Today was the day.

After all of the emotions that came with the build-up to a funeral, today was the day that I would be saying goodbye to my best friend. To my protector until the very end.

"Good morning Roza," Dimitri whispered, rolling over in bed to rest next to me. He gently smoothed my unruly hair away from my face and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of my head.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently.

"I... I'm ok," I said quietly.

It was true. I'd taken just over a week from work after that first day I tried to go in, Dimitri had taken time away too, and I had worked through a lot of stuff. A lot of emotions that I needed to deal with before I could become functional again, before I was ok.

And now, well I wasn't fully ok, that would take months, but I was at a place where I was comfortable. It still hurt when I thought about Vasily, but I was able to actually think about him.

One of the first signs of trauma, of PTSD that I had dealt with many years before, was avoidance. Avoidance of topics, of thinking of someone, any way to not remember the trauma you went through, and I wanted to remember Vasily. I wanted to think of him, to remember all the good times we had together, the bad times he helped me through, I wanted to remember kissing his lips and the light that shone in his eyes, but the light that still shone when I told him about Dimitri and my happiness. The light shone because he could see that I was finally happy.

I wanted to remember his last moments when his eyes met mine and I knew what he was going to do, just as if we had a bond. I supposed that we did have a bond, just not the spirit induced kind. The more I thought about it, I realised why they were called 'spirit bonds' in the first place. Mine and Vasily's souls, our spirits were bonded together through friendship and love and emotion, we didn't need the tendrils of magic to reinforce our friendship.

I rolled into Dimitri, tucking myself into his warm body, feeling the dip in the mattress and pressing tightly into him.

"Today is going to be tough for both of us, isn't it," I said into his chest, my voice small and weak.

"Yeah," he sighed. "But we have each other. I can lean of you, you can lean on me. Together, we are unstoppable".

As cliche as it sounded, I wanted those words tattooed on my body. I'd been longing for him to say them for so long, even if I didn't realise it, and I kept having to pinch myself to remind me that we had actually gotten married, that things had come full circle and I was calm and happy.

"You know, there's something else I need to do today," I whispered.

"Hmmm?"

"We still haven't told Lissa".

There was a long pause.

"Shit," Dimitri muttered.

I pulled back my head to look at his face, contorted into a tight grimace.

"What have you told her?" he asked.

"Literally nothing," I groaned. "Last we spoke was when she healed me before the battle. I sent her a text last week saying that I was taking some time away to deal with things and that I would check back in when I was ready".

"What does she know about us though?" he prompted.

"Well, she knows we went on that one date when I was in a wheelchair..."

My voice faded away as I realised how long ago that all seemed, even though it had only been 2 weeks.

"She knows that we were considering giving it another chance, but we were just considering it then, we hadn't made any commitments or decisions. We were just friends".

"And now we are married," Dimitri said bluntly.

Laughter rose up from deep within my stomach and exploded out, the sound strange against my ears after the week I had gone through. After a few shocked moments, Dimitri joined in, his laughter growing from a quiet rumble to the deep, throaty laughter that used to be so rare when we were together at the academy. Thinking of it, I hadn't heard him laugh like this for a very long time, since we ended things years ago.

Our laughter joined together as we laid in bed, tears streaming from both of our eyes as we clutched each other, feeling the warmth of the others skin rub against our own. Before long, the laughter began to subside, replaced by slow, silent tears as we both remembered what was to be done today, remembered the sacrifice and loss so many guardians had readily given. Today was their day, and we would get through it. Together, we would get through anything.

"Ready?" Dimitri called down the hallway as I pinned my last curl into place.

I'd gently curled my hair, pinning each one up in a formal, yet soft up-do. It didn't look like the tight, sleek guardian hair I normally had to wear, but today I wasn't a guardian. Today, I was Rose Hathaway-Belikova, Vasily's friend and friend to many others that had died. I wasn't on duty, I was a member of the ceremony.

I'd applied light, natural-looking makeup, partly to hide the bags under my eyes, but I wanted to look my best for Vasily's last send-off. He wouldn't have cared if I had makeup or not, but I did. I wore a plain black fitted dress that came down to my calves, with sleek black heels that made me look professional, and slightly less ridiculous stood next to Dimitri.

"Let's go," I whispered, walking out of the bathroom to him. He raised his eyebrows and gave me a small nod, letting me know that I did look good. Any other day, I would have ripped into him for the lack of compliments, but today was different. His look almost reminded me of the look he had given me when I had worn the black dress to that ball at St. Vlads all those years ago, the look that he had to hide from Alberta, but portrayed all his feelings and longing to me.

