AN. I got to see Wicked again last night! My heart is so full. Oz I have missed this show. Going again tonight!

Chapter 7

This time, Elphaba knew immediately this wasn't her real world.

There were more guards milling around the streets than Elphaba had ever seen in her world, even at the peak of her time as the Wicked Witch. The walls of seemingly every building were covered with posters, asking for information or the capture of so many faces. And whilst there were still people on the streets, no one seemed inclined to mingle.

It was twilight here, the first touches of night beginning to creep across the city. Pedestrians hastened down the street as though they were trying to escape the shadows lapping at their heels; weaving in and out to avoid the shadows, eager to stay in the remaining patches of light, as though they didn't know what dangers lurked in the darkness. Elphaba had always preferred to blend into the shadows- shadows meant safety. Safety was how you stayed alive. She stepped back into them now, drenching herself in as much darkness as was provided. Two years on the run and two more years living in exile, but Elphaba wasn't sure she'd ever felt as unsafe as she did here and now.

Klehr followed her into a deserted alleyway silently, and just waited as Elphaba took everything in around her. It seemed obvious that Elphaba's first question would be to demand an explanation, but Klehr still waited for Elphaba to ask it before she answered.

"Morrible."

A chill swept through Elphaba. "What?" she asked, her mouth going dry as her stomach twisted. "No. How?"

She ran a hand through her hair, looking around in renewed horror. "How?" she asked again. "If I'm not born-"

"Morrible and the Wizard managed to do plenty of harm against the Animals before you came along," Klehr reminded her. "You not being born can't change that."

"But how do we get from the Animal Banns to this?" Elphaba demanded. She didn't wait for Klehr to actually explain it, gripping at the roots of her hair as she tried to think it through.

"They would have pushed more Banns through with or without me," she said flatly. That wasn't a surprise, they'd done whatever they could passably get away with and blame it on Elphaba while she was on the run. "Did no one do anything?"

"Elphaba, you only knew because you were offered the chance to be brought into it," Klehr reminded her. "If that hadn't happened-"

Elphaba shook her head. "Dr Dillamond knew something," she argued and then stopped with a wince. The memory of what had happened to Dr Dillamond wasn't something she wanted to think about- she couldn't bear to think about what may have happened to him in this world, or Animals like him.

"So, if no one is fighting the Wizard or Morrible," she said slowly, clearing her throat and turning back to Klehr. "All the Animals are… gone?"

"Some managed to flee," Klehr allowed. "Not as many as in your world, sadly. Those that remain have been silenced, or imprisoned."

Elphaba winced again, her stomach churning. "Oh."

The Animals that she'd failed still haunted her; and while part of her wanted to ask for the statistics of this world, she had a feeling that wouldn't be helpful.

Elphaba paused as a horrible thought occurred to her. "You're not taking me to see Morrible or the Wizard, are you?" she asked warily. "Because I really don't want to see them."

"That isn't what I had in mind, no," Klehr reassured her. "Come along. We should get moving before its dark."

Elphaba followed without question, although she was brimming with them. During her time on the run, darkness had been her friend. With night, came safety. But even without context of this world and the dangers it posed, Elphaba had a sense that this wasn't the case here. The streets were emptying too quickly for that.

They finally drew to a stop, and Elphaba froze as she recognised the outline of Southstairs; a place she'd been lucky enough to never see in the inside of, but she'd heard enough stories about it to scar her for life. Just the sight of it made her blood run cold, and while Elphaba's instincts had always swayed more towards flight than freeze, her feet refused to carry her further in any direction.

"I-I can't go in there," she wheezed, one trembling hand pressed against her diaphragm, the other resting against the nearest wall in a weak effort to keep her upright.

"We're not," Klehr reassured her soothingly. "I just need you to see something. You asked how this world got here from the Animal Banns…"

As if summoned, a carriage turned the corner and slowly came down the street. As Elphaba watched from the shadows, it came to a stop outside a side door. Elphaba knew what was about to happen, she'd done far too many stakeouts of Southstairs in her time to miss this- even if she didn't know what time or day it was in this world. In her world, every Thursday at dusk, those in Southstairs marked for death would be removed from the prison and transported under heavy guard to the place where they'd have their last meal, their last night and then be executed at dawn the following morning.

Elphaba had tried to save those from their sentence just five times. The fifth time had resulted in her being injured so severely that she'd been forbidden from trying any further from the small network of aides and Animals she'd been working with at the time. But she hadn't been able to stop herself from watching the transportation process for many more weeks, trying to recognise allies.

