Alright lovelies, we are onto the A/N that comes before the story. When I looked through all of the other chapters that I have to rewrite, I have to admit that I was a little intimidated, but I am determined to see this through. If any of you are artists or writers yourselves, you know the feeling of looking back on your work and feeling a wince at looking at it again. This is what happened to me when I re-read the story, which I do constantly with all of my stories to see if I can respark my muse for said story, and I knew that I could do better. This story series was one that I was so looking forward to writing because starting with the Ninja Storm season of Power Rangers and ending with Operation Overdrive, this chunk of seasons was a big part of my childhood and I wanted to have a story where I revisited childhood nostalgia. Though, I find that I am curious about what seasons of Power Rangers did you grow up the most with. For a good chunk of people, especially late 90s kids, didn't really grow up with the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and kind of picked up the franchise with whatever season was airing at the time. Ok, that was all I wanted to say at this point, so I will get on with the quote and then the outro.
"Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years."
-Anonymous
ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo
The next morning Belle woke up like usual at five thirty and she went through her usual work out. As she went through her work out, she pushed what had happened the night prior from her mind and just focused on the task at hand. When she arrived back at Ninja Ops, she began work on breakfast for Cam and Sensei Watanabe. Today she was making strawberry chocolate chip pancakes with scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. A comfortable atmosphere with the sound of cooking filled the kitchen that had Belle relaxing and singing softly to herself. While this may not be her element like dancing or training was, the motions of cooking reminded Belle of her mother and that was enough to relax her. Minutes later Belle began to set the table, and that was when Cam shuffled into the kitchen looking half asleep. Besides a small jump, Belle gave no other reaction although she worried to herself that Cam would remember the accidental kiss from last night. However, Cam acted no differently than he had yesterday morning which comforted Belle a little. When he sat down at a seat at the table, Belle fixed up his coffee like he preferred and slid the mug in front of him. He mumbled a thanks and hastily took a swig of coffee that was almost immediate in waking the tech genius up a bit.
"Good morning Anna," Cam yawned after another healthy gulp.
A half smirk half smile appeared on Belle's lips at his greeting.
"What do you mean?" she questioned playfully.
"Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
All Cam could do was stare at Belle with eyes not quite awake yet while his tired mind tried to remember where he heard the quote from.
"I am not awake enough for this," Cam commented with a shake of his head.
Belle gave a snort from trying to suppress her laughter at Cam's tired answer while she plated up breakfast. I guess not everyone is a morning person, Belle reasoned with herself. Cam gratefully took the food and dug in, a sight that warmed Belle's heart. She had already set aside some guinea pig safe food for Sensei Watanabe when he was hungry, but she couldn't help but think over his predicament. It must be hard to be stuck in a body so small that couldn't do as much as his original body could do. Belle wanted to ask Cam about the situation, but a small part of her argues against it. That would be prying, wouldn't it? Oh, to hell with it.
"How is Sensei taking the whole guinea pig thing?" Belle ventured after swallowing a bit of her food.
"He's taking it as best he can," Cam sighed.
"He has to get used to how small he is now as well as learn how to do things now that he doesn't have his body."
As Cam talked, Belle noted the expression that he tried to hide that made his face look a little pinched.
"How do you feel about it?"
"I honestly hate it," he confessed softly.
"I hate that I can't do things with my father like how we used to now. I hate that I have to look down or even kneel to talk to my father. I just want him back the way he was…"
"That is completely fine Ron," Belle assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sensei was not the only one affected. Both of you will just have to come to terms with it. After all, he is still your father no matter what form he takes."
"You're right Anna," Cam smiled softly. "Thanks."
"Think nothing of it. I'm glad to help."
They both finished the rest of their meal in relative peace, with Belle rinsing the dishes then running a load through the dishwasher. Cam ventured from the kitchen to the control room to work at the computer while Belle grabbed her homework from her room then relocated to the control room along with Cam. Both worked in silence only with the sound of keys clacking and the scratching of Belle's pen on paper as she took notes from her lecture. It seemed like that day was an easy one for Belle's schoolwork, because she managed to finish the lesson in record time which meant that she had nothing to do. She was thinking about what she could do next when she saw Cam's fingers dance about the keyboard to work through whatever code he was working on. She became fascinated with the work and migrated over to stand beside him to watch him work. Cam didn't notice the new edition by his side until she decided to speak up.
"Ron, could you teach me how to work with the programs like you do?"
The first thing that Cam did was jump almost up out of his chair then whirl around with his hand over his heart.
"Jesus Anna," he breathed out.
"Warn me next time."
"Sorry."
As his heart calmed down a bit, Cam thought over Belle's request. Well, it would be better to have another person who could somewhat run the programs besides me, Cam thought. Plus I could use the help sometimes. With his decision made, Cam's dark brown eyes rose to meet Belle's chocolate brown orbs.
"Sure, I'd love to."
Belle gave a cheer as she hopped up to sit beside Cam on a stool with a blank notebook in hand so that she could take notes while Cam taught her. They started out with the basics that Belle soaked up like a sponge that gradually moved into the easier aspects of Cam's job.
"Thank you so much Cam," Belle said as she stood up.
"I really appreciate this. Could we do this again tomorrow?"
"No problem Anna. I'm just glad someone is willing to help me with this. And sure, we could do that."
Belle gave a small smile at his answer as she put the stool back and gathered up her supplies for her lessons.
"I've got to go meet Géant at the race track," Belle explained. "I'll see you later."
Within ten minutes of leaving Ninja Ops, Belle had managed to ninja streak to the track and find the yellow suited motocross racer. Belle thought that the back of the head with chestnut locks and the tall stature would be Dustin, but she wanted to make sure before she went up to them. So Belle's reaction was to shout at him.
"Géant!" Belle shouted to get his attention, waving her arm over her head.
