(1)A/N:

I dedicate this to my LD girls who totally rock my world. Thank you for feeding my insanity when it comes to writing. You make me believe in myself more than I should. *tear* The shirtless scene was for y'all. :3

I wrote this to stave off the depression and darkness that is Strigoi Dimitri POV. Don't know yet when it will be up, but keep an eye on me just in case.

Thank you to my lovely and capable and efficient beta extraordinaire, ohayou.

Disclaimer: Vampire Academy and all its awesomeness belongs to Richelle Mead. I wished I owned Dimitri though.

The Reward

The corridors of the Academy were still quiet. No one should be awake in this ungodly hour.

Clearly, God does not love me, because I was wide awake and getting ready for my make-up training classes with Dimitri.

You'd think with all the additional hours I've put in with the late-night and early-morning extra practice sessions I should have filled up the quota… but nooo, my merciless, bad-ass mentor thought I was still behind with the lessons. Nice to know someone really believed in me.

After a quick shower, I pulled on my old sweats and tank top—my standard training clothes. I kicked around a few items lying on the floor and found my black hoodie underneath the bed. Someone needs to get her life organized around here.

I went back to the bathroom to rummage for my trusty ponytail holders. My eyes caught my reflection in the mirror. A very harassed, tired, sleep-deprived girl stared straight back. My still wet hair was like dead seaweed. Normally I'd like to dry it first before I went out to play, but I just didn't have the energy to do it in this hour. And man, I should do something about these under-eye circles. Lissa assured me they weren't permanent, but I thought she was just being Lissa—too nice and pleasant to tell me: Rose, even my healing powers can't erase those anymore…

But what does it matter? It was going to be my path anyway. Lissa will continue to be vibrant and beautiful, while I harden and waste away all my looks as I continue my career as a Guardian. Vanity should have no place in my mind.

Okay, if I was being a little honest, I cared… a bit. Which is why I let my dripping hair down first and figured I'd tie it up when I reach the training room.

I checked for Lissa through the bond, just to see if she's sleeping well. Not that she still have nightmares, but it was hard to break habits—

Christian is so warm… I wish he would always sneak in here more often so we could… Yes—

Bad idea.

I shook my head and pulled away even before Lissa could finish her (incoherent and indecent) thoughts and drag me to her mind completely. Dorm security was completely idiotic, or at least in Lissa's wing. Christian and Lissa's romantic interludes had me waking up for several nights in a week. I thought about bringing it up… but that was going to be one hell of an awkward conversation. So I put it off and off, and…ta-da, black under-eye circles.

Irritation seized me, as I knew it would come, right after unintentionally playing Peeping Tom with their make-out sessions.

Of course I was happy that Lissa was safe (no pun intended) and totally happy and in love with Christian, but all I was asking is one night of interrupted sleep. Where I could dream I was safe, happy and carelessly in love, for a change.

But who am I kidding. And the same thing was going to happen again tomorrow night.

Eager to keep my mind off getting a foul mood, I splashed cold water on my face and went out my room earlier than I should have. I figured I can do my warm ups early and get some unexpected praise from Dimitri for a change.

As I made my way towards the training room, I thought about classes yesterday afternoon where I was able to wrestle Eddie to the mat in three seconds flat. Stan had grudgingly praised me, much to my surprise.

Not that I was complaining about the extra practice sessions—I was eager to learn anything Dimitri teaches me—but I rather thought I've already kept up with my classmates. Yet Dimitri still insisted on practices like these.

I wondered if it was because he wanted to have me alone to himself.

I quickly pierced the happy balloon threatening to inflate inside me. Yeah, right. There were many unresolved issues between us, but I doubted he would use his stature as a teacher to… take advantage of the situation.

I sighed. But that would have been a happy development.

The doors were slightly ajar, light spilling into a thin strip on the floor of the corridor. I blinked. Someone was here already? I pushed the door slightly and found Dimitri was already inside. Wow. Earlier than me. Then again what did I expect? I stepped inside and opened my mouth to greet him when my mind finally focused on what he was doing. And wearing.

