I wasn't entirely sure what time it was when the Guardians finally released me from their interrogations, but just as I started to leave, an exhausted, frazzled-looking Tatiana came out and called me back.

"Rose," she began as soon as I walked up to her. "I'm going to comply with your request to thank you for what you did. Go back to your living quarters and gather your things. I'll arrange for your transportation immediately," she told me, before dismissing me to follow her orders. I nodded gratefully, glad to finally be leaving Dimitri and his claims to not loving me behind… and to finally have the chance to go to bed sometime tonight. I was pretty sure I was going to sleepwalk my way back to my room. I turned and began to head out when Tatiana called me again.

"Rose!" I turned and looked at her questioningly. She floored me with the small smile and what she said next. "Thank you… for saving my life."

I felt a smile tug at my lips as I looked at her. "Just doing my duty, Your Majesty… Thank you," I told her, feeling a little cheesy. Finally, she let me go, and I managed to plod sleepily out of the building. I only made it about half-way across the Court though, before I had to rest. I sat down on a bench just for a moment, but I was so tired, and rationalized that it wouldn't hurt if I closed my eyes for a moment. The sun was warm on my face, and a sweet-smelling breeze gently caressed my skin and tugged at my hair, lulling me further into relaxation. At some point, I laid down, curling up on the bench, feeling perfectly comfortable and blanketed by the beautiful sunshine.

I woke up in my room the next day, not entirely sure how I got there. Adrian hadn't visited me at all during my sleep, so the dreaming side of it was pretty gray and monotonous for the most part. I vaguely remember dreaming of being cradled in a pair of wonderfully strong arms, and being intoxicated by the wonderfully familiar scent of a certain aftershave. The dream felt a little too real, and left a bittersweet ache in my chest. Being the glutton for punishment I was, I obviously couldn't go more than two seconds without thinking about Him.

Sitting up in my bed, I looked at the clock to see that for being up as late as I was, I was still awake an hour before my alarm would go off. I lay back down, trying to get at least one more hour of sleep, but my body kept me wide awake. With a groan, I rolled out of bed and got dressed, pulling on a pair of loose running pants and a simple black tee shirt. Before I walked out the door, I picked up a hairbrush and raked it brutally through my long, dark hair and pulled it back into a ponytail at the base of my neck. I pulled on my tennis shoes, and a maroon fleece jacket, and set off to go for a run.

The sun had just begun its descent and the cool, morning air stung mildly at my face as I sprinted across the Court, urging my muscles to keep going, to release all the tension that I felt from the past day. I liked my sleep, and I didn't appreciate loosing it over the stress of having the man I loved pull a 180 on me and reject our past relationship… as well as having some idiot try to murder the Queen and frame me for it. I made sure that my stake wouldn't be stolen again, because I'd hidden it under the floorboards just before I left.

Ironically enough, I ran out of steam right in front of the church after making a roundabout the Court at least twice. It took me a moment to catch my breath before I looked up at it, my mood suddenly plummeting even further down than it already was when I recalled yesterday's events. Love fades. Mine has. Feeling downright miserable, I jogged lazily away, and walked into one of the quaint cafés that littered the Court's campus, needing to satiate my need for food… for both physical and emotional reasons. The second I entered, my heart stopped, and I found myself profusely cursing Fate with a plethora of mental profanities. There, surrounded by a considerably smaller amount of Guardians, Dimitri sat at one of the tables totally engrossed in one of those Louis L'Amour novels that he loved, his coffee cup and half-eaten doughnut completely forgotten.

After a lot of internal coaxing, I managed to unfreeze my body, and walk towards the Café counter with my head down, trying to keep a low profile. I also found myself silently cursing the eerie awareness we had of each other. I would always almost immediately be able to find him if we were in the same room together, no matter how crowded. And even though he was preoccupied with his book, he looked up and saw me when I approached the counter. I could feel his eyes boring holes into my back, and making me feel more on edge than I already was. I became brave enough to glance back at him to see if he was still looking at me because he was making me feel paranoid. I turned my head, and tried to turn it back before he noticed, but I was caught red-handed when our eyes met. I felt my face flush with embarrassment, but there was no expression on his face, only looking at me as though he were waiting for something.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I realized that something was me. I just couldn't understand it. Why, after everything, would he still think that I would pursue and make some pledge of my love? Was I expected to be that unreasonable? Or was it possible… that there might be some chance that he wanted me to chase him?

