POV: Emilia

I could hardly believe it was already November. After so many dramatic thoughts I had ever since I'd moved to Russia, like 'How will I ever survive this?' and 'Will this ever get better?', it was difficult for my mind to wrap around the idea that I was already into my second month in this school. Catching up in classes, fitting in among the students, making friends - I used to think it was all one big fat mission impossible for me. Making a routine was not easy, but it somehow happened along the way and it escaped my notice. I sometimes missed home, my dad who had hardly any time to call me lately, my cousin Avery whom I'd gotten so used to seeing whenever I wanted that was now too far away, but mostly I was just too busy dealing with life right here and now to wallow in it too much.

This Saturday started off with a bright night sky. Though I think the night was very sunny, the heath didn't linger because... well it was November in Russia, why do you think? It was more bearable than I'd thought it would be. I kind of expected there to be snow all the way up to my chin, but so far the shiny white stuff was a no-show for some reason.

What made the morning even nicer was the angel sent from heaven in the form of a girl who had a way of making the most unexpected things happen, like getting breakfast to go despite the fact that taking food out of the cafeteria wasn't allowed. The smell of a fresh cup of coffee filled my nostrils as soon as I let Gaya into my room. She was dressed in her usual My clothes come in every color outfit combination and her hair was pulled into two tiny buns on each side of her head.

"Here is your disgusting concoction", she said as she handed me my cup and placed the rest of the breakfast on my nightstand.

A rainbow colored bag hung loosely on her shoulder and she threw it near the foot of my bed as soon as her hands were free. She sprawled over the bed, acting like she owned the place as always and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Her ability to make herself at home wherever she was seriously astonished me. It certainly couldn't have been easy feeling so comfortable with everything all the time. As I wrapped the blanket that was draped over my shoulders tightly around my body and sat down next to her, I realized she wasn't wearing a jacket when she came in.

"You do know it's not summer, right?", I questioned as she rolled over onto her stomach and propped herself on her elbows.

"I'm painfully aware of it, yes. If it was summer I wouldn't have the need to bring a bag full of books to your room and study", she responded with the most comical, devastated expression.

"Then why are you walking around in a short-sleeved shirt and that thin sweater?"

"Why are you wrapped like a burrito?", she shot back, pulling the blanket up and letting some of the warmth escape from underneath it.

"You are from Brazil. Aren't you supposed to feel even colder than I do?", I exclaimed, slapping the top of her hand to make her stop what she was doing.

"I've acclimatized", she huffed before she pushed her foot under the shoulder strap of her bag and lifted it up proudly without the use of her hands, "Now come on, let's do this studying shit so I can spend the rest of the day indulging in activities I actually like."

For somebody who seemed only mildly interested in any education that didn't include punching and stabbing, Gaya was actually a very decent student. She'd get annoyed quickly by the thing she couldn't understand and bitch about it plenty, but she was as stubborn as a mule so giving up was never in the cards. I never had a problem with studying. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like it, but I didn't despise it either. And I found it ten times easier when I wasn't forced to do it alone so having a study buddy, even one who'd throw things around my room or punch the feathers out of my pillows when she didn't get the answers right, suited me.

After three hours of brain cells exercises and another cup of coffee that Gaya snuck into my room, all of our homework was finished and we even did some research for our Moroi Culture projects, the one I was supposed to be doing with Dimitri. He was away though and Sasha, who was Gaya's partner, didn't feel well this morning so the two of us filled the roles of our missing partners for one another.

When a knock on the door filled the relative silence of my room, Gaya looked up from my laptop and arched her eyebrow.

"Are we expecting company?"

"Not that I know of", I commented, rolling over the bed and hopping towards the door.

I found Stacy on the other side with the most serious expression I'd ever seen gracing her face. She peeked past me and nodded to Gaya who probably jumped off the bed by the sound of it and tumbled towards us while asking: "What is it?"

"I don't know yet", Stacy responded through a heavy sigh, "But Dimitri is back."

