By Dany
PG-13
Summary: My own addition to 'I Love Lothor'. Tori confronts Blake at the beach…
The lone blonde figure jogged along the beach at a leisurely pace. She wasn't really going for exercise; she just needed to get out of Ninja Ops and away from all the chicken-chowing guys. Especially from one of them. Blake the flake.
Tori shook her head sadly, albeit never pausing in her stride. He had done it again, wimped out on her at the last moment. When she had given him the perfect opening, too.
'What did you mean when you said it's time I knew the truth, Blake?'
'Well, I…'
And then he had averted his eyes, looked at everything but her. But she had been ready to press the issue this time, because he had never before come as close to an admission of his feelings for her as he was a few hours ago at the beach, when he had fought Cam over her. Hadn't he said 'My feelings are real' ?
Or could that have just been that stupid love spell talking? Suddenly Tori wasn't so sure anymore. One thing she was sure about, though, were her feelings for him. The attraction she had felt for him from the start had been growing steadily into some serious affection over the past few months - and more than that, if she was really honest with herself.
But what good were her feelings if there was no chance they would ever be reciprocated?
With an audible sigh of frustration, Tori slowed down, then stopped altogether, letting her eyes wander over the glistening surface of the ocean.
"Maybe it's me who's the coward here," she thought while she bent down to pick up a seashell and tossed it out into the sea. "Maybe he really doesn't know how I feel about him. Maybe I should throw him to the floor, sit on top of him and bang his head onto the ground so that the realization will finally seep into that thick skull of his." She tossed another shell. "Or maybe I should just tell him."
The third shell never even made a splash as it hit the water. "Maybe, maybe, maybe. Lots of maybes and no answers."
"Tori, wait! Hold up!"
Her head whipped around at the sound of the unmistakable voice. Thinking of the devil had obviously somehow conjured him up, because there he was, trotting down the beach towards her. What was he doing here?
For a fleeting moment, Tori had the urge to take off in the opposite direction, but there was no use in trying to outrun him; Blake was the fastest one in the Ranger team, so Tori just sighed and waited, letting him catch up with her.
"Devil maybe, but a handsome one," the thought as she watched him approach her. "Does he have any idea how darn good he looks in black leather?" Tori couldn't hide the small smile that crept into the corners of her mouth.
He stopped right in front of her, not a hair out of place and not the slightest bit out of breath from his short sprint.
Determined to ignore the butterflies that were taking his unexpected appearance as the perfect opportunity to have a party in her stomach, she brushed her own wind-disheveled hair out of her face and fixed her eyes on him. "Well, fancy meeting you out here." The words were out of her mouth, harsher than intended, before she had a chance to think about them, and she was immediately sorry when Blake flinched slightly and averted his eyes.
"Yeah, well…when you were gone from Ops all of a sudden, I figured I'd probably find you here." His gaze grazed hers. "I thought we could talk." She could clearly tell he was uncomfortable as he stood before her, brushing away some non-existent dirt on his uniform.
She gave him what she hoped was a neutral enough look. "About what?"
He looked towards the ocean. "About what happened today. About the stuff I said," he told the gently breaking waves. Tori shrugged, trying her best to make it look nonchalant. "Hey, you were under a spell. You didn't know what you were saying. Forget it."
He kept staring out over the water as if he hadn't heard her. She was just about to repeat herself when suddenly, he squared his shoulders and turned. The slightly bashful look he had worn a few moments ago was gone. Instead, his face was set in an expression of quiet determination; he obviously had just made up his mind about something and she had the distinct feeling that she was about to find out what it was.
"Tori, I…" He faltered, took a breath and cleared his throat.
Irritation welled up in Tori. "It's gonna happen again," she thought. "He'll back off, just like he always does."
He didn't. Blake stood his ground, although instead of making another verbal attempt, he dug into a pocket of his vest, then offered his hand to her. Puzzled, she looked down to see a small, powder-blue box in his palm. He wordlessly raised his hand, indicating her to take it, and Tori suddenly found her mouth gone dry as she plucked the box from his palm and lifted the lid. Inside, on a bed of crushed turquoise velvet, was a pair of silver stud earrings, each sporting a small, but exquisite aquamarine gemstone. Tori's breath caught in her throat. "Blake, what…?"
"Hope those make up for the wrench set."
"Blake, they are beautiful!" she exclaimed and tore her eyes away from the earrings to find the Thunder ninja watching her, ears burning, an abashed smile on his face.
Tori was at a loss for words. Her eyes darted back and forth between Blake's face and his present, and even though she knew that a 'thank you' was in order, she instead found herself asking, "But why?"
Blake shrugged. "Look, I know this whole thing was really Lothor's fault, but I can't help feeling responsible for it too, you know, and I really wanted to make it up to you somehow," he spluttered, fidgeting with his morpher nervously. "I can also take over some of your Ninja Ops cleaning duties, if you want me to, or polish your surfboard…or wash the Ranger Rover. Could use a good wax job." His eyes sparkled mischievously at that last comment, and Tori's mock glare didn't seem to fool him for a moment.
"You know, you really shouldn't make fun of my van. It's the only legal set of wheels this team has," the Water ninja quipped, a grin forming at the corners of her mouth.
"Hey, I didn't mean to dis the van. I like the van," he grinned back. "And I like its owner even more."
He looked at her from under lowered eyelashes, and the look was so uncannily like that of his brother that it actually took Tori's brain a moment to connect the words with their implication. When it finally clicked, all she could do was gape at him and clasp the little blue box with both hands to keep them from shaking too obviously.
Blake took a step closer to her. "Tori, when I said that my feelings were real…well, even with the spell, I still knew exactly what I was saying, I just wasn't as…inhibited as usual."
He was gaining confidence as he spoke, enough to reach out and put his hands over Tori's. "Matter of fact, I've been an idiot for not telling you much earlier." Another step brought him closer than he had ever been to her, and the air between them was suddenly filled with an electricity that had nothing to do with his element. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…" he breathed, but was startled into silence as Tori reached out and brushed her fingertips against his cheek.
"I know," she whispered, her heart thundering in her chest. "And, yeah, I do, too."
The smile on his face seemed to brighten the entire beach. It was contagious, it was wonderful, it was…Her thought process was effectively cut off when the Navy Ranger leaned forward and quickly closed the short distance between their mouths.
Tori's eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into the kiss, and the feeling of his lips on hers at last was better than every one of her dreams and fantasies from the past few months combined.
They never noticed the tall, blond figure standing half-concealed next to a set of large boulders a few yards behind them. Hunter had not meant to spy on them; it had been an honest accident. They had all consumed an enormous amount of fried chicken, and consequently he had planned on getting in some exercise by the beach. There he had caught sight of the two leather-clad figures, deep in conversation. At first he wanted to call out to them, but something in their demeanor, the way they stood way closer than normal to each other…He had stepped back behind those boulders and lingered, curiosity now getting the better of him. And when Blake's mouth moved over Tori's, he smiled.
The Crimson Ranger was pretty sure he was watching their first kiss.
"Finally!" he thought, his grin widening. At least Blake's love life was now moving into the right direction. About time, too.
But Hunter knew he had no reason to complain, for he was hopeful himself. As he turned and quietly made his way back towards Ninja Ops, his thoughts drifted to the date he had with a certain someone tonight. Their second one. Dinner and a movie, maybe a trip to the arcade afterwards.
And Hunter was ready to bet money that that person would be wearing green tonight.
THE END