In her world, the process had been carried out with careful precision. The guards had all been very watchful as those selected were brought out and loaded into the carriage- although Elphaba always suspected they had been less watchful before she had been decreed the Wicked Witch of the West; but nevertheless, most of the guards tried to afford the doomed some dignity for their last night. They'd been careful, polite and rather quiet. It wasn't a secret across the city what happened on Thursday evenings, but that didn't mean anyone wanted it advertised or festivated.

These guards, however, made no such effort to keep a low profile or to afford those inside the prison anything remotely close to dignity. Even from where she and Klehr stood, they could hear them laughing and joking, one leaning nonchalantly against the carriage door. The sight made Elphaba feel ill, for more than one reason.

"They seem to be rather… casual about it all, don't they?" Klehr asked.

"It's a warning," Elphaba said grimly. "Of what might happen."

"Oh," Klehr said after an awkward pause, with the air of one who was trying to pretend they understood what that meant. "My, that doesn't sound good, does it?"

Elphaba set her jaw. When the side door eventually opened, she steeled herself for whatever it was Klehr had brought her here to see. Was it supposed to be someone she knew?

The first thing she noted was that it was a large group, larger than she thought she'd ever seen; to the point where Elphaba wasn't really sure if they'd even all fit in the carriage. The second thing wasn't obvious at first, and if the area was less well lit, she might not have noticed.

"That… that's a lot of Quadlings," she murmured, her stomach tightening unpleasantly.

"It is," Klehr agreed, just as quietly, probably waiting for Elphaba's follow up question about why.

However, unfortunately and horrifically, Elphaba didn't need to ask the question. She already knew.

"What people need is a good enemy."

"I'm sorry?" Klehr asked.

Elphaba shook her head, her eyes still watching those being boarded into the carriage. "He said it to me once- the Wizard. I don't know if it was that exactly, I could be paraphrasing; but he said something like it. That people needed a good enemy to bring them together. That's what he was going to do with the Animals… but he got me instead."

She turned to Klehr. "If all the Animals are gone, he needed a new enemy, didn't he? So he turned on the Quadlings?"

Unfortunately, it would have been an easy sell. The Quadlings had a long history of being excluded or discriminated against in Oz, and although things had been 'better' in Elphaba's lifetime (a relative term, but it was the word that had been used as long as she could remember), she had no trouble imagining how quickly many Ozians would turn on them.

Klehr extended a hand towards the carriage. "This is the tail end of it. And it won't be the end of it, either. What happened in the Vinkus-" she faltered as Elphaba winced at the reminder, "-it gave them an opening for another target. The Vinkus wasn't the last monarchy in Oz, and even then, there's still the elite."

"So that's it? He just gets away with it all?" Elphaba demanded, her hands curling into fists at her side.

Klehr hesitated. "Yes," she allowed. "Although here, in this world? It's been some time since The Wizard made any decisions."

Elphaba arched an eyebrow.

"He's more a figurehead. Madame Morrible has been calling the shots for at least a year now- officially," Klehr explained. "That isn't public knowledge yet."

That didn't surprise Elphaba in the least, but she found it hard to scrounge up any pity for the Wizard.

"No one's fighting them?" she asked quietly, turning to follow the carriage in her eyeline as it finally continued moving down the street.

"There's always some resistance," Klehr said. "But they aren't making much headway, I'm afraid. At first, it was subversive- it always is. By the time people caught wind… those who are smart are afraid. They know what you know- the Quadlings won't be the last. The more power Morrible gains, the less afraid she is of making herself known. She has nothing to hide."

The carriage disappeared from view and Elphaba turned away from Southstairs. "Can we go somewhere? Anywhere? Please?"

Klehr agreed and led Elphaba to an inn that had a pub downstairs. The whole time they were walking through the city, Elphaba could only think about how she had never seen the city this dead before. It was unnerving. Restaurants and pubs that would be bustling with people out for dinner were closed tight, or in the process of closing. There were still more guards continuing to patrol the streets, and Elphaba got a side eye from several of them.

Although she knew she didn't exist in this world and didn't look anything like herself, Elphaba couldn't stop her heart rate from elevating rapidly each time, the long ingrained urge to flee and hide.

She was more than grateful for the old fashioned that Klehr ordered for her the moment she sat down at a tiny, worn table in a back corner. She downed half of it in one mouthful. Klehr also ordered food, which she prodded Elphaba to eat. It was only then that Elphaba realised she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten, and she wasn't even sure if she was hungry. Elphaba had no idea if that was because of the alternate reality or because of what she had seen.

