Note From The Author-- I'm not terribly happy with the transitions on this one, but I'm posting it as is hoping that the rough edges just add to what I'm trying to convey. We'll see.

Disclaimer-- I don't own the characters of Tin Man. If I did Cain would've spent the entire show wearing nothing but those fabulous pants of his :)

There were times when DG felt the walls pressing in on her. Most days she shouldered the burden of her birthright with as much poise and dignity as she could manage, but there was so much to deal with. She had been thrown into a life she had never imagined, and her world had been flipped upside down so quickly that she knew she would never be the same. She learned to cope, there was no choice but to do so; but even then there were days when it all became too much.

For the most part she tried not to think about her life on the Other Side. Thinking of the comforts she'd left behind made her feel too much. But those days when everything fell in on top of her she let herself reminisce. It was only then that she let the ache of what she'd lost sink in. She never felt as lost as she did in those moments.

She was 'her highness', the crown princess of the OZ and the savior of their world. More than anything she missed just being DG. So much had been taken away from her when she'd been thrust into the world of royalty. It was the simple things she missed the most, though when things went to pieces she was careful not to let it show. When the bottom fell out she retreated to the spot she'd claimed as her own.

Little did she know; she wasn't as good an actor as she thought. Cain knew her better than anyone else. He could gauge her emotions by the look in her eyes or the color in her face, and he saw it all. Most often he knew before she did that she was about to lose herself, and he always wished he knew what to do. All he could do was subtly maneuver to make sure she could get away.

Though he knew she needed room to breathe his worries overrode everything else. So one night when she slipped out of a raucous ball he decided it was time that he went after her. He knew where to find her, after it was his job. He'd been careful not to invade her solace before; but that night he would, and for the first time in a long time he would offer comfort and damn the risk of being turned away.

DG's sanctuary was known only to the royal family and their guards. Its entrance was hidden behind a massive painting of Finaqua in a little accessed hall near the north east tower of the palace, impossible to find if you didn't know what you were looking for. Cain knew what he was looking for, and when he reached the painting he pushed against the frame's scroll work, feeling it depress under his hand. When he was able he slipped in and let the work swing closed behind him.

The entire north wall of the room was comprised of windows, and the light of a full moon shone in to gently illuminate everything it touched. DG was curled up on a chaise, her head resting heavily against the cushions as she gazed out over the grounds. The jet black hair that her mother had convinced her to grow long waved down her back, starkly beautiful against the alabaster skin left bare by her gown. The thought crossed his mind before he could stop it: she was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on.

She knew it was him, she always did. "It hurts Wyatt," she whispered.

Cain felt as if a fist closed over his heart, squeezing until her thought it would burst. "What does darlin'?"

DG didn't turn to see him, didn't move an inch. She just continued to stare out the windows. "Everything; though remembering in the hardest part."

It didn't take long for him to close the distance between them. He ranged himself behind her, careful not to touch her, not sure if it would be welcome. "What are you remembering that hurts you so badly?" he asked.

"Home; the home I had before I was tossed into this world." She turned her head just far enough, and a single tear traced a path down her cheek.

That one tear was almost his undoing. "What do you miss from there? There may be a way…"

"To what? What Wyatt?" She turned to fully face him, showing him sapphire eyes shining with unshed tears. "Nothing is the same here; nothing from home would fit into this."

"You fit in, why not other things?" he asked.

She shook her hair from her face. "Do I really fit? I do love it here, honestly. I've learned how to be a princess and I've found my family, but there are times like tonight when I just can't handle everything that's expected of me. Then I think about where I grew up and my heart aches so horribly that I feel like I won't survive. How can I really belong here when there are times that I wish with everything I have to be somewhere else?"

"The Other Side will always be your home DG. I'd worry more about you if you didn't miss it. Tell me, what it is that you miss so much."

"It's the little things. I miss looking out my window and seeing nothing but fields or trees. I miss my motorcycle and the few friends that I had; I can't imagine what they think has happened to me. I miss the people who raised me, robots or not they loved me."

The pain in her voice was so raw he could practically feel it. "All of that makes sense darlin'. We both know there's more."

Her eyes locked with his and the concern she found there was too much. The tears she'd been holding back began to fall, and she was powerless to stop them. "I'm never just DG anymore. I'm a princess now, and everyone treats me with this stiff propriety that makes me want to scream. Just once I'd like someone to speak to me without curtsying or bowing. I want someone to touch me, really touch me as if I were an actual person and not a china doll in a ball gown and a tiara."

