Painful Apologies

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

Summary: A Tori/Blake fic... Tori ends up kissing someone else, and Blake has trouble forgiving her (Hm... I'm rather big on forgiveness, aren't I?)

Author's Note: I guess I'm not going to actually delete all of my stories... At least, not at the moment

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Tori watched as Blake stormed away, the set of his shoulders and the way he was walking showing just how angry and upset he was.

Tori couldn't believe what she had just done. How could I have been so stupid? she wondered as she made her way to the beach, unable to face going to NinjaOps and seeing the others there. By this time, Blake would have told them what had happened, and Tori couldn't face the accusations and arguments that she knew were going to start flying around.

Tori stood watching the waves. She replayed what had just happened over and over again in her head. What have I done?

t wasn't that Tori didn't love Blake, because she did. Their relationship was perfect. Well, not perfect. But Tori was definitely happy with Blake.

Tori watched the surfers. Surprisingly, there weren't very many of them. She guessed that the rest must all be off somewhere else.

It had all started off with little things. Like Tori being a little late for their dates, or cancelling quite a lot. Just little things to annoy Blake and make him a little mad at her. Tori had been pushing, and she had no idea why. It seemed like she was deliberately trying to make Blake angry. Deliberately trying to get him to lash out at her. But why?

I guess I went too far this time, Tori thought to herself. She hadn't even liked kissing that guy. She had only kissed him because she had known that Blake was nearby and would see what she had done.

I have to go to him and ask him to forgive me, Tori decided.

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The next morning found Tori round the Bradleys' house. She raised her hand to knock on the door, and then hesitated. She was beginning to lose her nerve. How in the world could she explain to Blake why she had done what she did when she didn't even know why she had done it herself?

Finally, the decision was made for Tori as the door was opened, and Hunter looked out. His eyes darkened when he looked at her, but he just said, "Are you just going to stand outside here all day?"

"Where's Blake?" Tori asked.

Hunter folded his arms, just standing in the doorway, effectively blocking any attempt Tori could have made to get inside. "None of your business," he answered.

Keep calm, Tori told herself. Like the water. She took a deep breath. "Please tell me where he is, Hunter."

"You don't have the right to ask that," Hunter told Tori. Both of them were speaking in low voices, but their conversation was still attracting a lot of attention.

Tori glanced over at the few neighbours who were watching them with unguarded curiosity, and then looked at Hunter. "Can we please talk about this inside?" she begged.

Hunter hesitated for a long moment, then, seeming to come to a decision, he shrugged, and stepped aside. Then, as Tori walked past him, he whispered, "Blake's not gonna be happy to see you."

Tori didn't care. At least she was inside. She glanced around the messy hallway, and one corner of her mouth quirked upwards into an almost smile. Typical male.

Hunter pointed to the living room, and Tori stepped inside, then sat on the edge of the sofa.

"You want a drink?" Hunter asked.

Tori shook her head. "I just want to see Blake," she said. Oh, great. Did that sound dumb or what?

"You'll have to wait, then." Hunter shrugged. "He's still asleep."

"Did he tell you what happened?" Tori wanted to know.

Hunter nodded. "Why did you do that to him?" he demanded. "He was happy. He loved you."

Tori winced at the use of the word 'loved'. Did that mean that Blake no longer loved her? Or was Hunter just saying that? She really hoped that it was the latter.

"I don't know why I did," Tori admitted in a low voice. "I guess... Maybe I was still a little mad about you two attacking us."

Hunter's face didn't change expression. "We already apologised for that," he said, his tone a little sharp. "You want us to grovel?"

Tori slowly shook her head. "No, but I think I wanted to punish Blake for it."

"Trust me, he's been punished enough," Hunter said blandly. "We both have. Why do you think we were going to quit being Power Rangers?" He shook his head. "You haven't been there. You don't know what the two of us went through on each of those occasions. You should experience the same thing, and then say that to us."

"Well, hopefully that won't happen again," Tori mumbled. Then, she sighed. "Hunter, I admit that I made a huge mistake. Why do you think I'm here? I want to apologise to Blake. I want him to forgive me."

"And why should I?"

Tori and Hunter both looked up to see Blake standing in the doorway. Tori paled. How long had he been standing there for? How much had he heard?

As if answering her silent questions, Blake said, "I heard pretty much everything you two said." His eyes, filled with hurt, bored into Tori's.

"Did you sleep well, bro?" Hunter questioned.

Blake turned his gaze onto his brother. "Why didn't you wake me?" he wanted to know.

Hunter shrugged. "You looked like you needed some rest," he answered. Then, he stood up. "I'm going to go and get a drink." And he walked out of the room, leaving Tori and Blake alone together.

Blake stepped further into the room, staring hard at Tori. The blue wind ranger wondered if coming here had been a mistake, but pushed that thought out of her mind. It was too late to worry about that now.

Finally, Blake spoke. "Would it do any good to tell you to leave?" he asked.

Tori looked at him steadily. "No," she replied. "At least... Not until you've forgiven me."

Blake shook his head. "Not as easy as that," he replied. He sat down on a chair opposite Tori. "Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?" He sounded close to tears, and Tori flinched.

"I have some idea," Tori said carefully. "But I'm really sorry, Blake. I know that I have no right to ask for your forgiveness... But, please..." A couple of tears slipped out of her eyes, and she angrily dashed them away.

Blake flinched at the sight of the tears, but remained silent.

"Do you want me on my knees?" Tori asked. "What do you want me to do, Blake? Please tell me!"

Blake looked down. "I don't know what I want," he said tiredly.

Tori hesitated, then reached out to touch Blake's hand. "Blake, I'm really sorry," she said simply. "Please forgive me. I know that I made some bad choices. But I'm really sorry."

Blake was silent for a long moment. Then, just as Tori was about to draw back, he hugged her tightly.

Tori just leaned into him, happy for him to be holding her again. She cried softly as Blake's hands stroked over her hair and back and he murmured soft, comforting words that didn't really make a lot of sense but were nice to listen to anyway.

Finally, they stopped hugging, but Blake kept hold of Tori's hands. "Am I forgiven?" the blue wind ranger asked.

Blake smiled. "Yeah, you are."

"Convince me."

With a soft laugh, Blake bent his head, and kissed Tori. They stayed like that until the sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention.

"You two cool now?" Hunter asked.

Blake looked at Tori, then at his brother, and nodded. "Yeah, bro. We're cool."

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