Guarding What We Love and Live For, Chapter 5/?
Barely concealing a smirk, Glinda asked, “How, pray tell, did you manage to not only have a child, but a grandchild for that matter?”
“I-I…I honestly cannot say I remember ever birthing him, but I have been told, and now proven that Liir is indeed my child. He wrote that…green skips a generation. My dratted genes made their way down a generation,” Elphaba muttered, looking down at the broom, which felt somehow more powerful than before.
Glinda looked down, feeling a twinge of jealousy as she said, “I suppose one of us was fertile, then…”
Elphaba looked down and said very quietly, “You aren’t?”
Glinda shook her head slowly, tears falling silently as she said, “I’m not sure what happened, but…when I was with Chuffrey, I-I miscarried so many times that the doctors…they…said I was barren!”
Elphaba rushed to hug her friend tightly, cooing softly in her ear, “It’s alright…having kids is nothing special, to be honest…”
Glinda looked up and gave an incredulous stare, “What do you mean?? It’s every woman’s DREAM to have a child!!”
“Then having it follow you every step you took, to the point where you had to lock your doors to keep it from stealing things? Not my cup of tea, thank you,” she answered with a glower.
“You really aren’t cut out to be a mother, Elphie…” she mumbled when Elphaba stood up and swapped her new hat for her old one and shook the dust off the broom and gestured for Glinda to follow, a wild grin on her face.
Glinda shook her head violently and said, “No, no, no, and further more NO! I heard so many things about your recklessness on that infernal broom-you’ll drop me for sure!”
“You’re more cowardly than that lion that accompanied Dorothy,” she needled.
Glinda marched over to the broom and sat on it as it hovered a few feet above the ground and said, “Alright, I’ll show you how brave Glinda the Good is.”
“You’re so very predictable, my sweet,” Elphaba cackled.
Glinda shot a satisfied smile and said, “At least I’m making the right decision this time.”
Elphaba gave a quizzical look and Glinda continued, “I remember a green bean once asking me to join her. C’mon Elphie, let’s defy gravity…together.”
Nodding, Elphaba grabbed Glinda’s hands and wrapped them around her waist and said, “Hold on tight-this is going to be fast.”
“Wait, what??” Glinda gasped before the two of them rocketed out of the open window and the shrieks of fear coming out of Glinda’s mouth were drowned by the loudest, most joyous cackle emitting from her friend as Elphaba shrieked with unrestrained glee, “FREEDOM!!”
The speed with which they flew stole the breath out of Glinda as she gripped Elphaba tightly, not looking…until Elphaba turned her head and cooed softly, “It’s okay, Glinda-it’s safe to look…it’s so beautiful from here.”
Taking a peek, Glinda gasped-they were hovering above the Emerald City and with the wind whipping softly at her, the thrill of being so high up, unprotected by a bubble, with her hair flying around and mixing with Elphaba’s, she began to allow a joyful grin peel across her face as she said, with awe in every syllable, “You’re right…this…is the most beautiful thing in the world…let’s go lower…I wanna see the City a little closer up.”
“Your wish is my command, my sweet,” she laughed, dipping quickly as they both giggled like schoolgirls on a roller-coaster and as they wove in and out of the higher spires of the Emerald City.
The verdant glow mixed with and illuminated Elphaba’s face, giving it an almost celestial luminescence. Her face looked so many years younger as childlike joy emanated from every feature, from the ear-to-ear grin to the near-glowing chocolate eyes and the wildly flying hair that she swore she saw an angel underneath it all-and it was showing more and more. This was Elphaba in her rarest of states: pure happiness. That cackle wasn’t of insanity and depravity; it was of freedom, ecstasy, and wild-eyed glee.
She felt the joy infect her, at first slowly, but more and more. She knew what she wanted then-she knew what she wanted to tell Elphaba, but didn’t want to spoil it. Instead, in a fit of joy, she called out in the loudest of voices, “ELPHABA LIVES!”
Elphaba cackled again and as they rocketed toward the Emerald Spire, within obvious earshot of the Wizard, “DID YOU HEAR THAT, OZ? I’M ALIVE!”
They laughed with joy as they saw people (ants at this distance) come out of their doors and Elphaba, perhaps drunk with her joy, flew lower, and saw terror in everyone’s eyes as she let out her signature cackle and flew faster than before-seeing the Wizard’s eyes go saucer-wide as she stuck her tongue out and flew back at near-warp-speed back to Shiz, touching down into their dorm room.
“THAT is defying gravity, Glinda-THAT is what I wanted for the both of us!” she whooped, jumping in the air and landing on her bed, hugging her broom for a moment before moving it against her closet door. She got up and hugged Glinda tightly, still in the throes of her unearthly glee and breathed, “Thank you for keeping me alive, Glinda…”
Glinda blushed and said, almost embarrassed, “I should thank you for coming back-but y’know, we’re all dead now, right?”
Her head tilted as comprehension dawned on her face as she realized just what they had both done.
She did the last thing Glinda expected; she shrugged and said nonchalantly (with a definite tinge of defiance) “I’m glad we did-it gives those sheep something to think about. It turns out that the Wizard lied. They saw you with me, so of course they know we’re friends now; all the better-I owe the Wizard one HELL of a talking-to.”
She paused and a defiant glare set in her face and she looked at the moon and said, the cold moonlight throwing her sharp features in sharper relief, “It’s time for a revolution, Glinda-I was meant to come back with you: it’s time for us to set things right once and for all.”
Glinda smiled, feeling the tides of war coming deep in her stomach as she hugged Elphaba closely and said, “I’m with you this time. No more running, no more fleeing, no more cowardice from Glinda the Good. It’s time I show those imbeciles at Emerald just how Wicked this Good Witch can be.”