At the nickname that she gave him, Dustin's head snapped up and his eyes moved until they landed on the short kunoichi who was getting stares from the other racers. Dustin gave a wave to welcome her that Belle took as an invitation to jog over. When Dustin saw how some of the other racers were staring at Belle, he moved so that he blocked most of her from them. It just made it easier that she was so short and he was so tall.
"Hey Shorty," Dustin greeted her. "What brings you here?"
"I want to try racing," Belle announced.
Once Belle's words had registered, Dustin had a huge grin growing on his face.
"So you want to race, huh? I'm sure we can get you a bike and a suit to ride in."
He gave a wave to Belle to follow him over to Kelly that had Belle dutifully trailing behind him.
"Hey Anna," Kelly smiled at the young girl.
"Hi Kelly."
"Shorty here wants to race," Dustin told his boss.
Cue Kelly tilting her head in confusion.
"Have you ever raced?" Kelly directed to her.
"No, but I'm familiar with bikes."
"Alright, let's get you your gear."
With Kelly's help, Belle was dressed in a white outfit with silver and gold plates as her armor. While the girls were focused on Belle's clothes, Dustin found a white motorbike with silver and gold accents.
"Thanks Géant," Belle smiled as she took the bike.
"No problem Shorty. Now let's see how you race."
Once Belle made sure that the bike was on its kickstand, she placed her helmet between her knees so that she could wrap up her hair and slip the helmet on her head with relative ease. She gave the strap for her helmet a little tug to make sure it was secure before she took the bike off of the kickstand so that she could walk her bike beside Dustin and his bike over to the starting line. When they reached the line, Belle could feel numerous stares aimed at her. Whispers of "Is that a girl?" and the like spread like wildfire across the line until one of the other racers, garbed in orange, strode towards Belle.
"Hey cutie," he smirked down to the shorter Belle.
"It's cute that you think you can race with the big boys, but I think it's time to go home."
"What?" Belle questioned in fake surprise. "Scared that a little girl like me is going to kick your ass?"
At Belle's words, there were two reactions. Dustin was wincing because of Belle's provocation of the man, and the man grew so angry his face began to turn red.
"You'll regret that little bitch," he seethed down to an unflinching Belle.
"We'll see about that."
As soon as the man was gone, Dustin turned to Belle.
"Shorty, that wasn't the best thing to do," Dustin warned her worriedly.
"Dustin, I have grown up with this all my life because I was put in the highest class at my academy. I know how to handle a few assholes."
That was all Belle said before she threw her leg over her bike and readied herself for the start off. A wave of a flag was all the racers needed to peel off from the starting line and speed down the track. While Belle was racing, she kept her mind clear except for mentally checking herself to make sure she was doing everything she could to make her go faster. Dustin on the other hand, kept to Belle's tail to watch her back in case any of the douche bags wanted to try something. And try they did after the second lap. The orange rider was the first to try to advance on Belle, but Dustin was there to keep him off her tail. Unfortunately, the orange guy had some more friends racing with him because a group of three racers zoomed past Dustin and went straight for Belle. Belle could sense that they were closing in on her, but she didn't panic. Instead she waited for the men to make a move so that she could make them wipe themselves out. Right when one of the men would have sped up to attack Belle, a maroon bike appeared out of nowhere to force the man to veer off course. On her other side was a navy bike that came to form a protective stance behind Belle. A smirk appeared on Belle's lips from under her helmet at the gesture. Well, aren't they a couple of gentlemen? With a new burst of speed, Belle pulled up ahead and breezed past the finish line. With an elegant spin of the bike, Belle pulled to a stop with Dustin and the two mystery riders coming to stop right beside her. The boys were the first ones to remove their helmets. Belle wasn't surprised to see that one of the riders was CB.
"You alright man?" the rider dressed in navy asked Belle as she slid off her bike.
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Why were they going after you?" Hunter asked.
"They probably didn't want a girl beating their asses," Belle spoke up.
"Girl," the two echoed while Belle reached up to remove her helmet and let her galaxy colored hair tumble down her back,
"Hey CB."
"Hey Little Firecracker," Hunter smirked back. "I didn't know you raced."
"I have a motorcycle so I thought that giving the motorbike a try sounded like fun."
"You've never actually ridden?" the other rider questioned.
"You know him?" Dustin asked his fellow ranger.
"No and yes," Belle answered respectively.
"You did good for your first run," Hunter praised with a hand on Belle's head.
The other rider reached out to Dustin and they clasped hands.
"I'm Blake Bradley and this is my brother Hunter."
"I'm Anna and this is Dustin," Belle spoke up when she saw that Dustin was going to open his mouth and put his foot in.
"Do tell me Blake, what kind of embarrassing stories do you have on CB here?"
Blake went to open his mouth but Hunter gave him a look.
"Real funny Little Firecracker."
"I thought so."
"I've never seen you guys around here," Dustin began. "Where's the home track?"
"You would've never heard of it," Hunter threw in hastily.
"Chill CB," Belle uttered with raised hands.
"And he wonders why he doesn't have any friends," Blake jested.
"Hey, do you two wanna follow us?"
"Sorry," Belle answered first. "I have to make sure I'm ready for my friends to come up this week."
"So you're not from here?" Hunter questioned.
"Nope. I'm from Briarwood."
"I'll have to raincheck," Dustin offered. "I've gotta be somewhere."
"No worries," Hunter told them. "I guess I'll see you around, Little Firecracker."
"See ya CB."
With that, both rangers turned from the brothers and headed off towards Kelly. Belle dropped off the gear and bike while Dustin talked over his riding with Kelly.
"I'll see ya later Dustin," she said on her way towards the neighboring forest that lay between the track and the town.
"See ya Shorty."
Belle made sure no one could see her when she touched a tree and traveled back to Ninja Ops.
ooo0ooo
"Hey Anna," Cam greeted her when she breezed down the stairs.
"Hey Ron. What'cha workin' on?"
"The Tsunami Cylces," Cam told her. "I'm thinking we could use some bikes to give us some more firepower."
