Disclaimer: I do Not own Tin Man it and all recognizable characters belong to their respective owners which isn't me i'm just borrowing them for a while :)A big thank you to Hippo-Griff Tamer from being my Beta for this

A/N: I am so Sorry for not updating this in so long i honestly thought i had finished this one (my oops) anyway here it is...and again i am sorry for the long wait.

Chapter 6

Cain stood staring at the barrier he had been thrown back from only a short time ago. He paced in front of it, trying to untangle his thoughts and feelings for the woman who lay just beyond his reach.

"DG, I know you can hear me," he began and then sighed pulling off his fedora and running a hand over his short, cropped, blond hair before continuing. "I am so sorry sweetheart...I never meant...That conversation...I know you probably won't believe me but I do love you. I think I always have," he began his thoughts in a jumble, but once he found the right words they just didn't stop, "You gave me back my heart. You caused it to start beating again. When you released me from that iron suit I wanted nothing but revenge on the man who had put me there but your faith in me, your trust in me...Sweetheart, it changed me. You made me believe in my self," he stopped pacing and faced the barrier once again, "I feel like I am talking to myself here, darlin' can't you just let me in there so we can talk about this?"

Cain's shoulders slumped forward as he sat on a fallen log letting his head fall into his hands. Truth be told he was angry. Not just with himself for saying something that she had easily overheard but also with her for running off before he could explain himself. He was angry at the world in general and he silently wondered what would have happened to DG and himself had they found Adora alive and not dead. He shuddered to think what would have happened because he knew that he would have done the honorable thing and stayed with his wife instead of with the woman he had come to love so very deeply.

DG who was standing on the other side of the barrier smiled. She knew that him opening up was not easy for him. Adora had asked her before she had faded earlier if she was ready to talk to Wyatt and she had said no but he could surprise her and surprise her he did. Walking back to the house she allowed the barrier keeping him out to drop. It was time to talk.

Cain glanced over at his traveling companions to see that they had all bedded down for the night and wondered silently how long he had been staring at the barrier keeping DG and himself apart. He sighed before standing up and trying the barrier once more hoping that she was going to allow them to talk. He was surprised that instead of being thrown back from it like before he was allowed in. When he stepped past the barrier, he found himself looking at the cabin that had housed his son and his late wife but it was in a better state of repair than what it had been before. Walking to it slowly he stopped when he noticed that Adora's grave marker had been replaced by a stone plaque that read

Here lies Adora Cain

Beloved Friend, Mother and Wife

May she rest in peace

Right above the words was his Tin Man's badge he had left on her grave so many months before. It was then he noticed that the tree that the grave sat beneath was in full bloom unlike the deadened tree they had come upon the last time he had been here. In fact the entire area surrounding the house seemed alive. Gathering up his courage he stepped into the house to face the woman that held his newly beating heart.

DG, having walked back into the house, walked up the stairs to the bedroom she had taken for herself. She changed for bed, not sure if Wyatt would try the barrier again or wait til later. After changing she stood at the window trying to see if she could see him coming or not. When she didn't see anything she was about to turn when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She froze knowing he was coming to her. A moment later she could feel his eyes on her but she still refused to turn and acknowledge his presence.

Cain paused in the doorway to the bedroom and stared at the vision before him. He took a moment to just look at her and he wondered again why he had kept his feelings for this woman hidden for so long. When she didn't turn to look at him, he walked towards her as she stood resolutely at the window looking out. When he was standing directly behind her he reached up and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Deeg, look at me, sweetheart," he said softly, using one of her many nicknames.

She slowly turned around to face him, her heart beating so fast she was sure he could hear it. Looking up into his face she caught sight of pale blue eyes and saw in them the love that she had always hoped to find there shinning at her, but she also saw suppressed anger as well. "Wyatt..." she whispered his name. Not really sure how to word what it was she wanted to say.

"Now, would you mind telling me why you ran off without so much as note to say where you were going? Do you have any idea how worried we all were? How worried your parents were when they found out you were gone? How worried I was?" he growled trying to reign in his anger at her.

DG had been expecting his anger, in fact welcomed it. She knew she deserved his censure for running off the way she had yet there was a part of her that needed to defend herself. "I knew, Cain. Trust me, I knew exactly how worried everyone would be; that is why I left the note in the library. I am surprised though that none of you found it."

He was taken aback by that. They had not found any note in the library and so asked where said note was in the library. "In the room I used for studying, of course. I would have figured it would have been one of the places you would have looked for me in," she returned heatedly.

He looked at her then, her brilliant summer blue eyes blazing with fire, a fire he wished wasn't trying to scorch him at the moment. He remembered looking in the room she spoke of but had not seen any note but then again he had only glanced into the room at the time and not seeing her within had left to look elsewhere. Shaking his head he told her that he had no wish to fight with her that they needed to talk about why she had run off in the first place.

"You know why or you wouldn't be here," she said trying to turn away from him but found that he had wrapped his arms around her, keeping her from turning from him and effectively trapping her within his embrace.

"Darlin', what I want to know is why here? Of all the places in the O.Z. why did you choose here?" though he already knew the answer he wanted to hear it from her own lips.

"I needed answers. And the only way I was going to get them was to ask someone close to you. Someone who you couldn't seem to get over," she cried struggling to free herself from his embrace.

He tightened his arms around her pulling her closer before asking, "So you decided to call up the ghost of my dead wife?"

