Author's note: Welcome to chapter 19. I hope you enjoy your stay. Be sure to leave a review before you check out :)

Rose's POV

My eyelids felt extremely heavy as I trekked across to the gym. I'd gotten up early, so the sun was just disappearing from the sky to signal the start of the Moroi day. Orange and yellows lit the skies horizon, but when you glanced up you could see the clutches of darkness taking hold, preparing it for night. The moon was just visible, gleaming from between the folds of clouds scattered across the sky. London was pretty much cloud covered most of the time, but it was nice. I loved the smell of rain and I knew that here in London there would most likely be a lot of that. I felt at home here already which was odd. I guess here at St Joseph's I could just relax. At St Vladmir's I'd had so many enemies and I was constantly dealing with Lissa's drama and trying not to have the hots for my mentor…that had clearly failed. But still. Here now of that was an issue. At this Academy I could just relax. I didn't need to worry about making friends. I was here to work and that was it. Though I knew I couldn't completely escape from my old life. I still had a bond. A bond which had kept me up most of the night due to Lissa being extremely angry. I didn't know why she was. I assumed it was to do with my call to Adrian. I exercised all my self-control last night and stopped myself from slipping into her head to check on everyone.

I entered the gym, immediately locating the heater. The room felt like it was filled with ice, but I soon fixed that. Hot air eventually circulated itself through the room, warming one frozen limb at a time. I actually felt excited for my first teaching class. Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques would be easy to teach. I knew pretty much everything. I had graduated at the top of that class after all. Sure I hadn't been good at calculus, but seriously, who was?

I walked over to a practice dummy and practiced a few combat moves. It felt so natural, like I was in my element. Which I was. I was a Guardian. This is what I was born to do. Though I usually elected to use my combat techniques on actually Strigoi…and also a few other people over the years who I wasn't fond of. I practiced different types of kicks and punches, falling into a natural rhythm.

"Class doesn't start for another twenty minutes." A gruff voice spoke from the doorway. "Wait outside like all the other students have to."

I scoffed, turning around to face who I assumed was the teacher. He had sandy blonde hair and the clearest blue eyes I'd ever seen. He wore a black singlet and sweat pants, showing off his arms. He obviously worked out and it was evident just by looking at him. He was also tanned, like many Dhampirs were. He was also, surprisingly, young.

"I'm not a student." I stated. Hadn't he been told I was coming? I was supposed to be helping him teach so it would only be polite of them to inform him right?

"Ah…" Understanding lit his eyes. "I'm Sorry. I didn't expect someone so…"

He trailed off. Young? Female? I mentally supplied him with some words.

"Under-qualified." He finally stated.

"Under-qualified?" I stated, my mouth hanging open. Had he even heard of me? I was practically a legend back in Montana and at the Royal court. Seriously. I'd been involved in the greatest miracle which would ever happen for our society; a Strigoi being returned to their original form. "What makes you think I'm under-qualified?"

"Look at you." He pointed, as if I didn't know where I was standing. "You must have just gotten out of an Academy yourself. Have you got any practical experience beside the six weeks of field experience? Because that really doesn't count."

I gave him my best glare and instead of answering him I simply turned around, lifting my ponytail to show him my marks. That would teach him for judging me so quickly just based on my looks and age. I could hear his footsteps and then felt his finger gently run over the marks on my neck.

"Oh." He stated with a small laugh. "You're younger then you look."

"No." I stated, turning to look at him. "I got my first mark when I was seventeen."

He looked impressed. "Wow, how'd you manage that?"

"I decapitated two Strigoi with a rusty old sword after they killed one of my best friends." I answered, turning back to the practice dummy. I missed Mason every day, and his death still haunted me. I didn't think the pain of losing him would ever go away.

"Sorry." He said, sounding like he was actually apologetic. "It's hard enough to kill a Strigoi, knowing they were once a real person. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a friend like that."

"Thanks." I sighed. Not exactly the best start to my new job, but you take what you get I guess.

"My name is Oliver Leskov." He said, changing the subject. "This is my first year teaching at this Academy, though I taught at another one before."

"Rose Hathaway." I replied, turning to face him once more. "Obviously this is my first time teaching."

He smiled at me. "Good. You can teach this class today. I'll observe and see what you need to improve on." He didn't seem annoyed that I was practically taking over his job. He seemed perfectly fine with co-teaching. That was good at least.

I bit back a sarcastic comment. I had to remember that I was actually a teacher now, not the rebellious student I used to be. That was going to be an extremely difficult thing to remember during my time at St Joseph's Academy. I'd always been…well, me. I didn't know if it would be possible for me to become disciplined and behaved. Could I even discipline misbehaving students? Or would I just laugh whenever they did something bad, or said something offensive. This was going to be harder than I thought.

