Disclaimer, you know.
Early the next morning, Dorothy awoke to the feeling of lips pressing against her temple. She giggled and opened her eyes. Turning over to find Alex's staring right back into her. The room was dimly lit by the scepter which was floating idly at the foot of the bed.
"How long have you been awake?" she asked curiously.
"longer than you have." He said with a chuckle and he got out of the bed and stretched.
Dorothy smiled and followed suit, getting up and stretching.
"Sun hasn't even started rising yet." Dorothy observed looking out the window.
"Who says it needs to be for us to be awake?" Alex asked sitting on the bed and tilting his head to the side.
"Well no one, though I'm usually awake before you are." Dorothy said with a giggle.
"true, I'm really only awake because the Beast was becoming active." Alex said sighing.
Dorothy smiled and walked around the bed, plopping herself down in the armchair that had been placed there for Alex. She preferred to be on the bed personally, but it was a very comfy armchair.
"what did he want?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Nothing, he's just of the opinion that if he's awake, I have to be as well." Alex said sighing.
"figures." Dorothy said putting her feet up on the bed,
"well, I know it's a running joke amongst everyone that I get very little sleep." Alex said with a shrug, poking at her feet.
"I think Glinda may just beat you in that though." Dorothy said with a giggle.
"oh for sure." Alex said chuckling.
"Well, I suppose with very little else to do, you think its too early to go out and watch the sunrise?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"if you both get dressed now, you should just make it out to Tugg to watch the sunrise." Madeline said appearing in the room, causing the two of them to jump.
"Jesus Maddie, it is too early in the morning for this." Dorothy said catching her breath.
Madeline smiled and flicked her wand. Immediately Dorothy and Alex found themselves in regular day clothes. Dorothy in a purple iteration of her usual outfit, and Alex in a navy blue shirt with a vest and jacket, with his regular black pants and work boots. Dorothy shook her head an got to her feet.
"I take it you really want us to come with you?" she asked as she walked over to the slippers and slid them on.
"Would I have gone through the trouble of getting you two dressed if I didn't?" Madeline asked in teasing tone.
"Yes." They both said in unison.
"fair." Madeline said shrugging.
"the full suit is a bit excessive don't you think?" Alex asked looking at the outfit.
"well, if anyone can pull of a suit this early in the morning, its you." Dorothy said with a giggle.
"Thanks dear, you don't look so bad yourself." He replied walking over to her.
"is that your honest opinion? Or because I'm wearing purple?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Well, he likes the color, so wouldn't it be his honest opinion regardless?" Madeline asked curiously.
"good point." Dorothy said holding her hand out for the scepter.
It immediately pinged and then flew to her.
"I mean, at least I didn't put you in that midnight purple outfit I made." Madeline said smiling, "I don't deny that one is a tiny bit tacky."
"Just a tad." Dorothy said with a nod.
"anyways, do either of you think Ozma would like to join us?" Madeline asked curiously.
"Only way to find out, is to ask." Alex said with a shrug, "and that's assuming she's already awake"
"oh, she's probably awake by now." Madeline said looking at her watch.
Dorothy shook her head and handed Alex the scepter, there was one simple way to check. Walking over to the side table, she knocked on it. It opened and she pulled a small golden key from it.
"I'll check, if you guys don't mind waiting around for a few minutes." Dorothy said with a smile.
"I honestly completely forgot Ozma gave you a key to her room." Madeline said leaning against a wall.
"I've never really had a reason to use it, her door is usually unlocked." Dorothy said shrugging, "but its still rather early in the morning."
Both Madeline and Alex nodded, Dorothy sighed and left the room, walking across the hall. Quietly testing the knob as best she could, she found that the door was locked, but there was light coming from under the door. Putting the key into the lock, she let herself in. she found Ozma, awake, dressed and doing her hair up in a mirror.
"Your up rather early." Ozma said with a grin.
"so are you." Dorothy said walking over, "need help with the poppy flowers?" she asked picking one up.
"if its no trouble." Ozma said picking one of them up from the table, "I usually use magic on the second one, but I trust you can do just as well."
Dorothy smiled and nodded, picking the other up, and setting it into Ozma's hair. Once the poppies were in, Ozma smiled.
"Perfect." They both found themselves saying in unison.
