Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or anything surrounding it (but I do own this plot :D)
3 Years Later
RPOV
"Rose – you are going to make us late!" Lissa called out from the living room.
"Holy fucking shit!" I cursed, plonking myself down on the bed and began frantically rubbing my afflicted toe before I noticed two small eyes watching me from the doorway. I ceased all movements in sudden horror of my actions and the eyes blinked.
A new figure emerged at the door and the brilliant blue eyes turned and tugged at the new arrival's coat. "Mommy, I think something is wrong with Auntie Rose." Little Esther whispered to her mother as she approached the doorway. Lissa frowned first at her daughter and then at me before telling the adorable two-year-old to go find her daddy.
"Rose, are you okay?" my best friend asked and I nodded stiffly.
"Stubbed my toe." I said through gritted teeth, pointing at the offending bedpost. Lissa burst out laughing having ceased her search on my body for any sign of severe injury. I scowled. It had been three years since the fire, but the scars still hadn't fully healed: be that physically or mentally. When it first became apparent that they would not all go away, I was mortified. I had prided myself on how I looked and now I was covered in horrid purple scars that would never fade. Now, I can understand the irony and laugh about it, back then, however, I was too upset to really think straight. My main concern was that I thought Dimitri would be repulsed by the new, permanent, additions to my body, but – quite inexplicably – he made them feel beautiful with his never-ending affection.
Oh Dimitri.
In the years that had passed, we only grew closer. I had long since forgiven him of his past misgivings – I mean, it wasn't like he could go back a change them – and in return, he had to forgive my larger than life appetite. I don't think he had fully thought through the consequences when he asked me to move in with him, even with Christian's incessant and oh-so-obvious warnings. All jokes aside though, we had truly got past the past – even adopted a policy of no secrets. Well, minimal secrets (but I seriously doubted Dimitri would flip out upon the discovery of my secret chocolate stash.) Much to my utter joy, my friends and family had also managed to forgive Dimitri of his past endeavours. After some serious apologising and offering to anything to show that he meant it, my beloved Russian had managed to integrate himself as part of our little gang, even managed to sneak Ivan into the party. Sure, he had to contend with Adrian's exploitation of his "I'll do anything to prove it" clause, but I promptly put a stop to that the second Adrian mentioned public nudity.
Speaking of his lordship, Adrian finally became an artist! His father, after many years of fruitless battle, finally accepted the fact that his son was actually capable of making his own decisions and was definitely not cut out for the business world. The illustrious Nathan Ivashkov even funded Adrian's education which actually paid off significantly for both parties. The Spirit Gallery and Art Studios proved to be more than Adrian could've ever hoped for and having an Ivashkov quite frankly dominating the art world opened up a whole new bulk of connections and expanded their already vast kingdom which left not only Nathan impressed, but Tatiana extremely proud of her nephew.
And what of Sydney, I hear you ask? Well, that's Dr Sydney to us all now: Dr Sydney Ivashkov – linguistic genius and all-round language extraordinaire. Needless to say, Adrian has no qualms in flaunting his wife's accomplishments to everyone and everything, whether they asked about it or not. Who knew that six years of unrelenting work would lead to yet another thing Adrian could be smug about? Alas, Sydney didn't seem to mind too much, but whenever the topic of her profession came up she would always try to sway the conversation to divert the attention from her. We had still yet to break down that particular barrier, but I feel each day waking up married to Adrian is slowly building up her confidence.
Their wedding was all that anyone could talk about. They had not been engaged a day when Tatiana produced the dreaded "book" containing details of every single, tiny thing to make the wedding perfect. I swear: I wouldn't have been surprised to see what Tatiana deemed the 'acceptable' number of dust particles in the church in that damned book. Thankfully, Sydney and Adrian did not need a degree in microbiology, or indeed a microscope, to see that some changes had to be made. Tatiana, begrudgingly, compromised and cut down, but still insisted that they had to have a spring wedding and, since the season was fast approaching its conclusion, there was simply not enough time to do it that year. Neither the bride nor the groom were happy with this notion and three months into the Engagement from Hell, as a direct result of the many overbearing Ivashkovs, the pair thought, sod it and went to Vegas. To say Tatiana was disappointed would be a huge understatement. She was distraught. Rumour has it, she needed counselling.
But Sydney and Adrian were happy and that was all that mattered.
