*Revised due to how old I when I first wrote this. Contemplating whether it should be given another chapter, or restructured into a series of One Shots. Let me know what you think!*

We're in luck, class. We have some inspiring guests with us today" The young trainer addressed the room full of teenagers. Teenagers, Dimitri thought, not only Dhampirs. The recent years of traditional upheaval had forced the school to allow eager Moroi to join in with combat training, on top of their elemental work. Some of the older ones were still a bit on the wobbly side, but the younger ones were growing into quite the sturdy fighters.

Dimitri stood to the side of the room, cross armed and stoic faced, with one other well known Dhampir beside him. He found himself firmly in guardian mode. Though if he was honest, he was always in guardian mode these days. Nothing outside of work really appealed to him, protecting Vasilisa and Christian was what his life consisted of, now. That, and the occasional training seminars he was invited to.

Although Lissa had attempted to urge him out of the house more often, he didn't feel like there was anything out there for him any more. Rose had been granted an audience with Tatiana one day, and told the Princess that she had been given some sort of covert assignment. It would mean that she would be taken away from her best friend, and he had taken for granted that she would deny the option. The following day, however, he noted that she seemed uncharacteristically introspective. She was quiet and reserved, and by the time the sun had set, so had she.

That was the last time anybody had seen Rose. Rumours spread- she was fighting in the middle east, she was on assignment in Antarctica, she was an assassin in Europe. Eventually, the gossip settled on one simple fact. She must be dead. It had been too long without a peep from her, and no one mission could take so long. He had demanded answers everywhere he could think of, even going to Tatiana herself. She had gone hard, and told him that he had no right to make any demands from a Queen. Even Adrian could not get to her, she seemed to revel in her absence from her nephew's life, and even hinted that he may as well forget all about her.

The uncertainty burned at him inside, leaving him scorched. He scoffed at the old saying, "out of sight, out of mind." She was always there, if only tip toeing at the edge of his consciousness. The notion that she could be dead made it even worse. Once, he thought he caught a glimpse of her ghost sauntering past. On the worst days, she was constantly at the fore-front of his mind, he could see her in the faces of people going by, hear her laughter and smell her perfume in the open air.

He had dreamt of her last night. It had been one of the worse days. She was crying silently, looking to him with pleading eyes. He had told her that love fades, that his had. The next thing he knew, they were on a stealth-based mission. There seemed to be enemies everywhere, and she had been ducked behind a barrel, though stood upright upon hearing his words, pain written all over her face. His voice had brought enemy attention, as well as their fire. Bullets passed straight through him, but they struck her again and again until she collapsed, bleeding from a wound in her chest. He woke up in a cold sweat of panic, filled with a familiar shame. The last thing that she had heard from him was his declaration of dismissal. The worst lie he'd ever told. He still remembered the look of hopelessness in her eyes as he told it.

It had been four years since he'd spoken that sacrilege and she'd disappeared into the night.

Back in class, the other guardian went through his favourite stances, teaching the kids some moves and using them as hypothetical opponents. He told them some of his fascinating stories, and displayed a few battle wounds, but after an hour, he announced his departure and bowed out.

Dimitri had only just begun one of his own demon stations when he heard the slam of the front door. The young teacher swung his head around to the sound, looking anxious, and fled into the corridor. When he returned, he had a grin of shock and elation on his face. "We really do have a real treat for us today, guys. Please welcome our final guest, Guardian Hathaway."

Dimitri's heart clenched. Janine. Rose's mother. Although she didn't look much like her daughter, the woman was like-minded, strong headed and incredibly skilled. She reminded him so strongly of Rose. She also made him feel incredibly guilty. It was his fault that her daughter had disappeared off the face of the earth. Perhaps if he had told her how he really felt, she might still be there with them.

He steadied himself to see her, collecting his feelings. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

A woman walked in, her incredibly long dark hair swishing with her hips. She wore a dark turtle necked long sleeved top and sported black running trousers. He didn't even have the brain power to fathom why she would be wearing high heels as Rose strode into the room with a steady confidence. She hadn't glanced his way yet, still focused on the class in front of her, an easy smile upon her lips.

He thought for a moment that he might be seeing his ghosts again, but this was much too real, and in the past he only imagined her as the teenager she was, not the even more stunning woman she had transformed into. Her face was sharper, more defined. She had darker, tanned skin and her almond shaped eyes had dark thick eyelashes. She was taller; not by too much, but she was definitely taller, her body was well muscled but still filled out her curves. He watched as she smiled at the class in a proud way, her eyes glistening with excitement.

