I couldn't hold back a grin as I watched him practically bounce with excitement in his chair- he hadn't stopped smiling since the plane had taken off, and seeing the smile come to his lips oh so easily had kept us both in a bubble of bliss. It was the best. Perfection.

"Hmmm?" he turned to me in confusion. I realised with horror that I'd said that out loud, and a blush began to creep onto my face as I ducked my head.

"What's this?!- Rose, embarrassed? No witty retort?" he taunted with a glimmer in his eyes. I shoved his shoulder somewhat half-heartedly.

"Honestly, I'm too excited to care." I sighed with a smile, flicking the window cover of our window up just in time to see the first rays of Sunlight peak out over the horizon.

"Wow," I breathed, "Gorgeous." The swirling riot of pink and gold lit up the grey sky, creating an utterly captivating image and I heard Dimitri's quick intake of breath beside me. "Gorgeous" he repeated, but when I glanced at him his eyes were on me, not the scene out the window.

Smiling, I snuggled in closer to his side and closed my eyes, breathing him in and getting comfy in preparation for the next 10 hours of the flight to Omsk. From there, we would take a rental car down to Baia- much like I had with Sydney not so long ago, but this time with a much lighter heart and no trace of the burden I had beared on my last trip.

I had planned to sleep for as much as the flight as possible, but the buzz of anticipation kept my mind awake, so I allowed my thoughts to wander aimlessly as I took comfort in Dimitri's presence against my side. Our seats were fantastic- perfect I dare say: Lissa had made sure of that.

Thinking of Lissa, I felt a twinge of guilt- it had taken her a full month of convincing me she would be fine before I finally decided to take this break, but it didn't mean that I was happy about leaving her. If even a hair on her head was out of place when I got back, so help me…

Despite my unwillingness to leave, I was ecstatic about visiting Dimitri's family. If it had been for anything else, neither Dimitri nor I would have been willing to leave our charges in the hands of anyone else, but after I threatened to kill Lissa and Christian myself if she so much as set foot outside of court, we had been convinced to trust them for the fortnight.

It had excruciatingly difficult for both of us- our sense of duty was one of our most abided by traits, and after Dimitri's first charge was killed when he was on leave, I couldn't help the sick sense of worry that plagued me since the plane had taken off. My worry was futile, I knew- she was in the most experienced hands of top Guardians at the safest location in the world, but I worried none-the-less- how could I not? I stirred in my seat- what if something happened… how could I live with myself?

"She's fine, stop worrying." Dimitri mumbled into my hair. I huffed, stupid know-it-all. Even so, his words calmed me enough to lull me into a light, dreamless sleep.

((((O))))

The hours that passes occurred in a slight haze- the landing of the plane; the trip through the airport where an alchemist awaited to prevent an awkward run in with customs. I couldn't even comprehend the fallout- two persons clad in weapons and silver stakes? I can imagine that wouldn't go down well with the human authorities.

The drive to Baia was tedious- both of us were slightly on edge and impatient, however was made considerably brighter by Dimitri's stop to get me a box of donuts.

"You know I love you right?" I said in between bights of the delicious deep fried dough, though I wasn't sure if I was talking to the man beside me or the donuts. Oh donuts I thought blissfully, you understand me. We took turns driving, much to Dimitri's dismay, and arrived at his home town, where we stayed at a hotel that night to get ready for tomorrow. I called Lissa to check up on her, to her chagrin- I could practically hear her rolling her eyes over the phone.

"Fine then, maybe I'll just stop caring altogether. Clearly you don't appreciate my love." I pouted, and we chatted for a short time before I was too tired to formulate any sort of decent conversation.

"Tomorrow" I said, turning to Dimitri as I crawled under the sheets. "Tomorrow." He repeated, kissing me on the head.

((((((o))))))

I woke up to the smell of coffee wafting through the small apartment, where Dimitri was pottering in the kitchen with a mug in his hand. I padded barefoot into the kitchen and pulled myself up onto the bench top, where I sat swinging my legs. Dimitri glanced up at me, his lips tugging up on one side into a small smile that caused a tug at my heart.

"Morning my love" he said and handed me a bowl of cereal.

"So… today's the day, huh?" I said with a mouthful of breakfast. My excitement was palpable; I could barely contain myself, and my own enthusiasm was reflected in Dimitri's eyes.

The hours flew by, and it wasn't long before we sat in the car outside Dimitri's childhood home.

All the excitement had led up to this moment, and neither of us could bring ourselves to do much but look at the house from the other side of the road. Painful memories washed over me as I surveyed the house- would they forgive me for leaving the way I had?

A seedling of doubt nestled itself in my stomach as a steeled myself and walked across the road, leaving Dimitri concealed among some still believed that their Dimitri was a Strigoi, and I didn't want to give poor Olena a heart attack by showing up at her doorstep with what she believed to be her undead son. I had to talk to them, explain the miracle that had occurred at the hands of my best friend and I.

With a deep breath, I hardened my resolve and knocked on the door. Waiting was agony, and my tension increased as the seconds ticked by. Footsteps resounded through the house and I held my breath in anticipation. The door swung open to reveal Viktoria- she had changed since I had last seen her- her cheekbones were sharper, her hair cut short, but it was unmistakeably her.

