Title:

The Forgotten

Disclaimer:

Not mine…

General Info:

Rated K+

General/Family

Author's Note:

I wrote this awhile ago for an online competition and decided to post it here now that the competition is over. (This is one of the reasons my Better or Worse story was on hiatus) PLEASE read and review. I love to hear your opinions. As always, thank you for taking time to read my story.

Cain was right. Times got difficult and here she was… running! But with all due respect to Cain's awesome power of perception, it wasn't exactly in the manner he meant. DG knew he meant gunfire, destruction or a life and death situation, one in which she couldn't fight her way out of with a stick and a boost of adrenaline. This was different. Her life was not at stake. Instead, the feelings of someone close to her were on the chopping block.

So, DG bolted. Running out of the dark tower where the final battle took place, onto the dirt trail they followed to get there. Moving with all due haste she ignored the stitch in her side and the hitch in her breath. The farther she got before they noticed she was gone the better.

Finally her side throbbed so severely DG had no choice but to stop her flight. Leaning heavily against the trunk of the tree, she bent forward with her arm wrapped firmly around her waist to try to ease the pain. Her breathing was erratic and sweat poured off her brow.

Now her mind was running amuck.

It wasn't fair.

DG's scattered memories of the time before she was sent to Kansas were not even adequate for a made for TV movie. And those fleeting recollections were mainly of Tutor droning on and on about letting the light flow through her, not to mention the cave from hell. While it made for lovely drama it had little background characterization.

There were a few snapshots of happier times. Like two sisters enjoying one another's company. Sisters holding on to each other for dear life to defeat an enormous bear, ditching their parents to gather apples from the surrounding woods, and skimming stones over the calm surface of the lake were a few of the others. And then there was the feel of her mother, the biological one, embracing her tightly in a desperate attempt to sooth her frightened child. Still not enough to give a sufficient look into the childhood of a princess.

But, it was not the lack of memories that unnerved DG, forcing her into fleeing the safety of the tower. No, she could live with those scant glimpses since many people remember little before the age of eight. In other words, as a whole she was not out of the norm.

Instead, what made her absolutely crazy and forced her to focus her energy on breaking the magical barriers her mother erected, was the absence of someone from said memories. And this someone was of great importance.

Not one of those flashes and glimmers into her past held the picture of her father. Ahamo was a nonexistent participant in her forgotten childhood. And that was unacceptable.

How could she look her father in the eye and pretend she remembered him teaching her to mold clay, jump off a swing or to swim in the lake? Hell, she didn't even know if most of that was true. How could she blatantly lie to his face? Then again, how could she not? DG never wanted to see the downward curve of his mouth if he learned he was the only one she couldn't remember.

DG was so focused on her thoughts the person rapidly approaching went unnoticed. That is, until a hand came down softly on her shoulder causing the youngest princess to practically jump out of her skin.

Sighing loudly, her shoulders slumped forward and she resigned herself to having Cain drag her back to her awaiting family. But when she turned around it wasn't the stoic expression of the Tin Man that greeted her. To her surprise it was the saddened face of her biological father.

"DG," he asked quietly, "why'd you run away from us?"

"I…" she faltered. It took a great deal of pressure to dislodge the lump in her throat.

"I… don't want to hurt you." Casting her eyes downward she wanted to avoid the extremely awkward feeling of being under his gaze.

"What do you mean?"

Releasing a heavy breath through her nose she looked back up to his eyes. Maybe it would be like a Band-Aid, better if you rip it off fast.

"I don't remember you," and the tears began a slow path down her reddened cheeks. "And I wanted to take some time to break the memory lock before I faced you again." DG let out a painful laugh. "Apparently that didn't work so well."

"DG," Ahamo prodded, grasping her gently by the arms. "I know, darling."

As she watched his mouth quirk up into a smile her brow scrunched in confusion. How could he possibly be happy about this?

"You had no idea who I was in the Realm after I hauled you away. Why would I think that would've change in the last few hours?"

DG shook her head. She completely forgot the encounter.

"I'm not going to tell you it doesn't sadden me, but I have every faith my three favorite women will be able to tear down those memory barriers."

Pulling her tight, holding her while she sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder, he kissed her forehead and ran his fingers soothingly over her hair.

In that moment DG recognized something. A scent. His scent. While it wasn't much, it was a starting point.

She will remember him, she will get her father back, she will get her family back.

AN: Don't forget to review... I'll be so disappointed.