Elphaba rested her forehead against Glinda’s and grinned, tears threatening to fall, saying, “Of all the things that mouth could spout, those are the words I’ve wanted to hear for a very, very, long time. Thank you Glinda-there is no running for me this time. If we defy gravity…”
“We defy it together-and we’ll win this time,” Glinda finished before pulling her friend’s face down and kissed it, tears flowing on her face as she felt no resistance.
They pulled away and Glinda asked, with a smirk, “Oh, goodness me, I forgot to ask permission…”
Elphaba blushed hunter green and said, a sultry smirk flowing across her face, “No need…THIS time.”
“I woulda done it anyway,” she laughed as they both went to their beds and Glinda said, “I have a surprise for you tomorrow. I hope you’ll like it.”
“If it’s from you, I’m sure to,” she answered softly.
Glinda whispered into her pillow, in the faintest of voices, hoping Elphaba wouldn’t hear, “I love you Elphie.”
As she fell asleep, she heard in her dreamy state a soft, “You too, Glinda…”
They awoke to a massive clamor they had not heard since their own college days as they heard the knocking of a hammer against their door. Elphaba was the first to fly out of bed and open the door as she gasped.
“Glinda…you may want to look at this…”
Slinking out from her bed in her bright pink nightgown, she padded over to her friend and cold shock shot up her spine-there was The Emerald Chronicle’s front page and the headline blared: “FEARS CONFIRMED: WICKED WITCH ALIVE AGAIN!”
What frightened her was the subtitle: “Glinda the “Good” found colluding with Witch; Wizard to strip her of “Good” title as a result.”
Instead of fear pure, acid-laced defiance emanated from Elphaba as she growled, “Well, I suppose we have no choice but to be together, now that you are as much a fugitive as I am, my pretty…all the better.”
The defiance seemed to infect Glinda as she glared at the headline and sighed, saying, “This time he is going to get the Glinda treatment as well-and this girl isn’t afraid to come up to him anymore. C’mon, Elphie-let’s gather the kids and prepare…”
“For what?” Elphaba asked dimly.
“For a trip to Emerald-the Twin Witches of Oz are going to have a chat with the bastard.”
“Ooh, such language, Miss Glinda,” she purred, smirking at her friend’s sudden transformation. She felt a twinge below her navel at the thought of her friend’s newly assertive and defiant demeanor and pulled her close, whispering silkily, “I like it when you curse…”
She didn’t expect Glinda to melt into her arms and pull them slowly below her sash. As such, she removed the hands and said, “Glinda…I didn’t realize you were a…” and she couldn’t say it as all the clues came into place.
Glinda threw the both of them into the room and slammed the door shut, enchanting it to be soundproof. She turned to her and said, in a defiant but hushed voice,
“A lesbian, Elphaba; don’t be afraid to say the word-my preference isn’t known so well, but trust me, “Momsy and Popsicle” both know it. I…”
“Say no more,” Elphaba sighed, feeling almost disgusted; she unconsciously rubbed her lips, remembering the kisses and almost feeling repulsed that she caved. She may be Wicked, she may be green, but she was also the pseudo-daughter of a Unionist minister; such things were frowned upon. But…she felt like something was there, something was amiss-her confusion left her brows furrowed, her eyes somewhat unfocused and her mouth almost agape (but not quite).
“Oh, Elphie…don’t ha…”
Elphaba placed her long green finger on Glinda’s plump lips and shook her head, interrupting with, “No, I don’t hate you…I just…it’s too much right now…please, Glinda-the mission at hand.”
“Then why did you kiss me? Why did you let me think you…loved me too?” she asked, her defiant glare suddenly crashing into a plaintive stare, tears forming at the corners.
“I…you didn’t give me a chance to say no either time, Glinda! I…was confused…I was caught in the moment; you have to understand, that broom was my freedom and to live without it was like…”
“Me living without you?”
“Please don’t complicate things with the fact that you are attracted to me, Glinda,” she said, a little too harshly for her liking. She felt a migraine coming on from all the stress when Glinda shoved her on the bed and sat down beside her, growling, “You liked me-I know when a girl likes another girl, Elphaba. Admit it now.”
“I will admit nothing, Glinda-give me some time to actually get my head back before you bite it off again.”
“Fine…” she pouted.
She didn’t have time to pout when Elphaba got up and moved to the door and asked, “You had something to show me?”
“Don’t quite feel like showing anything to a green bitch in denial,” she sniffed. She instantly knew she overstepped a boundary when Elphaba’s eyes flashed angrily as she growled back, “Oh, so you’re NOW deciding to punish me just as I came back simply because you want me to go back on years of Unionist upbringing? Or did you forget that I was raised as the daughter of a MINISTER??”
“Fine time you decide to conform to religion,” she growled.
“It’s HARD to think that I might possibly find my best friend attractive just as I not only have her crash back into my life along with three kids who tell me that another witch took over MY castle but find out I am a damned GRANDMOTHER! PLEASE Glinda, don’t ruin things by pushing!”
“I-I’m sorry, Elphie…I just…”
“It’s okay…just…give me some time to think over everything, AFTER we clear things up. I can guarantee the headmistress is less than pleased at our little escapade last night.”
They were right.
“WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO COMPROMISE THE VERY SECURITY YOU LAMENTED TO ME?” the headmistress exploded to Elphaba-whose expression did not change a tiny bit.
She answered evenly, “I will leave at once-we plan to speak to the Wizard anyhow; you have no reason to worry about the well-being of your staff and students, Madam Headmistress. I cannot apologize for my exercise of free will, but I ask that you please hold no ill will to Glinda or the children we were with.”
“Fair enough. Now please leave as soon as is possible-I have an announcement to make to the students.”
They left and Glinda came up and slowly brushed her hand against Elphaba’s and barely grasped it before Elphaba slowly grasped it gently before moving it away, shooting a gentle, “Don’t push it,” look to Glinda.
