So, I know that this was a completely random story. But the idea started forming in my head and I sort of liked it. I couldn't wait to get it on paper…or, well, a computer screen. Thank you to those of you who reviewed! I really do appreciate it. Keep on showing your support and I'll keep writing! Okay, enough with my rambling.

I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE ACADEMY OR THE CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS. JUST SOME OF THE PLOT. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME.

I knew I looked like a mess. How could I not? But I didn't care. There was something that I needed to take care of. This would cause a lot of controversy, of course, but I know that Lissa will be willing to help me in any way that she could.

I opened the door to my room and looked down the hallways on both sides of me. I waited for one dhampir to get into her dorm before I stepped out of my doorway. I closed the door quietly behind me. I didn't want to attract too much attention. I tip-toed through the hallway and when I got to the elevator I pushed the down arrow.

The doors slid open to reveal two dhampir on their way down to the ground level. Eddie Castile and one of Lissa's guardians. Eddie looked up when the door opened and it took him a few seconds to recognize me. His mouth gaped open and he signaled me inside of the small elevator. The moment that I stepped in, Eddie wrapped me into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" He exclaimed. Eddie was always a good friend. I had saved his life twice during our senior year. The first time I rescued him was in Spokane. He had gone with Mason and Mia and Christian and I had gone to save them. We were so close to escaping, but we were captured by some humans that were working for Strigoi. Eddie had been used as the leader, Isaiah's, chew toy. I killed those two Strigoi while he, Mia, and Christian escaped. Only Mason didn't escape.

Mason was kind of my boyfriend at the time, but I was planning on breaking up with him. Mason didn't escape with the rest of them because he wanted to stay back and help me. Isaiah killed him and I watched. After that Eddie had developed a protective nature over me. Kind of like a big brother, always looking out for me.

The second time I saved his life was when a large group of Strigoi attacked the Academy. Me, Christian, Dimitri and some of the other guardians killed most of the attackers but some of them had escaped, taking a snack with them for later. Eddie was among the group of Moroi and dhampir that had gotten captured. When I found out I came up with the idea of sending in a rescue squad.

Because of that Eddie was saved. Now Eddie still had the same sort of protectiveness over me, and I didn't mind. I had the same sort of feelings towards him and together we were a great team.

"Thanks," I said to him and pulled away. I studied Eddie for several moments. He had heavy bags under his eyes and he was a little paler than usual. I don't know how, but I managed to forget that Eddie was Adrian's guardian. And Adrian was gone. This had to be hard on him.

"Eddie, I'm so sorry. I should have been able to protect Adrian…" I felt my eyes beginning to sting and more tears boiling to my eyes. I wanted to go right back to my room, then. But I couldn't. I needed to talk to Lissa. I blinked back the tears as Eddie shook his head.

"No, Rose. It's not your fault. You did what was right, protecting Lissa. If I were in your position I would have done the exact same thing. It meant a lot to hear that from Eddie. Besides myself, Eddie was the best in our class.

I think the two of us both blamed ourselves for Adrian's death the same way we did Mason's. But really, it was neither of our faults. There was nothing we could have done, which is why I needed to do something now.

I forgot about the other guard's presence until he spoke, "Rose, I'm sorry about what happened. Lord Ivashkov's death was a huge loss to us all, and even more so for you, I can imagine. I wish there was more that we could have done."

I realized that everyone was referring to Adrian as dead. But he wasn't. I just knew he wasn't. But there was one way to find out, and I was going to get to that as soon as possible. I gave the guardian a small smile. "Thank you," I said, and he nodded.

The elevator dinged then and we were on ground level. The other guardian immediately turned the opposite way. Eddie was still walking with me. "Are you going to see Lissa?" He asked.

"Yeah…How's she holding up?"

"She's alright. Upset. But she's more worried about you."

I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach. For the past four days all I thought about was myself. I didn't once check up on Lissa, I didn't even think of it. I had been making my friends and family worry about me the whole time, and I never once cared.

"Hey, don't sweat it. We all deserve some time for ourselves. You've been through so much in your life, Lissa understands that. She knows that you are upset and she doesn't blame you at all for what happened. And she doesn't mind that you've been holed up in your room. Nobody does, though we're all concerned."

Eddie always knew the right thing to say. "Thanks."

We walked quietly the rest of the way to Lissa's room. The guards let us through immediately, and I knocked on her door. Christian answered it and when he saw me, the first thing that left his mouth was, "God, Rose. You look terrible."

I glared at him. He stepped to the side and let me and Eddie enter the room, and he shut the door behind us. "Christian, who is it?" Lissa asked coming out of another room. Her eyes widened when she saw me and she ran over to me and grasped me into a hug.

"Oh, Liss. I'm so glad you're alright!" I whispered.

"Me? I was worried about you. I didn't even come out with a scratch!" She cried.

"I'm…fine. But, uh, Liss. I need to talk to you. Privately."

She agreed but Christian wouldn't leave when Lissa ordered him to. "Rose, what is it that you can't tell us?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Christian, it's not like I'm keeping anything from you. It's just kind of personal." I explained. No matter mine and Christian's history, he was one of my good friends. I cared about him just as he cared about me though we would never admit it out loud.

Eddie put a hand on his shoulder, urging him out of the room. Finally Christian complied and the door shut leaving only Lissa and I.

She led me to her room, trying to avoid the living area where we had been attacked. She sat me on her bead and she took a seat across from me. She rested her hands on top of mine. "What's going on, Rose?" Her voice was soft and tender and it made me hate myself for what I was about to do.

I took a deep breath. "Liss, we need to search for Adrian."

