A/N Hey guys! Here's another one-shot. I know that y'all are wanting more, and believe me when I say I want to write more! But junior year is no fun, and AP Exams are quickly coming. I'm in the process of collaborating with a friend on a longer story called "The Beginning of the End." The first chapter of that should be up by the end of the week. THANK YOU to all of the reviewers! It may sound cliché, but reviews really help! As usual, I do not own any of these lovely characters. They all belong to Richelle Mead, although I just might have to steal Dimka sometime :-)

Walking back into the common area, I saw Rose a second before I heard her.

"Hey. I have someone who wants to meet you. Dimitri, this is Jill. Jill, Dimitri." I was kind of surprised that she would have started talking to a younger student, a Moroi at that. I shook Jill's hand and smiled. Jill made me laugh. She was just another younger girl. She stammered her goodbye and ran off.

After putting our loads down, Rose and I turned to head back to the chapel. The silence was a comfortable one. Interrupting the silence, Rose said, "Jill knew who I was. She had kind of a hero-worship thing going on."

I guess it was a shock to her that people would know her name. "Does that surprise you? That younger students would look up to you?" She looked thoughtful.

"I don't know. I just never thought about it. I don't think I'm that good of a role model."

I could understand why she thought that way. She had run away for two years, taking the last of the Dragomir family with her. Before she left, she had been known as a party girl, a wild child. But what she hadn't realized was that since coming back, she had matured so much. I was so proud of her accomplishments, and I hoped she realized that.

"I disagree. You're outgoing, dedicated, and excel at everything you do. You've earned more respect than you think." I said, hoping to impress upon her the fact that she was indeed a role model, and a good one at that.

She glanced over at me. "And yet not enough to go to Victor's trial, apparently." Damn it. This was the last subject I wanted to start talking about. She and I always seemed to be getting into verbal fights nowadays. Sparring in the gym, I didn't mind. But I hated it when we fought using words, because sometimes those hurt more. I tried to end it quickly.

"Not this again."

"Yes, this again!" She started to yell. "Why don't you get how major this is? Victor's a huge threat." I tried to remain calm. Nothing good ever came when the both of us lost our temper.

"I know he is."

"And if he gets loose, he'll just start in on his crazy plans again." I could almost hear the desperation in her voice. The sad thing was, I had indeed already tried to get them to the trial. I had used every influence I had, and still the answer had been no. It hurt me to have to tell her no, to anything. She was after all my Roza.

I tried to squash some of her fears. "It's really unlikely that he will get loose, you know. Most of the rumors about the queen letting him off are just that—rumors. You of all people should know not to believe everything you hear."

She stared ahead, a hard glint in her eyes, trying not to concede the point to me. "You should still let us go. Or" she paused, taking a deep breath, "you should at least let Lissa go."

We both were silent after that for a little while. With what she had just said, she had proved my earlier comment on how she was an excellent role model. Not many people would give up something like that, and offer to have their best friend go instead. I wanted to sweep her up in my arms and kiss her. Not caring about who saw us, and what would happen. But I didn't. It was too close to her graduation, and I didn't want to be the reason she didn't get to graduate.

"You're right—she should be there, but again, it's nothing I can do anything about. You keep thinking I can control this, but I can't." It pained me to say it, but there was nothing more I could do.

"But did you do everything you could? You have a lot of influence. There must be something. Anything." I could hear the longing, the pleading, in her voice. She wanted to see Victor punished.

"Not as much as you think. I've got a high position here at the Academy, but in the rest of the guardian world, I'm still pretty young. And yes, I did speak up for you." I was trying to show her that I really had done all I could.

"Maybe you should have spoken up louder." She shot. With that comment, I started disengaging. She knew she had gone too far, and knew that I wouldn't respond. I started listening to the sound of the wind rushing through the trees. It was hard to believe that something so peaceful could sound in a world so filled with chaos.

"Victor knows about us." She said. " He could say something." I could hear the slight tone of worry lacing her voice. It was something I had stayed awake many nights thinking about.

"Victor has bigger things to worry about with this trial than us." I said, trying to convince her and myself. It was true. He had to worry about all the charges he was being brought up on, which could lead to as much as life in prison. He didn't have time to worry about us.

"Yeah, but you know him. He doesn't exactly act like a normal person would. If he feels like he's lost all hope of getting off, he might decide to bust us just for the sake of getting revenge."

Her words struck a chord somewhere in me. We walked in silence for a ways. I had to think of the best response, because she did have a point. And she knew it.

"Then we'll have to deal with that as best we can." I said at last. "But if Victor's going to tell, he's going to do it whether or not you testify." I knew I had just scored another point in our verbal sparring match when she wouldn't say a word all the way up to the chapel. I knew she was upset with me, but I couldn't explain to her in any other terms, just how much I had tried to get them there. I had talked with Alberta, and the other guardians. I had talked with the prosecution, and I had even written a letter petitioning the queen to let them come with us. Everyone had rejected my proposal, that the best prosecution would be to have them two there, to testify. I had literally done all I could, and the knowledge that I had let her down tore into me like a knife.