Chapter 15
Maddie's eyes brightened. "Vida!" she exclaimed and hugged her sister tightly. "Hey, guys," she said tiredly. "Vida, what in the world were you doing out there?" Nick inquired. "What happened? What did they do to you?" asked Maddie. "What is this, twenty questions?" laughed Vida. "I'm fine, really," she said. "How did you find us?" asked Nick. "Well, when I was walking, I heard voices and I followed them here," she explained. Madison wondered if she heard what she had said to Nick and she knew Nick was wondering the same thing, but it seemed like Vida knew nothing about what they had been talking about.
"How did you escape?" asked Maddie. "This one guy name Koragg allowed me to escape because he thought the way I was captured was not with honor," she said, her eyes showing that was really confused about that. Maddie tilted her head to one side. "What did the others do to you?" Nick asked. "They tried to get information out of me… and all they wanted to know about was you, Nick," she said hoarsely to Nick. Maddie turned her gaze to her Nick and stared at him worriedly. Nick looked surprised and then saw Maddie from the corner of his eyes staring at him with complete worry. He looked to Vida. "Why?" he asked. "I don't know," replied Vida. "D-did you tell them anything?" asked Maddie hesitantly. "No, of course not! I wouldn't bale on one of my friends," Vida said. "But I did tell them that us power rangers would defeat him and that they'd be destroyed forever," she said. Maddie smiled. She admired her sister for being able to stand up to people, or creatures/monsters and wasn't afraid to stand up for what was right.
"Why are you guys out here?" asked Vida. Maddie instantly remembered what had happened earlier that day. "Some one kidnapped Clare and she has really bad wounds," explained Maddie, her face darkening. Vida's eyes grew from curiosity to worry. "Is she okay?" Vida questioned. Maddie nodded. "We need to move her in the morning, though. She wasn't well enough to move her earlier today," Maddie said. "But why are you two, of all the rangers, why are the two of you out here. I thought you guys hated each other again," she said in puzzlement. Nick opened his mouth to speak and Maddie prayed to god that he wasn't going to tell her sister that she had kissed him.
"Well, we just… kind of got used to each other being around and we broke the feud," he said. Vida looked from Maddie to Nick. She felt convinced and said, "Well, as long as the fight's over." Maddie shot Nick a grateful glance and then heard something from the cave. It was Clare. She had woken and was stumbling out of the cave. Vida, Nick and Maddie rushed to help her. "Vida, y-you're back," Clare said happily. "Yeah, but we need you to rest, okay," she said. Maddie nodded. "Yes, Clare. You're very weak, so you'll need rest. In the morning we'll take you back to Rootcore," she told the sorceress in training. Clare nodded and when she had fallen asleep, the three rangers walked back outside. "So, what did I miss?" Vida asked. "Well, nothing really. We've just been doing the usual and protecting Briarwood," said Nick. She missed me kiss Nick, that's something unusual, thought Maddie. She looked at the ground, not paying attention to the things around her. "Maddie, you okay?" Vida asked. She didn't answer. "Hello… earth to Maddie," said Vida. "What?" she asked. "Oh, right, um, yeah, I don't think you missed a lot," she said.
The three rangers slept around the warm fire. Morning came quickly and the rangers woke early. Clare was already awake and was looking much better. "Are you feeling okay?" Maddie asked Clare. "Yeah, I'm feeling great," said Clare with a bright attitude. Nick smiled. "That's good. But are you well enough to travel?" he asked. Clare nodded. "Of course," she said. Vida shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Looks like she's well enough," said Vida with a laugh. The four teens began their journey home. "Do you think it'll take long?" asked. "Well, it didn't take long for us to get here," said Maddie. "Well, except for the part when we got caught in a net," muttered Nick. Maddie giggled, but she thought she was the only one that heard him because no one else laughed except Nick. Vida looked at them both with suspicion. Maddie rolled her eyes at her protective sister. Vida gave her sister a look that told her that she needed to be careful.