They all but ran to the rooms that the Keyblade Trio were staying and Elphaba knocked, calling out rather loudly, “All of you, get ready-we’re leaving for the Emerald City.”
Sora answered sleepily, “What? I thought we were close to your castle? Did something happen?”
Elphaba and Glinda shot each other a guilty look and Glinda answered, “You could say that…but please, get ready.”
“Now,” Elphaba piped in with almost anger in her voice.
“This is what I’ve lived with since you left and I didn’t have you to cover for me, Glinda. I bring disaster with me wherever I go,” Elphaba sighed, massaging her temples.”
“I had a role in it this time, Elphie. This time I helped you bring some disaster-to be honest, it’s kinda fun,” she answered, giggling.
“So I’m not insane in that category,” Elphaba laughed.
In the room, Riku was smacking Sora awake with his Keyblade, barking, “Hey, sleepyhead! Get up-this is important!”
“Dun’ worry…I’m up,” he answered, slowly getting out of bed as Kairi was completely ready, calling out to the Witches, “We’re almost ready; what happened?”
“Can we come in?” Elphaba answered, irritated.
“Sora’s still getting dressed…”
“Oh. Well, let’s just say that we need to, er, answer for some things we did last night,” she answered slowly.
“Great,” Riku answered bitterly, “We get in more mishaps…”
“Watch it, Riku…you and I have done some crazy things ourselves…don’t sound all high and mighty yet…”
“Shaddup Sora…”
“What, do I hear a ‘you’re right Sora’ in there?”
“Shaddup….”
“Alright, I’m ready!” Sora answered, opening the door.
“What happened, really…” Kairi answered, concerned.
“Uhhh….” Glinda paused, blushing.
“What, did you make out in front of everyone?” Sora asked bluntly.
The two witches blushed furiously, yelling simultaneously, “NO!”
“We compromised the security of Shiz and now we want to go confront the Wizard about some things,” Elphaba answered sharply.
“You WHAT?!?” Riku shouted, his tone identical to the headmistress’, “Now we’re going to have to wait MORE before we can go solve the Heartless problem in this world!”
Elphaba shrugged and walked out, gesturing for the others to follow.
Glinda sighed in annoyance, calling out, “Elphie, get back here!”
“No. Let’s go before the headmistress chases us out with a torch and a bucket of water. We’re going by broom and bubble-we don’t have the leisure of walking for this.”
“Elphaba got her broom?” Kairi asked Glinda curiously.
“Yes, among other things that you do not need to know about.”
They all ran out to catch up with Elphaba; she was already hovering a little bit off the ground, saying icily, “Glinda-give the children bubbles to fly with-you are flying with me.”
“Elphie, I’m not sure if I should be flying with you in such an angry state…” Glinda answered hesitantly.
“I’m FINE,” she answered edgily, “I am merely annoyed at how long we are waiting without making any ACTION. I am not a woman of talk; I am a woman of ACTION, Glinda.”
“Well, so long as we are going to be waiting, I may as well unveil my little surprise for you.”
Elphaba’s eyebrow arched in curiosity as she asked, “Oh, really? I must see this…”
“Let’s go to the Peach and Kidney…”
“You were going to show me a surprise…drinking is hardly a surprise for me…” she answered suspiciously.
Glinda replied loftily, “You’ll just have to see…”
“What about the children?” Elphaba whispered as she got off her broom and walked over to Glinda.
“Well, they can have something softer while we do what we need to do.”
“Fine…let’s just go already.”
“Impatient, aren’t we…” she giggled, hugging Elphaba around the middle; Elphaba surprisingly only gave minor resistance before walking over to the pub.
Glinda ordered a few drinks for the group and relaxed for a bit, taking her time and thoroughly enjoying her former favorite hobby-irritating Elphaba within tolerable limits. She paused and watched her friend continually inch away from the children, homing in on a corner booth, pulling out a book, small by Elphaba standards (meaning about 400 pages) and reading in her signature jackknifed position.
She walked over after grabbing the drinks and giving them to Sora, Riku and Kairi and slowly crept toward Elphaba, whispering, “Is it okay if I get a little closer to talk?”
“You’ve always been the only one I don’t mind within my comfort zone Glinda, you know that,” Elphaba mumbled back.
“So that means I’m the only one you don’t mind in this entire bar?”
“Oh, ha ha, very funny,” she sighed, a small smirk creeping across her face as she put the book down and took off her glasses to look at Glinda, saying quietly, “I apologize for earlier-you just came on to me a little fast…”
“It’s alright-I should have let fate choose the proper timing for that stuff, right?”
During this, Glinda’s hand inched towards Elphaba’s and she murmured after a long silence, “I haven’t just been thinking about your absence…when I told you that I’ve been redeeming you by proxy, I meant far more than I think you thought. This is the surprise I want you to see-hopefully you like it. It took a lot of work on my part, but the thought of you made it worth it.”
“What do you mean Glinda?”
“You’ll have to see it to believe it.”
Their hands met gently as Elphaba’s impossibly soft hands caressed Glinda’s and one squeezed the others, though it wasn’t sure who squeezed whose hand. Glinda got up, pulling Elphaba by the hand and going to the bartender and saying in a hushed tone, “I’d like a Freedom Special, extra green on the rocks.”
“Follow me, Lady Glinda.”
They walked over to a door labeled “EMPLOYEES ONLY” and opened it up, revealing a long flight of stairs into a basement. Elphaba looked around and gripped her friend’s hand tighter as they walked down into a room where she froze in disbelief.
A door at the end gave way to a large room filled with Animals of every variety mulling about, whispering about everything from the weather to the Wizard until Glinda cleared her throat loudly. The whole room fell silent as Glinda called out, “My Animal friends, I am sure you all have read the papers-I wish to confirm what the headlines all across Oz are saying: the inspiration behind this movement we have created is truly alive. Please give a hearty welcome to Elphaba Thropp.”
