Dimitri

Tasha and I landed at Court around nine-thirty and were hustled off the airstrip. Tasha was ranting about being treated so rudely and I was trying my hardest to not shut her up myself. I was her guardian so therefore, I didn't have the right.

We were escorted to our rooms by a plump, middle-aged Moroi who's name slipped my mind. My room was next door to Tasha's in the guest dorms about two minutes away from Lissa and Christian's house. Tasha ran straight there while I went to the gym at the small academy to work out.

I was punching the living hell out of a punching bag when I heard a gasp coming from the door way. I turned and saw a very pissed off Eddie Castile.

"So it's true. You have returned," he stated coldly. I was confused about his tone but I kept my guardian mask in place.

"Yes I have. Lady Ozera has decided to move back to Court so as her guardian it is my duty to follow," I said.

"Just to let you know, if I hear that you have been near, talked to, or even touched Rose, I will kick your ass back to Russia where you can stay. When you left her, you broke the strongest, most amazing woman I've ever known. Yeah she's back to her normal self, but there is a part of her that you have permanently damaged. If it wasn't for us and her family, she'd probably be six feet under in the St. Vlad's cemetery. You really fucked up, Belikov. I hope that you take my words seriously." By the end of Eddie's rant he was breathing hard and yelling at me. I was too stunned to really say let alone move a muscle.

I watched Eddie turn on his heel and storm out of the gym.

"What the hell was that?" I mumbled to myself.

I grabbed my gym bag and ran to my room. After a quick shower and clothes change, I decided that I should go find my charge. I started off with her room only to find it empty. I then thought of the next best thing: Lissa's house.

I trekked across the lawn until I heard a voice that I knew. I turned to see Adrian standing in front of his front door staring down at Tasha. A little girl about three was standing by a bush that looked just like him. I assumed she was his three-year-old daughter Katherine.

Tasha was hugging a girl that looked familiar. I stopped walking to get a better look. What I saw made me stop breathing. Rose Hathaway was standing there in front of Adrian's house in Tasha's embrace. The only thing was, her face was one of shock and surprise. Then I heard her speak.

"Whoa! Excuse me but what the hell are you doing?" the girl asked. The voice was not Rose's. This girl's voice was a pitch too high to be my Rose.

I studied the girl as Tasha started rambling. The girl had Rose's dark, curly hair and same dark skin-tone. She even had her attitude and snarky comebacks. The only thing that I could find was the eyes. They weren't the right color. They were black. Rose had brown.

"She is. She's my niece," Adrian stated to Tasha. So that's what she was. I wonder if she was really related to Rose or not. I stayed around until I heard Adrian give a harsh dismissal and lead his daughter and the girl into the house. Tasha skipped back to the dorms while I took off to Lissa's I had to find out who this girl was.

"Oh, Dimka!" I heard behind me as I reached Lissa's front door. I turned to see Tasha walking over to me.

"Tasha. I was wondering where you ran off too," I said bored.

"I ran into Adrian so I decided to have a little chat," she replied with a sickly sweet smile.

While off guarding Tasha, I realized that she has a bit of a dark side. She wasn't exactly the woman I knew from our days at the academy.

I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it. When the knob turned, Christian stood in the doorway. He looked at Tasha and gave her a smile. When he saw me, he glared.

"Hey Aunt Tasha," was all he said.

I followed them into the house and looked around. I hadn't ever been here before so everything was new to me. The walls were painted a nice beige with white curtains hanging in front of a huge window in the back wall. Brown and white furniture were intricately placed throughout the living room around a plasma screen that was showing iCarly. Lissa and Christian's kids were sitting there watching it.

On one of the walls in the living room were black and white pictures. I stepping up to get a closer look at them. Most of them were pictures of Lissa and Christian. Some of their wedding, them on the beach when Lissa was pregnant with Seth, and one of the four of them taken in a studio. There were a few of the pictures that weren't just Lissa and Christian. There was one of Christian, Adrian, and Eddie on Christian and Lissa's wedding day next to one of Lissa, Rose, and Elena. Another was Adrian and Elena at their wedding and another of them and their daughter. Then a giant picture of the whole gang back at the academy. Christian, Adrian, and Eddie were standing at the back with their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and had their knees up like in a kick line. Lissa and Rose sat down on the ground back to back making the Charlie's Angels gun with their hands.

I thought back to that day. It was an unusually warm March day for us in Montana and the whole crew was hanging around talking about a joke that Rose and Lissa played on Christian. Alberta and I were talking and walked past the group when Lissa ran over to us.

"Alberta," she laughed, "could you take a picture of us for me?" Lissa thrust a bright red camera into her hands before Alberta could refuse.

