Soulmates

That Name

Galinda stared down at the sharp signature scrawled upon on her arm. It was the name of her Soulmate. And what was that name? Elphaba Thropp. Once Galinda was finally old enough to fully understand what that name could mean for her, she took immense pride and pleasure in it. Of all the people in the world that were destined to be her Soulmate, it happened to be someone else of equal status as her! Oh yes, the Thropps were the leaders of Munchkindland. The title was "Eminent Thropp" and the whole family held a great deal of power over in the east. It made Galinda's heart flutter with exactment to think her Soulmate was to hold such a powerful and prestigious position in life. And Galinda's own family was not too shabby either. Though they were not exactly the leaders of the Gillikin country up north, they were a very renowned family nonetheless and Galinda was quite excited by the idea of having these two powerful bloodlines meet under a holy matrimony.

But at the same time, there was still a sliver of doubt in Galinda's mind about all this. Not much was ever really said about the Thropp family anymore, and Galinda had been able to find little in the research she conducted. She did not recognize the name 'Elphaba', and yet clearly such a person existed, or the name would've have been emblazoned on Galinda's skin. Yet she could find nothing, not even a little picture or description, to tell her what her Soulmate looked like, or would be like. Elphaba was in next line for the Eminence, but that was about all anyone knew about her. Everything else was very shady. The Thropps must've been a quiet bunch. This both impressed and annoyed Galinda terribly.

Meanwhile, Elphaba herself was studying the fancy, loopy script written upon her own arm. The name was a long, fancy one: Galinda Arduenna-Upland. And Elphaba could only scoff. She may not have really recognized the name, but she knew that the Arduennas were a rather snobby lot who lived up in the northern area of Oz. They were rich and powerful, and they relished the fame and fortune that came with such a great and noble distinction. That was all Elphaba knew about any of them, but that was all she (thought she) needed to know in order to be able to honestly say that she did NOT want her Soulmate. Surely no one good or understanding could come from such a shallow, sheltered family! In fact, Elphaba was certain that even if the name on her arm was true, this poor Galinda girl was probably blind anyway. That could be the only explanation as to how, or why, someone like her, an Arudenna, would ever fall in love with a green-skinned weirdo like Elphaba.

Years later, Galinda and Elphaba had both been admitted into Shiz University. They were both just so excited to be there that neither of them considered trying to find their Soulmate amongst the countless others in the student body. At least not yet, anyway. First, they just wanted to explore their new home and get set up. Unfortunately, that did not go over too well for any of them. Galinda had requested a fancy room, but due to a conflict and a mistake, she was left dormless.

The headmistress of Shiz, Madam Morrible, had just finished giving out room assignments when she realized that there were still two more students who hadn't been given a proper room yet. One was a prissy little princess with stupid hair, and the other was a green-skinned girl with a face like a sour, green apple. Morrible paired them up at once. This received an immediate negative reaction from both parties, but that only made Madam Morrible all the happier, and she pretty much forced the two girls to suck it up and deal with each other. The little blond pouted and turned to her new roommate in disgust. The green girl glared back with equal disdain. Madam Morrible found it all very amusing.

Too ruffled for fineries or introductions, the two girls parted ways as soon as they could and they tried to remain apart for as long as possible. In the end, however, they were forced to meet up again as they moved all of their things into their new, shared, dorm. Neither girl spoke a word to the other, only casting dirty glares when they weren't busy blatantly ignoring each other. Morrible happened to walk on by while all this was transpiring. She poked her head into their dorm with that sadistic little smile still emblazoned on her fat, fishy face.

"I am soooo glad to see you girls are getting settled in so well!" she gushed, voice low and rumbly. Neither girl acknowledged her.

"Oh well," she shrugged, unbothered by their stubbornness. "I only stopped by to hand you these extra papers," she held up two folders. One was green, and the other was the ugliest shade of brown in the universe.

"They are roommate agreement forms. Please fill them out and hand them back to me by the end of the week! Cheerio!" her voice held all the false cheer of a teacher whose main source of happiness came from torturing her students.

Morrible handed Elphaba the green folder and Galinda the ugly brown one. Both of the girls blanched in anger and disgust.

"Here you are, Ms. Elphaba Thropp," she said. "And then here you are, Ms. Galinda Arduenna-Upland. I do hope you have a splendid rest of your evening! Ta-ta!" then, with a wave of her long, pointy, manicured nails, the giant beast of a woman tottered back out of the dorm. This was going to be such a fun year! But while Elphaba continued to glare at the doorway, Galinda only felt her eye begin to twitch as she rubbed her wrist...

ooo

Lady Glinda had a bad night, a night of shakes and regret and pain; she guessed it was the early signs of gout from her rich diet. But she sat up half the night and lit a candle in a window, for reasons she couldn't articulate. The moon passed overhead in its path from the Vinkus, and she felt its accusatory spotlight, and moved back from the tall windows. Pacing her fancy room with pent up emotions she couldn't release or quite comprehend, she felt her wrist begin to burn. She scratched at it slightly and the burn died down at once. Curious, confused, and just looking for a distraction from the accusatory glare of the moon, she rolled up her sleeve to look down at her wrist. And there it was. That name. Just like it had been for so many years before. Only this time, it was illegible. Its pointy script had become faded and runny and somehow, Glinda knew at once that Elphaba Thropp was no more.

AN: Here's the "name on the wrist" AU. I fully believe Elphaba has a very jagged signature while Glinda's is super loopy. And yes, I threw in a corny add-on ending where, after Elphaba dies, the name smudges off of Glinda's wrist slightly.