Disclaimer: I only own the plot bunnies, characters you've never seen, and a copy of Tin Man on DVD. Just making sure you know that. In case you forgot.

A/N: Ah - here we have the fluff and bit of angst and even some plot! Wow - just incorporated everything into this one - haven't we? I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as the last ones!

To Effie - because she had a tiring day yesterday and Charlie is bored. : ) Plus she gave me the glowworm metaphor and it made me laugh - so I used it. ; )

To everyone else who has reviewed or alerted or favorited (or all of the above) thank you from the bottom of my heart! It really means a lot to me that you all enjoy this - I hope I don't let you down! Enjoy!

Chapter 14: Flicker of Hope

It was official: she hated the snow. She hated it with a newfound passion - she hated its coldness, its wetness, its color, its name. It was stupid. Snow was stupid. She was currently planning on destroying it along with mud. There would be no mud and no snow.

She was pretty sure it was driving her insane too: it all looked the same. Everywhere she turned there was a snow-covered mountain and a few valleys. She was all turned around. They could have been walking directly back toward the Mountain Pass for all she knew. She only thing that was reassuring her that they were in fact going in the right direction - whatever that may be - was whenever they got off track, her hand would feel all warm and tingly. Then they'd stop and she'd have to go all glowworm and they'd go back or turn the right way and the feeling would go away.

It kind of made for slow going. And Cain had kept asking her if her hand was warm. That plus the obnoxious cold was grating on her nerves. Oh, yeah, and her ass hurt again. Stupid saddle.

She sat on a low rock - Azkadellia by her side - warming her hands in front of the small camp fire. Cain was adamant that they keep the fire low - apparently he didn't want the Abominable Snow Man to find them - because DG couldn't figure how anything else could survive up here.

They had found a small half-circular hovel of rocks at the base of a sheer cliff as a place to stay for the night. The cliff helped with the wind a little but DG still owed the maids at Kiamo Ko huge for the super comfy coat they had packed her. Az had done the best she could to dry their campsite but melting snow was a lot harder than drying damp ground and the eldest princess had nearly passed out with the effort.

Glitch was now helping hold her in a sitting position while Ari made food. The blonde was apparently quite a cook. She explained that when the Witch took over, her family had let most of their servants leave as they wished - whether to protect their families or move out of the O.Z. into one of the neighboring kingdoms - so the Arjiki royal family had been left mostly to their own devices and Ari had picked up the culinary arts as both necessity and pastime.

And thank god because her food was way better than anything DG could make - which basically consisted of toast and instant macaroni and cheese. For dinner this evening Ari had procured something that reminded DG of Other Side Chili - and it smelled delicious - and hot.

"Here Deeg," Ari handed her a bowl of the stuff and DG immediately felt her gloved hands warm. It was a wonderful sensation - like the tingles she felt when her GPS was talking to her - or whenever Cain stood within two feet of her.

Speaking of the Tin Man, DG looked up to find he was sitting on the edge of their half-circle hovel - his hand on his gun - and a look of stoic introspection on his face. She took a deep breath - now was as good a time as any to tell him. She gazed longingly down at her chili-stuff and then back at Cain. Dinner or uncomfortable conversation?

She couldn't deny the timing though.

He was alone - good, set apart from the others so they wouldn't hear the conversation she'd have to have with him. He looked deep in thought - not as good because then he might go into full brood mode and not talk again for two days. She sighed. She had to try.

And besides, what better way to start up a conversation than by offering him food?

She pushed off the rock she'd been using as a seat and started toward Cain. Raw - however - decided that it was the perfect time to jump up in front of her and block the way. She raised an eyebrow at him inquisitively.

"Uh, Raw?"

"Raw need to talk to DG," he took hold of her free hand. She shook her head slightly - curls falling from where she'd tucked them into her collar.

"I can't Raw - I've gotta talk to Cain about something," she replied but Raw didn't let go of her hand.

"Important," he urged. She sighed again - it wasn't like she really wanted to tell Cain now anyway.

"Okay," she nodded and Raw pulled her away from the others, "What's up?"