"Good thinking Cam," Belle smiled. "Do you mind if I help?"
"Sure. I could use the company."
Belle quickly sat down next Cam and looked over the codes and the prototypes that were displayed on the screen. As soon as Belle took a seat beside Cam, her eyes flew over everything without missing a single detail. While Belle did this, Cam couldn't help but appreciate Belle's willingness to help him. None of the other rangers even thought that he might need help, although they did have other things to worry about than coding.
"Hmm, that looks sort of wrong to me," Belle uttered after a few minutes of looking at the code.
Cam was startled out of his thoughts by Belle's comment but moved to look over what she had pointed out. At first he couldn't find anything wrong and was going to say so, but when he went to take his eyes off of the screen, he saw. His eyes widened slightly at the realization and hastened to fix it.
"Thanks Anna, it looks like two sets of eyes work better than one."
The two worked hard looking over the coding until Belle deemed it time for a break.
"But I can get so much farther if I keep at it," Cam argued.
"Cameron Watanabe, you need breaks so that you don't fry your brain," Belle scolded.
"Now come help me make a late lunch."
Cam let out a deep sigh at her order, but nonetheless stood from his chair and followed her into the kitchen. As soon as Belle walks over to the kitchen island, she placed her phone down so that it was within quick reach instead of in her pocket.
"What do you need me to grab from the fridge?" Cam offered while Belle went under the cupboards to grab two skillets.
"Ham, cheese, butter, and pineapple if we have it."
After Belle had the skillets out, she waltzed through the room to grab the bread, some basil, and some potatoes. Cam sat his things on the kitchen counter and pulled out a cutting board for Belle while she washed her hands then started washing the potatoes.
"Oh, Ron, I forgot the olive oil. Could you grab it for me?"
Once the potatoes were clean, Belle began cutting the pineapple and the potatoes then went to work chopping the basil. Both skillets went on the stove side by side, with one holding butter and the other holding olive oil. Six sandwiches were assembled with the cheese, ham, and pineapple while the chopped potatoes were placed in the skillet with the olive oil. While Belle was busy making the meal, her phone started ringing on the counter.
"Could you get that Ron?"
Cam wasted no time picking up the phone and answered it without looking at the caller id.
"Hello?"Cam answered.
There was a pause on the other side of the line.
"Hello. Who is this?"
"Where is Belle?"
"Who is Belle?"
"He means me," Belle called over to Cam. "I can take it now."
The phone was handed over and Belle held it with her shoulder.
"Hey Xander."
"Who was that?"
"He's my friend Cam," Belle rolled her eyes at his protectiveness.
"I was cooking lunch so I couldn't reach the phone in time."
"He sounded cute," Vida teased from the other side of the line. "Is there something going on there Anna?"
"No, V. There is nothing going on."
"Too bad."
"How is the sun?" Maddie questioned.
"It's great. The scenery here is beautiful."
"We found a day that we can come up," Chip cheered happily.
"When?"
"We're thinking about leaving Friday after school, staying the night in Blue Bay, and then we have all of Saturday to hang out. Then we'll stay another night and leave Sunday morning," Xander spoke up.
"That sounds like a good plan," Belle smiled. "We'll have so much fun."
"We'll hold you to it," Vida declared with her usual confidence.
"Great. How have your classes been so far?"
This was enough to get all of then complaining about different teachers for predictable reasons. Vida because she would always want to beat anyone's ass who badmouthed her or her friends, Xander because of the workload, and as for the other two, they didn't complain much unless they were horrible teachers.
"What about you Anna?" Maddie piped up. "How is cyber school going?"
"It's going great," Belle said.
"It's relatively easy and if I need help, there are friends who can help me."
"That's good," Maddie answered.
"How about the martial arts training?" Chip jumped in with excitement.
"Great. I'm learning a lot."
"You so have to show us a few moves when you come back."
"I promise I will Chip, but I hope you're up for a challenge."
"Bring it on!"
Belle couldn't help but laugh at the energetic redhead's excitement. She loved that dork dearly. He kind of reminded her of a little brother even though he was technically older by a few months.
"We have to go," Xander spoke for everyone on the other side of the line. "But we'll see you Friday."
"See you guys. I love you."
Various shouts of different versions of "I love you" came through the phone that had Belle chuckling softly. She shook her head as she pushed the end call button then went back to wrapping up lunch. Cam, on the other hand, watched the way Belle was so familiar and open with her friends on the other side of the phone. He never really had the close friendships like what Belle had and he found himself, for just a brief moment, to have the sort of friendships that Belle had.
"Were those your friends from back home?" Cam voiced from the other side of the kitchen table.
"Yeah. They're coming up Friday night and staying in a hotel for the night, then we're hanging out Saturday."
"Good for you," Cam smiled. "It's nice to know that you're keeping in touch with them."
"If I didn't, they would show up and track me down," Belle chuckled in exasperation.
"I love them to pieces, but sometimes they're too much."
With that Belle plated up lunch and sat the plates down at the table. Both Cam and Belle dug in while keeping some light conversation going.
The three days seemed to blur past with the pattern of Belle waking up in the morning to work out, breakfast, online school, coding lessons, heading out into the city, lunch, whatever Belle wanted to do, training, whatever Belle wanted to do, dinner, meeting with Hunter in the forest, and then bed. It was also during this time that Belle helped Cam however she could with the Tsunami Cycles. He wanted to make sure there were no bugs and that they were absolutely perfect for the rangers. However, there was only so much he could do. He needed someone who was familiar with bike mechanics to take a second look, a.k.a. Dustin. As per usual for the past few days, Dustin was glued to the track racing with Blake and Hunter. Every time Dustin came alone, Hunter would discretely ask Dustin where Belle was. It didn't take long for Blake to notice that his brother was developing a crush on the galaxy haired girl. It was when training should have happened that Tori and Shane begged Cam to let them test out the Tsunami Cycles. Even though both Cam and Belle insisted that they weren't ready, the two took them out for a test run anyways.
