Author's note: So, I guess this at least takes place after Golden Lily. Dimitri and Sonya are already back home in Court, but other than that, I don't perceive there being much more connection to that series other than perhaps bringing some of the characters back in, but know that it won't have much interaction between the two. Anyway, I'm in love with the response thus far, so keep it up! Let me know what you guys think! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead, the most brilliant woman in the world.

Warning: Nothing, except maybe language.

Word Count: 4,219

Once Richmond, the overly nice but also overly talkative Guardian, lead me to my room, I was free to feel a little bad about what I said that immediately followed. "Thanks, dude, gonna get some alone time for a bit. Cool? Thanks." And then closed the door. I heard him call through the door that he would see me later and then made his way back down the hall.

A single glance around the room shows me the most basic room in the world. A bed, a dresser, a closet, and a window seat. Okay, totally taking that back, the window seat looks kind of awesome. I throw my bags on the bed and walk over to it. I pull open the dark curtains to like the sunlight pour into the room. I sit onto the seat and relish in the feeling of the warm sun on my skin.

I lay my forehead against the window and let out a long breath. Okay, so this wacko researcher is studying Spirit out in the middle of nowhere, Nevada. He's got three Guardians, four now including myself, and a granddaughter who is a Spirit wielder.

I open my eyes and scan the area. There doesn't appear to be any neighbors for for a few yards. We're a little off the beaten path. My mind begins racing with ways to better fortify this place against possible Strigoi attacks. I take in all that I can see on the front half of the house and, after a few minutes of mental debate, I decide that I have to check out the rest of the land just to be safe. I know there are other competent Guardians out there and these three have been protecting two Moroi for who-knows-how-long but I need to see for myself.

Opening up the window, I swing one leg out, straddling the sill before sliding all the way out onto the lower roof. Yeah, I'm sure there's an easy way to do this but the last thing I want is to have people watching me or following me around while I inspect the area. So I use the window to boost me up and climb the rest of the way to the very top of the house.

Even though the house looks new, I have to make sure there is no structural weaknesses on the roof that Strigoi could utilize. Not that they wouldn't be able to just punch a hole straight through anyway, but still. It makes me feel a little bit better. Then I make my way back down to the second floor, before climbing back in through my window. I close it and head to the door and out into the dark hallway. I walk all the way to the end and down the stairs into the living room, make my way through the door to my right and outside.

I close the door as quietly as I can and begin circling the house, making mental notes on where to be careful of in the event of an attack. I note that there are two egress windows, signaling a basement. I make my way around the entire house three times before inspecting the wards. All of it looks good, over all. Which I'm happy to see.

"How was your inspection?"

I turn slightly to see an older man with a jagged scar from his right temple to the corner of his mouth. "It was fine. Are you Guardian Bobby?"

He nods, stepping off the porch to walk over to me. We firmly shake hands. He looks to be around the same age as Abe. "Yes. Bobby Collins. You must be Rose Hathaway."

I nod. "Nice to meet you, Guardian Collins. Sorry, it's not about you guys, it's about me. I'm really anal about this sort of thing." I wave around us, just in case he didn't know what I was referring to.

He nods in understanding. "No offence taken. You're a Guardian from Court. I would be surprised if you did anything less. In fact, I'm surprised that you took this long. So, how is this?"

I take a moment to look around the area again, just making sure I didn't miss anything. Once I am sure that I didn't I turn back. "It looks good. I think you guys are doing a wonderful job. This place looks surprisingly secure. No offence," I say. Flinch, then add, "Again."

For as kind of scary as he looks, Guardian Collins seems very nice. I think I like him already. Without words, the two of us turn and start walking back toward the house. About half way there, I finally turn to Booby. "So what can you tell me about Mr. Kyoshiva. About his research. About his granddaughter." I'm not sure if talking about all of these things are wrong or not.

Bobby stops and turns to me. "It's fine," he says, reading the discomfort on my face. "Gerard, he prefers that over Mr. Kyoshiva, is a little... eccentric. He talks fast and a little disorienting but he's kind and would move heaven and earth for Alina. She's also a sweetheart. She has these moments..."

I nod. "I know all about Spirit users. She has these moments when she's not all there, right?"

He smiles faintly. "Yes, but she's a true darling. Sweetest thing. I've known her since she was a baby. Little angel." His eyes adopt this far away look and the affection is genuine in his eyes. I can see that he cares very deeply for her. I can imagine. I love Lissa so much from just being best friends with her since kindergarden, I can't imagine how much I would love her if I'd known her all of her life. I wonder if I could love someone as unconditionally as that.

"As for his research," Bobby continues, voice falling neutral. This is just Guardian business. It's not something that touches too close to his heart. "I'm not so sure I'm the best one to explain what he does. I'm going to let him explain that to you when he gets up, which will be soon." He looks up at the sky, sunset fast approaching. "Gerard likes to be up early, says it helps his creative juices."

