January 30, 2011

This chapter is very important to me and I really hope you all like it. This is your first real peek at the woman that Rose has become. I am thinking of posting the POV's of this story as outtakes. I will let you know what I decide

I do not own VA or its original characters. That which comes from my own slightly insane mind I happily, share with you.

Chapter 6: Guardian Hathaway

This was an important day and I didn't want to mess up. I looked at the clock. 5:00 PM. I got up and dressed for my morning workout. The walk to the gym was nice. The sun was still up and it was warm. Overhead I heard a jet beginning it's decent, I looked up to see it circling down; winding its way to the landing strip. I wondered briefly who could be arriving to the school. I let the thought go and worked out for an hour. There was nothing in the gym that didn't remind me of her. So many sweet memories; I allowed myself to dwell on the good times.

My workout done I ran to my room so that I can get showered and changed. I was nervous and didn't want to eat anything but the fact that I was going to be starting my training sessions with Annemarie it would be best if I had a little bit to eat. In the staff room I got a bagel with cream cheese and some tea. I looked around the room for a table and spotted Mikhail at one.

Though none of the guardians and staff who I used to work with has been overtly rude to me, none go out of their way to speak with me. I have actually found Guardian Alto looking at me with distain whenever our eyes have met. Mikhail was at least somewhat friendly with me.

"Do you mind if I sit here."

"Go ahead. It doesn't bother me."

"You don't normally eat in here. So what brings you here today?"

"I'm just giving Guardian Hathaway, some privacy for family bonding."

"Oh."

"She just got in about an hour and a half ago."

He picked up a paper and started reading. I ate my breakfast while looking around. I had a western in my pocked but I just didn't feel like reading it. A few tables away Lissa sat down but this time she was not alone. Christian had his arm wrapped around her. I noticed a small baby bump low on her belly. Moroi usually have a difficult time conceiving a child; in less than five years of marriage Lissa is on her third pregnancy. Over the years I have noticed that Chris has filled out. His physique is almost as buff as a guardian. Edison Castel was with them and so was the blond girl who had made Rose's first few months back in school, a living hell. Mia…. Yes it was Mia Rinaldi. After everything that had happened in Spokane Rose and Mia had become friends. I was surprised to see that Mia was also well muscled. Two other buff looking Moroi men joined the table.

"Hey, Tanner, who are the guys over there with the Dragomirs. I recognize Mia Rinaldi and Edison Castel but not the other two."

"Well Mia is a Castel now and the blond is Angus O'shea and the one with light brown hair is Jake Baddica."

"All week Lissa has dined alone but today she has a full table."

"Yeah the rest have been gone on business."

I looked at my watch. I had 15 minutes to get to my meeting with Rose.

"I gotta go. Have a good day."

"Yeah you too." We both got up and headed out he turned to the direction of the cottage house and I headed to Rose's office.

Her door was ajar and she was on the phone. Her guardian mask was only partly up and her voice was professional but warm. I tapped on her door. When she looked up and saw me her mask instantly settled into place. She motioned for me to take a seat. She turned and looked at the wall as she spoke. I waited for her to finish her call; meanwhile I looked around her office. There were pictures of children around her walls and her desk. There was a picture of Annemarie and a little boy of about 6. He had dark copper brown hair and butterscotch colored eyes. Rose and Adrian were both in the picture with them. It pained me to see him in the picture with her. There was nothing in the picture to suggest anything more than friendship but I still envied him that. I wondered who the little boy was. Next to that was a picture of Roza with a Graduate. The young girl held her diploma in front of her. I stifled a gasp when I read the name on it. Emma Marie Hathaway. I wonder if she is a cousin. The girl is stunning in her own way; she has dark blond hair and hazel eyes. She is short for a Dhampir.

I looked at Rose; she was dressed in a purple and white pinstripe blouse with a soft lavender sweater over. She wore a silver chain necklace that hung down just past her clavicle bone where a round moonstone nestled against her shirt. Her long hair was braided down her back. Despite her cold expression she was still devastatingly beautiful. I tried not to listen to her conversation but I couldn't help myself. Not that I understood any of it.

