I do not own Tin Man.. *tear*
As they apprached the large double doors leading into the Queen's quarters, DG and Cain could hear hushed whispers behind the closed doors.
"What if she decides not to come back to us?" Her mother whispered harshly to Ahamo, worry in her voice.
"She will. You must remember who we are sending with her." He whispered back, trying to console his love.
"We just got her back, maybe we shoud-"
"She has to do this, darling, she has to know."
The advisor that sent for DG and Cain cleared his throat loudly before signaling two guards to open the door.
"Your Highness, Princess DG and her bodyguard have been retrieved as ordered," He announced in a loud clear voice, now waiting for his dismissal.
"Thank you, Lane, you may go." Queen Lavender said, the worry from her previous discussion still showing in her tone.
Ahamo went to his daughter and took her into a warm embrace, only breaking away to shake Cain's hand. The Queen seemed resigned as she took her youngest daughter in her arms.
"My angel," She whispered, pulling DG tighter to her, "My sweet angel, if only someone else could do this.." She let the statement hang, pulling back to look into her daughter's eyes.
"Come, sit down, there is something very important we must discuss with you two." Ahamo announced, ushering them towards a small table, where coffee and an asssortment of sweets awaited them.
They took their seats, waiting for either the Queen or her consort to explain why they were called. DG stared at her mother, waiting. She was confused at what she said to her when she hugged her. Ahamo decided to begin.
"We need you to do something for us," He began looking back between DG and Cain, "We have a message that needs to be delivered to an old friend, a friend that can help us restore the O.Z. to its former glory. Now the path you must take will be a very difficult one, but only you two can do it."
DG was still looking at the Queen when she replied, "Who's the friend? And where exactly are we going to go?" She didn't like this. Her mother was hiding something from her, but she didn't know what. The way her eyes shifted from Ahamo, to the draperies on the large wall window, even to Cain, but never looking at her daughter, told DG that her mother was worried over something, and it must be pretty extreme, to make even the Queen nervous.
"We cannot tell you, " Ahamo said slowly, "You will not know until you are at your destination. That is the largest difficulty in your journey, you must trust us and follow what we say exactly. When you leave here, go find Tutor, he will give you further instructions and prepare you for your departure. Darling, you must say something to her before she has to leave."
"DG, sweetheart, trust me that I did not want you to be the one to have to go," The Queen spoke with her eyes downcast, not wanting to face her daughter, "But you and Mr. Cain are the only two we can trust with this. As your father said, it will be very difficult to reach your destination, but I believe in you, I trust you to do what you have to and come back as quick as you can." Her mother sounded frantic as she said the last bit, looking up at DG with tears in her eyes.
Now she knew why she was so worried. Her mother thought she wasn't coming back from wherever she was headed. She touched her mother's hand that was resting on the table lovingly, intertwining her fingers in hers.
"I promise, I'll come back, no matter where we have to go, as soon as we're finished doing whatever it is we have to do. Besides, Mr. Cain's coming with me, so there's no way we could fail." She said it to make her mother feel better, but once she had, the words sounded truer than they did in her head.
Queen Lavender smiled at her daughter, DG feeling her worries melt away. She ushered her daughter and Cain out , saying that they must get to Tutor quickly, and that there was no time to waste.
"And Mr. Cain," The Queen called over her shoulder as DG and her Tin Man were leaving, "Make sure my daughter makes it back safe."
"Of course, Highness" Cain replied, tipping his hat to the Queen and her consort.
"So, do you have any idea where we're headed?" Asked a very out of breath DG, trying to keep up with Cain's strides as they made their way towards the library to find Tutor.
"No idea, Princess, but we'll find out as soon as we reach Tutor." He said as he reached the archway leading into the large library.
They found Tutor on the second story, his nose into a very large book with an ancient symbol on the front and back of the cover. He was so into what he was reading her didn't even notice Cain and DG approach him. It wasn't until Cain grabbed the book he was reading and slammed it on the table Tutor was sitting in that he jumped out of his trance - and out of his seat - to look at both of them in astonishment until understanding fell upon him.
"Hiya, Toto," Dg said, "I believe you know why we're here?"
"It's Tutor when I'm in this form, DG, and yes, I do. Follow me." He led them out to the courtyard, past the lake, through the maze to the outskirts of Finaqua. There he turned and looked Cain straight in the eye.
"Where you two are headed you have never been, Mr. Cain, though I'm sure you'll fair with Princess DG with you."
"What are you talkin' about? There isn't anywhere in the O.Z. that I haven't-" He stopped short as he saw Tutor wave his arms up and around, in the form of a tornado.
"Oh no.." He blanched, aware now of exactly where he and the Princess was headed.
"W-We're going back to the Other Side?!" DG screamed over the now swirling wind, pushing hair away from her face.
"Hold on tight, kiddo! I heard these things pack quite a punch." He reached for her and pulled her close, shielding both him and the Princess' head as the wind became fiercer.
"Ya think?!" she yelled from under him, holding on tight as she waited for her feet to lift from the ground. The last time she was in a Travel Storm, she was thrown from a rooftop into one, and she realized, that that was a much better way than waiting helplessly as the storm picked her and Cain up off of the ground.
"Wait! Az! I have tell Az-"
"There's no time! Further directions will be given to you once you make it safely to the Other Side," Tutor yelled, "You'll know what to do!" He said as he was retreating, well, at least DG thought it was him that was retreating, when really it was the storm getting further away from Finaqua, until finally everything went black and calm.
DG opened her eyes only to find darkness. She tried to get up but realized she was pinned down by something. Something heavy, and - breathing - she stopped short when she noticed the blonde hair resting on her right shoulder. She was going to let him just lay there, she didn't want to wake him up while he seemed to be so peaceful, but her whole body ached to get up, to wander around, to see if she really was back in Kansas. So she tried to push him off of her, but he didn't budge. She whispered his name trying to stir him, but still, nothing. Becoming agitated, she flicked him hard in the ear with her finger and up he went, gun out and ready to shoot anything that moved the wrong way.
His eyes fell to where DG lay, confusion in his ice blue eyes. He saw the postion they were in, his legs straddling her from him sitting up so abruptly, and got up as quickly as a disoriented Tin Man could.
"Thanks for the wake up call," He said as he rubbed his ear, "So where are we?"
DG looked around for the answer to his question, trying to find anything familiar to her. She spotted a house up the road, and knew exactly where she was.
"We're in Kansas," She whispered, "I can't believe it. That's my house right up the road, how can it look like that after the storm?" When DG woke up in the O.Z., she had debris from her former home on her, surrounding her from every direction, how can it look so perfect now?
"Well then, I guess we should start walking," He stated, picking up his hat a few feet away, "We should stay there, unless you want to stay in the road until a messenger arrives."
"Yeah, but when we get there," She said, looking him up and down, "We have to find you a new getup."