Tell Me Why We Walk Ourselves in Circles (Tell Me Why We Talk in Twisted Tongues)
"Oh, how I know that this ache in your heart tears you apart, my dear. I know it's not fair, 'cause escapism is hard when I used to be there. Hold me while I drift off to sleep, then let the current swallow me. Now that I've sunken so deep, there's no escape and no reprieve…"
('Everchanger' by 'Valiant Hearts')
"Hey, Momo!" Ochako said as she waved down the witch-in-training at the snack table.
The party was still going strong, and Momo had elected to wear her fancy, glittery royal red and white witch outfit with the long red gloves. She had her long black hair in a ponytail, as was usual, and Ochako thought she might just be the most stunning lady at the party. She'd certainly got the most offers for dances at any rate, when Ochako had been standing with her and Himiko earlier.
"Hello, Ochako! I saw you dancing with Izuku, how did it go?" Momo asked with a smile as Ochako got close. Ochako turned a bit pink in response.
"Have Himiko and Tsuyu been corrupting you, too?" Ochako moaned, though she wasn't really surprised or upset. Momo covered her giggle with her hand.
"Maybe a little bit. You and Izuku looked quite fetching together, I hope you had fun?" She replied, and Ochako sighed as she poured herself another cup of punch.
"I did. But we're going to… talk about stuff here, in a few minutes. I actually came over to let you know that we're leaving… and to ask how it went with Shouto, too." Ochako turned back to Momo as she finished that statement, then she idly sipped her punch as it was Momo's turn to blush.
"It went well! I managed to not step on any toes, and so did he! I'll count that as a win, personally," Momo said with a kind smile, her cheeks ever-so-slightly pink.
"And…?" Ochako asked as she brought her drink away from her lips.
"And… he wants to travel one day. To see all the things that he never got to see. I think that sounds rather romantic and, er…" Momo paused for a moment and looked down at her own punch, which was mostly gone. "I'll be the Good Witch of the North soon. Nana let me know last night she thinks I'm almost ready, barring one last major test she didn't elaborate on." Momo looked back to Ochako with a softer smile. "So… I think my first act as a major witch will be to tour the world with Shouto and see if we can't help people who need it outside the immediate area of the Emerald City."
"That sounds wonderful, Momo. Did you ask Shouto about that?"
"I did! He went to use the restroom, but after he comes back, I think we might also leave and discuss what that looks like for us." Momo looked quite wistful, and Ochako was only a little bit envious of her; envious of how easily her plans fell into place with the boy she loved and envious of how everything clicked for them. But that wasn't nice or fair, so Ochako smiled and nodded at Momo.
"That's awesome. I bet Himiko and Tsuyu will do something like that too, huh?" Ochako said, and Momo nodded enthusiastically in response.
"They might travel with us for a bit, so she and I can compare magic styles and learn from each other. I think it will be splendid, personally!" Momo practically had stars in her eyes, and Ochako's smile became a bit more genuine. She was happy for her friends. "You know, I thought I saw Izuku just a moment ago but he's gone now…" Momo added, interrupting Ochako's thoughts. Ochako blinked in confusion and looked around.
"I thought… he would come over here, honestly," Ochako admitted.
"It looked like he was catching his breath over along the far wall, but now he's gone." Momo hummed neutrally and closed her eyes in concentration. After a moment there was a little glow, and Ochako watched Momo flit her wand with her free hand and mutter something that didn't sound like Japanese or English. Then the glow went away and Momo's eyes fluttered open and she looked thoroughly confused for a moment, staring off into space. Momo turned back to Ochako with concern. "He's ascending the main tower of the Emerald City with someone I've never seen before. They're magical, though… Very magical."
"Huh. I didn't think there were any other very magical people in the Emerald City other than you, Izuku, Himiko, and Nana," Ochako replied, not really sure what to make of that.
"You're very magical, Ochako. Or at least, you show up as such when I scry. Your magic is… different, though." Momo scrunched her nose up just a tiny bit. "Like… you're in a teacup and you've got the lid on."
"Strange. Can you tell me more about who Izuku is with, though?" Ochako said, brushing off the comment. There would be time later for examining her own magic once she figured out who this new person was. Momo closed her eyes again and flicked her wand, then there was another glow. She began speaking without letting go of the glow and kept her eyes shut as she did so.
"They're… taller, and they have whitish hair and red eyes. The magic doesn't let me hear what they're saying but… he's got a black raven on his shoulder, oh dear. He's also got a distinctive scar on his lip?"
Ochako thought really hard for several moments, trying to search her memories. Who did she know who had white hair and red eyes? Nobody, really, or at least nobody was coming to mind. But a scar on the lip-
"His stepbrother?!" Ochako whispered urgently, as realization hit her. She turned back to Momo, who looked very perplexed. "Izuku has a stepbrother, he told me a bit more about him when we were traveling. His name is Tomura and he's… He came to Oz but he disappeared, I totally forgot!"
"What's a stepbrother?" Momo asked, and Ochako stared blankly at the witch-in-training as she searched for words.
"Izuku's dad died when he was a baby, so Izuku's mom remarried later on. The man she married already had an older son, named Tomura. He… is not a nice man," she explained, and Momo mulled the proposition over in her head for a few moments.
"That's not very common in Oz, but I suppose the important aspect is that this Tomura figure is not very nice. He… appears to be a witch now," Momo said, and Ochako felt all the color drain from her face.
"A witch?!" Ochako said incredulously, and Momo nodded.
"He has a familiar now, the black raven is definitely magical. I haven't ever met a witch with a black raven familiar before, however." Momo brought her lips to the side in a pout for a moment. "Nana's is a pretty golden eagle, and I believe Chitose's was a black owl. Magic in Oz tends to revolve around symbolism as much as faith, Ochako. It's why you need a 'real' broomstick instead of a false one, even if that seems nonsensical. In a world based on nonsense, symbolism becomes law," Momo added, and she said the last part in a way that made Ochako suspect it was something she had to memorize as part of her training.
