Flying Solo, Flying Free

-"There you are!" a bubbly voice called across the sprawling lawns of Shiz University. Every head turned, except for the head of the person Glinda was calling to.

To be specific, she was calling out to Elphaba, the outcast green girl, who was sitting cross-legged on a navy blue blanket, her face lifted to the sun that sat high in the crystal blue sky.

Glinda, formerly Galinda, hurried across the grass as fast as her heeled boots would allow her, dragging Fiyero behind her. And Fiyero was dragging Kindrea behind him. The three of them collapsed on the blanket alongside of Elphaba.

"Elphaba, what are you doing?" Fiyero asked. Elphaba cracked one eye open.

"I doubt you would be interested, Fiyero." she sighed.

"Oh? Why is that?" he asked indignantly.

"Because it involves thinking." she smirked.

"What were you thinking about that was so important that you were willing to risk sunburn for?" Kindrea asked.

"You're forgetting that I don't get sunburn." Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right." Kindrea said sheepishly.

"Why are you all constantly forgetting that I'm not like you?" she asked.

"Because we know you. You’ve taught us that it’s better to look past a person’s appearance to truly get to know them. I mean, honestly, now that we've been around you every day for the past seven months, we don't really notice the color of your skin anymore." Glinda shrugged. Elphaba, Kindrea, and Fiyero all turned toward her, their mouths wide open in shock.

"What? I'm not allowed to say something smart once in a while? Just because you find my subjects of conversation irrelevant and unimportant, doesn't mean I'm not capable of saying something intelligent. I should be insulted." Glinda sniffed and stuck her nose in the air.

"Careful, Glinda. You're coming dangerously close to using all of your vocabulary for the year." Sarcasm flashed in Elphaba’s eyes before she resumed tilting her head upwards toward the sun.

"What were you thinking about?" Kindrea brought them back to the original subject.

"Oh, I don't even know how to word it without sounding...silly." Elphaba wrinkled her nose.

"Just give it your best shot." Fiyero couldn't keep his curiosity contained.

"Alright...I was watching the birds...just floating on the wind and flying away." she began.

"Okay..." Kindrea gestured for her to go on.

"Will you relax? I'm trying to think of how to word this. I was just thinking about how the birds are so free. They can take off and fly whenever they want, with nobody telling them where to fly, when to come back, or how far to go. They can go higher than we ever will, and see things and places we may never see. And the wind...it's so wild and untamable. It can be as soft as the spring breeze or as violent at a summer thunderstorm. There can be no wind at all and then a sudden gust." Elphaba explained, just as a burst of wind swept across the grounds. It played with everyone's hair and picked up various papers, causing students to give chase. "It can be playful, but it's so powerful." she finished.

"So what does that have to do with you? With us?" Fiyero asked.

"Because I want to be like them." Elphaba said seriously.

"You are, in a way. Nobody exactly tells you what to do." Glinda shrugged.

"But we have all sorts of rules. You can do this, but not that, be back by this time and get up at another, stay with your group, follow instructions, listen now, ask questions later." Elphaba sighed.

"And the wind...Elphaba, you're the fastest person I've ever seen, even in these horrible uniforms, you can outrun any of us." Kindrea spoke up.

"I know. I know I can run fast. But I want to go faster. I want to go higher. I want to know what it's like to fly. I want to be as wild and free and powerful as the wind." her eyes gleamed with excitement.

"How? As far as I know, we still have laws of gravity." Fiyero said.

"I'll defy it, someday. Someday, I will know what it's like to defy gravity." she nodded up at the sky.-

Glinda the Good leaned on her windowsill in her room, in her castle, and stared out at the rolling countryside. Forests spread for miles, rivers wound through fields, and right in the center of everything, the Emerald City rose up from the ground.

She didn't know what made her think of that day back at Shiz, when Elphie made the declaration that she would someday defy gravity, but it didn't matter anymore. Elphie was gone. She would never fly anymore.

Suddenly, a sharp burst of wind swept through the room and blew papers off of Glinda's large white desk, and a blackbird flew up out of the forest, dipping and soaring on the breeze. It rose and fell on its own free will and chirped happily.

"Goodness!" she exclaimed at the sheer force of the sudden gust and began to pick up the papers. "I want to know what it's like to fly...I want to be as wild and free and powerful as the wind." Elphie had said.

Glinda dropped every paper and stood up, rushing toward the window. She looked out at the bright blue sky, searching for...well, she didn't exactly know.

The sudden breeze. The chirping blackbird. To anyone, they would be just another part of nature, but to Glinda, they were more. They took her back to Shiz, where the green girl wasn't the Wicked Witch of the West...she was Glinda's best friend, right up to the very end of her life.

Glinda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Elphie was dead, but Glinda knew she was still here.

With a smile, Glinda reopened her eyes as the blackbird made another sweeping circle and passed by the window on another sharp gust of wind.

And for the rest of her life, she would swear that, if she listened hard enough, she could her her best friend singing, just as she had that night in the attic at the Wizard's palace when the two of them went their separate ways.

"And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free.
To those who ground me, take a message back from me!
Tell them how I am defying gravity!
I'm flying high, defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown.
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!