On the topic of happy couples, Lissa and Christian also (finally) managed to tie the knot. Six months after the fire, Lissa gave birth to Esther Andrea Dragomir-Ozera – a stunning bundle of blue eyes, golden locks and overwhelming sweetness. Clearly, she took after her mother in the latter point, but she appeared to have her father's love of cooking as she would always insist on watching and I had never seen anyone so happy when icing a cake. Esther was just over a year and a half old when her parents became husband and wife in the local church. It was a relatively private affair yet modest and beautiful and everything Lissa ever wanted. Christian too must have been incredibly contented as he was smiling all day. I was on strict aunt duty throughout the service which actually made me more nervous than Lissa but Dimitri was there for moral support whilst Ivan and Adrian kept my bravado intact by providing many opportunities for me to sass their "aww, how domestic" comments.
Dimitri also had other jobs at Lissa's wedding, aside from dutiful uncle. The first was that Christian had actually asked him to be his best man, which Adrian – as it will surprise no-one – took personally, but that did mean he had to write a speech. Considering how much effort he had put into a pitch for a job he didn't really have a strong emotional attachment to, it is not hard to imagine that it took him two weeks to write the first sentence. To be fair, his speech was phenomenal and had everyone laughing, crying and feeling very emotionally raw by the end of it, so I suppose it paid off – even if writing the bloody thing nearly drove my darling comrade insane.
The second of Dimitri's jobs was a slightly unfortunate one. Not that it was bad or anything, it was just slightly unfortunate for me. You see, despite the fact that we never actually did the concert, Dimitri's musical talents were not so quickly forgotten. Lissa had asked Dimitri to piano for her first dance and he, ever the gentleman, had obliged without question. Unfortunately, this was an issue because Dimitri playing the piano was a huge turn on for me. I am not just talking about 'oh, that's quite attractive'; no, no – this was border-line fetish. Whether it was just that he was good at it or that it reminded me of our first kiss, every time Dimitri started making music with his hands, I started making out with him. He had long since realised this and used it to his advantage frequently, teasing and torturing me on anniversaries, birthdays and Valentine's days, but it became particularly apparent in the weeks leading up to the wedding as he attempted to perfect this song. And the performance at the wedding, well... Let's just say Lissa and Christian weren't the only ones who very much enjoyed that night...
"You have to be careful, Rose." Lissa's teasing voice snapped me out of my haze, but in spite of its lightness there was a certain chide in it.
It was for that last bit that I scowled again. "Jesus Christ, Lissa – you're as bad as Dimitri." That was an outright lie and we both knew it which is why, after a moment's silence attempting to keep a straight face, we both started laughing. I glanced amusedly down at the consequence of Dimitri's piano playing – the small bump added a ridge to my black, evening dress and my fingers traced against my swollen stomach. A month ago you could not see anything, in fact, aside from my involuntary desire to throw up at very inconvenient times during the day, there wasn't, much evidence of my impending maternity. However, that was quickly remedied in the following month when Dimitri and I's child had had enough with the lack of attention she was getting and endeavoured to make herself known.
Our child.
In spite of my adamant protests otherwise, my heart would skip a beat and a wave of sentimental giddiness would sweep though me at the thought of those two words. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was initially shocked and stumped to the point of speechlessness, understandably, but that quickly changed to unrelenting joy. Don't get me wrong, I was terrified and had a good panic when the notion of telling Dimitri dawned on me, but overall I felt supremely content. Dimitri was full out ecstatic which promptly shut down any doubts I had over the matter of his opinion even though his protective nature had him fluctuating into a state of 'over-bearing boyfriend' which had me a little irritable, but I loved him too much to hold it against him. It had just been a week since we discovered that another young lady would be joining the pack. We considered leaving it a surprise, but the temptation to know was just too great. That and I did not fancy having to buy both girls and boys clothes just to accommodate the mystery.
"We shouldn't laugh at him." Lissa said, rather hypocritically still laughing.
I cast my gaze up, my eyes dancing with mirth, "We shouldn't, but it is just too funny not to. You know, I bumped into someone on the street yesterday and I had to physically hold Dimitri back from full out attacking the poor fellow!" I said with humour lacing my words.
"Oh, he only does it because he utterly adores you and your daughter – he just doesn't want anything bad to happen to you." Lissa said in Dimitri's defence.
"That still doesn't make it not funny." I remarked and Lissa rolled her eyes.
"You are insufferable." She stated, reopening the bedroom door.
