Disclaimer: Tin Man isn't my property. Ajax is and he says hi. Are you happy now catyuy?

"Deeg!" He'd give her credit for sticking to her guns. The girl had been missing for over two hours. He'd turned his back for less than thirty seconds and she was gone. He was at a loss to figure out how she'd managed to sneak past him. For the first hour he had simply decided to get breakfast and wait for her to show up. When she didn't he had let out a long sigh and started searching for her. He was sure they had talked about her not eating before. The girl was sneaky. He blamed himself for getting distracted. He should have known better than to try to brush his teeth in isolation.

Remembering she had mentioned researching the spell on him he headed toward the only place he knew of that might hold that information. "Kid, where are you?"

"Over here." Her voice drifted across the lower floor of the library and he headed in the direction it came from. Deeg continued on, her voice relaying her slight confusion. "Why are you yelling?"

"Because you weren't answering."

"I must not have been where you were."

He rolled his eyes as he turned around the end of a bookcase and found her lounging in a battered old oak chair. Her legs were propped up over a long table in front of her and she was flipping through a dusty book as she scanned the pages. "What are you doing?"

Deeg was frowning and a small line ran between her eyebrows as she focused on the words in front of her. "Trying to figure out how to take the spell off you. I think I need to find, like, an ancients grammar book. Whatever I did doesn't seem to be covered in the newer books." What she was holding was a new book? The thing had to be older than that map she had the other day. Then again if she was talking about hunting down a book to translate the ancients language from she was going to be after books that were as old as the Zone was. If she found a book that could help her do that he would never see her again. She would lock herself in here and continue to research until she turned into a shriveled up mummy. Or worse, end up like Tutor.

He took in the table covered from one end to the other with piles of books and papers and shook his head. He had no idea how she had managed to amass this amount of information in a little over two hours. Taking the tome from her hands he shoved a stray sheet of paper in it to mark her place before tossing it on top the pile. "You're done."

"Hey!" Grabbing at the book she leaned forward as he bent down and wrapped his arms around her waist. Picking her up he tossed her over his shoulder and headed toward the exit. "Cain!"

Bouncing her slightly he growled good-naturedly at her legs. "That is not my name, Deeg. How many times are we goin' to go over this? My name is Wyatt." Admittedly she was used to calling him by his family name but they were far more than friends now and he wanted a different level of intimacy with her. They were equals and using his last name didn't have them standing that way. All it did was put distance between them. That was unacceptable when he was courting her.

Her hands scrabbled for purchase on the back of his duster. "Put me down right now!" He raised his eyebrow at her tone. She had turned into a Gale on him.

"No." She spluttered in rage at his unwillingness to comply with her demand. "What did I say about relaxin'?"

She squirmed in his grip. "I need to get that spell off you! This is no time for a vacation!"

"Gettin' you to relax is like gettin' Glitch to focus on a single topic."

Managing to twist slightly she poked his shoulder, the one he hadn't flung her over. "I can't believe you right now! Are you at all concerned that the spell I cast hurt you?"

They were nearly out of the princess trapping room. "Can't say I am."

"Are you as crazy as everyone thinks you are? It stung you!" He would like to know who classified him as crazy. Sure, he could name five or six off the top of his head but he wasn't sure those were the same people she was referring to. He should probably stay on topic while talking to the kid though.

"Deeg-" He flipped her over his shoulder in the entryway of the library. Setting her on her feet he held her sides so she couldn't escape him and looked into her eyes. "-if you put a protection spell on me then the last thing I'm worried about is it somehow killing me."

"I didn't know what I was doing!" She threw her hands in the air in agitation. "I still don't know what it is!"

He kissed her gently. "Sweetheart, no matter how upset you were when you cast it you wanted to keep me safe. Why would you assume that it would somehow hurt me when you never would?" She blinked at him as she processed that. "If anything I feel safer with it attached to me even if neither of us knows exactly what it does."

"You said it hurt." The kid was stuck on that point. If the roles were reversed he would be too.

"It felt like a shock you would get when someone touches you after they walked across a carpet. It was hardly traumatizing."

Her shoulders slumped and she gazed past his shoulder toward her books. "But-"

"No more work." Pushing her toward the door he spun her around. "The whole reason we're here is so you stop workin'."

"I haven't done anything in over a week." Deeg was allowing herself to be slowly led toward the nearest exit.

"I know. You've been doin' a good job. It'd be a shame to ruin your streak."

Deeg continue to argue with him but he was sure he could out stubborn her. "It's only reading."

"Yeah, technical jargon on magic. Nothing about that is fun unless you can turn yourself into a dog."