We stood staring at each other, and I waited with bated breath for her reaction- we hadn't exactly left things on a pleasant note, and I could just see her slamming the door on my face and telling me to get the hell out.

Despite my qualms, I stood there watching her, and all she did was stare back with wide eyes, before finally shrieking "Rose!" and throwing her arms around my neck. Thank god I thought with relief as I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her neck, giving a strangled sound as I choked back my sob.I pulled back and looked at her face- a face for a while I thought I would never get to see again.

"You're taller, and your hair!" I laughed, which came out as more of a sob than anything else. She stuck her head inside, "Mama!" she called, before turning back to me, "Rose, I'm so sorry, you have to know I never meant those things that-" I cut her off with a shake of my head and pulled her into another tight hug.

"It's okay, I know." I said, squeezing her as hard as I could, "I've missed you all so much." I choked out, still crushing her in a bear hug.

"Can't…breathe…" She managed, before being rescued by her mother, who came bustling to the doorway to see what all the fuss was about.

"What on earth is- ROSE!" she cried, letting of a string of rapid Russian as her hand flew to her mouth. I offered her a tentative smile, which quickly broke out into a grin as she barrelled into me, wrapping me in a tight embrace that rivalled my own. As everyone crowded to the door to see what the commotion was about, I could barely hold back my tears as I was reunited with the rest of the family. The only one who didn't seem surprised to see me was Yeva, Dimitri's grandmother, who cast me a look with narrowed eyes before flitting suspiciously to the place where Dimitri stood concealed. I knew he would be watching, and I glanced over my shoulder at the place where he was standing before being dragged into the kitchen and fussed over by Olena in a familiar motherly fashion.

Once everyone settled down enough to actually make coherent sentences, Viktoria turned to me, still sniffling.

"So what brings you back to Baia… I didn't think you were coming back." she said uncertainly. I nodded and cast my eyes downward. "Honestly, neither did I," I started, which was met with a disapproving grunt from Yeva. "But something happened recently, something… big." Eyes around the room began to turn wary and Yeva's narrowed in suspicion.

"No, no, don't worry, nothing like that. Really, it's a miracle. I…" I was rambling, stumbling for words, but couldn't formulate a coherent thought- I needed to ease them into this, somehow, but I wasn't sure what the best way to approach it was and I huffed in frustration.

"Just start from the beginning, dear." Olena coaxed gently. All eyes were on me now, and with a deep breath, I started to explain a phenomenon that had occurred over the last 12 months.

"So what you're saying is... there is a way we can save Dimka?" Viktoria started slowly, her eyes shining with new found hope.

"No-"The pairs of eyes around me visibly dimmed and I stiffened, my sentence cut off by the sound of a scuffle outside, and I sprinted for the door as I heard gruff shouting. I was closely followed by Viktoria as I burst through the front door and frantically searched for him or any signs of conflict- without my shadow kissed strigoi alarm, I had only my own senses to rely on.

I halted when I took in the scene before me however, and Viktoria's bewildered voice came from behind me.

"Nikolai?! What are you…" she trailed off in confusion as she began to recognise the face of the man that Nikolai had defenceless against the tip of his stake. Dimitri had in hands in held up in surrender, and I knew he would sooner get staked than hurt this boy, who was only trying to protect Dimitri's family. Acting on Nikolai's confusion I pushed him out the way and placed myself between him and Dimitri, who placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Strigoi," Nikolai spat- "that's your brother- or a thing that used to be your brother. He was lurking in the bushes". he said, turning to Viktoria, whose stare was fixed on Dimitri in horror. They were all too far away to see the light and warmth in his eyes, too stunned to see anything other than the ghost of their family member.

I cursed at the rapid turn of events- how the hell had this situation gotten out of hand so quickly?! Well, things had just gotten a whole lot more difficult.

((((o)))))

Everyone around me stood frozen- if it had been any other situation it would have been comical with everyone standing with their eyes fixed on Dimitri, or more so, my protective stance in front of him, but the tension radiating off of the people in front of me filled the air like a thick smog.

"Please… guys, before you do anything, just hear me out, okay?" I said, glancing between the identical looks of horror reflected on each and every one of the Belikov's faces.

"The miracle I was telling you about, remember?" I spoke gently, like one would to a timid animal they were trying to coax out of hiding.

"When I left Baia, I found Dimitri- it was what I came here for, and I did find him- or rather, he found me…" I said, my eyebrows pulling together at the memory.

"I originally had intended to… free him- we'd made a promise. But then, I started picking up on leads, whispers of a cure and I followed the trail before figuring it out- it was Lissa who actually put it into action. You see, Dimitri's just as Dhampir as I am- just look, please." I whispered- I wanted desperately, for his sake, for them to give him a chance. He was so vulnerable, and I felt him start to slump in defeat behind me when Yeva approached, waving off the cries of warning emanating from her family.

She pushed me out of the way dismissively, which made me role my eyes, (some things hadn't changed) before hovering in front of her grandson, peering up at him and searching his face. Everyone held their breath as she reached up to touch his cheek, breaking out into a smile. "Dobro pozhalovat'" she said. Welcome back.

Thanks for Reading, Please Review

xox