"Wasn't he supposed to arrive tomorrow evening?", I questioned, jumping up slightly when Gaya loudly began collecting her things and putting her shoes back on.

"He was. They flew him in this morning, but he was escorted straight to the principal and-."

"Where is he now?", Gaya cut in, pushing me aside.

She looked panicked, all her usual cheerfulness and brightness vanishing in an instant. I had no idea why she'd have such a strong reaction, I mean something was wrong, but it obviously wasn't tragic if Dimitri arrived and there wasn't a casket involved.

When Stacy didn't respond straight away, Gaya grabbed her shoulder and shook her demanding: "Anastasia, where is he now?"

"T-the main common room, I think", Stacy stammered out before Gaya pushed past her and we basically had to run to catch up to her. When the cold air outside glided across my feet I realized I'd forgotten to change out of my slippers. There was no going back now though, not if I ever wanted to catch up to Gaya.

"Gaya slow down", Stacy begged as we neared her.

"If he returned early that means something happened, something bad", Gaya mumbled into her chin and kept going like we weren't even there.

"Well that'd be unfortunate, but why does that upset you so much? I mean, Dimitri is clearly alive and probably alright since they took him to the principal and not the infirmary", I pondered out loud like she just did, not expecting to get an answer, but suddenly she twirled around and her eyes went wide.

"My mother is the guardian that he was with. If something bad happened-."

She didn't finish, she didn't have to. Stacy and I now knew exactly why she was losing her head and it was enough for the three of us to start running towards the common room as fast as we could. We didn't even pass the threshold when we were stopped by a crowd of other students. Harsh murmurs travelled back and forth around us, but I heard one single voice topping all of them.

"Let the guy breathe a little, won't you?", Leo shouted as Gaya barreled through the people and Stacy and I followed.

"They got attacked in a populated area, can you believe that?", somebody whispered next to me while the person they were talking to shot back: "Well, at least they all survived."

Gaya must have heard the last thing too since her resolve to get to the front faded a little and she dialed down on the force she used to make the people before us move.

"Oy, back the fuck away", Leo roared as we resurfaced, making a few younger students jump back in fear.

"Seriously people, leave him be", Sasha backed him, standing up to obstruct the view everyone had on the two people sitting behind her.

"Beat it", Gaya growled at some poor kid while Leo and Sasha wordless moved to let us through.

Gaya fell to her knees right in front of Dimitri making him look up at her. His expression was pretty unreadable as usual, but I could tell he was tired. Whether it was because of what had happened while he was in Omsk or because too many people were demanding some story he obviously wasn't going to tell, I didn't know. But his eyes were dark and lacked their usual shine, his lips hung slightly and bags had formed under his eyes. Ivan sat next to him with his palm resting on Dimitri's shoulder, his expression just as somber.

"She is alright", Dimitri sighed as Gaya caught a hold of his hand.

"And you?", she questioned as I moved to the side to, as Leo previously asked, give him some space to breathe.

He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. I didn't know why my eyes followed his hand, watching it slide to the side while he moved the short strands of his hair there. It was the moment I actually noticed that his hair was cut shorter. It was when I also saw the red splotch that contrasted his pale skin, which I had mistaken for the aftermath of the harsh rubbing. That was until his fingers slipped away completely and my eye saw what was hidden underneath. I gasped as realization hit me.

Dimitri Belikov had gotten his first Molnija.

POV: Leo

I was always a heavy sleeper. It was one of the things that allowed Misha to prank the living hell out of me through our childhood. It was the reason I almost never woke up at night unless you were making as much noise as a bull in a china shop right next to me. The only times my sleep could be disrupted with no trouble was when I wasn't actually sleeping in the first place, but dozing off. My alarm would always only be heard by Dimitri who'd then spend fifteen to twenty minutes trying to get me to open my eyes every single morning. So waking up tonight had me disoriented for a little while before I realized that the sounds I thought I heard as a quiet rumble were actually loud enough to get the entire building up on their feet.

