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 language. First multi-chapter fic.

A routine also developed with Dimitri and me. Mason had been right about him being antisocial. Dimitri didn't hang out much with the other guardians, though it was clear they all respected him. And the more I worked with him, the more I respected him too, though I didn't really understand his training methods. They didn't seem very badass . We always started by stretching in the gym, and lately he'd been sending me outside to run, braving the increasingly cold Montana autumn.

Vampire Academy

-Richelle Mead

Bonds Of Time

Chapter Five

Where Is My Mind

Adrian had chosen a beach-side bungalow in what looked like Hawaii for our late night rendezvous. The palm trees and crystal clear water created a scene that made me want to kick back and never leave the tranquility of the beautiful place. The sun was shining brightly overhead and a light breeze blew my hair out of my face, almost like the weather was giving me a hug. Adrian either had a very good imagination or he traveled a lot, because everything around us was completely perfect.

There was a very comfortable looking couch in front of me and the coffee table held up a line of fruity cold drinks with little umbrellas sticking up out of them. Adrian was lounging on the couch wearing a red button up shirt, that was unsurprisingly unbuttoned, and a pair of khaki pants. My eyes lingered on his well muscled abs a moment longer than necessary and I mentally slapped myself for it. But then I looked down to see how I was dressed and let out a small squeak of horror. Yeah, freaking coconut bra and grass skirt horror.

"What iswrongwith you?" I grabbed the grass skirt and crumpled the edges in my fist to avoid hitting him.

"Don't blame me!" Adrian laughed, holding his hands up. "You dressed yourself this time. You showed up in pajamas, but that changed when you were taking in the scenery. I must admit that I liked your pajamas a bit better though. Winnie the Pooh is a classic."

My eyes narrowed and I let out a small growl as I flopped down on the couch and grabbed a mojito from the table. The strong taste of tequila burnt the back of my throat and I almost choked.

"You left me with a lot of questions last night, little dhampir." Adrian said in a quiet voice, watching the waves crash down onto the shoreline.

"I don't know if I have any answers." I leaned back on the couch and put my bare feet up on the edge of the table. "I still haven't figured out what happened."

Adrian held a hand toward me palm up. "After I touched you last night, your aura went black. It had been dark before that, but something went wrong when we made contact. I didn't want to let go, darling, and that scares me. You don't know how bad it scares me. Because I have never felt that free in my entire life. It was better than any drug or drink. It was like having a monumental weight lifted from my shoulders."

"Why did you let go?" I closed my eyes and put my head back.

Adrian was silent for a moment and I was glad because it gave me an opportunity to think. There was so much that I didn't tell him last night. Another thing to figure out was just how much I could tell him. I trusted Adrian completely, but I also didn't want to put him in danger. There were simply too many things to consider and I didn't know if I had the energy or sanity to do so. For one, there was no way that I could ever have more than a platonic relationship with him. I loved him far too much to break his heart again. Although there was no guarantee that he would feel like that for me.

"Because I saw what it was doing to you." Adrian finally said.

My eyes snapped open and I turned my head to look at him. "How bad did it look?"

"The light was leaving you. You collapsed and all I could see was the rage and grief pulling you under." Adrian's voice was soft and concerned. "Little dhampir, you have to tell me what happened so I never do that again."

"What I'm about to tell you has to stay between you and I." I sat up and crossed my legs so that I could face him. "I know that you have no ties to me beyond these dreams, but I can't put you or my friend in danger by this becoming public knowledge."

"You have my word." Adrian nodded.

"I already told you that my best friend is a spirit user like you, but what I failed to mention last night is that I am bound to her." Adrian's eyes narrowed in confusion.

So I told him the story of Vladimir and Anna and how she was Shadow Kissed. Then I started speaking of how Lissa and I had been best friends since childhood and how she used her gift to bring me back. My deepest fears and worries poured from my mouth as I spoke of the bond and the darkness that it brought. Adrian listened quietly through it all, only moving forward to grab himself another drink when I started speaking of ghosts and spirits.

"It's outlandish." He finally said. "But I think it's entirely plausible."

"What I can't understand," I said in frustration, tugging at the roots of my hair, "is why I had that fucking dream."

"Maybe there is something that you're supposed to stop from happening." Adrian told me as he put his empty glass down.

"But too many bad things happened!" I growled. "How the hell am I supposed to know what to change and what not to? I'm already losing my freaking mind as it is."

"Aren't we all, darling." Adrian let out a small sad laugh. "But if you never lose your mind, how will you ever find it?"

Adrian quirked an eyebrow at me, acting like he had just said something profound.

"You're bonkers." I shook my head and then giggled when he went cross eyed while staring at my coconuts. "Eyes off the goods, homie."

"I can't hold this dream for much longer, Rose." Adrian said suddenly, sitting up as though he was hearing something that I couldn't. "Can you at least tell me your full name?"

"Hathaway," I answered automatically, "It's Rose Hathaway."

