When Rose is shot by Tasha Ozera in Last Sacrifice, both Lissa and Adrian use all of the Spirit they can wield to try and bring her back. In a shocking turn of events, Rose is not only healed, but somehow ends up somewhere she never could have imagined. Canon up until Time-Travel. Rated T for now. First multi-chapter fic.
As we stepped outside, I heard a funny shifting sound and then something sliding. Too late, I realized what was happening, just as a pile of slush slid off the chapel's roof and onto us. It was early October, and we'd had early snow last night that had started melting almost immediately. As a result, the stuff that fell on us was very wet and very cold.
Lissa took the brunt of it, but I still yelped as icy water landed on my hair and neck. A few others squealed nearby too, having caught the edge of the mini-avalanche.
Vampire Academy
-Richelle Mead
Bonds Of Time
Chapter Four
Ice
The darkness surrounded me. Choking me. Holding me down. Pulling me under. The rage burned through my veins like a forest fire after months of no rain. The pain made me grit my teeth so hard that I thought they would shatter. There was no escape from it. It would kill me if I didn't find a way out. My chest heaved and I gasped for air as I pushed the covers aside and sat up in my bed. A headache like I'd never felt before pounded behind my eyes. I pulled in a deep shaky breath through my nose and held it in, trying to rid myself of the suffocating feeling.
My dream walk with Adrian had my mind spinning. It wasn't the first time that I had felt the darkness to that extent, but it never left a good feeling. This time was worse though. Adrian had some serious issues with his control over spirit, but I hadn't expected to feel the darkness pouring into myself when he touched me. Have I taken the darkness from him? Why has his touch affected me so badly?
My sneakers were the first things that came into focus and I took that as a sign. The bedside alarm clock read two o'clock in the afternoon. I didn't have to be at breakfast for five more hours. The logical part of my brain told me to get a few more hours of sleep, but I couldn't shake the slimy feeling that the darkness in the spirit dream had left me with. So I did the only non-dangerous thing I could think of. I ran. At this time of day there were only a few guardians awake and even they kept themselves indoors. But not me. Shadow Fucked Rose had to be outside getting her run on.
It wasn't like I could complain though. It would be totally bitchy to whine about my best friend bringing me back to life. That would just be ungrateful and wrong. But why did spirit have to pick on me so bad? Did I have a sign on my back that said; 'Easy target for all things dead, evil, and foggy?' Yeah, I wasn't in the best of moods. But there wasn't anybody that I could talk to. Or at least nobody that would believe me, other than Adrian, of course, but I doubted that he really believed me. He was probably still half drunk and would forget all about me by the time he woke up.
It was just my luck that when I opened the door to go outside I saw that it was raining cats and dogs outside. I'm not talking a light drizzle, but a wind whipping, lightning crashing, downpour. But I wasn't going to let a little bad weather stop me. My feet pounded against the concrete and I picked up my pace to try and erase some of the negativity that I was feeling. The ice cold rain had me soaked through and through within a matter of seconds, but still I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and then I ran harder.
Lightning crashed in the distance, lighting up the dreary landscape in bright blue. The wind wrapped around me and my wet pony tail flew into my face, blocking my vision and slowing me down. My steps faltered and I came to a crashing halt, my feet skidded out from underneath me and I landed back first into a puddle. I couldn't stop the laughter when it bubbled up in my chest. I covered my face with my hands and laughed until my sides hurt. So much for taking a run to avoid hurting myself. My freshly healed hands were scraped up, this time on the palms instead of the knuckles, and my entire backside was going to be one big bruise.
A cough in the distance pulled me out of my moment of peace and happiness. Dimitri was walking toward the gym with an umbrella in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, shaking his head at the sight of me lying in the grass in the middle of a thunderstorm.
"Hey, comrade!" I yelled over the thunder. "Aren't you too tall to be carrying an umbrella? You're like a lightning rod out here."
"Get inside, Rose." He said as he unlocked the door and held it open long enough for me to get up and walk in.
