Disclaimer: Power Rangers doesn't belong to me, nor does the song referred to in this chapter.

A/N: Suggested listening music while reading this chapter: "The Only Moment" by Keith Varon. I thought it was cruel to just leave that last chapter hanging like that so I wrote two at once. (And also 'cause I've had a really long day, and writing this has been my catharsis.) R&R please, all comments welcome!

Chapter Six: The Only Moment

It was all Tori could do to hold back her emotions until she had returned to the motel. The pool game had ended pretty quickly after their kiss… or lack thereof. Tori had feigned something about being tired, and Blake had more than willingly obliged her by driving back to the motel.

Tori grabbed her bag and rushed into the bathroom before Blake could say anything… or see her tears. Locking the door, Tori slid to the floor as water spilled out over her eyes. She thought back to the first time she and Blake met in Storm Chargers, and the flatteringly way he admired her. Tori reflected on the hurt of Blake's betrayal while he was under Lothor's evil spell, using her to get into Ninja Ops. Then she remembered her even greater joy upon first seeing him on his dirt bike in the forest after he had returned to Blue Bay Harbor. Tori thought of how Blake had defended her under Lothor's love spell, the surfing sessions together at the beach, the first time he admitted he liked her, and above all, their unforgettable first kiss at the hilltop on their dirt bikes.

She didn't want to admit to herself, but after that kiss, she had come into her weekend visit with Blake having high hopes that they might pick up where they left off. Tori realized now how naïve her expectations had been. Blake wasn't the same outwardly brassy, but internally bashful boy she had fallen for back in Blue Bay Harbor. Fame, racing, and above all the attention from the trophy girls, in Tori's view had apparently changed Blake into a guy that would play games with a girl's heart.

Wiping her eyes, Tori reached into her bag for her comforting, flannel nighties. All she wanted right now was to get to bed. Yet Tori was dismayed to find that her nighties were no longer in her bag, just a skimpy, silk blue teddy with bits of lace around the edges.

"Just what I need right now, Marah," thought Tori sarcastically to herself, but unfortunately the teddy was a much better option than sleeping without a nightie considering Blake would be in the room. "Here goes nothing," thought Tori miserably to herself as she slipped the seductive teddy over her head.

Blake's eyes widened with admiration when Tori in the teddy walked out of the bathroom, but all the former blue Ninja Ranger could focus on was getting into the bed where he couldn't see her puffy eyes.

"I am keeping the bed," pouted Tori to herself. "I am going to get something good out of this weekend." Rolling over under the sheets, it was all Tori could do not to turn around and at that very moment confront Blake about his lack of desire for her.

"So I thinking we could take the dirt bikes out tomorrow before you have to catch your flight back," said Blake as he turned out the lights and curled up on the sofa. "There are some really great woodland trails around here and…."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" interrupted Tori harshly. She immediately regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.

"No," said Blake taken aback.

"Do you not find me attractive anymore?" asked Tori more hesitantly.

"That's absolutely not the case," said Blake softly.

"Then why didn't you want to kiss me earlier in the bar?" questioned Tori sullenly. She rolled over to look at Blake, who was sitting up with his head buried desolately in his hands. Staring longingly at each other, the two endured a painfully long silence.

"Fine, I see how it is," said Tori forlornly as she rolled away from Blake and hugged a pillow tightly to her chest. From a radio outside, the music of Keith Varon's "The Only Moment" floated through open windows into their room.

"It stops the world it stops my heart
The second steam, my every breath
And all my future fades away
You stand before me so unveiled
So beautifully vulnerable"

"It never seemed like the right time for us," Tori heard Blake begin hesitantly as he came to sit beside her on the bed. "We were fighting Lothor. I didn't want my feelings for you to get in the way of our duties as Ninja Rangers. Then after Lothor was defeated, I immediately left to join the tour, and it didn't seem fair to put you through a long-distance relationship." Blake paused; his voice choked over with emotion. "You're the most amazing girl I've ever met, and you deserve a guy who can be there for 100 all the time."

"I'm taken hostage all of me
All my emotions meant for this
Don't ever undo all these chains
'Cause it never felt so good to be
So beautifully powerless"

Stunned by the vulnerability of Blake's confession, Tori turned around to look at Blake's aching face. Her heart went out to him more than ever.

"You saw today the type of life I live here on the tour," began Blake again bitterly. "It's dirty, from the actual track to the girls that hang around, and whether I like that scene or not, it's my life now. And I'm absorbed by it every hour of every day. I wonder out here if I can be the man you'd want me to be."

"Don't rush this
I want this to be the only moment that matters"

After putting his heart on the line, Tori felt more for Blake than ever. She remembered Marah's last advice to her: "Enjoy the moment you're in with the person you care about." Looking into Blake's torn face, Tori was surprised how right her typical airhead friend had been.

"I can't help that I want to be with you, Blake," confessed Tori gently. She sat up and placed a soft kiss on Blake's lips, this time meeting no resistance from him. Pulling back, she took in Blake's emotion-ridden face.

"And I can't help the feelings I have for you Tor," replied Blake fervently. Tori responded by pulling Blake close and kissing him again with more urgency this time.

"I feel your heartbeat into mine
And all my fears, they now unfold
And I'll surrender all I know
'Cause that's what's keeping me alive"

Everything that unfolded next happened like a wonderful, dreamlike daze to Tori. Blake, deepening their kisses, ran his over long blond locks and slowly down her back.

"I care about you so much Blake," whispered Tori fiercely into his ear.

Wrapping her arms tightly around Blake's neck, Tori moaned softly with pleasure as Blake proceeded to gently kiss her neck and ears.

"You are so beautiful," murmured Blake.

Tori lifted Blake's white undershirt over his head, taking in again his exquisite physique. Running her hands up over his cut chest and exploring his muscular shoulders, Tori covered Blake's face with quick kisses. He responded by lifting Tori's teddy up over her head.

"For a teddy that Marah said was huge hit with Dustin, Blake sure got rid of it awfully quick," thought Tori wryly to herself. She then lost all line of rational thought as Blake sensually drew a line with his fingertips over her bare skin from her chest down across her thigh that sent shivers through her body.

As Blake rolled on top of Tori, it became obvious to her the direction things were heading. While Tori in this area was very inexperienced, from Blake's sensuous caresses over her face and arms, she could tell this was not his first time. Tori didn't care. As she passionately gave all she had of herself to Blake, Tori knew that there was no one she would rather be with at this moment in her life.

"Don't rush this
I want this to be the only moment that matters"