Author's Note: I haven't been able to get the basis of this story out of my head since I first saw Tin Man; I watched it again recently. You get a "happily ever after" feeling at the end of the miniseries, but it never made sense to me. If you haven't seen Tin Man and plan to,please stop reading here; the next sentences will spoil it.

So everyone who wants to see it has? Good. Ahamo and Lavender Eyes have been apart for around fifteen years (we know that DG is 20 in the miniseries and she looks about five in the scenes with her as a child), Azkadellia has been possessed by an evil witch for the greater part of her life, and DG has just found out that the people who raised her are actually robots who were programmed to love her. Add to this mess that Azkadellia has imprisoned her mother for a number of years and has tried to kill DG multiple times, albeit under the influence of the evil witch. A straight "happily ever after" ending doesn't really fit this mess, so I wanted to explore (at least in my mind) what would happen after the ending.

Also, since Lavender Eyes (the queen) was never given a name in the miniseries that I could find, I have named her "Lavender" in this one.

If anyone is reading "The Know-It-Alls," I'm suffering from some writer's block, but I'm trying to force through it. I'll be updating as soon as I can. Hopefully this story will help get me through it.

Also, reviews are greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Tin Man. I do, however, own this plot line and any possible future original characters.

The royal family had lived in domestic bliss for the first two weeks after DG and Azkadellia had defeated the evil witch. They ate meals together and spent time every evening together, playing games, reading by the fireplace, and listening to DG's stories of growing up in Kansas. After all, they had fifteen years to catch up on. Ahamo and Lavender rekindled their romance, and began getting to know their daughters for the first time since they were children.

"We're lucky," Lavender said to her husband as they lay down in bed one night.

"I know," he replied. "It's been so nice for us to be a family again. It's too bad the girls will be getting married and leaving home so soon."

"But it's all going to be fine. We're a family again."

"I know." He turned off the light and moved his hand up his wife's face to locate her lips. Finding them, he gently pulled her face to his and kissed her softly. "Good night. I love you."

"I love you too."

They fell into a restful sleep.

oOo

Early the next morning, they jerked out of their slumber to DG's shriek. Grabbing their bathrobes, they ran down the hall to their younger daughter's bedroom.

"What're you doing in here?" DG shouted at her sister, her voice filled with panic as she jumped out of bed as quickly as she could, immediately shivering in the cold air in her bedroom. "Why are you in my room?"

Azkadellia stared at her sister, stunned. "I…I had a nightmare," she said softly. "I didn't want to sleep alone."

"So you came in here?" DG's voice was incredulous. "Why would you come in here?"

"You used to come into my room when we were children. I thought you might be willing to return the favor." Doesn't she remember? Azkadellia wondered.

DG's fear turned to anger. "Why the hell would I let you sleep in my bed? You were still trying to kill me a couple of weeks ago."

"That wasn't me; that was the witch!" Azkadellia said indignantly, getting out of the bed. "I would never hurt you!"

"Right. Not like you've ever done it before!"

"That was the witch!" she yelled.

"In your body! So you tried to kill me, possessed or not!" DG's anger began taking over her initial fear.

"That's not fair!"

"You always blame the witch! Don't you think you had at least some control over what was happening?"

"No! And the witch would never have gotten control if you…"

"Enough!" Ahamo thundered from the doorway.

The girls fell silent; they had been so involved in their fight that they hadn't heard Ahamo and Lavender walk into the room. They looked as if they had just rolled out of bed. Both were slipper-less, and Ahamo's bathrobe was still open, showing his wrinkled pajamas. Lavender's hair was mussed, and she stood with her arms crossed watching the exchange between DG and Azkadellia.

"What's going on here?" Lavender inquired softly, hoping to calm the situation.

"I woke up and she," DG pointed to Azkadellia, "was in my bed!"

"I was only in her bed because I had a nightmare!" Azkadellia protested angrily. "I didn't want to sleep alone. She used to sleep with me all the time!"

"Yeah, before you tried to kill me!" DG shot back.

"DG," Lavender said, "you know that was the witch, not Az."

"Sure, always blame the witch," DG spat. "It's never Azkadellia's fault. It's always 'the witch'. Hasn't anyone stopped to consider that maybe the witch and Azkadellia are the same person?"

Azkadellia looked as if she'd been slapped. Her eyes filled with tears. "Forget everything," she said, her voice thick. "You'll never have to worry about me coming to you again!" She pushed past her parents and ran out of the room, forgetting her slippers and bathrobe by the door.

"DG," Lavender said, a hard edge to her voice, "you know very well that your sister and the witch aren't one and the same.

"Maybe not, but they were in the same body."

"But they are two separate entities."

DG shrugged and turned away. She walked over to the window, trying to calm her panic and temper.

Anger welled up in Lavender at her younger daughter's rudeness. "Dorothy Gale." DG looked over her shoulder at her full name. "DG, you will apologize to your sister. I understand that you fear your sister, but she came to you for comfort. You will not speak to her that way."

DG scowled. "Whatever," she muttered, turning back to the window.

Lavender's mouth dropped open; she was shocked and appalled at DG's behavior. She knew her youngest had a temper—and had always had a temper—but she hadn't expected her to act this way. The nuturebots that had raised her had been programmed specifically to teach her otherwise, despite growing up in Kansas instead of the O.Z.

Ahamo took one look at his wife's open mouth and his daughter's back before speaking. "Dorothy Gale, you will apologize to your mother this instant!" he told her harshly. "And then you will do as she asks!"

DG spun around on her heel. Who is he to tell me what to do? she thought angrily. "No, I won't," she said defiantly. She pointed at Lavender. "She is not my mother."

A pained look crossed Lavender's face before she turned around and stiffly left the room, leaving Ahamo and DG to finish it out.

"You will apologize," he repeated, his voice steely, "to your mother. She chose to protect you by sending you with the robots instead of raising you herself, like she wanted to do. Only a true mother does that." DG didn't respond. "Am I understood?"

DG found her voice again. "And where were you in all of this?" She forced a mirthless laugh. "Oh, that's right; I remember. You'd already left."

Ahamo felt his mouth twitch as he gritted his teeth. He took a deep breath. "Apologize now," he hissed at her, barely containing his anger.

"Why? Because you think you're my father? News flash, Ahamo, you're not my father. I had a father. He may have been mechanical, but he was a real father. You're not."

Ahamo's anger turned to hurt in a moment, and he turned and stalked out of her room.