A Nightmare and Promise

[Ma-Ti]

(January 18th. Morning. Closed to Ma-Ti & Iheart for now.)

Ma-Ti tossed and turned as his memories had returned but now he was having a nightmare.

"You left us to die." said one voice.

"We trusted you and you turned your backs on us." said a female voice.

"Gaia should have chosen another for that power." said a female Russian voice.

"Yeah. I can't believe you ditched us. At least we never used you like them. Now you're going to lose someone you care about." said a man with a Brooklyn accent.

"Kwame, Gi, Linka, Wheeler. I'm sorry. Please forgive me for leaving you." said Ma-Ti.

"It's too late for us and for her." said Kwame's voice.

Ma-Ti turned seeing Iheart lying on another bed beaten up pretty badly and her skin looked very pale.

"While you were off snoozing the enemy attacked again. They drove them back but not before there was a casualty." said Gi with a bitter tone.

"No." said Ma-Ti.

He rushed over to Iheart and felt no pulse.

"No. It can't be." said Ma-Ti.

"And you never got to tell her how you felt. Well don't worry. You're coming home with me. You'll never have to see those losers again." Said a voice.

Ma-Ti looked up to see Dr. Blight along with the other eco villains.

"Some Planeteer you are. You couldn't even save your friends or the girl you loved. And she never knew." said Dr. Blight.

She chuckled evilly and the other eco villains soon followed.

"NOOOOOOO!" shouted Ma-Ti.

XXXX

"No!" shouted Ma-Ti.

Ma-Ti woke up in his bed in the medical bay covered in sweat. He glanced over at Iheart seeing her sleeping peacefully.

"She's alive. It was just a dream. It was just a dream." said Ma-Ti.

Tears of relief went down his face as he wiped them away.

"I have to tell her how I feel about her. Even if she doesn't feel the same way at least I know I tried." thought Ma-Ti.

Still shaken by that dream he walked over to the tv and began watching it keeping the volume down low to not wake anyone up.

"I won't let anyone hurt you again Iheart. They'll have to get through me first." he vowed silently.

[IHeart]

IHeart wasn't really dreaming. On the contrary due to her healing, she was in a conciousness that left both awakeness and sleep. She did however stir after a short period of time after ma-ti screamed and turned on the television. She wasn't complaining though, she didn't feel like sleeping in. She looked to see him upset and not bothering to get new clothes she came with her pjs and walked over to him

"Hey Ma-Ti. You ok?" She asked with concern

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti turned as Iheart walked over to him. So she hadn't been asleep after all.

"I remember. My old life, the planeteers, Critic, you, everything. But I just had a nightmare and I..."

He trailed off and hugged her tightly grateful he remembered her and she was alive. He paused and pulled back remembering she was hurt.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so happy you're alright. When Blight said..." said Ma-Ti.

He stopped trailing off. He wasn't sure if he wanted to burden her with his nightmare. But now he realized what she and the others had felt when he'd died after stopping Malachite.

[IHeart]

IHeart was suddenly hugged and she hissed slightly but she didn't care. She hugged him back before he pulled away. She then was shocked of how apoligetic he was to her. She may have been in pain but she never minded when someone hugged her. She listened quietly, absentmindedly holding his hand. Then she spoke "Blight said what? Tell me. It's fine. I want you to talk to me"

[Ma-Ti]

"In my nightmare she was going to take me back to my universe. And the Planeteers blamed me for leaving them behind. But the worst part was..."

He trailed off not wanting to relive it himself. He sighed as he turned away as tears began rolling down his face.

"They said you died while I was unconscious. That the villains come back and killed you. I saw you. You had no pulse. It was so real." said Ma-Ti.

He sighed wiping the tears from his face.

"Facilier nearly killed you. I got you back in time but what if I hadn't. I don't know if I could go on if something happened to you." said Ma-Ti.

He paused and stopped. He had to let her know because the danger was very real. Someone could die tomorrow including one of them. He turned to look at her smiling a bit.

"I've put it off long enough. Even if you don't feel the same way I have to let you know how I feel. It started as a crush and now I think it's something more. I'm in love with you." said Ma-Ti

He turned and then looked away not wanting to see her face again if she rejected him. He was glad he'd said it even if they just remained friends afterwards. Sure it'd be awkward at first but it would work out.

[IHeart]

IHeart's heart warmed up ten times that morning. Ma-Ti had a nightmare that had her dead. That was definitely scary to her too due to her wanting to stay alive but Ma-Ti's concern was more than just her being dead, it was the fact he cared too much to let her go. He then confessed to her and poured his soul out to say what he admittedly was shy to say. IHeart at first took it all in, then she gave a very fond, touched, loving smile. She scooted over to Ma-Ti, going even closer and tightly holding his hand and staring at him "I've been waiting a long time for you to say that. I've been hiding something myself. I love you too"

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti turned around shocked.

"You love me?" asked Ma-Ti.

He hadn't expected her to feel the same way although he'd wanted her too. Now that she had he was very happy.

"Why did we wait so long to tell each other? I died months ago and came back... somehow." said Ma-Ti.

