The Wizard opened his eyes. The morning light was creeping into the quiet and tranquil bedroom from the edges of the red silk curtains. He lowered his head and saw a hand with a ruby encrusted ring resting on the blanket which covered him. As the Wizard slowly and carefully adjusted his position, he saw that Theodora's body was covered by the blanket they shared, except for her face and outstretched arm. She cooed and slightly stirred as he silently stared at her; the witch was sleeping with a peaceful expression on her face, her hair falling neatly to her side.

He gazed at her face as he saw the red lipstick clearly discernible on her lips and the dark brown palette evident over her eyelids. The Wizard squinted as he looked closer. He observed a tinge of green, colors that he never noticed before. He looked at her eyelashes, which were coated with black mascara. All of the colors blended well together around her eyes, making her incredibly alluring.

The Wizard shifted onto his back. He reached his hand over to his night stand and grabbed his pocket watch. He squinted as he tried to read the time. 7:30AM. It was still early as he yawned. He definitely did not get enough sleep.

Still, the Wizard couldn't fall back to sleep. Indeed, he eyed the ruby red ring that was resting on the witch's finger. He thought about trying to take it while she slept next to him. If she did not have the ring, that would mean she couldn't use her powers. After contemplating it for some time, the Wizard decided to do nothing.

As his eyes wandered the room, his heart nearly dropped when he saw what was tucked across the bed and neatly into a corner: the black broom. His eyes wide with fear, he felt his heart beating out of its chest as he started to take deep breaths from his mouth.

His mind began to flashback to when he was at Glinda's palace. "GIVE ME THAT!", the green skinned witch bellowed as she corrupted a regular broom that a Quadling farmer carried with her. "It was a broom that you wanted, wasn't it Wizard", she mockingly told him as she flew out of the Quadling Country and madly cackled all the way back to the Emerald City.

The Wizard tried to calm himself, but his anxiety became worse. His face started to sweat as he could hear the loud thumping of his heart from inside his ear. Luckily, this uncomfortableness dissipated just as soon as it started.

As he stared at the ceiling, he felt a stir next to him as the witch's outstretched hand began to move. She moved closer to him under the blanket. He instinctively turned to face her as she moved her outstretched arm under the blanket and placed it around him.

"Hmmmmmm…Wizard," the groggy witch mumbled. "Good morning." She kissed him on his cheek as she snuggled even closer. He rubbed his nose with hers as she returned the favor and placed her other hand on his cheek.

The witch opened her eyes. "I can't believe you are here…", the witch stared at him dreamily. She started to caress his cheek with her finger.

"When I flew away from the Emerald City that night, I thought it was over. I thought I would never see you again. But then you came back to me. What a wonderful surprise this was…"

She then tenderly gazed into the Wizard's eyes. Her voice was soft and hushed. "I can't believe you came to visit me in my loneliness. What are you doing here?"

The Wizard squeezed her tight. The witch closed her eyes as her lips parted, releasing a soft moan.

"Are you lonely now?"

She opened her eyes once more, silently gazed at him and shook her head. "No, not at all. I feel so complete now." She then gave him a radiating smile.

The witch placed her hands on the Wizard's cheeks. "Let me look at you." As her hands slowly caressed his ears, his hair and then his face, the Wizard closed his eyes and hummed. "You have more gray on your hair." Theodora was looking at every tiny detail, noting that the Wizard seemed to have aged slightly since she last saw him three years prior.

And of course, she hadn't aged at all. If she went to the Wizard's world, she would have easily passed as a 20-something girl, even though she was far older than that. The Wizard did not know her exact age and never asked.

"It's from age…and stress", he answered.

"The stress from what?", Theodora asked in whispered, concerned tones.

"From running a country."

After Theodora finished caressing him, he turned over and grabbed her hands with his. She smiled and gently wrapped her arms around him again.

"Is that all you can do? Come on", he smiled. "Squeeze me. Tight." Since his back was to her, the witch peered over his shoulder and looked at him with mild trepidation. "Are you sure? You're very fragile, Wizard."

"Yes", he replied. She applied tension with her arms. He closed his eyes. "Achem. Legs. Arms and legs. Do I have to teach you everything?", he chuckled. She applied mild pressure with both, then tightly squeezed him as she clenched her teeth and grunted.

The witch closed her eyes once more. This was the most peaceful she had been since she spent the night with the Wizard on the first day they met. No words needed to be said as a serene, tranquil silence filled her bedroom. The only sounds the pair heard was the chirping of birds and the distant sounds of Winkie farm hands.

Before she met him, the witch had never experienced such intense feelings of love and devotion to one single person. For Theodora, the Wizard had become her lover, her best friend and, to an extent, her father, all within 24 hours of initially meeting him on the river bank that day. And when she lost the Wizard to Glinda, she lost her everything. She loved the Wizard more than she had ever loved anyone before, including herself. She felt like she would die without him. To any neutral third party, it was apparent that she was absolutely obsessed with him. There was no one that she had ever met who was as cool, as funny, as smart, as dashing or as brave as he. During those first idealistic days, she would have done anything for the Wizard. To lose him would have been earth shattering and catastrophic. And it would have been unimaginable.

With him, she felt complete. She felt normal and, in fact, those first 24 hours of being with him was the only taste of normal she knew. He was her reason for living. He was her rock. She felt so hopeful and optimistic that everything would be alright. He was her light at the end of the tunnel and that her dark days of depression, sadness and loneliness would finally be over.

