Disclaimer, the usual
That evening they all found themselves trying to avoid the press for questioning about the hostage situation. Eventually Officer gray had to block off the paths to the Teaks residence and the gale farmhouse to stall for time. Glinda then transported them all to the emerald city. Dorothy went straight to her bedroom without even saying hi to anyone. When she got there she immediately shut the door and locked it. She then ran over to her bed and fell down on it and started crying. If the jester had been capable of doing this who knew what else he could do. She was now completely frightened for her friends and family. She was frightened for her cousins, her aunt, and her uncle, Aislynn, Ellie, The Teaks, and Alex. She didn't want any of them getting hurt. She didn't allow anyone into her room, every time someone asked to come in she would tell them to go away. Finally there was a light tapping on her door.
"Go away!" Dorothy shouted for the tenth time.
"Dorothy, please, let me in." Came Alex's voice.
"Alex, please go away." Dorothy said.
"Dorothy you've been in there for hours now, it's now eleven at night and besides tin man and scarecrow I'm the only one awake." Alex said.
Dorothy sighed and sniffed. She then got up picked up the scepter and waved it in the direction of the door. The lock clicked and the door opened. Alex was standing there with two mugs. He walked over to Dorothy and handed one to her. She smiled waved the scepter back in the direction of the door and it shut and locked once more. She then took the mug and took a sip. It was mint tea.
"You've been crying for a while haven't you?" Alex asked.
"Alex, I'm afraid for all of you…" Dorothy started to say before Alex cut her off.
He set down his mug on the bedside table and took hers and did the same. He then tightly embraced her.
"Dorothy, I feel the same way, I fear for my mother, Annabella, and my dad, and though he doesn't care about me, I care about him." Alex said.
Dorothy's eyes began to fill with tears and she started crying. She returned the embrace and cried into his shoulder. She then broke from the embrace and turned away from him. She wiped her eyes of tears and sniffed.
"Alex, I know it's late, but let's go to the clearing." Dorothy said.
"Dorothy, oh never mind let's go, grab some shoes, and we'll go out to Tugg." Alex said smiling.
Dorothy smiled weakly and grabbed her satchel. She then pulled out the slippers and slid them on. Then waving the scepter in the direction of the door, the lock clicked and the door swung open revealing Glinda standing in front of the door.
"Dorothy, it's far too late for you to go out, but given the circumstances, you two have my blessing to leave the city, Mr. Alistair, Officer Grey and I have put a stop to the press in your world so it should be safe for you guys to return home tomorrow." Glinda said before walking off.
Dorothy looked at Alex and grabbed his arm. She then dragged him outside towards the docks. When they got there Tugg greeted them in his usual manner.
"Ah, hello Dorothy, Alex, bit late for an excursion isn't it?" Tugg asked.
"It's just to the clearing Tugg." Dorothy said as they climbed up onto Tugg's deck.
Tugg chuckled and cast off. Dorothy looked at Alex and hugged him tightly. The red haze in the scepter now more noticeable. The green glow illuminated them well enough to see the surrounding area. When they arrived at the clearing Dorothy ran straight to the middle, set down the scepter, sat down, and began crying again. Alex stood by her side the entire time. When he finally checked his watch again he found that it was one in the morning. It was then that Dorothy got up and stretched.
"Have you been waiting there the entire time?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Yep, it's now one in the morning." Alex said putting away his watch.
"I feel so much better now." Dorothy said grabbing the scepter.
"Well let's get back to the city." Alex said.
Dorothy smiled and grabbed Alex by the wrist and dragged him back to the river. When they finally arrived back at the city and disembarked. They ran straight back to Dorothy's room but immediately bumped into the scarecrow.
"Oh, good, you two are up." Scarecrow said.
"We just got back from the clearing." Alex said.
"And Glinda didn't apprehend you?" Scarecrow asked.
"On the contrary, they had my blessing." Glinda said walking up to them.
"Good morning Glinda." Scarecrow said.
