A/N: Hey everyone! Here's another Stolen Kiss! I hope you enjoy it. Just so you know, the poll is still open on my page. I really want to hear from you, so go and vote! This stolen kiss takes place after the fight at the Academy, before they go off on the search and rescue. Per usual, I don't own anything. It's all Richelle Mead's.

Dimitri's POV

I had to get her away. The fire in her eyes was, well, frightening. I wasn't the only one who had seen it. Some of the other guardian who had broken up the incident at the pond had seen it too. And they were worried.

"Belikov, do something. She trusts you. Go calm her down. She won't be ready to fight if she doesn't." Celeste told me, as Rose argued softly with her mother. There was no way that she would leave before the meeting was over.

We slipped into the back of the room right before it began. I stayed by Rose's side the entire time, ready to keep her quiet. Alberta started to debrief everyone with the information we had received. Thankfully, we didn't have to waste time explaining the whole ghost thing, or it could have taken a while. About fifteen minutes into it, Janine walked in.

Rose believed that the guardians would be against a rescue mission. I however, disagreed. I could sense the same fire in them as I did in Rose. Not as strong, but strong enough. And sure enough, one by one they all gave their support of the mission.

"Well then, we'll plan the logistics and head out. We've still got about nine hours of daylight to go after them before they leave." Alberta announced. The surprise was written on her face, even though she had been all for the mission.

"Wait." Janine said. "I think there's one other thing we should consider. I think we should allow some of the senior novices to go." She said with a note of finality. Of course, outcries broke out. A few people were totally against this, but they were outnumbered. Just as they started to agree to that, Janine spoke up again.

"I think we should bring some Moroi with us." Well, that sparked an even bigger outcry. Celeste stood up, arguing all the way.

"What? Are you insane?" she asked. Some nodded. I, on the other hand thought it was a good idea. The only reason that the Strigoi hadn't gotten through to the Elementary campus was because of Rose and Christian. Her will to fight, paired with his ability to create fire proved extremely useful, albeit dangerous.

"No. We all know what Rose and Christian Ozera did. One of our biggest problems with Strigoi is getting past their strength and speed to go in for the kill. If we bring fire using Moroi, we have a distraction that will give us an edge. We can cut them down." She said.

Conversation broke out across the room. Many people were arguing with their neighbors. Rose and I were no exception, but our argument was based on something else entirely.

"Their being idiots." She spit out. She wasn't a fan of wasting time talking.

"No. Watch. Change is happening right before your eyes. People are going to remember this day as a turning point." I whispered. Looking around, I could tell I was right. Slowly, people started to agree. It helped when Janine announced that she had gotten a lot of the teachers to volunteer. No matter what Rose and Christian had done, we weren't about to risk another student's life. That was out of the question.

The plan was set. In four hours we, the guardians, along with Senior Novices and Moroi would go and rescue those taken to the caves. I could see the look on Rose's face. She was not happy.

"More guardians are coming." I said, trying to appease her. The fire in her spirit was raging out again, and I needed to get it reigned in.

"In four hours, the Strigoi could have decided to have a snack!" she exclaimed, flinching a little. It was hard for us both to talk about those in the caves as 'snacks' but it was true. That's what the Strigoi took prisoners for.

"We need an overwhelming show of force." I reasoned. "We need every edge we can get. Yes, the Strigoi could kill a few more before we get there. I don't want that, believe me. But if we go in unprepared, then we could loose more lives than that."

I could see it in her mind that she saw the logic behind my statement. But she wasn't happy. She didn't like just sitting around, waiting. I knew that just from training her. But now was my time to take her away and talk. We hadn't had any time to talk, or even just be together, which after the cabin, was needed.

"Come on." I said. "Let's take a walk."
"Where?" she exclaimed, her frustration leaking out in her tone.

"It doesn't matter. We just need to get you calmed down, or you'll be in no shape to fight." I was trying to appeal to her fighting side, knowing that she'd do anything to get out to the caves.

"Yeah? Are you afraid of my possibly insane dark side coming out?" She asked, trying to joke a little.

"No, I'm afraid of your normal Rose Hathaway coming out, the one that isn't afraid to jump in without thinking when she believes something's right." I said, truthfully. I was afraid. We had finally figured out a way to be together. After all that had been going on, we had done it. And I couldn't even think about the possibility of losing her.

"Is there a difference?" She asked, continuing on with the joking, not realizing I was being deadly serious.

"Yes. The second one scares me." I was fully alert, waiting for an elbow to fly or something. It never came. What did come, however, was a look in her eyes. Yes, she was a Senior Novice. Yes, she had just killed a whole bunch of Strigoi. But what she wanted, what she needed right now was to be held. And I couldn't do that here.

"Won't they need you here?" I thought for a moment.

"No. Most of what they're doing right now is waiting for others, and they have more than enough people right now to help plan the attack. Your mother's leading that." She was my number one priority right now, which I knew was wrong. I should have been standing watch over Lissa, making sure that she was safe. Instead, I was trying to make sure that Rose stayed safe.

"Okay, let's go." She said.

We started out walking along the outside of the campus, surveying the damage. I could sense that she wanted to go where the injured were, but Lissa was there, healing. The last thing we needed was for Rose to somehow take away Lissa's darkness, or whatever it was, and go crazy on us again. It had been hard enough to get her to snap out of it, and I couldn't have done it if we had been around anyone else.

We were walking in the woods. The sense of peace was overwhelming. In the midst of chaos, there was still a small place of refuge. We sat down on a rock a little ways off the path. I didn't want anyone to run into us by chance. The rock was only big enough for one of us, so I sat down and pulled her into my lap, holding her. It was how we sat for a while, my arms wrapped around her, her leaning into me. By the way her muscles relaxed, I knew she felt safe in my arms.

Suddenly, she spun around. "Wha…" I started to ask.

"Shhh. No talking." She said, emotion dripping from her voice. I knew she felt it too. We were about to head off, with no guarantees that either of us would return. She laid her head on my chest. After what seemed like perfect hours, but was probably only a few minutes, I tilted her chin up towards mine.

The kiss was sweet. It was loving; it was passionate. All that I felt, I poured into this kiss. She was going to know, that even after last night, she was still my number one priority. Having had sex changed nothing, except maybe making our bond stronger.

I waited for her to break off the kiss, knowing that if I pulled away, she would assume the worst. And I didn't need her going off into battle thinking that. She finally let me go for more oxygen. Standing up, I let her wrap her legs around my waist, and I carried her a little ways to the path. When we got there, I gently set her down and took her hand. We didn't have a lot of time left, and I needed to make every minute count.