a/n: Oh my Oz! A story that doesn't being/have to do with Elphaba! I feel successful…I haven't given Glinda enough love. And frankly, I'm sick of her always being the DID (damsel in distress, just in case you didn't know). It's always Elphie saving Glinda. What about Glinda saving Elphie. Change the roles, Kiddies. Anyway, sorry for not updating any of my stories…I've been horribly busy with vacation and getting ready for school….BUT! I have been writing still (not that my stories are ever read…woe is me…just kidding…but still…).

Chapter one: Wrong

She watches as they bind her. She watches as she struggles. She watches as she's dragged away. She watches but does nothing. She can't. It isn't because she doesn't want to, it's because she's being held back herself.

She watches as her struggles cease. She watches as she gives up.

Glinda hangs her head, letting it drop limply forward, putting more strain on her shoulders. Her blonde curls, now damp with sweat, fall into her eyes and she simply closes them. It doesn't matter anymore. It never did. She hears Morrible's harsh voice break the silence, like a serrated blade slicing through already tortured flesh.

"It was for the better…she was just another pitiful obstacle in our plans."

Glinda's anger flares at this and she jerks her head up, her blue eyes ignited with renewed fury.

"She had dreams…ambitions…expectations…happiness. Yet you took that all away in just one night," she looks at the Wizard, glaring at his frail form. "And she believed in you…you were her idol, her hope for a normal future. She came to you for help and you struck her down. You're not wonderful; you're a filthy, lying—"

Glinda's sentence is interrupted by a sharp smack to the face. She tears free from the guards grasp and lands roughly on the emerald tile. The pain in her cheek extends from her jaw to her brow line. She lies there for a moment, resting her head against the cool tile, half wanting to give up. But she knows that's not what Elphaba would want.

The same hand that struck her grabs her hair, pulling her from the ground. She winces at the pain and at the sharp scent of alcohol on Morrible's breath.

"Miss Elphaba had nothing to begin with…she's was born with misery and she dies with misery. Her dreams were crushed long ago." Morrible said, hissing through her teeth and staring into Glinda's eyes with her own, icy blue ones.

The former Shiztress dumps Glinda onto the ground and walks away from her, striding over to a nearby guard. Glinda can see her whisper something into the guards' ear but she doesn't know what. The guard grins impishly, staring at Glinda with an unreadable glint in his eyes. Morrible pulls back from the guard as he marches forward, a small dagger in his right hand. Another guard pushes down on Glinda's back, making escape impossible. The sheer weight of his hand against her back drains her of oxygen and she feels lightheaded. The guard with the dagger kneels over her back, and pulls back her hair. He presses the tip of the blade lightly into her skin and the first bead of blood forms.

Glinda feels the deadly point pierce her skin completely. She grits her teeth to keep from screaming.

The dagger traces a 'C' into her neck. It traces an 'O'. It traces an 'E'. City of Emeralds.

Glinda can feel the blood trickle down her back and around her neck. She feels nauseous, from the smell of blood, the lack of oxygen, and the knowledge that she had just been branded.

The weight of both guards disappears but Glinda doesn't dare to turn over, for fear she'll die of blood loss.

"Throw her in the dungeon…far from her friend." Morrible commands with a bored expression on her face.

Glinda's lifted from the ground and more blood trickles down her back.

She's dragged into darkness and her exhaustion is taking over her senses. She wills herself to remain awake as she's dragged through damp and musty corridors. She's thrown roughly into a cell and hears the door click behind her. She's trapped and she wonders if this is what the lion cub felt like.

Exhaustion takes over Glinda's senses and she fades into black. Her cheek still burns and her neck's still bleeding but it doesn't matter.

A harsh kick to the ribs brings Glinda from her sleep.

"Get up! The Grand Vizier would like to speak with you. That is a command, not an option."

Rough hands pulled Glinda from the ground and dragged her through the hellish maze of the dungeon. It takes fifteen minutes, Glinda decides, to get to the main door that leads to the palace. The steel door opens and emerald light pours in. It burns her eyes. She's accustomed to darkness already.

They drag her to Morrible's study and dump her in a chair. Morrible's busy with paperwork but begins talking anyway.

"Miss Glinda…I am giving you a chance for freedom. I will allow you to return to Shiz, back to your social life, under one condition. You will not speak one word of what happened here. If you do, I will have my elite guards hunt you down and kill you akin to how a pack of wolves kill a Goat." Morrible said, now pacing, with her arms placed behind her back.

Glinda winces at the not-so-subtle insult towards Dr. Dillamond but holds her tongue. She's a free woman. Why ruin that now with some witty comment.

