Hello everyone. Thank you so much for the reviews. I love them all.

Shout out to katnipsc and Kimavinzant for being amazing readers!

So...Get on with the story. There is no Romitri stuff in this chapter. Sad? I know. But not every chapter could be fun. I just hope you give this one little love as well.

DISCLAIMER: - I do not own VA.

Enjoy!

*one week later*

Lissa woke up with a start, sheen of cold sweat covering her body. The sound of her heavy breaths was the only thing that could be heard. She was sitting on her bed gasping for air looking straight ahead of her into the wall. The curtains were heavily draped over the windows but she could still make out that it was around mid night, well mid day actually.

She looked around her, trying to be as alert as possible.

Nope. No one was there bar herself. It was still her pink and white dorm room, nothing amiss. But then…Why could she feel someone's eyes on her? She swore she could feel someone watching her, even in the confines of her room and this was not the first time she noticed this. This had been going for four days in a row.

'Calm down Lissa. There's no one in here. You must have had a bad dream' her sub conscious called on her and she nodded her head. Yup, a bad dream. That's it. She must have had some bad dream she already forgot about.

Laughing nervously to herself, she shook her head. It was silly of her to think that somebody might be following her because seriously, who would? She suddenly felt parched.

Untangling her legs from the sheets, she stumbled out of the bed, swaying a little. She walked up towards the mini water cooler installed in the corner of her room. Picking up a glass, she turned the knob allowing the water to flow in to the vessel.

The sound of water pouring down created an eerie atmosphere which her own jumpy self didn't like one bit. Lissa tried to calm down herself but somehow, she still couldn't shake the feeling off. The hairs of her back were still standing in attention as she tried to ignore the fall in the pit of her stomach and the continuous drumming of her heart.

She pulled the glass to her lips, taking few sips, allowing the cool liquid to calm her insides. Maybe she should go to the bathroom….

BANG!

Lissa shrieked and dropped the glass she was nursing in her hand, spilling the water all over the floor and breaking it into million shards. Her already high heartbeat had increased ten times and small whimpers escaped her lips. Looking around gingerly, she tried to make out the source of the sound.

She was shaking, partly due to her fear and partly with the adrenaline indicating her to flee. She shook her head, she wasn't weak. She could handle whatever the hell was going on with her. Taking a few tentative steps, she reached the window on the far side of her room, knowing that the sound came from there. Mustering all her courage, she pulled back the drapes.

White bright light assaulted her eyes, blinding her momentarily. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light and she opened them to find…

"Good morning Mitya. You are up early? It's Sunday…." Christian said looking at Dimitri from the kitchen as he entered from the front doors.

Dimitri looked like a deer caught in headlights as he stopped dead in his tracks. Frozen. "What were you doing outside anyway and in those ugly coats?" Christian snickered pouring his coffee.

"I...Uh...Um Good morning Christian," Dimitri stammered nervously. Christian paused to study him curiously. Something was wrong. He tried to assess his best friend, coming up with nothing.

"I asked you something," Christian said curiously.

"Oh… Yeah... About that…I um...I went for some hot chocolate in the campus kitchens. Yeah. That's it. Hot chocolate," Dimitri said. "And my coat isn't ugly. It's a duster!"

Christian knew for sure he was trying to change the subject now. But why?

"Oh? Is that so? Why didn't you make it in here then? I guess this was the reason you had a kitchenette installed in here and don't feed me the bullocks that we ran out of it. There are still six packets left and they are in plain sight," Christian pointed out at the kitchen counter where indeed the packets sat proudly. "I want the truth now."

"Ugh! You are so irritating!" Dimitri threw his hands up in the air. "And so damn nosy. You could give Viktoria a run for her money!"

"Are you going to tell me?"

"OK. Fine. I went to the campus kitchens to get some of these for Rose and these too!" Dimitri said throwing a brown paper bag in Christian's direction. He caught just in time and peered inside bursting out in laughter.

"You bought her donuts?" Christian snickered, looking to the other item in the kitchen counter, "and peonies."

"I remember she said that next time she went mad, I should pursue her with peonies," Dimitri explained flushing beet root red. That made Christian laugh even more. Attempting something romantic and hiding it to make him look not much of a wuss was such a Dimitri thing to do!

"Stop laughing, will you?" Dimitri glared at a hysterical Christian.

"Alright. Alright. No more questions now," Christian conceded not wanting to make Dimitri feel bad for this. The man was really trying!

Dimitri flopped down on the couch, reclining comfortably as Christian offered to make him some hot chocolate. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes waiting for his drink when Christian said, "Wait, wait. You said she said she had told you to get peonies if she were mad. What the hell did you do this time?"

"What happened to 'no more questions?'" Dimitri opened his one eyes to glare at Christian.

"Come on, Tell me," Christian urged.

"Ugh! Okay. She is not mad right now but she will be today," Dimitri said as his way of explanation. Christian raised an eyebrow in question.

"Today's Sunday," Dimitri continued.

