A/N: I only got three reviews for the last chapter :/ was it bad?

Thank you to deliciouse who is amazing! Thank you for your long reviews I love it :D

Also thanks to Dimka's chick, your review was very sweet :)

And finally thank you to vampiresrockroza I'm very grateful for you taking your time to help me improve :D

To all my other readers, even if you don't like my chapters or you want to suggest plots, or anything, to be honest, PLEASE REVIEW. It helps me write better and gives me incentive to write :)

I grinned and kissed him gently, before getting under the covers and drifting to sleep in his warm, safe arms. Could life be any better?

When I woke up, Dimitri wasn't with me. I sat up, pulling the sheets around me for comfort, looking around the room for him.

'Dimitri?' I called. No response. That was weird, especially because he didn't leave a note. I dressed quickly and left my room. As I walked down the hallway, I heard Lissa shouting, so I stopped, knocking softly on the door,

'Liss? Is everything ok in there?' I called, quietly. The door was opened and a very angry Lissa stormed out. She nodded at me vigorously, before walking away. I walked into her room and saw Christian standing up with his arms folded,

'Christian, what happened?' I asked. He laughed,

'I don't know. She's just full of darkness I think. She just got pissed off because I didn't tell her Tasha was coming until today.' I froze.

'Tasha's coming?' I gulped, trying desperately to calm myself.

'Yup. Tomorrow. She needs to come and pick a guardian. Prince Ivashkov granted her one, because she's helping the trial proceedings for Victor Dashkov.' Christian replied.

'She's picking a guardian?' I half-screamed. Christian stared at me.

'Yeah…. that's what I said…. are you feeling ok, Rose?' he started picking up some stray items that were on the floor.

'Yeah I'm great.' I whispered, before leaving the room.

I continued down the hallway, Tasha's soon-to-be presence was worrying me. What would I do if she wanted Dimitri as her guardian? Suddenly, I felt terrible because for the first time in my life, I wished Alberta would decline Dimitri's guardian application. I stopped, leaning against the wall to steady myself. Sobs wracked through me, as I slid down the wall. I buried my head in my hands, my perfect mascara becoming smudged.

'Rose?' I heard a voice ask, weakly.

Adrian.

I looked up at him and once he saw my teary eyes, he bent down quickly and hugged me tightly. I cried into his shoulder, soaking his shirt.

'Shhhh its ok…' he muttered, soothingly, stroking my hair and kissing my face.

'Adrian… I feel so terrible….' I whispered, looking into his eyes. He stared back at me with a gentle look,

'How so? I doubt you could be terrible….' he smiled. I tried to smile back, but it was too hard.

'I wish that Dimitri won't get accepted as a guardian….' I whispered, barely audible. Adrian looked taken aback for a brief second, before regaining his composure and rubbing my back.

'That's not terrible, if you have a reason for wishing that… do you have a reason?' he asked gently, cupping my face in his soft, warm hands.

'Yeah… I guess… Tasha's coming to Court… and she's looking for a guardian…' I whispered in his ear, so no-one else would hear, although, there was no one else in the hallway except Adrian and I.

'Then there's nothing to feel terrible about. Sure, that's not a nice thought, but it's good to be jealous in a relationship. It shows that you don't want to lose him, right?' he smiled again and I realised how what he said was true. I cried fresh tears, but this time they were of joy. Adrian was a really good friend.

'Thank you, Adrian… you're amazing…' I smiled, pulling him close and hugging him tightly. He leant his chin on my head and sighed happily.

'Oh, and I'm sorry about what I said to your boyfriend last night,' he said.

'Don't worry about it, I talked to him last night and we're fine now.' I replied, pulling back and returning to leaning against the wall.

'Yeah, he said. Good that. Your… ability to….. forgive each other so easily. It's cool.' he answered.

'What do you mean 'he said'?' I asked, narrowing my eyes.

'Dimitri came to my room to talk to me this morning. I thought you knew.' Adrian stood up, resting his head on the wall.

'No, I haven't seen him this morning, I'm sure he would have told me though. He'll probably tell me when I next see him.' I assured myself more than Adrian.

'Yeah, I think he's got a shift or something.'

'Nah, he's not a guardian yet. Unless he's doing voluntary work…' I grinned. Dimitri would probably do any kind of work, no questions asked. At least his not being a guardian gave him more time with me. I sighed,

'I should probably go find him.' I need him, I silently added. Adrian nodded, looking into my eyes and communicating a feeling of understanding to me. I smiled once more, nodded and left him alone. As I walked, I considered how lucky I was to be able to have an ex-boyfriend as a friend. It didn't help however, that Dimitri wasn't altogether keen on him. Especially as Adrian continued to make sexual advances towards me. Sometimes in front of Dimitri. And that was just unfair, and I didn't like it. Dimitri was such a gentleman and he'd probably do whatever it took to protect me, as I would him. He didn't deserve to be teased constantly by Adrian touching me up. I quickened my pace, turning the corner and out of the door onto the main outside area. I squinted, trying to see better in the darkness. Though Dhampir sight was excellent, less lighting was still a problem for observation.

