CHAPTER TWO
Duty Calls
Rose POV

I had finally convinced Dimitri to stay close to me as I slept. All I had to do was a little pout and mention my injuries. I hadn't realized how sore and exhausted I was relaxing into the side of Dimitri's body. We didn't kiss, we didn't touch other than to snuggle, and we didn't say anything. The world fell away and I was flowing through a dreamless sleep for once. When I woke up, it felt as though I had been sleeping for what seemed like forever. Without opening my eyes, I assessed my surroundings and the amount of pain that remained in my body. I still ached, but there was no intense pain like there had been before I had fallen asleep. Dimitri also wasn't with me; I couldn't feel his strong, warm body beside mine.

My eyes snapped open to verify that he wasn't there in the bed with me. My eyes frantically searched the rest of the room; he was nowhere to be found. It always seemed to be that the worst possible circumstance came to my mind, for instance, the circumstance had been that Dimitri changing back into a Dhampir had been a dream. My body shot up into a sitting position on the bed, my arm crumpling a piece of paper. I grabbed the piece of paper and saw that the note was from Dimitri. I sighed in relief as I lay back down to read it.

'Roza,

I'm just with your mother, meeting the promised guardians from the academy. I'll be back soon. Don't get up, please.

Love D. '

The new graduates were here already? It seemed like only yesterday Lissa and I had come to court. I guess my mission to save Dimitri and turn him back, then finding Lissa's sister proved to have taken longer than I had expected. As usual, I didn't do what Dimitri said. I got up and went to take a shower. I felt as though I hadn't had this kind of alone time, Rose time, in what seemed like forever. I loved Dimitri, but I hadn't really had time to just think. As I stood beneath the water, I couldn't help but think of Dimitri. He was beautiful, warm, godlike. He was no longer invincible though, he had shown me that when a strigoi had gained the upper hand on him and he had become strigoi. I tensed at the memory of the strigoi sunk his teen into Dimitri's neck when we were so close to getting out of the cave.

Just at that moment, a tanned hand reached into the shower and turned the tap off before wrapping a towel around me and pulling me out. "Shh, it's okay Rose" It was Dimitri. I realized I had been crying as those tears turned into sobs as I buried my head into the crook of Dimitri's neck. I had forgiven Dimitri for showing his imperfections; I had also long forgiven the things he had done to me whilst being strigoi. I just hadn't truly dealt with all the emotions and memories the way I should have. When the sobs died down, Dimitri kissed my forehead and gave me a bit of time alone to get dried and dressed. I still wasn't ready to be out doing a lot, so I didn't have to wear clothes I could fight in or my guardian attire. I ended up just pulling sweat pants on with a singlet.

When I walked out to the bedroom, I found Dimitri sitting on the end of the bed, his head in his hands. I walked up to him, combing my hands through his rich and beautiful hair. I didn't say anything, just pulled him close. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and his head rested on my stomach. He was all too careful about not bumping my injuries. When we finally both calmed down a bit and had control of our emotions, I decided we needed to try and get back to our normal routine, well at least what we could anyway. Lissa was the first thing that came to my mind, we had barely been able to talk since she had been crowned queen and I had been recovering from being shot. I tried to reach out for her, but then I was reminded that we were no longer connected with the bond.

Reaching down and grabbing Dimitri's hand, lacing our fingers together, I began to move out of the room. I needed to go see Lissa, and I knew that Dimitri wouldn't let me go alone because of my injuries, so I just brought him with me. Lissa's place was just down the hall from ours, I knocked on the door, not knowing if Christian was in there. "Not having this bond is a bitch" I mumbled to Dimitri as he stood close to me. Christian was the one to open the door, but all clothes were on. I was about to tease him for not getting down and dirty with Lissa, when I saw how pale he was and the strained lines that his face had.

The worst possible thoughts came into my mind like usual, but I knew that this time there was something bad going on, Dimitri knew too as he grabbed my arm to support me. "There was another strike at her Rose, there are still many rebelling against her, the ones that preferred Tatiana"Christian's words were husky and laced with exhaustion. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to think. There were two things that I couldn't live without in my life, and the one person who had been there with me through everything was hurt and I hadn't been able to prevent it even though it had been my job. I ran, despite my injuries and Dimitri begging me to stop, I ran. I went to Lissa. I ignored all of the doctors and nurses trying to stop me from seeing her. When I got to her, I found her laying in the bed, Adrian by her side. I saw that he was touching her stomach, his eyes closed and his facial expression showing deep concentration. He was healing her. I then returned my gaze back to Lissa and I dropped to my knees. She looked so weak and fragile and I didn't know what to do.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy, nor do I own the characters unless specified