You, Me, and the shadow chapter fifty-five
Russian in Italic
DPOV
What the hell has gotten into her. One minute she is fine, or as fine as you can get when you're dealing with mass casualties, and the next, she is jumping out of bed and running from the room.
I can't find anything through our bond to explain it, but I know that she is hiding something from me. I felt it as soon as she put up the block on the battlefield.
Whatever happened when she shielded our bond is completely blocked from me, and I don't know why.
In a normal relationship, having complete, unrevoked access to your partner's mind would be out of the question, but it's completely normal for us. It feels unnatural when things are hidden, so it's only done when absolutely necessary, which tells me that whatever happened, it was big.
Chasing her out of the room and down the corridor, I try to call out to her, but she doesn't respond. She just keeps running until she reaches the Bay two infirmary doors, where she proceeds to burst in without question.
Speeding up as the other's follow, I make it to the door she disappeared into, and I watch as she makes her way through the curtained off beds as if she is looking for someone.
"Roza? Who are you looking for?" I ask as I make my way slowly into the room. She doesn't respond except for looking back at me with sincerity in her eyes as she continues searching.
Who could she be looking for? Our whole family is accounted for. The guardians she grew up with are alive and well. And she didn't have a particularly close relationship with anyone else. So who could receive this kind of response?
Watching as she opens curtain after curtain in a hurry, I follow her slowly, just watching with curiosity, until she opens one particular cubicle and freezes with her hand remaining on the light fabric as she stares into the small area in relief.
"Roza?" I try again, moving closer to her, but still unable to see behind the curtain.
"I'm sorry for blocking you, and I'm sorry for hiding it, but I didn't know if it would work, and when it did, I didn't want you to get distracted. But I promised him. I promised I would go back for him." Her eyes remain on whoever is in the bed behind the curtain as she speaks to me.
"You didn't know what would work? What are you talking about, Milaya?" I watch as she takes a deep breath, she looks at me, a slight smile on her face as she slides the curtain open further. "I brought him back for you." I look at her, confused as I step forward to see for myself, and then my whole body freezes, and my knees buckle.
"Ivan?"
RPOV
"Ivan?" I hear Dimitri gasp as I watch him fall to the floor on his knees. He doesn't move; he just kneels there, staring at Ivan, who is lying in bed, looking very much alive. The wound on his chest had healed thanks to the spirit I washed over him when I removed the stake, and the colour has returned to his cheeks.
Stepping closer, I see that the whiteboard above his bed simply states, 'John Doe. South Field. Stats good', so I cast my eyes back down on the man himself. The compulsion is still active, but I don't want to break it until Dimitri is ready.
"Comrade? Please say something. I still have him under, but whenever you're ready, so is he." I say gently, watching Dimitri as he continues to stare in disbelief. Slipping into his mind, I see him play out memory after memory of his time with Ivan. Memories of them laughing, joking, drinking, playing games. Everything is flying past as if it's on a loop, and then the memory of Ivan's funeral hits and all the emotions that came with it.
Moving away from Ivan and stepping in front of Dimitri, breaking his view of the bed, I kneel down, take his face within my hands, and force his eyes to mine. "Babe. If this is too much for you, then we can leave him as he is for now and come back later."
He doesn't respond straight away; he just stares into my eyes in complete astonishment. "How? How is this even possible? I watched them lower him into the ground. I was there. I watched as his mother wept." His voice is barely above a whisper, and his eyes are filled with raw emotion.
"I can show you everything I know if you want. I only blocked it to protect you." He nods his head straight away, but I know I have to warn him. "Are you sure you're prepared to see him like that? He was strigoi when I found him, or should I say, he found me." I watch as a shiver goes down his spine at the word strigoi, but he nods his head again, so I unblock the memories of those ten minutes and project them through to him.
Everything plays out just as it happened. Ivan kicking me and breaking my ribs, the sort of conversation we had, the staking and then the restoration, and when it's done, I have a crying Dimitri kneeled in front of me.
"Comrade? Are you Ok?" He doesn't say anything before throwing his arms around my waist and squeezing me tight.
Pulling back, he grabs my face and starts kissing me all over it. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." He enunciates every Thank you with a kiss as I release a slight giggle over his show of gratitude.
"What's going on? Who's that?" I hear Alberta ask from somewhere nearby, so I turn my head to try and explain, but Dimitri beats me to it.
"That's my best friend, Ivan Zeklos, and this beautiful starlight here managed to perform a miracle and brought him back to me." He announces, looking at me like I just hung the moon and the stars.
Rising to his feet, he pulls me up with him and gives my waist a gentle squeeze before moving closer to the bed and looking down at his friend.
"Ivan? But I thought he was...." Baba starts, but I interrupt him before he can finish.
"Not quite, it would seem. He was strigoi and found me during the battle, and I know how much he means to Dimitri, so I tried something, and it worked." I answer as vaguely as possible, not wanting to get into the finer details right now as I watch Dimitri take everything in.
