Hey guys! So this is my attempt at a Vampire Academy story, chapter one! I'm very excited to get going on this, and I plan on updating it within the next week. I'm pretty new to this so feedback in any way is greatly appreciated. This story will definitley have some lemon chapters, for all those wondering. Just some clairification regarding the story:

-It is set a few months after the ending of the Last Sacrifice

-Follows the love story of Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway all the way to Baia where they reconnect with the Belikov family

-besides Dimitri and Rose paying a visit to his family, other story lines will include Rose and Dimitris conflicting interest on the baby topic (like a lot of stories on here lol)

-there may be more things going on...Ièm still figuring out what id like to really do with it, but I am confident you will all enjoy it :)

Please remember to review, favorite and follow if youd like more! Thank you! :)

*DISCLAIMER* I do not own Vampire Academy

The feeling of complete comfort from being wrapped in his arms vanished abruptly. The reassurance that I was safe, that all was well left me as quickly as if I had snapped my fingers. I didn't notice the sudden change. I couldn't comprehend where I was or what was going on. I couldn't differentiate between dreaming and reality. Maybe that was karma, for all the dream walking I had done within the past year or so, I wasn't sure. That's what made it so surreal though, so terrifying. I reluctantly opened my eyes, hesitant. To my complete horror, staring back at me just inches away was those blood red eyes. The ones that haunted me. I would know them anywhere. They were etched in my memory, refusing to let me forget. I staggered backward, and I was met with a brick wall, refusing me an escape. I wanted to analyse the situation and figure out where I was. I told myself that I needed to get out of here. I tried to think of Lissa, how she needed me but I could not for the life of me tear my eyes away from his. They were stuck there, verifying my worst nightmares. His beady pupils scrutinized me, almost as if peering into my very soul. It was unnerving. My stomach churned at the thought that at some low point in Russia, I hadn't been bothered by his cold stare, the dark humour lurking in his features. Now, it made my heart race and not in the way he used to make it. I would never in my wildest imagination ever consider that seeing Dimitri would ever make my heart speed up in fear of danger. It was always out of lust and longing for his gorgeous body to be all over mine. I watched, paralyzed in terror as his lips curled upward, in a merciless smirk.

"You can't hide from me, Roza." His low voice was hollow. It bared no emotion and as he spoke, his words sent chills up my spine. "I told you, I will always find you. And now, you will pay for what you did to me. What you tried to do."

I wanted so badly to run, but my feet were glued to the ground. I was weak, and this time he would win. As he stalked towards me, I heard odd ripping sounds which apparently belonged to me. I was hysterical. Then, he was back in front of me, no more than a few inches away yet again. I surrendered, letting the tears burst out of me, in an attempt to get rid of the pain and memories before he killed me. He had my head tightly between his hands, and I let out one last ear splitting scream as his muscles contracted and he snapped my neck.

In that same second, I sprung up from what I instantly recognized as the bed Dimitri and I shared. Dhampir Dimitri, my Dimitri. My heart slowed as I took in the dark room, analyzing the familiar setting of my bedroom. My brain had just come to terms with reality when he shot up just a moment after me, grabbing both my arms.

"Roza, are you alright?" he exclaimed with worry.

I groaned internally, this really needed to stop, or he was going to catch on.

I gave him a small smile, "Sorry Comrade, just another bad dream I guess. Sorry for waking you."

He sighed, and wrapped his arms around me tight, kissing my lips and then my forehead, before cradling my head softly on his shoulder.

"Don't be sorry" he murmured, stroking my hair. "I'm here, Roza. I love you and I'm here for you. I hate that you're afraid. You know I will always protect you milaya."

I pulled back slightly, so I could look at him clearly.

"I know that, I do. It isn't your fault, seriously. I have no idea why this keeps happening and frankly, I`m getting kind of pissed to be honest. I need my sleep." I tried to joke.

Though he didn't argue, I could instantly tell he didn't buy it. He always knew when I was lying. He pulled back, scrutinizing me once again.

"Are you ready to talk about it yet?"

"Talk about what? There's nothing to say." My voice had a sharp edge to it that I knew he could detect.

I felt bad for snapping at him but I really couldn't talk about this right now...How do you tell the love of your life who by the way, just is starting to get over his own terrors and guilt of his time as a Strigoi, that you're having horrific nightmares about him ripping you to shreds? Yeah, it's probably a better idea to deal with it on your own time. He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his silken hair, messy from sleeping, but just as sexy.

"I can't force you to open up to me, and I'm not going to lie; it bothers me that you think you can't talk to me about this Roza. But...When you feel ready, I'll be here to listen. I love you so much and it kills me to see you hurting so badly. I know the dreams are worse than you're letting on...Just, promise me, if they continue to get worse please talk to someone about them. I don't care who. Lissa, Christian...Even Adrian, if you feel comfortable."

