"Roza."

"Mm..."

"Roza, wake up."

"I 'un wanna..."

A deep, honeyed laugh brought a smile to my lips, even as my eyes remained closed. Out of habit, I checked the bond, only to find – not for the first time – that it no longer existed. A dull, hollow ache settled in my chest, one that brought my hand over to my heart and tears to my still-closed eyes. Dimitri noticed the change immediately.

"Roza? What's wrong?" He asked, voice deep and lightly accented, as he pulled me closer into his embrace. A moment later, he had his answer, "you miss the bond."

I nodded, finally opening my bleary, dark brown eyes. He gently brushed a tear away and, again not for the first time, i found myself studying his features. Tanned skin from being out in the sun so much, deep brown chin length hair – hair that was softer than you could ever imagine. Soft silky to the touch, I made a habit of running my fingers through it any chance I got – soft yet firm lips, with a beautiful smile, one that made my heart sore any time I got to see it. A large, muscular body, one that made me feel safe and protected when he held me close. I loved it all, but most of all I loved his eyes. Deep brown, and bottomless. Like chocolate. Eyes that held so much passion and love and life. Another ache settled in my chest, but this one was a good one.

"I love you," I whispered softly. I got one of those beautiful smiles now and my ache increased. What was it he always said? "So beautiful it hurts."

"Ya tebya lyublyu," he murmured in reply, surprising me with his use of Russian. I didn't hear him speak it often – aside from when he swore. I don't think he's ever sworn in English. But the only other time I could ever recall hearing him speak Russian was when we were in Siberia, or when he had to make a call to "Boris", a Strigoi he once had had contact with. It was a long story. "But," he continued, bringing me out of my early morning daze, "we do have to get up."

"Just five more minutes," I groaned, shielding my eyes in his chest. Not that I really needed to – it was about 6pm, I think. Maybe earlier. Very early on the Vampiric schedule. Besides, the windows had black-out curtains. Dimitri gave an exasperated (yet amused) sigh, but he made no move to push me away. I knew he didn't relish the thought of getting up anymore than I did.

"Five more minutes," he agreed, strong muscular arms looping around my back and waist to draw me closer into his warmth, with no complaints from me. I tangled my legs with his, earning me a surprised Russian yelp as I pressed my cold foot up against his calf. I laughed.

"Can't handle the cold, Comrade?" I teased, looking up at him tiredly. My fingers came up to brush his hair back behind his ears, then slowly run along his jaw, prickly with stubble. The look in his eyes was... beautiful. So gentle, so full of love... yet passionate. So, so passionate. Ugh. I'm such a sap in the mornings. He chuckled, catching my wrist with his hand, before placing a gentle kiss there, his eyes never leaving mine. I don't know what it was about a kiss on the wrist, but something about it made my blood burn and so, although our kiss started out gentle and languid, it soon picked up in intensity. As it usually does.

"Rose? Beliko– oh, am I interrupting?" My mother asked, startling me as I hastily pulled away and brought my blankets closer to me. I wasn't wearing a shirt and, though she was remarkably calm (too calm) about me having Dimitri in my bed, I didn't want to push my luck.

"Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed, eyes wide, "don't you knock?"

"We did," said Abe as he strode in beside my mother. I rolled my eyes; of course.

"We got a little distracted," I stated pointedly. My mother scowled slightly – though, I don't think she meant it seriously – and, beside me, Dimitri remained silent. I shook my head; he could talk all he liked about standing up to my parents, he was still scared shitless of them. I didn't blame him. Especially after their "chat".

"We noticed," my mother said dryly, "get up. Queen Vasilisa has a surprise. For the both of you," and like that, she turned around and left. My father moved to follow – but not before offering a "helpful" reminder.

"Don't forget what I said, Belikov."

"I haven't, Mr. Mazur."

Satisfied, my father left.

"Damn Zmey." I muttered, sighing as I slung the covers off my body. I shivered, whining softly at the sudden temperature shift. Gone was the sticky hot days of summer, when I accidentally (sorta) got my best friend and former bondmate crowned Queen of both the Moroi and the Dhampirs at eighteen years old – a fact that she reminded me of near-daily – now we were in the full swing of winter, and if I remembered correctly, it couldn't be long before the students in St. Vladimir's, my old school, would have their winter break. A pang shot through me – this time last year, the Badica family, or part of it, had been attacked, and Mia's mother had died on a following one on the Drozdov's. Soon, it would be the anniversary of my first two Strigoi kills (Isaiah and Elena, I would never forget their names) and the death of one of my closest friends, Mason.

"Roza," Dimitri murmured, moving to wrap his arms around me. I leaned back into his embrace, my hand dropping from the tattoos on the back of my neck, "now isn't the time to be thinking of that."

I smiled wryly, turning to look at him, "you always know."

"I know you."

We dressed in relative silence, pausing now and then to kiss. He helped me to brush and pull my hair up, despite the fact that I could have done it on my own. I'm pretty sure it was a half-assed excuse for him to touch my hair, which I knew he loved. I didn't blame him; it was great hair.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded, patting myself for my gun (which I hated) and my stake (which I loved) just in case. I took his hand in mine and we began to walk to where I assumed Lissa would be waiting for us.

"I wonder what the surprise is," Dimitri mused. I shrugged.

"I honestly can't tell you. Without the bond, it's a lot easier for her to keep secrets from me. I'm sure she loves that."

"What's it like?"

"Without the bond?" I hesitated, "I don't know how to explain it. It's like having a limb removed, I guess, but it's more than that. It's like... It's like losing one of your senses. Not sight or hearing, maybe not even touch but... more like losing your sense of smell or taste. Not something you might notice right away, but it feels... empty with it gone. Wrong almost. I tell myself that normal people live like this all the time – that normal Guardians don't rely on a psychic link to know where their charge is at all times – but it's still... weird. I had it for so long, and I relied on it," I paused, "now I'm glad that I had Christian for my Moroi back then, in St. Vlad's. If it wasn't for that, despite how pissed I was, I don't know how well I'd take this."

