big bang 2
Title: Red and the Headcase: The Wedding
Author: Twisterdrag04
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, and places - are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Ambrose has regained his memories and his past love and it's time for their future but all doesn't now ease on down the road so smoothly.
Author's Notes: I must thank my Beta cleo1969 and my test reader matilda36 for their constant support and encouragement.
Characters: DG, Azkadellia, Wyatt Cain, Jeb Cain Ambrose/Glitch, Lavender Eyes, Ahamo, OMC, OFC
Pairings: Ambrose/OFC, Hints of DG/Jeb
Fandom: Tin Man
DG knew something had happened with Layla the moment she came up to them. It wasn’t the fact that she was covered with mud and that she was bleeding, that had quickly become a regular sight since the Tin Man recruiting had started. It was something else. She was tense and her eyes were a little blood shot. Something was definitely wrong.
“Is everything ok Layla?”
"Everything's fine, DG. So how goes the planning?"
She looked tired, and sounded tired too.
“It can wait. Why don’t you go get cleaned up? You look like you need it.”
Layla shook her head and DG felt an intense heat coming off of Layla. She jumped back as the mud cracked and flaked off Layla’s skin and clothing. She ran her fingers through her hair, getting rid of the last flakes of the dirt.
“Thanks but I think I have that taken care of.”
“I see that.”
Layla grinned and motioned for DG to walk down the hall with her. They talked for a bit, DG telling her all the plans she and Az had for the wedding while Layla would nod or suggest changes. Layla couldn’t help but laugh at how excited DG was getting about the wedding. It was nice that planning her wedding gave the sisters a chance to bond again.
“So, how are you adjusting back to castle life,” Layla asked as they continued their walk.
DG shrugged. Layla gave an encouraging smile.
“It’s just…not what I expected. When I think I get settled in there’s something that comes along and changes things. No offense but I wasn’t expecting you and your brother, not to mention your relationship with Glitch…er…Ambrose.”
Layla nodded. She wasn’t exactly known for fitting into the royal lifestyle, but that was her choice. DG had grown up not knowing or remembering anything about the OZ or the royal family. Her whole world had been changed in a matter of days. It couldn’t be easy for her. Throw in that her sister had been possessed by a witch and two cousins who came seemingly out of nowhere, it would make anyone uncomfortable or thrown off balance. At least Bay and Layla were almost used to something similar and they were someone the princesses could go to.
“Well coming from someone who has basically shunned the royal lifestyle for as long as I can remember, you and your sister are doing just fine.”
DG smiled, but Layla could tell that something else was on her mind.
“DG, what’s wrong?”
“I’m just…worried about Azkadellia. She seems to be having a hard time adjusting to everything. People are looking at her, whispering about her. I know it bothers her, even if she says it doesn’t.”
This made Layla angry. The last thing Azkadellia needed was to worry about other people. Layla put a hand on DG’s shoulder and squeezed it.
“I’ll talk to her DG, I promise.”
That made DG smile in relief and she hugged Layla. Layla hugged her back.
“Thank you.”
Someone called DG’s name, and Layla couldn’t help but smile when she saw it was Jeb Cain. Her smile grew bigger when she saw the radiant smile that broke out on DG’s face when she saw it was Jeb. Layla wasn’t upset at all when DG abandoned their conversation in order to talk to Jeb. She felt someone stand behind her, and she really didn’t have to guess who it was.
“Are you playing cupid for my son?”
“Well since I can’t play cupid for you…,” Layla grinned as she watched Jeb and DG talk. “Hate to tell you but I have nothing to do with this one, Wyatt.”
“Yeah I was afraid you’d say that.”
“Looks like you’re stuck with being a part of this royal family whether you like it or not.”
Wyatt let out a put upon sigh which Layla knew he didn’t mean. She patted him on the shoulder before she went to seek out Azkadellia.
She didn’t have to look very hard. She found Azkadellia outside of her room, with barely concealed tears in her eyes. Layla balled her fists for a moment before taking a deep breath and going over to Azkadellia, gently touching her on the shoulder.
