Hello lovelies, I am happy to say that I have started on this new chapter of Ninja of the Stars. I didn't know when I would be able to start this next chapter, but I have to say that it seemed like it took forever. Now, by the time this chapter gets posted, I will have already updated the earlier chapters so that you guys can read the rewrite before going on to this chapter. I don't have much to say or any new reviews to answer so I'll get right on with the quote and the story.

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

-Roald Dahl

ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo

The next morning, everyone was lazy about waking up except for Sensei Watanabe and Mama Luna. They both woke at their usual early hour and took the time to share a cup of tea in the quiet. When the kids did not come down at their usual time after a workout, the two adults decided to give them a couple hours to sleep in. Belle was the first to wake and head down to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. She shuffled in with a yawn dressed in an unusual outfit made up of brown leggings, a white blouse, a thick black coat that ended at her hips in the front and to her knees in the back, knee high black heeled boots, and all of her hair was braided as a crown around her head. Mama Luna was used to the outfit so she simply bid her good morning while Sensei Watanabe was a little taken aback for a second then did the same.

"Morning," Belle returned with a smile to both adults before putting her focus on her mother.

"Are we still going out to help the villages?"

"Yes," Mama Luna answered while her daughter filled her plate with bacon, eggs, and home fries.

"But I thought Kenoi and the boys would like to come with us."

At the look of confusion that Sensei Watanabe gave her, Mama Luna explained that her, Belle, Udonna, and Clare went out into the villages in the other realm to help out communities who were struggling or needed medical treatment. While Sensei Watanabe was a little surprised at what was happening to the magic folk that lived in this other realm, he was more than willing to go help the sorceresses. The boys were also interested in going with them. On the one hand, they wanted to see the magical creatures they would be helping, and on the other hand, they wanted to meet the friends that Belle had told them about yesterday.

"Alright, then after breakfast, we'll head to Rootcore and gather the supplies," Mama Luna told the group while the teens ate.

Not long after that, Belle finished her food and took her dishes to the sink to rinse them out. The boys were not long behind her in finishing their own food and taking their dishes to the sink. Once everyone was standing beside Mama Luna, she gave a wave of her hands that had the whole group disappear in a burst of silver sparkles only to reappear in the main room of Rootcore. Mama Luna and Belle were able to walk right away after the teleportation, but the mortals were a little disorientated. Sensei Watanabe was able to stand, albeit a little shakily with a little nausea he fought down, while the others stumbled and clutched their stomachs.

"Sorry," Belle winced when she saw the state of her friends.

"We should have warned you it would have been a little much."

She let them catch their breaths while she bustled about along with her mother and aunt to gather their supplies and place them in bags that were charmed to extend so that they could fit everything that they needed inside. When the boys plus Sensei Watanabe had recovered, they were taken a little aback at the display of magic. Even though they had seen Belle do magic back in Blue Bay Harbor, they were still in awe every time they saw it. It took about an hour and a half to get everything together before the group headed for the entrance to Rootcore. There wasn't a traditional door like the mortals, Sensei Watanabe and the boys, had expected at the entrance. Instead, the wall was like the others in the way that it looked like the inside of a tree. Belle noticed how the boys eyed the wall warrily and rolled her eyes.

"You'll be fine," she assured them. "It's a false wall. You'll walk right through."

True to her words, Mama Luna and Udonna stepped through first, the wall rippling as they exited the building. Now that they had seen it happen, the boys walked through the wall and were relieved that they came out the other side without a hassle. Mama Luna, Udonna, and Clare only waited for their guests to leave Rootcore then continued on their way to the nearest village. Belle led the boys plus Sensei Watanabe to meet up with her family as they walked through the forest. The boys couldn't help but marvel at the sunlight that filtered through the canopy of leaves above them. If they didn't know any better, they would have said that they could hear flute music coming when the breeze ran through them. The large trees that dotted the forest looked old and majestic with some tree roots rising above the ground and moss covering some trees in patches. There were also a rainbow of flowers that grew freely that perfumed the air faintly. Sensei Watanabe found the atmosphere to be calming and he enjoyed the walk to their destination. Belle on the other hand was happy to show her teammates and the people who had taken her in her world. Well, half of her world. It was one thing to show them her magic and have them treat it as normal, but it was another to show them a world full of magical creatures. However, the pretty picture that they saw was disrupted when they saw dark brown tents that looked like they were of poor quality that made up the village. There were villagers who walked about the village, but the sight of these villagers gave the newcomers a little pause. These villagers have horns that decorated their heads along with cow-like ears and if that wasn't enough, they had the lower half of a goat. Before the group reached the village, Belle fell back towards the mortals.