He paused a bit uneasy. He still hadn't figured out how he was resurrected.

"And I almost lost you because of Facilier. And that nightmare was so real. I'm so sorry I made you and the others feel that awful when I died. I should have found another way to stop Malachite. But at least we're together now and I don't want to leave you again. I'm going to do my best to stay alive and keep you safe along with Critic and the others." said Ma-Ti.

He paused as a sudden realization as he remembered the ring he gave to Goggles how she began to glow and how he hit the porch and blacked out.

"The ring! Goggles! Where is she?" said Ma-Ti.

[IHeart]

IHeart nodded, she did love him. Maybe that was why Ma-Ti's death was so effective againest her emotionally. IHeart didn't know why they waited so long so she didn't respond. She looked to Ma-ti as he spoke of how much he felt bad about her loss over him and how determined he was to protect her. She wanted so much to respond to that but his last question got her baffled

"Goggles has been taken. We don't know how or when. She's been missing for a while. We're looking for her though" IHeart replied

[Ma-Ti]

"Some psychic or sorcerer gave me a violet ring on the streets. He said once I gave it to her she'd be safe and I'd regain my memories. Was it all a trick to trap her? I didn't want to get my memories back this way. Not if it hurts one of my friends." said Ma-Ti.

He frowned feeling awful. He thought he was protecting Goggles. He'd never agreed to this if he knew it was a trap.

[IHeart]

"If it was. We'll get her back. It probably was one of the villains. They'll pay though. I may not get them but you can. I believe in that" She replied softly, trying to assure him. She sighed sadly as she felt bad for Ma-Ti. He was probably tricked and manipulated to. IHeart had a feeling Ma-Ti didn't know who gave him said ring and she wasn't there so she couldn't interogate him.

She heard him saying if he had it as a trap, he wouldn't want his memories. IHeart replied trying to comfort him "Your memories are back though now. I'm sure goggles, whereever she is will understand. We'll find her though. Don't blame yourself"

[Ma-Ti]

"But I do. That ring looked awfully familiar now that I think of it. Where have I seen it before?" said Ma-Ti.

He paused pulling a laptop over to him as he began looking it up. He gasped in complete shock at what he'd found.

"I gave her a violet lantern ring. Goggles is now a Star Sapphire. If we don't get that ring off soon we might lose her for good." said Ma-Ti.

He then looked up at Iheart sadly.

"Spoony's going to be furious. Everyone was so nice to me. Even after I lost my memories and I get a friend kidnapped. The only thing I've done right is stop Malachite and even that was temporary." said Ma-Ti.

[IHeart]

"What?" IHeart said moving to see the laptop. She gasped in horror. Goggles was turned into a star saphirre. Now she KNEW Ask Thatguy and his army took her. Who knew what she was doing or who was controling her. She then turned to see Ma-Ti begin to panic. She rubbed his shoulder, trying to comfort him again. She replied "No he won't. If there's one thing I know already about spoony, it's that he won't ever be mad at his friends. Look there was this one time I accidently took his wing commander game, but he called me up to mail it back to him and it was fine"

She wanted to do more so she assured him by hugging him "Please. You didn't know. How can it be your fault when you didn't know what was going on?"

[Ma-Ti]

"I know but I gave her the ring. I've got to get her back." said Ma-Ti.

He stood up and ran to the stairs only to stop and clutch his head. He had a bruises on the back of his head. He was lucky he hadn't got cut or he'd probably be in a coma or worse. He sighed sitting back down.

"I was so foolish. I was so eager to get my memories back. I should have known something was wrong with that guy. Now she's gone. Why would..."

He paused trailing off with a horrified look on his face. He remembered Black Lantern Spoony kissing her.

"Black Lantern Spoony. She kissed him thinking he was the original Spoony that night. I got mad and attacked him blaming the villains for what happened to you. That's how I ended up with that bump and no memories. He must have been behind this. He must have fallen in love with her and used the violet ring so she'd leave with him. I'm so stupid. Why did I take that ring?" said Ma-Ti.

He slammed his fist into the wall only to wince pulling it back.

[IHeart]

IHeart saw him run up and come back. She widened her eyes in horror at the experience of the fact BLS tricked her and made out with her, which caused the ring to be a effect of what her emotions had. Spoony was not going to be happy. At all. She said nothing. She couldn't well at least not after a period of time.

Eventually though she covered her face. She couldn't assure him or herself anymore. Goggles was gone. And with Black Lantern Spoony. She quietly tried to keep it together but it was a bit of a challenge. She just mumbled "Poor goggles. That bastard's gonna take avantage of more than just her mind"

[Ma-Ti]

Ma-Ti heard what she said as his face began to pale.

"It doesn't matter if Spoony hates me or not. I hate myself enough for both of us. We may never get her back and it'll be my fault. It's not fair. Spoony and Goggles just found each other. I could see it. They were starting to look happy around each other. I know she was angry about something earlier and just this morning they were chatting about games like old friends. I can't believe she's gone." said Ma-Ti.

He sighed putting his hands in his head furious at himself.