This coffin that lays before me is filled with my long gone beauty. Covered with roses, my last gift.

      Her smile, her laugh, her dance, her sweet kisses.

      Long gone, before she even was. She faded away slowly from the world, most are snapped out of it.

     Her past that soon will be our future, is a box.

     Mimi mourns, Roger mourns, Mark mourns, Benny mourns, Maureen mourns.

     But no one feels the way I did about him- her, my queen.

     Her spirit was happy and joyful, she brought us together. But as screaming fills the no longer peaceful air, I know that as her soul, the tranquility is gone.

     I glance one final time at her casket, wishing somehow she was back and in my arms.

    Goodbye Angel.

Marius awoke slowly, a recognizable doctor over him. He was bandaged all over, blood seeping through. 
     "Monsieur, you were wounded fighting at the barricade. A gentlemen brought you in before you lost too much blood. You are very lucky, Monsieur," The man grinned at him, before exiting the room. Candlelight poorly lit Marius' face, flickering all about. His shirt was gone, revealing a bruised stomach and a bit of blood. He breathed heavily, trying to recall what happened. He had almost been killed at the barricade but who was the man who saved him? He saw all his friends die and yet a savior was there for him. At the moment, the shock was more immense than the pain. 
     He placed in his hands in his pockets for warmth when he heard a crinkle and felt a wrinkle. It was a wet paper but it was still intact. Marius didn't remember taking a paper from anyone, not Enjorlas or any of the other students. He pulled out to see it covered in blood and folded. He unfolded it as fast as he could, the curiosity overwhelming him. It was....Èponine's writing. How did she manage to slip it in his pocket? Was it when she was...Dying? The memory frightened him and he couldn't bear to have her dying, yet, still happy face in mind. He read the note addressed to him.
     Marius, you'll never know how much I wanted to tell you but if by chance I die, let these words be my last to you. I love you Marius, and you were my angel.
     She kissed him, not for a second but she did. He thought it was a friendly goodbye kiss but not anymore. Both Èponine's and Marius' blood was splattered on the note but he could not stop reading it. Then, he made a choice,
     Pulling himself up carefully, Marius stood up from the cot below him. He could barely walk but he staggered to where his bloody shirt was and slipped it on, not bothering to button it. The boy walked out of the room and past the doctor who was busy treating an emergency patient. The journey back to the barricade was long and difficult, not only physically but emotionally. But soon he was back to the fallen barricade and his fallen friends. Some were stripped of parts of their clothing, others had obviously been searched. He saw all of them. Enjorlas was at the top of the barricade, hanging while the red flag draped over his body. He recognized almost all of them, but then he saw the one he was looking for. Èponine's cold, limp body was still there. Her face pale but her lips still the tiniest bit curled into a smile. Marius fell to his knees beside her, picking her up gently as if she were still alive.
     "Oh, 'Ponine..." He whispered, before starting to sob, his tears falling down on her cheeks. This girl had loved him and he was blind. He didn't even know Cosette very well, not as much as he knew Èponine. She had grown up with him, she was his best friend, and she loved him, in more way than one. His sorrow was not just for her though, seeing the corpses of his beloved friends were like knives in his chest. The young man cried into the chest of his best friend till he could hold her no more. His strength was failing him. He set her down and stared at her body for a long moment. Before he knew it, he bent down and gave her the kiss she deserved. That was the kiss she should've received before she died. But it wasn't the same, kissing her body. He knew he wasn't actually kissing her. She was gone, this wasn't her. Just a body that once held her sad soul. 
     Something came over him and he crawled over to a body. It looked like Courfeyrac, but the face was so distorted with blood, he couldn't be sure. The man still had his gun and Marius shakily took it. It had one more bullet left and was slippery. Marius almost dropped it with his weak hands. He moved his way back to Èponine and knelt beside her again. Taking one of her hands, he kissed it weakly and held onto it as if for dear life. 
     "I love you Èponine." The gun was now pointed over the barricade and for a second, the peacefulness of the area was broken with a loud, single gunshot. He knew that there was still some French soldiers on the other side, taking stock of their losses as well. There was four gunshots from the other side and the final one had struck him. Marius fell back from the force and nearly landed on the girl. The area around his head became a puddle of blood as Marius was dead. He felt himself sink in a dark coldness but then was surrounded by warmth as he arrived in paradise, seeing Èponine and his friends at the ABC Cafe behind her. He smiled and ran into the warm embrace he was looking for. And with a kiss of passion, Marius finally knew what it was like to be truly in love.