"I see. We worked out the faith part on our own. Izuku did say that the last time Tomura had been seen he'd been heading east but…" Ochako trailed off, but then she and Momo shared a look of horrified recognition.
"He's the new Wicked Witch of the East," Momo breathed out, and Ochako nodded quickly as she set her punch down on the table. Momo followed suit, then they both began scanning the crowds to find their friends.
"I'll get Katsuki, Eijiro, and Shouto, you get Himiko, Tsuyu, and alert the Gale Force," Ochako said, and Momo nodded more firmly than Ochako had, her ponytail bobbing with the motion.
Then the two girls took off, and Ochako began to pray that Tomura was still merely a jerk and not a monster due to the magic of Oz.
"So, tell me Izuku, have you enjoyed doing whatever you wanted while I wasn't around to keep you in line?"
Tomura's voice had a hard edge to it, and also a slight echo, that unnerved Izuku. He wasn't quite pouring magic into his voice like Himiko had been but the effect was muted and there, as if in the background. He was also his usual, slightly cruel self, and Izuku couldn't help but sigh.
"You just left, Tomura. I did my best to fix things around here, and people are happier!"
Tomura turned to side-eye Izuku as they slowly ascended the main tower of the Emerald City. Then he grinned, and it was more than a little disturbing with how deathly pale Tomura looked now as the scar on his lip stretched.
"'Happy,' Izuku? That's all you ever went on about, doing magic shows to make people 'happy.'" Tomura clenched his fist in front of him as he ascended the stairs in front of Izuku. "You and I both know that Papa taught us better than that, don't you?"
Izuku clenched his own fists at his sides. He couldn't do magic at this point; he had used too much on Katsuki, Eijiro, and Shouto and needed to recover for longer yet. But in spite of that, he was surprisingly resolved in that moment not to be afraid. He was tired of Tomura acting like he could tell Izuku what to do all the time and he was tired of Tomura always being mean to others for his own gain.
"No," Izuku said flatly. Tomura stopped abruptly on the stairs and so did Izuku behind him. "He's your dad, not my dad. And he was always trying to teach you to take advantage of people, wasn't he? You told me you were happier when we left home to learn from Toshinori but look at you now-"
Izuku was cut off when Tomura turned and backhanded him. Izuku almost lost his footing but he caught the railing that was on the inner part of the winding, circular staircase. Then he wiped his mouth off and glared defiantly at Tomura, who had a hysterical, murderous look to his eyes.
"You were happier when we left home. You don't have to be like your dad tried to make you, Tomura."
"All my dad ever taught me was that nobody will ever do anything for ya for free, Izuku. He taught me to look out for myself, because no one else will do it for me. So I looked out for you, too, because you sure as shit weren't going to," Tomura declared, though Izuku didn't drop his glare.
"You tried. But how is this taking care of me? You don't have to be this way. You could come live in the Emerald City with me!" Izuku said, and his statement visibly displeased Tomura, though he began walking up the stairs again.
"What did I tell you? When we came here? We're going to run this town, together, you and me. They think you're the greatest shit to ever live now, so it'll be even easier than it was before." Tomura held up his left hand so that Izuku could see it in the dim light of the staircase. Everything was bathed in a soft green, as some kind of glittering, artificial lights periodically dotted the staircase about every ten feet. Tomura's hand began to crackle with crimson lightning, and Izuku eyed it warily. "We're real magicians now, Izuku. You and I, we're going to be the Wizards of Oz, together."
"Will we, Tomura? Or will you be the Wizard of Oz, and I'll do what you tell me?" Izuku snapped, and Tomura turned his head back again to peer at Izuku as they ascended the staircase.
"Is there a difference? You never cared about power or leading before, as I recall."
"I didn't and I don't. I care about making things better and making people happier, so they can smile again. Not ruling over them like a king," Izuku said. Tomura narrowed his eyes at Izuku but before he could reply, they reached their destination. Tomura swung open the door at the top of the staircase and Izuku was immediately hit with a cold breeze and shivered. It was warm out, in general, but it was also now pretty late at night and they were…
Izuku walked out with Tomura onto the platform and hugged his elbows. They were high up - far higher than Izuku had ever been in his life, and he'd been to some of the taller new skyscrapers in New York City. But the main tower of the Emerald City was very tall, and Izuku began to shake as much from fear as from cold as he looked out to the rest of the city below.
"Do you see all this, Izuku?" Tomura asked as he walked towards the edge of the platform. Tomura threw out his hands, his palms facing up towards the sky, in a classic showman's pose, as he began to lightly cackle and smile. It did not look or sound very happy at all, and the black raven on his shoulder squawked angrily even as Tomura ignored it. "Papa always said to aim high and the world would be at my fingertips. Well here I am, and I hope he's watching from fucking Hell, Izuku."
"What…?" Izuku said in a confused tone. Tomura turned his neck to look at him, his hands still outstretched and his body still facing the city.
"Oh, I didn't tell you. I knew you never liked Papa. He died a few months ago, got the letter in the mail from Inko. Poor lady's all alone again." Tomura dropped his hands and turned fully to Izuku, his expression somewhere between ecstatic and furious, or maybe both at once. "I always liked your mom, you know that? She's the only person who was ever nice to me just for existing. Deserved better than Papa but then, Papa always taught me you don't get what you deserve in life, huh?"
"He taught you a lot of garbage, Tomura, and I wish… I know you're smarter than that, better than that," Izuku said. Despite the cold and his fear of heights, Izuku stopped hugging himself and tried to adopt a posture of confidence.