Dimitri squeezed my hand, "so you still miss the bond."

I squeezed back, "well, yes and no. I certainly miss knowing where she is at all times, or whether something is wrong, and I' worried that my Strigoi sensor may be gone now – am I still considered Shadow-kissed? Sonya says I might be, despite not being linked to Lissa anymore, since I still went to the land of the dead and came back, so some things might not change. But do I still get that weird nausea when Strigoi are around? That being said, I could do without the ghosts.. Still, at the same time... I missed being my own person. I missed not having another person's thoughts and feelings in my head, confusing me on whether I'm feeling that or she is. I certainly do not miss early morning virtual sex with Christian."

Dimitri gave me a confused and alarmed look.

"Lissa vision. Strong emotion would pull me in and... eugh. Just... yeah. And I don't miss the darkness. I mean, I'd take it all back if it meant saving her from Spirit, but that time... with Victor... I was so scared. At least, I think I was. My emotions were a bit too chaotic. I still get like that sometimes – Sonya's not sure if either something permanent was done to my sanity, or if it's just an effect of the Spirit still seeping out. I just..."

"I understand," Dimitri said at last, pulling me into an embrace and kissing the top of my head, "it's okay, Roza, I understand."

I gave him a gentle smile and pulled away, "well," I sighed, "I guess it's now or never."

We walked through the doors, our eyes widening in... well, surprise.

"Viktoria?" I gaped, taking in the familiar face, the dark eyes, the brown hair streaked with gold. With a grunt, I was suddenly pushed backwards and I had to fight to keep my balance as Viktoria launched herself into my arms, trembling softly.

"I'm so sorry! We were so worried when you left I didn't mean to get so mad I'm sorry!"

I patted her awkwardly on the back, looking to Dimitri for help, "it's okay, it's okay. I'm just glad that you're alright," and not pregnant, I added to myself.

Dimitri, of course, was frozen in shock. "Vika?"

"Dimka!" Came another familiar, motherly voice and, with a start (so much for being a Guardian, Rose), I realised they were all here. Viktoria, Sonya, Karolina, Paul, Zoya, Olena, Yeva and –

"Sonya! You had your baby!"

But I was ignored. Not out of malice, of course, but simply because the rest of the Belikovs had swarmed around Dimitri, babbling in rapid, tearful Russian. Murmurs of "Vika", "Karo" and other Russian nicknames left Dimitri's lips.

The only one who didn't ignore me was, of course (I say that a lot), Yeva.

"Grandmother says she's proud of you," Paul piped up cheerily. As he hadn't been there at the time I had explained that Dimitri was Strigoi, he didn't fully understand what was going on. However, he seemed to understand the gist of it.

I rolled my eyes but smiled, swallowing a lump of tears from the happy reunion. "I know you can speak English."

"But they don't," the old woman replied, her shrewd piercing eyes falling on Lissa, Christian and my parents. I felt a flash of pain, one that could have been an echo of my old bond but was clearly my own. I knew how much it must have hurt – for the both of them, really – to see such a reunion, given the state of their own families. Lissa's consisted purely of her and her half sister, who was away in Palm Springs, Jillian Mastrano Dragomir and Christian's... well, he was about as disgraced a royal as it got, considering his parents had willing turned Strigoi and his aunt Tasha had killed the late Queen Tatiana. Not that anyone here would have cared, but I'm still sure it would have been a painful reminder for him.

Lissa approached us and we all hastily bowed, much to her embarrassment. "get up, it's okay," she laughed.

"Lissa how'd you–"

"I had Abe's help. I remembered when you told me about them, and figured it'd be a nice surprise. For all of you."

It was Karolina, turning to me, who asked the question that I'm sure was on all their minds, "What... I mean.. how is... how is Dimka... alive? You told us that..."

I glanced down at Paul, uncertain, but decided that he deserved to know. After all, he was ten, and one day he might be a Guardian too. A damn good one, if he was anything like Dimitri. "Well, it's a long story. And, uh, it may change your opinion of me a bit," I hesitated. Dimitri wrapped an arm around me, kissing my head – which made Olena beam, overjoyed to see her son so happy – and Viktoria took my hand.

"You brought our Dimka back to us," Olena said. I opened my mouth to protest that, really, I hadn't, that Lissa'd done the bringing-back part, but she didn't let me. "No, you did. You may have had help, but you were the driving force of it all. Nothing you say will change our opinion of you. You are our family, just as he is."

I nearly started crying then and there. "I guess... we should all sit down."

Dimitri sat beside me, an arm around my waist. To my left sat Lissa, who had Christian on her other side. Viktoria sat on Dimitri's other side, followed by Olena, Karolina (who held Paul and Zoya in her lap) then Sonya (and her baby, whose name I had not yet learned) then Yeva, an uncofortable Abe (hah! Take that old man!) and my mother, closing the circle, between christian and Abe. The other Guardians stood stationed by the doors,seeing us without seeing us.

What an odd sight we must have been.

"I guess it all starts back in St. Vladimir's, when I was still just Dimitri's student."

This earned a scoff from, of all people, Lissa, "Rose, looking back now, you were never just his student."

I blushed, glancing over at my mother, who had fixed Dimitri with a very deadly glare, "a-anyway. It was during a sort of... training exercise. Victor Dashkov," the four of us (Christian, Lissa, Dimitri and I) flinched, "was taking a classmate Camille, his daughter Natalie, Lissa and I on a shopping trip for a school dance, though I was to stay on guard. During this trip, Dimitri and I were talking about the Strigoi, and it was brought up that we would both rather die than live such a soulless existence," this time, it was just Dimitri who flinched. I took his hand, the one not around my waist, and squeezed it in mine, "I'm saying this now because... I didn't go to Siberia to find you guys, though I'm so, so glad I did. I went... to fulfil his wish. I went to kill him."

There was a bloated silence, broken by Paul, "but you didn't?"