Elphaba stepped forward to cheers and applause as she saw a massive painting of herself holding a Monkey in her arms. An Ox came up and said in a rich bass, “Lady Elphaba, it is truly a great honor to have you in our presence. I would like to thank you for granting us the ability to form the Thropp Society for Animal Liberation. We have been continuing your efforts to grant Animals the same rights as other Ozzians and ending the tyrannical rule of the Wizard. It was your work that gave Lady Glinda the idea of forming this Society in your honor, thinking in horror what all of Oz thought.
“I-well-I…thank you…” she squeaked in response-all of this attention suddenly made her claustrophobic, realizing that her work was not in vain and that she was very nearly venerated as a Goddess. In short, it was too much for her as she whispered to Glinda, “What the hell did you do??”
“Gave Oz what it needed many years ago-a beacon of hope and freedom. Elphaba, in case you have forgotten this in your fugitive years, the Wizard has progressively repealed freedoms for ALL Ozzians; Animals were merely the beginning. As I worked under the face of ‘Glinda the Good Witch, Herald of the Great and Mighty Wizard’ I used my newfound power to find Animals who were hiding from the ever-tightening guard of the Gale Force.”
Stepping back, Elphaba intoned in her amazement, “That…that was my plan! That was what I wanted to do had I not royally messed up in Emerald that first time! You took my plan and brought it to fruition!”
Beaming proudly, Glinda poked her temple and said, “See? There is a lot more inside this skull than fashion and popularity tips.”
“It just took longer to find than most,” Elphaba returned.
“Silence you…” Glinda answered gently, smirking.
Elphaba paused for a long time, her eyes darting from Glinda to the room with the Animals to the painting and back, nibbling on her knuckle nervously. Glinda sighed and waited patiently for several tense minutes before she asked, “Can we go back in? I’m not entirely finished with the surprise for you.”
“More??”
“Yes. More.”
As they walked back in, the Ox who had spoken before came up in an almost reverent bow and said, “Lady Elphaba, we of the Thropp Society have worked tirelessly to unite the splintered havens for the fugitive Animals into a singular force with resources to which we may direct where needed to protect the Animal population. With Lady Glinda’s creative use of false reports for the Gale Force among other tactics, we have set up an underground network that runs from Frottica to Munchkinland and everywhere in between. The final place we planned to connect the network would be Kiamo Ko-at least, it was until the new Witch took residence there.”
“My…” Elphaba breathed, “I HAVE been out of the loop, haven’t I. So much of what I had hoped I could perform myself has occurred without a single aid from me. I feel almost useless at this point.”
“Quite to the contrary, Lady Elphaba,” came the softly screeching tone of an Owl in vicar’s robes, “Your image and your soul has resonated long after you left; while the greater public fears you, the Animals have felt your fiercely protective presence a powerful rallying force. Soon, with the final placement of our railroad, we will be able to move fugitive Animals wherever we desire, and that shall be the finishing stroke to our grand master plan.”
“Wha-what do you mean??”
“You told me last night that Oz needed a revolution. That is what Oz is going to receive if the Wizard does not abdicate-we have the resources, the will, and the means to move every free Animal in Oz straight to the front steps of the Emerald Spire before anyone can do anything about it,” Glinda stated, a dramatic energy flavoring each word, a near-manic grin slowly forming.
“You no longer have the power over the Gale Force, Glinda-they stripped your title and everything! What will you do now??” Elphaba protested concernedly.
“That only accelerates our plans,” Glinda returned, “We no longer have the luxury of waiting. That is the real reason I wanted to go to the Wizard-to give him an ultimatum and to make sure the exits are clear.”
“Wait, exits? Do you mean the underground network is literally UNDERGROUND?”
“Do not make it sound so ridiculous, Lady Elphaba,” the Ox answered, a smirk on his face as he moved the painting to reveal a massive underground passage.
“We ARE in Oz after all; ‘impossible’ is a word that should be removed from our collective vocabulary.”
“This is the way we’re going to take to see the Wizard. It is many times faster than flying or bubble and it will allow us to ensure the security along the route. We have a train system that is in its infancy that should provide a secure and swift travel to Emerald.”
A train with many massive carts with about 5 meter high fencing on all sides came in, pulled by what looked to be a steam engine that did not use steam.
“Fantastic…” Elphaba breathed, turning to the Ox and saying, “You are a magnificent group! It is an honor to have such a force formed as a result of my efforts!”
The group nodded before the Owl said, “I shall fetch the children and you shall be on your way. Be sure to let the Wizard know who he is up against!”
The Keyblade Trio soon came in, confused expressions on all their faces as Riku and Kairi attempted to help Sora understand the explanation the Owl had given.
“So basically, these are Animals who are a kind of army to fight for freedom from the Wizard.”
“So the Wizard is bad.”
“To the Animals.”
“So he’s good to everyone else?”
“I guess.”
“So he’s sorta-Good.”
“I suppose.”
“Then we can change his mind, right? I mean, he isn’t a Nobody-he has a heart that we can help change.”
“I suppose.”
“Alright, I think I understand now.”
Riku and Kairi sighed in relief as they all came up to the cart. The gates of the cart opened and the Ox held something in his hooves with the same reverence as he came to Elphaba, saying, “Here is something to remind you of your journey, Lady Elphaba. It is something of a relic among us. Lady Glinda found it and has kept it all these years.”
He held up Doctor Dillamond’s glasses.
Gasping, Elphaba gingerly grabbed them and placed them in a pocket of her coat, looking down with a mixture of remorse and anger as she said, “He will be avenged. I promise all of you that Doctor Dillamond will be the only casualty of this movement so long as I have a say in the matter. Take care of Shiz for us while we are gone and if the Gale Force comes, give ‘em hell.”
“I assure you, we will,” the Owl smiled, his aquine eyes glittering.
“To Emerald,” Glinda announced.
