I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know that this has taken forever, but I haven't really had the motivation. So review if you want me to continue and then I promise I'll try to get faster updates. On a better note, how's everyone's summer going so far?

Hugs and Kisses and extra Dimitri!

-Catherine

Inside the gym, I allowed my muscles to move in synchronization. My punches were sloppy as I wasn't thinking about exactly aiming them well, and my kicks seemed to miss my target by an inch every time I prepared my leg to lunge forward. It wasn't my fault. I didn't care about aim right now; all I wanted to do was to hurt someone. But apparently a practice dummy would have to do. I suspected that the rest of the school and guardians were still in the auditorium, explaining what this meant, now that dhampirs could reproduce. "It doesn't mean anything," I grumbled stubbornly as I kicked the brown haired practice dummy square in the chest. And it didn't mean anything. Now that dhampirs could reproduce didn't mean that we could stop protecting the moroi – that we would stop protecting the moroi, although I could make an exception for Ryan Badica.

Suddenly two firm hands pulled me away from the dummy. Not bothering to check my opponent, I kicked upwards, only for whoever the person was to dodge my attack. I was tired. My attacks on the practice dummy had been filled with so much energy that now that the darkness was gone, all I wanted was to sleep.

"Roza," my Russian god whispered frantically. "Calm down Rose, I've got you." Gently he walked me over to the bleachers and sat me down, him by my side. Sighing, I glanced up, avoiding his steady gaze and muttered "Sorry."

"For what, attempting to attack me?" He chuckled, bringing his hand through his long, brown locks. "Don't worry about it Rose – I shouldn't have snuck up on you; even if I wasn't really sneaking up on you. We really should work on your concentration. A strigoi won't hesitate to distract you while another kills you from behind."

I only shrugged. Sighing, I twisted my pony tail around my middle finger. "How bad is Tatiana?" Smirking he traced my jaw line, making me want to lean into his touch and melt in his strong embrace. But I couldn't. "No seriously, she didn't strip me of my guardian title, did she?" I asked, alarmed that maybe one of the most loyal guardians out there was about to be sent away. Shuddering as I thought of what girl dhampirs became – blood whores. Not that all dhampir communities were horrible, Dimitri's family proved that stereotype wrong.

"She wasn't that bad, actually. In fact she was on her best behaviour. I guess she's trying to tell the dhampirs that they have rights now, or something." He snorted - a rare sound from my bad ass mentor.

"I'm guessing that I won't go without a punishment, though?"

Dimitri pondered this for a minute, before speaking. "Knowing the queen, I would think yes especially since you're a guardian who attacked an underage moroi - even if he did provoke you."

"But I didn't attack him!" I exclaimed, my voice raising. "Besides it's his fault if he's getting involved in other people's business! Maybe we dhampirs should select who we want to guard from now on! And those who don't deserve it can just..." I sighed, knowing that what words could have came out of my mouth were practically forbidden. Of course the guardians would never allow a moroi to wander the world without a trained guardian. That was free meat for the strigoi, allowing them to get even stronger.

"Come on Rose you know that would never happen." Nodding, I smirked. "It was worth a try."

"Oh my Roza. What am I going to do with you?" Dimitri asked, shaking his head like I was a lost cause.

"I can think of some ideas." I grinned, thinking of how our faces were only a few inches apart. Inching closer to him, I grabbed his face down to my own and began to kiss him furiously. Right now, I didn't care that our relationship was supposed to be under wraps. As Queen Bitch had said 'Dhampirs might get the wrong idea that they're allowed to be together.' Yeah, she said that in front of me. She's very lucky that Dimitri had restrained me. If not, well let's just say she wouldn't be in her best form.

Hesitantly, Dimitri began to kiss me back, before deepening our kiss. Our lips moved in synchronization, as I lowered him down onto the bleacher so that I was now on top of him. Nibbling my bottom lip, I gasped and closed my eyes as Dimitri slipped his tongue inside of my mouth. Our tongues caressed each other, twirling and fighting before eventually I had to pull up for air. Opening my eyes, I saw his brown eyes looking up at me. They were like liquid chocolate, and I felt if I leaned forward anymore I would fall into them, making a splash.

Grinning, I got up and fixed my air. "See, there's nothing wrong with dhampirs having relationships."

"I never thought there was," Dimitri growled, coming towards me like a lion on the prowl. "Oh really? Because I seem to recall that a few months ago we couldn't have a relationship."

