A New Life

Welcome back! This is the sequel to my Last Sacrifice, so, if you haven't read that, then I strongly advise you to do so. I have gotten a lot of complements on it, so reading it will NOT be a waste of your time.

Enjoy the first chapter of "A New Life" I will not be updating chapter two for a while, due to my graduation and other graduation parties that I will have to go to, along with getting my state test for my CNA license.

Chapter 1.

"Green?" Tammy questioned me in an irritated voice. We were both tired and hungry. She had the nerve to wake both Dimitri and me up at six thirty in the morning, moroi time, to make wedding color decisions. It was Dimitri and I's day off, and we wanted to spend the day together, just the two of us.

It is currently seven at night, and we had only eaten an early lunch. We already picked out the color and design for my dress (Lissa wanted it to be a one-of-a kind dress), the maids dresses, the flower girl's dress and decided on the invitations for the wedding. The dresses, Dimitri and I had agreed, would be a metallic green. We both wanted a touch of Lissa in our wedding; the metallic green seemed like the perfect way to go. Therefore, the announcements would have a white background, with metallic green writing.

Right now, Tammy was making sure we picked out the correct theme color green and that we are sure that we want green. I didn't want just white- it was too plain for me.

People forget! I'm a wild spirit. I need to express myself. I'm also a strong believer in breaking traditions. This one, I was fully set on breaking. Larisa said that this was going to be the wedding of the century; I tend to make her correct.

I sighed.

"Tamara, can't we call it a night?" Dimitri asked in English.

It's been two months since she has been…well, I don't know what you want to call it. Resurrected is close, but she's no Jesus Christ. Therefore, we decided to go with saying her "spiritual return."

Her eyes widened, looking at both of us, and waved her arms in the air like a mad woman. "Absolutely not!"

I held back from rolling my eyes. "Tams," I looked her in the eyes for a moment. "You and Lev need to spend more time together."

She ignored that, mainly because the truth was stretched. They defiantly don't need to spend more time together. They have already expressed their love in more than a dozen ways, which is sweet and romantic, but I would like to be around them without the feeling that I'm invading some secret romantic getaway.

Thinking of that made me sad. Dimitri had wanted to take me on a two day vacation, just the two of us, after the war was over and Sonya is all happy. I had declined, mainly because Tamara and Lissa were pushing me to get the wedding organized. If it wasn't for them being right, I would have told both Tammy and Lissa to piss off.

"Rose, you have chosen your wedding dress to be a marvelous shade of white and green, making the bridesmaids and maid of honor's dress green and white as well, but your fiancé has yet to decide if he wants the men's tux to be white or black with the same color green tie."

Dimitri ran a hand over his face. I had a feeling he was suppressing the urge to bang his head on the table top. This was taking too long, and Tammy's urgent need-to-know mood wasn't helping this go any faster or be any fun.

We were sitting at the dining room's huge cherry oak table. There was enough room to fit all the royals and more at the table. The room is huge and was box-like with wooden swinging doors leading to the kitchen. The floors are marble, with a dark gray and light gray stone look as well as an ancient and yet clean look to it, giving the room a medieval feel.

"I think you should decide." I spoke for him.

She nodded, as if I answered correctly. "We will go with the more traditional look: a black tux."

Dimitri looks good in anything he wears, so I wasn't going to complain about that.

"Now, for the flower girl, what kind of flowers do you want to be thrown down the aisle?"

"White and red rose petals." Dimitri spoke instantly. He looked at me with a smile. "White is for everlasting and pure; and red is for love."

I gave him my man eating smile. Dimitri, as I had figured when he had asked me to marry him, is involved in the wedding plans. He wants it to be perfect. I think it's because he realized that we should do it right.

I grabbed his hand and looked at him, still smiling. "It's perfect."

Tammy looked down at her clip board and wrote something down with a sigh. She was so tired. She had been putting her heart and soul into this wedding. It's been making me smile whenever I see she's excited. God, I'd miss her so much if she wasn't here!

Thinking of that, I leaned over and hugged her, letting D's hand go. I gave her a cheese squeeze hug, and made it last a little bit longer than normal. "I love you, Tammy. I'm glad you're my sister." I spoke in Russian.

She squeezed me back. "Don't let Lissa hear that." She laughed after we let go.

Lissa has been doing a lot of research for hair ideas, perfume, location on where the wedding ceremony should take place in Russia, and most importantly, the honeymoon. In fact, Dimitri has been helping her with that…with as much as she'd let him, that is. Lissa wanted to surprise us. She asked us what kind of climate we wanted and what we wanted to do.

