"I'm not dead yet!" Er. Anyhow. Wizard of Oz fic. SCARECROW/DOROTHY SHIPPER HERE FOLKS, NO SHAME. Well, y'know. When she's older. She's like twelve in the movie. CREEPY. Summary: Dorothy asks Scarecrow a question after he gets his brain that's been bugging her since she first met him. Why IS the ocean by the shore? A few years later, she thinks back. Based off of the bit in Scarecrow's first song where he mentions knowing why the ocean is by the shore, and inspired by Chris Daughtry's song, 'Over You'. Why on the latter? Don't know. For some reason every time i've watched the movie lately i've shortly after listened to this song. Puzzlesome. ALSO. Moviebased. I have yet to read the books.
I.. Am.. Sorry? Not dead. Just busy with being a Freshman. I don't even KNOW the last time I updated. SORRY. I think.
Rating: Mmmm... I'll give it a PG because of Strawman Romance. :D
Pairing: Dorothy/Scarecrow, Dorothy/Hunk
Disclaimer: I DOTH NAUGHT OWN THINE CREATION, L. FRANK BAUM. (with pictures by W.W. Denslow.)
The Wizard said they had to wait about an hour before being able to take off in his contraption. Dorothy didn't quite understand why, but the Wizard didn't seem to know how to explain it either... In the end she decided to spend her last hour in Oz exploring the city. Though that was just her spoken reason, there was something more than that. As much as it made her feel bad, she snuck away from her three friends with Toto, and dashed off into the city.
Everywhere she went, it seemed, people knew her. They all bowed or curtsied, and said a happy 'G'day miss!' afterward, then they'd hurry off to whatever it was they were doing in the first place. And with all her bowing and curtsy-ing, her back was getting a tired, so when she came across a little jade bridge over a flowing waterway, she sat herself down on the edge, to look around the city that soon she would leave behind.
"Isn't it funny, Toto? Even the water is green!" Her little dog yelped, sitting down beside her.
The ledge of the bridge was only about a foot high, and solid emerald brick, there was only about three feet of air separating the water from her ruby slippers. In fact, the entire bridge was solid rock, which was probably the reason she didn't hear the shuffle of cloth covered straw on the ground.
"Dorothy? Why are you here?"
"Oh!" Dorothy nearly tumbled into the water. "Scarecrow, you frightened me!"
"Really?" Dorothy giggled. "Mmhm!"
Scarecrow sat on the opposite side of her, his long lanky legs curving up under the bridge so as not to hit the water. "So what're you doin' here, Dorothy?" Somehow, Scarecrow had a pretty good idea as to why she was here, his newfound brains made him very intuitive about these things now.
"I don't know... I wanted to see the city."
"Ya coulda brought us with ya, y'know." She frowned. "I'm sorry. I guess... I don't know." He smiled softly. "Ya didn't want to have to wait with us, huh? Knowin' you were goin' soon?" Dorothy nodded slowly.
"I love you all so much.. I don't think.. I could stand just waiting for me to leave you all." She sniffed, beginning to cry. Scarecrow thought quick, though he was getting pretty teary too, a feat for someone with no tear ducts.
"Dorothy, s'ok. We won't hold it against ya, we all figured that was why y'ran off anyhow." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Y'shouldn't spend your last day in Oz all upset." She nodded, wiping her tears away fervently. "Your right, your right. Silly of me.. Really."
He frowned. Maybe having a brain didn't help with this sort of thing.
"No. S'not silly.. Were gonna miss you too, we didn't know what we were gonna do. Then you disappeared. Tinman and Lion are lookin' for ya too. And thats not your fault either!" He said hurriedly, seeing her about to protest. She clamped her mouth shut and stared at the river again, Toto climbed into her lap and laid his head on her knee. The tiniest of smiles appeared on her face as she stroked the animal's nose.
"If y'want, we can just sit here until y'gotta go.."
The idea made him want to tear out all his stuffing.
"Ok.."
