Red Ranger 1

Sweet story, thanks for sharing it with us.

Alf's episode count this block:Three. Well, it seems there's going to be no real consequence for Ryder and Chloe's misuse of Diner facilities beyond having to pay for what they've used now and in the future. I have mixed feelings about that: I'm not a huge fan of Chloe, but I wouldn't want Ryder punished with her, so I guess I have to be okay with that.It's hard to see how this has solved anything going forward though.It's all right for Leah to say "No more all-nighters", but if they can still only use the Diner after hours, and they still have other jobs during the day, and that's how long it takes to fill the orders (I've given up on making sense of their limited delivery window)...what else are they going to do? (Incidentally, anyone remember Ryder having a sleeping disorder when he first appeared? I don't think the show does, because I'd have expected Roo to have been a bit more worried about him falling asleep at random times rather than going "Yeah, anyway, can you design a website for me while you're clearly dead on your feet?") Why is the show turning Bella into yet another weak male-dependent female? This could have been a great episode for her, with her rediscovering her photography mojo and opening up to Roo. (I've seen comments recently claiming Bella's had no character development, but there's no way she'd have had that talk two years ago.) But no, we have to get her tearfully saying she still loves Nikau and looking mopingly at old photos of him that she can't bring herself to delete and leaving him longing voice messages, and I'm shouting "He's not worth it!" So, things are happening between Mackenzie and Logan. I'm not sure if he'll be able to keep his mouth shut long enough to not annoy her, although they did manage to have a conversation first.

Liked the chat between Ryder and Bella, maybe a change of scene for both of them?

Glad Sally and Sophie made up. Nice twist with Beth and Frank!

Thank you, all of you, for the comments! Managed to post this one a bit closer to when intended. CHAPTER THREE Justin looked up from the car he was working on, glancing across the garage at Ziggy.“You know, you don’t have to be here if you want to spend time with Coco.” Ziggy had thought about this but had ultimately come to the conclusion that spending all her time with Coco wasn’t something either of them wanted.“No, it’s fine.I think Coco and I tolerate each other best in small doses.” Justin grinned.“Yeah, true.If Raffy was visiting, we’d probably spend five minutes loving see each other, then she’d want me to STop cramping her style.” Ziggy nodded in agreement.“Mmm, right.Coco’s got her friends to hang out with and…” “Hi, Coco!”Justin interrupted, just that little bit too loudly for it to sound natural. Ziggy turned round and sure enough, there was Coco, holding a bag of takeaway from the Diner.“I thought you might want to have lunch together,”she explained.She glanced across at Justin.“She gets lunch, right?” “I’ll allow it,”Justin deadpanned.He looked Coco up and down, obviously taking in her condition, but apparently decided not to say anything.“So, what have you been up to?” “This and that,”Coco replied vaguely. Justin nodded.“Mostly that, eh?”he couldn’t help responding, prompting an embarrassed look. “Hi there!”interrupted a fourth voice and Ziggy looked round to see that Leah had entered as well.She smiled at their visitor.“Coco, hi!Irene told me you were in earlier.” If Coco had looked awkward at Justin’s attention, she looked as though she was dying inside at the sight of Leah.“Hi, Leah,”she managed to say. Possibly sensing her discomfort, Leah turned to Justin.“I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere for lunch?” Ziggy nodded.“Yes, go.I can keep an eye on things here.” “Chased out of my own garage,”Justin grumbled as he took Leah’s arm and accompanied her away from the premises. Coco seemed frozen to the spot as she watched them go.“I’d forgotten they were together,”she said quietly. “Is that a problem?”Ziggy asked, even though she couldn’t think of any reason why it would be. “No, no,”Coco said quickly,“I just wasn’t expecting her to see her.I’ll see you at home.” The abruptness of her depature took Ziggy by surprise.“What about eating lunch together?”But Coco was gone. *** By the time Ziggy arrived home that evening, her brain was full of possibilities for Coco’s strange behaviour.Some of which she liked better than others.Coco was at home as she’d expected and Ziggy had had a lor of time to think of an opening gambit.Ultimately, vague questions won out.“What was all that about?” Coco had obviously decided to play innocent.“All what?” “You know.”Ziggy had had time to think and the first conclusion she’d come to was this.“You didn’t want Leah to see you.” “I just…I was worried she’d tell Mum and Dad I was back,”Coco attempted. “No, I don’t think that’s it,”Ziggy replied,“I think it’s something to do with her knowing you’re pregnant. I mean, Irene or Marilyn could have spoken to Mum just as easily.So it must be someone else you don’t want her to tell.”She paused, waiting for Coco to contradict her.She didn’t.“Maybe something to do with the father?Someone that Leah’s most likely to speak to?”Ziggy thought for a moment.“Hunter?No, that’s a bit too random…” She could tell from the look on Coco’s face that she was getting close.“Ziggy, please,”Coco attempted. And then it clicked into place.“VJ,”Ziggy realised,“VJ’s the father.” Coco hesitated for a moment, then she nodded.