Dimitri wanted to go to the mountains, which I instantly thought of China. He disagreed and said that Peru was the best; they have the world's deepest canyon, great scenery,

In all honesty, Peru didn't sound all too bad. We had also agreed that we wanted the wedding ceremony to take place in St. Petersburg. Dimitri loved St. Petersburg because of all the Russian gothic sculptures, statues, and the castle. He said that there are beautiful churches there and that there is bound to be one that we want to get married in. Lissa, Tamara, Lev (those two are a package deal), Dimitri and I are going to St. Petersburg in a few weeks to look for the perfect church.

When I told the Cobra's that we were having the wedding at home, they were ecstatic. I had also told them that we would be returning two months before the wedding because we should chill and relax. As guardians, we hardly have time to be kick back and be ourselves without looking out for moroi. They deserve it and need it. After all, we are young adults.

Knock, knock, knock. There was a brass bar banging on the cherry oak wooden doors. In the middle of the door is an oval stained-glass. The glass had a milky look around the edge for about five inches, then it cleared up. In the middle is a cobra snake- a king cobra. The large snake is up high in the air; its white fangs showing and are long and sharp. The snake's color skin was an olive yellow with a few stripped black spots. On his neck and on his head, the stretching of the skin, also called the hood, gave the snake a dangerous, yet amazing look.

Irony.

I was truly touched that Tatiana had the glass door costume-made for us. In fact, everything in the castle looked specially picked out for us. The castle is elegant and homey, yet it has a powerful feel to it. I, along with the rest of my family, immediately fell in love with our new home. We all wished the castle was back in Russia, because it was most definitely a Russian castle (and if I didn't know any better, with a touch of Turkish here and there; there were certain ).

I got up to get it. the only reason I heard the door was because of my dhampire hearing.

The front door is two hundred yards away. The hallway wasn't narrow at all. It was wide. The ceiling is a thousand feet high (exaggeration, but you get the point. In reality, is about fifteen feet high). The walls are white with some artwork hanging on the wall. The lights are definitely expensive. The shade is white glass that is in the shape of a half circle and it looked drilled into the wall. There were one every twenty feet lighting the way. There are also, to my hysterical amusement, two medieval knights with full armor standing at the entrance of the door, one on each side. I about died laughing when is saw them. In other hallways, there are swords, bow and arrows, arrows and knives from thousands of different cultures. There are even weapons from the Stone Age. I, as a warrior, respected these artifacts.

I answered the door and saw Lissa, Eddie and Mia standing together. I gave them all hugs and invited them inside. "Tammy, Dimitri and I are in the dining room." I looked at Lissa when I said this. I turned to Lissa and Eddie and winked at them. "Everyone else is in the game room playing Just Dance 2 on the Wii."

Mia jumped up and down, took Eddie's hand and led him to the game room that is on the other side of the castle. I am glad those two are dating now. I laughed as I saw Eddie smile and roll his eyes.

"You know what I just thought about?" Lissa asked in a casual tone as we started walking to the dining room. She knew the castle well, just as the rest of my friends and family. They love our new home.

"Mmm?" I asked, not wanting to really know. All I wanted to do is go out to dinner and crawl into bed with Dimitri and have a good night's sleep.

"We don't have a flower girl! Who do we know is cute and adorable that can play the role of a flower girl?"

I thought and eventually came up empty. "I haven't a clue. You?"

She shook her head. She had took the time to curl her hair. Her attire was a white sundress with ruby jewelry. "Nope, which is exactly why I brought this to your attention. What about the ring bearer?"

I shrugged. "We don't really need a ring bearer. One of the groomsmen can hold the rings in their pocket."

We walked into the dining room. "We have a huge problem!" Lissa waved her arms in the air, the same way Tammy did earlier. Goodness gracious! That's where Tammy learned to do the arm waving trick. Lissa quickly relapsed the conversation we had in the hall to Tammy and Dimitri as we sat down.

Dimitri nodded and looked at me. "I know the perfect ring bearer- my nephew, Paul."

I sucked in an excited breath, and smiled. "Yes! Well, that's if Karolina will let us."

He nodded. His dark eyes shinned with excitement. "She will be honored. The flower girl can be Zoya."

I tilted my head to the side. "Is she old enough?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Rose, she's almost two years old."

I nodded. "Good."

