Disclaimer, look you all know the drill by now, I hope.

The summer was beginning to draw to a close. And now, the last night before everyone had to return home, was upon them. Dorothy and Alex found themselves walking through the fields outside of palace. The scepter was floating behind them as they walked. That morning when Dorothy awoke, she found Alex sitting in the chair, eyes closed. Though she had initially thought he had been dozing, but he had been in council with the beast. He wouldn't explain what they had been talking about, and she did not pursue it. They didn't want to be parted, but Alex had made his choice, and she had to respect it. She was sure the beast could be changed, to be made to become gentle. But at the same time, they both knew that the beast was dangerous, and in his few appearances he had been rather unpredictable. However, now as they seated themselves upon the grass and watched the sunset, they both let out a sigh.

"I wish today didn't have to end" Dorothy said resting her head on Alex's shoulder, "I don't want to leave you behind."

"I wish I didn't have to stay, but we agreed it would be best." Alex said stroking her hair.

"things won't be the same at home without you." She said closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath in.

"nor here without you." Alex said sighing, "but at least we have means of keeping in contact, and we can use Maddie as messenger." He added,

Dorothy let a small smile cross her lips. She knew this was true. They had mirrors and potion bottles. And Madeline could deliver a message to Alex without even having to come to take a letter. She leaned closer to Alex and kissed him softly. The scepter let out a long soft bell tone, as if it were sighing. The two of them let out a chuckle at this. The scepter had been mostly quiet through the day, which between them they had agreed was unusual considering the recent events.

"thing she agrees with our decision?" Dorothy asked looking over at the scepter, "we never really consulted her on the matter."

The scepter let out a single ping.

"we can only assume she doesn't mind." Alex said smiling.

Dorothy said nothing, she simply smiled and curled up close to him. She didn't want to leave him the next day, but she had no choice. they resolved earlier to make the best of the time they had together, but it didn't make any softer a blow. Dorothy had decided that she would get her hands on some of those potion bottles. Though she had no doubt that Ellie or Madeline had already taken that duty into their own hands. They continued to sit in silence and watched the setting sun tinge the sky a lovely pinkish red color, and soon they were sitting under a beautiful starry sky. Both of them looked up and a thought occurred to the both of them.

"Alex?" Dorothy asked curiously.

"Dorothy?" Alex asked in response

"I was wondering, if we could have one more dance?" Dorothy asked curiously.

Alex smiled, getting to his feet, and helping Dorothy to hers, He smiled.

"I thought you might never ask." Alex said, bowing,

Dorothy smiled and curtsied. and within moments, the two were dancing.

Watching the couple from a fair distance, were Madeline and jack.

"it doesn't seem right, doesn't it?" Jack asked curiously.

Madeline shook her head, flicking her wand making a bench appear behind them.

"They agreed on it, together. neither of them really wants to be separate from each other, and Alex certainly doesn't want to leave Dorothy's side, but the beast is a force to be reckoned with, and I wouldn't want to risk unleashing that power in Kansas." Madeline said with a sigh, "they do dance beautifully though." She added pulling a small blue orb from her pocket.

Immediately the orb began glowing a soft cyan color. It was absorbing the magic created between the two dancers. It was only about the size of chestnut, but made of what could only be observed to be sapphire. Dorothy and Alex were unaware of the presence of the two. But they could feel the magic forming between them.

"her hair will still become brighter no matter how much magic you absorb in that thing." Jack said looking at it,

"but it will slow the process down, I haven't the foggiest as to what will happen once her hair has turned completely blonde, perhaps go platinum blonde?" Madeline said with a shrug, "I'm not sure, but she's been lucky so far with that being the only thing that has happened to her."

"the only person you could ask is that girl that was here they day Polly turned up" jack said.

"I suppose so but we have no idea when we're going to have a run in with her again." Madeline said, "besides, I'm not sure I could retain the information, even for Dorothy she's a rather fuzzy memory, the only reason I can even remember anything is because I've got it going through my head twice."

"did she seem familiar to you though, Mads?" jack asked curiously.

Madeline nodded, there was something about the mysterious girl. The fact that she could wield the scepter was the biggest alarm bell in her head. The fact that she was charged with ensuring the timeline stay intact was also something curious. As while she seemed vaguely familiar, which was difficult to comprehend. When something only seemed vaguely familiar to her it usually meant that something was horribly wrong. The girl couldn't be dangerous as she could wield the scepter which only obeyed Dorothy and Alex.

"very much so." Madeline said sighing, "there was something off about her, and vaguely familiar, she had that air around her that I usually give off, that I should trust her completely, but have no idea why." She added with a light shudder

"lets not dwell on it." Jack said, Madeline nodding in agreement.

Dorothy and Alex were almost completely oblivious to the world. They were now really only aware of each other, their movements, and the glow of the scepter. They danced as gracefully as they had always done. They could feel the magic between them. it was unknown why they two were the only ones capable of creating magic in this way. But the two of them didn't really care, to them it was just another part of life. A part that would be a lot less common with how things were to change. After a while the two stopped. Dorothy embracing Alex tight as she could. Neither of them wanted to let go, for while it wouldn't be the last time they would dance together, it sure did feel like it would be forever.

Now, it certainly wouldn't be their last dance together, as they would spend any nights, they had together doing this in the future. But when you are forced to leave someone you care about behind. It can really put a damper on your spirits. But as the two turned, and noticed Madeline and jack, they felt, something, something new, something strange, and likely very disagreeable.