Sorry I haven't updated in a while, it was my first week at a new college and I've either been doing homework or sleeping, since I have to get up at such a torturous hour -_- I'd rather be writing, believe me. I can't believe they block this site at my college- how annoying is that!?
This is an extra long chapter to make up for the wait. Hope you enjoy it :)
Disclaimer: VA is not mine.
Anyway, readers of Next Generation, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it. I just haven't got the next couple of chapters written in advance like I usually do, and I've been too busy to write more. But now I know what I want to write and hopefully you'll get the next chapter by the end of the week. After that, I've got the next 5 already written so you won't have to wait as long for updates. Just hang in there- it'll be worth it :)
When I woke up the next morning, I was alone. I could hear laughter outside the tent, so I pulled my hoodie on and stepped into the cold morning air.
There was a little campfire going already that breakfast somehow seemed to be cooking on. Dimitri looked up and smiled as walked over to the circle. He looked sexy as ever in a tight black t-shirt and jeans.
"Good morning, Roza."
"It certainly is, Comrade. Do I smell bacon?" Everyone laughed.
"I swear Rose, over the years the Academy's kitchens must have cooked so much food for you it could have sustained a family of 4 for life!"
I turned to see Alberta sitting next to mom with her Guarding partner/lover on her other side, with an arm wrapped around her.
"Oh hey, Alberta, James. Great to see forbidden Guardian romance still going strong. That's what I like to see." I paused for a moment, pretending to be deep in thought. "What is it with Guardian teachers from St. Vlads? And you used to punish me for breaking rules." I shook my head and tutted. "Not that I'm complaining." I kissed Dimitri's cheek and grinned, whilst he, Alberta and James laughed. My mom looked kinda pissed.
"We are an unusual lot, aren't we?" Lissa looked around fondly.
"We're normal." My mom said, indicating herself and Abe.
Lissa shook her head. "Not really, since you got back together."
Christian still didn't look convinced.
"Sorry, but when two people get together and end up making Rose Hathaway, the parents could not have been normal. Just saying." I burst out laughing.
"Queen Seducing Outcast has a point, mom. Scientifically, you're at least half the freak I am."
Everyone laughed, just as Eddie and Mia came out of their tent. Her hair was a mess, and not only in a 'just woken up' way.
"I was wondering where you 2 were, I guess now we have the answer." I indicated Mia's hair, and she ran her fingers through it self-consciously.
"And here I was thinking that the noises we could hear were savage wild animals moving around." I said.
Eddie went a tiny bit pink, but Mia shrugged.
"Well, as you're all rested up now, I'm sure Lissa and Christian will be hearing some 'bears' in the tent later." She shot back.
Christian cut in.
"Mia, if there are any noises to be heard from their side of the tent, then everyone will be able to hear. If a soundproofed wall doesn't stop all the noise, then the canvas sure won't."
My mom and dad looked murderous, but Dimitri was too busy choking on his coffee to notice. I patted his back, trying to help him.
"Now look what you did, Ass-face." Dimitri was still coughing.
"Hey!"Sydney suddenly said. "He's doing an impression of Rose trying to drink Russian Vodka!" It was her attempt at a joke, but I shot her the evils.
"Well, you can't blame me. That stuff was like rocket fuel. You could have warned me beforehand, or stopped at least me from drinking the next 500 shots."
"You still would have drunk it. And honestly, you looked like you needed it. Why else would they have kept giving it to you?"
She had a point. "Yeah, I needed it alright. It didn't really work though."
The others had been following the conversation with confusion. Mia finally asked the question I had been dreading since Sydney first brought the subject up.
"When did you get drunk on Russian Vodka, with Sydney there?"
I looked down, not wanting to answer the question. I was silent for a few heartbeats.
"Roza?" Dimitri asked, sensing there was something wrong.
I kept looking at the floor, but answered the question. He would find out sooner or later.
"Your funeral."
"Well, shit." Adrian said. I ignored him.
I carried on. "They- they wanted to know what you had been doing since coming to America. Then I had to tell them how it happened. There was just a toast at first, but people kept refilling my glass, not surprising, really, considering I must have looked giving that speech. They kept asking about us, and after I told someone they would just refill my glass, until everyone left and Sydney took that glass out of my hand." Everyone had looks of complete pity on their faces. All the guys had their arms around their girls.
I felt a warm touch on my back, and looked up from the ground into Dimitri's eyes for the first time since I started speaking.