"Yes, Madame Morrible." Glinda says, lowering her head slightly as if surrendering.

Morrible smiles grimly at her, whispers 'good girl', and arranges for a carriage to whisk her away back to Shiz.

The day of her leave came too quickly. She is given a new dress similar to her old one and practically a whole script on what to say to her fellow socialites when she gets back. It all feels so wrong…to lie about the Wizard's corruption, about Morrible's horribleness, about Elphaba dropping out. The clock on the bedside table blares shrilly but to Glinda it screeches: wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. She furrows her brow and slams her hand onto the button. The shrieking stops. The guilt begins. Lies, lies, lies.

"Shut up…" Glinda says through gritted teeth. She presses her free hand to her head, lightly holding it. Her other hand remains on the brass clock. Moments tick by and she finishes packing her meager amount of clothes. A knock at the door signals that it's time to leave and she grabs the valise that was Elphaba's.

Glinda waits, as unfortunate as it is, with Madame Morrible and her pack of guards. The carriage is five minutes late and Glinda swears that she can see steam rising from Morrible's shoulders. Glinda breathes out a sigh of relief that she didn't even know she had been holding in. The driver takes her faded brown suitcase from her hands but Glinda protests, asking to keep it with her in the main cabin. Morrible steps forward, a vicious sneer on her pale face.

"We'll be seeing each other soon, Glinda. You'll be back because I have something you want." Morrible said with a sneer on her aging face. She turns to the driver and addresses Glinda's location. "To Shiz University."

The driver nods and whips lightly at his horses flank, sending them off into a three day long trip.

Glinda sits in silence, staring blankly out into the passing scenery. Losing Elphaba was like losing everything. Glinda shifts in her seat, still clutching Elphaba's faded brown valise to her chest. Glinda realizes how lonely she truly is without Elphaba by her side. True she had many friends, but none were ever as genuine as Elphaba. Milla came close but she was no replacement. A light rainfall has begun and succeeds to darken Glinda's moods even more. She presses her forehead against the cool glass of the window and closes her eyes. She attempts to will it all away. Her pain, her misfortune…she counts her losses and only one comes up. Elphaba.

Like the rain, Glinda's tears fall just as freely. They say crying is supposed to help. But Glinda disagrees. She opens her eyes and stares into the emptiness of the cabin; she wishes that Elphaba were here, safe with her instead of dying in the Wizard's captivity.

But wishing does nothing except wound the heart.

She sighs and shifts to a more comfortable position, still pressing the valise to her chest. She waits for a moment before sitting upright again, dropping the suitcase next to her and clicking it open. She rummages around before pulling a translucent black scarf from the tangled mass of her clothing. She closes the case and sets it down on the floor. Leaning against the window, Glinda brings the black tangle of fabric to her face, inhaling the woodsy scent that was Elphaba. She buries her face in it and lets out a choked sob that stings the back of her throat. Another choked sob fills the carriage and a thousand tears follow. Glinda wishes she could have saved Elphie. She wishes that she was just as strong as Elphaba. She wishes that none of this ever happened. Glinda's thoughts blur together as night falls and within a matter of minutes she's fast asleep, the black scarf wrapped around her aching neck.

A knock on the door pulls Glinda from her restless sleep.

"Excuse me, ma'am. We have arrived at Shiz University." The driver says politely, opening the carriage door and offering a hand to Glinda.

Glinda is slightly baffled; three days passed already? The emotional turmoil must've taken its toll, Glinda thinks to herself as she grabs the scarf and valise and steps down from the carriage. She thanks the driver for his hard effort and tips him 12 Ozdollars. He nods in gratitude before seating himself at the front and driving off, leaving Glinda alone in the midst of an Autumnal wind.

She picks up Elphaba's valise and walks the long path that leads to Shiz's gates. She sees that they are wide open, almost as if awaiting her with open arms. A twister of leaves dance about the sky, falling like rain or snow…falling like a crumbling sunset; burnt reds, vibrant orange and yellow, russet brown, and the occasional dying green. Glinda steps into Crage Hall, into the meeting room where they all gathered as first years. She steps back out into the deserted hall and makes her way to her dorm room; room 221.

She dreads going back for she knows that despite all her hoping, it will be empty. She knows that there won't be a warm smile waiting for her. She knows that there won't be anybody waiting for her.

Glinda arrives at her door, fumbles for the key in her purse, and throws the door open. It slams loudly against the white wall but Glinda doesn't care. She dumps the suitcase on Elphaba's bed and sits at the desk. A silver framed photo stares at her and she stares back.

