Disclaimer, the usual.
As the day drew on, it came closer and closer to the time where dorothy, ellie, and alex had to return home to get ready for school, however, alex found himself wishing he didn't have to go back so soon, he wasn't sure what it was, but something made him want to stay this time. Dorothy would never admit it to him, but she too was sharing the same sentiments, they both knew that they could come back at any time but something seemed different today, something that was nagging at them but they weren't sure what.
Ellie, was on the same sentiments, but for a different reason, because of one of the times that her sister had to do something she missed a pre-test, and she really didn't want to take it, however she knew her sister would force her back home if she tried to stay. It didn't make much use saying, 'but you'd let dorothy stay If she asked to.' Because Glinda would just contact their parents and that would be the end of that. The only way she knew she could get out of going back was if her sister were to go away somewhere for business and that was not liable to happen anytime soon and she knew that now that she was dead set on helping with the wedding plans.
However, as they all found themselves in the chambers, there was a large amount of nervous tension, at least between the three of them, there was an anxiety between them that they didn't know the source of. Ozma noticed this, but said nothing about it for fear of invoking something. Dorothy sat on the floor, both of her pets on her lap. Alex was standing over by the window looking out at the nearby forest. Ellie was sitting on a corner, bouncing her little red ball against the floor. Ozma was sitting on her throne watching the three of them.
"dorothy?" Ellie asked curiously.
"yes ellie?" dorothy replied.
"that test, is it difficult?" ellie asked.
"is that what's got you in a bit of a flutter?" Ozma asked.
"so, you noticed?" Ellie asked worriedly
"yes." They all replied.
"it's easy, it's just a pre-test to test what we retained so far and over the summer." Dorothy said.
"it's easy." Alex said turning to look at them.
"Alex, what are you looking at out there anyways?" dorothy asked curiously
"nothing, just admiring the view." Alex said
"perhaps this summer we should do some real exploring." Dorothy said smiling.
"I'd like to do that." Pockets said with a yawn.
"those two seem so tired and its nearly afternoon." Ozma said.
"I know, I haven't seen toto sleep like this during the day since that incident in the poppy fields." Dorothy said.
"First visit?" Alex asked curiously.
"yep." Dorothy said.
Meanwhile back in Kansas.
Betsy and Trot had met up with Aislynn at the gale house at her invitation, they were now sitting in the barn because Em and Henry decided that she was spending too much time inside. She hated it but was glad that she had some company with her.
"I can't believe I've not asked this, but are dorothy and alex in Oz?" Betsy asked curiously.
"Yep, normally its dorothy chewing me out for spending too much time indoors, not her aunt and uncle, they should be back by tonight, sometime soon, it's almost four, and we have school in the morning." Aislynn said with a sigh.
"there's nothing wrong with going outside though is there?" trot asked curiously.
"No, I just like reading, and there aren't too many places out here to read where you can get some peace and quiet." Aislynn said.
"well, you could have gone to Oz with them my dear." Jon said appearing in the door way of the barn.
"oh, hey Jon, what brings you here?" Aislynn asked curiously.
"Oh, Em and henry invited me over for tea, I heard your voice in here as I typically cut through the property instead of taking my chances on that road, and I thought I might say hello." Jon said smiling.
"I see, how's the orchard holding up?" Aislynn asked curiously.
"pretty well, you all should come over sometime soon and get some apples before they're out of season." He replied
"I try not to give dorothy any ideas, I mean, you said it yourself that her father and uncle used to go to that orchard and eat apples till they got ill." Aislynn said.
"and sometimes it wasn't even on purpose, those apples always grew big and sweet, it's never been easy for someone to stop at just one or two, though they ended up in my office with bellyaches many times, even though their parents knew it was from all the apples, they always ended up bringing them to my office." Jon said
"well, judging by the bushel you brought us last autumn, they still are big and sweet." Aislynn said smiling.
"yes, that orchard has always been well cared for." He replied smiling again.
"maybe tomorrow afternoon we can drop by." Trot suggested.
"make sure you get your parent's permission first." Jon said turning to her.
"so long as I'm with Betsy my parents are usually fine with things like that." Trot said.
"be that as it may, you should still get permission." Jon said with a hint of sternness.
"yes sir." Trot said sighing
Jon smiled and turned to head for the farmhouse, Aislynn shared a glance with Betsy and trot before sighing.
"so, what have you two been up to?" Aislynn asked curiously.
"we've been spending time at each other's houses." Betsy said
"I see." Aislynn said as they heard a car come up the path.
The three of them found this curious, as Aislynn had invited the two over not expecting any other company to show up at the gale residence. Walking over to the door of the barn, looking out they saw Officer grey's car.
"something must be wrong at the school, it's one of the only reasons he ever comes here." Aislynn said sighing.
"What are the other reasons?" Betsy asked curiously.
"If he's called, like Friday with that snake, and if he's invited." Aislynn replied.
"how do you know he wasn't invited?" trot asked.
"yea, I mean, it's Sunday, most Sundays are slow around here." Betsy added.
"because he usually uses his truck when he's not here on business." Aislynn said sighing
Meanwhile back in emerald city.
The group had moved from the chambers to courtyard at Glinda's urging to get some more fresh air, alex was sitting on one of the benches watching dorothy and Ozma make little flower crowns, ellie on the other hand was trying to make a flower float and spin at the same time. It was interesting to watch as she made the flower float a few inches off the ground. However, trying to make it spin at the same time was difficult as making it float was taking up her concentration.
"this is frustrating, I know my sister can do it, so why can't I?" Ellie said getting frustrated.
"Because you aren't your sister?" dorothy said turning to look at her.
"I mean apart from the obvious, levitating something is the simplest magic act one can do if they don't have any practice, and yet it requires so much concentration that all I seem to be doing is making it harder for myself." Ellie said groaning.
