Bunnies, Duckies, and Peeps! Oh, my!
Summary: Written in honor of Easter. Madison asks Daggeron for a bit of help when she has to set up her local community center for an Easter celebration. What could possibly go wrong? Or right, for the matter?
Timeline: After 'Dark Wish'
Rating: T, again, for shameless and sappy Madison/Daggeron romance (I can't help it, ok? This ship is too cute!)
Genre: Romance and LOTS of fluff, too.
A/N: I hope the characters are all In Character. And most of the food described are actually what people around the world eat during Easter/the week of holidays before Easter sunday.
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Mystic Force or the Madison/Daggeron pairing. I do, however, own this one-shot plot.
"Ok. So the community has given me 250 dollars for budget. I need Easter eggs, candy, prizes, decorations…" Madison continued to write down her shopping list.
It was almost time for the Easter celebration in Briarwood and, unbeknownst to her, she was the only person who signed up on the volunteer sheet to help decorate the community center for the celebration and set up the activities; such as the Easter Egg hunt for the children, three-legged races, croquet for the older generation, and a few other games of her choice.
She had to set up the map where everything was, arrange the schedule, decorate the entire community center and the lot where the celebration was being held, and provide food for many people. Subtract the cost of all of that food, she still needed things such as drinks for both the young and old and she needed to purchase napkins, plates, cups, baskets for those who were in the Easter egg hunt, and eating utensils.
Vida had also signed up, but her main job was to spread the word about the Easter celebration.
Maybe she was using her tornado power to spread flyers and whatnot or something.
Though she could have easily used magic to decorate the entire community center and conjure up food within seconds, after the whole fiasco of 'Dark Wish' she now preferred to do things honestly and by hand rather than depend on shortcuts.
That reminded her; she also needed to purchase some large cakes for dessert after the picnic lunch.
So the eating utensils, napkins, and cups would cost about 20 dollars if she bought in bulk, the premade stalls for other shops to display their food choices on would cost about 50 dollars total, materials needed for the games would total to about 30 dollars, decorations would cost about 10 if she went to a specialty store with a huge Easter sale, the variety pack of plastic colored eggs would cost 40 dollars, all of the candy would cost about 60 dollars if she was lucky, and the community council had strictly said there would be a limit on baskets and she could always purchase those small baskets people put berries in, so that would cost about 10 dollars.
In total, she would spend about 220 dollars and have, more or less, 30 dollars left. Except that she might have to find her old Easter Bunny costume somewhere in the attic of her house and dress up; what was Easter without an Easter Bunny?
'Now, onto the schedule and location plots.'
Why couldn't stores rent out their shopping carts to those who really needed it?
She'd made the mistake of shopping all at once and wound up having to push a huge box around Briarwood.
There was a tingling in her body which signified that she was at a strong risk of pulling a muscle if she continued, but who was there to help her right now?
Suddenly, it seemed as if the box became 3 times lighter and Madison nearly fell over at the sudden loss of leaning weight.
Pulling an edge of the large box for support, Madison saw Daggeron in front of her.
When he saw her, Daggeron's visage shifted into that dazzling smile of his that Madison found that she could not resist the involuntary movement of her own face muscles.
She had admired him for a long time now; ever since he'd joined the team, he had proven himself to be a very skilled fighter and valuable asset to the team.
A heartwarming fact for her was that even as he progressed with training Chip and Nick, and even with Xander for a while, he had not ceased to turn his attention to her every now and then.
Usually, it was in the form of giving her tips to improve her magic skills or speaking up on her behalf, but once he had taken her for a meditative walk through a specially-set trail and they'd apparently lost track of time, they carried on a long conversation about many topics, Madison was mainly interested in the Mystics and other things tied to it, and they both had a lot of explaining to do when they found that everyone else had been searching for them.
"Th—Thank you." She quickly said to him.
"Not a problem. Do you need any more help?" he asked.
He was a perfect gentleman; Lianbow, and probably his parents too, trained him with what people in the human world would call well-breeding.
"I just need to get those things down to the community center and set everything up." She told him as she tried to take the box from him, but he firmly insisted that he would help her.
"What about Vida or Nick, or even Chip and Xander?" he asked when Madison told him that she was the only person who would decorate.
