"I heard he's coming back."

Lissa Dragomir sighed a little, jostled out of her little reverie which might or might not have been starring Christian Ozera, the man-whorish instructor she just couldn't keep her mind off for some frustrating reason. Following the sound of her best friend's voice, she inclined her head slightly to the side and yelped in alarm when she found Rose Hathaway's head poking out (or down) from the top of their double decker bunk beds, regarding her with squinted eyes.

"What were you doing?" Rose asked in a deceptively casual tone.

"N-Nothing." The pale-haired girl teetered, twisting the stray strands of her hair around her index finger by reflex in a nervous tic that Rose zoomed in on immediately. "I was just, uh, thinking of what we're going to be doing tomorrow."

Rose snorted. "How long have I known you, Lissa? You should know better than to lie to me."

"I'm not!"

"You never were a very good liar."

Lissa harrumphed. "And you are?"

"Of course. I'm the best. Hang on." With that two words, Rose's head withdrew for a second only for her entire body to slide down the side and land on the ground next to her without so much as a sound. It was for the best too – it was already way past lights out, and the other girls in the bunk were merrily snoring away, with the exception of one girl at the other far end of the bunk who had been furiously tapping away on her phone for the past hour or so, the illumination from the screen of the device the only glow in the otherwise pitch dark room.

Lissa knew they didn't have much time if Rose wanted to discuss something with her; the group of instructors normally made their rounds at around midnight to ensure all the trainees were accounted for in their bunks and catching up on some much needed rest in preparation for the activities the following day. That would leave them less than fifteen minutes to be back in their beds, pretending to be dead to the world.

Which she hadn't been too far away from, the blonde grumbled internally with a quick glance at her childhood friend, before she was rudely interrupted. The training here was no joke, and it was really taking a toll on her body.

"So what's up? We only have a few minutes."

It was hard to see the Rose's face with the limited light from the moon coming through the windows, but she knew her well enough to know that she was probably rolling her eyes. "Fuck that. We're not going to get caught."

"You know I love you Rose, but sometimes, your arrogance astounds me."

"It's arrogance when you can't live up to your words. This is confidence."

Lissa scowled. "Just get on with it so I can go to sleep." And dream of Christian.

"And dream of Christian?"

The blonde could already feel her cheeks heating up at the mention of his name. Thank God they were in the dark. "Oh, shut up. What about you and Dimitri?"

"What about us?"

"What about you two? Oh my – " Lissa shook her head and took a deep breath. "Never mind that. We can revisit it at some other point. What was it that you wanted to tell me? Who's coming back?"

There was a slight pause, and for some reason, Lissa sensed that her friend was actually… uneasy. Which made her uneasy too. Because nothing ever unnerved the infallible Rosemarie Hathaway.

Nothing.

"Don't keep me in suspense here, Rose."

Rose made a sound of frustration, and she could see her running a hand through her thick mane of dark hair. "I don't know how to say it, Lissa. I heard rumours, but…"

"Just say it already!" Lissa hissed.

"Alright, alright, geez. What a bossy bitch." Rose leaned in close until she was just a hair breadth's away. "The One Who Should Not Be Mentioned."

Lissa gasped, jerking back immediately. "Rosemarie Hathaway! You know we can't – "

Rose ignored her outburst, shutting her up by storming on. "He might be back, and soon."

"For real? Where did you hear this from? He's been gone for, what, 7 years? The last I heard he just enlisted into army for national service!"

"A little bird told me." There was a tremor in Rose's voice that belied the casualness of her words. "I don't know what this might mean for the two of us" – she swept a hand around the room to indicate the other female trainees – "or them, or even the instructors, but…"

"But?" Lissa prompted, feeling breathless. He's back? Could it be? Could her story finally have an ending, something she's been longing for the past few years? Could her, and the prayers of some others, finally be answered? Could there actually be some more… action of a certain sort?

She felt her cheeks tingling again at that thought.

"One thing's for sure," Rose mumbled, and she felt her gaze on her face, her tone sombre and dead serious.

"We're in for one hell of a rude awakening."

Take it as what you may.

It's late and I gotta go to bed, but I'll update you guys soon. (Or whoever who's left to give a shit about my reappearance)

I hope all of you have been well! Thanks for all the support and everything, I really appreciate it a lot. :)