Disclaimer, the usual.

The next day, went rather like the day before it, except no one went to chop down a tree, and this time alex, instead of measuring and taking notes, was busy shaving away at the wood from the old tree. She sat on the stairs with a clipboard the mayor had given her, and some sketching paper. She had been sketching door designs for the past hour. The only one she really liked was a simple door, in shape and form, except there was a design of a dragon head door knocker on it. alex liked the old-fashioned type of door that you could open one half of at a time. Their work took their minds of the consistent crashing noises caused by Harold upstairs.

"so, how's the sketching coming along?" alex asked looking up from his work.

"Decent, at the moment, problem is, watching you, I still have doors on the mind." Dorothy said smiling at him.

"how many more doors have you designed?" alex asked curiously.

"about 20." Dorothy said.

"ah, well, I've been thinking about this village, and I don't know, but there's something that's kinda bothering me." Alex said.

"what's that?" dorothy asked.

"fish, do fish fall under the same criteria as every other creature?" He asked.

"hmm, good point, I mean, people around here have at least one or two traits that match their original forms, like for example Beatrice has those iron bands that she wears, and Hawkeye has sharp teeth rather like his sharp beak." Dorothy said.

"yes, and then there's Chester, he's got those big thick glasses that are like insect eyes." Alex said.

"what are you two going on about?" The mayor asked coming down the stairs with box in hand.

"well, we were discussing how the people around here have features that seem to represent parts of their creature form, and that got us wondering, how does the enchantment work on fish?" dorothy asked curiously.

"oh, it doesn't, unlike mermaids, regular fish don't adapt to our form really well, even when taking on this form their skin is whatever color their scales were, and they are unable to breath outside of water, so likewise they could never talk, dunno why, it just happens like that, Roquat could never figure out why." The mayor said.

"oh." Alex said beginning to wish he hadn't asked.

"actually, speaking of the enchantment, that's one thing that's been bugging me, how come you don't let animals keep their form when they leave? I mean, they choose to come here and accept the form, why can't they keep it if they want to?" dorothy asked.

"protection mainly, I think was the point, it feels so long since I put that ordinance in place and had Roquat change the enchantment, Wendell said he'd be back in a few days and never came back, I do believe he's the assistant of the hatter still if I remember correctly." The mayor said.

"your memory is good, he doesn't talk to us much, last time I saw him he was eating a carrot actually." Alex said getting back to his work.

"I see, well he was a white rabbit at one point." The mayor said.

"but what are you protecting? I mean people and animals live in this village, and it really should be their decision if they keep the form or not" dorothy asked.

The mayor looked at her, and then sat down on the stairs in thought. The look on his face was one dorothy didn't like. It looked like a mixture between someone who was upset and someone who was confused. This persisted for several minutes, the only noise being that of both alex working, and the three of them breathing. The mayor then shook his head and sighed.

"honestly, it's slipped my mind, I can't remember." He finally said.

"well, then, why continue doing it?" dorothy asked.

"because it's how things have been for a long time, I'll admit El Gato, Clarence, and I have held council to consider removing the ordinance and having the enchantment changed back, but I'm worried that some of my friends won't come back." The mayor said worriedly.

"Like Wendell?" alex asked.

"yes, he was a good friend, one of our first and finest." He said sighing.

"but el Gato learned his transporting trick from Wendell, but who did he learn it from?" Alex asked.

"that, he learned from Roquat, who came to visit to check on my progress." The Mayor said.

"and the rest is history I imagine?" Alex asked.

"that's about the gist of it." the mayor said getting up.

"I should be done in another day or so." Alex said.

"splendid." The mayor said starting back upstairs.

Meanwhile in emerald city.

Madeline had spent a good majority of her morning making a hat for herself, purple with blood crimson dots. She also spent some of her time listening to Dorothy's thoughts, though she found this boring as dorothy wasn't thinking of anything interesting. Wendell and Morris were sitting in a corner engaged in a game of chess, and Jack was nowhere to be seen. This she found odd, as normally he was always around to put in his two cents about her hats.

"Morris? Wendell?" Madeline called.

"yes boss?" they both said looking from their game

"do you know where Jack is?" she asked not looking up from her work.

"I think he said something about going to the courtyard." Morris said.

"did he? Have I really been that wrapped up in my work?" Madeline asked.

"when aren't you?" Wendell asked turning his attention back to the game.

"fair point Wendell, thank you." She said picking up the hat and doing one last inspection.

"any time boss." He said.

Madeline smiled and left the room with the hat in hand, and immediately ran into Glinda.

"Oh, Glinda, good morning, I'm sorry for running into like that." Madeline said.

"good morning Madeline, it's alright, I should have been paying better attention." Glinda said

"you on your way to the courtyard?" Madeline asked curiously.

"yes, I left Ozma there under Jack's supervision." Glinda said as they both started for the courtyard.

"that's never a good idea, Jack easily falls asleep you know that." Madeline said

"yes, well I've only been away for a few minutes." She said.