"Vida signed up, but her job is to hand out flyers, advertise the event, those kinds of things. Nick probably went with her. The three guys probably drew straws, and Xander and Chip have to cover for us at the Rock-Porium." She explained.
"But still, would you like some help?" he asked courteously.
"I…guess help wouldn't be too bad." Madison replied a bit hesitantly.
But even as she hesitated, she felt herself lead the way to the community center without complaint that Daggeron was following her and carrying the box all the way.
"Now please tell me again why you are not using magic to do this?" Daggeron asked in pants as he handed her another fully blown balloon.
Madison took the balloon by its knot and put it into the cloth on the ceiling holding the balloons. "Ever since Dark Wish, I've become…a bit more careful with magic." She explained; slowly descending down the ladder while Daggeron held it in place.
"One should always be cautious of those things one takes for granted." Daggeron concurred.
"Exactly; this is why I'll do the decorating by hand. It also does give off a feeling of pride when a person does things the old-fashioned, though it is somewhat hard, way." she explained.
"You're probably still going to need some help, then; there is a lot to do around here." Daggeron looked around the empty room.
The white walls were still bare and the floor seemed to badly need a sweep.
"If you want to—I mean, I don't want you to put off a lesson you have to give to Nick or Chip or training just so you can help me decorate." Madison said quickly to try and cover up her relief and eagerness that he'd offered to help her in lieu of spending his day some other way.
"It will be my pleasure to, Madison." There was something about those words that made Madison's heart do a double flip and throw off her center of gravity.
"Thank you." She managed to force the two words from her lips despite the sudden chalkiness that had formulated in that orifice.
Hanging streamers was easy; she just stood on the ladder again while Daggeron held it and pinned the streamers onto the ceiling decoratively.
Except for the slanted roof of the community center, she only had to be on the eighth step from the bottom of the ladder to hang the pastel colored and slightly crimped tissue paper.
On top of her recently terminated fear of frogs, there was this thing about heights that always made her nervous.
As she was pinning the orange streamer to a slope, she felt herself leaning too far to the right and the ladder was tipping over!
Scratching at the ceiling, though it was pointless, she hoped to find something to hold onto; at least something to keep her from falling below and probably crashing into something in the cluttered room.
If only she had her sis's power of wind; at least she could 'levitate' herself to safety, then.
For a moment, it was as if she was floating; not that she would know since she'd shut her eyes out of fright, but gravity set in a moment later.
Instead of landing with a 'splat' on the tile ground and probably getting a concussion, she felt herself be caught by two strong, safe, and very warm arms.
"Are you alright?" Daggeron asked her gently.
For a moment, Madison felt so light that she could honestly have believed that she was floating a couple of inches.
"Hmm?" she asked a bit drowsily; as if she'd just drunk a large bowl of hot and very delicious soup.
Daggeron, a bit confused with her actions, began to lower her down.
"Oh. Thank you." She said; a hint of disappointment concealed in her tone.
There was still much work to be done anyway.
Madison flopped down onto a bench on the side of the community center.
At last, the floor was clean, the chairs and tables were set, the balloons were in place, the decoration was done, the games and their supplies and boundaries were constructed and lying out there, the cups were in place, the food…
...was nowhere in sight.
"The food!" she moaned; she had forgotten about the food!
This was not good.
And she had spent too much; there were only 30 dollars left; hardly enough for two hams, let alone enough to feed a hoard of people!
And there were still other snacks, such as some vegetables and dip, fruit and cake—at that point, she realized that she had forgotten the large cake—and she doubted that she would have enough time to run home, rip apart the attic, and recover that drink fountain her mother bought when she and Vida were 8 for a party and also get that Easter Bunny Costume out too.
Inwardly, Madison cursed herself for forgetting such an important thing; how could she have done that?
The hot prickle of tears behind her eyes came and Madison tried to stop it, but only felt her body shake in response.
"Madison." Daggeron's soothing voice rang out; making her momentarily forget her trouble when she saw him coming over to her.
Noticing her distressed state, he sat down next to her; putting a hand on her shoulder and pulling her closer to him. Impulsively, she leaned towards him; her mental turmoil going into overdrive.
'Slow your breathing; focus on something else.' Her aunt had told her that once post Vida-and-the-frog incident.
