The next morning came a bit too early for Scarecrow. He was a bit on edge, why you may ask? For the reason of what happened last night. Last night he had lost almost, from his calculations, about five hours of his time in that dark place. He did not know what that dark place was or how his mind got there, but it frightened him to no end.

So to try to keep his mind off that place, Scarecrow worked and worked on papers that needed his approvals and other things the land of Oz wanted him to oversee. Surprisingly, Scarecrow had gotten done what he had pushed back for months. He even managed to work ahead on some things and his calendar was now open for the next few weeks.

Still trying to keep his mind busy, Scarecrow was only aware of the sound of his writing utensil scribbling away not the soft tap of someone walking up behind him. Before he knew it someone had grabbed his shoulder and he let out a frightened yelp. Papers went flying everywhere and Scarecrow knew for a fact that he had tossed his pencil to the ceiling where it had yet to come down.

Calm his nerves, Scarecrow turned around to see a shocked face of the girl standing behind him; her hand still on his shoulder. "Forgive me, I… was so caught up in my work." Scarecrow said as he bent down to pick up his papers. Joining in on this, the girl handed a handful of the papers to the straw man who smiled thankfully. "I don't know what's come over me. I am never usually this jumpy, except around fire."

Nodding her head in understanding, the girl and Scarecrow soon had the papers all picked up and back on the table. "Thank you, and again, sorry for startling you." The girl only shrugged as she walked towards the washroom and shut the door behind her. Seeing that he was now alone, the scarecrow sat down in his chair and rubbed his face.

'I need to relax.' He thought to himself. 'at this rate I will worry myself into a state of which I will not be able to come out of.' Breathing in a deep sigh, Scarecrow was brought back to reality when the girl came out of the bathroom and again she was in clothing of gray. "I am going to have to talk to the maid who is giving you these clothes. Who ever thought of someone here giving out gray clothes."

Walking out of the room, Scarecrow explained that he had to go to a meeting in the library but she was happy to stay with him as long as she stayed out-of-the-way. The meeting would be filled with everyone one of Oz's rulers and they tended to get a bit snappy during these meetings. The girl nodded, and smiled when Scarecrow mentioned that she could pass her time by reading.

Once they reached the library, Scarecrow saw all the rulers of Oz sitting at a table waiting for him. "We were wondering when you would join us." The munchkin mayor said as the pair walked into the room. "Who is that with you?" The captain of the Winkies asked as he pointed to the girl. "This is a friend of mine. She has been staying with me for a while and is new to the Emerald City, I have just been showing her around."

Pointing over to one of the book cases, Scarecrow told the girl that the books over there were his favorites as they were adventure and fantasy books. Smiling back at the scarecrow, the girl quietly walked over to the case, grabbed a book, and sat down at the table next to it.

Once he was sure she was alright, Scarecrow joined the other Ozians at the table and the meeting commenced. "Let's start this meeting off with the most important thing so far. Rebuilding what the Jester destroyed." General Candy Apple said and everyone agreed. "So far most of the Emerald City has been rebuilt," Scarecrow said. "but what of the lands outside it?"

"The munchkin lands are still amuck. Houses torn down, farm lands burned, only a few families have safe shelters." The mayor said and everyone nodded. "The Winkie castle is half demolished. We have been rebuilding it but we need some assistance." The Winkie captain replied. Soon everyone was complaining about their rundown homes and people, so much in fact that nothing was getting done.

Scarecrow tried to speak up but at that moment General Candy Apple and the Winkie Captain were butting heads as to which land in Oz should be aided first. "Why the Winkie castle should be rebuilt first! It is Oz's highest army defense." The Winkie yelled. "Bah! What good is a castle only for it to keep you Winkies in! Cowards I say!" Candy Apple barked.

"Now, there is no need for this." Scarecrow tried to speak. "We can all pitch in on different day to help everyone but we need order." Sad to say, no one was listening to the man of straw and it made him feel down trotted. Thinking this may go on for a while, Scarecrow and the others let out shocked and surprised shouts as a loud crackle of lightning came from the ceiling.

Looking above them, the group saw a dark storm cloud form above them and with it a bolt of lightning that struck the table. Everyone ran in fear of this, none more so than Scarecrow who was afraid of being struck and set on fire. Bustling every which way , the group hid behind book cases, tables, and even in the cases themselves. Waiting for the cloud to strike again, everyone was thinking some dark magic was involved as it stayed their almost waiting.