"Now, judging by the fact you are glad that we are awake you have something to show us?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Oh yes, I think the rainbow mover mark II is finally finished." Scarecrow said.
Scarecrow didn't even let them ask any question before he ran back into the chambers. The three of them followed him into his back room where they were met the new machine. It was slightly larger than the last one. It looked similar with the few additions. For example it was now formed in a hexagonal shape covered in levers and switches. In the middle before the pipes there was the prism surrounded by small orbs of light. The prism was suspended by four glass tubes holding it up in the dead center of the glass that surrounded it. Closest to Dorothy there were three switches and several screens, one marked KANSAS in large friendly letters, the other marked EMERGENCY PICKUP and the final marked only for dire emergencies. Scarecrow chuckled and pressed the one marked Kansas. Immediately the machine whirred to life and the screens all lit up. Each one showed an area of Kansas that she was really familiar with. The prism then lit up and shot the rainbow light out of the respective tubes. The light passed through the ceiling of the workshop and could be seen creating a rainbow outside.
"The new rainbow mover can now be used at any time of day and is virtually indestructible." The scarecrow said.
"Impressive work." Alex said.
"Thank you, it's of my own design." He said showing him the blueprints.
"I don't know scarecrow, I still think my grandfather's giant smoke machine and throne are still more impressive." Aislynn said teasingly.
"Ace, why are you awake?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"I heard the noises and wanted to see what was going on." Aislynn said walking over to the machine.
"Those two switches next to the Kansas one are just for safety precautions, that way if we are ever invaded again I can activate these and, well that's another story." Scarecrow said.
This worried Dorothy, she didn't want to know what the emergency settings would be. She then yawned and decided to go to bed.
"Where's Toto?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"He's at my room, sleeping, you locked yourself in your room for so long." Ellie said walking in.
"Hello Ellie." Dorothy said yawing again.
"Dorothy, you should go get some sleep, you seem tired." Alex said.
Dorothy nodded and left the chambers. When she arrived at her room she walked over to the side table and grabbed the mug of tea. Surprisingly it was still rather warm. She downed it all in a few gulps. She set the scepter down against her bed and slid off the slippers. She then went into her closet to grab a nightgown. As she emerged with it however she found herself not in her bed room. But a room full of clocks. Standing in the middle of the room was Father Time himself. No longer in his robes but a white suit. Dorothy slowly approached him since she didn't have the scepter to protect herself.
"You have no reason to be afraid approach dear child." Father time boomed out.
Dorothy in fright grasped tightly to her night gown and walked quickly to the center of the room. She got there father time turned to face her.
"I have been watching you my dear child, you care so much for others and others care so much for you, but you never ask anything in return, so I make you this offer, a gift, if there is ever anything you need that I can do in my power, I will help if I can, I can do anything related with time, anywhere, any year, and even any people." Father time said.
"Thanks for the offer father time, I'll let you know if I think of any time or place, or people that I want to go and see." Dorothy said gesturing to her night gown.
"Ah yes, I did pull you out of your preparations for bed." Father time said chuckling.
"Yes, and I would like to get some rest, I may not have school in the morning, but I do have press to avoid and a home to get back to." Dorothy said.
"Home? What would you call home?" Father time asked.
This struck Dorothy. She looked at father time for a second. A chair then appeared behind her. She sat down and thought about it.
"Home, what would I call a home?" Dorothy asked.
"That was the question." He said.
"A home, is a place where there are people who love you, people who care about you, and listen to you, the people who you get along with and other you don't, its where you make your friends, your enemies, and meet the ones you would go to any lengths to stick by, and its where you go to at the end of it all, when all seems dark and bleak the people there will always be able to brighten your day." Dorothy said.
"So, you use both Oz and Kansas as your home." Father time said chuckling.
"Yes and no, Kansas is where I was born, and have spent most of my life, Oz, is a home away from home, this question has been posed to me before." Dorothy said smiling.
"I know, and now I shall let you go." He said snapping his fingers.
