Blake Bradley lay on his bed looking up at the ceiling in his Factory Blue dorm room. It was pouring with rain outside and Blake had his radio on. He couldn't sleep. He'd tried, but it just hadn't worked, and he had a niggling suspicion why.

He'd been back with Factory Blue for over four months now since the episode back at Blue Bay Harbor. It had been hard to leave his friends- Tori especially since they'd not actually had a lot of time together since he returned- but the track was calling his name, and it was made easier when he saw that his blue eyed blonde surfer had been thrilled for him when he got the call-back from Rodger Hannah. But still, it was not enough. Racing had been great. He'd won all the tournaments he'd been entered in for and Rodger himself had declared that Blake was in great shape.

And yet…yet, something was missing and Blake was feeling it more prominently now. He remembered the day after the tournament had ended. He and Tori had been teased endlessly about their very public outburst and not to mention very open display of affection, but they both could have cared less. They had taken off to the beach right after that, leaving the others to finish their sparring session and for Cam and Lee Ann to bring the tournament to an end. Blake and Tori had walked along the beach watching as the waves crashed down on the yellow sand, and had sorted out their feelings for each other. But for the most part they had remained silent, enjoying the presence of each others company, and that, for both of them, had felt good. The next day Blake was flying out of Blue Bay Harbor, waving to his brother and friends, with no idea of when he would see them all again.

"This one's out to all those people who are far away from the ones they loved. It's Michael Buble with 'Home'." Blake turned up the volume a notch as he let the sounds of the radio fill his room.

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh I miss you, you know

And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
"I'm fine baby, how are you?"
Well I would send them but I know that it's just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aerorplane
Another sunny place
I'm lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I've got to go home

Let me go home
I'm just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life
It's like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not Come along with me
But this was not your dream
But you always believe in me

Another winter day has come And gone away
And even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I'm surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel alone
Oh, let go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I've had my run
Baby, I'm done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all right
I'll be home tonight
I'm coming back home

Blake sat up in bed. He needed to get home. No, not to the Thunder Academy, but to Tori. Wherever she was, was where home was. He was going to take a short break away from Factory Blue and he needed to do it immediately. Even as the thought hit him, he was out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans and a navy shirt, stuffing his feet into sandals, and rushing out the door.

"Bradley, if you're here to quite again I might have to strangle you!" Rodger Hannah complained as he opened the door to his room and saw Blake standing there. Blake grinned,

"No way! The only way I'm getting out of Factory Blue is if you personally carry me to the front door and throw me out!"

Rodger Hannah sighed thankfully, "Okay then, what other pressing matter had you dragging me out of bed at…six thirty in the morning on a day when everyone's allowed to sleep in?"

Blake looked at him and put on his best pleading face, "Well, you see, there's this thing I need to take care of back home. 2 days tops, and I'll be back. But I need to leave immediately, and I was wondering if you could shift around the schedules a bit…"

Rodger gave him a long look before finally saying, "I don't usually do this Blake, but I know you've been through a lot of recent, and I need you here at Blue, so, alright, I'll shift around the schedules and you go. But 2 days. Tops!" He hoped Blake had heard him since his superstar had already taken off yelling,

"Thanks Rodger! Owe you one, big time!" Blake didn't even turn back.

He reached his room and pulled out his navy shoulder bag dumping whatever he thought might be necessary for his two day stay. He managed to call up the airline service to see which was the first available flight he could catch out. Having done that he put down the phone, thought a bit and then lifted the receiver back up. 'There are some things which a brother ought to know.' He thought and waited until the line was picked up.

"Hey Hunter…"

Blake sat on his bed and glanced around the room quickly. His line of vision passed over a few photographs he had stacked up there. His eyes fell on the one of him and Tori. He picked it up and looked at it, smiling now. He then put the picture in his bag, saying, "This one's for you Tor."