He realised he had let his guardian mode down, and did his best to compose himself again. The rest of the class were still shell-shocked, all of them staring at her in awe.

"Hey guys!" her voice was smooth, and it was like silk honey to his ears. She even sounded older. "It's great to be back in this old place!"

They all rushed to say hello back to her, asking questions and commenting on her presence, "It's an honour!" "Guardian Hathaway! Is it true you wrestled crocodiles in Australia?" "Oh my gosh!" "You're amazingly pretty!" "You're pretty amazing" "I've heard all about you!" "Please would you show us what you can do!?" "So you're not dead?" "Where have you been all this time?" "Willyoumarrymeplease?"

She laughed good naturedly, and finally looked up at him while shaking her head softly. Dimitri froze, and although she kept her poker face, he saw a shadow cross over her expression before turning back to the students with a slightly more tense smile.

"Well it was only one crocodile, but, I'll show you what I can do, and sorry, you're a little young for me." She beamed.

Their trainer still looked totally gob-smacked that she was actually there, and grinned eagerly at Dimitri, "If you two would be sparring partners, I'm sure it would be an invaluable experience for the kids."

"Of course." Rose chimed in.

He wanted to laugh, scream and cry all at the same time, but they were professionals for the moment, and that would have to wait. They got into sparring positions, she pulled her hip length of hair into a messy bun and stood ready; her poise was excellent, but she didn't pause to take off the heels. They were going to hinder her, he though grimly. She should have known better.

He lunged, but she ducked with incredible speed and ease, weaving away from his attacks.

"Evasion can be the best defence." She said clearly to the class as she moved away from Dimitri's latest attack. He had had her against one of the walls, but she executed a flip over his shoulder after pushing herself from wall with a deft dexterity.

After a few more moves, one of the kids shouted out to them, "What if you can't escape? What if you need to fight your way out?"

"Then I suppose you would do something like this." she grinned, Dimitri went for her solar plexus, and in turn she deflected his strong blow with a swipe of her wrist, using his force against him and sending him stumbling forward for half a step before regaining himself. She took the moment and struck several nerves in quick succession, his arm drooped, and he fell on his knees.

The students gasped, Dimitri had taught a few lessons with them, and never once had he come close to being beaten. Even so, he knew that in the tight clothes she wore, she wouldn't have room for a stake, making her win void. If he were a Strigoi, he would still be alive. It was a rookie mistake, forgetting to account for a weapon. There are only so many ways to kill a Strigoi.

His confidence in this fact is why he was so shocked to feel a cold, sharp pressure on his back, behind his heart. He turned to her, one of her shoes was missing the heel, although she kept her balance perfectly. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed the sharp silver stakes that she wore on her feet, it was a classic ploy of vulnerability.

She moved toward him so she was so very near his face, "Never underestimate your opponent." Before standing up straight before the class and answering a few of their questions. Though she deflected every answer to where she'd been, or who trained her so well. She had been an amazing fighter before, but now it was beyond comprehension. During the fight, he saw glimpses of at least three types martial arts, as well as her ability to chi block. All wearing heels, no less.

They were asked to do more, but their last fight had lasted a while, and they were both covered in a layer of sweat. Regardless, she nodded, still breathing heavily. She pulled off her turtle neck, only wearing a sports top underneath- little more than a bra.

But the show of skin and her toned body wasn't what had the entire class, Dimitri included, with their jaws on the floor. Down the back of her neck, and webbing down her upper back were molnija marks, and at least six zvezda marks. She had more tattoos than he had ever seen on a Dhampir, young or old.

After a couple more hours of fighting, dodging and sweating, the class was let out, and the trainer scurried away toward the teachers lounge after thanking them both profusely, he could imagine the man rushing to tell every other teacher who had turned up to his seminar.

"Well, that's us! I better go catch up with everyone." Rose made an attempt at nonchalance, heading toward the door in a hurry.

Before she had even taken two steps, he gripped her wrist, pinning her against the wall, much like earlier in their fight, but this time she didn't escape, she didn't even move. They were inches from one another, and he could feel his heart beat hammering against his chest.

Rose stared into his eyes deeply, not saying a word for a few agonising moments. "Why?" He asked huskily.

She glanced at the floor, looking ashamed, "Does it matter? I'm back now."

