A/N: BAM! Bet you weren't expecting an update for THIS! Why no, it's not an update of 'A Surprise Suitor'? (Not yet anyway…) So this will have to do, I suppose. This is my nod to Splinters and the Awesome that are OZ horses according to…well wait, I don't even know if Philyra is reading this actually. LOL! Philyraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Anyway, enjoy! And for the Big Damn Prompt Table Challenge, my prompt here is ~Tangle~, in this case meaning complicated.

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Three men were standing in the middle of the road facing the same direction.

"Well?" The man on the right asked.

"Well what?" came the bored response from the man in the middle.

"Does she know you're here?"

A pause. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't tell her."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Why didn't you?"

"Because you told me not to."

"When has that stopped you in the past?"

"Are you going to hug her?"

An eyebrow was raised at the subject change. "Why wouldn't I?"

A shrug. "You don't seem to like hugs."

"I…" Eyebrows are furrowed in contemplation. "I don't like hugs from you, Zipperhead…"

The man on the left, covered in fur, promptly wrapped his arms around the man in the middle, trapping his arms.

Cain slowly turned from Glitch to glare from beneath the brim of his hat at Raw. "Funny."

Raw rumbled and turned back to the direction they were watching. "Cain anxious," he said to the road.

"I knew it!" Glitch stuck a triumphant finger in the air.

Cain looked at him like he was an idiot. "Knew what?"

Glitch inhaled as if to launch into a longwinded explanation. "I-I…" His brow fell as he lost his train of thought. "I'll let you know…"

Cain fought to keep the corner of his mouth turned down as Glitch deflated, turning back to the road where it was easier to keep a straight face. He shared an amused glance with Raw before remembering that the furball had just shared his feelings aloud. Cain's eyes went forward again, but before they settled into nothingness, he spotted something.

"Finally…" he muttered.

"Finally what?" Glitch asked. Cain pointed vaguely, making Glitch lean forward and put a hand unnecessarily over his eyes to see into the distance. "I don't see anything."

"Dust." Raw pointed vaguely as well.

"Helpful, fuzzbrain. Very helpful," Glitch muttered darkly. "We're at the edge of a desert. Of course there's dust."

"Dust from horses," Raw explained finally.

"Ah! So now what?"

"We wait," Cain said, nodding slightly.

"We wait," Glitch affirmed, as if someone had asked his opinion, and promptly sat down cross-legged in the road looking out at the desert.

A comfortably silent ten minutes followed as the dust cloud neared them.

"Come on. Time to go greet a Princess," Cain said, offering Glitch a hand and hauling him to his feet. "I'll grab our horses…"

As the other two walked down the path towards the beginning of the desert where the Princess and her guards, including his son, were approaching, Cain walked back towards the trees where their mounts were waiting in the shade patiently. He made a clicking noise when he was close enough and they obediently made their way towards him.

His white horse, Sanko, walked up to him and bumped Cain's shoulder with his nose in greeting. Cain smiled faintly and grabbed the reins, more for something to do, rather than actually leading it towards the group gathered at the desert's edge. Sanko trotted happily along behind Cain with the other two horses on either side of him.

Cain looked up to see a small figure in white dismount and bounce over into Raw's arms.

"Raw!" he heard her exclaim. "I didn't know you guys would be here to greet us!"

"Of course we would, Doll," Glitch beamed. "Who else would be here?" She laughed and jumped into his arms, upon which, he spun them both in a circle.

"DG, glad to see greenery," Raw stated more than asked.

"Oh you have no idea-" Raw's statement had brought her gaze towards the woods and the horses, bringing her relief to an end. She noticed the third horse, and easily recognized it as Cain's, which meant…

"Hey there, Princess," he said, stepping out from behind his horse, the corners of his mouth tugged upward as he tipped his hat towards her.

She laughed uncertainly, but started forward anyway.

When she made it a few paces away from him, she broke into a run. Cain vaguely noted that his son was dismounting his horse as well, but was soon preoccupied with an armful of Princess.

Literally.

She had jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, hugging him tightly.

"Ompf!" He couldn't stop the grin that came across his face from her pounce. So much for decorum.

Or waiting until they were alone, he thought vaguely.

He readjusted his grip from around her middle, to her legs, steadying her. She pulled back smiling her special smile for him and was leaning forward when an alarmed shout and a thump was heard behind her. Cain's face fell and he twisted them so they could both see what happened.