"You never were good at reading people," Tomura said cryptically. "Now, are you going to help me take over this preposterous place the easy way, or am I going to have to make you?"
Izuku looked away for a moment, contemplating. Tomura was the Wicked Witch of the East and at the moment far more powerful than Izuku when it came to magic. But Izuku was the face of authority, the only one that the people of Oz and the Emerald City would take seriously. Izuku decided he had a position to bargain from… but not by much.
"When you became a witch, did you learn how to make a true broomstick?" Izuku asked cautiously, turning back to Tomura. Tomura looked utterly confused for a moment, before shifting into a light scowl.
"Can't say I ran across anything like that… Why?"
"I need a true witch's broomstick to send Ochako home. The… the girl you and I met, right before we came here," Izuku said. Tomura narrowed his eyes at Izuku, but didn't immediately reply.
Slowly, Tomura stuck his hands in his pockets and began to gently pace along the platform. He still wore a black suit and tie with a white dress shirt, though his clothes were now very clean and sharp. Izuku suspected they had been modified by magic, and Izuku noted that Tomura had gained a crimson pocket square he didn't have before. Izuku hadn't seen a wand yet, or something equivalent to use as such.
"What do you care about sending her home?" Tomura asked, shifting into a tone Izuku was very familiar with: the tone he used when he was trying to get the better of Izuku, and usually, to rub Izuku's nose in Tomura's impending victory.
"Because I… I really care about her, and she wants to go home," Izuku said, and he was frustrated with how his voice wavered for a moment. Tomura caught that, because he gave an evil grin to Izuku.
"So you want to send her home, even though you love her? How does that help you?" Tomura asked in a knowing tone, like he thought he'd cornered Izuku.
"I want to send her home because I love her, Tomura. I guess you wouldn't understand something like that," Izuku snapped back. Tomura glared at Izuku and for a moment Izuku was afraid he'd pushed too far.
Then Tomura began to pace again, thinking to himself. Izuku took a step forward to hear him better over the wind, so they were now about five feet apart. Izuku stuck his own hands in his pockets, so that he wouldn't fidget in front of Tomura. He was tired of appearing weak or timid in front of his stepbrother. Izuku wanted to show Tomura that he had grown.
That he had grown past Tomura.
"So if I made you a 'true witch's broomstick,' you could send Ochako home? Sounds like I hold all the cards here," Tomura said flatly. He slowly smiled at Izuku, looking very smug.
"Not really. There's another witch, Tomura. The Wicked Witch of the West. She'd help me, if you refuse." Izuku paused as Tomura's expression spoiled. "But… If you agree to help me, and not to hurt anyone… I'll go with your plan without a fuss."
"What makes you think I'd ever hurt anyone?" Tomura asked, his voice suddenly sickly sweet and laced with false sincerity. Izuku scowled at Tomura; that was the voice that Tomura's father liked to use when he was trying to manipulate Izuku as well.
"Don't play dumb. I know how you are and I know… You've been worse recently. Since Toshinori died, and since we got to Oz. I just… wish I could make you see yourself how I see you."
"And how is that, Izuku? Do you think you know me better than I know me?" Tomura asked as he took a long stride towards Izuku. Izuku held his ground and gaze, defiance in his heart.
"No, I-" Izuku was cut off as the door behind them slammed open.
"Oi, ya ugly bastard, leave him alone!"
Izuku turned and saw Ochako leading Katsuki, Shouto, and Eijiro onto the roof, and Ochako did not look happy whatsoever. Her aura felt surprisingly crisp and sharp, like she was actually all there, and there was fire in her eyes. The boys' auras also felt sharp and true, like they had no intention of leaving that rooftop without Izuku.
But Tomura's aura, which up until that point had been murky and hazy, almost undecided, suddenly hardened like concrete and turned vicious.
Then Izuku yelped when one of his arms was dragged behind his body and Tomura's other hand gripped him hard around the neck.
"Do we have a plan?" Katsuki asked gruffly as Ochako led the boys up the stairs.
She had quickly found Katsuki and Eijiro, fresh off their dance. Ochako felt more than a little bad but at least she was able to wait for them to finish their first kiss before dragging them off by the collars and barking out an explanation as fast as she could muster and still be coherent.
They found Shouto coming out of the bathroom and he looked both perplexed and terrified to see Ochako dragging Katsuki and Eijiro to him. Then Ochako rapidly explained again what was going on and that they had to probably protect Izuku, then the boys were no longer concerned. They were angry.
"The plan, if you can call it that, is that Momo and Himiko are gonna fly up on the outside while we go up the stairs. There's only one exit and entrance to the top observation area, so they can't possibly get past us," Ochako declared. She was very grateful, at that moment, that Momo was an exceptional leader and planner and also had memorized the floor plans for the Emerald City. Momo only had to get lost wandering the hallways once there before resolving never to get lost again.
"How'd you guys come with that so quick?" Eijiro asked, more so in curiosity than anything else.
"Momo did, she sent me a message via magic. She's smart and I trust her," Ochako said as she looked back to peer at the boys. Shouto shot her a thumbs up and she nodded in turn.
"Alright, fair enough, but what the Hell are we supposed to do against this new witch guy?" Katsuki asked from directly behind Ochako.
"I'm going to make a bucket and some water and splash him," Ochako declared with more than a little bit of conviction.
"Are you sure, Ochako? Didn't that take you more than a few tries to get right-"
"I'm sure," Ochako said sharply, cutting off Shouto. She felt a little bit bad but she was in no mood for arguments tonight. Her magic would work, because she needed it to work, because she needed to save Izuku, and that was that.