"The daytime strategy worked well but I can't say that it was more effective than the nocturnal hunt. Hunting during the day did give us the element of surprise but it also put us at a disadvantage when they got a few human to break the wards we put up around camp. We reverted to the nocturnal hunt after the first day."

She paused to listen.

"Yes we all fine and safe. Oh she told you about that? It was a close call, I was a bit distracted as you could well imagine but I got my head screwed on straight and back in the game in time."

Another pause.

"Packs 3, 7, 9, and 10 have reported in and each has been successful. Between them they have six transformations. Packs 2, 4, and 8 did not make contact and will be coming in empty handed. Packs 5 and 6 are going to be out one more day; I will call as soon as they report."

Rose paused again to listen to the caller. She gave a short, soft laugh before giving her reply. For a moment her mask was completely gone and she smiled.

"Yes we will be there at 8 pm on Friday November,10th. Josh is chomping at the bit to see his uncle Bobby. You should see him he has been counting the days off on a calendar. I will see you then…. Have a good day your highness."

I had already been thoroughly confused by her conversation as it was but to find that she had been talking to Queen Tatiana was surprising. I knew that Rose worked for the Queen but still it was odd to see that she was friendly with her. I remembered that when Queen Tatiana had asked me to come here she seemed fond of Rose. Seven years ago their relationship was one of mutual hate.

Who was Josh, could he have been one of the children in her care or was it her son. I thought the names of everyone in the Ivashkov family; I couldn't remember a Bobby or Robert anywhere in the Ivashkov family. Rose turned to me with her mask in place. Despite all my guilt and her cold professionalism; I really felt happy to see her. I found myself giving her a full smile, the one I always reserved for her and her alone.

"Good morning Roza. It's nice to see you again." Crap I meant to call her Rose. I know after everything she would not want me to call her Roza. To my surprise her face showed no reaction to the name.

"Good morning to you as well Guardian Belikov. I must ask that you not refer to me as Roza or Rose. I go by Guardian Hathaway or Rosemarie now." Her face and voice didn't hold any emotion. She was the perfect example of cool professionalism.

"I will keep that in mind Rosemarie."

"Guardian Belikov I assume that you have taken notes over the past few days." I nodded. "May I see them?"

I handed her my leather binder. I instantly regretted keeping my notes in it. Tasha had given it to me before I left. Inside the front cover in nice little slots were three pictures. Rose opened the cover when she saw the pictures she closed her eyes for a moment. She opened her eyes and examined the pictures.

The first one was a family portrait that we had taken over the summer. Tasha and I sat on bench. We were posed so close that our legs were pressed together making a seat for Connor. She and I had one arm wrapped around each other and one around Connor. The smile on my face didn't quite reach my eyes but that was common for me now.

Rose's eyes moved down to the second picture. Tasha had taken it when Connor and I were playing together. I had thrown him up in the air and he was still in mid flight. His black hair was flying every which way. Even though it was a profile picture of us both you could see his ice blue eyes sparkling at me. My own brown eyes were sparkling back. It was one of the rare moments of true happiness.

When Rose looked at the third picture she reached out and touched it involuntarily. It was a picture I had taken of her on one of our campouts. We had found a little waterfall while hiking and looking for the perfect place to set up camp. We pitched our Lean-to close to the waterfall. In the picture Rose was standing in the pool of water at the bass of the waterfall. It had been a hot that weekend and she took off her shoes and shirt then jumped into the water wearing just her shorts and sports bra. I had taken several pictures but the one with her laughing while the cold water crashed down on her was my favorite.

Rose put her finger on her image softly touching the stomach. I almost forgot that she had been seriously injured just days before that trip. Her protective gear had failed in her improvised weapons class. She had been impaled by a chair leg. She had a large puncture wound and internal bleeding. If not for Eddie Castel and his running for Lissa, and the medical training I got with Ivan; Rose would not have made it. I cleared the wound of debris and Lissa was able to heal both the internal wounds and the puncture before Dr. Olendzki was able to get her to the clinic.

