Hello lovelies, I know I am taking a bit longer to work on the rewrite for this story. My last semester of undergrad has definitely taken a toll on me this past few weeks. I have a bit of a breather now so I am working to get caught up to chapter thirteen and then move on with the story. At least the Ninja Storm Arc of the story. I am excited to see how the more of the revised Belle to see how she will be in a more realistic, and hopefully fleshed out character. Right now I am on chapter four to be rewritten and I want to have all of the chapters rewritten before I upload them so that there isn't a weird continuation between the old and new content. So, I will try to keep steadily on rewriting the story until I get caught up and I hope you like this new version of the story. Now, let's get on with the quote.

"The garden is growth and change and that means loss as well as constant new treasures to make up for a few disasters."

-May Sarton

ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo

The sound of twittering birds as they flew through the air and the sigh of the trees in the wind sounded through the town of Briarwood as two teens skated through. One was a tall boy with short brown hair who was dressed in a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a black long sleeve shirt under a green button up shirt on a skateboard while the other was a girl with gorgeous tawny skin with thigh length hair that was a mixture of turquoise, blue green, purple, and pink who was dressed in a lower thigh length light purple dress with a white cardigan over top who donned silver and gold roller skates. They were content to skate down the street before they both pulled to a stop at the intersection.

"Do you wanna go to the skate park?" the boy asked the girl in an Australian accent.

"I would love to," the girl answered in a faint New Orleanian accent, a smile blooming that showed her hidden dimples in her cheeks.

"But I have my martial arts class."

The boy groaned in exasperation while his head rolled back and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Why are you taking the classes again?"

"Because Xander," the girl laughed at his action. "I have been taking classes for so long, I can't find myself not going."

"But Belle…."

"No Xander. I'll be back before ya know it. And if I'm not, I'll call ya."

"Promise?"

Instead of giving a laugh, the girl's features softened at his question as her right hand rose up towards him.

"Of course."

A charming but goofy grin spread on his face when he put up his own right hand to grip Belle's right wrist so that she could grip his.

"I'll keep you to it," Xander said before he pulled Belle into a hug via her right arm.

"I'll see you later."

"Later Xander."

Belle then stood up on her tiptoes to peck a kiss on his cheek before she sped away towards the edge of the forest that bordered the town. Once she reached the end, she came to a stop then traded her skates for a pair of light brown heeled boots. She had just placed her roller blades in her backpack before her head whipped from side to side to make sure that there were no pedestrians that would be able to see her head into the forest. There wasn't a soul to be around except for some squirrels that scurried across the street or an odd bird that flew overhead. Satisfied that there was no one, Belle quickly dashed into the cover of the treeline where she proceeded to dash away at unnatural speeds until she reached a beautiful clearing in the heart of the forest. Flowers of every shape and color grew amongst the wild grass while woodland creatures scurried along the ground. Well, there was normally the sounds of woodland creatures filling the woods. Today there was an eerie silence in the forest that unsettled Belle greatly. She had always been taught that too much silence was never good. Something bad is going to happen, she thought to herself as a feeling of calm and warriness settled over her. And all of the animals know that too. It seems like there is a small time limit for it too. I'll have to tell Sensei. As soon as she made her decision, she sped up even more to get to where her Sensei was waiting for her. It only took a few moments of her fast paced travel to arrive at a little clearing where a large, crystal clear lake stood towards the middle and back of the clearing. Instead of trying to find a structure around the lake, Belle simply strode forward until her foot reached out to step on the surface of the lake. One would have expected her to fall in, but instead she walked across as if she was walking on solid ground and vanished in a flash of light when she reached the middle of the lake. On the other side of the portal, a vast meadow-like place with a large Japanese structure in the background while on platforms in front of the structure held numerous people dressed in black ninja uniforms that had either golden or silver accents who were going through katas. While Belle walked through the clearing, she caught the eyes of many of the students but there were few who would acknowledge her and even fewer who called out a hello. The negative attitude made Belle's hackles raise, but she forced herself to forget it and focus on getting to her destination. Her destination turned out to be the tall Asian man at the very front of the group of sparring ninjas who was watching over them like a hawk. She quickly stepped up to the raised platform and walked to stand beside the man. Almost immediately the man noticed the petite girl beside him.