"I know you can handle yourselves," she began in hushed whispers.

"But I want you to stay close."

Considering Belle knew how things worked in this dimension, they all readily agreed. Satisfied with their answers, Belle focused back on the task at hand. When the group reached the edge of the village, Belle gave her wand a wave and a stream of white gold magic flew through the village playing a merry tune. As soon as the villagers heard the sound, they all stopped what they were doing and their heads snapped to the group with large grins. They all rushed over to enthusiastically greet the sorceresses and sorceress-in-training. However, the villagers grew wary when they saw the new editions to the group. At first, they thought they were wizards who were new to the area, but then they got close enough to smell them, they could tell that they were mortals. They instantly became wary considering mortals were part of the horror stories parents told their children at night, they were worried about their safety with these newcomers. While they didn't have the courage to talk with the mortals, the villagers were only able to stare at them. Sensei Watanabe didn't seem to mind all of the stares, but the boys were getting more uncomfortable they longer the villagers stared.

"Hey everyone," Belle greeted the villagers to take some of the attention off of the mortals.

"I want to introduce you to my friends."

When Belle said that the mortals were her friends, the villagers seemed to warm up a bit. Surely if mortals were friends with Belle, surely they weren't so bad.

"This is Cam, Blake, Hunter, and Kenoi."

Each person gave a small greeting in return so that the villagers could put a name to the face. As Belle introduced them, a slightly older male faun stepped forward with a dark blue shroud over his shoulders and strands of feathers in his brown hair stepped forward from the group of villagers.

"I don't think there has been a time when we have had mortals in our village," he commented offhandedly.

Belle and her family could easily tell that the chief of the village was trying to tell them to make the mortals leave. But they wouldn't.

"Don't worry Broz," Mama Luna spoke up to soothe the chief.

"They are trustworthy with our secret. They won't tell anyone about any of us."

The boys wanted to vocally agree with Mama Luna, but they figured that their input wouldn't be appreciated at that exact moment.

"We shall see," was all the leader offered before disappearing back into the group of villagers.

Now that the immediate threat of the chief was out of the way, Bell gave a small sigh of relief and tried to figure out where to put her friends where there would be less friction. Maybe not the food station, Belle mused to herself. They would think that they were trying to poison them. Hmm, they can't find fault with them handing out clothes or blankets.

"Why don't you guys help with handing out clothes and blankets," Belle suggested to Sensei Watanabe and the boys.

They all agreed and Belle showed them how much to give out per person before Belle set up her own station for offering medical treatment. Mama Luna and Udonna were setting up a food distribution station while Clare stayed with the children to keep them occupied while their parents went through the different lines. Now that the villagers were more concerned with getting things to help them get by, they weren't quite as wary of the mortals as they were before. Slowly they warmed up to the mortals and talked with them as they took their rations of clothing and blankets. While Belle was taking care of her patients, she was watching her friends and teacher out of the corner of her eye, but she was relieved that everything was going well. Maybe there is hope for the Magical Dimension and the Prime Dimension to coexist peacefully.

The group visited many villages after the first, and the boys were amazed by all the different creatures that they had seen along the way. They saw nagas, people who were half snake and half human, dwarfs, nymphs, elves, centaurs, fairies, and werewolves. With every stop, the boys became more comfortable with the different creatures they encountered which meant that Belle didn't have to worry about them as much. Before Belle knew it, the sun was setting which meant it was almost time for her and the boys to go meet up with her other friends. Mama Luna and Udonna were already packing up the little remains after giving out all of their resources.

"Do you need my help packing up?" Belle asked her mother after she had put her medical supplies away in her extended bag.

"No," Mama Luna assured her with a shake of her head.

"You and the boys can go. Kenoi and I will see you back at the house."

Belle made sure to give her mother, aunt, and cousin a hug before she turned to the boys.

"C'mon you three, I have some friends for you to meet."

