Return to Oz
Told by Mutitoon90
Chapter Twelve
A week had passed since Kiyone and Dorothy had returned from Oz, and a few things had happened over the week. It was eventful for the two friends.
First, the girls encountered the sheriff, who had been discovered with many undergarments from many girls, including Dorothy and Kiyone. With this information out in the open, the sheriff was forced resign, but he tried to leave town, only to be arrested for theft and trasspassing. Aunt Em was embarrassed that she allowed a prevert that close to her niece, but Uncle Henry and many others were glad that the sheriff was off of the streets and in a jail cell, where he belonged.
With the resignation and arrest of the sheriff, Kiyone was allowed to raise up from deputy sheriff to become the new sheriff, which many people did not object to at all. Many people knew that Kiyone was a better law enforcer than the preivous sheriff ever was.
After the events involved the sheriff, Aunt Em started to berate Dorothy for leaving the house while she and her husband were gone. Fortunately for Dorothy, the brunette farmgirl was too old to be punished, like being grounded, by her, However, Aunt Em's complaints and lecturing was punishment enough to Dorothy and to those who could hear them.
At the beginning of the following week, Dorothy was at the fence, talking to Sheriff Kiyone about their adventures in Oz. It was safe to talk, since Uncle Henry went to town, and Aunt Em was busy cleaning and cooking, so no one would think that they were insane.
"So, how's it bein' the sheriff around here?" Dorothy asked her friend with the dark teal hair, who smiled widely as she answered the question.
"Pretty good. It's not always the most fabulous job in the world, but it's a job I don't mind having, since I like to make sure no one gets away with any crimes."
"At least, the ones that you can do." Dorothy said with a laugh in her voice as a mischievious grin formed on her face.
"Ha ha." Kiyone dryly responded as she shook her head, nearly causing her hat to fall from her dark-haired head.
Then, the front door opened, and Aunt Em exited from the house and addressed the two best friends in a very formal manner.
"Dorothy, Sheriff Makibi, if you're staying for dinner, then come inside; dinner will be ready in a few minutes."
"Thanks for the warning!" Dorothy playfully shouted back, earning a dagger-sharp glare from her aunt, who returned to the house and slamming the door.
"Dorothy, you're asking for it." Kiyone shook her head again, "Sooner or later, she's gonna get ya with something you might not be able to get yourself out of."
"Aw, come on!" The brunette responded to her friend's statment, "It was a joke, and it's not my fault that she can't take one."
"I know that." Kiyone defended herself and added, "I'm just giving some sage advise for just in case; after all, she can still set you up on blind dates."
"Ugh!" Groaned Dorothy, knowing that her best friend was right about her aunt and the horrid fact that her aunt could set her up with the worst possible dates. Dorothy was a little surprised that none of her dates had tried to kill or rape her yet.
Then, the ring of the dinner bell, which was Dorothy's aunt grabbing a metal stick and banging it against a huge metal triangle, echoed throughout the air, telling Dorothy and Kiyone that dinner was ready.
Dorothy's speed was surprising to Kiyone, who was left inhaling dust from the kickup from Dorothy's dash to dinner. Fortunately for her, Kiyone knew her way around the fence and the yard that it protects. As the sheriff entered the yard by opening the gate, another trail of dust was kicked up, telling Kiyone that Henry Gale was coming to his home.
"Oh, boy." The dark-haired sheriff said as the dust cloud that was Dorothy Gale's uncle whipped by the girl, who still had the gate opened just in case.
The next thing Kiyone knew was the sound of a door being opened loudly and being slammed shut, telling the sheriff that Henry Gale was inside of his home. Dusting off the derbis that Dorothy and Henry had unintentionally threw on her, Kiyone followed the Gales to their home and entered their home.
Once inside, Kiyone made her way to the dining room, where the Gale family were seated, and took a seat next to Dorothy, who was looking silly by holding her fork and knife in an upward direction. Looking at her friend's uncle, who was holding his utensils in the same manner, Kiyone allowed herself a small giggle at the sight.
"Time for dinner." Aunt Em's voice rang out like a dinner bell as she placed the food onto the table for all of those seated to see.
As Dorothy and Uncle Henry raised their forks towards the food, the doorbell was heard by all, halting the approaching activity. All of the women in the room were confused, but the lone human male blushed a little bit.
"Sorry about that, girls." Henry chuckled out, "I've forgot about the friend that I've bumped into earlier today; I've invited him to dinner."
"You've invited someone to dinner?" Dorothy and Em asked in a rare unison in a shared moment of confusion, while Kiyone just stared at Henry.
"Yeah." The older brunette man chuckled as he rose from his seat and went to the front door, only to be followed by his wife, who was curious about Henry's friend.
"Is something wrong?" Kiyone asked her best friend, who answered bluntly and half-stunned, "Yeah; Uncle Henry never brings guests over."
