Letting the water run down my hair, the hair Dimitri loved so much, I thought of how far we've come. It was crazy for me to think that it was just a year ago that Dimitri brought me and Lissa back to the academy. I hopped out of the shower and got ready. Today was a big day. Lissa's first official meeting as queen. I couldn't even imagine how nervous she was. It still felt like a part of me was missing not being able to read her thoughts. Not only was I able to tell when she was in danger, being in her mind was a kind of distraction for me, pulling me away from reality when I needed it. Now, it didn't matter. I would be with Lissa almost 24/7, and I wouldn't have to slip into her mind to see what she was seeing. I couldn't be happier being Lissa's guardian. I was so lucky, as Adrian liked to remind me. I winced. Thoughts of him always brought a pang of sadness and guilt. He never minded reminding me of what pain I brought him. Soon, he would be leaving for Paris, living among other humans and only a handful of Moroi. I was almost positive that in Paris all his vices would come back and his thoughts of trying to change for the better would disappear. All of my sadness immediately vanished when Dimitri and Lissa came into view. Lissa was with one of her other guardians, Kaitlyn, and my best friend ran over to hug me. I wrapped my arms around her and could sense her nervousness. "You're going to do fantastic," I said into her ear and she grinned. I could tell she was finally starting to get used to being queen. After hugging Lissa, I went full guardian mode. Of course I snuck a brief longing glance at Dimitri before doing so and he just winked. Only then did I really notice what Lissa was wearing. It was an elegant, form fitting dress that was perfect for the occasion. She looked so grown up, and I have never been prouder of anyone before. A tear almost slipped out and I reminded myself that I needed to stay alert and not get all emotional. I scanned every corner in the room, knowing that we might be in the boundaries of Court, but recent events have shown us that Strigoi are definitely not the only thing to fear in our crazy vampiric world. I almost laughed. Lissa hated that word, vampire. I looked up to see Lissa speaking very eloquently. She carried out her speech gracefully, the way any true queen would. In that moment, I really knew, she was going to make life immensely better for the Moroi and Dhampirs around the world.