Ding stuck to the shadows in the corridors as he tracked the scent of the man who was and was not the Prince Man he respected so much. He could smell the other Princess Lady with him and he could almost hear the Prince Man tell him not to interrupt what was happening.

Watching and listening like he was trained to, Ding couldn't help but notice that how these two people interacted was very much like how the Prince Man and Princess Lady had interacted before the King Man had gotten married.

She had her hands behind her back as they walked, as if she was trying to resist the urge to hang onto his arm. The Princess Lady hadn't had to hold back that much when she first started spending time with his Prince Man ... well, he was the Colonel Man then.

"I'm not sure what to think about her being here," DG told Cain as they walked down the corridor, unaware of the two huge eyes watching them from the shadows. "Her childhood didn't exactly look peachy-keen to me, but ... she must have done something right if her baby is any indication."

"She's hiding something," Wyatt replied with a hard face. Ding scowled from the shadows: Princess only hide things so has not to hurt them!

DG rolled her eyes as she thought about all the television shows she'd never be able to watch again. "Everybody lies, Cain," she said with a slight smile. She'd probably miss her episodes of House the most.

He grunted, "And it's my job to find out what the truth is."

The Princess stopped walking and turned to him, her eyes wide with questions she wasn't sure how to ask but she desperately needed answers to. "Is that what being a Tin Man is? Just finding the truth?"

Ding sunk further into the shadows, not wanting to attract any attention to himself.

Cain growled low in his throat as he turned to face the princess. He let down part of the mask that hid his emotions, letting her see a little of his vulnerability for a minute as he shook his head, "No. Not just finding the truth. Keeping troublemaking princesses safe is also part of my job."

She frowned at the answer even as she nodded and turned to continue to walk down the corridor. Cain watched her walk for a few moments, wondering what the hell he'd said wrong.

That's when Ding made his move. He sprang out of the shadows and tugged on the Tin Man's pant leg.

Cain looked down and glared at the goblin. "It's Ding, isn't it? Care to tell me why you've been followin' us for the past ten minutes?"

Ding's wide eyes narrowed slightly, "Ding follows you for twelve minutes, Tin Man." He reached into his shirt despite the growl of anger that welled in the Tin Man's chest. Ding pulled out the letter from his Prince Man and held it up to the other with an arm that shook slightly. He definitely did not want to be bogged, thanks all the same.

"What's this?" Cain asked as he took the letter from the frightened goblin.

He took a step away from the human as he cleared his throat, "Letter from Prince Man. To you." He made shooing motions as he added, "Read later. Talk to Princess now. Make her happy. Tell her you staying."

Cain narrowed his eyes further as he tucked the letter into his vest. "How do you know what would make her --"

"Cain?" DG asked as she doubled back after finding he wasn't right behind her anymore. "Who are you talking to?" she asked, looking around to find them alone.

He frowned and shook his head, sending her a slight smile as he said, "No one, kid. I'm just gettin' senile in my old age."

She pouted at his response, "You're not senile and you're definitely not old."

He gave her a real, albeit small, smile at her defense of him. Motioning down the corridor he said, "Let's get back to that walk, kid."

"I am not a kid," she said with a smile.

"Really? You're as stubborn as any goat I've ever met, kid," he shot back as they started to walk again.

"You insufferable old man!" she groused, her eyes dancing with amusement. So that's what he meant by kid? Better than him thinking she's a child.

"I thought you said I wasn't old?"

Ding watched them bicker as they walked away. Better, he thought. Much better.


When everyone gathered precisely four hours later to start working on the issue of rebuilding the O.Z., Raw frowned at how not rested Thia looked.

"Thia sleep at all?" he asked softly when she chose to sit near the soothing Viewer.

She glanced at his face, assessing his words before replying with a slight nod, "More than I expected to, actually, Master Raw."

"Raw no Master," he replied with a blush.

Thia smiled at him, one of her hands covering his where it lay on the table. "Soon, you will be."

Raw was saved having to respond to her prediction by the arrival of Glitch.

"It kinda boggles the noggin to think that there are other realities out there, doesn't it?" he asked as he sat down next to Raw.

Thia smiled at his open curiosity. "On the Other Side there are scientists that theorize a new reality is born representing every choice we make. There's one for each option."

"That means, Ca-in, that there's a reality out there where you became a dancer instead of a Tin Man," DG joked as they took their spots at the table.

Cain cleared his throat and pulled his fedora further onto his head to hide his blush. "I never wanted to be a dancer, kid," he replied gruffly.

Thia had to bite back the reply that was forming in her mind as she remembered a very specific conversation she'd once had with Gwen about her younger brothers.

DG noticed her counterpart's reaction and decided to jump on it with a grin, "So, Thia, how many embarrassing stories do you know about Cain's childhood?"

She glanced over at the already embarrassed Tin Man and took a little pity on him, no matter how much fun it would be to gossip about him with DG. "One or two, but I'm not at liberty to divulge that information," she said with a smirk to her counterpart. "But I can tell you anything you want to know about the Cain from my reality and his introduction to Other Side pop culture."

The other princess contemplated this for a moment before she opened her mouth to respond, Az cut her off, "As much as I'd love to hear something lighthearted, we do have some rather serious matters to discuss."

