Slowly the students dribbled in, looking in surprise to see Dimitri sitting next to Rose on the floor on a gym mat leaning back against the wall. Chugging down some water, and obviously not shaven, he looked slightly green and particularly unkempt.

"I don't think I can do this," Dimitri groaned to Rose. "My head is literally about to explode."

"Hmm. Well, you've been saying I should show the class the aerials we do at St. Vlad's. I could show them the basics and then lead them through the slow motions in pairs?"

"Would you milaya? I'll love you forever!" He was all but begging.

"I thought you already did, but sure. I'll need someone to demonstrate on. Why don't you pick Inna?" Rose hauled herself to her feet with a wicked grin, offering Dimitri her hand to help him up.

"How am I going to explain how crap I look? After the cookie thing yesterday, I can't let them know I'm hung over. They'll never respect me again!"

"Food poisoning. Remember how I used to get it at St. Vlad's?" Rose reminded Dimitri wickedly, laughing at the look on his face when he realized she'd begged off training a few times citing that as her excuse.

"Roza what am I going to do with you?" Dimitri chuckled, looking a little brighter now she said she'd lead the class for him.

"I was hoping maybe some more of what you did last night? I really really enjoyed that," Rose whispered salaciously, before walking to join the other students in line. Steadying himself with one arm on the wall, Dimitri held up his hand for silence.

"Good morning everyone. Apparently, something I ate last night has disagreed with me, and I'm not feeling the best this morning. So I've asked Novice Hathaway to demonstrate for you today. As you know, the combat training schedules differ between St. Basil's and St. Vladimir's. One difference is that at St. Vladimir's aerials are taught. Now while aerials are more commonly used by women as they are lighter and shorter than many male opponents, it is a useful skill to have if you encounter a larger opponent. It is also important to learn how to defend against them. Accordingly, Hathaway will demonstrate aerials in action, then in slow motion. Then I want you to pair up and alternate attempting basic aerial maneuvers and also blocking them. Inna? Balzar? Can you two please help Rose demonstrate?"

Balzar was the tallest Novice in the class at around 6 foot 3. Still small compared to Dimitri, both in height and physique. Rose asked him to stand still, telling him not to move, and promising not to connect. She then demonstrated the four most common aerial maneuvers.

"You don't want to use too many, because they take it out of you. They're also hard to control and, of course, the higher you go, the harder the landing if you mess it up, and also the more energy you use."

"Well that one didn't look too high," Inna said with mock sweetness. Rose had pulled up inches short of landing an aerial kick to the middle of Balzar's face.

"Was there a point kicking higher?" Rose asked sarcastically.

"Well, what if you were fighting someone Guardian Belikov's height?" Inna queried belligerently.

Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Dimitri?" she called wearily.

It was the first time she'd used his given name so openly in front of the class. She hadn't meant to, and it didn't go unnoticed. He just nodded, coming to stand in front of Rose. She gave him a look, made her approach and launched her highest aerial, not one she'd shown the class, sweeping her leg at full force clearing Dimitri's head by about three inches. He stood there seemingly unperturbed.

"High enough for you?" she asked Inna mordantly.

Rose made Inna stand there for the next half hour as she demonstrated move after move – each stopping perilously close to Inna's face, torso, lower back or knee. Any one of the moves could have been severely debilitating had they connected. Rose congratulated herself that she'd controlled herself, her emotions more than her body, so that none had.


"We can leave at any time, milaya. This is on your terms, ok?"

Rose looked to Dimitri as he sat behind the steering wheel of the school car they'd borrowed again for the night. Wearing his duster, and at her insistence still unshaven, Dimitri looked delectable. Sighing Rose looked back down at her notepad and what she'd written there. Six bullet points and five questions didn't seem like enough to fill an entire dinner date.

They'd arranged to meet early at 6 pm. Abe had said he'd send word about which restaurant, and Rose had been wandering through the gym supervising the pairs who were attempting aerials when the gym doors opened to reveal a bemused looking Guardian carrying the most massive bunch of red roses Rose had ever seen. There was easily a few dozens.

"Novice Rosemarie Hathaway?" the Guardian asked, looking around at the girls in the gym.

Rose's mouth dropped open. She quickly closed it. "Yes?"