I cracked a smile, "no, Paul, I didn't." I hesitated, looking up at Dimitri. This would be the first time any of them (except Lissa) would know the full story. Should I tell them about the bites? Dimitri, though pained, gave me a small nod, understanding my unasked question. It seemed to say if you're going to tell the story, don't leave anything out.

"No, I didn't kill him," I repeated, "after Viktoria and I had our fight, a fight that is between her and I and her and I alone – no Dimitri, if she wants someone else to know, then that's her story to tell, not mine – anyways, after Viktoria and I had our fight, and Yeva confronted me about the true nature of my visit to Russia, I decided to go to Novosibirsk with the other unpromised ones in the hopes of finding Dimitri and, after a little while, I did. Only, when I did... I hesitated."

I looked out between them all. The Belikovs were enraptured, having never seen a Strigoi before (so I assumed), Abe was... scarily impassive except for his eyes, Christian and Lissa were both sympathetic, having remembered when they to saw Strigoi Dimitri for the first time and my mother...

I had never seen such a motherly expression on her face before. I swallowed; would it change? Would she judge me for being so weak? Suddenly, I missed Adrian, wishing he were here to hear the story too.

"Roza," Dimitri murmured, tightening his hold on me. "She'll still love you," he whispered into my ear. I nodded, taking a deep breath. She was still my mom. She had to love me.

"Just remember, you forgave yourself," I whispered back, "remember that."

"I remember."

"He knocked me out," I continued, "and when I woke up, I was in a seemingly indestructible room. I tried beating a chair, a DVD player, a coffee table and anything else against the windows but nothing broke. I don't remember how long I was there, though, b-because... because I was high out of my mind." I took a deep breath, chancing only a look at Lissa, "when... when I was on the road with Lissa, trying to keep her safe from Victor Dashkov, who wanted to use her powers of Spirit for his own purposes, I had to act as her feeder. N-Not everyday, of course... just like... once or twice a week. I never got scars. But... once or twice a week over a period of two years, well, I might not have been as addicted as a feeder, but I was still addicted. And so, when I was with Strigoi Dimitri, he bit me and I very quickly got addicted again. Only, this time it was much worse. Both because it was twice a day everyday, and also because a Strigoi's bite is so, so much stronger." I shuddered, closing my eyes as I remembered the powerful, heady feeling of the bite, better than any drug. To my surprise, my mother reached out and took my hand with a look of understanding. Not for the first time, I found myself wondering at her past. With her seeming acceptance, however, I found myself continuing with a stronger voice.

"The thing about Strigoi... is that they aren't as dissimilar from their previous forms as you'd think. Dimitri as a Strigoi was still deathly pale, still had the red eyes, the fangs, and the voice that was his and yet not his at all. But at the same time, he was also sort of still Dimitri. Same accent, same hair, same body, same face mostly, still wore the duster and still read the westerns... it was him but it wasn't him. And, as high as I was, it was easy to forget that he was a Strigoi. Too, too easy. But no matter how high on endorphins I was, I never gave him the one thing he wanted."

"He wanted to turn you," Viktoria whispered, eyes wide. Yet, just like Dimitri always did, she remained strong, "didn't he? Wanted to keep you by his side forever."

I nodded, "keyword here is "wanted", but I'll get to that in a bit. But yes, he wanted to turn me, and I wouldn't let him. I fell into an easy routine of stalling, kissing–" they all grew squeamish at the thought of kissing a Strigoi. I didn't blame them, "and biding my time until my next bite. Until Adrian, a Spirit using Moroi and the great nephew of the late Queen Tatiana Ivashkov, came to me in a Spirit dream."

"Spirit?" Sonya asked in confusion, having remained quiet thus far.

"It's what Oksana has," I explained, "it was the last element that special few Moro have. Lissa, Adrian Ivashkov, Sonya Karp, Avery Lazar, Oksana and St. Vladimir himself all have, or had, it. It's powerful and special, and one of the powers allows you to heal and even bring people back from the dead. Oksana did it to Mark, St. Vladimir did it to Anna and Lissa did it to me. It creates a bond and makes people the saved one Shadow-kissed. Another power let's the Spirit user walk in dreams. He did this to me and well... he noticed the marks on my neck. I don't have them now because Oksana healed them. But anyways, that was my wake up call. I realised when I looked in the mirror that I looked like a Bloodwhore, in every sense of the world. Then, when a human came in and bested me in a fight, I realised how low I'd sunk, and I never wanted to be that weak again. I remembered who I was, and what Dimitri had become. I avoided the bite that night, fighting through my addiction and... after a lot of half-assed plans and a lot of miracles, and even Dimitri saving my ass and me saving his in return, I managed to escape out of the estate and into the forest with a sprained ankle. I continued to run, though I knew I couldn't get too far because of my ankle and... I remembered Tasha's words," Everyone, except the Belikov's, seemed to flinch on that one, "we can retreat and retreat and get backed into corners forever, or we can go out and meet the enemy at the tie and place we choose. Not them." she had said. So I'd done that. I climbed a tree and leapt out at him and... it was hard, but I finally managed to lead him to a bridge..." I hesitated, 'at the time, I had really been planning to jump off. I'd rather die than become a Strigoi. But he saved me. He saved me because he wanted me."

I turned to Viktoria now, "that's the key word here. He wanted me. I was a possession. A treasure. Nothing more. There was no love there. There is a big difference between love and want. Strigoi, well, Strigoi don't love. They can't. But we, we who are alive, we can love. And love is... amazing. But Strigoi, no, Strigoi don't love. They only want. He realised that as I..." I had to glance away suddenly as I was seized by the memories. I remember watching his face as he realised what he was supposed to say, the pain in his eyes. I remember watching him fall. Without warning, I was pulled into Dimitri's lap, and I clung to him desperately, burying my face into his chest, painfully close to where I had staked him. The scent of his aftershave washed over me as a sob escaped my lips. I pressed closer to him, as if it could take away all the heartache, as if it could turn back time so that this never happened. Dimitri, as if having the same thoughts, tightened his arms around me and I could feel him shaking softly, too softly for the others to really notice. He nuzzled his nose into my hair and I had the feeling that he, too was crying – though probably softer than I was. Over and over again into my hair he whispered "I love you" and "I'm sorry" in both English and Russian, voice thick with emotion.

