FULL SUMMARY: Two years after Last Sacrifice, Rose gets hurt during a strigoi attack, hitting her head. Upon waking up, the gang discovers that she remembers everything. Everything except the love of her life, Dimitri Belikov, that is. With her memory of him gone, he has no choice but to make her fall in love all over again. Will sparks fly, even when Rose doesn't remember, or will Rose and Dimitri's relationship crumble under the pressure? And if so, who will be there to pick up the pieces?
A/N: Hey guys, I'm not sure which story running around in my head I should write first (they're listed on my profile), so I decided to upload the first chapter of each one. They will be continued in the order of how many reviews they get.
It is important to note that this story will not remain at all consistent with the events of the Bloodlines series.
But don't you remember? Don't you remember?
The reason you loved me before.
Baby, please remember me once more.
Don't You Remember - Adele
Prologue: Head Over Heels, We Fall
Dimitri Point of View
I looked through the glass at the gorgeous jewelry, glittering under fluorescent store lights. I had come here before to get a gift for Rose on her birthday, but this time only one section held my interest. Silver and gold bands gleamed in the light, various cuts of the famous clear jewel placed neatly on each one. Engagement rings.
After months of slyly saving up money from my meager guardian paychecks, gaining the approval of both her parents and the rest of her family (non-biological, but still family), and building up nerve, I was planning on finally asking Roza to be my wife. I was excited, but also terribly nervous. Lord Ozera – Christian, as I'd recently come to call him – had reassured me over and over that she would surely say yes. He had even said Rose was "so head over heels for me, she was practically vertical."
I checked my watch, counting how much time Rose had until her and Lissa were due back from their shopping excursion. She should be leaving Lissa in an hour, but who knows what she'd get caught up in on the way. I smiled fondly thinking of her perpetual tardiness. Christian let me go early so I could do this before Rose got home, knowing that I liked to get there before her to welcome her back.
I sighed, looking at the rings once more. None of them really stood out to me, and I didn't want to get her something that didn't feel right. That wasn't just as perfect as her.
Deciding to come back another day, I returned to our apartment. God, how I loved the sound of that. Our apartment. Even two years into our 'official' relationship, Rose still gave me butterflies. It didn't sound masculine, but I didn't care; I was just as in love with her as she was me and proud of it.
Rose Point of View
"Lissa, go." I screamed, while trying to fend off two strigoi at the same time. Thankfully, as Queen, she had a large battalion of guards, several of which surrounded her and began taking her to a safe location immediately. This left four of us to fight off the group of ten strigoi, as I had killed the two I had been fighting.
They had caught us unaware in the very empty parking lot. We had tried to get Lissa to return to Court before sunset, but she had insisted on making one last stop.
My final opponent stepped up, and I recognized immediately that he was dhampir before he was turned. He was stronger and larger than I was, but not faster. I was using my speed to my advantage, but there was only so much I could do. I'd taken down at least four other strigoi, and my body was finally starting to feel the affects of the fights.
I threw a punch, and was satisfied when it connected solidly with his jaw. He snarled and stumbled back, before lunging at me. He swept his leg under my feet, which I hurdled easily. I immediately retaliated with a strong kick at his chest, but then, with a speed I wasn't ready for he grabbed my ankle. Using his enhanced strength, he swung me by my ankle before launching me toward the brick wall of the side of the mall.
I heard a sharp crack and the sounds of the fight, though I knew it would be over soon.
I tried to wait it out, but the blackness began encroaching upon my vision, dots spreading so I could no longer see Guardian Yuri fighting the last strigoi – a blonde female that looked to have been human. My eyes slowly drooped, and the blackness swallowed me.
I wasn't sure how long I was out before I was pulled out of the blackness of my unconscious state into a familiar, brilliant garden. I saw Adrian walking towards me, among a bloom of Krinos flowers. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. There were dark circles under his eyes, and, looking more closely, his hair, usually styled messily, was not styled at all; the mess was all natural.
"Little dhampir." He breathed, looking very relieved.
"Adrian! Are you okay? Is Lissa okay? Was anyone hurt in the attack?" I asked.
"You were hurt, Rose." He said slowly. "You've been out for three days now."
I met his brilliant green eyes to see them fill up with tears, but he blinked, fighting them back.
"Three days?" I whispered. He nodded.
"We've all been waiting on you to wake up, but you still haven't."
"I…. I only thought I'd been out for a couple hours." I said, running my hands through my hair. He shook his head.