"Ah, Annabelle," he greeted Belle who had stopped to bow to him.

"You are right on time. As usual."

"Sensei Tsukiyomi," Belle returned warmly only for her smile to be dimmed slightly.

"There is something that I need to talk to you about."

"So do I," Sensei Tsukiyomi said, his eyes holding worry while his facial expression didn't waver from his jovial smile.

"Come, we'll have tea in my office and talk."

Belle did not hesitate to start walking in the direction that Sensei Tsukiyomi's arm gestured to which turned out to be the large building that was in the background. They both then made their way into the building where Sensei Tsukiyomi navigated through all the twists and turns without ever faltering in his footing. Belle was quick behind him and felt a sense of temporary calm when she saw the familiar interior of Sensei Tsukiyomi's office. She made a beeline for the low table on the tatami flooring to sit at one of the settings on a floor pillow. Sensei Tsukiyomi, on the other hand, went over to a table to the side of the room where a full tea set waited for him so that he could pour two cups. Belle waited patiently for him patiently as Sensei Tsukiyomi brought the cups of tea over to the table and slipped one of the cups over to her. She gratefully took the offered cup and took a sip as her sensei settled himself across from her. He too took a sip of his tea before he turned his full attention to Belle.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk with me about?"

"On my way here, I noticed that the animal life was hiding and there wasn't a sound to be heard."

"Yes," Sensei Tsukiyomi mused thoughtfully. "I have noticed how everything has been unusually quiet lately."

"I think something bad is going to happen Sensei," Belle admitted, a furrow appearing on her brow as she squeezed her cup slightly with both hands.

"And I don't know what to do about it."

"I believe I do," Sensei Tsukiyomi admitted with a sigh.

At his words, Belle's head snapped up and she looked to her sensei, waiting for him to elaborate.

"You know that your Stellar Style is very unique to this academy, yes?"

"Yes," Belle confirmed.

"I remember you saying that the last ninja to be assigned the Stellar Style was about one hundred years ago."

"And with being assigned the Stellar Style, there is a large responsibility that comes with it," Sensei Tsukiyomi said.

In one graceful move, Sensei Tsukiyomi rose to his feet and made his way over to his bookshelf to pick up a beautifully carved wooden box that had the school insignia on it as well as stars everywhere.

"For as long as this school has been founded, there are tales of a protector who was versed in the Stellar Style who would rise again when the school needed it," Sensei Tsukiyomi began.

"And I believe that time is now."

Without much preamble, Sensei Tsukiyomi walked back over to Belle and kneeled to reveal the sleek gold and silver device that lay inside the box.

"This protector is known as a power ranger."

A flash of recognition showed in Belle's eyes at the term, but she quickly hid it so that her teacher wouldn't catch on.

"Am I to be this power ranger?" Belle questioned, her eyes taking in the sight of the advanced technology.

"Yes, I believe so," Sensei Tsukiyomi confided her in.

"But you will not be alone. There is another school, the Wind Ninja Academy, whose power rangers have already taken up their mantle."

"What are we to be protecting our schools from?"

"Not just the schools," Sensei Tsukiyomi amended.

"You are to save the world."

A rush of stress settled on Belle's shoulders at the news, but she fought hard to keep her facial expressions in check. She did not need to freak out when she needed to get as much information as she could.

"Am I to join these Wind Ninja rangers, sensei?"

"Yes, I think it would be best. I fear our school will be attacked soon, and you are too inexperienced to try to fight our enemy, Lothor, alone. You will need to travel to Blue Bay Harbor and seek out the Wind Ninja rangers."

"How do I activate this?" Belle asked, reaching into the box to take the device out.

"You activate your morpher by saying 'Cosmic Storm, Ranger Form' ."

Even though Belle's mind was swimming with all of the information that was being processed in the span of a few minutes, but she tried her hardest to keep eye contact with Sensei Tsukiyomi.