I fought to free myself from the covers I was tangled in and wiped my head around to determine what was causing such a disturbance to my tranquil dreams. To my shock it wasn't a what, though the cries sounded inhuman and unarticulated, it was a who. I stood up as quickly as my still sleepy body allowed me to and crossed the room in a few swift strides. With my hands on his shoulders I tugged him up and said: "Dimitri."

He tossed his head to the sides, his entire body shaking as he made the first sound that actually took a form of a word or what most resembled it.

"Dimitri", I tried more forcefully.

"Nah, no!", tumbled from his lips as I pulled him towards me.

"Snap out of it man! DIMITRI!"

His eyelids flew open and he inhaled loudly, the air hissing through his mouth and into his lungs. Even in the darkness I could see how much fear was reflected in his eyes still, the remains of the terror he'd just escaped. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was mute for a few moments before his brain slowly begin functioning properly, enough to allow him to speak.

"Are you okay?", I asked as he latched onto my arms and kept me in place.

For the first time in our lives he looked like a child, a terrified little child and I had no idea what I should do to help him. So I did the first thing that came to mind. I sat down and freed one of my arms out of his grasp, wrapping it around his shoulder. He let me guide him, his forehead falling onto my chest as his loud breaths continued to fill the silence. He kept digging his fingers into my other arm as I patted him on the back and then rubbed the tension out of his muscles carefully.

With his breathing finally under control, he pulled back to look up at me and whisper in a cracked voice: "I'm so sorry I woke you up."

"Hey, don't worry about it", I shot back, using the same tone as Misha when he was trying to calm me after I had nightmares when we were kids, cause that's what this was - a really, really bad nightmare.

His hold loosened and he straightened up, wiping the sheen of sweat that lingered on the back of his neck before his arm froze. I knew what he was doing even though I couldn't see it. He was tracing the pattern of his Molnija, like he had been doing for days now. It was as if he could touch the edges of the tattoo despite the fact that the ink melted into his skin. Only in moments like this, if you paid close attention, you could see how freaked out he actually was. Not that many people did pay attention or care enough to try. Everybody wanted to hear the story of the Novice who killed his first Strigoi. Everybody praised him, congratulated him and admired him. And it was all actually unbearably annoying. People would walk up to him, interrupt him while he was eating, stalk him in the common room or bug him during classes until the professors had to kick them out. If Dimitri wasn't… well, Dimitri, he'd enjoy the attention. But my friend wasn't like that and though he was polite enough not to tell them all to fuck off, he really just wanted to be left alone.

"You should go back to bed", he muttered, but I had no intentions of doing so. He'd been hiding things for long enough and he obviously needed to let this shit out.

"Was this the first one?", I questioned and upon his silence concluded: "This was the first one I heard."

"I've been having those dreams ever since I came back", he admitted, his eyes gluing to some random spot on the wall behind me.

"It was that scary, huh?"

"Scarier", he whispered with a strained voice, "I know I shouldn't say this, but seeing them, right in front of me, it made me wish I'd never chosen to train to be a guardian."

I was stunned by his words so much that I couldn't form a response, which gave him an opportunity to add: "But it also made me want to be a guardian that much more."

"Why?"

"Because now I know, now I truly know what Ivan needs protection from."

I felt a shiver working its way up my spine. If you would have asked me, only a week ago, if I was ready to face Strigoi I would have said bring them on. That was because I only knew what I was taught and nothing more. A Strigoi was somewhat like a lion. You could read about it, learn about it, see it on TV, maybe even at the zoo, but if somebody was to drop you in the middle of Africa and tell you to save yourself, you'd probably run from that motherfucker. And even if you didn't run and survived the fight by some miracle, you'd most likely dream about that scary ass encounter for a while. The main difference between a Strigoi and a lion though is that as scary as the animal was, it still wasn't a soulless blood-sucking creature that was almost impossible to kill, so I could only imagine what Dimitri was going through.