Her nose wrinkled in frustration. "I haven't gotten that far yet. Transformation is hard."

"You've tried?"

"Well, yeah, but nothing happened except I got a nosebleed." Tutor was pushing her so hard she got nosebleeds? That wasn't going to be happening again or he would be one dead dog. The kid twisted around and he barely managed to catch her and turn her around before she could make it back to the library.

"No you don't." Spotting a glass door that led onto a small balcony facing the lake he turned them in that direction. "Outside."

Digging her shoes into the tile didn't do much to help her. The floors were so smooth he simply slid her closer to the exit. "Why are you making this so difficult?"

He grinned at her. "I'm a stubborn man."

"Tell me something I don't know."

He considered that for a moment. "When Jeb was little I carved him toys."

The kid's blue eyes gazed up at him in surprise. "Where did that come from?"

His eyebrow quirked up as he opened the door and got both of them out into the suns. "You asked me to tell you something you didn't know about me."

"That's an expression from the Otherside." This didn't seem to distract her from this new bit of information. "You made that little horse?" Her eyes were as big as saucers.

"I did."

"Wow." He had somehow managed to thoroughly impress her without even trying. "Why haven't I seen anything else you've made?"

He shrugged. "I haven't made anything since we met."

"Why not?" Her curiosity over this had distracted her from any and all interest in getting the spell off of him. That was good in his opinion.

"I haven't really had the time and I never bothered to pick up any carving tools."

"Do you like to carve things?"

"Sure." It was relaxing and he had always liked the experience of transforming a shapeless piece of wood into something Jeb would enjoy playing with. His son had always given him such bright smiles when he gave him a new toy. When he had turned six Jeb had wanted to learn how to make things the same way he did. Capturing his boy he set him in his lap and begun to show him how to hold the tools in his hand as he carved. Adora had watched them from her seat next to the fire with a smile playing on her face.

That had been before the war. It was one of the last trouble free memories he had of his old life and he treasured it. A few months ago and he would have pushed any thought of his lost wife and failure away, along with everything associated with it. But not anymore. Deeg, in the patient understanding way she had, had managed to show him that his past was as important as his present. It helped knowing he could tell her about things like that and she wouldn't shy away from him or the mention of Adora and the life he had once had with her. He wasn't sure many women would be comfortable knowing he thought about Adora but Deeg never seemed bothered by it.

The kid in question took hold of his hand and started dragging him down the short set of stairs eagerly. "You have lots of time now."

His lip twitched at her enthusiasm. Deeg was pulling him toward the woods. "Darlin', I don't have anything to carve with but my razor and I'm not about to ruin it. I don't particularly enjoy havin' a beard. It itches."

She laughed at that but continued to drag him after her. "No big deal. I can make you tools with my magic." He didn't even know why he was startled by that. Tutor had made her art supplies and she had significantly more magic than the pooch did. Still, the older mage knew what he was making when he used his gift.

"You know what they look like?"

"I grew up in a farm town. I know what wood carving tools look like."

Amused he allowed her to guide him into the tree line. "Then I take it we're going to go get something for me to carve?"

"Such a smart tin man."

"You're excited about this."

"Duh, I want to see your mad skills."

"I don't think this is goin' to be all that excitin' for you." He began to scan the forest floor for a suitable piece of lumber. "I haven't done anything in years. It's not goin' to be perfect by a long shot. I'm rusty."

"Practice makes perfect." The girl had let him go as he bent down to brush some leaves away. Picking up a fallen branch he tossed it away after a long minutes consideration. The internal grain was too warped to work with. He stood up to find Deeg staring up at a tree. Two branches forked off of it about twelve feet above her and she was fixated on the spot.

"Kid?"

Her voice was hushed. "I thought you said you only saw them when it rained."

His eyes flew up to the tree as he quietly stepped up next to her. Gazing down at them was a sky dancer. He sucked in a nearly inaudible breath as the large bird hopped out of the hallow it was resting in and landed farther out on the branch. The size of an eagle and pure white from beak to tail it gazed down at them with intelligent brown eyes. As they watched one another it raised a tall crest of feathers up over its head and let out an eerie call.

The kid smiled brilliantly and the bird turned until it was in profile and ruffled up all its feathers. Its tail fanned out below it and it bent its head down at a comical angle. The kid giggled and the animal hid its face behind a wing. He frowned in confusion. If he didn't know better he would swear the thing was flirting with her. When her laughter faded away it peeked over the top of its feathers and let out a long coo. He grunted, torn between annoyance and amusement. "You've got to be kiddin' me."