"Raw sorry about yesterday - didn't mean to upset DG," he began softly. DG's jaw fell open and her eyes turned large. She'd forgotten about that.

She shook her head, "No, Raw - I'm sorry - I didn't mean to yell at you like that. I was wrong."

"Raw know why DG upset - Raw's fault," the Viewer replied.

DG shook her head again. The poor thing - she didn't want him thinking this was his fault. He'd just told her the truth about Cain and then he was trying to get her to talk about it - he'd probably thought that would help her deal - and she went all nuts on him and snapped. He'd only ever tried to help her. She was an ass.

"Raw - no; it's not your fault. I was having a crappy day, but I shouldn't have been mean to you," she tried to convince him.

"DG need know truth," Raw said. DG frowned.

"The truth?" She wracked her brain, "About what - oh, if you mean Ari - yeah, I know about what Az did."

She was happy to see that there was only a little annoyance floating around after she said that. She was secretly wondering if - even though she forgave her sister - she wouldn't still feel the resentment. She'd been an only child for so long, she just wasn't sure.

"No," Raw shook his furry head, "About Tin Man."

"What about Cain?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

He'd said it before and he'd say it again: Raw didn't like telling people what they were feeling - but he felt so responsible for DG's pain that he had to tell her - and yet - he remembered riding to Kiamo Ko and knowing that DG didn't want Raw to tell her how Cain felt - that if the Tin Man felt anything, she wanted to hear it from him.

"Raw?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Tin Man not feel fuzzies for Ari."

DG's jaw dropped again.

"Wh-what?" Her voice shook. Damn it. She swallowed, "What'd you mean?"

Raw hesitated: should he, shouldn't he?

"Raw wrong," he finally replied.

"Wrong how?" She breathed - what did that mean?

"Read wrong," Raw answered vaguely.

"You read him wrong? But you never-."

"Emotions everywhere - Raw head hurt - read wrong." It sounded like a plausible enough lie to him - he hoped DG thought so too, "Raw wanted tell DG - she no need be sad now - no need tell Cain about game - be happy now."

Cain didn't love Ari. Cain didn't love Ari. It was the only thing she could think - this mantra over and over again. Raw was looking at her - a wide grin decorating his face and she knew he was reading her emotions. Raw patted her head gently and then turned on his furry heel and walked back to Az, Glitch and Ari - leaving her to stare after him in his wake.

The greatest sense of relief flooded her at that moment - god, she almost started crying. Never had she been so happy for a mistake than she was right then. She stared at Cain - still sitting on the rock, protecting their camp - and she was happy. Not just because that meant he was unattached but because he wouldn't have to suffer when she told him about Az and Ari's plot.

Cain watched Raw walk away from DG out of the corner of his eye. The princess was gaping after him - her jaw hanging and her blue eyes wide. The Tin Man smirked and wondered what exactly had been said between the two. Probably has something to do with her magic, he thought but she was looking at him now. Those big baby blues staring directly at him.

No, he couldn't have.

He was gonna kill that Viewer if he'd mentioned anything to DG about the love thing. But that's kind of what it looked like. The brunette was still looking at him and Cain shifted under her penetrating gaze. Probably in shock - disgusted - why wouldn't she be? He was at least twenty annuals older than she was - not to mention he'd been married before - and he had a son who was two annuals short of being the same age as her. He was a sick man.

DG watched Cain - she couldn't take her eyes off him - she really just wanted to run to him and hug him - like she'd done the night before - but for a whole different reason. She let out a shaky breath and didn't care that her chili was getting cold or that she couldn't feel any exposed part of her body or that there was snow leaking into her sneakers or that her butt hurt from riding a horse all day - she didn't care about any of it.

"Deeg?" Az's gentle voice made DG drag her gaze and thoughts away from the Tin Man. Azkadellia was watching her with concern flashing in her brown eyes but DG only smiled. With a bright laugh she threw her arms around her sister's neck.

"Raw was wrong!" she exclaimed.

Az frowned at her younger sister, "What?"

"He was wrong." She could effectively call herself giddy at this point.

"DG you're starting to frighten me," Az pulled out of her hug.

"Sorry, sis," DG swatted her playfully on the arm and then with another smile, trotted through the snow toward Cain.

