I forgot to mention, I FINALLY got to go out and watch The Dark Knight Rises and it was amazing! GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!

Now down to business. I realized that I made a mistake on my AN for the last chapter. I said I didn't want to set up Mia with an OC, and instead wanted to make up my own character. It was supposed to be the other way around. To those of you who took the time to make all sorts of wonderful suggestions, I'm really, really sorry that I got that wrong. But I don't like making up my own characters (translations: I'm really bad at it), so I'd like to set her up with someone we all know. Sorry!

Also, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, which means that you may not get an update for a week. I'll definitely try to upload a new chapter after I get back, though. (And hopefully, I'll figure this Mia mess out by then.)

Viktoria + Nikolai

They're in America visiting her brother, because he's too busy to visit them.

"Mama, I'm going to go out with Nikolai this evening, okay?" Viktoria asks.

Her mother laughs. "Okay, Vika." Viktoria is pretty sure she hears Mama says something about "young lovebirds" under her breath, but she ignores it.

"What do Americans do when they go out on dates, anyway?" Nikolai asks, his arm around Viktoria's shoulders. Viktoria shrugs.

"I think Rose said something about going out for either dinner or the movies," she replies, not completely sure.

Nikolai thinks for a minute. "We've already gone out for dinner."

"A movie it is, then. I wonder if American movies are really as good as Rose says they are," she says.

When they get to the theater, Viktoria does not know which movie to watch, and neither does Nikolai.

"Do you want to call Dimitri and ask?" he says.

She shakes her head fervently, a look of undisguised horror on her face. "NO! NO! If we do, he'll make us watch some cowboy movie!"

"Should we call Zmey?"

"Do you really think he'll bother picking up the phone?"

"Queen Dragomir?"

"Lissa? Nah, she only watches chick flicks, and I don't think either of us likes them."

"Princess Dragomir?"

"Jill will watch anything."

"Guardian Castile?"

"Eddie will prank us and make us watch Pokémon or something."

"Lord Ozera?"

"Lissa will make him say a chick flick because he's so…what was the phrase Eddie used?"

"'So whipped.'"

"Right. His judgement is too biased."

"Um…Guardian Hathaway?"

"Janine probably doesn't even watch movies."

"Lord Ivashkov?"

"He's probably either too drunk or too busy with Sydney to bother answering."

"Sydney?"

"She only likes horror movies."

"Mia—wait, what?"

"I know, it's weird, right? But she does. And Mia's visiting her father right now."

"Rose?"

Silence.

"Why didn't we think of her before? Let's call her."

One phone call later…

"She says to watch The Dark Knight Rises," says Viktoria.

"We could've thought of that ourselves! We watched the first two movies together already!" groans Nikolai.

She shrugs. "Yeah, but I think it was good that we didn't figure it out ourselves, because I'm pretty sure the she and my brother were at home when we called, and I think we may or may not have interrupted something."

"Dimitri is going to kill us."

Nah," she says, shuddering. "He's too busy messing around with Rose to bother."

"That's nothing something I needed to know, Vika."

"I thought you were scared for your life just a second ago?"

Groan. "Let's go watch the movie."