Part 2

RPOV

One month later

This was officially, absolutely, freaking amazing. My decision to get away from Court turned out to be the best thing I ever did. Okay, I missed Lissa, and if I was being entirely truthful I missed Dimitri even more. Hell, I'd even started to miss Christian's insults, though I'd never admit that to anyone. On that last score it was probably a good thing I was gone for a while though, maybe he'd use the time to actually think of some funny ones for a change.

I occasionally checked in on Lissa, but most of the time I was blocking the bond. It'd been especially necessary during those first few days. I could practically hear her screaming at me when she discovered the letter and its contents, and I decided I could do without all the extra drama. I made sure to check on her during times I was certain she was busy with work. It saved me the trouble of hearing her opinion about my absence while allowing me to confirm she was safe and well. Plus I was unlikely to catch Christian in an undignified position. Ugh, honestly, how could Lissa think he was sexy? I bet Dimitri would look a hell of a lot better when he got 'busy'.

Right, Dimitri. I hadn't caught a glimpse of him when I used the bond, but I suppose that wasn't entirely surprising. Whenever Lissa went anywhere he'd be far guard, and he never accompanied her into the study before either. I had seen Meredith and my mom around, who were apparently my replacements as near guard, and even Eddie had made the occasional appearance, so at least Lissa didn't have to rely on strangers for her protection. That made me feel a lot better.

I kinda wished I had seen Dimitri. I wanted to know if he was okay and how he was dealing with my disappearance. I doubted Lissa had told him about my reasons for leaving, she wouldn't disregard my privacy like that, so he probably just thought I wanted a break and had gone about it the worst way possible. Which, to be fair, wasn't completely improbable. He had been my mentor and partner and seen me pull some crazy stunts over the years after all.

Dimitri.. How I would've liked for him to be here as well. Just us for a change, doing something for ourselves, something we wanted to rather than doing it because Lissa wanted it, because it was part of our job. It wasn't that I resented her exactly. I had promised her time and time again that I would be her guardian, that I would keep her safe, and up until very recently I'd kept my word. It just would've been nice if I could've had something for myself as well, my own life and occasionally my own choices.

It wasn't even purely about him, it was just a general thing really. Maybe I could've gone to a different university than Lissa and studied something I wanted to. Rather than boring lectures on political science, I could've studied something fun. I would've loved to learn how to swear in a different language. It probably sounded much better in French or Spanish, and it would be totally awesome to casually insult Christian and know he couldn't understand a word I was saying. And I bet Russian would've been fun, finally learning what exactly Dimitri was saying everytime he thought I did something outrageous or stupid. Or I could've traveled the world and visited all the famous sights. The Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, the Kremlin. I could've gone to see rainforests, a tropical island, beaches all over the world, the arctic wastelands of Siberia.

Oh who was I kidding, it was totally about Dimitri. That man was just too attractive for his own good, and mine. My life would've been a lot simpler if he was a boring, 40-year-old, ugly midget who wore track suits and white socks in sandals on his time off. I mean, he wouldn't be Dimitri, but at least his presence wouldn't distract me. Or they could've given me Stan as a mentor and partner, same thing really. I shivered, the thought alone was just too horrible. Imagine having to look at that every single day for the rest of your life, ugh!

No I'd much rather look at a tall, muscular, handsome man with long hair and brown eyes, preferably wearing a cowboy duster. It wasn't exactly a hardship to look at his graceful moves either, he even made walking around the perimeter look hot.
Right, so maybe I wasn't doing too well on the getting over him part, but hey, it wasn't like anyone would know. I was far away from everyone I knew, on a beach in Turkey, and I smiled in satisfaction as I relaxed, enjoying the warm feeling of the sun on my back, and allowed my mind to be filled with images of an attractive looking Russian.

I was halfway asleep when someone cleared his throat a few feet away and said: "Maybe you should get someone to put some sunscreen on your back before you get sunburn."
Damnit, way to interrupt my very pleasant thoughts. I replied icily: "Get lost, I'll ask my big bad boyfrie..." That's when the familiarity of the voice managed to penetrate through the sleepy haze I'd been in. I turned around so quickly I nearly fell off the sunbed I was lying on. I squinted my eyes against the sun and looked at the man I had just been enjoying a very pleasant daydream of.