I hung my head back and laughed before pushing myself to my feet and walking towards the door. Turning my head back towards her, I said, "I try" with a wink. Lissa shook her head and pushed me out the door playfully.
"Come on, you are going to make us late." She said linking my arms with hers and walking us along the hallway towards the descending stairs to the living room.
I snorted. "When have I ever been on time for anything, Liss?" I countered and she conceded.
"Touché. But I have been looking forward to this all week, so I would like to get there relatively on time." She said narrowing her eyes at me.
I laughed. "Of course, your majesty." I teased, stopping to bow.
Lissa rolled her eyes and tugged me gently along, giggling as she did. She sighed before exclaiming: "Oh, tonight is going to be so exciting!"
That it was indeed.
DPOV
"Would you please stop pacing; it is driving me insane!"
I halted, looking up at my best friend, "Sorry," I apologised and remained standing still before I began tapping my foot impatiently.
Ivan frowned and folded his arms against his chest. "What the hell are you nervous about?"
"I'm fine." I said waving him off which only caused him to scowl and incline his head expectantly. I sighed loudly and conceded to honesty. "That she will say no!" I exclaimed, flaying my arms in the air and not even caring that my usual composure was out of the window.
"Really, Dimitri?" Ivan said in disbelief as he raised his eyebrows. "She will not say no."
"Who's saying no?" Christian asked wandering in from his home's kitchen with Adrian and Sydney on his tail.
"Dimitri is chickening out again." Ivan explained pushing himself from the couch. I glowered at him as Adrian groaned.
"Belikov if you don't ask her, I'll do it for you." He threatened. I stopped glaring at Ivan and turned to raise an eyebrow at Adrian. "Wait: that came out wrong…" Adrian said rethinking what he had just said whilst everyone stared at him. "Look, the point is, you are asking her and that is final." I sighed and closed my eyes, shakily running a hand through my hair in an attempt to calm myself down.
"Daddy!" a young voice exclaimed, successfully interrupting my minor mental meltdown. Christian turned at the mention of his name and immediately forgot that we were all there.
"There's my beautiful princess!" he said picking her up, spinning her through the air. Esther giggled gleefully and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. "Are you going to be good for your Uncle Adrian and your Auntie Sydney?" Christian asked having come to a halt.
Esther nodded frantically as if begging her daddy to never doubt her. "Yes daddy." She said beaming.
"She always is – aren't you, Firefly?" Adrian cooed, ruffling the little girl's hair. Esther giggled again and wriggled out of her daddy's hold. Christian popped her down and as soon as her little legs reached solid ground, she ran onto one of the sofas, beckoning Adrian to chase her. He grinned and followed, pulling Sydney with him. I watched the exchange with no little amusement and a little of my prior nervousness lifted.
"D, behold: your future." Ivan said gesturing Esther who was now sitting on top of Adrian, claiming that she was the winner. Christian burst out laughing and I could not help my chuckle. "Oh, I can only imagine what Rose's kid will do to you!" Ivan exclaimed.
"She is my daughter too," I said possessively.
"Yeah, let's hope that neutralises the Hathaway effect." Christian said whilst still watching his own daughter, "Another Rose would be..." he paused and shuddered. I smiled. It still marvelled me how my beautiful girlfriend managed to have everyone exactly where she wanted them – myself more than anyone as I deemed it an absolutely impossibility for me to deny that woman anything. She had completely transformed my life and I was and will always be forever indebted to her for it. Rose Hathaway had pulled me from my icy confinement and back into the sunlight and, in doing so, had stolen my heart. I was irreversibly, irretrievably, ardently and unconditionally in love with her and three years later, that was still the case. Never had I imagined reaching this moment, ever: let alone while I was still in my twenties. And yet, here I was.
And I wouldn't change it for the world.
I had finally patched up the rift between myself and my family. I had all but assumed that they would never want to see me again, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Granted, there was some lingering discontent (mainly from Sonya, but I put that down to the fact I had awoken her from a nap), however after a relatively short amount of time I had regained the family and all the contentment that came along with it, that I thought I had lost long ago. Now looking back, I fully realised what an absolute twat I had been for distancing myself. I had allowed bitter hatred dominion over my emotions and it had severed the closeness of people who genuinely cared about me. My unrelenting Roza had pulled me from that twisted state, reminded me of what affection truly was and had been the final push for me to go back to my family: back to inexpressible joy.
