Hey guys! I always really loved Power Rangers, when I was a kid and I still do. I started watching it during the first season, but then I stopped and picked it back up at Time Force. I’ve seen most episodes since then. I saw enough of the end of Mystic Force to know how it ends, and since I think Nick and Madison make the cutest couple in Power Ranger history, my first Power Ranger fanfic is going to be about them. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1: Mermaid’s Broken Heart

CD’s, customers, more CD’s, more customers, her boss, her friends, her sister, the things that kept Madison Rocca’s life in motion. Everyday, she would go to the Rock Porium with her sister, Vida, and they would work until early afternoon, selling rock albums to anyone who came in. Though Xander was more of a businessman, being the one with all the charm, Vida and Madison were good at their work. Madison loved spending time with all her friends, Xander, Chip, Leelee, Phineas, Necrolai, Toby, but in spite of that, she missed that one person who had changed her life. She missed Nick.

She kept her mind on her work, just to keep it off the one she loved, but she couldn’t deny that she missed him. She missed the way he smiled at her, the gentle way his voice spoke to her, but what she missed most was that expression, that soft, loving warmth in his eyes that appeared every time he looked at her. She knew she hadn’t imagined that look. She knew he felt something for her, and she knew he was the one.

“When is he coming back?” she asked herself every night before she went to bed. It had been six months since he’d gone and she had remained devoted to him. She had kept his baby blanket like he’d asked, and she hadn’t fallen in love with anyone else. Every time someone else asked her out on a date, she’d said no, because she was waiting for him to come back. But it was getting harder and harder for her to wait, though she had promised him and herself that she would.

“He has to come back and he will come back,” she said to herself, every night as she went to bed. “He told me he’d come back and I know he will.”

But the days came and went and he didn’t come back. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and still there was no sign of Nick. He had kept in touch with his friends. He’d sent them emails and chatted with them on the phone, but he’d never given any indication as to when he was coming back to Briarwood with Leanbow and Udonna. They’d be back soon, anxious to get back to the magical realm, whether or not Nick would be with them was another story.

One night, Vida was going to a party with Chip, and asked Madison if she wanted to go with them. She sighed when she heard her sister say no.

“Come on sis, you have to get out of here, you can’t just sit here and spend your entire life moping,” said Vida. “You’ve been like this ever since Nick left. You need to get out, have some fun. Life is short, you need to live it while you still can.”

“I realize that,” said Maddie, though she still didn’t want to go. “But I can’t just barge in. Chip asked you to go with him to this party. It’s a date, and I’m not going to ruin it for you.”

“You wouldn’t ruin one of my dates, the only one allowed to do that is me,” said Vida jokingly. “Seriously though, Chip wouldn’t mind if you came with us.”

“No thanks sis,” said Madison. “I’m going to just stay here if you don’t mind.”

“As long as you’ll be all right by yourself,” said Vida. Maddie nodded. “Okay then.”

As soon as she was sure Vida was out of earshot, Madison collapsed on her bed and broke down crying. She missed Nick so much, and all she wanted was for him to be there, so that she and Vida could double date with him and Chip. But more than anything else, she wanted him to sit there with her, comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be all right. She wanted to hear those words out of his mouth, hear him telling her that they’d have a relationship, would walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after, just like in the fairytales she loved when she was a little girl.

“Come back to me, Nick,” she whispered, her tears soaking her pillow. “Please come back to me.”

She fell into a fitful sleep, drifting from one awful dream to another. First, she dreamt of the day Nick had left. Everything was going fine until she said that she wanted him to come back for her.

He scoffed at her and said, “you want me to come back for you? Why should I?”

She gaped at him and shakily replied, “don’t you know? You must know how I feel about you.”

“I know all right, and I don’t care,” he said scornfully, making tears well up inside her eyes.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t care’?” she asked. “Has you been put under another spell or something?”

“No, this is the real me you’re talking to here,” he said. “I’ve put up with you these last few months, because I had no choice, because we were both members of the same team. Now, I’m breaking off all contact with you and our so called friends.”

“Nick, you can’t do this,” said Madison, tears now spilling down her face. “You’re breaking my heart. How can you say all this to me?”

“Because it’s the truth,” he said, putting on his helmet and getting on his bike. “Goodbye Madison. Say bye to the others for me.” And with that, he drove off, leaving poor Maddie standing there with a broken heart and eyes full of tears.

She then drifted into an entirely different, yet even more heart breaking dream. She was standing at the altar in a church, wearing a long, white dress, a gauzy white veil hanging over her face. Nick was standing in front of her, his hands clasping in hers, smiling broadly at her.

Her heart soared with happiness as she heard him say the two most important words she’d ever hear him say, “I do.” It was with equal happiness that she said it back to him.

Then she heard the friar say, “you may now kiss the bride.”

Nick looked as though he wanted to do nothing else. He let go of Maddie’s hands and gently lifted the veil off her face. Each closed their eyes and tilted their faces toward each other when they heard something that shattered their perfect moment.

“Well, well, well, having a little celebration are we?” It was Imperious.

“What are you doing here?” asked Leanbow, standing up from his place in the front row of the church. Daggeron stood next to him.

“I’m here to claim my revenge on you rangers,” said Imperious. “And I’ll start with her!” He pointed at Maddie, and she gave a whimper of fear.

“Don’t even come near her!” yelled Nick threateningly, standing protectively in front of his bride.

“You don’t have any say in the matter,” said Imperious. And on that note, a cloud of dark energy shot out of his finger straight at Madison.

“No!” yelled Nick, and before Madison could react, he had pushed her out of the way. Her heart cleaved in two as she heard a cry of pain coming from next to her. Nick had taken the attack for her.

“Nick!” she yelled, gathering him in her arms. “Nick, speak to me!”