"Rose?" Lissa whispered.

I glanced up. Lissa, too, was crying, despite having heard this story before. Christian was pale, paler than usual, and had moved closer to Lissa, holding her like he never wanted to let go. My mother had rested her head on Abe's shoulder and, although both tried to seem stoic and impassive, I could see the pain and the tears in their own eyes.

To the right of me (well, us, as I was still in Dimitri's lap), Viktoria had gone really, really pale, no doubt unused to seeing such pain on her elder brother's face (a face which was now nestled in my neck). To be honest, I was half surprised, too. And yet, at the same tie, I wasn't surprised at all. A bit contradictory, I know. Olena was crying, as were Karolina and Sonya, while Yeva looked... well, like Yeva, I guess. Paul watched Karolina, uneasy.

I looked at Dimitri and knew we wore matching expressions of sorrow. With a smile, albeit a weak one, I wiped away some of his tears, and he did the same for me. "Roza..." his voice broke and, before he could try again, I stopped him with a kiss.

"It's in the past," I whispered, "the past can hurt, but it's up to us to learn from it."

"Did you just quote Rafiki?" Christian asked incredulously. Lissa choked, caught between a sob and a laugh. I managed a sheepish grin.

"The Lion King was one of my favourite movies as a kid." Damn Moroi hearing. I took another deep breath as Dimitri tightened his hold on me, helping me to steady my breathing. It was in the past. That was a different Dimitri. This one was alive and well. My Dimitri was still here. "I staked hi," I continued, "but it didn't go all the way in. I didn't learn this until later, though. I was inured and so, so tired, as I made it to the road. A couple I didn't know drove me to Novosibirsk and let me use their cellphone to call Sydney. It's a bit of a blur after that, but I do remember meeting up with Abe, Mark and Oksana when I woke up. With Oksana's help, Lissa and I fought together to protect her from Avery Lazar, another spirit user who was manipulating Lissa and trying to kill her so she could bring her back as her own shadow-kissed Spirit user. Obviously, that failed. But after..." I frowned, "before I left Baia, when I met Oksana and mark the first time, they gave me a Spirit ring to help keep the darkness of Spirit at bay. When I was trapped with Strigoi Dimitri, he'd touched the ring and had reverted, or seemed to have reverted, back to his dhampir form mentally. When I brought it up with Oksana and Mark, they told me, reluctantly, that another Spirit user by the name of Robert Doru had claimed to restore a Strigoi to life. The only problem is, Robert Doru was the half brother of Victor Dashkov, who as at this time in prison."

I was looking at Abe by this time, "I don't know why the thought stuck with me. As far as I knew at the time, Dimitri was dead. But still, the thought lingered, as did the knowledge that there was no way Victor would help us. Not while he was in prison. Maybe... maybe I always knew that I had failed. Maybe that's why it stuck around. Either way, I'm glad."

This time, I looked at Lissa, remembering that first night back at the academy, "Lissa knows all this, actually. After, I went back and we stayed up all night talking. Lissa... she's the best friend any girl could have. She listened to me as I poured y heart out to her, something I'd wanted to do for awhile, and accepted it all without judgement. After, I was summoned to see Alberta, the head guardian at the academy, in her office and, after meeting up with my mom and eating Chinese food with her, Lissa and Adrian, I decided to re-enroll in St. Vladimir's and graduate. But... Like I said earlier, I didn't find out Dimitri was alive – er, still undead – until later. Well, later wound up being when I was back at St. Vladimir's, where he mailed me back my stake and a twisted love letter of sorts. And I knew then that I still had a chance. I could still bring him back. But first I needed to graduate. And thus concludes the emotional part – well, sorta – of this story. We will continue this action packed saga after a short break." I finished, sounding like a narrator for some bad sitcom going to commercial.

"What?"

"I need a drink," I clarified, licking my lips. After all that talking, my throat was incredibly dry. Plus, I was starving and I wanted to wash my face. I tapped Dimitri's arm gently and he nodded, releasing his hold on me. I stumbled awkwardly to my feet and he, despite his incredible height, rose gracefully. I glared slightly – that still wasn't fair.

My stomach growled.

"Do you want me to cook something for you dear?" Olena asked, immediately picking up on the sound. I immediately blushed – I had almost forgotten about her motherly desire to cook for... well, everyone.

"No, no, it's okay," I stammered, "I'm not that hungry. I just need a snack."

All eyes fell on me, and they all seemed to say the same thing: You're so full of shit Rose.

"Okay, maybe I'm a little hungry," I conceded, "I haven't actually eaten yet."

And like that, I was showing her to the Palace's kitchen, watching her go about making whatever (Probably Blini) as I grabbed a bottle of water, taking a drink and watching her work. Dimitri came in with me, wrapping an arm around my waist, and I leaned into him with a smile. "it sorta reminds me of being back in Baia," I murmured, "only... better. Because now we're all together. All of us."

Olena smiled, "it is nice, isn't it? You better feed this girl properly, Dimka," she teased, "she eats almost as much as you. She loves the bread too."

I laughed, "was it that obvious?"

Before long, we all had plates of food (I was right, it was Blini) and I had my bottle of water. Once more we sat in the circle and I leaned against Dimitri, smiling as I ate. "See now," I said after a mouthful, "this is where things get... interesting. I mean, more interesting. More exciting. Because this isn't the emotional part. This is where," I glanced at my mom. This is where I tell my mother I broke a convicted felon out of prison and then lose him. Shit. "Well anyways. Hm. How did it start again? Oh, well, I guess I should mention that I did complete my Guardian training. Because of my experience in the real world, they altered my trial. I had three "Strigoi" coming at me on one side of a rickety bridge and another on the opposite side, and I had to get my "Moroi" across it to safety. I had the "Moroi" grab onto the ropes of the bridge and hold on tight as I cut the bridge. Two of the "Strigoi" fell the six feet and one barely grabbed onto a plank which got me to get the "Moroi" safely to the other side. And... the rest of it is a blur. I graduated with a very high score, if I remember," this time, I beamed at Dimitri, then at my mother, and it was hard to say who was prouder in that moment. "We went to Court to celebrate, and that was when I talked to Abe about the prisons and he told me that Victor was in Tarasov."