Then, the two friends heard the sharp gasp from the front door, knowing that it was Em, and the gasp was followed by a thud. That told the girls that the nearly elderly woman had fainted.
"Aunt Em!" Dorothy gasped out as she got off of her chair and ran to her aunt's aid, followed by the sheriff of her town and best friend.
Upon arriving at the front door, the friends were in for another shock. Although the situation was different from the one that led them to Oz with Muta, seeing a denizen of Oz was still a shock to the girls, even if it was a friend.
"What are you doing here?" Kiyone asked the being that was standing over Uncle Henry, who was trying to help Aunt Em wake, while Dorothy was surprised upon seeing Daisuke Jigen to the point of speechlessness.
"It's been a while, girls." The fedora-wearing man smiled at the two friends, who tried to recover from the shock of seeing the magical marksman, as he flicked a burnt-out and crushed cigarette from his fingers.
As soon as she was able to take, Dorothy asked the hat-wearing man, "Jigen, why are you in Kansas of all places?"
"I came here to talk to an old friend of mine." Jigen gestured towards Dorothy's uncle, who was still trying to wake up his wife, "I've been doing it for years after I learned the spell."
"And the cigarette trips?" Dorothy glared at Jigen, recalling what he told the week before when she caught him with a cigarette between his lips.
A sharp grin cornered on his face as Jigen answered the stern-sounding inquiry, "I really do leave Oz to get cigarettes, but I usually do it before talking to Henry, although," Jigen's smile weaken into non-existence, "there was another that I used to talk to years ago: Oscar, Henry's twin brother."
Then, Dorothy's face dropped as she knew the Henry's brother very well, even though it was years ago since he did seen him and his wife; after Oscar was her father, who died with his wife and Dorothy's mother in a car crash.
"Of course," the Oz-native man resumed speaking, "Oscar's wife, Mandy, used to join the twins in my visits." Then, he looked at the woman that fainted on the floor, "Miss Hunter, however, is another story."
"Miss Hunter?" Kiyone looked at Dorothy, who was quick to answer the question, "That's Aunt Em's maiden name."
Thinking the statement over for a moment, Kiyone spoke once more, saying, "I'm not too surprised that 'Hunter' is her maiden name."
"I was afraid of that." Jigen moanfully stated as he hear the statement, "Henry was always head over heels from Miss Hunter, or now, it's Mrs. Gale."
The woman that Jigen was talking about woke up and rubbed her head with a moan on her lips before she looked around the room and saw Jigen again. The sight of the marksman nearly caused Dorothy's aunt to faint again, but Henry was ready with some smelling salts, which brought Aunt Em back to her waking state of mind.
"What? Who?" Aunt Em looked around the room, and when she saw the dark marksman once more, her eyes narrowed with fury and annoyance. Henry, Dorothy, Kiyone and even Jigen backed from the proper woman, who was ready to rip Jigen to pieces.
"How in Heaven's name did you leave Oz!? I thought you needed to be a powerful person of magic to leave Oz of your own free will!"
"What can I say?" Jigen shrugged his shoulders at the furious woman, "I was seven years old when you last saw me."
"Seven?!" The two best friends exclaimed as they absorbed the information that was freed from Jigen's lips.
"That's right." The marksman nodded to the farmgirl and the lady sheriff, "However, I think she thought that I was Oscar for a mintue."
"That might explain Aunt Em's faintin'." Dorothy admitted before asking, "But why?"
"I think it's the hat." Henry stated to his niece, "It was your father's before he gave it to Jigen here."
"My dad's..." Tears formed in her eyes at the very thought of her father that died when she was a very young girl.
"Dorothy?" Jigen's voice shot through Dorothy's thoughts, bringing the girl back to reality, "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay." Dorothy tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but new tears formed in the place of the removed drops of salt water.
It was a few mintues before Dorothy recovered from crying and spoke once again; first, she said, "I'm alright."
"Let's get some dinner." Uncle Henry suggested to the group, "It's gonna get cold if we don't get to it in time."
"Right." Kiyone agreed with a nod of her head, nearly knocking off her hat once again, "Some food might be good for all of us."
With a nod, Dorothy went to the dining room and sat down at her seat, followed by her family and friends. Kiyone sat down next to Dorothy. Jigen sat next to Henry, who sat next to his wife. Soon, the meal went on, but it was quiet.
Dorothy's uncle, Kiyone and Jigen were silent out of awkwardness, and Dorothy's aunt was being haughty and quiet at the time. Dorothy was quiet too, but it was because of the memories of her parents that she lost as a child.
A quart of an hour passed, and Dorothy, having hardly eaten her food, rose up and said, "Please excuse me." Then, she walked out of the room, leaving the others looking confused.
Jigen was truly concerned about the brunette girl and went after her, but not before saying to the hosts, "'Xcuse me."