Dimitri moved suddenly, throwing the sheets away so that he could stand up. He reached behind his neck and tugged his shirt up, stripping it and tossing it on the ground. I watched him turn around aimlessly for a few moments before he spoke up: "I'm gonna shower. Thanks for, you know."

"Aha", I responded, feeling a bit awkward because of the entire situation. He was the toughest guy I knew. He didn't need my coddling.

He disappeared behind the bathroom door and I fell back. I took a deep breath, the scent of the sheets filling my nostrils and only then did I remember I was still on his bed. I dragged myself up and tumbled back into my pillow face first. I heard the shower turning on and tried to block out all of the sounds around me so that I could go back to sleep. It wasn't until the alarm on my nightstand rang that I realized I spent the rest of the night listening to the sound of Dimitri breathing, worrying about him like I had nothing better to do.

POV: Dimitri

For the first time in my life I needed a break, so a field trip that I'd usually hate to go to was something I welcomed. What also helped my mood was my friend's excitement over it. Ivan was so contagiously giddy that I even found myself smiling as he bounced in the seat next to me. Leo wouldn't stop talking from behind me, his head bobbing up every five seconds in-between Ivan and me. The rest of our group was just as cheerful.

As usual we occupied the best seats on the bus. It was the result of Gaya's threats that she'd break legs if she didn't get the lower floor of the double-decker, the one that had two tables with four seats around each. Misha and Leo "sacrificed" themselves by giving up their seats at the table on the left so Philip could join Sasha and Stacy along with his girlfriend Clarissa, who started hanging out with us every once in a while lately. Opposite of Ivan was Gaya who set up Emilia's laptop on the table between us as soon as the bus was on the move announcing the start of an amazing music tour. Emilia was next to her, leaning against the window like I was, laughing as Gaya informed her that her laptop was about to receive the ultimate gift - Gaya's badass playlist.

We set out early while the sun still lingered just over the horizon. I closed my eyes and faced it, enjoying only the faint light since the tinted windows held back the warmth. Ivan nudged my shoulder to get my attention when he handed me some snacks and as I was turning back to the window again my eyes landed on Emilia. She was staring at the sun boldly, like she was challenging it to try to reach her with a tiny smile sneaking its way across her lips, disrupted only by her teeth latching on to the corner of the pinkish flesh. Her eyes resembled crystals, the gentle purple becoming a radiant violet against the light, their shine so strong they looked like perfect icy surfaces. Her dark hair twirled into lazy curls around her pale face, the strands at the front dancing gingerly as the heating blew air into them. She was toying with the tiny white pearls that were sewed onto her scarf, her thin, elegant fingers rubbing over their smooth surfaces. Her nails were coated in a deep red color that reflected the shine of the laptop screen as she slowly drummed the fingers of her other hand on the table.

I knew I was staring, but somehow I found myself unable to look away. When she arrived at our school I noticed she was beautiful. I mean, you'd pretty much have to be blind to miss that. I knew it was one of the reasons why every guy in our class got interested in her straight away. And though I had plenty of time to get used to the sight of her, this was the first time I really looked, really focused on the details. She was gorgeous, there were no questions about it, but she was also somehow... surreal. It was not just the way she looked, but the way she made you feel when you were looking at her. I'd miss the sun less if she was around more.

She moved suddenly, her eyes shifting to me. She blinked at first, either from the change of the light exposure or confusion and then she smiled. Somebody else would have been freaked out by catching the person across from them in an act of shameless gawking, but she seemed to be completely relaxed and unconcerned.

For a moment we just gazed at one another, neither of us moving or talking before Ivan leaned across the table and asked: "You want to play?"

"Play what?", Emma shot back.

"Two truths and a lie", Ivan informed her and after she nodded turned to me prompting, "Dimka?"

"Why not, who's going to start?"

"It's always the one who asks", Gaya declared and then proceeded to explain to Emma our modification of the game. Only one person would get to guess and it was always the one sitting opposite of you, then they'd proceed with their sentences and so on. That way we avoided creating too much noise while we played. Emilia was supposed to guess my lie, so I took a moment to ponder on what I should chose since she already knew some details about me through our twenty questions game from the party.

