Author's Note: Well, it's only been a month since I've updated. That's not that bad… I guess. I want to thank you all for your amazing reviews; you are all truly inspiring!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

There was no wind.

Vida couldn't help but feel surprised at how… alone she felt without her element. It felt like she had lost a part of herself. Rarely was anyone ever without wind; there was always a breeze, always some stirring of the air.

In this… prison… Vida was set in the middle of a desert-like environment. The air was dry and it refused to move. She was hot, she had no hydration, and she had no way to re-energize herself.

She was curled on her side, her eyes closed. In the beginning, she had searched for a way out. Honestly, she hadn't expected to find one, but it was worth a try. After that, she had just tried to find away to remain conscious. The heat had quickly got to her, and she found that with nothing to amuse her, all she could really do was lie down and try to preserve her energy.

She scowled. There wasn't even any shelter. She hated feeling hopeless, helpless; that was far from who she was. Her eyes scanned her surroundings once again. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the gray sky. Did deserts have gray skies? she wondered.

There was a noise, somewhere off to her right. She wasn't quite sure if she imagined it. She lifted her head and looked around. Her scenery hadn't changed, and she dejectedly laid her head down once more. Not alone was she alone with no hope of getting out, but now she was imagining things, as well.

Well, hell. This sucked.

Xander let out a frustrated noise as Daggeron tried yet another spell. This was taking entirely too long. Who knew what was going on in there? They had only just gotten a report of what had happened to Maddie; he dreaded to think about what was happening to Vida.

Daggeron frowned as he frantically thought for some spell to unlock the door. "This should have worked. I don't understand—"

Xander abruptly pushed Daggeron aside and pulled his leg back. His foot connected solidly with the door and it crashed open, revealing a barren landscape. His eyes found the pink-clad form of Vida, sprawled on the ground in the middle of the room.

He sprinted towards and lifted his head up into her lap. She looked at him with dazed eyes, and he took his canteen from a hook on his belt. Opening it, he held it to her lips, and she drank slowly from it. The more water she drank, the more alert she became. When she had drunk her fill, Xander helped her sit up more.

"Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"

She stared at him for a moment. Then, to Xander's complete and utter surprise, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Xander sat still for a moment before he responded, sliding a hand around the back of her neck.

"Ahem."

Xander and Vida broke apart to see Daggeron and Chip standing over them. Chip was watching them with an amused look on his face, and Daggeron was trying to look anywhere but at them.

"Not that I'm not happy for you two," Chip said. "But don't we have some things to do?"

Daggeron looked as if he was trying not to have his head explode.

Xander, for his part, handled himself well. He stood up and offered a hand to Vida. She took it and dusted herself off.

"I'm fine, by the way," she said. She squeezed Xander's hand. "Thank you."

"Mom." Maddie couldn't think of anything else to say. Her mind was completely stuck on the fact that her mother was sitting in front of her, here, in the Underworld. "What are you doing here?"

Katherine frowned. "Oh, it's nice to see you too, honey. And while you're at it, why didn't you mention that you were a Guardian?"

Maddie opened her mouth to protest, but Nick held his hand up with a pained look on his face. "Now isn't really the time," he said. "Why don't we continue this later? You know, when we're actually out of here?"

"Then what are we waiting for?" another familiar voice demanded.

"Grandma?"

Dana smiled. "Hey, baby girl. Why don't you get up? We should really get out of here."

Nick helped Maddie to her feet. She leaned against him as they made their way out of the chamber. Maddie looked around. The only people that were with her were Nick, her mother, and her grandmother.

"Where is Vida? Is she okay? Where is everyone else?" she asked.

Nick chuckled as they made their way down a twisting hallway. "Breathe, Maddie," he said. "Daggeron, Xander, and Chip went to go get Vida. They haven't radioed back yet, but I'm sure she's just fine. As for Udonna and Leanbow, they're holding off the rest of the Hydiacs. So… we might want to get a move on."

Nodding in agreement, Maddie quickened her pace. They came to a large, circular opening. There were several more hallways branching off. Nick stopped and handed Maddie his canteen of water. She happily took it from him. As she drank, she could feel herself becoming more replenished. She was able to stand straighter, and some of the color returned to her face. She capped the canteen and handed it back to Nick.

"I can walk by myself!"

All of the occupants of the circular opening turned towards the third hallway. They heard footsteps and extremely familiar voices following them. The sight that greeted them, however, had Nick and Maddie gasping for air due to their uncontrollable laughter.

Xander was carrying Vida down the hallway. Chip and Daggeron were following them, each with amused looks on their faces. Despite the look of fury that Vida was wearing, she had her arms wrapped securely around his neck. Xander was carrying her bridal-style, and he just had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

"Hey, Nick, Maddie," Chip said good-naturedly.

"Chip," Nick greeted. "Vida, Xander. Daggeron."

"Nick, make your teammate put me down," Vida demanded.

Daggeron stifled a laugh. He cleared his throat and stepped forward into the center of the group. "I really think that we should be going. We're on a limited schedule, here…"

Maddie stiffened against Nick. "I think we have a slight problem with that."

Nick's heart plummeted as he realized that Necrolai was standing behind them. Uttering a curse under his breath, he turned around to see her standing with a smirk on her face. However, her eyes were not focused on the rangers; no, they were narrowed at Katherine.

"Oh, Katherine, my dear," Necrolai said. "It has been too long."

Katherine's nose wrinkled. "I can't say that this is a pleasure that I was willing to repeat," she said in a conversational tone.

Necrolai glanced at Daggeron. He was tensed, his eyes darting back and forth between his former lovers. His fists were clenched, and he looked as if he was ready to step forward at any moment.

"I have something that I've been wanting to give you for the past seventeen years," Necrolai said. A slow, nasty smirk unfurled on her face.

In retrospect, they should have seen it coming. Katherine had been standing off to the side of the group. Necrolai had entered the circular clearing right next to her. She was so close, and she had moved so fast, that none of the other occupants of the room had time to move.

One second, Necrolai was standing in front of Katherine, a smirk on her face and a hand on her hip. The next second, that hand was wrapped the handle of a blade… and that blade was firmly buried in Katherine's abdomen.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the cliffhanger! (Again.) And I'm sorry about my predictability. This story will end… at some point. I'd say we'd have between five and ten chapters left, if I make it long enough. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!