"Only for your happiness, Roza. Only for you would I've said that." By now, he had reached me. His hands slowly crept their way into my hair dragging me forward. "Only for you."

Leaning down, his lips lingered softly on mine. And then someone coughed. Glancing, up I scanned the room with my sharp gaze before resting on my least favourite fire user. Christian.

Groaning, I watched as Dimitri got up and stepped away, separating us. "Lord Ozera," Dimitri acknowledged, nodding as he left the room. Personally, I couldn't understand Dimitri's aversion to my friends. It wasn't like they didn't already know about us. Or about our engagement. That was something that Lissa was having a hard time not telling every person she laid eyes on.

"Hey Sparky." I grinned as he scowled. "Did you really have to send him away? Do you know how long I've had to wait for that? And then for the first time in a long time I get him all to myself and you have to come and ruin it."

"Well, excuse me for butting in." He chuckled, his icy blue eyes filled with amusement. "It's not funny!" I insisted. "How would you feel if you couldn't even kiss Lissa for months? Months!" I said, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Luckily I'm not you then, but somehow I doubt that you've gone a day without one stolen kiss," he countered. Sighing, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail – although I couldn't recall when Dimitri had managed to take it out. "So how'd it go? Dimitri said that the queen wasn't harsh. But," I sighed. "You know Dimitri."

"Not very well, but yes I understand. I wouldn't say the queen went easy on you. She certainly made a big deal out of it, in my opinion, saying that guardians should never attack moroi, and blah, blah, blah. Although I could swear she was happy about your attempt so that she could make a point that dhampir should never attack moroi no matter what. You know her usual bullshit."

Nodding, I sat down on the bleachers. "What about Lissa and Adrian, how'd they do?"

"It ran perfectly of course. Neither of them have tempers like you."

"They don't have to handle three people's darkness, either," I snapped.

Laughing, he nodded. "Yes, well it's all over now. What's the worse the queen can make you do, apologize? She most definitely wouldn't do anything drastic in fear that the dhampirs would realize that they don't need to be taken advantage of."

"I'd rather do anything but apologize. The little bastard deserved everything that was coming for him."

"I agree with you there," Christian said, as he began to lead me out of the gym. "He was the most ignorant little brat. Even more so than Adrian." Snickering, I agreed. Even though Christian and I we're always bickering, he did make me feel better, but Dimitri's kiss had probably helped to ease the tension.

Arriving at the feeder's room, we said our goodbyes. "Well, I better go talk to Alberta. Since I'm officially a guardian I probably have to take shifts now." My face changed into one of disgust, thinking that now I had actual responsibilities, even when it didn't come to Lissa. One of the most boring things about being a guardian had to be surveillance; all I wanted to do was fight.

Nodding, he grinned. "I'll catch up with you later. I'm sure that Lissa will want to talk to you first though. You know how worried she can get."

Squirming as I thought about Lissa, I decided that maybe I'd pay her a visit inside her head, before she decided to unleash her wrath on me. My best friend really was like a mother hen, so worried with punishments for anyone who makes her paranoia. "Alright, Fire Boy, we'll talk later then."

Turning around, I walked through the halls, feeling the gaze of everyone on my back. My guardian's mask hid my features, but I couldn't be sure so well. The hardest thing for me to do was hiding my emotions, but Dimitri insisted I'd get better with time. I could only hope, but for some reason I couldn't imagine that I'd ever be able to control my temper, no matter how hard Dimitri tried to force me to practice.

At Alberta's office, I knocked three times quickly hoping that she was inside, alone. I knew for certain that Alberta had a soft spot for me, even if she was a bad ass guardian. After Dimitri had left, she had taken on the task of mentoring me, and she was one of the few who knew about mine and Dimitri's relationship. "Come in," I heard her say from inside.

Opening the door, I strolled inside to find her alone. "Hey Alberta, so I was wondering when I'm on duty," I said normally, hoping that she wouldn't question my behaviour earlier. No such luck.

"I forgot how hectic it is with you around, Rose. I swear it's boring when you're not here."

"I knew you missed me." I grinned. "It's not like there are two Rose Hathaway's."