Chloe and Ryder's insane business model continues. Now it seems they're actually using the Diner's ingredients as well as their facilities, which puts them into even more morally murky territory. A bad day for Ryder to be indispensable. Did Roo really not notice he was dead on his feet while getting him to set up the auction page? Leah seems a bit suss about Chloe's determination to be left alone in the Diner. Logan telling Tori to go somewhere where she can make a real difference was a bit of a "Wait, what?" moment: It's not like she's heading somewhere that's desperately starved of decent doctors! (Well, not that desperately starved.) To be fair, I'm not sure Logan actually knew they were going to London, just that it was overseas. Anyway, his words seem to have given Tori a new perspective.

Well, of course Pippa worries about Sally, but she could have been gentler with Ric and Cassie. Hopefully Cassie is able to work through things.

Tane confiding in Felicity probably added to the mixed messages. I get that he hasn't had the best experience with the police, but they haven't had the best experience with him either, and as I said before, Cash seems very different in temperament to Colby.It's hard to tell whether this "Never again" is going to stick or not. Cash winding Felicity up and Jasmine's reaction to it was quite amusing. So, after all that work, Martha's hit a major stumbling block.I hope we get a proper explanation for the gallery's change of heart tomorrow. Justin wasn't having a good day, failing to sneak out of the honeymoon discussion and then being roped into multi trips to the city, so at least he seems to have been spared! That was a pretty big leap for Christian to go from Tori wanting a holiday in London to wanting to move to any random place in the UK permanently.

Well, Bella was obviously listening to my comment last week because there she is, trying to get a job. Kudos to her for that, hopefully it'll be followed through on rather than just dropped.Kudos to Nikau too for apologising to Ari and Mia for what he said.It was odd that he told Tane he did it because Ari "got under his skin", implying it was prompted by Ari lecturing him, when in fact Ari hadn't said a thing about Nikau and he just said it to punish him for helping Dean.Maybe he didn't want to reopen wounds with Tane... Talking of which, neither Tane or Felicity is coming across that well with their fling. Felicity's behaviour is bordering on sexual harassment at times, yet Tane isn't half giving her mixed messages: Telling her it's never going to happen again and then using her for a distraction every time he has an awkward encounter with Ziggy isn't helping at all.

Pippa was oddly confrontational there, but hopefully they've got through it.

Well, John got a free meal (minus the wine he provided) out of Ari and Mia's questioning, so not a complete waste of time, and did give them some encouragement. Tane finds that a night out with a hyperactive Nikau isn't that much fun, but on the plus side, he and Mackenzie do seem to be making a go of this friendship thing. Nikau's bratty outburst at Ari was unnecessary. Dean's an old friend of Ari's, he got injured in the first place because he was trying to help Nikau, and Tane kind of wants Dean and Ziggy to make a go of it anyway even if he doesn't want to be friends with them, so I'm not sure there's any lack of loyalty going on. It felt like, somehow, Nikau's relating his and Bella's break-up to Tane and Ziggy's, but the only thing they have in common is that they are break-ups, and I'm slowly realising I've lost all track of what Nikau actually wants there. (To recap:Nikau cheated on Bella.Bella broke up with him and said she wanted nothing to do with him.Nikau tried to get her to give him another chance.Nikau nearly died and Bella decided she did want to get back with him after all.Nikau promptly told her to leave him alone, for reasons that remain not entirely clear.Bella went back to saying she wanted nothing to do with him.Nikau is still trying to make it up to her and I've no idea if he wants to get back together again or not...)