"No one ever listens to the guy with glasses," Cam grumbled.
"I listen to you Ron," Belle offered with a small smile and a hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks Anna."
She gave his shoulder a squeeze then watched Cam venture out of Ninja Ops. Something told her not to go out with the others and besides that, her friends were coming soon. She needed to be in town. In a shower of sparkles she teleported to a more deserted part of town then made her way over to Storm Chargers with her friends' birthdays presents in hand. They're going to love these, Belle smiled to herself. Just as she was going to cross the street to get to Storm Chasers, a large earthquake shook the ground so hard, Belle had to drop down to her knees to keep from toppling over. What the hell, she asked herself while the tremors still gripped the city. When the shaking stopped, Belle could hear her morpher go off that she glamored to look like a silver star bracelet. She quickly fished out her phone and put it to her ear so it would look like she was talking on the phone.
"Go for Anna," she answered quietly.
"We have a mole problem at the quarry," Cam told just as softly.
"Thanks Ron. I'll get there as soon as I can."
Belle put her phone away and turned around so that she was heading away from Storm Chargers. She still had some time until her friends got there. When she was sure no one could see her and she couldn't sense anybody even with her senses heightened with her magic, she ninja streaked off towards the quarry. She was almost there when Cam called over her morpher again.
"He got away," Cam sighed.
"When we see him again, do you want me to cast a location spell on him?" Belle offered from her hiding place inside some walls of rock.
"That would be much appreciated Anna."
"Then I'm heading back to Storm Chasers. I have to meet my friends."
Instead of ninja streaking, Belle teleported back by Storm Chargers.
"Hey Shorty," Dustin greeted her enthusiastically.
"Hey Géant, Tori, Shane."
She moved to stand over by the counter, but she stopped in her tracks when she heard the soft music playing from the radio.
"Turn it up," she requested at once.
The trumpets and male voice of "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean came on over the speakers while Belle slipped off her white sandal wedges. As soon as Shakira's name was mentioned, Belle began to move her hips to the music. All three older rangers stopped what they were doing so that they could watch the impromptu dance that Belle was doing. Belle's outfit of choice today was a flowy skirt to her lower thigh and a white crop top whose straps were a crissed-crossed spaghetti design with her hair free, which made her skirt and hair twirl around her as she danced. When Shakira started to sing, that's when Belle started to sing.
"Oh baby when you talk like that
You make a woman go mad
So be wise and keep on
Reading the signs of my body"
By now everyone in the store was watching Belle while she danced.
"And I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection"
Right as she was tilting and shaking her hips to the beat, Hunter and Blake entered the store.
"What the hell?" Hunter voiced when he saw the fast dancing girl.
"Is that Anna?" Blake questioned.
"I don't know many girls with that hair color, do you?"
"Ooh baby when you talk like that
You make a woman go mad
So be wise and keep on
Reading the signs of my body"
Now there was a whole crowd surrounding the dancing girl with Hunter and Blake in front and her fellow rangers behind or on the counter.
"And I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel you boy
Come on
Let's go
Real slow
Don't you see baby
Asi es perfecto"
What really threw people through a loop was the almost perfect Spanish that came through her lips on the last lyrics.
"Oh I know I'm on tonight
My hips don't lie and I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection"
During this part of the song, Belle hopped up onto the counter with her feet resting on a chair.
"Oh boy
I can see your body moving
Half animal, half man
I don't, don't really know what I'm doing
But you seem to have a plan"
With a crook of her finger, Belle urged Hunter forward.
"My will and self restraint
Have come to fail now, fail now
See, I am doing what I can
But I can't so you know
That's a bit too hard to explain"
Belle then held out her hand to Hunter so that he could help her down from the counter and continued on dancing the choreography. In the back of the crowd, four teens could be seen entering the store. As soon as they saw the crowd they looked to the others.
"Do you think it's Anna?" Maddie asked the others.
"I'd say so," Xander answered while he cocked his head towards the music.
The group then moved towards the crowd then pushed their way up to the front where Hunter and Blake stood.
"Oh baby when you talk like that
You know you got me hypnotized
So be wise and keep on
Reading the signs of my body"
Their eyes found the short galaxy haired girl as she moved about the free space in her own little world.
"Mira en Barranquilla se baila así, say it!"
"Mira en Barranquilla se baila así," Vida and Maddie echoed back in perfect Spanish to cheer her on.
When Belle heard them, her head snapped in their direction and the biggest smile grew on her face when she saw her friends.
"I'm on tonight, my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel you boy
Come on, let's go
Real slow
Baby this is perfecto
Oh, you know I am on tonight and my hips don't lie
And I am starting to feel it's right
The attraction, the tension
Baby, like this is perfection."
The ending trumpets sounded out and ended with Belle striking a sassy pose. When the song was over, there was silence before applause broke out all around the building.
"Guys!" Belle exclaimed in joy when she saw her home friends, running towards them so that she could envelop all of them in a group hug.
They all happily returned the hug with a squeeze while they greeted her. Belle too gave them a squeeze before she let them go and backed up a bit so that she could look at all of their faces.
"Little Firecracker," Hunter called out from behind Belle to get her attention.
"Oh, I have some people for you to meet," Belle told her friends while she took the closest hands.
Since Hunter and Blake were closest, Belle dragged her friends over to them.
"Hey CB, Blake, these are my friends from back home. This is Xander Bly, Vida Rocca, Madison Rocca, and Chip Thorn. Guys, this is Hunter Bradley and his brother Blake."
Blake was happy to reach out and shake hands while Hunter just nodded his head to them.
"So, is it true about what we hear about the forest in Briarwood?" Blake asked the group.
"Oh yeah," Chip piped up while Belle tried her hardest to keep her mirth hidden. "Just last week there was a tourist that went in the forest and hasn't been heard of since."