"Then I will get their sizes from Karolina."

"Along with permission." Dimitri said, his head turning to her. "I don't want my sister to feel pressured into this." The Belikov family returned home during the war, with help from the Queen, from what Viktoria told us.

Tamara put up a hand in truce. "Yes, of course. But remember, we have to size your guy's ring fingers and look for a ring yet!"

With that, Dimitri rose and looked at everyone. "Well, my fiancé and I are going to go out for dinner. You may order something from the kitchen if you like. The others wanted the chef to make a true Italian lasagna." Dimitri rolled his eyes. He wasn't much for lasagna.

Lissa smiled in thanks. "Yes, right after I ask a few more questions."

I looked at her, giving her an annoyed look. She looked at me head on, ignoring my look. "Would you rather a suite or a condo?"

I looked at Dimitri. "Condo." We both said in unison, but I instantly took it back when I spoke the words. I remembered when Dimitri and I had talked about at a gas station after Mason had died. "Actually," I said looking at Lissa, "look for a cabin." I looked at Dimitri. "Some place that is in the woods, yet not too far away from civilization. I want to wake up to birds chirping and the sunshine in my face."

"But for Rose's sanity, there has to be internet and cable." Dimitri added with amusement in his voice.

And a large bed. I mentally added. I looked at Lissa and she had an eyebrow raised, as if she heard my thoughts. Whatever expression was on my face, I immediately whipped clean. I grabbed Dimitri's hand and made haste towards the exit with him.

"You know, I read that expression." He said smug. I felt my cheeks burn dark red. You've got to be kidding me. It's not like he doesn't enjoys those activities too.

"I was only thinking of what you like." Crap! That came out wrong. "You like the wilderness."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him raise an eyebrow. I could hear his thoughts saying "right, Rose."

We walked out of the castle and got into my hummer that my father had given me as a graduation present. I still loved it, but it seemed that Gabe loved it more; he was always asking if he could use it. I made it my next project to buy him one for his twenty third birthday, even thought that is three years away.

Dimitri took the wheel, while I took the passenger seat. "Chinese?" He asked, looking at me as we buckled in.

I gazed into his eyes beautiful dark brown eyes. "You know me." I winked.

He smiled and started the car. As he drove, we passed hundreds of huge, thick green maple and oak trees, shrubs, lots of open fields that belong to the queen, though is all forest. As I had said earlier, the castle was towards the West wall, but I didn't mention that the west was now increased to around hundred miles. After the strigoi, the Queen wanted more land in Court, so that we could have the element of knowing the land more. It was a genius idea from her.

The wall has now been rebuilt and in the same materials that it was first made of. However, at the East wall, there was a memorial for all the guardians and moroi that we had lost that night. The memorial is the spinning image of the one that the humans made for World War 1+2, except this one was much smaller, and it was built inside the stone wall.

"They had rebuild Court faster than I had imagined."

Dimitri nodded. "да." (means Yes; sounds like: Dah) "I'm always amazed at how fast they work."

I looked out the window as I spoke. "Making plans for our wedding isn't as fun as I had thought it would be."

He reached over and took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You are just feeling the pressure, Roza. Give it time." His thumb rubbed circles on my palm and it soothed me.

"You're right." I let out a breath. "You sure you want the wedding to be on May 18, 2012?" It was currently August 20, 2011, so we had while until the wedding, but there is so much to do!

He nodded. "It's the summertime in Russia. I want it to be warm."

I couldn't agree more. Dimitri pulled into the parking lot and parked. He opened my door and led me to the restaurant. The sun would be coming up soon, and we wanted to see it rise.

"Dimitri," he looked at me as we stepped inside. "Would you like to sit down and eat in the park, and watch the sun come up?"

He thought about it. The weather has been unusually cool for the human's night, and it's nice to walk around without a jacket. Dimitri didn't have his duster on, and wow, he should keep it off more often. He was wearing a dark gray t-shirt from American Eagle (Larisa talked him into shopping there), and his usual Denim Jeans.

"That sounds better." He said in an approving tone. We ordered takeout and walked out into rising sun, hand in hand. We walked in comfortable silence as he led the way to the nearest park and to the farthest wooden picnic table. We sat down on the end sides, across from each other. I opened the paper bag to find two plates, a large water, a box of chicken fried rice, a box of sesame chicken, a box of noodles and donuts. Mmm.

We dug in. I used chopsticks, while he used a fork. I chuckled quietly, but he seemed to hear. "What?" He looked at me innocently.

