Hi, this is just a short story that's been on my mind recently. It's not finished yet, but it also is not on my high priotity list, so don't expect me to update every day. I will do so after I've finished a chapter, okay?

Disclaimer: Everything, except the story line and Guardian Jack, belong to the wonderful author Richelle Mead! I owe her ma thanks and many hours of thinking about stories for my FanFictions! ;)

Story line: Dimitri took Tasha's offer after the Spocane incident and Rose had to life on without him. Now, after exactly one year, Rose, Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Tasha and Dimitri will have a Christmas Break vacation in the mountains. What will happen? Will Dimitri explain everything to Rose? And more important: will she listen? You'll see! Enjoy!

Christmas Break

DAY 1

Rose Hathaway breathed in the fresh and crispy air of the mountains deeply. It had been snowing all day long and now the fresh snow was glittering in the sun. Houses, cars and trees where covered in big piles of snow and here and there you could find a track of birds, deers and other animals domiciled in the Rocky Mountains in the north of Washington.

Standing in front of the supermarket next to her snowmobile, Rose took a look at the small town. With only about 100 inhabitants it was really only considered a village but it was the familiarity between the inhabitants that made it so easy for Rose to feel at home. Also it had been the first time for a holiday since she had started on being Lissa's Guardian.

It was the first day since their arrival and Rose had taken the first possibility to leave Christian and Lissa with the Guardians Eddie and Jack, to go the village to get some food and other needed supplies. Since Moroi weren't able to get out during sunlight, Rose enjoyed it the more to see the snow-covered village at daylight.

After standing in the sun, Rose turned around and entered the small still family-owned supermarket to get the needed supplies. In the pitch of her stomach she knew that the freedom she just felt would be over soon. Lissa had just called her and told her that Tasha Ozera, Christian's aunt and her Guardian, Dimitri Belikov were on their way and they would be arriving soon. And regarding the happenings about one year ago, Rose was not really happy to see them but she also knew that it was unavoidable during Christmas time. With a small sigh she entered the store, pulling out a long list of needed supplies.

When Rose had everything together, astonished again of the big variety the offered items in such a small store, she went to the cash desk and paid everything. Suddenly, the feeling of being watched crept up her spine. With a spin she turned around towards the window and met with two very familiar looking dark brown eyes. Staring at him made her hearts speed up immediately and all the bottled up feeling tried to surface again.

With all her will, Rose turned around to the cash and packed everything up. Since it was quite much, Rose knew she would have to drive two times to get everything to the secluded cabin of the Dragomir family. But since there was only one passenger seat, she would have to get Tasha and Dimitri to the cabin separately anyways since there was no way to drive up there.

Knowing that it was time now to face the person that still kept her awake most nights, she grabbed the first bags and headed outside.

"Hello Rose!" She was greeted from the second not wanted person in her life and to not be impolite, Rose put a fake smile on her face and greeted Tasha.

"Hey Tasha!, How was the ride?" Rose stuffed the first bags into the large trunk of the snowmobile. A short nod from Dimitri was the usual greeting of Guardians.

"Great, but the sun tires me. How long does it take to get to the cabin?" In the corner of her eye, Rose saw Tasha leaning onto Dimitri for support.

"About half an hour. You might better take a blanket to cover you up. But mostly we'll drive through the woods."

"Okay." Tasha said.

"Since I have only one passenger seat I can only take one person at a time. There are two Guardians at the cabin already; I would suggest taking Tasha first and picking you up later." Rose said, looking at Dimitri for the first time closely.

"Yes, that's okay. Can you tell me where I can park the car meanwhile?" His voice sent shivers down Rose's spine and let her heart ache from how much she had missed him during the year.

"Down the street is a small café. Next to it, you can park the car in the garage and wait for me in the café. I'll take about one hour, depending on the wind and snow." Rose said, guiding Tasha to the passenger seat and wrapping her up in the blanket, Dimitri had just picked-up from the car.

"Okay, I'll wait there!" he said, and after a short wave towards Tasha he was off. Rose felt the little pang of jealousy deep in her heart and was surprised by the pain it caused. But he was together with her now, Rose thought, there was nothing she could do about this than forgetting it.

But this would also mean to forget the part of herself that kept all the memories inside. Memories of their first encounter, memories of how he fought for her, memories of their training sessions, memories of his smile and memories of his laugh. All those memories were also precious to Rose, that her heart fought against the process of forgetting and she knew that it would take more than just one year to cope with the pain and feeling of betrayal.

