Warmth, Encouragement and Protection

Elphaba and Glinda, during their long trip to the Emerald City, took rest at a hotel.

"Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Arduenna?" the manager asked the weary travelers. They nodded and the manager gave them a room key.

"Thank Oz, I'm-" Glinda began to relax as Elphaba unlocked their hotel room door but the moment she pushed the wood slab aside, Glinda's relief turned into disgust. "Our room is filthy!" she cried, but she was not wrong. For once, her complaint was totally accurate and it was not an overreaction spoken by a rich little girl used to sleeping on silken sheets.

Their hotel room was somehow even smaller than their dorm room back at Shiz and it was far older and dirtier. The entire room was covered in ugly, chipping pain and the floors were squeaky and uneven. The carpet was frayed and stained, picked away to the wood underneath in some places. Their one bed was small, smelly and rough-looking. Sure, Shiz hadn't given them silken sheets either, but at least they were clean, smooth and somewhat soft. These sheets looked thick, rough and unclean. Aside from the shabby bed, there was a dresser and a nightstand. Both were chipped and covered in graffiti, but aside from that, that was it. The rest of the room was bare. It was a very sad, pathetic room. Despite Glinda's complaining, however, she was too tired to protest when Elphaba hopped into the bed and gestured for Glinda to join her.

In that single, lumpy bed they huddled together for warmth, encouragement and, as Glinda told herself, protection. Sometimes Glinda would start, as though from a frightful dream, and then she would nestle nearer to Elphaba who, at night, seemed never to sleep. Instead, she lay awake for the entire night, watching protectively over the blond sleeping in her arms, swathed in the rough and lumpy sheets. While Glinda would twist and turn occasionally, Elphaba never moved, not even to blink. She adored Glinda and, for some reason, felt this would be the last truly moment either of them would have with the other for quite a long time more. Elphaba couldn't explain how or why this thought had so consumed her mind, only that it had, and now she wanted to make every last moment last.

While Glinda rested, Elphaba spent the night drinking in every detail upon Glinda, every little curl, every little dimple, the smoothness of her skin, the light pinkness of her cheeks. She tried to remember everything so that her memory of Glinda would be as accurate as possible when this distant but inevitable separation would finally occur. This thought pained Elphaba deeply, but she was already resigned to it. Instead, she simply caressed those beautiful golden curls and brought Glinda's little frame closer to her own lanky one. Glinda wasn't the only one seeking warmth, encouragement and protection that night. The green girl was too.

The next day, the two young women boarded an ugly old carriage that would take them right to the Emerald City, provided that the dingy dump on wheels didn't fall apart completely on the long trip there. During the trip, Glinda stayed awake, but Elphaba nodded off on Glinda's shoulder. Glinda was unsure of what to think about this. She was both flattered and bothered by such a kind, trusting gesture. For the most part, however, she tried to push aside these deeper and more confusing feelings to just be present with Elphaba in that moment. Her feelings for the green girl were tumultuous and unclear and she wanted to sort them out as soon as she could, but now was not the time. Now was the time just to acknowledge that she had feelings for Elphaba, even if she didn't quite understand them. Now was the time to act upon those feelings instead of trying to analyze what all of them meant.

On that ride on the last leg of the journey to the Emerald City, while Elphaba rested against Glinda's shoulder, Glinda studied Elphaba deeply, trying to memorize every last detail of her green-skinned roommate. She wasn't just trying to recall Elphaba's physical appearance, however, but also her mental and emotional appearances as well. Their history ran through her mind, starting from the day they first met to the day they finally became friends after a very long and foolish period of unadulterated loathing. Glinda couldn't help but smile a little as she thought about those days and how, suddenly, something small but significant came over both of them and led them both down a path they had never thought they'd travel. But travel it they did, together, and now they were here, resting side by side while traveling to the Emerald City.

A sudden wave of love and devotion washed over Glinda. It was so strong that she felt a deep desire to protect Elphaba from all the wickedness of the world and she had never felt that way about anyone before. She also knew that such feelings were almost silly. Elphaba was more than self-sufficient and, if anything, she was better equipped to deal with the wickedness of the world than Glinda, but those protective feelings still welled up in Glinda's heart until she almost wished something would happen so that she could prove her devotion to the green girl. Of course, Glinda knew that this thought was even more foolish than the last, wishing for a disaster just so she could prove herself...

The little blond scoffed at herself and forced herself to be content with where they were at the moment, in a peaceful in-between of life. She caressed Elphaba's dark locks gently and moved her bony body into a comfier position as the carriage rolled on. She held Elphaba close and let herself imagine that Elphaba was sleeping on her not because she was the most available pillow at the moment, but because Elphaba needed warmth from a friend, encouragement for the risky task ahead and protection from the hatred of the world and was turning to Glinda for those things. Glinda liked to think that Elphaba had chosen her out of affection and trust and not just convenience. Of course, Glinda knew that even if Elphaba had made this conscious decision, in the end, it was still Glinda who was seeking the warmth, encouragement and protection. By caring for Elphaba, she was seeking the warmth of a friend, the encouragement that she had the strength and bravery to be a protector and not just a "protected" and the protection from the insecurities that society that forced upon her. She wanted to think she was in control for once and that she was the one doing the watching over this time around.

Years from then, the two would be parted just as Elphaba had predicted, yet neither of them would forget the shared bed or the time on the train. Despite how insignificant and inconsequential those two events were, they had somehow been seared into Elphaba and Glinda's mind. The one shining memory that had made the most lasting mark upon the two girls, however, was the feeling they had during those two little events. They would never forget how they'd clung to each other and revealed their vulnerabilities to one another for warmth, encouragement and protection.

AN: Just a short little musing piece about Glinda and Elphaba, inspired off of the line from the book.