I sighed. Adrian Ivashkov...A sore spot in my life at the moment. After I came back from Russia thinking I had killed Dimitri and that he was gone for good, I agreed to give him a chance. Truthfully, I didn't regret my time with him at all. We had a lot of good times and though my true soul mate was without a doubt, Dimitri, I still loved and cared about Adrian a lot. He had been a good friend to me and I would always regret breaking his heart the way I did. On the contrary, I had heard a recent rumour that him and our alchemist friend Sydney were getting pretty close out in Palm Springs which I was very happy about; It's about time that Adrian find someone who is like Dimitri is to me. The thing that still stung a little bit still was that I really didn't know where my relationship with Adrian stood at the moment. After a few months of giving him some space, Liss had encouraged me to reach out to him. We talked once in awhile but I knew we had a long way to go if I wanted anything even remotely close to our previous friendship back. Though Adrian claimed time and time again that he had forgiven me, I still felt like in his heart he really hadn't completely. So, it was still out of the question to go to him for help.

"No, going to Adrian for help with something like this is still kind of weird...But I promise if I need to, I'll have a chat with Lissa about it, and if she's not there, I can try playing Dr. Phil with Sparky. Who knows, maybe he can get his big break in television." I mused.

He laughed at that, arms encircling me again, pulling me against his chest. I relished in his warmth, inhaling his natural scent. Closing my eyes, I relaxed against him, content. Being close to him was my heaven on Earth. In fact, God has his work cut out for him with the whole heaven thing because really, I couldn't think of any place better than in Dimitri's arms. It was an impossible theory. He began stroking my hair, and I knew that in mere minutes I would be fast asleep, floating blissfully through much happier dreams than my previous one. Dimitri really was my antidote to everything, I realized; even to himself. Only he could make me so calm and peaceful after experiencing a nightmare about him. His effect on me never ceased to amaze me...Though I would never admit it to him, obviously. I was less than coherent when I heard him start murmuring sweet foreign words into my ear. The last thing I heard before I was pulled into darkness was my favourite three words in the whole world; "I love you". And just like that, I fell peacefully asleep in my loves embrace.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock beeping annoying and loud. I rolled over, groaning as I pounded the "sleep" button on it for the third time, but not before I noticed the time; I had twenty minutes to haul ass over to the gates.

"SHIT!" I exclaimed louder than necessary.

Muttering a string of curse words under my breath, I ripped off the bed sheets keeping me warm, and jumped out of bed. On my way to the bathroom, I noticed a little yellow sticky note on the door. It read: "Roza, I got called in early this morning. I'm sorry I did not get the chance to say goodbye but have a great day and I will see you when we get home. All my love, D." I smiled and took about thirty seconds more than I had to spare to carefully tuck away the note in the top drawer of my dresser. I always saved little notes he left me; they were reminders of how much he loved me, though I didn't really need any reminding as we told each other just about every second. Nonetheless, it was a habit of mine that I had been doing for about a year; that's how long we had been living together. It would be a full twelve months on December 2nd, two weeks from now! Whenever Lissa and I were going away for awhile to either deal with official council business or to Leigh University to pick up her schoolwork, I always brought things that reminded me of him, with me to get me through our time apart. As cheesy as it was, days without him were hard for me, as I knew they were for him too. We were each other's rocks and it's really lonely when we aren't together. Lissa likes to joke about how I'm miserable going a day without him but hey, she should talk. Unless her and fire crotch see each other every twelve hours they both go into a deep depression. Hypocrites. After I showered, blow dried my hair and put on a minimal amount of makeup, I looked fairly presentable for work with my guardian attire on and ready to go. It was a shame; I'd have to sacrifice my daily coffee if I was to get to the front gates early enough, which in translation basically means that I better not run into any assholes this morning or they're gonna be sorry! To a Moroi, I would imagine that guardians look pretty calm and collected in the mornings; like they know what they're doing. Unfortunately, I don't only know this is completely false, but I am the one who actually has to clean up all the messy mistakes of the early morning rush. When you're the head guardian for the Moroi Queen, you get faced with a lot of bad situations...Meaning Strigoi. I was by far the most decorated guardian in Court, and because of my major gain in respect by my colleagues, I had recently been promoted to "Chief of Defense". The title though prestigious was a huge headache. Believe it or not, yes, guardians make mistakes. When it comes to the protection of the wards and defences at court though, these mistakes can wreak havoc and panic within a matter of minutes; which is why I have people running up to me every five minutes rattling off panicked words and demands. Lissa calls me the fixer because whenever there is any sort of problem, you can guarantee it'll be me who has to regulate it. Though a pain in the ass at times, it pays well. Actually, it pays a ton more than a regular job guarding a specific moroi which is helpful for me and Dimitri at home. Between our two salaries and Lissa's never ending generosity, we lead a pretty cushy lifestyle with a beautiful home located close to the palace as well as extra money to have fun with. We're honestly really lucky; I would have never imagined having our lives working out so well, but I sure am glad they did!

