Hello again! Thanks for all your suggestions for this chapter :) This could actually be the last one, unless you want one more showing snippets of the ride home and then R & D's colleagues finding out about the engagement? Then I'll get started on the next story in this series.

I tried to take into account all the most popular suggestions for this chapter, so here we have it. Couldn't manage lazertag or baby shopping, but we'll see what happens in future stories :)

Anyway, you've waited long enough for this chapter, so on with the show :)

Disclaimer: Vampire Academy- really, truly, not mine. Honestly.

After lunch, everyone had gone sort of quiet. It was that bittersweet last day feeling, the complicated mix of wanting to enjoy every moment, but not wanting to have too much fun in case it made you miss it more. It was only after receiving a text from Hans reminding me of the overtime I had to work once we got back that I was determined to make the most of our time here.

"Okay people," I said, "this is starting to feel like one of Christian's pity parties- only without the hats and setting things on fire. It's depressing. We need to do something before going home seems like the more fun option."

Mia's hand shot up. "Can we play Truth or Dare?"

"Why are you putting your hand up?" I asked, bemused, before shaking it off. "But aside from that, yeah, sounds like an idea."

"I've never actually played it sober," Adrian said.

Sydney rolled her eyes. "Well, you will now." She told him brusquely. "You're not breaking now."

"Speaking of breaking things," Lissa interjected, "we need to lay down some ground rules." I groaned in annoyance. "Yes, I'm looking at you Rose. Christian nearly died last time."

"What?" I asked feigning innocence. "He did not."

Christian seemed torn between not wanting to side with me, and defending his masculinity. In the end he just stayed silent as Lissa went on. "Either way, these are the rules. Each person is allowed to forfeit either one truth or one dare and turn it back on the person that set it. That should stop really evil ones."

I rolled my eyes. "You're no fun anymore Liss. Don't you think that Vika and Nikolai should get to experience our favourite game in all its glory?"

"The game won't be the only thing seen in all its glory," Eddie muttered.

"You're still bitter about that? Come on, it was years ago!" I defended.

Vika cringed. "Actually Roza, I'm perfectly happy with Lissa's rules." Everyone else agreed.

"Comrade? You too?"

He shrugged. "Sorry Roza, but she has a point. You'll get a chance anyway; people can only turn down one truth or dare."

"Yeah, the best one," I grouched. "Fine, I guess this will have to do." Even Dimitri looked a little relieved. Coward. "Who's going first?"

Christian shot up. "Me. Rose, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Alright, I dare you to go up to the first person you see on the campground and follow them. When they turn around, pretend they're an alien."

I figured he was going easy on me so that I wouldn't turn it back onto him. He'd become all boring since finding out about the babies. "Come on then."

They followed me out of the circle of trees, hiding at the edge as I assessed the rest of the campground. There was a middle-aged man walking back from the standpipe with a bucket of water, which I thought could be fun, so I followed him. Getting really close, I matched my stride to his and stared intently at the back of his head. After a few seconds, his body language changed as he felt someone behind him. He sped up, and so did I. He spun around, ready to shout at me.

I shrieked, backing up a few paces as I pointed at his face, hand and entire body shaking. "You're one of them." I deliberately tripped over backwards, but kept shuffling away on my hands and feet. "You're one of Them!"

"Miss?" He asked, and I screamed.

"It speaks! This is it- the invasion has begun!" With that I flipped over and crawled away as fast as I could, only stopping to tell a dog that was tied outside a caravan that the aliens were here. Fired up from being so close to me, it began to bark like crazy. "I know! Run for your life!" I told it, before getting up and running back to the trees. From there, I saw the man with the bucket shake his head before making his way back to his tent. I brushed the pine needles from my clothes, including on that had actually stabbed me in the knee.

"Lissa, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Looking around, I spotted something that gave me an idea. "Though this can't be completed right now, I dare you to, when he comes out of the tent, start complaining to Abe about all the signs of pregnancy. But you have to pretend not to know what it means. Keep going until he either tells you or leaves."

