summary: a month has passed since the rangers defeated the Dark Ones, and life for everyone had gone back to normal. Blake and Hunter were the new faces of motocross, Dustin was making a name for himself in freestyle, Shane was hailed as the greatest skateboarder since Tony Hawk, and Tori's name was known world-wide as the best surfer ever to Grace the waves. But one of the former rangers is hiding a secret that could change all of their lives forever.
"Awe yeah first time back home in a year!" Shane said as he, Dustin, Hunter and Blake walked into ninja OPS.
"I never thought I'd say this ... But it feels ... Good to be training again." Dustin said.
"Hey ... Where's Tori?" Shane asked, it wasn't like her to be late, especially coming home. Instinctually, they all turned to Blake for the answer. They had been inseparable since their defeat of the Dark Ones.
"Hey why is everyone looking at me? It's not like we're married or anything." Blake tried to play it off.
"Oh come on, bro, we all know you two have been practically joined at the hip, if anyone would know, you would." Hunter said.
Blake's face fell.
"I ... I think something's up with her, she won't tell me, I've even tried taking her to the doctor, but you know how stubborn she is." Blake said with a sad smile.
Just then, Tori bounded in, slightly breathless.
"Sorry guys... I had to ... Take care of some things.
"Tor, are you ... Okay?" Shane asked as he eyed her worriedly. Her face seemed paler than usual, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
"Oh man, you aren't having gnarly dreams again,are you?" Dustin asked.
Tori giggled in spite of herself. "No, Dustin, I'm good, now let's get training.
"You boys are going down." Tori said as they all circled each other.
"We'll see about that." Shane said as he backed her to make the first move.
They spared for a good few minutes, each matching the others moves perfectly.
"You've been practicing, hmmm ... I wonder who's been teaching you." Shane said with a wink as they locked arms.
Tori grinned bashfully and her cheeks bloomed as they threw each other back.
"I can only imagine the kind of sparing sessions you guys have." He teased.
"That ... Is none of your business!" She said playfully as he charged her.
She made to block him and accidenly blasted him back with a jolt of energy.
"Oh god Shane! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" She said as she helped him up.
"Where the hell did that come from!" Shane said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah ... Hurts like hell, doesn't it?" Blake said with a rueful smile.
"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Shane said as he looked from Blake to Tori.
Blake glanced at Tori, who gave him the okay to proceed.
"It all started about a couple of weeks ago, Tori started feeling sick, that's when ... This started showing up. She accidentally gave me this last week." He said as he pulled up the sleeve of his ninja uniform to show them a nasty burn on his forearm.
"Ouch! That looks worse than a track burn!" Dustin said as he winced.
"It hurt worse, too." He said
"I still feel bad about that." Tori said apologetically as she hung her head.
"Hey what did I tell you? Too far from my heart to kill me, right?" Blake said as he wasped his arm around her waist and drew her close.
"What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?" She said.
"Funny, I always ask myself the same thing." He replied as they got list in each other eyes.
"Ugh okay, enough of this mushy crap before I puke." Hunter said as he stuck a finger in his mouth and made a gagging noise.
"I think it's time we get back to Ninja OPS and get with Cam." Shane said.
"Tori, your energy levels are off the charts! They are almost back to the levels they were when you had your ranger powers!" Cam said as he studied the data from the full body scan in Tori.
"What does that mean, though?" Blake asked worriedly.
"I'm ... Not sure yet." Cam said.
"Could it be some kind of side effect from the battle with the Dark Ones?" Shane asked.
"Like I said, I'm not sure yet." Cam repeated.
"Tori, do you mind staying here so I can run some tests on you?" Cam asked.
"Sure ... I guess ... I'll catch up with you guys later." She told the guys.
"Cool, keep us posted, okay? We love ya, sis." Dustin said as they all gave Tori a hug.
"I will, I promise." She said, offering a smile she hoped was convincing as they all bounded out.
Blake however, hung back.
"Don't bother telling me your fine, Tori, you know you're a bad liar." Blake scolded her gently.
Tori's mask of bravery faltered and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm scared, Blake, I... I what if there's something seriously wrong with me?"
"Hey, it's okay, whatever it is, we'll handle it together, you just have to promise not to shut me out, okay?" He said as he tipped ure chin so her eyes met his.
"Deal." She smiled tearfully.
"I'll be right here if you need me." He said.
"Oh, Blake, you don't have to stay."
"I know I don't... I WANT to." He said.
"I know you do, but I want you to go, all you've been talking about is riding with your 'old crew' since we got on the plane. Go, I'll be okay, I promise." She insisted
"You're sure..."
"YES, Blake I am sure, now get your ass our of here!" She said humorously as she pushed him towards the door.
"You'll let me know ..."
"YES!" Cam and Tori said in unison.
"Okay." He said as with one final kiss, he reluctantly left.
"He really does love you." Cam said.
Tori blew out a huge sigh. "I know." She said flatly.
"What does that mean?" Cam replied
"What if something turns out to be seriously wrong with me, Cam? How am I going to tell him?" She said.
"Hey, why don't we wait until we know before we assume anything." Cam said as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Okay... I can do that." Tori said as she took a deep breath.
"Hey, I haven't seen you come in third since we were kids." Hunter and Blake's friend James said
"He's worried about his little girlfriend. " another rider by the name of Carlos said.
"That's why I am never getting tied down. It totally ruins your game." A third rider interjected.
"That's a shame because you don't know what your missing, Matt." Blake said.
"I'll pass, thanks." Matt replied.
"Hey lay off, guys, we think Tori might be really sick! Before this all happened, Blake was making some of the best rides of his career! Say what you want about love, but I happen to think that Tori was the best thing that happened to Blake." Hunter said in defense of his brother.
"Oh man, sorry dude, we didn't know." Carlos said sympathetically.
"No sweat, thanks for riding with me, I really needed this." Blake said.
"Are you kidding?! No way we would miss riding with the dude everyone's calling the next McGrath!" Carlos said as he playfully punched him.
"Even if he is our friend." Matt interjected, and they all laughed.
"Well? Did you find out anything?" Tori asked as Cam looked at the printouts from the tests he had run.
Dread settled deep in the pit of Tori's stomach as she watched the color drain from Cam's face.
"What? Tell me!"
"This ... this can't be right." Cam said as he looked over the paper.
"Cam, your scaring me, just tell me, whatever it is, I can handle it."
"I know YOU can, but ... I worry about if Blake can." Cam said as he reluctantly handed her the printout.
Tori's brow furrowed as she read through all the pages.
"Ugh, can you help me a little here?" Tori said as she attempted a smile.
"Tori, according to this ... you're... your pregnant. " Cam said.
END OF CHAPTER 1