Power Ranger Ninja Storm, Heather Ray [best classic romance novels txt] 📗

apology I've been crafting for two weeks. I hope it sounds sincere enough. I hope it's...more than just words to her.

She blinks several times in a row, her lips shuddering. It looks like she wants to say something. Frankly, I'm nervous as I wait for her to either accept or reject my apology.

Instead, she purses her lips and jumps to her feet.

"Tori!" I call, startled as I stumble to follow her.

I don't have to go far. We're only a few yards from the bikes when she whirls around, liquid eyes boring into me. "Why did you do it, Blake? Why did you manipulate me?"

Looking into her eyes right now is like staring at the sun. I feel an overpowering urge to look away, look at anything

other than those watery, soft blue eyes. She's a hair's breadth from crying. She's fighting those tears with every fiber of her being.

But I feel them just the same.

I have to meet her eyes. I want her to believe me. I can't let myself turn away from her anger. She has every right to hate me.

"I thought your sensei killed my parents," I murmur, each word tasting like bile. "I needed to find Ninja Ops."

A frustrated huff as she leans closer to me, challenging me

. "I know that part. I mean, why did you manipulate me? You were already friends with Dustin! There must've been plenty of schemes you could've cooked up to earn our trust!" She sniffles softly, closing her eyes as she fights for composure. "Why did you put up that 'knight in shining armor'

act? Why did you flirt with me? Why did...why did you pretend

to like me?"

My complete, mind-numbing shock must've registered on my face, because she tosses her hair over her shoulder and turns away. "Never mind. I don't think I want to know."

My body moves without conscious thought. Before I know it I'm holding her wrist, keeping her in place.


The logical part of me knows Tori is a trained ninja. She can break my hold at least half a dozen ways. But she doesn't. Instead, she turns to face me, first looking down at our hands, and then up at my face.

She's waiting for me.

"I..." My tongue sits uselessly in my mouth like a slab of stone. Dammit, why is it so hard to talk

? "I didn't pretend to like you."

Her eyebrow quirks, showing her skepticism. "I swear," I add adamantly. "I thought you were cute when I met you, and what I said that day at Storm Chargers, well...that came naturally."

I can feel my cheeks burning. Why the hell do I sound like a twelve year old kid?? You'd think I've never spoken to a girl before!

"I...guess I decided to, well, focus my efforts on you because...I...well...I wanted an excuse to talk to you. And when Lothor sent down Amphibidor, it was a golden opportunity."

I scratch the back of my head with my free hand. "I didn't think about how you'd react. I didn't think about what I was really doing. All I thought about was how close I'd come to finding my parents' murderer. I wanted to look into his eyes, Tori. I wanted to face the man that took my parents. That's all I could think about. There was no room in my head for anything else."

It's so hard talking passed the lump in my throat, but I force myself to continue. She deserves it. "I'm different now, Tori. I've thought about what I did a lot the past couple weeks. And the more I think about my state of mind, the more disgusted I am."

I don't know what else I can say. My head is bowed, my gaze lingering on our hands as my thumb absently kneads her pulse-point.

Finally she responds, her voice barely a whisper. "I don't know what to do."

"You can start by forgiving me."

"I want to, but...I can't ignore what happened between us." Gentle resistance against my touch; she's pulling away from me. Disheartened, I release my grip, and watch as she wrings her hands together.

"You don't know what the past two weeks were like for me." She looks up at me, blinking furiously for a few moments, before looking up at the canopy of leaves blocking much of the sunlight. "I was so hurt. Angry. I think it's safe to say you...you brought out the worst in me."

I wince visibly at that, but I can't say it was a surprise. When I saw her at the beach, I couldn't get over how cold and withdrawn she was. It was a stark contrast to the cheerful girl I'd met just days earlier.

I really did bring out the worst in her. And I know exactly what it feels like, to have hate twisting inside like a dragon, slowly eating away all the good in you. God... it's so hard to live with yourself when you can look back and see how far you've fallen. When you see what you were willing to compromise all in the name of revenge.

