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It had been three days since I had last seen Dimitri and Lissa. That was no coincidence of course. I had gone out of my way to avoid both of them, staying inside with Ivy as much as possible, and only going out to eat at irregular times. Every now and then Jade or Seth would take Ivy out to go see Court. She'd come back babbling about everything she'd seen. My heart ached as she talked so excitedly about everything, as I knew that this could have been her life from the very beginning if I'd been able to stay.
Ivy didn't seem to notice though and just enjoyed the time she spent with me and her aunts and uncles. We'd been given a few days to settle in, and though I knew Master Gregori wanted to go through plans for the next few months, I just wasn't up to it. Seeing both Dimitri and Lissa had destroyed me, and the hurt and regret I'd been so successful in packing away was coming back. Jade and Seth didn't ask me any questions about why I wouldn't leave the room, only giving me quizzical looks and telling me if I needed to talk 'they were there'.
Ian would come by to bring me food, but never stayed to talk. He knew even better than Jade and Seth did that I didn't need or want conversation, all I needed was some time to think things through.
Ian never told us why he was at the complex, but I knew from others that he wasn't always the happy man I knew and loved, and that when he first came to the complex he was nearly mute. Jade persisted and though it took months for her to strike up a conversation with him, she did it. And out of all the topics in the world it was about butterflies. Ridiculous. But once that happened it seemed like all his inhibitions were gone. Almost like Ian had transformed from the caterpillar to the butterfly. He was able to function again and gradually he became the kind, funny and loud person I knew today. I just hoped I could do the same after this was over.
A sharp knock broke me out of my thoughts, and I rose to answer the door, hoping it wouldn't be someone who'd order me out of miserable dwelling.
No such luck. It was Master Gregori.
"It's been too long Rose." He said immediately, seeing me still dressed in pajamas, the bed rumpled from where I'd been sitting. "I know coming back has upset you, but we do have a job to do and we can't neglect it."
"Come in." I said wearily.
"Gori!" Said Ivy delightedly from the table where she'd been colouring in the new colouring book Jade had bought for her. "Look I've got a picture for you."
Master Gregori smiled widely at her as she finished her drawing, the tip of her tongue peeking out the corner of her mouth as she worked industriously. She finished by drawing a big I and B in the corner of the page, with a squiggle underneath them. She jumped off her chair and gave him the drawing and then wrapped her small arms around his legs. He lifted her up and threw her in the air, catching her quickly as she began her descent to the ground.
"Your drawing's beautiful Ivy." Master Gregori told her.
"It's all of us." Ivy explained. "My whole family. There's you, and Mummy, and Aunty Jade, and Uncle Seth and Uncle Ian and there's Linda. It's everyone I love."
Master Gregori smiled at her broadly and gave her a kiss on the cheek, whereas I had to turn away to hide the tears that were dripping down my face. It should have been Dimitri there as well, and Lissa and maybe even Christian. But Ivy didn't even know who they were.
"Excuse me." I muttered and rushed into the bathroom.
I sunk down onto the cold floor, and let my head fall into my knees. Soon I felt tears dripping down my cheeks, and let them overtake me, letting out all the worries I'd been holding over the last week. My thoughts spun as I could feel my feelings fighting for control, but I fought back and my thoughts were safely secured behind the mental barriers I tried so valiantly to keep up. Finally my tears dried out, and I stood up, wiping my face, and pulling my hair back.
I walked back into the bedroom but to my surprise I couldn't see Ivy, only Master Gregori sitting in the armchair by the window.
"Where's Ivy?" I asked.
"Jade came by and took her out to the shops." He told me, rising out of his chair.
"Why?"
"Because you and I are going to go and spar." I just stared at him. "Quickly get changed and we'll go. No arguments."
I rolled my eyes but did as he said, knowing I'd end up going anyway, no matter what I said. I pulled on my workout leggings and a tight blue shirt, packing a drink bottle in my bag.
"Let's go." He told me, not waiting for a response.
We walked through Court, me keeping my head down, trying to avoid anyone I knew. Master Gregori saw but didn't comment and just kept walking.
We arrived at a gym I had never used before, which I was grateful for as if it had been one Dimitri and I had sparred at before I would have walked straight out. It would have brought back to many painful memories. The gym looked very new and had great work out facilities but Master Gregori didn't bother with that, instead pulling me into the sparring circle which was marked on the floor.
"What now?" I asked dully.
"We fight." He told me.
"Can we-" I asked.
"We'll fight Rose." Master Gregori interrupted.
"I don't feel like it, why don't we just do some weights or something?"
"Rose Bell. Are you such a coward, you won't even try and fight?" I stared at him in amazement. "I know you're trying to avoid your problems at Court by hiding but surely it's not the same when we spar. Or has your can't do attitude migrated to the gym as well?"
"Excuse me?" I asked indignantly.
"Tell me Rose. What's wrong now?" He taunted.
I was losing my temper and my control. "Shut up. You have no idea what I'm going through."
"Make me." Master Gregori told me, standing his ground. Only now I realized that he was provoking me into fighting, into releasing my feelings, but it was too late. I was ready to fight.
"Shut up."
"Make me."
I swung out, narrowly missing contact with his jaw. He darted around me, aiming to swing at my ribs, which I dodged, and then grazed past my shoulder as he tried to land a punch.
