Incomplete (A VA Fanfic One-Shots & Shorts Collection)

Dimitri Survives; Changes Arise

RPOV
"What?" I asked, feeling as though I'd been frozen then balled over at his notification. Lucky I was already sitting down. "You've done what?" I felt my eyes bug.
Dimitri shook his too-attractive-for-my-own-good head. A smile played at the corner of his lips, teasing me. "Don't stress, Roza. We agreed on this, remember?"
I took a couple of slow steps toward him after standing up. I wasn't yet threatening to straddle him, but I was close enough to make breathing difficult for him. "I agreed, but not so soon." Unfortunately, my own breathing was troublesome and so my tone must have sounded as though I was trying to seduce him. A part of me had to wonder if that was what I was unintentionally doing.
His dark, alluring eyes held mine, regarding me levelly, seriously. I looked deeper still into them and noticed that the longer they held mine the more unsteady and distracted he became because of our current closeness. "I'm doing this for you, Roza, you have to understand that," he breathed. I could taste him. It was the last straw. My built up resistance to our attraction had pretty much been burnt to a crisp in the cabin last week. The distance between us was suddenly too much for me to handle. I straddled him and my lips crashed into his. So much was conveyed in that slow and tender yet simultaneously needy kiss. The hungry way he returned the kiss told me he was already exhausted because of having to force himself to avoid me once more after he'd just made peace with his feelings for me, my importance in his life, how badly he needed to always be physically linked with me.
"How can you possibly believe it's best for me to take that away from me? How can you believe that you'll survive without it?"
Dimitri regarded me seriously while trying to steady his breathing. "If I stay, Roza, something is going to go horribly wrong and your future will be destroyed. I won't be the reason."
For a while I just studied him, trying to understand his words and find my own acceptance of them. Soon I found it. "You're scared." I didn't need to ask. Sometimes I just knew these things about him. "You're scared I'm going to make you lose control... again."
His eyes clouded. He only replied by bringing his lips to rest on mine, biting my lower one while dropping his hands from my waist to my ass. He pulled me impossibly closer.
"You have no control with me, and you know it. You know I know it."
"I have plenty of control. And if you work with me and accept this, then I'll show you who has no control when I return to see you take your trial and graduate." The serious yet playfully husky note made me shiver. It didn't help that his eyes sparkled before he continued. "I'll do things to you that will have you losing control before you realise it." I was certain I'd fallen in love with an angel, now I was left wondering if he was in fact a devil. After all, it felt as though he was now the one seducing me. Not that he ever needed to try seducing me and making me fall for him.

DPOV
I'd been at Court for a month when Rose emailed me she was coming to Court because the Queen wanted to speak with Lissa.
We'd been emailing since the moment I'd gotten to Court. Of course, she and I had had to set up new accounts in order for it to be somewhat safe to talk about deeper issues such as how she was handling Lissa's darkness and how much she missed and loved me. How Kirova had been replaced by a politically motivated royal whose daughter was splitting her from Lissa and seducing Adrian and the emotional impacts that had on her. I tried urging her to stop taking Lissa's darkness, to talk to Dr Olendzki and her counsellor about whether or not mood stabilisers would cut her off from the darkness like the med's Lissa had been on cut off Lissa's access to spirit. Not my smartest idea, but I thought she'd consider it given she wasn't asking Lissa to sacrifice the magic. There had been no reasoning with her. So I was resolved that I'd take her to see Rhonda and a doctor here at Court. I knew she wouldn't like it, but I had my ways to convince her. I could not handle the thought she could possibly lose herself to the darkness again, but this time I wouldn't be there to help her out of it before it was too late.