Immediately Dorothy found herself sitting on her bed in the emerald city. No time had passed between her meetings with father time. She sighed and through her nightgown on the side table and lay down on the bed. She soon found herself asleep. When she awoke at sunrise she found Alex seated at her bedside. Asleep, with a book in his lap, and his reading glasses on his face. Dorothy chuckled and pulled her own from her pocket and placed them on her face. She then got up and stood in front of him. She kissed him on the cheek which caused him to stir. His eyes opened and met with Dorothy's, they both smiled and embraced quickly.
"Sleep well?" Alex asked curiously.
"Yes, you?" Dorothy replied.
"Yep." Alex said taking off his reading glasses.
"I just put mine on." Dorothy said.
"So you just got up then?" Alex asked.
"Yep." Dorothy said as Toto ran into the room barking.
"Good morning Dorothy." Toto said.
"Morning boy." Dorothy said grabbing the scepter.
"Morning Toto." Alex said.
Dorothy smiled and slid into the slippers and helped Alex to his feet. Grabbing her satchel she slung it over her shoulder and she smiled. She then chuckled and looked at Alex.
"Race you to the chambers." Dorothy said running out of the room.
"Oh you're on!" Alex shouted running after her.
It didn't take long for them to be Neck and neck but in the end it was not Alex or Dorothy who won but Toto. Dorothy smiled and laughed. It was then that Dorothy realized everyone was waiting for her Toto and Alex to arrive.
"You guys ready to return?" Glinda asked.
"So early?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Yes, your triumph over the jester's challenge somehow became public." Glinda said as the sound of pounding was heard from doors of the city.
"Fair enough, get us out of here, I don't think I can stand questioning." Dorothy said.
"See you in the afternoon?" Alex asked curiously.
"That sounds good." Dorothy said.
Glinda chuckled and waved her wand over the group. When everyone was back home and the triplets were settled into their cribs Dorothy decided to go to the library, alone. When she got there she was greeted by Mrs. T who seemed very happy to see her. She walked over to the children's section and sat in her usual chair which looked like it had been well taken care of. It wasn't long before she was crowded by children wanting to hear more of her stories. Towards the afternoon Dorothy had taken to reading some books to pass time. She found herself being pelted with balls of paper and had to keep one hand steady on the scepter so that it wouldn't spring to life and bat them away. When Alex showed up with Eliza at his side however everyone stopped pelting her. Alex ran up to Dorothy and kissed her on the cheek. Dorothy giggled and blushed. She then took off her reading glasses and looked at Eliza.
"How have you been?" Dorothy asked getting up.
"I've been fine, I heard what happened from Alex, is that all true?" Eliza asked curiously.
"Whatever he told you, believe every word of it." Dorothy said.
"I refuse to believe this idiot could do anything that he says he did." Eliza said.
"Oh don't make fun of him, it's true, I was there." Dorothy said.
"So you expect me to believe you met dragons? Oz is one thing but your journey in the woods is a little farfetched if you ask me." Eliza said
"I won't, but you're beginning to sound like his father." Dorothy said.
"Dorothy, your uncle is on the phone, he wants to know whether or not you'll be home in time for supper." Mrs. T asked curiously.
"Tell him yes, and ask him if he can call the teaks I want Alex to come over for dinner tonight." Dorothy said.
"Will do." Mrs. T said.
"Why do you want me to come over?" Alex asked curiously.
"Alex, do you really need to ask that?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"I don't get it, you treat him differently than everyone else, as if he's changed, and I refuse to believe that." Eliza said.
"I'm not asking you to." Dorothy said grabbing Alex's wrist and dragging him away.
"Alex, your parents called, it's okay for you to go to the gales for dinner tonight, and Dorothy, your uncle called back to say that it was okay for alex to come over, and you must be Eliza Johnson." Mrs. T said.
"Yes mam." Eliza said.
"Well your parents are at the front desk." Mrs. T said.
"Thank you mam." Eliza said running ahead.
"Come on Alex, let's get to my farmhouse." Dorothy said dragging him off.