Disclaimer, you know.
After Glinda had made sure the others were safely transported to the city, henry took Dorothy and Alex to the florist in town where Alex bought a large bouquet of flowers for Dorothy. When they got back into the truck uncle henry finally asked the question he wanted an answer to.
"What do you need the flowers for?" He asked curiously.
"Uncle Henry, the reason why I asked Glinda to give us an hour or two is because I want to go, there." Dorothy said trailing off.
Henry nodded and they started on their way. The entire ride went on in silence. Dorothy sighed and rested her head on Alex's shoulder. The scepter was now glowing at full strength again which made Dorothy feel safer now that she could use it properly. When they arrived Dorothy and Alex got out of the truck.
"Dorothy, do you want to be alone, or shall I escort you?" Alex asked curiously.
"That's the thing, I'm not quite sure, my head is telling me I need to be alone, but my gut is telling me I need to have you by my side." Dorothy said.
"Well, I'll accompany you to the grave then, then I shall come back here and wait for you." Alex said smiling.
"Thanks." Dorothy said walking over to the gate and pushing it open.
As they entered the grave yard the scepter began glowing a little brighter making it easier to see in the extremely shaded path. Alex and Dorothy walked until they got to the grave. Dorothy then set the scepter to the side and knelt down setting the flowers just under the writing on the stone. Alex place his hand on Dorothy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze before turning and heading back down the path. Dorothy listened to make sure he was back at the gate. She then began to quietly sob.
"Well, here I am again, momma, papa, what would you think of me if you were still here?" Dorothy whispered through her tears.
She sighed and picked up the scepter. What parents would want their kid to grow up to be the cause of a war? She knew in her head that the answer was that no parent would want to see that happen. Inside she felt that her parents would be mad at her for all the trouble she had caused. But she shoved this thought away. As some of her tears fell onto the stone she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked back to see her uncle and Alex behind her. Her uncles hand resting on her shoulder. He smiled and knelt down next to Dorothy.
"I always liked coming here." Henry said smiling.
"Why?" Dorothy said.
"Because, it's a quiet enough place to look back on my brother, sure the photos and the stuff that you came to us with when you came to live with us, this place allows me to look back on not just all the good times, but the bad." Henry said wiping the tears from Dorothy's face.
"Why would you want to think about the bad times?" Alex and Dorothy asked in unison.
"Because, they make the good times more important, my brother and I did have our, arguments, as brothers, and these memories but higher emphasis on the good times." Henry said getting up and helping Dorothy to her feet.
"I think I get it." Alex said.
"Would you mind explaining it to me later then?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Sure, would you like some more time alone or should we get ready to go to the emerald city?" Alex said walking over to her.
"I think I'd like another couple of minutes, just wait at the truck." Dorothy said turning back to the stone.
Alex and henry nodded and started back to the gate. Dorothy smiled weakly as some more tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Mom, dad, I just wanted to say, this will be the last time for a while before I return here again at any rate, I just wanted a moment or two to talk to you guys." Dorothy said kneeling down and tracing her finger over the writing on the stone.
She felt that it was becoming too painful to think about them again. As she finished tracing her finger over the writing she got up and turned around. Tightening her grasp on the scepter she let one last tear trickle down her face. She then turned one last time to look at the grave. Blowing a kiss to the angel statue over the grave. She knew she wouldn't see it again for a while. As she exited the graveyard she immediately ran over to Alex and embraced him.
"I won't be coming back here for a while, thinking about them is becoming too painful, ever since I thought about them while I was trapped, and I can't take it anymore." Dorothy said as Alex returned the embrace.
He said nothing, but he knew he didn't have to. The moment wasn't right and he knew if he tried to comfort her with words she would just start crying again. He then looked at henry and nodded.
"Okay Glinda, they're ready." Henry said looking up at the sky.
"See you later Mr. Gale." Alex said smiling.
Henry looked at them and smiled. Dorothy broke from the embrace and looked at the scepter. It was now glowing brightly. She tightened her grasp on it just as she felt herself lurch forward. Immediately she began to feel sick and dizzy. The colors whizzing by her weren't helping that much either. She then felt her feet make contact with the floor of the chambers. Immediately she fell forward into Glinda's arms. As she managed to catch her breath and regain her composure she was immediately embraced in a group hug by Ellie and Aislynn. She smiled and returned the embrace. When they broke from the embrace she looked around and Saw the triplets playing with their kittens in one corner of the room while Pockets was getting groomed by Eve in the other corner.
"Come on mom, do I really need to be groomed again?" Pockets asked sounding rather annoyed.
"Yes dear, but I'm done now and you can go play with Dorothy." Eve said.