The boys were a little nervous at the thought of meeting new magical creatures who happened to be Belle's friends, but they chose to push it down and follow after Belle towards the trees. Like the last time Belle group tree traveled them, they all joined hands with Belle and each other so that the boys would be able to travel through the roots of the trees. Unlike last time, there was only slight feelings of nausea when the boys came out the other side of travel. Once everyone was through, they released hands so that Belle could lead them through the rest of the forest to the meeting spot. By now the sky was a mixture of blues and purples with the stars shining brightly in their constellations which meant that everyone would be waiting for them. When the group neared the clearing where they were to meet, the boys saw four boys were waiting for them. There was a naga with green hair and tail and an elf with platinum blond hair, but the mortal boys did not know what race the other two were considering they hadn't visited their village during the day.

"Hey guys!" Belle happily greeted the four boys who were waiting for her.

"Anna," all four greeted her with the same enthusiasm.

When the magical dimension natives saw the mortals that were trailing behind Belle, they all had different reactions. Cal was the one who had the most control over his facial expressions and kept a smile even though he felt wary of the mortals. Kei kept his face neutral, but his glowing blue eyes stared at the newcomers without a word. Wain's nose scrunched up in disgust but he didn't say anything against the presence of the mortals. Aji looked at the newcomers with hard eyes while his forked tongue parted past his lips.

"Alright guys, these are my friends from the Prime Dimension," Belle started with introductions when both groups of friends were facing each other.

"This is Cam, Blake, and Hunter."

"Hello," Cal offered with a small smile. "I am Callon."

"I'm Keiran," Kei added with a nod of his head

"Gawain," Wain spoke up shortly.

"Ajit," Aji said as if he didn't even want to speak.

While Wain and Aji weren't being the most friendly, at least they weren't trying to kill her friends. That also meant that she would have to be the one to lead the meeting and keep the peace.

"To get to know each other, why don't we play capture the flag?" Belle recommended.

"I'm game," Cam agreed with a smile.

"Won't the mortals get themselves hurt?" Aji questioned, a smirk on his lips.

Hunter glared back at the green naga but he made no move to punch him.

"You'd be surprised what we can do," Blake stated with his own smirk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"They are more than capable," Belle jumped in before they could try to fight.

"But there are going to be some rules to make it fair."

Aji and Wain gave snorts at Belle's words, but it was her turn to glare.

"I have some limitations too. I will not be able to use magic or my broom. Kei, no shapeshifting and no hypnosis. Cal, no photokinesis, no animation, no reality warping, and no weapons. Wain, no turning into a horse and no cohesion. Aji, not poison and no crushing anybody."

"But how are you going to protect yourself?" Kei voiced worriedly when he heard her limitations.

"I have other abilities besides my magic," Belle huffed.

"That being said, let's split up into two teams," Belle continued.

"There will be Team Red with me, Wain, Aji, and Hunter. Then we have Team Blue with Kei, Cal, Cam, and Blake."

After the teams were announced, Belle conjured two poles with a red flag and a blue flag.

"I'll be the leader of Team Red and Cal will be the leader of Team Blue."

Cal took the pole with the blue flag while Belle kept the pole with the red flag.

"We'll go hide our flags then we will meet in the center to start the game."

Cal gave a nod then turned to his team.

"Follow me."

Kai, Cam, and Blake all followed behind their leader to the left of the clearing.

"My team, follow me," Belle told the others as she went to the right of the clearing.

I led the group through all of the trees and greenery, looking for the perfect spot to place the flag. She found the perfect spot in a small clearing among the trees.

"Alright," Belle said as she placed the flag in the ground to the right of the clearing.

"We'll have this area be for the flag and we'll have the left area for the jail. I'll guard the jail while Hunter guards the flag. Wain, you'll focus on catching anyone on our side. Aji, you'll be the one going to capture the other team's flag."

Both Aji and Wain looked a little skeptical about having a mortal guard the flag, but they didn't say anything against it.

"Now that we have a strategy, let's go meet up in the middle and set up our territory."

No offered any words as they fell into step behind Belle as she made her way back to the clearing where they had met. Belle's group was the first to reach the clearing with Team Blue arriving a few seconds later.

"Are we ready to start?" Cal asked when he saw Belle and the rest of Team Red waiting for him and his team.

"Yeah. I figure this will be the divider between our territories."

"Very well. Let the game begin."

Belle gave a nod to Hunter to signal to retreat before they both ninja streaked away towards their flag and jail. Blake and Cam saw the way Belle and Hunter took off so they both shared a look as they were Team Blue's prison and flag guards then they too ninja streaked away. The remaining Magical Dimension natives watched Belle and the mortals rush away with a little hint of surprise. They didn't think that mortals could move so fast. They also hadn't seen Belle move that fast without her magic or broom, so that was new. Maybe these mortals could put up a challenge after all. When Belle and Hunter reached the deepest section of their territory, they both moved to stand by their posts.