From his spot under a table, Scarecrow saw that the girl he had brought with him was calmly sitting at her table reading away at a book. Fearing she may be struck, Scarecrow climbed out from his hiding spot and rushed over to her. "Are you mad man?" Candy Apple shouted. "You could be hit!" But Scarecrow ignored him as he finally reached the table and pulled the girl under it with him.

"You need to stay under here, it's not safe out in the open." Scarecrow said but the girl only looked at him in a puzzling way. Pointing to the cloud, the scarecrow showed the danger that the girl did not see. "That cloud came out of nowhere. It could strike you and kill you." Scarecrow said and the girl looked at the cloud then him. Staring into his eyes for a bit, the girl got out from under the table and began to walk over to the cloud.

"No, don't!" Scarecrow hollered but the girl ignored him as she continued to walk on. "Is she wanting to get killed?" the munchkin asked. "She sure is nutty." Candy Apple said as the girl finally reached the table. Taking a seat upon it, she sat there swinging her legs while beckoning the other to come. "Does she really want us to come over? Who is this friend of yours exactly Scarecrow?" the Winkie asked and Scarecrow just shrugged. "I am only beginning to find out myself."

Daring himself to go, Scarecrow figured he had nothing else to lose as he got up and began to walk over to the girl. "Now he has lost his marbles." The mayor of munchkin land said but soon others were following the brains of Oz's lead and walking over to the girl.

Once Scarecrow reached the table, he saw the girl drawing something on a piece of paper before handing it to him. Taking the paper, the scarecrow was shocked to see a drawing of everyone shouting and yelling and above them was the cloud. Handing him another drawing, this one was of the group being orderly and friendly and the cloud was gone.

"Are you sure about this?" Scarecrow asked and the girl nodded as she got up off the table and back to her own to finish reading. "What? What did she show you?" Candy Apple asked. "I think this is a cloud of emotion." Scarecrow said as he looked up at the cloud. "It feeds of emotions, be them good or bad. Good emotions will keep it calm but bad emotions will fill it with rage and it has to release it somehow."

"How would she know about this? Clouds of emotions just don't happen regularly." The Winkie asked but Scarecrow did not answer for even he did not know. Looking over at the girl, Scarecrow was puzzled at how calm she had been. It was almost as if… she knew this would happen. But how?

"I will look into this later," Scarecrow said. "Until then let us continue with the meeting in a proper fashion." And so it did. Whenever someone raised their voice too high or began to argue, the cloud above them grumbled and reminded them to behave. Soon the meeting was over, faster than any of their other meetings, and everyone left with happy smiles that their lands would be rebuilt.

But Scarecrow remained.

Picking up all the papers from the table, Scarecrow glanced over at the table the girl had been at and was surprised to see her not there. Walking over to the table, Scarecrow looked around but found no signs of her. "I really wish I knew her name now." Scarecrow said to himself as he began to look around the library. But he as he looked he could not find her anywhere.

After looking all over the library, Scarecrow became worried. Walking out of the library, the scarecrow saw a maid sweeping the halls and went over to her. "Pardon me," Scarecrow said as he spoke to the maid. "Did a small girl walk through here? She has brown hair with a green tint to it?" Pointing her broom to the hall behind her, the maid nodded. "I did. I thought she was one of the local children trying to sneak into the kitchen again. So I had a guard take her outside."

Terrified to hear that the girl was now out on her own, Scarecrow nodded his head before racing out towards the exit. Once outside, Scarecrow looked around frantically for the girl but it was a busy afternoon as everyone was out and walking around. Running into the crowd of people, Scarecrow soon saw sight of Tin Man walking up to him. "Hello Scarecrow." Tin Man said with a smile but it went away when he saw the alarmed look on his friend's face. "What is wrong?"

"The girl is missing." Scarecrow said as he twirled round to see if he could find her. "I was in a meeting and a guard brought her out here thinking she was one of the local children." Now also joining his friend in the worrying, Tin Man placed his hand on the straw man's shoulder. "I will help you find her she could not have gone too far."

Nodding his thanks, Scarecrow and Tin Man began to walk around the city looking for the girl. Since they did not know what her name was, all they could do was rely on their eyes and ask people if they saw her. But as the hours rolled on, no one had seen the strange girl and it was worrying Scarecrow so much. She was his responsibility and now she was lost in a city she never had been in.

