Elphaba and Galinda hadn't gotten along very well in the beginning. Well…that was an understatement. They hadn't gotten along at all in the beginning, and they still didn't get along. Their feelings towards each other had escalated to extreme dislike and, in some instances, loathing.

Their rooming together had created quite a problem. On one hand, Elphaba wasn't in the room much because she spent so much time holed up in the library and Galinda didn't spend much time in the room, either, because she was often out at social gatherings.

On the other hand, when they were in the room together, which was very rare, they often got into full scale fights, not very far from actually hitting each other. Everyone on their floor could hear these shouting matches and the person who left after the fight had ended or broken off, usually Elphaba, had to elbow her way through the crowd that had gathered at her door.

And then there were the public encounters where Elphaba was walking from one class to another, or stalking from the library back to her room. At these times, Galinda was usually surrounded by her posse of friends and admirers, Pfannee, ShenShen, and Milla always being there. They mercilessly poked and prodded at Elphaba as she passed by and, for the most part, ignored them. Occasionally she would reward them with a sarcastic comment or disapproving look, and if they were lucky, a full out resistance to their teasing.

All of these things kept the two roommates from becoming friends, or even acquaintances. The fact that they didn't talk to each other in civil tones, besides a polite request from Elphaba to Galinda asking her to be quiet, is why Elphaba was so surprised to see Galinda crying, no sobbing, in their room after two months of the awkward relationship.

"Miss Galinda, is there something I have done to upset you?" Elphaba asked hesitantly after standing quietly on the threshold of their room.

Galinda gave a muffled answer and Elphaba leaned forward to hear her better, only to fail at trying to translate the unintelligible reply. "I'm sorry, but I didn't hear you," she said quietly.

"I said 'no'," Galinda said, looking up at Elphaba. Her appearance startled the green girl. The blonde was usually a picture of perfection with immaculately curled hair, flawlessly applied makeup, and an unnervingly neat and matching wardrobe. But now her eyes were red and puffy, makeup was running down her face because of her tears, her hair was tousled so it looked like she had just rolled out of bed, and her wardrobe consisted of her nightclothes.

"May I inquire as to what is wrong?" Elphaba asked cautiously, slowly stepping forward so as not to push her luck. She didn't know why she had suddenly taken an interest in the wellbeing of her roommate, but she couldn't help but be concerned. Never before had Galinda betrayed this type of emotion in front of her.

"No," Galinda moaned, burying her head in her arms once again, her shoulders shaking as she continued to sob.

"If this is about one of your dresses getting ruined, it wasn't me," Elphaba said, slowly edging around the room and while keeping as far away from Galinda as possible. The blonde blew up at random moments, and Elphaba had been the subject of these explosions more than once in the past.

"It's not," Galinda sobbed.

"Then quit your moaning, you don't know what it's like to suffer," Elphaba snapped, getting tired of the charade Galinda was putting on. "If you want to suffer, try being green and allergic to water…and then go live in Quadling Country where it's swampy and never stops raining."

"I'm going to die," Galinda whispered.

Elphaba looked at her as if she were crazy. "Miss Galinda, everyone dies at sooner or later, mostly later. It's a fact of life. Now if someone were to murder you, or had inclinations to murder you, I would start worrying. Although I doubt someone wants to kill you."

"No, you don't get it, Miss Elphaba," Galinda said fiercely, standing up. "I. Am. Going. To. Die. Sooner, rather than later."

"What are you talking about?" Elphaba asked, her eyebrows meeting in the middle of her forehead, relating her confusion to Galinda.

Galinda swallowed with great difficulty. "I have this…this disease," she said, biting her lip and tracing a winding pattern on her leg. "It attacks my blood cells, so when I get cut, my blood won't clot. My parents have paid for a lot of doctors and sorcerers to try and heal me, but…but none of the treatments seem to be working. I have to be really careful of what I do, because just a small bruise can kill me, with the internal bleeding and all…" she trailed off.

"Oz, Galinda, I didn't know," Elphaba said. "I'm so sorry. I was so rude before, when I said that you didn't know what it's like to suffer…Oz, now I feel like an idiot."

"It's fine," Galinda said, smiling faintly. "I've had the disease for awhile now, I know I'm going to…to…to die pretty soon."

Tears started to leak out of the corners of her eyes again and Elphaba rushed forward, dropping her satchel to the floor and wrapping her arms around the petite blonde, being careful not to hurt her. "Oh, Galinda, I'm so sorry," she whispered, softly stroking her hair and rubbing her back. "And I've been such a complete…complete idiot that I've probably only made you feel worse."

They stayed like that for a long time, once enemies, now friends brought together by their peculiar diseases. Elphaba's being her aversion to water and Galinda's being the disease that attacked her blood.

Eventually, Galinda calmed down and stepped back from Elphaba, looking down at her feet in an embarrassed manner. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "For everything. I shouldn't have said all those mean things about you that I've been saying for the past two months. It's just…I had to take it out on someone, and you were the only person I could take it out on without ruining a relationship…Lurline, that sounded horrible. I'm sorry."

Elphaba gave her a lopsided grin. "It's okay," she whispered, tucking a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear. "That's all in the past, and we've only got the present and the future to live."

"Not much of a future," Galinda mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

The green girl put her finger under the blonde's chin, raising her head so they were looking directly into each other's eyes. "I promise that I will do everything I can to let you live a normal life," she said.

"But why?" Galinda whispered.

Elphaba shrugged. "I just have this feeling," she answered quietly. "That our friendship…our friendship that didn't exist about twenty minutes ago, was meant to be."

"I've never had a real friend before," Galinda whispered to herself.

The green girl gaped at her. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, those girls, Pfannee, ShenShen, and Milla, they're just in it for the popularity," Galinda said. "I've never had anyone truly care for me. That's why I haven't told them about my disease. Because they would abandon me in a heartbeat."

"Well, I won't abandon you," Elphaba said.

Galinda smiled faintly. "Nor I, you," she whispered back.

They came together in a fierce hug, two college girls, throwing themselves against the forces of society, of the world, and of fate. Only time would tell if they would survive.

This idea just randomly popped into my head and I had to get it down before it slipped away. I'm not sure if I'm going to expand this into more than one chapter since I'm trying to focus on finishing my other story, first, but review, and if I get good feedback, I'll see what I can do for you. Thank you for reading, and once again, reviews are appreciated and recommended!

ReallyObsessiveWriter