“Dance with me.”
The words fall out of her mouth on their own. She lets them, feels as they settle down in the space between the two. Soft, gentle, inviting.
The night sky above them is clear and cloudless, each star visible. Moonlight shines through the trees into the glass gazebo. The light it casts is ghostly, heavenly, a long shadow forming next to her.
All Glinda feels is peace.
The other stumbles, clearly out of her depth. Green fingers flick away loose strands of hair as suspicious eyes scan Glinda up and down.
“I’m not sure—,” the other starts, pauses. Looks around. “Are we in the gardens? I– We’re not allowed to, we should just go back to sleep—”
“Elphie,” Glinda says. Meets her eyes, offers a small smile. “Calm down, no one will find out.”
Elphie stops her fidgeting. Takes a deep breath, really looks around. Even in the middle of the night, the beauty of the Shiz gardens is evident, roses and poppies and a hundred other flowers covering the ground. Glinda sees the moment it hits her, bites back a chuckle.
“Woah,” escapes Elphaba. “It… really is quite beautiful. Thanks for showing me this.”
Warmth floods Glinda’s whole body, all the way to her fingertips, and for a moment she finds that she doesn’t quite know what to say.
“Mm,” she replies eventually, takes a tentative step closer. “Dance with me?”
Elphie snaps her head towards Glinda, chuckles nervously. “I’m not— Shouldn’t we get back? We have classes tomorrow and—”
“Elphie,” Glinda interrupts. “What is it?”
The other sighs. “I don’t—,” she starts, and Glinda has to strain to hear the rest. “I… can’t dance. Properly.”
Ah.
Glinda shouldn’t be surprised. After all, Elphie hadn’t had etiquette lessons from her father, at least not like Nessarose. And what happened at the Ozdust wasn’t exactly the most… dignified of dances.
And, to be honest, Glinda could leave it there. Could say okay, could walk back to their room and get a good night’s rest and maybe be able to pay some attention during class tomorrow.
But that would mean ignoring the desperate need coming from somewhere inside her, an ear-splitting chant of you have to dance with her.
So. Glinda shakes her head, takes Elphie’s hand in hers. “It doesn’t matter,” finds herself whispering, afraid to break the atmosphere they’ve built. “I’ll guide you.”
Elphie sighs, drops her gaze for a second before locking it with Glinda’s. The blonde smiles. “Okay.”
So they dance. Glinda hums a tune and helps Elphie count her steps and leads her around the gazebo. Twirls her around, basks in the warm chuckles that escape the other every time she gets it right.
Then, like all things, the dance ends.
The dance ends, but the atmosphere doesn’t, and Elphie’s looking at Glinda like she’s somehow the reason the stars shine so bright tonight.
Slowly, Glinda brings her hands up. Cups Elphie’s face with them. A small voice in the back of her head reminds her of Fiyero, but she ignores it. She had never felt like this with him.
“G—”
“Shh,” Glinda cuts her off, stares into those green eyes. Presses their heads together until their lips are brushing, barely meeting. “May I?”
Elphie swallows, and Glinda’s struck with the freezing fear of what if this was a wrong move.
But this is herElphie, and instead of acting out Glinda’s worst nightmares, she smiles. “Yes. You may.”
It’s all Glinda needs to hear.
Elphie tastes like morning tea and poppies and the library and freedom, and for a few seconds Glinda allows herself to imagine a future for them.
And then her stomach twists, her chest clenches, and her instincts tell her that something is very, very wrong.
“You’re crying,” Elphie whispers, soft fingers coming up to brush the tears away. A sudden desperation replaces the previous warmth in her body.
“I love you,” Glinda says, panicked. She sees Elphie’s brows furrowing, confused, but she can’t stop. Feels, deep down, that she needs Elphie to know this. “I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you—”
“Hey— Hey,” Elphie cuts in. Glinda can’t breathe. “What’s— Galinda?”
She hasn’t heard that name in years.
Time stops, and the next thing Glinda knows is that Elphie’s slipping away from her grasp.
And then Glinda is
falling,
falling,
falling.
She wakes with a gasp.
The moonlight shines on her tear-streaked face as she clutches the hat with all her power. Curls herself around it, hoping against hope that it’ll fill the aching hole in her chest.
And really, there’s only one thing she can say. A secret, whispered to the darkness. One she held in her heart, unspoken, until there was no one to speak it to.
“I love you.”