It was the end. There would be no afterward. It was only the two of them now. One would win. The other would die. The Witch didn't care, really. The outcome didn't matter, because either way it was her end. After this, the Witch would exist no longer. She would either get the shoes, rescue her lover's daughter, and disappear or she would die. Either way she would be no more. She walked up the spiraling staircase, one step at a time...

As she always seemed to, Yackle appeared out of nowhere, some spot in the distance. The broom knew to land at the old woman's feet. She and Elphaba stared at each other, without speaking. She understood, in her bemused, confusing way. "You're ready now, aren't you?"

"I've lost everything. You said I was evading my destiny before. Well, I'm done. What is it? If I have nothing else, I'll have that."

Yackle touched the younger woman's face, lifting it. "So broken, hurting so much. You're ready now. Odd, I don't have the hat for you. You always managed to obtain it somehow on your own. Though I guess it doesn't matter- it was only for the looks."

Elphaba raised her hand in protest. "Stop, please. Just tell me, what am I supposed to do now?"

Yackle blinked, as if Elphaba were very dense for not understanding. "Go West. See your lover's family, beg for forgiveness. Let yourself become the Witch you have spent your entire life waiting to be. Get your vengeance, your revenge, get your ruby prize."

Elphaba- no. Not Elphaba, not anymore. The Witch. The Witch didn't understand, but she never did, anyway. It didn't matter if she understood. She didn't matter at all. The broom guided her to where she needed to be.

She cowered in front of the Witch, crying and pleading. The Witch spat curses at her, demands that could never be filled.

Dorothy. She had never seen the little girl, but the dark haired child in the blue dress had to be her. Even as she sobbed, it was easy to see that she radiated and honest, innocent goodness. Dorothy had been told to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, to go and ask the Wizard for help. The Witch thought it was ridiculous. The Wizard of Oz could care less about a sniveling girl, much less one that wasn't even one of his citizens. The girl would get turned away immediately.

But did that matter? The Witch wanted vengence. The quicker the child was sent away from the Wizard, the quicker the Witch could have her. She could get her revenge, make the girl pay for the death of her sister.

She lit the edge of the broom in the fire place. It caught, the dry straw lighting itself. She held the broom high.

This would be it, she would get what she wanted. She would avenge Nessarose's accidental death. She could get what she wanted. Or what she was supposed to want. She could take this one for herself, as so many others had been taken from her. Let someone else feel that pain. She had felt enough, she could share the agony. She was overflowing with the feeling of despair. She had buckets full of it. Someone else could bare some of it for her, some fraction of it. Dorothy could bare the pain.

Some kindling fell to the ground. It caught the edge of her dry skirt, reaching for her. She heard her own scream.

Her head pounded. When was the last time she had bothered to eat? Drink? Sleep? She was knit of whiskey and iron, not flesh and bone. She held her head high, insanity barely at bay. She would think of rest, of nourishment once this was all over. It wouldn't take long now...

"I will save you!" Dorothy said, throwing the bucket used to collect the rain water. She didn't know the effect it would have on the Witch, didn't know it burned her. The Witch felt the water rush over her, soaking her. She screamed in pain as it touched every inch of her, until the pain faded away as well as her sense of awareness.

"Elphaba!" Was she alive or dead? She didn't even know. The line between the present and her premonition hadn't just blurred, it had been erased. Did it matter? She could easily be dead. What in the world was a person who couldn't live up to their own fate, was frightened away by it?

For she was. She was terrified of the thought of living up to the destiny, to allow it. She must be dead. "Elphaba?" She was so weak, she didn't even deserve life. She could not kill Dorothy, not even if she tried to. Dorothy would kill her, that was her destiny. To be killed by a child, to have a little girl spend the rest of her life feeling guilty over an accidental murder. That was what she couldn't do. "Elphaba, can you hear me? What happened?" A hand shook her, and only then did she acknowledge the person attached to it.. "Please, please. Answer me, can you hear me?"

The voice was so gentle, so concerned. She was dead, was this heaven? She was too tired, hurt to much for it to be heaven. But the voice was too sweet to be from hell. It would be cruel to not respond to someone so worried. "Yes. I'm.. here." She was surprised at the tiny sound she created. The whispery voice was weak.

"What's wrong?" The hand that matched the voice was just as gentle. It ran over her body to try to find some physical injury. It found none. "What happened. Are you hurt?"

She cleared her throat. What was this? Judgement? Did the voice want to know her sins? It would be an awfully long list. "I was supposed to try avenge my sister. I was supposed to go up against the little girl. But I would never win. Dorothy was supposed to kill me. That was my destiny. And I can't do it. I can't let that girl have my blood on her hands."

A hand on her forehead. "You're delirious. Fae, please wake up, all the way."

Fae?

She opened her eyes, realizing she was not dead or in limbo. She was lying in a field just off of the Yellow Brick Road. The man before her almost made her heart stop. She squeezed her eyes shut again. "You're dead."

"No, I'm not. You aren't either, in case you were wondering."

"I saw the blood on the Road. You're dead. I saw the body."

A very alive Fiyero touched her forehead. His skin felt so cool against hers. "I followed you. I heard a scuffle behind me and ran like hell. Someone probably did get killed, but it wasn't me. Did you actually look at the body?"

"No," she murmurred, heart lifting somewhat. She opened her eyes again and he was still there. He helped her sit up, leaned her against him. "This is really real?"

"Very real," he assured her.

"It's over. All of the destiny... crap. It's over. I couldn't do it."

He frowned, still thinking she was delirious. She was fevered enough to be. "Well... if what you said your destiny was, to have Dorothy kill you was it, I'm glad. I prefer you to not be dead."

"But now what?" She didn't see how she existed any more, how there could be any after.

"Now we go back to our old plan. We make a life together, and we're not afraid of the road ahead. No more worrying about destiny." He stood up, helping her to get to her feet. The broom lay discarded on the ground.

"We can do that?"

He kissed her. "Fae, after all this, we can do anything." He grasped her hand, gently but firmly in his. "We aren't going to be forced into anything, we lead our own lives. No one holds power over us, not as long as we have one another. No one else is pulling the puppet strings. We can lead our life the way we want to, without being afraid of what's to come."

And they did.

The End

Normally I dislike writing an author's not after a chapter... To be perfectly honest, I prefer to do it at the beginning because I like to hear what people are thinking right after they finish reading, not after they hear me say something. But this note is more about the completion of this story, not just the chapter.

First off, I have to thank Meltalviel. This story was her idea, and I just ran with it. Love you, Mel.

I posted the first chapter on 02-12-08 and finished this on 7-31-08, so it took me longer than most stories do. Of everything I've written, this is probably my favorite. It's my baby, took some of my heart and soul. I can barely believe I actually finished it.

What's next? To be completely honest, I have no idea. I had planned a few things, but they all seemed to have some major flaw. Maybe I'll rework one of those ideas into something new. If you have any ideas you feel like sharing, feel free to PM me sometime.

Thank you for reading all this. I'm going to ask for you all to review one last time, even though it won't lead to an update. Peace!

xoxox

Tiggy