Suddenly she was nervous. Nervous like she'd been that night at the party - when he'd asked her to dance. There were butterflies fluttering around in her stomach and she was having a little difficulty breathing. She hadn't felt this way in days. She was actually shy.

Gods, now she's come over here to tell us she thinks of us as a friend and bodyguard. He prepared himself for the discomfort - goodbye DG - she was never going to be able to look at him the same now. He felt the tips of his ears warm and thanked Ozma that he could blame it on the cold.

"Hey, Cain," her voice was soft. She's trying to let us down easy.

"Hey there Princess," he replied. He didn't look at her - he really couldn't - because if he did then he'd see that masked pity in her eyes and it would be his undoing. He cursed himself for making their relationship awkward again.

"So…are you gonna eat anything?" she asked. Get to the point kid.

"Not hungry," he answered gruffly. Time to put up the wall - the one she'd so gracefully torn down brick by brick since she'd come running into his life. It had been hard to take it down - he'd never known it would more difficult putting it back up.

What is with him? She frowned at the Tin Man. Had she done something wrong? Yeah, sure maybe she'd interrupted his alone time but he hadn't been so prickly with her in a month. She instantly regretted being so hot and cold with him over the last twenty four hours - it couldn't have made much sense to him - he was probably just trying to figure out if she'd be Normal DG or Crazy Emotional DG. She figured the best way was to show him that she was back to her old self.

"Come on - it's really good," she waved the bowl of lukewarm chili-stuff under his nose but he shied away from it. She huffed, "Oh, come on Cain - you haven't eaten since last night - you've got to be starving."

"I'm not," he snapped.

She reared back, "Well sorry. Jeez - forgive me for trying to make sure you didn't die from malnourishment."

What is his problem? She turned on her heel and started walking back toward the camp.

Oh, great - now look what we've done. She's not even going to want to be our friend now, he winced but his inner monologue - which still sounded far too much like Jeb - was right. Even if DG just wanted to be friends with him - well, he was gonna take what he could get and he wasn't going to ruin it.

"Wait, Kid," his voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned back to him - arms haphazardly crossed over her chest while trying to hold onto her bowl - a scowl on her face, "Come back here."

She seemed to debate it for a minute - he couldn't really blame her - he didn't want to be around him at the moment either - but ultimately decided to walk back toward him - her glare still in place. He moved aside on his rock and let her sit down next to him.

Her eyes softened as they met his, "I didn't mean to barge in on your you time."

He shook his head, "No - it's okay. Just-…"

"Tired?" she offered - she figured it was a plausible excuse for anything that was wrong with them the last few days.

He gave her half a smirk, "Something like that."

"Here - have some of this," she handed him the bowl, "Kinda cold now - but I think it still tastes good."

"Thanks Kid."

They sat in silence - passing the bowl of chili back and forth between them - DG could just see the first moon starting to peek out from beyond the mountain tops and sighed. Another day without finding this house - this was becoming far more annoying that she was hoping it would be. The trillions of stars glittered above them and she smiled fondly - remembering the last time they'd watched the stars together. She wished they could go back to that night - before she'd had her magic taken away - before they'd left Kiamo Ko - before Az and Ari had started their little matchmaking plot - before Raw had misread Cain and made her whole world come crashing down around her ears.

She felt like things were somehow simpler then.

But they were getting there - she and Az weren't fighting anymore - she'd learned that Raw had been wrong about the fuzzy things - she'd admitted that she was in love with the man sitting beside her - they were close to finding the frozen house (she hoped) - and she was once again gazing up at the beauty that was the clear Ozian night sky.

Yes, things were looking up.

She was staring at the stars again - silent - something he usually enjoyed - but at the moment he really wanted her to talk. He wanted her to turn him down and tell him that things couldn't go anywhere between them - that he was foolish for being in love with her and he needed to move on.

But she wasn't saying those things.

She was just sitting there with a soft smile on her face looking absolutely beautiful - even with her wind blown hair and chilled skin - not saying anything. Who was this girl and what the hell did she do with DG? He knew DG well enough to know that if there was something on her mind she wouldn't hesitate to say it. So why hadn't she said anything?