Dimitri was standing there, without his duster. Without most of his clothes actually, just wearing boardshorts and a T-shirt. I was trying to keep my eyes from popping out and my mouth from falling open when he raised an eyebrow at me and said: "I suppose I should leave before this big bad boyfriend shows up then."
I immediately shook my head. "No need, I'm sure my mind will get him to leave us alone."
"Am I to understand he's imaginary?" His deep voice sounded amused.
I tried not to smile. "Possibly. Stick around for a while and I'm sure you'll find out."
"You know, I just think I will." He threw the beach towel he had been holding onto the sunbed next to mine and sat down, though not before taking off his shirt. I had a hard time to keep from drooling.

"Where's Lissa?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the view.
He looked at me before turning his gaze to the ocean. "I assume she's at Court."
"You assume? You don't know?"
"You'd probably know better than I do."
I didn't respond but quickly checked the bond and found her at home, watching a movie with Christian. Their attention wasn't exactly on the movie though, so I got out before I'd be forced to see anything else.

Dimitri was regarding me carefully. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah she's good. Why did you leave though? Who's guarding her? You can't just leave her without both her guardians, what if something happens?" I knew I sounded a little frantic, but really, what if something happened to Lissa while we were both gone?
"She will be fine Rose. Eddie, Meredith and your mother are guarding her, they'll keep her safe." Dimitri put his hand on my arm to calm me down. It worked, though his touch made my pulse race for entirely different reasons.
I decided to distract myself again. "But why did you leave?"
He leaned back. "Lissa fired me."
"What?! When?"
"The day you left."
"But... She can't.. "

I was dumbfounded, this wasn't like Lissa at all. Why would she fire Dimitri? He was the best guardian she could have. And how could he be so calm about it? I would've expected him to be upset. He worked so hard to get where he is today and his reputation would suffer from being fired, especially with him apparently leaving Court afterwards. But he just shrugged in reaction to my jumbled words. "It doesn't matter. When she fired me, I was already thinking about leaving. The only thing holding me back was the thought that you trusted me to keep her safe. When I found out who our replacements were though, I knew they were capable of protecting her and I would have left anyway."
"Why?"
He raised his eyebrow. "You didn't think I'd try to find you?"

Honestly? No I didn't really expect him to come looking for me. We had been around eachother every day for the past three years, and for the last two he never gave any indication that I was more than his partner. Which lead me to the question why he was here now. I was afraid to ask him though, not knowing how he would reply and unsure whether I could deal with a disappointing answer.
"So uhm... how did you find me?" I asked instead.
"It wasn't without effort. I've been searching for you ever since you left."

While I was processing that, he continued seemingly randomly. "You know, you could've told me Abe Mazur is your father. It would've saved me from a very uncomfortable conversation."
I looked at him in confusion. "How so? What does he have to do with anything?"
He didn't answer, shifting uncomfortably. I connected the dots between his comment, his unexpected appearance and the fact that my father was the only one who knew where I was. "Oh crap, you didn't ask him for help did you?"
He refused to look at me. "Well what was I supposed to do? I couldn't find a single hint to point me in the right direction, I was getting desperate."
"Desperate enough to ask a mob boss for help? Are you crazy?" I asked incredulously. "That's something I would do comrade, not you."
He ran his hand through his hair. "I guess you rubbed off on me."

"What did you promise him in return?" I watched some emotion appear on his face, but it was gone too quickly for me to recognize it. "Please, please tell me you didn't promise him anything dangerous. Please?"
"It's nothing dangerous Rose, I promise. How did you find out about him anyway?"
"Oh, my mom took him with her to my graduation party and introduced us. She didn't announce it to the world or anything, but it was nice meeting him and we've kept in touch and gotten closer over the years since."
He nodded thoughtfully. "Ah. I did notice him at the trials, but I just thought he was looking for another guardian to add to his ranks."
I shrugged. "He probably was. He knew I just wanted to guard Lissa, but I'm pretty sure he offered Eddie a job." I surpressed a shudder. "Thank God he was smart enough not to take it, who knows what the old man would've made him do."