I shrugged. He's such a…Russian.

"I see that smirk on your face, Roza. Tell me." There was a smile in his tone. A gentle breeze blew, and our hair flew to the side a little bit.

"I was just thinking," my smirk grew into a teasing smile, "that I should teach you how to use chopsticks."

He laughed at that. "It's only fair; I teach you how to fight, you teach me how to eat."

I laughed. "You just made yourself sound like a barbarian."

I leaned over the table and kissed his lips. "I love you still."

A side of his lips twitched into an almost-smile.

I straightened up and dug my hand into the paper bag until I found his chopsticks. I'll show him how its done.

"Alright Mr. Belikov," I said as I handed him his chopsticks. He took them out and tried to copy the way I was holding them. He wasn't far off, but he defiantly wouldn't be able to pick anything up… unless if he does it Christian style and just stab his food with one of his chopsticks.

"Close. Try this: let the one stick lay in the web between your thumb and index finger. Add pressure by squeezing, and the lower part of the stick should be pressing against the upper part of the middle finger. The other stick, should be placed above the other chopstick, and the upper part of the thumb should be holding it, and the index finger should be laying in the stick. To pick food up, you should have to move the bottom stick, only the top one."

After I demonstrated, Dimitri got it right off the bat. If I wasn't mistaken, he looked pleased. I dug in and the food was as good as usual. We ate in silence, and I occasionally glanced at the horizon that was turning pink and orange. The picnic table was on a hill, so the sun looked bigger.

"You sure you want to be my slave for life?" I asked, turning my eyes from the sum to look at him.

Dimitri looked up from his food and gave me a kind smile. "Roza, I was your slave from the moment I met you."

My heart did summersaults from the sweet, sugar tone of his voice; not to mention what he said. I smiled back and turned his attention back to his food. I thought my appetite was bad- his was worse! He ate twice as much as me- so I have no reason to look like a pig.

I watched the sun sink further down for a few minutes, then I turned back to Dimitri. "Are you done yet? I could have ran three miles by now."

He laughed. "Yes. What do you want to do?"

I stood up and I felt him get off the table to. I walked up to him and slid my hand in his, entangling our fingers together. I was now in my happy place. I walked forward, into the grassy area, where there were very little picnic tables and thicker and bigger trees. I stopped at a thick tree, that also gave us a good view of the sunrise. I let go of Dimitri's hand, and as if he read my mind, he sat down. I sat between his legs and he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer.

I sighed. "I love you." I said.

"Mmm." I could feel his smile radiating off of him. His lips skimmed my neck and shoulder. His lips went to the nap of my neck and gave me a gentle kiss. "I love you."

I smiled and focused my eyes on the sunrise as he too looked up. "I wonder how my parents are doing." What I really meant was, are they going to give me hell when Dimitri and I finally tie the knot.

There was amusement in his voice when he spoke. "Oh, I'm sure Abe is excited." I rolled my eyes. "I'm serious."

I turned to look at him; the sun was half way up. "And how do you know?"

He gave me a gentle smile and ran his fingers through my hair. "Because I asked him for your hand."

My eyes almost popped out of its sockets, while Dimitri gave me an amused look. "What?" I asked as I stood on my knees. I was now as tall as Dimitri…until he stands on his feet…or knees.

He nodded, and his arms tightened, pulling me closer to him. "He told me to take care of you and to love you." His eyes roamed my face, taking in my every feature. "I plan on to excelling in that area of our life together."

I smiled. "Because it's not all about you."

He laughed softly and brought his face closer to mine. "On the contrary," he said, "it is all about us."

I kissed him, and couldn't stop smiling in the kiss. We broke apart and we both smiled at each other. I leaned into his chest and wrapped my arms around him in a hug as I glanced at the sun that was three quarters of the way up.

"This is how it should be."

"And it will always be." He said.

We returned to the castle an hour later, finding everyone asleep. I gave Dimitri an excited look. We weren't tired, and I knew exactly what to do. We quickly changed into stretchy clothes and headed to the castle's gym and fitness center. Yes, the queen thought of everything. It seems that she really wants us around. I have to tell you, it's working, and not just on me, but on everyone. The Cobra's- without MY vote (which I was a little upset about) decided to go home (Russia) three times a year. Thanksgiving (only for the food- and of course to see the family, but mostly for the food), Christmas and Halloween (those two are main time of year when the strigoi want to feast and start repopulating its dumb race, which needs to die. So, we have to go there at that time to…well, you know)

Dimitri and I quickly walked to the gym where there are mostly mats and a few bars to , eager to spar. This was going to be fun.

