Title: Learning to Live 26: Home is Where the Heart Is

The village had once sported several telephones, but during the witch's reign many lines were either deliberately cut or never repaired if anything went wrong. So while there were phones, they were just useful as paperweights. She vowed communication lines were to be moved up in the list of 'needs immediate fixing.'

DG had to send a letter insisting that no vehicles were sent for them. Glitch pointed out that after her last dispatch, the Queen might well send rescue speeding along.

And considering the terrible conditions of the roads they'd seen so far… horseback would actually be the smoother, less jarring way to travel. Road repair went just above communications. The roadways were exactly why they had come out here on horseback.

They spent a week in Deepwell, under the care of the village's far from reverent Healer.

On the road once more, with medications and supplies, they were faced with more rotten luck.

Second day from the village Glitch's horse threw a shoe. The third day they made camp under a canopy of trees and barely had set up before a nasty storm hit. Wouldn't you know, they hit the rainy season! The downpour lasted most of the day, and if the Cain men didn't know exactly how to pick a camping area (at the top of a small hill, a bump in the landscape really), the tents would have been flooded.. The wet slapping of horses hooves churning through mud accompanied them for two days.

"You sure nothin' in that crate is cursed?" Cain asked DG on day five.

He chuckled at her glare.

"You're certainly in a hurry to get back to meetings and lessons and formal dinners." She pointed out.

"I've gotten soft." Cain admitted with a smile, "I'm in a hurry to get back to a nice mattress and a warm bed. Besides, at the rate Glitch and Scraps are goin…"

"I don't want to hear it." DG held up her hand.

"Neither do I, which is why I'd like some nice thick stone walls separating us all at night."

He was doing much better with proper medication.

"They're talking about us again." Glitch looked over his shoulder.

"They seem to lack entertainment. We are the story on which their focus falls." Scraps was no longer in as much pain as he had been, the tight binding around her ribs helped. But she was still uncomfortable. That was something she had long ago learned to live with.

"You'd think they'd think about politics, lessons, all the things they'll have to get back to when we arrive." Glitch seemed a bit nervous.

They'd be arriving soon. They were riding through very familiar territory now. Another few hours and this adventure would be behind them.

Over the journey and their forced delay, both of them had spent much time just talking. Scraps' memory came and went, but she apparently carried a lot of knowledge in her stuffed full noggin. She liked to fix things and understood the basic foundations of engineering. Well, most of the time. Occasionally that knowledge would be overridden by the recipe for a fabulous trout dish or how to best pick a lock.

And she fell into these periods of word association or just plain oddness. She'd gone back to braiding all the horses' manes, and then pouted when string was declared off limits to her.

Glitch admitted that he still had blank spots in his memories. His memories post brainectomy, that is. Just blank areas where he couldn't recall periods of time and had no clue what he may have said, done or been through.

"More than one of my pieces were married, you know." She announced almost randomly. "I sometimes have flashes from one in particular. The woman who swung and flew. She was often naughty."

"Well I figured someone in there was." Glitch tried to suppress a blush, which was near impossible.

"She's me now. The memories aren't mine, but the brain is. The thoughts are mine even if the voice isn't." Scraps looked at Glitch with frank, guileless eyes. "You don't seem to mind my scrambled eggs. You don't even tease very much. Don't make me feel smaller than I am."

"Well, you are pretty small." He teased just to rile her up. Definitely not about her mental deficiencies or surplus.

"I'm not. Everyone else is overly tall." She defended. Just as quickly she became serious. "Are your kisses an indication of intent or curiosity getting the cat?

Oh. "I thought you said I was yours."

Glitch knew he'd never be board around her. He also didn't want her thinking he saw her as a convenient distraction. Distraction, definitely, but little about it was convenient. Her sudden, brilliant smile made his heart clench.

"I did. I know things, and I knew that before introductions were made. I just didn't know I knew it. And I am pretty sure I'm yours as well. But will the heart war with the mind? Devastation and bloodshed inside the skin." Scraps looked down at her hands as she wove the reigns in and out of her fingers.

Glitch's hand covered one of hers, plucking it away from the leather to twine with his fingers, instead.

"I know things, too. And my intentions are to court Lady Scraps in a way that won't get me shot by her protector. Commissioner Garalli has a very big gun that makes very big holes in people."

Scraps' lips twitched upwards a bit. "Now of whole mind, you don't want a holey body."

Just then the palace came into view over the rise. The lake sparkled and glinted in the sun.

"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" DG exclaimed behind them.

"I think I just might have." Glitch squeezed Scraps' fingers lightly.

Three hours later they were met at the main entrance of the palace by just about everyone.

DG's parents and sister embraced her, obviously relieved to have her back and in one, slightly injured, piece.

Frank Garalli thrust a hand out to Cain and clapped him on the back while they were shaking. "I see you brought my girl back in one piece."

"I think you might end up sharing her, Frank." Cain tilted his head to where Glitch stood, holding Scraps' hand.

"Oh, really?" The older, mustachioed man looked Glitch up and down. "You taken advantage of my Scraps?" Garelli looked formidable.

"No sir. I've been a gentleman." Glitch insisted, but didn't release his hold on the treasure he'd found in the desert.

"I've been taking advantage of Glitch." Scraps announced with a grin, to Glitch's embarrassment.

"Glitch and Scraps happy." Raw announced. "Help fix each other."

Off to the side, Az disentangled herself from her family and took a few steps towards Jeb.

"Captain Cain. I'm glad to see you returning in good health." She stood poised, her hands folded carefully in front of her.

"Your highness… Azkadellia… I think we need to talk. In private." Jeb offered his arm.

Azkadellia took the proffered arm. Her eyes met his for the first time. "And where will we be having this talk?"

"Perhaps a stroll around the garden will be to you're liking."

Her eyes lit up and her smile was beautiful.

The End

A/N: This is the end of this story. However, the "Learning" Verse will continue in a series of oneshots that trace Jeb/Az's relationship and slices of life for the others.