I knew Dimitri had been trying to change the subject, so I was about to question him further about his conversation with Abe, when I saw a human boy who had hit on me earlier look in my direction and do a double take when he noticed Dimitri. He hesitated for a moment longer before getting up and walking our way. "Oh jeez, not again." I muttered. Dimitri looked at me curiously but I just motioned towards the guy. I didn't actually remember his name, he wasn't exactly the first to hit on me since I'd been here and all of those guys were just annoying. I think this one was English, but I wasn't sure.

When he reached us, he looked from me to Dimitri to the sand below his feet. "So uhm... I... Well..." Yep, definitely English.
"Just get on with it," I said impatiently.
"I just.. wanted to apologize.."
Dimitri regarded him closely, his face impassive. "For what exactly?"
"I uhm.. might have bothered your girlfriend earlier. I thought she was just blowing me off when she mentioned a big bad boyfriend."
Dimitri narrowed his eyes, making him look incredibly dangerous. "You bothered her?"
The boy recoiled and took two steps backwards, holding up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to annoy her, I swear! It's just.. She's the hottest chick I've ever seen and I was flirting with her, but I might have been a little pushy." The more he talked, the colder Dimitri's glare became. It would be mean to admit to it, but it was actually kind of hilarious to see the boy blunder on and only making things worse for himself.

In a cold voice Dimitri said: "Is that how your mother taught you to treat a woman?"
The guy was nearly shaking now. I almost felt bad. Almost. "No sir."
"And what would she do if she were here?"
"She'd be really mad sir, and make me apologize."
Dimitri didn't say anything but just looked at him expectantly, his eyebrow raised. The boy swallowed. "Right, so.. I'm sorry?"
"Are you asking me or are you telling her?"
He turned to me. "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you."

I was about to reply, but Dimitri was faster. His face was still impassive, but I could hear the amusement in his voice. "Good. Enjoy the rest of your holiday."
"Thank you sir, you too."
The boy was about to walk away when I decided to add: "Oh by the way, don't try and flirt with any other girls. My boyfriend might look big and bad, but if I ever see you bothering anyone else, it's not him you should be worried about."

After taking a look at my face and seeing my most dangerous, pissed off, look there, the boy scurried off. I held my breath for another three seconds before bursting into laughter.
"You shouldn't laugh at him Rose, it's mean. And so was threatening him." Dimitri sounded reproachful.
I tried, and failed, to raise an eyebrow at him. "Ahw, comrade, is that how your mother taught you to treat a woman?"
"You'll have to ask her when you meet her."
I rolled my eyes. "Sure, I'm bound to run into her at the supermarket tomorrow." I shook my head. "When would I ever meet your family?"
"We'll go see them soon. I've met both your parents now, it seems only fair to introduce you to my family."
I eyed him doubtfully. "As your partner?"
He shook his head. "As my girlfriend."

To say I was flabbergasted was the understatement of the century. Did he really just say that?
He took in the look on my face and said casually: "Unless you wouldn't feel comfortable with that. We could make it more official if you'd like. It might seem a little rushed, but we've known eachother for years so I'm sure everyone would accept it."
I looked down, trying to hide the hurt in my eyes. He couldn't know that he was joking about something I really wanted, had dreamed about even. I answered quietly: "That's not funny Dimitri."
He sat up, put his finger under my chin and raised it, forcing me to look at him. His eyes bore into mine. "I'm not joking Roza."
"You're... not?"
"No, I'm not," he said seriously.

I could hear the truth in his voice and see it in his eyes. His guardian mask had disappeared completely and I was blown away by all the emotions I could read on his face. This wasn't a side of himself Dimitri usually showed to anyone. While he was usually more open with me than with anyone else I knew, and I could often read some of his feelings or opinions even when he tried to hide them, I could count on one hand the occassions where he had truly, completely opened up to me. Honestly, the last time he'd been this easy to read had been years ago, when we shared a bottle of vodka and I awoke in his arms the next morning.