I don't think I ever got to close my mouth.

Dimitri was doing some insane kind of arm pull-ups from the steel bars in the far end of the room. The size of his arm muscles strained by the work he was doing was very, very visible from this distance. And so was his torso carved with the most defined abdominal muscles I've ever seen in my young life.

And I could see all of these because he was only wearing loose sweatpants. No top.

Oh dear God.

I suddenly prayed my family has no history of heart attacks.

Maybe I created some kind of noise, because he suddenly glanced in my direction. He looked very surprised, but I was fairly sure it was a different reason from mine.

He let go of the bars and landed on his feet lightly. "You're early."

"Yeah. Uh." I cleared my throat and forced myself to speak without breaking my voice.

"Couldn't sleep."

My eyes followed him as he picked up a white towel from a nearby bench and wiped his face with it. For the love of God, Rose, stop staring. It was not as if you haven't seen his bare upper body before—

Not helping.

Instead of banging my head on the wall like I should have done, I walked to the nearest bench and dropped my bag. I resolutely faced the wall and started gathering my hair furiously into a brutal ponytail.

"Why can't you sleep?" I heard him ask, curious and concerned at the same time.

"No reason."

In the meantime, please put a shirt on before I lose my mind over here.

"You're a terrible liar, Rose." He replied.

"I'm not lying." I hastily smoothed my hair, knowing it was of no use, and cautiously turned around again. Thankfully Dimitri was now wearing a gray shirt, which hardly covered the memory of what I've seen earlier, but it was better than… nothing.

I noticed he still looked unbelieving. I decided to tell him a bit of the truth. "It's just Lissa. She has a very… active imagination. It affects my sleeping habit."

Well, I wished her sex life were only my imagination.

He studied me. My face was carefully neutral so I didn't know what he could be seeing.

"That must be bothersome." He finally said.

"Part of the package deal." I shrugged. "And it's not as if I can do anything about it."

As I said those words, it suddenly depressed me. Nope, there's nothing I can do about it.

I quickly changed the subject. "What are we going to do today?"

Dimitri jerked his thumb behind him. Right there was a massive contraption made up of wooden planks that formed a scaffold-like frame. There were several large sandbags roughly the size of a large punching bag hanging on every post that was separated by a few feet apart. My eyes widened. Wow, how could have I missed this monster of a thing?

Oh right, because I saw Dimitri shirtless when I entered the room. Way to go for concentration, Rose.

"What do you think?" Dimitri prompted as I stared at it.

"Uh. Well, it looks like sandbags. Hanging on ropes." I answered slowly. Dimitri gave me a mildly exasperated look. I quickly moved on. "And I have to navigate between them without getting squashed." I guessed. I think I've seen this before, though. But only in movies.

He nodded. "That's right. I borrowed it from the freshmen's gym equipment."

My jaw dropped open. "Freshmen? You think I'm seriously still that far off behind?" And here I was, thinking that Dimitri was just using that as an excuse so we could spend alone time together.

He held up a piece of dark cloth. "It's anything but freshmen level."

My eyes darted from the cloth to the sandbags, and understood. The cloth was a blindfold.

"Oh."

"Guardians have to depend a lot on their senses. But anything can happen in the battlefield. It doesn't mean that losing one of your senses spells the end for you in a fight. You have to learn how to use your other senses as well." He said. "We start by taking away what you rely on the most."

I nodded, getting his point. Of course… I understood that feeling very well in Spokane. The urge to fight until my last breath. I had accepted that I was going to die, but there was no way in hell without a fight.

But I didn't die, Mason did. And it still ate me up every time I think about it.

We started with warm ups and lots of stretching like we usually did. I sat on the floor with my legs spread and touched my toes with my fingers. Dimitri acted as my spotter, but he barely touches me unless it was completely necessary.