My mother groaned, "Abe! Why would you tell her that?"

"he also told me that it would be in Alaska that time of year, to maximise their sunsine."

"Abe!"

"Then he mentioned that the information for where, exactly, it would have been would be in Guardian headquarters."

Dimitri frowned though, like I had suspected, he didn't seem surprised. Olena, however, did, "why did you need this information?"

I hesitated again, "well... in order to get to Robert Doru, I had to get to Victor. And the only way to get the information from Victor was to break him out of prison. With Lissa's help, and Mia Rinaldi a friend of ours from back at St. Vlad's," sorta, "we managed to get into security headquarters. I took the file on Tarasov, using Guardian Tanner's help to get out, while Lissa and Mia had the guard turn the surveillance off. During the grad party, I borrowed Tasha's silver jewelry, as Lissa needed to work on charming objects and, reluctantly, asked Eddie to join us. I didn't really want him to join us, mostly because he had such promise and I didn't want to risk that on me, but he wound up convincing me so he joined me. With Guardian Tanner's help we sneaked out of court and drove to an airport, where we took a commuter flight to Philadelphia, to Seattle, to Fairbanks Alaska. We rented a car, bought some things like a GPS and drove to the prison. Lissa managed to charm disguises for us – to a degree. She could change our race to look like a human, but she had to dye her hair with semi-permanent dye and I had to wear a red curly wig. She also changed Eddie's appearance. We drove up to the front gate – with old forms – and told them that we were new feeders being dropped off. From there, Eddie had to go with the Guardian on duty – Theo Marx, he said his name was – to chat with him while we managed to convince the Guardian to send us to the feeding area. Not with compulsion, mom, but through acting like a feeder and complaining about wanting a bite. From there, Lissa compelled the Guardian in charge of the feeders to put Victor Dashkov's name first and have him come down for a feeding."

Dimitri, who had remained semi-tense from the beginning of the beginning of the jailbreak, tensed more, his expression darkening. I squeezed his hand in mind, guessing his thoughts, "he didn't feed off me. Off either of us. Relax." I continued on my story, noting how Viktoria and her sisters seemed to be, once again, completely enraptured. It reminded me slightly of the Keepers, and how they viewed Dimitri and I as gods of some sort. "Anyways, Victor is... many things, but he's good, or he was good, at slipping in and out of plans with ease. So, when I told him to attack me, he did so, no questions asked. The moment the Guardians responded, I attacked them, surprising them. I managed to knock the first guy out, but there wasn't any way I could knock the second Guardian out, so Lissa compelled Northwood, the Guardian on duty, to go to sleep. We got the keys to Victor's shackles from the unconscious Guardian and unlocked him, allowed him a quick feed from the other feeder on duty, and had Giovanni, the Guardian we had with us, lead us to the surveillance room. With the compelled Giovanni's help, we managed to subdue the two Guardians that were there, just barely managing to keep one Guardian from hitting the alarm and summoning more Guardians. I took no pleasure in any of this – neither Liss nor I wanted to hurt any of these people. Especially not me. I was one of them. I was a Guardian but..." I looked up at Dimitri, "it had to be done. So Lissa compelled Giovanni to wipe the footage – though, as she was weary by this time, she had Victor's help in compelling him – and then I smashed the computers to prevent them from getting the security footage later on. We had to find a way around from the way she originally wanted to go – because we were going to have to pass through a Psychiatric ward of the hospital, where she could feel Spirit auras, and we couldn't risk them seeing through our disguises. Crazy or not. We met up with Eddie who helped us to try and subdue Theo, only for Giovanni to break free. Before Theo could be subdued, however, he managed a yelp that brought two Guardians with it. While we fought the two new Guardians is when Giovanni broke free and ran over to hit the alarm. Quickly we subdued the Guardians there, Eddie grabbed the keycard and we all escaped to our car, driving. The Guardians began to shoot at us, and we had to break free through the wooden arm that blocked our exit. We took our, well for lack of a better word, getaway route, which had many twists and turns, and we began driving for Fairbanks, finally losing them. Or well, it seemed that way anyways. From there, we told Victor we needed to find his brother Robert Doru. And then he told us we needed to go to Las Vegas."

I glanced over at Lissa who, like me, was uneasy at saying all this. The Belikov's, however, didn't seem to judge and, instead, seemed to be waiting patiently for the reason why we had to do this. Christian didn't react, as he already knew of this story. Abe was, of course, impressed and my mother was furious. And Dimitri was... well, disapproving, of course, but I think he was a little bit awed by the both of us, by what we did for him. What I did for him. Even though I know he already knew what we did, I don't think I'd ever told him the exact story."We had a problem at first, considering Victor had no ID, but we wound up taking private planes to Las Vegas using a credit card that Adrian had given me, left over from the money he had given me to get to Siberia to track down Dimitri. Well, it turns out later on that that was a bit of a mistake. With Eddie's suggestion, we went to the Luxor, which is a pyramid shaped hotel, and had Victor's brother Robert meet us there. We paid for that, too, with the credit card. I never should have taken that card, to be honest, as Adrian had managed to track our flight to Las Vegas and wound up outside our door. It was kind of funny, I guess, because of all the things he expected, Victor Dashkov sitting on our bed most certainly was not on the top of his list." I laughed, though it was without humour. He'd been so mad. "I wound up having to explain to him what was going on and... he was angry. Very angry. I don't blame him. But, although he was angry, he wasn't angry enough to abandon me. So, at four thirty, we met up and went to stake out a table, and had Robert Doru meet us. And, though it took a bit of convincing, he told us how to return a Strigoi to his previous form. A stake, charmed with Spirit, driven through the heart of a Strigoi. But it had to be a Spirit user who did it. And that's when I had decided to give up. Because... I love Dimitri. I was willing to do anything for him, which was obvious. But... I wouldn't take the risk. I wouldn't risk Lissa, the last of the Dragomirs and my best friend, to get near any Strigoi, let alone Dimitri. Dimitri is..." I glanced up at him, "when he battles, he's the most dangerous man I know. When he's on your side, you're almost guaranteed to win. But as a Strigoi... no." I shuddered slightly, despite myself, "as a Strigoi, Dimitri was the most dangerous man alive that I knew. Well, alive-ish. But to my surprise..."