"I have a collection of leather bound books at home, I hate olives and I excel in karate."

"Ummm, you hate olives", she drawled and Ivan snickered beside me.

"I know a lot of martial arts, but karate sadly isn't one of them", I chuckled as Emilia's face dropped in disappointment for picking the wrong one.

"I thought you knew everything", she commented, pursing her lips thoughtfully.

"You are the know-it-all."

"I thought I was Miss Pretentious", she shot back as everyone followed our banter.

She must have noticed the curious looks our friends were giving us, so she quickly focused on her facts and added: "I can speak three languages, I've never been ice skating and I can hold my breath for over two minutes."

"I'd love to see you try", Ivan boasted while tapping on his watch.

Emma in response took a large gulp of air and then halted her breathing, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh damn, I knew I should have picked the three languages thing."

"You think?", she giggled after she stopped holding her breath, "En fait non. Я не знаю их всех до совершенства, ma posso parlare molto bene tutti e quattro."

"WHATTT?", Gaya exclaimed looking at Emma with astonishment.

"The hell was that?", Leo asked as he stood up and leaned next to Ivan in order to join the game.

"That was a weirdo who speaks FOUR fucking languages but has never went ice skating", Gaya laughed as she playfully nudged Emma's shoulder.

"When did you learn that many languages?", Ivan questioned, still stunned by the revelation.

"I was home schooled so I had plenty of time and nothing better to do. What helped is that I actually enjoy learning them", she elaborated before she gestured towards him to remind him it was his turn.

The game went back and forth all the way up to Irkutsk. Naturally, Emma was the person who held the biggest element of surprise, but Clarissa and Philip weren't far behind. We all laughed a lot, especially with Gaya's and Ivan's ridiculous lies that any person on the planet would have been able to single out. In the midst of all of it I'd completely forgotten about my worries and the events that happened in Omsk. I was thankful for it, truly thankful.

I was still grinning when I got off the bus, so when I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to look behind me, I flashed that grin right at Galina. I hadn't seen her at all since we came back to the Academy, especially since she canceled our private sessions this week. She wasn't teaching any of my regular classes either and I was beginning to wonder what the reason behind her sudden absence was.

"Having fun?", she asked with an encouraging smile.

"I, um-."

"I'm glad you are. Means that the lesson I gave you about things outside of training sunk in. I'm sorry I haven't been around lately, I had some... work things to deal with."

"Are you alright? What's going on?"

"Don't you worry about me", she chuckled, patting my shoulder as her eyes found their way to my mark, "I'm sorry you had to go through that, especially this early."

"It didn't hurt", I replied instinctively, making her look back up at me.

A saddened expression spread over her face when she whispered: "I didn't mean the process of tattooing."

I heard Ivan calling my name from up ahead and Galina quickly stepped back, nodding to me as she attempted to smile again while adding: "Go. Be with your friends. I'll see you for our training next week."

I waved her goodbye and ran to catch up to my group. We had a couple of hours to kill, mostly while the shops were still working and the city was crowded enough. We were forbidden to leave the circle around the mall where we were dropped off for safety reasons. There were little chances of us getting attacked, but then again I had the same chances in Omsk and it still happened, so I knew our teachers weren't taking any risks.

Our group split up since the girls wanted to go shopping for clothes and Ivan and Leo wanted to check out the games store. I tagged along, chatting with Misha before he took off to join Grisha and a couple of other seniors. I ran into Sonya and Karo along the way, but they quickly hurried after their friends that giggled and squealed, almost fainting when they saw "the shoes that were just waiting for them" in one of the shops windows.

Vika was excluded from this trip since it was decided that the younger students would go some other time. We were already attracting too much attention as it is. She was miserable about it so I decided to go and get her some kind of a gift to lift her spirits. I told Ivan I'd meet them outside later before I went to look for the little jewelry stand I saw near the entrance. It had some unique, handmade bracelets and necklaces that caught my eye and I knew Vika would love each and every one.

