Usual Disclaimer

DPOV

My plane had just landed and as soon as I got off the plane, I saw Lissa waiting for me.

It was good to see her again but by the look on her face, she wasn't very happy with me. And after what she told me I put Rose through, I wasn't too thrilled with myself either.

I then walked up to the princess and bowed, I haven't forgotten my manners.

"Princess" I said.

"Dimitri," she nodded in acknowledgement "You and I need to talk before anything happens between you and Rose." She said matter-of-factly.

"I agree. I know that you care about her deeply and I want you to know that I do too. I would never intentionally hurt her. When I left I thought that I was protecting her, but I was stupid to think that leaving her was best for either of us. I can't live without her. All I hope is that she can forgive me, but even if she doesn't, I will spend the rest of my life trying to get her to."

"Good I'm glad you feel that way and you better treat her right. And I swear, if you ever hurt her again, I will make sure I use my super compulsion powers to make torture you to the point where you beg for death, got it?" Hearing her say stuff like this really scared me. She's not the type of person do make a threat like that but then again, we are talking about her best friend and she clearly doesn't want to see her hurt and neither do I.

"Princess, you have my word that I will never do anything to hurt her as long as I live."

"Wonderful and please call me Lissa, we are after all practically family." She said with a smile nut then she saw something past me and her smile quickly faded.

"Rose? ROSE..." She yelled, and I quickly turned to see Rose but she was running towards the woods and it looked like she was crying. I knew something wrong so I quickly ran after her. I faintly heard footsteps behind me, it was obviously Lissa but I refused to slow down, I had to get to Rose.

As I ran after her I kept calling her name but she didn't stop. So it was either she didn't hear me or I was what she was running from. Either way I wasn't going to stop until I was holding her in my arms.

Damn she was fast. I'm starting to regret making her run every day. I saw her disappear behind some trees and she was completely out of my line of vision. I saw the cabin Tasha stayed in only about a month ago and realized Rose must have run behind it to the pond.

As I rounded the bend I saw Rose but what I saw her doing scared the hell out of me. She was standing on the ice covered pond and it looked kind of thin. Is she crazy? I thought, is she trying to get herself killed? But then I had a realization that maybe that was exactly what she was trying to do. So I pushed myself to go faster than I ever have before because my Roza needed me and I sure as hell wasn't going to lose her again.

I called her name as loud as I could, hoping that she would hear me and stop what she was doing. Finally she heard me because she turned around and looked at me as if I was a figment of her imagination. But hoped that she would stop what she was doing despite the look of horror that is probably showing on my face.

As soon as she saw me she looked as though she wanted to run into my arms and as soon as she tried take a step forward she fell through the ice. My heart just about gave out when I saw her go through and before I could even command my body to do anything I was running onto the ice to the stop where she just fell through. I could hear Lissa behind me screaming so I told her to run as fast as she could to try and get some help. She nodded and ran back into the woods.

I couldn't see where she was, there was snow covering the ice but then I heard banging coming from somewhere close by. I tried listening for where the banging was coming from knowing that it was Rose. And then I heard it come from directly underneath me and I kneeled down and brushed away the snow as quickly as I could. I practically had tears in my eyes from the sight I saw. It was my Roza trapped under the ice trying to break it but she couldn't. I was screaming her name praying that she would be alright.

But then I saw something in her eyes. It was a pained look but it also showed that she was accepting the fact that she might die. I couldn't let that happen. My Roza has always been I fighter and I refuse to lose her now.

I WILL NOT LET HER DIE! I kept saying this to myself over and over again trying to break the ice next to her so she wouldn't get hurt. And then just as I managed to break through the ice I saw her eyes close and her body go slack, I knew I had to hurry. So I pulled her out of the water as fast as I could and ran her to the side of the pond on safe ground.

I immediately checked for a pulse and thanked god that I found one but it was weak and she also wasn't breathing and was starting to turn blue.

I tried to get her to start breathing. At first I was gentle when I was pushing on her chest because I didn't want to hurt her but when that wasn't working I pushed harder and harder begging her to breathe and wake up.

"Come on Roza….. Don't leave me now….. Not when I just realized….. I can't live without you….. Don't leave me….. You're a fighter….. Come on my beautiful….. Roza….. Breathe….." And it went on and on for what felt like forever and for every minute that passed I felt her life slip further and further away from me.

And just when I thought I had lost her for good she began to cough up water. I never thought that hearing her gasp for air would be one of the most amazing sounds in the world.

But as soon as she caught her breathe she began to shake violently. Her lips were still blue and her skin was ice cold. I then immediately took my coat off and wrapped her in it tightly pressing her as close to my body as possible. She didn't move for awhile after that but then she must have realized where she was because she snapped her head up and looked at me straight in the eye and then I heard her beautiful voice ask, "Dimitri, is that really you?"

