It took an agonizingly long time for Rose to become conscious. When she stirred, it was only Nicholas and Kyle by her bedside – Lao Shi and Fu having bullied Jake in going to the cafeteria to get something to eat for supper.

She opened her eyes and assessed the situation: Huntsboys 88 and 89 were at her side (Huntsboys 'Nicholas' and 'Kyle' in the ridiculous new order); she was in the Sick Bay, lying in bed. There was no one else in sight – something that struck her as odd. The Dragon was supposed to love her - that meant that he was supposed to be here. Still, he might be out for a minute or the Clan had not yet informed him of her reappearance. She would simply have to wait for him to appear, something that she was, admittedly, not anxious to have happen. It would be hard to pretend that she was in love with a repulsive creature; it would be hard not to kill him right away.

As Kyle (at least, she was quite sure that the dark skinned one was Kyle) noticed her eyes opening and nudged Nicholas, Rose refreshed the beginning of her plan in her mind: she was to pretend that she remembered no one but the American Dragon, this way he trusted her completely and would be less suspicious of her reappearance, and it also meant that Nicholas and Kyle would have to refresh her memory in how the new Clan order ran (this was to make sure that she remembered the details perfectly and it was also a good way for her to pick out the weaknesses and how best make it fail).

"Rose!" Nicholas gasped. At least, she thought that he did. Her left ear had been damaged one night when she had been impertinent to Master (how stupid she had been!) and her hearing had never returned to it.

"Go get Jake," Kyle ordered, sweeping around to the right side of the bed where Rose could, thankfully, hear him. "How do you feel?"

Rose went to speak but found her throat too dry, too parched. She only managed a slight squeak. Immediately, Kyle grabbed a water bottle and held it to her lips. Rose was reminded of that night, months ago, when Master had come to her cell with water and crackers, being nice to her even though she hadn't deserved it from him. She sucked on the bottle eagerly, but was careful not to take more than her share.

"Are you sure you don't want more?" Kyle asked.

Rose shook her head, though it made her terribly dizzy. "Fine," she rasped.

"Do you feel all right?" Kyle pressed.

Rose nodded. She opened her mouth hesitantly, reminding herself to play the vulnerable, sweet damsel in distress. She then closed her mouth, averting her eyes so that Kyle would think that she was nervous when, in fact, she was just buying herself some time. She wanted Jake to be in the room when she said her first words, just so that she could destroy him a little before she set to making him believe that she still loved him. She had to take her fun where she could get it and playing mind games with the American Dragon was definitely going to be a favourite game of hers; Rose could tell.

"Come on, Rose, talk to me," Kyle prompted.

The door creaked open and she could make out Jake – a head taller than anyone else.

Rose spoke.

(-.-)

Nicholas skidded around the corner into the cafeteria. Rose was awake! Rose was awake! Their Mistress had returned, mostly whole; he had his friend and mentor back; and Jake had the love of his life back. After months of hell, it almost seemed entirely too good to be true. Still, excitement was singing in his heart when he grabbed Jake's shoulder.

The bigger male reacted badly. He immediately snapped around, sending Nicholas' arm flying from his shoulder and sending the Huntsboy crashing to the floor. Nicholas picked himself up quickly, trying to save face and trying not to embarrass himself or Jake. It was his fault, really; he remembered how Rose had described Jake at the beginning of their relationship and he knew that the boy had regressed – he shouldn't have touched Jake, simple as that.

He met Jake's eyes. "She's awake."

The dragon was on his feet in an instant, pushing Nicholas ahead of him as he didn't remember the way. Nicholas was more than happy to run through the hallways and lead him back to Rose; he hadn't had a moment to speak to his Huntsmistress and he desperately wanted to.

"Come on Rose, talk to me," Jake heard Kyle say as Nicholas opened the door.

His heart leapt as he viewed Rose above the top of Nicholas' head. Her pretty blue eyes were open; the bed had angled her into a sitting position; and the tiny intake of breath she took before speaking made Jake smile.

"I …" She murmured, voice low and raspy – more demure than his vivacious Rose had ever sounded, but it was still her voice; it was beautiful music to his ears. "Who are you?"

And his heart plummeted. She didn't know who Kyle was? She had known Kyle longer than she had known him, even. If she didn't know Kyle, who else did she not know? Fear crept all around Jake, filling every broken crevice of his soul. What if Rose didn't know him?

He pushed Nicholas, who had also frozen at Rose's revelation, out of the way, feeling no remorse over it. He moved up next to Kyle, who dropped away from the bed so that Jake could take his spot. Jake scooped up Rose's hand, feeling bad as she winced from the movement. Still, he threaded his fingers through her own and was amazed at the fact that she was tightening her grasp on him. He didn't have the words say the words – do you remember me; Rose, please, say you know who I am! – so he let his eyes do the asking for him, as he had in the beginning of their relationship so long ago.