Same colour dress, very different occasion. Very different girl wearing it.

The hall that the ceremony was being held in was packed full of guardians and moroi, people holding tissues to their eyes and people stood stoically, clearly wanting to deal with their emotions in private. I cemented my guardian mask onto my face and clutched Dimitri's arm a little tighter as we walked into the room and I prepared myself for all the small talk that I would need to do.

"I... I can't," I whispered to Dimitri, pulling him to a standstill as he was heading towards the seats designated for us at the front of the hall.

"Breath, Roza," he whispered, resting his strong hands on my shoulders. "Breathe. I will be here the whole time, I won't leave your side. You can do this".

"You have to do this," he added a moment later, gently.

He was right. I didn't have to do this because of my job, he never would have made me, but I had to do this because of what Vasily meant to me. I owed him this, and Dimitri was reminding me of this, almost like the mentor he had first been to me.

I nodded, letting the cool, night air fill my lungs and ground me. Thank god someone made the decision to have all the windows open.

The hustle started to die down as we walked through the crowds of people, all watching the President and Vice-President as we headed to our seats. I saw eyes glance down to where I clutched Dimitri's arm, and I knew that I really would have to tell Lissa as soon as I headed out of here. Today was the first event we had attended together, and it would become obvious very quickly that we were more than friends. I wasn't ashamed, and certainly wouldn't be hiding. I loved this man, I needed him, and all the world would soon know it.

As we sat down, everyone following our lead around us, I reached out for Dimitri's hand, squeezing it with mine and holding on to the comfort and warmth it brought.

The service was short and sweet, a reminder that there would be many private funerals happening over the next few days and that this was just the start of the grieving that was to come. I had actually been sent a letter by Vasily's mother, how she had gotten my details I didn't know, but I imagined it had something to do with my persistent friend over sharing one day. Within the letter was the time and date of Vasily's funeral, just a generic invite, but the thought hit deeply.

Once the final prayers had been said, the priest gestured to Dimitri and I, along with the Royal Moroi representative to stand and lead out the congregation. Once again, I latched firmly onto Dimitri, but the calm service had given me the strength I needed to do what I needed to.

"I'm going to find her," I said to Dimitri, gently squeezing his arm and letting go.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

I shook my head, gave him a small smile, and headed into the masses of people who stood talking to find the woman I needed to speak with. A guardian had given me a photo of her, taken many years ago, but all dhampir's had files in the headquarters, whether they were in active service or not. My new role had the perks of being able to access these files without questions as to why I wanted the infomation.

In a movie-worthy moment, the crowds seemed to part and my eyes honed in on a small, sandy-blonde haired woman with a tight smile on her face that was clearly a mask. Gathering courage, I moved forward and stood next to her, politely waiting for her to finish her conversation before I introduced myself.

About to speak as the other person started to move away, the woman turned to me and the light that I knew so well lit her eyes.

"Rose," she whispered, before grasping my hand firmly in hers. "You look just how he described you to me".

I gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"Hi, Ms..."

"Call me Sarah," she interrupted again, in her eastern-European accent. "Friends call me Sarah".

Her comment hit me low in my gut. The guilt over my role in her son's death washed over me once more. I couldn't do this.

"Do you, do you know why he died, Sarah," I whispered, closing my eyes for a fraction of a second that she immediately picked up on and held my hand even tighter.

"Yes," she whispered back, the word holding so much un-shed emotion that my eyes shot open again. "Yes, Rose," she continued, voice steadier. "Yes I know. I know how he gave his life for yours. I don't hate you for it, if that's what you are thinking. He must have loved you a lot to do that".

"Yes," I said quietly, nodding. "Yes he did. And I loved him".

"And so, she continued, a stern look on her face, I love you. It is in his honour that we love each other, he chose this, he would want me to love you just as much as he did, and that is final".

I let a small smile creep onto my face.

"Ok," I said in a small voice.

"Ok," she replied. "I never got a response from you about his funeral," she said a few moments later.

"I... I wasn't really in the right frame of mind to reply," I admitted. "I had a lot of things to get through the past week".

"I imagine so," she said, grasping my hand once more. "Don't feel any pressure".

"I said my goodbye's here, Sarah," I said softly. "I don't think I can do it again".

"And that is perfectly ok..."

A woman waving a white handkerchief wildly in the air came into view, her lips moving furiously, my ears not registering the sound.

"I have to go," Sarah sighed. "It was lovely meeting you, perhaps we could find some time one day to sit down and talk about everything we loved about Vasily?"