"These arrived for you. Looks like someone has an admirer!"

Rose's stomach sank as she looked at the completely over the top bunch. The only person she could think of who would send something that hideously excessive was Adrian. As she walked over to claim her prize, she saw Viktoria shoot her a questioning look from where she was working with Inna. Rose just shrugged as if to say she had no idea, pleased to notice Inna's expression was even uglier than usual.

Taking the bouquet, Rose noticed it was already in a vase, which solved one problem. The flowers themselves were perfect – each bloom long stemmed and highly fragrant with little white flowers interspersed between. The dorm room she shared with Dimitri was going to smell amazing. Plucking an envelope from where it was nestled in amongst the buds, Rose opened it, pulling a thick white card from within. On it was written what she assumed was a restaurant name, an address, the time of 6 pm and simply signed 'Abe.'

Rose raised her eyebrows in surprise, a little smile on her face. While the flowers were completely over the top, she was relieved they weren't from Adrian. Besides, she was a girl – and every girl dreams about getting flowers delivered at least once in her life. It wasn't a Dimitri sort of thing to do, but he couldn't object to her receiving flowers from another man if that man happened to be her father.

Speaking of Dimitri, she looked up to catch his eye, surprised to see a disgruntled expression on his face. She walked over to put the flowers beside her gym bag, which was next to where Dimitri was sitting.

"Calm down. They're from Abe with the address for dinner tonight," she soothed.

"They're beautiful," Dimitri murmured, looking much happier.

"They're ridiculously over the top," she replied. "Just like Abe, by the sounds of it."

Six hours later looking back to her list as they drove to the restaurant Rose added another point. 'No rose themed gifts or items.'

The restaurant they were going to was apparently a nice one about thirty minutes from the compound. She'd texted Abe as they left at 5.30 pm, thanking him for the flowers and letting him know she was on her way. It wasn't until they pulled up at the restaurant that she realized she hadn't let Abe know Dimitri was also coming. Dimitri turned off the engine and pulled her hands into his.

"I love you milaya. Try not to stress. If you're unhappy at any time and want to leave just tell me and we will." Dimitri drew her into a gentle, loving kiss – stroking the side of her face with his fingers. "Beautiful – so very beautiful," he mumbled, staring into her dark eyes with wonder. "Come on milaya, let's go get to know your Dad."

Rose smiled as Dimitri walked around the car to get her door. She hadn't failed to notice the tension and worry in Dimitri's eyes. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who was a bit tense about dinner! They walked into the restaurant hand in hand and were led to a quiet corner where Abe was seated alone at a table for two. Looking around, Rose could see Pavel standing nearby against a wall, with another Guardian standing at a similar distance on the other side.

"Rose. Dimitri," Abe said standing when he saw them. Leaning forward with the slightest hesitation, he kissed Rose on the cheek before stepping back to offer Dimitri his hand.

"I'm so sorry," Rose said, noticing the table set for two. "I should have mentioned Dimitri was coming with me. They don't tend to lend out school cars to Novices, and I can't read the street signs in Russian. Besides, I really want him here with me."

"Of course, Rose. I'll get them to set another place." Abe had barely raised his hand when there was an attendant beside them doing just that. Dimitri held Rose's chair for her, and the three of them sat.

"I don't know whether you want this as just a one-off dinner or maybe the start of something going forward, but before we start, I have a few conditions. You overstepped when you came to lunch without giving me any warning. If you want to get to know me, then you need to abide by my ground rules," Rose warned.

"By all means," an amused Abe replied gesturing for her to continue.

"Firstly you need to accept that Dimitri is my partner. Yes, he's older, and sort of my mentor, but we're in love, so you need to accept that he's the one I've chosen to be with. We might tell you about it some time, but for now, all you need to know is it's permanent, and he makes me very happy."

Abe nodded, flicking his eyes to Dimitri appraisingly.

"Next I won't be lied to. You don't have to answer my questions, but if you do, I deserve honesty. And I'll do likewise. There might be things I'm not prepared to discuss right now, but I promise not to lie or mislead you."

"Sounds reasonable," Abe agreed with a smirk.

"Also, I don't want Mom to know about this. At least not yet."

Abe nodded. "That all sounds fair."