I thought about that particular camping trip a lot. We had so much fun together that time. We also made love many times. It was the last time we were able to enjoy our special training days. The next week Roza had mouthed off to Stan and pushed him a bit too far. As punishment the next training day was canceled the week after, she had to study for a big exam in Stan Alto's class. Roza got sick with stomach flu the third week after. Then Ivashkov started to hover around her I got upset and we argued about it. We didn't go out that weekend but we did stay in our cabin and make up. Around then is when Rose started to act strange. I figured out that she wanted to have a baby and I decided to leave. We never went on another camp out. Instead she went to court with Ivashkov and Lissa. And I made the biggest mistake of my life. I left her to go guard Tasha.

With her finger still on the picture she closed her eyes again and sighed. It was a sad wistful kind of sigh. When she opened her eyes her mask was again cool and professional. She read my notes. Before closing my book and handing it back to me.

"Guardian Belikov I do think that you may be the best person to mentor Annemarie. However if you do not think you can help her then tell me now. I will arrange it so that you can go back to your family."

"I appreciate the offer to send me back but I will stay and do the job I was asked to do. It may be a challenge but I think I can help her. She is not the first challenging student I have taught." I smiled at her. She didn't return my smile.

"This assignment will last until Annemarie is ready to leave the academy and it may take several years. Will you be able to be parted from your family for that long? Still her voice and face held cool professionalism. There was no trace of any true emotion. Years ago I would have been able to read her eyes but somehow even those were now masked from me.

"I will see them at Christmas and at Tasha's wedding in February. When I was assigned here Tasha and I decided that next fall Connor will begin kindergarten here at St. Vladimir's. Tasha and her husband will move to Missoula so that she can be close to Connor. I know that Annemarie is important to you so I am prepared to stay as long as I am needed."

She looked into my eyes. I dropped my walls and let her in. I don't know what she was looking for or what she found. Her mask never faltered.

"Very well Guardian Belikov I will bring Annemarie to the gym for her first session at fourth hour…"

Before she could finish and excuse me; a guardian walked in carrying a wooden box. She looked at him expectantly.

"Huntress, You're elements have re-infused your charms. I have brought theirs for you to re-infuse." He set the box down on her desk. "Packs 5 and 6 have called in. They had banded together and have made two transformations. They will be bringing them in by sunup."

Rose looked at him impassively, holding his gaze for several minutes. At one point he looked over at me as if just realizing I was there. He turned around to face her again and his shoulders slumped a little and his cheeks brightened with embarrassment.

"I am Sorry Guardian Hathaway I should have been more aware of my surroundings. I will be more careful in the future." He turned to face me.

"It is nice to meet you guardian Belikov. My name is John Michaels." He put his hand out and I shook it.

"You are both dismissed. Belikov please close the door behind you."

She opened the box as I walked out. I got a clear view of the contains inside the box. There were five sets of wrist cuffs. Each set had a different symbol etched into its front. The first was a flame. The second was a cloud with swirling lines running behind it. The third pair looked like waves of water. Mountains and a tree decorated the fourth pair and the last was a dove with lots of rays of light beaming out of it. There was a small round moonstone in the outer edge of each cuff making it look as if each symbol was a night scene. They were about two inches wide and, each pair looked as if they were made to fit closely against the wrist of the owner. I closed the door as if I hadn't seen anything. I turned to question guardian Michaels but he was already gone.

POP QUIZ

1. What kind of Business were Christian and company up too.

2. Lissa is on her third pregnancy, if it is supposed to be hard for Moroi to conceive, how is it that she has no problem? (Sorry it is a crossover answer for So What Now. I know I do a lot of those but well it is the story that all the others in my alternate timeline stories are based on.)

3. Why was Rose so effected by the sight of her picture?

4. Do you think there is something significant about that camping trip?

5. What was going on when Rosemarie and Guardian Michaels were looking at each other without talking?

6. What is the significance of the bracelets? (Again this is a SWN question but if you don't remember it's ok. It has to do with Something Bridget Donnelley told Rose to do during a dream walk. It was not mentioned often.)

Ok here is your chance to tell me what you think. What do you think of Rose? Did she behave the way that you expected? How do you think Annemarie will behave with Dimitri?

PLEASE REVIEW and feed my addiction

Suzanna