I walked a short distance to the lockers and found a stack of towels that I could use to dry off with. When I was finished, I turned around to catch Dimitri glancing at me. Was he checking me out? Or was he contemplating sending me to the loony bin? I wasn't sure, but that didn't stop me from going to sit down a few feet away from him. He had one of his paperback westerns in hand and didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk, so I laid back on the bleachers and closed my eyes, reveling in the peace that his presence brought.
My imagination roamed far away, creating place where it was just Dimitri and I on a deserted island. We'd stay wrapped up in each others arms day in and day out, only leaving for the odd cheeseburger or two.
"If you are going to snore you can go back to your dorm." Dimitri shook my shoulder.
"Come back to bed, comrade." I mumbled incoherently. "It's too freaking early."
"Get up now, Rose." Dimitri ordered.
I opened my eyes to find that we were not in some cozy tropical island, but in the freaking academy gym. I didn't even remember falling asleep.
"Shit!" I yelped, sitting up. "How long have I been out?"
"About three hours." Dimitri replied with a small smile. "You talk in your sleep, you know."
"I so do not!" Was my reply. But to be honest, who was I to know?
At some point during my nap, Dimitri had covered me up with a towel and even put a folded one under my head. My heart raced as I thought of the worst things I could have revealed or blurted out while asleep, but there were simply too many things to count. I folded up the towels and threw them into the laundry cart. I had to get out of there before he started asking questions that I couldn't answer.
"All right, Tall Stranger, I'm headed back to the bunkhouse for some shut eye." I used my best cowgirl voice and saluted Dimitri as I walked away.
Dimitri didn't bat an eye, but I caught the smile he was trying to suppress. "I will see you in two hours for training."
"I can't wait." I whispered as I walked out of the door, back into the pouring cold rain, and headed to my dorm.
Dinner that Thursday evening was an entertaining affair. It was the steak and potato bar night and I wouldn't miss it for anything short of the apocalypse. My plate was piled over once again and I made my way over to sit down by Lissa. I spotted her at the back of the dining hall sitting next to Natalie and the latter was talking non-stop. When I placed my tray on the table, they both looked up and smiled at me.
"Rose, I was just giving Lissa the 411 on Mia over there. You know it didn't take her three days after you two left to jump on Aaron like a lion on a gazelle. At first he was all like 'nah, I don't wanna' then after a few days of her flirting the two were suddenly inseparable. I don't know what she said or did, but it must have been epic, because he treats her like she's a freaking queen. It would almost be sweet if they weren't both such douche bags." Natalie said in one breath.
Lissa and I both looked at Natalie and then each other. Lissa broke first and burst out laughing, and almost had diet coke come out of her nose. I on the other hand, waited to swallow my drink before I let out a chuckle and shook my head at the younger girl.
"They deserve each other then." I said seriously as I looked up at Lissa. "Don't worry about that. You were too good for him anyway, Liss."
"I just hate the way everybody is staring at me like I'm some kind of circus freak." Lissa grumbled and pushed her food around with her fork.
Through the bond I could feel her anxiety and depression. It wasn't yet bad enough that she couldn't handle it, but still I wanted to help. I put my hand on hers and pulled the darkness away. It wasn't nearly as strong as what happened with Adrian, but it was still enough to make me cringe.
"Oh my god!" Mia Rinaldi exclaimed in disgust as she walked by and Lissa, Nat, and I all looked up to find out what her problem was.
She was staring at me and Lissa holding hands and I could see the hamster wheel turning in her mind. "That's why you left, isn't it? You two are like together. That's disgusting!"
Lissa's mouth opened in shock as I shot up out of my chair. Everyone in the dining hall had heard what she said and they were all whispering to each other as they saw me stalk toward Mia. Mia backed up when she saw me coming and didn't stop until I had her trapped in a corner.
"You can't do anything to me." There was uncertainty in her tone.
"Oh, but I can little girl." I growled at her so low that no one else could hear. "I know all about Andre. I know all about what your parents do for a living and your financial situation. I also know exactly what you did to get Aaron to date you. So if I were you, I'd leave Lissa and I alone. Otherwise those things just might become public knowledge."
