A/N: So the ending to this on is coming slowly but surely. I am thinking that there will only be two or three more chapters with an epilogue. This story has one in a completly different direction than when I originally started it five years ago. I want to thank everyone who has stuck with it from the beginning. I hope you guys enjoy the ending as it slowly comes out.

ROSE

"You did what?!" Lissa asked as she paced her study. My mother and I had just arrived back at Court. We hadn't even taken time to change before we reported to the queen. After much discussion, Janine and I had decided that it was best to wait until our return to court to break the news to Lissa. We knew she would not take it well. It was best to wait until we knew she couldn't stop us from letting Katya go with Dimitri and the others.

"I allowed Katya and Eddie to go with Dimitri, Sonya, and the hunting party in order to hunt done and restore Adam." I said remaining calm. I knew Lissa well enough to know that even though she would often freak out about my impulsive decision, she knew that I knew what I was doing. She would eventually see that I had done the right thing, even if I still didn't believe it. She would eventually.

"And what exactly made you think that was a good idea?" She asked, leaning against her desk. Adrian, who insisted on hearing how the story ended was sitting in one of the arm chairs with a drink in hand. He seemed only mildly interested in what was going on.

"Me experience the first time in Russia." I explained. "Dimitri tried to run away from me to get rid of his feelings for me. It worked, until I showed up to kill him. When he saw me again, those feeling, or at least a twisted version of them came back. It didn't do me much good, because I didn't know there was a way to save him. Now that we know we can save Adam, seeing her might work to their advantage. If she makes him hesitate then Sonya can stake easier than if it turned into a fight."

"Or seeing her could make him angry enough to kill her. Did you think about that?" Lissa argued.

"I don't think it will." I couldn't believe I was arguing this with her. I had been mostly against this decision, but some how, I was starting to believe that it was the right one. "From what Katya told us, he had plenty of opportunity to kill her in the last few days of their time together, but he never did. And he saved her life when Marcus and Rebekah decided to run. I don't think he is capable of killing her."

"I hope you are right, because things are already strained enough with the Alchemists after everything that Sydney did to help you while you were on the run. If they find out we sent a human in Strigoi hunting party, they will be calling for my head, especially if that human dies."

"Dimitri and Eddie will not let that happen, Liss. You know that." I told her.

"That is my only comfort in this situation. I just hope the two of them can have their happy ending."

"I doubt Dimitri will ever stop until he makes that happen. His guilt over this, even know that Katya has been rescued, is eating at him. He will do everything in his power to make sure that Katya gets her happy ending. Even if he has to leave us and spend the rest of his life protecting her."

Despite the tension all of this had caused for us, I found that thought cut me pretty deep. I loved Dimitri, despite what happened, with all of my heart, and I couldn't imagine living my life without him. I couldn't imagine him walking away from me for another woman, even if it was to assuage his guilt.

Lissa, who still knew me better than anyone else in this world, must have sensed something in my last words.

"Guardina Hathaway, would you please debreif the others and let them know their queen has order they take the next few days off to recover from the mission?" Her tone was kind but clear this was an order, not a request.

"Of course, your Majesty." My mother bowed, gave my shoulder a little squeeze and exited the room.

"And Adrian, could you please excuse us. I need a minute with Rose." Again her tone made it clear that there was no room for arguments.

Adrian stood, inclined his head to the two of us, and walked out of the room. I imagined he was going to look for another place to get drunk. I sighed, reminding myself-once again-that I couldn't do anything to help him until he was ready to help himself. It was still hard not to feel guilty about how things ended between us.

"How are you holding up?" Lissa asked once the door closed behind Adrian. I shrugged and took Adrian's recently vacated seat.

"I don't know. Mostly I am just trying not think about things too much." I told her. "If I do, I start doubting that Dimitri and I should be together."

"Why?" Lissa asked coming to sit on the arm of the chair.

"I still feel a little guilty about loving him after what he did to that poor girl." I told her. "Especially after hearing it all first hand from her. She realizes now that it was just a hollow shell of the man Dimitri is now and was before then, but it physically it was still him. Sometimes, I still look into his eyes and think this is what Katya saw everytime he brutalized her. How can I be okay being intimate with him knowing that?"

"Because he was a soulless monster then, Rose. The Dimitri you love had nothing to do with what he did to Katya. His boday was there, but he had no control over it. Katya didn't see the eyes that you see everyday. Katya saw coldness, hatred, and anger in the red rimmed eyes of a monster, but those aren't the eyes Dimitri looks at you with. They aren't even the eyes he looks at Katya with anymore. He is the same man he was before he was transformed. Kind, caring, and strong."