All Belle could do was roll her eyes at Chip's words since she knew what exactly was in the forest. Unseen by the group, the rangers made their way over with Dustin leading them.
"Hey Shorty," Dustin greeted the shorter girl as he messed up her hair.
"Will you quit it Géant!" Belle grumbled while she tried to swat his hand away. Both Shane and Tori came from behind Dustin and took in Belle's friends.
"Hey Sabrina, why don't you introduce us," Shane teased.
Still fussing over her hair so that she could fix it, Belle introduced her friends to her fellow rangers.
"I didn't know you could dance like that Anna," Tori commented.
"Really?" Maddie spoke up.
"Anna loves to dance. She's been taking lessons ever since she was little."
"She even got Xander to take some classes with her," Vida added.
"What do you guys have planned?" Blake asked.
"I'm thinking we should go to a coffee shop," Belle mused.
"That sounds great," Maddie smiled. "I've been craving a cappuccino."
"Then that settles it," Belle decided. "I'll see you all later."
"Catch ya later Shorty.
"See ya Sabrina."
"Stay out of trouble Little Firecracker."
Belle gave the first two boys a smile while she rolled her eyes at Hunter.
"I'm not a trouble magnet CB."
"Then what happened at the track?"
"It wasn't that bad. And if someone would have tried something, I had it handled."
All Hunter did was give her a disbelieving look as the group left the others.
"What does he mean 'what happened at the track'?" Xander questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll tell you when we get the coffee shop," Belle promised without looking back at the teens who were following her.
The others were hesitant with agreeing to wait, but they reluctantly abided by her wish.
ooo0ooo
Fifteen minutes later, all five of the teens settled in a slightly darker and isolated corner of a coffee shop a few blocks away from Storm Chargers. As soon as they sat down, Belle cast a silencing and concealing spell around their little corner so that no prying eyes could see what was going to be discussed.
"So, what did tall, blonde, and handsome mean?" Vida demanded once everyone had gotten their drinks and snacks.
"Well, earlier this week I tried motocross-,"
"Was it fun?" Chip smiled.
"It was actually. Though-,"
"Ahem," Vida cleared her throat to get Belle's attention so that Belle could continue on with her explanation.
Belle gave a sigh but continued on with her tale of her first motocross experience.
"You did what?!" Xander exploded after the story and made to stand, but with a fast hand and a strong grip, Belle was able to keep him in his seat.
"Calm down Xander, I took care of it," Belle told him.
"Yeah, because you had those three guys looking after you," Xander fumed.
"Xander, I can take care of myself."
"Why must you aggravate people?" Xander sighed once his anger was gone.
"It's at times like this that I think you're a Gryffindor than a Hufflepuff."
Belle rolled her eyes at Xander's words, but she knew that he had gotten it all out of his system now and he had let the matter group then all fell into silence as they ate.
"Oh yeah!" Belle exclaimed after a few minutes. "I almost forgot about your presents. Here you go Maddie, Xander."
The present that went to the younger Rocca was wrapped in a blue mermaid tail design with gold ribbons while Xander's was wrapped with green paper that had the Slytherin house crest and silver ribbons. Maddie was careful about taking the wrapping off while Xander was all but ripping it off his present. It was safe to say that Xander had his present open first. He just sat there in shock at the black, green, and silver skateboarding gear that sat on the table in front of him.
"What do you think, Mads?" Belle asked Maddie who nearly had tears in her eyes.
"I-I love it," she smiled through her misty eyes. "How much did it cost? I don't want you-,"
"Up bup bup," Belle interjected at once.
"I'm not gonna sit here and hear you say I shouldn't have spent money on you. You're one of my best friends and you deserve to be spoiled on your birthday."
Satisfied with her words, Belle turned to Xander who was still staring at his gift.
"What about you Xan? Do you like your present?"
"I'm beyond words," he uttered after a few more minutes of silence.
"This has to be one of the best presents you have ever gotten me."
"That's gonna be hard to top next year," Belle teased with a wide grin.
Xander gave a small smile at Belle's words and an elbow gently nudged Belle for her teasing.
"Where are we going next?" Vida questioned now that both of the birthday people had their presents.
"We could either go looking for an arcade or we can go to the beach," Belle offered.
"We should look for an arcade," Chip threw in. "We can save the whole day tomorrow for the beach."
"I'm game for an arcade," Vida agreed.
"Sounds good," Xander seconded with Madison agreeing a few minutes after.
"Alright, then let's get our butts in gear," Belle declared with a wide grin.
Luckily for the group of teens, they were able to find a very large arcade place named Round 1.
"Look at this Anna!" Chip exclaimed in awe. "We can have karaoke, arcade games, and bowling!"
"What should we do first?" Belle laughed.
"I challenge you to a dance battle," Vida declared to Belle when she saw the Just Dance machine.
A smirk appeared on Belle's face at Vida's challenge.
"You're on V."
They both scrambled up to the machine and took the two open spots in front of the screen. The other three followed behind us so that they could referee the showdown.
"Be prepared to lose Anna," V threw over to Belle as the both of them adjusted the wireless gloves and anklets that would monitor their moves.
"Dream on V," Belle scoffed playfully, scrolling through the song choice until she stopped at a particular song.
Her face lit up when she made the selection then moved so that her back was facing Vida. Vida was quick to follow Belle's lead so that their backs touched the other's. The beginning notes of "Beautiful Liar" by Beyonce and Shakira came through the speakers of the game while the two girls rolled their hips along with the animated characters on the screen. Their heads then whipped to face the screen so that they could be able to see the moves as they came on the screen. Then came their dipping down slightly to put their fingertips close to the ground then slowly raise their arms up that morphed into them going down towards the floor with their arms moving in a fluid motion. Belle stayed down in a crouched position while Vida rose and began rolling her hips along with her shoulders. Belle was the next to rise while rolling her body until the both of them were facing the gaming screen. Next to move were their arms that resembled the motions of belly dancing while their legs moved out in the opposite direction that their arms moved. Next came them pushing back and forth between the dancing girls. A whoot came from Chip that encouraged the girls to get more into their dancing while Madison was filming the whole thing on her new camera. Xander on the other hand couldn't take his eyes off of Belle who was having the time of her life. The two continued dancing by shaking their hips and moving their hands from side to side until they went back to the belly dancing moves. Pushing back and forth came back into the routine that was followed by them switching places while their arms went up and down. The rest of the song came with repeating moves that two girls put oozing sass with each movement of their bodies. Towards the back of the arcade found both Hunter and Blake watching the group of friends.