"Is everything okay over here?" Guardian Petrov asked Mia as she freed her from the corner.
"We were just having a little chat." I smiled at Alberta.
"It's fine." Mia said, giving me an irritated glance. "I've got to get to the feeders. I'll talk to you later, Rose."
"Sure thing." I smirked at her retreating form.
Alberta looked from me to Mia and shook her head as she walked away.
I went back to my seat and put an arm around Lissa's shoulders. "Come here, lover girl."
Lissa squeaked and pulled away from me, almost falling out of her chair. "Rose! Everybody's staring again."
"Who cares!" I made a crazy kissy face that had Lissa choking on her laughter. "Let them talk and stare. We don't need to worry about what they think."
"Rose is right," Natalie said, her head bobbing up and down, "Daddy says that if people can't accept you for who you are, then they aren't worth knowing. I better go, I have an appointment at the feeders too."
Lissa and I said our goodbyes to Natalie and I waited until she was a good distance away before I turned to look at Lissa. "So what's going on with you and Ozera?"
My tone had been curious but Lissa still turned to look at me in shock with a light blush lighting up her pale cheeks. "You saw that?"
"Couldn't help it." I held up my free hand with grimace. "I was drowning in homework and the bond pulled me through before I could stop it."
"It was nothing." Lissa said agitatedly. "We just talked a for little bit."
"If you say so," I elbowed her playfully, "Just let me know if I have competition. You wouldn't want to break my poor little heart would you?"
"You're seriously not going to try and warn me away from Christian?" Lissa stared at me in confusion. "I thought you hated him before we left."
"To be honest I've never paid any attention to him. He always kept to himself." I shrugged my shoulders and took another bite of food. "I only know him through what rumors people have spread around. And we both know how truthful those are, right, love?"
"He is kind of fun to talk to." Lissa smiled at me. "Did you know that he's a fire user?"
Lissa went on talking about Christian until dinner was over. When she asked me to join her at the chapel, I reluctantly agreed. I had missed spending time with her over the past few days, but there was still a mountain of homework waiting for me back in my room. Lissa kept chatting and I didn't try to interrupt. Her feelings were trickling through the bond, and to my surprise, for the first time in days, she actually seemed truly happy and I didn't want to ruin that.
The rain had stopped earlier that afternoon and the temperature had dropped dramatically. Turning the campus grounds into a dangerously icy place. More than once Lissa and I had to catch each other so we didn't slip and fall. Lissa's warmest coat had been left behind in Portland and knowing that we didn't have a way to get her another one for a while, I pulled off my own and placed it over her shoulders. She looked like she was going to argue with me but I gave her a pointed look that said it would be useless.
When we reached the chapel doors, I waved Lissa to over where Christian was sitting. She looked reluctant to go, but I smiled at her and winked. Her steps were slow and hesitant, and I could feel her nervous anticipation and excitement leaking through to me.
I sat down in the first seat I came to and I tried to keep an eye on Lissa while focusing on the sermon, but something was off. It was then that I realized Dimitri was just a few feet away. My gaze landed on him and I tried to look away, but we'd already caught each others eye. Forcing my self to turn away, and ignoring the strong pull to get closer to him wasn't easy, but I couldn't over step my boundaries right now without looking like a sex crazed teenager. I had to be strong. I told myself. As the great Pat once said; 'Love is a battlefield.' It would be a slow burn, but hopefully things would end up with us being together at some point.
My mind drifted off as I listened to the priest recount the tale of Vladimir and Anna. The stories said that she committed suicide and I just knew that it had to have been really bad for her when Vladimir was constantly using his gift to heal people. Poor Anna had to have been overwhelmed by the darkness.
It scared me to think that if Lissa kept using spirit I would eventually go crazy and end up useless as her guardian. Or worse yet, I could end up dead. There had to be a way for me to show Lissa how to charm a bracelet or something that could keep the darkness away. Mark and Oksana had made it look so easy for a Spirit user and shadow kissed person to coexist without problem. All I needed was the right source of information. And luckily enough, I knew just who to ask for help. It would take me a while to get it though.