As Jigen rushed out of the dining room, Em was about to go after Jigen, under whatever impression she was under, when Henry grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into the chair, much to Kiyone's surprise; she had never seen Dorothy's uncle use any kind of force against Em before, and she knew that Dorothy would have been as shocked to see this as well.
"Henry!" Em gasped at her husband's action, and Henry said in a stern vioce that did not fit his usually easy-going nature, "Emily Gale, sit yourself down, now."
The woman, who was used to being the one giving the orders, sat down, stunned by the strength in her husband and realizing that Henry was discretly telling her to back off. The action of the aunt of Kiyone's best friend was surprising to the sheriff.
At the staircase, Dorothy was trying to conceal her tears, depressed about being reminded of her deceased parents and feeling the sadness that she hardly felt in the years following the demises of her parents. The farmgirl was halfway up the stairs when she heard someone coming behind her. Turning around, she saw that it was Jigen, but she turned back around to try to escape him.
Jigen proved to be faster than Dorothy as he caught up and grabbed her by the forearm. With a quick and powerful tug, the Oz-native turned Dorothy around to face him.
"Dorothy," Jigen spoke to the native of Kansas, "what's wrong? You seem to be upset about your parents."
A moment of hesitation passed before Dorothy answered through a breaking voice, "I am..."
The eyes of the marksman showed themselves from their usual hiding place to take a good look at the teary-eyed girl. Then, Jigen pulled out a piece of cloth and gave it to the sad girl.
"A handkerchief?" Inquiried the young brunette as she took the piece of cloth from Jigen, "Thanks for the thought."
The gratitude sound half-hearted, but Jigen knew that the sound of the girl's voice that Dorothy was upset to sound truly grateful.
As Dorothy took the cloth and dried her blue eyes from the tears, the foreign male spoke to the farmgirl in a calm voice.
"Dorothy, I'm sorry about reminding ya of your parents; I didn't know that it was an issue for you, 'course if it were Mrs. Gale, that's a different story."
The comment about her aunt made the sad girl smile and giggle, causing Jigen to smile as he spoke to Dorothy.
"Atta girl." The bearded man said as he removed his hat and placed it on Dorothy's head, making the girl to look up at the old friend of her father and uncle.
"Why are you giving it to me?" Dorothy inquiried her friend and ally, "It belongs to you, thanks to my dad."
The darkly-dressed man gave his answer to the girl as he guided Dorothy to the bottom of the stairs, "It was your father's, and I think that you need it more than I do."
Pulling at her shirt, Dorothy smiled sweetly at her friend as she said in a truly grateful voice, "Thank you, Daisuke."
"Come on," Jigen pointed a thumb towards the dining room, "the others are gonna be worried about us if we don't get back soon."
Dorothy silently nodded her head as she was escorted to the dining area with Jigen by her side, feeling better about herself and her past.
Dinner went by without much trouble, although Emily Gale's icy glare was directed at Jigen everytime he touched Dorothy, whether or not it was intentional. As soon as dinner was over, Dorothy and Jigen went outside to get out of the line of the icy glare of Dorothy's aunt and for some fresh air.
"So, my aunt, uncle and parents were spirited away to Oz, like I was, on their first visit there." Dorothy said in awe, earning a nod.
"Yeah," Jigen chuckled at the sight of an awe stricken Dorothy, "they were probably as confused as you were when you dropped in."
"No kidding." Dorothy giggled before adding, "I bet Aunt Em was faintin' for most of the first adventure."
"Actually, she kept denying that everything that she saw was real." Jigen grinned at the thought of a teenaged version of Emily acting crazy.
Dorothy thought of the same thing and nearly busted out in laughter, but she managed to control herself long enough to clam herself.
"I can imagine Aunt Em goin' crazy about a land that was ruled by magic and a royal family." Dorothy was still smiling as she spoke.
Then, the wind whipped up, nearly causing the fedora to fly off of Dorothy's head and slightly messing up his slicked-back hair.
"By the strength of the wind, I think my mother's calling me." Jigen announced to the farmgirl, who was a little suprised at the words.
"Zeniba? Your mother?" Dorothy asked, "Why would she be whippin' up a wind all the way to Kansas?"
"I thought I've just said it." The hatless man chuckled, causing Dorothy to blush a little at her own silliness in her own words.
Then, the darkly-dressed man started down the steps of the porch and towards the gate. As he walked off, Jigen turned his head to Dorothy and said, "See ya later, Dorothy."
Dorothy, who was still wearing the fedora that Jigen had given to her later, pulled the dark-hued hat from her head, looked at it for a few moments and returned her gaze to Jigen's departing form, which had reached the gate and opened it by that time. She knew that she had to do something, and she knew what it is, but she needed to act before it was too late.
