Title: Fall for You
Author: generalnothing
Gift for: missbadwolf
Rating: PG for kissin' type stuff and a bad word or two.
Word Count: 6,204
Beta (if applicable): partially beta'd by 49seconds
Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man or anything related to it. The title comes from the Secondhand Serenade song of the same name.
Summary: In which DG steals Cain's hat, Ahamo plays matchmaker, and Cain is forced to dance. DG/Cain liek whoa.
Pairings (if applicable): DG/Cain, Lavender/Ahamo
Author's note (if applicable): The prompt(s) were 'Ahamo is very fond of matchmaking (think DG/Cain)' and 'DG wonders when Cain will notice that she has stolen his hat.' I kind of combined the two. I had so much fun writing this even though it got sooooo long. This is literally the longest (completed) fic I have ever written. missbadwolf, I hope you enjoy this, the prompts were super fun. And as always, special thanks and internet hugs to 49seconds for late night beta's on half written fics, im giggle fits, multiple conversations, allowing me to spaz about the awesomeness of Jacob and collaborations.

Part III

It was customary for the Royal Family to arrive 'fashionably late' to their balls. As such, the party was in full swing when the courtier gathered everyone's attention to introduce the family and their guests.

First to descend the grand staircase that led to the dance floor was the Queen and Prince Consort. Both moved down the stairs gracefully, one of the Queen's arms tucked in her husband's while the other was holding up the hem of her lavender dress.

Next was Azkadellia on the arm of the re-brained Glitch. He would no longer be Ambrose for eight years was far too long to be separated from one's brain, but having his brain back had made him smarter. And he seemed to glitch less now that he was back together. Wearing a champagne colored dress, Azkadellia slowly made her way down the steps. There was a brief hush that fell over the crowd before Cain started to clap for the newly returned princess. Slowly, the rest of the court joined in. By the time Azkadellia and Glitch made it to the bottom of the stairs, the entire room was clapping for her. She blushed prettily and tucked her head into Glitch's chest. Glitch just smiled and Cain had a feeling he had no idea what was going on.

Last to descend was DG on the arm of Raw, her blue dress brushing the floor. At the sound of her name Cain looked to the top of his stairs. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her, her dark hair in a complicated up-do, her bright eyes shining in such a way that they matched her 

dress. Cain threw another mental thank you to the seamstresses for making DG's dress the color of her eyes.

She caught his eye from across the room as she descended he final step. He smiled at her and nodded his head, chuckling lightly as she grinned widely and waved at him. She turned back to Raw and Cain watched as she whispered something to him before disengaging her arm from his. Raw looked up and caught his eye, a knowing smirk on his furry face.

Cain brought his gaze back to DG only to find that she was on her way over to him.

"Princess," he greeted her, bowing slightly.

"Mr. Cain," she replied with a curtsy. She didn't meet his eyes, just kept her face down, but Cain could still see the blush gracing her cheeks. "I hope you're enjoying yourself."

"Oh, very much so, thank you Princess."

"You…look…nice," he said, stumbling over the words. The thin straps of her dress were covered by a sheer shawl that hung over her shoulders. The beading of her dress caused his eyes to travel lower, taking in the tightness of it and how it hugged her curves before flaring out at the bottom.

"You too," DG said shyly, looking him over. The suit was classy, but not overly done, the dark gray making his eyes brighter and she noticed that the blue ascot was the same color as her dress. She wondered if the seamstresses had done that on purpose. She ran her fingers over the few medals that were hanging from his pocket, just below the handkerchief before she jerked them back, embarrassed by her bold actions.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them as the stood there, the party moving around them. They still wouldn't meet each other's eyes, too shy to move, but brought up too well to just leave.

Thankfully, they were saved by the arrival of Jeb who, while on duty as the head of the Royal Guard, was still managing to have a good time with his date, a pretty brunette by the name of Amanda whom he had met in the Resistance. After introductions had been made, Jeb bent down to his date's ear and whispered in it. She laughed and pushed him forward, shaking her head at his request. Jeb caught himself and turned to face DG.