During the time I was on the run, Lissa and my mom had become close in their shared worry for me. Though Sonya knew about Lissa's pregnancy, none of the other Guardians or Moroi did. She wasn't sure how to tell them, so I figured that this way she had no excuse not to.

She narrowed her eyes at me, the closest to a true glare she could get, but after a moment it softened into something softer. She knew what I was doing, and with a dismissive shake of her head, looked away. "Fine, I'll do it. Adrian, truth or dare?" He chose dare. "Alright, I dare you to run around the campsite screaming and pretending that you have crabs, and when you see a man, you have to apologise for borrowing his towel in the shower the other day. Oh, and you have to strip down to your boxers."

Everyone laughed, and Viktoria looked surprised. "I hope I never get on the wrong side of you, your Majesty!"

Lissa grinned, winking in reply. Adrian grumbled as he started taking his clothes off. Of course, the boxers were silk. He started heading out of the trees, but I called to stop him. "Aren't you forgetting something? She said you have to pretend you have crabs."

He turned and glared. "I hate you." With a grimace, he reached down and began to scratch his crotch. Even Sydney found it funny. "I hate all of you." Then, he crossed beyond the line of the trees to the rest of the campsite, and we all followed.

As soon as he hit the dirt path Adrian started to jog along it, hand practically glued to the front of his boxers as he chanted "Crabs! Oh man they itch!" over and over. A couple of women looked at him weirdly, and a girl about our age regarded him like maggot-infested road kill. When a man stepped out of his tent a few pitches up from where Adrian currently was, I got my phone out and began to covertly record the scene.
Adrian stopped running, sticking a hand out to grab the man's arm. The other hand continued to scratch. "I'm sorry sir, but I borrowed your towel in the showers a couple of days ago. I think I caught your crabs."

The guy was outraged. "I don't have crabs!"

Adrian was quiet for a second, before shrugging. "Well, I guess you do now!" He turned and ran away. "Sorry!"
After completing a lap of the campsite, he came back to us using a different entrance, past my parents' tent. I slipped my phone back into my pocket before he could see that I'd recorded it. He jogged closer, a little flushed. I expected a tirade of insults to be thrown at us for laughing, hut instead he spoke in a hushed whisper.
"I just heard Abe saying he was going to come out and get something to eat. Lissa, you can do your dare."

I heard movement from Abe's tent, so grabbed Dimitri's hand and pulled him into our own. Everyone else followed, Christian lingering behind to give Lissa a quick kiss before sitting her don on a log and following us.

I zipped the tent flap closed on 3 sides, leaving a narrow slit open at the bottom. Abe was a seasoned criminal, he'd be bound to notice something was up if we opened it any more. We all lay down on the floor, resting on our elbows and peeking out the tiny gap with Adrian complaining about a stone digging in his stomach until Eddie punched him. "It'll hurt more if you don't shut up," he hissed.

Rolling me eyes at their antics I cuddled closer into Dimitri's side, and he wrapped an arm over my shoulders. Playing truth or dare, watching my best friend prank my dad, whilst getting a hug from my amazing fiancé. Did life get better than this?

Just in case it didn't, I rested my phone against the edge of the gap and set it to record.

Abe stepped out of his tent, eyes scanning the area and doing a double take as he noticed Lissa sitting on the log, crying. He looked around, slightly panicked, and when he saw no one, slowly moved to sit beside her.
"Um, Lissa? Are you alright?"

Removing her hands from her face, she sniffed before snapping, "Do I look alright?" Abe was taken aback, before Lissa let out another sob and the expression moved to panic again. "I'm sorry Abe, I've been so grumpy lately and I don't know why. Just generally emotional, really." She gestured around. "I told everyone to leave me here when they went swimming because I was so tired. I've been constantly exhausted lately, I don't know what's happening. Not to mention hungry. I ate more than Rose yesterday."

Abe frowned. "Really?"

"Yes!" Lissa shouted, pretending to get angry. "I'm getting so fat as well! And that just makes me even madder! Which makes no sense, because I can't actually keep the food down. I swear I throw up every morning now." The tears started again. I'd always envied Lissa her ability to cry on demand; it was something really impressive to watch. "What's wrong with me?"

I pressed my face against Dimitri's shoulder to stifle a laugh.