Nik gave him the money to give to Bella for the camera, then gave him some money for himself once he'd done the job. Well...Felicity refusing to take no for an answer with Tane was more than a little problematic, but he gave into her in the end so...that's okay? I'm in two minds about Bella's reaction to them kissing.It's nice she wants to stick up for Ziggy, but given that Ziggy was the one that cheated and Tane had to watch her kissing Dean five minutes after they broke up, I can't really see her as the injured party. Marilyn meeting Felicity, and Felicity's "What's a Ziggy?", were vaguely amusing. Bella found out about Nikau buying the camera happened a lot quicker than anyone had anticipated, but it's actually not a total loss: Nikau's still looking after the camera and can give it back to Bella if/when she works through this. Still, she's thousands of dollars down, so maybe she actually needs to think about getting a job unless she wants to leave all the bills to Mackenzie.(Is she still at TAFE if she's given up on Photography?) So, the only way to get Dean out of hospital is for him to move in with Ziggy? Mackenzie's expression just screams "Oh boy, this is a bad idea..."

Glad you all liked that interaction. I think Ziggy and Coco did develop a close sisterly bond during the whole cancer storyline, and they've probably both grown up since their early days, so it was nice to write that new dynamic.We didn't get to see Coco and Bella for long, but it felt like they could have had a good friendship. Yes, I wanted them together too. Benefits of getting to write your own version! Ben and Maggie should probably be told, but Coco's not ready to deal with that at the moment, so everyone's respecting her wishes.

Huh.Okay, wasn't expecting it to end that soon! Nice that Bella has got a good future.

Thank you for the comments, Kristen, Zig and beachside! I meant to post this yesterday but time got away. Hope you enjoy! CHAPTER TWO Ziggy eyed her sister, trying to formulate a response.“How did that happen?”she asked at last.She saw Coco open her mouth to respond and pointed a warning finger at her.“Do not give me a clever response, okay?I didn’t know you had a boyfriend!” Coco looked rueful.“I don’t.” Ziggy took this in, her mind racing as she tried to think of alternatives.“So…what?Are we talking a one night stand here?” Coco seemed to consider the question.“More of a…holiday romance?There was a guy…” “There usually is,”Ziggy agreed. “He was in Queensland for a couple of weeks,”Coco continued,“And we met up and we…well, got on well.More than once.And after he went home, I found out I was pregnant.” Ziggy thought about this, trying to work out what questions she should be asking.“Have you got no way of contacting him?Tracking him down?” Coco shook her head.“It’s best I don’t.I decided I can do this on my own.” “Which is why you came here?”Ziggy asked wryly.She saw Coco’s awkward look and softened her expression.“You’re not on your own.”Another thought occurred to her.“I take it you haven’t told Mum and Dad about this?” “No,”Coco admitted, biting her lip nervously,“Can we wait before telling them?” Ziggy dug deep into her reserves to try and work out what a supportive big sister would do at this point. “Okay, we can wait,”she agreed,“But, you know, they’re going to notice they’ve got a grandchild eventually.” “I know.”Coco looked at her gratefully.“Thank you.” “No problem,”Ziggy replied…even though it felt like that was exactly what it was. *** Coco had found a table in the Diner and looked around her.It all looked familiar…almost depressingly so. The place didn’t seem to have had so much as a menu holder moved in the last two years, and of course Irene and Marilyn were still behind the counter, greeting her like an old friend and cooing over the prospect of her being a mother.They hadn’t asked too many questions, thankfully, and she hoped they weren’t closely in touch with her parents enough to let anything slip. She had fond memories of her time in Summer Bay, but she really thought she’d moved on from them. Her mood brightened when she saw two people her own age enter.Despite the awkward questions it was going to provoke, she was pleased to see them. Ryder withdrew his arm from round Bella’s waist and favoured Coco with a large grin.“Hey, long time no see!How are you..?”He paused as Coco stood up and he noticed the curve of her abdomen.“Woah.” “Well, you’ve been busy,”Bella noted drily,“Or is it just that you’ve been eating more than you used to?” “No, no, I’m pregnant,”Coco confirmed as the three of them sat down.She looked across at Ryder, who seemed to be staring into space.“What?” “No, no, just trying to picture you as a mother,”Ryder mused,“It looks weird.” “For me as well,”Coco admitted,“But here we are.”She hurried to change the subject.“So, I kind of noticed you two have changed your relationship status.” Ryder put his hand over Bella’s.“She couldn’t resist me,”he agreed conspiratorially. “I could too,”Bella insisted.She turned back to Coco.“I just happened to point out to him that, since we were both single and spent most of our time with each other, a friends with benefits arrangement could be to both our advantage.”She sighed.“And, as it turned out, we both liked it a lot more than we expected.” She looked accusingly at Ryder.“So, of course, he insisted we had to make it official.” “I don’t see you complaining much, girlfriend,”Ryder responded. “I complain a lot,”Bella retorted,“But not about dating you.” “Well, I’m pleased for you,”Coco replied. Ryder gestured to her.“So are you..?” “Going it alone,”Coco completed for him. Ryder nodded.“Well, the kid will always have Uncle Ryder and…” “Do not call me Auntie Bella,”his girlfriend warned him,“I am no-one’s auntie.” Coco smiled in spite of herself.Suddenly, she didn’t feel alone at all.

