I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. My gift to you is this next chapter. haha. I hope you like it.

As always, I don't own Vampire Academy.

Rose POV

It's finally Monday morning. The day we start the field experience and find out which Moroi student we would be guarding for the next 6 weeks. I was walking to the gym with Susan and Katie as they were talking about who they hoped they got and who they hoped they didn't get. Since I just got here, I had only one preference, not Jacob Zeklos. I knew he would just harrass and annoy me the whole time.

At breakfast, I had told them about what Guardian Bloom said to me yesterday and they agreed with me, his behavior is getting scarry. Katie said that she had come to visit me when I was recovering but he had forbidden any contact with me with no explanation. No wonder my friends didn't come by. I had been a little hurt no one came, but now I know why. So we came up with two plans to deal with him. Plan A is to avoid being alone with him at all costs. They said they would stay with me when they could. Plus, with the field experience I would always be with my charge, so that will help. In the event that Plan A fails, we have Plan B, beat the crap out of him. I hope it doesn't come to that, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

We enter the gym and go to take a seat on the bleachers with the rest of the novices. I look in the crowd to see if Alex is here yet. I haven't seen him since I left the infermory and I wanted to talk to him. My heart sank a little when I couldn't find him. On the stage, the guardians were there to talk us through what we would be doing and give our assignments. Guardian Bloom was there too and he was staring right at me. Talk about uncomfortable. I told my friends that I was going to move somewhere out of his line of sight and they understood. As I walked down the rows, I saw Alex. My heart picked up a little and I felt myself smile. He was talking to someone when I walked up so he didn't see me when I climbed up the steps and sat behind him. He was pretty tall so I figured I could use him like a shield so Guardian Bloom couldn't watch me.

I really wasn't trying to listen in on his conversation, but when your name comes up, you just can't help it. "I heard Rose was pregnant with Ivashkov's baby so they sent her here to keep it quiet." the guy next to Alex told him. I rolled my eyes and leaned in close between them.

"You know, you should really make a habit out of making sure the person you are gossiping about isn't sitting right behind you." I whisper with a little laugh. Alex looks at me shocked and a little fearful. I wonder if he thinks I'm going to attack. "You know" I continue "if you want to know something about me, you could just ask." I smile to let him know that I'm not upset. He lets out a loud breath and smiles.

"Are you sure someone in your condition should be taking part in such strenuous activities?" he joked. I'm glad he realizes the rumor is ridiculous. He looks at me intently and smiles. "You look like you're doing better."

"Much better. Thanks."

"I was hoping you would call me last night, after you woke up.'

"Well I would have if I had you phone number." He looks at me confused.

"I came to visit you yesterday and Guardian Bloom said you couldn't be disturbed so I gave him a note for you with my number in it. He said he would give it to you. I guess I'm not too surprised you didn't get it." Alex must have noticed Bloom's odd behavior yesterday too.

"Yeah, well, that's a whole other situation I need to talk to you about. We need to get together later to discuss some things. If that's okay with you?" I hope that's okay.

"After this is over, alright?" he said. I nodded.

"Can I have everyone's attention." Guardian Sidorov called out to quiet us all down. "You all know why we are here and I am going to assume you read the procedures you were given last week. There is going to be a few changes though." Everyone looked confused and looked around. "Instead of being assigned to one Moroi student, you will get two." What the hell? "You will guard one for the first three weeks and then the other for the last three weeks. That way you get a little more experience dealing with different personalities." Okay, that doesn't seem so bad. "You will also partner with another novice. You will each have the same two Moroi. This way you can practice different guardian techniques since the Moroi will be required to spend some time together to allow you to practice. Also, you and your partner novice can cover each other for short time periods to allow for continued training." That sounds good. I still need to do my conditioning and training and I wasn't sure how I would do it without dragging my Moroi along the track with me. "The last change is that there will be two real world exercises. You will guard your assigned Moroi outside the school in real life situations. Of course, sanctioned guardians will be there for back up." Now that sounds cool.

"Alright, now I will announce the novice partners and then the Moroi assignments. Then come down to receive your packets for each Moroi. First pair is Jack Anderson and Katie Newcomb...."

"I wonder if they are doing this at all the academies?" I ask to no one in particular. The guy sitting next to me decides to answer. "No, I hear this is a pilot program Sidorov thought up and is trying out. If it goes well, it might be implemented everywhere."

"Well then I'm really glad I transferred then. This is going to be fun."

"Next novice pair is Alex Black and Rose Hathaway." Oh boy, I'm partnered with Alex. I'm actually really happy about that. He's really good and I'm starting to like being around him. This is going to be way better than I thought. "Your Moroi assignments are Peter Badica and Jacob Zeklos." You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me. Jacob Zeklos. Well, I was happy.