When the sermon was over I stood up and walked over to where Christian and Lissa were standing. Christian was leaning toward her and talking in a low voice as Lissa listened with rapt attention and wide eyes. I cleared my throat to get their attention and they both stopped talking and turned toward me. Christian looked at me with a sour expression on his face and I realized that I hadn't been very kind to him in the past.
"Hey, Rose," Lissa looked at me nervously, "you know Christian, right?"
"Only by reputation." I quirked an eyebrow at both of them. "Which doesn't say much."
Lissa looked appalled at my words and Christian looked angry so I figured I had to be the one to fix my screw up.
"Now I saw you two kids flirting in the chapel. That hurts my feelings, babe." I put my arm around Lissa's shoulders and squeezed. "It's rumored that she's my lesbian lover, so paws off buddy."
"I've heard." Christian smirked at Lissa, while I mentally cheered that I hadn't fucked anything up between the two of them.
"Rose, please." Lissa squirmed when I started playing with her hair.
"Some of the royals are like vultures. I don't know how they come up with some of the stuff they do." Christian shook his head as we began making our way to the exit. "But some of it can be pretty creative."
"I've learned not to believe anything I hear unless I've seen the evidence with my own two eyes." I kept my voice as kind as possible, hoping that I could set Lissa's new boyfriend at ease.
The air was frigid when we walked out the doors, waiting for the line of people to move so that we could pass through. Just as we were out from under the overhanging roof I heard the sound that had my mind flashing back to my dream. My arm snaked around Lissa's mid-riff and I shoved her bodily towards Dimitri. He caught her and kept her on her feet as I spun around and half pushed half tackled Christian onto the ground, covering his body with my own, and braced myself for the blow.
Huge solid sheets of ice and slush fell from the roof directly onto my back, knocking the wind right out of me. I tried my best to shield Christian, but a few pieces of ice still managed to hit him and he gasped out in pain and surprise. Slushy half melted chunks of snow landed on my bruised back and I cringed in sheer agony. When it was over, I fell over onto the grass beside him, choking for breath.
"Rose! Christian!" Lissa screamed, running forward with Dimitri beside her. "Oh my god! Are you guys okay?"
"I'm okay." Christian sat up and rubbed his calf where a piece of ice had clipped him. "I think Rose got the worst of it."
Dimitri pulled Christian to his feet and knelt down next to me. "Can you move?"
My back ached and I was shivering violently, but nothing felt broken, so I nodded my head and let him help me up. Lissa pulled my coat off her shoulders and handed it back to me. People were muttering and whispering as they watched me struggle to keep my balance. I could see Mia standing there with a smug look of satisfaction on her face. But what shocked me was that Natalie was standing in the background looking more than a little irritated. It had been her, not Mia, that had caused the ice to fall.
"I have to get back to the dorm or Kirova's going to kill me if she finds out I went to church." I said as I pulled the warm jacket on, diverting my gaze away from Natalie.
"We'll walk you back to make sure you're okay." Lissa said while Christian nodded with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Dimitri stood back and watched me carefully, as though he thought I was going to fall over. "Training starts at seven thirty, Hathaway."
"I'll be there." I responded before he turned around and walked away.
We had just walked out of hearing range from the rest of the crowd when Christian spoke up, hands in his pockets, and eyes glue to the ground. "Thanks for that."
"Well I couldn't let flame boy be taken out by ice. That'd be a major hit to both our reputations." I pulled Lissa toward me and wrapped half of the coat around her. "Plus it's nice to have some competition."
"Rose, really," Lissa said in exasperation, "When are you going to let it go? People are really going to start thinking we're together if you keep it up."
"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "I'll stop. It was getting old anyway."
Lissa gave me a hug when we got to the novice dorms and to my surprise Christian even shook my hand.
"You kids stay out of trouble." I winked, leaving them standing there making googly eyes at each other, before I walked upstairs to my room.
Later that night, after several more hours of slogging through homework, I fell asleep. I don't know how long I had been out when I was pulled back into Adrian's dreamscape.
End Chapter Four
Thoughts? Comments? Let me know. Thanks for reading!