"I know." I nodded. He and I had had this conversation several times over the last month. And for the most part, I accepted that. I just needed to find a way to deal with the guilt. I hoped that letting Katya get her happily ever after would help. "I am learning to move past that part, really. Some days are just harder than others, you know."

"I do." Lissa said. I was sure she was thinking of everything we had been through over the years, and some of the things she still harbored guilt over. "But there is more to it than that for you, isn't there?"

"You know me too well." I smiled.

"You've been my best friend since Kindergarten." She shrugged. "I was bound to learn a thing or two."

I gave a little chuckle. "I'm scared, Liss."

"Of what?" She asked and I could hear the panic in her voice. In her mind, I wasn't afraid of anything. I always had to pretend not to be in front of her. It was just another way I protected her, but I needed someone to tell me everything was gonna be okay this time.

"What's gonna happen when this is over?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, once Adam's been restored and he and Katya move on to find their happily ever after." I explained. "Obviously, if Marcus is still alive, they will have a target on their backs. We can't just leave them and hope everythinng will be okay."

"I've thought about that myself. And I have come up with a few solutions. Including sending them on their way with a couple of guardians."

"And that's what I'm afraid of. If you choose to do that, then Dimitri will see it as another opportunity to make things up to Katya. What if he requests to go with her? What if he leaves me?"

She smiled at me gently. "Do you really think after everything that you two have been through that he would leave you?"

"If he thought it was the right thing to do?" I swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn't like to look this vulnerable in front of Lissa. Yes, she was my best friend, but she was also my charge. She needed to know that I was strong.

"I don't think so." She told me. "He loves you more than anything in this world. I mean look what he went through when telling you about what happened with Katya. He was terrified that he was going to lose you. He wouldn't willingly walk away from you."

"Are you sure? Because I tried living without him once, and it almost killed me."

"That man is not going anyway. Besides, as Christian's guardian, he has responsibilities here, and his queen will be more than happy to remind him of that, should he request to be assigned to Katya and Adam."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at that. I guess it did pay to know the queen. Her words did succeed in making me feel better. I was still terrified that he would decide doing the right thing meant more to him than being with me, but Lissa was right in a lot of ways. Dimitri put off doing the right thing with Katya because he worried about losing me. I really didn't think that he would walk away after everything we had gone through to save her.

"Thank you, Liss." I told her wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. "You always know the right thing to say."

"What are best friends for?"

KATYA

I shivered as we drove to the remains of the last place I wanted to return to. Dimitri, Sonya, and the others honestly had no idea where to begin the search for Adam. They were all pretty sure that he would still be in Russia until he could insure that I was still alive, well, and permenantly safe from Marcus. They had no idea where in Russia that would be, though. They didn't know if he would stay with Marcus until the opportunity arose to kill him.

It was my suggestion to return to the location where the club once stood. If my safety was really important to Adam, he would return to this place to make sure that I had gotten out, or to confirm that I was dead. Perhaps, if he didn't find a body, he would've left some kind of clue where he was or where he was going.

After all, Marcus and Rebekah had told him all about how Rose and her father were coming to kill them. If he knew it was possible that I got out alive, maybe he would think that I would come looking for him. At the very least, he would know that I needed closure after everything that had happened. I was positive that there was going to be some kind of clue where to look for him, somewhere in the place.

Rose had said that she had her people take care of the clean up, so the humans wouldn't get suspicious, but they made sure the basement where Marcus and Rebekah had lived and the tunnel they used to escape had remained in tact.

"You, Sonya, and I are going to remain in the car." Dimitri explained once we came to a stop in front of the plot of land. "They are going to search the grounds and the basement area to make sure no one is around. Once we get the all clear, the three of us will go in and do a thorough search for any kind of clues."

"What if he's in there and they find him before we go in?" I asked. This wasn't going to work if they killed him before we could get to him. "I don't want him to die before we can try this."

"Don't worry." Sonya said, gently. "They have been told to call us if he is in there. Their orders are to fight, but not kill until we are able to join them. I promise, it will be okay."

"Okay." I took a deep breath and told myself that I was going to be with Adam no matter what happened next.

We waited in the car for a long ten minutes before we got the call giving us the all clear. I took another deep breath and surpressed the shudder that threatened to rip run down my spine. I could do this. Marcus and Rebekah were gone. They couldn't hurt me now.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Dimitri smiling down at me. It still shocked me to see the kindness and warmth on his face and in his eyes. Such a contrast to what he looked like when I first met him. It was like they really were two different people. It was easy to see why Rose loved and stood by this Dimitri.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Fine. I just didn't think that I would ever be back here." I answered. "It is a little freaky."

