Raw was meditating in his room when he felt the agony the older princess was in. With a frown the gentle healer rose and padded down the hall to see if he could help.

Without knocking, Raw entered Azkadellia's sitting room and crossed to her bedroom, finding that she had left it unlocked in her haste to get to the bed and collapse her barriers.

Coming up quietly behind her, Raw put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. It had had been hard at first for him to accept that she was not the Witch, but his gift helped. Kalm's gift had helped, as well. Neither the young Viewer nor his uncle could feel the Witch inside of her anymore, didn't feel anymore darkness than what was natural for humans.

No words were spoken as Azkadellia sat up and moved to embrace the Viewer. She let his gift wash through her as she cried into his shoulder, letting out all of her hurt and anger that she'd been thrust into such a horrible situation. She'd already fallen in love with her baby ... but what could she do about the man who had stolen her heart first? He was lying in a hospital bed recovering from the aftereffects of the dispossession, just like Azkadellia had had to do a few days before.

The only difference was that after he was healed he'd go back to a cold, dark, empty cell to await punishment for his crimes.

"Princess, want to tell Raw what's wrong?" the gentle Viewer offered after she had calmed down enough to control her tears.

Azkadellia sat back on her feet as she sniffled. She shook her head, "Not really."

He rumbled again, knowing she needed to talk to someone who would understand, "Raw tell Princess what he feels?"

She looked up at that, meeting his deep, insightful brown eyes with her own. Her mind whirled over the pros and cons of letting him read her, but after only a few moments she nodded wordlessly giving him permission to do as he suggested.

Raw put one of his hands over her stomach, "Raw feels life. Baby girl loves mother. Loves father. Wants peace for both. Raw feels strongly."

Azkadellia looked down at her stomach in awe. Her child would be very powerful if Raw could feel such emotion coming from her at such a young age. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the right words for a few minutes.

At long last she told him what had happened, "I ... told my mother and my father that the father is ... Adrian Zero. They didn't take it too well."

Raw rumbled again, patting her hand with his. "Parents frightened. Remember pain Zero caused. Suffering. Will pass in time."

"When?" Az asked, her eyes shooting up to Raw's in desperation. "When I have a daughter and he's been hung from the gallows? When?"

Raw hugged the despairing princess again, "Soon. Thia and DG make sure."

Even as she started to cry again, Azkadellia couldn't help but be comforted by his words and faith in her sister and the strange woman from the other reality.

When Thia opened her eyes and found Jeb sitting across from her, her mind flashed back to a few months earlier and she had the sudden sense of deja vu. Her Jeb had been watching her after a magickal drain as well, though the circumstances had been drastically different. She didn't want to think about that right now -- she didn't have the time, nor the luxury to think about it.

The pounding in her head had abated and she knew that her magick had completely rebounded after her little ... display downstairs. With a little groan she pushed herself up so she was sitting properly against the headboard. "Are you going to yell at me, too?" she asked as Jeb reached over to the nightstand for a pitcher of water and a cup.

He filled the cup halfway before handing it to her, not answering until she was busy taking a drink. His voice was slightly compassionate as he voiced his thoughts, "I think you're gonna get yelled at enough when your husband finds out what you did." He shrugged as she handed the cup back to him, her throat now feeling much better. "Besides, Zero's hasn't been this quiet since we let 'im out of the Suit. The guards wanna thank you for that."

She quirked an eyebrow at that, "He's all right?"

Jeb nodded curtly. "For now. But there's a lot of other things we need to take care of right now that don't involve captured Longcoats."

"Like raising an army," Thia said with a bitter smile. She shook her head, "If I never have to deal with another war ever again, I won't complain. They're full of too much blood and suffering."

"We don't have to talk about that right now," Jeb said, shaking his head.

"In fact, I forbid it," a female voice said from the doorway. Thia and Jeb looked up to find Lya standing there, holding a tray with all sorts of tasty looking morsels on it. "Medic's orders," she said with a small smile to her patient.

Thia grinned back at the younger woman as she came into the room fully and started setting up the tray so that she could eat. "Of course," she replied with a nod, "Your mother was a doctor from the Other Side."