Abe shifted in his seat. "Ah, well, when was... I mean, could you..." He grimaced. "Have you noticed anything else..?"

There was a good chance I was going to suffocate on the laughter I was trying to keep in. If I breathed now, there was no way I was going to be able to keep quiet. My father, Abe Mazur, the legendary Zmey, had finally met his match- pregnancy. I suddenly felt very sorry for my mom. I'd have to ask her later how she'd told him about me. Actually, had she at all?

The question was put out of my mind when Lissa replied. "Yes- my boobs are huge!"

The dam burst, and Abe could take it no longer. "I have to- you should speak to Janine. Or Alberta. Or Sonya. Just, I need to go." He hauled ass out of there like someone had lit it on fire. He darted into the food tent without a backwards glance. We got up off the floor to let Lissa into the tent, and I couldn't hold in my laughter anymore. Grabbing a pillow off the ground, I shoved my face into it and just let it out. Lissa collapsed into me and we both fell over, ending up in a cackling gaggle on the ground.

Best. Dare. Ever.

That night, once everything had quieted down, we were all sitting around the roaring campfire. Abe shot me dirty looks every few seconds before turning them on my mom, and I had to resist the urge to giggle again. After the whole prank escapade, my mom had come into the tent to speak to Lissa and found us still in hysterics. Once Lissa had calmed down enough to speak, she'd explained that she knew she was pregnant, and that it had been my idea of a dare. Surprisingly mom had found it funny too, and teased Abe about it.

Now, he'd finally regained enough dignity to face us all again on this last night of the holiday. Everyone was out here, meaning that I wasn't the only person having to share a seat. Lissa was draped over Christian, Mia was sitting cross-legged on Eddie's lap and Sydney and Adrian were sitting very close together. I was in my usual spot, curled up in Dimitri's lap with my arms around his neck, his hands bracketing my waist and holding me there.

We'd already finished roasting all the marshmallows, and the last of the chocolate had melted because some idiot had left it too close to the fire. The majority of us sat in silence, except for Lissa and Sonya, who were talking in hushed tones. Occasionally, Christian would add something.
When Lissa saw me watching, she smiled before facing the group.
"Sonya and I have something we wanted to try. It won't take much Spirit," she added after catching my concerned look, "and Christian's going to help too."

Now this was intriguing. Short of frying Strigoi and scaring dickhead classmates, I hadn't seen Christian use his magic for much. Fire was sort of limited.

A minute later, I retracted those words. Lissa took Sonya's hand and closed her eyes, before holding Christian's as well and closing her eyes. Sonya looked at Lissa, eyes slightly glazed as she regarded something nobody else could see, and Christian stared at the fire.
It burned brighter suddenly, the flames in the centre surging upwards before the edges dimmed. The base of the fire flickered, the inferno seeming to mould into shape. A moment later, I realised that was exactly what was happening. A tongue of flame broke off, rising upwards and taking on the shape as it did so. The dove flapped its wings and dipped, twisting in between the strands of fire licking upwards.

Whilst the others stared mesmerised and confused, I only felt that second one for a moment. Even though the bond was gone, I still knew when Lissa was using Spirit, could still feel something. Like the echo of a faded memory, hardly enough to even register if I didn't already know she was using it, something like an itch in an amputee's phantom arm. My own soul had been tied to Lissa's for long enough that I could recognise hers as easily as I recognised my own reflection. That was how I knew that the dove made of flames was the animal representation of Lissa's being. Tranquillity and peace settled over me as I watched it dance through the inferno, and I knew I'd seen that dove before, amongst the flames of a harsher nature, fighting its way towards me through blackened, twisted metal.

"It's you," I whispered, the first one to break the silence. As Lissa opened her eyes, the dove spread its wings and grew; its silhouette something like a phoenix as the glowing embers that had composed its body fluttered back to the ground.

"Yeah," she smiled. I could imagine the ecstasy she must be feeling right now, after that use of Spirit in its purest form.

Adrian was the next person to come round. "Cousin, you have to show me how to do that. You just put my party trick to shame."