They were getting close to the top of the stairs now, Ochako could feel it. She could also feel… other things, other people around her in a way she couldn't before. Or at least, it wasn't this sharp and bright before. Katsuki was like molten fire behind her, while Eijiro felt like a mountain or large boulder; those were the mental images she got when she blinked for more than a moment and felt behind her, anyway. Shouto was like ice, mostly, but there was a fire at the center there, too.
Above them, she felt two more people. Izuku was there and she could feel him as bright and clear as a lighthouse. He felt like a thunderstorm with a calm meadow at the center and the effect was both pleasant and disorienting. Meanwhile, the other person felt like death, but like they were this murky ocean of death and there was…
Like there was a lost child in the middle, looking for its mother.
The imagery and magic was nauseating to Ochako but she kept marching up the stairs, and the closer she got, the more powerful the effect got, too. They reached the door and Ochako stopped dead. She could hear voices on the other side, though they were muffled and faint, and she held a hand behind her for the boys to stop moving.
"So you want to send her home, even though you love her? How does that help you?" A scratchy, unpleasant sounding voice laced with faint, malevolent magic said. Ochako frowned and leaned closer to the door.
"I want to send her home becauseI love her, Tomura. I guess you wouldn't understand something like that," Izuku shot back at his stepbrother, and Ochako's eyes widened. She felt the tears before she quite registered what they were, as she turned in mute horror towards Katsuki and Eijiro, who were closest to her on the stairs.
Katsuki mouthed 'what's going on?' to her, but she just screwed her eyes shut and shook her head. She needed a few moments to compose herself. Now, more than ever, she was resolved to save Izuku, but she also felt like…
She felt like there had been a blizzard in her heart and abruptly it had quieted into a pure, perfect, calm sheet of endless ice, and it was both beautiful and frigid. Ochako opened her eyes and quickly blinked away her tears, then she gave a determined expression to Katsuki and Eijiro, who nodded.
Ochako held up her hand and began to count down from five. When she brought her thumb in, she threw open the door, and Katsuki yelled before she could.
"Oi, ya ugly bastard, leave him alone!"
Ochako paid him no mind as she began marching forward. She watched Izuku turn to her and for a moment he lit up like he was staring right at the sun. Ochako stopped dead in her tracks and was torn between prospective actions even as she willed her body to move.
Then Tomura grabbed Izuku by the neck and wrenched his arm behind his back.
"Ah ha, it's the girl, Ochako! You just keep messing up my plans for Izuku here, don'tcha?" Tomura asked as he tightened his grip on Izuku's neck. Ochako clenched her fists at her sides as the boys took up positions next to her: Katsuki and Eijiro on her right and Shouto on her left. They also made fists, but Tomura just scoffed at the four of them.
Ochako held her right hand out and there was a vibrant pink glow. In a poof of smoke, she was holding a full water bucket, and she didn't even hesitate to grip the bottom with her other hand and begin walking forward-
"Oh, I wouldn't do that, unless you want to watch Izuku here fly away as scattered ashes," Tomura said, and Ochako stopped dead once more. "He'd be dead before the water hit me, trust me sweetheart."
"Let him go!" Shouto yelled from behind Ochako, but she was just staring at Izuku and Tomura, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a plan.
"I don't think I will, actually, since you came to kill me," Tomura replied evenly. He took a step back slowly towards the edge for good measure. "So if you don't get back yourself, I'll just keep inching towards this edge over here nice and slow like."
"Just… just back away, Ochako! It's okay! Just stay away!" Izuku said urgently, and Ochako couldn't resist the urge to make an angry, incoherent growl of frustration.
"God dammit, Izuku, you can't… Let me help you!" Ochako pleaded as she held her position.
"Oh my, such a shame, Izuku. She's always trying to help clean up your messes, you really do know how to pick 'em, don'tcha?" Tomura said, his tone slightly sing-song and mocking. Izuku visibly grit his teeth but didn't take his gaze off of Ochako.
"Ochako, just… stay back. It's not… I don't want you to fall if I fall, please…"
Izuku began to cry, and so did Ochako. She had a white-knuckle grip on the bucket but she knew that wouldn't work now. Tomura's grin was hysterical and dark and he was reveling in the position he had them in. Ochako felt their auras tangling and writhing together; Tomura's felt like claiming victory and Izuku's felt like…
Resignation.
"What if I want to catch you?" Ochako whispered, and she watched Izuku's expression turn stunned.
"Sorry, sweetheart, we don't have time for that tonight. You and your friends can just turn right around and walk back down those stairs, then Izuku and I can finish our conversation like civilized brothers, right, Izuku?" Tomura said, his tone obnoxiously sweet. Ochako glared at Tomura in turn.
"That's… Yeah, just… just do that, guys. Please, this doesn't have to be…"
"Stop letting people just walk all over you!" Katsuki interrupted, and Ochako watched Izuku turn to Katsuki in surprise. She didn't take her eyes off of Izuku, though.
"Yeah! We aren't leaving without you, because you're our friend!" Eijiro declared.
"A good brother wouldn't threaten his sibling," Shouto added, and his tone was shockingly dark in his deep voice. Family was a sore point for him, and Ochako felt his aura melting into raw heat like the sun.
"I'm not leaving this roof without him, Tomura, and you're not leaving it at all if you don't step away from the edge and let him go," Ochako said, and even Tomura looked a bit shocked at her. Tomura took another step back and that brought him right to the edge.
"I guess we're at an impasse, then. Normally, the people I work with are better at negotiating before jumping straight to fighting, though," Tomura said dismissively.
Ochako focused on him, but she couldn't help but smirk just a tiny bit as she watched Tomura think he held all the cards. Him and his stupid, wider smirk in reply, thinking he was going to get the better of her and take away the boy she loved and drop off the edge of the Emerald City with his own stepbrother.
She smirked because Himiko and Momo rose up on broomsticks behind Tomura, with Tsuyu as a frog on Himiko's shoulder.