"I don't know why you brought me here," Elphaba said, picking at her food. "It's not exactly a shock to learn that if I don't exist, they win."

This was just another nightmare to haunt her.

"Do you often think of the Animals that you failed?" Klehr asked her.

"I thought you knew all my thoughts," Elphaba retorted smartly. When Klehr just met her gaze steadily, she sighed tiredly. "I think about everything, all the time. The things I should have done differently; the things I never should have done in the first place. Every moment of my life that I can remember has been analysed in my head a million times, trying to find a way to be better. To improve the odds."

"That sounds exhausting," Klehr said gently and Elphaba shrugged. It was exhausting, but it had a habit for too old to break now- this had been her life since puberty, at least. She just had more to change now. Bigger mistakes had been made.

"Is there nothing you wouldn't change?"

"No," Elphaba said flatly.

"Not even Fiyero?"

Elphaba cringed at that, a stab of guilt piercing her chest and making her shift in her seat. "No," she said shortly.

Saying it aloud hurt, and she swallowed hard. "I don't regret loving him- not that I think I had a choice in that; but I… I just wish there'd been another way. I hate that so many people got hurt, and that he's given so much up for me. And I don't want him to regret me."

Klehr nodded thoughtfully. "If things had been different and you were marrying Fiyero in Oz- wouldn't you be giving things up for him? To become royalty?"

Technically, true. But it hardly seemed fair to compare a castle like Werillah Ev or Kiamo Ko with the little farmhouse Elphaba and Fiyero had come to call home in Piscoe Hills.

"He always says that he doesn't miss that life," Elphaba said, staring into her drink. "But what if one day he does?"

"What if he doesn't?" Klehr asked, in a way that felt very much like something Glinda would say.

Elphaba swept that aside. "Fine. But what if-?"

Klehr laughed. "Elphaba. We've been seeing 'what ifs' all night!"

Elphaba sighed, stared up at the ceiling and then drained the last of her drink. "I don't want to doubt him- us," she told the ceiling. "And I'm afraid that eventually, he'll get tired of reassuring me."

"Elphaba, you've come much further than you realise these last few years," Klehr reassured her. "You'll get there. Fiyero knows that."

Elphaba wanted so hard to believe her.

"Did I pass?" she asked suddenly, looking at Klehr, who just frowned bewilderedly.

"Pass?"

Elphaba waved a hand around them vaguely. "This whole… thing. Did I pass?"

Klehr chuckled. "Elphaba, it's not a test. There's no pass or fail. It was a lesson to learn. Did you learn anything?"

Ah. Elphaba's least favourite kind of test.

"I suppose," she replied quietly, wishing she had another old-fashioned.

Klehr just looked at her expectantly, and Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Really? You're going to make me say it?"

"Say what?"

Elphaba huffed out a sigh. "I was wrong, okay? Certain aspects of the world are not better off because I wasn't born."

Klehr's head tilted exasperatedly, and Elphaba held up a hand. "Look, the world with Boq was awful, but I'm not willing to concede completely that it's worse than my world."

"Well, I suppose that's a starting point," Klehr said reluctantly.

Elphaba took pity on her, and sighed. "And, I recognise that I'm allowed to be happy."

Klehr smiled. "That is good to hear."

Elphaba looked away. "I'm glad to know Glinda's happy," she said quietly. "It's nice to have that closure."

"Is that the only closure you need?"

"What else could there be?"

"For example, your father- that is, your biological father-"

Elphaba stiffened, her gaze returning to Klehr sharply. "I don't want to know about him."

"Are you sure?"

"We can't ever go back to Oz," Elphaba reminded her, glancing around. "Meeting him isn't ever an option, is it?"

"I wouldn't think so, no," Klehr admitted.

"And would knowing the truth be helpful to me?" Honestly, Elphaba had her doubts. Frex may have not loved her, but Elphaba had no real love for him either. Surely this was a case of 'the devil you know'.

Klehr's silence told her everything.

"Okay, then. I don't want to know," Elphaba said decidedly. "I don't need another 'what if' to dwell on."

She looked around the room again, staring out the window at the deserted streets of the Emerald City. "I rather wish that this wasn't the last thing I was going to see before I get married though," she said wistfully.

Elphaba was finding it hard to imagine standing opposite Fiyero and speaking her vows, while thinking about Morrible creating some dystopic hell in another universe.