“To destiny…again,” Elphaba added.
.
Usual "I don't own anything" stuff applies...
“I-I…I honestly cannot say I remember ever birthing him, but I have been told, and now proven that Liir is indeed my child. He wrote that…green skips a generation. My dratted genes made their way down a generation,” Elphaba muttered, looking down at the broom, which felt somehow more powerful than before.
Glinda looked down, feeling a twinge of jealousy as she said, “I suppose one of us was fertile, then…”
Elphaba looked down and said very quietly, “You aren’t?”
Glinda shook her head slowly, tears falling silently as she said, “I’m not sure what happened, but…when I was with Chuffrey, I-I miscarried so many times that the doctors…they…said I was barren!”
Elphaba rushed to hug her friend tightly, cooing softly in her ear, “It’s alright…having kids is nothing special, to be honest…”
Glinda looked up and gave an incredulous stare, “What do you mean?? It’s every woman’s DREAM to have a child!!”
“Then having it follow you every step you took, to the point where you had to lock your doors to keep it from stealing things? Not my cup of tea, thank you,” she answered with a glower.
“You really aren’t cut out to be a mother, Elphie…” she mumbled when Elphaba stood up and swapped her new hat for her old one and shook the dust off the broom and gestured for Glinda to follow, a wild grin on her face.
Glinda shook her head violently and said, “No, no, no, and further more NO! I heard so many things about your recklessness on that infernal broom-you’ll drop me for sure!”
“You’re more cowardly than that lion that accompanied Dorothy,” she needled.
Glinda marched over to the broom and sat on it as it hovered a few feet above the ground and said, “Alright, I’ll show you how brave Glinda the Good is.”
“You’re so very predictable, my sweet,” Elphaba cackled.
Glinda shot a satisfied smile and said, “At least I’m making the right decision this time.”
Elphaba gave a quizzical look and Glinda continued, “I remember a green bean once asking me to join her. C’mon Elphie, let’s defy gravity…together.”
Nodding, Elphaba grabbed Glinda’s hands and wrapped them around her waist and said, “Hold on tight-this is going to be fast.”
“Wait, what??” Glinda gasped before the two of them rocketed out of the open window and the shrieks of fear coming out of Glinda’s mouth were drowned by the loudest, most joyous cackle emitting from her friend as Elphaba shrieked with unrestrained glee, “FREEDOM!!”
The speed with which they flew stole the breath out of Glinda as she gripped Elphaba tightly, not looking…until Elphaba turned her head and cooed softly, “It’s okay, Glinda-it’s safe to look…it’s so beautiful from here.”
Taking a peek, Glinda gasped-they were hovering above the Emerald City and with the wind whipping softly at her, the thrill of being so high up, unprotected by a bubble, with her hair flying around and mixing with Elphaba’s, she began to allow a joyful grin peel across her face as she said, with awe in every syllable, “You’re right…this…is the most beautiful thing in the world…let’s go lower…I wanna see the City a little closer up.”
“Your wish is my command, my sweet,” she laughed, dipping quickly as they both giggled like schoolgirls on a roller-coaster and as they wove in and out of the higher spires of the Emerald City.
The verdant glow mixed with and illuminated Elphaba’s face, giving it an almost celestial luminescence. Her face looked so many years younger as childlike joy emanated from every feature, from the ear-to-ear grin to the near-glowing chocolate eyes and the wildly flying hair that she swore she saw an angel underneath it all-and it was showing more and more. This was Elphaba in her rarest of states: pure happiness. That cackle wasn’t of insanity and depravity; it was of freedom, ecstasy, and wild-eyed glee.
She felt the joy infect her, at first slowly, but more and more. She knew what she wanted then-she knew what she wanted to tell Elphaba, but didn’t want to spoil it. Instead, in a fit of joy, she called out in the loudest of voices, “ELPHABA LIVES!”
Elphaba cackled again and as they rocketed toward the Emerald Spire, within obvious earshot of the Wizard, “DID YOU HEAR THAT, OZ? I’M ALIVE!”
They laughed with joy as they saw people (ants at this distance) come out of their doors and Elphaba, perhaps drunk with her joy, flew lower, and saw terror in everyone’s eyes as she let out her signature cackle and flew faster than before-seeing the Wizard’s eyes go saucer-wide as she stuck her tongue out and flew back at near-warp-speed back to Shiz, touching down into their dorm room.
“THAT is defying gravity, Glinda-THAT is what I wanted for the both of us!” she whooped, jumping in the air and landing on her bed, hugging her broom for a moment before moving it against her closet door. She got up and hugged Glinda tightly, still in the throes of her unearthly glee and breathed, “Thank you for keeping me alive, Glinda…”
Glinda blushed and said, almost embarrassed, “I should thank you for coming back-but y’know, we’re all dead now, right?”
Her head tilted as comprehension dawned on her face as she realized just what they had both done.
She did the last thing Glinda expected; she shrugged and said nonchalantly (with a definite tinge of defiance) “I’m glad we did-it gives those sheep something to think about. It turns out that the Wizard lied. They saw you with me, so of course they know we’re friends now; all the better-I owe the Wizard one HELL of a talking-to.”
She paused and a defiant glare set in her face and she looked at the moon and said, the cold moonlight throwing her sharp features in sharper relief, “It’s time for a revolution, Glinda-I was meant to come back with you: it’s time for us to set things right once and for all.”
Glinda smiled, feeling the tides of war coming deep in her stomach as she hugged Elphaba closely and said, “I’m with you this time. No more running, no more fleeing, no more cowardice from Glinda the Good. It’s time I show those imbeciles at Emerald just how Wicked this Good Witch can be.”
Elphaba rested her forehead against Glinda’s and grinned, tears threatening to fall, saying, “Of all the things that mouth could spout, those are the words I’ve wanted to hear for a very, very, long time. Thank you Glinda-there is no running for me this time. If we defy gravity…”
“We defy it together-and we’ll win this time,” Glinda finished before pulling her friend’s face down and kissed it, tears flowing on her face as she felt no resistance.
