Disclaimer: I don't own VA... :'(

RPOV:

Walking into the house, I was immediately jumped. We'd pulled up to the house just moments after Olena had, but everyone let me through first. Now I see why.

"Roza! Roza!" So many voices screaming at me at once! I didn't know who was saying what and to whom. I could feel two small forms clinging to my legs and waist. A stomach was pressed into my side, and laughter behind me.

I laugh along with them. "Hey, Paul, and Zoya! Oh, Sonya, you're pregnant!" I exclaimed, hugging them all to me. The misery and sadness of the last month shattered in the wake of the love and happiness I felt being back with my family.

After my visit last year, we'd all kept in contact through letters and phone calls, for which Lissa had paid. It was great seeing them in person. Sonya hadn't told me she was pregnant, though. When I pointed this fact out, she shrugged.

"I knew you were coming, and I wanted to tell you in person," she explained.

Dimitri and Viktoria were treated with the same welcome. Then Lissa appeared.

Silence reigned the house.

"Who's this?" Sonya asked finally.

"This is Lissa," I replied, taking a deep breath. "Dimitri's fiancee."

"What's a fiancee?" Paul asked, his cute, accented nine year old voice ringing in the silence.

"Um, she is going to be his wife," I explained.

The silence became tense. No one really knew what to say to that.

"Oh, well, um, hi," Paul said, confused. He turned to me. "Aunty Roza, why -"

"Paul, why don't you go show Aunty Roza your new toys?" Karolina cut her son off, to my relief.

Paul's eyes lit up. "Okay!" he said enthusiastically, pulling on my arm. "Come on, Aunty Roza!" He pulled me into the living room.

In the middle of playing cars, he looked up at me. "How come that other girl is Uncle Dimka's fiancee? Why aren't you?"

I sighed. "Paul...it's all very confusing. But you can't tell Lissa that Dimitri and I were together. Um, it'll be our little secret, okay?"

Paul frowned. "Why can't I tell her?"

I sighed again. "Because people will get hurt if you do." I frowned, trying to put it into terms he would understand. "Okay, you know how Spiderman doesn't tell people who he is? It's kind of like that."

Paul thought about it for a moment. "So you and Uncle Dimka are like superheroes that need to keep your superheroness hidden?"

I nodded, relieved. "Uh huh. Or else bad people will be able to hurt us," I explained.

Paul nodded looking satisfied. "Okay, then." We went back to playing.

Dinner that night was an awkward affair. Unintentionally, we froze Lissa out. I couldn't help it; I was so happy to see everyone, I forgot Lissa existed. We spoke in a mixture of Russian and English, and by Lissa's confused face, she was utterly lost. Admittedly, even I had trouble following along at times, but Dimitri was always there to help.

Lissa would try to chip in sometimes, which resulted in moments of awkward silence as everyone remembered she was there and tried to figure out what to say and how to react.

For all intents and purposes, it was as if Dimitri wasn't engaged to Lissa. He had his promise ring on and I mine, and the family still treated us as a couple. Poor Lissa was too busy trying to keep up and say the right thing or staring dejectedly at her food to notice anything.

I wondered if I should feel guilty, but I couldn't. I couldn't let her ruin my holiday. Call it being in denial, but I wanted to pretend Dimitri and Lissa wasn't a thing that existed. There was Lissa, my best friend and sister, and there was Dimitri, my boyfriend and the love of my life. There was no link between the two of them except for me.

Even after dinner was finished, we stayed at the table talking. This time, I attempted to include Lissa, especially when Dimitri went off to find Yeva, who hadn't eaten dinner with us.

Olena glanced at the clock and gasped. "Oh, look at the time! We must be getting to bed!"

A few minutes of groaning and grumbling later, we began getting up. Only Lissa stayed sitting.

"Um, excuse me?" She took a nervous breath as all eyes turned to her. "I was just, um." She swallowed, blinking her eyes rapidly. "Where...um, uh, I mean, um...Where - where do I, um..."

"Oh, where will you sleep?" I realised she was trying to say. "Um..." I glanced at Olena.

"Not with Dimitri," she said instantly.

Lissa's shoulders slumped as some of the tension left her. "Oh, thank goodness," she whispered, relieved.

"You can sleep with Vika. You don't mind, do you?" Olena looked at Viktoria sharply.

Viktoria scowled, but nodded.

Lissa nodded as well, then frowned. "Oh, but where will you sleep?" She looked at me, concerned.

I shrugged. "With Dimitri. Wouldn't be the first time," I said nonchalantly.

Dimitri walked through the door. "What'd I miss?"

"We're sleeping together while Lissa sleeps with Vika," I announced.

Dimitri nodded, also relieved.

"Where's Yeva?" I asked.

Dimitri inclined his head toward the door.

"Okay."

As everyone began getting ready for bed, I made myself a cup of tea, then stepped out.

Dimitri's grandmother, Yeva, was sitting in one of the chairs, looking out at the street. She was swathed in blankets and shawls; winter in Siberia was very cold. Her small frame was buried beneath them, but her dark eyes, looking black in the night, glittered out at me.

"Yeva," I said softly, settling myself in the other chair. I wrapped my hands around my hot cup, trying to keep warm; my sweater was doing a so-so job. "Is there any hope?" I took a sip.

Yeva could see the future. Her visions didn't necessarily come true - or make sense for that matter.

