*This has been edited from what it first was*

"Rose," Dimitri says softly, yet giving up patience. "I don't have feelings for you anymore. I have told you that so many times, yet you won't listen." Noticing Dimitri outside my window had given me some hope. Hope that had only turned out to be his guardian duties. Still, maybe he had changed.

"I tried," I muttered under my breath. I begin to sulk off back towards the door in which I had come in from, full of hope, yet what a change of mood I was in now. Dimitri must have heard that, whether clearly or not, but whatever it was, he grabbed my wrist. The familiar, burning passion I had, and still have, as I have recently come around to noticing, started up again. Maybe he thought about it. Maybe he wanted me, unlike what he said moments ago. Not wanted me. I could never let him say that to me again. When Dimitri became strigoi, not by choice, I found him. I was going out to kill him, but I hesitated. He kept me 'hostage' as such, and he told me he wanted me to turn strigoi and join him just because he wanted me. He never said he wanted me to turn because he loved me but that's because strigoi couldn't see beauty, or even love I suppose. Still, it hurt. He wanted my power, not any romance. Besides that, I had made it clear that turning Strigoi was far off any intentions of mine. Now he was back, as a dhampir like before. He was just as god-like and strong, and if possible, being strigoi made him that much stronger.

"What did you just say?" Dimitri asks, snapping me back to reality. His expression is soft, yet still like he wouldn't give in.

I shake my head. "Nothing."

Moroi and dhampirs could hear well, just as Dimitri's expression tells me. "It wasn't nothing Rose." He didn't believe me, but the tone in his voice made me believe that maybe he really did move on. Maybe he doesn't like me anymore. I use as much of my guardian instinct and training as possible, and eventually, with great difficulty, get out of his grasp and run back to my room in the guest quarters of court.

"Rose!" Someone was shaking me awake. I jump up quickly and begin to grab my stake next to me until I hear laughter. Not just anyone's laugh. It was Dimitri. I blush and sit back down on my bed. Then everything comes back to me. That was all just a dream. Well, not quite a dream. It had happened but that situation hadn't occurred. Not quite like that.

Now, none of that matters. Dimitri and I were together, and I have nothing to worry about. Except for Lissa, my assignment. Vasilisa Dragomir. Queen Vasilisa. She and I had been very close, as we shared a unique bond, caused by spirit. Spirit was the fifth element, the rarest element that Moroi could possess control over. Currently, we only know of six living Moroi, including Lissa that use spirit. Dimitri touches my arm lightly, pulling me back to reality.

"You scared me." I say, faking a vulnerable expression. It was true though, I have been really on edge since the attack on Lissa's illegitimate sister, Jill. I don't want to repeat it, because of my disbelief of moroi doing things like that to each other when they were already in a vulnerable position against strigoi.

"What was going on?" Dimitri asks me, studying my face for any clues. I love Dimitri, and I can tell he cares about me, but I can't tell him what that dream was about. I am trying to get him to see that I can defend myself as much as him because I can't let him protect me over his charge, Christian Ozera, also known as Lissa's boyfriend. The fact that they are together, means Dimitri and I are together a lot. Great, but could also present another problem. So, I can't tell him anything like that. No matter how much I wanted to.

"Nothing. I don't know what you are talking about." I say with as much persuasion as I can manage.

"It's clearly not." He says, his face set into a hard and blank expression as if he doesn't believe me. I used to confide in him so much that he must know that I was lying.

"It's nothing important then." I say, with a tone that told him I was finished with the discussion. I kiss him on the cheek and head to the bathroom to get ready. Today would probably be a long day.

"Do you have to put on makeup?" I ask Jill impatiently, partly because we will probably end up being late, and partly because of jealousy. Moroi were flawless. Very pale, but with clear skin that radiated with natural beauty. Dhampirs were almost a beautiful as moroi, not as polished, and usually had more than a few bruises and cuts, but would fit in with the more beautiful part of the human society.

"Yes, I do," Jill replies, obviously annoyed. I somehow felt like she didn't have the right to be annoyed at me for being impatient. We were doing her a favour here.

