Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy.
Ch. 13 The Happiest Place on Earth
I felt his hands run through my long hair as we kissed, but I couldn't concentrate on anything but how his lips felt against mine. Now we could kiss without any of our previous dark feelings overwhelming us – this kiss was filled with love and happiness. We were finally truly together again.
He pulled away, but still kept me in his arms. "Now that we're together again…shall we go on a date?" he asked me.
I stared at him as my entire body tingled with possibility. "A date?"
Back at the Academy, we had never been able to spend time with each other out of class, much less go on a date. No one – except for Adrian – had been able to tell that we were in love with each other, and we'd planned to keep it that way until graduation. A date sounded magical and fun, just like what any normal couple would do. Which I guess was what we were now – a couple.
"Yes. Is there anywhere you'd like to go that would be fun?"
Hmm. Seeing as we were in the middle of LA…I gasped. There were some possibilities, but only one I was really interested in. "How about Disneyland?" I asked in excitement.
Dimitri looked somewhat taken back at my suggestion. "Disneyland?" he asked, looking truly perplexed. Uh oh.
I groaned, and felt like slapping my hand against my forehead. "Please don't tell me you've never been to Disneyland." That would be so like him…I'd been at the Academy all my life, and it was protective of all the students, but even I'd managed to go to Disneyland one time with Lissa and her family.
"No…" he said sheepishly, looking abashed. "I was in Siberia for the first eighteen years of my life before I graduated and came to the States, but no time for Disneyland…"
I groaned again, and slouched against him. His arms caught me and held me up. "That's it, we're going to Disneyland tomorrow."
"Tomorrow's New Year's Eve. Won't it be super busy?" Dimitri pointed out.
Damn it. He had a point….but I wanted to go to Disneyland anyway. It sounded like a good place for a magical first date. The Happiest Place on Earth. I really could believe it was the Happiest Place on Earth, and fondly reflected on my memories there. "No arguments, we're going to Disneyland."
He laughed softly, his laughter like silk against my skin. "As you wish, Roza."
"We're getting up very early to drive there and line up," I announced, pulling away from him and heading towards the door. "It takes approximately half an hour to go there from here." Assuming there wasn't a huge traffic jam from here to Anaheim.
"Who's going to book the tickets?" Dimitri asked in amusement.
I froze. I hadn't considered that. Oops. "I will. It's only eighty something dollars."
"Only?" Dimitri asked, tilting his head at me.
"Oh c'mon, I've been a guardian for a year and a half now. My monthly salary alone could let me buy a hundred Disneyland tickets," I grumbled.
"I'm only chipping in for my own ticket and nothing else," Dimitri said, sounding even more amused.
"Not even food?" I asked mischievously. He didn't look like it, but he loved eating almost as much as I did, which wasn't quite possible…
He groaned, and ran a hand through his dark locks. "Fine! I'm only chipping in for my ticket and food, but that's it. You'll have to get souvenirs for yourself."
Stifling a laugh, I opened the door and hurried down the stairs.
"Hey Tasha, can I use your laptop?" I called in the direction of the kitchen.
"Lissa has it right now, but go ahead," she called back over the sounds of chopping.
I turned around and saw Lissa typing out something on the laptop, her forehead wrinkled in thought. "Liss, can I use it after?"
"Yeah, why?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the screen as her fingers moved over the keyboard.
"I'm booking tickets for me and Dimitri to go to Disneyland," I said.
At that, Lissa looked up and squealed, sounding even more excited than I was. "Omigod! That is like the perfect place to go for a first date. I have taught you well. But try not to do anything risky since you just came out of the hospital-"
"Don't get too excited, the lines for the rides are going to be a mile long," I groaned.
"Well, just get a Fast Pass or something," Lissa said with a shrug. "I remember from the last time we went there…"
Her eyes grew distant, and the memories of going there with her family flashed through her mind, but she quickly shook it off. "Anyway, just book your tickets now. I'll do it for you."
"Don't use your credit card. I've got my own," I said, fishing around in my pocket and coming up with my Visa card.
