Flowers In The Attic

Disclaimer: don't own any of these characters

Set after the season finale

Location: New and Improved Ninja Ops

Characters Present: Our six favorite rangers and a former guinea pig.

"Tori! Cam!" Shane called as he walked into Ninja Ops. He had to admit it looked very different from the place they had all practically lived and trained in as rangers. They had all done a good job repairing the place with the help of the other ninja students. Dustin looked around in awe,

"Totally awesome dude. Hey, are you sure Tori wasn't at home?"

Shane nodded as he too glanced around, "Yeah, I'm sure. I checked. Wonder where the Thunders are. . ."

"Right behind you bro!" Hunter called out, as he walked in with his brother Blake. "Hey." He greeted Dustin and Shane by high-fiving each of them.

"Hey Blake. How's the training going?" Dustin asked referring to Blake's contract with Rodger Hannah of Factory Blues to race for them now that the Ranger deal was over.

"Tough. But it's exciting. Where's Tori?" Blake asked.

"Hey guys! Just can't live without me can you?" Tori asked grinning as she appeared at the doorway to Ninja Ops.

"How could you possibly think otherwise?" Blake asked grinning back. Tori turned her blue eyes on him to smile, and couldn't help feeling a flash of sadness that she wouldn't be seeing that smile too often in less than a week now.

"Where's Cam?" Dustin asked.

"Waiting for you guys. I came to call all of you to see something, that is if you have some time. I looking through some stuff in my attic yesterday and found a box. Come on." Tori said turning and walking back to where she had come from.

The guys followed her, with Blake, as always, walking by her side.

"So, what's this box about?" Blake asked curious.

Tori grinned, "You have to see it. I'm not letting on anything more!"

"Now way!" Dustin exclaimed lunging for what Cam held in his hands. Cam only laughed and waved his hand away from Dustin.

"Not until the others see this Dustin!" Cam said grinning as he quickly passed the picture he was holding onto Blake. The younger Bradley brother took it puzzled at first. Then he was in fits of laughter. That had the others clamoring to have a look as well. And soon they were all holding their sides laughing, well all except for Dustin of course, since the picture was one of a much younger version of him in a lady's flower hat holding a flower pattern tea cup.

"No fair." Dustin complained and then rounded on Tori, "And it was all your fault anyway. You're the one who talked me into playing dress up for your imaginary tea party. You said only then would you play legos with me!"

Tori laughed and put her arm around Dustin's shoulder, "I'm sorry Dustin. But don't worry, there are more embarrassing pictures of everybody in that box over there."

At Tori's words, everybody froze.

"Everybody, Tor?" Shane asked, his voiced tense. When Tori nodded, five figures were lunging towards the box.

"Give me that back!" Shane yelled as a picture went whizzing over his head from Hunter to Dustin.

"As if!" Dustin snorted and held up the picture of a young Shane being kissed on the cheek by his teacher. The Shane in the picture had a repulsed look on his face, in fact it was similar to the one Shane now had on as he looked at the picture.

"Hey, how did this one get in here?" Hunter suddenly asked and drew everyone's attention to a photograph that he was holding. They were all in fits of laughter in minutes as Blake explained the situation to them as best as he could over the shouts of laughter. "Hunter decided that year for Halloween to go all crimson and scary. But his costume got all messed up when it went to the dry cleaners and mom forced him to wear her old ballet costume instead."

Shane was busy rolling on the floor with laughter. The image of Hunter in a pink tutu looking absolutely miserable was too much for him.

"Hey Blake, here's one of you." Tori said picking up the picture. "Oh you looked so sweet!" The words were out of Tori's mouth before she had a chance to retract them and the look on Blake's face and Tori's had the group rolling with mirth. The picture was in fact one of Blake washing a wall with an adorably defiant expression on his face.

"He was late for class for the third time that week and he was asked to write 'I will not be late for class again' by our teacher. Unfortunately for her, she failed to tell him where, and Blake thought he could get back at her, and so wrote it a hundred times on the wall. That's him cleaning it all up after the teacher found out what he had done. I came back to take the picture. I remember Blake being so mad!" Hunter said laughing as he explained.

