Here's the next chapter guys, and as I said in the last chapter, I will be responding to some questions left for me in the reviews. Here we go!
Well first up, I asked you guys if you thought Ben would be a threat to Dimitri, and you guys were pretty split down the middle on that one. And yes, some of you had the correct answer. So is Ben going to be a threat? *shrugs* Where's the fun in telling you all the answer right now? *smirk*
Twilight407501: I think this is gonna be fun. Dimitri will prob see Ben as a threat cause rose might use him to make him jealous but there's nothing actually between them right? She still loves dimitri? Did Abe know she was there cause Sydney did? Update soon!
She still loves dimitri? Well, let me ask you this. Do you think Rose can ever stop loving Dimitri?
Did Abe know she was there cause Sydney did? No, remember that the only people who knew where Rose and Christian went were Eddie, Adrian, Sydney, and Alberta. Abe is coming along to Caelum because he wants to see his daughter, and well…when Abe Mazur wants to do something, you DO NOT say that he can't do it. LOL
RoseLissaBelikova: Also, will we see what Lissa has been up to in the past five years? I know she was mentioned, but I was just wondering if she'll come along/see Rose.
Right now, I just want to say: Sorry to all the Lissa lovers out there. I personally am not her biggest fan, I don't know, she just never really grew on me and she just irks me. I don't like how she treats Rose and Christian and Jill, especially in the last four books (Really wanted to kill her in Spirit Bound). Also, I feel like she's so disconnected with how the real world works; how tough everything was for Rose when Dimitri was turned, how Christian was feeling all though out Blood Promise and Spirit Bound, the fact that it is not Jill's fault Eric couldn't keep it in his pants, and I just feel like she is just a crappy friend and girlfriend. Once again, I'm sorry if you love Lissa, but she will not be a huge part of this story. She might show up later, but just for a brief cameo. Also, if you are wondering about the bond…go reread the end of chapter four.
Where is Tasha – did she call off killing the Queen?
Well Tatiana was shown in earlier chapters, so yes, she did call off killing the Queen. Why? Well that will be revealed later. And I also am not Tasha's biggest fan, but she will be showing up briefly later on. I can tell you not to worry, she will not be a threat to anyone or anything. I honestly thought about having Tasha get caught after killing the Queen…but I just couldn't do that to Christian! SO, I came up with something else.
Now to a general question…
Yes, Isabelle is Isabelle Lightwood from the Mortal Instruments series, and I freaking love her.
Okay, now let's get on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. Isabelle belongs to Cassandra Clare. All rights go to Richelle Mead.
Dimitri Belikov
During the fight at St. Vladimir's the action had occurred so fast that I had not really gotten a good look at Rose.
I sure did have a clear look now.
My memories did not do her justice, only remembering the young girl, and not taking into account the woman she would inevitably grow into. And, my God, my Roza had grown up.
Her skin skill looked as soft as ever, even though I could see some scars that had not been there before, but those just showed off Roza's bravery. And her hair was still long and shiny and beautiful, in fact it had gotten even longer, falling down to the small of her back.
She had slimmed down, losing the baby fat, and replacing it with lean muscle, but still retaining the amazing curves I could still recall running my hands over so clearly. Her perfect hourglass figure had become more prominent, and the tight jeans she wore allowed me to admire her lean legs, which led to her nicely rounded…
"Ahem," I was brought out of my thoughts of Roza and back into reality, where a rather angry looking Abe Mazur had apparently noticed my observations of his daughter.
Averting my eyes from Roza, I focused more on getting my bags onto the baggage check machine.
Still, Mazur's dirty look continued until Guardian Hathaway notice and forced him to stop.
"Shut up!" I heard Rose cry, and a few seconds later…
"Nothing to be ashamed of my love, it's a perfectly lovely bum you have," that damned English accent said.
What?
"Thanks! I've been working on it," I turned just in time to see Rose give the man a wink before slapping herself on the backside.
The two of them laughed, along with another young man who was standing next to Roza. The English man left the area then, and soon Roza was joined by three more men and the young woman whom I had seen at St. Vladimir's that other day. The little group chatted before I heard Roza cry out.
"Can we please stop talking about my ass?!"
The majority of the Guardians in line turned to the source of the comment, some of them starting to run their undeserving eyes over Roza. In front of me, Abe Mazur laughed before a scandalized Janine Hathaway elbowed him. Behind me, Guardian Castile and Ivashkov smirked whether at Roza's comment or my reaction I didn't know.
"Down kitty," Ivashkov laughed.
Apparently, I had been glaring and growled without actually realizing it. A few Guardians turned and looked at me, causing me to compose myself. After going through the scanner, I grabbed my bags from the security agent and exited the area.