They pulled away and Glinda asked, with a smirk, “Oh, goodness me, I forgot to ask permission…”
Elphaba blushed hunter green and said, a sultry smirk flowing across her face, “No need…THIS time.”
“I woulda done it anyway,” she laughed as they both went to their beds and Glinda said, “I have a surprise for you tomorrow. I hope you’ll like it.”
“If it’s from you, I’m sure to,” she answered softly.
Glinda whispered into her pillow, in the faintest of voices, hoping Elphaba wouldn’t hear, “I love you Elphie.”
As she fell asleep, she heard in her dreamy state a soft, “You too, Glinda…”
They awoke to a massive clamor they had not heard since their own college days as they heard the knocking of a hammer against their door. Elphaba was the first to fly out of bed and open the door as she gasped.
“Glinda…you may want to look at this…”
Slinking out from her bed in her bright pink nightgown, she padded over to her friend and cold shock shot up her spine-there was The Emerald Chronicle’s front page and the headline blared: “FEARS CONFIRMED: WICKED WITCH ALIVE AGAIN!”
What frightened her was the subtitle: “Glinda the “Good” found colluding with Witch; Wizard to strip her of “Good” title as a result.”
Instead of fear pure, acid-laced defiance emanated from Elphaba as she growled, “Well, I suppose we have no choice but to be together, now that you are as much a fugitive as I am, my pretty…all the better.”
The defiance seemed to infect Glinda as she glared at the headline and sighed, saying, “This time he is going to get the Glinda treatment as well-and this girl isn’t afraid to come up to him anymore. C’mon, Elphie-let’s gather the kids and prepare…”
“For what?” Elphaba asked dimly.
“For a trip to Emerald-the Twin Witches of Oz are going to have a chat with the bastard.”
“Ooh, such language, Miss Glinda,” she purred, smirking at her friend’s sudden transformation. She felt a twinge below her navel at the thought of her friend’s newly assertive and defiant demeanor and pulled her close, whispering silkily, “I like it when you curse…”
She didn’t expect Glinda to melt into her arms and pull them slowly below her sash. As such, she removed the hands and said, “Glinda…I didn’t realize you were a…” and she couldn’t say it as all the clues came into place.
Glinda threw the both of them into the room and slammed the door shut, enchanting it to be soundproof. She turned to her and said, in a defiant but hushed voice,
“A lesbian, Elphaba; don’t be afraid to say the word-my preference isn’t known so well, but trust me, “Momsy and Popsicle” both know it. I…”
“Say no more,” Elphaba sighed, feeling almost disgusted; she unconsciously rubbed her lips, remembering the kisses and almost feeling repulsed that she caved. She may be Wicked, she may be green, but she was also the pseudo-daughter of a Unionist minister; such things were frowned upon. But…she felt like something was there, something was amiss-her confusion left her brows furrowed, her eyes somewhat unfocused and her mouth almost agape (but not quite).
“Oh, Elphie…don’t ha…”
Elphaba placed her long green finger on Glinda’s plump lips and shook her head, interrupting with, “No, I don’t hate you…I just…it’s too much right now…please, Glinda-the mission at hand.”
“Then why did you kiss me? Why did you let me think you…loved me too?” she asked, her defiant glare suddenly crashing into a plaintive stare, tears forming at the corners.
“I…you didn’t give me a chance to say no either time, Glinda! I…was confused…I was caught in the moment; you have to understand, that broom was my freedom and to live without it was like…”
“Me living without you?”
“Please don’t complicate things with the fact that you are attracted to me, Glinda,” she said, a little too harshly for her liking. She felt a migraine coming on from all the stress when Glinda shoved her on the bed and sat down beside her, growling, “You liked me-I know when a girl likes another girl, Elphaba. Admit it now.”
“I will admit nothing, Glinda-give me some time to actually get my head back before you bite it off again.”
“Fine…” she pouted.
She didn’t have time to pout when Elphaba got up and moved to the door and asked, “You had something to show me?”
“Don’t quite feel like showing anything to a green bitch in denial,” she sniffed. She instantly knew she overstepped a boundary when Elphaba’s eyes flashed angrily as she growled back, “Oh, so you’re NOW deciding to punish me just as I came back simply because you want me to go back on years of Unionist upbringing? Or did you forget that I was raised as the daughter of a MINISTER??”
“Fine time you decide to conform to religion,” she growled.
“It’s HARD to think that I might possibly find my best friend attractive just as I not only have her crash back into my life along with three kids who tell me that another witch took over MY castle but find out I am a damned GRANDMOTHER! PLEASE Glinda, don’t ruin things by pushing!”
“I-I’m sorry, Elphie…I just…”
“It’s okay…just…give me some time to think over everything, AFTER we clear things up. I can guarantee the headmistress is less than pleased at our little escapade last night.”
They were right.
“WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO COMPROMISE THE VERY SECURITY YOU LAMENTED TO ME?” the headmistress exploded to Elphaba-whose expression did not change a tiny bit.
She answered evenly, “I will leave at once-we plan to speak to the Wizard anyhow; you have no reason to worry about the well-being of your staff and students, Madam Headmistress. I cannot apologize for my exercise of free will, but I ask that you please hold no ill will to Glinda or the children we were with.”
“Fair enough. Now please leave as soon as is possible-I have an announcement to make to the students.”
They left and Glinda came up and slowly brushed her hand against Elphaba’s and barely grasped it before Elphaba slowly grasped it gently before moving it away, shooting a gentle, “Don’t push it,” look to Glinda.
They all but ran to the rooms that the Keyblade Trio were staying and Elphaba knocked, calling out rather loudly, “All of you, get ready-we’re leaving for the Emerald City.”