Pockets meowed in excitement and ran over to Dorothy. She smiled and picked her up allowing her to climb into her pocket. Dorothy then noticed Eve go to the back of the room where Toto was sitting. The last time Toto had seen a cat it was herself, as a cat, and she got chased around the living room. Dorothy smiled and took aislynn's hand and led her back to Eve.
"Aislynn, this is eve, she's the mother of the kittens." Dorothy said.
Aislynn smiled and knelt down. She then scratched Eve behind the ears making her purr.
"So, Toto how do you like the cats?" Dorothy asked chuckling.
"They're cute, they're nice, and they aren't that bad." Toto said happily.
"I'm glad you like them boy." Dorothy said as she picked up Toto.
Toto barked a few times then licked Dorothy's face. Dorothy giggled and set Toto down. She then looked at pockets and giggled.
"Come on you two, let's go to my bedroom." Dorothy said taking pockets out of her pocket and placing her on the floor.
"You're friends by the way, they're helping Locasta and Terrance with their rooms." Aislynn said as Dorothy turned to leave.
"Thanks ace." Dorothy said as she walked out with Toto and pockets at her heels.
When they got to her room pockets immediately took to running around the room. First she went under the bed and Dorothy knelt down to watch her. Then she went into the closet. Toto followed her in there and they emerged a few minutes later. Dorothy chuckled and leaned the scepter up against the bedpost.
"Pockets, you need to be careful, it's easy to get lost or hurt around the city." Toto said.
"Toto is right, Pockets, come over here." Dorothy said sitting down on her bed.
Pockets sighed and walked over to Dorothy. Dorothy knelt down and picked her up as Toto jumped up onto the bed. Dorothy sighed and slid her shoes off before turning around on the bed and resting her head on the pillows. She set pockets down on her chest and looked at her sternly.
"Pockets, here are some rules, any these will apply to your siblings as well." Dorothy said.
"Awe, I hate rules." Pockets complained.
"Well I think rules need to be set, one, if you guys are here in the city without me here you are not allowed to wander without your mother, two, you are not allowed to go to the business district until I have proper tags made for you guys, like the one Toto has around his neck, three, listen to my friends, if they tell you not to do something, don't do it, and four, if I am not here, you are not to leave this room, I'll make sure Toto watches you if it comes down to it." Dorothy said.
"And I'm assuming similar rules apply to your farmhouse?" pockets asked curiously.
"You got it girl." Dorothy said picking up pockets and kissing her on the nose.
"Ick!" pockets said making Dorothy giggle.
"Dorothy!" came the voice of her friends in unison.
Dorothy looked up to see tin man, scarecrow, and lion standing in her doorway. Dorothy squealed in delighted and set pockets down on her bed. She the then got up and ran over to her friends and embracing them in a group hug.
"We were so worried about you kiddo." Scarecrow said ruffling Dorothy's hair playfully.
"Yea Dorothy, we were worried we wouldn't see you again, or worse, that the jester would hurt you, or even more worse, kill you." Tin man said in a worried yet relieved tone.
"Yea kid, we're really happy to see you alright again." Lion said.
"Yes guys, don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, well, and actually I could really use a nap." Dorothy said.
"Well, we won't bother you for long then, Locasta's room is the new one down the hall to the left, it's a rather plain looking door, and you can't miss it." Scarecrow said.
"Thank you guys, the others are in the chambers." Dorothy said before turning around going back over to the bed.
As she lay down upon it Pockets climbed into her upper dress pocket and stuck her head out. Dorothy then yawned a bit and closed her eyes. Soon she found herself asleep.
Meanwhile, at the jester's hideout.
The jester was now pacing in front of his crystal ball. Nikko and Basil standing at attention waiting for instructions.
"You two! I need an idea! What can I do to help make my plans more effective!?" the jester shouted pointing the wand at the monkeys.
Nikko and Basil looked at each other. Basil then took out a large stack of business cards. The jester rolled his eyes, he didn't even want to know, he figured it be in his best interest to go with it at this point. Basil looked through the stack and eventually pulled out a card which he handed to the jester. He took it and read it aloud.
"'Get allies that aren't animals, or really scary dragons' oh don't be such a baby, but you do have a good point, my sister of the west had the winkies, my sister of the east had the munchkins, not they did her bidding, I need an ally that I can relate to, one that I can plot with." The jester said chuckling.
Nikko and Basil looked at each other and shrugged. They then left the room as quickly as they could.
"But who can I go to? Who would be the biggest threat to them, I need someone I can easily bribe with a promise." The jester said laughing wickedly.
Okay sorry this chapter was so short as well, I promise the next one will be longer. Anyways, who do you think the jester will Ally with? My only hint is that it's a character from one of Baum's 13 original Oz books. Okay another hint is that it's NOT Mombi, because she is the most well known and easily becomes cliché.