Lya nodded slightly, her eyes downcast. "How are my parents in ... your reality?" she asked finally, settling in a chair beside Jeb.

The princess answered as she picked up an apple and twirled it on her fingertip. "Your mother died two annuals ago when we had an outbreak of meningitis in the Labyrinth thanks to one of the Wished Away." Thia paused, knowing she'd have to explain why they were in the Labyrinth in the first place. "Your father moved your family there when you were a little girl." She quirked a smile as she remembered that time, "I was ten annuals old and I had a bit of a ... disagreement with the chef that your father replaced."

"What happened?" Jeb asked, his brow furrowed curiously.

Thia scowled, not sure she wanted to tell them, but knowing it would relieve some of the tension that was palpable between her and the younger Cain. She took a bite of the apple to stall having to answer, chewing it's wonderfully ripe flesh carefully before swallowing.

She looked down at it as she replied timidly, "I might have replaced a basket full of some very expensive, rare mushrooms with ones that are renowned for their ... laxative like qualities."

The couple in front of her couldn't suppress their snorts of laughter at her proclamation.

"Please tell me it was worth it after you got in trouble," Jeb said, his eyes still dancing with laughter.

She nodded with a grin, "I believe we were dining with one of Jackson le Monté's advisors that night. He was trying to arrange a marriage betrothal, I believe."

"Who?" DG asked from the doorway where she stood with Cain, her head tilted to one side.

Thia's face lost all humor and the others in the room could see loathing in her eyes, "Nasty fellow. King of the land northeast of the O.Z." She frowned, "Or, at least he was in my reality." A bitter smile crossed her face, "Up until a few annuals ago, that is."

"What happened?" DG asked, moving to sit at the foot of the bed. She was very curious as to why this woman hated him so much.

Thia caught DG's eyes and replied, "He kidnapped Azkadellia and attempted to kidnap me when I was fifteen annuals." Her eyes flickered to her goblins and she smiled softly, "With the help of a few friends Azkadellia was able to escape." The hard edge to her mouth and eyes returned, "But the bloody bastard didn't leave well enough alone -- even after we captured half of his farmland."

"He tried again?" Cain asked, his hand reflexively moving to rest on his pistol, as if the man in question was lurking around the corner.

Thia nodded once in affirmative, her eyes moving to the man who was not her husband, "In the worst possible way. He sent the Wicked Witch's sister after us. At my uncle's wedding."

Cain cursed under his breath. Attacking at a celebration like a wedding or a birth was one of the least honorable things a commander could order. "You killed her?" he asked tensely.

Her smile returned as she shook her head, "No. Azkadellia, our mother, and I distracted her."

"But she died, didn't she?" DG asked, now confused.

Thia grinned, "Yes, she's dead. Real and truly, this time. But it was a certain ex-Tin Man who did it, and not anyone with magick."

"Huh?" DG asked, looking from Cain back to the pregnant woman on the bed.

"Water."

Jeb couldn't help it, he just couldn't help but laugh at the look of shock on DG's face.

"She got wet?" the slipper princess questioned incredulously.

"Side effect of going to the dark side," Thia explained. "A very strong allergy to water."

"Oh."

Zero woke up with a clear mind for the first time in annuals. He took a ragged breath as he looked about himself, taking in the hospital-esk setting that was devoid of all other patients.

Images of horrible things filled his mind. Things that he knew his body had done. Lives taken and destroyed as if they were nothing more than dust.

"Sweet Lurline, have mercy on my soul," he whispered the same prayer all sinners prayed.

"You're awake," a male voice said from the doorway. He turned his head to look at the burly man dressed in simple clothes. The man smiled bitterly, "Good."

The man approached him and checked his vitals. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Zero was surprised that he even cared. He must really take his work as a medic seriously. "I would like to see a priestess," he said slowly. "Please."

The medic kept on with his work as if he hadn't heard what the infirm man had said. It wasn't the voice that had haunted so many people, taunted so many Resistance Fighters. This wasn't the same stony man that had crippled them time and again.