What form of money or power could compete that?
Rose too had made peace with her family. She and Janine were spending a lot more time together and her and Abe...well; they were a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for his adversaries, Abe's ever-growing relationship with his daughter was most certainly not a weakness. That particular fact had been so indoctrinated that most even took a step back. To me, it still terrified me to see zmey on an all but daily basis and I could never shake the extreme level of formality that I inadvertently slipped into whenever I was around him, no matter how annoying his grins were.
There was, however, one severed relationship that I did not want to patch up. After being taken into custody, Tasha had gone to trial and been found guilty of attempted murder. Her sentence had been compromised a little accounting for her mental state, but she was to be locked up for a very long time. Christian took it as well as expected, but the solace that he found in Lissa and eventually Esther alleviated all hurt and pain that Tasha had inflicted. It still angered me, to this day, what she had tried to do to Rose. I had tried – really tried – to forgive her; not for her sake, but for my own. But I just couldn't. The last time we had seen her, she seemed unchanged and unrepentant – I'd even go as far to say she seemed quite happy to do it again. The thought had my fists balling into tight knots and I decided it would be best to stop reminiscing.
"Where are the girls?" I asked having glanced at the clock.
Ivan snorted very unattractively and Christian burst out laughing. "Oh, you'd think three years living with the woman and he'd learn that he'd never be on time again!" Christian said between laughs.
"No, no," Ivan said, rallying in his composure, "it could be Lissa that is the hold up."
"Are you kidding!? We literally sent Lissa to go fetch the stray." Christian pointed out.
"Could you please not refer to my girlfriend as a 'stray'," I said a little protectively.
"Aww, look at you defending her honour," Ivan cooed, ruffling my hair. I batted him away and he chuckled loudly, "You are so whipped."
"Have you only just realised that, dude? We've been saying that for years." Christian said, grinning sardonically.
"Haha, I think you'll find I was the one who said it first, my friend." Ivan responded proudly, "I knew he'd gone the moment he saw her."
"No, you didn't." I stated only to have him cover my mouth with his palm.
"Oh, don't pretend you weren't!" he exclaimed as I freed my mouth from his hand. "'Cause no-one will believe you. You were as smitten as a kitten in a mitten." I over looked at my best friend with a frown and Christian just shook his head amusedly.
"Oh, Dimitri, before I forget: Lissa told me to invite you and Rose over for Valentine's Day dinner. That is, if you don't have anything planned." Christian imparted and I stopped frowning at Ivan.
"No, Rose doesn't really like Valentine's Day." I said.
"Nor do I, to be honest, but Lissa thought it would be nice for the four of us to get together." Christian said with a shrug, "I'm cooking, by the way."
"Oh, then I'm definitely coming." I said and he smiled.
"Gee, nice to be included." Ivan muttered and I rolled my eyes humoured. "You know, I sometimes hate having couple-friends."
"I'm sure you'll find someone, Ive," I reassured only to be met with laughter.
"Nah, I plan on being a bachelor for life. Nothing will tie me down!" he exclaimed proudly causing Christian to chuckle and me to shake my head. "I can do whatever I want. Who knows? Maybe I'll run away with the circus – I could join Mason and Eddie!"
Christian laughed. "I don't think their comedy duet has room for a third wheel..." he said with a deep grin.
I laughed and gave Christian a high-five as Ivan narrowed his eyes teasingly, "Well played, Ozera..." As soon as I had properly met the boys, I knew Mason and Eddie were destined for the world of comedy and their career took off just over a year ago. They weren't at this little gathering due to the very simple, but equally impressive fact they were in LA – that just left Christian, Adrian and I to continue teasing Ivan where they left off.
"Mommy!" Our little conversation was broken up by the happy exclamation of Esther as she saw her mother descend the stairs.
"Oh, my baby girl!" Lissa squealed, gathering up her little bundle and smothering her in her embrace. Christian smiled at his family before wandering over to join them. I watched them for a moment before my attention was diverted to something ever more beautiful to me.
"Oh, boy..." Ivan chuckled as he saw what my awed expression was looking at. Rose was dressed in a beautiful black evening dress that hugged her exquisite frame just enough to flatter her already stunning features. Her hair was down – her curls falling in gentle waves across her shoulders and back as they did naturally. I could just make out the small bump against her stomach and it took a lot not to fall at her feet in worship. She looked at me with her usual affectionate smirk before walking towards myself and Ivan. I followed her every move, never wanting to miss a moment.