"Some other night," Sydney cut in, sounding still a little wonderstruck. "You're not exactly the fastest learner." Her words were softened by the affectionate expression on her face as she leaned in closer.

"We can't all be such a quick study," he teased, and I got the feeling I didn't want to know any more.

It was unexpected when my mom began to speak. "I've heard of this," she said quietly. "My mother would tell me stories of the Animal Allies- Spirit Guides, and the animals that our own souls took the form of. There were legends of those Shamans who could make them take their form from the fire or the water, rise from the earth or appear suspended in the air, with the help of an elemental Moroi. I guess they were true." She went on to explain a little more about the legend, but I was too busy processing what I'd heard. My grandmother had never been spoken of before, perhaps when I was very young, but that was all. I knew she was dead now, but I'd never thought to ask what had happened. I made a mental note to find out tomorrow.

"Let's see what you are then," Lissa said with a smirk.

"I already know," was my mom's only answer. A small, lithe cat appeared in the flames- a Scottish Wildcat. "The protector."

After that, a raven appeared for Christian, otter for Sydney, swan for Adrian, a bear for Eddie, and a butterfly for Mia. Mom jumped in with an explanation for that one. "They represent freedom, but also the souls of the dead watching over us. Keepers of power. That's a strong one." I couldn't believe that Guardian Hathaway Senior was talking about animal totems in such an easy way. It was hard to reconcile this relaxed, spiritually aware woman with the one calmly telling the story of the hat trick kills 2 years ago. We'd all changed since then.

I had been spaced out for a while, but snapped back to the world when I felt a strange tingling sensation in my stomach, and looked up to see a new shape forming from the embers of the butterfly. Something like a paw clawed upwards, followed by another, before they rested on an unseen ledge. From the pile of sticks that formed the base of the fire another cat sprang, this one bigger, sleeker. With it came the certainty that there was looking at my reflection in the mirror, I knew that my own soul was being reflected back at me. The jaguar crouched amongst the flames, body coiling for an attack. The head went down, almost touching the ground, before twisting upwards in a powerful spiral, seemingly hanging in the air between the flames as it ascended. Sneaking a look at Dimitri, I saw his staring, transfixed, at the jaguar. His hand tightened around mine, and I could have sworn I heard him whisper beautiful as the big cat burned brighter than ever in reaching the top of the fire, the light almost blindingly white as before it disappeared.

"Impressive," Christian said, only a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I guess your need to make a big entrance-and exit runs-pretty deep."

I rolled my eyes. "You're the one that was controlling the flames, bird brain."

"No need for the catty remarks," he shot back. "Lissa told me what to do, I was just the puppeteer."

"Because you-"

"Please don't make another raven-related joke," mom sighed. "Let's just keep going with this. You two can bicker anytime."

Adrian smirked. "Yeah, I can't wait to see Belikov's animal. I'm thinking kitten, puppy perhaps. Something cute and cuddly like the big softie we know he really is." He laughed as he thought of something else. "Hey, what's the male version of a cougar?"

"Something that would happily put an end to the ugly duckling if it keeps being so irritating," Dimitri replied. I hi-fived him as Adrian shrunk back a little into his seat. Abe looked impressed, though tried to hide it.

Lissa nudged Christian as she closed her eyes again, preparing to allow Sonya to establish the mental link that would connect the three minds. As images of Dimitri's aura flowed from Sonya to be interpreted into an animal by Lissa to be made in fire by Christian, I felt a spark of anticipation. What would Dimitri's spirit look like?

The moment before the animal became defined, I knew the answer. I was able to pick out the wolf's head as it uncurled from the flaming body, which rose up to pad silently around the edge of the fire. Stopping almost directly in front of us, it threw back its head in a silent howl.
But this animal seemed different. The wolf's burning coat seemed to shimmer with gold and blue and the slightest hint of green, like looking up at the sun through the leafy canopy of a forest in summer. The scent of sun-baked earth lingered just out of reach, and a sound like a tune half-forgotten drifted through my mind.