"Why?" he asked at long last.

Zero looked up at him with the raw agony of a man who has found his soul again. "To confess."

The trek south had been brutal, and all of them were thrilled when they finally came up to the hedge maze that protected Finaqua. The one comfort they had had on the three day trek from the far north, was that it got warmer the farther they went.

Four days before, on the night before the Eclipse, she had Dreamt a great Dream and Lurline had told her to gather her forces and move to the south to Finaqua. The war with the Sorceress was about to come to an end and her forces would need to be with their Queen to help her take control of the people again. She had told her sister and constant companion about the Dream and together they planned and set the plan into motion quickly.

Three days before, they had left a quart of their force behind, knowing that they would take care of the rest of the people and make sure that none got too out of hand. There would be no more blood lost in their section of the O.Z. The north was still in very capable hands.

It was planned that once they arrived at Finaqua safely, they would send a message back north for the ... non-human forces to ride to Finaqua to pledge themselves to their Queen. So the humans had ridden hard, trying to arrive as quickly as possible to assess the situation and help as best they could.

The Resistance military leader looked up at the suns in the sky. The first sun was already in its descent, so they only had a few more hours left of light. She looked at the maze and tried to remember her training. After a moment she pointed to the east of the long hedge wall that separated them from the maze, "There's an entrance down that way."

The spiritual leader nodded to the west slightly, "There's also one right there."

Her sister looked at her briefly before guiding her horse toward the west, where sure enough there was an entrance to the legendary maze.

"All right," the military commander ordered with authority. She nodded to the priestess, "You go first. We'll go single file behind you until we get to the other side. I'll pull up the rear."

The priestess nodded before she guided her gelding to the opening and went through, closely followed by her friends and those who went to her for guidance in these troubling times. It was the first time she'd been in the maze, but she picked her way through easily with the help of the goddess she had devoted her life to. A scant ten minutes later she stepped into Finaqua and a number of soldiers pointed their weapons at her.

She moved to the side of the entrance so that her people could continue to flow out into the open, her eyes locked on one of the soldiers, "Tell your Commander and your Queen that the Northern Guild has arrived."

The soldier looked at her dubiously and she was pleased with this (the hood on her robe was up and did cover her features -- only a fool would rush to obey her). "Who do I tell 'im is callin'?"

With a swift move she dropped her hood at the same moment her sister came out of the maze behind her. Her voice reaffirmed what her eyes and face already told the soldiers guarding the royal family: she was telling the truth: "Tell them that it is Jael and Amy Cain."

At their shocked looks, one of the soldiers ran off toward the back of the palace, while another went into the palace proper. Jael could only hope that her Dreams about her brother had not been misplaced, nor mistimed. It was the last thing she needed to get up hope about seeing Wyatt again only to have her heart ripped out again.

"Ready?" Thia asked DG. The pair were seated on the ground by the lake. Thia knew the peaceful location would be best for DG's magick as she learned to control it.

DG nodded, "As I'll ever be." She glanced to where Cain stood a few yards away, watching them from a safe distance. It had taken hours to convince him that Thia wasn't going to do anything other than teach DG how to control her magick, and even then, he'd insisted on coming with them.

Her counterpart took a deep breath and reached for DG's hand, "It'll be easier if I show you where to find your magick within yourself. That way you won't have to search around for hours like my tutor made me."

She nodded, placing her hand in Thia's and closing her eyes as the magick rushed through her.

Can you hear me? she heard a voice ask in her head.

Yes, she replied, knowing it was Thia. How are you doing that?

Magick, she replied with humor that DG could feel. Can you feel this? she asked as DG felt herself being prodded from the inside, somewhere near her neck.

Yes. What is it?

Your light. And if we move this way we'll find your darkness.

DG was swept up in the emotions that rolled through her as she felt the magnitude of her own power wash over her. Yes, Thia had been right, she had only barely managed to tap into her own reservoir of magick.

"Wow," she said as Thia broke the connection.

Thia nodded, "Weird, isn't it?"

DG's eyes danced, "It was like riding a rollercoaster."