"People touch you all the time," he told her.

"Yeah they touch me; a hand on the small of my back or my arm to make sure I'm steered in the right direction. A kiss on the cheek from the Queen or Ahamo before bed or a squeeze of the hand from Az if I'm lucky. I've learned very quickly that we're not to show emotions; it comes with the royal package and I understand that." Still there was bitterness in her voice. "Even Glitch and Raw are careful with me now. They don't want to risk my reputation, whatever. They're so in the habit now that even in private they won't…"

"Darlin'…"

She shook her head. "Please let me finish. I can't live this way Cain, in a world where everything is cold and formal. I can't tell you the last time I felt really and truly close to anyone, because no one will let me."

"Why haven't you said anything?" he questioned gently.

"What good would it do?" There was a harsh edge of mocking to her next words. "I'm princess Dorothy Gale of the Outer Zone, and royalty does not show emotion; not even with the ones they love, and certainly not in public."

Cain wasn't sure what possessed him in that moment, but he found he didn't really care. He reached out to brush a tendril of waving hair from her face, his hand brushing gently across her cheek. "You've never been anyone other than DG to me, even after they handed you a tiara."

She had hoped it would be him, hoped against hope that he would be the one to finally give her what she was so desperately longing for. As calloused hands stroked gently across her cheek her eyes drifted closed and she leaned into his touch. "You make me feel that way, like I'm just DG again. Help me feel that way, even if it's only for tonight. Please Wyatt."

"You only have to tell me what you need sweetheart," he said simply, his thumb brushing away a tear that clung to her skin.

"Just hold me," she whispered. "Forget that we saved the world, forget that I'm a princess and you're the head of the royal guard. Just hold me. A man holding a woman, nothing more, nothing less; let me feel loved, even if it's just an illusion."

He gently lifted her chin until their eyes met; her heart turned over in her chest as she realized exactly what was reflected in the iced blue gaze that held her captive. "You know just as well as I do that it wouldn't be an illusion."

She had known it would be real for her, but only in her wildest dreams had she ever dared to imagine that it would mean the same for him. "I know," she whispered.

They didn't need the words. What swelled and swirled between them in that moment was more powerful than three words could ever be. Cain dropped to the chaise next to her before reaching up to tangle his hands in the tumbling mass of her hair. When his mouth met hers DG could have sworn that the click of everything falling into place was audible. She opened to him, welcoming him as his tongue swept into her mouth and she matched him move for move. As they pulled gently apart she felt breathless and boneless, and she found herself really and truly smiling for the first time that night.

Cain untangled his hands and brushed them over her arms. "I fully intend on holding on to you as long as I can darlin', but both of us won't fit on this delicate little thing."

"We can lay on the floor for all I care," she told him.

"Whatever you want." He tossed a frilly floral pillow carelessly to the floor before tugging on her hand. He settled himself with his head on the pillow, pulling her to rest against his chest as his arms came around her.

DG sighed contentedly as she all but melted into him. For a moment they lay there silently, but she couldn't help but wonder. "Cain?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it'll ever stop hurting, thinking about home?" she asked. Her voice was soft but the pain was still clear.

In true Wyatt Cain fashion, he laid it on the line. "No, I don't think it will. But now you know that you don't have to hurt with no one there to soothe the ache."

He was right, he always seemed to be when it came to her. Smiling, she pressed a kiss just above his heart before turning to settle back against him. "No, I won't be alone anymore. There's you."

"There's me."

It was Azkadellia who found them the next morning. She saw and heard a lot more than anyone gave her credit for, and she had known that her sister's Tin Man would go after DG eventually. When neither materialized for breakfast Az knew that last night's ball had been the catalyst.

It was quite a picture they made, twined together on the floor in their formal wear with the vivid red satin of DG's dress fanning out over them. For a few moments she couldn't help but simply watched them. They were stunning together, different yet beautifully similar in so many ways. Seeing them this way, holding each other and perfectly at peace, Az finally understood. They were the perfect compliment to each other in every incarnation, princess and Tin Man, man and woman.

She gave into the urge for one last glance before she slipped away. For the rest of the day she would think of what she had discovered that morning. All she could hope was that one day she would find her compliment as DG had. Maybe someday she would be lucky enough to stumble over that one person who would be able to look past the taint left by the sorceress and see her as Wyatt Cain saw her little sister, as a woman to love; nothing less, nothing more.