Shizuka awoke with a start. She felt clammy with sweat and her heart was thudding wildly, but otherwise she was fine. She could have cried because of how utterly normal she felt - no fever, no chills, no searing headache. She never felt healthier in her life.
She looked over and saw her mother and Katsuya asleep in their chairs beside her. Shizuka smiled and waited for them to wake so she could tell them about her wild dream.
A/N: That's all, folks! This idea started with a terrible shower rendition of "If I Only Had" from the Wizard of Oz film and a stray thought about which Yami would be each of Dorothy's companions. I decided I liked the irony of Bakura professing his desire for a heart, and the plot bunny grew from there.
The flip side of these musings was sorting out which Hikari would be each witch (East, West, and Glinda). That, of course left the position of Wizard of Oz open, so I dug deep for a parallel and thought Kaiba was too perfect. A genius inventor who solves problems with science over magic? Done deal.
And then came the quest. How and why would the companions meet each other and decide to travel to each realm? The answers to those questions is the fanfic you just read.
Finally: the Quickening. Of course, I couldn't have this set of characters and not ship them, so I invented a plot macguffin to help the relationships along. (And although I tried my very best to write them equally, you can probably tell which ship is my favorite based on the amount of detail I wrote for its Quickening scene.)
Thank you for journeying with me through this self-gratifying adventure fantasy. I've come to love this world and hope you did too!
What did you love? What would you have done differently? What are you still curious about? I'd love to know!
Cast
Serenity - Dorothy
Joey - Toto
Marik - Scarecrow
Bakura - Tinman/Woodsman
Yami - Cowardly Lion
Yugi - Wicked Witch of the East
Ishizu - Wicked Witch of the West
Seto - Wizard of Oz
Ryou - Glinda the Good Witch