"Hey partner, let's go get our paperwork." Alex stood up and held out his hand to help me down the bleachers. He saw the annoyed look on my face as we walked to get our packets. "Don't worry about Jacob. I'll make sure he behaves himself." Wow, could he read my mind?

"Don't worry about it. We have an understanding. And if he forgets, I'll just let my fists remind him." I don't want him to think he has to protect me. "What do you know about this Peter Badica guy?" trying to change the subject.

"He's an oddball. He keeps to himself and acts kinda weird. He talks to himself sometimes and is a little paranoid. He acts like he thinks someone's following him. Always looking around and behind him where ever he goes." His descriptioned sounded familiar to me. I took his packet and searched to see what he specialized in.

"He hasn't specialized." I said quietly mainly to myself. Now I was really excited to meet him. If my hunch was correct, this is going to be very interesting. Since Alex was also going to be guarding him, he would need to know, but I need confirmation first before I said anything to him.

We walked to the dining hall where we were to meet our assigned Moroi and talk about what we expected of each other. Since I didn't know what Peter looked like, Alex went to find him and I went looking for Jacob. Ugh.

I found him flirting with some pretty Moroi girl. "Mr Zeklos, can I have a few moments of your time?" I said as I walk up to him. The girl gave me a dirty look as he smiled at me like he knew he had the upper hand.

"You can have as much time as you want. The more the better." he smirked. This is going to be a long six weeks. At least I'll have Alex to keep me sane. I hope. I grabbed his elbow and led him to the table where Alex and Peter were waiting. He pulled his arm free of my grip and put it around my waist as we walked. Alex saw this and scowled. But before he could get up, I elbowed Jacob hard in the side causing him to bend over in pain. This make Alex smile.

I sat down next to Alex facing Peter. I introduce myself to him and reached out my hand to shake his. He hesitated but shook it without a word. He was tall like all Moroi. He had brown hair that seemed to grow forward and was always in his eyes. He was constantly brushing it aside but it kept falling back. This was going to annoy me to no end. He was pretty shy because he wouldn't even look at me and just kept looking at his hands on the table. Alex explained to them the changes of the field experience. Jacob looked too happy about this. So I decided that I needed to lay down the ground rules.

"If I am going to be your guardian, then we need to get one thing straight. I am your guardian and not your property. I'm here to protect you from outside dangers. That doesn't mean I won't hurt you myself if you get out of line." I said this last part looking right at Jacob. He gave me this fake innocent look. "I am not your girlfriend, maid, servant, feeder or messenger. I'm sure Alex feels the same way."

"Yeah, I'm not your girlfriend either." Alex said to Jacob with a laugh.

"Oh Rose, you're taking all the fun out of it. I was planning on having lots of fun with you." Jacob said.

"This is serious. Our careers could depend on how well we do. If I'm distracted because I have to deal with your advances, I could fail. Then not even Alex can save you from what I will do to you. Do you understand?" I say with as much threat I could muster. It must have worked because his smiled faded and he just nodded.

I turned to face Peter. I needed to get to know him better. "So Peter, it doesn't say in the packet I got what magic you specialized in."

He didn't look at me of course but muttered "I haven't yet." He seemed embarrassed. I wanted to make him feel better.

"That's okay. I have a couple friends who haven't either. Are there other things you can do that no one else can? Don't worry. We won't say anything. Will we?" I say the last one looking at Alex and Jacob. They both nod.

"I can use compulsion. Better than anyone else at the school."

"That's good. So can my friends." At that he finally looks me in the eyes. He has nice eyes. Hazel. "Anything else?"

"Well, I can feel what other people are feeling. Like right now, Jacob is feeling attraction for you and annoyance." He stops and gets a big smile on his face. "The first day you walked in here I was practically knocked over by all the intense emotions of lust and jealousy that burst out of every student here." he laughed. I was shocked, but laughed at the obsurdity of it all.

"I would really like you to meet one of my friends. Would you mind if I invited him here to meet you? His name is Adrian Ivashkov."

Jacob starting laughing. "From what I heard, you and he are more than just friends." I just glared at him.

"Well, I actually just met him around Christmas, but I think he would be willing to help me out and come visit."

"Don't delude yourself, beautiful. Adrian doesn't do favors for girls, they do favors for him."

"You don't think if I ask him to come, he will?"

"Why would he go to all the trouble for one girl, even one as sexy as you?" he said confidently. Alex and Peter just sat there listening to our exchange.

"You wanna make a bet?" I asked hoping Adrian's feeling toward me were enough for him to actually make the trip here.

"Absolutely. What do you want to bet?" he asked.

"If I win and Adrian does come here to meet Peter, then when it is my turn to guard you, I get to sleep in your bed while you sleep on the floor. And if you win I'll..."