We ran as fast as we could from the guards chasing as us. My green fingertips were digging into the thick book under my arm, gripping it for dear life. Glinda wasn't far behind me, even though her loud heels slowed her. We finally had reached the top of the tallest tower in Oz, but we weren't safe yet. I desperately searched for another way out. Glinda had been yelling at me the whole time but I ignored it till now.
     "Elphaba, stop!" She cried. I stopped and looked around and about as she grabbed my shoulder. "Where are you going, Elphie!?"
     "There are no more stairs this must be the attic," I noted.
     "Elphaba, listen to me the guards are-" 
     "We have to barricade the door," I ran away from her looking for some object to help me.
     "What?" She squealed. 
     "We'll use this!" I exclaimed, spotting an old broomstick against the wall. I snatched it and wedged it just right to keep the door from opening. Glinda was still whining at me by the time I ran back to her.
     "Why couldn't you stay calm for once instead of flying off the handle?" She yelled at me. "I hope you're happy. I hope you're happy now. I hope you're happy how you hurt your cause forever. I hope you think you're clever," She snapped. Why was she turning against me? Didn't she see what had happened? The Wizard was the one in the wrong, not me! And I didn't want him to help me with my cause, my cause was against him! Couldn't even Glinda realize that?! Well she wasn't gonna treat me like that without some backfire!
     "I hope you're happy. I hope you're happy too," I retaliated. "I hope you're proud how you would grovel in submission to feed your own ambition." I could tell by the look on her face that it didn't feel so good to be yelled at.
     "So though I can't imagine how, I hope you're happy right now," We said in agreement. Before we could argue any more, a loud, familiar voice boomed through the Emerald City. It was Madame Morrible...
     "Citizens of Oz, there is an enemy, who must be found and captured! Believe nothing she says, she is evil; responsible for the mutilation of these poor innocent monkeys." Her voice got softer and broke a bit when she spoke of the monkeys I had harmed. Glinda and I both looked at each in great sadness. She was going to turn all of Oz against me at the rate she was going. 
     "Oh no..." Glinda mumbled. She was in shock that Madame Morrible would go against one of her own students.
     "Her green skin is but an outward manifestation of her twisted nature. This....distortion! This...repulsion! This-" She stopped, as both of us froze. "Wicked Witch!" She roared. By now, Glinda was holding me for protection. I didn't notice till then as the message distracted me.
      "Don't be afraid," Glinda said after a few moments. Despite her words, I could feel her trembling a bit.
     "I'm not," I admitted. "It's the Wizard who should be afraid, of me." Glinda was looking at me but I decided not to meet her gaze.
     "Elphaba, listen to me. Just say you're sorry, before it's too late." She sighed. Sorry? I knew I had nothing to be sorry about. "You can still be with the Wizard, what you've worked and waited for. You can have all you've ever wanted," She reassured, trying her best to convince me. 
     "I know," I nodded, but I had come to a different conclusion. "But I don't want it, no, I can't want it, anymore..." I stepped away from Glinda and looked out one of the tower's windows. It was night and the sky looked beautiful. The stars were shining and the moon was bright. I looked down to see mobs searching homes for the "Terrible Green Disturbance of Oz" but they were having no luck. "Something has changed within me. Something is not the same... I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep. It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes...." I did as I said and something hit me. If I could make monkeys fly, why couldn't I do the same to myself? I smiled at thought. "And leap! It's time to try defying gravity. I think I'll try defying gravity and you can't bring me down!" I turned to Glinda and grinned. Glinda was looking at me like I was crazy.
     "Can't I make you understand? You're having delusions of grandeur." So she did think I was crazy. Oh well. This was my chance to fly.
     "I'm through accepting limits, 'cause someone says they're so. Some things I cannot change but till I try I'll never know. Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost!" Father's...Nessa's... Fiyero's. But it never mattered to me anyways. "Well if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost! I'd sooner buy defying gravity. Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity and you can't bring me down!" All of a sudden, there was booming at the door. The guards had found our hideaway. I pulled the Grimmerie out of my bag set it down and found the same page as before, kneeling in front of the magical book. 
     "Open this door! In the name of his Supreme Ozness!" They yelled. The banging wouldn't cease. This was my chance. I started chanting and doing the correct hand gestures. Glinda was in the middle of this all, and she decided to add to the noise.