Right now he was guiding my back while I stretched. I tried not to think of his palm on my back too much.

"I haven't seen this method of training before." I said after taking deep breaths.

"Possible. It's not a part of the normal curriculum of St. Vladimir's."

I brightened. "You mean this is from your training in Siberia?"

"Yes." I couldn't see his face, but I thought I heard a smile in his voice. "But I asked permission from Alberta first, of course."

Wow. That got me excited. It was in times like this that I was truly thankful that he was my mentor—excluding all the sexual tension, almost-teacher-student-liaison thing we've got going on. He really wanted me to learn from him in the best way possible.

I wondered how hard it was going to be. "So it must mean you've done it before."

A pause. "Many times. The training there was a bit rougher."

Rougher? I mouthed in disbelief. Well that explains the hardcore methods he'd been applying on me since Day One. I was also sure it was what saved my life up to this point.

We finished the stretching and breathing exercises and got up from the floor. He led me to the sandbag-thingamajig and explained how it worked, and where should I place myself ideally. It was a lot harder than it looks like in the movies, that's for sure.

He pressed a button on one of the posts. Instantly there was a groaning sound of gears turning, and then the sandbags started to swing like pendulums. Rapidly. The air made a sharp whooshing sound at each pass—the weight made it clear a hit from them would be nasty. And they didn't swing at the same speed… some were slower, and at different angles. I kept my face from giving away my apprehension.

However, Dimitri surprised me by walking to the opposite end of the swinging sandbags and held up the blindfold. "I'll go first."

I nodded and went up to him to help him tie the cloth. I think my action surprised him.

"So I know you're not peeking." I teased, holding the cloth firmly over his eyes and tied it at the back of his head. I tried not to notice the way his hair curled around my fingers.

I moved stealthily in front of him and waved. He didn't react. Then I made a cross-eyed expression and stuck my tongue out. Nothing. Maybe I should have brought a pen and drew a mustache on him just for kicks—

"Knock it off, Rose." He suddenly said.

I blinked at him and stifled a laugh. I was so sure he couldn't see. "How'd you know?"

"Because I know you. Now stand aside there and observe."

I did as I was told and backed away. Dimitri stood there, unnaturally still. He had his head slightly bowed, and I was insanely curious to see what he was going to do.

After several seconds, he put one step forward, just as the sandbag passed in front of him. I held my breath. And then another. His movements entranced me—how can such a bad ass fighter like him move so gracefully? It didn't add up.

But it wasn't all grace. Even from standing way over here I could feel the powerful decisiveness of his actions. He took every step as if without fear or any trace of hesitation. When he came to the part where there were two sandbags swinging at the same time but from opposite directions, he stepped between them in the precise moment they parted, never uncertain, never hurrying either. I made a mental note to look out for that part.

He finished like he just had a stroll in the park. Oh boy.

Dimitri pulled out the blindfold from his eyes. I was still staring at the wildly swaying sandbags.

"Your turn." He told me.

I nodded and he covered my eyes just like I did earlier, but I doubted he would be making funny faces in front of me to test if I could see.

"Does it hurt?" I asked tentatively.

"Don't find out."

Nice. Really reassuring, mentor.

He led me to the starting point. "Since you can't see, the next logical sense to use is your hearing. Physiologically, we can't hear as well as Strigoi, but with enough training we could match it. Plus their usually careless movements and noisy footwork gives them away."

I nodded and tried to concentrate.

"Take your time. Listen to the sounds they make. Everything emits a sound. You just have to pick it up and use it to your advantage."

Right. I breathed in and out, remembering his breathing exercises. I have to keep calm so I could process anything and everything my ears pick up.

And then there was a regular, sort of rhythmic sound that pricked my hearing. It made a whizzing sound, like the sound that an arrow makes when launched from a bow. The sound came from my left, then passed in front of me, then came back again.

That must be it. I didn't let myself second-guess. The moment the sound whirred past me, I stepped forward. Instinctively I waited for something to hit me—nothing.