"I noticed." Christian snorted earning himself a dirty look.

"As I was saying, today is Sunday. Rose is supposed to be at community service as a part of punishment for the Jesse Zecklos thing earlier and since it was kinda my fault, so I thought…." Dimitri trailed off.

"That's a great thought. I'm sure Rose will appreciate it." Christian said, seriously this time.

"I hope so," Dimitri sighed looking forward to mass today.

Nothing. Lissa had half expected for a bullet to come flying and hit her but all she saw was green lawns of the academy, fading into a tree line. A bit of courage replaced her fear when she saw nothing out of ordinary and she leaned a bit towards the window to get a better look.

Still, there was nothing odd there. Her windows still overlooked the sidelines of the garden with blooming peonies bushes. It looked beautiful. She was about to close the windows when a movement caught her attention.

She leaned a bit more, looking directly beneath her window and caught the source of the movement. There laid on the garden floor, a black thing – whimpering and twitching in pain – a raven.

It must've hit the window panes and fell down injuring itself. Lissa mused.

Watching the small creature in pain, something snapped inside Lissa. She felt a...pull towards it. Without thinking, she took off out of her room, not caring that she was still in her nightdress and fuzzy bunny slippers.

She ran through the stairs to the lobby and was about to turn to the door leading outside, when a voice stopped her.

"Ms. Dragomir. You are not allowed to be out of your bed this time. Please return to your room," the high pitched voice of the matron halted her. But Lissa was determined to help the poor creature, she wouldn't stop. She smiled sweetly at the moroi lady on the desk, looking directly into her eyes, she said, "Go to sleep."

"Wha...why...But.." the moroi lady looked confused as her eyes started drooping.

"Go. To. Sleep."

And then she was out like light. Lissa smiled to herself, knowing she wouldn't remember a thing when she woke up. She took off again, out of the lobby, in the bright sun light which bit on her skin. She hissed as a burning pain shot through her.

She didn't mind and ran, rounding the corner of the building to find the raven still lying there, barely moving. She hurriedly kneeled down beside it.

"Oh you poor little thing..." she said softly. A weird sensation started rolling off her. It was like the waves, starting from her head and spreading all over her body. Instinctively she raised her, hovering above the black creature.

The sensation increased tenfold and now started escaping her body in strong waves. She felt first hot, then cold, then hot waves rolling off her hand above the raven. In place of the waves, something else filled her – something happy –like the most beautiful thing in the world. She felt peaceful and joyous, all the signs of her previous alertness gone with the waves. She wanted to run around the field and dance on the skies – she felt that happy.

But then something else happened. The raven at once, stood up uninjured, hopping in its two little feet. It moved its head and fixed its eyes upon its saviour and then suddenly, it took off over her head, cawing joyously!

Lissa grinned and got up herself, only to sway a little. She felt as though all her energy had been drained but she was happy! Shaking, she clawed on the walls of the building for support and stood up, moving towards her room. Finally reaching her destination, she entered the already opened door (she mustn't have closed it while making the mad dash). Grinning, she held her desk and collapsed on the floor.

Standing on the tree lines, perimetering the lawn, the six foot seven inches brute knew he was fairly concealed – both from the sunlight and the sights of the guardians. He saw what just played in front of him, everything, very clearly. The raven ran past his head. His ever present brown coat swayed a little as a strong gust of wind blew past him. His brown eyes twinkled. This was what he was waiting for.

So, the records in the library books written by the crazy bat, St. Vladimir were not just some exaggerated tale. Spirit could really do wonders! Healing was an exceptional gift – one that could help him.

Everything was going according to the plan up till now. The little Princess had started to trust him. It was going to make all the work much easy.

His phone started going off at that moment. He fished it out of his pocket and smiled at the caller ID, before picking it up.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? What the hell are you doing outside at this hour? Anyone could recognise you..."

"Don't get you knickers in a twist. I'm heading back. And oh! By the way, our suspicions are true – the little angel can surely do miracles," he said grinning broadly at the limping form of Vasilisa trying to return to her room. The sunlight wasn't helping the poor thing!

"What...How...What did you see?" the voice on the other end gasped – shock and excited!

Hearing the surprised voice on the other end, he laughed evilly and hung up.

Catching a handful of peonies from the bushes, he plucked them, taking in their scent.

Soon little Princess, very soon!

...so there you folks go!

I'm sorry this chapter was on the shorter side, considering the delay, but I'll try and make the next chapter longer. Upcoming next – The community service! And I promise a lot of Romitri!

Again, any idea as to what's going on? Before you people get more confused – healing, as spirit ability is not discovered yet. Remember I said Rose isn't shadow kissed? Yup! So no one knows about healing, it's only in the records of the books. (Remember the condition of Adrian – he could see auras and dream walk but healing? – Nope! Get it where I'm coming from? – good!)

Liked it? Loved it? Hated it?

Want to read more? – Leave a review!

P.S:- Sorry for the lengthy A.N.

Love,

Lara.