So, here it is, my first update after such a long time. I am terribly sorry it took so long to update, and I apologize to everyone who has been waiting so long for it. I might be sightly worried that my Adrian is too OOC, and so, I might have had to re-do this chapter a couple of times.

Anyway, here's this lovely chapter with Sydrian moments in it. I do hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed swooning, crying and fangirling with it.

Chapter dedicated to my lovely BETA who is very patient and so sweet: CherrySlushLover. Check out her story: Embracing the Truth.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VA, BL OR THE CHARACTER. THEY ALL BELONG TO RICHELLE MEAD.

ADRIAN'S POV

I stood up from the grass in the middle of the forest, with no idea whatsoever of what to do or where to go. I didn't want to go to the Royal Palace in the state I am, just to be interrogated by Rose and Co. I certainly didn't want to go back 'home' either, where that person who called himself 'my father' was. Besides, they might be looking out for me for what I did to the poor nurse, and I was not in the mood to put up with any interrogation.

It was too dark for me to remotely see anything, and there weren't any light posts nearby that could light the way. As this was the East part of Court, it wasn't widely used or frequented; therefore, it had no need for light posts. So, even with my enhanced Moroi vision, I didn't see the glass shards on the floor as I started walking back to the centre. I stepped on some of them, earning myself some deep cuts on them. It really was idiotic for me not to bring some shoes—seriously, what was I thinking? Oh, yeah, I wasn't.

"Fuck!" I yelled as I felt one of the shards piercing and cutting the middle of my foot, and then another on my other foot, and so it went until I got out of the glass-mined field a couple of meters ahead.

'I can't even heal myself, and I certainly can't go back to the hospital. This is Adrian luck.' I thought as I clenched and unclenched my fists.

I walked a few meters, my feet already numb with the sharp pain as I cursed and took deep breaths to manage the pain. I hope at least no shards got stuck in there which would be ugly. But who could possibly own a first-aid kit that they took wherever they went—well, of course, why didn't I think of her before!

Sage.

I was sure that she had one, though I'm not sure why she would help me even if she did. But I could always try.

I wasn't wearing shoes, but I, however, did have my cell phone with me. I decided to call a friend of mine that owed me a favor, he was a man of resources and could quickly find out information about anyone, including where Sage might be staying. He got the answer rather quickly, and additionally, her room number. I decided to go there as fast as I could manage. I used the Sage logic, which is 'the sooner I am there, the sooner she can finish the job,' and she wouldn't have to spend too much time with me—which she wouldn't want to, even though I did want her to.

My clothes were covered in dirt and dust that I didn't bother to clean at all. It seemed as if I had gotten myself into a bar brawl or something along those lines. I walked past people staring at me with a questioning look on their faces. From what I could hear, word had gone around rather quickly; the news of my unintended attack to the nurse was all around Court now. I ignored them all. The whispering, the stares, the running, I just kept on walking.

If it wasn't for my darkness attack earlier, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have scared Sage, I wouldn't have attacked the nurse. I wouldn't have run away barefoot and got these cuts on my feet. Spirit was getting out of hand. Most of the time it wasn't so unbearable—now I couldn't even seem to grasp control over myself. Everything seemed like a haze, and I didn't want to miss whatever might be going on around me.

I needed to find a solution to spirit, some way to find out everything about it and learn how to control it without harming anyone else.

I didn't realize I was already almost in front of the hotel where Sage was staying in; I was too immersed in my thoughts to notice I walked over a Km in a short time. However, I did notice some Royal Moroi waiting for the valet to pull-up at the fountain turn, with some condescension in the way they carried themselves as they looked down at me. If they knew who I was, they wouldn't be acting this way, but my clothes really didn't inspire any respect, not even from myself.

I entered the hotel's lobby, everyone staring at me as I got ready to hop in the elevator. A cute, tiny, with chestnut colored hair Moroi girl, with huge, blue eyes looked up at me from the inside of the elevator when the door opened. She was biting on the ear of her bunny plush; she couldn't have been more than 4. I smiled at the sight of the girl, it was a silly scene. I expected her to exit the elevator, though she didn't, so I just got in beside her. She watched me as I walked in and pressed the 7 button on the panel, and as soon as the door closed, she tugged on my pants, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

"Hey there, what's your name? Why are you alone?" I asked as I kneeled down to be at eye-level with her. She just kept on staring back at me. "Who are your parents?"