Alberta ruffled through the dozens of papers on her desk, as I sat down in a white chair across from her. It wasn't very comfortable, but then again the lives of Guardian's weren't meant to be comfortable. We were trained to protect the moroi, and continue on our race. It was the only way to ensure our survival, even if it meant that our numbers were dangerously low and our lives were of the worst quality. The moroi however had completely opposite lives. In Queen Tatiana's office, I knew for certain that the chairs across from the desk were large, elegant arm chairs, cushioned to perfection for the moroi, while the dhampirs stood rigidly along the walls. This worried me. Now that the dhampir were capable of reproducing, I figured that they would abandon their duties and live to the fullest. After all, they were not only capable of protecting themselves, but they could also carry on their race. The fully trained guardians would continue their duties, I was sure, but as for the novices they couldn't understand that the moroi still needed to be protected. Hell, I hardly understood it, but I knew that I would forever protect my best friend, Lissa. After all, not all moroi were stuck up bitches; only the majority.

"There certainly isn't," Alberta responded, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Here is your schedule. Your first shift is in Guardian Alto's class at 1:30, which was ten minutes ago. I would suggest that you get there."

"Even when I'm no longer a student I'm still late for classes," I joked, watching a hint of a smile surpass Alberta's lips as she handed me the schedule filled with times that I would be on duty.

"Yes, well. Like you said there's only one Rose Hathaway." Getting up, I walked over to the door my hand on the shiny door knob. "And Rose?"

"Yes?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at the head guardian's face which was filled with amusement.

"Try and stay out of trouble."

As I walked into the all too familiar, novice class I felt everyone's eyes on me. Grinning, I took my place next to the windows, as the class progressed. Stan sent me a few glares, but for the most part I just ignored him. Looking down at my left hand, I twirled my ring around my ring finger as it sparkled even in the darkness. Mine and Dimitri's wedding plans seemed to be getting nowhere, although I knew that Lissa was most likely ordering thousands of flowers in secret. With all the plans for travelling around the world, it didn't leave much time for a marriage and frankly I had no idea when we would return. I hoped that our trip wouldn't take longer than three or four months, but I had my doubts. For some reason, I felt like this would be one of my most hectic adventures yet. I was certain that some people would rebel now that they knew dhampirs could reproduce, but explaining what was happening in this way seemed the best way possible. If they found out by themselves then I knew the dhampir population would segregate themselves from the moroi in secret. Living their lives like normal people, without any worry that the strigoi could defeat them, while the moroi were left in danger. Especially with guardian numbers so low, the vampire community couldn't afford to lose anymore. They couldn't. Lissa couldn't.

Concentrating on my best friend's mind, I slipped into her head easily, finding her talking with Adrian in an elegant suite where Adrian had stayed last year. I knew that it was a mistake to be here when I was supposed to be watching, but I was positive that the other guardians could take any imposers, and I wasn't a very patient person.

"Lissa did you see the novice's auras?" Adrian asked my best friend, his eyebrows crinkling in worry.

"Yeah, they were filled with determination and happiness. Although many were hinted with jealousy."

Nodding, Adrian paced back and forth. "I'm not certain this was the best plan. From what we saw it looks like they would do exactly what we're trying to avoid – a rebellion."

"I understand it," Lissa shrugged. "But we need them. How else are they supposed to live? I suppose Tatiana could always instigate more freedom for the guardians and more breaks, but I doubt that's going to happen. She thinks it's best if they have more limitations to keep them doing their job."

"I know," Adrian frowned. "We're going to have to talk to my aunt. We have to try something new – before it's too late. I don't know what they were exactly thinking, but it wasn't good."

Clenching my fists at the novice's selfish auras I tuned out of my friends head. They couldn't be actually considering a rebellion – not that the novice's would get far, but they could always hold connections. I would love freedom; I'd die for it, but I'd protect Lissa before I got freedom, no matter what. Maybe they didn't understand what the strigoi we're capable of – that they'd do anything to kill, to gain power and destroy not only the moroi's lives, but ours as well. Maybe the novices didn't have friends with the moroi like I did, after all most were snobs, but snob or not, they deserved to be protected. They aren't evil like the strigoi, so as much as I'd hate to admit it, they should be protected. It's their right. And these novices were ruining it for them. I ruined it for them. If I ran to the cave in the first place then Dimitri never would have turned. I loved the idea that I could fulfill what Dimitri's wants most, but if the consequences are this... Sighing, I watched as the guardian's heads snapped around at my sigh. They really need to loosen up, I decided as they resumed their original positions.

Finally, the bell rang and I got ready to leave, until I realized that I wouldn't be leaving. I no longer escaped class and got to chatter avidly with my friends for a few minutes before my next class. Now, I would be staying here until the end of classes at four. Joy.