Dustin and Marah danced around the room laughing. Dustin looked handsome as always and Marah looked quite stunning in a very light orange skirt and white top, with an orange band that kept her back, and allowed her bangs to fall freely to a side. However the reason they managed to move so smoothly was not because Tori had managed to teach Dustin how to dance, because she hadn't. Marah had eventually solved the problem by climbing on top of Dustin's feet and letting him do the moving. Apparently that strategy was working for them!

Shane and Skyla were leaning over a rail and looking up into the sky as they chatted. Shane seemed content as he watched the raven beauty chat on about her carmanion life. Things were really moving along for them too.

Cam and Lee Ann were sipping their drinks laughing at something or the other. Now that everybody knew they were seeing each other, Cam didn't see any reason why they should keep their relationship low profile anymore, and Lee Ann didn't either. His father and Lee Ann's had both been very pleased with the union and were even talking of a combined Ninja Academy. The only sight glitch was which name to put in front- Thunder or Wind. Cam had solved that problem by suggesting the name- The Hurricane Ninja Academy.

Kapri sat at a table reading the last text message Hunter had sent her, smiling. Right after Blake and Tori's very public reunion, Hunter had marched over to the Winds, thrilled that his brother was finally happy and seeing Kapri first, had caught her in a huge hug, and had suddenly realized he didn't want to let go. That had started it all for them, and Kapri was walking around in a haze of delight these days. Hunter had been grouchy at first because of all the teasing he had been put through by his merciless friends, but he'd started to reach a stage when he could turn a deaf ear to it all.

Tori Hanson glanced at her phone was what seemed like the hundredth time. Blake always called her in the night, or would send a text message indicating that he was free for her to call, but today her phone had been uncharacteristically silent. Blake had neither called nor messaged and that had been for the whole day. Tori stirred her drink and a frown appeared on her face as she got a little worried. She stepped of her stool, and grabbed her phone. She looked around for someone to tell, but they were all busy. Her gaze fell on Kapri.

"Hey Kapri. I'm going out for a little air. Tell the others okay. I'll probably be at the beach, and for heaven's sake tell them not to worry, that it's only six thirty, and I'll get back home before it gets too dark." When Kapri nodded, Tori made her way out.

"Hey Tor, where are you? I need to…er…ask you something." Dustin's voice came through her cell phone.

"What do you mean where am I? I'm at the Academy. I'm going out into the grounds for a while, there's something I need to do there, so when you come over, come directly there." Tori said and then hung up. Really Dustin was getting more forgetful these days. He'd known she was gong to be at the Academy, she'd told his so ten times that morning when he'd asked ten times!

Tori was out in the grounds, picturing some movements in her mind. Her hair was being tossed about in the wind, and she had on her ninja suit instead of her sensei robes. As movement suddenly caught her eye she turned to see Blake in his thunder ninja suit approaching her. She thought she also saw streaks of red, yellow, green, crimson, orange, pink and a whiff of brown hair and black hair, but she couldn't be sure. Her eyes were trained on Blake. She hadn't seen him in a while, and she was taking her time to look him over before he was close enough to talk. He seemed fine, in fact he seemed excited and nervous about something. And suddenly, out of the blue it hit her. She loved this guy, she really did, it was the real thing. And instead of that fact scaring her, she looked into Blake's eyes and felt comforted.

"Blake! What are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were coming." Tori said as Blake got closer.

Blake shook his head. He didn't say a word. He came within inches of her and stopped, looking at Tori and taking it all in. This was it. He didn't care that they hadn't exactly been on a first official date. Him and Tori- it was the real deal.

Tori watched him, and was about to ask if anything was the matter when Blake went down on his knees in front of her. Tori could only stare, shocked.

"Tori Hanson, blue wind ranger, surfer chic, dancer, and most of all the most amazing, wonderful, kind hearted person I've ever known…will you marry me?"

Whatever Tori's response was, it was drowned out by the sounds of cheering coming from Shane, Dustin, Cam, Hunter, Kapri, Marah, Lee Ann and Sklya.

The End.

A/N- to all those who have made it through this long and hazardous journey with me, first congratulations, and second thank you so much! To those who read and reviewed, it was highly appreciated. The comments were inspiring and kept me going. This one's dedicated to ya'll!