"Do you have any conditions?"

"Not that I can think of at the moment, but let's leave it open to revisit if something occurs to either of us as we talk," Abe suggested.

A waiter appeared at that moment with menus and what looked like a wine list.

"Rose? Dimitri? Would you like something to drink?"

"Soda thanks," Dimitri said.

"Yeah, make that two," Rose agreed, moving her chair a little closer to Dimitri's and resting her hand on his leg.

Dimitri opened the menu and looked it over quickly before explaining the dishes to her as the menu was in Russian. Rose decided on the soup of the day followed by a steak with vegetables. She let Abe and Dimitri order while she looked around her. The waiter had disappeared, Abe took a sip of wine and looked at Rose.

"So where did you want to start?"

"What about at the beginning? Start by telling me how you met my mother and how I ended up coming to be."

"What do you know?" Abe asked, before agreeing to continue.

"That I was dropped off at St. Vladimir's at four years old. I can't remember anything before that, and until Christmas just gone, I've seen my mother maybe four or five times in my life for a few days each time."

"Ok. Well, I'll tell you what happened and what I know from my perspective. I can't speak for your mother, and there are parts only she'd be able to tell." Abe took another sip of his wine while Dimitri covered Rose's hand where it sat on his leg, using his thumb to rub soothingly across the back of it.

"I was twenty-two and traveling in my homeland of Turkey when I had to attend a function with many Royal Moroi. Your mother was the Guardian assigned to one of the Royals attending. He was her first assignment. He was in his seventies, and she'd been with him a couple of years and found him boring. She was twenty and very beautiful. I'd like to be able to tell you it was love at first sight, but honestly, she was a perfect Guardian, and something about that remote frostiness was a challenge for me. I prolonged my visit for a week, and then a second. Finally, your mother gave in, and I took her out." Abe's eyes were clouded in remembrance.

"You have to understand it was never romantic love, but I did care for your mother. We're both passionate people, she was young and beautiful and wanting more excitement and travel than her allocation offered. The sex was great, she placed no limitations on me, and she was an amazing fighter. She also had a brilliant mind for business that helped me a lot with my work. So we put in a request together for her to be my Guardian."

He paused to see how Rose was taking all this. Seeing her looking calm, he continued.

"We had an amazing year traveling around together. It wasn't a conventional relationship. I occasionally spent the night with someone else – so would she. But many nights we'd end up lying in bed talking politics or business and being together. After about a year she said she wanted to have a baby. She was clear she only wanted the one, and she wanted it while she was still young. We talked about it, and it made sense for her to try with me given we already spent almost every night together. The plan was never to raise you together. What I mean to say is she and I always knew our time together was limited. Long-term we wanted different things, but we were happy to stay together for as long as what we wanted coincided."

Rose was nodding. A carefree young woman in a long-term friends with benefits allocation didn't sound like her mother, but then what would she know? She knew next to nothing about Janine.

"She fell pregnant quickly and was elated. We decided she wouldn't work after her third month, which is when I engaged Pavel to be my Guardian. She stayed with me for the duration of her pregnancy in much the same way as we had before. It was a happy time. Business was going well for me – I'd just started making serious money. Your mother was always laughing and happy and pregnancy really suited her. You were born in the middle of the night at a tiny hospital in Germany near the Belgium border. I was there, and I got to cut the cord."

"I was born in Germany? My birth certificate says California?"

"I'd say your mother had the Alchemists make you a new one. It was definitely Germany. You were two weeks early and in a hurry to be here. It was a wet miserable night, and Pavel was driving like a maniac to get your mother to the hospital in time."

Abe looked over to Pavel and gestured him over, nodding as he did so. Pavel pulled out a small framed photo from his jacket, passing it to Abe who handed it to Rose.

In the photo was a younger version of Abe with a younger version of her mother holding a baby wrapped in a blanket. Abe had his arm around Janine and was smiling at the camera. Rose's mother was smiling down at the baby she held. At her. Rose looked at the photo for a long time before she realized tears were rolling down her face.

"Milaya?" Dimitri asked quietly, pulling a handkerchief out of his duster and handing it to her.

"Up until today I never knew I was wanted," she said in the smallest of voices, looking up at Dimitri with teary eyes.