"Be prepared for Cal and Kei," Belle warned Hunter while they waited for the other team to reach them.

"They'll likely be the ones to come for our flag or just one of them. Kei has the fastest reflexes and incredible strength but Cal isn't a slouch either."

"You're forgetting that I'm a Thunder Academy ninja," Hunter said with a lopsided grin.

"Our forms are supposed to be as fast as lightning and hit as hard as thunder."

A small smile grew on Belle's lips at Hunter's confidence. It was nice to have the old banter back, at least a little bit.

"Right, of course," Belle returned sarcastically with her own grin in place.

With that pleasant atmosphere in place, the two waited in comfortable silence for someone from the other team to show up. They waited about fifteen minutes before Kei showed up. Belle and Hunter didn't see him at first, since he was hugging the shadows, but they did sense someone nearby.

"Who is it?" Hunter asked Belle as his eyes tried hard to scan his surroundings.

"It feels like Kei," Belle mused, analyzing the presence that was coming closer.

"Remember what I warned you about."

"Bring it on Keiran," Hunter called out in challenge to the vampire.

"Hunter, I don't think-," Belle started to say to warn Hunter that Kei wouldn't fall for that bait, but she was proven wrong when Kei jumped out of the shadows towards the blond male.

Belle watched with wide eyes as Hunter met Kei's punch head on, catching his fist in his palm. There was slight surprise in Kei's blue eyes at Hunter catching his fist, but his facial features betrayed nothing of his emotions. Instead, Kei followed through with a kick that Hutner blocked just as easily. The tiniest hints of a smirk showed on Kei's face as he picked up his pace in his attacks until he and Hunter were trading blow for blow at a fast pace that Belle followed warilly with her eyes. While it looked like Kei was the only one to venture into their territory, he could just be the distraction so that Cal could slip in unnoticed. She let Hunter continue to hold off Kei while she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the blond ellon. While the fight between Kei and Hunter was heating up, Belle caught sight of Cal trying to ease his way along the treeline towards the flag. Oh no you don't, Belle thought to herself as she ran to cut Cal off. When Cal thought he was in the clear to grab the red flag, Belle came running in with a kick that made Cal jerk back so that he wouldn't be kicked in the face.

"You go no further," Belle smirked at her elven friend, her body falling into a star ninja stance.

"You can fight?" Cal voiced in surprise at the physical attack.

"Of course I can fight," Belle answered with a roll of her eyes.

"I can't just use magic any time I want in the Prime Dimension."

"Fair point," Cal admitted as he fell into his own fighting stance. They both wasted no time attacking each other with kicks as they moved in a flurry of moves that mimicked a dance. They moved all over the clearing in their fight that led them towards the trees in an effort of Cal to lose Belle. However, that didn't work because Belle was stuck on his tail as they moved to jumping from tree branch to tree branch to fight. Everything seemed to be going well until Belle's eyes started to glow white gold and her focus seemed to wane from what was in front of her. Cal didn't seem to notice that until one of his kicks sent Belle sailing off of the tree branch and into the tree a few feet away. Hunter had just launched an attack that had Kei backing up a bit when his eyes saw Belle fly through the air and hit the bark of a tree back first.

"Anna!" he exclaimed in worry for his teammate.

He lost interest in the fight with Kei only to ninja streak over to Belle's slumped over form that had slid down the tree to land with a thump. Cal on the other hand, looked after Belle in horror that he was the one to send her flying. When Hunter reached her, he scooped Belle into his arms so that he could look her over. Upon further inspection, Belle didn't flinch when Hunter put some pressure on her back, yet she still stared into space with her eyes glowing white gold.

"Is she alright?" Kei questioned, coming to stand beside Hunter.

"I don't know," Hunter admitted in a frustrated sigh.

"She isn't responding to pressure on her back from pain. She just keeps staring at nothing with her eyes glowing."

"Could it be her prophetic magic?" Kei mused to himself while he looked her over.

At the mention from Kei, Hunter remembered Belle telling him something about this, but he didn't remember her saying about how long this would go on for. It was probably best to wait it out and let her come out of her trance herself. They all waited a few minutes before the glow in Belle's eyes grew dimmer and dimmer until her normal brown eyes were seen.