I was jolted out of my wandering thoughts by Mikhail contacting me via radio, "Hathaway! We have a situation."

Mikhail is one of the few guardians I had known before graduation from St. Vladimir's. He and Sonya Karp, a spirit user we had restored back from a Strigoi much like Dimitri was currently expecting their first child. It was all very exciting for Mikhail; most male guardians don't entertain the idea that they can have kids. They usually accept that their family is their moroi, professionally of course, and allow the dhampir women to make the babies. So it was a rare and exciting occurrence for Sonya to be carrying his child; one everyone at Court was more than enthusiastic about, especially the guardians.

"Be right there, hold on." I replied slightly annoyed.

It had taken less than two minutes on duty for a problem to arise. How typical. Shaking off my earlier irritation, I got into business mode. As much as I complained, I prided myself on being professional around the other guardians. Besides, I had a Hathaway reputation to uphold; mommy dearest Janine Hathaway wouldn't think too highly of me if I went around mouthing off to everyone. Though, I'm pretty sure Abe would get a kick out of it. The old man always was a pot stirrer so to speak. And so, my day went on as every other day did; cleaning up after the newly trained idiots and checking in on Lissa. When my lunch break finally arrived I could've dropped to my knees and sung to the sky; I was more than starving. I texted Lissa to come meet me at one of the nearby cafes to eat. I grabbed a table by one of the large open windows, and proceeded to order my food. I was seriously craving donuts...Two double chocolate, a coffee (FINALLY!), and a turkey sandwich. Since she wasn't here yet, I decided to order her a salad with dressing on the side and just a bottle of water. She wasn't picky and definitely not a big eater like yours truly. A few minutes later, I heard the bell on the entrance door ding; I looked up to see Lissa walking towards me, graceful as ever. She stopped a few times on her way over to shake some people's hands and greet them hello. Most royals wouldn't be caught dead in a local restaurant, let alone the queen of the moroi kingdom, but Lissa was different. She was the Queen of change, as they called her. She was making a difference, renovating the way royals acted and thought. I lifted my arm slightly to signal her over, and she caught my eye and smiled, walking over and sitting in the seat I had saved her across from me.

"Hey Rose, thanks for ordering for me sorry I took so long." She sighed exasperated.

Even frustrated, my best friend was absolutely breathtaking. Anyone who said otherwise was a liar. Sitting just a foot away, I took her appearance in. Her complexion was always fresh and glowing and her hair was like gold sunshine flowing in loose waves down her back. She had on a light green sundress with a thin gold belt accentuating her petit waist. Add in her gold and diamond accessories and there wasn't a person in the world who could say she wasn't the best dressed in the room.

"Hey, don't worry about it." I reassured her.

She gave me a small smile. "How are things? I haven't seen Dimitri in awhile, are they still loading him with shifts?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's hoping he'll have a lighter schedule next week so we can all get together. He's good, we're good." I smiled back at her as bright as I could manage, images of my nightmare coming to mind. "How's the housewife—I mean man? Still doing the laundry and dusting the furniture while you're out bringing in the dough?" I teased snickering under my breath.

She shot me a warning look. "He's fine, you know, regular Chris. That's not fair; you know he's trying to start up that new magic defence class soon!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, key word trying...I'll believe it when I see it!"

She took a sip of water, trying to contain her laughter. Christian Ozera starting dating Liss back at the academy, years ago. They had been on and off for a bit, but it was obvious they were completely in love. Chris is like a brother to me, one that I continuously made fun of for my own amusement. It's really not my fault; he's too easy a target.

We ate in comfortable silence for a bit, while my mind wrestled with whether I was ready to tell her about the dreams yet, or even if I should at all. She must have noticed because suddenly I felt her tiny hand on mine, pulling me back to reality.

"Rose, you okay? You seem a little off today, is something wrong?"

She stared at me with her large trademark green Dragomir eyes; full of concern and worry. I watched her, juggling between what was the right thing to do, and what I needed to do. As much as I didn't want to worry her, I did really want some reassurance on this whole thing...So, I caved, slumping a little in defeat.

She cocked her head to the side. "Tell me." She demanded, taking my hand in both of hers.

"I've been...Having nightmares recently. The same ones, different scenarios each time. But they all end the same."

She just looked at me, scrunching her eyebrows together. "What are they about? What do you mean they all end the same?" her voice began to rise, I knew she was starting to panic. It was just the opposite of what I'd hoped for.