"Without getting sick from too much cotton candy afterwards," Thia replied with a smile. "You're a fast learner, DG. Let's move on to something a bit more complex than spinning that doll of yours around in the air, shall we?"

Her pupil nodded with wide, expectant eyes but was drastically disappointed when Thia placed a wooden spoon on the ground between them. "What's that?"

Thia's lips twitched up, "A spoon."

DG eyed her warily, "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Change it," Thia replied as if it was as easy as carrying a plate full of pie to table six.

"How?" She wasn't a freakin' mind reader! How the hell was she supposed to change a spoon into something else? It defied chemistry and physics.

Thia smiled fully, "If you immediately know the candle light is fire --"

"The meal was cooked a long time ago. Don't start quoting Oma Desala or I will hurt you," DG said as she rolled her eyes. "What's with you and that TV show, anyway?"

She shrugged, "I like the plots. And Oma Desala was right in this instance. You need to take a more Buddhist look at this activity."

DG huffed as she glared at the spoon. "What do you want me to turn it into?"

Her response was slow, as if she was taking the time to figure out what DG would miss the most after over a week in a strange land and no friends. "Ben and Jerry's ice cream," she replied.

The look of shock she received in response was humorous. "I can do that?"

"Why not? The rules are not the same on this side as they are where you were raised, DG."

DG closed her eyes and concentrated on the spoon, trying to let her light flow through her to do her will. She cracked open an eye only to find the spoon sitting there, mocking her. With a growl she said, "It's not working right."

"That's because you're not doing it right," Thia replied matter-of-factly. DG glared at her but she just shook her head, "Now try pulling your dark magick through your and telling the spoon that it's not a spoon but really Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey."

DG frowned in determination as she tried again. Thia watched, holding her breath. She knew that DG was powered on by the promise of real ice cream if she succeeded.

After a few more moments, the dark blue light begin to flow out of DG and around the spoon, ordering it to form to DG's will. A few more moments, and in place of the spoon sat a pint on Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream.

DG opened her eyes and squealed in delight, clapping her hands as she picked it up. Then she growled in her throat as she glared at Thia, "Is there another spoon out here?"

Thia placed a butter knife in front of her student, "This should be a bit easier. You're not changing it on a molecular level, just the shape."

She groaned as she put down her blessed ice cream and focused her energy on the knife, telling it firmly that it really wanted to be a spoon.

"Very good," Thia commended as DG picked up the spoon with greedy hands and started eating her treat. "Most of what you need to remember is that everything will bend to your magick, it's just a matter of convincing it that it wants to."

She saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned to watch a runner approach the Tin Man. Something was wrong. "Now, DG," Thia said, not minding that she was still eating her ice cream. "I want you to fan your magick out and tell me what you feel."

DG closed her eyes and did as she was bid. She imagined she was throwing her magick in a net around Finaqua and trying to pick up the life signs and other things that were there. By the hedge maze she felt something different.

"There's a group of people at the maze. They just got here. Most of the men feel ... glad to be warm. Two of them ... feel like Cain," DG finally said as she attempted to describe the leaders of this medium sized military force to the other version of herself.

"Good." Thia started to rise as gracefully as she could considering the baby. DG looked up at her and watched as she put a glamour on herself so that she looked like a pregnant Elf. "Let's go greet the troops."

DG scrambled to her feet and walked next to Thia as they approached Cain. "Why'd you do that to yourself, Thia?" she asked curiously.

Thia didn't look away from where they were headed as she responded, "No one else needs to know that there are two of us, DG. Best to just keep it with one."

Cain looked quite impatient by the time that the two princesses reached him. "Who is it?" Thia asked as if she was asking about the weather.

"Jael and Amy," he replied, the only sign that he was in turmoil was the way his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.

"Who?" DG asked curiously.

"My sisters," Cain elaborated before turning to briskly walk to the hedge maze and what was sure to be one interesting family reunion. DG and Thia were very close behind.

A/N: There ya go. I really couldn't help myself with the Ben and Jerry's part. And some of you were getting anxious to find out what happened to Cain's family in this realty. Mitzi says thanks for the carrots.