"Hunter, what-," Belle started to say but was cut off by a dull ache in her back.

"You got kicked against a tree while you were having a vision," Hunter offered to her.

When Belle realized that Cal had to have been the one to kick her, she turned to see that he stood a little bit behind Kei with a guilty look on his face.

"I'm fine Cal," she assured her friend with a warm smile.

"I've gotten worse bruises when I first started training."

Cal didn't look that convinced at Belle's words.

"She'll be fine," Hunter added, a soft smile directed down at Belle.

"She's stronger than she looks."

Belle's heart warmed at Hunter's words as she returned his smile. The way that the two were smiling at each other made Kei and Cal a little uneasy since they had a bit of hidden feelings for the petite kunoichi. Not that they would admit it out loud. Belle had made it clear that she only thought of them as friends, but they could ignore it when it was just them and her.

"Maybe we should call off the game," Cal suggested softly.

"I agree," Kei spoke up. "Anna should head back home and get some rest."

While Belle wanted to argue that she was fine, she could see the look on their faces and how they wouldn't be up to playing the game anymore. Belle was a little disappointed with how things had turned out, but she knew that they most likely needed to see her head home to rest.

"Alright," Belle relented. "We'll grab Blake and Cam and head back."

Kei and Cal offered no words as Hunter helped Belle to her feet. Before Hunter and Belle could walk forward, Kei sped forward towards the designated Team Blue territory. Cal stayed behind Belle and Hutner as they walked and said not a word. When Hunter and Belle reached the clearing that marked the center between the two territories, Cam and Blake were waiting for them. Cam made to open his mouth to ask Belle what had happened, but Belle caught his eye and shook her head. He realized that she would tell them when they got back to her house so he remained quiet. Belle walked towards the closest tree then held her hands out for the others to take. The three mortals wasted no time taking hold and waited for Belle to tree travel them.

"I'll see you four later," Belle called back to her Magical Dimension friends who were standing to the side.

They said nothing but raised their hands in farewell. Belle didn't let that bother her as she touched the bark of the tree and let it teleport herself and the others to her backyard. As soon as they reached the backyard, Hunter filled Cam and his brother in about what had happened during the game.

"But I don't know what she saw," Hunter said, turning to Belle in hopes she would share.

"I saw Ron," Belle said, urging her mind to remember the vision.

"But there was another Ron. I was so confused why there was two of him."

There was a moment of pause before Belle turned to Cam.

"You don't have a secret twin brother I don't know about, do you."

"Unfortunately no," Cam sassed with a roll of his eyes.

"The world wouldn't know what to do with two of me."

"Then I got nothing," Belle shrugged.

"But I am gonna grab some food then hit the hay. We all should. We're hanging out with V and everyone tomorrow."

While the boys weren't quite tired enough to sleep, they knew that they should try to get some sleep. That was, after they grabbed some dinner.

The next morning, Belle woke up well rested while the boys were awake yet a little sleepy. Well, Cam was the most sleepy out of the group. Instead of leading the group down to the kitchen table for breakfast, Belle ushered them out the door. When they asked her why they weren't grabbing breakfast, Belle told them that they were eating breakfast with her friends. That was how Belle and the boys walked through the door of Dark Hatter coffee shop, which was warm and cozy with the early morning rays filtering through the window. Belle ushered the boys over to a large table by the window that had half of the table on a booth and four chairs on the other side.

"You guys sit here and I'll go order," Belle told them. "What do you guys want?"

They all gave their orders to Belle who memorized them before heading over to the register. Hunter watched Belle give their orders plus her own and he had a passing thought of wondering how Belle was paying for the orders.

"Anna is paying for all of us, isn't she?" he voiced out loud to Cam and Blake.

"Most likely," Cam agreed without hesitation.

"And she's not gonna take our money to pay her back," Hunter said that was half a question and half a statement.

"You should know by now that she does what she wants," Blake pointed out to his brother.

"She's as stubborn as you."