One tiny flicker of hope erupted in his heart.

Maybe she wasn't as disturbed by it as he thought.

The little flicker grew just a little bit stronger when he felt her lean ever so slightly into his side. It was for warmth, the cynic in him said - but that that unfamiliar little spark - that something he'd kept a tight leash on for eight annuals - wouldn't disappear.

So he didn't try to make it.

He resigned himself to hope and moved the arm she was leaning against around her shoulders as she shifted closer to his chest. The corners of his mouth twitched when he heard her quiet sigh.

She'd never been happier.

And it didn't matter that she didn't know if he felt anything more than friendship for her - she loved him and she was gonna take whatever he offered her. He was her Tin Man again - whether he knew it or not.

She was walking through the snow and ice. Up a hill. There was something at the bottom - a wrought iron lamppost. It cast an eerie glow on the white at its base. She walked toward it - down the hill. A valley. She heard running water. The frozen cobblestone bridge. The house - cold and dead. She was inside - a different room now - there were people. People in the room frozen in place. A painting of a couple in dark clothes. The twister symbol. The long room. The mirror. She was outside again. People were on the bridge now - covered in frost - frozen forever - the faces - she knew those faces. Her sister - Glitch - Raw - Ari - Toto - Cain. She felt the wind rushing toward her - she was falling.

She woke with a silent start - sitting straight up on her bedroll. She took deep breaths as her friends' frozen faces burned behind her eyelids. She looked around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. They were all still asleep - she hadn't even woken Cain.

The Tin Man was lying on his side - one hand holding tightly to hers - his eyes still shut and his breathing steady. She sighed in relief - she didn't think she could manage seeing his baby blues at the moment when they were cold and lifeless in her mind's eye.

She hadn't woken up in a fit of screams but she'd felt the terror as if she had. Real pure terror - she'd never felt it so strongly in her life - even as a child in the Witch's Cave - even on the balcony of the Black Tower during the Eclipse - she'd been afraid then but this was something worse - her friends - the people she loved most - she had felt the death - had felt it in every fiber of her being.

They were in danger.

And she had put them there.

With every bit of strength she could muster, she let go of Cain's hand and pushed herself to her feet. She held her breath as the Tin Man shifted in his sleep and grumbled something before pulling his arm close to his chest and stilled once more.

She moved quietly in the darkness as she stepped out of the campsite, leaving the others behind.

Cain…

Go away.

Cain…

Shut up.

Cain…

Leave me alone.

Wake up!

He jolted into a sitting position. The voice in his head had been the most obnoxious, sing-song, playful voice he'd ever heard - it sounded like one of those damn fairies you could find in the Southern Forests. He hated those things.

He looked around - the moons were high in the sky - so it was probably a few hours after midnight - the others were still asleep. He could make out four large blobs and one tiny blob in the darkness across the campsite. He sighed - stupid dreams.

He lay back down on his bedroll - eyes drifting closed once more.

He almost had a heart attack he sat up so quickly. Where the fuck is DG? Forget heart attack, his heart had stopped - dead stopped. He pulled the blankets off her empty bedroll - as if she'd just shrunk to some tiny size in her sleep and was otherwise fine - but no - surprisingly - she was not there.

He leapt off the ground as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"DG!" His shout dragged moans from the other sleeping parties and in a moment the hovel was filled with an orange glow as Az's fire came to life once more.

"What's wrong Mr. Cain?" Az asked - absolute fright etched on her pale face.

"DG's gone," he answered shortly moving to his pack and digging out a small knife and more ammo for his six-shooter.

"What'd you mean?" Ari asked - green eyes wide in disbelief.

"I mean she's not here," Cain snapped caustically.

"Don't worry, Cain, we'll find her," Glitch tried to be reassuring but his voice was laced with unveiled concern.

Cain didn't answer, instead he started searching the snow around their campsite - finally he caught sight of small footprints leading to the northeast. He turned back to the group - blue eyes flashing dangerously.

"I'm going to find her - you get the horses ready and follow afterwards," Cain ordered.

Azkadellia was on her feet in a second, "No - I refuse to sit here while my sister could be in danger."