I could feel the dreamscape starting to fade and I did the only thing I could do to repay Adrian for his kindness and listening ear. Before he could register my intentions, I grabbed his hand, letting the darkness drain away from him.

Once again the clock was at two in the afternoon when I woke up, covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The nasty feeling was no better today. It was something I could handle though. I was used to the darkness and I had plenty of practice shielding my mind from the worst of it. I knew how to control the alien emotions. Adrian deserved to have a few good days without the darkness bothering him and somehow I was able to give him that much.

It was cold and dreary when I opened the door to the outside world. The snowflakes drifted down lazily from the deep gray clouds coating the ground below in fluffy snow. It was peaceful and beautiful but I couldn't enjoy it in the least bit. At least not yet. I needed to run and then I needed to beat the hell out of something.

My footprints blazed a trail in the fresh powder, giving evidence to the fact that I was still here. I might not have been in the best shape or frame of mind, but I was alive and kicking. When running around the track wasn't enough, I ran the perimeter of the fence, letting the wrought iron monstrosity guide me around the Academy and back to where I'd started.

By the time I reached the gym, my tattered sneakers were soaking wet and my feet felt frozen solid. My entire body shivered when I opened the door and a blast of warm air hit me. It was completely dark in the main room and my hands fumbled along the wall in search of a light switch. The first switch I flipped turned on the lights on the far side of the room and when I saw what that little corner held I took it as a sign from the spirits that I was about to get angry and rude on a leather bag.

The punching bags were in a neat row of three and I picked the farthest one back. This time I made sure to put on a pair of gloves to avoid losing any more skin, knowing that my poor hands couldn't take much more abuse. A small CD player sat on a nearby bench and turned it on. The radio started with a heavy dance beat and I turned around to show that punching bag who was boss. It was cathartic to just stand there in solitude and repeat the different punches, stances and kicks. I let the music set the pace and just went with the flow. As the darkness slowly start draining away, I began dancing as I punched. More of it filtered out while I sang along as loudly as I could. I was butchering the punching bag right along with all the top 100 hits of the eighties.

When Prince's 'Kiss' came on, I couldn't help but belt out the lyrics in a high reedy voice that was so out of tune that I inwardly cringed. I bounced back and forth and bobbed my head as I hit my target, feeling free and uninhibited. But by the end of the song I was just dancing around it like it was a stationary dance partner.

"The Strigoi will never know what hit them." Dimitri's low voice caught me off guard and I spun around so fast that it made my head spin.

"How long have you been standing there?" I whispered as my face heated up.

"Since Phil Collins." Dimitri chuckled lowly as he turned on the rest of the lights.

"But that was like four hours ago!" I realized. "You couldn't warn me so I didn't make an ass out of myself?"

"No," Dimitri replied, "It was good to see you act your age. You have not done that since you've been here."

"My apologies." I feigned looking around. "Did you expect me to act like a five year old?"

Another laugh escaped his lips. "No."

"What did you expect?" I asked curiously. "A prim proper studious little girl that ran off looking for adventure?"

"From what I gathered," He said in that irresistible deep voice, "I thought I would find a rebellious girl who liked to party and get into fights, but protected her friends above all else. I knew that you and Miss Dragomir would try to run when we found you and I expected you to scream and argue the whole way back. But you are not that girl."

My heart fell at his words. That was the girl that Dimitri would eventually grow to love. That wasn't me anymore. I could never go back to being that way. It hurt to think that we might not end up together, but if that was the sacrifice I had to make to know that he was safe, then it was a small price to pay.

"Would you like some coffee?" Dimitri asked me as he reached for his thermos.

"Sure." I took the offered cup and chugged it in one drink.

Dimitri looked at the empty cup. "It's coffee, not vodka."

"Do you have a thermos of that?" I rubbed my hands together. "I won't tell."

"No." Dimitri sighed, refilling the cup. "How did you know we were in Portland? I went through extensive planning not to tip you off."

I thought back to that night, trying to find a rational explanation. "Our housemates cat was going nuts all day. It kind of clued me in that more dhampirs were around. Little furball hated me."

"The cat." Dimitri deadpanned.

"Yup." I swallowed another scolding mouthful of coffee, hoping the lie would be burnt off my tongue.

"You surprised me." Dimitri stated after a moment.

"I was stupid." I returned in a darker tone. "I should have been in that car with Lissa, instead of running into trees."

"You and the Princess are exactly where you need to be." He tried to mollify me.

My happy mood returned ten fold. "And today, you liked my singing so much you had to stay and listen?"

"I thought someone was torturing a cat." He said with a serious tone and straight face.

Coffee came out of my nose. Let me tell you that a lung full of coffee is far more painful than one can imagine. Dimitri patted my back and shook his head.

"So what's the training exercise today, Comrade?" I asked when the coughing subsided. "Are we going to slap bowls of water, or maybe meditate and sing kumbaya?"

"Not today," Dimitri shook his head, "but I'll keep those in mind. Today we are going to go for twelve laps around the gym and then you are going to go back to your dorm to sleep. It is not good to keep depriving yourself of sleep. You will burn yourself out quickly."