"The Witch did a number on the fields throughout the O.Z. and we're already in harvest season, so planting is out unless it's winter crops," Jeb said, his eyes heavy as he did his best to avoid Thia's piercing gaze.

"That is one of the easier things to fix, Jeb," Thia replied. Everyone looked at her.

"Using that kind of spell would deplete the life force of a Light Witch," Nesa said, knowing immediately what she planned to do. "It's out of the question."

Thia shook her head, one hand resting on her stomach as she countered, "Spells of that magnitude were designed for two Witches to complete. All we need to do is teach DG how to access the rest of her magick and tell her and Azkadellia the incantation. The farmers should have their crops to harvest by week's end."

"Woah. Wait. The rest of my magick?" DG asked, holding up a hand in confusion.

Her counterpart waited for Nesa to explain, but the queen kept her seat beside her husband with a face of stone, not wanting to broach the subject. She then looked to Azkadellia, but she understood the matter about as much as DG did.

With a growl that reminded a few people of a certain Tin Man, Thia began to explain: "There is duality in everything in life, DG. Life and death, yin and yang, male and female, light and dark." DG's eyes widened as she took in what she was being told but Thia didn't let her get too far into her misconceptions, "Dark does not mean evil. I am no more evil than that gazebo outside. It just utilizes a different part of the ... light spectrum, if you will."

"What exactly are you suggesting we do?" DG asked, "Send a jackhammer pulse through the entire O.Z. to bring everything back to life?"

Thia grinned without humor, "Precisely." She looked at everyone at the table in turn before her eyes came to rest on the Queen, "It will be exhausting, but if the Ozarians know it's coming, then they should already be prepared to start harvesting as soon as the crops are full grown at week's end."

"Why would it take so long?" her counterpart asked. "We could send out the pulse tomorrow, couldn't we? Why would they have to wait?"

It was Glitch who answered, "It's safer for you and Azka-D to put a sort of rapid growth spell on the plants instead of popping them out fully grown. Requires less magick, too. At least, I think it does."

DG turned her confused look to Thia, who nodded that Glitch was right. "Even with only half a brain you still have all the answers, Glitch," Thia said with a smile. "You never cease to amaze me. In either reality."

Everyone's attention was focused on a blushing Glitch who didn't know what to say when they heard a thud from the other end of the table. Eyes quickly turned to see that Azkadellia had fallen out of her chair and fainted quite ungracefully on the floor.

"Az?" DG shouted, her eyes wide with worry as Ahamo checked her pulse.

"Her breathing's steady," Ahamo said with a frown.

"Let's get her to a sofa," Cain suggested, bending down to pick up the surprisingly light weight princess.

Thia could only stand next to Raw and watch as Azkadellia was lifted onto a sofa on the other side of the room. She turned a questioning face to Raw, who nodded affirmative. Her sister had fainted several times in the first trimester of her pregnancy, too.


Azkadellia woke to the sound of voices to her right. She moaned as the light hit her suddenly sensitive eyes in a very rude manner. What happened?

"Princess healthy," she heard Raw rumble comfortingly to her parents. "Just tired."

DG looked at her sister and saw her waking up. She ran to Azkadellia's side to help her sit up. "Hey, take it easy. Raw had to fix a nasty bruise on your head from that fall."

"What happened?" Az asked, confused as to why she was on the sofa.

"You fainted," DG replied, her eyes flickering to check her sister over for herself.

"Next time you start to feel light headed, you might want to head for the nearest sofa or chair, Az," Thia said blandly. "It'll feel a whole lot better that way."

"What will?" Az asked, still confused as to why she passed out.

Thia tilted her head to one side as she replied, "Your stomach."

Az nodded, "Oh." Her eyes widened a split second later as she repeated in a very shocked voice, "Oh."

"And you might want to stay away from red meat and cabbage," Thia put in with a slight frown. Yes, those were the only two things that her sister had had any problems with during her first pregnancy.

"Really?" DG asked, having made the same connection Azkadellia just had. "Red meat?"

Thia nodded, "She said it tasted like pickles."

"What's wrong with pickles?" DG asked with a slight frown.

Az shuddered at the very mention of the detestable food. "I loath pickles," she said adamantly.

DG smiled at the look of utter disgust on her sister's face and felt a twinge of something in her heart that she didn't already know that about her. She averted her eyes only to find Cain's boring into her with sympathy and something akin to worry. He was worried about her? That knowledge caused a different sort of twinge to ripple through her heart.

"This ... changes things," the queen said, her voice calm and cool as ever.

DG wondered if her mother ever raised her voice.

"Not really," Thia replied as she assessed the situation in her head. "Azkadellia can still learn to defend herself and help with the restoration spell. It'll just take a little longer, that's all."

"Will the crops still be ready for harvest before it's too late?" Jeb asked, his mind on the hundreds that would starve over the long, hard winter ahead of them if that wasn't the case.

Thia nodded, determination set in her brow, "I'll make sure of it."


A/N: Three reasons I'm giving this to you so quickly:

1) The last chapter was a tad short and this chapter is a tad short.

2) I love you all and your wonderful reviews. Mitzi loves her carrots and daisies that you've been feeding her.

3) I'm suffering from temporary insomnia and can't sleep.