Disclaimer: Tin Man is not mine, but maybe it will wrap itself and I will get it as a present for Christmas. I was really good this year… What? Do you doubt me? ;)

He padded softly through DG's suite being careful not to wake her as he went. She was sleeping peacefully where he had left her as he took note of her room. The last time he was in here he had paid as little attention to his surroundings as he was capable of, due to what was happening, other than to make sure they were alone and safe. Now that he had the time he took a few moments to take in the Kid's room.

It was much plainer than he would have thought. The walls were painted a pale green and they were bare of any type of artwork or mirrors. There was a darker green chaise in the corner near her window, which was now covered by a set of white curtains with a line of brown embroidery along the bottom edge. The curtains matched her bedding perfectly. Against one wall was a large wooden wardrobe that was utterly simplistic in its design. Her vanity was of the same make.

The small vanity that sat in the corner was in utter disarray compared to the rest of her immaculately kept room. Beside the small lamp there was a sketchpad open haphazardly. Several pencils of different sizes and thicknesses lay across the flat surface, and around the small stool were a number of crumpled sheets of paper that had apparently not met her standards. Resisting the urge to rifle through what she had been drawing he continued on to the bathroom.

Letting his eyes scan the room once more he tried to understand what he was seeing. Her room either reflected someone with simple taste, and admittedly his princess had been raised on a farm so he doubted she was used to anything lavish, or she was ready to get up and leave at a moments notice. He found that both of these conclusions bothered him for different reasons.

For one thing he didn't want her to go anywhere and for another DG was literally a princess. If she wanted something all she had to do was ask for it and it would have been given to her with few, if any, questions. Thinking back he couldn't recall her asking for anything except a coat and boots when they had gone to the Ice Palace as part of her reconstruction trip around the realm. When she had received a very expensive and overly fashionable looking set of snow gear from her parents she had smiled brightly and thanked them before vanishing to her room without another word. He had immediately gotten suspicious.

When they had left it had been like the week they had had after the emerald, minus the witch and almost certain death. It had been just the four of them again but this time they had a good truck, packs, food, and an advisor with a whole brain. He had been having a good time and now that they were out of the palace everyone else was too. When they had reached North Country he had pulled over so they could make camp at the base of the mountains before they hit bad weather. While the Headcase and Furball went off to find firewood, or in Glitch's case throw snowball's at the harassed viewer, he had tugged the Kid to the back of the truck and handed her a package as he began to unload their camping gear.

"What's this?"

He quirked an eyebrow, grabbed a few of their packs, and walked toward the small clearing. He heard the rustling of paper as she unwrapped the simple brown parcel then silence. When he came back she was standing motionlessly, holding the charcoal grey coat in her hands. When the princess heard him next to her she had opened her mouth and glanced up at him with the most heart breaking expression in her eyes before dropping her face back to her gift.

"I already have a coat." DG said that as if having two was the most superfluous thing imaginable. Even as she spoke he saw her run her thumbs over the one he had given her as if she were savoring it while she had it.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not one that you like."

"Cain…" She stumbled to a halt.

He'd given his son, who fought in a war and he hadn't seen in ten years, gifts with less trouble than this. Still, he knew she wasn't trying to be ungrateful. Stepping closer he squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her. "Do you like it?"

She blinked at him. "It's beautiful." He was pleased with that response. He thought he'd gotten a grasp on what she liked to wear in the last few months. He had always taken an interest in buying Adora clothes, mostly because she had loved the fact that he took the time to think about what she liked. It had always made her feel special and made him feel appreciated. He figured the same principal would apply with the princess. She had transfer her gift to one hand and pounced him then. Caught off guard he had staggered slightly as he caught her. Her voice was suddenly very soft next to his ear. "Thank you, Wyatt."

The use of his given name made the whole thing worth it. That and she had looked spectacular in the simple coat and matching boots.

Smiling in remembrance he pushed the door closed behind him as he flipped on the light, smirking at the sight of the large tub. Shedding his coat he quickly turned the water on and waited for the tub to fill with the steaming water that was tumbling from the faucets. Once it was full he turned off the water and toed off his boots before he returned to the bedroom. Crouching down he placed a lingering kiss on the side of her mouth. With a sigh her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey there, Tin Man. You give the Consort any grey hairs?"

He chuckled. "He was so petrified he threatened to cut me up into little pieces if I hurt you in any way."

Her eyebrows came together and a crease formed on her forehead. "He went Seeker on your ass? Why?"

Her phrasing was so out of his experience that it took him a considerable amount of time to even come close to figuring out what it was he thought she was trying to ask him. "You mean why did he threaten me?"

"Uh, yeah."

He shook his head. "Because he loves you."

She stared blankly at him. After a considerable pause she replied. "Ok." He frowned at the lack of emotion in her voice but thought that this conversation was best kept for another time. He didn't like the way she was retreating back in on herself despite the fact that they were alone and at least one of them was naked. He hummed under his breath and snuck his arm under the blanket and around her waist. DG made a startled noise snapping out of her daze as he began to drag her off the mattress. "Where do you think you're taking me?"

"I ran us a bath." He kissed her cheek before he tossed her unceremoniously over his shoulder. "You need another layer of that soap you use."

"Hey!" She fussed indignantly at him. "I do not smell!"

He simply chuckled and smacked her thigh lightly. "Hush you."

"Oh, you're going to pay for that!"