"Good." I heard Dimitri's quiet voice.

As good as that felt, I didn't let myself be distracted by his praise. I was far from being finished. I gritted my teeth and waited for the familiar sound of the sandbag to pass in front of me before I stepped forward. I did this for five times. And then I stopped.

There was a pattern with the first five sandbags, but I remembered this part. This was where there was no "safe" space between the sandbags… all three of them swung rapidly in different paces. Which meant I have to step directly in the path of each sandbag that cleared, while waiting for the next sandbag to pass. Tricky.

But not impossible. It was all in the timing: don't wait too long; don't be in a hurry either.

I stepped in front as soon as I thought it was clear. One… two…

I put my foot forward again. I counted three short breaths this time. Then another step forward. I felt the sandbag's skin graze my back as it passed back. Okay, that was close. Just one more step…

Two firm hands gripped my arms tightly to steady me as soon as I thought I cleared the last one.

"You alright?" he asked.

It made me catch my breath—and it has nothing to do with what I just did. It was the way he asked. As if he was asking… as Dimitri. Not as my teacher. How was he looking at me right now?

"I'm fine." I answered, reaching for the knot of the blindfold.

He got it for me and I studied his expression furtively. Dimitri looked pleased, but nothing like what I imagined hearing from him just a few seconds ago.

"That was very good, Rose." He smiled approvingly.

I smiled back. Doesn't matter… it still made me happy anyway.

But I should have thought he wasn't finished with me yet. Oh what's a walk through the sandbags of death every now and then?

He picked up two kick pads and slid it over his hands. I was immediately thrilled. Hand-to-hand combat was one thing I really looked forward to.

"Oh good, my favorite part." I said, grinning widely.

"You're forgetting something." He said, pointing to the cloth that I just tossed to the bench.

I gaped at him. You've got to be kidding. "I'm going to spar with you blindfolded?" I could hardly land a blow with him with me on full battle mode and him using only one hand for offense.

He raised an eyebrow. "You won't be fighting sandbags out there."

"And neither am I stupid enough to fight with a blindfold as an accessory." I retorted.

The corner of his mouth twitched, like he was about to burst out laughing. Instead he sighed patiently. "Just do it, Rose."

I muttered sullenly about impossible feats and more impossible teachers who get a kick out of suffering students. He would have heard if he wanted to. I picked up the cloth again and went back to him.

"Tell you what," he suddenly said. "This one is a fairly difficult exercise…"

News of the century, I wanted to quip, but I held my tongue and instead looked at him warily.

"…So I'm going to offer you something."

I perked up. "What?"

"If you manage to land a blow on either of these," he referred to the kickpads, "then you get a reward."

"What kind of reward?" I asked slowly.

Dimitri shugged. "One day off? A hundred lunges instead of the usual two hundred?"

He thinks he's being funny. Well then….

"You mean I get to choose what it is?" I clarified, keeping my face all-innocent.

"Sure." He replied carelessly. "If you manage to hit me legitimately."

Legitimately meant hitting the center of the kickpad in one solid blow. It wasn't going to be easy, because aside from the fact I was blindfolded, he can manipulate the kickpads almost as quick as he moves his hands.

Sounds like fun.

"Deal." I grinned.

I put the blindfold back again and stood quietly to listen for his movements. I knew he was there, and he was watching me, but it was hard to monitor his movements. One thing was for sure, Dimitri was a lot hell quieter than the sandbags.

"We begin." I heard him say.

He spoke to my right, but I was sure he wasn't there anymore. I listened harder.

His breathing. Was it his breaths I hear? It was faint, but it was there. Like a faint disturbance in the air.

Suddenly, a series of rapid footsteps was quickly approaching me. And then a whooshing cut in the air near my face—

I raised my arm to deflect the blow. Just in time… and it hurt. Dimitri's arm was nowhere near soft and I just deliberately collided my arm with it.