"Are you sure she's a ranger?" Hunter asked his brother.
"Well, she's been hanging out with the other rangers," Blake told him.
"It only makes sense she can be a ranger too."
"But she doesn't have a morpher," Hunter pointed out, his eyes zeroing in on left wrist that held her glamored morpher.
"What about her martial arts?"
"Do you know how many dojos they have around the world?"
"I guess we'll find out when the mole pops up again," Blake sighed in exasperation at his brother not being able to see reason.
"If she leaves, then we assume that she's a ranger."
Hunter didn't look pleased with the decision but he kept quiet. He felt irritated with Blake for insisting that Belle was a ranger, but he was equal parts frustrated with himself. Why did he feel like he needed to stick up for the girl? He only met her roughly a week ago so why should he have such a connection with her. I'm a fucking ninja, he seethed in his head while his face remained neutral. I'm supposed to separate my feelings from my job so that I can make calls with a clear and level head. Even though he should have been angry, he found that he couldn't be with after watching Belle finish her dance battle with her friend that ended with her bubbling laughter filling the space as she leaned against her shoulder. That image was enough for Hunter's harsh feelings to soften towards the galaxy haired teen.
"I won!" Belle cheered to her group, throwing her arms around Xander's neck.
"You were just lucky," Vida grinned back to Belle who was up in the air due to Xander picking her up.
"Excuse you," Belle laughed when she was put back down. "Who is the one who had years of dance training?"
All Vida did was laugh and wrap Belle up in a hug.
"I say we play laser tag next," Xander offered."We haven't had Team TRBL in forever."
"Do you even have the earpieces?" Belle asked him skeptically.
This in turn brought a large smile to Chip's face as he pulled off his backpack. From the inside, he pulled out five earsets in a plastic bag.
"Chip," Vida uttered in shock that he actually had them with him.
"I had a hunch that we'd be doing something like this," he admitted without his smile diminishing. "So I brought these just in case we'd need them."
"Great thinking Chip," Maddie congratulated him.
"So who's up for it?" Xander smiled which showed his dimples.
"Hell yeah I am," Belle put in at once with the others following close behind.
"Alright, let's get this started."
The group moved to walk over to the laser tag room when Belle got one of her prophetic feelings. Cam was going to call her and tell her that they needed her for the mole monster. But something inside her was telling her that they needed Dustin way more than she did. It would be a life lesson to Dustin.
"Hey guys," Belle began while she shifted through her bag for her phone.
"I have a call to take. I'll meet back up with you at the gate."
"You better hurry up Anna," Vida called over her shoulder while the others kept on going.
Just as Belle pulled out her phone and put it to her ear did a small noise pop up.
"Go for Anna," she whispered into the phone.
"The rangers need your help Anna," Cam told her. "They're facing the mole again."
"Cam, I don't think they need my help," she insisted. "They need Dustin's help. This is his lesson to learn."
"Anna is right Cam," Sensei Watanabe agreed on the other line. "This is for Dustin to further understand the value of punctuality."
"But what about the others," Cam spoke up.
"They can handle themselves Cam," Sensei assured his son.
"When I get back home later, I'll tell you," Belle promised, keeping her words brief so that prying ears couldn't pick up their conversation.
"Right. We'll see you later Anna."
Belle then quickly closed her phone and stashed it away before she made her way over to the entrance of the laser tag station.
"What took so long Anna?" Madison questioned when Belle rejoined the group.
"I had to take a call from the dorms," Belle chuckled while she ran her hands through her hair.
"I forgot that I had to be there for a health and safeties kind of thing a few minutes ago."
"Belle," Xander scolded softly.
"It's alright," she waved off. "I had my room clean so it wasn't that big of an issue."
As she said the words, a pain grew in her chest at having to lie to her longtime friends more than she had to about her magical abilities. They seemed to take the response in stride and considered the matter resolved.
"Now that we have everything taken care of," Chip began when the gear was getting passed out for the team set up.
"Let's pick our formation."
All were given the vests that had their targets along with laser guns that they each hand picked out of a batch with a final touch of their earcomms.
"We're running Protocol Blackbird 3-3-9," Belle announced to her team, placing a hand laser gun in a holster provided and slinging a rifle over her back.
"I regret making you watch all of those action movies," Vida complained while she herself picked up a rifle laser gun.
"Hey, we've had a few years to perfect this," Belle pointed out.
"She has a point V," Madison agreed as she picked up her own sniper gun.
"Yeah, I remember how you used to get so frustrated in the beginning cause we kept losing," Chip chimed in while he slung a sniper onto his back.
V gathered a nice dusting of pink on her cheeks at being reminded of her faults.
"I remember that too," Xander smirked, his rifle already slung around his back. "You spent hours upon hours watching action movies with us so that you could-,"
Xander let out an 'ooph' as he was violently elbowed in the stomach from his teasing.
"Zip it Xander," Vida blushed.
"Hey now," Belle intervened between the two.
"V, no roughing up your teammates. Xander, you know not to tease V like that."
"It was worth it," he groaned. Belle rolled her eyes at his antics before she faced all of her team.
"Okay, we have all of our things, so we're going on. Everyone knows their places and we make sure to keep to our posts. Am I clear?"
"Aye Cap'in," the group chorused.
"Then let's get out there and make a difference."
