Author's Note: Thank you so, so much for the AMAZING reviews. You made my muse very, very happy, so I had to write a little DG/Cain fluff for this chapter. I'm so glad you all are enjoying the story.

Aftermath –

Chapter Six

DG's POV

It was the strangest thing. Tutor said the words, and it was like a door in my mind opened. All at once, I knew what to do. I took Az's hands, closed my eyes, and it was like—breathing. It just came naturally. The magic that flowed out of my hands into her this time wasn't anything like what had happened before when I shielded her mind.

That had been—hot. I saw this special once on the Discovery Channel about natural glass made when lightning struck sand called fulgurite—that's what shielding Az's mind felt like the first two times I did it. It was a blast of electric energy that created a shield of petrified lightning around her brain and kept the dreams away.

Problem with that was that the nightmares ran into the shield and eventually broke it down. Now, instead of a brittle wall, my mind wove a cocoon around Azkadellia that would absorb the impact and protect her for a very long time. As I finished, I felt myself get teary—again. I'd just found her, and now Az was going to be lost to the world for who knew how long. My mind knew it was for the best, but my heart was hurting a bit.

When I stepped away from my sister, I was trilled to realize that I was a little tired, but nothing like I had been when I did the shielding. Then I opened my eyes.

And I still couldn't see.

It took me a couple of seconds to understand what had happened. When I finally figured it out, horrified roaring drowned out the Queen's voice. I blinked fast and furious, trying to get the darkness to leave. I would have rubbed my eyes, but I couldn't seem to make my hands move. I turned around slowly, numb with disbelief.

"C-cain? Cain? I can't s-see." My eyes might not have been working, but my Tin Man radar was operating at full power. He didn't move or answer, but I knew he was close, and then all at once I felt him catch me he pulled me against his chest. At the touch of his hands, the sad tears that slipped out for the temporary loss of Azkadellia changed to panicked ones and started falling faster. I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate and buried my face hard in Cain's chest in an attempt to head it off, dimly realizing that I was shivering.

I wasn't cold—at least, I didn't think I was—but I couldn't seem to keep my voice steady. This couldn't be happening. No way, no how. There had to be another explanation. Maybe while I was doing the hocus pocus stuff they'd just decided to—randomly shut off all the lights in the room. My voice when I spoke didn't sound like my own.

"W-why can't I see, Cain?" There was a long pause while I waited for him to tell me it was a big misunderstanding, but he didn't.

"It's ok, Baby. I've got you now. It's going to be ok."

A shot of ice went through my heart at his words. This was bad. This was really, really, bad. I tried unsuccessfully to control my rising terror. I was going to freak out, and I didn't want anyone else seeing it.

"Cain, can you take me to—"

"DG, what do you mean you can't see?" The Queen's voice was confused, shaken, as she interrupted me. I couldn't have answered her if my life depended on it, and Holy Hell I didn't want to have to deal with her panicking now, too. Thank God, Cain replied for me.

"Your majesty, I think DG needs to rest."

"But she said—"

"Queen Lavender, Mr. Cain is no doubt right," Tutor's voice interrupted. "That's a very powerful spell. Some quiet is certainly in order so she can get her bearings back."

Don't freak out yet. Don't freak out yet. Don't freak out yet. I told myself over and over. Pulling every bit of self-control I had in me to the surface, I turned my face just enough so I could speak. "T-Tutor's right, Mother. I'm sorry if I upset you. I'm a little, um, discombobulated from that. I think I need to go back to my room and rest for awhile."

"Discom—DG, I don't understand what you're saying."

There was a rustle of movement, and Glitch's voice piped up helpfully. "Discombobulated—a transitive verb meaning to throw into a state of confusion. It means her marbles are feeling scrambled."

"Er—thank you, Ambrose."

"Always happy to help, Your Majesty. That's what I'm here for," he said cheerfully.

"Shouldn't someone be seeing to Azkadellia," Cain said in a firm voice, effectively changing the subject. "Your Highness, maybe you could take care of getting her to bed while I see DG back to her room."

His hold on me hadn't loosened in the slightest, and I understood what he was doing. He was following Tutor's lead and diverting attention from my little sight problem by giving my parents something else to focus on. I was inordinately grateful to both of them. Who knew which "Highness" Cain had been talking to—the Queen or Ahamo—but either way, if they were dealing with Az, that meant I didn't have to worry about them.

My mother was the one who answered. "Yes—of course. I'll go straighten her bed. Ahamo, you can carry her in when I get back." By the swish of fabric, I assumed that we'd managed to convince the Queen that she didn't need to worry about me.

