This is my third Fluff Epic- yes they all take place in the same AU. My others are Billy/Kim of Mighty Morphin and RJ/Fran of Jungle Fury. Go read and review them after you read this. This being Nick/Madison (or Maddick) of Mystic Force. MF was the first season I watched (it was- ooh, magic and fighting evil! Then I made the astounding discovery that there had been 13 seasons prior to MF and now here I am) so they shall always hold a soft spot in my heart. This first one-shot is an answer to the end of Mystic Force. However I do not own the Power Rangers, Saban does. And I don't own Harry Potter either.

1: Reaction (late October 2006)

Considering how Briarwood now knew that there was an alternate dimension next door Halloween this year had been taken to a whole new level. Decorations everywhere, spooky and Celtic music blaring out 24/7, and plans for a magic school a la Hogwarts to open next fall. Of course Daggeron was going to be the headmaster. Chip had even observed that Daggeron and Dumbledore both started with 'D'. Since Vida was now his girlfriend she distracted him by kissing him. Xander had quite approved.

The only person in Briarwood who lacked the Halloween spirit was Madison. And everyone knew why. Nick-cum-Bowen along with Leanbow and Udonna was still off spending time with his adoptive parents. Yes, there had been weekly phone calls and intermittent letters but the Blue Mystic in particular missed the Red Mystic.

On October 30th, everyone went to the Rock Porium early to make some final preparations for the day-before-Halloween blow-out bash. But the party wouldn't start until noon, so once the Rock Porium was all set the employees had some downtime.

Vida and Chip had a brief scuffle with LeeLee and Phineas over which couple would get to make out in the storage room. LeeLee and Phineas won, darting inside and locking the door resolutely behind them. Then Chip realized that Toby had gone off with Nikkei on a date so he and Vida went into Toby's office and closed the blinds. Xander opted to listen to some music and read some comic books in a corner. Meanwhile Madison had snuggled down in a beanbag under the fuzzy red blanket Nick had given her the day he had left Briarwood for a nap. Even though she had washed it several times since Nick left Madison swore it still smelled like him- like wood smoke and gasoline. Vida thought that was a weird smell compared to Chip's totally hot smell of electricity and chocolate but whatever worked for her sis was fine by her.

Ergo no one really heard the roar of a motorcycle pulling up in front of the small record store. Nor heard the bell twinkle as the door opened and shut.

Nick inhaled deeply once he was inside. The Rock Porium and Rootcore were two halves of the same home as far as he was concerned. He had missed them both- as well as his teammates- during the two months he had been gone. It could have been less complicated except Kimberly and Billy had decided 'why not?' and dumped their Ranger past on top of Nick's revelations. It had been a lot to sort through. But now he was home again.

Nick looked again. It looked a lot more mellow here than the last time he saw it. Another change was that it was liberally covered in Halloween decorations. It was still the same old Rock Porium underneath though.

Xander was zoning out in a corner (nothing new there), and make out sounds were coming from Toby's office. And the storage door had just moved, as if something (or someone) had been bumped into it. TMI. Nick had heard about Vida & Chip as well as LeeLee & Phineas but now the reality was starting to sink in.

Nick's face gentled. And there was Madison, sound asleep under… was that his baby blanket? Yeah, it was. Did he mean that much to her? He knew that she meant that much to him (that was why he had given her the blanket in the first place) but did she value him in the same way? Not that it mattered. She was sixteen going on seventeen and he would be turning twenty-one tomorrow. Enough said.

Quietly Nick went over to the slight black-haired girl. Crouching down, he cupped half of her face with his hand. She was more beautiful than he remembered. Then again, he always thought that every time he saw her.

"Maddie? Maddie, wake up."

"Mm?"

Nick smiled at her drowsy reply.

"Come on, Maddie. I got you a surprise."

Technically Nick himself was the surprise but he figured Madison would figure that out fast enough once she woke up. Her eyelashes fluttered. Nick's smile widened.

"Thatta girl."

Seeing those huge chocolate brown eyes again, Nick wondered how he had managed to ever leave them even as he acknowledged that if she hadn't explicitly alluded that she would be extremely happy if he returned he probably wouldn't have come home.

"Nick?" Madison yawned, blinking.

"Hey."

"Nick!" Madison repeated in elation as it hit her that he had returned. "You're back!"

And she flung herself at him, hugging him tight. The red baby blanket got squished between them- not that they noticed.

"Oof," Nick went as he landed on his butt, but he returned the hug.

"Yeah, I'm back. You did give me all the reasons I should, remember?"

He hugged her tighter. It was so hard all the time, being in love and not being able to show it. Or at least, trying not to show it. Everyone else seemed to know that he had more than a crush on Madison. Heck, his dad had even mentioned off-handedly that Udonna was five years younger than him so that maybe it was genetic to fall for younger women on the trip back. That had been a seriously awkward moment.

"Hey, mate," grinned Xander as he came over. Excellent. Now Plan Xander-cum-Vida-cum-Chip could be enacted. Xander allowed a part of his mind to do an evil laugh despite the fact that the plan wasn't evil at all. In fact another might call it matchmaking.

Cupping a hand around his mouth Xander shouted to the occupied couples, "Hey, mates! Nick's back so leave off the sucking face for a bit!"

"Sucking face," Madison giggled, as she always did when Xander used that particular phrase. Nick also couldn't resist a smile at the term. Hugging her, he rested his cheek on the top of her head. He spoke quietly.

"I'm back, Madison. And I'm not sure if I could ever leave you again."

Madison's heart gave a little leap of joy. That 'you' had sounded very specific and not at all vague. Could it have been Nick was referring to her in particular and not to Briarwood and the magic dimension and their occupants in general? Could it be that he returned her feelings? It was so hard to tell with Nick what he was thinking. But what gave Madison hope was that she understood him better than the others did. Maybe she did hold the key to obtaining his heart like he had obtained hers on the very day they met. Hidiacs, the very hour. But for now Madison settled for the hug as the two errant couples exited their lairs to welcome Nick back to Briarwood.