By this time, the first group was done with security, and Roza was leading us away to the waiting areas.
"Okay, we're going to be here a while, so feel free to browse the shops for a while. Please meet back here within the hour for boarding. And please, don't get lost." She instructed, not really letting anyone ask anything, before heading off herself.
This was my chance to finally talk to her.
Setting down my bags, I made a move to follow her, when I was stopped.
"Belikov!" Ivashkov grinned as he and Castile came to either side of me and sat down, taking me with them.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm sure this is all a big shock to you."
"But everything will be okay."
"I know you feel quite…"
Ivashkov's and Castile's voices faded as the young man standing next to Rose entered with his group, but that wasn't what caught my attention.
It was that Englishman coming in with his group that did.
Castile noticed this and grinned.
"Ah, yes. Ben Noble." So that was his name.
"Kickass Elite Agent, Rose's friend, her partner, all around good guy," Ivashkov nodded.
"Isn't he dreamy?" Castile and Ivashkov smirked.
As much as I wanted to go find Roza, my curiosity got the best of me.
"Tell me about him."
Rose Mazur
"Hello Old Man."
"Little Girl."
"Are you going to buy that?"
"What?"
"The scarf. You've been holding it for a while now," I nodded toward the flashy turquoise scarf in his hand.
"Oh, well, yes. I guess I will buy it." He nodded toward the sales assistant, and one hurried forward to wrap it up.
After the old man bought the scarf, I offered to buy us some coffee.
"I thought you didn't like coffee," he asked, raising an eyebrow, as we waited for our drinks.
"You can never get enough caffeine Old Man," I countered, "so, how have you been?"
There was a beat of silence before Abe sighed.
"What are we doing, kiz?"
"We're chatting Old Man. Having a conversation? You know, that thing where two people talk and exchange pleasantries? Catching up?"
"Bullshit."
I raised an eyebrow, well at least I think I did. Ben had tried to teach me once but after a couple of hours of coaching and threats of duct tape, I had only managed to life my brow a few millimeters, which according to Ben, was "good enough."
"Language, father dearest." I smirked.
"Rosemarie," he growled, giving me that look parents can only give. Huh, twenty-three years old and I'm now just getting that look from my father.
"Sorry," I muttered, taking a sip from my drink.
There were a few more beats of silence before Abe spoke again.
"I've missed you so much Kiz, your mother and I both."
Looking up from my drink, I saw nothing but truth in my father's eyes. I saw the sadness, the anger, the disbelief, the relief, the haggardness. Eddie had told me about my parents. How they were frantic in their search for me. How Abe had exhausted every resource and connection he had in hopes to find me, and how my mom had called every academy she knew of, just hoping that I was there. They worried and freaked out, just like any parents would if their kid up and ran. It showed in their appearance too. Abe, though still wearing his flashy outfits, looked exhausted. They were dark circles under his eyes, and there was just a touch of grey coming into his signature Mazur hair. Mom was much the same. She was still the esteemed Guardian Hathaway, but she too had the dark circles, and she had looked rather frazzled as well, her auburn hair slightly more messy and her Guardian uniform slightly wrinkled from what I saw a few minutes earlier.
It touched me so much that my parents were looking so hard for me, how concerned they were. My one regret would be not being able to say goodbye to my parents when I left, to tell them that I love them, to let them know that I would be ok so they wouldn't have worried so much, and that I know that they loved me as well. I was a coward, I knew how much of a hard time they were having, but I just could not bring myself to call or visit. Every Christmas, every Mother's Day and Father's Day, every one of their birthdays, I had gone out and gotten them a gift. However, I would never actually hand it to them, instead placing the gifts on their doorstep, or giving it to Eddie to give to my parents.
Swallowing the lump that had arisen in my throat, "I've missed you and mom too."
"Then why did you never call? Send a note? A letter? Anything to let us know you were alive and not lying dead in a ditch somewhere?!
I gripped my drink a little tighter. Well, it was nice to have your parents have so much faith in your abilities.
"I gave you guys gifts…"
"A few gifts during a few special occasions. You really think that was enough to relive our fears? We couldn't even be sure they were from you!
Looking down at my caramel latte, I said nonchalantly, "I've been busy."
"Busy?" Came the disbelieving response.
"Yes."
"Busy?" His eyes flashed dangerously and his voice had a hard edge to it.
"Yes Old Man, busy. You know, that thing where you have a lot of shit going on?" I replied brightly, which was a bad move considering the way the Old Man narrowed his eyes at me. I think I saw the vein in his forehead become more pronounced.
"Little Girl," he growled, "my blood pressure..."
"Sorry, sorry." I muttered again. "I've been…I've been..."
How does one describe the life changing, and I do mean that quite literally, experience that I've gone through these past five years?