My attention shifted again when I sensed more movement and heard Raw's growly voice. "DG—"

"Tired," Cain interrupted. "Yeah, the kid definitely needs a nap. Fur ball, do you think you could head downstairs and let Jeb know I'm going to be awhile longer. Have him just keep doing what he's doing until I get there."

There was a heartbeat of silence, but Raw seemed to get the message that now wasn't the time for feeling sharing. "Raw go," he said. I wondered if it was on purpose that he didn't touch me as he left the room. If it was, I didn't blame him. My emotions could not possibly be a happy place to visit right now.

Unexpectedly, Ahamo's voice entered the mix. He'd been so quiet up to now, I'd almost forgotten he were there. "Actually, Mr. Cain, about the men—there are a few more things I wanted to discuss with you. I'll carry Az to her room, and Tutor can get DG settled."

I tensed and clenched my fists into Cain's shirt.

"I think it's more important for us to take care of the princesses right now, Your Highness." Cain's answer was firm. "Whatever you need to talk about will keep for a few hours."

There was a moment of tense—were talking so thick you'd need a chain saw to cut it—silence before Ahamo replied, voice tight. "Mr. Cain, I realize you may have—paternal—feelings for DG, but I assure you, I am capable of seeing to the needs of my daughters, and they are, without a doubt, my first priority. I'll take care of the girls—what I need from you is assistance with our defenses."

If my face hadn't been burrowed into a muscular chest, my jaw would have dropped open, and I completely forgot about my eyes.

Paternal? Dear God in Heaven, what that how Cain thought of me? If it was, was my magic strong enough to open up a crack in the floor and make it swallow me whole? I'd been trying hard not to dwell on it, but somewhere along the way, I'd developed feelings for Cain. Sure, I realized they probably weren't going to go anywhere in the near future—I mean, I understood that he was still getting over Adora—but paternal.

And the worst part was, Ahamo actually sounded jealous about it, like the idea that Cain could have any other kind of feelings for me had never even entered his head. Ok, so he called me Kid. It was a nickname, for God's sake. Cain and I together couldn't possibly be that hard to imagine. I for one didn't have any trouble with it at all.

I couldn't imagine how Cain was going to reply—if he said anything to confirm the paternal thing, I would be forced to kill myself—but as it turned out, he didn't have to say a word. My mother's angry voice rang sharply through the room.

"Ahamo! What in the world are you talking about? Now is not the time to be possessive. Mr. Cain has helped our daughters—both of them—immeasurably. You should be ashamed of yourself, talking to him that way."

I've heard the phrase "waiting on bated breath" before, but until that moment, I'd never really understood it. Finally, Ahamo answered. When he did, he sounded genuinely apologetic. I guess the Queen's words made him realize that maybe now wasn't such a great time to be cranky.

"You're right of course, Lavender. Mr. Cain, please forgive a father's envy. It's hard for me, knowing another man raised her, to share responsibility for her now anymore than necessary, especially when I can see that she's hurting. The idea of my baby in pain does strange things to my mind, too. It may not seem like it, but I do appreciate all you've done for my family."

There was a heartbeat of silence, and I thought Cain was searching for words. "No offense taken, Your Highness," he finally said.

"Thank you. After all, you probably understand better than most, being separated from your own son for so long. I'm sure you'd feel the same way dealing with another father-figure in Jeb's life. " The air stirred around me, and I felt Ahamo's hand on my back. "DG, you go lay down. Your mother or I will check on you in a little while."

"Thank you, Father. If it's alright, I think I would like to go now." I said. What I was thinking, though, was more along the lines of, "Father figure? Are you insane? Cain is not in any way, shape, or form a father figure to me." 

Luckily, before my mouth had a chance to seize control of my brain, Cain swung me up into his arms again. I managed not to Eep in surprise. "Zipperhead, get the door," he ordered.

"Sure thing, Cain."

"Cain what are you—"

"Can't take a chance on you falling, Princess. Those marble floors are awful hard. Your Highness, if you have time for me later today, we can have that talk about the defenses."

"Er—yes—Tutor, why don't you go with them and—"

Tutor interrupted Ahamo's uncertain reply, saving my ass one more time. I was pretty sure at this point he was doing it on purpose. "Your Highness, as much as I want to help with DG, I need to start researching these—new developments—immediately. It's very important that you and Queen Lavender stay by Azkadellia's side until we understand exactly how the twilight spell DG used works. It's been a long time since I've even read about it—the mechanics of it are unfamiliar to me."

"Sounds like we all have jobs, then," Cain interjected firmly. And just like that we were out the door. If I could have seen, I'd bet money on the fact that Ahamo looked baffled, like he didn't quite know what had just happened.