…

The kids filed into class as soon as the clock stuck eight. It was actually impressive to see them all so eager. Then again this was just the first class of the day. They were bound to lose interest throughout the day. I knew I'd been like that when I was there age…which would have been one to two years ago. Some eyed me warily; while some of the guys blatantly checked me out. Some clearly didn't realise I was here to teach as I heard a couple of the guys whispering about the 'hot new chick'. There were only five Dhampir girls in this class, and at least twenty guys. They all sat on the blue mats which were placed on the ground. Once I thought they'd all arrived I got up and stood next to Oliver.

"This is Guardian Hathaway," Oliver's voice boomed throughout the room. I noticed that everyone listened intently to him. No one was whispering to their friends in the corner. He had their full attention. "She will be co-teaching from now on. She'll be taking over today's lesson, so listen to her, and show her the respect you occasionally give me." He gave them a small smile and retreated to his seat in the corner.

I dragged a chair over and sat in front of the students who were all looking at me curiously. They were all thinking the same thing; what the hell can she teach us. They knew I was young and to many of them that meant I wasn't experienced. I hadn't really thought about how I was going to teach them, or what I was going to teach them. I knew the Guardian combat techniques like the back of my hand, yet I'd never realised before that there was a theory side to all this too.

"Raise your hands if you think you could stake a Strigoi." I said. Obviously the response was immediate, and every hand rose into the air. Every Guardian no matter how young they were believed they could. It's what we trained our entire lives for. It was the reason for our existence. We had to protect the Moroi from evil. They come first.

"Okay," I nodded, "Raise your hands if you have family. Mothers, fathers, siblings." More hands flew into the sky immediately. Of course everyone had a mother and father, that's how we were created. But for Dhampirs that didn't always mean we actually had them.

"Next question." I sighed. "If a family member was awakened, and you were faced by them while they were a Strigoi…would you be able to stake them?" Everyone looked at me oddly, like they never even thought that could be a possibility. But hands began to hesitantly rise again.

"You all just hesitated." I stated, glancing between them all. "And that will get you killed." The cocky expressions they wore earlier began to fade. "Sometimes you'll be faced with familiar people. Maybe you're mentors, your friends, people you saw in your everyday life. It could be your family members too. Anyone you know could potentially be awakened and if that day comes you have to learn not to hesitate."

Oliver met my gaze and nodded as if he approved. I didn't need his approval. This was basically what Dimitri had taught me. He'd been a great mentor. He'd taught me with patience and kindness. His lessons were what made me into such a good Guardian.

"So lesson one: Don't hesitate."

Dimitri's POV

Day two with Rose gone wasn't any better than day one. Lissa, Christian and Adrian returned early in the morning, though Lissa refused to meet my gaze. Christian just shrugged as if trying to say 'What can we do about her?' Maybe without Rose here Lissa was being affected by spirit more. If it wasn't that then Lissa was just becoming an extremely unhappy and un-nice person. She literally accused me of not caring for Rose, my Roza; the most important person in my life, just because I wasn't willing to find her when she clearly didn't want me to. I respected Rose too much to do that to her. If she wanted to see me then hopefully she would let me know.

Apart from my sadness about Rose I was actually happy to say me and Adrian were forming an unlikely friendship. After our conversation last night we seemed like we were on good terms. I was grateful for that. Despite his history with Rose, they were close friends. I was glad that I may have him on my side. He could see my aura, so he knew how much I loved Rose and I knew he only wanted what was best for her. At least I had an ally. He definitely talked to Lissa about everything that had happened. He'd assured me he'd told her exactly what he thought about her accusations, and at least for now she seemed pacified.

She would undoubtedly try and argue with me again. In her mind I was the reason her friendship with Rose was going through difficulties. I knew I was partly the reason, but Lissa had kept Rose away from me, which she agreed to do. I hadn't coerced her or held her at gun point until she agreed. She'd thought it was a good idea too. Now she didn't seem to think so. Maybe if she'd just apologised to Rose then all could have been forgotten. She just had to remember that she played a part in all this as well. I was entirely to blame.

"I still think we need to find her." Lissa sighed. I knew if I said anything to the contrary she'd probably bite me head off so I kept silent. So did Christian. I guess he also didn't want to get on her bad side.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Adrian replied, looking tired and weary. "Rose made it clear that she doesn't want to see you or Dimitri. Do you really think it would turn out well if you just showed up wherever she if, demanding to be forgiven and insisting that she return home?"

"I think we won't know unless we try." She replied. "If we don't find her now, we could lose her forever."

Adrian let out a sigh. This was the exact conversation they'd been having since Rose called. It seemed Lissa was relentless. She wouldn't stop until she found Rose. She wouldn't stop until she had Rose's forgiveness…or until she had completely destroyed any chance of repairing their friendship. I could tell which one was the most likely outcome, but apparently Lissa was unaware that if she tried to force Rose to see her and forgive her, she'd just be pushing her even further away.