"I see that smile, Roza. I'm not going easy on you this time." God, I hoped not!

"Good." I said, coming to an abrupt halt, causing him to walk into me. I leaned all my weight into my back causing him to get even more off balance. As soon as a felt his footsteps take a few steps back, I bolted to the gym doors, which was a few yards away. I walked into the gym, not bothering to turn on the lights.

Why make it easy on him? We can play in the dark. After all, my future husband needs to know all my secrets.

I heard the door open again and footsteps following afterwards.

"Roza, you can't hide from me."

I smiled. Clever, Comrade, I thought. I'm not falling for that. I stayed quiet, knowing he was trying to get me to talk.

We couldn't see each other, but we both knew the area and there is a lot of space.

Since we moved in, Dimitri and I have been practicing more on sparring, than on knowing where your enemy is at in the dark (like what Mason and the Cobra's did with me when I was deaf and were getting me ready to fight- of course, it was against everyone's better judgment). Therefore, I had the upper hand skill. Muhaha (said that with as evil laugh as I could manage)!

I felt his next move before he even took a step. I had to take a few steps back otherwise he would have caught me. I moved to the right four steps, while he moved to the left two steps. I held my breath.

"Rose, I'm going to turn the lights on."

He's bluffing. There was a note to his voice that told me so. I moved an extra step to the right and forward one step as quietly as I could. Moving forward saved me, because as soon as I did that, he took two giant steps to the right and nearly caught me. I felt the air as his hand passed the middle of my back.

Fhew. That one was close. My body started pounding with adrenalin and anticipation.

"I'll say this: you've gotten much better."

I felt Dimitri turn forward, practically facing me. I smiled wickedly and lunged at him. I knew he felt my weight coming into his direction. His hands went out to protect himself, but he was too late. With my body weight and the power that I lunged with, I knocked Dimitri down to the ground, rapping my legs around him to keep him from kicking me off.

His body weight would shift to one side, and he tried to lift himself off the ground and push me off him at the same time, but I wasn't having that; I would push him right back down. However, I wasn't getting what I wanted: a good view of his heart or neck.

Suddenly, one of his legs broke free from my hold and he kicked me off him.

"Good, but not good enough." He said in a playful tone.

I frowned. He wasn't doing much better either.

He got up as quick as a whip. I rolled a few feet away, knowing he would expect me to get up like he did, then come at him. I could make out figures, but it was so dark in here, I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the machines. There was a figure a little bit to my right in front of me; tall and wide at the top- must be Dimitri.

I slowly got up after a few tense moments of silence, knowing he wouldn't know where I would be at. I held in my breath as I straightened my spine-

"oophf." All the breath rushed out of my lungs as I was tackled down to the ground from behind. There was no getting out of his hold. Dimitri was and forever will be a warrior god I have always thought of him to be.

"Gotcha." He said in my ear, then gently kissed my neck.

All the tension left my body and my muscles relaxed. "Damn." Even when I have the upper hand skill, he still wins. I felt him leave and walk away, then lights flashed on. I found that I was in a corner. I narrowed my eyes as realization hit. The jerk cornered me!

"Dimitri!" I yelled.

He had on a big, smug smile. "And here you thought you had the upper hand skill." He tsked as he came closer. "I knew I had you when I felt you roll to the left away from me." We were now a foot apart from each other and I had to lift my chin up a little bit to see him.

"Uh." I said, narrowing my eyes. It is so on. "You know what this means, right?" I said gravely.

His lips twitched and his eyes shinned excitement and so much more. "Yes."

"This is war."

He nodded, being serious and never taking his eyes off mine. "Winner takes all."

I nodded. "You will be sleeping on the couch tonight."

He sighed. I looked at my vicinity, and saw a few dummies around. I rolled my eyes. It wasn't Dimitri I thought that was a 'little to my right,' it was the dummy. I'm such an idiot.

I had so much fun writing this chapter! I am officially a graduate now! Wahoo! My graduation party is coming up within the next two days, so I won't be updating for a while, but this is my graduation present from me to you. I hoped you enjoyed it.

Who do you think is going to win? What does Dimitri mean by 'winner takes all?' And is he really going to be sleeping on the couch? Knowing Rose, she won't cave, but what will Dimitri do?

Please Review!