"a few minutes is all it takes Glinda, and anyways, you have more authority over Ozma than jack does." Madeline said.

"true as that may be, Ozma is queen, the only one that she really seems to take orders from is dorothy." Glinda said

"I don't seem to take orders from anyone, I am my own person, I'm just more open to persuasion with dorothy around, I feel more comfortable with her." Ozma said finishing up a flower wreath.

"oh, hey mads, nice hat, is that for you or for dorothy?" Jack asked walking over and handing her a tulip.

"Me, Jack, why didn't you leave a note saying you were coming out here?" Madeline asked.

"I couldn't get your attention so I decided, why bother." Jack said.

Glinda smiled and with a wave of her hand summoned a bouquet of flowers and a vase to put them in.

"there, I think I'll send these to Lady Cassandra." Glinda said.

"shall I make up a card to go with them?" Madeline asked.

"no thank you, I want these to have my personal touch." Glinda said with a smile.

"well, I was actually thinking about visiting her later, check on Theodora and the child of hers." Madeline said.

"last I heard they were getting on quite well." Glinda said.

"how long ago was that?" Ozma asked curiously.

"last week, I got a letter by carrier dove." Glinda said.

"I assume she gives us her best regards." Madeline said.

"yep, she also says I'm always welcome for tea, and that her sister and Mother come around more often now." Glinda said.

"I've heard whispers over the wind that she has a pet of her own now too." Jack said

"well, I wouldn't say pet, it's a giant falcon, it was injured during that windstorm last month, Cassandra and Theodora went out to asses any possible damages and found him with a broken wing, giant bird though, I've seen it, she had me bring a poultice over for its wing to sooth the pain, if I had had to guess it's nearly half of Wiser's height." Glinda said.

"must have quite a wingspan." Madeline said.

"that I wouldn't know, but what I do know is that he can talk, doesn't have much to say, but he can talk." Glinda said.

"but, surely with one of your potions and Cassandra and Theodora's care he would have healed up right quick?" Ozma asked.

"oh, he's able to fly, he just stays because he says that's where the wind took him." Glinda said.

"well, I've been thinking about getting a pet too." Madeline said.

At that moment toto and pockets came bolting into the courtyard.

"seems like these two were beginning to feel left out." Jack said.

"speaking about left out, where is everyone anyways? I've just realized that I haven't heard anything from the china princess, Marshall Mallow, Scarecrow, Lion, or tin man, or even wiser all day, I know the girls are holding their little planning powwow but where are the others?" Madeline asked.

"well, Marshall Mallow had to return to candy county because of a sudden heatwave, and The China Princess went with him, wiser, he's been in Winkie country, literally overseeing the cleanups that have been going on since castle west was restored, and the other three, they are working on some repairs on Tugg." Glinda said.

"well, it is a beautiful day." Ozma said.

"too beautiful to be idle." Glinda said.

"Glinda, you should probably put some water in that vase If you're not going to send them right away." Jack said.

Glinda looked at the flowers in the vase she was holding, she had somehow completely forgotten she was holding them. She shook her head to clear it.

"wow, I completely spaced on that, well, I have a letter to write, Madeline, try to keep Ozma out of trouble." Glinda said walking out of the courtyard.

Back in the village.

"Hey dorothy can I get you to hold this steady while I shave down the edges a bit it keeps wobbling because the floor is a tad uneven and though I'm not one to complain, because this isn't my father's shop and I don't see a first aid kit around I'd rather not have my hand slip and hurt myself with this thing." alex said.

"sure." Dorothy said getting up and walking over to him.

"just put pressure on this end here, just be mindful that you don't get splinters." Alex said.

Dorothy nodded and held the piece of wood down. Looking at alex, she smiled, she always admired how efficient he was, and how much dedication he put into his work. And the door was turning out beautifully, at least for a door.

"that enough?" she asked.

"it's perfect, I'll let you know when you can get up." Alex said.

"alright, you know, I think I should tell Maddie to bring ace, Trot and Betsy to emerald city, I mean, I know ace won't be doing anything other than reading and I don't want her cooped up in the house." Dorothy said.

"and trot and Betsy can play with her, keep her amused." Alex said.

"yep, that's the plan." Dorothy said.

"you know, I'm surprised she hasn't just popped in here in a while." Alex said.

"that's 'cause she can't." Beatrice said coming downstairs with two glasses of lemonade.

"because the border is closed?" alex asked.

"well, yes, when the border is closed nothing can get in or out of the village, not even by magic, it's to keep the mayor's son from running off and causing mischief when he's here, and from someone trying to try and cause harm in the village when he is away." Beatrice said.

"but Madeline seems to be much different than the average magic user." Alex said.

"it's not your average protection magic, the spell was made by Roquat like the enchantment that gives us this form, basically put the only people that could get through the border are Roquat, Father time, Lady Cassandra, and Ozma, other than that no one is powerful enough to get through." Beatrice said.

"oh." Alex said.