"I wanted to do it," Lissa said with a nod. "Rose had taken care of me for so long and I felt guilty... because she had come to me after the attack, begging me to help her, and I hadn't been able to. But this way... this time, I could help her. I was determined to. And, plus, I never really liked people telling me what to do. Even if it was Rose, even if it was for my own good, I needed to do this. I owed it to her, and I owed it to myself."

Well. That was news to me. "Liss, you didn't owe me anything. Protecting you? Taking care of you? That's more than just a job, or my duty. It's my... calling, I guess. It's everything I want to do with my life. Even though I may get upset about the lack of choices on occasion, I know that... there's nothing in the world I'd rather do. Don't worry about owing me anything, or needing to take care of me. That's not where your duty is, okay?" I smiled at her, but she shook her head.

"You may be my Guardian – well, one of them. But you're still my best friend. My other sister. We grew up together. We're family. I don't care if I'm the Queen and you're my Guardian. I don't care if I'm a Moroi and you're a Dhampir. To me, I'm Lissa and you're Rose. You've always protected me, yes, but when given the chance? I'm going to make it up to you. And you can't stop me."

"I don't think," Dimitri said softly to the both of us, "that now is the time to have this conversation."

I glanced out at our group, and was surprised to see the Belikov's staring at me with such... admiration? I guess. I remembered then that Karolina was dating a Guardian – or had been when I left – and that the women in the family don't become Guardians. I looked to Yeva, and wondered what she thought of our argument. Did she approve?

"Well," I said awkwardly, taking a sip of my water, "at that point, I had given up on my seemingly crazy idea. Still, Lissa wanted to try charming the stake. So we finished our dinner and decided to head back to the hotel room. And that's when things went... bad. We had tried to avoid going around the crowd by searching for stairs. When that didn't work, though, we had to turn back. Except... well, a side effect of being shadow-kissed was that, whenever a Strigoi was nearby, I would get a wave of nausea. Which is what happened when we tried to turn back to the casino. Two of them I didn't know, but one of them..." I sighed, "one of them was Dimitri. He'd warned me that he'd get me the moment I left the safety of the wards and... well, I did. And we fought," I refused to mention how I nearly died. I didn't need to relive that and neither did he, "and Eddie nearly staked him. But I didn't let him. I..." I frowned a little, "well, I suppose at the time I should have let him... because Dimitri or not, it was a Strigoi. And, in letting Dimitri go, I was single-handedly responsible for the deaths of humans. The security that came to my aid. And I feel guilty for their deaths, and I should but... I..."

"You don't regret it," Karolina whispered. I nodded, looking down at my hands.

"It's really selfish of me, I know. I caused the death of other people's children, and lovers, and brothers and sisters... because of my selfish desire to save one person. I nearly got my friends killed, because of one person. It goes against all of my training. But... this wasn't just one person to me. It was Dimitri. Maybe not the Dimitri I knew, but... what if I could change that? What if I could bring him back? Could I risk the chance? Could I spend my life not knowing? If he could be saved... if he could have been saved... could I really allow him to die?"

"No. You couldn't," Christian responded. I looked over at him, surprised. I really shouldn't have been surprised, considering. "You loved him, and you knew there was a chance you could bring him back. And even if he was a Strigoi, he was still Dimitri. And you couldn't just give that up."

I nodded. It was like him and his parents. I had to wonder – if he could go back, if he could save them, would he? I immediately realised the stupidity of that question: of course he would. Who wouldn't?

"Eddie didn't see it that way, when he yelled at me after. I don't blame him, really. And... during this chaos, I had let Victor and his brother escape. Which turned out to be a good thing much, much later, and is sorta the reason Lissa here is Queen, but that is another very long story. When I got back, of course, I was punished with a bunch of shit. Mostly yard work and stuff. But in the meantime, Lissa had gotten ahold of a stake and was trying to charm it. And learn how to stake. She had the help of her other Guardians at the time. But it took her a long time – actually, I don't even know when she managed to charm it. When did you manage to charm it?"

Lissa blinked, "I... don't actually remember. I think it was just before the trip. Or maybe during."

I nodded, "she managed to charm the stake with Spirit but staking someone with it... was another thing entirely. And... during the drive from LeHigh, the college Lissa would be going to, back to Court, they were all attacked by Strigoi. Lissa and Christian were taken by... well, Dimitri." I sat up a little straighter. Because this... this was what they had been waiting for the whole time. The final battle. The resurrection. As I sat up, so did the rest of them. Christian and Lissa moved closer to each other, in memory of that night, the night they swore they almost died (or well, so I could assume), and Dimitri tightened his hold on me. I took a breath, and a sip of water, and this time I decided not to skim any details.