"Mister," a voice spoke up from behind Scarecrow and Tin Man and when the two turned around they had to look down at the small boy who was sucking on a lollypop. "I overheard you asking my mommy if she had seen a girl. I have seen her." The boy said and Scarecrow smiled. "Where have you seen her?" he asked the boy.

Pointing his lollypop over to an alley, the boy frowned. "Some older kids chased her in there a bit ago. I haven't seen them come out yet." Frowning as well, Scarecrow and Tin Man were now even more worried than they had been before. "Thank you, that is very helpful." Tin Man said as Scarecrow rushed off after his friend. When the two reached the alley what they saw was frightening.

A large group of children of all ages were cornering the girl who was huddled up in a corner. They were chucking trash at her, food, and other objects while they laughed at her raspy yelps. "Freak, you need to get out of our city!" an older boy shouted as he tossed a stone at her and hit her shoulder. "We don't want the likes of you poisoning our home!" a girl said as she tossed a rotten fruit and it landed on the girl's hair.

Finally having enough of this, Scarecrow marched over to the group and pulled them all away from the girl. "What has gotten into all of you?!" he shouted as he stood in front of the girl who was quick to grab onto his legs. "Us? We should be asking you that." A boy said as he held a corn cob. "Do you know what this girl is?" a girl asked as she glared daggers down at the trembling girl.

"She is someone who doesn't deserve your abuse." Tin Man said as he came up and stood next to Scarecrow. "You two are so blind to what you are protecting." The boy who had tossed the rock said as he stepped closer. "That thing will destroy us all if we let it."

"You all best be going now," Scarecrow scowled at the boy before him. "I never forget a face and I will tell your parents about this." The children only laughed as they turned around to leave. "Our parents would applaud us for this." The boy said as they all dispersed into the city. Once they were all alone, Scarecrow looked down at the girl who was crying her eyes out and shaking so bad that his leg was too.

"Are you alright?" Tin Man asked as he bent down but she only buried her face into Scarecrow's pants. "Why would they do this to a child?" Scarecrow said as he picked the girl up and brushed off some of the trash on her. "Who knows, but the people of the city normally never would cause harm to another." Tin Man said as he saw cuts all over the girl's body.

"Let's talk about this later, I am going to get her cleaned up." Scarecrow said as he began the trip back to his room. Tin Man joined him for half of the trip but went off on his own saying he was going to report this to the guards. Once the man of straw made it to his room, he went straight for the washroom and set the girl down in a chair.

Picking out all the debris and garbage the other children tossed, Scarecrow had to be careful as a lot of them had caused cuts and bruises to form. Once he had got out all the junk, Scarecrow walked over to the bathtub and filled it up. Once that was done, the straw man walked over to the girl to see her trying to take off her shirt but couldn't.

"Here, let me help you." Scarecrow said as he aided the girl. Once her shirt was off, Scarecrow gasped at how damaged she was. Bruises were all over her body; purple and blue ones, some even that were black. "If I wasn't so kind I would go after those kids for doing this to you." Scarecrow said as he helped the girl into the tub.

Once she was in, the girl hissed in pain at the water touching her wounds. Scarecrow felt so bad for the small child as he tenderly washes away the grim that had clung to her body. As the straw man minded the bruises and cuts, he watched as the girl slowly went silent. After she was clean, Scarecrow helped her out and gave her fresh clothes.

Sharing a gaze, the scarecrow and small child seemed to almost be sharing a conversation with no words. Her emerald eyes were looking into his dark ones with a trusting expression that only a few ever saw. Taking his hand, the girl allowed the straw man to lead her to her bed. Standing next to it for a while, Scarecrow then pulled back the covers and allowed the girl to sit down on it.

"I am so sorry what you had to go through." He said as he pulled the covers over her beaten body. "No one deserves that abuse." Smiling up at the kindhearted man of straw, the girl grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the bed. Figuring she just wanted to be near him, Scarecrow sat down next to her as she placed her head on his lap.

Still holding onto his hand, the girl smiled as she closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. For a while, Scarecrow asked the heavens above why such a sweet child deserved such harsh treatment by others. All she had done while being with him these two days was be quiet, gentle, and sweet. So why was everyone around her acting like a monster?

