The characters and setting are owned by the Sci-Fi channel and L. Frank Baum.

The song this chapter is based on, "Man This Lonely" by Brooks & Dunn, is posted at the end of the story.

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Man This Lonely

This was absurd; he was a Tin Man for goodness sake. He should've had no problem trailing a princess through the lands of the OZ. The land had been his stomping ground for all his life and she was practically a foreigner. The time she had spent here was like a fractured mirror, and on top of that she had been a sheltered Princess. If truth be told he had been positive he would have found the wayward royal within the first couple days. How she managed to elude him was taking its toll on him. Cain was starting to lose faith in his tracking abilities.

It had taken him two full days to get out of the city. Initially he had to explain to her parents that she had left, although he never allowed them to see the note. It would have caused too many questions, too much speculation on their part and he could see the Queen's Consort throttling him at just the thought of impropriety. He expected no less. If it had been his daughter to express her love to a man so many years her senior, he could picture himself wanting to strangle the man.

Azkadellia was beside herself upon learning that her baby sister had decided to leave without so much as a goodbye; that she had not left any clue as to her destination or intention to return. It was hard for Azkadellia, he could tell she resented herself for causing the death of DG when she was young and, in turn, the reason she was raised on the other side. This only served to solidify her guilt.

Glitch and Raw didn't help matters. They wanted to go along on the mission to find DG. It took a great deal of persuading on his part to finally get them to understand that he could travel so much faster alone. There place was with the Queen.

Then, once it all had been settled, he had great difficulties getting out of the city. First he had given the stable guards a piece of his mind for allowing DG a horse just because she claimed she had been given permission. Then, not to check that she made it to the mouth of the alley where he was supposed to have been waiting. If they had, DG would have never been able to get onto the street and disappear so completely.

Once on the road, even being on horseback didn't stop the same fanfare he had received on the only outing he had taken while in residence in Central City. Cain was stopped at every turn by children wanting autographs and women vying for his affections. The horse's nerves were on overdrive with the people blocking the way and grabbing hold of the reigns and harness.

It also took time to ask the people if they had seen the Princess. Although, each person he asked turned out to be a dead end. Not one person had observed her departure after she left the stables and he couldn't help but swell with pride at her ability to disguise herself. It made him a bit more at ease with her being on her own; then again, perhaps not. It also made it more difficult for him to find her, as well.

The road had not been hard, cold yes, but not hard. It could have been a lot more hazardous if there had been more people on the road, a greater likelihood of running into rebel Longcoats. As it was, Cain had only been in contact with a handful of people over the course of his month long journey and none of them had come across DG.

Having found no trace of her in the city or its surroundings he had checked the various places she had been to previously. The tree-dwellers had not seen her, and the cabin he had once called home was still vacant and left no evidence that anyone had been there. It had been hard to see that structure again even though the iron maiden had been taken away. So many memories, good and bad alike, had swept over him and since that day he had felt all the more guilty for his newly discovered feelings for DG.

The pa-pay fields were still a hazard to cross and the northern castle was still frozen. The dark tower had been destroyed and the resistance fighters' cabin they had hidden in had not seen heads or tails of the young lady. He was running out of places to look.

According to his memory, four more hideouts were possible. The palace at Finaqua, however, it was guarded well and most likely not a location for her to run off to given the fact that it was another home for her family. The family mausoleum was another, though she still had nightmares about her confinement in the green marble coffin and he wouldn't have been able to enter it anyway. The log house of sorts that the Queen's Consort had resided in during his voluntary exile was a third possibility; however, he had no idea where it was located. The last was the Realm of the Unwanted, and he prayed she hadn't thought to travel there even if it was his best option, given the alternatives.

When darkness began to overtake him he decided to bed down for the evening in order to arrive at the realm in the early morning light. Cain was looking for a clearing. Though, what he found was a place he never thought he would see again; the last home and eternal resting place of Adora.

Sliding off his horse, Cain made his way to the homestead. He took note of the way the cabin very much resembled the one they had shared together. It was run down and looked like it had not seen human activity for many years. The shade was closing in but it left a spotlight on the cross marking his wife's grave. It was eerie looking and made the usually fearless Tin Man falter in his step.

Gulping slightly, Cain resumed forward motion and was soon kneeling next to Adora's resting place. His fingers grazed over the wooden marker, the engraving of her beautiful name. A tear fell from his water-filled eyes. She was the love of his life, a life he thought over when he found this place. Then DG happened. He felt soiled, that his feelings for DG were disrespectful to Adora's memory.

He didn't know how long he sat there, memorizing the wooden cross. When he finally stood night had fully encompassed the area. Hastily he took his bedroll off the horse and set up his sleeping arrangements on the opposite side of the clearing, making sure that he was turned away from the cabin.

Sleep didn't come easily to Cain but once he eventually drifted off his dreams were unsettlingly.

Cain stirred, his body felt weird, younger and less used like some of the years had been washed away. Gradually he became aware that he wasn't alone, someone was there with him, in a bed and seductively pressed up against his side. Opening his eyes he saw the pretty golden brown hair that he was tortured with during his years of confinement. This wasn't right, she was gone.