"Roza... you never said this before. You should have told me." His voice sounded so broken.
"I didn't exactly want to re-live it. Plus, it's not exactly normal to tell someone about their own funeral, even for someone who has spoken to ghosts. I didn't want this to happen." I gestured randomly.
He pulled me to him, and I collapsed into his arms, holding him as tight as I could. Though I had him back and everything was perfect, and the heartache was a long way past, it still didn't change the facts of what had happened.
When I pulled away, hastily wiping my eyes to catch the few stray tears that had escaped, I saw that most people had left to give us some privacy. They weren't far away; I could see and hear them in their tents, probably getting ready for the day.
Dimitri kissed me gently, and stood up, my legs wrapped around his waist. He carried me to our tent, and put me down on the camp bed, before lying down beside me. We were silent for a minute.
"Roza, I'm so-"
I cut him off before he could say anything else.
"Don't even think about trying to apologise for something you had no control over."
He didn't try to talk again, but as I looked into his eyes and they told me more than words ever could. I didn't know what else to say, so I gave up trying to form the words, and instead pressed my lips to his.
The heat created between us helped to burn away the cold thoughts, and the completion I always felt with him chased away the memories of emptiness.
DPOV
As I lay there with Roza pressed tightly to my chest, my arms holding her tight, I wanted to stay that way forever. I couldn't face the idea of ever having to let her go. I thought of the pain in her eyes as she relived my death, my memorial. To have done everything that she had for me, even telling my family about what had happened, made me think for the millionth time how unbelievably lucky I was to have her. I had never expected to find a love like this.
Sure, I hadn't expected to go through life completely alone; if I hadn't met Roza I would probably be somewhere with Tasha right now, and after everything that had happened, that thought made me feel incredibly sad. How much of what she had done had been driven by jealousy, and how much of that was just who she was, and would have been even if things had been different? She had been a good friend to me, and could maybe have become something more one day, but it would have been something that needed work.
Roza had come into my life in a blaze of colour, fighting all the way. She was everything I never knew I wanted, and everything I had. I had never expected to fall for someone as reckless, crazy and just downright Rose as she was, never really wanted to fall for someone who could see through every shield I put up, who could break down every wall. But I had always secretly wanted someone to love me unconditionally, someone to protect who would protect me after. Someone to live for.
But my Roza was all that and so much more. I had seen today and a thousand times before that she felt the same way about me, and I just wanted her to see how much I loved her. As I held her small body close to mine, I knew that I could never give up on her, never let her go, like she had never given up on me.
Tonight I would do something I had been thinking about for a while now, but had been waiting for the right time. That time was now.
A while later, I heard Lissa and Christian leave the tent, and Roza got up to get dressed, as she hadn't bothered to earlier. Like always, I couldn't take my eyes off her as she got changed. It was like she was a magnet that I couldn't help but be pulled to.
I stood up as she walked over to the canvas door. As she stopped to undo the zip, I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. Even 2 minutes apart from her was too much right now, when she might still be hurting, because of me.
She leaned back against me, taking a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" I asked softly, resting my chin on her shoulder.
"I am, because you're here. Don't leave me." She whispered.
I wasn't sure if she meant right now, or ever. It didn't matter; I didn't intend to do either.
"Never." I replied, before catching hold of her hand and threading our fingers together as we walked out of the tent into the sunlight.
Lissa and Christian were sitting there, talking quietly. We made our way over to them, and heard them discussing what to do that day. They stopped talking as we walked closer, and turned around.
"Hey." Christian greeted us, and we sat down on the log next to them.
As few minutes later, the others came out and, predictably, the discussion turned to the car journey.
Most of it was just banter, and I zoned out, planning for this evening. I had to talk to Lissa alone, so I could ask her a few things.
I tuned back in when Roza turned to me.
"...And that was pretty sneaky of you to lock the doors like that, Comrade. But they didn't faze us one bit."
With that, Lissa pulled out her camera, and we all watched the video of Rose getting out of the car by doing a handstand. We laughed even harder when the pictures that they had posed for came up, especially the one of Sydney. Adrian asked Lissa if he could have a copy of that picture, and Sydney slapped his arm.
When Christian saw the next photo on the camera, he grabbed it and looked incredulously at the screen.
He turned around to show me and the other guys.
"Look, it's Officer Rage!" I looked at the screen to see Roza leaning back against the inside of the window, with the officer leaning through the window, smiling into camera.
