Disclaimer, the usual.
As the search for Dorothy commenced the next morning school had been cancelled because of the hazards and everyone thought that morning would be the best time to start. Alex was put in charge of Alicia, Amber, and Robert. As soon as they had all left to start the search Alex walked over to the play pen and handed the kids their toys. They looked at him worriedly, he seemed out of place without Dorothy accompanying him now, and to be honest he himself felt out of place. He knew, however, deep in his heart that Dorothy was out there, somewhere, she was alive, and he would wait centuries for her to return. It only took him a few seconds to realize he had been thinking out loud and the kids were looking at him strangely. He sighed and got up, as he turned to go get a drink he knocked over a bag Glinda had brought with her. What rolled out of it was the new orb. Completely finished and it had a nice polish to it too. He picked it up and walked it over to the broomstick. He had brought it with him when they returned for safe keeping. He picked up the broom stick and placed the orb on it. Immediately the scepter sprang to life. Illuminating the room with dazzling light. The red haze returned to the orb which made Alex believe even more, somehow that she was still alive and well. As tears began to drip down his face he immediately felt a hand on his shoulder. He gasped and took the orb off the scepter. He immediately felt calm and tranquility sweep over him.
"Don't worry my boy, I'm sure she's alright, Dorothy is a rather, clever, girl and she'll turn up in the end." Mr. Foreman said taking off his jacket.
"Why aren't you out searching for Dorothy?" Alex asked curiously.
"Because, they wanted me to stay here, just in case, when I saw the glow I figured I'd check on you and the little ones." Mr. Foreman said looking over to them.
"I really hope that jester gets eaten by one of his own dragons." Alex said sniffing and wiping his eyes.
"You mustn't say things like that." Mr. Foreman said.
"You were thinking the same thing." Glinda said coming in from the kitchen with three glasses of water.
"Glinda, please, you're not helping." Mr. Foreman said.
"Sorry." Glinda said handing them their drinks and sighing.
"Oh Glinda, don't tell me you're already losing hope, the search just started." Mr. Foreman said.
"It's hard not to, I can't find her anywhere in any land, the Nome King is looking as well." Glinda said taking the orb and the broomstick and placing the orb back on the broomstick, "And the fact that this isn't going after her either makes it harder and harder to think that she is still out there and alive." She added tearing up.
Alex took the scepter back from Glinda and removed the orb. He knew Glinda was wrong. He would never believe that Dorothy was dead until the jester revealed it or the body was found.
"Glinda, I know it, in my heart that she is still out there, alive, and she will come back." Alex said.
"It's good to have belief." Glinda said walking over to the play pen.
"It's not belief, I know it, and if I have to I will go out myself with the scepter, the slippers, and the satchel and I will find her." Alex said.
Meanwhile in the room.
Dorothy was in tears. She wondered what her friends and family would do if they didn't find her. She was glad that Alex still had hope that they would find her. She was however relieved that the scepter was working once more.
"Please! I'm trapped!" Dorothy said banging on the crystal ball.
"They can't hear you dear, you've been up for almost three whole days because you're scared for your friends, take a nap, you need it." Came the voice of the jester from behind her.
Dorothy looked back at him and saw that he was now standing next to a plain looking bed. She in all honesty was extremely tired. She hadn't slept since the nightmares started again. She got up and stretched. The jester smiled as she got over to the bed. Dorothy yawned and sat on the bed.
"You find this all hilarious don't you?" Dorothy asked yawning.
"Quite." He said summoning a thin cotton blanket and draping it over the girl's shoulders.
"You, you're wicked." Dorothy said as she closed her eyes and laid back.
"I know." He said chuckling and walking over to the crystal ball.
As she slept several thoughts went through her mind. One of them was, 'how am I going to kill a man who can actually show kindness or remorse?' and it was a question she couldn't answer. It wasn't long before she started dreaming either. Not nightmares this time no, this time it was dreams of her friends and family searching for her, having an impossible search. She saw Ellie and Toto calling for her in the fields of Kansas. Aislynn was with her maids, sobbing uncontrollably into Jessica's shoulder. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry were looking everywhere they could. Mr. Alistair was driving around Kansas with Donna and Kelly. What caused her heart to break though was Alex, sitting on the doorstep of the farmhouse, crying.
Back in Kansas.
Alex had been crying for about an hour. He had left Mr. Foreman and Glinda inside with Dorothy's cousins. It was then that a familiar car drove up to the farm house and out of it emerged his cousin Eliza and his aunt and uncle Mr. and Mrs. Johnson0. She was shocked to see Alex crying, she didn't even think it was possible. She knew now she was wrong about it. She ran over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Chin up soldier, what would Dorothy say if she saw you crying?" Eliza asked placing her hand under Alex's chin.
