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

Tasha's Offer: Consulting Rose

DPOV
I was in the gym, waiting for Rose to arrive-late as usual- and was reflecting on the offer Tasha had made me. It would be easy with her, maybe too easy. She could take me away from Rose- the student I was hopelessly in love with, the one who saw straight through me.

Rose and I had a myriad of complications and roadblocks stopping us from being together. But, I had to wonder, could I be so selfish? Could I leave her when I was the only thing keeping her in school, the only one who defended her and her right to be trained to be a better guardian than me? Could I leave half my heart behind? Or, was leaving her better? Was leaving her going to give her a more usual teenage life? The teenage life she'd once assured me she didn't want, the one I now saw evidence of her trying to lead. With a certain puppy-eyed novice Mason Ashford by her side. Too by her side. Even though it shouldn't, even though I had no right to be, it made me jealous. And annoyed, confused and hurt.

Argh! Was her love and affection for me really that transient? Did she really think I no longer cared about her? That I no longer loved her? That I no longer wanted her, to be with her? Did she really believe our connection was fading? When all I could sense was it getting stronger by the moment, deepening with each interaction. Did she truly believe I would always be able to resist her? Especially as she continued to mature both mentally and physically.

Then there was always, how would Rose feel? How would she respond and react to it? Would she let me go? Would she even go so far as to encourage me to take it? If she did that I couldn't go, I couldn't leave someone I loved when she loved me enough to let me go, let me take the easy way out if it made me happier. But it wouldn't, I realised with a start. It wouldn't make me happier. Sure, it hurt to be around Rose, to have her yet not, but never seeing her smile or energy would hurt more. I felt complete when around her. No matter how heartbreaking our situation was, I still felt complete and peaceful seeing her energy and desire for life and such an intense passion for and dedication to her duty.

Then there's the issue of duty. They come first. I lived and would eventually die by that saying and code. And so would Rose. I never wanted that to happen. Yet she seemed to grasp and understand her duty better than most. Time and again I'd seen her switch from novice Rose Hathaway to Guardian Rose Hathaway. She possibly even understood her duty better than I did, better than I ever would. She would always put Lissa or any Moroi first when all I could do was try to resist her. Only falling deeper in love with her in the process. Ironic. I couldn't and shouldn't be thinking about her as the young woman I saw her as. Especially when the law said she was still a child, but there was no way I couldn't when everything about her, her character then body screamed she was an adult.

I couldn't sort through it. I couldn't find my way through all the questions. It was too much to process and handle on my own. Yet, for obvious reasons, there was no one I could talk it through with. Well... There was one person I could talk to about it. The very same young woman who was making my life complicated as all hell but also made it worth living, truly living even if I couldn't experience life with her in the way I wanted to, the way she wanted to experience it with me.

My mental war was paused when the door opened. And I smelled her. Her scent and being were addictive and intoxicating. Snap out of it! Mentor time, Dimitri!

I looked up and met her beautiful brown eyes that saw into my soul. "Afternoon, Roza." Good job, Belikov! Totally professional.

A small smile played on her lips, almost uncertainly. "Hey Comrade. What's with the novel-less sprawl? And that deep thinking face?" She came and sat in front of me and started stretching. Her long, nearly-black, loosely-curled silky hair hanging like a curtain in front of her face. Business time you fool, I mentally chastised myself. It didn't quite work.
"Rose," I sighed, not knowing where or how to start.
"Yes, Dimitri?" Her hair was still covering most of one eye. Likely the one Janine had caused to bruise.