Hunter wanted to argue against his brother, but he did know that he was very stubborn. Blake only smirked when his brother said nothing after that while looking around at the interior of the shop. The shop was on the larger side with a third of the room being for the register and coffee bar while the other two thirds were just for seating. The whole decor of the room was on the warm and cozy side with pillows dotting overstuffed chairs and the booths while the regular chairs had padded backs and seats for comfort. There was also lots of light filtering into the room through the windows that were on the walls, but there were also skylights in the ceiling that brought in even more light. Suffice to say that Blake didn't mind the atmosphere and he was liking the light that shone on him. Cam, on the other hand, wasn't liking the light so much at the moment. Unless he had his first cup of coffee, he wasn't much of a morning person. He mostly suffered without saying a word with his head buried in his arms. Hunter was taking in the shop like his brother was, but his attention was piqued when he saw the four they were waiting on enter the shop. He waved his hand to get their attention so that they could head over. When Xander saw Hunter, he gave a glare as he walked over. Rather than smirk or glare back, Hunter ignored him and turned to the others.

"Anna is grabbing our orders," he told them.

"Then I'll go get ours," Xander said to his childhood friends.

"Do you guys want the usual?"

V, Maddie, and Chip all gave nods.

"I'll be back then."

Since Hunter, Cam, and Blake were already sitting in the booth part of the table, V, Maddie, and Chip took seats in the chairs.

"Hey, how has Briarwood been treating you guys," Vida asked the Bradley brothers and Cam.

"It's been great so far," Hunter answered.

"It's nice to see where Anna grew up," Blake added.

All they got from Cam was a groan from around his arms.

"What's with him?" Chip inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Mr. Genius here isn't a morning person without coffee," Hunter commented, using this chance to mess with the Asian man.

"Fuck off," Cam muttered irritably.

While the table was talking, Xander ordered for himself and the others then walked over to stand beside Belle.

"Hey Belle," he greeted her, moving to lightly bump into her.

"Hey Xan," Belle returned with a large smile and a similar bump.

"How was your Thanksgiving?"

"It was great," Belle smiled softly at the memories that played through her mind.

"I'm glad that Ron and the Bradley brothers had a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. They said that it's been a while. For Ron, I know that it has been years."

Xander felt a little bad for thinking that the newcomers had taken Belle away from him when he heard her explain to him. Since he had parents and family who loved him, it hadn't occurred to him that other people had lost the people they loved. He knew that Belle had lost her father, but he didn't think much about it since he had gotten used to it just being Belle and Mama Luna.

"Are you heading back today?" Xander asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, we're hoping to go back around one."

"That gives us enough time to drop by CJ's," Xander commented.

To explain, CJ's is the entertainment business that has laser tag, bowling, bumper cars, and an arcade on the inside while there was a ferris wheel, a roller coaster, grand prix, mini golf, rock climbing, and a zip line. It was a favorite hangout spot for the Briarwood natives, it was where the five had harnessed their teamwork for laser tag.

"I was thinking about that," Belle admitted with a nod of her head.

"I think maybe the brothers have been to one before, but I don't think Cam had been."

"Never?" Xander echoed in disbelief.

"He's been raised at his Father's dojo," Belle pointed out.

"He didn't really have many friends growing up."

"Then he's lucky to have a friend like you. Imagine him going his whole life without going to something like CJ's."

Belle rolled her eyes at Xander's words but she smiled nonetheless. She was glad to be Cam's friend because he had been her confidant since she had moved to Blue Bay. A moment later, the barista called for Belle's orders that she carefully picked up to make sure she didn't spill the tray. Belle waited for Xander's orders before walking back over to the table. Cam was the first one to reach for coffee and everyone could see the almost instantaneous change when he took the first sip. Belle had to hold in her laughter at Cam's actions as she settled in her seat between Hunter and Cam once Hunter had gotten up to let her through. Xander settled across from Belle in between V and Maddie. When the Thunder brothers and Cam looked at the tray Belle brought from the counter, they were surprised that there were breakfast sandwiches for them. When Belle noticed that they weren't grabbing their sandwiches, she told them which ones she had gotten for who. They all thanked her then dug into their breakfast. Thanks to Belle cooking for the three, she had learned what their tastes were which meant that they really like the sandwiches that Belle picked out for them.

"We have until noon to hang out," Belle told the group.

"So I figured that we would all head over to an arcade."

To give the non-natives an idea of what was available, Belle explained how CJ's worked.

"That sounds like fun," Cam said with a smile.

"If you plan on doing laser tag, I'm not doing it unless I'm on your team," Hunter said, shaking his head at the memory.

"You're a really good leader."

"Thank you."

"I'll give it a try," Blake shrugged.

"Alright, that's a yes from this side of the table," Belle commented, looking at her childhood friends.