"But you recovered, Tori," I note. I smile at the surprised glance she sets on me. "If you hadn't gotten a handle on your anger, you would've cold-cocked me the second you realized who I was."

She smirks wryly, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "You have Dustin to thank for that. If I'd seen you a week ago, I probably would've done just that."

"Dustin?" I repeat, my tone incredulous. "Really?"

Amusement glitters in her eyes. "Really. He's wiser than you might think. He helped me at least consider your point of view."

My smile widens. "Then I should thank him."

"You should; and while you're there, you can explain what happened to his prized bike."

"Me? I'm not the one who rode it."

She turns her head, looking at me through lowered lashes from the corner of her eye. "No, but if you weren't stalking me, I wouldn't have lost control."

Point, Tori. Though "stalking"

is such an ugly word...

I frown deeply, as if I've just been given a death sentence. I take heart in Tori's surprised giggle at my theatrical display of dread. "Well, the more damage I fix, the less explaining I'll need to do, right?"

I return to my work in progress, and settle back down with wrench in hand. Tori sits across from me again, but the stifling tension between us is gone. The attentive gaze she settles on me isn't sharp or intense.

For once, the silence is...comfortable

.

"How'd you learn to fix dirt bikes?" she wonders.

A wry smirk pulls my lips. "Well, I wasn't always as good a rider as I am now. In fact, the first time I decided to try a dirt bike, I wound up crashing into a fence."

A shocked gasp. "I have a hard time picturing you taking a spill," she admits.

I grin at the indirect compliment. "Everyone has to start somewhere. Of course, Hunter wasn't as understanding. It was his bike I mangled. It didn't take me long to realize that if I wanted to use my big brother's stuff, I had to return it in the shape it was in when I borrowed it. And so began my tinkering..."

I launched into the story, recounting my early adventures on the dirt tracks near Blue Bay Harbor, watching her expression switch from amusement, to fascination, to...something else.

That last expression -- that tiny, enigmatic grin and half-lidded eyes -- that's the look that makes my stomach flip. That almost makes me forget my own name.

I don't mention Lothor, or the mission to infiltrate his ship. It's so strange; I know Tori's a Power Ranger, but I don't want to...stain our time together with talk about evil ninjas, deception, and revenge. I don't even want to think about the darkness in my life when I'm with her, leisurely getting acquainted.

The absolute last thing I want to do is drag her into that darkness. I don't want her to see that side of me ever again.

She's smiling at me. She's laughing with me. And maybe, with time, she'll really forgive me.

I know there's still a lot of work ahead of me. Considering how I humiliated her and toyed with her feelings, I'm lucky she's even talking to me.

This is just a small step towards reconciliation...and I find I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Part Six: Seeing Red

Lothor's plan begins to unfold, and Thunder strikes Blue Bay Harbor.

Author's Note:

Well, I'd wanted to write each chapter of "Blues"

with an individual narrator for simplicity's sake, but this one just worked much better from two perspectives: the boys in Red. The first scene is in Hunter's voice, and the second is in Shane's. Expect liberties to be taken with canon events.

Chapter Nine

I wake up in a room I've never seen before.

Alarm snaps me to full attention. My eyes scan sophisticated equipment in the minimal light, with charts, graphs, vials and flasks.

It looks like a laboratory. And judging from the screen covered with strange symbols that look nothing like any language I've ever seen, I think it's safe to say this isn't an Earth lab.

I swing my legs over the edge of the cushioned platform, leaning much of my weight against the bed as I my knees buckle.

Dizziness fogs the edges of my vision, my head suddenly throbbing. I can feel a vague burn in my stomach, and strained muscles refuse to move with their natural flexibility. I was in a fight recently. And I was wounded.

But...I don't remember

it.

"It's about time you woke up."

I look up, startled by the simple fact that I didn't notice her presence before. Usually that eyesore of a hairdo makes her hard to miss. I must really be off balance. "Kapri."

Lothor's niece offers a plastic grin as she files her fingernails, but