"Come on Belikov," she chuckled. I had never heard the woman do that!

"Guys in the back," Rose said.

"O Rosie, we wouldn't want to cover your beauty with our amazing selves anyway," Christian teased. He instantly received a smack to the back of the head by Rose.

"Call me Rosie again and you'll be laying on the ground for the picture," she laughed.

"Rose, play nice," Eddie said picked her up and dumping her on the ground next to Lissa.

"Your next Castile!" She laughed.

"Ok! Do you want this picture or not?" Alberta smiled.

Everyone got situated into their posses and Alberta held up her hand.

"Ready? One! Two Three!" She hit the shutter button and snapped the picture.

Looked at this picture seventeen years later, it hurt to see that I wasn't there next to Rose or even in the kick line next to Eddie. But I guess it was a good thing that I didn't. I left with Tasha the next month leaving behind everyone. Especially Rose. Making her see this picture whenever she came over and see me there would have made things worse. If I repeated that to myself that I would have believed it right?

I moved onto the last two pictures. One was a close up of Lissa and Rose cheek to cheek. They were grinning from ear to ear. There was a smile and laughter in both of their eyes that I've missed seeing. I looked to the right and stared.

My eyes rested on Rose with a teenager that looked like her twin. It had to be recent because the frame didn't quiet match the rest. Rose's arms were wrapped around a girl who was hugging her back. They were both laughing when the photo was taken and I could only imagine what Rose said to make them laugh.

I studied Rose's face and noticed that her face wasn't the same in this picture as it was in the picture of her and Lissa. I stared for what seemed like hours until I felt someone stand beside me.

"She won't look the same in that picture compared to the rest. She doesn't even look at that picture too often either."

I looked down and say Lissa staring at the photo. She looked like she was fighting tears or just holding back something.

"Why is that?" I asked.

Lissa snapped her eyes up to me and they were cold. "I don't think now is the time or I am the person to tell you that," she hissed. She then turned her back to me and walked back to Christian who was in the kitchen.

I walked to stand beside Tasha at the island in the middle of the warmly decorated kitchen.

"Oh, Dimitri here is going to live in the dhampir dorms naturally but I do need to find a place to stay. I refuse to stay in those little guest dorms for the rest of my life," Tasha gestured to me.

"Naturally," Christian agreed. I could tell that he was trying to say as little as possible.

Tasha went on ranting about the flight, the layover in Seattle, and her old home on Phoenix. I was about to fall asleep from boredom when I heard the door open.

"Auntie Lissa!" I heard a tiny child scream.

"Katherine! Auntie Lissa's in the kitchen!" Lissa called. I watched a genuine smile grow on her lips as she heard the girl say her name.

"Auntie Lissa! Guess who I played with today!" The little girl from Adrian's house came running into the room followed by her father. Adrian was laughing at his daughter but when he saw me, he froze.

"Who Darling?" Lissa asked. She was bent down to the child's level and pinched her cheek.

"Luxi! I played with Luxi all day!" The kid threw her arms above her head and twirled around.

Laughing, Lissa picked her up and toted her into the living room and plopped her down with Seth and Summerlynn who were instantly consumed with the toddler. When she came back to the kitchen, Elena was following her.

"Well, well, well. This is a surprise," Elena said shocked. She looked at Tasha and me. "Lady Ozera. It's been awhile since I've seen you," Elena's tone wasn't upset just surprised. She looked at me and then to Adrian who nodded his head. "Guardian Belikov," she nodded to me.

"Lady Ivashkov," I said.

"Lissa, I need a Sangria," Adrian sighed.

"Adrian, you always need something," Lissa laughed as she made her way to the fridge. "Anyone want any?" she asked as the pulled a pitcher of wine out and poured Adrian's glass.

Everyone shook their heads so she placed it back from where it came.

"Lux was over at your house all day, huh?" Lissa asked.

"Yep, Eddie gave her a free pass so she came over to babysit," Elena shrugged.

"Well that's silly," Tasha stated. "The girl must be in school to be able to help out with our society." Everyone knew that she was about to get on her soap box about how people need to pull their height in society with Christian saved the day.

"So Ivashkov, hear anything about Katherine's allergies?" he asked.

"She's developed a dislike for A Positive blood. She doesn't have allergies. She's just picky," Adrian explained with a shrug.

"I refused to drink AB for a long time when I was a child," Lissa admitted. "It's just a phase," she finished.

"Only in the Dragomir-Ozera house would there ever be talk about blood types!" Elena giggled.

"Yes I guess you're right," Christian smiled.

Just then, Adrian reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He read a text and nodded. "Excuse me for a moment," he said as there was a knock at the door.

I leaned away from the island to see who it was. It was the girl from earlier.