Klehr followed her gaze and grimaced. "Ah, yes. I can imagine how that would be rather… well, jarring, as it were."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then raised her gaze to the ceiling like she was listening to someone. Elphaba raised her own gaze confusedly, but there was nothing but the same wooden beams of the ceiling that had been there since they sat down.

"Er-"

Klehr cut her off with a silent finger, still staring up at the ceiling like she was engaged in a deep conversation with someone. Elphaba watched warily, until finally Klehr looked back to her and ushered her to her feet.

"Come along. Time to go."

Elphaba followed without hesitation, her heart lifting. Going meant leaving this world behind, where hopefully she'd eventually be able to forget it existed. Leaving meant going home- there was no one else left to see. Home meant Fiyero- her Yero. And she desperately wanted to see him.

Klehr led her out of the inn and into a nearby alley, although there didn't seem to be much need for secrecy when the streets were so empty.

"Trust me?" she asked Elphaba, extending a hand.

Elphaba took it eagerly, nodding. She was more than ready to leave here.

The familiar green light surrounded her, and Elphaba absent-mindedly wondered how she'd ever look at the Boreal lights again without expecting to be transported somewhere else.

When she opened her eyes, Elphaba froze. She didn't know this place. It wasn't the bridge in Piscoe Halls she'd first left, nor was it her bedroom at home.

No. She didn't know this place at all.

The sun-drenched courtyard was a sharp contrast to the deserted, dark streets they'd just left behind. But although the vibe was much different, Elphaba couldn't take comfort in it. Not as she searched in vain for any sign of familiarity.

Much to her mortification, Elphaba couldn't stop tears from pricking at her eyes as she turned to Klehr. "I thought you were taking me home?" she asked, her heart swelling with disappointment and causing her chest to ache. "I thought we were done."

"We are," Klehr reassured her gently. "This is a gift."

Elphaba swallowed around the lump in her throat. "I just want to go home," she said hoarsely.

"I said to trust me," Klehr reminded her, reaching out a hand to squeeze Elphaba's green arm reassuringly.

Wait. Green?

Elphaba's heart jolted as she stared at her decidedly green skin, raising her hands to her face before gaping at Klehr.

"Where are we?" she asked nervously. "What is this?"

"Technically, we're not supposed to do this," Klehr admitted. "But I technically wasn't supposed to take you to see Glinda as she is in reality either. Considering it a wedding gift from us."

"Us? Who is 'us'?" Elphaba demanded, but Klehr ignored her.

"I'm sorry that the ones you've lost can't be with you on your wedding day," she said. "And I'm sorry that this can't be real. But I was hoping that for a moment, it would help."

Elphaba frowned confusedly. "Where are we?" she asked again, when what she really meant was 'what have you done?'

Klehr gestured behind Elphaba. "This is a world where you can have what you wanted- marrying Fiyero, and festivate with the people important to you. Of course," she continued, as though Elphaba wasn't gaping at her in shock, "in the interest of not having you marry Fiyero twice, this isn't actually your wedding. It's the day before. I hope that still helps you feel like you can have Glinda and Nessa festivate with you."

Elphaba spun around to look behind her, and then back at Klehr.

"Go on," she said encouragingly. "I'll be here when you're done."

Elphaba had so many questions, but the chance to see Nessa and Glinda again- even if they weren't exactly her Nessa and Glinda- was too much to pass up. She hurried away towards the closest building, without any real sense of where she was or where she was going. As she entered through the door, she found herself in what appeared to be the halls of a hotel, and she faltered.

"There you are!"

Elphaba spun around with a jolt, her heart aching at the sight of Nessa wheeling herself down the hall towards her.

"I thought you were just going to get some air," Nessa said, then she smiled. "You weren't trying to get a message to Fiyero, were you? You know Galinda is so strict about not breaking any traditions."

"I was just in the courtyard," Elphaba said faintly.

Nessa frowned. "Fabala, are you okay?"

Elphaba laughed before she could help it, fighting back tears. She had no idea if she was okay or not.

Nessa's frown of concern transformed into what could only be described as poorly concealed panic, and she reached out towards Elphaba. "Alright, let's go back to the suite," she said calmly.

Elphaba allowed Nessa to take her hand, and couldn't help squeezing it for a moment before she released it. Nessa led her back into a suite at the end of the hall, although Elphaba didn't really take in any of the details of the room. Sometimes, later, Elphaba couldn't be certain if she just couldn't take anything else in because she was so overwhelmed, or if it was because of whatever magic Klehr had used.

