There came a sharp knock at Rose's bedroom door. She hurtled to her feet, using her enhanced abilities to flash to the door. She usually tried not to use them – they still made her uncomfortable and added to the fact that she was feeling bitter over the fact that Master had probably genetically altered her, and she was even worse now – but she was praying the person on the other side of the door was Jake, who had been ignoring her for hours now.

She opened the door but was only greeted with Fu. Without waiting for an invitation to enter, he sauntered past her and into her room. Rose nodded to Brigh, who was settled into a nook not far from Rose's door, book in her lap, before she closed the door and faced Fu.

"Nice rooms, huh? This place really is a paradise, and it looks like the Council went all out for you," the dog rambled.

"Somehow, I don't think you're here to discuss the Council's hospitality," Rose mentioned.

"I knew you were a smart one," Fu agreed. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"Jake?" Rose guessed, knowing that's exactly what it was.

"Bingo! I heard your conversation … totally by accident."

"Mmmhmmm," Rose acknowledged.

"I mean, you have to see it from his point of view – you are a scary figurehead."

"I don't want to scare him. I never thought that I did before. I mean, we're both powerful people. We could very easily destroy each other, and I always thought that was one of the most amazing parts of our relationship. For a really long time, we were trying to kill one another – even if we didn't know who the other really was – and we were able to evolve past that. To be perfectly honest, even though I would have done the right thing after finding out the Clan's true past, he's one of the reasons I'm trying so hard to make this magical unity thing work."

Fu paused for a moment, thinking over what she had said. "I think you'll evolve past this too. But I think it might need a little time. C'mon, Rose, up until eighteen months ago, you were the villain. The vast majority of us feared the Huntsgirl more than we ever feared the Huntsmaster because, though he controlled it all, you were the one doing the dirty work – you were the one leaving a trail of bodies in your wake.

"Jake has always been the hero. From the time he was very young, even before he had his powers, great pressure was put on him to do the right thing because Lao Shi knew what he would be. Right and wrong has always been black and white for Jake, while you lived in the grey area. And, though he knew of how fearsome you were – he fought you when you were young teenagers and was constantly told horror stories of the Huntsgirl and the Clan – I don't think that he ever considered just what your past consisted of.

"The Huntsclan has always been a mystery that we, as magical creatures, were never able to penetrate. Anyone who tried always came up dead or was never seen again. Yes, we heard stories. Yes, we assumed things. But we never knew exactly what you guys were up to, what crimes you were behind, or what exactly your plans were. It was terrifying, not knowing when the Clan would strike next, not knowing how large the operation was – and knowing what I do now, I see how much we underestimated the Clan and what you could do.

"And I think Jake created a disconnection between Rose and the Huntsgirl. He knows who you are and what you can do, of course, he's not an idiot. But I don't think he ever really thought about how the Huntsgirl – the murderous girl who terrified him whenever Lao Shi told him a story – was the same girl he now loved. And now he's being confronted with the fact that you don't just have magical blood on your hands, you have dragon blood on your hands – the blood of people he once knew, once had conversations with.

"And ever since you received the heightened skills – even though your blood was spilled, I think the gems knew that you had defeated them – he's now having to come to terms with the fact that if you two ever were in a real fight, he couldn't win against you. Jake's powerful. He's only going to get more so with time, if the drugs didn't stunt that, but he will never match you again. You now have the ability to eradicate anyone you please, and could do it effortlessly.

"I don't know if I'm explaining the kid properly. But I think I got quite a few things right. It's not that he doesn't trust you, it's not that he doesn't love you, it's that your past will forever be with you, and I don't think he's ever really thought about what the means before – especially since we know so little of the Clan's deeds."

"So what do I do? How do I get him to not look at me with fear?"

The fact that she had once been used as a horror tale for Jake – one that showed the true horrors of the world he lived in and the biggest threat he would fight against – made her absolutely sick. It was probably true for a lot of young magical creatures though – she could picture mothers with their young, whispering, 'Now remember, do exactly what I say, or the Huntsgirl will come and steal you from your bed and you will be gone' and expanding on the horrendous deeds that they assumed she had committed (they had probably only gotten the less terrifying of her deeds, which, in itself, was bad enough). She had been a truly horrible person due to the tutelage of her former Master and she was going to have to spend the rest of her life atoning for it – she was prepared to spend the rest of her life atoning for it.