“Is everything alright?”
Azkadellia jumped slightly causing Layla to frown and her heart to ache. She opened the door and ushered Azkadellia into her room. So help them if someone did something to harm the princess. There would be furious hell to pay.
“I’m sorry. I just…needed someone to talk to.”
“Well you can always talk to me. Sit down and we’ll talk.”
Layla motioned to a chair next to the fireplace and went to get her cousin some water. She set the water on the table next to the chair and sat down in the other one on the other side of the fireplace. She waited in silence for Azkadellia to speak.
“Everyone looks at me like I’m still a monster. I hear them whispering, betting how long it will be until I try to take over the OZ again. I just…can’t take it. Maybe I should just leave.”
“Az…my father was The Mystic Man. People have been looking at me like a freak since I was a little girl. I don't think they ever will stop but I've stopped caring about what those that still do think. You cannot let a few small minded idiots chase you away. The people that matter most; your parents, DG, me and Bay, know you aren’t. But I can tell you this, the next person that says anything like that to you or about you will have a personal conversation with my knives.”
“How did you stop caring?”
“Because the people that love me, love me for who I am. Ambrose knows every bit about my magic and my family’s magic and he still loves me.”
“You are lucky.”
Layla reached out and squeezed Azkadellia’s hand.
“You’ll find someone. You are beautiful and smart and any man that doesn’t give you a chance is an idiot.”
Azkadellia gave Layla a small smile and squeezed her hand back.
“Thank you.”
“That’s what family’s for. Now…about this wedding dress you picked.”
***
“No, that's not right" Bay declared.
"Why not? It's perfect." Ambrose pointed out.
“That’s why it’s not right. It’s too perfect.”
“It’s a wedding present. It needs to be perfect and elegant.”
“Have you met my sister? Elegant isn’t exactly something in her vocabulary.”
Ambrose threw his hands in the air. They had been at it for what felt like ages. They had tested the player several times and each time it worked perfectly. Who knew that the hardest part would be the actual design of the device?
Ambrose sighed and sat down in front of his work bench. Bay watched him before sitting across from him.
“Listen, my sister won’t care how it looks. This is being made by the man she loves more than anything and it is being made for her. That will mean so much more to her than anything. It could look like it is rusty and broken and she will love it more than anything in this whole world.”
“I just want it to be perfect for her. She means so much to me. I don’t want anything to be wrong with it.”
Bay smiled. No one really could love his sister more than the man in front of him. His father always wanted his sister to marry someone who was willing to move mountains for her. Bay was positive Ambrose would do even more than that for her.
“That’s why it will be perfect.”
***
It was late into the night when Layla made her way to Ambrose’s lab. He had once again missed dinner and Layla was making her almost nightly trip to the lab with his dinner. In the beginning of their relationship she used to think he was trying to avoid her, but as their relationship progressed she found out that wasn’t so. After the first few trips she realized that Ambrose just became so engrossed in his projects that he quickly lost track of time. So she took it upon herself whenever she could to take him his meals throughout the day to make sure that he ate something.
Balancing the tray carefully, she managed to knock on the door. She smiled to herself as she heard the shuffling of papers and drawers being slammed. That was usually a sign that he was working on something for her. Her smile became broader when the door opened and Ambrose stood in front of her. She held up the tray and he smiled.
“You have to be the most beautiful thing I have seen all day.”
He opened the door for her and she carefully maneuvered into the room.
“You are just saying that because I have your dinner.”
“Well…that might have something to do with it.”
Layla laughed and carefully set up dinner for the two of them. She had missed dinner as well because of a meeting with the new recruits. They didn’t get to eat together often and she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity, no matter how much she was teased for being a girl.
Ambrose stood back and just watched as she moved. Even in everyday situations, she had a grace about her that was unmatched by anyone he had ever seen. Every step she took told of how nimble and agile she was. Every graceful move caused him to fall that much more in love with her.