"I don't have time to argue with you, Princess," Cain replied. He stalked away from them - his part of the conversation officially over. He would go by foot - as much as he wanted the speed of his horse - getting the animal ready would take up time he might not have - and it was far easier to track DG's footprints if he was closer to the ground.

"I care about her as much as you do, Mr. Cain," Az sniped hotly - lavender sparks shooting from her brown eyes at the retreating Tin Man.

Cain didn't even look back as he moved into the shadow of the night - relying on the moon and stars to give him enough light to follow his princess' trail. He didn't let himself think what could happen if he didn't find her.

He would find her.

He would.

She wasn't lost - per say - just a little turned around. She'd been following her magical TomTom since she'd left the campsite - but she'd kind of been stuck in the same spot for the last twenty minutes before she'd gotten so completely confused she almost flopped down into the snow and gave up.

Not to mention all the sudden her GPS had stopped working on her. Every time she'd tried to call on it in she'd been without results. She desperately wished that the stupid thing came with a manual - that would be helpful.

She huffed. Okay, try again. You can do this - just focus. She closed her eyes and tried to let her Light flow - or pretend to flow because she didn't actually have any to flow. She kind of thought thinking things like that was why she was having such a difficult time doing this.

She looked toward the direction she'd been heading - it all looked the same to her. Stupid snow. When the whole world is blanketed in the stuff it's a little hard to tell one rock from another. She also kinda thought she'd gone in a big circle because those footprints right there looked awfully familiar.

Oh, yeah, she was so lost. Stupid snow. Stupid magic. Stupid O.Z.

"Holy mother of!" She jumped three feet in the air when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She spun around so fast she thought her neck might snap - her fist raised and ready to deck whoever it was in the face.

"Whoa there Princess." Cain quickly moved out of the way of her wayward fist.

"Cain!" Her eyes went wide. She was caught between being really happy that she wasn't alone on this goose chase, to being angry at him for scaring her, to being really scared because - oh, god - he was pissed.

"Where in the hell do you think you're going?" His blue eyes were blazing - really - really - blazing. She gulped.

"To find the house," she answered meekly.

"So you decided to leave in the middle of the goddamned night without telling me!" Had she been a weaker woman the strength of his shout would have knocked her backwards onto her ass. As it was, she winced painfully.

"Sorry - but I didn't want you to get hurt." It wasn't like she'd just run off to build snowmen.

"What about you - DG - did you think what would have happened to you - going off by yourself?" He was positively livid.

"Well -…" She hadn't really thought about it - not really.

"No - of course you didn't. You always do this DG - you run headfirst into things without a thought to your own safety! How the hell am I supposed to protect you like that?!" Now there was anger and something else behind his eyes. She nearly choked when she realized what it was: fear.

"I'm sorry Cain," her voice was low - sorrowful - and it softened his rage.

He sighed, relief draining his anger, "I know."

He'd almost lost her - this little slip of a girl who had stolen his heart - he had very nearly lost her. It chilled him far more than the cold winter air could. He wanted to hug her but he was afraid if he did he would just never let her go.

"We should get back to the others," he said, taking one of her slim hands in his, "They'll be worried about you. I told them to get the horses ready before I left. They should be heading in this direction soon - hopefully the Zipperhead knows how to follow footprints."

DG was trying really hard to focus on what Cain was saying but something over his shoulder kept dragging her attention away from him. It looked like a tree - but not - it was too - manufactured - for a tree - plus they hadn't seen anything but shrubs since they'd gone through the Pass. But it looked familiar. She narrowed her eyes and moved her head from side to side - trying to discern what it could be.

Cain looked at her with a grin but she wasn't paying attention, "Have you heard anything I've said?"

"Horses - Glitch - footprints, yeah, yeah, I heard," she said absently with a wave; then pointed over his shoulder, "Does that look like a lamppost to you?"

A/N 2: I hope you guys liked the Raw/DG exchange - once again I'm a little ambivalent about it. I hope it works. Also - sadness - but there will only be one more chapter and an epilogue to this. So hold onto your hats folks because things are gonna get a little crazy! : )