"well don't try it then, you don't want to burn yourself out trying to concentrate all your energy onto it." Ozma said.
"ellie, I have to agree with Ozma, not to mention your sister will be furious if you manage to use up all your energy." Dorothy said as she finished her flower crown
"you know, I have to ask, ellie, why do you compare your abilities to that of your sister's?" Ozma asked curiously.
"Because she's my sister and she's the person I look up to, I know I'll never be as good as her, but it gives me a milestone to shoot for." Ellie said with a smile.
"oh." Was all Ozma could say.
"by the way, am I the only one surprised by the fact that Locasta and my sister haven't gotten into a duel over their little arguments yet?" Ellie asked curiously.
"I think they tried to avoid it for our sake." Dorothy said sighing.
"somethings gotta give eventually though, I mean, those arguments they have, they're quite childish." Ellie said with a long sigh.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before toto and pockets came into the courtyard and jumped onto the bench next to alex.
"what have you two been doing?" dorothy asked curiously.
"Wandering about, chatting, making idle conversation, this place is huge." Toto said.
"I know its huge, but I have to ask, why do you two stay up so late wandering around it?" dorothy asked curiously.
"because we do, I didn't think we needed a reason." Pockets replied.
"well I would like a valid reason so I'm not worrying about you two all the time." Dorothy said sighing.
"Do they need a reason to wander about? I mean, they have as much of a right to explore as the rest of us do." Alex said.
Dorothy thought about this for a moment, she knew alex was right, but she also knew that she seemed to be getting irritable, this seemed to be a pattern that she was noticing today and she wasn't sure why and she wasn't sure what was causing it.
"you're right, I guess I'm just a little on edge today." Dorothy said getting up and walking over to them.
"I think we all are, whether it be for one reason or another." Ellie said setting the flower she had picked on the ground.
"sometimes I wish you guys didn't have to return to Kansas, whenever you guys aren't around everyone always seems to be busy, gets a bit lonesome around here after a while." Ozma said sighing.
"you could always go search for Finley, I know he isn't one for conversation but he's always an option." Ellie said.
"We talked to him earlier this morning, and really, he isn't, I don't know why but he doesn't seem to like being around anyone other than dorothy for more than 5 minutes at a time." Ozma said.
"not surprising really, but still, some company is better than no company at all, I speak from experience, when Glinda changed my memories, I was always kinda looked at as an outcast, I don't know if it's because the others knew and were sworn to secrecy or from some other reason I haven't worked out yet." Ellie said assuredly
"and what about tin man, scarecrow and lion?" dorothy asked.
"they're always working on something in scarecrow's little workshop, Glinda has forbidden me from getting near it while they're working, for my own safety I imagine." Ozma said getting up and stretching.
"but a lot of times scarecrow is in there alone, what are they doing in the meantime?" Ellie asked curiously.
"No idea, it's not much of my business." Ozma said shrugging.
"What about the professor? He's supposed to come once a week, isn't he?" Ellie queried.
"yes, but he's just here to tutor me, and isn't much good for conversation." Ozma said.
"well, there aren't that many options, you could always go and listen to Glinda and Locasta arguing, I mean, disagreeing about something." Ellie suggested.
"I've thought about that, I've also thought about just going to Madeline's room and trying to strike up conversation with her, jack, Morris, or Wendell." Ozma said.
"well, if Maddie is anything like me, she won't make much idle conversation when she's working." Dorothy said.
"I know, but it's a better option than sitting on my throne all day or sitting in my room all day being bored." Ozma said.
They all sighed at this and once again fell into silence, that is until Ellie started thinking about something that hadn't occurred to her in a while.
"What about Pumpkinhead? Surely Glinda would let you visit him whenever?" Ellie asked curiously.
"I try to visit him at least once a week, usually in the mornings, which reminds, I do have to go down there, next weekend and make him a new head before the first frost comes around." Ozma said.
"well, that's something to do, and next Monday we don't have school so we can come back here and spend the weekend again, though, sometimes I wish we didn't have to leave, I love it here in Oz, but in fairness it's also where I was born, so I may be a bit bias." Ellie said with a nervous chuckle.
"and honestly if it hadn't been for me, you'd never have come to live in Kansas with your parents." Dorothy said sighing.
"what do you mean, if it hadn't been for you? You say that as if I should be mad at you for that." Ellie said turning to look her in the eye.
"I didn't mean it like that ellie, it's just, no one should be separated from where they were born, I mean when was the last time you guys were at your home in the north?" Dorothy asked.
"mom and dad go there once a month to keep things tidy, we sometimes go there on extended weekends, ones when we know you aren't coming her" ellie said.
"Oh." Was all dorothy could say.
"anyways, its coming onto four o'clock, we should be getting ready to go back, before Glinda starts bugging me about it." ellie said looking at her watch.
"do you guys have to go so soon?" Ozma asked.
"unless something happens at the school, yes, sadly, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow." Ellie said sighing.
"don't worry, it'll be the weekend again before you know it." Dorothy said walking back over to Ozma and hugging her.
"I know, it's just, I like having you around, all of you." Ozma said sighing.
"even me?" Alex asked jokingly.
"yes alex, even you." Ozma responded with a chuckle.
The group then made their way back to the chambers where they found Glinda and Alyssa chatting about the contents of Alyssa's planning clipboard.
"You guys leaving so soon?" Alyssa asked when she noticed them.
"have to, school." Ellie said grumbling.
"Ellie, you'll do fine, I'm sure of it." Glinda said smiling.
They all shared one last goodbye before dorothy grabbed the scepter from where she had leaned against her throne. Taking toto and pockets into her arms, she, alex, and ellie all took hold of the scepter, and in a moment were on their way back to Kansas.
