*excerpt from Spirit Bound*
Dimitri… was not a Strigoi.
And he was weeping.
*Skips to different except*
"Rose, you can't go." This time the sadness in Lissa's voice was mirrored through the bond, flooding into me. "It's not just that Dimitri didn't ask to see you. He asked specifically not to see you."
*End excerpt*

RPOV

I wasn't paying much attention to anything as I roamed around the court. How could he NOT want to see me? It made no sense. He loved me! More than anything I had to believe that. I wasn't paying any attention at all and before I knew it I had rammed into something as I crossed the courtyard.
"Manda! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you!" said the girl with whom I'd collided.
"No, it was my fault. Sorry." I said distractedly.
"Wait!" she cried "You dropped your wallet!" I turned around and almost ran into her again. For a guardian who's supposed to always be on guard I seemed to be losing my touch.
"I'm sorry" the girl said, "but do you know which way Clearwater Villas are? I'm new here and I don't know much of anything. They've changed all the buildings so much since the last time I visited." she asked. She seemed friendly, so I made an attempt to clear my mind. I would NOT think about Dimitri.
"Yeah, they're to the left of here, and back farther. I think you passed them up." I said finally taking in her appearance. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on why. She was Moroi, with shoulder length dark hair and bright blue eyes.
"Thank you SO much! I'm such a spaz when it comes to directions! I'm Ekatarina Belikova by the way, but you can call me Katia or Kath, either one." She smiled warmly at me.
"Rose H-wait, Belikova? Do you know Dimitri Belikov?" I asked. I figured it had to be a coincidence. He never mentioned having any other family than the ones I met in Baia.
"Dimka? He was my cousin. Did you- Oh! Are you Rose Hathaway?" She asked and I was confused at how she knew me.
"Yes. Did he tell you about me? Because he never said anything about a cousin."
"Oh, um… yeah… Actually he wouldn't stop talking about you. I stopped calling him a few months after he met you and resorted to sending emails. At least that way I could skim all the long 'Rose did this, Rose did that' stuff. I mean, you sound awesome and all, but there's only so much I can take!" she laughed. " But no, he wouldn't have mentioned me. You see, I'm his father's brother's daughter. He didn't want the rest of the family to know we were talking, too many bad memories."
"Oh… okay… that's…" I stuttered half coherently. He had a cousin? I didn't understand why he wouldn't want me to know about her, unless he'd been worried that I would let something slip to his family someday We'd been so close- "Wait..." the realization of the rest of what she said dawned on me. "He talked about me? What did he say?"
"Other than everything you ever said, did, or thought? Yeah… he was more than a little obsessed. I think it was because he had to hide it from everyone. He tried hiding it from me at first too, but I saw through him from day one. He doesn't— didn't— know that I'm working on a degree in psychology, I didn't want him to stop talking to me. It was good for him to get things out. I'm so sorry about what happened, I know how much you guys loved each other. I know I miss him tons too, and I hardly ever saw him. I can only imagine what it's like for you." She said quietly. She seemed genuinely compassionate and understanding, much the same as the rest of the Belikova's had been. Her words didn't make much sense to me though.
"You didn't hear? He's back." I said. The words sounded strange to me. I was still having trouble believing it myself.
"Back? As in in America or what?" I looked up and saw panic in her eyes. I had been doing my best to look away since the first time I saw her, I didn't want my eyes to give away how messed up I was at that moment. When I finally looked in her eyes I saw what I'd been missing the first time, what was so familiar about her. She reminded me so much of Dimitri it hurt. Her hair, the shape of her eyes- it was so like him. Even her attitude was the same. She had the same compassionate look that Dimitri got when he took care of someone. I tried not to think about the fact that from the way Dimitri was acting I wouldn't ever see him look at me like that again.
"Back from Strigoi. Lis- Vasilisa Dragomir did it." I said.
"How? I mean, with spirit of course, but… He's really back?" She said cautiously. She had tears in her eyes and I knew she was feeling what I felt a few hours ago. She was afraid to believe it. I nodded, but I realized once again she'd said something shocking.
"How do you know about spirit?!" I asked.
"My father was… connected… It's a long story. Anyway, have you seen him? Are they letting him see people?"
"No, I haven't…" I said, and I knew my voice was bitter.
"Why? You say it like… Manda! He says he doesn't want to see you, doesn't he? Isn't that JUST like him! Hurting other people to atone for something he did. That little mudak!" I recognized the Russian curses and her tone of voice. She was channeling Dimitri when he was being protective.
"I don't understand why…" My voice broke. She put her arm around me and tried to comfort me, again reminding me of him.
"He's being an idiotic douche bag!" she said, squeezing me. "Don't worry, hun. I PROMISE I will make him talk to you. That boy needs some tough love right now. Look at me." I turned my head to look at her. "If he doesn't want to talk you after I'm done with him then you need to find a way to make him see you. Once I'm done he'll either break or be so close to breaking that seeing you will put him over the edge. I promise you that he loves you. Nothing could ever, ever change that! I know him, and I know the way he spoke of you. A love like that can't be broken." She said. I felt a little better It sounded stupid and sappy and romantic, but it was just what I needed to keep my hopes up, dangerous as it was.
"Thank you." I said, a tear making its way down my cheek. Damn it! Why the HELL did I have to start crying in the middle of the court. My pain gave way to annoyance, which was slightly better and also stopped me crying before I conceded any more tears.
"Here." She gave me a tissue that she had pulled from her purse. "Go back to your place for a while. I'm going to go beat some sense into Dimka. I'll see you around, okay?" She said before walking off towards the prison.
A/N: Welcome back my darlings! If you're one of my old loyal readers I recommend you re-read this all again. I've officially finished editing what I had up and now I'm going to start writing. I have a clear idea of where I'm going and how I'm going to get there, I just need to sit down and map the timeline, which I'll do tonight. An actual new chapter, not just a re-written/re-done one will be up in a few days! The very end plot has been removed because I didn't like how it was working out, but I think the new plot line is much more well written. I hope you guys like!