"I can imagine. Don't worry. We aren't going to let anything happen to you." He assured me. It was strange how much I had come to trust him in the last month. It took a while for me to be convinced that he was a different person, but once I had accepted that, I felt safe with him. I believed everything he told me, and knew he would never let anyone hurt me again.

"I know." I smiled at him.

Eddie came up from the whole in the ground that led to the stairs. He had a silver stake in his hand and a relaxed smile on his face.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Nope, but let's do it anyway." I answered trying to mask my nervousness with humor.

Eddie nodded and led the way back to the stairs.

"There is no one down here." Eddie explained as we descended. "But I am going to be right next to you the whole time. I won't let anything surprise you."

"Thank you." I told him. When we had reached the bottom, I looked to the left to see the door to Rebekah and Marcus's room was still wide open as was the door to the cell I was often kept in. It appeared someone had removed poor Anya's body. I hoped that they had given her a proper burial.

"Alright guys, we are looking for anything that may seem out of place that could point us in the direction of where Adam and Marcus may have gone. I know it is going to be difficult not knowing what you are looking for, but if you see something that looks like it could be important, bring it to us." Dimitri order the ten guardians who had accompanied us to the basement.

As the others separated to perform their searches, Dimitri came to me. "Where do you want to start?" He asked me.

I pointed to the cell. "This is where I met Adam, and where they turned him." I said unable to keep the shake out of my voice. "This room means something to us."

"Okay." He nodded to Eddie and Sonya and we walked inside. It was almost as big as Rebekah and Marcus's room, so it wasn't hard for the four of us to fit.

The second I walked into the room, I was assaulted with the memories of everything that had happened in this room. I could hear my own screams echoing in my head as I watched Adam being beatened and transformed right before my eyes. The pain of every time I felt his fangs pierce the skin in my neck was so clear, it was almost as if he were doing it now. I couldn't take it.

I covered my ears and dropped to my knees. "Make it stop! Make it stop!" I sobbed rocking back and forth.

"Katya, what's happening?" Eddie asked as I felt his arms wrapped around me.

"The memories." I sobbed. "It's too much. I need to get out of this room." I didn't need to say anymore. I was suddenly lifted off the ground.

"I'll calm her, then we will search the tunnel." He said to Dimitri and Sonya. "Keep looking in here."

Dimitri must have nodded because Eddie carried me out of the room. He put me back on my feet and helped me sit on the bottom stair.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I will be in a minute." I answered. The memories were already beginning to fade as I prayed this would be worth it. I took a couple of deep breaths and swallowed hard. This had been my idea. I wasn't going to let my fears and pain prevent me from finding and saving Adam. "I'm fine now. Let's go search the tunnel."

Eddie nodded, but I could see the concern and fear on his face. He believed this was too much for me, but I was going to prove that it wasn't. I stood up and headed for the tunnel. Eddie flipped on his flashlight and followed me into it. I couldn't remember the exact spot where Adam had saved me, but I felt I would know when we got there.

Sure enough about a quarter mile into the tunnel, I looked down and notice a dried up pool of blood from when I hit my head. I motioned for Eddie to flash the light over the area where the blood was. If there wasn't anything in the cell, there might be something here. Adam would know these were the two places that meant the most to me in our relationship.

As he flashed the lighy, I noticed a piece of paper wedged between a crack in the floor right beside the dried blood. I reached down and pulled it out. Upon opening it, I realized that it was Adam's hand writing.

Katya,

I am so relieved to see that you survived. I can only pray that you were found by the right people. All I want is for you to be safe and happy. I have killed Rebekah and Marcus for your sake, so you never have to worry about them again.

I didn't want to leave you without a word from me, or knowing where I was. Hearing the story of Dimitri from Marcus and Rebekah has giving me hope that I can be saved from this monster that I am slowly becoming. I am trying hard to fight it, but I am slowly losing the battle. I can only pray that you, and those who came to destroy Rebekah and Marcus are looking for me. Are trying to save me. It is why I decided to leave you this note.

I will be waiting for you in your first prison, please come and save me. I don't want to be this monster.

Love,

Adam

Tears were streaming down my face as I finished the note. He was waiting for me, and he told me exactly where he was. We had to go get him and save him now. From the sound of it, he couldn't hold on to who he was much longer.

"Dimitri, Sonya," I yelled. "I found something!"

I took off down the tunnel with Eddie trailing behind me. He had read the note over my shoulder and was yelling protests, but I wasn't paying attention. I knew where the love of my life was and we were gonna save him.

Dimitri and Sonya met me at the end of the tunnel.

"What is it?" Sonya asked and I handed her the note. She and Dimitri read it then looked at each other.

"Well, we know where he is. Now, we just have to decide if this is some kind of trap."

A/N: What do you guys think? Like I said it is coming to an end very soon. Will they get their happily ever after?