Lissa quickly went to the Disneyland page, and booked two tickets. With a thoughtful look in her eye, she remarked, "Hmm…since me and Christian want to go on a date…why don't we make it a foursome?"
"But you need guardians," Liam said from his lounging position near the couch. "We can't just send you to Disneyland alone! Do you have any idea how dangerous it could be with the huge crowds? It's safer by day, but once it's night, Strigoi could infiltrate the place!"
He sort of had a point, I conceded and said so.
"Well…I'd say you and Dimitri could guard us but you guys are on your date, so you shouldn't have to watch out for me and Christian," Lissa said with a frown. "Ugh…"
"There are some guardians permanently stationed at Disneyland," Liam admitted, "but I'd feel safer if guardians from this group went to guard you. It is for your safety so that you can be safe, as the last Dragomir."
Lissa scowled, and I felt her annoyance. She hated being reminded that she was the only Dragomir princess, the last of a prestigious, ancient bloodline. She always had to be careful about where she went, and to be careful to always have a guardian with her because of the Strigoi threat.
"Fine, I'll just stay home," she said with a sigh, finishing the order of two tickets to Disneyland and clicking the print button on the screen.
"It's not that you can't, it's-" Liam tried, but Lissa cut him off before he finished his sentence.
"Yeah, yeah, but I don't want to cause a huge inconvenience for you guys," Lissa said with a sigh. "If I go with Christian, then Eddie and Liam will have to go, and then Dash has to protect Adrian and Tasha, and I really don't want Rose and Dimitri to have to guard us on their first date…"
"I'm sure we can handle just having Dash to guard us, right, Ivashkov?" Tasha called teasingly from the kitchen.
To my surprise, I heard Adrian from the kitchen as well. "Yeah, Tasha can kick ass with her fire magic."
"Well...no, it's alright, I'll just stay here with you guys," Lissa said with a sigh, her hope dimming. She shut the laptop and headed towards the printer to retrieve the tickets. If only I could go somewhere without a guardian to protect me, she thought.
I felt her disappointment, but there was nothing I could do about it. This situation was out of my control, and until she had a family, she would always have to be protected.
She stepped out of the computer room with the tickets and handed them over to me. "Have fun tomorrow," she said, smiling. She really was happy for me, that I would have my first date with Dimitri, but she was not happy about how she couldn't go.
"Are we almost there yet?" I yawned the next morning as we were stalled along Harbor Avenue.
We'd left the house pretty early in order to beat the crowd – 6 am in the morning. Morning traffic had left us half an hour behind schedule, and now it was 7:35. We were close to Disneyland, but not close enough. If I remembered correctly, we were still around twenty minutes away from the parking lot. Everyone had the same idea of coming to Disneyland on New Years' Eve- including beating the crowds. Great.
Dimitri shot me a look of disbelief but kept his hands on the steering wheel. "You've been here before, so shouldn't you know?"
"It's supposed to be twenty minutes, but look at the traffic jam!" I said, pointing accusingly outside. Grr…
"Oh, it'll pass quickly," Dimitri said lightly, patting my hand.
I gritted my teeth and glared at the traffic jam outside. I'll be an old woman before we get to move, I groaned in my head.
In the end, it did pass, after ten minutes of crawling at the speed of ants. Once we got into the parking lot, Dimitri floored the car and we were soon parked at one of the middle spots in the parking lot.
"Make a run for it," I murmured as I saw everyone else get out of their cars and head in the direction of the entrance to Disneyland.
He needed no further urging. After locking the car, we ran towards the entrance.
When we arrived, there was already a nice long line ahead – families, couples, groups of friends…
"We'll never get through," I complained.
"Patience, Roza," Dimitri said, leaning in and pushing a strand of hair away from my face.
I now noticed that quite a number of women around us were eyeing Dimitri with interest. I scowled to myself. Where did they get off checking out Dimitri, when I was standing so close to him? I didn't even want to know what would happen if he'd come here alone. He might've been swarmed by the groups of women.
