No Place Like It
It was pathetic, Madison realized sadly. Utterly pathetic.
Pining for him while clinging to the old red blanket was completely, one hundred percent wrong. He had promised to come back and that was that. Sitting as close to the big bay window in the front of her home with the blanket twisted in between her hands, resting against the cold glass, none of it was going to bring him back to her any faster.
Madison closed her eyes. She wished Vida was home; Maddie was in desperate need of some sort of human companionship. But Vida was away at a DJing gig that night and Maddie was alone.
So terribly alone.
Everyone else had gone right ahead with their lives. Madison watched as Xander stopped his brain-dead, girl chasing act and became closer to her sister, watched as Chip slowly started dating the formerly bumbling Clare. Watched as Toby proposed to Nikki and as LeeLee moved into the forest with Phineas.
What was wrong with her, anyway?
Nick was gone. He had left her without saying goodbye, even.
Maddie was sick of feeling the dull ache when she heard someone mention Nick or when she saw a boy wearing a red shirt. She was sick of waking up with a hopeful feeling that today might be the day when he came back to her, when she would finally be safe in his arms, where she belonged. She was sick of missing him, end of story.
Suddenly the room was stifling, though it was late fall and until then, the room had felt quite cool, the way fall was supposed to be.
Maddie needed to get out, to get some fresh air. She needed to clear her mind, and the only remedy she had when she felt like this (and it had been happening more and more recently) was to take a long walk in the chilly autumn air.
So she rose from her position on the comfy leather couch, stretched her arms over her head, and then folded the red blanket neatly. Leaving it on the armrest, Maddie ran up to her bedroom and slipped into a light blue hoodie. She returned to the ground floor of the Rocca residence and crept out the front door.
There was never a particular destination the former blue ranger had in mind on her evening walks; she just wandered around Briarwood, occasionally past a spot where she and the others had fought one of the Master's goons.
Tonight she found herself in front of Rock Porium. She and Xander were the only ones still currently employed here, Vida having become successful on the local DJ scene and Chip having decided to spend all his spare time practicing his magic. It was sort of lonely, especially without Vida, but Madison didn't mind the extra quiet.
Having stopped in front of the CD store for a few moments, Maddie looked across the street wistfully at the spot where she and Nick had had their first real conversation. Maddie had been attracted to the newcomer the first time she'd laid eyes on him, and the first day they'd met Udonna she'd suddenly found herself marching across the street to him where he was fixing his bike. It was so unlike herself and she knew she had no business telling him to stay there, but once Maddie had wrapped her mind around the idea she hadn't been able to stop herself.
Maddie blinked. There was someone there, standing under The Tree, as she and her friends had taken to calling it. Someone whose figure looked vaguely familiar, though she couldn't make out any features in the darkness.
Just like she had done over a year in the past, Madison Rocca found herself walking across the street, slowly at first, then she speeded up as she realized who it was.
Maddie finished her short journey across the street running. She threw herself at him, so desperately needing to know her lonely mind wasn't playing tricks on her. But then she was in his arms, squeezing him as hard as she possibly could and being held in return and it wasn't a dream or mirage or trick of the light: Nick was home.
Madison buried her face in his chest, suddenly weeping happy tears. He was home, he was here to be with her again. The world was suddenly returned to its rightful place.
"I know, Mads, I missed you too," Nick informed her soothingly, rubbing her back.
Maddie looked up at him, her chocolate brown eyes still brimming with tears. "How did you know I needed you?"
"I needed you too." Tightening his hold on her, Nick pulled her closer still. "I'm home for good, Maddie, I promise I'm not going anywhere."
Two pairs of brown eyes met each other, and then all Maddie knew was that he was kissing her. Her arms wound themselves around his neck, leaving no space between their bodies.
He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. "Maddie?" he asked tentatively.
She snuggled deeper in his embrace. "It's about time," she murmured.
Well, I'm not overly pleased with the ending…but here it is…