I was circling the stand, scanning the shelves attached to the side, when I saw a flicker of black locks moving on the other side. I looked up, my eyes landing on Emma who seemed like she hadn't noticed me yet. I rounded the stand slowly, stopping when I was almost right behind her. It was impossible for her to miss me now, but she for some reason didn't acknowledge my presence. Was she ignoring me?, I thought before she surprised me by speaking up.

"It's rude to invade one's personal space."

She was still browsing through the jewelry, refusing to turn towards me, so I leaned in even more until I was almost brushing her shoulder.

"It's rude to disregard one's friends", I shot back, watching her lips tug into a small smile.

"Can I help you kids with something?", the salesman cut in, leaning over the stand.

I glanced at him and cleared my throat replaying: "We are just looking, thank you."

"There is an excellent piece here, brand new", he prompted persistently before he pointed towards Emma, "It'd look good on your girlfriend."

I couldn't see my reflection anywhere in that moment, but I was fairly certain I looked ridiculous. I opened and closed my mouth like a fish and wiggled uncomfortable, feeling the heath build up in my cheeks.

"I'm not his girlfriend", Emma calmly responded, "But he is buying a gift for-."

Her voice trailed off as she looked at me for further information so I stammered: "M-my sister."

"Ah, my mistake", the salesman apologetically smiled at me, "I'll leave you to it then."

When I didn't move and produce any other words, Emma prompted: "You want me to help you pick it out?"

The only thing I was capable of doing was nodding. She asked me a few questions about Vika's tastes and suggested a few options while I basically screamed at myself to pull it together. What the hell was a matter with me? It was just an honest mistake made by the man. It didn't mean anything.

"Do you like that?", Emma asked while I blinked up at her and frowned.

She picked up a necklace that I was staring at just moments ago without even paying attention to it really. It had a strong silver chain made out of small links and a bold, thick, circular silver locket with a compass carved out at the front and a familiar figure etched on the back - a woman dressed in something that looked like a toga, holding crops of wheat. I could have sworn I'd seen her before somewhere.

"Demeter", Emma mumbled as she ran her thumb over the figure.

"Goddess of harvest and fertility", I added, remembering that it was my grandmother who showed me a drawing of her in one of those old mythology books she horded. I couldn't recall exactly what got her to be so persistent about teaching me who this goddess was, especially since she wasn't a figure connected to my culture or religious beliefs. I think it had something to do with my name, but I guess I was too young to find such knowledge interesting or important.

"Yes it's what she is most known for, but it's not the only thing. There is this one that I find more interesting actually-", Emma started, but her words ceased when a stifled chuckle escaped me, "You are about to mock me, aren't you?"

"No, no, I'm just constantly fascinated by the amount of facts that you know", I exclaimed and upon seeing the pout that was forming on her face prompted, "What do you find more interesting?"

"It doesn't matter", she mumbled, attempting to put the necklace back.

"Tell me", I pleaded, catching her hand before she could finish what she was doing and pulling it and the necklace towards me.

She looked up, visibly pondering on whether she should continue before she sighed and finished: "She is the goddess of the cycle of life and death, among other things."

"I didn't know that", I admitted, prying Emma's hand open so I could look at the locket again, "Now I like it even more."

Our eyes locked and she smiled a tiny little victorious smile. I smiled back, feeling this strange warmth that she had a way of awaking in me. We stood still for a few long moments as if we were caught in some kind of a spell. I felt Emma's fingers trembling ever so slightly in mine and the chain dancing between our locked hands.

"That one is unisex", the salesman butted in, reappearing out of nowhere, "Sterling silver."

The spell broke and we pulled apart, blushing simultaneously. Only this time I was the one to recover quickly and respond with: "That's alright. I'll take that one with the flower pendant."

It turned out I went for one of Emilia's suggestions after all. She waited patiently for me to finish paying and once I was done asked: "So where are you off to next?"

"I'm going to head outside. Maybe go for a walk or something. You?"