"You know, the quicker we get out of here, the quicker you will be out of danger," I say, pacing around Jill's room on Lissa's royal quarters. I had already said goodbye to Lissa because she was off to deal with some royal matters with her boyfriend, Christian Ozera, who was finally slowly becoming accepted among moroi, he was trying particularly hard to get the Royals to accept him. I personally couldn't see how it was so hard to believe that Christian wasn't strigoi. Just because his parents had turned, doesn't mean he will just suddenly become strigoi. Because Christian had to go with Lissa, that meant Dimitri did too. He was Christian's guardian, and he was specifically important today, as I wasn't there to guard Lissa. Inside court, guardians weren't needed as much, but Lissa was queen, so strigoi weren't the only threat to her anymore. Even though they couldn't get Lissa, they had other ways to get her off the throne. The main target was right in front of me. Jill. Lissa's illegitimate sister. Any queen must have a family to rule, so moroi thought if they could kill Jill, then Lissa would have to step down. They had already done that, and technically Jill had died, if it wasn't for Adrian, who did what Lissa had to me several years ago, forming a bond. That bond was gone, but now Jill was shadow-kissed. To Adrian of all people. I sigh.

"Okay I am ready, let's go." Jill says confidently. This was extremely difficult emotionally for her, no matter how strong she told people she was. I really admired her for that. Jill had grown a lot since I had run into her last year. We were basically sending her away, so to benefit Lissa. We had used her as a pawn for Lissa's benefit before, and it was unfair, yes, but I felt like this was the right thing to do. Jill must've reciprocated those feelings, however much she didn't want to.

Jill and I walk out, me guarding her cautiously. We had arranged to meet up with Eddie, Adrian and a couple of others outside at one of the gardens I made in my time on 'suspension'. Eddie was going to be Jill's guardian during her stay in Palm Springs, California. Out of the large group going, only Jill, Eddie and Adrian were staying there. Still, we were going with them for support and protection. At this point, I spotted Eddie and the 'crew' and rushed over. Jill was tagging behind enough to make me nearly grab her arm and pull her in front of me, but I refrain, hearing Dimitri in my head, chastising me about not using my self-control. I smile at the thought.

"Well, you look happy today." Eddie notes, with mild disbelief in his voice, as if he didn't know how I could possibly be happy today.

"That's surprising because just moments ago I would have sworn she was chastising me about taking forever to put makeup on." Jill adds, rolling her eyes.

"That was not me chastising you." I protest sheepishly. I don't think the others would approve of me giving Jill the slightest bit of a hard time, certainly if it was unnecessary like that. She must be having a hard time leaving here in itself, so we had to take it easy on her for now.

"All set to go?" Adrian asks Jill. I almost jump, but my mind tells me better than to do that. I forgot Adrian was here, he was so silent. I turn away, and he throws me a wistful glance while Jill silently answers his question, oblivious to the fact that I had noticed his hurt and longing. His is still probably disappointed that I chose Dimitri over him, yet it was inevitable that it would happen. He certainly could not say he didn't see it coming.

"Hey what are we doing just standing here? Shouldn't we leave?" I ask, my guardian senses kicking in. If there was a threat here, we couldn't waste any time hanging around, especially when there is a place we could go that was safe.

Eddie's thoughts seemed to reflect mine. "There is a safer place we could go rather than staying here. We should leave." He says, looking over at me for approval. I nod, and we head over to the garage.

"This is going to take a huge toll on Jill." I say to Eddie. Eddie nods and looks down at his feet. I place my hand on his back, almost as if to comfort him. "I know how you feel about Jill, and that you owe her your life, but please take care of yourself out there too." I tell him. Eddie looks up, confused.

"Rose, I swear that may have been the deepest thing I have heard you say."

"It may have been the deepest thing you have heard, but I have said deeper. Surprising right?" I laugh. Plus, my thoughts were even deeper.

"Very." Eddie smiles, and for once I felt like maybe being a guardian isn't just protecting moroi and fighting strigoi. Maybe there could be time for more. We could laugh, joke around with each other, and enjoy being alive instead of being solemn all- hold that thought.

"Rose, could you teach me how to keep Adrian out of my head?" Jill asks as we reach the car. Never mind, everything I thought before was just that. Just a thought. Moroi come first, and that is what we will be doing for the rest of our career.

"Sure, but I will tell you now that it isn't easy." It was true. It had taken me almost two years to gain some control over Lissa's thoughts. Sure, every so often there was a slip, especially when her emotions were running high. I hated being able to see her sex life, but now I feel kind of empty without her being there in my head.

"Thankyou, Rose." Jill smiles, and we leave court.

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