I noticed one in particular in front of us was trying particularly hard to flirt with him, although she was surrounded by a group of friends. She had dark brown hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall and lightly tanned skin, and she kept flipping her long hair over her shoulder. When she turned around, I noticed that she had pale ice eyes, fringed by long lashes.
"Excuse me," she said, batting her eyelashes, "have you ever been to Disneyland before? I've never been here before, so could you help me around?"
I glowered at her, and desperately wanted to punch her in the gut. Who the hell was she, flirting excessively with my boyfriend? Dimitri, sensing my tension, took hold of my hand, and his expression read, Don't do anything rash. He turned and replied, "Never been here before. Just refer to the maps as your guide." Then he turned back to me and raised his eyebrows at me.
"Satisfied?" Dimitri whispered into my ear, wrapping his arm around my waist.
Ugh. I hated how I could get so jealous whenever a beautiful woman flirted with Dimitri. I guess after everything we'd been through together, I thought that he was all mine. Mine, and no one else's. No one else could flirt with him.
"Very," I whispered back.
The line moved at a reasonable pace – but I was eager to re-visit Disneyland so it seemed a lot slower – and we were in the park within half an hour.
"So this is the 'Happiest Place on Earth,'" Dimitri murmured, looking around. We were strolling down Main Street, with various shops and restaurants lining the sides. Hundreds of people milled around, with many of them little children. The festive Christmas decorations and the unlit lights – sure to be glowing during tonight's festivities – gave a general atmosphere of happiness and cheer.
"So up ahead is the Sleeping Beauty Castle," I said, pointing straight ahead to the grand castle sitting ahead of us.
Dimitri studied the castle. "You know, I've probably seen that before."
"In Disneyland pictures, or Sleeping Beauty?" I quipped as we got closer.
"Both, probably," Dimitri returned lightly. "So which ride will we go on first?"
I let out a squeal. "Space Mountain!"
"What?"
I dragged Dimitri away from the direction of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and headed in the direction of the Matterhorn.
"Roza, what on earth is Space Mountain?" Dimitri shouted as I dragged him towards the ride.
"You'll see!" I called back. This was going to be fun. A "roller coaster" ride in the dark…I smiled to myself.
Luckily, the line wasn't…too long. Of course, it was still pretty long, and Dimitri did not look pleased.
"We have to stand in this long line for God knows how long?" he whispered when we were about three-fourths finished with the line.
"Oh, it's fun! The ride I mean, not the line," I amended. "Wait till you see the other crowds. We'll need a Fast Pass then."
"A…what?" Dimitri asked, looking extremely confused.
I sighed. "A Fast Pass is a pass that we can get for a ride. We come back at the time it states on the ticket so we don' need to waste our precious hours here at Disneyland."
Fifteen minutes later, we finally were able to get into a rocket-shaped vehicle. Dimitri eyed it dubiously but made no comment. We stowed our bags in the pouches in front of us.
"Oh, yeah, after we get to the top, close your eyes," I advised Dimitri as the vehicle started on the track.
Dimitri eyed me warily. "Why?"
"Because you might get dizzy," I said cheerily. "And since it's your first time, I'm assuming you don't want to get dizzy."
We then started going up the track, and red beams glowed along t'he sides. We got to the top, and I hoped Dimitri had closed his eyes. I'd gotten dizzy the first time I'd come here, and believe me, it is not fun.
After a few moments had passed, I said to Dimitri, "You can open your eyes now."
We entered an extremely dark room with moons, stars, and other space things glowing in the dark.
"Amazing," Dimitri murmured as we continued around the room.
Towards the end, the ride got faster, and I let out a scream, which startled Dimitri. Two blinks of light, and we were done with the ride.
"You actually screamed," Dimitri said in amusement as we unbuckled our seatbelts and exited Space Mountain.
"I always scream here," I said cheerily as we headed back towards the Sleeping Beauty Castle. "Now, are there any rides you want to go on in particular?"
Dimitri shrugged. "Not really. I'll go on any of the rides that you want me to go on."
A very mischievous idea came into my head. "Even the carousel?" I asked wickedly.