“I love you Maddie,” said Nick weakly. “I always have, and always will.”

“I love you too Nick,” she said. “Please hold on.” But it was too late. He closed his eyes and was gone.

Madison screamed as she jerked awake, sitting bolt upright in bed. She began breathing extremely hard, trying to clear her head and figure out whether what she had seen was a dream or not. When she saw that she was back in her room, and that only a few hours had passed, she sighed in relief as she realized it was just a dream.

At that moment, her door banged open, and Vida and Chip came dashing into the room. They rushed by her bedside and Vida flung her arms around her sister’s sobbing figure. Chip sat down next to them and placed a reassuring arm around Madison’s shoulders.

“Sis, are you all right?” asked Vida. “We just got in from the party and heard you screaming. What’s the matter?”

“I had a really bad dream,” said Maddie. She proceeded to tell them everything that had happened in her dreams, and when she finished, her sobs had gotten stronger and her tears were flowing more quickly down her face.

“Shh, there, there Maddie,” said Chip, giving her a small hug. “Come on, just let it out.”

Vida stared at him in amazement. She would’ve expected him to say something like, “try and catch your breath, you’re going to hyperventilate.” But he didn’t. He was really supportive, which shouldn’t have surprised her, because even though he did have some odd quirks, he was a really good friend.

The two of them stayed there with Madison until she fell asleep again. They laid her back in bed, and gently pulled the covers around her. Vida took one last worried look at her sister before walking downstairs with Chip.

“Thank you Chip,” she said. “I wasn’t quite sure what to do, which is a bad thing for me to say, because I’m her sister, and I’m supposed to know what to do. But she’s never acted that way before.”

“No problem V,” said Chip. “Try and get some sleep. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” He reached down and gave her a small peck on the cheek, before going out the door and heading for home.

Vida watched him go, then went back upstairs to check on Maddie. She was sleeping peacefully, or at least, it didn’t look like she was having another nightmare. She gave her sister a pitying look, then went down the hall to her own room and went to bed.

The next morning, Madison and Vida went to work as usual, but that day, Madison was feeling more reserved than ever. She was still shaken from her nightmares the previous night, and it showed on her face. Her skin was pale and tear-streaked, and her eyes were red and swollen. Vida decided she had to ask the obvious question.

“Maddie, do you feel okay enough to work today?” asked Vida, as they walked into the Rock Porium.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Madison. “Why do you ask?”

“I know how you feel about Nick, how you’ve always felt about him,” said Vida. “And because of those dreams you had last night, I don’t think you’ll be able to concentrate much today. I just think you need a day off. Why don’t you go down to the river or something? Go somewhere you can be alone and I’ll make your excuses to Toby.”

“No, I have work to do and it would be too irresponsible of me if I didn’t just show up,” said Madison, trying to sound determined. She was right in that she didn’t want to seem irresponsible, but she knew Vida was right in that she wouldn’t be able to concentrate much today.

“Ready for work girls?” asked Toby, walking up to them.

“Ready Toby!” said Vida, smiling, but then deciding to dash behind her tables.

“Ready Toby,” said Madison, but she said it with a much more dejected air.

Toby must have noticed, because he said, “Madison, why don’t you take the day off?”

“W…what?” stuttered Madison, not daring to believe her ears.

“I think you should take the day off,” said Toby. “You haven’t been acting like yourself lately, and I think it’s obvious to all of us what the reason is. Just go somewhere and clear your head. Come in to work tomorrow and don’t worry about it. You just look like you need to get some rest. Go on, go!”

“If you’re sure,” she said, still stuttering a bit. Toby nodded and pointed toward the door. She walked out of the store and stood in the entrance for a minute, trying to decide where to go. Finally, she decided to take Vida’s advice and go down to the river.

Toby watched her go, and knew that some fresh air would do her some good. Chip had come in early and told him about the previous night and asked him if he’d give Maddie the day off. He’d readily complied, particularly after he’d seen the state she was in when she entered the store.

When the others saw her leave, all were surprised, except for Vida, who looked to the sky and whispered, “thank you.”

“Where’s she going?” asked Leelee, watching her taking the trail down to the river.

“Yeah, it’s not like Maddie to just skip out on work,” said Xander.

“She’s not skipping out, I gave her the day off,” said Toby. “She needs a rest.”

“That’s true, I mean she hasn’t been able to get her mind off Nick,” said Xander.

“Just let her go and pull herself together, she needs it,” said Vida.

“That she does,” said Chip, remembering the previous night.

Meanwhile, Madison walked slowly, taking all the time she needed to think. She sat down by the river, curled up into a ball and rested her head on her knees. She stared into the water’s blue depths and breathed a deep sigh, glad that there was no one else there for her to converse with. As she stared into the crystal clear waters, she wished she were a real mermaid and could just stay in the water forever and not have to face any of her problems. She’d be able to live the rest of her life in bliss and not have anyone or anything to worry about. She’d be able to say, “hakuna matata,” whenever she wanted.

But she knew that no matter how hard she wanted to believe it, she would never ever be able to live like that. She loved everyone and everything in her life, and wouldn’t trade it in for anything, not even the desire to be a mermaid and leave all her cares behind. Still, it didn’t stop her from wishing that Nick was there to comfort her. As she continued to stare into the deep blue water, she almost thought she could see him looking back at her.

“I love you Nick, I miss you,” she said to herself. The more she thought of him, the deeper her love became and the more she missed him. And the longer he stayed away, the more broken her already shattered heart became. She couldn’t hold it back any longer. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

Well, first chapter, what do you think? Don’t worry, Nick is going to make his reappearance soon, and I mean very soon, like next chapter soon. He’s going to find her and you’ll see what happens. Stay tuned!