"Give it a rest Liss." Christian sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. I noticed that Christian looked exhausted. I could only imagine Lissa had been keeping him awake trying to convince him and herself that finding Rose would be a positive thing. She had to know deep down that Rose didn't want to be found. I thought maybe she was just in denial. I was still a little in denial myself. I felt like everything around me was just a dream. Rose couldn't really be gone. I didn't even know where in the world she would even be right now. Her absence hurt, but the lack of knowledge regarding what caused her to leave and where she was seemed to cut a new hole in my heart every second she was gone. Maybe I was just being dramatic, but I felt like I was being cut open from the inside. Did she still care about me? Or had I crushed any chance of a future with Rose when I broke her heart?

I hoped forgiveness was still an option for us.

I couldn't live without her.

Rose's POV

Teaching was surprisingly fun, and I found that I was actually enjoying it which was odd. I'd always believed that the only job I would ever have would be as a Guardian, but as I taught the kids, I realised that this was something I would actually like doing. Of course I could never give up being a Guardian to teach instead, but a nice mixture of the two could be good.

My first lesson with Dimitri had been don't hesitate. I'd taught my class that today. No matter what, I knew Dimitri always had my best interest in his heart and mind. Even before we'd loved each other, he'd cared about me and my future. I was extremely glad he'd been my mentor, because now I could use his teaching techniques and make them my own. So the first thing I taught my class was don't hesitate. Now I was making them run laps. I'd always hated it when Dimitri made me do this, but in the end I could see how beneficial it had been. Now I was going to bestow the gift of speed on a bunch of annoyed Dhampir kids. They'd love me for it one day…probably.

I sat beside Oliver outside, watching the kids do laps around the large oval. I wasn't sure how big it was, but it was definitely big. They looked like specs in the distance most of the time. The grass bit into my legs but there was a brief scatter of sunshine peeking through the clouds, and I was soaking it up like a sponge. I loved the warmth. Soon it would be gone. Rain had been predicted for the rest of the week. I liked the rain, but it meant we'd most likely have to teach inside. I liked being outdoors.

I let out a sigh.

Oliver turned to me, his eyebrows raised." I like your teaching methods, but I don't know how running is going to help any of them. I don't think I've ever been in a situation where running from a Strigoi would help anyone."

"Sometimes it's the only way to survive." I replied in a hollow voice. A sudden flash-back of that stupid maze flashed through my mind. I'd had to run from Dimitri then. If I hadn't, if I'd just given up like I'd so desperately wanted, then I would be dead. No, worse: I'd be awakened. I would be the very thing I'd dedicated my life to eradicate from the earth. I couldn't even comprehend that. I'd come so close to death. I was literally in its murky clutches. But I had survived. Because I was a survivor. No one could beat me. I would always rise up. I would always heal. I would always be Rose Hathaway. Nothing would ever stop me from completely everything I wanted to in life.

Oliver seemed to sense that I was referring to a touchy subject because he didn't pry. Maybe he just didn't really care about what had happened. We didn't know each other so I didn't know any reason why he'd be interested.

"How do you know how to teach?" Oliver suddenly asked, glancing at me with interest. "You're only young, so I'm guessing these teaching methods belonged to someone else. Maybe one of your teachers?"

I let out a small laugh. "My mentor from St Vladmir's taught me this. I guess I just found his lessons helpful when I was out in the real world. I never thought they were really helpful, but I can see how useful this stuff is now. If it wasn't for his lessons I wouldn't be half as good a Guardian as I am."

Oliver nodded. "I had a pretty good mentor too, but I've found my own teaching techniques over the years that I believe work better. Yours are good methods too. These kids will be expert Guardians by the time we're done with them." He let out a laugh, jumping to his feet as the kids one by one began to materialise from the distance.

"Carter!" Oliver called. "You're first." He managed to inject his voice with pride and continued to do so for every person who passed, calling there names and cheering. Liam, Markus, Daphne, Samuel, Lilly, Dave…and on it went as all the students crossed the line. I made a mental note of the last three. Ryan, Tyler and Kate. I would personally work with them over the next few weeks and try and help them improve.

After the students left I told Oliver of my plan to help the weakest improve. And I also asked him if we could conduct tests, like strength, speed, precision and focus to see what level they were all at. Carter was the fastest. Now we just had to bring everyone else up to his level. In no time I hoped to have a gym full of Rose Hathaway's, not that I was bragging or anything…but I was awesome.

I had one more class to teach, but first I needed to perform Guardian duty in a few classes and have a lunch break. Hopefully the junior class would be just as fun as the Advanced class had been. I was actually looking forward to getting up early tomorrow just to teach there class again. I believed I could really make a difference in their lives and also improve their abilities as Guardians.

Okay, I can absolutely assure you that Rose will not have any new romantic interests at all. I wanted to say that for those few people who reviewed saying they didn't want her to have any. I agree. She was never going to have any love interests, so I just wanted to reassure everyone that none of the guys she meets at the Academy will be a potential love interest.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll update again soon! Please keep the lovely reviews coming! :)