I had to give it to Cain, the man knew how to make an exit.

I could feel that he was walking fast down the long hall. I still hadn't chanced opening my eyes again—mainly because keeping my face buried in his shirt was about a thousand times better than the panicky feeling I got when I lifted my lids and saw zilch—but I thought maybe I should say something.

Words. Words would be good right now.

 His tone had been light when he spoke to Ahamo at the end, but I could feel that Cain's muscles were taut with worry. That wasn't going to fly with me. Keeping my voice a bare whisper since I didn't know if anyone was near us or not, I tried to break the ice a little.

"You know, if you keep carrying me around like this, people are going to think my legs don't work."

His step faltered slightly, but other than that Cain didn't answer. I wished that I could see his face to know what he was feeling right then. I thought about trying another joke but decided I wasn't brave enough. I would have given a million dollars or, oh, the Emerald of the Eclipse, to know what the heck was running through the Tin Man's mind right then.

Maybe even more than that, though, I wished I could see his face.

Now that I didn't have to pretend for my family, I had time to be afraid again. I thought about the things the Queen told me about a shield, and I thought about how being near Cain had helped me last night. This afternoon, too, probably, but since I was unconscious for most of that, it was only a guess.

I felt Cain stop and shift me in his arms. It felt like he was reaching for something—I was optimistic enough to assume it might be the doorknob to our room—but having some trouble with it.

"Put me down, Cain. I can walk

"DG—"

"No—it's ok, really." I forced myself to turn my face up to him and tried to smile, but I still didn't open my eyes. "Just, don't let got of me, ok? I'm kind of flying blind here, and I don't want to walk into a wall."

Instead of answering, he squeezed me lightly and set me slowly on my feet. I was relieved when one arm stayed wrapped around my waist. I heard the key turn in the lock on the door and realized that must have been what he was having trouble with before. The lock tumbled, and I sensed that Cain pushed the door open.

"Put one foot in front of the other, right?" I joked.

"Seems like a good place to start," he replied, not sounding particularly amused.

My steps were small and tentative, but I made it in the room. I had a mild heart attack when Cain let go of me and pulled the door closed, but I managed not to go all the way into a nuclear meltdown. Ok, so his arm was only away from me for four and a half seconds, but still. It was an accomplishment.

Once we were alone, I felt Cain's tense muscles loosen slightly.

"Lets get you in bed," he said, guiding me firmly toward what I assumed was the mattress.

Without really thinking about it, I resisted him.

"No—I'm not tired. I don't want to lay down."

His voice was a frustrated growl when he replied. "Kid, I'm not going to argue about this. You've had a rough morning, and I think you need a nap."

Now, if he'd said that at a normal time—yes, I realized normal in the O.Z. is a very relative thing—it might have made me roll my eyes and think he was acting like an overbearing doofus, but I probably wouldn't have made a big deal about it. Today, though, the sentence was full of buzzwords like "kid" and "nap" that absolutely infuriated me.

Without really thinking about it, I jerked away from him. "Jesus Christ, Cain! I'm not a child. In case you didn't realize it, I'm an adult woman, and I can take care of myself."

In the back of my mind I realized I was overreacting, but knowing in this case didn't equate to doing anything about it. I guess Cain was on the edge and looking for a fight, too, because my words seemed to spark his normally icy temper. He rose to the challenge immediately.

"Really?" He shot back angrily. "And you're obviously doing a damn fine job of it. Last night you could barely stand up, and I find out it's because you're doing magic you have no business trying!"

"I didn't even know I was doing it," I retorted. "It just happened."

"And this morning? Did it 'just happen' this morning, DG? Because I think you knew exactly what you were doing when you grabbed your sister's head—after your mother told you how dangerous it was!"

It occurred to me that my eyes were open and I wasn't seeing all black. Things were dark gray and hazy, but I could make out the blurry edges of Cain's shape. Right that second, though, I was too mad to care. How dare he imply I shouldn't have helped Az.

"I didn't have a choice, Cain! I had to help my sister!"

"You had a choice, Princess. You just chose to rush in without a second of thought to your own safety." He reached out and grabbed my shoulders as he spoke. "Damn it DG, you can't save everyone!" He growled.

"I saved you," I fired back.

"And the idea that you would be foolhardy enough to run into a nest of Longcoats armed with a stick is enough to give me nightmares. Do you have any idea how I felt when you collapsed today? And then when you turned around—" He broke off and shook me lightly. "Do you, DG?"