"The thing with bonds is that... in moments of extreme emotion, I could slip inside Lissa's head. Neither one of us really liked it, because it was an invasion of privacy, but... well, it was a useful tool. Especially when I was in Siberia and needed to check in on Lissa. Or if something was happening. Even in moments of boredom or pain, it was better to be in her head than mine. Over the year I'd been brought back from Portland to return to St. Vladimir's, I'd learned to more or less control the ability to slip in and out of Lissa's head and view life through her eyes. Though... there were still some things I experienced that I never want to experience again," I gave a pointed look between Christian and Lissa, a look of disgust on my face, "anyways, that's how I knew all about what was going on with Lissa, even if I wasn't there. And that's how I knew she was taken. The moment that she was, I pulled myself from her head and back into my own body to run for the guardians. They had already known, because Serena, the only living Guardian from that day, had called on a cellphone and let them know. To my surprise, Hans let me come – though, really, it shouldn't have surprised me. After all, I wasn't a novice anymore. I was a Guardian, a valuable one with my bond, and they needed all they could. It was also surprising that they were doing a rescue mission but... this wasn't just anyone. This was Vasilisa Dragomir, the last of the Dragomir's. Well, so they thought at the time. If we lost her... it would have been an omen. A sign that we were losing to the Strigoi. But, more than that, she was Lissa. I didn't care if there were a thousand Dragomirs. I would have gone for her, regardless. And Christian, too. It was... it was a brilliant rescue. Because not only were they doing a rescue, which is rare, but they were also bringing any Guardian that could be spared, and fire using Moroi. Something that... was still very controversial." I took a breath.

"it was... it was hard. As I got in the SUV, I couldn't help but think of the parallels. I couldn't help but think of that night, when Lissa had been taken by Victor, and Dimitri had sat beside me, driving. It was... it..." For some reason, I found myself choking up. What an odd moment to get emotional. I shook it off, but not before Dimitri gave me a squeeze, "We'd been driving for twenty minutes before arriving at Dimitri's hideout – a warehouse near the warehouse. I had known of course that this was nothing more than a trap for me. He'd even said so, Lissa was the bait for me. I knew that. I also knew that I had no choice. Lissa and Christian were tied to chairs, and I couldn't help but remember... remember last winter... when the Badica and Drozdov family had been attacked. Back then, Christian, Eddie, Mia and I had been kidnapped, as had my good friend Mason. It was a horrible memory to have... because the Strigoi had drunk from Eddie, and killed Mason..."

I touched the back of my neck, feeling the first to molnija marks I ever got. To my surprise, Christian spoke up once again; "I was thinking about that night, too. It was hard not to."

I nodded, "One of the Strigoi at the time had been complaining about being stuck "babysitting" Lissa and Christian. She didn't think Christian and Lissa could be a threat, because they were Moroi, and Moroi don't fight back. Strigoi Dimitri knew differently, though, and didn't think that even four Strigoi in the room would be enough. And... I remember Dimitri... well, the Dimitri that was not Dimitri... looking deep into Lissa's eyes. He'd known I was watching... He'd been brushing her neck, but... it felt like my neck. Like my eyes. It was one of the creepiest experiences of my life."

"Mine too," Lissa said, shuddering involuntarily at the memory.

"I didn't know how many Strigoi were there at the time, but I knew Dimitri. I knew Dimitri better than anyone else. We didn't have the element of surprise, and we couldn't go sneaking around. We had roughly forty Guardians with us, a number only allowed thanks to the novices back at Court. Without them, the new Guardians, it wouldn't have freed up this many Guardians. So, not having the element of surprise, we instead had to rely on brute force. I told them that there were three layers of Strigoi; a few on Lissa and Christian, then some outside, and then, guessing, a layer inside the building just before the storage room. I didn't know this for certain, I only knew of the two layers, and was working based on my knowledge of how Dimitri worked and... I'm glad I went on instinct. We organised into three groups. I lead the group that went in for the extraction, then another team accompanied me, to split off and attack anyone who was right inside. It was a suicide mission, but one we all were ready for. The Strigoi had gone too far this time. And we... well, charged. I didn't stop to fight anyone until the end, as I had been told not to stop unless there was someone directly in my path. I'd been right in my guess, except Dimitri had actually planned a fourth layer. However, it wasn't a problem. My group had ten people, and four Strigoi were outside the door. Half of my group engaged them, the other half charged down the door. And this... this was the end. Because this time... Strigoi Dimitri had gone too far. One of them would die that night. I wouldn't fail this time. No matter how much I loved Dimitri, Lissa was the one I was sworn to protect. And I wouldn't make the mistake of failing her again. I faced off against Dimitri as Christian burnt the ropes on Lissa's arms – I only noticed cause of the pain that shot through the bond.

We waited for the other to make the first move," I said. I could feel my heart pounding, hear the yelling in my ears all over again as I relived the battle. My breathing quickened with adrenaline, "but I'd been distracted by a crashing – Christian, having freed himself, managed to slam his chair against another Strigoi, which resulted in him being thrown back against the wall. I had glanced back and, noticing a stake in Lissa's hand, yelled at them to get away. This move cost me, and I barely managed to dodge Dimitri's attack. So, I had to trust them, because if I spared them a single thought, I knew I would die. And if I died, so would they. I had to pay attention to Dimitri, and only Dimitri. He taunted me about my dodge, and when I said I'd kill him... he didn't believe me. His mistake, really," I glanced up at Dimitri, pausing in my story to whisper in his ear, "it's the past. It isn't you."

"It was a mistake to get Lissa involved," I continued, "because with Lissa... it all became real. This was no longer about Dimitri and me. This was about me, a Guardian, protecting my Moroi. I couldn't afford to love. I couldn't afford to hesitate. I couldn't afford to fail. Strigoi Dimitri grew tired of waiting for me to attack, and went to launch one instead. Another Strigoi got involved, however, and tried to attack me. He defended me – not for some noble cause, but because I was his. And in defending me, he provided me my opening. I moved to stake him and, in that moment, he..."

"I realised she would not fail," Dimitri spoke. His voice, though haunted, was clear and steady, as if to say, this was me, but this was my past, "I'm proud of her, really. I couldn't be proud of her at that moment, considering I was a Strigoi, but I was. I am. I'm glad it didn't turn out the way it was going to, but... she had finally learned: do not hesitate."