"Well, yes. In fact, it's a good thing I did too. I learned more about you from her in one night than I have from you in the entire annual I have known you!" she huffed and stopped struggling when she felt the shift in his demeanor.

"And it never occurred to you to just ask me?" he asked exasperated by their current dilemma.

"And would you have been so forthcoming?" she countered staring up into his intense icy blue eyes.

He thought about that for a moment and knew she was right. He wasn't all that forthcoming when it came to his feelings hence why they were now in this situation. "Deeg, what exactly did the two of you talk about?" he asked hesitantly. Not sure he really wanted to know the answer to that question or not.

"Oh, just about how stubborn one ex-Tin Man can be, is all...And why it is he can't seem to tell the woman he loves that he actually loves her," she retorted but seeing the pain on his face at her words she softened the blow, "Wyatt, you have been my dearest and best friend this past year and I fell in love with you almost from the start. But it wasn't until you and Glitch rescued me from the tower the first time that I came to realize that that friendship had changed into something more. I hesitated in saying anything because I knew that you were still grieving for your family. When I learned that Adora might still be alive, I admit I was jealous but I also was happy for you. However, when we found out that she had died a part of me grieved with you. I wanted to take away the pain you were feeling. It hurt to see you grieving her all over again after doing so for so long. Then when we were on the hill before the final showdown with the witch and you were the one to pull me into a hug...I knew then that something had definitely changed between us. That embrace, looking back on it, had been born out of desperation and fear of losing each other. Correct me if I am wrong."

Wyatt could do nothing but hold her. His thoughts went back to the day on the hill. She was right, that hug had been born out of his fear of losing her.

"You are not wrong. I did fear losing you that day. It was the one time I knew I wasn't going to be there to protect you and it scared me half to death. I spent eight annuals in that iron suit and made it out alive but the thought of losing you... That's why I said what I did that day. I feared losing you. I knew at that moment that I couldn't live without you. You who had brought me back to life. Showed me that revenge is not the answer, made me remember who I once was and who I wanted to be. I knew at that moment that I loved you. But what really had me scared was the fact that I loved you far more than I had ever loved Adora."

She pulled back from his slackened embrace to look up at him once more. She had to know, "Why? Why did you push all the bad away and only remember the good times with her?" she finally asked after several moments of silence which had befallen them.

He looked down at her in shock. How in the world did she know about that? Then he remembered she had spoken to his deceased wife. "I guess I felt guilty about not being able to protect her like I should have." Then asked softly, "Deeg, how much did she reveal to you about our history together?"

She looked up at him then and sighed this was not going to be pretty. "Everything. She told me what your courtship of her was like as well as your marriage. She also said that the two of you had not been right for each other and..." she stopped not sure if she should reveal the part about the soul pairing.

He pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes trying to see what she was hiding from him. "Deeg.." he let out a warning growl which had her stiffening in his arms.

"Wyatt, how much do you know about Soul Pairing?" she finally asked after a moment of silence.

That had him releasing her abruptly. "Soul Pairing!? Why do you want to know about that?" He feared his wife had told her about the strange occurrence he had had as a lad.

"Because apparently we have that bond," she stated calmly while staring at him.

"Deeg, the last known Soul Pairing was between..." he stopped and stared at her in shock realizing what was happening between them. He realized then that the light that had engulfed him then had been her light. It was in that moment that he realized he wasn't all that much older than her to begin with. His thoughts were interrupted when she finished his sentence for him, "The first Dorothy Gale and her own Tin Man," a small smile playing on her lips. She knew why he had stopped. Her own reaction to learning about the Soul Pairing had had her seeing the similarities between herself and her ancestor. She knew that that was what he was coming to realize at the moment too.

"History is repeating itself isn't it?" he whispered in shock.

"It would seem so," she answered taking his hand and leading him to the bed where she pushed him down to sit on the edge. Coming to stand in front of him she asked, "Do you know what will happen when we complete the bond?"

He nodded still in shock. He knew that when they did complete the Soul Pairing her magic would flare out and would purge any remaining evil from the O.Z. Just as it had when her great grandmother had bonded to her soul mate. However, he also knew that to complete the bond they would have to come together both physically and emotionally. There could be no doubt on either side for the pairing to be completed. Theirs would be an unconventional wedding that was for sure. The magic of the Soul Pairing would essentially marry them. The thought had him smiling. Looking up at her he pulled her closer and silently asking for permission and it being granted he placed a soft kiss to her lips. Pulling back before she had a chance to deepen the connection he laid back on the bed pulling her to lay with her back to his front between his legs.

"Sweetheart, I know that Adora told you about our history together but do you mind if I tell you my side of the story?" he asked caressing her arms as he spoke directly into her right ear.

"Nope, go right ahead," she whispered trying to hold back a groan of pleasure at his caress.

Kissing her temple he began to tell her of when he first met Adora. He continued on describing their courtship and marriage from his point of view and DG was surprised that the two versions of the story lined up so perfectly. When he was finished she told him that Adora had been watching over both himself and Jeb from the moment of her untimely death and that she didn't blame him for anything. She also told him that Adora had told her that she had never wanted him to become a Tin Man. That little tidbit was a surprise to Cain as Adora had never said anything to him on the subject.

They continued to talk long into the night, falling asleep in each others arms as the twin suns rose above the horizon.