"I can't help it." I shook my head as I followed him toward the doors. "I just haven't been tired."

Dimitri gave me a pointed look that said that he didn't believe me one bit. As we ran I asked him questions about his home and family and he answered them with the calm patience of a saint. It was good to have him talk to me like I was just any other person, not a student. But I was sure not to cross the line into flirting. No matter how hard it would be, I would wait for him to make the first move.

"So you like Louis L'amour books?" I asked him as we made our tenth lap around the track.

"Yes, I find them to be very calming." He glanced at me and grinned. "You are very observant."

Well, I was cheating a little bit. Having knowledge of the future kind of killed all the excitement of reliving this whole experience. But hey, maybe something new would surprise me eventually.

There was a handful of novices in Guardian Alto's class when I walked in a few hours after leaving the gym. There had been just enough time for me to take a good shower and do a little bit of homework before I realized that I had missed breakfast and was going to be late for class if I didn't hurry.

I took a seat in the far back and hoped that my presence would go unnoticed. But as my luck would have it, everyone wanted to talk to me. They all had questions and surrounded my desk like I was some kind of rock star. Part of me was reveling in the attention, but the larger part wanted to crawl under my desk and hide until they left.

"Hey, now," Mason said, walking in with Eddie and Meredith, "Leave Rose alone."

"Mase!" I jumped up and threw my arms around him. "I missed you."

Mason chuckled as he hugged me back. "I missed you too, Rose. It was boring without you."

"Miss Hathaway!" Stan barked as he walked through the door. "Take your seat!"

Mason gave me an apologetic look as he took a seat to my right. Alto stalked to the front of the room and wrote a page number on the whiteboard. And then he turned to stare down us novices with a dark look on his face.

"Since Hathaway has surely filled your empty heads with tales of how a true guardian is supposed to protect their charge, I think it would be fitting for all of you to turn around and thank her for the pop quiz we are about to take." He said with a smug expression as murmurs and groans filled the room. "This quiz will count on your final grade."

And so began my social decline.

Stan wasn't the only instructor to impose this new policy that entailed anyone coming near me would face pop quizzes and loud lectures. By the time lunch hour rolled around, Mason, Eddie and Lissa were the only people that would even speak to me. I was stuffing my face with a delicious roast beef sandwich when Kirova walked up to my table.

"Miss Hathaway," She said with her annoying fake smile, "let me make it clear once again that you are not allowed to take part in any social events. That includes the chapel. Don't let me find out that you've gone against me on this."

The wonderful sandwich suddenly tasted like sand in my mouth. She walked away with her head held high and her heels clicking loudly on the floor before I could even say a word in my defense. My irritation was mounting by the minute, and I didn't know how much longer I could hold out under this kind of treatment without really exploding.

"This isn't right," Lissa whispered to me, "you don't deserve to be treated this way."

"Don't worry, Liss," I gave her a smug smirk that was totally opposite of how I really felt, "I've got this shit under control. They'll be singing a different tune when I'm back to being top student."

Lissa didn't look convinced in the slightest. But I felt her irritation fade away without my assistance.

The rest of the night was spent trying to make some headway with the piles of homework. I knew all of the answers and had the essays already filed away in my memory, all I needed was time and a little bit of determination and I would have it finished by the end of the month. I couldn't wait to shove the pile of homework into my instructors faces a couple weeks early.

The bond was calling and I was pulled through into Lissa's mind. She was in her room and Natalie was talking non-stop to someone on the telephone. Lissa was annoyed because she had a test to study for in Russian History and Natalie wouldn't give her a minutes peace.

There was a knock on the door and when Lissa opened it, she was delighted to see that it was Christian. She held up a hand to keep him from speaking as she walked out into the hall and closed the door.

"Natalie is driving me insane." She whispered to him.

"You want to get out of here for a bit?" Christian asked and I could feel Lissa's excitement.

"Yeah," she answered quickly, "can we leave now? Where are we going?"

"I thought we could go hang out in the chapel." Christian said in a dry tone. "The service ended an hour ago and the priest has left the grounds to check out the women at the local bar."

"Sounds great." Lissa said as the two took off.

"The chapel?" Christian quirked an eyebrow. "Or the priest ogling women?"

I left the bond and had to stare at the paper for half an hour to try and regain my train of thought. I kept checking on Lissa every few minutes, but she was safe and happy, so I wasn't worried about her. It was Natalie that bothered me. Cell phones weren't exactly something that the administrators approved of. Who was she been talking to? Was Victor planning something? I'd have to find a way to keep a closer eye on her.

When I finally resurfaced from my homework exile, I realized that I had missed dinner hours ago and I was starving. My stomach growled loudly, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to even come near food again until breakfast. With that thought in mind I went back to work.

To my disappointment, there was no dreamscape and no Adrian to pull me away from my problems that night. I was left alone to face my nightmares of the darkness and it's screaming faces.

End Chapter Five

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