"She wouldn't say a thing, she isn't one to judge, as I am crying for her, I know she's alive but I can't help it." Alex said.
"Well, it is to be hoped." Eliza said trailing off as Alex gave her an 'if looks could kill' look.
"Why are you even here?" Alex asked curiously.
"I want to help." Eliza said pulling Alex to his feet.
"And why would you help me? You don't even trust me." Alex said sitting back down.
"Alex, I was wrong, I didn't believe you could change, I didn't want to, but now that I've seen you crying for her loss, I see, and I'm not afraid to admit it, I was wrong." Eliza said pulling him to his feet once more.
Alex looked at his cousin curiously. The sincerity in her eyes was something he hadn't seen since he and Eliza were extremely young. He stood up and embraced his cousin tightly. He knew she was on his side now and it was a start. As the hours ticked by and night fell, Em was the first to return from the bunch. Henry was still out and about searching. She was happy to see the Johnsons but upset that their search turned out no results either.
"The search will continue tomorrow morning." Em said as Glinda handed her a cup of tea.
"We can't lose hope, if Alex says she's still alive, then I trust him enough now to follow him." Eliza said.
"Thanks Eliza." Alex said hugging her.
"Alex?" Came the voice of Annabella.
"Yes Annabella?" Alex asked curiously.
"Is Dorothy alright?" Annabella asked walking into the farm house.
"Yes, I know she is." Alex said as he held out his hand.
Immediately the scepter flew to it. He felt the warmth connected with it. He knew she was most definitely still alive. He waved the scepter in the direction of the slippers and they flew over to him. He took them and placed them in Dorothy's satchel, he had brought it with him for safe keeping like he had with the scepter. He then picked up Annabella and set the child in his lap.
"Alex, she is alright, right?" Annabella asked.
"Of course she is Annabella, I would know if she was dead, or lost forever, and I'm sure so would the scepter." Alex said smiling warmly.
Annabella said nothing in response, she merely hugged her brother tightly and sobbed a bit. Alex sighed and laid back on the couch he was sitting on. It wasn't long before he himself had managed to doze off himself.
Back in the room.
Dorothy had no idea how long she had been asleep. What she did know was that she had been crying. She sat up and looked at the jester who had been watching from over by the crystal ball.
"Your friend is very loyal to you, just like your dog." The jester said chuckling
"Don't you dare say anything against Alex." Dorothy shouted as she got up.
"You are in no position to make threats my dear, you don't have the scepter to defend yourself." The jester said chuckling some more.
Dorothy stared at the jester for moment in thought. He was right, without the scepter she was completely at his mercy. She was actually rather surprised that he hadn't done away with her. She then shrunk back from him.
"Right, shouldn't have tried to start, guess I got a little too cocky." Dorothy said.
"That's alright, it happens to the best of us." The jester replied leaning against the crystal.
Dorothy sighed and walked over. The crystal ball was focused on Alex who was sleeping on the couch in her farm. She knew she had to have been sleeping for several hours because the clock on the wall she could clearly see said four o'clock. She knew she had at this point somehow slept the entire day away. She smiled when she saw Alex stir. He looked around the room and his face dropped. She chuckled and placed her hand on the crystal ball. She wanted to be there with him. But right now hope was the only thing he had, hope that they would find her.
Meanwhile in Kansas.
Alex got up and stretched. He felt a bit stiff since he had fallen asleep in a sitting position. He looked over at the scepter which was now glowing a faint emerald green glow. He sighed, got up, and walked over to it. Plucking it out of the air he took it over to the door and walked outside. He was surprised to see Ellie leaned against the railing on the front porch.
"It seems so odd not having Dorothy around." Ellie said not even looking at him.
"I know, I miss her too, but I know, deep down, she's okay, she's alive." Alex said walking over.
"Dorothy would want us to believe that." Ellie said starting to cry.
"Ellie, you talk like she's gone forever." Alex said placing his hand on Ellie's shoulder.
"Alex, the fact that the tornado vanished with her, without a trace." Ellie said pushing him away.
"Ellie, like I said, I know she's fine." Alex said trying to sound encouraging.
Ellie said nothing in response she merely looked at him and then back out at the fields. She sniffed and wiped her face of tears. She had a hard time believing that Dorothy could possibly still be alive, but at the same time she felt that she had to be out there somewhere, if the jester could survive a tornado, so could she.
Back at the room.
Dorothy was in tears again. She was also alone in the room now. She couldn't stand to see her friends alone without her. They thought she may be dead, but they needed the hope that Alex tried to give them. She then sniffed and got up. Walking over to the table she took her glasses out from her pocket and put them on. She then looked around the room a bit more. The room looked rather plain, still like the inside of a barn, but there were no doors, looking up she noticed there was indeed a ceiling but at the same time it didn't seem all there. Looking up at it and thinking about it, she thought the ceiling was in a way semi-transparent, on the other side however, was void, nothing but black empty void. It frightened here to see it.