And so they did, in silence for a long while they watched the bustle around the side streets, making no sound, until Dorothy thought of something.
"Scarecrow?"
"Mm?"
"You remember the day I found you in the cornfield?" He nodded. How could he forget that day?
"You remember you said something about knowing.. 'why the ocean is by the shore'?" He thought, then nodded again. "Uh huh."
"Well, now that you have your brain, why is the ocean near the shore?"
That one stumped him. "Hmm.." He thought, which was a great feeling really, and he thought hard. "Well... The ocean's near the shore because.. It's always been there. The ocean and shore go hand in hand, y'see. The ocean and shore were never apart, so they've always been together!"
Dorothy nodded, and for the remaining moments they sat in silence.
"I think i'll miss you most of all..."
Seven years later
Kansas
Dorothy Gale was in the Cornfield, stuffing a new scarecrow. The old one had been ripped up by a Tornado that had passed by some days ago, but it had been small with minimal damage. The old scarecrow had been around for years, and it was no surprise it had finally been torn free of the rope bindings and thrown into the wind. She sat in long overalls in the dirt, tongue poking from her mouth as she sewed shut it's smiling mouth. The old scarecrow hadn't even had a face, but this one most assuredly would. When it's mouth was finished she sewed on a pointed cloth hat, and finally painted blue eyes on it's face.
"Nearly done now, Scarecrow.." She muttered, grabbing a green shirt from behind her.
She pulled the shirt over a torso of straw, along it's arms, shoulder, elbow, wrist, it was tied with twine, giving it a more defined human shape. She set the torso on the already finished lower half and tied it off with a rope belt. As a final, and most important step, she sewed the burlap head onto the body.
"There we go, all you need now is a pair of gloves and your ready for action." Dorothy chuckled, and pulled said gloves onto the scarecrow. She stood, dusting off her overalls and picking the scarecrow up to get a good look at him.
"You look a lot like him, you know." She said as she tied him gently, but tightly, to the pole. When she was finished she stood back to admire her work, and found the effect quite pleasing, overall.
Then she stopped, a tear falling down her cheek. She stepped forward and set her head on the scarecrow's shin.
"Oh.. I do miss you most of all."
Dorothy knew it had been a dream. She'd come to grips with that some time ago, and she wasn't a little girl anymore, as the others on the farm had a nasty habit of reminding her so. But a large part of her still very much wished it had been real, and that there was a way to return. Occasionally, she'd find herself roaming the cornfield, searching for lost hay that she could restuff into her friend's chest. Or in the barn, to hear the frightened call of the Lion, fussing over the horses. Or even the woodpile, to see the Tin Woodman chopping firewood.
And her friends didn't help. Hickory, Zeke, and Hunk resembled her friends in personality and appearance so much, it was a little scary. If anything, they made her want to return to Oz all the more. However, Hunk made it easier for her.
He was closest to her in age, about 27 now, and he had been the only one who took her seriously when she came back. Or. Woke up.
Still, she thought, something about Oz had been so real...
"Dorothy? Y'ok? What are you doing?"
She turned, meeting Hunk's worried eyes. She wiped her own. "Oh.. Hunk, i'm alright, really. Just-"
"Thinking of that ol' Scarecrow buddy of yours?" He smiled crookedly. She choked out a laugh. "Hah, I guesso. Sorry."
He moved closer, eyeing the new scarecrow. "Y'did real good on it. Maybe you got some brains after all!" She smiled. "Brains..."
"Oh, right. Y'know, Dorothy, if you really think that Oz place was real... Then it is." she looked up. "Huh?"
"Most kids, when stuff like that happens to 'em, they forget about it. S'been years and you havn't stopped thinking about it. So that means one of two things." he held out two fingers and counted them off. "Either it means your a loony, or it was real. And I know you ain't a loony."
"Oh... Oh Hunk!"
She flung herself into his arms, planting a big happy kiss right on his lips.
Maybe Scarecrow had been right. Maybe the ocean had always been with the shore.
LoL whut? -Blitz