I slowed to a stroll, passing by the Dhampir dormitories. The flowers that filled the outside area were nocturnal bloomers, so not only were their petals visible, they were also much prettier than day blooming plants. I knelt near a patch of soil, gently pulling a red flower out of the ground. Not a rose, of course. I wasn't a flower expert, so all I could say was that it was red, small but with many petals and very pretty. I lifted it to my nose, inhaling its scent deeply. I was overcome with a great feeling of euphoria. I wanted to keep hold of the sweet-smelling plant forever. I smiled and for the first time in my life, I wasn't worried about anything. I had a loving soul mate, a good best friend, a loyal group of friends and Victor Dashkov was no longer a risk to us.

Suddenly, amazing scenes flashed before my eyes. Dimitri and I on our wedding day; Dimitri looking sexy as ever in a black suit and next to him, me looking beautiful with my hair perfect and wearing a long flowing white gown. Another scene passed; me in a hospital, holding a tiny, tanned baby in my slender arms. Dimitri sat on the corner of the hospital bed, clasping the baby's hand and mine. A final image appeared; an aged Dimitri and I holding hands on a porch in bright sunlight. The images faded out and I was left in campus, holding the flower close to my chest. A single tear left my eye and landed on the petals. Though, what emotion that tear beheld was a mystery to me. I stood up, taking the red flower with me. I looked around, desperately trying to find Dimitri. I needed him to complete my happiness.

The flower in my hand suddenly felt warm. I raised my hand up to inspect the flower. I moved to the left and the warmth dimmed, but when I moved straight ahead, the red plant heated. I followed this pattern and lo and behold, the flower was burning hot when I found Dimitri standing in front of the wards. I smiled at how the bloom had led me to my true love. I didn't want to release the flower, because it felt like part of me now, so I called out,

'Dimitri?' he turned around and smiled gently. It was a half-smile, unfortunately.

'Hey, Rose,' he replied. I beckoned him over to me as a conversation from a distance was slightly awkward.

'You look happy, something good happened?' he enquired, walking over to me and stopping once he was as close as possible to my body.

'Very.' I grinned and he reached out to take my hand. The hand he chose to hold, though, had the flower in it. As it was, the flower was red hot in my hand at Dimitri's proximity. Dimitri touched the petals gently, and recoiled slightly when his fingers encountered the heat,

'Did you have that flower on a space heater or something?' he asked, his expression confused.

'I don't know. I found it on campus, near the Moroi dorms. Isn't it beautiful?' I grinned, staring in wonder at its perfection. Dimitri nodded,

'Yeah… I know what you mean. It's beautiful in not just appearance… but it's like it has its very own aura….' he whispered. He touched the petals again, not wincing in pain as I felt like doing,

'Why is it so hot?' he muttered. I think it was meant to be a rhetorical question but I answered it anyway,

'When I'm close to you, it gets hot. The further away I am from you, the colder it is.'

'Are you sure about that?' he asked, looking at me.

'I don't know. Try it for yourself.' I suggested and he nodded. He took it from me, clasping it in his hand. Suddenly, his expression was one of awe and his eyes seemed to glaze over. It was only for a brief minute or two, and once he regained his composure he stared at me.

'What is it?' I questioned.

'Uhh… nothing…' he shook his head, as if he was trying to get rid of some memory.

'No, Dimitri, tell me.' I pressed and he nodded slowly,

'I think I kinda had a vision,' he blushed, 'I saw us… together… getting married… having children…. growing old together….' he looked away. I grinned,

'Me too! How weird is that?' he looked into my eyes and grinned back.

'That's so cool. God, I love you Roza….' he leaned into my and whispered in my ear. He was about to kiss me when a voice interrupted us.

'Belikov! Guardian Hathaway! We need you!' it was Alberta. She walked briskly over to us.

'What is it, Guardian Petrov?' Dimitri asked, his eyes losing their glazed over look and returning to the beautiful chocolate brown that usually dominated them.

'Terrible news. We'll need every trained guardian or Moroi to help us…' Alberta looked down and shook her head in what looked like disgust. Whatever had happened had clearly ruined her happy mood that Dimitri and I had seen earlier. A number of bad things popped into my mind, scaring me. Any of my friends dead or hurt. A Strigoi attack. Another Royal death. I looked at Alberta expectantly,

'Please Alberta, what's wrong? What's happened that's so bad?' Dimitri looked down at me and we shared a look of worry. I imagine he was probably speculating about the same ideas that I had been.

'Victor Dashkov…. he's escaped. The Queen's murderer has escaped and no-one can find him….' she whispered, barely audible.

Oh shit.

A/N: Not as long as the last two chapters, but I haven't been very motivated to write due to the lack of feedback. I won't be able to update as much soon, as school starts up again. But from today till Sunday-Monday, I won't be able to update every day. So, please, please review! I don't care whether its to say I'm a crap writer or a legendary author! I just want feedback :)

Sorry to moan, but I need reviews please,

BelikovsRoza1697 xxxxxx