DPOV
I held my breath for a moment as she walked onto the bridge. When the guardians closed in from both sides I knew there was no way she was getting out of this situation.
I hadn't known about their plan to trap her on the bridge. Like the other guardians, I'd been part of planning the end of year trials, but as soon as the main obstacle course had been designed Alberta told me I was not to be involved any further. Apparently one of the guardians, probably Alto, had voiced a suspicion that I would train Rose to specifically overcome the obstacles she'd be facing. It was stupid of course, I'd never do anything like that. I didn't want to train Rose for any specific situation, I wanted to teach her how to survive against any opponent, in any environment. It was in her best interest, and therefore in mine, to prepare her to face the unexpected.
Before her trials started I had given her some final advice and then wished her luck. She'd told me: "Don't worry, comrade. I can do this blindfolded. Hell, maybe I actually will. Do you have anything I can use?" She'd eyed me suggestively. "If you're nice to me, I'll even let you tie it on."
I'd bitten back a smile and instead shook my head in exasperation. "Rose, I swear, sometimes it feels like every day with you is my own personal trial."
While I watched her trying to think her way out, I thanked my lucky stars now that she wasn't actually blindfolded while doing this. Daniel, her "Moroi" was just ahead of her, facing a "Strigoi", while three more were coming up behind them. Honestly, I didn't see a way out that wouldn't involve Daniel or Rose, or both, getting injured or, if these were real Strigoi, being killed.
The solution that made the most sense to me was for Rose to get beside Daniel and keep making their way to the end of the bridge. When they'd get there she should engage the Strigoi and encourage Daniel to use the moment of distraction to run away. With a little luck Rose would be able to kill the Strigoi quickly and catch up with him. If not, well, at least she'd have bought her Moroi some time while she slowed down his pursuers.
There was another option, but it wasn't sensible. She could cut the bridge, which would at least eliminate the threat behind her. But there was a good chance Daniel would fall, either at the moment of the fall or afterwards, when he would have to hang on while Rose fought Randall. There was a slim chance they could both make it out that way though.
Rose reached the same conclusion I had, and Rose being Rose she went with the least sensible option. I watched in confusion as Daniel stopped moving and crouched down and Rose yelled at him. And then I saw her knife swing out and she cut the ropes.
"I'll be damned.." Emil muttered beside me. "She's meant to fail this part. We designed it specifically to test her willingness to get her Moroi to safety at the cost of her own life."
I didn't respond, I just kept watching.
Daniel actually managed to hang on, as did Rose. Rose climbed over him, took out Randall, coaxed Daniel to climb up and then moved on to the next challenge like nothing had happened. I watched in admiration as she completed the rest of her trials. She never showed any signs of exhaustion or wariness. She kept fighting, moving from one task to the other, completing all of them without difficulty. She never hesitated and didn't pull any of her punches. She fought like she was a one-woman-army. An unstoppable force I was sure nobody here could, or would want to, oppose.
And then she was done. When I glanced at the clock I saw I had been watching her close to an hour. I grabbed a bottle and made my way over to her, but I didn't even make it halfway. She had stood frozen, but when she caught sight of me she ran to me at full speed. I was just in time to catch her when she threw herself into my arms. I held her while the applause from the stands went on and on and on.
Eventually we released eachother and I handed her the bottle of water. She chucked it down, in desperate need of rehydration, while I put my arm around her shoulders and escorted her back to the barracks. I got her to sit down in a corner and handed her another bottle and a granola bar while I checked her for injuries. Some of the novices had needed to be seen by Dr. Olendzki when they finished their trials, but even though Rose's trials had been more difficult than the others, she came away with just a few bruises and scratches.
"That's it?" she asked incredulously.
I chuckled. "Yes Roza, that was it. You've been out there for nearly an hour."
I sat next to her and pulled her into another hug. "Roza, Roza, Roza, you did amazing." She looked up at me, still smiling widely and I smiled back, in awe at the girl in my arms. "You are amazing. I'm so, so proud of you."
She glanced around and when she didn't see anyone, she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. The kiss didn't last long, it was too much of a risk to take really, but it was just what we needed. Honestly, I could've kissed her all day, and soon I could do exactly that. We had been waiting for this day for so long.
Rose sniffed and then grimaced. "I really need a shower comrade. See you at the marking ceremony?"
"Of course, I'll be standing at the back." I squeezed her hand and then let go. She nodded, grabbed her bag and walked away. Just before she turned the corner I could see her brace for impact, but before I could get worried I heard an excited shriek and saw a slim figure with long blonde hair launching herself at Rose. I couldn't help but laugh with the excited girls.
"You're lucky nobody saw that Dimitri."
I turned around and came face to face with the head of the school guard. "Alberta?"
She crossed her arms. "Don't play dumb, you know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I'm sorry. It was just the excitement and I thought there was nobody around. I should've been more careful." I looked down in embarrassment. We had done so well, we were just hours away from graduation and now Alberta had caught us. It didn't matter that Rose would no longer be a student by tonight. If Alberta reported this to Hans, my career would already be over by then.
I probably should have said that it shouldn't have happened, but I couldn't. It somehow implied that what we were doing was wrong, that I regretted loving Rose. It'd be a betrayal to our relationship.
"Yes, you should have," Alberta said sternly, before a smile crept onto her face. "To be honest I'm surprised you two have managed to keep it hidden for this long. I've been worried someone would figure it out and come to tell me about it. You know I would've had to fire you."
I gaped at her. "You knew?"
"Of course I knew Belikov. I didn't get my position by being unobservant." She sounded a lot like Rose when she said that, and I actually half expected her to roll her eyes at me.
She regarded me thoughtfully for a moment before giving me a brief hug. "Make her happy Dimitri. You both deserve it."
I gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you Alberta, for everything."
"Guardian Belikov!" A voice called behind us.
Alberta chuckled and muttered her under her breath: "You should be very thankful she didn't show up five minutes earlier."
She smiled at Janine and left to watch the next trials.
I looked at the small, red haired woman in front of me and said politely: "Guardian Hathaway, it's nice to see you again."
She nodded sharply and said: "You too. I wanted to thank you for taking the time to mentor my daughter. I know she probably made it very difficult but you did a great job with her. I honestly hadn't expected you to achieve these results. I just hope Rosemarie knows what a big favor you did by taking her on as your student."
At that moment I was indeed incredibly thankful that Janine hadn't shown up five minutes earlier. Not because Rose would have been kissing me, but because Janine would have had no problem saying these exact words while her daughter was right there. Rose had worked very hard to get where she was, and these words would've hurt her.
"It was my pleasure Guardian Hathaway. I would thank you, but it was actually Rose who did all the work. I've never seen anyone as talented and dedicated as your daughter, and I'm honored to have been given the possibility to get to know her. You should be very proud of her." I was calm, but I made no effort to hide the chill in my voice and I could see my words hit home.
She backtracked immediately, saying: "Yes, yes, of course I am. Very proud."
To be fair, she probably was proud of Rose. They had started mending their relationship over the past couple of months, and I knew Rose was happy about it. Janine would never be able to make up for her absence in Rose's life, but if she made an effort she could at least be a part of her future. Hopefully Janine would learn to be a little more positive about her own flesh and blood though.
A couple of hours later I was standing at the back of guardian lounge, watching as one by one the graduates were given their promise marks. The room was filled to capacity, guardians, teachers and family having shown up to support the new additions to our ranks. And my Roza was one of them. She'd done it. She had graduated. Her academic grades were decent, which was a miracle in and of itself, she was top of her class in combat and she had received the highest trial score St. Vladimir's had ever seen. As her mentor, I couldn't be prouder.
On a more personal level I couldn't be happier. We had both been waiting for this moment for months. After the cabin we had been careful, and other than a few stolen moments here and there we had managed to behave ourselves. But now Roza was no longer my student, she had turned 18 several months ago and just this morning I had received confirmation that my transfer had been approved, effective from the moment we set foot on Court grounds. Since Rose wouldn't officially be assigned to guard Lissa for another few days, there was absolutely nothing to stand in our way anymore.
As the graduate with the highest scores, Rose was the last one to get her mark. Everyone watched and as soon as she was done, the whole room errupted in cheers and applause, people milling around, talking to their children or former students. I nodded at a couple of them while I made my way across the room, taking a moment to shake hands with Eddie and offering him a heartfelt congratulation. Our short conversation was interrupted when I heard Rose call my name from nearby, and I turned just in time to see her push through the crowd before she launched herself at me.
This was it. From now on we could be together and I could show the world how much I loved this wild girl.
I pulled back and saw her smiling up at me. I was just about to kiss her, right here in the middle of the full lounge when someone coughed behind us. We turned around and came face to face with a suspicious looking Janine.
On second thought, it was probably a good thing I hadn't kissed Roza yet. A bloodbath would definitely ruin her graduation.
Janine nodded at me. "Belikov."
I nodded in answer and Rose let go of me to give her mom a hug. "Hi mom. Thanks for being here."
Janine's gaze softened as she wrapped her arms around her daughter. "I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Congratulations."
Rose smiled at her mother's obvious sincerity. Janine smiled back hesitantly before shifting from one foot to the other, looking oddly nervous. She looked behind her and beckoned someone over to join us. A second later a man showed up next to her, a wide smile on his face, showing off his fangs.
I shifted uncomfortably as soon as I recognized him, but he only had eyes for Rose. A moment later Janine spoke up and I understood why. "Rosemarie, I was looking for you because... Well.. I would like to introduce you to your father."
Roza's eyes went wide with shock, and I was sure mine had as well. Abe Mazur, better known as Zmey, was Rose's father. Thank God I hadn't kissed her just now, this situation was bad enough as it was.
Rose recovered from the shocking news before I did and she looked him up and down appraisingly. "Old man."
Zmey grinned. "Little girl. I've been waiting for a long time to meet you."
She narrowed her eyes in answer. "I'd say the same, but until two minutes ago I had no clue you existed."
"We had our reasons. I'll explain later," Janine said, unable to meet her daughters steely gaze.
I didn't expect Rose to go along with this. I was actually waiting for her to demand to know the reasons here and now. But instead she agreed quietly and her mother heaved a sigh of relief. I didn't. I was watching Roza and I saw a dangerous glint appearing in her eyes, making her look a lot more like Zmey than I was quite comfortable with. Then she said cheerfully: "I'm glad you're here actually, I was just about to come looking for you." She smiled at me and added: "Mom, dad. I would like to introduce you to my boyfriend."
дерьмо. And here I thought this situation couldnt get any worse.
Author's note: Happy new year everyone! May you all find your own personal Dimitri (or Roza) this year, if you haven't already.
I'm sorry for the long time in between updates. I'd been planning a Christmas-story but about 3000 words in I suddenly couldn't find the words anymore, nor could I see where it was going, and after a couple of days of struggling with it I abandoned it for the time being. That kind of killed my inspiration all together and thus I now have at least five half-written one-shots sitting in my documents, while I distracted myself by reading Hunger Games fics (some of those are awesome by the way!).
Anyway, I'm trying to get back into things, but I'm not entirely sure when the next update will be. If you have any prompts/ideas you'd like to see me write on, leave a review or send me a message and maybe it'll help me through this block.
Hope you guys enjoyed this one at least. Not the best I've written, but I did really like the idea of Rose giving Janine a taste of her own medicine so to speak.