You know, the more I think about it, the more I can't strike an equilibrium between The Wizard of Oz, (the movie with Judy Garland,) and the musical Wicked. Heck, even moreso, the movie and the book, which I'm working my way through now.
Another thing I find ironic. Dorothy hoped to go somewhere where there wasn't any trouble. Yet, she found nothing but in Oz.
Okay, I admit, I can believe the Scarecrow is Fiyero. But Boq being the Tin Man, and Glinda, and Elphaba . . . Ack! I can't strike an equilibrium between the two . . .
And you know what I find most ironic? When I was a kid, I wasn't afraid of the Witch of the West. I was afraid of the Tin Man.
Glinda stumbled through the forest, not caring about the rain. She found the darker half of her mind hoping that Elphaba was following her and being swallowed up by the cruel droplets. She didn't know precisely what rain did to her former friend, but she knew it wasn't something kind. Elphaba had always avoided water at any cost.
It seemed like hours that she wandered around in the woods, but finally she found herself on the outskirts of Munchkinland. She found the Yellow Brick Road and followed it inward, thinking maybe Boq was still willing to listen to her. And in fact, he was the first person she ran into.
"Glinda! What are you doing here? Why are you both in Munchkinland? W-we haven't done anything to you!" he cried.
"Both? Boq, what are you saying? What are you--" Then she knew. Both. That could only mean . . .
"Boq, are you saying Elphaba was here?"
"Of course I am! Who else is the other wicked witch?" Boq stopped. "Unless you count . . ."
"Count who? What are you talking about? Oh, forget it! Where's Nessa? Maybe I can talk to her, or at least get out of these wet clothes!" Glinda, despite Boq's protests, stumbled off, towards Nessa's home.
She ran in and up the stairs and, after opening numerous doors, found the one that had to be Nessa's room. It had her wheelchair, but Nessa was nowhere to be found.
Glinda stepped inside gingerly. "Nessa? Nessa, it's me, Glinda. I-I know you may not want to talk to me, but . . ."
"Help me . . ." she heard a small voice say from near the vanity.
"Huh?" She took a few more steps inside and looked beyond Nessa's chair. "Nessa! Oh, my goodness, are you hurt?"
"Not physically, I don't think," she answered, propping herself up with her arms. "What are you doing here? Come to laugh at me, like my worthless sister?"
"What?" Glinda was getting more confused by the second. "Laugh at you? What are you--?"
"Come off it! She was just here, claiming to enchant my slippers so I could walk! But here I am, crawling around like a toad, because she has no real power!"
Despite her anger, Glinda defended her green friend. "She does too have power! That broom she flies on, she enchanted herself! Come here, let me see if I can help you."
Nessa tried to crawl backwards, scooting away from Glinda. "Oh, no! Don't you come near me. You'll do something worse to me than she did!"
"No, I won't, Nessa. Don't be so stupid. You can't just stay there on the floor. At least let me help you back into your chair."
Nessa, not seeing any other choice, allowed Glinda to help her. When Nessa was on her feet, she felt something tingling in her toes. "Wait. Glinda, wait. Let me go."
"Go? But . . . Won't you fall?"
"No . . . I don't think I will. Let go. But slowly, okay?"
"All right . . ." Glinda slowly, carefully, let Nessa's arms go and stepped back.
Nessa held her hands out on either side and carefully took a few small steps. When she felt her knees giving out, she grabbed the edge of her vanity.
"Nessa! You did it! You walked!" Glinda cried.
"Yes! I can do it!"
"You just need to build up the strength in your legs. I bet they're just weak because you haven't used them."
"Weak? I-I never thought of that . . ."
"It's only natural," Glinda said. "Those muscles were never used, not really. So of course you couldn't walk when you first tried."
"That makes sense . . ." Nessa sunk down in her chair. "And after I was so horrible to Elphaba . . ."
"I think I should go. I have some things of my own to think about," Glinda said.
"On your way out," Nessa gripped the edge of the vanity again and stood up, "please send Boq in."
"I'm not sure where he is, but if I see him, I'll give him the message," Glinda promised. She paused just before she exited the doorway. Unsure of why she was still defending Elphaba, she said, "You know, your sister loves you. Even though she's been away for months. You were all she'd talk about most days at Shiz."
"I was? But Glinda, she--" Nessa cut herself off when she realized Glinda was gone. "Oh, well. Perhaps I can ask her another time."
Little did Nessa know that there would never be another time.
Fiyero stalked back to the castle, determined to talk to Elphaba and shake some sense into her, perhaps literally. He'd realized in his walking that he'd been rather cruel to leave as he had and wanted her to know that he was sorry.
Pushing open the door, he stepped in and called her name. No answer greeted him; just echoes.
"Elphaba? Are you here? El-Elphie?" he hesitantly called Glinda's nickname. Still no answer.
A quick search of the castle told him he was the only one there.
"Where in Oz could she be?" he asked himself. He went to the highest tower and looked out, hoping to see a black dot in the sky. However, he hoped in vain.
"Elphaba, where are you?"
He saw little other option than to wait where he was, for he was in no mood to search through Oz for someone who had the power to fly.
Minutes before Fiyero had burst into the castle, Elphaba had left it, cursing herself for being so careless with such a valuable object.
"Where did I leave it?" she asked herself, flying above the clouds. "I didn't drop it, I'd have noticed that. It's not at the castle; I've checked everywhere. So where--"
Suddenly, she had a flash of memory, or perhaps intuition. Nessa's vanity. She'd left it on Nessa's vanity!
"Oh, sweet Oz, if Nessa tries to use that book, who knows what will happen! She's not experienced enough in sorcery to perform those spells! I'm barely skilled enough."
Elphaba made a U turn in the air and sailed through the clouds, back down to Munchkinland. She only hoped that she could get to the Grimmerie before Nessa did . . .
"Hmm? What' this?" Nessa said aloud as she pulled herself to her feet for a third time. She took a few steps, lifted her hand from the vanity, took a few more, and rested her hand on the large, ancient looking book. "Elphaba must have left this here. It must be her book of spells. Well, it won't hurt to look through it, now will it?"
Just as she sat back down and pulled the book into her lap, a depressed looking Boq stepped through the door, mumbling, "You wanted to see me?"