"I will try my best to save the academies," Belle promised with determination shining in her brown eyes.

"I know you will Annabelle," Sensei Tsukiyomi said, a hand resting on Belle's shoulder while he looked down at her with what looked to be a parental fondness in his dark eyes.

"I know that I have never said this to you before, but I have always viewed you as the daughter I never had. It makes my heart lighter knowing that you will be able to escape."

"Sensei-,"

That was all that Belle was able to say before the building was wracked with large tremors that shook everything right after a loud boom rang through the air. Belle's eyes widened at the action while Sensei Tsukiyomi's face settled into grim determination.

"The attack has begun," Sensei Tsukiyomi announced quietly as he quickly rose to his feet.

Belle followed quickly after him, all the while clutching her morpher to her chest.

"You must go Annabelle. Take the secret passage through the bookcase and get out of here. You must get to Blue Bay Harbor."

"I will, I promise."

With that said, Belle dashed over to Sensei Tsukiyomi's bookcase to pull on a purple book that activated the furniture to move to the side so that Belle could slip through. When she was safely inside, she turned to look back at her sensei to see him tip his head in her direction as the shelf slid back into its original position. As soon as it was closed, Belle disappeared from sight in a shower of gold and silver sparkles

Not even a second later, Belle reappeared in an explosion of gold and silver sparkles in what looked to be some sort of chamber room with a large crystal ball that was set in the middle of a large table with six different colored circles with different symbols on the inside of the circles. Just behind the table were a short set of stairs to the left and the right that led up to a dias where a large book sat. When Belle's feet landed solidly on the ground, her legs gave out from underneath her so that she fell hard onto her ass. She seemed to stare off into space seemingly in shock while still clutching the morpher to her chest. Thoughts flew unhindered in her mind as she tried to come to grips that her school had been overrun and she was the only survivor. Upon hearing the thud of Belle falling, three people rushed out into the room. One was a red headed woman dressed completely in white, another had black hair dressed almost completely in silver, and the last was a younger woman with blonde hair in a mixture of white and soft, pastel colors. The black haired woman was the first to spot Belle and quickly ran to her side.

"Anna, what's wrong ma petite etoile (my little star)," she cooed to the distraught girl.

At the sound of the woman's words, Belle gave a start while her wide brown eyes snapped to the woman's face. The woman could see the shock and fear in Belle's eyes that made her frown and her brow furrow at the distress she saw. It killed her that her daughter was in distress and she didn't know what had caused it nor how to make it better.

"Mom," Belle let out that spoke of her young age and the vulnerability she felt.

The black haired woman's heart gave a very painful squeeze at the sound and she didn't hesitate to wrap her daughter up in her arms and squeeze her to her chest. The woman was content to hold her daughter, but she was taken aback when she felt something hard press into her from her daughter. She pulled back a few inches to see the morpher that Belle had clutched to her chest.

"Anna, what is this?"

"It's-It's a morpher," Belle piped up in a small voice.

"Morpher," the red haired woman echoed in shock. "You mean a ranger morpher?"

"Yes."

Both the red haired woman and Belle's mother understood why Belle was being distraught.

"I think I'll take Anna home," her mother told the red haired woman.

"We'll give her the night to sleep on it and we can discuss it in the morning."

The red haired woman gave a nod of understanding while the blonde woman came forward to place her hand on Belle's shoulder.

"I'll see you in the morning Anna."

Belle tried her hardest to give the blonde a smile, but it only came out as a grimace. The blonde gave Belle a sympathetic look with a squeeze to her shoulder before she let go. Both Belle and her mother then disappeared into a shower of silver sparkles to reappear in the living room of a modernism house. The two simply sat on the floor hugging each other for a few moments in silence. As the realization that she was home and safe set it, Belle felt a good portion of her stress and anxiety slip away until she felt unbelievably tired.

"I think you should get some rest," Belle's mother suggested softly when she felt her daughter sag a little against her.

"Hopefully you'll feel better in the morning and we'll talk about what we'll do about this situation."