"Take this!" Himiko cried, and Tomura didn't get a chance to react before she executed a graceful full spin with her broomstick and thwacked Tomura right in the back of the head with an audible, painful sound.
Tomura released Izuku, who stumbled forward. Ochako dropped the bucket and caught him, but he immediately pulled away and turned around. Ochako followed his gaze and watched in shock as Tomura flailed at the edge, about to go over.
"Tomura!" Izuku screamed, and he wrenched all the way out of her grasp as Tomura went over the edge.
Then Ochako screamed, too, because Izuku also jumped right over the edge, trying to grab Tomura's hand.
Ochako didn't think, couldn't think, wouldn't think. She just moved - and she followed Izuku over the edge as well.
Ochako fell fast, and watched as Izuku grabbed Tomura's hand. Tomura was too shocked to do anything really, then Izuku looked back and was shocked to see Ochako falling after him. She just screamed incoherently at him and held out her right hand - then he grabbed it and held fast with his left.
Ochako flailed her other hand wildly, unsure of what else to do as they rapidly fell towards their death - then she turned when Katsuki grabbed her hand. Behind him, Eijiro grabbed Katsuki's other hand, and Shouto grabbed Eijiro's free hand. Finally, Momo swooped around and grabbed Shouto by both legs, struggling to stop their fall.
Abruptly, they slowed down as a human chain all together, though their descent was still happening as they dragged Momo down. Momo was struggling to stay on her broom and bright red and white smoke rose from her as she used magic to try and pull them all up.
Ochako turned back to look below and watched Himiko shoot downwards like a rocket, trying to push Tomura up from the other end.
"Damn you, you guys need to… eat less…" Himiko grunted loudly into the roaring wind as she tried to push up with her own broom.
There in the windy night, they were nine souls strung together by a physical connection, and for a moment Ochako screwed her eyes shut and wondered if this was how it would end for her. She wondered, to herself, if she regretted it: if she regretted sailing over the edge for Izuku, and dragging her friends along with her.
Ochako opened her eyes to look at Izuku, then she smiled.
"You… you caught me," Izuku said, though it was hard to hear over the wind. Ochako kept smiling at him, so happy even at the end of it all.
"Of course I did. Did you not believe me?"
"I didn't… I didn't think that you should have," Izuku admitted. "I… I love you, Ochako. I'm sorry I didn't trust you before."
"Do you trust me now?" Ochako asked, as she felt the magic finally, finally sharpen like a blade around her. There was a beautiful pink glow, even as the wind ripped across her and Izuku's hair and clothes.
Izuku nodded at her, and the pink glow intensified until it drowned out the green of the Emerald City's main tower entirely and lit up the entire night. Ochako closed her eyes and focused on how she felt knowing that Izuku loved her… and how she felt realizing that she loved Izuku, too.
She felt weightless, and in turn the magic made them all weightless, too.
"Ochako, you're doing it!" Himiko yelled from below, but Ochako kept her eyes closed and focused on the magic.
Abruptly, she felt the sensation of flying upwards, and Ochako opened her eyes just in time to make a cry of surprise as her butt hit the observation deck of the top of the Emerald City again. Izuku came flying next and landed in her lap backwards, and she immediately grabbed him and held on as if he'd disappear if she didn't.
Eijiro and Katsuki landed in a heap next to her and Izuku, while Shouto actually managed to land into a roll, much to Ochako's surprise. Then he fell over and looked like he was wrong move from throwing up.
Tomura landed last and came to a skidding stop on his back, panting heavily and staring straight at the sky. Himiko flew up on her broom and gave Izuku a stern, angry look, before she turned her gaze to Tomura and brought her knife out to do a little spell. She made a symbol in the air that turned blue, then a portal appeared below Tomura on the ground and he fell through it with a yelp. Izuku tried to lean forward to look, but Ochako held him close in a death grip.
"If you ever do something like that again, I'm going to tie you to a chair forever," Ochako said with absolute seriousness, and Izuku nodded lamely and hung his head.
Then Ochako hugged him and began to laugh and cry at the same time, incredulous at the very idea that they were alive at all. They were alive and Izuku was in her hands and she was struck at that moment by the idea that this was how she always wanted it to be.
"Izuku, what the Hell?!" Himiko cried from somewhere above them, and Ochako tried to blink away her tears to look at Himiko as she hovered on her broomstick. "I dropped him into the dungeon, which suppresses magic. But that was really stupid! You're lucky Ochako was able to save everyone!"
Izuku sniffled and Ochako realized he was crying too, though he was more so ugly crying and sounded dejected.
"I just… He's still family, Himiko," Izuku mumbled, and Ochako couldn't help but hug Izuku close and try to soothe him.
She could understand not wanting to lose family, perhaps more than anything else in the world.
It was about two hours later that Izuku made his way alone down to the dungeon.
He first had to endure a mortifying, hour-long session of his friends asking him what the Hell he was thinking. It involved a lot of crying and shaking and freaking out, and Katsuki and Himiko were especially not pleased. They didn't understand at all what Izuku was doing or why he would try to save the life of someone who had just tried to kill him.
Ochako was also upset but… she spent the entire time holding his hand while the others talked and Izuku was grateful for that. Shouto also understood, insofar as he understood that family was important to Izuku; however, Shouto also argued that Izuku should've pushed Tomura off the edge himself, not tried to save him. Izuku had chuckled a little bit at that, even if he didn't agree.
Once everyone was satisfied that Izuku was okay and had not jumped because of any desire to die - which he did not, and he stressed that to them - they let him go. Ochako gave him another kiss on the cheek and let him know she was going to wait for him with Nana, because the Good Witch of the North would want to speak to both of them.