She felt him lightly run his fingers through her hair; lightly stroking her neck from time to time in an attempt to soothe her.
"What's wrong?" he asked concernedly.
"I forgot the food." She moaned into his leather vest. What could she do?
"You know, there is always a right time for everything." Daggeron whispered into her hair.
She turned to look at him; confused. Daggeron extended his hand.
"Vesco ieiunium."
In an instant, on the bare tables, a banquet fit for an entire town appeared; their weight almost toppling the tables over.
Upon many porcelain and rare china dishes lay many internationally traditional foods for Easter.
There were Hot Cross Buns, yeast dough buns with raisins and currants in them; at least 3 different, and very delicious looking, hams with various garnishes on each of them; a large Simnel Cake, a rich fruit cake topped with a layer marzipan and with another layer of marzipan in the middle of the cake itself, with 11 marzipan balls said to represent the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus surrounding it; pancakes, traditional ones and other ones such as 'Blini's', a Russian food which was a little pancake usually topped with anchovies (thank god Daggeron had had the consideration to take that part out) and a mixture of cream, soft cream, dried fruit and orange peel, called 'Paska', and Shrovetide Buns, a form of pancakes from Denmark; Salty Pretzels, traditionally eaten in Italy during Easter; a Greek Easter cake made from almonds and fruit along with a small bowl full of the spicy orange sauce that was supposed to be poured on it when consumed; Hors D'Oeuvres and Deviled Eggs with the whites colored in honor of Easter; platters of sandwiches, tuna and chicken salad, grilled goods, miniature hamburgers and cheeseburgers with a choice of toppings off to one side of it, Peanut Butter and Jelly, ham and cheese, BLT, club sandwich, even a small plate of Reuben, there were just too many to list; bowls of potato chips; cheese-and-cracker plates; a very appealingly placed tower of vegetables; another one with many peeled and bite-sized cut fruit; a large bowl, with even a working fountain, of a punch made from ginger ale (Sprite or any other lemon-lime soda would be a good alternative) and any flavored sherbet; regular punch in a punch bowl with a ladle; other bowls and plates full of children's snacks, such as Goldfish, Cheez-its, Chips Ahoy Chocolate-Chip cookies, and what looked to be a variety pack of Little Debbie Snack Cakes; and small dessert treats such as marshmallow-stuffed croissants, fruit tarts, and pies.
At the center on the middle table, there was a large cake covered with pastel icing and read 'Happy Easter' in bubble letters and smaller cupcakes surrounding it.
Madison was stunned; she could do nothing but stare at all of the food.
"How did you—?" she began; turning to him.
She honestly hadn't expected him to know about Goldfish or any other of those kinds of snacks.
"How many busy people from the human world, do you think, would look down long enough notice a frog hopping across a supermarket floor?" Daggeron replied wittily.
"Daggeron—." Madison whispered softly; a smile already on her face and her affection of this older man growing every passing second she looked at him.
Slowly, she lifted herself up; her mouth moving closer and closer to his lips.
Easter was a day that was celebrated as the end of Lent; forty days of abstinence, wasn't it?
And what better way to celebrate the end of the fasting period than kiss someone, just like people do on new years?
He should have been slowly pushing her away; refusing her kiss which seemed stemmed only from gratitude, but another part of him was saying that it wasn't gratitude that was making her this way. And he really hadn't kissed another person in such a long time. They could sort everything out later.
His hand cupped the side of her face and he could see every detail of her eyes and a light flowery scent emaciating from her reached his nose. They were that close.
"It's so pretty!" a high-pitched voice squealed.
The moment totally spoiled, both turned to see a hoard of kiddies running through the door and into the community center with their parents dragging in behind them.
Upon smelling the delicious food, their attentions shifted to the wide variety of treats and decided that this celebration wouldn't be so bad after all.
"I've…got to go hand out schedule pamphlets." Madison said to break the awkward silence; climbing out of Daggeron's embrace, though with much remonstration from the rest of her conscious body and self.
The meal and other games went without a hitch, except when an elderly man accidentally whacked a younger person in the face with a croquet mallet, but when it came time for the Easter egg hunt, a lot of the children were tugging at her skirt.
