More than a friend

Ch 20: The Past

RPOV

When Christian and I graduated from St. Vladimir, we established a partnership rather than the usual guardian-charge relationship. I never had to shadow him or stand two feet away when we were out in public. I didn't patrol our home or take shifts to watch him. Hell, in the last six years, I think I wore my guardian uniform twice. I'm not saying I didn't do my job as a guardian, but it was just different. I wasn't just protecting him. We were protecting each other. When we were attacked that evening on our way home from grabbing dinner, I didn't push Christian behind me like I'd do with another moroi. Instead, Christian immediately lit the strigoi woman's hair on fire. Panicked and distracted by the flames, I was able to easily puncture my stake through her heart.

Looking around campus, I realize just how good I have it. I don't pity the lives of guardians, but I don't wish to trade places with them either. To be voiceless killing machines, standing five paces away from your charge, and laying down your life only to be replaced the next day. That was the harsh truth of a guardian's life. As I did my rounds given to be by Alberta, I couldn't help but wonder what my life would be if I was assigned to someone else.
Miserable, I thought. I'd be miserable. Sophie would have had to be raised by the academy while I was off protecting someone else. And the thought of being away from her was enough to make me hate that life.

"Penny, for your thoughts?" asked Adrian as he strolled towards me, cigarette at hand.
"They're too depressing to share."
"More than my love life?"
"Depressing to you maybe but extremely entertaining to me," I say with a grin. He comes and rests his arm on my shoulder.
"You know, Little Dhampire, maybe if you said yes to me, then maybe you wouldn't look so sad, and I wouldn't have so many failed romances."
"Really, Adrain, even after all this time?" I ask incredulously. "I have a child."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," he smirks, "and what's one more dad to the list?"
I rolled my eyes and pushed his arm off me, "Don't start," I warn. "Why are you even here?"
"I thought you could use some company. And I was bored."
Wonderful, I thought.
"So what's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing is wrong. It's just..."
"Just what?"
"I don't know. Everything. Being back. It feels so unreal," I said, crossing my arms over my chest as the winds picked up. We both looked out into the inky blackness of the Montana night, moroi midday. His eyes probably saw better than mine.
"Is it because of him?" Adrian asked. He didn't need to specify, I already knew.
"Partially, " I admitted.
"Partially?" he repeated skeptically.
"Yes, partially. Not everything revolves around him," I said. It was enough that he kept creeping into my mind. I didn't enjoy having to talk about him as well.
"Of course not. I was just checking," said Adrian, taking a long puff of his cigarette, the corners of his mouth twitching into a slight grin.
"You know it's not unusual to obsesse over your ex," casual commented Adrian.
"He isn't my ex," I say through clenched teeth.
"Of course. Because that would be unethical of him, correct? Romancing his student."
"Is this why you came here? To annoy me?"
He laughed and placed his arm back on my shoulder. "I enjoy annoying you, Little Dhampire, because you are so easy to annoy. Your triggers are so easy to find."
"You know that's pretty messed up, Adrian."
"What I'm trying to say is that everyone can see you're uncomfortable with him around. Don't allow yourself to be exposed like that. You're letting all of this get to you, and now is not the time to get lost in it."
"So what should I do?" I asked him.
"Bring the old Rose back. She wouldn't let herself be intimidated by all of this. Plus she was more fun anyway." He said that last part under his breath, and I knocked him lightly on his side. He winced dramatically, and I smiled. I thought about what he said, and maybe he was right. I'd been living in my head these past few days. Overthinking and drowning in miserable thoughts of 'what if' and 'if only'. I needed out of that. I needed to find the old Rose again.

"I also came to call you for training."
"You could have texted me."
"Sure, but I needed a smoke break as well. My head felt like it was about to explode," he said. I watched as his took a final drag and stomped the cigarette on the ground.
"Shouldn't you be taking a break from that if we're going to start training now?" I asked.
"I'm off the clock, Little Dhampire. Lissa and I had our session earlier. We'll just be observing for now."
Him and Lissa had been working separately from the rest of us since we began training two weeks ago. There were 2 students at the academy who specialized in spirit. One of the was gifted in emotional manipulation and the other in healing. The four of them were assisting one another in learning each other's abilities and also perfecting their own power.

Lissa and I had spent more time together since reconnecting. Once she and Christian buried the hatchet, things became much lighter and easier between the three of us. She and Sofia quickly became best friends, and Lissa has already promised her a shopping trip.
Sofia has also been officially enrolled in St. Vladimir academy while we're here. Since we aren't sure when we'll go back home, the next best thing was to allow her to continue her education here. It's safe to say she loves it.

Adrian and I head back towards campus. As we approached the building, we saw the students fill up the gym. Over the few days since we began training, the responses from the students were good. We had some pushback, and a few who outright dropped out after parents refused to allow them to participate. Some rebelled and joined anyway.

I quickly went to change, and when I got back, I saw they were paring up to spar with each other. There were three types of classes. The first was a moroi only class where they learned offensive and defensive magic. Then there was moroi physical training, basically P.E, and then there was the joint moroi and dhampire combat class, the one we were having now. Usually, these consisted of sparring and learning to shield on another.

I went and joined Mia, who stood against the wall and watched as Christian began instructing the class. He was in his element. You could see he was passionate about this, and he was amazing with the students. He stood now in a pair of black track pants and a gray long sleeve shirt. His shirt was tight enough to make out the hard lean muscles that he gained from over the years. It didn't escape my notice how some of the girls looked at him and whispered amongst themselves. I couldn't blame them, but it didn't mean I liked it. A couple times when he'd asked me to help him with a demonstration I'd watch our the girls would stare daggers at me and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a tiny kick out of it. It's only a tiny bit.

They paired up, and once again, Christian called on me to assist.
"We're going to show you a small demonstration on how a guardian and their charge would handle an attack in real life. Eddie, Mia, would you please join us," said Christian.
"Maybe it would be better for two fire users to spar for now. That way, it would be equal footing," suggested Tasha. It made sense, and I could see Christian agree, but what he didn't see was that there was only one fire user here who could fight, and that was Tasha. Which meant her partner would be none other than her guardian, Dimitri. It seemed he realized this the same moment I did because he immediately looked to me. I avoided his stare and looked to Christian instead. He nodded his head, and Tasha rose and came and stood front and center opposite Christian. I went and stood next to Christian and Dimitri next to Tasha.

An excited hush fell over the class as we stood against each other. Among the dhampires, Dimitri was still considered a legend. The intimidating and stoic Russian god. My reputation wasn't far behind. Over the years, I gathered enough molnija marks that I barely had any untouched skin left on my neck. My hair remained long to avoid exposing my tattoos. It wasn't something I felt needed to be paraded.
We took our positions and got into our stances. I stared at Dimitri, sizing him up, and I knew he was doing the same for me. The student verses the teacher. This was going to be interesting.