Layla turned around to ask Ambrose a question when she caught him staring at her. When he smiled at her, she couldn’t help but blush. She was one of the toughest fighters the palace had, but one smile from him could reduce her to a blushing teenager. As she turned her attention back to their dinner, a strand of hair fell out from behind her ear. Ambrose didn’t hesitate to tuck the strand back behind her ear, causing her to blush even more.
She was beautiful, strong, and as smart as they came. She was the envy of almost everyone in the palace, and she was his; his to caress, his to hold, and his to love for the rest of his life. To this day he wasn’t sure what he had done to have been so lucky as to have this gorgeous woman in his life, but he had never been more grateful for it than he was now.
“Come on. Everything is ready.”
Ambrose pulled out Layla’s chair for her to sit down. She smiled and he couldn’t help but smile back. He looked at the table and thought something was missing. He reached into a drawer and pulled out two candlesticks. He set them on the table and lit them.
“Felt like something was missing. “
“You always think of everything. I always knew you were such a romantic.”
He chuckled to himself and sat down across from her. They ate in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s company.
“I received a summons from the Queen today.”
“She actually sent you one? Couldn’t she have just…told you?”
Layla shrugged and speared a carrot onto her fork. Even when she was eating you could see her skill with her hands.
“She probably wanted it to be official and didn’t want to show any favoritism towards me.”
“You are her niece. That’s favoritism enough right there.”
“Not necessarily. I have known Wyatt since I was a child but I am not afraid to put him in his place.”
“That is because, my love, you are not afraid of anything.”
She looked down at her plate and Ambrose was worried he had upset her somehow. He put his fork down and reached over for her hand. If he upset her he wanted to fix it as quickly as possible.
“Layla I’m so…”
“It’s all right. There is something that I am afraid of. I am afraid of what life would be like if I did not have you in it. If I didn’t have you I am scared of what kind of person I would be. You were and are that voice in my head that reminds me of the good still in the world. I could have gone down a dark path after...everything. I didn’t because of you.”
Ambrose wasn’t sure what to say about the sudden confession. Layla didn’t always express how she felt often. He knew she loved him; they wouldn’t be getting married if he had any doubts. But to know that he was that important to her was a little bit...overwhelming to him. He leaned across the table and kissed her before she could say anything else. He was actually satisfied by the pink tinge her cheeks took on from her blushing.
Ambrose leaned back into his chair and finished his dinner, being unable to not feel like the most important person in the entire OZ at that moment.
***
Bay watched Ambrose leave his lab for the evening, an arm around Layla. They were so happy together. That’s why he was going to work on something absolutely spectacular for their wedding. He made sure that the hallway was clear before he made his way into the lab. He felt a little guilty using Ambrose’s lab without his permission, but it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if he knew about it. Besides, he wasn’t exactly sure how this would work so it would be better if no one was around.
He snuck into the room, missing DG coming around the corner. He made his way to the workbench, taking extra care to move Layla’s present out of the line of fire. If anything happened to that present Ambrose would kill him. After the present was safely secured, he started leafing through the books on Ambrose’s shelves. He knew it was in one of these, he just couldn’t remember which one it was.
“Whatcha doing?”
The book in his hand fell to the ground as he jumped, muttering a curse under his breath. He whipped around to see a grinning DG standing behind him, trying to look innocent.
“DG you scared me.”
She shrugged her shoulders, reminding him of his sister. She bent down and grabbed the book before he had a chance to grab it. He tried to grab it back but she was too quick for him. She leafed through the book as she walked around the lab.
“So what are you doing here?”
“Give me the book back and I’ll tell you.”
“Tell me or I’ll take the book and go running to Layla and Glitch.”
He sighed. Why did the women in his life have to be so difficult?
“I’m looking for something in one of his books. I want to do something special for the wedding, and I know he has it here.”
“Well what is it?”
“Fireworks. He has a plan on how to make them and I want to make some. I know he has the chemicals but I don’t know how much and in what order.”
