Wicked (novel)/Tear Jerker

We dare anyone not to tear up at the death of the Witch in Gregory Maguire's Wicked. You've known it's coming from the very first page, but when it finally does, the sheer inevitability of it is tragic all on its own.
- Made worse by the fact that she couldn't possibly have suffered a more painful way to go, than being set on fire and essentially splashed with a bucket of acid.
Doctor Dillamond is dead. All of his students are crying and holding each other for support. Except Elphaba. She stands away from the crowd, alone, and cold. Because she can't open up, because then she'll start crying. And her tears will burn her skin. She can't even cry.
- Much later on, Elphaba sees her father and talks to him, for what she feels(and is accurate in such) will be the last time. He cries. She wipes his tears. It burns her skin, but she does it anyway.
- Combined with a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, Elphaba cries during one of Fiyero's visits, and flails around in his arms when he tries to comfort her because she doesn't even know how to express her feelings.
After Nessa dies, the last we hear of Glinda in that book is that they never saw each other again.