But none of it mattered if Jake gave up on her.

Fu shrugged. "All you can really do is talk to him."

"Will he talk to me?"

Fu rolled his eyes and snorted. "You're the Huntsmistress. No one says no to you."

A smile flitted across Rose's features. "Do you think if I went and talked, he'd listen?"

"I don't know. The boy is thick-headed, just as much as the old man is. There's a fifty-fifty chance. But you have to make him listen to you. If there's one thing I've learned about Jake since he hit puberty, is that, if you let him, he will sulk forever and never learn a thing. Sometimes tough love works best."

Rose nodded. "Thanks, Fu. I appreciate it."

The ancient dog shrugged under her words. "I just know that you were the only one to reach him when he was at his worst; I know that I've never seen him so happy when he talks about someone. I want the best for him, I do love him, and I know that you are the best for him. I know that he loves you and vice versa. I don't want to see this thing crumble. You guys have a lot of work to do, but I believe you could do it."

Acting on instinct, Rose grabbed the dog into a hug. "Really, Fu, thank you."

When she placed him back on the floor, he looked slightly embarrassed. "Go talk to him."

Taking his advice immediately – after all, she and Jake had been stewing separately for almost four hours now – Rose left her room. Brigh was on her feet the moment she saw Rose outside of her room, but the young girl quickly waved down the elderly dragon, gesturing to Jake's room – right across the hall from her own. Brigh nodded in understand and lowered herself back down into her seat, reopening her book.

Rose knocked on Jake's door.

"I'm not talking to you again, Fu!" The boy shouted from inside.

Rose shook her head at the dog's gall – Jake was being too stubborn, so might as well try the other teenager.

She knocked again.

"What?" Jake growled. She heard him literally stomp over to the door before he threw it open. He looked down at Rose. "Oh … hi …"

Taking a hint from Fu, Rose didn't wait for an invitation, she simply breezed inside. "I think we should talk."

"Did Fu come see you?" He asked.

"Maybe," Rose admitted. She turned around to face him, eyes glancing upward to meet his own. "I get that you're upset with me –"

"Upset isn't the right word. I'm just … I don't know. Surprised isn't the right word either, but it's close. I guess I didn't expect you to be that ruthless."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm just as disgusted as you are by my past actions. I'm trying so hard to change everything – I'm so different from how I was, and I need to keep getting better – but I wouldn't be half the person I am now if it weren't for you. I can't do anything without you.

"I know I can't do anything to change what I did in the past, though I really want to. I want to change how the public views me because I want to make the Clan a hero for once. But I know that doesn't change the fact that we, I, was once the utmost evil.

"I don't want people to fear me anymore – especially you. I would never hurt you, Jake. I would never want to; not anymore. I love you far too much to ever go back to what I was, or let my Clan do the same. Okay?"

"Rose…" Jake shook his head and ran his hand through the black and green strands. "Can you ever really change? Can what you've become ever overcome what you were?"

"Yes and no. Of course I can change – people change all the time. It doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. It doesn't mean that anyone will be able to accept that the Clan is different, but it's happening and it will continue to happen. As for overcoming who I was, I don't think that will ever happen. I was evil. I was ruthless. I was cruel. Those traits will always stay with me, but instead of giving into them, I will use them to better myself. I will use them as a reminder of where we were and how far we are going to go.

"I'm never going to go back there. And I refuse to let my past be the thing that comes between us. I just hope that you can come to terms with it. I don't expect forgiveness and I certainly don't expect acceptance but I need you to love me anyway."

"Rose…" Jake breathed.

He walked across the room, arms outstretched to bring her into them. He bent his head to her ear – though they were both tall, he didn't have to bend much – and told her, "I love you no matter what."

Thank God, Rose thought, though she couldn't bring herself to voice her thoughts. She didn't know what she would do if Jake ever gave up on her, if he realized that she really wasn't worthy of someone as great as him.

"I love you too," she told him, because it was true, because it would never stop being true.

She tilted her head so that she took his lips in her own and kissed him. She kissed him to tell him everything she still wasn't strong enough to say; to tell him 'thank you for loving me even though I don't deserve it'; to just kiss him because he was Jake and that would never stop meaning the world to her.

God, she loved this boy.

I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: Gift Of The Dragons.

~TLL~