I nodded again, "but then, Lissa and Christian pushed me out of the way. It's hard to say who was more shocked: me, or Dimitri. Because Lissa had managed to charm the stake. Dimitri and I both seemed to realise that she wouldn't be able to make it. She wasn't strong enough, she wasn't fast enough. I couldn't move fast enough to protect her, either. And then, suddenly, there was a ring of fire around him. I barely had enough time and thought to move back from the fire. And it was obvious who had done it. Christian. I was terrified – controlled as it seemed, you just... couldn't know how deadly a fire would be, especially in a room that size. Strigoi and Dhampir alike moved away. The flames grew tighter and tighter around Dimitri... and... Lissa was still attacking. She stuck her arm through the fire and tried to stake him. It hurt – I could feel it and god did it hurt, but her alignment was right and she managed to pierce him. Sort of. She didn't exactly have the strength. She used as much strength as she could and, with two hands, she tried to force the stake in farther. It wasn't enough and his struggle managed to loosen it. In that moment, I seemed to regain my mind and went after her, knowing it was useless, knowing she was hurting herself.

"And then, through the bond, she sent out a blast of compulsion. I'm fairly compulsion resistant, so it only held for a moment, but that delay had been enough for her to draw the last of her strength and shove it the rest of the way in, wiggling and moving it around until it finally hit the heart. And then I felt the magic... Spirit magic feels like... it's impossible to describe. Through the bond, it felt like joy, like light and happiness and music and all the good, beautiful things that made up the world. And that's what I felt. Only, it was stronger than anything I had ever experienced before. It felt like I'd been struck by lightning. I froze, unable to move. And then there was a brilliant light, brighter than any light I had ever seen, and I brought up my arm to shield myself and step backward. Everyone in the room had a similar reaction. I couldn't feel the bond – with such magic, it had sizzled out, fried. It was still there, but I couldn't access it. And then the light just... disappeared. Like a light switch was flicked off. One second it was there and the next it was gone. The room was basically silent, and starbursts danced in my eyes. It must have been toxic for the Strigoi. It took me awhile to see anything but, through squinting, I could see that the fire was gone and–" I choked once again, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes as I remembered those first moments, his resurrection. "Dimitri and Lissa were both on the floor. Her arms were covered in burns, some third degree ones bleeding. But that didn't stop her from stroking his hair as he lay in her lap. The kind of thing you do to calm a child or an animal. And, when he turned his face... the pallor was gone... replaced by... by tanned skin a-and... his eyes... his eyes... Dimitri wasn't Strigoi..."

By now, the Belikovs were crying once again (minus Yeva, who simply stared with what seemed to be a kind expression). Even Viktoria. Dimitri, too, held tears in his eyes, though he managed to keep them in control – nothing at all like the weeping he displayed back then. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I took a moment to compose myself, "It... it took awhile for Dimitri to forgive himself for the acts that he committed... it took awhile for Dimitri to allow himself to love again... It took," I fought a laugh, "it took me nearly dying again, jumping in front of a bullet for Lissa last summer... but... as you can see, Dimitri is Dimitri. My Dimitri..."

This earned me a smile and a kiss on the head. I took a shaky breath, "a-and... I guess that's the story. I mean, there's a lot more. A lot more. But that's... that's an even longer story than this one. And I have a feeling you're all tired, and I'm sure... I'm sure we all want to catch up... so... maybe I can explain that one another time. Since, really, I'm the only one who knows all sides of the story I think – between what was happening at Court, the Queenly elections, and everything else. But... I..." I didn't need to say anymore. Once again, Viktoria had launched herself into my arms (though, this time I didn't fall back, considering I was still in Dimitri's lap), crying helplessly. I hadn't seen her cry like this... ever.

"Spasibo, Roza, Spasibo." She said to me. I jolted slightly, unused to hearing someone other than Dimitri use the name, but looked up at him with a smile, kissing him softly. "I'd do it again if I could." I replied to her.

I glanced over at Sonya, surprised to see her laughing, though it was a bit tearfully.

"What're you laughing at, Sonya?" I asked, curious despite myself.

"It's just that..." she laughed, "from what you've said, you've been brought back from the dead once and Dimitri once."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what my baby's name is?"

I shook my head, "no, actually, I was wondering about that."

"Anastasia."

Dimitri suddenly began to laugh, and although I smiled, as I always do when he laughs, it was clear I didn't get the joke. He smiled down at me, kissing my head once again. He really seemed to enjoy doing that. "Roza, Anastasia is a Russian name meaning "resurrection" or, "she who will be resurrected." That's what's so funny; resurrection is a theme in our family."

Our family.

I looked out between them all. Our family, of course, was missing a few – Adrian, Sydney, Jillian, Mia, Eddie, Mikhail, Sonya and a few others – but... it really was a family, wasn't it? Some of us didn't know each other. Some of us may have a disliking towards another. But I knew, without a doubt, that I would never find a group of people – Royal or nonroyal, Moroi or Dhampir, Guardian or Bloodwh- Domestic Dhampir, young or old, or even an Alchemist – that I could possibly love more.

I nodded, "Well," I said to Sonya with a grin, "won't aunt Roza have some stories for her."

This was honestly supposed to be a short little thing. But, at 10360 words, I'm pretty sure it's the longest story I've ever done, let alone a one shot. It all stemmed from the little idea that, after Rose left Baia, the Belikovs never seemed to hear from them again (though I'm not up to date on the Bloodlines series so I could be wrong on this fact) and... that seemed wrong to me. How could I let them go on living without them knowing that their son was still alive? That's all this was supposed to be. Just a reunion. And then... well, a recount of all that has happened seemed necessary. Part of me thinks I'm cheating. Oh well, don't care. As for why Adrian and Jill aren't there, I do have them being in Palm Springs, where I remember Jill was (at least, in the first book of Bloodlines. Like I said, I haven't read them in awhile) /spoiler/ but I don't mention the bond between Jill and Adrian, simply because I can't recall when, exactly, that takes place. So anyways, enjoy this not-so-short one shot. My arms hurt. Goodnight.

- Luna