"so, what brings you over here this early in the morning?" Ozma asked curiously.
"Well, Alex, Maddie, and I were wondering if you'd like to join us in watching the sun rise." Dorothy said smiling.
"I'd love to." Ozma said with a grin.
The two of them quickly left the room and the first thing that Dorothy noticed, looking across the hall was that Madeline and Alex were no longer in the room.
"They must have run on ahead." Dorothy said sighing
The two of them made quick pace and had soon caught up to Alex, Jack, and Madeline, within moments of that they were outside. However, they found they weren't alone in their idea as someone else was already outside in the field standing near the docks. They all approached and fount it was the Wizard.
"I see I am not the only one who appreciates the idea of watching the sunrise." He said.
"no sir." Alex said,
"actually, considering the fact that you're out here, I'm surprised Ace isn't with you." Dorothy said looking at him.
"Well, while I don't doubt that she's awake at this hour." The wizard said with a chuckle, "It didn't occur to me to ask where her room is last night."
"you could have asked scarecrow." Ozma suggested.
"Well, that's the thing, I expected to find him in the workshop, tinkering or something, but he wasn't there, and I really didn't feel like losing myself in the palace, it feels like its been rearranged slightly since my time in charge." The wizard said shrugging.
"It has been." Madeline said smiling, "in order to keep rooms close enough to each other with the space magically expanded." She added.
"I assume Glinda told you that?" Alex asked curiously as he found himself digging in one of the coat pockets.
He quickly produced what appeared to be a small stone as they walked over to Tugg to get out of the shadow of The Gale, which was floating overhead. The wizard looked up at it, wide-eyed. None of them could think of anything to say at this point so they simply walked over to Tugg.
"Good morning your majesties." Tugg said with a bit of a whisper.
"Why are you whispering, Tugg?" Alex asked curiously, "I genuinely doubt we can wake up anyone in the city, or heck even the forest at this distance."
"unless you suddenly feel the urge to howl." Came Aislynn's voice from the back of the ship.
She had her nose in a book as she often did, and a lantern next to her providing light, scarecrow was stood in a corner, watching a safe distance away.
"How long have you two been out here?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Not long, half an hour at most." Scarecrow said, "she didn't have the heart to try and wake you sir." He added looking over at the wizard.
"I can't say I blame her for that." The Wizard said approaching his granddaughter and ruffling her hair.
"Grandfather, stop it, you know I hate when people do that." Aislynn said with a giggle as she set her book down.
"so, based on what I know, is it safe to assume that this man is the former wizard of Oz?" Tugg asked curiously.
"Indeed, it is Tugg, and it's something I plan to announce to the public after breakfast this morning." Ozma said, "Better they find out through me than through the buzz of rumors."
"All we'd have to worry about is the press." Alex said sighing, "you know how restless they get once there's news to report on."
"correct me if my information isn't up to date." Jack said with a yawn, "But didn't the reporters break down the great doors just a few days before your coronation just to find out what had happened on our end?"
"Not to mention the fact that a reporter can twist anything into a story." Alex said.
"yes, but the only news that gets printed is the truth, I have full rights to see a story before it is published." Ozma said before looking out towards the rising sun.
The sky was now slightly streaked with orange as the sun began to appear on the horizon. Over the next 30 minutes they watched in silence as the sun crept slowly up over the horizon. Painting the sky as it did so. Dorothy was only distracted by Alex deliberately slipping something into her dress pocket. She knew he did it in such a way that she felt whatever he put in there. But received no further interruptions as they watched.
Once the sun was high enough in the sky, and they all agreed to head back into the palace and prepare for breakfast, Dorothy checked her pocket and found the ruby that Rose and Alyssa had agreed to use to get her up and about during the bridal shower. She assumed that Madeline had placed it in one of Alex's pockets when she magically changed their clothes for them. she tossed it in the air a single time and then held tight to it. She didn't completely understand how it worked, and had no intentions on finding out. She just knew she didn't want it lying around. She took Alex's hand tightly in her own. A small thought had crawled into her mind as she held tightly to Alex's hand with one hand and the ruby gripped tightly in the other. She wondered if Maddie had wanted to make sure Alex and the Beast were still relatively trustworthy, or if she just wanted to see if Alex actually remembered it. She wasn't sure which and she wasn't sure she actually wanted to know the answer.