"You share my bed." he added quickly. Alex gave jacob a scowl and was about to say something when I interupted.

"Fine. But only sleeping. You touch me and you loose a finger. Got it."

Adrian had better come through for me. I might have to use my Rose Compulsion Lissa talked about. I took out my cell phone and dialed his number.

"Hello little dhampir. What do I owe for the pleasure of your call?"

"Hi Adrian. I was wondering if you could fly down and visit me for a few days. I miss you and there is someone here I want you to meet." I flirted.

"Oh really. Don't blame me if I'm a little skeptical."

"I promise if you come I will make it worth your while." I teased. I should feel guilty but there is no way I'm letting Jacob win this bet.

"If I come, you have to promise me some alone time. Let me take you out to dinner." That didn't seem too outrageous. Dinner I could handle.

"Okay dinner. But Adrian, I won't be staying for dessert." Hopefully he gets my meaning.

"Sounds good little dhampir. I'll see you tonight." He then hung up. I smiled my man-eating smile at Jacob.

"I hope you like sleeping on the floor. He's on his way."

"I'll believe it when he gets here." He retorted.

Alex didn't look to happy about my conversation with Adrian but he didn't say anything.

"Alex and I need to pack our bags and we'll meet you here in an hour. We have some things we need to talk about first." Alex and I walked back to the dorms to get our stuff.

We walked to my room first. Since I just got here a couple days ago, I hadn't unpacked so I just had to grab a few loose things around my room. He sat on the edge of my bed watching me. "So what's the deal with you and Adrian. The way you were talking to him on the phone makes me wonder if there is more to it than just friendship."

"Adrian keeps trying to get me to go out with him. If I thought his intentions were pure, I probably would have. but I think we all know why he wants me, and I'm not going to be another notch on his bedpost." This makes Alex smile in relief. "Unfortunately I had to use that against him to get him here." I admit.

"Why is it so important that Peter meet Adrian. They are polar opposites."

"It has to do with magic. I think Peter is a spirit use just like Adrian and Lissa."

"Then why didn't you invite Lissa?"

"Because she has school and Adrian is a 'free-spirit' as he likes to say." Is Alex a little jealous?

I finish packing my bag and turn to look at Alex. I can't help but like the idea of him sitting on my bed. But that first impression of him still lingers and is getting in my way of really liking him. I need to get over this.

"If the dhampir population wasn' as low as it is, would you still feel that women shouldn't be guardians." I just want to get right to the point.

"No. If there were enough guardians to protect all the Moroi, then it wouldn't matter if they were male or female, as long as they could do the job. But because there are so few of us and so many Strigoi, we need to do what we can to replenish our numbers. I don't see a lot of Moroi women willing to deliver dhampir kids. That would be the ideal situation." I see his point.

"What if you are looking at this problem from the wrong angle? Maybe instead of concentrating on increasing dhampir numbers, we should concentrate on depleting Strigoi numbers?" He looks puzzled.

"That's what we are already doing."

"No, we're not. We sit and wait for them to attack us. What if we went out and hunted them down where they are. Not just guardians but Moroi too. Ones that know how to use offensive spells like Tasha Ozera." I don't like her for stealing Dimitri away from me but I do like her ideas for fighting Strigoi.

He gets a thoughful look on his face. Apparently this idea never occurred to him before. "That might work. Change the ratio of Strigoi to Moroi and we could have the advantage. I like it." he smiled. I think I just won him over to my side. Okay, now I think I can start to like him.

I walk over to him and stand in between his knees as he sits on my bed. "I'm sorry I didn't get your message yesterday. I would've called. I wanted to thank you again for saving me out there." I say looking into his amazing blue eyes as I slowly get closer and closer to him.

"Anytime." he says in a low whisper. His eyes shift down to look at my lips that are getting closer to his. Right before I close the gap between us I whisper "My hero" and let our lips touch softly for the first time. As soon as we touch, it is like a lightning bolt shot through my body. His lips are warm and soft against mine. I let him take over as he slowly increases the intensity of our kiss. My hands reach up and wrap around his hair as I pull him down closer to me. His hands are on my hips pulling me in tighter. One hand slowly runs up my back. I try to push myself as close to him as I can. I can feel his heart racing in his chest. We both pull away slightly to catch our breath. I would stay like this all day if I could, but we can't.

I pull away more. "We still have to go get your bags and get back to the others." He looks disappointed but agrees. He picks up my bag and we walk out my door. We get to his room and he quickly gets his things together. Before we leave he pulls me into him and kisses me again. I think I can really get used to this. We spend the next 10 minutes letting our mouths get acquainted. When we part he has the biggest grin on his face. I know I can get used to this.

I hope eveyone had a wonderful Christmas. Don't forget to review.