Disclaimer, you know.
That night dorothy found herself in her bedroom in the city. She had spent the last two hours sketching out some designs for Alyssa. She eventually settled on three that she felt that Alyssa would like, but she kept the others in a pile at the right corner of her desk. The ones she had settled on fit the criteria that Alyssa had given her. she eventually got up and stretched before going to find alex. instead she ran right into Alyssa and they both ended up on the floor.
"Oh, dorothy, are you alright?" Alyssa asked getting to her feet and dorothy up.
"I'm fine, you?" dorothy asked.
"I've taken worse falls." She said.
"I finished some designs for your wedding dress if you'd like to look at them, have you seen alex?" dorothy
"um, I think he's outside in the field with the others." Alyssa said.
"what are they doing out there?" dorothy asked giggling.
"stargazing?" Alyssa suggested.
Dorothy smiled and nodded. She then went back into her room while Alyssa followed her and walked over to the desk. Dorothy smiled and grabbed the scepter.
"have fun looking at those, the three main ones I decided on are those up front, the ones on the far-right corner are backups." Dorothy said running out of the room
"thank you!" Alyssa shouted.
When dorothy made it to the field found everyone sitting on the ground, looking up at the stars. The area was lit up with floating pink lanterns like the ones that lit the munchkin river. Dorothy smiled and quietly walked over to alex.
"took you long enough." Alex whispered.
"I didn't know you guys were out here." Dorothy replied.
"I left you a note." He said.
Dorothy rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. The sky was lit up with stars, and there was a beautiful smell of flowers on the summer breeze.
"it's a beautiful night." Dorothy said.
"it is." Alex said smiling.
"hey, I'm going to head to the kitchen, anyone want anything?" Brianna asked getting up.
"grab a large plate of fruit, we can all snack on some when you get back." Glinda said.
"will do, ma'am." Brianna said saluting and running inside
"you know what I would like to do some night?" Aislynn asked.
"what's that ace?" Scarecrow asked.
"take my grandfather's hot air balloon, on a clear night like this…" but that was as far as she got before dorothy cut her off
"and go for a nice controlled flight?" Dorothy asked.
"yea, how'd you know?" Aislynn asked.
"I've often thought about doing it myself." Dorothy said.
"why don't you then?" Scarecrow asked.
"alex is still afraid of heights." Dorothy said.
"Dorothy!" alex moaned.
"alex, that's nothing to be ashamed of, I'm petrified of heights." Ellie said.
"really ellie? Still?" Glinda asked.
"yes sis." Ellie groaned.
"I'm not afraid of heights." Tin man said.
"I'm not either." scarecrow added
"yes, well you guys are virtually indestructible, you can take long falls and be repaired afterwards." Madeline said.
"I'm not afraid of heights" Ozma said.
"okay I brought a large tray of fruit, oh, and dorothy, Alyssa said she picked out a design, she's showing it to Terrance now." Brianna said.
"Dorothy, I can't wait to see what you sketched up." Ellie said.
"oh, she wants it to remain a surprise, I'm sure, I'm sure she's also taken all the other designs so we'll all be surprised." Elena said.
"that sounds about right." Glinda said sighing.
"anyways, Brianna, are there any apples on that tray?" dorothy asked.
Brianna smiled and walked over to her, dorothy grabbed an apple and thanked her. as she polished it on her dress she sighed.
"This is a nice little setup we have out here isn't it?" Dorothy asked.
"yes." Everyone said in agreement.
"Dorothy?" trot asked.
"yes trot?" dorothy replied.
"how was it, at the village?" she asked.
"it's an interesting place to say the least, though that reminds me, Maddie, I need you to talk to Wendell about that at some point." Dorothy said.
"yes, I know." Madeline said.
"where are Wendell and Morris anyways?" Glinda asked.
"good question, Morris! Wendell!" Madeline shouted.
"yes boss?" they both said appearing in front of her.
"where have you two been?" Madeline asked
"playing chess, still, I've got Morris 5 to 3." Wendell said
"show-off." Morris said with disdain
"well you two I want you to sit down, and look at the stars." Madeline said.
"would you like to use my spyglass, boss?" Wendell asked taking it from his pocket
"no thanks, jack and I are content, right jack?" Madeline asked.