"Galinda?" Nessa called out. "I found her."

Galinda practically skipped into the room. "Finally!" she exclaimed. "You were gone for ages."

"It was like, fifteen minutes," Nessa countered.

Galinda waved a dismissive hand. "Whatever. How long does it take to get some air? We have a schedule, Elphie."

Elphaba couldn't help but smile. She'd never thought she'd miss being called 'Elphie' but she really had. "What's so important?"

Galinda turned to seize a bottle of something from an silver bucket on the coffee table. "We can't toast you becoming a princess without the future princess, silly!"

"We said it wasn't about the princess part," Nessa protested, as she and Elphaba moved over to couch. "It's about the marriage, Galinda."

"Of course it's about the marriage," Galinda said. "The marriage that makes her a princess."

Elphaba choked on a laugh as she collapsed onto the couch. Galinda shot her a glance as she began to open the wine.

"Elphie, are you okay?"

"I think she's getting cold feet," Nessa murmured to her.

"No," Elphaba said hastily. "No. I'm just… I'm so glad to have you both here."

"Where else would we be?" Galinda asked matter-of-factly, handing Elphaba a glass of wine and sitting down beside her.

Elphaba just shook her head. She couldn't begin to answer that question.

"Well," Nessa cleared her throat, accepting her own- tiny- glass of wine from Galinda. "Here's to Elphaba and Fiyero."

"Here, here," Galinda said, raising her glass.

And then they were off, talking about details of a wedding Elphaba hadn't planned and would never see; and all Elphaba could do was smile and nod along while fighting back the urge to cry.

"The only thing we still need to do is finish the party favours, right?" Nessa asked.

"Yes," Galinda confirmed. "I think we still have fifty or so boxes to put together. Let's do it now, so we can still festivate and then have an early night. It's super important that we get a full nights sleep, especially you, Elphie. You can't be up at the altar with bags under your eyes."

That made Elphaba smile. Galinda had said it almost exactly as Elphaba had imagined she would. "Okay," she agreed, too overwhelmed to argue with anything just now.

When Galinda disappeared to get all the supplies for the favours, Nessa put her glass aside and turned to Elphaba solemnly. "Fabala, can I say something?"

Elphaba forced a smile around the ache in her heart. The last time she could remember Nessa calling her 'Fabala' was when she'd been telling Elphaba how happy she was to be going to The OzDust with Boq.

"Of course," she murmured, hoping her hand wasn't visibly shaking as she put her glass on the coffee table. It gave her a weird sense of déjà vu to sitting in the parlour of the manse, trying to find traces of the sister she knew while drinking tea.

Nessa didn't seem to notice if her hand was shaking, she was too busy staring at her hands in her lap. "I know that initially I wasn't the biggest supporter of you and Fiyero, but I am so thrillified that you're getting married."

Elphaba faltered. "Oh," she said lamely, her brain stuck on trying to think of reasons why Nessa would have disapproved of her relationship with Fiyero. It wasn't that she couldn't think of any, but rather that she could think of too many; and she wondered which reason had eventuated in this reality.

"I really do just want you to be happy," Nessa said quickly, obviously taking Elphaba's response as a negative reaction. "And I know you said to let bygones be bygones and that we don't need to rehash everything; but I just need you to know that I was wrong about Fiyero, okay? I'm still so sorry about what I said. I was hurt and angry about losing you, and I lashed out and tried to hurt you," Nessa blinked and her eyes swam with tears. "But I can see how much Fiyero loves you, and I'm glad he makes you so happy. That's all I want for you."

Elphaba quickly reached out to grasp her sister's hand. "Nessie," she choked out, and then hesitated. She and Nessa had parted on such bad terms in her world, and those parting words- the hurtful words Nessa had hurled at her- Elphaba feared she would always hear them rattling in her brain. But even if this wasn't her Nessa, maybe this was a chance to try and put things right. To allow her to let Nessa rest in peace.

"I wish things could have been different, with you and me," she said quietly. "I wish everything could have been different. I'm sorry for all the ways I failed you, I wish I could have done more…"

Elphaba smiled tightly through her own tears as she squeezed Nessa's hands tightly. "I just want you to be happy too. I love you, Nessa."

Nessa hugged her tightly. "I love you too. You never failed me, Fabala," she said hoarsely. "You taught me so much. And I really am going to miss you so much."

Elphaba closed her eyes. "Me too," she murmured, wishing she could explain all the ways she meant that.

