Shay rubbed his spoon with the end of the bow on Vella's dress. It really didn't clean anything-the dress was muddy too-but Shay needed something to do. It had been about an hour since Theodora (or whatever she was now) had left. They now sat in a room of Glinda's palace, neither sure of what to do. Shay and Vella didn't really know what to do. It seemed like the country's fight had become theirs too-it was a wordless agreement, but everyone knew it was there.
Vella sighed and stood up. Shay had given up trying to "clean" his spoon. She walked over to Glinda, who was walking away from Oz in frustration.
"Is now a bad time?" she asked.
Glinda looked at her and forced a smile. "Of course not."
"I was just wondering if I could get some new clothes… I've kinda been wearing this dress for three days now," Vella said.
Glinda's smile got a little warmer. "I'll see what I can find you."
She walked off and Vella went back to sit by Shay. He was now using his fingers to try and clean his spoon.
"What's even on that thing?" Vella asked. She looked at the bow of her dress, which was now covered in some sort of gray substance.
"Oh, that's probably some of my dad's hull patch… I used my spoon to test its pH balance," Shay replied.
"Oh," was all Vella could say. She glanced at the bow again before shrugging it off. It wasn't like she was going to wear the dress again.
Glinda walked over to her, a light pink, almost white dress in her arms. "I believe this will fit you… there is a room down the hall if you would like to try it on."
"Thanks," Vella said, taking the dress and going down the hall.
Shay fiddled with his spoon and looked up at Glinda. "Do you think you can get us home?"
Glinda sighed. "Perhaps, once this is all over, yes. Where are you from, child?"
Shay grumbled a little at being called a child before saying, "I don't know anymore."
"You don't know?" Glinda asked.
Shay shook his head. "No. I-er-had a recent change of residence… I guess I'd just go home with Vella and try to find my parents from there. I think she lives in… Sugar Bunting?"
Glinda frowned. "I don't know where that is… I'm sorry. But I promise you I will do all I can after the wizard frees Oz."
"Scheming behind my back?" Vella asked, walking back over to Glinda and Shay.
"No, we were just discussing how we were going to get home," Shay replied.
Vella pulled the sleeve of the dress back up. It fit, but just barely-the dress was just a little bit too big for her. But it was much better than that dirty, shredded Maidens Feast dress that she had been wearing.
"I feel so unhelpful," Shay said, messing with the goop on his spoon once more.
"Yeah…" Vella said. She looked up at Glinda. "What should we do?"
Glinda shook her head and muttered, "If anyone is being unhelpful, it's Oz." To the teens, she said, "I'm afraid I cannot ask you to do anything until we have a plan."
"Oh," Vella said. Oz came back into the room, bag in hand. "I'm guessing bombs and death rays aren't the type of plans you're looking for, are they?"
"Death rays?" Glinda asked. "No. I do not wish to destroy the Emerald City… just to free it."
"Darn," Vella said.
"Maybe not bombs," Oz muttered upon overhearing their conversation, "But… fireworks?"
He'd said the last part just loud enough for the others to hear.
"Fireworks?" Glinda asked. "You've mentioned those twice, yet I still don't know what they are."
"It's a little hard to explain," Oz said.
"I guess you could say they're really flashy explosives. But they explode in the sky and sometimes it looks like they leave a trail of stars," Vella said.
"Stars…" Oz muttered. "I wonder if she knows what fireworks are…"
"I highly doubt it," Glinda said.
The three continued to ramble off ideas until a plan was born. It was going to be Oz's greatest trick yet.