Still no answer, I ran my hands through my hair, I suddenly felt distressed. Who the hell leaves a child alone in such a huge hotel? "Er, I'll help you find your parents." As soon as I said that, the doors opened at the 4th floor, and the girl walked out of the elevator and smiled at me, then went running away to the right hall. I stepped outside to watch her leave, but she vanished.

"Surely she must have run really fast, I didn'tjust imagine that." I told myself as I pressed the button to close the doors over and over again. "I didn't... I didn't... I'm... I'm going mad... I—" The doors closed, and I stood there speech-less, waiting for them to re-open on the 7th floor. I walked to Sage's room, almost on auto mode. I turned a few times to get to the room, unaware of the trail of dust I was leaving behind until I looked back at the sound of steps behind me, but there was no one.

When I got to her room, I wanted her to be there, but at the same time, I didn't. I didn't want her to see me like this, all dishevelled and messed up, yet she always seems to find me in my lowest. She didn't make up conclusions on her own or judge me or pity me.

I gathered the strength to knock on her door and expected to hear rustling of movement behind it. I knocked once, twice, three times, but there was no answer. 'No one's inside', I thought. I decided to wait for her to get back; maybe she was still at the hospital.

I sat down next to the door, knees pressed to my chest. I started looking around me, taking every detail in. The hall was dimly lighted with a peach light that was soft to the eyes all the way to the other end of the hall. A deep, red carpet covered the entire floor, which gave the halls a royal air to them. I started dozing off to sleep, yet I couldn't keep myself from noticing how the temperature seemed to drop a bit more and more. I hugged my knees closer and supported my chin on my arms.

This deal with the darkness was getting out of hand, and I needed a solution to it. Sage said the alchemists barely knew about Spirit. And even though Sonya, Lissa and I kept on studying it, we showed no significant improvement- they both had duties to do and I was apparently the only one with free time. I needed consistent results, and I needed them as soon as possible. The Alchemists may have shown an interest in spirit for the mere purpose of understanding it to keep themselves safe, but it could still help if it was studied, no matter who studied it.

The hall was still empty; thankfully no one came to this hall, though I felt someone should have. It has been a time since I'd started waiting, and evening had long gone. The nurse said 'we', were to be released at evening, but Sage still hadn't come back. She would like to change after everything that had happened. And surely, she wouldn't wander around Court all alone without Rose after what had happened last night, and Rose had reports to do.

Maybe she wasn't back from the hospital yet, or she was just a slow walker.

I was staring straight at the wall in front of me, about to give up waiting for Sage, just as I heard steps and saw a flicker of blonde hair to my left. I stood up quickly and breathed out, relief washing over me. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until now.

"Sage, I thought you got kidnapped or something. Took you ages to get back." I said, startling myself with the tone of concern in my voice.

"I had a little accident coming ba—" Sage started saying, then her expression switched to confusion and maybe irritation. "Wait, what are you doing here?" She slightly frowned—yes it was irritation. "And how do you know my hotel room?" she asked.

I chuckled, "I can't reveal all of my magic tricks to you, can I?" I found myself grinning at the irritation on Sage's face, it amused me. I quickly changed my expression; all mocking aside, this was business now. "I've been thinking, Sage. I really want you to study Spirit, and I'm willing to help you with whatever I can to be useful. It's a win-win situation. Think about it, your Alchemists learn about it, and then you can get the credit for being the lead investigator or whatever, and I can learn how to control it and the perks it has. I can even get Lissa or Sonya to help out! What do you think, Sage?"

She seemed pensive for a moment, and then she said, "But Adrian, you told me that the more you used spirit, the more you got these episodes of darkness. Shouldn't you just stop using it for a while at least?"

I just stared at her, shocked to formulate any word. This was so unAdrian-like. Was she more bothered about me, a Moroi, over the chance of being able to get credit for her work? I was about to answer, when she gasped, "Your feet. You're bleeding."

I had forgotten about it, I didn't even feel pain anymore. I just looked down at them and wiggled my toes; they were even more bloodied than I remembered. "So it seems."

Sage opened her purse and whispered a barely audible phrase. "You need to get that cleaned." She fished the key card from her purse and quickly opened the door to her room. "Go in, it's going to get infected if you don't take care of it." she said, obvious distress written on her face.

I raised my eyebrows and stared at her, and slowly walked in as I grinned. Not in a million years would I have imagined this happening!

"Sage, as much as I'm flattered that you're concerned about my well-being, it never crossed my mind that you'd be the one inviting me over to your room." I laughed on the inside as I stared at her whilst she closed the door. "I'm amazed." I could feel a smile creeping over my face. Lately I was doing a whole bunch of smiling around her.