Dimitri cussed in Russian. "Are you serious? That's a little kids' ride, Roza."
"You promised me any ride I wanted to go on," I said, enjoying the miserable look on his face.
"You're terrible," Dimitri complained as we kept walking closer to the Sleeping Beauty Castle. "But if you want me to…"
"I just suggested that to see what your reaction would be," I confessed. He shook his head in disbelief.
I unzipped my bag and yanked out my digital camera. "Let's take a photo together."
Dimitri raised his eyebrows at me but made no comment.
A passing tourist helped us take a photo together, and when I examined it, Dimitri and I were smiling very happily at the camera. I thanked the tourist and stowed the camera back into my bag.
It was finally around 2:30 in the afternoon when we headed back to Main Street to get a bite – although I knew that Disneyland food, and food in amusement parks and theme parks in general, was pretty overpriced.
So far, we'd gone on It's A Small World (Dimitri wasn't too thrilled at first, but he admitted the little doll-like figures were pretty cute), Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Autopia. I loved all of those rides, and spending time with Dimitri. We'd had to get a Fast Pass for some of them because the lines took so long.
"Autopia was fun for a driving ride," Dimitri remarked as we strolled back down Main Street. "Most rides just run along a track, and you don't get to stop and start." We'd decided to go in different cars because we both wanted to drive on our own.
"See, I told you that you'd like Disneyland," I said, giving him a teasing nudge.
"And maybe, if you behave, I will actually get you a souvenir from here," he said with a wink.
We entered Carnation Café and quickly ordered our food. We devoured it and finished in fifteen minutes.
"There's some clam chowder in the area near Pirates of the Caribbean," I remarked as we exited and headed back towards the Sleeping Beauty Castle. "And I want to go on that!"
We strolled down to the New Orleans Square (which really reminded me of pictures I've seen of the South in Civil War times), and lined up for Pirates of the Caribbean.
After waiting for about forty-five minutes, we boarded a little boat (this ride seemed pretty popular) and started floating out on the water. We passed some diners, and it looked like nighttime.
Dimitri looked astonished as we drifted past an old man with a banjo. "Wasn't it in the afternoon when we boarded?"
"It's called special effects, Comrade," I said teasingly.
We slowed near an archway with a talking skull and crossbones, and it warned us of what was ahead. After the warning finished, I heard the sound of rushing water ahead and gulped. It wasn't like that in the ten years that had-
My thought was interrupted when we plunged down a waterfall, and I screamed pretty loudly with the rest of the passengers, clinging onto Dimitri's arm. Dimitri was extremely startled – both by the waterfall and me clinging onto him like I was drowning – but he kept his stoic face on.
We finally splashed down at the bottom – much to my relief – and we drifted past a group of skeletal pirates guarding their treasure.
"Roza, you were actually scared of the waterfall?" Dimitri asked, disbelief in his voice.
"I hadn't seen it before!" I protested. "There wasn't a drop the last time we came."
Dimitri shook his head, looking extremely amused, but held me tight. I recognized some of the scenes from the movie. There was one scene where a man was being dunked into a barrel by some pirates (not funny at all). One of the funniest scenes was a pirate holding a map, and Jack Sparrow was peering over his shoulder.
Dimitri actually laughed at the part where a woman with a rolling pin was chasing after some pirates. "That is pretty funny," he admitted.
We finally sailed out past a figure of Jack Sparrow surrounded by treasure, and daylight streamed in, nearly blinding us. We got out, and I immediately asked if we could eat some clam chowder.
"But we just had lunch-" Dimitri broke off. "Fine, fine. But you're paying."
We brought a bread bowl of clam chowder, and shared it. Dimitri enjoyed it a lot, but we had to split it in half to be fair, and besides, one bowl just for a person was too much.
"What's that?" Dimitri asked as we passed the Haunted Mansion.
I shivered, even though it was daytime. "If you like scary things and…ghosts, then go inside. Without me." I don't like ghosts, pretend or otherwise, I thought unhappily.
Dimitri shook his head. "We either go together or not at all."