His voice was rough with something I didn't understand, but it struck a cord in me all the same. I felt hot tears burning my eyes again and struggled to fight them back. "Probably like the stupid kid you think you owe something to needed rescuing—again," I said bitterly. "I've got news for you, Cain. I may be younger than you are, but you are not my father. You aren't responsible for me, so why don't you just go downstairs and leave me alone!"

His fingers bit into my shoulders. "You are my responsibility, Princess, because you're mine, and I'm never going to leave you alone—not now, not ever."

The darkness was lightening further, and I realized I could make out his features now. His eyes were burning hot boring into mine.

"I don't belong to you," I hissed angrily. I knew I was playing with fire right then, but I didn't care. I wanted to get burned.

"You will," his words come out sounding like some sort of vow, and before I could react at all, he pulled me roughly against his chest and slanted his mouth across mine.

Shock held me frozen for a heartbeat before my mind wrapped around the fact that the object of my—crush? affection? lust?—was kissing me. I struggled for half a second before I relaxed into the warm softness of his lips. He gentled the action almost immediately, but his arms didn't soften at all. They felt like steel bands wrapped around me, and I reveled in the sensation.

This, this was what I wanted, what I needed.

Softly, Cain played his tongue across the seam of my lips, coaxing them open. I could no more have denied him than I could have kept the sun from rising. His hands moved up my back and buried themselves in my hair. When he swept into my mouth, I arched against him instinctively with a gasp.

"Cain—" My voice was a low, bewildered moan I barely recognized. The things he was making me feel were new, new and wonderful, but a little frightening.

Using his cheek, he nudged my head to the side and trailed kisses down the side of my neck. "It's ok, Baby," he whispered against my skin, sensing my fears and allaying them.

The thought flashed through my mind that Ahamo must be insane—there was nothing 'paternal' in the way Cain said "Baby." Then he started sucking lightly at the sensitive skin where my neck met my shoulder, and I couldn't think at all. I realized dimly that I was clutching handfuls of his shirt, but I couldn't make myself let go.

I have no idea how we ended up stretched out on the bed, but Cain's mouth had moved back up to mine, so I didn't really care. He was lightly nibbling on my bottom lip when I realized he was slowly pulling away. The disappointment I felt was crushing, to say the least.

With one last nuzzling caress, he rested his forehead on mine for a second and then rolled away, one arm thrown across his eyes. The only sound in the room was the harsh rasp of our breathing. It actually took me a second to realize that my sight was back—who knew the passionate haze they talked about in romance novels was a real thing.

Go figure.

I wondered what else showed up in those things that might not be entirely fictional.

My mind was revving about a thousand miles per hour, but Cain didn't seem at all inclined to speak. I wondered what he was thinking. Had he touched me just because he was angry? Had he wanted to kiss me, or did he just want to shut me up? What was he feeling now?

My blood ran cold when the idea that maybe he'd been picturing Adora when he touched me entered my mind. Maybe that always happened when they had arguments. Maybe—I couldn't take it anymore. I had to talk.

"Uh, Cain?" I asked tentatively and waited for a response.

Nothing.

Feeling suddenly self-conscious, I started to edge away from him. He was regretting it. I knew he was regretting it. Maybe it had been a bad kiss. Maybe I wasn't any good at it. I hadn't dated that much in high school, but I wasn't totally without experience. I'd never gone all the way, though. For some reason, it just never felt right.

Later, when I started college, I'd been so busy balancing work and school and helping on the farm that I hadn't had time to think about a serious relationship.

The—physical—activity I'd had with guys had never gotten me any complaints, though. But that didn't mean anything. Those were boys—Cain was a man. I had a feeling his experience was way out of my league. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that I'd managed to do something really stupid.

I was pathetic—a 21 year old virgin who'd never gone beyond heavy petting. Obviously, Cain hadn't particularly enjoyed making out with me. My flight instinct kicked in all at once—I needed to get out of here. I started to edge my way off the bed, but before I could move more than a few inches, Cain's arm snaked out and wrapped around me, pulling me against him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, curious. My mind went totally blank. It might have been funny, if it hadn't been happening to me. Honestly, though, I didn't know where the heck I was going. Luckily, before I could answer, his eyes widened a little, and he smiled, completely changing the subject. "You can see again."

The rare sight of my cranky Tin Man smiling was enough to distract me from anything else. It melted my heart and—apparently—loosened my tongue.

"Yeah, thanks to you."

I realized my mistake as soon as the words went past my lips.

His expression changed to a scowl. "Thanks to me? What do you mean?"

Well just Hell. This so was not a conversation I wanted to get into right now. How do you tell a man that you're pretty sure your magic has drafted him into a human battery charger?

TBC