"No, it's Officer Hottie!" said Mia, winking.
I knew it was stupid, but I couldn't stop feeling just a little possessive, and wanting to punch this guy in the face. This feeling increased when Rose pulled out a card from her pocket, with a name and phone number on it.
I really didn't like this 'Officer Hottie'.
She laughed when she saw the look on my face.
"Aaw, no need to be jealous, babe. It's not like I called him." She grinned. "Yet."
I growled, and made a grab for the card in her hand. She held it out of my reach, and it soon became an all-out sparring match. By now, everyone in our group was standing watching us, and I could hear some of them making bets on who would win. Eddie and Abe were on Rose's side, and Christian, James and Adrian were on mine. James; because he hadn't seen Roza fight before, and Adrian thought I would win because I had the most to fight for.
Eventually, I managed to pin her, and she reluctantly held up the card from where it had been slipped up her sleeve. I took it triumphantly, smiling widely, and as she stretched up to kiss me, I crushed my lips to hers in a display of victory. It didn't last long, however.
Using my complete distraction, much like she had that time on the run, she pushed her hands against my chest and flipped me over; rolling so she was laying on top of me. Some of her hair slipped down from behind her back and cascaded down on either side of us, and she gave me her most killer smile. I couldn't fight back now- I was hypnotised. As she pried the card from my clenched fist, I glared at it, as though I could make it burst into flames. It didn't, and for a moment I envied Christian.
She laughed as she watched my face, and sat up. With a wink and a grin, she tossed the now balled-up card over her shoulder.
"Silly Comrade. I've got all I need right here." She leaned down to kiss me again, releasing her hold on me so I could meet her half way.
RPOV
We broke apart as there was an uncomfortable cough somewhere off to the side of us. I turned to see my mom shuffling her feet awkwardly, but Abe looked as though he was trying not to laugh. I could hear the other guys trying to decide who had actually won the fight, so they could see who won the bet.
One side said that Dimitri had won, and I had just cheated, but the others said that he let his guard down to soon, and that I had overpowered him fair and square. The argument clearly wasn't going to go anywhere, so I decided to intervene.
"Guys, I'll sort this out. Give me the money." I said in a tired voice. Surprisingly, they did, and I split the money into 2 equal piles before distributing it.
Between Dimitri and myself.
We turned and walked away, and it was a few seconds before the others caught on.
"Hey! That's our money!" Christian shouted.
"No, it's mine! But it's definitely not yours!" Adrian added.
The others looked outraged too, except Abe, who looked pleased at this turn of events.
"Not any more. You were all wrong, because neither of us lost; we both got what we had been going for in the end. Therefore neither one of us could have won. So, the money goes to neither party, but to the participants themselves." I shoved the money in my jeans pocket, turning my back on whispers of 'Rose logic'. Half the guys said it as an explanation, the others as an expletive. Meh.
Alberta waved us over, and Dimitri and I went over to her, still holding hands. If I didn't have to let go of him, then why would I? There was a current that flowed through us whenever we touched, a bond that was almost as crazy as the one Lissa and I had both shared- we had both had to face death, and win, to get here.
There was not much room left on the log next to Alberta, so I sat on Dimitri's lap. Alberta smiled.
"That was some fight there, I've got to say. I wouldn't like to have to go up against either of you, but together... well, it's like it's been rehearsed, like a dance or something."
Dimitri hugged my waist, and kissed my temple. "Well, whatever the world throws at us, that is how they'll find us: together, and ready to fight to keep it that way." He said it with such determination and belief, that my heart squeezed and a rush of warmth made me feel lightheaded.
I placed my hands over his where they were rested on my stomach, and turned to him. I smiled blissfully, and he brushed my cheek with the backs of his knuckles. I kissed him quickly on the lips, before turning back to Alberta, who was looking at us with an expression on her face strangely similar to that of a mother watching her children doing something endearing, and sort of silly.
"How you turned out to be as good a fighter as you did amazes me, Rose. I don't know how you had enough time for training when you can hardly keep your hands off each other."
I snorted. "Oh please. Chance would have been a fine thing. I think that 'tough love' is the only way to describe the attitude of my favourite mentor here." I patted his hands affectionately. "He still made me run laps every day and do like a thousand sit-ups, before demonstrating some new move that I would always be totally focused on."My tone became innocent. "I don't know where you would get an idea like that from, Alberta. I would never dream of spending valuable learning time checking out my hot teacher, or nearly throw myself at him every time he... well, all the time, really. And I definitely never asked him to demonstrate something again just because I wanted the practices to last longer, or stare at him for a bit longer. Do you not know me at all?" I asked jokingly.