"Good evening, gentlemen." She greeted with a teasing aura.
"Ah, good evening Miss Rose and, may I say, you are looking very spectacular tonight." Ivan said bowing a little and lifting her hand to kiss its back.
"Why, thank you, Mr Zeklos, as are you." she replied with a little curtsey. "What appears to be the matter with your friend here? He seems rather quiet." My beloved said, flashing me a devious grin.
"Ah, yes, tragic story here. He appears to have lost all sense of reality – bewitched into insanity!" Ivan replied and I glared over at him.
"Oh dear!" Rose said, "How absolutely awful."
"It is rather." Ivan said pouting at me, "Well, I shall leave him in your capable hands, but do watch him; who's to say what might happen in his fragile state." He said with a wink and with that, exited stage right. I continued glaring after him, shaking my head as I did when I felt a pair of arms wrap round my neck, pulling me towards her beautiful frame. I looked down into her deep brown iris' and smiled.
"Good evening, Mr Darcy," she said grinning boldly.
My own smile only grew. "Good evening, Miss Bennet," I replied snaking my hands across her waist, allowing my thumbs to brush against her small bump.
"What's this I hear about your deteriorating mental state?" she asked, managing to keep a straight face.
I mirrored her expression, but I could feel the smile taunting the edges of my lips. "I'm afraid it's quite bad. I believe I am in love with an angel."
I saw her eyes brighten and her smile grow before she quickly composed herself back to her serious expression. "Really? What is this angel like?"
"Hmmm," I hummed thoughtfully, "I'd say she is much like a work of fiction, Elizabeth."
"In what way, Fitzwilliam?" she asked curiously.
I smiled softly and brought her face even closer to my own so that my voice was barely a whisper, "She is inexplicable beautiful and unfathomably intelligent; she has captured my attention from the very moment we were introduced and she seems, for all intents and purposes, completely unreal." I saw her eyes darken and I lowered my head to capture her lips when I felt a pillow hit me across the head.
"Oi! Romeo – release the girl and get over here!" I turned to glare at a grinning Ivan and pulled back as Rose started laughing lightly. She entwined her fingers in my own and pulled me towards the circle of our friends who had gathered by the door. I followed obediently and sporting an amused smile.
"Right, now that we are all finally ready..." Ivan said staring directly at Rose who just stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yes, as Ivan was saying," Lissa continued, picking up where Ivan left off, "I thought we'd do a little toast before we go down." She said smiling at us all. "We've all worked so hard to get where we are now and I just feel that we should celebrate this moment as it is pretty monumental." She said as Christian handed everyone a glass of champagne and Esther a little cup of milk. "Here's to everything we've been through and coming out strong."
"Here's to taking control of our own lives and living them how we chose." Ivan said, raising his glass.
"Here's to embracing truth and honesty," Sydney said, raising hers.
"Here's to mending relationships and keeping the one's we love close." I added, casting my gaze down to Rose.
She smiled and raised her own glass, "Here's to forgiving those who deserve it most."
"And here's to Dimitri and Rose on being late for their own bloody opening!" Adrian declared to everyone's amusement. Esther giggled into her glass as Lissa cast Adrian a warning glare.
"He does have a point though," Rose said after handing her untouched champagne to me. I handed both my own and hers to Ivan who had already chucked the contents of his down his throat and gladly accepted the refill.
"Of course!" Lissa exclaimed happily, popping her glass down and hugging her daughter before having to be pulled by her husband out the door. Esther ran along to where Sydney and Adrian had removed themselves and were waving our little convoy behind. Ivan didn't bother leaving his glasses and just took them all out with him. Rose followed, laughing at his antics before smiling back at me. I returned her smirk with one of my own and put my hand into my pocket, feeling the velvet cover under my thumb and the cool metal of the ring that rested inside. My smile turned adoring as my prior nervousness drifted away. I watched her for a moment before pushing myself out of the door, closing it behind me. The five of us walked the short distance to the brand new building, still fresh from construction. The aroma emitted from the dark, oak wood mixed with the gentle smell of fresh food filled the streets with enticement. The gentle candlelight illuminated the inside in a deep sense of comfort that extended to the surrounding area. It looked almost the same as it did all those years ago when I first saw it, but there was something new. Something good. Something hopeful. We entered the door and were met with a kind smile:
"Welcome to the Shadow Kiss Inn."