Hey ya'll! Yup, me again : ) this fic is basically a totally AU version of NS, so things might not always match up exactly with the show. Expect confusion, plot twists, possibly a small romance, angst, friendship, and (eventually) lots of action. BTW: would anyone be interested in beta-ing for me? My speling and gramatikal erors ar numorous. (I think I just proved my point)

Anyway, kick back, relax, enjoy, and R&R!

Blood Ties

Prologue

"And how did you enjoy your day, Cameron?"

Fine. Perfect. Wonderful. I just found out the maniac space-ninja/masked-wrestler freak trying to kill me just so happens to be my own uncle! Whom, by the way, you forgot to mention during the first eighteen years of my life! Then I was nearly turned in to a bug! So, to answer question, yes I did.

"It's been… interesting." Cam stopped typing and cleaned his glasses with the bottom of his shirt.

"I suppose becoming a ranger and nearly transforming into an insect would certainly be considered an interesting experience…" Cam's father paused, as if he had just noticed something strange in the tone of his son's answer. "Something is troubling you, Cameron?"

"I'm fine." As soon as he said it he knew he had emphasized to much on that last word. His father picked up on it too.

"Cameron, is there something we need to discuss?"

Here it came, another lecture on 'trust' and an "if you don't trust me with your feelings there is no way I can do my duty as your father" speech.

"Trust, my son, is one of the key elements of a family. One cannot expect a family to survive without trust. Without it…"

Cam listened as his father droned on, forcing down his boiling rage and putting on a cool mask of indifference. Trust? Yeah right. You've never trusted anyone, ever. Why should I trust you?

"Dad, I'm fine. I'm just… tired." He gave a pathetic half smile, hoping it would be convincing enough.

One thing Cam wouldn't miss about earth was his silent arguments with Kanoi. It wasn't that he didn't still love him, but he had brought it upon himself, and like he had told Cam many, many times during his childhood. Kanoi would now have to bear the consequences of his actions.

He would miss the other rangers though. Tori was the only other one coming with him, and that would only be for a few months, then she would return to earth.

Hunter was officially appointed as the Headmaster of the Thunder Academy, and Blake would be riding factory pro in a few months. Dustin was going to be running the Wind Academy until Tori got back. She would be the first Headmistress of any ninja academy, the council surprisingly agreed to her nomination, and her tenure would start when she returned to earth.

It wasn't as if he would never come back, he hadn't even left yet, but a small pang of homesickness was already starting to take hold of his heart. A few months ago Cam would have been sitting down at his computer, building up a defense against a force that he didn't believe existed. The Winds would still be struggling through ninja classes, and they might have even been kicked out by now, never realizing their true destiny.

Still even when all this madness started, he had no idea what he had gotten himself into. He went from tech support to ranger to hero in less than a year. He learned so much in that short period of time: he learned to live, to trust, and a little about true love. Most of all he learned about family. Real family, a tie that runs deeper than blood. That was something Kanoi never taught him.