Indignation suddenly flooded me, and my jaw set stubbornly. No. I wasn't going to play his little game. He'd hurt me too many times already, and I couldn't stand it anymore. I shot him a spiteful look with a proud toss of my head as I spun away from him, going to the counter and ordering a hot chocolate and a ridiculously large cinnamon roll. Days like these called for comfort foods. I took my things and looked outside, biting my lip anxiously when I started to see the pattern of raindrops hitting the window pane. I needed to get back to my room and pack my stuff. I wrapped my food up, and started to pull my hood over my head as I headed out, doing my best to not look at or acknowledge Dimitri.

"Hey Rose. Are you going to the Council today?" One of Dimitri's guardians asked me. I couldn't remember his name, but he seemed pretty nice. I didn't want to be rude, so I reluctantly stopped and turned towards him. Damn it: so much for avoiding Dimitri.

"Ah… No. I just finished up a run… I—uh—I'm just grabbing something to eat before I go pack," I told him sheepishly, schooling my attention on him and pretending Dimitri wasn't there.

"Yeah! I heard about that!" Another guardian chimed in with a smile. "I can't believe the Queen would let you give a bunch of Novices Hell after you saved her ass last night. Good job!"

I smiled sheepishly. "It was dumb luck. Thanks though," I offered. "Anyway, Novices graduate at sixteen now. They need all the help they can get," I said again, feeling very uncomfortable.

"What Novices are graduating at sixteen?" Dimitri asked; his voice low and dangerous.

Against my better judgment, I looked at him, and as always, he took my breath away. I shook my head slightly, trying to shake the effect he had on me. Knock it off, Rose, I scolded myself. I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise at him.

"What? No one told you? The Royals think sending sixteen-year-old dhampirs out to fight Strigoi is the same as sending eighteen-year-olds. They made the decree just the other day," I informed him coldly. Dimitri's brow furrowed.

"No. I haven't heard a thing about it," he told me. I shrugged.

"Well that sucks. Now you have," I snipped, anxious to get out of there. Every moment I spent with him caused me pain that I couldn't shake, no matter how hard I tried. I've given up on you. Love fades. Mine has.

Dimitri looked up at me thoughtfully. I wanted to smack that pensive, analyzing expression right off of his face. "You're going to St. Vladimir's to be an instructor?" he asked me curiously. My eyes narrowed viciously, wishing I could make him hurt as much as he'd hurt me.

"Yeah. They've got a few positions open," I sneered, glaring at him pointedly… to which he just looked away. "I've got to pack," I spat bitterly again, walking towards the door, before stopping myself and turning to the guardians. "Later, fellas!" I told them before braving the rain, carefully holding my stuff to prevent dropping or spilling it as I ran back to my room.

As soon as I managed to stumble through my door, I slammed it shut and set my food down before leaning against the door heavily, angrily wiping away the rain-disguised tears on my face. Why? Why couldn't I just hate Dimitri and get over him already? Why did I have to love him so much? Why did he have to reject me?

I angrily knocked a chair over as I yanked open my dresser drawers and started pulling my clothes and belongings out of them, throwing them on my bed before grabbing my suitcases and putting my things in them. I had gotten about half way with packing my whole room when the phone rang. I answered only to discover the flight plans Tatiana had arranged for me. I had to leave in three hours. Getting to work again, I was interrupted by a soft knocking on my door. Sighing, I went to open the door to see Lissa standing there, her eyes red, like she'd been crying.

"Rose, when were you planning on telling me?" she demanded. I hung my head in shame, and let her come in. She came in and saw my things all over the place and my suitcases out, and wheeled around to face me after I shut the door. "You're leaving today, aren't you?" she suddenly realized. Seeing my expression, she began to cry again, throwing her arms around my neck.

"Oh Rose! Why? Why are you leaving me?" she sobbed, and all I could do was hug her, and rub her back soothingly. The tears that I'd held at bay finally refused to be held back any longer and started to flood my eyes, and I started crying with her.

"Lissa… I can't stay. I can't be your guardian… And Dimitri…" I choked on his name. "He practically ripped my heart out and ate it yesterday," I confessed, suddenly laughing at the mental image, even though I still had tears running down my face. Man, was I morbid! I suppose I had Christian to blame for that one.

Lissa suddenly pulled back and looked at me with concerned, compassionate eyes. "Rose… What happened?" she asked, and all of a sudden, I broke down, needing to spill my guts out to someone before the agony skinned me alive. I told her everything, and bawled like a baby while I was at it. Lissa went from being comforted by me to comforting me with a motherly sort of protection, and I clung to her, needing my best friend more than anything right now. She gently rocked me, and smoothed my hair.

"I am so sorry, Rose," she whispered to me over and over again. It was times like these, even though she wasn't using her magic; she helped to heal my broken heart.