"What about you guys?"

V and Xander gave Belle a look that asked her if she was seriously asking them that question while Chip nodded enthusiastically and Maddie smiled softly with a small nod.

"Then we'll go as soon as we've eaten breakfast."

They all took their time to eat, but they managed to finish it in fifteen minutes. Once they had gathered all of their trash, they dumped it all into the trash bins then left for CJ's.

ooo0ooo

As soon as they walked up to the front of the property, not even nearing the front doors, the group could hear laughter and shouts of joy from the outside events. Belle took the atmosphere in with a large smile as she put her hands on her hips.

"That is the sound of our people," she told her fellow Briarwood natives.

"Be prepared for Alex to want a rematch."

At the mention of Alex, Belle rolled her eyes. Hunter, Blake, and Cam wanted to ask about who this Alex was, but they didn't get a chance.

"Please," Belle scoffed.

"He hasn't beat us once in laser tag and he can't accept it. I'm done trying to humor him. C'mon, let's go try the grand prix track."

No one argued against Belle's suggestion, following her through the inside until they reached the back of the building where the area was sectioned into the different stations. The Briarwood natives seemed to have the layout memorized because they made a beeline for the grand prix track with the Thunder brothers and Cam trailing behind them. When they reached the line for the karts, they had to wait a few minutes, but they were able to get karts relatively soon. Xander and Chip opted for their own karts while Maddie chose to double up with Vida driving their kart. Belle waited by the entrance to swipe the other three through for their own karts then she grabbed her own. An attendant stood in front of the karts as everyone settled into their karts to make sure that everyone had help if they needed it and that no one would take off before the others. He gave a quick glance over the racers, with a few others joining the little group, before he decided that it was enough people. He quickly moved out of the way of the karts then made his way over to the control panel so that he could start the race via the stoplight. There was much anticipation in the racers as they watched the colors change on the stoplight until everyone was pushing the accelerator to zoom past the starting line. With how the karts were set up before the race, Xander and Vida were towards the front of the group but Belle, Hunter, Blake, and Cam were coming on fast to their tails. Chip was more than happy to just cruise through the race at a decent speed. Their first obstacle came with their first turn that the Briarwood natives, the Thunder brothers and Cam drifted around pretty easily. As the race went on, Cam went on to become slower and slower because he would brake too hard that made his rear end swerve. The Thunder brothers were a close second due to their inexperience with kart racing versus motocross. Considering that Vida, Xander, and Belle were all pretty competitive, it was neck and neck until Vida pulled through as the victor. Some of the people who had joined the race besides the teens knew of the Briarwood natives and knew that those three were very competitive. They weren't even trying to win when they entered, they simply raced for the fun of it.

"Ha! In your face!" Vida cackled when she pulled her kart to a stop.

"Rematch!" Belle and Xander demanded.

Hunter, Blake, and Cam could only watch on in amusement at the interaction between the three.

"We'll sit this one out," Blake told Belle, speaking both for himself and for Hunter.

Belle gave them both a nod to show she heard them, then jumped right back into her competition with her friends. Cam, meanwhile, was thinking about how to improve his racing. While Belle, Cam, Vida, Maddie, and Xander were getting ready for another lap, Chip decided to join the Thunder brothers sitting out from the race.

"How do you handle being one of only two people who aren't competitive in your group?" Blake asked Chip while they all watched the lap start.

"I don't know," Chip shrugged with a smile.

"I guess our personalities just work together on their own."

The conversation kind of fizzled out as they watched the race start. Like before, Belle, Vida, and Xander took off with a squeal of their tires. They stayed near the front of the charge as they went around the first curve, but as they continued around the curves, Cam managed to get into first place by expertly drifting around the curves and he managed to keep first place until the end of the race. Vida and Xander groaned when they came in third and fourth place respectively while Belle only smirked as she came in second place.

"That was unexpected," Hunter commented with a raised eyebrow at the turn of events.

"You did great Ron," Belle congratulated the teen dressed in green.

"Thanks," he grinned.

"Are you sure that was your first time racing?" Vida questioned, a smile now on her lips since she came to terms with not winning.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Cam answered with a nod of his head.

"I just adjusted my turns from the first run through."

"That's impressive," Maddie offered with a smile of her own.

"It took everyone else a couple times to get it right."

"He's a quick study," Belle told her friends, leaning against Cam's shoulder.

