Roses and Thorns

Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and...

DarkAngel: Cat! Everyone knows that you don't own anything from any Power Rangers series! You don't have to keep saying it at the beginning of each chapter!

RedFox: -Glares at DarkAngel- She's just making sure!

Author's Note: These chapters always look really neat on my computer screen... But I can't use justified on So it always looks poorly presented. Not fair!

RedFox: I'm not sure that readers are really looking for well-presented fics...

DarkAngel: But it always helps

DarkCat: -Hisses at them both-

Replies to reviews:

CamFan4Ever: I think they might make a cute couple . Of course, that's just my opinion... Others probably don't share it

garnetred: Yeah, that was what I thought . Though they're not in love yet... They're in like. Hm, is it actually possible to fall in like with someone?

Muses: -Shrug-

BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it

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Lothor watched the events unfold, smiling a little as he saw the silk rangers battling the light rangers. His smile widened as the violet ranger got hung in the tree. Then, he scowled as the wind rangers and the thunder rangers turned up.

"Is something wrong, uncle?" Kapri asked while her sister, Marah, painted her nails.

"Those Power Rangers always turn up at precisely the wrong moment!" Lothor snapped. He then glared at his two nieces. "How many times have I told you two not to sit in my chair?" he demanded.

"Sorry." Marah and Kapri quickly got off, though Marah was still doing her nails.

"Sir, I really don't think that using those two silk rangers is a good idea," Zurgane told Lothor. "They aren't even under your control, sir."

"No, they're not," Lothor agreed. "But that just means that they'll fight even harder for me."

"I don't trust them," Zurgane said bluntly.

"That's not a problem," Lothor replied. "I don't trust anyone, after all. How is the new weapon doing?"

"Easier than I had expected," Zurgane answered. "It was not too difficult to turn his mind to hate and violence."

"Good," Lothor smiled. "We'll be able to use him soon, then."

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"Hey, bro," Blake said, appearing in the doorway of Hunter's room. "Would you mind helping me out for a moment?"

"Sure," Hunter replied easily, getting off his bed and walking over to his brother. "What's the problem?"

"Well, Tori and I are going out on a date tonight," Blake explained. "I'm supposed to be picking her up in about an hour or so, and I have no idea what to wear."

Hunter blinked. "Aren't women the ones who spend hours trying to decide what to wear?" he asked.

"And I have an hour," Blake answered. "So it won't take me hours to get ready. And, besides, I want to look nice for Tori. It is our first date, after all."

"Just put on a suit or something," Hunter said. "Do you think that Tori will actually care about what you look like? She's not that shallow. She'll just want to be with you. Just dress in something that looks reasonably nice and is comfortable."

Blake rolled his eyes, and punched his brother lightly on the shoulder. "Yeah, you can tell that you haven't been on many dates, bro," he replied with a laugh.

Yeah, well, I'd only like to go out on a date with one woman, Hunter thought to himself. But I already turned her down.

"You ok, bro?" Blake asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hunter replied.

"Are you sure? Because you're in dark, brooding mode again," Blake commented. "I think that there's something wrong."

"Bro, I'm fine," Hunter insisted.

"Why don't you just ask her out?" Blake suggested, referring to Lila.

Hunter gave his brother an odd look. "But you don't like her," he said.

"No, but you do," Blake replied. "And that's all that really matters."

"It wouldn't work out anyway," Hunter shrugged. "I'm a Power Ranger, Blake. It's different for you and Tori. Both of you are Power Rangers. If I start dating Lila, it's going to be really difficult to keep the fact that I'm the crimson thunder ranger secret from her."

Blake nodded. "Got ya, bro," he said. "Now, are you going to help me pick out a nice outfit to wear or not? And should I get Tori some flowers?"

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Tori was in her room applying makeup when she heard the doorbell go.

Thank goodness my parents are both out, Tori thought to herself. She wasn't sure that she really wanted her parents to meet Blake just yet. Whenever her parents met a guy she was dating, they always embarrassed her in front of him. Not that Tori dated that many guys.

Tori walked to the front door, and opened it. Instead of seeing Blake's face, she saw a big bouquet of flowers.

"Hey," Blake spoke around the flowers. "I got these for you. I hope you like them."

"They're lovely," Tori smiled. "Come in, and I'll find a vase for them."

Blake stepped into the house, and glanced around, as best he could with a big bunch of flowers blocking his view. "No parents?"

Tori shook her head. "No," she replied. "They're both out." She found a vase in one of the cupboards, and filled it with water.

Blake came over, and carefully placed the flowers into the vase.

"Hey, you're wearing a suit," Tori smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen you wearing a suit before."

"I could say the same thing about you," Blake replied with a grin. "I've never seen you in a dress before."

"Do you like it?" Tori asked.

"Tori, you look great whatever you wear," Blake said sincerely.

Tori smiled, and leaned over to kiss Blake's cheek. "Thanks. So do you."

There was a moment's silence. Then, Tori asked, "So, where are we going?"

"I've got us a table booked at a restaurant," Blake answered. "And after that, I have tickets for a movie. And after that?" He shrugged, and gave a shy smile. "It depends on how much time we have left."

"What restaurant are we going to?" Tori wanted to know.

Blake beamed. "It's a surprise," he answered. "So is the movie. You have a curfew?"

"I have to be home by midnight," Tori replied.

