OK, I have no idea what's gotten into me. Normally I wouldn't start a third chapter story with two in progress. However... it's summer and this story would not leave me alone. I have an almost three thousand word outline, so I have things very planned out.

This is also a little different than most of my normal stuff. It's a bit more Glinda centric, which I'm eager to write because I love getting in her head. Oh, it's post musical, which surprisingly I have never written a chapter story about.

This is un beta-ed, so any and all mistakes are mine. So I'll stop babbling, and you can go ahead and read. Tell me what you think!

"I'm going to do it," she insisted for the umpteenth time, her spell book strewn across her lap.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes, even though she meant well. "You aren't doing anything unless you get some sleep." He tugged the book out of her grasp.

"I'm not at all tired," she insisted, but it was ruined when she yawned.

"Honey, please. It's late. You should sleep." She stiffened at the 'you'. Fiyero wouldn't be sleeping. He hadn't slept in nearly a year, since her botched spell had turned him into the Scarecrow.

"But if I find a spell, maybe you can sleep with me." She hoped the suggestiveness would get him to leave her alone.

It didn't work. "But a Grimmerie spell caused this. You gave the Grimmerie to Glinda. And I thought you said spells can't be reversed."

She scowled at him. "Do you want me to change you back or not?"

"I do, it would be nice." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, settling down in the chair beside hers. "But I'm fine the way I am. And I don't want you to be upset because you can't find a spell." He smoothed her hair out of her face. "You saved my life, Fae. I much prefer this to the alternative."

She sagged against his shoulder, the straw making the cloth of his shirt stiff. "You wouldn't have been dying if you hadn't had to protect me."

"Stop it. No pity parties. What's in the past is in the past." He shifted. "Now will you please sleep? The books will still be there in the morning, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

She pouted a little, but yawned again. "Wake me up early, then," she said, knowing he was just going to let her oversleep anyway. He nodded, and she was asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow.

He watched her sleep for a minute, before tidying up the little kitchen. It had been a year After everything had been said and done, they had moved south, to the border between Quadling Country and the Badlands. Elphaba had been helping to set up a village for the Animals. It was a safe haven for them, and they had eagerly welcomed her into their society. They hadn't trusted him at first. All they saw was the Scarecrow who had tried to hurt their Savior. Explaining the situation didn't help much when they realized he had been Captain of the Gale Force. In time they had deemed him trustworthy, mostly because Elphaba trusted him so completely.

Once she was confident that the Village was running smoothly, she had turned her attention on him. Specifically on returning him to his natural form. She had found old spell books that had been smuggled into the town. None were nearly as powerful as the Grimmerie, but she was convinced she was making progress and refused to give up.

He truthfully didn't care. She was safe. That was enough to make him happy. They were together, which thrilled him. He loved her. He was proud of her, too. The village was thriving, and it wouldn't have been if not for her.

She was curled up on the bed that took up most of the southeastern corner of their one room cottage. It was very neat and tidy, mostly the result of him having little to do while she slept, other than watch her, which was entertaining enough.

"It is my judgement that this citizen is guilty of crimes against his own species during the reign of the Wizard of Oz. He informed on others who were trying to flee for their own safety and will be sentenced incarceration in the national prison, Southstairs. Master Jarince, do you have anything to say for yourself before you are escorted below?"

"No, Lady Glinda," The Pig stared at the ground in front of him.

"Take him in," she said to the guards who escorted him below.

Glinda the Good was, in a word, beloved. She had started off slowly once the Wizard had made his exit, repealing the banns. Eventually, she had come out and said that she believed that the Animals had been treated unfairly, and would be re-granting them their rights as citizens. The transition had been very smooth, and now she was focusing on punishing those who hadn't gotten off easy in the time of the Wizard. She worked from dawn until dusk, and was often alone, but was confident she was doing what her best friend would have done.

However subserviant Jarince had behaved during his trial, the Pig was less than pleased at this turn of events. He was shown to his cell and slumped into the corner, content to stew until a voice from the next cell over stirred him. "Miss Galinda place another in her prison, did she?"

He looked up, and an old woman looked back at him. "Miss Galinda? You mean Lady Glinda the Good?"

"One and the same." It was Madame Morrible, who had been jailed for the past year. "It's customary for new inmates to inform us on the state of the world above."

"Little to say. I had been living in the Quadling when the Good summoned me. There's a new Animal Village, though I didn't live there. Glinda is seeing that extra funding is being sent there to make sure it starts off on the right foot. The Wizard would be horrified if he were here, but the Ozians could care less."

Morrible pursed her lips. "Really, a whole village of Animals? How... interesting," her voice became more of a sneer in the end.

"Not all Animals. I haven't told no one this, but it doesn't matter now. The Witch they thought they had killed? The Green one? She's alive and set up house there." He smirked. "Her and her Haystack. I don't know how it hasn't slipped out to Oz yet. They would pitch a fit if word got out that Miss Dorothy didn't actually complete her task. Though I guess Scarecrow isn't doing too bad for himself, as long as the green doesn't scare him off... either way, I doubt Lady Glinda knows anything of the Witch."

Morrible's eyes were wide. The green brat was still alive? Of all turns of events... This was one of the best possible for her. She knew Elphaba was the key to getting under Glinda's skin. And she knew the only way she would make it out of Southstairs was to rattle Glinda enough so that she missed a step in ruling Oz.

So she began a spell, simple but potent...