"I would love to," I confirmed. "I will be in touch".

"Vasily mentioned that you were now the high and mighty that we answer to. I don't need to bow, do I?" she teased, sounding so much like Vasily that I wanted to cry.

"No," I chuckled, tears spilling from my eyes. "Although I'm sure Vasily would have done it just to annoy me".

"That sounds like my boy," Sarah smiled, eyes moist and glistening also. "Goodbye Rose," she said, turning away and heading towards the wildly gesturing woman that seemed strangely familiar.

Quickly wiping my eyes, I headed through the crowd to find Dimitri, bracing myself for the next task that I needed to do.

"I need to see her," I announced to the guard who stood at the entrance to the royal quarters, who waved me through with no question.

"Liss, it's me," I called, walking into the empty living room. "If you are doing the deed you had..."

"Rose!" Lissa exclaimed. "That is absolutely not becoming what you say every time you walk in un-announced!"

I gave her a wry grin, flopping down on the sofa. I was still hurting over Vasily's death and funeral, but being around Liss' always gave me a high that turned me into the rouge school girl I used to be.

"So, how are you doing?" she asked gently, coming to sit next to me on the sofa and resting her hand on my knee.

"I'm ok, I've learnt how to deal with things a bit better since... last time," I answered honestly.

"I'm still so sorry about your mother Rose," Lissa sighed. "You've lost so many people."

"It's the norm amongst dhampirs," I replied curtly, before realising what I'd just said. "I'm sorry, it's been a long day. I actually have some news to tell you."

"Oh?" prompted Lissa inquisitively.

"I..." there was no easy way to break this to her. "I got married. I married Dimitri".

"I know."

"I'm so sorry I kept it from you, I just didn't... wait. You knew?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah," she smiled. "I had to sign off on it, the priest called. It's still a tradition that a guardians moroi has to sign off on the marriage, and you were still registered as mine because the new job hadn't been formalised."

"You married Belikov?" came a screech as Christian tore into the room. "You knew she married Belikov and never told me?" he exclaimed at Lissa, eyebrows nearly in his hairline.

I looked at Lissa and burst into laughter, deep, stomach-aching laughter that had us falling on top of each other.

"It's just like we're back at the bloody academy," grumbled Christian, stalking in and sitting down in the armchair opposite us, arms crossed and a frown on his face.

The giggles subsided and Lissa and I stayed resting on each other, content in each others company.

"So... big party?" she said after a few minutes had passed.

"I'm not sure how my anti-social, stoic Russian will feel about that Liss'..."

"I don't care," she said bluntly. "You got married without a wedding, you will have a party. It can be people you want to go, not anybody that you feel you have to invite. Come on..." she groaned.

"Fine," I said after a few pain-filled moments. "Fine, but you have to tell him".

Her face lit up with a radiant smile that made her queenly features shine.

"Deal".

"So, last day then Hans, how are you feeling?" I asked as I walked out of the guardian building, Guardian Croft next to me.

"I...", he paused and stopped. "Mixed emotions". He glanced around at the few people that were passing us by. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

My eyebrows shot up. Never, bar one crazy pub night, had Hans socialised with fellow guardians, and that was because Vasily had threatened him somehow, I'd never managed to get the full story out of him.

"Sure," I said quickly. "Shall we go through the woods?"

He nodded and held his arm out, pointing for me to go first. We walked in silence, people glancing at us as we passed by, and only once we cleared the winding streets and entered the woods did Hans slow down and begin to speak.

"I want to tell you my story Rose," he said seriously. "No one else knows, and I want it to stay that way, but I want to share it with you. We've had our differences, but I see myself, and the problems I have faced, in you."

I gave him a small smile and nodded, urging him to continue.

He started walking again as he began to speak.

"I trained at an academy in the South and I was the best there. I was wanted by 3 different royal moroi, that was a much bigger deal back then because there were more Guardians about, and I had the choice of lifestyle I wanted. Everything was good. But then I got caught".

A look of sadness and longing passed over his features and I felt like resting a hand on his shoulder. I resisted.

"I had a friend back then, a good friend, more than a friend. Same-sex relationships are still ridiculed and frowned upon today, but it was even worse then. We very rarely let ourselves give in to feelings, keeping apart and professional, but one evening we slipped up, and it was that evening someone caught us.

Whilst it was kept quiet, we were punished accordingly and word got out that I wasn't 'normal'. No one knew the details, but they knew something had happened. My moroi pulled out, and when I graduated I had no guarding position to go to.