"Where am I?" Dorothy finally asked herself.
The lack of response let Dorothy know she was alone. She decided to look around the room to see if she could find anything interesting. She started along the walls and walked next to them, running a hand along the wall. She had nearly gotten halfway across the room when her hand hit a latch. It was a simple wooden handle that turned to block to reveal a small cabinet. Inside was a box of matches, some candles, and a large stack of paper, a quill, an inkwell, a pencil and a penknife. She smiled and picked up the pencil, penknife and paper. She then brought them to the table and began to sketch.
Later in oz.
Almost every one of her friends in the emerald city. Glinda had been returned to the emerald city through the rainbow mover and went straight to her room. She had locked herself in her room and placed a spell on her door that Alison was trying to break. No one knew how she had with her wand being damaged and to be honest only Alison cared. Alyssa had gone and tracked down Finley, whom she found living in the dungeon. He spent most of his time cleaning and had really been the only one who hadn't really talked to anyone in the city. He had spent all of his time keeping the dungeons clean even though they were never used. When he had heard the news of Dorothy he himself was completely shocked.
"What?" Was his response.
"Finley, there was a tornado at Dorothy's home, I don't know how to really explain in a way that won't make me emotional." Alyssa said starting to tear up.
"Then don't." Finley said almost at a loss for words
"Finley, I'm going to try and find her, I know she's out there I don't know where but she is." Alyssa said.
"A-a-and you want me to come with you?" Finley asked curiously.
"If you would, no one sees you anymore and the only people who may notice we're gone is Glinda when she's done grieving over what she could have done." Alyssa said.
"Then I'll come along." Finley said getting a grip on things and trying to sound encouraging.
Back in Kansas.
The search had commenced again as soon as the clock struck five in the morning. Alex had gone to sulk in the barn while Ellie had been put in charge of the kids this time with the help of Mr. Foreman. Alex had been sulking for about three hours now and had gone up into the hayloft and using the scepter to make pieces of straw float around in the gust of wind that was created by doing so. It wasn't long before he got bored with it and sat down with his legs over the edge of the hayloft. It was then that he actually cried. He hadn't been able to cry about his feelings before but now, on his lonesome, he could. He missed her and he couldn't bear to think that she might actually be gone.
"Alex?" Ellie called walking into the barn.
"Up here." He said wiping his face of tears.
"Jon wants you to come inside, it's getting colder." Ellie said shivering.
"Well there was just a tornado in the middle of January, I expect the weather would get colder." Alex said get up and walking over to the hayloft ladder.
"Glinda has sealed herself in her room in the emerald city." Ellie said as Alex climbed down the ladder.
"I would do the same." Alex said.
"Yes but Glinda is a wreck, she wouldn't even talk to me in the mirror." Ellie said.
"Let me talk to her." Alex said.
"Let's go find a large enough mirror, I want to talk to her as well." Ellie said rummaging through her pockets and pulling out a small potion bottle.
"If Dorothy had one of those she might be able to contact us." Alex said
"If she had been wearing her normal dress she would have, I made a habit of slipping them in her dress pocket when she walked by." Ellie said walking over to an old mirror at the back of the barn.
"Henry said this was in the cellar, he wanted to redo the frame." Alex said
"That's rude, don't refer to Mr. Gale by his first name." Ellie said.
"Does it matter?" Alex said taking the potion bottle and smashing it against the mirror.
Ellie looked at Alex angrily but shook it off when mirror began to ripple. As the scene changed from their reflections to Glinda's room immediately they heard the sound of sobbing. Alex sighed and hit the scepter against the floor.
"Hey chin up soldier." Alex said causing Glinda to jump.
"Oh, hello Alex." Glinda said wiping her tears.
"Glinda, Ellie said you locked yourself in your room, bit childish don't you think?" Alex asked curiously.
"I know, but I'm allowed to grieve alone aren't I?" Glinda said sniffing.
"Sis, please, unlock your room, let the other's in, and don't be like me." Ellie said.
Glinda sniffed and smiled weakly. She then waved her hand in the direction of her door. They immediately heard the sound of hissing and a lock clicking.
"Glinda, you need to give people hope like I do, I know she's alright." Alex said.
Glinda smiled and chuckled weakly. Alex smiled and hit the scepter against the floor again. It sparked and caught some of the straw on fire. Alex jumped and immediately stamped out the fire. Ellie chuckled and helped.
"Dorothy would have laughed at that." Alex said sighing.
Little did he know? She was laughing at it.