Belle could only detachedly nod in agreement at her mother's words and made to stand up from her mother's embrace. She only made it about halfway up when her legs tried to give out again. There was no time for Belle to drop even an inch towards the ground due to her mother catching her.

"Alright Anna, I'll help you to your room so you can get some rest."

The two slowly made their way through the house, up the stairs, and down the hall into a room that oozed coziness with incenses and wax melts making an intoxicating aroma. Belle's mother sat Belle on the edge of her bed so that her shoes and backpack could be taken off and sat beside her desk. Once that was done, she carefully maneuvered Belle under the covers and sat the morpher on one of Belle's bedside tables. Belle's mother made sure that her daughter was all tucked in before she left through the doorway after one final look at her daughter who had curled into herself to sleep. She felt a little concerned about her daughter's reaction to being named a ranger. Hopefully it will be a little bit better in the morning, she thought to herself.

ooo0ooo

The next morning found Belle waking up a little disoriented. She couldn't quite remember what had happened the day before, but it all came rushing back to her when she spotted the morpher on her bedside table. The last image of her sensei before the trap door closing flashed through her mind that had her heart clenching painfully in her chest. I'm so sorry sensei, she thought to herself sadly. I swear that I will get you, the academy, and everyone else back. She let herself dwell on her sadness as she sat on the side of her bed and picked up the morpher. She almost fell into a sort of numbness as she stared at the sleek design of the morpher. Before she had only noticed the gold and silver that surrounded the piece of technology. In between the gold and silver, there was a whitish color that seemed to shine in either gold or silver when she tilted the morpher this way and that. She couldn't help but admit that the morpher was a very beautiful, very advanced form of technology that she couldn't help but feel a little anxious about being given such a thing. As she continued to examine the morpher, she saw what looked to be a band around the back that seemed to be a wristband. Well, there's no way I can just ignore my duty, Belle thought to herself. There was still a moment of hesitation, but she ended up strapping the morpher to her wrist. I guess I'm a power ranger now, Belle sighed to herself.

"Anna! Breakfast!" Belle's mom called up to her that gave Belle a little start back into reality.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Belle yelled back.

When Belle stood up from her bed, she looked down and realized that she still wore the clothes that she had worn yesterday. She pulled a face at not having a shower before getting into bed and decided that she needed to hop in the shower before she headed down to the kitchen. Thanks to her magic, Belle was able to flash through a shower and dry herself off with a spell before she dressed in a white dress that stopped right above her knee and could shoulder sleeves that flowed down to her elbows. She also threw her hair into a braid over her right shoulder, applied some perfume, and slipped on a pair of white heeled sandals before she hopped down to the kitchen for breakfast. When she stepped through the swinging door, she saw that the red headed woman and the blonde from the day before were seated at the breakfast table while Belle's mother brought the last of the food to the table.

"Morning Aunt Udonna, Morning Clare," Belle greeted them with a smile before pressing a kiss to her mother's cheek.

"Morning Mom."

"Good morning Anna," the red headed woman, now dubbed Udonna, returned with a warm smile.

"Morning Anna," Clare added.

"Good morning petite," her mother smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Still a little overwhelmed," Belle admitted as she sat down at the table.

"Understandably so," her mother commented.

"What do you think you want to do in regards to your role as a power ranger?"

"Sensei wants me to go to Blue Bay Harbor to meet up with the other rangers to help them stop our enemy Lothor."

"He wants you to go to a different city?" Clare questioned in slight shock.

"From the way he talked, Sensei made it seem like they are the only ninja students who survived the attack on their school," Belle said.

"If they survived and have been active for a bit longer, I think they have more resources to battle the enemy."

"I know that we can get lodging taken care of," Udonna mused.

"But what are you going to do about your schooling?"

"I could do classes online," Belle suggested.

"That way I can still have classes, but I don't need to be there in person."