When Rose started the snow mobile, the powerful engine roared and soon they were up on their way deeply into the mountains to the small cabin, where so many happy memories where waiting for Rose to cheer her up. Also the speed and power of the big engine was bringing a smile to her face and soon she had almost forgotten about Tasha on the back seat.

About half an hour later, Rose had reached the cabin and before she could even switch off the engine, Lissa and Christian came out of the cabin to greet Tasha and to also help her to put away the groceries, so that Rose could return to pick Dimitri up before nightfall.

After warming up for a few minutes in the cabin, Rose made her way back with the snowmobile towards the small village, trying not to think about having to feel the strong and warm body of Dimitri for the long ride back. She had to find a way to built up a wall and to bury her feelings deep inside so that she wouldn't hurt anymore.

But it was easier to be said than to be done and so Rose hadn't come up with a solution when she arrived at the supermarket to pick up the left over supplies. Arriving at the café with a full trunk again, 'We will see what happens.', she thought and climbed off the snow mobile. Since Dimitri hadn't been waiting outside, Rose entered the small café and after one swift look around, she spotted his tall figure on the back.

Ordering a hot chocolate at the bar, Rose walked to the table and sat down opposite of him. No word was spoken between them until the waitress brought over Rose's hot chocolate and another cup of tea for Dimitri.

"It's getting cold out there pretty fast. I guess we're heading for another storm." Rose said, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence.

"Hm." Dimitri said, looking her straight into the eyes, which made Rose very nervous.

"We've got enough groceries, I hope. The weather forecast already said that there could be another blizzard which could become dangerous real quick." Another feeble attempt to start a real conversation, which absolutely brought nothing.

"Hm." Dimitri was still staring at Rose, having put on his Guardian mask.

Rose only shrugged. 'Well, if wasn't going to talk then we'll just stay silent!' she thought, fighting the uprising anger down.

"Rose, why are you rambling?" his soft voice sent chills down Rose's spine. Appalled by him talking a whole sentence to her, Rose looked up and immediately was trapped by his stare. And it also wasn't quite helpful, that he suddenly had put his hand over hers, to warm them up. Rose's heart beat sped up increasingly and her breath was caught in her thought.

"Wha … what?" she said, totally confused.

"You're rambling and stuttering, Rose." Dimitri said, a small smile was tugging on his lips. He was playing with her and Rose felt the blush creeping up in her cheeks.

"I just thought, you might want know."

Dimitri only kept staring at her, now having a fully smile on his face.

"I was actually waiting in here so we could have a talk. We need to talk anyways and here we can do it without being disturbed."

It was amazing how a heart beat could speed up after that sentence without Rose having a real heart attack! But it was possible and so she sat there, looking at him, not knowing what would come now. And to hide the feelings showing in her eyes, Rose turned her head down and grabbed the hot cup with chocolate with both hands. Without having eyes and body contact, it was easier for her to think straight again.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked cautiously. If it would be about the happenings one year ago, she certainly would not take part in this conversation anymore. Rose knew that she couldn't do this again and neither did she want to get her heart broken again.

"I wanted to talk to you about us and Tasha." He said calmly, looking at her again. For a short moment, Rose's face turned into a mask of pain and anger, before she suddenly gulped down the hot chocolate.

"Never ever mention 'us' and 'Tasha' in one sentence, except it is negativity! Like in 'Because of Tasha there will never be an us again.'!" Rose jumped up and pulled on her jacket. "Anyways, we have to go no now!" she said, avoiding his gaze and stormed out of the small café. Hurt briefly fleshed through Dimitri's eyes before his Guardian mask slipped back into place. With a sigh he emptied his cup of tea, stood up and followed Rose outside.

Rose already was seated on the snow mobile and as soon as Dimitri sat down, she started the engine and together they left the small village behind, heading up into the mountains and into the slowly fading sunlight. Driving through the mountains in the dark was very dangerous because of non visible holes in the snow, flanks and animals as well. And so, Rose pulled the gas a little more and sped up to reach the cabin as fast as possible.

Arriving at the cabin, Rose felt like coming home again. When all the supplies where stored, everyone met up in the living room and sat down in front of the roaring fire in the oven. Luckily, Rose was able to avoid any further contact with Dimitri and to everyone's surprise; she was the first one heading upstairs and going to bed. When Rose laid on her bed, her thoughts automatically started to wandered back to the days of staying at the Academy and her training sessions with Dimitri Belikov, one of the best Guardians out there. As so many times before, her mind and heart started to picture a life that hadn't been so rudely interrupted by the offer of Tasha Ozera. Where would their relationship be by now?

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