Without his knowing, his eyes began to droop. They blinked more and more to the point that Scarecrow was starting to wonder why they were. Feeling a bit drowsy, Scarecrow soon found himself closing his eyes and not opening them again.

What the straw man saw next shocked him.

Instead of that dark black room, and not even his normal room, he was in a room of white. It was large, so large that the scarecrow wondered if it went on forever. Standing up, since he found himself laying on the floor, Scarecrow looked around in a circle; flabbergasted at just how the room looked.

Turning around a few more times, Scarecrow let out a shocked gasp as he turned around and came face to face with the girl. She was smiling at him and had her hands behind her back. Staring at the girl for a moment, Scarecrow was wondering how she was looking him in the face since she was shorter then him. Looking down, Scarecrow took a step back in shock at seeing her not touching the ground.

"Strange, isn't it?" a voice spoke up. Looking back to the girl, Scarecrow thought it came from her but… "Did you just speak?" he asked and the girl nodded. "I did." Surprised to hear her voice for the first time, Scarecrow took it all in. It was soft and sweet, like all little children's were, but it had that tone that told she was wise and kind. Thinking on it more, Scarecrow remembered hearing something like her voice.

"You were the one humming the nights before." Scarecrow said as the girl nodded as she landed back onto the floor. "That was me. I was trying to bring you here but sadly my connecting skills are only at best when touching someone." The girl said as she held out her hand. Staring at it for a moment, Scarecrow looked back at the girl. "Who are you?"

"I have been called many things Scarecrow, but you may call me Pan." The girl said as she smiled up at the straw man. "Pan, so that is your name?" Scarecrow said with a chuckle. "It suits you." Chuckling back, Pan took Scarecrow's hand in her own and the next thing that happened made the scarecrow shout in surprise.

Floating up off the ground, Scarecrow grabbed onto his hat in shock of being lifted up. "H-how are you doing this?" he asked. "This is my dream realm," Pan said as she slowly let him go. "anything can happen here." A bit startled that he was still airborne, Scarecrow looked at Pan to see her do a few back flips. "But how are we here? Are… Are you some type of witch?"

At hearing this, Pan stopped doing her flips and floated on her back for a moment. "Maybe one day I could be called that, but now? I am nothing more than an amateur apprentice." Pan replied as she drifted back over to Scarecrow. "So you were being taught by someone," Scarecrow said as he tried to steer himself closer to Pan. "Who?"

"It no longer matters." Pan said in a deadpan tone. "They no longer wish to teach me over things that I had no control over." Looking at the scarecrow, Pan smiled happily. "You are the first person I have been with in a while that I have trusted." Waving her hand, Pan somehow made Scarecrow move over to her and she hugged him. "You helped me when no one else did and I… Just had to say thank you."

Staring down at the girl, Scarecrow's mind was abuzz with questions. Why was Pan no longer a witch's apprentice? Who was her teacher? Why was he here? And why was this all so confusing?

Smiling back, Scarecrow hugged Pan back and rubbed her head. "So… what else can you do in this place?" Scarecrow asked. Looking up at the straw man, Pan smiled and floated away from him. "This, for one."

The next thing Scarecrow knew was that something had appeared under him and making him float around. Looking down, Scarecrow let out a laugh at seeing he was on a large blue bubble that moved all about. Gripping onto his bubble, Scarecrow laughed even more as it flipped over and over again. "This is amazing."

"I have had loads of time here to perfect all my enchantments." Pan said as she came over on her own green bubble, but she was standing up on it. "If you want, I can show you as well." Taking a hold of his hand, Pan helped Scarecrow up to his feet and kept him steady on his bubble. "… Why not. Could be fun." Scarecrow said as he began to hop on his bubble to see if it would pop.

"It will be." Pan said as she made more colorful bubbles appear and she jumped onto a red one. "Everything here is like a game." Smiling at how she just jumped from bubble to bubble, Scarecrow tried to do so as well but he only managed to get to a blue one before it popped and he fell to a new bubble. "Watch out for those blue ones," Pan said with a giggle. "They don't like to be jumped on."

For a while the two played around with the bubbles, jumping, popping, and bumping into each-others in a happy way. Not caring that the night was rolling by and making way of the dawn. Their time together was so much fun that Scarecrow could care less if the sun turned green. He did not want this to end.

And that was the end of the second day together