The Talk

Authors Note: I can not believe that I couldn't find a fan fiction where Alberta tells Dimitri she knew about him and Rose. Or Dimitri tells Alberta. Or nothing. There isn't even a character for Alberta listed on the site. Call me crazy, but I feel this has to be stopped! Enjoy! Taken place during Frostbite when Janine makes her first appearance. Oh, and when Janine tests Alberta's theory in Rose's room, the dialouge is not mine. It was written in the book, I'm just doing it from Janine's take. The rest, however, aside from the characters, is my original plot and writing!

Janine's point of view.

"Janine?" Alberta called as I walked through the schools double doors for the second time that day, just getting off duty.

"Yes Alberta?"

"Can I talk to you, privately?" She looked around at the buzzing students changing classes.

My brow quirked, but I nodded. "Of course, what's up?" I asked as we both walked into a empty classroom, shutting the door behind us.

"I think there's something going on between..." Alberta hesitated, not meeting my gaze for a moment. "Well, I think Rose is somewhat, er, interested in Belikov."

My brow furrowed. I was not expecting this. "What?" I asked, still confused. "How do you know this?"

Alberta waved her hand in front of her face. "I don't know this for sure, don't get me wrong. But... Well, I was sitting in on one of their sessions the other day. I had to talk to Dimitri afterwards and I wanted to see the progress he'd made with her. And well, she's so... relaxed. It's like their friends. With Stan and the others, including myself, she doesn't let her guard down so easily. Of course, they were practicing fighting and she was doing wonderfully, I admit, but she makes witty remarks with him and although he seems indifferent most of the time, I don't know why else she would be so at ease with him. With all the others there's a clear line: Mentor, Student. She over steps it sometimes, but only if she's mad or upset. She acts like she's known him for years. After that day, I started watching them a little more closely. Or well, her. The way she looks at him isn't so innocent."

I nodded, shaking my head. I reached up and tightened my high ponytail. "Well I feel this should be nipped in the bud now. She needs to focus on school. Belikov is an attractive man, but she's a girl and I want this little crush she has on him to be stopped. Change her mentor, something. It's foolish and I want her focusing on the life she will be protecting next year, not who's teaching her how to do it," I said fiercely. Romantic matters and I just... well, we didn't click and since Rose's birth, they became more and more foolish to me every day. Especially this one.

It was about a week since my talk with Alberta and I was hearing news about Tasha Ozera asking Belikov to be her guardian - with special arrangements for children in tow. I thought that this could be my chance to actually test Alberta's theory. And to squash whatever Rose was feeling for him, if anything.

Tasha had invited everyone to the guest housing to host a small Christmas get together and if this wasn't my chance to watch Rose and see if I noticed anything whilst she was around Dimitri, then it would be never. Also, I did have a present for her. I felt... Well, bad about her black eye. It wasn't right of me but I couldn't bring myself to apologize. She was so unreasonable sometimes.

I was a little late for the get together but when I got there, I engaged in a conversation with Mason about guardian business. He seemed uber-exuberant about the topic and I was happy discussing it with him, however, Rose hadn't even looked to Dimitri the whole time I was there. She hadn't said anything to him, and he equally ignored her. When she and Mason left, I did as well, following them inside.

"I've been waiting to talk to you," I finally said. I saw the momentary exhaustion in her face.

Mason picked up on the cue and shrugged before telling Rose he had to go and he'd see her tomorrow, which I found somewhat amusing considering how eager he had been earlier to learn everything about fighting Strigoi.

"You want to, um, go to my room?" Rose asked when Mason was gone.

I quirked a brow. "Sure."

The walk to her room was long; awkward, almost. I knew I had let her down, not being around, but I also knew the academy had to raise her and it was for the best, so I didn't blame myself. It was the best for both of us this way. Stepping into her room, I examined it, looking around for any sign of expressions of my daughter; music, colors, anything. I didn't know who she was, I realized. Nothing about her. I frowned for a moment before fixing my gaze on a stack of books on animal behavior and evolution.

"Are these for a report?" I asked mindlessly.

"No. I'm just interested in it, that's all."

For some reason, that took me by surprise. Despite her unruly nature, she did have good intentions. I looked around the room a little more, observing the woman my daughter had become in my absence and then I took the family heirloom out of my pocket and turned, holding it out to her.

"Here."

She looked confused, and looked it over for a long moment. "Thanks. I... I didn't get you anything."

I hadn't expected her to have gotten me anything. "It's fine. I don't need anything."

I took a deep breath in, walking around her room, trying to figure out things between us got so strained. An awkward silence fell. I stopped, frowning. "How's your eye?"

"Getting better."

"Good." I opened my mouth, wanting to tell her I was sorry, but the words just... wouldn't come out. Rose got up, hanging Tasha's gift to her in the closet. "That was nice of Tasha."

"Yeah, I didn't know she was going to get me anything. I really like her," she said earnestly.

"Me too," I admitted, realizing what I was going to tell her would completely change her mind if Alberta's assumptions were right. If they were wrong then she would act either indifferent or happy for the two of them. Now how to bring it up...