Sora answered sleepily, “What? I thought we were close to your castle? Did something happen?”
Elphaba and Glinda shot each other a guilty look and Glinda answered, “You could say that…but please, get ready.”
“Now,” Elphaba piped in with almost anger in her voice.
“This is what I’ve lived with since you left and I didn’t have you to cover for me, Glinda. I bring disaster with me wherever I go,” Elphaba sighed, massaging her temples.”
“I had a role in it this time, Elphie. This time I helped you bring some disaster-to be honest, it’s kinda fun,” she answered, giggling.
“So I’m not insane in that category,” Elphaba laughed.
In the room, Riku was smacking Sora awake with his Keyblade, barking, “Hey, sleepyhead! Get up-this is important!”
“Dun’ worry…I’m up,” he answered, slowly getting out of bed as Kairi was completely ready, calling out to the Witches, “We’re almost ready; what happened?”
“Can we come in?” Elphaba answered, irritated.
“Sora’s still getting dressed…”
“Oh. Well, let’s just say that we need to, er, answer for some things we did last night,” she answered slowly.
“Great,” Riku answered bitterly, “We get in more mishaps…”
“Watch it, Riku…you and I have done some crazy things ourselves…don’t sound all high and mighty yet…”
“Shaddup Sora…”
“What, do I hear a ‘you’re right Sora’ in there?”
“Shaddup….”
“Alright, I’m ready!” Sora answered, opening the door.
“What happened, really…” Kairi answered, concerned.
“Uhhh….” Glinda paused, blushing.
“What, did you make out in front of everyone?” Sora asked bluntly.
The two witches blushed furiously, yelling simultaneously, “NO!”
“We compromised the security of Shiz and now we want to go confront the Wizard about some things,” Elphaba answered sharply.
“You WHAT?!?” Riku shouted, his tone identical to the headmistress’, “Now we’re going to have to wait MORE before we can go solve the Heartless problem in this world!”
Elphaba shrugged and walked out, gesturing for the others to follow.
Glinda sighed in annoyance, calling out, “Elphie, get back here!”
“No. Let’s go before the headmistress chases us out with a torch and a bucket of water. We’re going by broom and bubble-we don’t have the leisure of walking for this.”
“Elphaba got her broom?” Kairi asked Glinda curiously.
“Yes, among other things that you do not need to know about.”
They all ran out to catch up with Elphaba; she was already hovering a little bit off the ground, saying icily, “Glinda-give the children bubbles to fly with-you are flying with me.”
“Elphie, I’m not sure if I should be flying with you in such an angry state…” Glinda answered hesitantly.
“I’m FINE,” she answered edgily, “I am merely annoyed at how long we are waiting without making any ACTION. I am not a woman of talk; I am a woman of ACTION, Glinda.”
“Well, so long as we are going to be waiting, I may as well unveil my little surprise for you.”
Elphaba’s eyebrow arched in curiosity as she asked, “Oh, really? I must see this…”
“Let’s go to the Peach and Kidney…”
“You were going to show me a surprise…drinking is hardly a surprise for me…” she answered suspiciously.
Glinda replied loftily, “You’ll just have to see…”
“What about the children?” Elphaba whispered as she got off her broom and walked over to Glinda.
“Well, they can have something softer while we do what we need to do.”
“Fine…let’s just go already.”
“Impatient, aren’t we…” she giggled, hugging Elphaba around the middle; Elphaba surprisingly only gave minor resistance before walking over to the pub.
Glinda ordered a few drinks for the group and relaxed for a bit, taking her time and thoroughly enjoying her former favorite hobby-irritating Elphaba within tolerable limits. She paused and watched her friend continually inch away from the children, homing in on a corner booth, pulling out a book, small by Elphaba standards (meaning about 400 pages) and reading in her signature jackknifed position.
She walked over after grabbing the drinks and giving them to Sora, Riku and Kairi and slowly crept toward Elphaba, whispering, “Is it okay if I get a little closer to talk?”
“You’ve always been the only one I don’t mind within my comfort zone Glinda, you know that,” Elphaba mumbled back.
“So that means I’m the only one you don’t mind in this entire bar?”
“Oh, ha ha, very funny,” she sighed, a small smirk creeping across her face as she put the book down and took off her glasses to look at Glinda, saying quietly, “I apologize for earlier-you just came on to me a little fast…”
“It’s alright-I should have let fate choose the proper timing for that stuff, right?”
During this, Glinda’s hand inched towards Elphaba’s and she murmured after a long silence, “I haven’t just been thinking about your absence…when I told you that I’ve been redeeming you by proxy, I meant far more than I think you thought. This is the surprise I want you to see-hopefully you like it. It took a lot of work on my part, but the thought of you made it worth it.”
“What do you mean Glinda?”
“You’ll have to see it to believe it.”
Their hands met gently as Elphaba’s impossibly soft hands caressed Glinda’s and one squeezed the others, though it wasn’t sure who squeezed whose hand. Glinda got up, pulling Elphaba by the hand and going to the bartender and saying in a hushed tone, “I’d like a Freedom Special, extra green on the rocks.”
“Follow me, Lady Glinda.”
They walked over to a door labeled “EMPLOYEES ONLY” and opened it up, revealing a long flight of stairs into a basement. Elphaba looked around and gripped her friend’s hand tighter as they walked down into a room where she froze in disbelief.
A door at the end gave way to a large room filled with Animals of every variety mulling about, whispering about everything from the weather to the Wizard until Glinda cleared her throat loudly. The whole room fell silent as Glinda called out, “My Animal friends, I am sure you all have read the papers-I wish to confirm what the headlines all across Oz are saying: the inspiration behind this movement we have created is truly alive. Please give a hearty welcome to Elphaba Thropp.”