As soon as the doors opened, Chip and Madison scurried up to the rafters to keep a better visual on the field while Vida, Xander, and Belle made a ground team. The three of them kept their backs to the others so that they had full protection around their team.
"Do you have anything Red1 and Red 2?" Belle spoke into her earpiece, referring to Madison and Chip acting as snipers.
"We have nothing Red Leader," Chip answered back. "We'll keep you posted."
The ground team continued to move forward as a unit, keeping their eyes peeled for any other teams.
"Red Leader, you have a team on your 10," Madison spoke into the earpiece.
"Roger."
Belle took the initiative and led her little ground group over to the sides that had a little ledge before going around corners.
"Are you guys ready?"
Nods were given that sparked Belle's enthusiasm.
"Then let's go kick some ass,"
In the higher rafters of the laser tag room, Hunter and Blake watched Belle's team quickly and efficiently take down the opposing team.
"See," Hunter pointed out as they continued to watch the team. "She didn't leave for the mole, so Little Firecracker isn't a ranger."
"I still don't like this Hunter," Blake said, watching Belle with wary eyes. "I
mean look how well she leads that team."
"Dude, she can't be the Red Ranger," Hunter deadpanned.
"And from what we've seen, the White Gold Ranger doesn't have that kind of leadership skills."
"Hunter, I'm worried about you," Blake admitted. "You're letting your emotions get the better of you. What if you needed to kill the girl?"
Hunter's face became stony at the thought and he fought hard not to lash out.
"Then I will take her out," Hunter promised with a heavy feeling in his chest.
"But we never know, she could be the ranger's weakness. If we were to take her hostage, they would be quick to come to her rescue."
"Now you're thinking like a ninja," Blake beamed to his younger brother while he clapped a hand to his shoulder.
At the end of the round, Team TRBL emerged victorious from the dark room.
"Fuck yeah!" Belle cheered. "We're the undefeated champions!"
"Hell yeah!" Vida voiced along with Belle, raising her hands to double high five her.
"That was so awesome," Chip sighed happily while Maddie simply smiled.
Xander said nothing as he walked beside the group. "How long have we been in there," Belle mumbled to herself as she pulled out her phone from her purse. According to her phone, they had spent the better half of the day in the laser tag room competing against other teams.
"Wow," Madison breathed when she caught sight of the time on Belle's phone.
"Do you guys feel like grabbing some dinner?" Belle suggested. "My treat."
"You don't have to," Vida began to protest that ended with Belle waving her hand.
"Don't be silly V," Belle said. "I'm happy to pay for you guys. How does Red Lobster sound?"
The others could tell that it was a rhetorical question so they simply smiled and gave their approval for the idea. All the while Hunter was watching the exchange with a smirk. Isn't she assertive, he thought to himself. I think I like this side of her. Blake had already left when it was clear that Belle wasn't leaving the group, but Hunter chose to stick around for a few more minutes. Why am I so concerned about this one girl, he asked himself when he left the arcade. So what if I feel peaceful around her? I can just meditate to calm myself. I need to be able to separate myself from her so that if I need to kill or betray her, I feel nothing. With that thought in mind, Hunter traveled back home and waited for night to fall.
ooo0ooo
Not long after dinner, Belle dropped her full friends off at their hotel room then ventured back to Ninja Ops.
"Cam, Sensei Watanabe," she called as she came down the stairs into the command center and computer room.
"I'm back."
Cam was waiting in his computer chair with Sensei Watanabe at his little house. Both turned to face her when she made it to the bottom of the stairs.
"How was your day Anna?" Cam asked the galaxy haired girl.
"It was amazing," she beamed.
"My friends and I hit the arcade and played some Just Dance and laser tag. Team TRBL came out number one for the laser tag. Then after that, we all went out to eat at Red Lobster. We're planning on going to the beach for all of tomorrow."
"Anna," Sensei Watanabe began after Belle had finished her rambling.
"What were you talking about earlier when you said that Dustin was in need of a lesson? You were not here for him to receive his punishment for not arriving on time."
"Oh, that's easy," Belle told them.
"I am a sorceress of the stars. In many mythologies, the stars are used to tell the future. It's true that the stars have a divination aspect that give me prophetic intuition. My Mom and Aunt Udonna said that on my sixteenth birthday, I would start having prophetic dreams and visions."
Both looked surprised at Belle's abilities, but they brushed it off.
"Do they occur at regular times, or do they happen spontaneously?" Cam inquired.
"Hmm, it's pretty much spontaneous," Belle mused that ended in a large yawn. "Oh geez, maybe tonight's ride will be short."
"Are you sure it's wise to fly when you are this tired?" Sensei Watanabe voiced in worry for his foster student.
"I'll be fine Sensei," Belle assured him. "Thank you for worrying about me though. I'll be back in about an hour."
With that Belle went right back out of Ninja Ops and flew to her and Hunter's meeting place.
"Hey CB," Belle chirped when she saw Hunter waiting for her on the tree trunk he had been sitting on when they first met.
"Hey Little Firecracker," he returned with a small smile. "I saw you today at the laser tag event."
"You did?" Belle echoed as she sat down beside him.
"Um hmm," he confirmed.
"My brother and I were taken out before we could face you, but we saw you beating the shit out of all the other competition."
"I guess that's what happens when you have three people on a team that hates to lose," she chuckled.
"Oh? Would you happen to be one of the three?"
"Maybe," Belle answered with the most mischievous smile Hunter had seen from her yet.
"Though I have to say that you taking charge was kind of hot. I bet it would be even better if you were angry."
"I'm not particularly charming when I get angry."
"I beg to differ," Hunter smirked. All Belle did was glare up at him.
"You see, this is cute. I love the way your eyes spark at me."
When the word cute fell from Hunter's lips, the intensity of Belle's glare rose a bit. While Belle knew that she was cute, she didn't like people telling her she was cute. She was fine with her friends doing it because she knew they were teasing her, but it rubbed her the wrong way when Hunter said it.
