Anchored
By: SilverLunarStar
Disclaimer: Do you see a Tin Man 2 out there? Of course you don't because if I owned Tin Man it would be OUT THERE ALREADY!
Author's Note: Sequel to "Unexpected," "Taken," "What to Do," and "Not the Same Man." Don't ask me why, it wasn't planned, I swear; they just became follow-ups all on their own. However, as with the others, this can also stand alone. Big thanks to Lifehouse's "First Time" and "The Hardest Day," a song sung by Alejandro Sanz and The Corrs for some inspiration.
Wyatt Cain was sitting on his bed, residing in the room he had been given while visiting the Central City Palace for the Anniversary Ball. It had been one annual since Princess Dorothy Glinda Gale had conquered over the Witch who had possessed the Heiress of the Outer Zone. An annual since she had arrived, liberating all of the O.Z. from her evil clutches. An annual since she prevented permanent darkness from taking over the O.Z. An annual since she had traveled with a Headcase and stumbled upon his own personal hell. An annual since she had freed him. An annual since he had traveled with a girl with more backbone than most men he knew, stumbling into trouble the whole way, and facing it head-on. An annual since he discovered his son was still alive. An annual since he found the grave of his wife, a grave that had barely been a few cycles old.
Staring at his golden band, he contemplated everything that had gone on since that crazy week of traveling with the advisor of the O.Z. who had had half of his brain removed, a Viewer who thought himself a coward, but was really a brave and loyal friend, and a Princess with no memories of her life before she was six. That in itself was not a strange occurrence, most children rarely had memories that young, but magic played a huge role and he knew she still didn't remember her birth parents or her childhood in the O.Z. He knew because there were nighttime phone conversations whenever neither of them could sleep.
Cain lived in a small apartment in Central City, about twenty minutes away from the Palace. He would have stayed in the Palace itself, in fact, DG had insisted on it, but he saw the way the Queen and her Consort looked at him when he was with DG. He spent two cycles there until he could take it no more. He promised DG he'd come whenever she wanted, stay a few days, but he couldn't live here. Besides the fact that he knew he wouldn't adapt to the Palace life, much like he knew she'd have difficulty adjusting as well, he had to give her space. And himself. He knew why the Queen and Consort looked at the two friends with suspicious eyes. His and DG's relationship wasn't exactly categorized under 'normal,' even for the O.Z. There were many people of the opposite sex who were good friends, even best friends, but the age-gap was hard to overlook. It usually wouldn't matter, in general. However, no one could overlook the fact that he was an almost-forty-annual-old reinstated Tin Man, was widowed, and had a son while DG was a young, vibrant woman who just so happened to be the youngest Princess of the O.Z.
When he was around DG, he usually forgot about all these things, forgot about the rules and barriers. She was just that kind of person who made one overlook them; she saw everyone as equal and treated them as such. More than that, however, was how she made him feel too many emotions that he did not want to identify at the beginning.
Now, though, much time had gone by. A cycle had passed since he had seen her, but they were always in touch. If he wasn't spending a couple of days in the Palace with her, taking a walk in the garden, reading in the library together, even teaching her how to shoot a gun once, he was helping the reinstated Tin Men, his son, Jeb, being one of them. It had been an annual since he had first come in contact with the headstrong girl, an annual since she had saved him, an annual since she had turned his world upside down, and had him wrapped around her little finger. He would do anything for her, protect her from anyone. He had categorized himself as one of those he needed to protect her from, but soon his want and need for her waned that thought.
These thoughts had scared him at first. When he found out his family might still be alive, first by Zero's dubious words and then by Ralf's, a part of him was afraid of finding them alive. Besides his rising feelings for a slip of a girl, finding his family would mean that he had failed them for longer than he had thought; while he was trapped in the iron suit, during his time following a resurrected Princess' lost memories.
Finding his wife's grave had been heart-wrenching, but a sense of peace knowing what happened when Jeb told him settled over him. Breathing, eating, living suddenly became a bit easier. Feeling was a completely different matter. He didn't allow himself to feel. Much. He felt for his son, he felt for the people who had lost loved ones in the O.Z.'s darkest hours, and he felt for DG.
There was a lot of pain in the past ten annuals.
That was all in the past, however. Now, only an annual after the Witch's defeat, people were starting to slowly come back to life, slowly letting go of that fear and pain.
Giving his ring once last look, he twisted the last anchor of his past life off, setting it on his nightstand. He knew his son wouldn't want it so, after the Ball, he'd ride to the cabin near the white elm, and bury it with his past love. He knew he was taking a gamble, maybe things wouldn't go according to plan, but he was willing to take that risk.
Stepping out of the room, he encountered a red-faced DG who was also exiting her room. Why he always got the room right across from hers, he never pondered over, but he knew it didn't make her birth parents happy when she always insisted on this arrangement. Turning to his left, he saw the back of his son. He raised a brow as he looked at the Princess once again.
DG shrugged and shook her head.
Letting it go for now, for he knew he'd get it out of either of them eventually, he took her arm in his as he escorted her to the Ball.
Together they walked towards the beginning of their future, free of the burdens of their past.
I was tempted to add dialogue near the end, but I didn't want to break the contemplative silence.
Thoughts?
Thanks for reading!
~*Eli