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Dorothy didn't emerge from the room for several hours. Night had already fallen when Dorothy found that a dinner of soup and bread had somehow been left on the desk for her without her noticing. As she got up and ate. When she was done the bowl and spoon she used vanished completely. She turned around to find Alex standing in the door way.
"Rose wanted to know if you'd like to go on a little moonlit stroll with her." Alex said.
"Are you going to come?" Dorothy asked curiously
"I thought about it, but I think you two should get to know each other better." Alex said.
Dorothy sighed and held her hand out for the scepter only to have it snatched out of the air by Alex.
"Alex what are you doing?" Dorothy asked.
"You'll be perfectly safe according to rose, not that this keeps you safe anymore." Alex said.
Dorothy sighed and walked over to Alex, giving him a kiss on the cheek as she left the room. It wasn't long before she ran into Rose who seemed to be waiting for her by the doors. As they left the castle rose took Dorothy's hand and led her around the castle to a path.
"The moon is half full, new moon in a matter of days." Rose said.
"I like the full moon best." Dorothy said.
"I know." Rose said as they walked along.
They continued walking along the path in the moonlight for several minutes in silence. This was until they came upon a bench near the edge of a cliff. Rose offered Dorothy a seat on the bench as she sat down. Dorothy smiled and joined her before her face fell.
"I don't want to have to kill him." Dorothy said.
"And I don't want you to, but Oz won't rest until he's destroyed." Rose said.
"But I have to purposely kill him, and that will make me a murderer this time, I already have the blood of the witches of the east and west on my hands and those were both accidents, I'm praised and I don't deserve it, I can't take this anymore." Dorothy said leaning on Rose's shoulder and starting to cry again.
"There, there, it's alright, just let it all out." Rose said
For the first time since her parents death Dorothy found herself crying harder than she had ever cried before. Rose simply chuckled and stroked Dorothy's hair as if Dorothy were her own daughter. Dorothy sobbed for nearly half an hour before she managed to compose herself again.
"Rose, thank you, for tolerating me." Dorothy said wiping her face and sniffing
"No problem, you remind me of me when I was your age, around the same time I fell in love with him." Rose said.
"Did you cry when he didn't come back?" Dorothy asked curiously
"Would you like me to be honest?" Rose asked curiously
"Yes." Dorothy said
"Promise you won't laugh?" Rose asked.
"You have my word." Dorothy said.
"Well I cried for weeks, the only person I would talk to was a servant girl named Jellia Jamb, but she was called to the emerald city shortly after the wizard came, for all I know she was captured and turned into a puppet by the jester, did you ever meet her?" Rose asked curiously
"I'm not sure, possibly, in passing, but did you really cry for weeks?" Dorothy asked.
"I really did, after lady Cassandra made me well again I waited, and when I realized I may never see him again, I cried, and cried, only taking meals and drinks, I was miserable, I felt so alone." Rose said.
"What brought you back to your senses?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Jellia, before she left, left me with this parting remark, 'you are never alone' and those words I've held with me, they're what gave me the strength to go on." Rose replied.
"Those are the words my mother told me, her last words…" Dorothy said trailing off as tears began to roll down her face again.
"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it." Rose said.
Dorothy sighed and leaned her head on rose's shoulder again. They sat there in silence for about half an hour before Rose got up. Dorothy smiled and got up. Rose took Dorothy's hand and led her down a branching path down the mountain. Eventually they came to a lake that was shimmering in the moonlight.
"It's so beautiful." Dorothy said looking at it wide-eyed.
"This is the moon's lake, it has the same effects as the moons tears, if you swim in it at least, I always felt that might be how lily perfected her art, but she can't swim, and refuses to learn." Rose said.
"That would explain the strange feeling I'm getting from standing here though." Dorothy said.
"Yep, it can make you a bit giddy at first, just try not to fall in." Rose said
"Huh? Whoa!" Dorothy said losing her balance however she was grabbed at a crucial moment by Rose.
"Like I said, giddy." Rose said.
"Yea, thanks, must be getting a little bit tired." Dorothy said.
"Right." Rose said chuckling.
"Rose, what would happen if you were to drink it rather than swim in it?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"No one knows really, anyone who's tried has instantly spit it out, people have tried to swallow it and have either spit it out or vomited, while you're in the water, your body basically just stops, you can't open your mouth or breathe through your nose and mouth you can merely swim." Rose said.
"Obviously it doesn't want people to ingest it." Dorothy said.
"I realize that, come on, it's getting late, and we should get heading back to the castle" Rose said.
"Yes, I-I think so." Dorothy said collapsing to the ground.
"Dorothy, if you'd like I could carry you." Rose offered.
"n-no, I'll b-b-be." Dorothy said passing out.
Rose sighed and felt Dorothy's forehead. She didn't know if it were the effects of her being near the water, or just her bad luck but Dorothy seemed to be falling ill. Rose let out another sigh and picked Dorothy up.
Well a bonding chapter between Dorothy and Rose, well, will this lake come into play some time in the story before the end? And is Dorothy really getting sick, again? Find out in the next chapter.