But there was no time to feel the pain. I tried to kick where I thought his knees were, but they were gone. And so was he. He backed off again, waiting for another opening.

That wasn't luck… I was able to know when he approached. And now I noticed something else. His scent. I didn't know what brand of aftershave he used, but he was the only one I was reminded of with that smell.

And I was going to use it against him.

A quiet slide of feet across the mat. He wasn't in front of me. I suddenly spun backward, and caught the blow of his kick squarely with my thigh—now that would bruise—but I was able to counter it with a clean hit to his stomach. I heard him stagger back a bit. But my kick didn't count because I had to hit one of the kickpads. Must aim for the upper body then.

I directed a punch that I thought was his face—and found air. Damn it. I was getting frustrated.

But I can't throw random hits and hope to God I'd miraculously hit him—

Something clicked.

I thought of something, but I didn't know if it would work.

Well… one way to find out.

He came at me again and I was able to dodge the elbow that threatened to knock my head off. And then I aimed a kick to my left, which I know he wasn't there, but a quick whiff of his aftershave told me he was very close… meaning he fell for my feint. I made a quick sidestep to where I surmised he was standing and kicked the back of his knees hard. He grunted a sound when he fell off-balance—bingo.

Without any more thought I managed to grip his arm and delivered a decisive blow to the kickpad in one satisfying loud punch.

I dropped to the ground as soon as I knew I did it. It was short… but explosive. And exhausting. Sweat trickled all over my body and I felt I couldn't get up again.

I did it.

I fumbled with the knot of the blindfold, and then I felt his hands help me take it off. He was breathing as heavily as I was.

"That was excellent, Rose." He smiled, the pleasure obvious from his eyes. When he was proud of me, I grew all warm and fuzzy inside.

Dimitri offered his hand to get me off the ground. I took it, eyeing his legs. "Did I hurt you?"

"No."

Of course I didn't. He was the badass here, not me. Meanwhile, I absently rubbed my hand over the arm I used to shield his blow earlier.

"Did I?" he suddenly asked.

I looked up at him questioningly.

"Did I hurt you?" he repeated.

I shook my head and immediately put my hands at my sides. "Nope. I'm good."

He looked as if he was about to say something, but instead he walked to the benches where our stuff was. Maybe it was time for cooling exercises or something.

I unzipped my hoodie to put it in my bag. It was all sweaty and filthy. Good call to have brought a second change of clothes so I didn't have to go all the way to the dorm again. I sneaked a glance at Dimitri behind me and he was studiously arranging his stuff too. He stuffed the towel inside his bag unceremoniously. Was he in a bad mood? I thought I did a pretty good job today.

"Hey that was fun." I said, trying to make conversation again.

Dimitri didn't answer right away. He got something from the first-aid kit and went to sit beside me on the bench. I realized it was an ice pack. I started to protest but he stared me down.

"Put this on your arm." He said in a tone that I couldn't refuse.

I smiled sheepishly and applied it on to my sore skin. "Um, thanks."

We were silent for a little while. I was still busy catching my breath when he first broke the silence.

"I managed to hit my instructor only on my third try, did you know that?"

"Really?" I said, surprised.

"Really." Finally he smiled that smile I would gladly kill for. "That was a good call, Rose. I didn't anticipate that feint at all. It was as if you could see me."

I tried not to blush and give away that it was his scent that I used. If he found out about that I'd beg for the ground to swallow me whole.

"You never know." I replied lightly.

"You won that fair and square." He said matter-of-factly. "And I'd know if you cheated."

Yeah, I bet he would.

"So." I cleared my throat. "About my reward."

"I advise you not to take too many days off, since your Trials are nearing."

A day-off so I could lose time alone with him? I don't think so.

"It's not what I have in my mind." I said, suddenly feeling bold. I couldn't help stealing a look on his mouth, then back to somewhere on his forehead again.

"Then what…" But as our eyes met the question died in his throat. The light and easy atmosphere a few minutes ago suddenly shifted to something tense and alive.