Himiko and Katsuki didn't really want him to go see Tomura but… it was safe to do so, at least. Tomura was in a locked cell in the dungeons, surrounded by guards of the Gale Force. The dungeons had been enchanted by past witches to suppress any and all magic as well, so Tomura was effectively just a normal person there. Probably extremely angry, but still, normal.
Izuku was surprised, as he descended the stairs down to the dungeon, that Sero came to follow him. He was wagging his tail and looking quite pleased with himself, and he was well-groomed and washed, too. Izuku had sent Sero to be pampered and trimmed by the beauticians of the Emerald City, who had a blast meeting their first ever dog and giving him a bath.
Sero barked happily, though he struggled with the stairs a bit. Taking pity on him, Izuku bent over and picked him up, then carried the little dog the rest of the way down. Sero looked quite pleased with this development as well, and Izuku made a mental note to ask Katsuki later if he could still speak dog.
Izuku stepped off the staircase into the dark, grungy place that was the dungeon. There were a lot of cells there, though only two were occupied. Izuku set Sero down and briskly walked down the halls, before he got towards the end and saw a small crowd of people.
There was Inasa, wearing his military dress uniform and standing stock straight. He was facing a cell and glowering at it, and there were three toy soldiers of the Gale Force with him.
"Hello, Inasa. How are things going down here?" Izuku asked as he got close.
"Things are going excellently, Izuku! No trouble to report and no attempts to escape from the prisoners, sir!" Inasa said in his typical, very intense sort of tone. Izuku smiled and gestured behind him with a thumb.
"You and the guards may leave. I would like to speak to my older brother alone, please."
Inasa spun on his heel and gave a very exaggerated military salute. Then he and the toy soldiers began to file out in a perfect line, with the toy soldiers matching Inasa's own stiff, emphasized marching style. They kind of looked like a little row of ducks and Izuku had to stifle the urge to giggle at them. Inasa was a nice man, though, and Izuku was glad to have met him.
Izuku pulled over a little, rather dusty wooden stool and sat on it, and Sero laid down next to the chair on the floor. Then Izuku turned to regard Tomura's cell carefully. Tomura laid lazily on the cot attached to the right side of the wall, with one leg crossed over the other as he stared over the ceiling. He had his right arm behind his head and his left over his chest, and his bird familiar was sitting on his left arm like a perch.
Tomura had undone the buttons of his suit jacket, though he still had the jacket on. He was also pointedly not looking at Izuku, and Izuku sighed at his stepbrother.
"Hey! Wizard! Please let me out, I promise I'll be good now!"
Izuku slowly rolled his eyes and turned his head to his left to look at the cell next to Tomura. There, he saw Kai sticking his arm out and vigorously waving at Izuku, trying to get the Wizard of Oz's attention.
"Be quiet, Kai, or I'll have a new, lower floor of the dungeon built just to house you especially," Izuku said in a sharp, even tone. Kai's hand immediately slipped back into the bars, and Izuku heard the older man grumbling incoherently as he shuffled back further into the cell. Izuku turned back to Tomura, who was still looking at the ceiling.
"Y'know, Tomura, I think you're the real Wizard of Oz," Izuku began, and that got Tomura's attention. Tomura slowly shifted his torso up and leaned around his bird familiar to glare at Izuku. "You were always the one who aspired to be powerful and respected and feared by everyone, not me. But now, here we are, and I'm the Wizard of Oz, and you're…"
"In a cell?" Tomura provided bitterly, and Izuku nodded sadly.
"I never understood why you were the way you were, at first," Izuku admitted. "When my mom and your dad got married, I thought… I was so excited to have a sibling. But you never liked me and I didn't understand what I did wrong."
"You were weak and didn't look out for yourself, that's the problem," Tomura shot back immediately. Izuku just smiled at him in turn.
"I don't think so. I was weak and couldn't look out for myself, but that's not why you didn't like me. You didn't like me because your dad told you that you had to be a certain way and you acted that way your whole life hoping he'd finally love you one day, didn't you?"
"Shut up," Tomura spat, and he fell backwards onto the cot.
"I do love you, Tomura. I want you to be family because… I always saw you as family. When Himiko became the Wicked Witch of the West, the magic preyed on her insecurities at the start. I bet the magic is still whispering to you right now, isn't it?"
Tomura didn't say anything but Izuku watched him shift uncomfortably on the cot.
"You're only in this cell because you showed that you're willing to hurt other people: to hurt my friends and the people I care about." Izuku stood up then and gently put his hands in his pockets. "But… I forgive you, Tomura, and… if you ever loved me like I love you and you want to try again, you can come out of that cell at any time."
Tomura looked up at Izuku and to Izuku's surprise, he was crying. Izuku was crying, too, but that was expected of him, and he couldn't help but smile at Tomura. All he ever wanted was to be a good brother to Tomura and for Tomura to be a good brother to him.
Abruptly, there was a poof of smoke around Tomura's familiar, and when the smoke cleared, it wasn't a black raven anymore.
It was a white dove.
Tomura slowly shifted so that he could swing his legs over the side of the cot, even as the dove hopped up to his shoulder. Then he looked at Izuku like he was waking up for the first time in weeks.
"I… Izuku?" Tomura whispered, and Izuku nodded even as he began to cry harder. "I… I'm sorry. I don't… I wish I had been better."
Izuku responded by reaching out and touching the lock to Tomura's cell. It responded to his now formal authority as the Wizard of Oz and unlocked, then Izuku swung Tomura's cell door open.
"It's not too late to start being better, Tomura," Izuku said, still smiling through tears.
Tomura stood up and slowly approached Izuku, and Izuku felt that Tomura's aura was entirely different. Before, it had been dark and inky and black, but now it was bright and white like a spotlight at a theater. Tomura reached Izuku in three strides, then he gave Izuku a firm hug. Izuku hugged back, just as tightly.