"Living. I've been living, Old Man." I finally answered, smiling serenely at Abe, who seemed surprised with my answer.
"Living? What do you mean-" he was cut off by an awkward throat clearing behind me.
Both of us turning around, we found Ben, standing there rather endearingly awkwardly.
"Sorry to interrupt, but it's Guardian Hathaway…"
"YOU IDIOTS! YOU TRAITORS! YOU TWO KNEW WHERE SHE WAS THE ENTIRE TIME, YOU SAW HOW HARD IT WAS FOR ALL OF US AND HOW HARD WE SEARCHED FOR HER, AND YOU KNEW WHERE SHE WAS THE ENTIRE TIME?! I SHOULD HAVE YOU TWO SKINNED AND -"
"Mom!"
"Janine!"
Abe and I cried at the same time, not amused.
Mom turned back to look at us, her face almost as red and fiery as her hair, from where she held Adrian and Eddie, both wide-eyed and looking rather abashed and terrified, against the wall by the collar of their shirts. Around them, travelers, Guardians, and Agents looked on, some amused, some concerned.
"Let them go mom." I said firmly, crossing my arms.
She simply stared at me, looking like she was about to yell at me as well, when Abe intervened.
"Janine, please. Threats aren't really your forte, don't you think? Leave them to me. Let the boys go, come on now. Janine, let them go." Abe reiterated, his eyes narrowing, almost challenging mom.
She glared back, and for a few seconds that's all they did, just challenging each other. Our little section of the airport dead silent as we all watched. Finally, mom let go of the boys, and Abe come forward and led her away from the area, his hand placed comfortably at the small of her back as they whispered back and forth.
Ewww. That is all I have to say about that.
"You guys ok?" I asked Eddie and Adrian and they slowly detached themselves from the wall and straightened out their shirts.
"Fine Little Dhampir, just fine." Adrian replied, popping his collar, though his voice was slightly shaky.
"Yeah, it's all good." Eddie sniffed, rolling his shoulders.
I rolled my eyes. Men.
"There's a bar a few stores down that way," I pointed out.
"Oh thank God," Adrian muttered, practically bolting toward bar.
"I should go with him…you know…to monitor his drinking…yeah…" Eddie mumbled, taking after his charge
"So, that was my mom and dad…" I said brightly, turning to my team, who had all arrived and had congregated in a section of the seating area.
"They seem…nice," Josh nodded.
"Not scary at all," Lev muttered before taking a swig of his own drink.
"I pity the poor man who comes asking for your hand, Rose," Jay laughed.
Jay was the former leader of our team before he stepped down due to the birth of his beautiful baby boy, Jack. Being team leader involved a lot more paperwork and planning than if you were just a regular Agent. He wanted to be a hands on father, to truly be there for Jack and his gorgeous wife, Aria, to be the complete opposite of his own parents. His father hadn't even stuck around for the pregnancy and his mother had abandoned him on a park bench when he was only a few days old. Jay had bounced around from one foster home to another before finally settling down with a nice couple when he was sixteen. And just in time too, as the Change for werewolves, the period where their werewolf abilities really developed, had just arrived for Jay. It's a rough transition period for werewolves, added on to the even more awkward adolescent period, but Jay managed, his new foster father helping him through it. He was ten years older than I was. It was slightly awkward when we first met, as to a stranger, Jay was pretty intimidating. He was rather tall, almost as broad and tall as Dimitri, with dark eyes and sharp, angular features. His hair was kept short and his strong jawline seemed to perpetually be littered with stubble. However, when he smiled, dimples the size of craters appeared, and you could see the child-like spark in his eyes. And once you got to know him, you could see his gentle, almost shy, demeanor, and his child-like playfulness.
"Your mom is so totally bad ass!" Leigha piped up cheerily.
"Seriously though, I now see where you get it from," Dianna smiled.
"Thanks, but please, do not offer to give my mother weapon's training," I smiled a bit as Dianna pouted. The girl loved her weaponry.
I had met Dianna in one of my weapons classes. We had hit it off instantly, becoming fast friends as she helped my find my "signature" weapon. Dianna, sweet Dianna who looked like she belonged in a Disney princess movie, had a penchant for axes. Yes, her signature weapon was an ax. Girl may look innocent, but she actually kicks some serious ass, with or without her ax.
Leigha I had met in mythology class. We sat right next to each other and honestly, her bubbly personality had annoyed me at first, though at the time I was still slightly bitter at well…everything. However, Leigha made it slightly better with her friendship, her amazing listening skills, and her awesome baking.
"I don't get it. You're a witch, you could totally just use your wand to zap us up a plate of brownies instantly," I said as I sprayed Pam into a baking pan while Leigha stirred the brownie mixture. It wasn't even in the oven yet and it already smelled divine.