I ended up being sent to court to file, a job I know you loved so much," he shot me a wry grin. "I had to work so hard, make myself so good that they couldn't justify keeping me down there any longer. Just like you did," he said quietly.

I could see now just how similar we were.

"The rest you can find out by looking through my file," he said, giving me a look that told me he knew I had spent a whole afternoon getting lost in people's lives.

"I wanted to tell you all this because I want you to learn from my life. You have had to fight just as hard as I did, guardian relationships are just as frowned upon as same-sex relationships because of the child issue. You have had to work too hard to prove yourself, and just as I did, you've made it to the top".

Hans had never, never given me this much praise and I couldn't help but smile.

"But don't let it rule your life as I did. There is so much more on offer. Don't extent Rose. Let Dimitri, but once you have both finished together, call it a day. Live your life. Move away from court and make the most of the time. You've given the system your service, don't give them your life".

My lips parted slightly in shock. Thinking over everything he had told me, he was right. We were the same, had had to work to overcome the same things, and I really could learn from his life.

"Ok," I whispered, my first words since we had started talking.

"Ok?" he questioned, a confused expression on his face that I couldn't help but laugh at.

"Ok," I repeated.

"Huh," he chuckled. "I figured it would take a lot more to convince you. I remember many an argument we've had when I've tried to convince you of something".

"I've had a similar frame of mind recently," I admitted, the trees gradually becoming less thick as we walked. "Since marrying Dimitri my priorities have changed. I don't want the same things now that I did 2 months ago".

"Good," Hans grunted. "Well, that's that then."

"I have a question," I said after a few moments had passed and we were getting back into civilisation.

Hans grunted in response. Now that we were visible again, his gruff, wordless guardian mask was firmly back in place.

"I'm having a party in a few months to celebrate the marriage since we never had a wedding. Will you come?"

There was a pause as Hans considered his response.

"Before you say no," I interrupted, "remember what I have gone through. I had to marry my husband because we all thought I was going to die, I've lost my mother, I've lost my..., do it for Vasily Hans. Come in his memory, for the one time he managed to get you out".

"Did he ever tell you how he managed to get me to come out?" Hans asked.

I shook my head.

"Let it remain a secret then," Hans said, a warm expression filling his face.

"I'll come," he grunted a few moments later. "For Vasily and for your future happiness, I'll come".

I couldn't help but punch his arm and tease him.

"You're actually dying for a good party, you just can't admit it".

He gave me a look.

"I'll see you around Rose," he said, nodding towards the nearing guardian building. "Go and get your man".

He turned away, heading towards the guardian accommodation, leaving me to indeed go and collect my husband before going home. I couldn't believe where my life was now, after all those years apart, I had found my pace, found my person and found my path in life. I was home.

"Ready?" I called as I stuck my head into Dimitri's office. His head shot up from whatever paperwork he was looking over.

"Always ready for you," he said, an easy smirk filling his face as I strutted in.

"I'm rubbing off on you," I teased. "That line came straight from my mouth".

"If your mouth feels like it needs something else to do, I have a few ideas in mind," he growled, eyes darkening and panning my body.

I sat down on his knee and ran my hands through his hair.

"Save all those ideas and tell me when we get home".

He shot me a confused look and I couldn't keep my face from going red.

"Martin let me know that they've fitted CCTV into our offices for security".

The thumb that was slowly stroking my lower back stopped abruptly.

"When?"

"Last Tuesday," I admitted, grimacing.

"Last Tue... oh god," groaned Dimitri. "But we..."

"Yeah," I groaned, halting his words by placing my finger on his lips. "Yeah I had a very awkward conversation with Martin. That was why he came to tell me".

A chuckle escaped his lips and I couldn't help but smile at his reaction.

"Let's go home, old man," I sighed, pulling off his knee and holding out my hand to pull him up.

"Oh Roza, I'm going to show you just how young I still am," he growled.

"You can show me every day for the rest of our lives," I responded, heat filling my body as I pulled his arm around my waist, sinking into the man that I had loved since I was 17, and would continue to love until the end.

And so, we have come to the end of this 3-shot...well. What a journey I have been on writing this story that has emerged and become my favourite to write. It has been an escape for me as I have gone through some rather hectic things, and I would like to say such a huge thank you to everybody that has been following and reading each and every chapter. We have people that have been here from the very start, but also those who have joined as each new chapter came out, and thank you to everyone. From reviewing each chapter that I have written to sending multiple reviews telling me to get my butt in gear and write a new chapter, the support has been incredible, so thank you.

Here's to the next story in the VA universe.