"anyways, I brought you two some lemonade." She said putting the glasses on the desk next to them.

"Thank you, Beatrice." They both said.

"you're welcome, I wish Harold knew how to use manners." She said with a sigh as she started back upstairs.

Dorothy and alex shared a glance before going back to what they were doing. Both wondered how Ozma was powerful enough to be able to get through the spell when she didn't use magic that often. But that was question they both knew wasn't likely to get answered. they remained in silence for a good twenty minutes before alex ran his hand along his work and made a content sigh.

"okay, you can stop holding it now." Alex said.

Dorothy smiled and got up. The two of them walked over to the desk and grabbed their lemonade. It was still ice cold, which was good because it had gotten rather hot and stuffy in the room even with the door open.

"you know, I don't know how you do it, work like that all the time, I mean I often find farm chores boring but that, its precision work, and on beautiful and hot days like this." Dorothy said.

"well, the efficiency comes from practice and effort, what drives me, is thinking about the time I'll get spend with you afterwards." He said.

"you flatter me." Dorothy said with a giggle.

"dorothy, I'm serious, I find it boring sometimes, but at least when I think about spending time with you after wards it gives me the drive to keep going." Alex said.

"you worked up a deal with your father, didn't you?" Dorothy asked.

"yea, a little, I do my best work helping him and the more of it I do, the more time I get to spend with you and the others." Alex said.

"I guess that's fair." Dorothy said taking a sip from her glass.

"well, my father told me that he used to have to work for months at a time before his father would let him have some fun, but he would never even bother asking if his father seemed in a worse mood than usual." Alex said.

"you know, all I ever hear is bad things about your grandfather, except that he's the one who gave your dad his current shop." dorothy said.

"I know, bit discouraging, isn't it? I guess I should be glad I never knew him." Alex said.

"yea, I don't think I would have liked him much." Dorothy said.

"There's an old painting of him in the cellar of the shop, its framed rather oddly though." Alex said.

"oddly?" dorothy swallowing another sip of lemonade.

"well, one time when the shop was closed I went down there to put away some scraps and decided to look at the painting, the frame was definitely made by a teak, it's got our seal on it, but it appears to be too thick for the painting and the paper that the painting is on isn't set well, the top and bottom are fine but the sides are sealed in, if were to remove the top or bottom part of the frame I imagine, that the painting would roll up." Alex said.

"why would anyone build a frame like that?" dorothy asked.

"I don't know, my father said my grandfather made it as his health began to deteriorate, and it shows in the painting as well, he looks less like the serious stern man that I've seen in the other pictures my parents have and more like a skeleton." Alex said.

"as one tends to when they're health fails them." Dorothy said looking away.

"something wrong?" Alex asked setting his glass down.

"no." Was all she said.

Alex sighed and picked up his measuring tape and his note book and measured the door he was half finished with.

"perfect." He said after he went over his notes once again.

"well, the day is nearly out at this point." Dorothy said.

"probably should get to work on getting the handle and the hinges in place, and if I work diligently I should be able to get the spare at least a quarter done before dinner." Alex said.

"fantastic." Dorothy smiling at him.

"once I'm done though, we'll have to find something to do." Alex said.

"that could be challenging." Dorothy said as the crashes and banging started again.

"I see what you mean." Alex said as he began removing the handles from the old door.

Dorothy smiled and finished her lemonade. She then walked back over the stairs and picked up her sketching from where she left off.

Meanwhile in Kansas.

Ace had been soaking in pieces of classic literature when Madeline arrived.

"I imagine dorothy sent you?" Aislynn asked.

"she sent me her thoughts, have you been cooped up inside all day so far?" Madeline asked.

"she won't take her nose out of her book, I told her if she kept in that position eventually her arms would get stuck like that." Em said walking by and setting her kids in the playpen.

"I see, well, ace you're coming with me to emerald city, but first, we have one more stop to make." She said grabbing Aislynn's wrist.

Suddenly Aislynn found herself lurching forward and within seconds they were in the Griffith's living room.

"Sorry for dropping in unannounced, can Betsy and trot come with us to the emerald city?" Madeline turning to Mrs. Griffiths.

"Certainly, I've been trying to get them to go outside all day." Mrs. Griffiths said.

"I don't think I'll be getting used to that." Cap'n bill said taking a puff from his pipe.

"me neither, Betsy, Trot can you come down here please?" Mr. Griffiths called.

"I have nothing to do with this, dorothy does though, she gave Madeline the idea." Aislynn said.

"well, I think it will be good for them to get outside." Mrs. Bobbin said.

"Mr. bobbin wanna put in your two cents while the jar is still open?" Cap'n bill asked.

"not really bill." He replied.

"we're here, oh, hello Madeline, hey ace." Betsy said looking at them.

"you two, wanna come with us to the emerald city?" Madeline asked.

"sure, it might give us something to do." Betsy said taking trot's hand tightly.

"I don't know when they'll be back." Madeline said before grabbing Betsy's wrist.

In a flash, they were all on their way.