"Yes my beautiful Roza, I'm here and I'm never going to leave you again."

She must have gone into shock after that because as soon as the last words left my mouth she blacked out and her body went limp in my arms.

"Roza? Roza? Roza, wake up, I can't lose you, not now, come on wake up. Roza?"

As I was screaming her name begging for her to wake up I heard footsteps and immediately shot up ready to run with my Roza in my arms in the case of a threat. But then I saw about a half a dozen guardians running towards me with Alberta leading them.

"What happened?" She asked as she got closer and as she saw rose lying unconscious in my arms she ordered for me to run her to the infirmary as fast as possible. Like you have to tell me twice. I then took off at a speed I never even knew I could with only one thought in mind, my Roza.

I was soon approaching the infirmary and as I got to the doors I burst through them yelling.

"PLEASE someone, anyone, I need help!" I then saw Dr. Olendski walk towards me swiftly.

"What happened?" She grabbed Rose out of my arms and had a bunch of nurses run her to a room.

"She ran into the woods and I followed her and she ran out onto the pond and fell through the ice. I managed to get her out but she wasn't breathing so I did mouth to mouth to try and get her to start breathing and then she did but blacked out again shortly after." The doctor wore a very concerned face during my recap of what happened and when I was done she stayed silent for awhile and then said "Well Guardian Belikov, it's a good thing you did what you did because she probably wouldn't be alive now if you hadn't" My heart sank when she said that, I couldn't believe that my Roza nearly died.

Just then the doors burst open again to reveal a very worried Lissa, Christian, and Alberta. They were all running towards the doctor and me, asking what had happened and if Rose was okay. Then the doctor said that she would check on Rose and let us all know but in the mean time head back to our rooms.

Lissa and I immediately refused and then Christian did, not wanting to leave Lissa alone probably. The doctor then told us if we wished to stay to go and have a seat in the waiting room.

I then walked into the waiting room but refused to sit down; I couldn't without knowing what's wrong with my Roza. All I could do was pace back and forth around the room asking myself why Rose would try to kill herself. Just then, I felt someone grab my shoulder from behind and I immediately spun around to come face to face with Alberta.

"Guardian Belikov have a seat, I need to speak with you." She said.

What on earth could she want to talk to me about? I swear if she tries to bring up anything business related, I'll blow a gasket. How could anyone think about anything right now without knowing if Rose was okay or not? But I reluctantly followed to where she wanted me to sit and noticed that we were seated away from the others in the room.

"Dimitri, I know about you and Rose." Shock immediately ran through me. I didn't know what to say to that so I just sat there silent starring at her wide-eyed. She continued.

"I didn't notice at first, but as time went on, just the way you two acted around each other, the way you look at each other, I could definitely tell something was going on. At that point all I had was a theory but when you left, that's when I knew. I could see the pain in your eyes the day you left; I didn't know what from at first but then the way Rose acted after you left that's how I knew, especially after her starvation attempt." I flinched at the thought, "When I brought her in, she was so weak, after a few hours she passed out and I wanted to stay with her to make sure she was alright. Once she was asleep she started to talk in her sleep and when she said 'Dimitri, I love you' it just confirmed all of my theories."

"Alberta, you have to know that I tried everything I could to try and stay away from her-"

"I know Belikov; I'm guessing that's why you left to be Miss Ozera's guardian in the first place, correct?"

"Yes, but after being away from her and hearing that she was hurting and how she tried to kill herself, I couldn't do it anymore. I knew she needed me just as much as I need her."

"Then I only have one question for you and I want you to answer it honestly," I just nodded, "Do you love her?"

Without even a thought I said, "Yes, I love her with all my heart and more. When I left her, I thought I was protecting her even though it killed me inside. Everything that I am and everything that I hope to be is hers, now and forever. All I hope is that she forgives me for hurting her the way I did."

"Well from the way I've heard her cry over you the last two weeks, I'd say that she most definitely will. But what confuses me is what happened. She only tried to kill herself the week after you left but in this past week she seemed fine, yes she was sad but no suicidal attempts. So why now, why today?"

"I don't know, maybe she can tell us when she wakes up."

"Yeah, maybe." Just then the doctor came back out and I immediately ran to her and bombarded her with questions like, "How is she?", "Is she alright?", and "Is she awake?"

"Calm down, she's fine. Her body temperature is still a lot lower than we would like but it's climbing so that's a good thing. She's still unconscious and she probably won't wake up for a few more hours but she has been mumbling things in her sleep."

"Like what?" asked the Princess.

"Well she's actually been asking for some one," she then turned towards me and looked at me straight in the eye and said, "You Guardian Belikov, she's been asking for you." Hearing her say that made my heart flutter. Knowing that my Roza was asking for me even while unconscious let me know that she wanted and needed me.