"I felt like… all I ever wanted to do was live up to what Papa wanted of me," Tomura admitted even as he sobbed. Izuku sobbed, too, and he was getting Tomura's dress suit all wet, as Tomura cried into Izuku's hair, but neither cared. "I should've… lived up to being… a better family for you," Tomura said shakily, even as both boys cried together.
"Well, now your dad is gone and it's just you and me now, right? You and me against the world, that's what you said when we left home to follow Toshinori," Izuku said, and he sob-chuckled through tears.
"Yeah… yeah, that sounds good," Tomura said, and even his voice was different. It was less scratchy and rough-sounding, and the hint of dark magic was gone, too.
"We should go upstairs and get something to eat. And also clean up. We're a mess," Izuku said, then he made a slightly wet giggle as Tomura released him. Tomura nodded firmly, then let Izuku lead as they walked up. Sero barked happily and ran ahead, having an easier time going up the stairs than down them. Tomura didn't really say anything as they walked, and Izuku didn't either but…
They were both happy. He could feel it.
When Izuku reached the top of the stairs, Inasa and the guards were waiting. They were more than a little surprised to see Tomura emerge behind Izuku, but Izuku just held up his hand and smiled.
"Can you please take Tomura to get fresh clothes and food?" Izuku said calmly to Inasa. Inasa flicked his gaze calmly once between Izuku and Tomura, then saluted and marched off. Tomura stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed along without question, the dove on his shoulder the entire time. But as he passed Izuku, he smiled, and Izuku smiled back.
Then Izuku was startled a bit as Katsuki walked up and clasped his hand roughly on Izuku's shoulder.
"You're really just gonna forgive him and move on, huh?" Katsuki said as he glared at Tomura's retreating form.
"Of course, Katsuki. Didn't you say I keep letting people walk all over me?" Izuku replied sarcastically. He turned and gave a playful grin to Katsuki, who just scowled in turn.
"You're hopeless," Katsuki said with an eye roll. Izuku just shrugged, with Katsuki's hand still on his shoulder.
"Maybe. But if you were in his shoes, I'd forgive you, too, Katsuki. I care about my friends and family and… I hold on to them, whatever it takes," Izuku said matter-of-factly. Katsuki looked entirely bemused by that as he dropped his hand from Izuku's shoulder.
"You're not hopeless, you're nuts," Katsuki said after a few moments of awkward silence.
"And yet, you're still my friend!" Izuku replied without hesitation. Katsuki grumbled and walked off then, and Izuku only made out 'going to find Eijiro.' But he did not disagree with Izuku, so Izuku smiled softly as he turned to look at Sero. "Hey buddy, can you lead me to Ochako? I need to talk to her and Nana now," Izuku said as he leaned over with his hands on his knees. Sero barked and bounced in place, then he trotted off, understanding what Izuku had asked of him.
Izuku followed along, feeling rather confused. Maybe he could speak dog now, too, what with the magic and all, and didn't even realize it.
Ochako was in Izuku's magic library, slowly looking through the books there.
Most of them didn't interest her at that moment; there were a lot of books on the history of Oz, on the various nations and political state of Oz, the species of plants and animals that were there, etc. Ochako gathered, as she skimmed through one of them, that people coming from Earth to Oz was not unheard of, though it was uncommon, and many of the books had been written by people like her.
It was uncommon enough that the average person in Oz had never heard of such a thing or seen a human. But the Wizards of Oz, historically, had a habit of collecting the books that travelers from other places wrote, and so they were here.
Ochako wondered about that. She wondered if the Wizard of Oz had ever been a native to Oz or if the entire title was a long-form, extended con job played on the people of Oz. If so, that was rather sad to her. But at least Izuku could fix that and…
Ochako sighed, ending her train of thought. It was sad and painful and she didn't want to follow it.
She was around the corner of some bookshelves, while Nana was sitting in the middle of the circular room. The last time Ochako had looked at the Good Witch of the North, she was idly flipping through a book about… something. Nana had described it as 'metaphysics and the theory of traveling across time,' though that sounded preposterous to Ochako so she did not ask for more information.
Ochako slowly put the books she had moved back to where she found them, then moved to step back around the corner and get Nana's attention. However, she stopped in her tracks when she heard crying.
Ochako carefully peered around the corner and was stunned to see that Nana was in absolute tears, just ugly crying up a storm. It was such a stark contrast to her typical, easy-going smile and yet… she seemed happy. She was still smiling, though she was staring vaguely at her palms in her laps. She had closed her book and set it aside, presumably so it wouldn't get wet or so Ochako assumed.
Ochako wasn't sure what to say but she felt like she shouldn't intrude. Nana's aura wasn't sad; it was, in fact, the opposite, feeling utterly at peace in a way that Ochako didn't have words to describe and wasn't sure she'd ever be lucky enough to experience in her life.
So Ochako slowly pulled a chair over, quiet on the carpeted floor of the library, and sat around the corner. She brought her knees up to her chest and began thinking to herself about several things, incoherent in her mind and yet all connected. She thought about her future, her parents, about what going 'home' meant, and about Izuku, and how she had decided the answer to Nana's question was:
She didn't know the answer and wasn't sure she could figure it out on her own.
Ochako waited for a long time, lost in her own thoughts, until she heard a familiar sound. Specifically, she smiled, because she heard Sero barking happily and running towards the library. Ochako's smile turned into a frown, however, when she realized that Nana was still crying and Ochako didn't want Sero to be rude to the witch. Ochako got halfway out of her chair when she heard Izuku's voice.
"Ochako? Ochako! I let Sero lead me to you so that you and…" Izuku trailed off and Ochako dared to peer around the corner.