Jeb apparently had trouble dismounting his horse.

"Are you alright, Sir?" One of the other men from DG's protection detail asked Jeb, helping him to stand.

"Ooooooow…" Cain heard his son groan.

"He's alright," Cain muttered, and turned back to DG. She looked back to him as well and smiled.

"Where were we?" she said quietly, already glancing down at his lips.

He gave her his patented half smile and leaned forward.

"Welcome home, Sweetheart," he said, just before pressing his lips to hers briefly. She 'hmm'd' in response, and pressed her lips to his again after he pulled back.

"I missed you…" she murmured, resting her forehead against his.

"I missed you too. We better go make sure Jeb is okay…"

She nodded but didn't loosen her grip on him. He dropped his hands from her legs, but she kept them snugly wrapped around him.

His eyes narrowed at her in question. She tilted her head.

"Did I mention that I missed you?"

He smiled in spite of himself. "In passing, yes."

She grinned at him and he replaced the hold on her legs. He made his way over to where his son was now standing, Raw had already helped ease the pain of the fall for Jeb.

Cain tried to look as non-chalant as possible with a Princess wrapped around his waist as he surveyed the scene. But it wasn't long before everyone had noticed just who the Princess had attached herself to. DG's face was just as plain. She was looking at everyone as if she were standing on her own two feet.

"What?" Cain asked the raised eyebrows and open stares. He moved his hands away again, and again, DG stayed right where she was, legs around his waist, arms around his shoulders. "She won't let go," he deadpanned with a shrug, returning his arms to hold her.

DG smiled at him. "I haven't seen him in awhile…" she said in a small voice, brushing a finger affectionately across his cheek.

Raw and a few of the guards chuckled as Cain shook his head at her with a tight smile, fighting a laugh.

"Right," he said dismissing her behavior for the time being. He turned to Jeb. "Forget how to get off your horse, Son?"

It took him a second to realize that Jeb was just staring at him, brow furrowed.

"Forget to tell us about you and the Princess, Father?"

Silence fell over the group.

Is that why he fell?

"I told you," DG offered. Jeb's scowl arched towards her, eyes narrowing as well. She nodded to the distance in the direction that they had just come from. "Back at the oasis," she said in an overly innocent tone.

Cain noted Jeb's eyes widening in panic slightly.

"I said that I already have one Cain looking out for me." Cain tried not to blink at the subtle steel found in her voice with the delivery of that last line.

"I didn't think you meant it like that," Jeb muttered under his breath, but Cain caught it. "Come on men, let's step in the shade for a bit before we get going again."

Jeb and the guard detail led their horses towards the woods behind Cain, their eyes trying not to stare at Cain and his Princess.

Cain raised his eyebrows at DG, but didn't press. Her lips had tightened into a slight frown and her eyes held his only briefly before looking down at the ground and back. Clearly something had happened out in the desert. But he would have to be satisfied with hearing about it later.

He tried to change the subject back to a happier note.

"Are you ever going to let go of me to ride your horse the rest of the way?"

Her lips twitched into a smile. "Nope."

He sighed dramatically. "Then you'll just have to ride with me, I suppose." Truth be told, he didn't really want to be away from her now that she was back in the OZ.

She grinned and pressed her chest to his, leaning over his shoulder with a hand out.

"Sankooooooooo!" she called cheerfully.

His horse nickered playfully and pressed his nose to her palm, letting her hand then run up his face, wuffling contentedly as she did.

Her own chestnut colored horse, snorted behind her.

Cain smiled at her, "Hello, Twila," he said, holding out a palm to her. She moved towards him and wuffled happily, bumping his chest and DG's shoulder.

"Oooooh, Twila, you jealous old filly!" DG turned her attention to her mount, wrapping an arm around her long face briefly. "Just because you have a crush on our dear Sanko here, doesn't mean you have to have all of the attention on you!"

Twila's ears flicked back as her gaze went between DG and Cain to Sanko. Meanwhile Sanko had raised his head and his ears had perked up, and he angled his body slightly, showing off. Twila snorted again and began to walk towards the woods and the rest of the horses, flicking her tail behind her.

Sanko watched her go before swinging his head back to Cain, who shrugged.

"Go on then," he motioned after Twila, and Sanko bobbed his head and took off after her.

"Pfffffffft," DG scoffed, rolling her eyes at Cain, "Horses..."

Cain frowned.

"And here I thought our lives were complicated."