"Well...They're actually about Dimitri. Liss, you can't tell him. Promise."

She nodded her head slowly, in confusion. "Yes, I promise Rose but...If they're about him, why are they nightmares...Oh no, they aren't—aren't about when he was..." she leaned closer whispering now, "Strigoi, are they?"

I took in a deep breath, looking over my shoulder as I spoke. "Yeah. They are. In each one...In each one he tries to kill me. I always wake up before he can though, but it just seems so real every time. Like I can't tell the difference between what's real and what's in my mind anymore." My eyes started to tear up, and I fought the tears back. I never cried. "I'm...scared Liss. Should I be worried?"

She gripped both my hands now, tightly between hers. "No, no I don't think so. Honestly Rose...You're not going to like me saying this but, well, I think you guys have some unresolved feelings about that whole time. Maybe you should talk to him about it—"

"No," I cut her off sharply. "I can't talk to him about this, it'll break his heart, and you know that. Plus, we have moved on from that whole time...We're in a good place. It's just a touchy subject with him. He doesn't like reliving those memories. They're ones he'd much rather forget."

"She sighed. "I know it's hard, but it's been what, a year and a half now? You need to have everything out in the open! Seriously Rose, what happened back then needs to be talked about, or you guys will never really be able to move on."

I shook my head. "I can't do that to him. I see the way it tortures him, thinking about it. I don't want to make him feel like that Lissa."

Her brow furrowed again, as she thought. Then, she looked up at me, with some sort of new found realization in her eyes. "You two haven't been back to Baia since he was restored, right?"

Right then, I knew where she was going with this. It was something I had thought of over and over again throughout the past year.

"No...Dimitri is set on staying here. He says his family accepts that he's gone and he doesn't want to cause them "more pain"." I air quoted.

"Well," she said. "He needs to see them. That will give everyone the closure you need! Think about it; you must have felt guilty that Dimitri is back and you haven't been able to tell them right? Maybe that's the real source of the nightmares...I bet if you two pack up your bags and spend a few weeks in Siberia, you'll feel more at peace with everything. Granted, you talk to him more about what happened, and you're feelings about the whole thing. You guys need to stop pushing the issue in the dark! It's going to blow up sooner or later, might as well take care of it while you can right?"

I took in her words, replaying them over again in my mind. The thought of going back to Baia was definitely something I had brought up to Dimitri more than once to say the least. I knew he missed his family more than anything, hell, I missed his family! I hated lying to them on the phone when I checked in every month. It killed me to pretend that Dimitri wasn't just in the other room next door to me. Though I respected his decision on the matter, I definitely didn't agree with it. Maybe Lissa had a point...

"I don't know, even if I could convince him to go...There's no way both of us could get off duty for that long." I said, frustrated.

I really needed to fix this, but I knew the conditions were nearly impossible. Lissa smiled at me, and for someone so angelic, her smile was shockingly devilish.

"You are forgetting I am the Queen, Rose. Actually, I've had some strings on the matter pulled for quite some time...I've just been waiting for you guys to give me the go ahead."

I just stared at her.

"Seriously Rose! Tell me when, and I'll book the flights!" She ogled me, hopeful. Pleading, almost.

I heaved another sigh, something becoming quite a natural reoccurrence for me.

"Okay, I'm not promising anything. I have no idea if he'll even go for this but...I'm with you on it. I think it's something he needs to do, and it'll definitely benefit us both...Are you sure we can make it work?"

"Positive! Don't worry about a thing!" She shrieked, clapping her hands excitedly. "I have it all under control, don't you worry! Now your job is to convince him...If I book the flight for this Friday, that gives you tonight and tomorrow to win him over...Sound good?"

I hesitated, would Dimitri give in? I knew that secretly he'd been dying to see his family for years now. But I also knew how stubborn he was about staying away for awhile longer. I guess I'd have to pull out the Rose Hathaway charm on full power for this one to work...

"Fine Liss. Book the flights. I'll have us ready to go early on Friday."

"Yes! Okay, ou I gotta go but I'll text you the details later okay?! Alright see you later, love you!"

"Love ya too." I mumbled watching her practically skip out of the cafe.

As I watched the door swing shut behind her, my mind burst into a tsunami of thoughts on the matter; scattered and running wild. So many things to figure out...I needed a strategy; there's no way I was going to be able to convince Dimitri of our plan easily. I clamped my eyes shut, took a deep breath and shook off my worries for the time being. Right now, I had duties to fulfil... And later I would come face to face with a situation that I was seriously hoping wouldn't blow up in my face, at least; not completely...

Alright, so thats the very first chapter! Please review, itll help a lot! :)

xoxo -A