"Is that the beginning of a blush I see Little Firecracker?" Hunter pried with amused dark eyes.
"Shut up CB."
"Oh, no strong comeback to that? I'm a little disappointed."
Belle could slowly feel her anger rise its ugly head and she took a deep breath to keep it from fully emerging.
"Enough teasing Hunter," she warned him.
"Why? I'm having fun."
On reflex Belle's fist shot out to punch him, but Hunter's hand just as quickly went up to catch her fist.
"Violence?" Hunter quipped, gripping Belle's fist and pulling her closer through her extended arm.
"I thought you would have just bit my head off."
"Don't test me Hunter," Belle let out lowly with her voice bordering on a growl.
"But I like the angry you and it's so fun to rile you up."
Belle's other hand pulled back to punch, but Hunter caught that one too. This only served to irritate Belle more which had one of her legs coming up to strike him. Hunter easily caught her leg behind her knee and pulled Belle flush against his body with one arm around the small of her back and the other hand holding one of her hands.
"Let me go you ass-," Belle began to growl but was cut off by Hunter's lips on hers.
Her whole triade she had on the tip of her tongue evaporated the longer Hunter's slightly chapped lips rested on hers. Belle could only freeze in shock at his move. No one had ever deliberately kissed her like that and she was a little conflicted on if she wanted the kiss or not. I don't really know him, she reasoned with herself on the side of logic. But that was certainly hot, her emotional side was telling her. I kind of want to kiss him again. Hunter then pulled away slowly and stared down into Belle's chocolate brown eyes.
"I've never had such a strong attraction to someone before," Hunter admitted.
"And I don't think I want to ignore it. Do you feel it too?"
"I…," Belle began only to swallow to gather her thoughts.
"I think so, but I don't know if I want to go along with it."
"Then tell me when you do," Hunter said as he set Belle back on her feet before he turned towards his home.
"I'll see you later, Lil' Firecracker."
Belle could not utter a word as she watched Hunter head back home. Her mind was racing with the different thoughts and feelings Hunter had woken in her, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole mess. It might be better for me to sleep on it, Belle sighed to herself. Without further ado, Belle made her way back to Ninja Ops while making sure she wasn't being followed or watched along the way.
"Hey Anna," Cam greeted her from his spot at the computer, already dressed in his pajamas and without his glasses.
"Hey Ron," Belle returned as she breezed to his side to give him a hug around his shoulders.
"Did something happen during your flight?" Cam questioned when he saw the slight far away look in Belle's eyes.
"Yes," Belle admitted, the comfort of Cam's presence enough for her to relax against him.
"But I don't think that you would be interested in girl talk."
"So it involves a guy?" Cam questioned while feeling a slight twinge at Belle being interested in another guy.
"Yeah."
"I wouldn't mind hearing you talk about it," Cam offered. "That's what friends are for, right?"
Cam inwardly winced at his words, but it gave Belle a warmth in her chest.
"Thanks Ron. Do you wanna go sit in the living room and talk?"
"Yeah. You go sit down and I'll make us some hot cocoa."
Belle gave Cam's shoulders a squeeze before she let go and ventured further into the home part of Ninja Ops. Like Cam had promised, when he joined Belle in the living room, he brought two mugs of hot cocoa for the both of them to drink.
"So, what's his name?" Cam asked to get the ball rolling.
"Hunter Bradley. I met him the first night that I went riding on my broom. He's tall with dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. At first, he was wary of me. I think he might be from the Thunder Ninja Academy."
"What?" Cam uttered in shock at her last sentence.
"Yeah, when I startled him, he fell into a Thunder Academy stance."
"Do you think we should tell Father?"
"No!" Belle all but exploded. "This is just talk between friends."
"But if he could be a potential ally…," Cam trailed off.
"What if he is just in hiding because of what happened?" Belle remarked.
"We can't just drag him back into it if he doesn't want it."
"Fair point."
Belle then went on to tell Cam about the different interactions with Hunter that made another twinge appear in Cam's chest that was quick to disappear. He chose to ignore it and give all of his focus on Belle.
"I don't know if I like Hunter or not," Belle groaned. "We only just met."
"Well, give it some time," Cam told her.
"Figure out if you guys are compatible and not just focus on the attraction. He did say you had to be the one to say you wanted to pursue it, right?"
"Yeah," Belle smiled in gratitude at his words.
"Thanks Ron. I feel a whole lot better now."
"Anytime."
Belle made to get up to put her mug in the kitchen, but Cam reached forward to take the mug.
"I'll take that to the kitchen. You go get some rest."
Belle gave another grateful smile at Cam's kindness as she rose to her feet.
"Thanks Ron. Goodnight."
She then leaned down a bit to peck a kiss on his cheek before she left the living room for her bedroom. Cam watched her go then looked down at the mugs in his hand as he tried to gather his thoughts. He was happy to talk with Belle about whatever was bothering her, like a friend would do, but he wasn't so sure how he felt about talking with her about her love life. For some reason it was slightly uncomfortable. But as long as Belle feels better, he decided, that's all that matters.
ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo
Whew, there were quite some changes that I put in this chapter. As I said before, I wanted to deepen the relationship between Belle and her childhood friends as well as give her relationships between both Hunter and Cam. I felt like I kind of rushed things a bit instead of trying to flesh things out. So, this time around I wanted to do so so that my story will be a little bit more engaging and believable even though it is in a universe that has magic and Power Rangers. Speaking of the relationship I wanted to build between Cam and Belle, I think that the last part I wrote for this chapter was so cute between the two. I am looking forward to more cute and touching scenes between the characters of the story and seeing how this new version plays out. I hope you all are too and I can't wait to get on with chapter five. That all I have to say for this A/N, so I will get on with the outro. If you have any questions or comments feel free to shoot me a pm or to leave a review. Remember, reviews are magic!
-White Wolf