"Patience is a virtue," she smirked, "plus, when I left home, I promised my mother I'd actually use my magic for good, not just for conjuring up food and retrieving stuff from across the room without getting up."
I finished with the pans and Leigha was soon dividing the batter evenly between them before we put them in the oven. I watched questioningly as Leigha opened her refrigerator door and pulled out a smaller bowl filled with what looked like the brownie batter she had just made.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"I thought we could get a head start on our chocolate-induced coma while we wait for the brownies," she smiled as she handed me a spoon, "plus, a girl CANNOT rag on her ex-boyfriend on an empty stomach, it's just unacceptable."
I smiled back and eagerly dug my spoon into the bowl before shoving the contents into my mouth. I think this was the start of a beautiful friendship.
Checking my phone for the time, I saw we still had fifteen minutes until boarding. Seeing Ben had sat down, I plopped down in the seat beside his, resting my head on his shoulder and yawning a bit.
"Tired, love?" He asked, looking down at me.
"Little bit," I mumbled, snuggling into his shoulder more. We had gotten up pretty early this morning in order to go over the organization process and to actually get to Galium. Plus, the small confrontation with Abe had drained me a little.
"It'll be alright," he murmured, his soft accent cooing, like music to my ears.
Opening one eye, I looked up at my partner. He seriously was handsome, with his lean build, and his pale, rune marked skin. His grey eyes were gentle and slightly amused as he looked down at me.
"What?" he asked.
"You need a haircut," I grinned, reaching up and brushing the lock that fell into his eyes back slightly. Ben didn't have the purposefully messy haircut that most guys did. His hair was kept neat and short at the sides, but he had let the rest grow out, sort of like a faux hawk, but instead of spiking his hair up, he let it flop down adorably onto his forehead. Okay, to me it was adorable, to some, it was totally, and completely bad ass.
"Is that an order?" Ben grinned, raising an eyebrow while playfully pinching my hip.
I squealed slightly, pushing him gently back, "You bet your sweet ass it is," I joked.
"I'll get right on it," he winked.
"You wanna know what else you can get on?" I asked coyly, throwing in an exaggerated wink and eyebrow wiggle.
His chest shook with suppressed laughter, as we fought to contain our laughter. Ben opened his mouth to send back some witty retort, when he was sadly cut off by one of the plane inspectors appearing, informing us that the plane inspection was over and that tank had just finished being filled up, which meant we could go on board and start preparing.
"Okay guys," I called out to my team as Ben helped me up, "let's go."
First off, let me just apologize for a couple of things. Number one, sorry I didn't update last week! I really wanted to, but I ended up going out to a party with friends and I got home rather late. Plus, I had to study for a final. Number two, sorry about this chapter. It's really just a filler chapter, but I wanted to get something up for you guys! And also, sorry for any mistakes, but it's nearly two in the morning as I'm typing this, and I will go back and fix any mistakes later on.
Little side note here: Because I feel like my description of Ben's hair is not epic enough, or if you just can't visualize it, I picture his hair to be like Matt Lanter's on Star Crossed.
Next chapter, we will board the plane and arrive in Caelum! Finally! Also we will have more of Rose spending time with her past...
Quick question: My original outline had put this story at about 20-25 chapters, however; now I think it will be more like 25-35 chapters. Are you guys okay with that? It's just that when I set out to do this story, I had a strict idea of how to go about it, but know, I'm just getting around to developing the concepts I have inside my head, and am just realizing that I need a few more chapters to flesh them out. I already know how this story will end, but I just need a few more chapters to get us there. Plus, I'm very detail oriented, so I like describing and trying to get the image from my head onto the screen is proving to be harder than it is...I hope you are ok with this!
Also, I want to thank you guys! I didn't realize it right away, but the last three chapters have gotten over TWENTY reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys are EPIC!
And one last thing before I head off to bed...I have a few more questions I need to answer...
Twilight407501: there's nothing actually going on between them (Ben and Rose) right?
Guest: Is rose and that guy together together?
Guest: is rose dateing that guy
RoseLissaBelikov: Something I was confused about is how "together" Rose and Ben are. They hug, hold hands, have nick-names, etc. but that's not totally conclusive of a relationship. Have they kissed? Are they, in some capacity, dating?
aj davis: So are Ben and rose together or just friends I'm confused
Now, I'm getting this feeling a lot of you are wondering about the status of Ben and Rose's relationship. To which my response is…
I don't know. Are they? *shrugs* Well, I mean, I do know, but the fun of keeping you all in suspense would be gone if I just told you the answer now! Come on people, good things come to those who wait. Just come and enjoy the ride with me! *cue evil laughter*
Please read and review guys!
Until, next time!