"Where is the Easter bun-bun?" they asked.
"How are you holding up?" Madison asked as she helped him out of the bunny mask.
Daggeron took a few deep breaths before replying.
"The children are nice and all, but there are some of them who tried to tackle me." he told her.
"Boys in this dimension do that a lot to life-sized animals for some reason; I'm sorry." Madison said as she pressed a slightly wet paper towel to his forehead to wipe the sweat away from his brow.
"Where's the Easter bunny?" another kid shouted from outside the door to the co-ed bathroom they were in.
Madison sighed; holding up the bunny mask.
"I'm sorry; really, I am. And thank you again." She added as she put the mask back onto him.
Daggeron nodded and, taking a deep breath, went to face the army of little children who were just waiting to attack him.
It sunk in, to Madison, that she should have given him something like a good luck kiss, or just a regular kiss, before he went back out.
"I have chocolate!"
"I have jellybeans!"
"I'll trade you a chocolate egg for one of those peeps!"
Shouts of glee and 'business' were emitting from the children opening their Easter eggs after the hunt.
Daggeron had played out his part of the Easter bunny perfectly; playing with the little children, offering the non-violent ones piggyback rides, helping some of them find eggs, there were even some of the children offering him their Easter eggs.
Suddenly, she felt someone tap her shoulder.
It was Pastor Ryan and his wife, Anna.
"Thank you so much, Madison. I've never known someone who could do so much in so little time. But please tell us; where did you find the money for all of this? If you spent out of your personal account, please tell us the amount so that we can pay you back." Pastor Ryan told her.
"You're welcome. I spent only what you gave me and I didn't do it all by myself. I received help…" she said as her eyes wandered off to Daggeron.
He was accepting a gift of a small bag of skittles from a little redhead.
The eggs were also conjured up by him; there was too little of a quantity of the original batch of eggs Madison had stuffed and made for over a hundred children.
Vida came through the crowd along with Nick and Xander and Chip following close behind. Chip had participated in the Easter egg hunt and was munching on a marshmallow-stuffed bunny when he'd caught up with the rest of the team.
"You did a great job, sis." Vida told Madison; looking around at the room and the still half-full tables holding food.
"Thank you. But like I said; I had help from…a friend." Madison replied.
Suddenly, Anna came back to Madison.
"By the way, who is that man in the Easter bunny suit? He's such a charmer." She said; as if her husband wasn't in hearing range of her words.
The 5 rangers looked over to the 'Easter bunny' and saw him 'kissing' one of the females on the cheek.
The female herself glowed with happiness and her companions, behind her, seemed to be standing in line behind her; also wanting a kiss from the mysterious man in the Easter bunny suit.
Madison only smiled.
"That's Daggeron." She introduced; turning and walking over to him.
She turned him over by his shoulder and, as he was coming back, she lifted the flap that concealed his mouth.
"My boyfriend." Madison added just before pressing her lips to his.
Vida leaned towards Nick.
"You owe me 20 bucks." She whispered.
"That's the last time I bet on Madison and Daggeron not becoming a couple." He whispered back.
"Look! Maddy is kissing the Easter bunny! Are they getting married?" a girl called out.
"But they can't get married; she's a girl and he's a bunny." Her friend contradicted.
"But when you kiss someone, it means you're in love with that person." An older, though still not over the age of 10, kid said.
"I kiss my mom and dad a lotta the time, but it doesn't mean that I'm in love with them." A boy replied.
"Maybe she's doing it to get more candy!" someone else exclaimed. Madison laughed when she heard those comments.
"I think this might be the right time for me to take off this mask, don't you?" Daggeron asked through the kiss.
"No time like the present." Madison concurred; pulling away to help him take of the mask.
The other girls groaned and glared at Madison with envy after they saw Daggeron's face and practically spitting venom when they saw the rest of him out of the bunny costume.
"Happy Easter." Madison said as she felt him wrap his arms around her waist.
"Indeed." It was Daggeron's sole reply as he lowered his lips to hers once again.
All in all, it was a good Easter celebration.
Except for the part when the little children were traumatized because they saw that the Easter bunny was Madison's boyfriend in a costume.
The poor, poor children. But they deserved it for ruining Madison and Daggeron's alone time.
Review, please.