Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandoms:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2024-12-02
Words:
1,018
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
8
Kudos:
126
Bookmarks:
24
Hits:
1,129

Too Late to Go Back to Sleep

Summary:

"Her green skin is but an outward manifestation of her twisted nature! This distortion... this repulsion... this... Wicked Witch!"

The announcement cuts out and Glinda watches as Elphaba clenches her jaw, staring blankly at the floor. The words make Glinda's stomach churn. Weeks ago, Galinda would have cheered to hear Madame Morrible say such things about Elphie. She would have been elatified to hear her idol disparaging her star pupil. Now, Glinda watches Elphie’s heart break, and her own breaks in turn.

~~~

Glinda's thoughts on Defying Gravity and the futures that are lost to her.

Notes:

Hi. I have seen the new movie twice and have been possessed. Big thanks to all my enablers, you know who you are, you're the best. I hope you all enjoy!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Glinda is panting, entirely out of breath. Whether that is from the run or from the panic clamping her lungs, she isn't sure. Behind her, Elphie barricades the door, like it will stop the entire flock of flying monkeys and legions of trained guardsmen chasing after them. She clutches her hand over her heart, desperate for air.

“Oh, this is bad,” she murmurs, mostly to herself, but she wouldn’t mind if Elphaba actually listened to her. “This is so, so bad.” They have to go back, they have to let the Wizard explain, they must be missing something.

Oz can’t be built entirely on a lie.

"Citizens of Oz!”

Glinda jumps at the sound of Madame Morrible’s voice, booming like thunder, too loud to ignore. Iceification runs through her veins, like frost creeping across a window pane. Glinda has been derided by Madame Morrible enough to know this is anything but good.

“There is an enemy that must be found and captured!” Their professor, Elphie’s mentor, proclaims. She had hugged Elphie, just a little while ago. Glinda had foolishly been a bit jealous. 

“Believe nothing she says. She's evil. Responsible for the mutilation of these poor, innocent monkeys! Her green skin is but an outward manifestation of her twisted nature! This distortion... this repulsion... this... Wicked Witch!"

The announcement cuts out and Glinda watches as Elphaba clenches her jaw, staring blankly at the floor. The words make Glinda's stomach churn. Weeks ago, Galinda would have cheered to hear Madame Morrible say such things about Elphie. She would have been elatified to hear her idol disparaging her star pupil. Now, Glinda watches Elphie’s heart break, and her own breaks in turn.

She reaches out and grabs Elphie’s hand in solidaritude. “Don’t be afraid,” she says. Madame Morrible told Glinda to go after her, surely if they go back, they will be able to fix all of this. Glinda will help her make it right.

“I’m not afraid,” Elphie says, and knocks away Glinda’s hand. “It’s the wizard who should be afraid.” Glinda recognizes that face, recognizes the steelification in her voice. Elphie is not going to back down. She isn’t going to be convinced, no matter what Glinda says.

Despair wells in Glinda's chest. It is the same feeling she gets when Fiyero gazes drifts away, when she can tell he is looking right through her, but so much worse.  Because Fiyero is just a boy, in a long line of boys. A good one, sure, one she would be devastated to lose.

But this is Elphaba Thropp. Her one-of-a-kind Elphie. Glinda knows in her heart she will never find another person like her, even if she searched Oz for centuries. It was why she had been so excited when the Wizard said Glinda could join them. The very concept of getting everything she had always wanted and everything she didn’t know she needed. The idea of that glamtorius life at Elphie’s side… It had been intoxicational. And now, Glinda can only plead helplessly as Elphie drifts further and further out of her reach. That gorgeous fantasy crumbles into dust with every one of Elphaba’s declarations.

Until, of course, she asks Glinda to come with her.

Glinda can picture it so clearly. The fantasy shifts, no longer Elphaba and Glinda side-by-side with the Wizard, but against him. The two of them versus the world, hand in hand, triumphant. There are no celebrations, no parades, no ballgowns, or dashing suitors. 

Just her and Elphie, changing Oz for good. 

And… Glinda finds she doesn’t miss the luxuries, not if it means she gets to have Elphie’s smile, gets to keep waking up with her nearby every single day until they are old and gray. 

They would be unlimited.

“Well?” Elphie asks, hand extended to her. “Are you coming?”

Glinda wants to say yes, so very badly. 

But she knows where she belongs, where she has always belonged. She belongs in the spotlight; with a husband everyone wants and children everyone envies. She is meant to spectactulate in the sunlight, not hide in the shadows. She would never survive in the life Elphaba is proposing.

Tears well in her eyes. She smiles and takes a step back. “Oh Elphie, you’re trembling.” She turns to hide her face as the tears finally fall. She finds a cloak hanging on one of the abandoned costume racks, and wipes her eyes as she shakes the dust off.

She brings it back and drapes it over Elphie’s shoulders. It hangs around her in endless black waves, like it was clinging to her. Glinda ties the knot tight, hoping it can substitute the comfort she will soon be unable to give.

Though she hasn’t said it, Glinda can tell Elphie knows she will be going alone. Her own tears drip down her cheeks, even as Elphie tries to smile at her. It is so similar to their night at the Ozdust, Glinda feels that all she will need to do is turn and they will be back. They will be among the glitzerrific crowds, dancing together for the first time. All she needs to do is open her eyes, and everything will be okay again.

But no. Elphie is once again crying because of Glinda, and there is nothing she can do to fix it, not this time.

On impulse, she leans forward, and kisses the tear from Elphaba’s cheek. Elphie gasps, a quiet, honest noise that will haunt Glinda’s dreams in the years to come.

“I hope you're happy,” Glinda whispers to her. 

Maybe the Wizard can’t grant her heart’s desire, but she hopes something out there can.

She doesn’t think she’s ever wanted anything more than she has wanted Elphaba Thropp’s happiness. 

So when she sees Elphaba above them, terrifying and as beautiful as Glinda has ever seen her, she says it again; a prayer, a wish, and a blessing all wrapped into one.

I hope you’re happy.

She hopes Elphie, at least, finds what she is looking for out there.

Because as Madame Morrible guides her away, Glinda can’t imagine ever being happy again.

 

Notes:

Thank you all for reading! Come talk to me about this movie on tumblr here!