Dream

Author-Angel17712

Last Revised- 10/3/2007

A/N- I meant to put this in the last chapter. Moonlight is set between Whispering Voices and Legendary Catastros. This one takes place immediately right after, before the start of Legendary Catastros. I'm sorry that it's been awhile; classes have started back up and they're evil! Hope everyone enjoys this!

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They were all exhausted. Madison lay on the ground with the others while Nick charged towards Koragg. Madison had lost track of how long they had been fighting him. Nick had taken him on, both of them landing hits to their opponent. She knew that he was getting tired; she could see it from his stance. Koragg managed to land a blow to Nick's chest that sent him soaring through the air, only to crash to the ground in a heap. She struggled to get up and go over to him to help him, but her strength was completely gone. She watched helplessly as Koragg moved to stand over Nick.

"I'll finally be rid of you Rangers, starting with you. The Master will reward me well." Koragg pulled his sword back to deliver the crushing blow.

"NO!!"

Madison shot straight up in her bed, her breathing erratic and uneven. Sweat was caked upon her brow, the sheets like a vice grip upon her body. Madison closed her eyes, shaking her head in an attempt to banish the images from her mind, but it was of no use. It was as though they'd been cemented into her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Koragg, delivering that final blow to Nick that she was helpless to stop. She untangled her body from her sheets as she sat up. She glanced at her sister, who laid sleeping peacefully. She stood up as she shook her head and walked to the bathroom that they shared. After she shut the door softly behind her, she splashed some water on her face, trying to get rid of the tear stains that were on her cheeks. She braced her palms against the sink, trying to quell the images that came into her mind. They felt so real, they shocked her to the core, making her feel as though it had just happened. She shivered in response, silently hoping that that would never happen to him. She couldn't help but wonder if he was getting a good night's sleep, or if he too was being plagued by horrendous dreams.

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Elsewhere, Nick was having just as hard of a time sleeping as Madison was. His first dream had been of him riding Catastros in a place that he had never been, the horse throwing him off of it's back. Before he crashed to the ground in his dream, he jolted awake, his body covered in sweat and his heart was pounding so hard that he felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. After running his hands through his hair and telling himself firmly that it was only a dream, he lay back down and after much tossing and turning, managed to fall asleep and found that he was once again plagued with dreams. Rather than dreaming of being thrown off of a horse, he dreamt of something that would stay with him for weeks to come.

"AAH!"

Madison's scream caused Nick to look up with fear. Styxoids had been attacking her from all directions, and a combination of a missed kick and a punch from two of them had sent her nearly tumbling over the edge of a cliff; thankfully, she managed to grab onto the edge with one hand before she fell.

"Maddy! Hang on, I'm coming!" Nick yelled as he tried to fight his way through them all. In his haste, a Hidiac landed a kick to his chest before sweeping his legs out from underneath of him, making him land on his chest in time to see Madison's hand slip. A scream tore from her throat.

"MADDY!"

Nick's eyes flew open as his breathing was heavy; he looked around his room wildly, only partly relaxing when he saw that he was still in his room. He knew that it had all just been a dream, but that didn't make him stop from thinking that it was real. It had all felt so real; the fight, her screams. He shook his head, trying to rid it of the horrible thoughts. He looked at the clock on his nightstand and saw that it was nearly four in the morning. 'Just wait a few more hours and you'll be able to make sure she's okay. You can do this.' He relaxed as much as possible, falling again into a fitful sleep.

Later that Saturday morning, Nick woke up and quickly got ready for work. He made it to the record shop in record time, knowing that Maddy was going to be getting there early as well. He needed a minute alone with her just to make sure that she was okay. Just as he arrived at the store, she came walking around the corner.

"Hey you," she greeted.

"Hey. Morning," he replied as he opened the door for her. She smiled gratefully at him as she brushed by him to enter the store. He entered the shop behind her, closing the door with a click. He took a deep breath before deciding to ask her what he'd wanted to ask her for the last several hours.

"Hey, Maddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Nick asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she walked toward him. "Did something happen or…?"

"No, no. I just….I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, that's all," Nick explained as he pasted a false smile on his face.

Madison folded her arms. While she hadn't known him for a long time, she knew him well enough to tell when he wasn't being honest with her. "Nick, you can tell me what's wrong. I won't laugh or anything, I promise," she told him in a calm voice.

Nick turned away from her, knowing that she was going to get it out of him one way or another. He turned away from her, trying to form the words in his head. "I had a dream last night, and it kinda freaked me out."

"What was it about?"

"You. We were in the middle of a big fight, and you almost went over the edge of a cliff, but you managed to catch yourself. I tried as hard as I could to get to you, but…" he broke off, his breathing shallow.

Madison took in a deep breath, understanding what was running through his head. Even though it had been only a dream, she knew that he still felt guilty that he hadn't been able to save her. She walked around him to face him and was surprised to see the display of emotions on his face: fear was clearly all over his face, as well as defeat. Without even thinking about it, she gently pulled him into a hug and was shocked when she felt his strong arms wrap around her in reciprocation.

Her calming voice whispered gently to him that everything was okay, that she was just fine and still there. He felt himself shake as he held her. The front door banged open and the two jumped apart as if they had been electrocuted. Xander walked up to them with a grin on his face.

"Morning, you two. Anyone else here yet?" he asked casually, not missing the looks that the two were giving each other.

"Nope, it's just the three of us for now," Nick replied with a slight amount of annoyance.

"Cool. I'm gonna go and clock in," he told them as he walked away.

"You better now?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay. Thanks," Nick whispered as he started to walk away.

"Hey, Nick?"

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned to face her.

"If it helps, I had a dream like yours. We were fighting Koragg and I wasn't able to stop him from…" Madison cut herself off, not wanting to say it. Saying it would somehow make it seem real, like it could happen, and that was something that she would never let happen to him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he queried lowly as he walked over to her.

"Because, you needed that more than I did just now. Besides, I'll be fine. You're fine, and so am I. There's no reason for either of us to worry, right?" she asked.

Nick let out a deep breath. "Yeah, sure." Nick watched her walk away as his dreams came back to the front of his mind. Now, one of the dreams was solved, but the other was still a mystery. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed heavily. He opened his eyes and saw that there was plenty to do. He would have plenty of time later to worry about that dream; right now, he had to work.