I rise and eyebrow as we continue into the house. "I see. That aside. Where were you?"

"As in, where was I when you were wondering around?" Bobby asks. I nod. "Kitchen. I watched you circle the house a couple times, then the perimeter of the yard. I didn't want to disturb you." I hope my appreciation is conveyed on my face. We both take seats at the plain, large wood table. Bobby gets himself a cup of coffee. "Do you want some?"

I wave my hand. "I'm good."

He sits across from me and we stay like that in silence. I take this time to look around the room. There is a lot of pictures of a beautiful young girl, just a few years older than me. She has long, thick curly blond hair and large, white-blue eyes. There is a lot of her through her life. One where she's finger painting at about five or six. Another of her at her sweet sixteen and another of her, with her long skinny arms around an older man.

He looks to be maybe in his sixties with salt and pepper hair. He's got a big smile on his face, showing off his fangs with eyes the exact same as his granddaughter. They look very close. When I voice this, Bobby turns around and looks at the picture on the wall that I was.

"Yeah, Alina's parents died in a Strigoi attack when she was eight. She's been living with Gerard ever since," he says. He turns back to me and then, as if he felt like I needed an explanation, he adds, "I was part of her parents protection. It was my day off. I..." he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "I shouldn't have... I should have been there. They needed me and I wasn't there." His head hangs a bit and sadness envelopes his face.

"But you showed up and saved me. You should never feel ashamed of that."

Bobby and I both jump slightly and look at the doorway into the kitchen to see Alina. Mussed up blond hair from sleep in a big tee-shirt and silk pajama pants. She looks down at Bobby with a gentle smile.

"Alina, what are you doing up? It's early," says Bobby, standing up and walking over to the skinny Moroi.

She smiles and gently touches his chin like he's fine china. "You saved me." She places a gentle kiss on his cheek. "You were a young man. This was your first assignment and first time dealing with real Strigoi. You killed three Strigoi to get to me. Thank you again."

Their connection is so cute. It's obvious that they have a strong bond. I'm actually a little jealous of their bond. With years and different lifestyles separating them, they still have such a powerful connection. It makes me think of the bond I have with Dimitri. How he and I just seem to click regardless of how different the two of us were and the thought alone makes me smile. Something about it seems so... pure.

"I really like Bobby," Alina says to me. I blink and stare back.

"O-Oh?" I say, eyebrows raised. "I didn't say anything."

She smiles. "I know. But you thought it."

"What are you, Charles Xavier now?" As soon as the words leave my mouth I can't contain my surprise. "You can read minds?"

Her smile widens even more. She steps passed Bobby and walks to the coffee pot, getting herself a cup. She holds it cupped in her hands, absorbing the warmth from the mug. She sips from it, humming softly under her breath with a content smile on her lips. "Mm. I love the brew you use, Bobby." She takes one more sip before looking back at me. The fading light casting a shadow over her blue eyes. "Yes. It's part of my gift from Spirit."

My jaw drops. "No shit. Okay, what am I thinking about right now?" I picture Court.

"Court," she says.

"And now?" I think about roses.

She smiles. "Roses." She takes another sip. "And now your thinking about another Spirit user. Sonya Karp." I can't stop the grin spreading across my face. Alina looks amused. "And now you are thinking about a shirtless man. Oh!" Her eyes widen and then she giggles. "He is handsome."

I laugh. "It's my boyfriend, Dimitri."

Alina laughs too, shaking her head. "He is adorable. Oh, and Russian. And a very handsome Dhampir." She steps over to me and offers her hand. "I'm Alina Kyoshiva. It's so nice to meet you."

I take it, it feels dainty and thin in my own. I feel like after spending so much time with Moroi I should be comfortable with dealing with people so tiny, but it feels a little weird. Maybe I'm so used to Lissa that Alina's tinier hands are hard to believe. She smiles at my thoughts... I think.

"Rose Hathaway, pleasure is all mine," I greet back. She sits herself down next to Bobby across from me.

"It's so exciting that you're here to see what granddad has discovered," she says, sipping her coffee. She stares down into her cup. "It's just sad. Granddad works so hard and it's about time people finally at least see what's going on with him."

I drum my fingers against the wood on the table. "Yeah. Sorry about that. So, Lissa, I mean, Queen Vasilisa, wanted me to take a peak at what your old man's got and if he's got something, we might move him to Court to continue. At least there there are two more Spirit users. Would be three but one of them, Adrian, is out slumming somewhere."

Alina perks up. "Granddad may be able to continue his studies at Court? Is that really the truth?" She looks at me eagerly.

I nod. "But lets see if this guy's got something. We'll see."