"No, it's been three days, and we're starting to worry." I walked closer to him, and took his face in my hands, tracing the blue bruises under his eyes.
"You haven't slept." I murmured. "How long?"
"Three days. I finally took some medicine to put me out. I was dead on my feet."
"You've been staying with me, waiting on me to wake up, haven't you?" I asked. He nodded.
"Adrian…" I groaned, exasperated, yet touched, running my hands through his hair in an attempt to soothe him.
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't leave you."
"I'll be fine." I murmured.
"Then why haven't you woken up yet." He asked. I looked down.
"I don't know."
"Exactly, Rose what if something's really wrong with you?"
"Then we'll deal with it. I know you and Lissa will help me through it." I said.
"And Dimitri." He said.
"Who?" I asked. The name didn't sound familiar at all. I didn't remember knowing any Dimitri.
"What do you mean who?" He asked, looking bewildered. Before I could answer him, the dream started to shake and shift, and I was dropped back into the darkness. Alright, Rose. You've got to wake up. Adrian is waiting for you. Lissa is waiting for you. Pyro is waiting for you…to drop dead so he can cremate you. Okay, fine, maybe he actually cares about you, too. Just a teensy bit.
I fought against the darkness, pushing against it with my mind like I did when I used to get out of Lissa's mind. The more I fought, the more I felt myself wake. I could feel and hear things around me. I felt someone's fingers intertwined with mine. Their hands were rough and warm, but I wasn't exactly sure who it was yet. fought against the darkness even more, and before I knew it, my eyes fluttered, and opened, and I was staring up into a bright light.
I snapped my eyes shut immediately, but someone had already seen them open.
"Roza?" A velvety voice said. I turned to find a quite tall man folded into the small hospital chair. That couldn't be comfortable. He looked to be in his early twenties, and he was holding my hand. He was good-looking no doubt, but I had no idea who he was or how to answer him. I turned to him and decided to just ask him. What harm could it do?
Dimitri Point of View
I returned home and started on dinner, so it'd be ready when my lovely girlfriend came home. Rose was amazing at many, many things, but cooking was not one of them. I made some of her favorite Russian foods, and neatened up the apartment. Rose often teased me about my staunch neatness, but I just enjoyed a clean home…was that so bad?
As the hour, then another passed, I began to get a bit worried, but pushed it down. Her majesty often liked to stay a little later than was actually planned.
I decided to call her to see what the hold up was, but it rang right to voicemail. Perhaps she wouldn't take a personal call while guarding the Queen outside the wards. Yes, I told myself, Rose was just being professional. She'd be home any minute and tell me how silly I had been for worrying. "Takes more than that to bring me down, Comrade." She'd say as she waltzed in.
When it had been two hours since they were due home, the panic began to rise in me, but I pushed it down, telling myself that she was fine. I simply set the dinner out and waited in the living room, not wanting to be a controlling boyfriend.
When a third hour passed, I started pacing, so rapidly I was worried I'd wear a hole in the carpet. Finally, there was a knock on the door, and relief hit me like a wave.
I wondered why she knocked. Did she forget her keys? I shrugged inwardly, opening the door…to find Guardian Castile. Eddie was one of Rose's good friends, also assigned to the Queen's royal guard. If he was back then where was she?
"Ah, Dimitri…" He said seeming as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. "It's Rose. She's in the infirmary."
He couldn't get out any more because I was already sprinting across court, leaving him in my wake.
We had been waiting three days for Rose to wake up. Three days, each fraying my nerves more than the last. I refused to go home, no matter how many times Vasilisa and Christian tried to convince me to leave, as did Adrian. His refusal to leave her bedside made me jealous at first, especially because I knew he never quite moved on from her, but I reminded myself that Rose had chosen me, not him.
For those long, long 72 hours I jumped at any noise in the room, thinking that Rose had finally woken.
Head trauma, they said, fractured ankle, and a cracked rib. Nothing she couldn't recover from. Then why wasn't she waking up.
I sighed, resting my forehead on the edge of her bed, her left hand clasped in both of my own. I was studying her face, her lips slightly parted as deep breaths passed through.
Then, suddenly, her eyes snapped open. "Roza?" I asked, hardly daring to believe it. I almost thought I was hallucinating, my relief was so great. But I should have known it wouldn't have been that easy. My relief was very short-lived.
Because then, confusion filled her gorgeous features, and she said three words that broke my heart: "Who are you?"
A/N: Heads up that I may not continue this until I'm finished with my other story, Budding Rose.