     "What are you- Stop that! That's what started all of this that horrible levitation spell!" She shouted. I didn't listen until she gave up and screamed, "STOP!!" Everything became silent. I couldn't believe the spell wasn't working. "Well?" She asked. "Where are your wings? Maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are..." For once, I felt discouraged. Until Glinda mumbled, "Sweet Oz..." She was looking past me and I turned to see the dirty old broom floating above the floor.
     "I told you Glinda, didn't I tell ya'?" I smiled widely rushing over and grabbing the flying broom. The banging started again, I knew we had to escape now. 
     "Bash it in! Fetch the battering ramikin," Roared one of the angry guards.
     "Quick! Get on!" I urged. I extended the broom towards the confused Glinda.
     "What?" Her eyes widened.
     "Come with me. Think of what we could do...Together..." I smiled. "Unlimited.... Together we're unlimited. Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been, Glinda. Dreams the way we planned 'em." A grin slowly grew upon her mouth as she traced her delicate fingers over the rough edges of the wood.
     "If we work in tandem." Then she firmly grabbed it, showing me she wanted to fly away with me.
     "There's no fight we cannot win! Just you and I defying gravity!" Her hand found me and wrapped her hand around mine. "With you and I defying gravity," But then she started to back away, almost in fright at the power. 
     "They'll never bring us down," I finished. Why had she walked away? Didn't she want to join me? "Well? Are you coming?" I asked, almost coldly at the idea that she would leave me.
     "Oh Elphie, you're trembling," she went to find something to warm me while I kneeled down and closed the Grimmerie, placing it in my bag. "Here, wrap this around you," She offered, placing a black cloak on my shoulders and buttoning it at my chest. I stood up, taking a good long gaze out my window, at my fate. The angry Ozians below didn't matter to me anymore. Maybe I'd be a fiend but I had good intentions and that's all that mattered to me. They could make me out to be whatever they wanted but I no longer cared. "I hope you're happy, now that you're choosing this," Glinda repeated, but this time in a softer, gentler, and even a slight saddened tone.
     "You too. I hope it brings you bliss." She may have had a hunger for popularity and even if it mattered more than sticking with me, she was my best friend. And I would soon be leaving her to go reduce the endangered animals on Oz. But both of us understood our choices and would stick to them.
      "I really hope you get it, and you don't live to regret it. I hope you're happy in the end, I hope you're happy, my friend," By now we were holding hands, but not for long. The guards had success in their attempts to break down the door. I ran to a window that had the most distance from the door. Glinda didn't realize to run or hide but looked from the door to me open-mouthed.
     "There she is!" One of the guards yelled, seeing Glinda. They darted to her while I stood far away helplessly. "Don't let her get away!" Another one screamed. They surrounded her and grabbed her roughly by the arms. 
     "Let go of me!" Glinda's high-pitched voice squealed at them handling her in such a way. I may have not been able to fight back physically for her at that moment, but I knew I could distract them from her.
    "It's not her!" They heard my voice and let her go at once. "She has nothing to do with it. I'm the one you want!" I sat down on my already levitating broom as I felt a power in me welling up. The guards had me trapped, their daggers pointed straight at me. "It's me! It's me! It's me!" At this point I felt my magical powers nearly explode and the guards fell back. My uncontrollable powers had always been a nuisance but not this time. Then, my powers also lifted me off the ground and out the window, flying high above Oz. I felt the gusts of wind in my hair and the moon light pouring on me. Glinda's blonde hair caught my eye as she stared out the window shocked. 
     "So if you care to find me, look to western sky!" All the mobs looked up in amazement and anger, so surprised that their "enemy" had so much power. I knew I had everyone in the Emerald City's attention, maybe even the students at Shiz from how high I was flying. "As someone told me lately, everyone deserves the chance to fly!" I bet the Wizard was upset that I could turn his own words against him. "And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free! To those who'd ground me," I pointed accusingly at all the citizens who were still trying to believe what they were seeing. "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!" I smiled at the stars who I seemed to be sailing among. "And nobody, in all of Oz, no Wizard that there is or was, is ever gonna bring, me down!" I stated loud and clearly.
    "I hope you're happy," Glinda called in regret.
     "Look at her! She's wicked! Get her!" The crowds screamed. I looked down at them in disbelief. 
     "Bring me down!" I challenged. Let me see them try...
     "No one mourns the wicked! So we have to bring her...."
     "Ahh," I sung in happiness to myself.
     "Down!" They screamed in outrage. I laughed at their futile attempts and flew away on my broom proudly.

Let all of Oz see me fly across the western sky...

         And defy gravity.