The Untold Tales of Oz

Finale - Elphaba's POV

I crouched behind a bush, peeping out from between the thick green foliage. For once, I was thankful of my cursed complexion - I blended nicely into my surroundings. I could not afford to be seen. I couldn't. No one could know. Not even her. I longed to stick my head above the bush, to stand up, wave my arms at the shining figure in blue in the distance and yell: "IT'S ME! I'M ALIVE! I'M HERE!" But I couldn't. One single movement, and I might be spotted. And I could not afford to let that happen. All of this would fall apart. All of this..... I wiped a tear that ran down my cheek like a raindrop down the leaf of a quoxwood tree, threatening to make the pools of endless tears and crying bottled up inside of me burst and give my hiding place away. I dismissed the tear and carried on intently staring at the blue haze of glitter. She told me to be strong. For her, I would do anything. For her, I would be strong.

Just as I was patting down the hem of my ripped skirt, trying to distract myself from the river of tears that were about to leak any second, the blue witch opened her dainty mouth: "Fellow Ozians!" Oh it was good to hear her cheerful voice again! "Friends, we have been through a frightening time. There will be other times and other things that frighten us," she said, her head held up high, her voice holding the upmost authority. This is what she always had; this is what I could never dream of having. She was always so much more than me. What am I now? An outcast? A criminal? A murderer? Staring up at the glistening bubble, I felt a sense of pride. This was the Glinda she was meant to be. The rainbow reflections from the bubble glistened down on her, painting her dress an array of different colours. She looked like a goddess, like an exotic bird, a princess. She looked beautiful.

A sad pang suddenly hit me in my chest as I thought back to one of our many nights spent alone in our room in Shiz. One of those nights I can only dream of now. "But you are beautiful," she had said. We had planned dreams then. We had our whole futures planned out. 

I would live in a modest little cottage next door to her extravagant pink palace. We would grow flowers of all colours - red, pink, purple, blue, yellow - and let them crawl up the fence. The fence would have a door in so we could visit each other every day. She would be the owner of a luxury hat boutique and I would be working at the right hand of the Wizard. "Dreams the way we planned them...." That seemed like so long ago now. For once upon a time, we were no more than schoolgirls with fantasies that we longed to fulfill. So much had changed since then.

"But if you'd let me, I'd like to try to help." 

My mind fluttered back to reality. I realised her voice wasn't as clear and as confident as it was before. I felt the small intonations that hadn't been there before - the extra breaths taken between words. She was trying not to cry. "Don't cry," I thought to myself. My last words to her echoed in my head: "Don't cry. Hide yourself. No one can see you. Don't try and cover me. Be who you're meant to be. Be good."  

My thoughts were disturbed by a soft hand upon my own. 

"It's time to go," a voice whispered.

Fiyero. My Fiyero. I turned round to face him. I sighed. "We can never come back to Oz, can we?" I breathed into his ear as he carefully lifted me up. "No," he replied, "no we can't." Gently, he pulled me towards a hidden door in the wall in front of us. Her words floated down like music notes from her bubble. She was trying not to cry. 

"I'd like to try to be...." she said. 

Fiyero opened the door. And led me through it. "I just wish....." I whispered into the darkness. Fiyero closed the door behind us, forever locking us out of the life I have left behind. Her voice was muffled behind the door and I did not hear the end of the sentence. I didn't need to. I knew what she was going to say. I took Fiyero's hand and ran towards the end of the tunnel. ' 

"Glinda the Good."