While the others kept looking through more pictures, Blake slid over to Tori. "Thanks for the compliment. Although I must admit I'm hurt that you said it in the past tense." Tori looked up confused, "No, I didn't mean that, you are still very sweet." Then as she realized what she said she turned a deep pink. Then she looked at Blake again, "you set me up." She whined.

Blake grinned, "Oh well, at least I know you think I'm sweet, though sweet's not exactly the word I pictured myself as anyway. Now sweet would be more you." He walked away then to lift a picture of three grinning teens with a birthday cake in the middle. The boy on the right was brown haired and had freckles on his nose, his hands were all muddy with earth. The boy on the left was dark skinned and had a cocky grin on his face, his hands were reaching up into the air. And the girl in the middle had long blonde hair, and from her smile a missing tooth could be noticed. The two boys were both holding a bucket of water over her head.

"Tori's 10th birthday! We soaked her good!" Shane said laughing.

"Good times. Now where's a funny picture of Cam?" Hunter asked deviously. He and the others all dove for the box ignoring Cam's serious voice as the latter said, "It doesn't really matter you know. I can't remember possibly being as embarrassed as you guys are right now!"

"Oh come on Cam, at least one moment?" Tori asked. Cam shook his head smiling knowingly.

"I think I can answer that one better for you Tor!" Dustin said laughing.

"What?" Cam asked springing up and trying to get a hold of Dustin.

But too late, the others had all seen the picture and were laughing. Cam stood with his hands on either side of his head and in front of him was a broken computer. The picture was priceless. It had the others taunting him for a long while.

And so it was a while before the former rangers were able to gather themselves up to get back home. They had gone through all the pictures and mementos that had been in Tori's box. When they came across the more recent pictures, they all sobered down. They found Cam's baby picture with his parents, Hunter and Blake with their parents, Shane, Dustin and Tori when they had first entered the Wind Ninja Academy, the three with Sensei Watanabe, then all six rangers in civvies as well as ranger outfits- Cam, Dustin, Shane, Tori, Blake and Hunter, a very recent picture of them all at the US action games, the picture of Shane and Hunter winning the Total Trek, another of the Bradley brothers, a picture of good friends Cam and Hunter, another of Cam and his father, and finally a picture of Blake and Tori.

"Hey, do you have the negatives to some of these?" Blake asked Tori as they were all walking out of Ninja Ops.

"Yes. I think I do. I'll have to hunt them up though. I suppose you want to take them away with you." Tori asked, suddenly feeling sad again.

"I'd appreciate it if you could do that for me." Blake sad hating himself for leaving.

"Sure. What are the ones you want?" Tori asked.

Blake grinned, "If I could take the whole box, I would. The recent ones of us, the one with the 6 of us, Hunter and me, and….and…the one of you and me." His voice softer over the last few words.

"Yea, sure. Blake," Tori suddenly stopped and turned. "I don't really want you to go, to tell you the truth, but motocross is your dream and this is your chance to make it big, and that's what I want for you." She stopped.

"Tori, if I could stay I would. But in the end I don't want to turn around and blame the fact that I couldn't follow my dream on you." Blake said by way of an explanation.

"And I don't want you to Blake. I just…I don't know where things stands with us right now. This is hard." Tori said smiling out of nervousness now.

"Then let me make it easier for you. I want you to have this Tor." Blake pulled something out of his pocked. "I've been meaning to give it to you for a while now, but the time was never right, and I don't know if this time is right, but I'll take whatever I can get." He opened his palm and in it lay a small gold locket.

"Blake…it's beautiful!" Tori exclaimed, taking it slowly from him.

"It was my mom's. She gave another to Hunter too. Open it."

Tori opened it, all the while looking at Blake, and then she looked down, it was a small picture of the two of them. It had been taken when Tori had been trying to teach Blake how to surf.

"Thunder boy…" Tori's started, her voice suddenly filled with unshed tears.

"Turn it over," Blake said quietly, as he covered her hand with hi and they both turned the locket. On the back was marked, "Navy blue forever."

THE END