Chapter 14—Longing For Love And The Logical

"She's going to send you away," said DG, her pathetic attempt to keep her voice devoid of emotion failing miserably.

"What?" asked Cain, more than a little surprised.

"She told me that she'll order the reading anyway, and 'depending on what we learn,' she'll send you away." DG shot up from her place beside him to pace the gazebo. Wyatt could see the anxiety and sadness on her face. This wasn't the DG he knew; this wasn't the kid so full of life that she'd brought a hardened man back from the brink of despair; this wasn't the girl who lit up whatever room she was in regardless of whether she was smiling. He despaired at the change. Sure, her naiveté sometimes got on his nerves, but he needed that smile, a thing that melted through solid steel, to come back.

But he didn't know what to say to make it all better. He didn't know what to do to comfort her. He was out of his league in more ways than one. Magic confused him, royalty confused him, and women confused him. He was sorely out-numbered. He'd been wrong on the day of the Eclipse…he couldn't save her now any more than he could then. He just simply didn't know how. I'm in over way my head on this one…

She turned to him and his heart sank at the look of desperation in her eyes. "What are we going to do?"

He measured her carefully, before honestly answering: "I don't know." She raised an eyebrow. "I honestly don't know what to do, DG. Ask me to track a criminal through the wilderness, ask me to shoot Longcoats on sight, hell, even ask me to stay by your side and protect you for the rest of your life. All of that's easy compared to this. I don't know a damn thing about magic, much less its nuances. Give me a six-shooter over magic any day."

"So, you're just going to let them drag you away to some gods-forsaken corner of the O.Z. for what could be the rest of your life?"

"That's not what I meant, Princess, and you know it."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant that I honestly have no idea what to do…just like I said." He finally rose from his seat on the bench and crossed the space between them, putting his hands on her arms and looking down into her face. "I want to be here, with you, more than anything. But I'm sworn to protect you…and I couldn't bear to think that I might be the reason for something happening to you." He choked on unbidden tears. For being such a man's man, he sure cried a lot, especially since the Iron Maiden.

The hurt in her crystal blue eyes, which radiated through the space between them, cut at him. "You would leave? Just like that, up and leave without concrete proof that something was wrong?"

"A Viewer's reading is concrete proof in the O.Z., Princess." He raised his hand to her jaw and stroked his thumb over her cheek bone to brush away the tear that had fallen from her eye. "No one hates this more than me, DG."

"I do…I hate this more than you know. I finally found and fell in love with my white knight, complete with a white charger, and now I might lose him."

"What did you say?" he asked, eyes going wide at her confession. He had expected to have to wait at least a few more days for those blessed words to cross her lips. He didn't need her to say them to know they were true, but he had figured that she would need more time to be able to accept his love for what it was, rather than what it should have been.

"I love you, Wyatt…I don't know when I started loving you, but I do. And I don't think I can live without you here, now that I know you love me."

He didn't wait for the tears to start falling; he pulled her into a tight embrace. His heart, that part of him that he'd thought would never truly live again, skipped a beat as she burrowed into his shoulder, her breath falling hot on his neck. Her small hands wrapped around his waist, holding to him as if there would be no tomorrow for them. That might be close enough to accurate to apply… He pressed a kiss to her temple, and gasped as she placed a light kiss to his collarbone. The gasp was replaced by a groan when she did it again. He tipped her chin up, bringing her lips to his.

They were interrupted by a polite cough. Cain cursed silently and DG jumped back. Tutor was as punctual as ever, ancient tomes in hand and ready for her lessons. "I'm sorry to interrupt your…moment, but this time is allotted for the Princess' magical education. You can teach her all about the birds and the bees later, Mr. Cain."

DG didn't know what was funnier: the fact that Tutor had said that at all, or Cain's reaction. She hadn't realized that a man could blush that color. Giggling, she stepped back toward him and planted a peck of a kiss on his cheek. The Tin Man made a hasty retreat from the gazebo, positioning himself just far enough away that he wouldn't be a distraction.

"Thanks for the comic relief, Tutor," said DG.

"Any time, Princess, though I must insist that you be prepared to begin your lessons when I arrive from now on."

"Right," she said, "so what are we learning today?"

Cain stood with his back to the gazebo, his senses alert, and his mind on standby. He played her words over again. She's going to send you away.

He honestly didn't know what to do. He was impossibly torn over the situation. This is proof of why following your heart when you don't know where it's leading is a very dangerous thing. He wasn't going to change his mind. He couldn't. He realized now how much he needed her, how much he depended on her. Understanding was only just beginning to come to him.

During their adventures, he thought he had been the one saving her. He had come to her rescue at the tower and at the Grey Gale. And, sure, he had saved her from certain danger and utter doom. But he hadn't realized how she had saved him, other than just letting him out of the Maiden. Everything that had happened since that moment…he was sure that it hadn't been intentional, but everything that she'd done since then had made him into the man he was.

It would have been easy, too easy, to take his revenge on Zero and then settle down with a bottle and his gun. In his mind during those eight annuals inside the can, he saw his family die, over and over again. He'd admit to having given up. His single purpose after DG had opened the Maiden had been to find Zero and leave five bullets in the bastard's chest, saving the last round in his six-shooter for himself.

But something in those wide blue eyes had stopped him. Something in her earnest and honest manner had already begun to find the chinks in his emotional armor. He'd originally thought it was her innocence, but he'd come to realize in time that it was something more.

It was her unique gift to be able to walk up to something dead and bring it back to life. And that's exactly what she'd done to him, just like the tree in the Field of the Papay and Finaqua itself. She had saved his life, and in so doing had saved herself. She still was his savior, her special magic working on his heart and teaching what it meant to love again.

That was one thing that made it difficult for him to see her so down-hearted, especially when he couldn't do anything about it. Her light and carefree nature had breathed life back into his broken soul. Seeing that nature begin to wither was hell. He'd give anything to see her smile again.

But he also could see reality…if there was any possibility that she was in any sort of danger because of him, he would have to leave. He really had no choice. He loved her too much to let her come to any kind of harm because of him. Braving a lifetime of solitude would be a small price to pay to know that she was safe. He knew it was a paradox, and that it would end his life, but it was a choice that he might have to make, and very soon.

Author's notes: Another shorter one tonight. Sorry about that. Please review/comment and feed the muse:-)