She stared at me for a few seconds, not blinking. "Rose Adrian is—" Understanding clicked. "Oh."

I closed my eyes. "Lissa, I know you don't want to go through this again. But…but…I need to." I felt moisture drip down my cheeks. Be strong, Rose. Be strong. "I know that it will be hard, but it has to be done. And of course, I need you with me to change him back. But if you don't want to come, I'll understand. I'll figure something out and go by my—"

"I'll go," she announced.

I was startled. "You—you will?" I asked her, just to make sure.

"Of course, Rose. You know that I would do anything for you." She hugged me again, and my tears dripped onto her green T-shirt. We stayed like that for a while. I was so grateful to have a best friend as amazing as Lissa.

"We'll talk more about it tomorrow. Okay? We need to get you taken care of." She grabbed my hand and led me out of her suite and down to the court's kitchen.

Christian and Eddie caught up with us along the way and walked with us. Lissa's fingers were quick to intertwine with Christian's and I suddenly felt a sense of lacking. Adrian was always there to hold my hand. I was never really dependent on Adrian, I was just so used to him always being there. I didn't know what I was going to do without the small things that always came with Adrian. For instance there were always random deliveries to my room. Sometimes chocolates, sometimes flowers. I was so used to it and I never really thought much about it, but I know that I'm going to miss it. I felt empty.

It was like the situation with Dimitri all over again.

"Liss, I think I'm just going to go back to—"

"I don't think so!" Eddie almost shouted.

I had managed to block all the major feelings out of the bond since Adrian had been taken. I pretty much just numbed it. I felt enough to know that she was alive and not in trouble, but other than that I had restricted any messages or small feelings.

I let that wall tumble down then, and Lissa's yelling was echoing through my mind.

ROSE! She squeaked. You haven't eaten in days! How do you expect to help Adrian if you stay weak? How do you expect to protect me? And have you seen yourself today? You look like you just crawled—

"Okay Liss, I got it." I grunted and she sent comforting vibes and a sparkly grin.

We got to the kitchen and Lissa ordered for me, I really didn't feel like any more human interaction. Eddie walked me to the dining room and we sat at a table that was in the back, farthest away from people we could get.

After a few minutes, Lissa and Christian appeared with a cart of food. It had everything I absolutely loved. Pizza, brownies, eggs, bacon. A smorgasbord of delicious foods. My stomach rumbled and clenched. I didn't realize just how hungry I was. I was growing impatient with each step they took towards me. I was already imagining myself biting into the gooey cheese of the pizza.

Lissa and Christian finally reached me and shoved plates of food under my nose. I was the only one that ate. I devoured bite after bite after bite. It was practically heaven.

I finished my third plate of cheesy eggs when Lissa announced to the whole table, "So, Rose and I have something to tell you."

I was getting ready to delve into a glazed donut but it paused at my mouth. Uh-oh. Was she really going to tell them now?

I gave her a look for confirmation and she nodded. I set my donut down and cleared my throat. "Uh, Lissa and I are kind of sort of leaving soon," I finally spit out.

Christian's brows furrowed. "Leaving?" He asked, confused.

"The court," Eddie replied in a flat voice.

Christian shot out of his seat. "No way!" He shouted. "No fucking way!"

"Christian, calm down," I hissed.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. "It's just that things are different now than they were in high school. Lissa, you can't just sneak out of the court whenever you want. You're the queen!"

"We're not sneaking out dumb shit, we're just going to leave. She's the queen! She can do whatever she wants!" I reminded him.

Lissa added, "And that's the beauty of it all. Because you and Eddie can come to if you want. It's not like you can get in trouble."

Christian sat back down and considered that. Finally, he said, "Okay, that makes sense, I suppose. I mean, I remember Queen Tatiana taking vacations. But me and Eddie are going with you. Along with other guardians."

I shook my head and interjected before Lissa could even try to speak. "No. I mean this is a really personal thing for me. We're searching for Adrian, in case you didn't know. I don't want a lot of people. The four of us are fine. Trust me, Lissa and you will be safe. You've got two of the best guardians with you." I flashed Christian a huge grin but he just snorted.

"There was a Strigoi attack four days ago, in case you forgot," He said drily.

I growled. I have known Christian for four years. You'd think we both would have grown and matured within that time, but truthfully we act just like we did when we were seventeen. He knew exactly what to say to piss me off. He never failed. I gritted my teeth.

On the day that Lissa had actually came into my room to try to comfort me she had gotten me to stop crying long enough to explain the whole Strigoi incident. Apparently Lissa's suite was not the only room that was raided. I guess it turned out that three Strigoi had invaded one room for each royal family. Most were lucky enough to either not be in their room or be with their guardians at the time. Unfortunately, though, there were three that did not make it out.

A Zecklos lord and a Voda had been killed. An Ivashkov had been dragged away. Adrian Ivashkov. No one knew how so many Strigoi got on the Court grounds, and that was something the guardians were struggling to figure out.

"Of course I have not forgotten you idiot," I sneered. "But that's exactly why this is okay. Do you think any one expects the precious queen to leave her throne after a "major" attack? Of course not."

"Do you think that anyone's actually going to let her leave?" Eddie argued.

"It doesn't matter what they want, I'm the queen. I make the rules," Sounded Lissa, almost mad.

Christian opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. "No protesting, Christian. Lissa and I are going. End of story. You can either come along, or not. It doesn't make a difference to me. We don't need you!" I snapped and I was surprised by the acid in my own voice. But I hadn't slept in days and I was highly irritable.

"Where are we going?" Eddie inquired quietly.

"Russia," I replied just as softly.

"Alright," he sighed. "I'm in."

"Me too." And Lissa lit up the moment Christian complied.