He continued: "I know I was the one who said we couldn't be together. I've struggled with that decision every single day for the past years but since you seemed happy, I assumed it was just me. When you left, and I found out why, I finally realized what a fool I'd been. I love you Roza. I already loved you when I told you I shouldn't, and my feelings have only grown stronger since. No matter how important Lissa is, I never should've placed our jobs above our happiness."

He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "So yes, I want to introduce you to my family, whether as my girlfriend, or my fiancee, or whatever else is upto you. I want a life with you. Not one where I stare at you day in day out from across the room, but one where I wake up next to you, in our own place and get to hold you and laugh with you and be happy. That's all I could think about when I was searching for you for the past weeks, and I can only hope, now that I've found you, that you feel the same way."

All I could do was stare at him, unable to form a sentence or even a coherent thought, and he looked right back at me, uncertainty on his beautiful face. He traveled halfway across the world, made a deal with Zmey and was willing to give up everything he worked so hard for, all for me. So I did the only thing I could think of. I closed the distance between us and, like I'd wanted to do on so many occassions in the past, I finally kissed him.

We retired to my hotelroom soon after, and for the next couple of days we made up for all the time we'd missed out on. We talked, watched movies, ordered food, took a stroll on the beach at sunset and didn't spend too much time sleeping. On the fourth morning after he'd found me, I woke up early and found Dimitri still asleep next to me. For a long time I looked at him, still unable to believe he was here and all my dreams of being with him had finally become reality. I softly touched his hair, pushing some strands away from his face, before running my fingers down his neck and across his chest, allowing my hand to come to rest over his heart. When I looked back at his face, I noticed he had woken up, and he was smiling at me.

I asked the question that had been on my mind since I woke up. "So where do we go from here? Neither of us has a job to go back to apparently."
He smiled. "You know, Christian actually said that Lissa didn't think it through properly when she fired me. With both of us being out of a job, we have no reason at all to return to Court."
"Sparky said that? That's actually... smart." I couldn't even come up with something mean to say, though I suppose the surprise in my voice was insulting enough.
Dimitri chuckled and I glared at him. "Don't tell him I said that."
"No need to, I already told him he was completely right. He just asked me to tell you so and take a picture of your reaction."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course he wants a picture of me, I'm sure he misses my company. I didn't expect him to be desperate enough to enlist your help though."
Dimitri laughed and pulled me closer. "Yes, I'm sure that's the reason he said it."

I didn't bother replying to that, instead silencing his laughter with a kiss. Eventually we had to breathe and he used that opportunity to ask: "If you could pick anywhere, where would you like to go?"
His question made me think about the day he found me, and what I had been thinking about while I was enjoying the sun. "You know, I actually made a list of sorts, just before you showed up."
"You did? What was on it?" I could hear the curiosity in his voice. We'd never really talked about traveling before, seeing as Lissa always made the plans and we just followed along.
"Lots of places. China, India, Egypt, France. I guess we should go to Russia first though."
He smiled. "Yes, we should. I can't wait for you to meet my family."
"Well yeah, there's that too. And it'll allow me to cross some things of the list."

He was quiet for a moment before he raised his eyebrow in disbelief. "Russia made the list?"
"Hmmm.."
I looked away from him, instead focussing on trailing my fingers over his chest in swirling patterns. "It's possible I missed you a little when I made the list. Anyway, after all the stories you told me, I figured I'd like to see the Kremlin sometime. And.. well.."
"Yes Roza?" He asked tenderly.
"I suppose I was curious about arctic wastelands as well, so I might've put Siberia on the list too."

After all the jokes I'd made about his homeland through the years, I expected him to laugh, but he didn't. He pulled me closer, nearly crushing me against him as he hugged me tightly and kissed my hair. "I love you Roza."
I smiled against his chest. "I love you too comrade."

Author's note: I'm so glad you all agreed the last chapter needed a part 2, because I actually really loved writing this. I suppose it's a bit random at times, but well, nothing is ever straightforward when Rose is involved. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

On a side-note, is anyone curious about that night with the bottle of Russian vodka?