"Rose." The way he said it was somewhere between a plea and reprimand.

"A reward is a reward. And you said I get to choose." I reminded him, keeping my voice reasonable.

He shook his head. "This is…"

You keeping a deal, I silently added. Or possibly, All kinds of wrong. But I knew from the start it wasn't going to work. We've already discussed this once, that we can't care for each other the way we wanted, because Lissa's life had to be our only priority. A Moroi's life came first, always.

Add our mentoring relationship, the age difference… yes, it was several degrees of wrong to be with him here, and looking at him the way I do right now.

And he knows it, and he's trying to do the right thing. Unlike some people who can't control themselves.

"Fine." I sighed and waved my hand lazily. "I wouldn't mind lessening the push-ups for the next few days, and my laps too if that's—"

"Close your eyes." He said abruptly.

I stared at him.

Dimtri's face was not as shocked as I was, so I composed myself. "Seriously?"

As a response, he moved in front of me, kneeling on the floor so our faces were nearly level. I was frozen.

"Do it before I change my mind." he said in a low voice.

His Russian accent was more noticeable when he was… like this, I noticed. Which made it seem like I was with him, but… different. I stared back into his brown eyes and wondered why the hell I was suddenly afraid.

As if that had ever stopped me before.

I closed my eyes.

It was either a very short time, or an insanely long while, before I felt his one hand lightly touch the side of my face. Then heat from his body suddenly coming closer to mine. And then…

"Do I get to kiss you back?" I suddenly blurted out.

Dimitri broke into a laugh. It was a soft laugh, but it rang true. And right. How could something that makes us this happy be so wrong in the world we live in?

I felt his hand snake to the back of my head and in one swift motion, pulling my ponytail free. I felt the hair spill across my shoulders and shoulder blades. His fingers lightly caressed the strands.

"A reward is a reward, remember?" he murmured throatily. And then he caught my lips with his. Softly at first, like butterfly wings on heated skin. But things never stayed merely sweet between us—the kiss soon grew deep and forceful, making me grab on to his neck and wrap my arms around him as we consumed each other's selves in the act. I wondered if I would ever feel this way for another person—a kiss was just skin on skin after all. Can anyone else make me burn the way he does?

I wish I never find out.

Too soon, we had to break apart for air. Stupid, bodily functions.

I had my arms still around him and our faces were still close. I tried to remember how he looked right now—a small good-luck charm I could keep when I go out of this room and face my troubles once more.

"What is it?" he asked, curious about my staring.

"It would have been okay if you didn't." I said, suddenly embarrassed. "Kiss me, I mean."

He smirked. "You're really a terrible liar."

I laughed. Sometimes it was scary that he knew me too well, but it should be okay. I knew him too.

"So." I said, clearing my throat. "Let's do it again."

"What?" he gaped at me, genuinely shocked.

What's with the look? I frowned. "The blindfold exercise. I'm pretty sure it's a lucky break unless I get to repeat that maneuver I made."

Dimitri was still staring at me and it didn't make sense. I nudged him lightly. "Why are you staring at me like that?" I paused at his semi-guilty face. "Unless you thought of—"

He covered my mouth with his hand to smother my next words that were already flashing in my brain. He thought I wanted him to kiss me again? My eyes were bright with mischief. I knew he could see it clearly. Like he always saw me.

Dimitri sighed indulgently, defeated. "Oh Roza."

But he didn't move away.

END

(2)A/N:

Well what do you know? We managed to get Dimitri half-naked, use a blindfold, and share a kiss with all of it under T rating. Yay. :3

If you liked this, keep an eye on me because I'll also be showing Dimitri's POV for this story.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave me your thoughts. ^_^

I miss Dimitri. Don't you?

xo

Anya

Ask me stuff here formspring(dot)me/ashemoon

Find the Little Dhampirs at littledhampirs(dot)deviantart(dot)com to see where I mostly find inspiration for the fics. LOL.