She gave me one of her assassin looks and showed me to one of the chairs beside the window.

"Sit. Adrian, only you can think of running off from the hospital completely barefoot." she said as she gave me a little white box with a red cross on top- a first-aid kit. "What was that for anyway?" She asked as she sat on the chair opposite to mine.

I sat on the chair, and lifted my left foot, placing it on top of my right knee.

Would she understand if I told her? Or would she think I have gone crazy? I decided to ignore her question, as much as it pained me that she may be at least a bit concerned for me, I wasn't thankful enough to answer a simple question—but I didn't need pity right now.

"Wow, this looks terrible!" I said as I faked a chuckle and stared at her, raising my eyebrows in faked surprise too.

"It's not funny! It can get infected!" She was almost hysterical by now. It was adorable how she could get this worked up by a few cuts. Did I just think she was adorable? Yes, I did.

To my surprise, she got to her feet and dragged her chair right in front of mine, taking the white box from my hands. She dabbed a few cloths with alcohol, and cleansed the blood on my feet. It should have hurt at least a bit, but it didn't. Maybe it was the way she was tending them with such tenderness and softness. I didn't feel any pain at all. She was completely immersed and concentrated in it. I couldn't quite see the expression on her face as she tended my wounds, but I could read her aura. She was indeed concerned, and it touched my heart that someone who barely knew me could show such concern for me.

I kept on staring at her blonde, sandy hair in the place where her eyes would be if she was staring at me. She was finishing with the cuts and wounds, and her head was still bent down. I wonder if she could feel me staring at her. And it was difficult not to. She emanated such passion to everything she did, even playing nurse, or actually being a nurse. She showed complete dedication and a fire blazed every time she was doing something.

"There, it shouldn't get infected now," she said, placing the last Band-Aid on my right foot, still not looking at me. "You need to get shoes, Adrian. I'm serious, you can't just go over the place like that, and you can get sick."

She finally looked up at me, and our gazes locked. I don't know how long it was, I just knew that I saw so many shades of gold in those two eyes. It was laid like an open book. I could see how entire words and sentences could be told to me with just a stare. I held my breath as I took her in, her face close to mine. She really was something else. Rose was exotic and hot and extremely gorgeous and she was like fire, dangerous to be around, but Sage... Sage was beautiful, and as delicate as a lily's petals and strong and determined as lilies were when they grew. She was like a breeze, soothing and soft and with her own rhythm.

"I—um, you should get going, I have... a meeting soon. And I need to get ready." she said as she blinked and quickly stood up and placed the chair where it was, my eyes following her. She stood looking flustered and nervous. I stood up and walked right in front of her, and to my surprise, she didn't back away. I could feel tingles in my feet and it was ticklish, but there was no pain. Sage had done an amazing job with it.

I always felt like she was my heroine without disguise. She has helped me regardless that I was a Moroi and she was an Alchemist, and she had listened to me when no one else had. She was my saving grace. I wanted to hug her, and I wanted to close the space between us, and run my fingers over her face, but even that was too much in my head. She would push me away, and think of me as the lowest of the low, because she woudn't ever think of me as highly as I thought of her, and I don't know why, but I couldn't bear with the thought of her despising me.

With a step forward, I grabbed her right hand, I could feel how she stiffened. I was a little hurt, but then I remembered how 6 days ago, she wouldn't have even been concerned for me and would have regarded me with disgust and fear, and so, I appreciated at least the little improvement she made with us.

"Don't worry, Sage. I won't hurt you. Just a gesture of my appreciation for what you have done for me tonight." I kissed the back of her hand, just as a gentleman would when he was courting a lady back in the Victorian times. The warmth of her hand against mine was addictive and I just couldn't get enough of it. "Thank you." I murmured.

I released her hand as I straightened up and then looked at her; I thought she looked a little flushed. It was awfully cute. I couldn't help but smile at her. However, I felt I was flushing myself, so I turned on my heels without another word and walked to the door and opened it before she could see me. Without looking back, I closed it and sped to the elevator. I entered and pressed the lobby floor, and just as the doors where closing, I felt a soft, cool breeze entering.

She was the cool breeze I needed after burning myself as I played with fire.

So, tell me what you think and leave a lovely review. I will really try to update with at least one chapter every two weeks and will try to make them a bit longer to compensate for the lack of updates.

Thank you so much for reading this fanfic. :3