"I see two outcomes," she finally said, her heavily accented voice carrying through the darkness. "In one, I see you a shadow, sad. Dimka is also sad, but in the foreground. Vasilisa is happy and pregnant."

I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain. It was so like the dream Dimitri had. I shuddered. I hoped Dimitri hadn't inherited any of his grandmother's powers.

"And the other?" I broke the brief silence, opening my eyes.

Yeva heaved a sigh that held years of pain and weariness. It was almost a tangible thing.

"The second one, you are still a shadow. Pain is seen around you, but you appear somewhat happy. Vasilisa is with you. Dimitri is nowhere to be seen."

I squeezed the cup as waves of pain hit me, like an angry ocean. I began rocking gently. "No, no, no," I whispered. "It can't be true. It can't." Tears formed in my eyes.

Yeva looked at me, her eyes filled with pain. "It is not always so," she reminded me. "More oft than not, I am wrong. There is always hope."

I bit my lip on the sob threatening to escape. "It won't be like that. There is a chance. It won't be so."

"You are strong, Roza. Create your own future."

I nodded, standing up. My body was shaking, but I convinced myself it was due to the cold and not the fear coursing through my veins like poison.

"I'm going to go to bed now. Thank you, Yeva. Goodnight," I said softly, walking back into the house. I paused in the kitchen to dump out the remnants of my tea, and to rinse the cup. The I climbed the stairs slowly, Yeva's words ringing in my ears.

I stopped in front of the door to Dimitri's room - the guest room, anyway. Vika had long since taken over his room. After taking several deep breaths, I walked in.

Dimitri was laying on one side of the bed, the blanket covering from his waist down. I could see his bare chest gleaming in the little bit of moonlight sneaking through the curtains.

I went into the attached bathroom, and got ready for bed, belatedly realising I'd forgotten my pajamas in the room. Shrugging, I went back out and changed into them in front of Dimitri. Wouldn't be the first time.

I crawled into bed next to him, and lay on my back. An awkward silence filled the room. This was the first time something like that had happened. Never before had Dimitri and I simply lay on our back next to each other, not touching, not looking at one another. It had never been this awkward and tense and uncomfortable. Lissa stood between us.

"What did Babushka say?" Dimitri finally said.

I swallowed. "She saw that either you ended up with Lissa or ended up dead, just as Eric said," I replied softly.

Dimitri took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply. "So there's no hope?" he said bleakly.

I shook my head, then rolled onto my side. Putting my hand on his cheek, I turned his face to mine. "There is always hope. We'll just have to make our own future."

Dimitri closed his eyes, pain etched on his face. "Yeva is right more often than she's not, and you know it."

I closed my eyes, sighing. "I know," I whispered. She had lied to me earlier. I knew it.

I opened my eyes, determined. "No. We will not let that happen. I don't care if I have to ruin her wedding, I will not let you two marry," I said strongly.

Dimitri smiled up at me. "Let's hope it doesn't get to that."

I smiled back. However, as the silence stretched on, our brief moment of hope dissipated. There was still an awkwardness in the air, something not right.

I sighed again. "God, how did it get so bad?" I muttered.

Dimitri gave me a half smile. "I'm not sure, but there must be a way to make it better."

I nodded, but didn't move any closer, just lay on my back once more. Silence fell once more. Both of us were waiting for the other to make a move.

Dimitri finally sighed and reached over to my side of the bed. He took my hand in his, giving it a gently squeeze.

"Goodnight, my Roza," he murmured.

I smiled slightly. "Goodnight, my Comrade."

The events of the day finally hit me, taking all the fight out. My eyes closed on their own accord, and my body surrendered itself to sleep.

Hm. Well, then. Yeva spoke. What do you guys think? Sorry for the late update...school, ya know? I think one more chapter of Christmas, then another of them going back and meeting Christian!

Thank you to Vampswols4L (Christian will be there soon, don't worry! :D), RozaRocks (thank you sooo much! Yeah, poor Lissa. She really gets the short end of the stick in this story...:/), kcripep (I don't know about him taking her away, but...(;), J (oh, okay, that makes sense! Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, everyone wants Eric dead, even me! xD And...Eric wants the best for his little girl, and sees Dimitri as the best because, honestly, who doesn't think he's the best?), TheBookShelf (Yay! I feel so special now! :3 Awkward, yes. Heart-breaking, yes. Humorous? Eh...not yet! Lol.), Katylou1986 (thanks for reviewing every chapter! I'm glad you like the story :3), XxXLost-In-The-CrowdXxX (nah, I don't think they can...or when they do, it's too late...(;), GlieseHoneyman (as much as that would be kinda awesome, I'm not going to make this a Rose gets pregnant story. Sorry!), Music books horses (tehehe, yup!), Guest, Mrs. Belikova, bboop12, Dimkaisshmexy24 (I shall let my librarian know about it! One of my friends has Finale, but won't share :( No, I haven't, but I'll look into it! Lol xD It's alright, I know how it is! Haha, good! No, it's alright. It's always amusing to hear about people hurting themselves (; jk! Well...you've shown me that you're INSANE, so...don't get too boring on me with your next review! :D), VAisdabest (in a couple of chapters!), shadow-kissed angel (how about now? (;), and Molly for reviewing you! You are all the best! :D