[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/D9OBI9j.png[/img][/center]

[center][H3][i]That night...[/i][/h3][/center]

She found herself stood on a meadow.  She had all her ranger gear and weapons.  There were periodic gusts of gentle wind, making the grass and her hair dance in unison.  She slowly looked all around.  She was alone out here.  The sky was bright and blue.  The sun made the air warm.  It was nice.

And then she blinked.  And there stood Zell next to her.  He smiled at her and it made her feel good.  She smiled back.  She blinked again.  Now Adam was stood on the other side of her.  She returned his smile too, and the unmistakable warmth of good feelings resurged. They each offered a hand to hold and she gladly accepted.

But her hands grabbed nothing but air as both men suddenly disappeared.  MacKensie, surprised, searched her promixity for a trace of them but there was nothing.  And then she blinked again.  They'd appeared again.  Only this time they were several yards away from her, each in opposite directions.  Not too far.  She could still see their warm eyes - their smiles.  But far enough to be out of reach.

Again they both held out a hand to her.  Now her warmth of good feelings were replaced with a flood of anxiety.  Why did it have to change?  Why could it not be like before?  Each of them beckoned her silently, their expressions still happy.  But she was no longer happy. And she was rooted to the spot.

She knew instinctively that she could rid herself of this anxiety if she just went to stand by one of them again.  But why did they have to move in the first place?  She didn't know what to do.  Why did it have to change?

She looked at Zell.  He nodded, his hand still extended.  Then she looked at Adam.  He was doing the same.

Which way should she go?

[Center]...................................................................................................................[/center]

MacKensie awoke with a deep breath.  It was still dark so she rolled over and turn on the lamp, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light.  She shuffled backwards to sit up and drew her knees up to her, then rubbed her eyes tiredly, thinking about the dream that still sat vividly in her memory.  She knew what it meant.  Until now she'd been oblivious to the feelings that were building up for two of her friends - ignoring how they so clearly betrayed their feelings for herself too.

She shook her head and face-palmed.  [Colour=Pink]"Oh,"[/colour] she moaned. [Colour=Pink]"This is all I need, right now."[/colour]

Hugging her knees, she buried her face.  In addition to the nagging fears regarding her ranger attributes and her apprehension about the coming gold tier mission, she now had an altogether more problematic issue.  One that could not easily be ignored. One wrought with fear of the unknown, fear of getting hurt, fear of hurting someone else, fear of wrecking the dynamic within Second Chance.

This was not good.

And sunrise was right around the corner.