He walked into the bathroom and set her down as carefully as he would a glass vase. "Now I'm worried." She opened her mouth, eyes flashing indignantly, and he leaned down to kiss her breathless. Running his hands down her sides he sat on the edge of the tub positioning her between his legs. She moaned and he ran his hands down and around her until he was cupping her bottom with one hand and her neck with the other. After a long minute he tore himself from her mouth and began to trail his lips down her soft neck. "Let's get you in the water before it gets cold, Sweetheart."

She let him untangle them reluctantly. Wrapping his hands around her hips he lifted her up and set her down in the still steaming water carefully. Once she was in he stripped off the rest of his clothes and stepped in after her. Sitting down he was more than happy when she arranged herself so she was leaning against him. "I can keep it warm you know."

He tilted his head so he could see her face. "With your magic?"

She turned her head on his shoulder so she could see his eyes. "Yeah. I'm pretty good at using my magic now." She held her hand up out of the water and it glimmered briefly. "Better than before."

Catching her hand he kissed her knuckles. "You were always good at using your magic." She smiled at him and for a second he thought she was going to say something before she wrapped their entwined arms down under the warm water. "What is it?"

"Huh?"

He tickled her ear with his nose. "You were going to say something."

"When you said that it made me think of when we first met. I was just thinking that I was always surprised that you decided to stay after things calmed down. I kept thinking one day I would wake up and you were going to be gone. I tackled Glitch when he told me you'd decided to take over as Head of Security, I think I almost knocked him out I was so excited." He could hear the laughter bubbling up in her voice.

He held her a bit tighter despite the humorous visual image he had of her taking the Headcase to the ground. "Where would I have gone? Jeb's stationed here."

She shrugged. "Only about half the time. The rest of the time he reports to other places and I thought you might have family or friends in other parts of the realm."

He shifted her slightly, surprised that she had thought that he would leave. He had made friends at the palace. Not only with her, but with Raw and Glitch, and he didn't make friends easily, he never had. He hadn't seen a reason to let that go. "You want to know about my family?"

She began to fidget suddenly and he heard and edge of guilt in her voice. "Not if you don't want to talk about it. I thought- I didn't mean-crap." The last word came out as a muttered grumble.

She had caught him unawares with that. He wasn't an open man by nature but if she had asked he would have told her. It hadn't occurred to him that she was curious about more of his history than she already knew.

"Kid-"

"I'm sorry." Her sincere whisper made him angry.

"For what?" He snapped.

She cringed at his tone and he got angry all over again, this time at himself. She let go of his arm and tried to get out of the water. He held her firmly against him until she stopped struggling against him. "I shouldn't have said anything! I'm sorry, ok!"

"You don't need to be sorry." He knew she was scared since she had tried to run from him, he just didn't know why. "I'm not angry." He kissed the back of her bowed head. "Why are you upset, Darlin'?"

"If you'd wanted me to know something you would have told me." He felt his blood pressure rising again and had to clamp his mouth shut for nearly a full minute while DG faced the other way. Oh, DG asked questions all right. The ones she needed to know. The ones she knew were safe to ask. Questions about the realm, about politics and economics, she had even wondered out loud why her mother had left her in the first week they had known each other. But once she had found out she had made no inquiries about her mother's choice in foster parents, why she was placed on a farm, why her foster parents hadn't gradually given her information on who she was, why she was forced to find out in an hour that she was adopted and had to find her real mother. Why she had to rely on strangers for protection, why her sister might love her but still looked at her with a little fear, why her mother wasn't going to put her on the throne but was equally wary to let her become an ambassador as her birthright dictated she become. Why her father treated her like a novelty instead of a daughter and why he shouldn't be expected to act any differently.

Carefully turning her around the water lapped around their bodies as he placed feather light kisses on her forehead since she still wasn't looking at his face. He decided to take this in steps. He hated it that she ran from him when she was scared. He hadn't been able to reach his family for so long when he was imprisoned. It disturbed him on a very basic level that he knew she wasn't happy or safe and he wasn't there to help. He blamed his time in the suit as much as his personality. "If you run every time I say something that spooks you both of us are going to drop dead from exhaustion."

Her eyes finally flashed up to him. She was startled by his observation. "I…" She drew the syllable out scrambling for a response.

"I had a younger brother but he died of a fever when I was seventeen. His name was Daniel." Her mouth snapped shut with an audible click. "My parents lived until Jeb was five. They died right after the Witch took power. The town they lived in was one of the first ones she cleansed. They didn't have any warning, couldn't get out. I don't have any other family that I know of, and any friends I had before the war are dead or scattered across the four winds."

She searched his eyes and nodded cautiously. Her fingers were resting lightly above his elbows and he felt her body relaxing at least enough that he didn't think she was going to try to shoot up out of the water again. He ran his hand over her back, letting her quiet on her own. It seemed she was processing the fact that he wasn't going to yell at her, ignore her, or leave on his own. He'd known after their initial talk that this was going to take time. He knew how to be patient, it was his strongest trait, so he waited as he kept his body relaxed.

Running one of her hands up his arm she let it wander over his chest until it lay over his heart. "Thank you, Wyatt."

Kissing her lovingly he rubbed his cheek against hers. "You can ask me anything you want, Sweetheart, like always. The only thing that's changed between us is what goes on between closed doors. You're still you and I'm still me."

DG tucked her head under his chin. "I love you."

Leaning back against the tub he draped her over him and let the heat of her body and the water sink into him. He hadn't thought she would say that to him without prompting so soon. "I love you too, DG."

Author Note: Leave me one! I love reviews and they would be a great Christmas gift!