Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead; I own the plot. Enjoy!

Ch.9

Viktoria POV

Lissa was nice. Very nice. I saw why Roza liked her so much. In a way, Lissa and Rose were similar... and yet, so different. Lissa was shy - but brilliantly smart. Roza, however, from the little I'd been able to learn about her personality during our short time spent together, seemed like the classical punch first, think later person. Funny and protective, I thought Roza would make a good match - if not a perfect one - with Dimka. Even when he was with his best friend Ivan Zeklos, he still could never completely relax and enjoy a boys' night out.

Dimka wasn't miserable, per se, but he was... Withdrawn. Lonely, maybe. No one understood his sudden moods, not even Ivan, who'd known him since they were little kids. He'd be happy one second and suddenly be snapping at people another. When one day Oksana suddenly declared him a spirit user, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone knew what being a spirit user entailed, and at least now we were reassured he wasn't going crazy. Or unstable.

Unbeknownst to Mama and Dimka, Sonya, Karo, and I had done some research on the Mazur family and their friends - the last Dragomir, Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, and her boyfriend Lord Christian Ozera. We'd found out that Vasilisa Dragomir was a spirit user for her main. Her second wasn't listed anywhere, so Karo and Sonya had asked me to ask Lissa. Perhaps she could study with Dimka and Oksana about spirit. Oksana would be ecstatic to find out anything new about her specialized main element.

"We should go shopping some time!" Lissa beamed. "Where do you think is the best shopping district in Russia, Viktoria?"

I was spared from answering her when my big brother rushed in, a comatose-looking Roza clutched in his arms. If he wasn't my brother, I would've been jealous of Roza, wrapped up in the arms of such a handsome man! (Yes, I called my own brother handsome. Don't tell him that, though. Men have ridiculously big egos and they don't need any more compliments to make them feel even more better than others.)

He looked panicked when he saw Lissa, clutching Roza closer to his body. "Can you please get out of the room?" He begged, Roza cradled against his chest.

"What did she do now?" Lissa sighed, looking so exasperated that I knew I shouldn't have laughed - but still, a giggle escaped. Thankfully, neither of them were paying attention to me... At the moment.

"She asked expressively not to let you know," he ground out, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Lissa ignored him, concentrating on Roza. I didn't know what she was doing - but it seemed like Dimka did. A gasp of air sucked in between his teeth, a clutching of Roza even closer to his chest - and then Lissa groaned, "She didn't. Did she?"

When Dimka flinched and fixed his eyes on the ceiling, Lissa pushed, "Did she?"

He sighed and looked down at Rose. "Yes, she did," he whispered, stroking her hair. Lissa may have missed it from her view of him, but I saw the look of affection in his eyes.

"You should have stopped her," Lissa snapped. "The last time she did that she passed out for two days."

What had Roza done?

"I didn't know she was going to do that until she did it." Dimitri protested.

Lissa rolled her eyes. "You could have at least asked!"

"I did. She didn't answer."

"Where did she travel you two from to where she landed you?"

"The edge of the forest to the side of the dhampir stables."

Mentally, I calculated the distance. It wasn't too far - a minute or so's walk, depending if you were walking slowly or fast. Lissa confirmed that with a, "That's not too far. It shouldn't have taken too much energy from her. Did she do anything else using magic after?"

His guilty face showed as much. Lissa looked ready to throttle him. "What did she do?"

"I think when we landed, I scratched a rib or something like that. It hurt, and Rose insisted on healing me."

"With which element?"

He gaped at her. "Does it matter?"

Lissa and I shared an eye roll. "Boys."

DPOV

What did that mean? Surely they weren't saying that girls were better than boys... Right?

"Go put her on a bed before she starts kicking," Lissa ordered. "It won't be pretty."

So sure of herself, so commanding, she would make a good queen.

"Go!"

I turned and hid a smile.

The room closest to where we were right now was mine. Without another thought, I started to head that way.

On the way to my room, Roza stirred a few times. She snuggled into me every time, and warmth like I'd never known flowed through my body every time. Her scent wrapped around me, and despite me smelling her scent the whole afternoon, I still hadn't gotten used to her scent. It was simply so Roza, I couldn't help sniffing it again and again. It was intoxicating, to say the least. Her scent made me feel ... complete.

She stirred again, murmuring something in her slumber, gripping my shirt tight in a fist. She looked the most adorable I'd ever seen her. Her dark hair splayed across her face, I gently brushed it back past her ears. When I tucked the blankets around her, her smile was enough to brighten up the room. However, when I removed my hands from touching her - whether between fabric or not - she gave a small whimper, which turned into a full-on sob and cry when I moved to the corner of the room, towards the armchair I normally occupied when reading my westerns.

"Dimitri," she whimpered, fists reaching out from under the blankets to clench and clench again, searching for something that wasn't there. Me, from the looks of her muttering. "Dimitri," she cried out. "Where are you?"

Was she awake? No, not when I'd tucked in the blankets around she'd been sleeping like a baby. But... She sounded so lucid...

I inched towards the bed, peering to see her eyelids closed. Her eyebrows furrowed, a V between her brows. She frowned, reaching again for me.

And this time, she made contact with me. She pulled me down, until I was lying next to her on my large bed. She sniffed on my neck, and sighed, "Dimitri." She pulled the sheets over both of us, and snuggled into my chest.