Ari was kind of on a hiding to nothing with no-one in a talking mood. I think Nikau's right that Bella would regret selling her photography stuff, so him buying it and holding onto it is a good idea in principle.But I don't think she's going to appreciate it any time soon, so he'd better be ready to keep it hidden.Tane meanwhile is just looking for a distraction, although I guess Mia's given Ari one now with the adoption suggestion. So, we get the story about what happened to the Newmans' father from Felicity...and then we get the real one from Cash. Well, sort of. It sounded like their father committed suicide but no-one ever actually said so or even used a euphemism: Is that the new Word We Can't Say? (Thinking back, I remember some confusion around John's father's suicide.) When Felicity described Cash as "great but damaged", she could have been talking about herself. I do think she was being honest when she agreed to pull her head in, so hopefully no more early morning brawls.

Okay, so apparently we've got a truce between John and Justin. It looked at first as though they'd just shaken hands without really resolving anything, but a few things got resolved eventually, like an explanation for why Justin isn't buying the garage and him deciding to stop the panel beating idea. It's still not clear why John made the suggestion and then got cross when Justin tried to use the idea, but I guess feelings were running high. Logan continued to be an irritant to Tori, although Christian seemed to be enjoying his company and he did ultimately prove surprisingly domesticated.Isn't the idea of keep someone in overnight for observation supposed to be to, well, observe them? Were Tori and Christian checking on him, or did they just leave him in the spare room to potentially die in his sleep? Jasmine isn't alone: I kept expecting Felicity to interrupt their date as well! She didn't manage that but she did manage to get in the middle of a fight (between two suitors?). She did at least help Cash break it up, but they might need to find somewhere else to live if she does it again...

Channel 5 is still the main channel, 5* is still just a First Look preview. It makes sense to have the proper blocks on the main channel, rather than tucked away on Channel 31 (or whatever it is these days). Soap guides will still list the Channel 5 showings rather than the 5* ones.If people look for the episodes on My5, they'll be listed under the Channel 5 broadcasts.

Hopefully Bella's right about Mackenzie, although I think she probably will be!

I'm beginning to think that Logan's somewhat similar to Felicity: Fun to watch, but a nightmare to actually be around. It seems that even keeling over in front of her after performing a dramatic rescue hasn't endeared him to Mackenzie, and Tori's comment about having to babysit him is actually pretty accurate: He was actually liked a child who needed something to keep his attention. Maybe she should give him a colouring book. Ryder and Chloe did spend most of the day semi-conscious and the rest of it unconscious.They are lucky they didn't fall asleep a bit later.I guess they went as soon as they sat down. Leah's impersonation of John might not have been that accurate, but she knows him well enough to predict that he'd ask for more rent. Slight confusion: Why was John suggesting the panel beating to Justin before, yet is now against the idea of him actually doing it? Is it because Justin wanted to buy the garage? (And we suddenly seem to have gone from that to John definitely going to be landlord and Justin considering moving somewhere else anyway...yeah, I can't keep up.)

Good that Bella and Dean talked.

There seems to be some very confused plotting.Logan texted Mackenzie last episode to summon her to the hospital, right? She decided he got her number from Dean? So not only should she presumably have had a record of his number from the text and thus not need him to give it to her again...why does she respond to his call by asking how he got her number, when she knows he already had it?! Anyway, Ziggy was out of line texting Logan on her behalf, but it did lead to Mackenzie's incredibly rambling voicemail that had even her cringing. On a similar confused note, how does Ryder and Chloe's business exist? Maybe I'm being naive, but you'd expect people to want their takeaway when they order it, or at least at a time when they're likely to be eating. But nope, apparently the customers are fine getting their orders in the early hours of the morning. Are they targeting the "just got home from clubbing" crowd? Do the customers reheat the meals when they want them? Honestly, I'd have thought that having Irene, Leah, Roo and Marilyn all hanging around the Diner was a minor inconvenience compared to their off-peak delivery hours. Leah continues to give Justin a push but it feels like they're assuming a lot, both that they'll be able to buy the garage and find someone to run it.