"I was going to do the same. I just wanted to get something here too and grab some hot chocolate."

"You want to merge plans?", I suggested as I stuffed the little bag with Vika's gift into my pocket.

"Sure."

"How about I go get the hot chocolate while you finish up here?"

"Sounds like a plan", she agreed, handing me what I figured was money for the chocolate.

"Are you serious?", I chuckled, walking backwards as she called after me with a frown while waving with the money.

"I'll wait for you in front of the entrance", I shouted before I turned and walked the rest of the way normally.

There were only a few people hanging out outside, which didn't surprise me since it was rather cold. We walked almost an entire circle around the mall, chatting and sipping on the hot chocolate before we got joined by the rest of our friends. They already had our next activity planned, but they wouldn't tell either of us what it was until they dragged us to the ice rink set up near the mall.

"We are correcting some wrongs today", Gaya announced as she nudged Emma towards the rink, "I'll go get you a pair of skates."

"But, I-", she tried protesting before Ivan wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a wink.

"We got you Grasshopper."

She seemed terrified, but she went along with the plan probably because she didn't want to be the only one left behind. I loved skating, ever since I was a child and I was pretty good at it too, so it didn't take me long to get into the mood. Leo caught up to me and raced me for a few circles, his laughter echoing through the night. The rink was almost empty since it was getting pretty late and the mall was about to close in half an hour, so we had plenty of room to joke around. At some point Gaya slid past me and turned sharply so she'd face us, sticking her tongue out to challenge us to go after her. Leo took the bait, but I slowed and skated to the fence, leaning against it and turning around to look for Ivan. I saw him next to Emilia, trying and failing to get her to let go of the fence she'd latched onto. Her expression was comical.

I pushed off and made my way towards them, coming to an elegant stop just as Emma stammered: "Y-you go, I'll catch up."

I was the one who taught Ivan how to skate so I knew the limit of his expertise. He'd hardly be able to help Emma and keep his balance at the same time, though it seemed like he really wanted to try, especially since he promised he was going to have her back. I wasn't a pro myself, but between the two of us we could make it work so I slid behind her and pried her fingers away from the fence despite her protest before I told Ivan: "Take her hand."

He did as he was told while I placed my hands on her waist and pushed her forward gently. Ivan figured out my plan without any further explanation and went along, slowly tugging Emma after him as I stirred her forward.

"Your legs are too rigid, try to relax", I instructed as we moved.

"You relax", she mumbled in annoyance.

I chuckled and added: "And don't step on the ice, slid over it. You don't have to lift your feet so much."

"That's easy for you to say. I bet you started skating before you could walk you bloody Russian", she argued, making both Ivan and I burst into laughter.

After a full circle around the rink, when I was certain she didn't need my assistance anymore, I backed away. She didn't even notice my hands leaving her waist, so I wasn't surprised that she panicked once I skated ahead and waved at her. Ivan held her hand tight though, making sure she'd keep going.

"Ivan", she warned in fear once he too began letting go, but he just smiled at her and said: "You got this."

And she did. She was a bit wobbly, but she didn't fall. She grinned at the both of us, proud of her achievement and we grinned back. Ivan neared me and whispered: "She is adorable. Can we keep her?"

His question was kind of funny and off, but I knew exactly what he mean by it which is why I simply replied: "As far as I'm concerned... yes."


Chapter song: Wind Of Change - Scorpions

Mmm, that took a while *blushes hard*! I know it's no excuse, but I actually had to study a lot and my dearest beta had to work a lot so neither of us really had a lot of time to dive into this chapter! But it's here now! I hope it was worth the wait!

Emilia's line from the game was a mix of English (obviously, right?) French (En fait non = Actually no), Russian (Я не знаю их всех до совершенства = I don't know all of them to perfection) and Italian (ma posso parlare molto bene tutti e guattro = but I speak all four very well). Judging by the fact that I'm learning two out of four (English and Italian) please forgive the poor translation.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to review cause I don't bite! See you all the next time!

Kisses, T!