Alina reaches out and grabs my hand tightly in her two tiny ones. "You will not be disappointed, Guardian Hathaway."

"Just Rose," I say. "People call out Guardian Hathaway and I go running for the hills to avoid my mom." Alina laughs. It's a soft, musical sound. I'm starting to think all Moroi -and Dimitri, strangely enough- have musical, wonderful laughs. And then when I laugh it sounds like two midgets in a brawl.

Alina's laugh grows in intensity, she throws her head back and the music continues for a few minutes more. Bobby looks between us, confused but Alina shakes her head at him. "Don't ask. It was hilarious." She jerks her head slightly to the left and before I can say anything or react, she says. "Granddad is up."

"You're here!"

I look up over Bobby's head to see a tall Moroi man, slightly hunched from age, comes galloping into the room and seizes me by the shoulders. It takes all of my willpower not to nail him in the nose with the heel of my hand. I take a few breaths before relaxing my muscles, reminding myself that this is a sweet little Moroi man, not a Strigoi.

"Mr. Kyo-" I start but he shakes his head quickly.

"Gerard, my dear. Please, call me Gerard! I'm so excited to meet you!" His blue eyes brighten, like I'm some kind of sweet candy dangling in front of his face. "When I heard that the Court was going to send someone to hear what I have to say, I was so excited! But then when they told me that they were sending the personal Guardian of Queen Vasilisa, I was so happy! I was hoping it would be you and here you are! Rosemarie Hathaway! Here, in my kitchen!" He looks over at Alina and Bobby. He takes back one hand and waves it toward me like they can't see me. "Can you believe it? Here!"

Alina smiles gently. "Yes, Granddad. I see her. It is wonderful that she's here." For a moment I wonder if she's going to tell him about the possibility of moving to Court but she doesn't. Just smiles at her grandfather, saintly. Looking at Bobby, I see a similar smile, giving me the impression that that's probably one of the best ways to deal with Gerard.

"My name is Rose Hathaway," I say, wondering if I should try to shake his hand or if I wont get that back either. One of his hands are still tightly gripping my arm. Deciding that I don't want to risk it, I just wave my hand instead.

Gerard's blue eyes fly back to my face, like he forgot that I was there. Then they light up again in excitement. "Oh! Come with me, Ms. Hathaway!" He starts tugging me toward the door.

"Granddad, maybe we should have breakfast first," Alina says.

"No time for that, child!" Gerard calls. "We have very little time to waste! Time for food comes later!" He laughs and leads me down the hall a bit before opening one of the doors opposite the staircase and clicks on the light showing the way to the basement. I take a moment to breathe before following him into the darkness. I turn just once to see that Alina is following us.

"Bobby is going to wait upstairs," she tells me. "He doesn't like the confined space of the basement."

I turn back around and press my lips tight together. "I feel him." The basement isn't small. It's completely finished with four rooms. All carpeted with the exception to the bathroom which is tiled. A large room at the bottom of the stairs that is a wreck room with a couch and big flat screen t.v and a mini bar. A bathroom right across from the stairs and one door on both sides of the room opposite of one another. One leads to the human feeder that lives with them and the other is Gerard's study.

It's a decent size. Big enough to comfortably fit a desk, bookcase, pacing room and one of the two egress windows. I'm betting the other is in the feeder's room. Gerard bustles around the room moving stuff around and collecting papers. I stand in the doorway and watch him go about the room in silence. Alina stands by my side, leaning against the door frame.

Gerard spins around. "Everyone is different!"

Alina and I both jump. I take a bit of comfort knowing that she didn't expect that either. I cross my arms over my chest. "Okay?"

He walks back over to me and I wonder if he's going to grab me again, but thankfully he doesn't. "Just like people, each Spirit user is different. They can all do certain things but there is usually one that they excel at. That doesn't happen with any of the other elemental users. Just them! Why is that? Why is Spirit so rare in comparison to all other elements? Why is that? The Spirit users can do all sorts of cool things such as healing people and super compel and read minds, as my beautiful Alina has shown," he says proudly, smiling at his granddaughter.

"Spirit users," I start, "are also capable of charming things, like bracelets and stuff. And then they are also able to..." I think about the proper word for it. "...um... interact with other people's dreams. Oh, and they can see auras." Gerard makes a weird squawking noise. I make a face at that. "What the h-"

This time he actually grabs my hands tightly in his own. "You have to tell me everything about these! They can charm anything? Like a lamp or a chair? Or is it just small things like bracelets or earrings? And these dreams! What can they do in these dreams? Do you mean they can control them all themselves or can they all just interact with the other person's dream? And being able to see auras?"

I blink rapidly. Just like Richmond, which I have to imagine he got it from Gerard, they both remind me of Natalie and her constant blabbering. Or, her what used to be constant. I force down the sadness creeping up my throat.

