𝑁𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒.

She stared at him for a moment before she looked down at her dress, a hand moving to smooth over it. Some form of nervous habit when she didn’t know what else to do. Glinda didn’t know why she felt the need to make things right here. To make things better for Boq. —

She couldn’t imagine the pain he felt being turned into what he had been. . . but his anger was leaving her at a loss. The only way she knew to combat hatred was with love. “Just. . . I don’t want pushed away.”

She put a hand over her chest and laughed at that. Not because it was funny, but because it was ridiculous. “I am the leader of all of Oz, Boq. . . Please, let’s not be hasty. We work together to protect munchkinland, so at the very least. . . You’ll see me for 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.” —

“As a friend? Of course. Or have you forgotten how we all became friends at Shiz? How we all would spend time together?” She huffed and waved her wand around in an annoyed fashion, trying to pop more of the bubbles in front of her. “You don’t get to decide if someone —

“It is not an excuse!” she said fiercely as she stomped her foot. Suddenly there were bubbles around them so thick that one couldn’t see through them. “Oh!” she gasped out, the reaction startling her greatly. “You just said yourself you were too kind to hurt her! —

She gasped and quickly stood, taking quite a few steps back away from him. Suddenly, she felt like she was in danger. “I was eighteen, Boq! I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, and I didn’t 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 what was happening with Fiyero! I had just met him! I didn’t owe an —

Glinda rose her brows up at that terrible accusation, a hand going over her chest. “Pawned you off? What a horrendible thing to say! I had no idea she had done that to you, and Boq, I am 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 — but I did not pawn you off!”

“Elphaba is dead,” she said rather firmly, her own voice slightly raised, “So is Nessarose.” “I understand why you’re angry with Elphaba, but why Nessa? I thought you loved her.”

“Why do you say that as if it were wrong of me to hope and dream? I believed in my friends, and the man I loved. I didn’t have a reason to not believe them.” She inhaled slowly, then went to sit on a nearby log. “Perhaps I was naive, I know that now. But it’s never wrong —

Oh, this was too much for her to handle. If this was what he wanted, then how could she protest? How could she urge him to let go of the hatred? He has been changed. It was obvious. “I see,” she said quietly, then nodded small. She picked up her wand she had previously —

Boq’s rage emanated out, and made her stomach churn. She felt it — and it was horrendible. Quite truthfully, it made her tremble. Could he see how she mourned for him in her eyes? “You’re believing lies,” she said, “Something devastrated has happened to you, but you —