Nana was looking right at Izuku with a stunning intensity. Her eyes were flaring amethyst but she was smiling like she was seeing the greatest thing she'd ever seen in her life, yet also like she was afraid Izuku might disappear if she blinked. She also didn't look at all like she'd spent the last ten minutes ugly crying. Indeed, Nana looked flawless, though Izuku was struck speechless by Nana's piercing gaze and the way the air began to crackle with magic and warmth beyond anything Ochako had ever experienced before in Oz.
"I… I suppose you must be Nana? It's nice to meet you," Izuku said hesitantly as he straightened his posture. Nana slowly rose, then she strode over to him as unconstrained glee lit up her features.
"I know that for you, we are meeting for the first time, but I cannot stress how much joy it brings me to finally be in the same room as you, Izuku Midoriya," Nana said, and she grabbed Izuku up in a fierce hug. Izuku looked completely lost but he hugged back, too shocked to do anything else. "You did something remarkable just a bit ago, didn't you?" Nana asked, and Izuku's eyes refocused as he pulled away a bit.
"With… with Tomura?" Izuku asked, and Nana nodded quickly. "I didn't… think so. He's my family, I couldn't… just abandon him, could I?" To Ochako's surprise, Nana burst into tears again at that, even as she hugged Izuku more tightly. "I don't understand, Nana… but I'm glad I made you happy?"
Then he mumbled something that Ochako didn't quite catch but which sounded like 'you remind me a lot of my mother…'
"You won't understand, little Izuku. And yet, one day, you'll understand, and you already understand, all the same," Nana said cryptically as she released Izuku once more. "You've done something incredible and I… I am so proud of you."
Ochako chose that moment to step into the room, mostly to spare Izuku from the embarrassment of trying to flounder through understanding Nana's strange witch musings. Izuku smiled brightly when he saw her, and Nana smiled as well as she watched Ochako walk over.
"I must thank you both so much, little Izuku and little Ochako. I cannot ever tell you how important it was to me what you've done," Nana said. Ochako blinked slowly at Nana, processing her words.
"What… what did we do?" Ochako asked. She wasn't sure what Nana meant about Tomura at all, either.
"You came here to be with me," Nana replied simply, then she beamed. Ochako and Izuku shared a look of confusion, then they shrugged. When Ochako turned back to Nana, she had made her wand appear in her hand. Nana gestured to Ochako's shoes with the wand and she smiled more softly as she looked between Izuku and Ochako in turn. "The shoes that Chitose had were enchanted, and not by her. But they will work for you now, little Ochako, if you want to try?"
"What do they do?" Izuku asked cautiously, and Ochako nodded in agreement.
"In theory," Nana began, and she arched an eyebrow for good measure, "they will bring you home. But magic in Oz tends to revolve around symbolism as much as faith."
Ochako couldn't help but smile, thinking about what Momo had said earlier. She looked down at the shoes, then back to Nana with determination.
"So what do I do?" Ochako asked.
"You tap your heels together and say 'there's no place like home,' three times," Nana said with a smile. Both Ochako and Izuku's jaws dropped at that.
"That's all it would've taken?!" Ochako bemoaned, then she glared at Nana. Nana's smile didn't falter, however.
"Yes and no. They wouldn't work if your heart doesn't know what 'home' means, Ochako. So, I'll ask you: do you know the answer to my question from the other day?" Nana countered. Ochako frowned at that and took a deep breath, closing her eyes to steady herself.
"I don't know, but I want to try," Ochako said firmly. She turned to Izuku, who looked at her sadly, but he nodded in spite of himself.
"Do you… do you want to say goodbye first?" Izuku asked.
"I think that would make it harder, Izuku. I… You're here and I wanted to say goodbye to you," Ochako admitted quietly and sadly. She felt cowardly but at the same time, she wasn't sure she could go through with it at all if she didn't do it right now. She thought about her parents, and the thought of not even trying to go back to them was just too much. Izuku nodded shyly, then Ochako looked down at her shoes.
"Sero, come here," Ochako said, and Sero ran over to her. She reached down and picked him up, then she turned back to Izuku.
He looked slightly perplexed at the intensity she was looking at him with. Then she leaned forward and kissed him and he went utterly rigid. After a moment, he kissed back, and even if neither of them had the slightest clue what they were doing…
It was good. Ochako began to cry, even as she tapped her heels together the first time and pulled away.
"There's no place like home…"
"I love you, Ochako. I hope you have a good life with your parents," Izuku said sadly. Ochako tapped her heels again.
"There's no place like home… I love you, too, Izuku. I'm sorry."
Ochako looked at Izuku and he looked at her as she tapped her heels one last time.
"There's no place like home!"
Ochako screwed her eyes shut and waited. She didn't feel anything, but she held her breath and waited a bit longer just in case. When she opened her eyes, she expected to be standing where she had left Kansas, Sero in her arms. Maybe her house would be destroyed and her parents would be looking frantically for her. Maybe they would've written her off for dead and they'd be overjoyed to see her again. She would cry and hug them and they would hug her, and she would be home.
Ochako opened her eyes… and she was still in the library. She slowly blinked and turned to Nana, but Nana just looked very sad.
"They worked, little Ochako," Nana said solemnly. Ochako looked down to her feet and the shoes weren't pink. They were a dead, lifeless silver now, no longer shiny or glittery. They were also heavy all of a sudden. Ochako furrowed her brows, not processing Nana's statement, as she looked back to the Good Witch of the North. "The shoes took you home, little Ochako."
Nana gestured to Izuku with her wand and Ochako turned to Izuku with wide-eyed terror. He also looked horrified and was saying something. It looked like 'I'm sorry' but Ochako wasn't hearing anything at all. She slowly sank to her knees, tears pouring down her face, as she realized what Nana had meant.
Her heart had made her choice, even if her brain had not.
She chose Izuku… and now she was home.