"Princess," he said with a sense of mock sincerity. "May I have this dance?"

DG laughed and looked at Amanda who nodded her head. "Go ahead," the brunette said with a laugh. "I'll just steal your date," she said, quickly pulling Cain on to the dance floor before he could stop her.

Both Jeb and DG laughed at the look on Cain's face as Amanda set them to dancing the waltz that was currently playing. They turned back to each other and DG automatically placed her hands in the proper spots for dancing. They followed the same path Cain and Amanda had taken, twirling around the dance floor with ease.

"So, Princess," Jeb started and DG cringed at the teasing tone in his voice. She knew what was coming. "When are you going to tell my father you are completely and utterly in love with him?"

DG blushed a bright red and kept her eyes on her feet. She didn't remove her gaze as she answered. "Whenever you ask that pretty girl to marry you," she said.

Jeb lowered his head to her ear and whispered "Too late." He had to jerk his head out of the way when she whipped her head to face him.

"Jeb Cain!" DG cried, throwing her head back and laughing. Jeb just smiled at her and waited for her to calm down.

"So, does that mean you'll tell him?" Jeb asked as DG caught her breath. "He loves you," he said simply. She hadn't acknowledged him by the time the song ended and Cain and Amanda had made their way back over to them. Cain stopped in front of his son and the princess, wondering about the worried look on DG's face. Jeb stepped to his fiancée, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Think about what I said, DG," Jeb said. "Now, if you all don't mind, I'm gonna go dance with my beautiful fiancée." The two of them made their way to the center of the dance floor where the proceeded to dance the entire night, leaving Cain to splutter about fiancées and Jeb's age.

"What did he say to you, Princess?" Cain asked when he had calmed down enough, turning back to DG.

"Oh…nothing," she said. She was about to suggest that Cain accompany her for a dance when Glitch came up beside her.

"It's time for your mother's speech, Doll," he said, holding out his arm for her to take.

"Oh. Okay." She tucked her hand into the crook of Glitch's arm and started walking to the raised dais that housed her mother's throne. "We'll talk later," she said over her shoulder to Cain as she was dragged away.

Unfortunately for them both later became much later and much later became even later than that. Several hours after the start of the ball, Cain had given up hope on talking to the youngest princess. He had watched her all these hours as she danced with Glitch and Raw and her father, once more with Jeb and a few times with some other Royals. But not once with him. In fact, it almost seemed like she was avoiding him again. But he was okay with that as it made it easier for him to forget how beautiful she looked in her dress and how the strands of hair that had fallen out of her up-do made her neck seem long and smooth.

She was dancing with her father now, another slow waltz. She laughed at something he said, her head thrown back as they spun around the dance floor, passing Cain several times.

"Daddy, you did not say that," DG said, giggling and tucking her head into her father's chest. She smiled wider when she felt the rumble in his chest from his chuckling.

"I did. And the courtiers were none too happy about my Other Side quirks. They tried more than once to throw me out, but your mother, bless her dear heart, told them that I was there as a guest of hers and they had no authority to do such a thing. That was the moment I knew I was going to marry your mother."

"She's lucky to have found a guy like you, Dad," DG said against her father's chest.

"You'll find one, Spitfire," he said, pressing a kiss into her hair. He hated to see his daughter so down and vowed that she would spend the rest of her life happy. Which meant he would need to implement his plan soon if he was going to keep his promise. He looked around to search for Mr. Cain and, finding him only a few feet away, decided to speed up his plan. He caught his wife's eye and nodded minutely, tossing his head in the direction of their daughter's bodyguard. His wife smiled and nodded.

"Your mother is beckoning me, Deege," he said, pushing his daughter away from him softly as they stopped in front of Cain.

"Oh, okay." She pulled out her father's embraced, running her hands down the bodice of her dress to smooth away invisible wrinkles.

"Mr. Cain, do you mind taking over dancing duty?" Ahamo asked and DG's head snapped up to look at Cain.

"Daddy, that's not necessary," she said, not bringing her eyes to Cain's.