Elphaba stepped forward to cheers and applause as she saw a massive painting of herself holding a Monkey in her arms. An Ox came up and said in a rich bass, “Lady Elphaba, it is truly a great honor to have you in our presence. I would like to thank you for granting us the ability to form the Thropp Society for Animal Liberation. We have been continuing your efforts to grant Animals the same rights as other Ozzians and ending the tyrannical rule of the Wizard. It was your work that gave Lady Glinda the idea of forming this Society in your honor, thinking in horror what all of Oz thought.
“I-well-I…thank you…” she squeaked in response-all of this attention suddenly made her claustrophobic, realizing that her work was not in vain and that she was very nearly venerated as a Goddess. In short, it was too much for her as she whispered to Glinda, “What the hell did you do??”
“Gave Oz what it needed many years ago-a beacon of hope and freedom. Elphaba, in case you have forgotten this in your fugitive years, the Wizard has progressively repealed freedoms for ALL Ozzians; Animals were merely the beginning. As I worked under the face of ‘Glinda the Good Witch, Herald of the Great and Mighty Wizard’ I used my newfound power to find Animals who were hiding from the ever-tightening guard of the Gale Force.”
Stepping back, Elphaba intoned in her amazement, “That…that was my plan! That was what I wanted to do had I not royally messed up in Emerald that first time! You took my plan and brought it to fruition!”
Beaming proudly, Glinda poked her temple and said, “See? There is a lot more inside this skull than fashion and popularity tips.”
“It just took longer to find than most,” Elphaba returned.
“Silence you…” Glinda answered gently, smirking.
Elphaba paused for a long time, her eyes darting from Glinda to the room with the Animals to the painting and back, nibbling on her knuckle nervously. Glinda sighed and waited patiently for several tense minutes before she asked, “Can we go back in? I’m not entirely finished with the surprise for you.”
“More??”
“Yes. More.”
As they walked back in, the Ox who had spoken before came up in an almost reverent bow and said, “Lady Elphaba, we of the Thropp Society have worked tirelessly to unite the splintered havens for the fugitive Animals into a singular force with resources to which we may direct where needed to protect the Animal population. With Lady Glinda’s creative use of false reports for the Gale Force among other tactics, we have set up an underground network that runs from Frottica to Munchkinland and everywhere in between. The final place we planned to connect the network would be Kiamo Ko-at least, it was until the new Witch took residence there.”
“My…” Elphaba breathed, “I HAVE been out of the loop, haven’t I. So much of what I had hoped I could perform myself has occurred without a single aid from me. I feel almost useless at this point.”
“Quite to the contrary, Lady Elphaba,” came the softly screeching tone of an Owl in vicar’s robes, “Your image and your soul has resonated long after you left; while the greater public fears you, the Animals have felt your fiercely protective presence a powerful rallying force. Soon, with the final placement of our railroad, we will be able to move fugitive Animals wherever we desire, and that shall be the finishing stroke to our grand master plan.”
“Wha-what do you mean??”
“You told me last night that Oz needed a revolution. That is what Oz is going to receive if the Wizard does not abdicate-we have the resources, the will, and the means to move every free Animal in Oz straight to the front steps of the Emerald Spire before anyone can do anything about it,” Glinda stated, a dramatic energy flavoring each word, a near-manic grin slowly forming.
“You no longer have the power over the Gale Force, Glinda-they stripped your title and everything! What will you do now??” Elphaba protested concernedly.
“That only accelerates our plans,” Glinda returned, “We no longer have the luxury of waiting. That is the real reason I wanted to go to the Wizard-to give him an ultimatum and to make sure the exits are clear.”
“Wait, exits? Do you mean the underground network is literally UNDERGROUND?”
“Do not make it sound so ridiculous, Lady Elphaba,” the Ox answered, a smirk on his face as he moved the painting to reveal a massive underground passage.
“We ARE in Oz after all; ‘impossible’ is a word that should be removed from our collective vocabulary.”
“This is the way we’re going to take to see the Wizard. It is many times faster than flying or bubble and it will allow us to ensure the security along the route. We have a train system that is in its infancy that should provide a secure and swift travel to Emerald.”
A train with many massive carts with about 5 meter high fencing on all sides came in, pulled by what looked to be a steam engine that did not use steam.
“Fantastic…” Elphaba breathed, turning to the Ox and saying, “You are a magnificent group! It is an honor to have such a force formed as a result of my efforts!”
The group nodded before the Owl said, “I shall fetch the children and you shall be on your way. Be sure to let the Wizard know who he is up against!”
The Keyblade Trio soon came in, confused expressions on all their faces as Riku and Kairi attempted to help Sora understand the explanation the Owl had given.
“So basically, these are Animals who are a kind of army to fight for freedom from the Wizard.”
“So the Wizard is bad.”
“To the Animals.”
“So he’s good to everyone else?”
“I guess.”
“So he’s sorta-Good.”
“I suppose.”
“Then we can change his mind, right? I mean, he isn’t a Nobody-he has a heart that we can help change.”
“I suppose.”
“Alright, I think I understand now.”
Riku and Kairi sighed in relief as they all came up to the cart. The gates of the cart opened and the Ox held something in his hooves with the same reverence as he came to Elphaba, saying, “Here is something to remind you of your journey, Lady Elphaba. It is something of a relic among us. Lady Glinda found it and has kept it all these years.”
He held up Doctor Dillamond’s glasses.
Gasping, Elphaba gingerly grabbed them and placed them in a pocket of her coat, looking down with a mixture of remorse and anger as she said, “He will be avenged. I promise all of you that Doctor Dillamond will be the only casualty of this movement so long as I have a say in the matter. Take care of Shiz for us while we are gone and if the Gale Force comes, give ‘em hell.”
“I assure you, we will,” the Owl smiled, his aquine eyes glittering.
“To Emerald,” Glinda announced.
“To destiny…again,” Elphaba added.
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Usual "I don't own anything" stuff applies...