But it felt so wonderful.

Hesitantly he lifted a hand, as if afraid she would disappear, and ran it through her soft locks eliciting a small moan from the woman in his arms. "This is a dream, Wyatt," she practically purred. "But I had to come to you, had to help you through this."

"Help me through what?" he asked her, plainly confused by her statement. "I have what I want, what I need, right here." He gave her a strong squeeze. Adora was in his arms, he couldn't have asked for anything more than that.

The hand that wasn't in her hair was drawing small circles on the exposed skin of the arm that was draped over his chest. He took a long, deep breath, inhaling the scent that was so completely and uniquely Adora. People often said that scent was the sense that triggered the most memories, he had to agree.

His mind went flying back to their wedding. Her hair quaffed in a loose up do with flowers placed throughout it. The simple white dress she wore accentuated her perfect figure and the fragrance of her perfume filled his nostrils, though it was very likely it was just from the soap she used. No matter what, he had never smelt anything so beautiful.

"I never blamed you, my husband," she confessed, ripping through his thoughts, and it was as if a piece of his heart was sewn back in place. It was such a simple statement that had a tremendous affect on his emotional turmoil.

"You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that," he responded, his voice failing him towards the end, his vision blurring slightly with newly forming tears. He fought to push them back, not wanting anything to block the sight of the vision before him.

"I do know," Adora told him. "I know you would spend your life in misery as punishment for believing you failed me." She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, looked into his very soul. "You didn't fail me. The only way that would've happened would have been if you had gone into hiding, become someone you weren't. I was proud, proud you would fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves." She began running her fingers through his short hair. His heart was soaring, she had been proud of him, and most importantly, she didn't blame him.

"Never leave me," Wyatt pleaded with her, knowing it was futile. She would leave him again once he woke. How he longed to stay asleep forever.

"My dear, dear Wyatt," she hummed, pressing a light kiss against the side of his lips. He closed his eyes, savoring the feeling. "We had our time together, and such a happy time it was. But your heart now belongs with another and you must find her soon, I fear."

His heart was pounding wildly in his chest. He had almost forgotten about DG, how he had managed that was beyond him. Then the words his wife spoke sunk in, draining all color from his face and freezing the blood in his veins.

"What are you saying?" Wyatt questioned, alarm visible in his eyes.

"You deserve happiness and DG makes you happy, I would never want to come between that," she smiled and it was warm and caring. "She needs you more than you realize. Don't stop until you find her, or I fear things may come to pass that will take her away from you forever."

Holding onto her tighter as if she was a lifeline he never broke eye contact. "Where do I look, Adora? She's vanished, how do I find her?" He was pleading, begging Adora to tell him where to find the young royal.

His eyes widened as Adora's face began to change. In a matter of seconds it went from the soft, well defined features of Adora to the playful and young attributes of DG, only certain things were out of place. DG's hair was the same color as Adora's had been, though significantly shorter, ending right below her ears. And the blue eyes he loved so much were green.

Cain could now see how she had managed to escape the city without being seen. For most people she would never have been recognized, but he would have known it was her, would have known her face anywhere no matter the change.

"I miss you, Wyatt," she drawled in DG's voice, her fingers running through his hair just as Adora's had been. "I need you so much, how could I ever think I could live without you?"

The kiss she gave him on the cheek took him back to the sitting room before this fiasco began. He wished he had the gumption to take it like a man, an awake man. Maybe then none of this would have happened.

"Where are you, DG?" he asked her, hoping she could tell him her location. His concern was growing looking at those wide green eyes. He wished to see the blue ones, the deep oceans in which he could drown himself.

"You already know," she answered. "Hurry, Wyatt," DG whispered as her form began to fade. His arms tried to hold her in place but were soon outstretched and empty.

He was speechless, his brain a muddled mess. He had been holding Adora, then suddenly DG; then they were gone. Adora had given him her blessing to start a relationship with the young princess, but there was a catch. She was in trouble and if he didn't find her soon he would lose another woman he loved.

Cain sat up, his face covered in sweat and his hands clenched tightly, painfully, into fists. Running a hand over his soaked face he removed what moisture he could. Without a second thought he was up and running, grabbing his bedroll and clambering up onto his horse. With a swift kick to its hindquarters the beast took off at an alarming pace. No longer could Cain wait until morning; he had to get to DG, and quick.

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Man This Lonely

By: Brooks & Dunn

A man this lonely
A man this blue
A man whose world's been torn in two
Needs somebody
With a heart that's true
A man this lonely needs a woman like you

Two arms this empty
Need someone to hold
A man this lost needs somewhere to go
When the nights go on forever
And the days do too
A man this lonely needs a woman like you

I'd lost hope
I was so far down
Here you come turning all that around
I'd come to think
Of love as a lie
All that's on my mind now
Is you by my side

A man this lonely
A man this blue
A man whose world's been torn in two
Needs somebody
With a heart that's true
A man this lonely needs a woman like you
A man this lonely needs a woman like you