Dimitri was trying to keep his voice controlled, attempting to keep out the tone of despair, anger, of desperation. "How could you leave m- us? What about your duty to Vasilissa? What if something had happened to her?"

"Dimitri, you were guarding her. Nothing was ever going to happen, not that I didn't keep a close eye." She spoke, half fluster, half attitude.

"What about her emotionally? She thought you were dead!"

Infuriatingly, Rose raised a perfectly sculptured eyebrow. "Did she ever say that to you? Because as long as I was in her mind that strand of thought never cropped up."

"Well not all of us had that luxury!" Dimitri almost yelled, his frustration getting the better of him. Reflecting, he supposed the Princess had never had given the impression of grief. It was more so an occasional air of loneliness.

There was a rise out of the old Rose at that, "I'm confused to why you would even care; surely concern fades, too!" Her tone was thick with her trademark bite.

Dimitri closed his eyes, inhaling deeply before letting out a slow breath. He actually worried for a moment that she might not be there when he opened his eyes. He could be dreaming. Or hallucinating.

But she was still there, staring up at him from under her long dark eyelashes "My feelings have never faded, Roza." His voice was thick and low. "It was nothing less than insanity for me to have told you otherwise," He paused, and for a minute she was sure he wouldn't continue, but he did, even more quietly than before. "I felt so ashamed about what I did to you when I was that monster, and I was so frightened. Of what I might do to you if the change back wasn't permanent." He cupped her face, her eyes wide and her mouth pursed. "Please. Please forgive me, Roza."

She was silent for a long while. "There's nothing to forgive." She eventually whispered.

"You lost all this time with Vasilisa all because of what I said." His voice cracked.

She smiled inwardly, "You think I left just because of you? I would never be that unprofessional." she said, half-heartedly playful.

His brow furrowed, "Then why did you agree to go?"

She bit her lip for a second, taking his other wrist and pulling him to the ground with her, where she sat cross legged, taking a deep breath before diving into her story. "The Queen said that if I entered the Royal Service Programme then I would be guaranteed the place as Lissa's official guardian for the rest of my life. It was a strict regime, there was no contact with the outside world for the first year, it was just training, eating, training, sleeping, and more training. I didn't realise how hard it was going to be, but that is what Tatiana was counting on, I think. She wanted me to fail so she could assign me to someone less important." Rose looked serious, but after a moment, smiled cheekily. "Unfortunately for her, I passed with flying colours. I even completed classes that weren't on the curriculum.

"After I left, I had a few final missions to go on to officiate my degree, but it was as if there was always one more. The thing is, every mission was so important, and so exciting. It was hard to stand up to Tatiana when I kind of loved what I was doing. We were destroying covens before they could even get their feet off the ground! Taking down key political Strigoi and foiling plots that could have otherwise proved disastrous. It was such good experience, I knew that anything I learnt could one day save Lissa's life. How could I stop? I became close with my team, and taught newcomers invaluable lessons. They went on to become impressive trainers in their own right.

"Eventually, I realised that I was the only one left who was in the programme when I'd arrived. I'd far past completed my training, and knew that I was really just delaying the inevitable." She looked him up and down, "This."

Dimitri tried to wrap his head around it all. It all begun to make sense. Her agreement, her disappearance, her incredible fighting skills. But he there was one thought that still tortured him. "Why did you stay out of contact after the first year?"

She contemplated that for a moment. "I thought that, after an entire year, it would only make it harder for everybody; getting back in contact only to stay in far away places that nobody was allowed to know about. Besides, so many people already thought I was dead, I thought that if everyone got used to the idea, it wouldn't be as hard if that ever actually happened." She looked him in the eye. "There was never more than a 70% chance of making it out alive. It was simpler to stay silent until I was done. I didn't really expect it to take so long, but there came a point when I had just been gone too long, and it verged on ridicule to just to pop a letter in the post. I had to just finish and get back here in person as soon as I could."

He had moved their hands so they were clasped tightly together. "Rose. Every day without you was a day without sun." He spoke quietly, keeping steady eye contact. He leant in slowly, first, their lips getting dangerously close until they touched. He kissed her perfect, full lips, and in response, she hooked her legs around his waist, while he pulled her closer. As they kissed, he felt together again- whole. He poured his frustration, love, desire and joy into that kiss, and when they pulled back for air, he rested his forehead on hers. "I love you in a way I will never love another." He was not a particularly religious man, but he made this one prayer to her. "Please, God, do not leave me again."