Gripping on the hat's brim, Dorothy gave a small chase after her friend for a month and caught the gate before it could close. Pushing the gate out of her way, the brunette farmgirl felt the wind blowing very hard, reminding her of how she went to Oz in the first time and telling her that Jigen was about to leave Kansas. Dorothy ran as much as she could before the wind started to change into a cyclone, and the young woman knew that it was the same kind that spirited her off to the magical land. Dorothy tried to call out to Jigen, but the blast of air made her voiceless, and it started to blind her. The wind kept her from getting closer to Jigen, who seemingly started to vanish into thin air.
Dorothy still tried to reach Jigen, but the wind complete impaired her vision, and she felt a familiar weightlessness that she had when she was taken to Oz the first time. Feeling the wind turn her body, like a kitten playing with a toy on a string, Dorothy kept her eyes closed until she felt the pull of gravity once more. Panicking again, Dorothy fell for only a second before she landed on something that were like arms of a person.
"Wha?" The girl opened an eye to only see the hatless Jigen folding her in his arms, and upon seeing this, Dorothy gasped out before asking, "What's goin' on?"
"An old trick of Daisuke's." A familiar voice echoed out, causing the female brunette to look into the direction of the voice, which was coming of the dark swamp that she and Jigen were.
Quickly realizing the voice, Dorothy asked the owner of the voice, "Zeniba, is that you?"
A warm laugh echoed to Dorothy's ears as the voice replied in the same warmth, "I'm glad that you remember me, and I also se that you are just as gullible as your father and uncle, whenever Daisuke pulled that old trick."
Dorothy's face darkened with a fury that was being restrained a little before turning to Jigen, who had a sharp girn on his face, and saying in a tone that was near-threatening, "Before I forget, here's your hat!"
With a swift movement and a hard tug, the farmgirl returned Jigen's hat onto the head of the Grandmother-Witch of the North. The action caused the marksman to drop Dorothy onto the ground.
"Ha, ha, ha!" A wheezy-sounding laugh escaped the lips from the elderly witch's mouth, "She might have Oscar's gullibility, but Mandy's fury is strong in Dorothy."
Then, four more voices laughed out with the witch, which told Dorothy, who picked herself from the ground, and Jigen, who pulled the hat off of his head and adjusted it to its usual place, that the four daughters of Zeniba were there with them.
"Pallas, Ceres, Juno, Vesta," Zeniba called out into the swamp's darkness, "show yourselves; we know that you're here."
"No, you don't." Pallas's voice echoed out innocently before three shushing sounds echoed out after the statement.
The three adults shook their heads at the sisters' attempt to spy on them, since they thought and agreed that the whole thing was ridiculous at best.
"Those four never learn, do they?" Dorothy asked out with a hand nearly touching her face as her allies shared the same thought, which was expressed through their faces.
A chuckle echoed from Jigen's lips and into the darkness of the swamp before he said, "They might learn someday, but until then..."
"Agreed." Zeniba nodded her head as she turned to the direction, which she came from. Then, she asked Dorothy without turning to the farmgirl's direction, "Will you be staying for dessert?"
"Dessert?" Inquiried the brunette, who started to play with her tied-up hair, "Well, I wanna, but I'm not sure that Aunt Em would approve."
"Aunt Em?" The Grandmother-Witch of the North eyed the girl before asking, "Do you mean Emily Hunter is married into the Gale clan?"
"Yeah." Dorothy blushed a little from knowing the fact that her aunt was that imfamous in Oz, or at least with Jigen's family.
"Well," Zeniba sighed out as she spoke, "I guess it was going to happen. After all, Henry's been in love with that woman from a time before his first trip to Oz."
"Yeah." The hat-wearing man nodded to agree with his mother, recalling the times that he has seen Henry caring for Emily.
Then, Dorothy freed a loud sigh and said, "I don't know what to do; this is all new to me."
"I'll explain it to ya over dessert." Jigen placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, urging her to go with them to the home of the northern witch.
The girl from Kansas laughed a little before she said, "All right then; I'm still a little hungry, even after the dinner Aunt Em made."
"Wonderful!" Zeniba made a small twirl in her excitement, "Then, let's get going. The cake's going to get cold."
Seeing that Zeniba was running off, Dorothy turned to Jigen and asked, "Is she gonna be like that for the rest of the evenin'?"
"Not really." Jigen chuckled as he started after the Grandmother-Witch of the North, "Once she's calm, she'll be better company."
"Really?" The farmgirl shared a laugh before saying, "I hope so; I don't want to to make an excuse to make a quick escape."
"I can understand." Jigen laughed out in a strong breath before he disappeared in the swamp, leaving Dorothy by herself for a moment.
Dorothy stood there for a moment before running after the family of Zeniba, the Grandmother-Witch of the North, not knowing what awaited her at the end of the trial, but she knew that she was in for another adventure in the land of Oz, and she could harldy wait to get started on it.