"Guardian Belikov will be a good match for her," I said as Rose turned around to face me.

Her face went dumbstruck. "I-" Her words dropped off and she blinked in surprise. "Dimitri?"

"Guardian Belikov," I corrected her, realizing Alberta's was right about her casual nature with him.

"What... what kind of match?"

I raised an eyebrow, trying to hide my ulterior motive. "You haven't heard?" I asked casually. "She's asked him to be her guardian-since she doesn't have one."

The look on her face confirmed Alberta's suspicion for me. She couldn't even string together a sentence without pausing, her face was somewhere between trying to remain composure and... shock, anger and hurt. There was no other explainations for these emotions if she didn't feel something for the man I forementioned; that he may be leaving the academy to protect Tasha.

"But he's... assigned here. And to Lissa."

"Arrangements can be made. And regardless of the Ozera reputation... she's still royal. If she pushes, she can get her way."

Rose was lost for words. I felt bad for telling her this; but well, it wasn't like I was lying, and I wanted to know if Alberta's qualms were something to worry about or not.

"Well I guess they are friends and everything," she said finally.

The next words almost hurt me to say, but it was the ultimate test of her feelings. "More than that-or possibly could be."

Her face...

"What?"

I tried to remain neutral on the outside. "Hmm? Oh. She's... interested in him." I tried to let my disapporval ring out and in some nature, it did. Romantic relations between a guardian and his chrage, if he took her up on her offers, was... Well, wrong. He was supposed to protect her; like a brother or sister. He wasn't supposed to be sleeping with her. He could falter if they got attacked, making a stupid decision instead of a well thought out one about his first move and that's all it took; one bad move, for him, and his charge to die. "She's willing to have dhampir children, so it's possible they might eventually make an, um, arrangement if he were her guardian."

I saw the stunned look on her face; then the pain, momentarily. I could almost see her heart sink to her feet and it was clear Alberta was right about the romantic feelings Rose had toward her mentor. This had to be stopped; and contained before anyone else realized it. It wasn't right. I leaned against Rose's desk, waiting for a coherant response. I appeared oblivious, however, on the outside, to what was going through her right then.

"Is... is he going to do it? Be her guardian?" Her voice was weak and I resisted the urge to frown. No matter how hardy my reputation was, and how little it took from Rose to set me off, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. But I was glad that this could potentially squash her feelings right there for Dimitri. It's what I wanted; it was safe for everyone.

I shrugged. "I don't think he's agreed to it yet, but of course he will. It's a great oppertunity."

"Of course," she echoed my words. I expected her to be shocked either way, but the hurt on her face when I told her about the romantic implications wasn't something that would be there if she thought of him strictly as a mentor and although I said she'd be happy for them if she didn't care about him the way Alberta thought, I knew this was somewhat forced. Even though she knew it was good for him, I could tell she hated it. Her emotions were too strong as a teenager to take things lightly; she was hot-headed and she desperately, in my opinion, needed to control her temper and emotions better than that if she was going to be a guardian. It didn't help that Dimitri was teaching her how to do that, however. Not in the least. "But hey, they'll probably assign you to Alberta or someone equally equpit to mentor you until you finish-"

Her eyes squeezed together. "I'm really tired."

She hadn't heard the last part, I was certain, and if she had, it wouldn't of mattered. She was hurting, but I stayed neutral. It needed to be said; for her to get over this petty, unruly crush.

"I'm really tired," she repeated. "Thanks for the eye... um, thing, but if you don't mind..."

I pretended to be surprised at her sudden mood change; as though I hadn't realized it all along. "Of course, I don't want to bother you."

Then I left and I knocked on the door to Alberta's room before opening it ten minutes later. "Alberta?" I called, walking in. Most of the time guardians doors were left unlocked in case of an emergency.

"Janine," she said, stopping her walk to the door seeing as I let myself in. Her and I were on very good terms. Probably the best terms I was with with anyone here. Alberta knew however that I was stopping by.

"What you told me," I said gently. "About the suspicions... How you noticied the way she looked at him..." I didn't know what to say, honestly. "You're right."

Alberta's brow furrowed. "How do you know?"

I sat on the arm of the leather couch next to her desk. "I told her about Tasha's offer to Dimitri..."

Alberta sighed. "And?"

"She couldn't string a sentence together. She tried to stay... composed, I guess, but she failed. Her face gave everything away. If I was to bet I'd say she's completely torn up right now."

"And how do you feel about that?" Alberta asked.

"It had to be said. I know she's hurting, though. It's so obvious."

Alberta nodded. "Well... I may have a conversation with Dimitri."

"Yeah, that's probably best. Warn him about her feelings so he knows what's up if she's a little... off."

"Exactly."

Authors note:

Okay! So I hope you guys liked it; her little ulterior motive! I'm going to make this a multi-chapter story, however it'll only be about two or three chapters long so I don't drag it out too much. Remember, review to get the next chapter quicker!

~Dramaticfield