Deeg was ignoring him as she watched the bird in fascination. "It's so pretty."

Before he could reply the bird leapt to the other branch and opened its wings slightly as it preened. The girl had made yet another friend. "Yeah, pretty."

"What's the matter with you?" Deeg walked slowly closer which didn't faze the bird at all. These things were supposed to be secretive and mysterious animals. Not birds that blatantly sought out attention from beautiful princesses. That thought made him close his eyes and shake his head. He was jealous of a damned bird. What was wrong with him?

"Nothin'." He clicked his tongue as he studied the dancer and it gave him a dismissive look before turning its full attention to the girl. His eyebrow quirked up in interest. "Use you magic."

"Why?" Her face came to his.

"They were made by Glinda. Her line married into yours ages ago. It might sense her magic flowin' through ya." That would certainly explain the animal's enthrallment with her.

Deeg tilted her head up and let her magic pulse out of her in soft waves. Spreading its feathers it let out a beautiful piercing note and sprang out of the tree. It flew in a graceful descending circle before landing agilely on a nearby log. Lowering itself to its white belly it extended its wings out and arched his neck toward the ground in supplication. Deeg shook her head quickly. "You don't need to do that."

The bird straightened and all its feathers slicked down. "I'll be damned." The bird turned so its tail feathers were to him. He glared at the bird irritably. The kid smiled more widely. "There you go makin' more annoyin' acquaintances. Be careful we still haven't gotten rid of the last few."

"Awww! Don't be grumpy because he doesn't like you."

"You think I'm grumpy anyway. I don't see why this should make a difference." She tore her big blue eyes away from the sky dancer she had been so eager to see and looked at him. The girl was watching him cautiously and he winced. That may have come out sharper than he intended. The bird wasn't making him near as happy as it was her. Deeg was only teasing in her excitement and he'd gone and marred the experience. "Sorry, Darlin'." She nodded in acceptance and returned to her discovery but a lot of the joy in her had vanished. Cursing himself he stepped up behind her and kissed her neck tenderly. "Don't be sad. I didn't mean it the way it came out."

"It's ok." This was another one of those things she claimed was less meaningful to her than they really were. Wrapping his arms around her firmly he held her against his chest and placed his jaw on the top of her head to show his affection. After a few moments she leaned into him and he calmed down a bit. Once she was comfortable with him again she started asking questions. "Why do you think this one's out here?"

"Don't know." He eyed the bird. "Why are you here, pillow stuffin'?"

Deeg shook with silent giggles as the dancer poofed up indignantly. It's beak clacked unhappily and its crest frilled up again. "You're good at diplomacy."

"I was a tin man and now I'm head of palace security. I'm not a politician."

"Thank god for that." The kid's arms went up to rest over his and the last of the tension evaporated. Deeg returned her attention to the bird. "Why are you so close to the edge of the forest?"

The dancer bobbed its head up and down twice before freezing with its beak pointed straight into the air and his neck turned in a way that resembled a corkscrew. His eyebrow quirked up in bafflement. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Deeg's hair tickled his neck as she stared up at the treetops. "Maybe he has a nest up there? But we aren't that deep in the forest. You said they only nested there." A strangled squawk met that guess and they both looked down. The bird extended one wing and pointed up in the same direction its head had been in. "I don't get it."

He didn't either. "I-" Overhead a crash of thunder sounded and Deeg squeaked as he instinctively hunched his body over hers. Lightning flashed before the sound died away and the dancer let loose one last cry before taking off into the air. He caught a glimpse of white before the bird vanished into the thick foliage of the trees and a sheet of rain fell over them. The trees were growing so close together that he hadn't noticed the sky darkening as clouds massed overhead. He hadn't thought the rain could move in so fast but he supposed the clouds could have been funneled down by the mountains.

They were both soaked within seconds and he let her go with a sigh. "They do like the rain."

Deeg gave him a lopsided grin. "To be fair he did try to warn us."

That was giving of the girl. "No, he tried to warn you. I think he's pretty pleased I'm soaked to the bone."

She laughed up at him and grabbed his hand. "Come on, Wyatt. Finding you art supplies will have to wait until the rain stops." That was true enough. Letting her take the lead he watched her through the rain as she picked her way out of the forest. Maybe once he had tools again he could make her something. Deeg would like that more than any gift he could buy her no matter how rough the end product was. She was the oddest princess he had ever met. It was probably why he loved her so much.

Author Note: I am very impressed with the amount of reviews I received and to La-Petit-Aviateur way to go above and beyond. Who types that much on a phone? Huge props and huggles to everyone!