"huh? Wha? Oh, yes, quite content." Jack said sleepily.
Madeline shook her head and removed her hat before laying back on the grass.
"I swear, jack, you're always half asleep these days." Alex said.
"yep, and its rather nice." Jack said.
Everyone chuckled at this. Glinda then got up and waved her wand summoning a bunch of blankets. Dorothy smiled and finished her apple before grabbing one.
"sleeping under the stars, never done that." Dorothy said draping the blanket over herself and alex.
"I have, twice" alex said.
"it's something I used to do all the time, it was that or listen to mombi snoring if I didn't manage to get to sleep before her."
"hey, has anyone seen toto and pockets? It's just occurred to be that they aren't here." Ellie said.
"last I saw them, they were wandering, as if in conversation to each other." Brianna said.
"and how long ago was that?" dorothy asked.
"oh, while I was on my way out here, I think they were headed to your room." Brianna said.
"animals are strange in their ways of communication, you'll come to accept that." Lion said.
"thank you, lion." Glinda said waving her wand, causing the lanterns to dim.
"any time." Lion replied curling up.
"you know, I'm sure toto could talk if he tried hard enough, I don't know why, but I just have that feeling." Madeline said.
"mads, last time you said, 'I don't know why, but I just have this feeling' we nearly got crushed in a cave in" Jack replied
"yes, well, we're not digging several feet underground, are we?" Madeline asked.
"what were you…never mind I don't want to know." Alex said shaking his head.
"it's a long story, and I don't like it being told, ended up with a broken leg from it, I did, but it showed just how powerful the boss could be under pressure." Morris said.
"I'll have to ask Maddie about it, in private then." Dorothy said yawning.
Dorothy then curled up with alex. looking up at the sky, she sighed. It was beautiful night. Here she was, almost all her friends were here, she wished her aunt and uncle could be here but she knew they had to watch the triplets. However, she was snapped out of thought by Glinda sitting down next to them.
"you two comfortable?" She asked.
"yes, thank you Glinda." Dorothy said.
"Glinda, can you turn off the lanterns completely for a moment?" Ellie asked.
"sure, but why?" Glinda asked.
"I want to see if the scepters glow gives off a nice ambiance." Ellie said smiling.
Glinda giggled and snapped her fingers. Immediately the only light illuminating the area apart from the moon, was the green glow of the scepter. it wasn't eerily green, but a smooth darkish, green. It reminded Aislynn of a glow in the dark toy that her grandfather had bought her.
"it's quite beautiful." Ozma said.
"agreed." Everyone said nodding.
Dorothy smiled and yawned again. she was beginning to doze. Alex smiled and wrapped his arm around Dorothy's shoulders
"Glinda, perhaps a little more mood lighting, the green is nice and all, but I'm sure it would attract attention." Alex said.
Glinda chuckled and got up, waving her hand over each lantern as she walked around everyone and checking out the area. Each lantern was now once again lit up, but with a soft, almost going out sort of glow. She knew it would be safe to leave them alone for the night, no one ever came along the river anymore since the bridge was built to span it, sure there were boats that traveled along it, but because of the cave and the risk of going over some falls in the western domain tended to stop people from using the river this far. Tugg was the only boat that regularly commuted the munchkin river. But she also knew Tugg would be back early in the morning with the china princess and Marshall mallow. Though the lantern lights even this dim would attract attention, if it attracted anyone it would be some animals more than likely, and with Lion sleeping here, it wasn't likely anyone would try to disturb the area.
"better?" Glinda asked quietly.
"yes, thank you." Alex said smiling.
"Hatter?" Glinda asked.
"she's asleep." Wendell whispered.
Alex looked at dorothy, he found that she too was now sleeping peacefully. He smiled and kissed her cheek before laying back himself and looking up at the stars. he wasn't feeling as drowsy as he knew he probably should be feel, but he shrugged this off. Dorothy was with him, they were surrounded by friends, and though he knew it was rather improbable that things would go amiss, he preferred to keep his sword handy, which he did. And as he lay there looking at the stars, he admired the skies of Oz he saw something that made him smile. A shooting star streaked across the sky, he chuckled, he closed his eyes, and made a wish.