Galinda returned shortly and they spent an hour or so finishing up the wedding favours, which was rather a surreal experience for Elphaba- she and Fiyero weren't bothering with favours for the wedding. Yet here she was, holding a copper pocket watch engraved with her and Fiyero's initials and the date of the wedding- conveniently the same date as their actual wedding. Elphaba rather lost track of time as they worked and talked, soaking up every little detail of Galinda and Nessa's lives that they let slip in the conversation.

Not long after they'd finished the last of them, Nessa excused herself to lie down before they went to dinner. While Elphaba was grateful for a moment alone with Galinda, it was also more complicated than with Nessa. Elphaba had been able to say goodbye to Galinda twice- first in Kiamo Ko and then again in the bridal salon. The only thing that really hung between them now was Elphaba's lingering guilt, and Elphaba wasn't sure how to make up for that now in the short time she'd been given.

"Galinda?" she asked suddenly, cutting off Galinda's rambles about some wedding detail Elphaba wasn't really focused on. "Are you happy?"

Galinda looked at her rather oddly. "That's a weird question, Elphie. You're the one about to get married," she reminded her.

"I know," Elphaba shrugged her off. "I just mean… are you happy? If you could change things… would you?"

"No," Galinda replied without hesitation.

"No?" Elphaba asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Everything happens for a reason, Elphie. Fate always works itself out."

Elphaba furrowed her brow. "There's nothing you'd change?" she pressed. "Even if you hurt people?"

The last time Elphaba saw Galinda look at her this way, she'd asked Galinda what difference did it make if you were an autumn or a summer person in terms of colour schemes. Apparently, a ludicrous question to ask.

"Elphaba, what is this about?" Galinda asked softly.

Elphaba faltered, and then shook her head. "Just thinking. About the past."

Galinda reached over and put her hand on Elphaba's knee, rather like she had in the bridal salon. "Elphie. You're getting married. That's not about the past, it's about the future. It's festivating everything you and Fiyero have built."

"In the past," Elphaba couldn't resist pointing out and Galinda rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for the love of- Elphaba."

Elphaba chuckled faintly. "I just… I can't seem to just let myself be happy," she admitted. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Galinda's face softened. "Elphaba, if you keep looking over your shoulder, you're not looking forward. How are you supposed to live your life like that?"

Elphaba blinked, taken aback. "That's- that's really wise, Galinda."

Galinda shrugged, tossing her hair over a shoulder. "I know what I'm talking about," she said simply. "Besides. If you hurt people on purpose, hopefully you have a good reason for it. If you do it by accident, don't you learn from it and grow?"

Elphaba nodded slowly, considering that. "Hopefully," she murmured.

Then she shivered, glancing out the window. The sun was setting and maybe it was just Elphaba's imagination, but it seemed to have a faint green tinge. Suddenly, Elphaba got a sense that she was almost out of time.

"Galinda," she said abruptly, turning to her. "If I ever hurt you-"

Galinda cut her off with a giggle. "Elphie, how could you ever hurt me? You're my best friend!"

"But still," Elphaba said earnestly. "I want you to know that if I ever did, it was to try and protect you."

Galinda smiled, puzzled. "Okay," she said simply. "I forgive you."

She leaned over and patted Elphaba's arm. "Why don't you go lie down before dinner too?" she suggested.

Elphaba smiled weakly. "Yeah, okay."

She leaned over and hugged Galinda impulsively. "I love you, Glin. I'm really glad I have you as my best friend."

Galinda hugged her back tightly. "I love you too. Don't talk about changing the past in your wedding speech tomorrow, okay? It's not very wedding-y."

Elphaba could only laugh and agree.

When she slipped into the room that appeared to be hers, Klehr was waiting for her. Just like the sky outside, she too was tinged with green as she had been when she'd first appeared to Elphaba on the bridge.

"Are you ready?"

For a moment, Elphaba wasn't sure she was. She wanted more time with Galinda, with Nessa. But the fact remained, this wasn't her world. And in her world, Fiyero was waiting to marry her. And for the first time since she'd accepted his proposal, Elphaba felt nothing but happiness at that prospect.

"I'm ready," she said.

Klehr took her hands in hers, and Elphaba closed her eyes, fully embracing the green light that enveloped her as the ground dropped out from beneath her feet and the world disappeared.

AN. I couldn't let Elphaba have this horrible world be the last thing she see before she gets married. Dystopian hellscapes are the worst mood for a wedding- side note, I also hate dystopias (I had to study Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Bladerunner in high school and I've hated the whole genre ever since).