldn't be comfortable for you,'' says Glinda hastily when she realizes her mistake. She takes Elphie's hand, who immediately withdraws her hand but does nothing else.

"Please, Elphie, It's all scary for me too."

''Are you scared too?" Elphie asks softly. If Glinda isn't so focused on making up for her mistake with Elphie, she wouldn't have heard the question.

Glinda nods. She makes a list in her head of what to buy for Elphie, because this is really not possible. No one looks like this under her watch.

Glinda grabs a cloth and leans over to Elphie to clean her face of all the dust and tears but Elphie quickly steps back.

Elphie sees that Glinda is hurt. She starts to feel guilty and wonders more and more whether the woman in front of her is the enemy. She takes a deep breath and takes a step forward.

Glinda smiles and wipes Elphie's face gently and quickly. She gives Elphie another cloth so she can clean her hands herself.

The girls are silent for a moment and look at each other inquiringly. Elphie bites her lip and looks at the bed.

Glinda shifts slightly and pats the spot next to her. She's happy to recognize many of Elphie's behaviours from when she was an adult. Although as adults she is much more careful and has many more walls around her.

"What's Shiz?" she asks as Glinda sits down on the bed.

"Sorry," Glinda asks in surprise. Glinda was already thinking about other things.

"What's Shiz?"

''Shiz is a school. You can learn everything here. About politics, creativity, but also about magic. That's why I went to this school. To learn how to practice magic."

"Ooh, Daddy says never to use magic. It's dangerous.'' Elphie wiggles nervously back and forth. "Can you magic me home?" she asks shyly. "Will Daddy get mad if you use magic?"

''Listen,'' says Glinda, not too sternly. ''You don't have to be afraid of your magic. It's a talent. It's only dangerous if you're afraid of it. In parts of Oz, it is very common to use magic. Do you understand?''

Elphie nods as she understands everything.

Glinda wonders if Elphie really got it, but it's a start. "I'm going to do my best to get you back home. First I have to read what's in the book."

''Can I join you? I can read books.'' Elphie says proudly and seriously

Glinda shrugs.

Glinda begins to read. She sees in the corner of her eye that Elphie takes the magic stuffed rabbit. She starts to smile. 'It's a start.' thinks Glinda proudly. She refocuses on the words in the book.

Elphie tries to read along but doesn't understand the difficult words. Soon she gets bored. and plays with her cuddly toy in her own fantasy world. She wiggles her legs back and forth.

Elphie has already decided that she really likes the lady, because she gave her Rabby. But she deeply misses her mother

Glinda smiles. She is happy that she has so many nephews and nieces, which makes her very knowledgeable about children. She concentrates again to read the book.

This spell takes one back both mentally and physically to the time when she had no worries. The spell works if you move the wand in the following ways. See the pictures on the next page. To break the spell, you need to look at the book 'Breaking Spells.'

Glinda groans. She had hoped the solution was in the book. But she also understands that they cannot put all the information in one book. "Okay, I need to get the book from Madame Morrible and get you some new clothes," says Glinda after inspecting Elphaba's books. Glinda hoped Elphie had the book.

'Normally she has all the books, but she doesn't have the one book that I need. Thanks, Elphie, but not really.' Glinda thinks bitterly. After a few seconds Glinda realizes. "Oh no, that means I have to go to Nessa. Because Madame Morrible isn't here.'' Glinda moans loudly. As she puts her head in her hands.

Elphie looks at her innocently. "Who is Madame Horrible and Nessa?"

Glinda smiles. ''Who are Madame Morrible and Nessa. Madame Morrible is a teacher at the school. She teaches us magic."

''But I'm not at school.'' Elphie mumbles.

"Nessa is your... friend." Glinda says after a few seconds.

Elphie crosses her arms. "I told you I have three friends. Rabby, my mother and my favourite books.'' Elphie says with a pout.

Glinda smiles again. "How cute you are. I can't wait to tell you all about this."

Before Elphie can say anything, Glinda stands up. The sudden movement almost causes Elphie to fall off the bed.

Glinda helps her straighten up again. "I'm going to do my things, you stay here."

"What should I do then?" Elphie asks, looking around the room.

"You can read." suggests Glinda as she grabs her clothes to change. In the bathroom, Glinda tries to calm herself down. She has no idea how it is possible that she seems so calm on the outside, while all kinds of different emotions are playing on the inside. Sure, she has joked with Elphie about a spell going wrong, but she never expected this to happen. She misses her friend who tells her what to do to help her. She hears a loud bang from the room. When she walks back into the room, she sees Elphie sitting on the floor with various papers and books around her.

"It's not my fault," she says quickly. "I wanted to grab a book, but I couldn't reach it. I fell over something and then everything fell."

Glinda sighs and picks up the books, seeing that they are reports Elphaba has written. She has no idea what the correct order is. She is pulled out of her thoughts by a small voice. ''Are you mad?''

''What? No of course not. I have a lot on my mind.''

''Because of me? My dad always says I'm more of a burden. Mommy gets angry. I don't know what Daddy means, but am I a burden to you? You don't look happy."

Glinda gets tears in her eyes. Adult Elphaba did tell her stories about her childhood, but she always spoke about them calmly as if she didn't care. Now that the younger Elphie says it, it hits much harder. Glinda takes Elphie in her arms. Elphie tries to break free. "Elphie, you will never be a burden. You're my best friend." Glinda says quickly before letting go of Elphie.

"Why do you call me Elphie?"

"I think it's a nice nickname for you."

Elphie thinks.

Glinda smiles and puts the books back on the desk.

''If we are friends then you can call me Elphie.'' Elphie says seriously. "Can I have a book?"

Glinda takes the first book and wants to give it to Elphie. She reads the title first. "Perhaps the history of the Vinkus isn't really suited to a child, or the economic interests of Munchkinland, or sorcery of old," says Glinda, going through the books. "Uhm," Glinda goes through her stuff and grabs some pencils and a blank page. You can colour here until I get back. I'll be gone an hour at the most."

Elphie takes everything from Glinda and puts it on the floor. ''I usually colour with crayons. Mommy thinks that's better for me."

"I don't have any crayons sweetie. So, you can colour with the pencils. I have some more papers here for you.'' Elphie takes a stack from Glinda. "Why do you have so much paper?"

"Because I still have to write my reports, but I think you're more important."

Elphie begins to blush. "Thank you, Miss." She has forgotten the lady's name.

"We're friends Elphie, so you can call me Glinda."

"Okay, Miss Glinda."

Glinda packs her things before heading out the door. ''Can't I come with you?'' Elphie asks a little scared.

''I don't think it's a good idea. Only big people are here. The less people see you, the better."

Elphie looks around, trying to come up with an excuse because Glinda should stay. She doesn't want to be left alone.

Glinda puts down her bag and kneels in front of Elphie. "Honey, you don't have to be afraid. No one enters this room. I'll be back before you know it."

Elphie gets tears in her eyes. "I want my mommy." she whispers.

"I know sweetheart. Make a nice drawing for mom, she will certainly like that. You must be a big girl."

Elphie nods slowly.

"You can go to the bathroom if you want, you can get all the things you need for your crafts for your mother. If you are bored, you can look around and see if you can do something else."

Glinda, meanwhile, grabs a large pair of scissors, glue stick and some glitter.

Elphie's eyes immediately light up. "Wow can I really use glitter?"

Glinda nods. "Only then will the work be really beautiful, be careful with it."

Elphie immediately nods. ''Thank you, Miss Glinda'' Elphie immediately gets to work, with a pair of scissors that are much too big for her.