Alberta just raised one eyebrow, in a 'really?' way. Man, I wish I could do that. Dimitri laughed at my not-confession.
"But seriously, though. We tried to be careful, and stay away from each other as much as possible. I mean, yeah, there were a few stolen kisses here or there, there were all the reasons that we shouldn't be together stacked against us, and I couldn't risk being kicked out of the school, or Lissa would have been alone. Dimitri couldn't risk losing his job, or worse, if anyone found out."
Alberta shook her head. "Well, you did a good job of hiding it. I knew that that there was just a teacher/student thing going on, but everyone just passed it off as friendship, as you were both close in age."
Seeing our faces, she laughed. "I bet you don't hear that often, but really, 7 years isn't that different in the grand scheme of things. Rose, you were always a lot more mature than people gave you credit for, especially when you came back to the academy the second time."
She looked up at Dimitri. "And I suppose that we have you to thank for part of that."
She was silent for a moment, before continuing. "That was what clued me in that there was something else going on. Friends influence you, and new ones change you, but since meeting Dimitri you started to show traits that I had always known were hidden inside you, but they were buried deep. He brought them out in you, without you having to be someone you weren't. Around each other, you took on the positive aspects of each other's personalities. I'd never seen anything like it before, and I didn't have any other clues, so I didn't realise what it really was until you fought out on the quad during the field experience, the day of the attack.
You were moving then like you were just now, so in synch that it was almost unreal, and when she pinned you, Dimitri, your face showed so much more than just pride. I was standing closest, and I swear, you could have cut the air between you with a knife." She paused, and focused on Dimitri.
"I had been planning on talking to you later that night, actually. I wouldn't have said anything to anyone; I just wanted to know exactly what was going on. I hoped I was right, that you were both in love. I wanted that so much, but thought it would be impossible for people like us. But seeing you two, gave me hope. Then I found James."
He had come and sat down next to Alberta about half way through the conversation, but had remained silent. He didn't know enough about us to comment, and like Dimitri, he wasn't one to jump into other people's conversations. Instead, he just picked up her hand and squeezed it.
Alberta continued.
"Then there was the Rose's darkness attack, and seeing how worried you were about her proved all I needed to know. You loved her, she trusted you, and you were capable of keeping everything under wraps until graduation. That was all I needed to know." More silence.
"It was a good thing that she had you, Dimitri. If you hadn't been there to calm her down, I don't know what we would have done. Only you could have comforted her like you did, and then we wouldn't have been warned about the attack."
It took her words a few moments to sink in. I turned to Dimitri, who I could see had realised the same thing as I had. Alberta chuckled.
"Yes, I can guess what happened in that cabin. It does not take 4 hours to clean a few scratches, and the influence of darkness had lasted much longer then she would have become strong enough to break free of you, and then a fight would have ensued. No cuts or bruises on Dimitri, means no darkness-possessed Rose. Seriously, what else did you expect me to think you were doing in there? Playing cards?"
Dimitri looked very uncomfortable, I, on the other hand, didn't care all that much. Alberta didn't seem to. She carried on a moment later.
"Anyway, you two were lucky to have that opportunity. If you hadn't been at the right place at the right time, then the Strigoi would most likely have taken over the school, and you two may not have had the opportunity to... express you love for each other. And regrets are one thing you cannot afford to have in our business." She finished, leaning into James slightly.
Neither of us knew what to say. Luckily, we were spared from having to say anything by Mia running towards us.
"Rose!" She shouted.
"What?" I asked, instantly on alert for danger.
"Eddie wants to see you. Something about music and bananas..." She said in a mysterious voice. Oh, no. Not the banana song. I thought it would be a while before I had to sort out Eddie's iPod. I kissed Dimitri quickly and stood up, before sitting back down again and kissing him harder. I stopped when I heard Eddie shouting my name from his tent. I walked wearily over to the opening, wanting nothing more than to grab Dimitri and copy what Sydney and Adrian were apparently doing, judging by the muffled noises coming from the other end of the tent. Oh well, maybe later...
Don't you just love Alberta? I couldn't resist giving her a guy. She deserves it! :D
Review and Dimitri will get jealous over you ;P