After that, they all decided to do some rock climbing before Belle, the Bradleys, and Cam had to head back to Belle's house. The Briarwood natives were a little sad that Belle had to return, but Belle was quick to tell them that they could all visit each other. Luckily, her home friends didn't follow them to Belle's house so that they would be able to travel through the portal in Belle's room. When they had returned, the boys and Sensei Watanabe were happy yet a little reluctant to return to Blue Bay. They wanted the familiarity of their rooms, yet they had come to love their time spent in the Devereaux household. This also made them a little sad when they realized that Belle wouldn't be living with/by them once all this mess with Lothor ended. Once they were packed, Belle gave a hug to her mother in farewell. However, Mama Luna did not let the others leave without a hug. Even Hunter was not left out, his hug bordering on Mama Luna trying to suffocate him. Hunter was able to understand Mama Luna's warning not to harm Belle again or suffer the consequences. The group passed through the portal with no trouble and the boys quickly left through Belle's doorway. Before Sensei Watanabe left through her doorway, Belle stopped him.

"Sensei."

He stopped right before her doorway, and turned to face her with a kind smile.

"What can I do for you Anna?"

"Well, since you still had the spell on you, I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping for Christmas presents."

Sensei Watanabe looked surprised at Belle's offer, although he was a little excited at the thought. Since he had been turned into a guinea pig, he had thought that he wouldn't have been able to do something as simple as going Christmas shopping.

"I can also put a disguise spell on you so that no one will be able to recognize you," Belle added.

"I would like that very much," Sensei Watanabe agreed.

"I'll come with you just in case you need a quick getaway."

While Sensei Watanabe knew that he could quickly get away if need be, he wasn't going to turn down her invitation.

"I would be honored to have you accompany me."

Bell pulled her wand from her purse and faced him.

"Obtefíesi."

With a wave of her wand, Belle changed Sensei Watanabe's appearance into that of a generic face and build while keeping his height.

"You may not see a difference, but trust me, it's there," Belle told him.

"Then why don't we go?"

Sensei Watanabe offered his arms to Belle and she happily took it. The two then ventured into town to look at the different shops to get gifts. Belle got gifts for all of the rangers plus Cam and Sensei Watanabe while Sensei Watanabe got gifts for all of the rangers. When Belle had asked him why he didn't pick out a gift for Cam, he only smiled and said he already had a gift for him. Once they had gotten their gifts, Belle started looking at Christmas decorations. When Sensei Watanabe had mentioned that they didn't have that many decorations back at Ninja Ops, Belle went crazy looking at decorations and buying them to decorate every space in Ninja Ops except for the bedrooms. Sensei Watanabe watched his young temporary charge excitedly buy decorations with warmth in his chest. No one had wanted to decorate the home like this since he had lost his wife, so it was nice to know that they would celebrate the holiday with a person who brought warmth into the home. When Belle had gotten all of the decorations she wanted, Sensei Watanabe and Belle went back to Ninja Ops where Belle would turn into a decorating fool.

ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo

And there we have it lovelies, the first new chapter after the rewrite for the previous chapters. I am glad to say that we have gotten through the Thanksgiving chapters and are now back on track for the events of the show. I have to say that I am really relieved that I am able to continue on so that I can catch up to what my brain wants to do. Granted, my brain is already trying to think up different scenarios for the winter vacation. I am planning on having the home friends along with the ranger team plus Belle's family going on the trip, but I wonder if anyone wants to know what they are going to do for it. I have referenced it in an earlier chapter. I've started on the next chapter, so I will try to get through the chapters with the episodes so that I can have the Christmas chapters up by Christmas. That is my plan, but I can't promise that I can keep that schedule. One other thing I wanted to bring up, I changed the cover image for the story. I changed it so that you could see somewhat what Belle's hair looks like as well as how her training uniform and her ninja uniform looks like I also added in the celebrity faces I envisioned for Belle and Mam Luna. Mama Luna I thought of as Alexandra Breckenridge and for Belle Auli'i Cravalho. That's all I had for my plans after this chapter, so I want to mention a couple of things that happened in this chapter. I really liked how the the rangers and Cam could see the other half of Belle's life. I also liked how at the end, Belle had a little bonding moment with Sensei Watanabe with the gifts. I think that these moments will be important in building relationships between the ranger team. That's all I really wanted to say, so I'll end it here and sign off. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave a review or shoot me a pm. Remember, reviews are magic!

-White Wolf