#galewritings

[thegalenarrator]

My Backstories for the Main 4 in a Few Sentences in my Legends of Oz Universe

𝐒𝐨, 𝐲'𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

𝐓𝐖: 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐔𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫.

𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐲

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟎. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝟖.

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦…

𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐮!𝐜!𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲?

𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐲.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

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𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰

𝐍𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥-𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞.

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𝐓𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧 (𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫)

𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤'𝐬 𝐚𝐱𝐞.

𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐛 𝐛𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐱𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

𝐎𝐡, 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧!

𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝? 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬…

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𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐡𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐛…

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐝.

𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨.

𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝…

━━━━━━ ༺ꕥ༻ ━━━━━━

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐞), 𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐦𝐞.

[thegalenarrator]

Gale: Past Memories I - Baby Dorothy

Jonathan: *leans down next to her hospital bed* So, what are we calling her, Annie? You get to pick.

Annie: *laughs and looks down at their newborn daughter* Can we name her Dorothy? After my grandma? She was a very sweet but sassy lady. I would want our daughter to be exactly like that.

Jonathan: Well then, Dorothy, it is! *asks his daughter total as a joke* Do you like your new name, Dorothy?

Baby Dorothy: Goo!

Annie: I think that means “yes.”

Jonathan: *smiles* I suppose she’s already showing her opinionated side just like you.

*The memory ripples again, adjusting.*

*Just outside the hospital room, the four figures watch.*

Tin Man: *completely breaks down, shoulders shaking, tears dripping onto the floor* Oh—oh my. A name given in love, in honor of family. *sniff* I knew it. I knew humans did things like this. It’s too much. It’s beautiful!

Lion: Awwwww. Look at you, Dorothy! She’s tiny and already talking back. *grins* That’s adorable. Fearless, even. I mean, when I was that small, I was terrified of everything.

Scarecrow: *smiles at the memory and then gets right to business* Dorothy, was he always like this? How can we find him?

Dorothy: *doesn’t take her eyes off the memory* I know we have to find him…his spirit can’t wander forever. My mom needs to see him again, and so does the rest of the family. *sighs* I just don’t know how going through all his memories will help us find him.

Scarecrow: *thinks harder* Maybe the goal here is to figure out how he died. Maybe that will help us figure out where his soul went. Why it’s lost anyway.

Dorothy: I know how he died though. He died in car accident. That’s what my aunt and uncle told me anyways *sadly with tears in her eyes* That’s why his casket was closed…

Tin Man: *the crying softens into something heavier, more careful* Oh, Dorothy… *steps closer, voice gentle* A closed casket doesn’t always mean a closed story. Sometimes it just means someone wanted to protect a little girl from seeing too much, too soon.

Dorothy: *crying now* Maybe they just lied to me…maybe something else happened…

Lion: Hey. That doesn’t mean they lied to you. But it doesn’t mean they knew everything either. Grown-ups…you were young…they guess sometimes. Especially when the truth is scary.

Dorothy: *wipes at her eyes, frustrated* But if he died in a car accident, then why does his spirit feel so…far away? Like he’s still walking somewhere? Why didn’t he go be with the rest of my family when he died?

Scarecrow: *quiet now, thinking harder than ever* Because how someone dies isn’t always why they’re lost. But I think something strange is happening here. *looks back at the frozen memory of Jonathan holding baby Dorothy* Let’s go everyone. We got more memories to get through and so little time to stop this curse from becoming set in stone.

Tin Man: *not wanting to leave the sweet scene but nods* Alright, I understand, you’re right. We have so much to do if we want to save Dorothy’s family.

Lion: Understood, Captain. We got to figure this out! *goes through the portal and leaves the memory.

*The memory dims further: Jonathan’s laugh, Annie’s tired smile, Baby Dorothy’s proud little “Goo” dissolving into light.*

Scarecrow: *comfortingly offers his hand to her* Everything’s going to be okay, I promise. There are more memories waiting. Different roads. *soft smile* If we’re going to understand a wandering soul, we have to follow where it wandered. I’m sure we’ll find him.

Dorothy: *looks one more time at her parents, takes a steadying breath, then steps forward, accepting his hand* Okay. Let’s go.

[thegalenarrator]

Hey hi! I'm a huge fan of the Gale fanfic in Ao3. And I'm super intrigued to see how the story will continue! When will the next chapter be released? :D

Thank you for your kind words! It means a lot to me that you love my story. I have been working on developing Gale for the past 5 years, so it's basically my life's work at this point.

I have been working on Chapter 5, but I am a busy college student who's trying to go to law school. Those grades need to be HIGH! The hope is that it will be posted this weekend (hopefully on Saturday). Anyways, here's a sneak peak at the beginning of Chapter 5 that hasn't been edited yet:

After reflecting on the past, Scarecrow decided to take a break and read some mail before continuing to fill out any more paperwork. He noticed a scarlet seal at the top of the pile and immediately took it.

The king always opened the envelope carefully with a letter opener. Her words were sacred to him, and he saved every one of her letters. Zixi was the one who guided him in his early years as king after all, so the straw man couldn't help but love her. Most men would deny their lovesickness, but he was truly happy for it. Due to that love, he always smiled whenever he read her correspondence. Her grace, her beauty, and her immense wisdom were all qualities the straw man admired, and he loved to see them represented in her words.

He unfolded the parchment and read these words in his mind:

To His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz,

I know you'll be happy to know that everything in Ix is peaceful, so I am doing great! I miss you terribly and long to see you again. My palace feels empty without you, no matter what I do. As much as I adore my country and my subjects, there is nothing I love more than your companionship, which brightens up my life. You are truly a wonder, and I am grateful you have chosen me as a worthy partner.

Every morning, as I walk through the palace gardens, I am reminded of our shared laughter and the wisdom you have imparted to me over these past few years. Your letters are a source of great comfort, but they are not the same as having you here. I cherish the memory of our last meeting and eagerly anticipate the moment when I can once again hear your voice and your clever jokes. I am determined to win at least one chess game against you this visit as I have been practicing a great deal with my ladies. You better be ready!

My court has been filled with talk of the upcoming Reception, and I have ensured that everything will allow me to get to Oz two days before. I am sure that you have prepared everything nicely as usual. The people of Ix hold you in the highest esteem, and there is much excitement at the thought of my visit to your beautiful city.

Wishing you all the happiness in the world until we meet again,

Queen Zixi of Ix

At the bottom of the letter, he noticed Zixi's royal seal alongside a red lipstick mark. This mark was the closest thing they could get to a kiss while they were apart.

The king brought the letter to his stitched lips and kissed the mark.

Oh, what he would give to feel those perfect lips against his own once more…

Our straw man is down bad for a 600 year old witch.