While Belle's mother saw the sense behind Belle's idea, she couldn't help but worry about Belle's safety. She was only a fifteen year old girl and she was tasked with saving the world. Her mother was familiar with what it took to win battles and the war, and she didn't like the situation. Belle's magic might just save her if she needed it, but that would reveal her identity as a sorceress.

"She'll do fine Luna," Udonna assured her sister when she realized where her thoughts were going.

"She has had the training to be able to protect herself."

"Aunt Udonna is right," Belle piped up.

"Don't forget that I'll also have teammates to watch my back. I'm not doing this alone."

Belle's words were enough to breathe some relief into her mother who closed her eyes and let out a long breath. Although her instincts said to protect her daughter, she knew that she was needed.

"Alright," Luna began. "We'll go with your plan Anna. I'll get your schooling in order today and then you can start packing to leave tomorrow."

A soft smile grew on Belle's lips at her mother's words.

"Thanks Mom."

"Clare and I won't be here tomorrow morning to see you off," Udonna said.

"So I will give you a present before we leave today."

"Present?" Belle echoed.

"I'm allowing you to take your broom with you as long as you keep its true identity secret."

"I promise Aunt Udonna," Belle promised sincerely, her eyes sparkling in delight.

Udonna chuckled at the sight of her niece while Clare smiled at her cousin. Everyone then moved onto different conversation as they all finished breakfast which was followed by Udonna and Clare's departure.

"You know that you're going to have to tell your friends that you're leaving," Luna told her daughter as she rinsed dishes to put them into the dishwasher.

"I know," Belle said softly. "I'm going to tell them today."

Luna nodded to show that she approved.

"Good. I would suggest you do it sooner than later."

"I'll call them over and we can all talk in the living room."

Lun said nothing as Belle fished out her cell phone and made her way towards the living room.

About fifteen minutes later, four other teens in the living room along with Belle that included Xander.

"What did you call us for?" Xander asked from his perch on one of the beanbag chairs that was pushed into a corner of the room.

"Yeah Chica," a latina girl with short hair with white bangs agreed.

"You don't call us here like this unless you have some big news to share with us."

The other two teens, another latina with long dark hair and a boy with red hair and freckles, kept silent so that they could hear what Belle had to say. Seeing all of the eyes on her, Belle took in a deep breath and let it out. Might as well get it over with, she thought to herself.

"My martial arts school was attacked by a rival school," Belle told them as a modified version of the truth.

"To continue my training, I am being sent to Blue Bay Harbor to another school."

"What?!" Xander and the latina with short hair exclaimed in unison.

The other two on the other hand adopted shocked looks.

"When are you leaving," the long haired latina asked.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Why are you just telling us now?!" the short haired latina demanded.

At the familiar hot head's temper, Belle felt herself straighten her spine.

"I just found out yesterday and it took some time for it to sink in," Belle defended herself.

"So sorry I didn't call you as soon as I came back home a mess."

"V didn't mean it like that," the red headed boy said to diffuse the tension.

"She's just angry that you have to leave so soon."

"Thank you for putting words in my mouth Chip," V grumbled.

"But he's right. I'm sorry for snapping at you Anna."

"It's fine V," Belle sighed, the tension leaving her frame with her sigh.

"I understand that it's a lot of news to dump on you all at once. I'm still kind of getting used to it."

"Where will you be staying?" Xander asked.

"I'll be staying at the dorms the school has. We aren't allowed visitors, so if you guys wanted to visit, you would have to rent a hotel room."

Belle honestly did not know where she would be staying when she made it to Blue Bay Harbor, but that wasn't something that she could tell her friends. It would be better for them to think that the story she gave them was true.

"So, I guess we only have today to hang out before you leave," the long haired latina spoke up sadly.

"Yeah," Belle confirmed.

"Then let's get going!" V said in excitement as she hopped up to her feet.

"We're burning daylight!"

ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo

Alright, there is nothing much different from the previous first chapter except for a different reaction from Belle regarding how everything is going and a bit more inclusion of Belle's home friends. I don't have much to say here, so I will just get one with the closer. If you have any questions or comments feel free to shoot me a pm or leave a review. Remember, reviews are magic!

-White Wolf