DG finished flipping through the book before tossing it back to Bay.
“Well there was nothing in that book about fireworks. How about you take one half of the bookshelves and I take the other side?”
Bay nodded and they started to go through the shelves. There were a lot of books and some of the entries in the books weren’t complete. As the sun was coming up Bay was ready to give up hope on finding the book he needed when DG started to jump up and down. Bay grinned. She had found the book. She brought the book over to him and showed him the plans Ambrose had written down. They could cut out a lot of things due to their magic. They filled a few containers with the chemicals they needed before sneaking out of the lab and making plans to meet up when it was dark.
***
When someone got a summons from the Queen, people tended to get nervous. Layla couldn’t help but be one of those people. She looked up to the Queen, as if she was her own mother. The Queen reminded her so much of her mother, but that might have to do with the fact that they had been sisters after all.
She knocked gently on the door, waiting for it to be opened before entering. She saw that the Queen was talking to Wyatt, so she patiently waited her turn. She could not help herself though, and stretched right when Wyatt was walking by causing him to trip over her feet. He shot her a glare and she couldn’t help but laugh. Wyatt gave her a playful kick before exiting, and Layla turned her attention towards the Queen. By the look on her face, the Queen had seen the whole incident and Layla couldn’t help but blush a little feeling like a child caught being naughty. This was not a time to act like a child, but something about seeing Wyatt just brought it out of her sometimes.
“I can remember you two as children, running around and causing so much trouble. It’s nice to see that some things never change.”
Layla smiled and went over to where her aunt, the Queen was sitting. “Well someone has to make sure he has a sense of humor.”
The Queen gave her a fond smile, "Or it could just be you like getting a reaction out of him. You always have. I seem to recall you would do something to him when you thought he was being a bit too serious in his thinking."
“He wasn’t as bad after he met Adora. She was wonderful at making sure he didn’t stay serious for too long of a time.”
Layla fell quiet, once again thinking of the beautiful woman that was lost because of one man’s greed and jealousy. Adora, her parents…all lost because of it. The Queen reached over and took Layla’s hand in hers, as if she knew what thoughts were lurking in Layla’s head.
“They will be remembered, Adora and your parents, during the remembrance ceremony. I will make sure of that.”
“Thank you. It would mean so much to Wyatt.”
“What about you?”
Layla leaned back in her seat. She wasn’t sure how to respond to the question. Part of her still craved revenge and vengeance, but what would that bring her. The people she loved so dearly would still be dead and nothing could bring them back. Part of her wanted to curl up in a ball and just let the grief take over, but that wasn’t her way. As much as she wanted both of those, she had to move on. She had to tell their story so this horrible history wouldn’t be repeated. She had to tell it so that no one else suffered this terrible pain.
“It would mean a lot to me too. They were important people. If it wasn’t for my mother I probably would not even be in this position. She was the one who sent me on an errand to see you the day I met Ambrose. Otherwise I would not have been anywhere near the castle that day.”
“I remember that day. It was right before he was to go with me on a tour that would have had us away for a few months. You have been the only person I know of who has been able to render him speechless.”
“I’m sure that it didn’t help that I actually ran into him and knocked him over that day. He was probably too breathless to even speak.” The Queen nodded and laughed at the possible truth of that statement.
There was a knock on the door before it opened and Ahamo stepped in holding a box. He smiled at the both of them as he made his way to where they were sitting, kissing them on the cheek as he passed.
“Hello, Layla. Hello, my dear.” The affectionate warmth in his voice for his wife was unmistakable.
He put the box on the desk in front of Layla and went to stand next to the Queen. Layla looked at it for a few moments before looking up at the royal couple. They both smiled at her and the Queen motioned for her to open it. Carefully Layla undid the ribbon holding the box together and removed the top. After gently pulling back the paper, Layla saw what was in it. She gingerly pulled it out and unfolded it.