Then we decided, since it was so hot, to go on Splash Mountain. I told Dimitri, "It's a…ride where at the end, you get all wet unless you're sitting in the back."
"What? I don't want to get all wet," Dimitri complained as we got into the line. "I don't have an extra shirt!"
"Well, that's too bad, Comrade," I said sweetly, turning a smile on him.
"Besides, you'll catch a cold," he added, taking in my ruffled tank top, shorts, and sandals.
I rolled my eyes. "I have a cardigan, and I'll dry off fast, Comrade."
The line moved pretty slowly. I guess everyone had the same idea of going on Splash Mountain to cool off. LA heat was terrible, even in the winter time. I felt like I was going to get sunburned, even though I usually never did. I fanned my cheeks, hoping to stay cool.
We got on the log after about forty minutes, but to my disappointment, we were in the third row. "Damnit, we won't feel the water."
"Thank goodness," Dimitri sighed in relief as the ride started.
We passed some setting I didn't really notice, and then I heard some very loud snoring from a cave. We drifted indoors, and there were singing animals. Ugh! We neared a rabbit and a bear and fox…and I noticed the drop.
Everyone let out a scream as we plunged down the waterfall, and a wave of water splashed up over us and drenched us. Dimitri did not look happy to be soaking wet as we drifted into another indoor portion and finally back at the unloading area. "Roza, you are crazy," he growled after we got off.
"Hey, it's hot out," I protested.
We passed the rest of the day by going on the Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones Adventure (it was fun until we went over the lava in a shaky "Jeep"), then headed back to Fantasyland, where we went on the Casey Jr. Train, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and the carrousel. We decided to go back on some of the rides we'd gone on earlier after eating a fast dinner, and afterwards, Dimitri took me to the store near the Sleeping Beauty Castle.
"I decided to be nice, and get you two souvenirs," he said playfully, his eyes full of excitement.
I picked out a tiny "diamond" Mickey Mouse necklace and a little cute Mickey Mouse plush. I'd loved Mickey Mouse when I was little, although I never told anyone.
After paying for my presents, we stepped out of the store. It was now around 9:30 in the evening, and all dark out.
"We're staying out until midnight, right?" Dimitri asked as we passed under the lit-up Sleeping Beauty Castle.
"Yeah, but I wonder if you'll fall asleep first," I teased.
"Only two and a half hours more," Dimitri said with an exaggerated sigh. "I think I'll manage."
"But what are we going to do now?" I asked as we walked back towards Main Street.
Dimitri smiled, a slight glint in his eyes. "We're going to do a little walking tour of Disneyland in two hours, without going on a ride."
We eventually arrived back in front of Sleeping Beauty about two hours and twenty minutes later, to catch the fireworks.
I caught my breath. I hadn't been looking at the castle earlier, but it was magnificent. Still draped in the holiday decorations, it was now glowing with a pink glow.
"It's beautiful," I murmured, staring at the castle. I'd never seen something that looked so festive and beautiful…
"It is, isn't it?" Dimitri agreed, wrapping his arms around me tightly.
It was already very crowded, and now our view of the castle was obscured by more people. Still, we'd get a good view of the fireworks in the sky.
Soon, it was time to begin the countdown. I saw the board with the numbers glowing on a podium above the crowd, and the lights revealed Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and more Disney characters. I recognized some of the Disney Princesses in holiday versions of their dresses.
"Ten…nine….eight…" The crowd chanted as the numbers ticked down closer and closer.
I locked eyes with Dimitri, and we yelled with the crowd, "Five, four, three, two, one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Then Dimitri leaned in, and kissed me.
There were loud screams of joy around us, but I barely noticed. I was too busy holding Dimitri and kissing him back. Our first kiss of the New Year.
We pulled away, and Dimitri whispered, "Happy New Year, Roza."
I winked at him as he took my hand and we started walking down Main Street. "Happy New Year to you too, Comrade."
Author's note: Finally my writer's block went away and I could finish this chapter. Took awhile but finally got there :) Soo for the next chapter...does anyone want me to put a lemon? ;D Reviews are greatly appreciated! Just a few more chapters to go.