"Hello?" Guardian Hathaway's voice commanded respect and brought butterflies to life in my stomach. Was I really doing this already? I must be going mad... then again, I was already driven insane by the depth of my love for Rose. I had to do this somewhat properly, to salvage any honour left in our relationship.
"Guardian Hathaway, this is Guardian Belikov." What was I doing? I was asking for trouble. Then again, trouble was Roza's middle name.
"Yes Guardian Belikov, what can I do for you?"
Just come out and ask her. It's not that hard. Rose would blurt it out like ripping a bandaid off. It's fucking terrifying! "I want to ask you a favour..." Her permission was more than just a favour. It left me in lifelong debt.
"What kind of favour, Guardian Belikov?" Her voice conveyed her hesitance and a little curiosity. I had many allies in the Guardian ranks, and quite a few of them were highly respected, so I'm certain she was wondering why the hell I was ringing to ask her a favour.
"One regarding your daughter..." My heart was racing and my throat and chest threatened to annihilate my ability to breathe. I could hardly think, let alone speak.
"What about her? You've transferred to Court, haven't you? She's no longer your responsibility." She'll always be my responsibility, her safety and sanity will always be my responsibility.
I steeled myself. "I want your permission to court her," I confessed. I'd never felt like I could so easily be snapped in half.
Silence dominated. What the hell was she thinking? "You want what?"
"I want your permission to date Rose." At this stage of our relationship, maybe—no, not maybe, certainly, certainly—dating was the more realistic term for how I wanted to build our love up in a modern-yet-traditional-and-proper, Rose would say outdated-noble, way. But I knew she deserved nothing less than the best, and she was dead-set on being happy with whatever I could afford and manage for her. And, god, did it make me love her more.
"Where the hell did this come from? She's barely eighteen, Belikov. She's still in high school, for crying out loud! Not to mention, Guardians don't have accepted or easy relationships. Do you realize how much damage to her reputation you're asking me to allow? She's my only child and you're asking me to allow you to destroy the recent repairs to her reputation. Especially considering you only stopped being her mentor a month ago."
My jaw set. "I know, Hathaway, but she means a lot to me and we'll deal with whatever opposition comes up, the impacts on both our reputations. Together." I knew for sure my stellar reputation would be severely marred, but for Rose, I would deal with it, I didn't care as long as I had Rose by my side. A life without love was a life not lived. At least in my opinion. Especially when that love was the indescribable, earth-shattering love I felt for Roza.
"This could get her expelled, Belikov, and I'm not okay with that."
"She would only get expelled if she was still my student."
Rose's mother grunted in annoyance. "Belikov, people will want to rip apart your history if I agree. I'm already about to tear down the guard to your secrets with her. Is she really worth it? Is she worth losing your job and being jailed if the wrong evidence turned up?"
I wanted to growl. Of fucking course she was worth it. "She's worth dying for..." I remembered my promise to her last time we were here. "She's worth killing to protect."
I was met with silence once more. "Do you love her? Yes or no."
"Yes."
"Are you in love with her? Yes or no."
"Yes."
"Would you sleep with her? Yes or no." This was it. The very ugly conversation that was worse than facing down countless Strigoi. This had to be that ugly conversation.
"Yes."
Hathaway didn't miss a beat asking the next question. "Would you marry her? Yes or no."
I hadn't expected that. Still, I responded honestly. "Yes."
"Have you slept with others? Yes or no."
I hated people digging into my past. But to have permission to date Rose, I would deal with it. "Yes."
"Would you ever cheat on her? Yes or no."
"Never."
"Would you ever hurt her, abuse her physically or emotionally? Yes or no." She worried about Rose more than Rose believed.
"No." I had never meant to hurt her while we were both trying to accept that we should never be. There was no way in hell I would turn into my ass of a father. I wouldn't let him near her if he ever accidentally found us. Rose wouldn't let me become a repeat of him anyway. She'd kick my ass then leave my sorry butt quick-smart if I ever lost control that way.
"Have you already slept with her. Yes or no, Guardian Belikov. If it's a yes, I don't want to hear excuses or explanations as to why you slept with my underage daughter—your underage student."
I took a breath before biting the bullet and confessing. "Yes."
Janine Hathaway growled and I swear I heard something smash in the background. After a few deep breaths she asked me another question. "Did you force her? Yes or no."
"No."
"You are aware the law says a seventeen year old isn't mature enough to consent to any kind of sexual activity with someone as older than her as you are."
"The law does say that, but she was mature enough to understand that."
Janine scoffed. "She's hardly mature, Belikov."
"She may act young, but she understands things such as the relationship between good and evil and life and death to a degree many much older than her don't. She understands why we can't both guard the same Moroi. She understood why we shouldn't have."
"Yet you did it anyway!"
"Because she loves me as much as I love her."
Again, Janine Hathaway fell silent. "I can't believe I'm about to say this. I give you permission. I don't like it and I don't agree, but I give you permission. That said, if you don't treat her right for half a nanosecond or don't try to minimise the damage to her reputation, I swear I'll throw your ass in jail quick smart and if you ever get parole then freedom I'll have Abe Mazur hunt you down and there'll be no way to avoid the damage he'll do to you. Understand?"
"Yes, Guardian Hathaway. Thank you."
"Don't go thanking me, Belikov; I'm only giving you permission because I suspect Rose will have my head if I try to keep you away from her." She ended the call without another syllable.
She might not have liked it, but she had given me permission. And right now, that was all that really mattered to me, all I really wanted and needed.