"Nonsense, daughter mine," her father said before turning back to Cain. "So whadaya say, Mr. Cain?" This was going splendidly.

The tips of Cain's ears turned pink as he racked his brain for an excuse, any excuse, to get out of dancing. When no plausible explanation to his disinterest arose, he spluttered out an affirmative and stepped forward towards DG.

"Perfect," Ahamo said. He bent down and kissed DG's cheek before heading over to his wife so he could watch the show.

Cain took another step forward and held his arms open to DG. He hoped she couldn't see how much his hands were shaking. His heart fluttered when she slipped one tiny hand into his, the other resting on his shoulder. This dance was to a slow, almost mournful song and Cain cringed when he had to slide his hand around the princess' waist.

"I'm sorry."

Her voice was so soft, and she still hadn't caught his eye, that he could barely hear her.

"What?" he said, tipping his head to try and catch her eye.

"I'm sorry I'm such a hassle. I can just go dance with Glitch or something."

She had barely finished speaking when Cain tightened the arm that was around her waist, tugging her even closer. She felt more than heard him sigh heavily against here.

"You're not a hassle, DG," he started. "It's just…well, I don't dance. I haven't for years. And…" He took another deep breath. "And…well…this thing between us makes it so much harder to be around you."

There, he'd said it.

"Thing?" DG asked, finally looking him in the eye. His ice blue eyes held an emotion DG had never seen before in them and it made her heart pound against her rib cage. Neither realized that they had stopped dancing and were standing in the middle of the hall.

"This little dance we've been doing for months. It has to stop. I can't – I can't do it anymore, DG. It hurts too much." He closed his eyes, bowing his head so his chin hit his chest.

"Wh-what are you saying?" she asked, a lump forming in her throat as tears welled up in her baby blue eyes. "Are you – are you leaving?" For some reason, the thought of Cain not being there every day made her heart stop for a moment before speeding back up.

And then the most surprising thing happened. Cain started to chuckle. Right there in the middle of the dance floor, his arms around the youngest princess and heir to the crown, Wyatt Cain started laughing. DG just looked on as the man she loved went insane.

"You silly girl. And me, such a silly man."

"Wyatt?" It was the first time DG had ever used his first name and it caused the rumble in his chest to slow.

"I am so completely and inexplicably in love you DG," he said, staring deeply into her eyes. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to protect you with every fiber of my being. I want to watch your belly grow with our children. I want to sit on the grounds of the castle when we're gray-haired and wrinkled. And I want to spend every night in your arms. Please, if you'll have me I'm yours. Forever."

She was quiet for a moment and it made Cain nervous, but finally her face lifted to his, a smile on her face as she answered simply. "Yes."

The hand that had been resting on her waist moved to caress her cheek while the other buried itself in her dark hair to pull her closer to him. There was an explosion behind her eyes when their lips met, a bright white light that blinded her. His lips were rough, but plush, pressing incessantly at her own, the occasional swipes of his tongue at the seam of her lips making her sigh. When her lips parted, he invaded her mouth, his taste exploding on her tongue and making her crave more. She wrapped her arms around his neck, one hand caressing the tiny hairs on the nape of his neck.

Neither noticed when the entire room stopped to watch the youngest princess and her bodyguard make-out, nor did they notice when Glitch let out an excited squeal and Azkadellia exclaimed a very loud "Finally!" The Queen and her consort smiled at the couple before the Queen turned to the band to motion that they keep playing. The rest of the guests got the hint and started to dance once again, this time having to maneuver around the still kissing couple in the middle of the room.

"That didn't take as long as I thought," the Queen said, turning to her husband.

"I know. I thought for sure it would take him the whole waltz before he would admit his feelings. Now I owe Jeb twenty platinum."

It wasn't until much later, after many of the guests had left and others still had found lodgings in the castle that the couple separated. Cain rested his forehead against DG's, the two of them swaying slowly to a song that wasn't being played.

"I love you, Princess," he said in the silence.

"I love you, Wyatt."

End