He was utterly still as she reached for him with the hand he wasn't holding. He barely managed to breathe as she traced his features. And he cried when she whispered, "Jake."

(-.-)

"Well," Huntsdoctor Melinda sighed, peering at Rose from the foot of the bed. "It doesn't appear there's anything that I can do about the hearing and the memory loss. The hearing she will never recover. As for the memory loss … It's probable that she'll regain it in time – she went through a trauma but now she's back in a safe setting that was once familiar. I'm quite confident that she'll come around – brain scans show no damage, so it's all psychological."

Jake squeezed Rose's hand.

"Thank you," Rose murmured to the doctor. She then looked at the small gathering of people in the room. "May I have a moment alone with Jake?"

She hadn't heard him speak a word since coming in and she was beginning to get anxious over it. If he wasn't the Dragon that she and Master had counted on him being when they made their plans, she was going to have to improvise – something she didn't necessarily want to do. Though she was very good at the art of improvising, it might affect their plan's later stages (which she didn't want to do) and it might make Master angry that she wasn't sticking to exactly what they had decided upon (which she definitely didn't want to do).

Dutifully, everyone in the room did as she had asked and exited the room.

"Jake," Rose breathed, watching how his eyes lit up when she spoke his name – whatever his issues were, he was obviously still in love with her, which is mostly what the plan depended on. "Talk to me," she begged.

His eyes widened at her request, but when his lips quirked up at the sides, somehow she knew that he would speak to her.

"Hi," he said, his voice as rusty as her own.

"Hi," Rose repeated, trying to sound like a lovesick schoolgirl.

"Why do you remember me?" He blurted.

"And not them?" Rose finished, though she had no idea why she was finishing his damned sentences.

Jake nodded.

She shrugged. "I don't know," Rose admitted. "Maybe … maybe it's because I love you."

It was her first time saying those words to the dragon, though it certainly wouldn't be her last if she were to keep this charade up properly. Yet, even though she knew the words were just pretend (she knew that she didn't love him; she knew that she had never loved him) they still sent a strange thrill through her, chilling her down to her very soul. I love you; they were such simple words all on their own but together, they had created lifetimes, destroyed empires – they were powerful words, strung together like that and Rose couldn't contain the pull on her heart when she said them to the thrice-damned dragon.

His eyes, which were already rimmed red from the tears he had released earlier, looked wet again.

"I love you too. And … I missed you, so much. I'm sorry I couldn't find you."

"I'm here now," Rose assured him. "And I'm not going anywhere ever again."

She knew that for certain. This was her Clan (though she knew that Master should be the rightful leader, she also knew that as he had relinquished his title as Master he had also relinquished his place in the Clan – which is why he had lived through the gems ordeal, even though he hadn't spoken the Oath that all of the other members had – which meant that it was, really her Clan) and she was going to reclaim it completely. She was going to make it what it once had been – fearsome, powerful, bent on ridding the world of magical scum. But just as Rose was here to stay, Jake was going to be the one to go. She knew that, in the end, once she had gotten all she could from him, once the Clan was back on the rightful path, he was going to die at her hands.

Looking into his eyes now, Rose couldn't help but visualize the American Dragon's death and smile over it.

"Where were you?" Jake asked the all-important question. Where had she been that the combined forces of the magical community and the Huntsclan could not find her?

Rose immediately looked away from him. "I don't remember, really," she squeaked. "It was a dark room; I never got to leave. I know it was a man that took me, but I never saw his face or anything. He would come and see me a lot. One night he was drunk and he left the door open. I was thin enough to slip out of my bonds and I escaped." Rose recited the story that she and Master had agreed upon; it was believable but it was also so vague that she couldn't be questioned too much on it. "I came out of a manhole cover – I don't know what street. I wandered, but I didn't know where I was wandering too. I guess I was aiming for here, even subconsciously. But I was so tired. I fell down on the street and I guess I fell unconscious, because the next time I woke up, it was here."

Jake rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. "Sorry I couldn't find you."

"Shh," Rose murmured. "It's okay; don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. It's mine for getting captured in the first place. I should have been a better Clan member; I should have been able to fight back."

Rose forced fake tears to spill from her eyes, trying to look regretful that she had spent so long in captivity. In reality, she viewed it as one of the best things that had ever happened to her. She had her Master back; she had her senses back. There couldn't possibly be anything better than regaining your true self after having lost it so drastically. She had thought she was in love with a Dragon, for god's sake! If that didn't scream insanity, she didn't know what did.

But none of that mattered now. She was back as a woman with a plan, and if she had to kiss that accursed dragon once or twice so that she could get what she wanted, so be it, because when it all came down to the end, she would be the one standing victorious. When it came down to it and she had done all that she had returned to accomplish, when the magical creatures were gone and she was able to sit content in the Huntsquarters with Master, it would be his pelt that was hanging on the wall behind them.