#eamanning

Galinda calls: “you're welcome!” to her as Elphaba flees. 

No one had ever called her beautiful before. 

She would have told anyone that her appearance was something rotten in her, on her. But who can deny the full force of Galinda Upland telling you something is so? 

Elphaba may have magic, but Galinda has something all her own. 

She breathes deeply, glad to have fresh air after the assault of all of Galinda's cosmetics at once. Why a girl with a face like that would have so much makeup anyway, this Elphaba cannot parse. 

The pink flower Galinda had placed in her hair tumbles to her feet. She hesitates for just a moment, before snatching it up, replacing it behind her ear. 

No one, she realises, has ever called her a friend, either. 

2)

Her neck aches.

Galinda is used to sleeping with no fewer than four pillows on her perfect pink bedspread. She's gotten used to being in a room with someone else, her quiet but surprisingly lovely best friend. 

So waking up with her head in her history textbook, still in her chair, without her Elphie, is quite a shock. She tries to piece together the sequence of events, her brain is fuzzy. Strange, as Galinda usually has a good idea of what's going on around her.

She remembers telling a pretty bad joke, the warmth it brought her when Elphie smiled. A real smile from Elphaba was so precious, more rare than any jewel that Galinda had ever seen.

The memories trickle into her in a way that's almost uncomfortable, her head filling up. Dr. Dillamond left, was carted off (maybe that was derogatory for a goat??). Elphaba was so upset, it took all of Galinda's cajoling to get her to see that her anger would not be of any help. 

All of that work, down the tubes when they brought out the cub in his cage. 

Wait, the cub, where was the cub?

Elphaba had taken the cub, had magic spelled them all asleep. 

Typical Elphie, go off before you have a plan or anything! Galinda turned to say just this thing to Fiyero, only to see Fiyero nowhere to be found. 

And she was all alone

3)

The handling of the broom is not easy.  She has to hold on to the hat Galinda had given her so it doesn't tumble off. Galinda had wrapped the cloak around her too, the only warmth she can find so high up in the air. It's beautiful, though. Oz is so big and full of life. All those Animals in need of help, there really is no time to lose.

Her heart’s desire had once been to scrub the green off of her, to become like everyone else. She had always wanted to be the kind of person people would want, would love.Galinda had shown her that maybe she didn't need to feel like that. That she could be maybe when loved. And of course, the Animals being persecuted was more important than anything else. She had really thought, for a moment, that they could be together. That their plans could come to fruition, that Elphaba would no longer have to go alone. 

On the train ride, the two had briefly shared a kiss, had held each other, and Elphaba felt her new life unfurl before her. 

But Galinda, staying behind, as if she hadn't heard all the things she did? The betrayal turns her stomach.

Elphaba knows what she would say, to wait and fix things from the inside. 

But she had never belonged with everyone else, her difference marked from birth. She had been wrong about being accepted, about Galinda, about love l.

Better to just go, before she gets left, pushed away. Again

4)

Galinda remembers wanting to go lie down, and now she is in her apartment, but she has no memory of the journey there. 

She is out of her own body, exhausted, numb. 

She needs to get out of this wedding dress. 

How thrilled she had been, the best day of her life, how she had practiced and planned it! It had been her crowning moment, what everything had led to. 

Elphaba’s hand in hers, like no time had passed at all. The lights had sparkled with every color of her beloved rainbow. Finally she was able to do what she should have done, to get on the broom. To have her.

She'd never been more excited, like every possible wish had come true. Everything had felt so wrong since she left, Elphie would set things right. Then things would really be “good.”

Instead, Elphaba had left, once again, with Fiyero in tow. 

What did those two even have to talk about, she wonders. Does Elphie even like kissing him? 

More than she liked kissing her.

This stupid apartment is far too big for her, especially now that she can remember Elphie here, as opposed to just imagining her. 

A whole city that loves her, that's so sad for her, and she's never felt more lonely. 

5)

Her father instilled in her a sense of guilt that Elphaba had spent much of her life trying, and ultimately failing, to break free from. 

Good intentions, he said, paved the road to hell, and she has felt that everyday of her life. 

She was the reason for her mother's death, her sister's early birth, her own green skin. When she tried to defend her sister, she instead made her cry. When she had made her father proud by going to the Emerald City, she then shamed him, killed him. 

Her love for Nessa, even when she got so little love back, was something that Elphaba held on to. She made a mess of things, but she loved her sister with her whole person.

But that was exploited, killing her. The last words she said to her sister was in anger, and she was responsible for her death.

All her visions could never stop her from the inevitable: she hurt the people she loved. Her very presence was cancerous. 

She is sitting inside a dark, damp passageway. The trap door led into what she could barely see was a labyrinth of rooms, but she finds she cannot leave the cramped entryway. She wants to hear when Fiyero comes, but she also is desperate to know the comings and goings above her. To feel like she is a part of things, even if she can never be.

She hears the familiar click of Glinda's shoes as they slowly stop just above her hiding spot. The trap door rattles; Glinda is sitting right above her. Her brave best friend sits and cries, for her. 

This is her most wicked moment, the pain she is causing Glinda. Oh, how she wishes she could reveal herself and wipe away those tears, if she could watch those beautiful brown eyes clear. She’d take another slap, as long as she could follow it with a kiss. 

As much as this hurts, Elphaba knows that this is what she deserves. She needs to feel this sadness, this suffering, as a reminder. All she does is hurt people. There is nothing she can do to stop Glinda’s pain right now, because in the long run, this will be worth it.

She has already hurt Fiyero; he at least is invulnerable to her damage. 

Glinda has the potential to do real good, to fix everything, but only if she doesn’t have Elphaba around as baggage.

She will leave, forever, for the wastelands, for the greater good.

+1

In her many years as leader of Oz, she had tried to help as many people as possible. She returned Dorothy home, put Nessa’s killer in jail, helped the animals in their fights for rights, liberated the munchkins, assisted in the Vinkus reforms and found a missing princess. 

After a peaceful transfer of power, Glinda settled in the south, in a rather lovely compound. She was an advisor to Ozma, but largely, her work for Oz was done. She had, at long last, made good. There was only one thing left unfinished. 

Glinda still didn't really understand where Elphie had gone. After many years, the shock of the death she witnessed dissipated and she was able to question the particulars. She had lived in a room with Elphie for many months and had never seen her fear water, though the display she had put on had been very convincing. Elphie did not die, then, but she did disappear, leaving her again.

Now, she takes out her very thick glasses and pulls the Grimmerie out from its hiding place, hidden between other inconspicuous books.

When Elphaba had given the monkeys their wings, the Grimmerie had opened immediately to a page and Elphaba had read it out without question. She assumed that they often worked together this way. Elphie was so used to getting nothing that she took the first thing offered. Meanwhile, Glinda had certain expectations that she would see met, thank you very much. She spoke with the Grimmerie like it was a person who she respected, but not one she had to have deference for.

She spoke to the Grimmerie often through the years. Asking for help, saying no to many suggestions that she thought might not work in the long run. In turn, for many years, the Grimmerie said no right back to her requests to bring Elphie home. 

It wasn’t until now, when she was near blind and older than she had ever imagined herself, that the answer changed. The beautiful pages unfurled and had a simple spell before her, the  ery first she had ever uttered, so long ago she had almost forgotten: