~This is taking place right after Lissa brought Dimitri back in the warehouse. Enjoy~

*** Rose ***

It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. I tried to blink back the traces of the blinding light and see what was in front of me. Surely that was him, the Dimitri I loved. He was right there, but I couldn't move. I was frozen with wonder, watching him weep in Lissa's arms.

She saved him. He was back. Why was he upset? Did the fire burn him that badly? No, I couldn't see any burn marks- or even scratches- on his tan damphir skin.

"It's okay," She soothed him, stroking his sweaty hair. Despite all that had happened tonight, I felt a small tinge of jealous. I brushed it off though. They were okay. We were okay.

In reality, it took everyone about two seconds to start fighting again. I could have stood there for hours though, watching Dimitri and trying to decide if it was really him.

But I didn't.

A Strigoi came out of nowhere and shoved my shoulder, trying to push me out of my small open space. I whipped around and staked him before he even saw my face. I felt powerful, I felt invincible now that he was and Lissa was safe.

I turned back to the scene, only to find guardians catching their breath and looking skeptically at Lissa, who was telling them not the come to close to Dimitri.

I dragged my eyes away from them as I surveyed the room. Something was wrong.

If there were no Strigoi around, then why did I feel so sick to my stomach?

A wave of nausea washed through me like lightning. I had never felt so sick before. "Hans, I think-"

The windows broke, glass scattering the floor.

"Strigoi!" I yelled, though it probably didn't matter considering they were jumping through the window.

The guardians tensed for battle again, despite their earlier fatigue. Only we had already lost so many guardians in the earlier fight, and the vampires just kept coming. And coming.

I instantly recalled what Dimitri had told me when we first met. If you can't fight, flee.

Okay, there were about twenty guardians in there, and the room was filling up fast, despite my previous Strigoi encounters. I had never dreamed that this many could be working together. This was a bigger number then I had ever seen. They were fast, and they didn't stop coming in. Could we defeat them? Well, I wasn't going to just sit here and watch, that's for sure.

I lunged toward Lissa, my protective instinct returning from earlier. As if he read my mind, Hans yelled, "Get the princess out of here!"

I grabbed her arm and spun her around, away from the incoming Strigoi. I could feel her fear through the bond, but it wasn't for her life. It was for Dimitri's. He was a good guardian and he could handle this. I scanned the room for an open exit, but I didn't see any.

A Strigoi tried to pull me away from Lissa, and I punched him in the face. He just scowled and scurried away.

I wondered why no one else was helping me get her out, but then, it didn't matter, Her life was in my hands.

I pulled her toward the main door, guessing that it was our best bet considering Strigoi were still flooding through the windows.

I clenched my teeth as I tried to move faster through the fighting crowd. I shielded her with my body as we inched toward the door.

There was a falter in my concentration though, as Lissa let out an ear splitting scream and tried to get out of my grip. At first I thought she was hurt, then a chill ran down my spine as I discovered the real reason.

I had foolishly forgotten that there were two Moroi in the room. "Oh God." I breathed.

Lissa, who had lost all sense of rationality, thrashed and kicked trying to get across the room where a Strigoi had snapped Christian's neck.

"Christian!" She screamed, "Christian! Christian!"

I tried to restrain her, knowing she could be next if I didn't get her out.

"Stop it Rose! I can heal him!" When she managed to turn around, the look on her face was so desperate and destroyed that I almost let go.

"Lissa, we have to go!"

"No! Christian!" She screamed louder than I thought her voice was ever capable of.

She managed to pull one arm free and she hit me in the face so hard that I stumbled backwards. Shit.

Thankfully, Hans grabbed her as she tried to leap straight back into the battle. He literally threw her over his shoulder and ran out of there. She was still screaming and thrashing.

I don't know why I did it, but I went back for Christian's body. Maybe I did it because Lissa was my best friend. I would do anything for her. Or maybe I did it because I remembered how bad I'd wanted her to bring Dimitri back after the battle at Saint Vladimir's. Either way, I knew it was the right thing to do.

I staked four Strigoi trying to get out of there, but I made it alive. Feelings from the bond mixed with my own and I was filled with unbearable anguish.

I made it to where the vehicles were parked, and I couldn't feel my shoulder because of Christian's weight.

I wondered why Hans hadn't gotten the hell out of here, but then I read Lissa's fragile mind. She'd used an exceedingly large amount of compulsion on him to make him stay. She was waiting on me. She knew why I had fallen behind. Just as I knew what she was going to do. And honestly, I hope to God it worked.

We would work out the shadow-kissed side effects later. Right now, she needed him.

I gently set him down in the grass beside the car. She leapt out and fell to her knees beside him. Wasting no time, she immediately grabbed his hand and summoned the magic.

She definitely deserved some credit here. As destroyed as she was, she was still able to summon up enormous amounts of light and happiness because she loved him.

The problem was, it wasn't enough. I'm not sure she'd ever thrown that much energy into anything before. I felt it through the bond, and she was giving every once of life she had left to Christian.

"Christian, wake up." She pleaded, touching his face lightly and then running her fingers through his hair, "Please," She sobbed, "Come back."

She tried and tried, and my heart was breaking watching this. I knew I couldn't do anything though, and it killed me even more. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she eventually lay down next to him and stopped pleading.

It reminded me of Mason and I, yet u knew it must be different with someone you love like this.

There was no sound except for her soft crying.

Tonight Dimitri came back, and Christian was gone.

I let her stay there. I couldn't bear to tell her we had to move. About twenty more minutes passed and two guardians came back, supporting Dimitri in between them.

"Where are the others?" I asked, resisting the urge to run to Dimitri. However, he was staring at Lissa with the same expression he'd had in the warehouse. Admiration. Extreme sadness.

"We are all that's left." One of them replied.

I hope you guys liked it so far, more to come if you let me know what you think. Review!