Glinda reaches for the frame and holds it in her shaking hands. Inside the frame was a photo of her and Elphaba during a snowball fight. Glinda looked at the right corner. Scrawled in her usual curly handwriting was: Pink and Green go good together.

Glinda placed the frame back to its original position and sat back in the chair. Her neck throbbed and she brought a hand up to finger the forming scars. She traced the rugged lines.

A large 'C' with a small 'O' in it with an 'E' outside of the 'C'…made for a subtle symbol.

"City of Emeralds…" Glinda whispered to herself as she fingered the crude lettering.

A knock on the door causes Glinda to tear her hand from her neck.

"Yes, who is it?" Glinda asks, trying to keep her voice from shaking too much.

"It's Fiyero and the others…um, can we come in?" Fiyero says from the other side of the door.

"Oh, yeah…sure... The doors unlocked." Glinda says, grabbing Elphaba's black scarf and wrapping it loosely around her neck.

The door opens and the whole group of misfits piles into the dorm room.

"Hey, Glinda! How was the 'Oh so wonderful Emerald City'?" Crope asks, throwing an arm around Glinda's shoulders.

She winces as his forearm presses against her neck, but conceals pain with a false grin.

"It was, you know…green." Glinda says, masking her disgust for the place.

Thankfully, a knock at the doorframe signals new arrivals. It's Boq and Nessarose.

"Hello, Miss Glinda…how was your time in the Emerald City?" Nessarose asks, being polite as usual.

Glinda's eyes fill with sorrow for a mere second but even that doesn't go unnoticed by Nessarose.

"Glinda…where's Elphaba?" Nessarose asks, her dark green eyes filling with panic.

Glinda remains silent and merely shakes her head slowly, her eyes closed. She prays that she can block everyone out. That she can ignore the questions thrown at her.

"Glinda…please, tell me, where is my sister?" Nessarose asked, practically begged, her voice on the verge of hysterical.

"Nessa…" Glinda croaks out, her ability to speak lost, "I'm so sorry…sorry…"

Fiyero steps in and sits Glinda down on the bed, forcing her to look at him. "Glinda, you have to tell us what happened to Elphaba…please."

Glinda swallows the burning sensation at the back of her throat and tries to stomach the lies that she's been forced to tell.

"She…she dropped out of…Shiz." Glinda says, feeling lightheaded. She lurches forward a bit before clasping a hand to her head.

Everyone sits in silence; shocked and suspicious. Nessarose has tears streaming down her face, whether out of shame or shock at her sister's leave Glinda doesn't have the courage to ask.

"Why would Elphaba, of all people, do something like that? Even she's not that rash." Nessa says, silent tears still streaming down her pale cheeks.

"I don't know, Nessa. Maybe Elphaba just needed a break?" Boq says, trying to offer some positive energy to the situation. His attempts went unsuccessful and the whole room spirals into shock and sorrow.

"I miss Elphaba…" Nessa says shakily, her voice small and meek like a child's.

"I know you do, Nessie…we all miss her. Don't worry…we'll see her again. When the time's right." Fiyero says, placing a comforting hand on the younger Thropp's shoulder. Nessa gives the Winkie prince a small smile of gratitude, and even with her eyes still bloodshot and watery, she still manages to look cute.

"Thank you, Fiyero."

The group spends at least thirty more minutes with Glinda and consoling Nessa. Their numbers dwindle until it's just Fiyero left.

"Something else happened, Glinda. I know it." Fiyero says, crossing his arms as he sits on Elphaba's bed.

"Nothing else happened Fiyero…just forget it. Elphaba dropped out, that's all." Glinda replies, dismissing Fiyero's accurate statement with a wave of her hand.

"You wouldn't be wearing one of her scarves for nothing." Fiyero shoots back, giving Glinda a sly smirk.

"You're right…something did happen. Something bad…but you know what? It's not worth discussing right now. I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out that there's something wrong with this whole story but right now I'm tired so if you would kindly leave?" Glinda says, a little too snippy because she can see Fiyero's eyebrow twitch in annoyance before he saunters out of the room.

She closes the door as Fiyero leaves and lets out a melancholy sigh. Turning the lock on the door, Glinda trudges over to Elphaba's bed and flops down on it, pulling a worn pillow close to her body and inhaling. It smells woodsy, with a dash of spice to it. Almost Elphaba.

Her neck aches, her heart aches. Glinda falls asleep aching, but comforted with Elphaba's pillow pulled close to her chest. She feels safe, almost. She feels as if tomorrow morning she'll awake in Elphaba's arms. But Glinda knows that impossible; wishful thinking, wounded heart.

It was just wrong.