Those euphoric feelings were not to last. Whenever she was not feeling intense emotions, emptiness filled her. This was often just as dreadful as feeling intense psychological pain whenever Theodora felt threatened that she was going to be rejected or abandoned by someone she knew or cared about.

And abandoned her he did. As such, she never felt such intense and horrific psychic pain in the days following her banishment from the Emerald City. She even contemplated suicide as her mind ripped her to shreds with internalized thoughts of rage and shame.

But now, with her arms and legs wrapped tightly around the object of her desire and with her eyes shut, the intense euphoric pleasure and heavenly joy she felt within those initial 24 hours of meeting the Wizard all those years ago returned. She wanted to feel like this all of the time.

Despite savoring this incredibly intimate moment together, she also had a nagging feeling that she should run away from the wizard who was resting next to her. Theodora could not go through with him leaving her again and contemplated whether she should kick him out of her castle then and there.

Yes, she knew she had a lot of love to give and that she would do anything for the Wizard. But if he betrayed her or tried to leave her, it was still not beneath her to seek vengeance. And if that meant setting fire to every single building in the Emerald City to get back at the Wizard, then she would not hesitate to do so.

Deep down, Theodora knew that she was a rose with thorns and fire. It is why black and red were ultimately her favorite colors.

After minutes of silence, the Wizard turned around once more. Still resting in the witch's arms, he spoke as his eyes remained closed. "I am thinking of pardoning your aunt and cousins."

The witch opened her eyes and gazed at him. "What about my sister?"

He opened his eyes as he stared into hers, a flash of anger present in his voice. "I'm still very angry at what she did to you and how she lied about me."

Despite Glinda's position that Evanora killed King Pastoria, it was never conclusively established in the Wizard's mind that Evanora actually murdered him. Regardless, he strongly suspected that she was the person responsible. He was also still angry at her for how she lied and tried to manipulate her own sister.

Theodora stared silently at him, an impassive expression on her face.

"What about me, Wizard?"

"You were never banned from the Emerald City. You can come back whenever you want."

She quietly demurred. "But, if someone is deemed wicked, they can't go back to the Emerald City…"

"That's by decree, not by popular opinion." While he did not agree with some of Theodora's behavior and actions, he never viewed her as a lost and irredeemable cause. As a result, he never supported that she be officially banished. Consequently, no such decree was ever formally promulgated by the Wizard himself. And without this official decree, Theodora was free to come back to the Emerald City whenever she pleased.

She continued in a soft, hushed tone as she caressed the Wizard's cheeks with her hands. "But you said I could return only if I found goodness within me. I remember you said this, Wizard…"

He cupped her cheeks with his hands. "You can come back to the Emerald City." He then kissed the bridge of her nose.

The pair continued to gaze into each other's eyes. The Wizard's voice was calm. "Can I ask you a question?"

The witch silently nodded her head at him.

"How can you laugh like that?"

She gave him a confused look. "What do you mean, Wizard?"

"When you flew away from Glinda's castle and you were laughing like that, how were you able to laugh like that? I never heard someone do that before."

Theodora gave him a blank stare. "Wizard, that's how I usually laugh…"

"Wait…what…" He was bewildered. "I've heard you laugh, and when you do, you laugh just the way everyone else does."

"If I am nervous or if I have extreme anxiety, what you heard is the way it sounds. Why do you ask?"

She tried to probe the Wizard as to why he asked her this strange question. She didn't like to discuss why she often cackled the way she did. Ever since she was young, her laugh often turned into a cackle, especially when it was inappropriate to laugh, she had a lot of anxiety or if she was nervous. Her parents shamed her for this type of laughter. Even Evanora once told her that her cackle was "absolutely hideous". Theodora's cackling laugh, like her destructive fire powers, was a curse that she had to live with.

"Never mind." The Wizard smiled at her as he kissed in between her eyes. The pair closed their eyes again and they remained silent for some time.

"How do you feel?" The Wizard smiled at her as his eyes remained closed.

But Theodora quietly spoke, her red lips forming the shape of a small smile. "Incredible. I am so satisfied."

As her eyes remained closed, she spoke again. "This must be a dream. This can't be real. I am going to open my eyes and you are going to be gone…"

When the Wizard did not respond, she continued to probe. "Why now, Wizard? Why now did you decide to come here?"

The Wizard slowly opened his eyes as mild trepidation filled his mind. What does he tell the witch? Does he tell her that he received a mysteriously vague and cryptic letter from Glinda? Why WAS he even there? Despite being at Theodora's castle for almost the past 40 somewhat hours, he still did not know why he was sent there.

Glinda, where are you, he thought to himself.

After thinking about his response, he smiled at the witch. "Because I want you to be happy. You deserve that."

Theodora opened her eyes and silently stared at the Wizard in awe. She smiled.

"You are so wonderful, Wizard…" Theodora gazed entrancingly into his eyes.

"Wizard…", Theodora's voice was pure with a childlike, nervous innocence as her fingers traced his cheek. "I really like you a lot." The witch began to blush. "I…"

Before she could finish, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Good morning, Mistress, your attention is needed outside."

The witch sighed. "I don't want to get up", she quietly murmured to the Wizard as she continued to hug him. "I don't want to get up…"

The masculine voice responded. "It's urgent".

Theodora sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'll be right there…" She then looked at the Wizard. "It's the captain…" She then gave him a large smile and a quick peck on his lips as she got up from her bed and quickly dashed to her washroom.

The Wizard continued to lie in bed. After some time, the witch emerged wearing her riding outfit. "Stay", she grinned at him and beckoned with her hand. "Get more rest". As she approached the door, she adjusted the red hat on her head as she departed her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her.