Moonlight

Author-Angel17712

Last Revised- 8/8/07

A/N- For all of those who reviewed the last chapter, thank you so much! I am so sorry to all of you who have read this and were wanting an update. Thanks to Kim and Enigmaforum, for being my testers! Love ya both!

Nick rubbed his eyes after he awoke from a nap. He looked around in confusion to find that Rootcore was all too quiet. Usually, there was at least one person around to talk to or practice with. He looked at the watch on his wrist and grimaced slightly at the late time. '10:30 at night. No wonder there's no one here. They're all either asleep or out for the night.' Nick walked through the entire tree, only to find that Clare and Udonna were there and busy with their own activities. He walked to the entrance of Rootcore, and exited via the Dragon's mouth. It was still early enough to where he could head to the Rock Porium to hang with the gang, but before he could head off in that direction, he heard a faint splash from off in the distance. He snapped his head in to his left, trying to hear the sound and only hearing the quiet noise of crickets. He decided he was just hearing things and set off down the path. Before he got very far, he heard another splash and knew that he wasn't hearing things. He walked off of the path and followed the sound of the noise. The closer he got to the noise, the louder it became. When he reached a small clearing, he was surprised at what he saw. He had thought that he would find Phineas there. Instead, it was Madison.

Madison waved her wand slowly over the water, practicing with her powers. In the beginning, she hadn't been so sure about using her powers. She had quickly come to the realization that her powers would only hurt those who she wanted them to hurt; she learned that she could control them. The thought that she could command and control such a power frightened her. She was used to being the quiet sister of Vida Rocca, and now she was a Power Ranger with three of her closest friends and a new one. As her thoughts strayed to Nick, the water that Madison was near would contort itself into various shapes: a heart, a swan, a batch of roses. When Madison caught sight of the last one, she shook her hand and waved her wand as though cleaning off a blackboard. Rather than use her wand, she tried once again to contort the water to her will, this time using only her hand. The water rose and nearly contorted entirely to the shape that she willed it to be when it seemed to refuse. The water fell back into the pond, creating a splash.

Nick watched silently from where he stood, thankful for the cover that was provided by the bushes. He was standing behind her but off to the side, making it somewhat easy for him to see her face. The moon was bright tonight, highlighting her face and features. Her face changed with whatever happened: when she was trying to will the water to become something, her face was laced with concentration and determination. When the water did bend to her will, her face held a look of happiness that made him wish that he could be the one to put it there, but whenever the water didn't bend to her will, her face became sad and upset, as though she was disappointed in herself. Nick continued to watch her in silence, unaware that she even knew that he was there, until she said something about it.

"You can come out now, you know. You've been standing there now for the last ten minutes."

Nick winced, realizing he was caught. He stepped out from behind the bushes, holding his hands up in peace. "Sorry, it was just nice to watch you do that, practicing with your powers and not being afraid to do it."

She blushed a crimson color and ducked her head, hoping that he hadn't seen her blush. He had seen her blush. The moonlight caught on her eyes, making them sparkle brightly. "Thanks," she told him shyly.

Nick nodded his head in return, silent for several moments before something came to mind. "I saw you trying to form several shapes and have them spin in opposite directions several times, but it never worked. Do you want some help working on it?"

Madison bit her lip as she considered her choices. Having him help her with that would mean that she would have to be close to him, and she wasn't sure if she could take that. She remembered what he had told her a few weeks before about being spontaneous. 'It would be a start,' she thought. She looked at his face and was somewhat shocked by the look on his face. He looked hopeful, as though he wanted to teach her, but the moonlight also made it easier for her to see the apprehensiveness that his eyes held. He wasn't sure if she would say yes either. Before answering him, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"All right, then. Teach me what I need to know." Her answer had clearly shocked him, it was written all over his face. After a few seconds, he shook his head slightly before nodding.

"Okay, I'm just going to give you some pointers, not necessarily teach you. I'm not that good with magic yet," Nick chuckled as he moved to stand in front of her. He gently moved her arm and body to point the ways and directions that he wanted them in. "It isn't all about waving a wand; it takes a lot of concentration and determination to pull off something like that, and a lot of willpower."

"Okay," Madison replied seriously. She watched his face as he talked, telling her what to do and correcting her. His face was passionate and lit up, and she didn't need for the moon to be very bright to tell her that he was enjoying being the one to teach her how to do this.

He moved her arm again gently, putting it back where it had been before. When he turned back to face her, he noticed something that made him both happy and gave him the slight desire to squirm: her face was right in front of his, putting them nose to nose. If he leaned forward any further, his lips would be touching hers, and that was what he was conflicted about. He had felt the attraction that was between them the moment that they had met, but he hadn't acted on it for many reasons, the main being that he wasn't sure what would happen with both of them being on a team together as Rangers. With that last thought in mind, he swallowed hard before speaking softly.

"Um, yeah. So just keep your arm like that and try not to move it. Now whether or not the water does what you want will depend on the force of will that you put behind it. If it's not strong enough, the water will just go back to it's previous shape, but if your will is strong enough, the water will change to that shape and do what you want it to. You just have to think about the shape that you want it to take, believe that you can do it, and put a strong enough will behind it."

Madison took a shaky breath, trying to calm her nerves for what had just happened and for what she was about to do. She waved her hand slightly over the water, the shapes coming instantly to mind and which directions she wanted them to turn in. It took her several tries, and with each try, she became more determined to make it happen and put more will behind her thoughts. On the fifth try, she was able to get the water to assume simple shapes like a star and a triangle, and she made both spin in opposite directions. When it happened, her mouth dropped open. Nick didn't need the light that was coming from the moon to tell him that she was excited, happy or shocked that she had managed to do it. Madison managed to hold the shapes for several moments before the water fell back into the pond, creating ripples. Madison turned to Nick with a smile on her face.

"Thank you," she told him.

"For what?" he asked, the confusion evident in his voice.

"For teaching me to do that. You're the first person, other than Udonna, who's really tried to help me understand something."

"It wasn't a big deal," he replied, bowing his head to hide his red cheeks.

Madison smiled, having caught his blushed cheeks. She looked up at the moon and decided that practicing at night, under the light of the moon, was a good thing. After all, it wasn't every day that you came close to kissing someone, only to find out that the person liked you just as much as you liked them.