Maddie looked up at the sky and saw the clouds darken and come together. Suddenly, it began to rain. "Great," muttered Vida. Maddie closed her eyes and smiled. She loved the rain and she let it soak her, her face to the sky, her eyes closed and a bright smile on her face. Vida and Clare ran off to hide under a huge tree with thick leaves so they wouldn't get wet. Maddie just stood there. Nick looked at her and smiled. She obviously loved the rain. Then he shook his head and said, "Maddie, come on!" Maddie opened her eyes and looked at him and saw Clare and Vida hiding under a tree. She looked up at the sky and then back to Nick. He held out his hand and she took it. They ran under the tree with the others. Nick realized he was still holding Maddie's hand and he saw her looking at him. He let go and was thankful that Vida hadn't seen them. They waited there for thirty minuets and then the rain stopped. "Thank goodness," said Clare. Maddie shrugged. "I like the rain," she said. "Obviously," laughed Nick. She punched him playfully. Vida laughed. "Ever since you were little, you've loved the rain," Vida said. Maddie smiled. "I love all the elements," said Clare. "I not big on rain," said Nick honestly. "And that's because you're the red ranger and you like fire," said Maddie, bumping him in the shoulder playfully.
"I guess we got our positions and colors based on who we are," said Vida. "You're right," said Maddie. "Oh, no!" gasped Clare who was ahead of them all. "What's wrong, Clare?" asked Maddie, running up to see what Clare saw. It was the river. It was flowing fast and was overflowing. Just then, Maddie slipped. She screamed and tumbled down the slope and fell into the water. "Madison!" shouted Clare. "Maddie, no!" screamed Vida, coming to the slope. The water a rushing fast and Maddie couldn't be seen. After a minuet, Nick saw her body, but she wasn't moving and she was bleeding on her forehead. "There she is," he said. Vida was going to jump in after her sister, but Nick pulled Vida's arm. "I'll go," he said. "But she's my sister," protested Vida. "But I'm stronger, and besides, the same thing can happen to you, so I'll go," he said and carefully but quickly walked down the slope. He jumped into the water and he swam towards Maddie, but he went under. He opened his eyes under water and swam beneath the waves towards the figure of Maddie. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her. Nick came out from under the water and he saw blood coming from a large gash on her forehead. "Nick," she murmured. "I'm right here, Maddie. You're going to be fine," he promised. He swam towards the shore, but by now, Maddie had gone limp and she didn't look like she was breathing.
He pulled them both onto shore and Vida and Clare appeared by him. Clare felt her pulse and then said, "She's not breathing." Vida shook her sister by the shoulders. Vida gave her sister CPR, but it didn't work. Clare began cleaning the wound on Maddie's head. "Do any of you know how to do mouth to mouth?" asked Clare. Vida shook her head. Nick didn't answer all at once, but after a few moments, he slowly nodded. "Okay, do mouth to mouth to her," instructed Clare. Nick began stammering. "I-I don't r-remember it that well," he stammered. "Nick, please. Maddie's going to die if you don't do it," said Vida. For once, Vida looked scared and sad. Nick nodded and he tilted Maddie head back a little and put his lips on hers and began breathing air into her. He did that three times. On the fourth time, he stopped and looked at Clare who looked at Vida. Suddenly, Maddie began coughing. Vida smiled and said, "Maddie, thank goodness you're alive." Clare smiled and Maddie sat up, still coughing. She winced when she felt the sting on her forehead and touched her head gingerly. "You okay?" asked Nick, looking at her worriedly. "Yeah, I'm fine. All I remember is falling and hitting my head real hard, and then everything went black," she said, confusion clouding her big brown eyes. "Nick saved your life," said Clare. She looked at Nick with soft eyes and she smiled. "Thanks," she said. Something else was in her eyes, but Nick couldn't tell what it was. Vida wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her tightly. Maddie hugged her sister back and Clare joined in.
They arrived at Rootcore twenty minuets later and Udonna was so glad to have each of them back. "Vida, your back!" exclaimed Udonna. "Oh and Clare, thank goodness you're okay. Madison, what happened?" she said. "She fell into the river. It's overflowed and Nick saved her," said Clare. Udonna looked at Nick with gratitude in her eyes. "You have saved one of the great rangers, Nick. And by doing that, Madison is alive, and also, Briarwood is safe too," said Udonna. Nick shrugged. The two other rangers, Chip and Xander came in and saw Vida and they began exclaiming excitedly. Udonna and Clare joined in and they left the room. It was just Maddie and Nick. Maddie touched her cut on her forehead and winced. Nick looked at her. "Are you sure you're okay?" asked Nick. "I'm better than okay, thanks to you," she said with a smile. She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered. He hugged her back gently and he felt something he had never felt before, but he didn't know what it was, although it was a great feeling.