"We should have plenty of time, then."

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"Cal, Cally. Wake up."

Cally felt someone shaking her shoulder, and she slowly stirred. She blinked at Faye, who had just been trying to wake her up. "What's up?"

"Cally, were you having a nightmare?" Faye asked, her expression concerned. "I heard you crying out."

"Yeah, a nightmare," Cally echoed. "I felt a... darkness moving inside me, growing steadily stronger. It wants to consume me, Faye... I'm scared."

There was a moment's silence. Then:

"You didn't try to defend yourself against the silver silk ranger strangling you."

Cally lowered her head, biting her bottom lip. "No, I didn't," she said at last. "I wanted to die, Faye. I still do. Why didn't you let me die?!"

"Because you're my best friend," Faye answered. "We were given the light Power Ranger morphers for a reason, Cally. Why do you think we were the ones who got them?"

Cally shrugged.

"You, me, David, we all work well together," Faye told Cally. "We're a package deal. We're good at being a team."

Cally looked away. "We're not anymore, though," she mumbled. "David hates me, Faye. He hates me because I cheated on Dustin."

"Cal, why did you cheat on Dustin?" Faye asked bluntly. "I thought you were happy being his girlfriend."

"I thought I was, too," Cally whispered, fidgeting a little. "But I guess not. It's no use looking for a good excuse for what I did, Faye. Because there isn't one. I hate myself for what I did to Dustin. And I'm so sorry for it. More sorry than anyone can ever know."

"Why don't you tell him, then?" Faye wanted to know.

Cally laughed bitterly. "What good would that do? Dustin won't forgive me, Faye. It would be stupid to even ask. I hurt him too much."

"You don't know unless you try," Faye told Cally. "People in love will forgive any wrongdoing. That's what love is. Still loving someone despite how many mistakes they make."

"Who says that Dustin still loves me?" Cally mumbled.

"Ok, get up," Faye told Cally.

Cally stared at her friend. "Huh?"

"Get up," Faye repeated. "We're going to train, Cally."

Cally stared. "Now? It's really late, Faye."

"You've been out of practice for too long," Faye replied. "And maybe fighting will be the only way to get you to stop feeling so guilty!"

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Blake and Tori sat at a table in the Italian restaurant, eating their food.

"Wow, this is great," Tori smiled. "Thanks for bringing me here, Blake."

Blake smiled, though, inside, he felt quite nervous. What are we going to talk about? he wondered, feeling a little panicked. We can't exactly talk about Power Rangers stuff, because of the chance of being overheard.

Blake racked his brain, trying to think of a safe topic of conversation. Finally, he asked, "So how's your surfing going, Tori?"

Tori gave him a slightly odd look. "Blake, you already know how my surfing is going," she told him.

"Sorry," Blake replied. "I'm just... you know... trying to come up with an interesting topic of conversation."

Tori smiled reassuringly at the navy thunder ranger. "Blake, we don't have to talk about anything," she said. "Just being here, in your company, is great."

"Oh, ok." Blake smiled, then asked, "How's your food?"

"It's great," Tori answered. "I really like Italian food. How's yours?"

Blake grinned. "Very good."

"So... Is there a particular reason why you're not touching even a drop of alcohol?" Tori wanted to know. The navy thunder ranger had refused any offer of wine from the waiters, though he had been very polite about it.

Blake made a slight face. "Actually, yeah, there is," he replied. "Hunter will be really mad if I get drunk and have a hangover tomorrow. Especially seeing as we're supposed to be working in Storm Chargers early in the morning."

"Wow, he's really overprotective of you," Tori commented.

"Well, of course he is," Blake defended his brother. "We're the only family we have left. Hunter's always looked out for me. I love him, and he loves me."

"I'm not trying to be mean about Hunter or anything," Tori said quickly. "I think it's great that Hunter looks out for you. After all, things got a little awkward between you two after Hunter tried to attack you."

Blake nodded. "He still feels guilty about that," he explained to Tori. "I told him that I know that it wasn't his fault... But Hunter's Hunter. He takes honour very seriously, and it tore him up inside that he hurt me. That was why he was avoiding me for so long afterwards."

"But you two are cool now, right?" Tori asked. "He knows that you don't blame him for what happened or anything, right?"

Blake nodded. "He knows that."

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Hunter walked into NinjaOps to find Cam sitting there, staring at the computer screen. Nothing wrong about that.

"Cam, what's up?" Hunter wanted to know. "Why did you call me here?"

"One of Lothor's goons is at the quarry," Cam explained.

Hunter groaned. "The quarry? Oh, man. That's, like, the place where most of Lothor's monsters show up. What does it look like?"

Cam gestured towards the screen.

There was a giant blue creature there. It had hundreds of tentacles which writhed as if with a life of their own.

Hunter grimaced. "Wow, that's not pretty," he commented.

"Dustin and Shane are with their parents," Cam told Hunter. "They can't get away easily. I'm just going to try your brother and Tori."

"No, don't," Hunter said quickly.

Cam stared at the crimson thunder ranger. "Um, why?" he demanded.

"My bro finally got up the courage to ask Tori out on a date," Hunter answered. "If you ruin it now, then they might never get another chance. I'll go and fight this monster on my own."

Cam frowned a little. "You can't go against that creature on your own..." he began. Then, his eyes widened as a sudden thought occurred to him. "I've got an idea!"

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