"Uh..." I say dumbly, trying to remember any of the questions. "Uhh... yes?"

Gerard squawks again, throwing his hands into the air. I flinch, making a face. Those aren't human noises he's making and no one but me seems to think there is anything wrong with what just happened so I don't make a scene. In fact, a quick glance at Alina makes me think this is something he does a lot and became part of his charm.

"Why is that?" He shrieks.

"I don't know!" I shriek back.

"Granddad," Alina says, reaching out and laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. She squeezes it with a crinkly eyed smile. "Remember. One question at a time, okay? People can't understand you when he ask questions like that in rapid succession."

"Right, right," Gerard says, looking around rapidly. He takes Alina's hand off his shoulder and squeezes it tightly. He looks back over at me. "Mmm... enchanting. To what extent can they do that?"

And with that, I began to tell him everything and anything I could about Spirit. Gerard made it seem like everything I said was so important, like life and death. After I was finished I could practically see his mind whirling. His eyes are moving around sporadically, absorbing this information like a sponge. He mumbles something under his breath before spinning around and walking over to his desk. He takes a couple of minutes to scribble down everything he's heard.

"So," I say after about four minutes of silence, "anything interesting about Spirit that I haven't mentioned?"

Gerard nods briskly. "There is no blood connection. Just because a mother or a father is a Spirit user, doesn't mean that their children will. If you want to think of it, it's a kind of a genetic abnormality. I believe that there wasn't always a Spirit. That it's some kind of mutation from one or all of the elements. It is theorized that old Moroi used to have more than one designated element but over the years the ability limited itself to just one." He starts pacing around the room, mumbling something even my advanced hearing couldn't pick.

I nod slowly, raising my eyebrows. "Okay... that's cool." I mean, that's interesting, but not really my idea of something overly interesting. Maybe it would be to someone else, but to me... well, this just reminds me why I didn't pay much attention in class.

"Tell me," Gerard says, "is it true that people who are Moroi/Dhampir-turned-Strigoi-turned-back-to- Moroi/Dhampir can't be turned back into Strigoi?"

I shrug a single shoulder, leaning up against the door frame. "Yes, as far as our information has told us. We only have theories, no concrete answers."

Gerard nods very slowly, eyes twinkling with intrigue. "Interesting. So, back to the powers of the Spirit users: Do you know why there is such diversity in the Spirit?"

From the look he's giving me, I'm not sure if he wants me to answer that or if this pause is for dramatic effect. After an entire minute of him just staring at me, slowly rubbing his hands together in anticipation, I finally say, "No."

"I think," he pauses, and this one for dramatic effect, I'm sure of it, "that it corresponds with personalities." He raises his eyebrows at me in a look that clearly stated: I'm a genius. Maybe he saw that he was losing me, because he quickly added, "think about it, Alina has always been very perceptive about what the people around her are thinking and feeling. When she finally got her powers, she was able to read minds." That look of his returned.

That made me think about Lissa. Always so compassionate and caring. She's always loved to look after people, take care of them. Her ethics would never have allowed her to sit by and watch someone or something suffer in front of her eyes. And then that made me think of Adrian, who, depending on who you ask, could be considered... "dreamy." I whisper under my breath, mentally laughing at how witty I am. I grin.

"Okay," I concede, giving him a level look. "That makes sense. But have you ever thought that perhaps their personality correspond with what their powers will be? Not the other way around. Like her personality doesn't make the spirit, the spirit makes the personality?" As soon as the words left my mouth I felt sickened by them. The very thought of Spirit ever making Lissa the amazing person that she is just can't be true. She's an amazing person because she's Lissa. Not because she has Spirit.

But Gerard looks to be completely awestruck by the mere idea, but then a little down. "There is no way to prove either way. But the idea that they somehow go along with personality still sounds plausible, yes?" He nods at me, eyes wide like a doe's.

I nod, having nothing to contradict that. "Yes. That does sound like a possibility." He beams at me again.

"Thank you, Shadow-kissed Rose," he says kindly, reaching out and patting my arm in a very grandfatherly way.

"I'm not Shadow-kissed anymore, Gerard," I tell him.

This time Alina spoke, surprising me a little because I forgot she was here. "How do you know that?" At my questioning look, she elaborates. "How do you know that you are no longer Shadow-kissed?" She tilts her head slightly to the left. Her eyes are half lidded.

"My bond with Lissa is gone," I say, my voice slightly sharper than I would have liked it. But Alina doesn't seem effected by it. "I don't feel it anymore."

Alina's eyes adapt that look that I've come to associate with Adrian's dazed looks. "Just because you don't feel it anymore, Shadow-kissed Rose, doesn't mean it's no longer there."