It felt... warm, under the sheets with Roza's soft curves pressed against my hard muscles. Our bodies fit perfectly like a puzzle, and it felt like she was made just for me. Her hair was tickling my chin, but despite my being ticklish, it felt good. Automatically, subconsciously, my arms tightened around her slim waist. Still half-asleep, her sigh of approval urged me on. She wormed even closer into my chest, and maybe I shouldn't feel so smug.

When Lissa came in a few minutes later, with Eddie and Christian in tow, she gave me a weird look at our position. I could only imagine what she was seeing right now. Christian was smirking, looking like he'd just found the magic lamp, and Eddie... He looked ready to murder me in this second. "Get off my sister," he growled.

Of course, a protective brother. Just what I needed right now, with Rose's warm body pressed against mine, making me think of kissing her, tasting her lips.

In a way, I couldn't blame Eddie. If Vika was unconscious, and a male holding her the way I was currently doing Roza, I would have killed the guy already.

My hips were flush against hers, her head resting in the hollow of the space where my shoulder met my torso. Our legs were tangled under the sheets, and the corner of her shirt had ridden up where my hand was currently touching her hip, so that was suspicious, as it made me touch the bare skin that connected her leg to her pelvic area. And it was a very, very dangerous place for my hand to be on, from the glare Eddie sent in the direction of that hand.

Lissa grimaced at me, telling me to give an explanation - and quick, before Eddie unleashed his magic.

"Lissa told me to get her into a bed before she started kicking," I started. "And the room closest to where we were was mine, so I carried Roza here. I put her in the bed and tucked her in. But when I moved towards the chair over there" - I made a gesture towards my armchair -"she started calling and screaming my name. When I walked back towards the bed to check if she was asleep, she pulled me in." I deliberately left out the part where she'd snuggled into me.

"Interesting," Lissa mused. "Sounds like the time I accidently slammed my head into the wall." She grinned at Christian.

"Don't remind me," he groaned. "I was so afraid you would die."

"Rose would never let her die," Eddie muttered.

With that one sentence, they all looked back to the beautiful girl wrapped up in my arms.

Abe Mazur stormed in, his face a thundercloud as he beheld me being in the same bed as his barely-legal daughter. His scowl only increased when he saw my hand on her hip, her head on my chest. He stormed up to me, about to blow.

"Leave off him, Baba," Roza mumbled from my chest.

"Roza? You're awake?" I asked anxiously, fearing what she was thinking at this moment.

"Of course I am," she yawned, her voice a bit raspy and most definitely weak. "How could I not be, with all of you being so loud?"

I almost laughed in relief. Classic Rose Hathaway, from my understanding.

"Get off of him, then, kiz." Abe Mazur growled, not looking the slightest bit pleased she was awake. Probably because I still had my arms around her.

"Why? He's so warm."

I blinked. What? I was warm? What the hell did that mean?

"He's a man, Rosemarie Hathaway."

"So are you."

He groaned, face-palmed himself, and walked out, muttering to himself. "You know who she reminds me of? Me. It's scary."

And I had to agree - except that there were a few differences in both their personalities. From what I'd observed yesterday, Rose was blunt. She also had no control over her temper, and I think if the royals all offended her, she would kill them all.

Zmey, however, might have the same sharp mind and tongue that his daughter shared, but he didn't fight his battles in the same way Rose did. Rose went out charging with a blade in her hands. He preferred to lay back and make deals that benefitted him more than it did his client, and keep people in his pocket until they fulfilled their uses. Both styles had their advantages, but I think I preferred the battlefield version. It was faster, more efficient, and much more easier. I, of course, had to say that. I was no politician, but a warrior. And, as Zmey so eloquently phrased it, I was a man. Men took the straightforward option - fighting their enemies hand-to-hand. Women, however, didn't get their hands dirty - figuratively. I'd seen enough political battles between Karo and other princesses to know the battles girls fought were vicious. They didn't physically harm their opponents - instead, they used words to cut their victim to shreds, making their hearts bleed deep underneath the flesh. Even I stayed clear of girls' politics after Lady Ava Drozdov called me a 'slithering, lying, fat pig who has nothing to do better than to bother proper women who were defending themselves from his lying, murderous, bastard sisters who can't keep their filthy noses out of other people's business.' For the record, I am not fat. I trained diligently everyday in the gym, keeping myself fit for battle. However, Ava Drozdov made it sound like I was a wine-addicted, sleazy whoremonger. That was my father, not me. Before I could whip out my sword and prove her words right about me, Karolina said, "At least we don't overdose in perfume so much that it's nauseating to take a breath through the mouth and overload ourselves in makeup and jewelry until we look like we're fat dolls no one wants to buy."

In my arms, Roza chuckled. "That was a funny story, Comrade."

She didn't, did she? Another reason I should stay away from her... but it was already too late.

I'd already fallen.

Okay, guys... LATE LATE LATE chapter, I know. Believe me, if I had a choice I would have posted it a week ago. Who knew that junior high took so much time out of your schedule?

Anyways, sorry for the late (and short) chapter. Thanks to everyone who read, faved, followed, and reviewed this story. Your support means so much, guys! Thank you!

Also, is anyone else excited for the VA TV show? 3 days, guys, 3 days left. I wonder if it will be as good as the books, or worse!