It was a dress. It was styled like a wedding dress but it was horrid looking. First of all it was pink, a shade of pink that was so bright Layla’s eyes were starting to water. If the color wasn’t bad enough, every inch of it that could have a lace ruffle on it had two. If this was the last wedding dress in the entire O.Z Layla would never have picked it. She looked from the dress to the royal couple. They had given Layla this dress, and had been so very kind and helpful to not only Layla but to Bay as well. So if this was the dress they had picked for her to get married in, she was going to get married in it.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you very much. I would be happy to wear it when I get married.”
Ahamo and the Queen looked at each other and then Layla for a few moments before breaking out in laughter, and Layla knew then that the dress had been a joke. Layla laughed in relief as she folded the dress up and put it back in the box.
“You really would have worn that dress if we would have given it to you wouldn’t you?” Ahamo asked.
“If this dress would have come from anyone else, I would have laughed at them. But you two have been so kind to me and my brother since we came back. So if this was a dress that you two would have asked me to wear I would have worn it without complaint.”
The Queen reached into her desk and pulled out a box while Ahamo took the pink disaster away from Layla, still laughing.
“This is the dress I think you should wear when you get married, the one that I would ask of you to wear.”
The Queen put the box down in front of Layla. Layla couldn’t help but notice there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. When Layla opened the box, she was stunned by what she saw. It was a white dress, a dress that she had seen many times in some pictures. One of the pictures was on the table by her bed; it showed her parents on their wedding day. She was looking upon her mother’s wedding dress. She had been almost certain this was destroyed when their home burned down.
“How did you…”
“When your mother died she left it for me. Safe in my keeping until you were of age or to be married. I had it fitted to your size and I know you will look positively stunning in it on your wedding day. The same as your mother was on hers.”
Layla gently ran her fingers along some of the detailing on the front of the dress when it hit her suddenly. She was getting married and her parents were not going to be there. Her mother was not going to help her get dressed and her father was not going to walk her down the aisle to give her away. She gently pulled the dress out of the box and held it to her chest. She wasn’t sure when the tears started to fall, but as soon as they did the Queen was by her side embracing her in a comforting hug.
“Oh, my poor dear.”
“It…it just hit me. They aren’t here. They aren’t going to see me get married. I know you, DG and Az have been so helpful with the planning, and I appreciate it more than I think I could ever express. It’s just…”
“We aren’t them. I know my dear. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you.” The Queen finished for her and released her.
Layla wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself. She really had to stop doing this. For one reason, she never cried. She always prided herself on keeping her emotions in check, that and Wyatt would really start to freak out if she actually acted like a girl.
“Sometimes, you remind me so much of my mother.”
Layla wasn’t exactly sure where that comment came from, but it seemed to be the right moment to tell the Queen. All of this had to be hard for her as well. Layla wasn’t sure how she would feel if Bay had been killed by someone wanting revenge. She was almost positive she would not be able to maintain the same amount of grace or dignity that the Queen had managed to maintain.
The Queen smiled softly at her and pulled Layla into another hug. Layla couldn’t help but curl into the embrace a tiny bit. She smiled slightly when the Queen started to hum a song that her mother used to sing to them when they were babies. Layla hummed the song when she was sharpening her knives. After a few minutes the Queen kissed her on the head and let go.
“You can always come to me when you need someone to talk to. I know I am not your mother, but I am a mother.”
Layla nodded and gave the Queen one more hug. The Queen looked at the box and smiled.
“I will have that sent to your room. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to it before your wedding day.”
“Yes knowing my luck who knows what will happen to it. Wyatt might be waiting around the corner with a bucket.”
“Forever children the two of you,” the Queen smiled.
Layla grinned and bowed as she left the room, feeling as if there was a giant weight that had been lifted off her chest. As soon as she left the room she was cornered by DG and Azkadellia.
“We need to talk to you.”
She looked over their shoulders and saw Ambrose waiting for them with an apologetic look on his face. At least she would have some company for this meeting. She motioned for the princesses to lead the way. Next Part