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"Not just yet, we're still hooking her up to some machines to monitor her but as soon as we're done you can. I'll let you know." And with that she left to go back to Rose.

Alberta then came up beside me as I was watching where the doctor disappear into Rose's room and said, "Dimitri, why don't you give me your things and I'll have them taken to your room so that you can stay here with Rose." I looked at her in shock.

"Wait, why are you letting me stay here with her? I'm a teacher who fell in love with their student, I broke the law, shouldn't I be arrested or at least be escorted off the grounds?"

"Dimitri, yes you did break the law, but no I'm not going to turn you in. What you and Rose have is something so special, true love. You of all people should know how quickly a guardian's life can change and how dangerous our lives are. We could die at any moment and I don't want you to look back on your life realizing that you two could have been together for whatever time you two have. I refuse to stand in the way of that. You two have something that most people would kill for just to experience for one day. Something I had once and lost because we put our duty first."

"What happened?" I can't believe Alberta and I are having this conversation but she's opening up to me and I'm very curious.

"Lance and I were both 18 at the time and we both fell madly in love. He was a dhampir and we both attended Alder Academy. He was my soul mate and I was his. But life and this world got in the way of it. Once we graduated we went our separate ways, never to see each other again. We had only started dating about three or four before graduation so we didn't even get to feel like a real couple. About a month after we graduated I realized that I loved him and I didn't want to be away from him any more so I got some time off and went to the Royal Court because he was the guardian of a Voda Lord. But when I got there the other guardians told me that he was killed by a strigio while protecting his charge. I regret not telling him how I felt every day of my life." She had tears building up in her eyes at this point, "Sometimes at night I dream about him and wish that he was here with me but I know that that can never happen because I wasted too much time to tell him how I felt. But it's not too late for you because your soul mate is in the other room fighting for her life to try and get back to you. Dimitri I don't want you to realize that you could have her and be with her after you've lost her like I did and after everything you two have been through, especially her, you two deserve to be happy. And just as long as you two don't get caught and keep it strictly professional in front of people until after graduation then you two can be together as much as you want." I didn't know what to say, she had just told me that Roza and I could be together, like a real couple. She was really going to let us be together so I did the only thing I could do to thank her. I gave her a bone-crushing hug and told her how much it means to me that she was going to let Rose and I be together.

After that she told me to let her know when there were any changes and she left.

As soon as the doors closed, the doctor came back to let us know that we could see her.

I swiftly walked to Rose's room and as soon as I stepped through the door my heart broke at the sight I saw. It was Rose hooked up to about a dozen different machines and she was so pale. She looked so lifeless and I would have thought that see was had it not been for the heart monitor next to her.

I scooted a chair up next to her bed so that I could sit down next to her. I was probably going to be here for awhile because there is no way that I am going to leave her.

So for the next few hours all I did was stare at her while rubbing small circles on the back of her hand. I just kept looking at her, unable to take my eyes away from her. I wanted to memorize every detail about her. Her face, that beautiful face that I loved so much, was so flawless and angelic. Her nose sat perfectly in the center of her face and her lips were perfect despite the blue-ish tint to them, the lips that seemed to be perfectly molded to mine and tasted so sweet against my mouth, I craved her lips and the touch and feel of her mouth on mine. I've missed them so much but not nearly as much as the way her eyes would stare into mine. Those perfect eyes that saw directly into my soul and I could never get enough of them. But right now that is all I wanted because despite everything about her, her eyes were the only things I couldn't see right now but wished more than anything to see. And as if she could hear my thoughts I saw her eyes twitch.

"Roza? Come on Roza, open your eyes. I need to see your eyes, please wake up. I love you so much; I can't live without you, please come back to me, and wake up." I kept squeezing her hand the whole time I spoke to her. And then the most amazing thing happened, she opened her eyes. She looked at me and I could see all the love and heartache for me in them.

"Roza I am so, so, so sorry for leaving you. I thought I did it to protect you and-" she cut me off by putting her finger over my mouth.

"Dimitri I heard what you said, I can't believe you came back for me I never thought I'd see you again, I love you so much." She had tears in her eyes and some started to spill over. I then stroked her cheek and used my thumb to wipe away her tears and then she reached over and grabbed the hand on her cheek and she began kissing my palm sending a shudder through my body.

"Roza I need to know why you ran out onto that pond, I know that you tried to kill yourself and I need to know why. I thought I lost you and if you died and most definitely would die right along with you. Please tell me." As I looked at her I could she something in her eyes. They showed confusion, sadness, pain, and anger. And what she said next made all the emotions I saw in her eyes make sense.

"Tasha….."