The flames increased, obscuring the wolf from view. When they returned to normal, the wolf was gone. I stared at the empty fire for a few more moments, which now seemed to burn a little colder, a little darker, before looking up at the people seated around it.
None of them showed any signs that what they had witnessed just now was any different to any of the previous displays. That was when I realised just as the wolf had been the only animal to affect me; I had been the only person to be affected by it. After all, it was the closest thing to an aura that a non-Spirit user could see.
My eyes flickered up to Dimitri's, and I found myself getting lost in those depths like so many times before. He smiled, one hand reaching up to lance his fingers between mine. I rested my head against his shoulder as I watched the last of the Spirit animals take shape in the flames.

Starting off as a snake, people laughed about Zmey being the most true nickname ever.
My mom leaned over to whisper something, and Abe's animal began to shift into something else, Sonya frowning as she looked at him. The fire burned brighter, the creature rose up onto newly-created legs, and something that looked suspiciously like wings fanned out. Abe laughed quietly as he looked tenderly at my mom, but she spoke again and his attention shifted back to the fire. His face became closed off again, his hard criminal glare. A tongue of flame shot from the creature's mouth before it too disappeared. Mom looked sad.

Unsure of what had happened there, Abe spoke before anyone else could. "Fun as this has been, I'm heading off to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow."

I smirked. "Getting tired there, old man?"

"Did I say I was going to sleep?" Mom smacked his arm, but didn't try to counter the statement.

I shot up out of my seat, dragging Dimitri with me. "Eew, eew, eew. There's no way I'm staying out here now, not with those words still hanging around in the air I have to breathe."

Everyone else made a move too, 'goodnight's flying for a good couple of minutes as people scrambled for the bathrooms and grabbing stuff from other tents. Finally, though, we were all settled in for our last night at Peaceful Pines.

Not ready to go to sleep just yet, I sat on the camp bed and watched as Dimitri got undressed. He turned around just as I tilted my head to the side to get a better angle. He raised one eyebrow.

"What?" I asked innocently. "I'm not allowed to look now? It's your fault for being so hot."

He smiled at that, coming closer so that he was kneeling on the bed opposite me. "If you're going to ogle me, you could at least allow me the same chance." His fingers hooked under the edge of the shirt I was wearing (one I'd stolen from him), and I waited a second before slapping his roaming hands away, capturing them between my own.

"Everyone's still awake out there," I scolded half-heartedly. "At least give it time for the oldies to fall asleep." He looked so disappointed that I gave him a quick kiss anyway. As our lips touched, I remembered that feeling from before, when I had been watching the wolf in the fire.

When we broke apart, I could tell that he was thinking along the same lines. Part of me wanted to say something about it, see if he'd been affected in the same way. But at the same time, the way he was looking at me made the question redundant. Of course he had. Being me, I had to say something of what I was feeling though.
"Earth," I said quietly, tracing an abstract pattern against his bare chest before looking up into his eyes. "That's your element, Moroi or not." I looked back down again. "Fitting I guess. When we were killing time back on the road, Sydney was talking about this name origin study thing she had been doing- honestly she comes up with the most random stuff sometimes-and she mentioned that Dimitri means 'Earth Lover'-"

He cut off my rambling with another kiss.

"Roses especially," he murmured against my lips. This time I gave in, my body leaning forwards into his as I deepened the kiss. One arm hooked around his waist as the other came up to tangle in his soft hair, holding him even closer. The space between us was virtually nothing as our bodies pressed together, my curves tessellating perfectly with the hard, smooth planes of his body.

He laid me gently back onto the bed, and I hardly noticed the hard edges of the poles supporting the canvas digging into my back. Dimitri's wrapped his hand around mine, pulling it from where it was fisted in his shirt to hold it above my head. The other hand skimmed a path down my body, stopping when it hit my waist to travel upwards again, inching the material of my shirt upwards.

He broke away from my lips for a second, before pressing his mouth to my neck. "Do you think they're asleep yet?" he whispered, breathing heavily.

"I don't care," I replied, before dragging his lips back up to mine.

Well, there we have it. Hopefully that was enough action for now ;) I think I'll do that extra chapter anyway, but it may be a little while coming. I'll also make a start on the next instalment.

Review and have steamy tent moments with Dimitri! :D