We broke apart, and started to circle each other, each waiting for the other to make the first strike. I stayed light on my feet, ready to move at a moment's notice. What made Master Gregori such a deadly fighter was his speed, but I was fast too. I had won a lot of my fights from people underestimating my strength and agility, but Master Gregori never made assumptions. He was also unnervingly patient, and I eventually cracked and made the first move. Feigning a punch to his shoulder, I managed to knee him in the stomach, but he didn't even flinch. I could feel my pent up anger beginning to brew as his fist made contact with my jaw, followed by an elbow to my side. He wasn't holding back, so I wasn't going to either. With curled fists, I launched myself at him, but he saw it coming and easily used my own force against me to throw me to the ground.
"Get up Rose. You can do better than that."
As I laid there sprawled out on the floor, I realised he was right. My fighting was sloppy because I was letting my emotions get to me. But I couldn't just bottle up my feelings anymore, I needed to release them. I needed to clear my mind and trust my instincts. Taking a deep breath, I rose from the ground and gestured for Master Gregori to continue.
"So can you," I teased haughtily.
He smirked in reply and this time made the first strike, which I easily blocked. As we were locked in combat, I realised that there were no inhibitions anymore just me and Master Gregori fighting, raw and powerful. It was invigorating and I could feel myself letting go of all my troubles.
Our fighting had brought us to the edge of the circle, and as I blocked another punch from Master Gregori, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. And it gave me an idea.
As he took another swing, instead of blocking him I ducked under his arm and rushed forward, quickly grabbing the medicine ball that had caught my attention. Picking it up, I spun around and threw it at Master Gregori with as much strength I could muster. Just as I expected, he caught the ball with ease and stared at me with bewilderment. After all these years, I had finally caught him off guard and I wasn't going to waste the opportunity.
I charged him, landing heavily on top of him, but he heaved with his legs and flipped me over, pinning me to the ground. Tossing the ball aside, he forced my arms above my head and clamped them with one hand, the other keeping balance on the floor whilst holding my legs together with his knees.
Damn it, I had almost got him!
I lay there gathering my breath but gave him a small smile. "Thanks."
"Anytime Rose. You nearly beat me this time. " He told me, getting off me and helping me to my feet.
Clapping broke out around the room and I realized that as we sparred the room had been filling with guardians. I could see Eddie and Mikhail, and as my eyes completed the circuit I met with two dark chocolate eyes. Dimitri was here. We had one moment of connection, before I looked away, breaking it. I busied myself getting a drink, noticing out of the corner of my eye Dimitri slipping out of the room. I pretended it hadn't affected me, but I ached to follow him, and stop the hurt I saw in his eyes.
"Good job." Seth said, coming up to me.
"You almost had him." Ian told me, his eyes brightening as he saw the improvement in my mood.
"Thanks guys, but I have one question. Where's the best place to eat around here now? I'm starving."
"There's this amazing buffet place around the corner that we've been past a few times." Ian told me. "I'll text Jade and ask her to meet us." I gave him a nod, and turned as Master Gregori tapped me on the shoulder.
"I'll be going now Rose. Thanks for that, it was really good." He told me.
"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" I asked, surprised.
"No, I've got to go over a few things so I'll meet up with you later. We have a meeting with the Head Guardian about our training program." I tried to keep my facial expression still but I must have flinched as Master Gregori laid a hand on my arm. "It'll be fine Rose. It's just our program, you don't have to like the man." I just have to try not to kiss him, I added in my head. I gave him a nod and smile, and he smiled back reassured.
"Bye Rose."
"Bye." I told him, turning back to my friends.
"So are we going to go now?" Seth asked impatiently.
"I have to change." I told him, looking down at my disheveled gym attire.
"You look fine, and this place is casual. Come on, Jade and Ivy told me they'll be there in 5 minutes." Ian told me.
"Fine." I sighed. "Let's go."
In less than five minutes we were outside the restaurant, which I noticed with a pang, was a place where Dimitri and I had had lunch several times. Shrugging it back, I noticed Ivy and Jade coming towards me.
Ivy ran at me, and I picked her up and swung her around.
"Hey baby." I told her, planting a kiss on her cheek.
"Hey Mummy. Look what Aunty Jade bought me." She kicked her shoes in front of her, and I saw that instead of the sandals she'd been wearing this morning she was wearing small sparkly pumps.
"Jade." I sighed in exasperation.
"They were so cute! I couldn't resist." I tried to keep up my stern face, but instead I smiled at her, and she smiled back, guiltily holding up the other three bags that she'd been holding behind her back.
Ivy grasped my hand and led me inside, bouncing excitedly. It was a tight squeeze to get in, as several people were gathered at the door, however we were quickly assigned a seat. Without even sitting down we went straight to the buffet.
I noted that this was a popular guardian hang out, and that we, or more specifically me, were attracting attention. Luckily I saw no one I knew. Moving to escape the stares, I quickly piled my plate up, not noticing what I put on it. I moved back towards our seat, when I bumped straight into someone. I looked up and was caught, for the second time today, in Dimitri's eyes.
"I'm so sorry Guardian Belikov. I wasn't concentrating on where I was going." I greeted him, deciding to be civil, as I did have the meeting tomorrow. I was also keeping a cautious eye on Ivy who had stayed behind with Ian to deliberate over whether to go with bacon or turkey. Dimitri didn't respond though, just walking straight past me, looking at me blankly.
I realised I'd done the exact same thing when I'd last seen him, but it cut into my heart that he didn't even acknowledge me. I pretended I didn't care that he had just snubbed me, keeping my chin high, but I struggled to blink back the tears that were threatening to come out. I placed my plate on the table and was about to sit down when I heard a huge commotion at the door, and as I tried to track down the cause of the chaos a voice pierced through the noise to reach my ears.
"Rose! You came back!"
So who is it now? You'll just have to wait and see, but please tell me who you think and I might make sure they pop up later in the story. Please review and have a wonderful day.