Alf's episode count this block:Three. A fairly sparse week, with Irene, Leah, Justin and Ari being the only other characters to make three episodes. And it seems Alf's off again, given a rather unconvincing about turn.If his problem was that he was fed up with the constant travelling back and forth, I'm not sure why a promise he could go fishing won him over, and he seemed to change his story between his conversations with Roo and Martha.Still, him putting a huge amount of fishing rods in the back of the car was a nice visual gag. And I did like the by-play among Leah, Justin, Tori and Christian. I'd rather have the chocolate fondue fountain than the cheese tier cake frankly.Leah and Justin seem determined to buy into the garage but they are kind of dependent on what John does. Could Dean and Logan actually end up being friends? It's a promising start, and probably essential if Logan's trying to tip his hat at Mackenzie. Bella going to see Willow felt like a bit of a desperate "Who does Bella know out of town who we can send her to until we next need her?" moment, but it is nice that they're still in touch.

If you mean they're finishing with Episode 7670 (currently scheduled to air Monday 22nd November), then that's good news: It suggests they are going to be restarting in January with a new block on the Monday and finally get the Channel 5 showings back into synch, rather than keep using the proper blocks for the 5* showings as some people have suggested.

It's been a while since my last fiction but I had another idea busting to be told.I hope you enjoy! Story Title: Sudden FamilyType of story: Medium ficMain Characters: Coco, Ziggy, Justin, Leah, Ryder, Bella, Irene and othersBTTB rating: TGenre: DramaDoes story include spoilers: NoAny warnings: Mild sexual contentSummary: Coco returns to town for a visit, with a surprise in store for her friends and family. CHAPTER ONE Ziggy tried very hard not to let the tension she felt show as she entered Salt.Not least because she wasn’t entirely sure why she felt tense.There were, at times, downsides to being the last Astoni left in Summer Bay.This was one of them. Any attempt she’d made to disguise her feelings obviously failed, since as she approached the bar, Mackenzie fixed her with a piercing if sympathetic glare.“Something on your mind?” “My sister’s coming to visit,”Ziggy explained. Mackenzie nodded and poured her friend a large drink.“Coco, right?I don’t think I’ve ever met her.” Ziggy managed to shake her head at the same time as taking a large gulp of the drink.“I think she was last in town just before you moved here.She’s been at college in Queensland the last few years.” “So, what’s the problem?Is she a troublemaker or something?” “She’s had her moments,”Ziggy noted,“But mostly she’s always been a Grade A student.Which is probably one of the many reasons why we didn’t really get on until we moved here.Just too different. Now, we’re still too different but somehow we’ve managed to find a way to ignore that.” Mackenzie nodded in understanding.“Well, if Dean and I can find common ground, I guess anyone can. So why do you look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders?” It was the question Ziggy had been asking herself ever since she got the news.Because the thing was she didn’t actually have any reason to be anxious and worried.It was just that niggling sensation at the back of her mind that this visit meant some sort of trouble.“She hasn’t been back here in over two years, right?So why now?Because as much as we might have managed to get on better these last few years, I still don’t think she’d walk out of college just to come and see me.”She sighed.“And I really really wish Mum and Dad were here to deal with this.” “Just play it by ear, I guess.” “I guess so.”Ziggy drained her glass and put it back down on the bar. “Another?”Mackenzie asked wryly. “Please.” *** Ziggy heard the taxi pulling up outside and took a few deep breaths.Nothing to worry about.Just her annoying little sister coming to stay for a few days.Or possibly weeks.They hadn’t actually discussed that bit.But it didn’t matter.All that mattered was that there was nothing to worry about. “Just leave them there,”Coco told the driver, as he deposited her cases in the hallway.She handed him the money and he headed off back to his car. “So…you made it here then,”Ziggy commented. Coco nodded.“Got intimately acquainted with every train station in the last 2000 miles but yep, I made it.” Ziggy was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.“So, what have you been doing?” “Er, well, college has been fine.I’ve joined quite a few environmental pressure groups up there.Made a few new friends, something which I thought was impossible once.”Coco shrugged off her jacket and Ziggy got her first proper look at her sister’s figure.Ziggy’s eyes widened as Coco added,“Oh, yeah, and I got pregnant.” That, Ziggy realised, was exactly the sort of thing she’d been afraid of.