Home Again

Written for my April Fic Challenge 2021, Prompt: Monument. Can be Gen or Pre-Slash. Comments and kudos would be awesome. Enjoy!


When the war is over, when the Wicked Witch is finally defeated and DG and her family regain the throne, when the clean-up is mostly over and done and the OZ is starting the long process of rebuilding, Wyatt Cain goes home.

He goes home and he tears it down.

After he and Adora were married, he'd found the perfect bit of land just a little way off of the we-travelled Brick Route. He'd built the small cabin himself, carefully crafted it into everything she could ever want in a home. Warm, cozy, comfortable – perfect for what would become their happy, little family. They'd had the garden, which thrived and blossomed under her green thumb. They'd had the pond, rich with fish and perfectly cool for swimming on those sweltering summer days with the suns high in the sky overhead. They'd had a sprawling field, full of flowers, where the horses would graze. They'd had the woods, not far off, which were always brimming with life, and where they'd share peaceful evening strolls together.

But all those good memories are tainted now, ruined by the years he spent locked up in that damned iron suit in the front yard, forced to watch as his wife and his son were beaten and dragged away while he was unable to stop it, sure that Zero would kill them because of his refusal to join Azkadelia's Longcoat rebellion. The house is tainted, too, falling apart and overgrown in nature's valiant attempts to reclaim it. There's nothing about it now that's still home, it's just a ruined monument to those nightmare images, to the years he lost with Jeb, the forever he lost with Adora.

So, nail by nail, board by board, he rips it all down.

And then he builds something new.

A new house, where he can make new memories.

With Jeb, who shows up and without question helps him rebuild, adding in little touches Adora would have appreciated. Once the cabin is complete, he brings a young lady by for dinner that he introduces as his fiancée. Cain watches fondly as the two of them wander off for a walk in the woods, hand in hand in the cool evening air.

With DG, who frequently ditches her escorts and has a tendency to arrive muddy and on foot, just in time for lunch. She is trying her best to convince him to accept the position of security advisor (and given her escorts apparent inability to keep an eye on her, he's not surprised). They always end up sitting in the field amongst the flowers, while she vents her frustrations about her new station and palace life. He listens, offers seemingly sage advice when he thinks it might help. That's where the disgruntled security guards usually find them, at least.

With Raw, who appears one afternoon with his family. They're only just now leaving the palace, heading for the remnants of their own war-torn homes and they need a place to rest for a while. Cain obliges, of course, welcomes them to stay as long as they need. He and Raw sit on the dock of the pond, fishing for dinner, and Raw smiles at him, lays a hand on his arm, "healing," he says – he might even be right, Cain concedes.

And, with Glitch. Cain unexpectedly finds him in the garden early one morning, ripping out the weeds but careful of the plants still clinging to life in the neglected patch of earth behind the house. The garden is the one bit of the property he couldn't bring himself to tend to himself. He was never any good with it.

"What're you doing?" Cain wonders, leaning idly against the side of the house while he watches Glitch work. The man jumps in surprise at his voice, but maintains his balance, gets to his feet gracefully and dusts the dirt off of his hands.

He turns to face Cain with a brilliant smile on his face. "Ah! Cain! I've missed you!" he declares, with an awkward little blush on his face, "You know, the Palace is kind of stuffy. Would you mind terribly if I visited with you for a bit?" Turning back to the unkempt garden, he adds, "I could help you with this."

"You're always welcome here, Glitch," Cain answers. And, as he ushers Glitch inside for breakfast, an odd sensation sweeps over him as some missing piece of the puzzle slots perfectly into place.

This house… it feels like maybe it could be a home again.