"I will explain everything later in greater detail, but for right now, I need to wake him up. That is if you're ready, Mitya?" I receive a nod of his head in response as he keeps his eyes on Ivan as if he might disappear at any moment.
"Just remember that he spent the last year as a strigoi, and he would have had to do things that might cause some emotional turmoil for him. So just be gentle with him. He will need support, and too much stimulation all at once may be overwhelming." I state, trying to prepare Dimitri for what might happen.
"I'll make sure he gets whatever support he needs. As long as he's back, I don't care what he's done. We will work through it with him. It might be best to keep this quiet from his family for the time being though. That might be a bit much for him." Dimitri declares, determination in his voice as well as pure happiness.
Nodding my head at him, I move closer to Ivan's head and gently lay my hands on either side of his temples. "Ivan. Wake up." I command in a whisper as I watch his eyes instantly shoot open and look around without really seeing anything in pure panic as he starts to hyperventilate.
"Ivan, Calm down. Take some deep breaths. Focus on my voice. Relax." As my words filter through to him, I add a slight amount of compulsion to it to just help him calm down, and slowly, it works. His breathing returns to normal levels, and his eyes focus on mine. "There you go. That's it. Nice deep breaths."
I keep my hands on his head to make sure he is focused on me because seeing Dimitri before he knows what's going on maybe too much.
"Ivan. Do you remember what happened? Do you remember how you got here?" I ask, keeping my voice calm and his focus true.
Ivan simply nods his head slightly, his eyes filling with tears as he must be remembering the past year as a strigoi.
"Ivan. That wasn't you, OK? You had no control over what the monster controlling your body did. I brought you back because you mean a lot to the person I hold most dear. We are going to help you. Whatever you're feeling won't just go away, but we will do whatever we can to support you through it, OK?" I say, sending him calming and positive emotions through the connection I established in his mind.
He nods again as his eyes clear, and even though I see the guilt in them, I also see the relief and gratitude. "Thank you." I hear him whisper, a voice full of appreciation. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you." He mutters slightly louder than before.
"You are very welcome. Now, I have someone who really, really wants to see you." I say, pulling back and closing down the connection I'd established as I straighten up and let him see the room around him. I know when he sees Dimitri because his body shoots up, and he gasps.
"Dimka. Oh my god. Dimka." Ivan exclaims in Russian, and Dimitri releases an ecstatic chuckle as he throws his arms around Ivan and says, "Welcome back, brother. I have so much to tell you."
I can't help the tears that fill my eyes as I watch my soulmate embrace his best friend for the first time in a year.
Feeling an arm wrap around my shoulder, I look up to see Baba looking proud of me with his own tears spilling out.
"I watched those boys grow up. Thank you, Kiz." He doesn't have to elaborate, I know what he means, so I smile and nod my head and return my gaze to the two men talking animatedly in front of me.
DPOV
Being able to hug my best friend after over a year without him is beyond words.
Ivan had been there through everything with me since the age of four, until the age of twenty-four. Yet the most significant things that have happened to me have all occurred in the year without him, so we have a lot of catching up to do.
"I'm so glad to have you back, Ivan. You won't believe how much has happened."
"It's great to be back, and I'll bet. How the fuck did you pull her." He asks jovially, subtly pointing to where Roza stands in Abe's arms. He then leans closer to me and whispers, "And what the fuck is Abe Mazur doing here? I'd be worried if I were you. it looks like he is pretty chummy with your girl."
I burst out laughing at that, and so did Roza, catching Ivan off guard when he realised that she spoke Russian.
"Don't worry, Ivan. I'm not worried about Roza hugging her father." I remark nonchalantly, watching his reaction comically as his eyes widen as he turns to look at the father, daughter duo.
"Oh, dude. You're fucked. You're fucking Zmey's daughter, and you're still breathing. How'd you pull that one off?" Ivan exclaims a little too loud for the current setting, but I watch as Abe just smirks and throws me a look with his eyebrow raised as Roza tries to hold back a full-blown laughing fit.
"Like I said. I have a lot to tell you, but first, why don't we get you out of here. Come on." I pull him up as if he weighs nothing and set him on his feet next to the bed. He's a little shaky at first, so I steady him until he gets his balance.
When he's ready, I guide him out of the cubicle into the main bay area, and that's when he sees Aunt Tati and freezes.
"You're Majesty. I wasn't aware you were here." Ivan gasps clearly flustered at seeing her. She chuckles and shakes her head amusingly.
"Oh, don't bother, child. I'm no longer Queen. I'm just plain and simple Lady Ivashkov now. It is good to see you back among the living though Lord Zeklos. I'm sure you have quite the tale." She exclaims gently whilst throwing him a small smile.
Ivan looks around, confused about what she means by her not being Queen but seems to let it go for now. "A tale I'm not sure I wish to tell but thank you. And I don't think I am Lord anything now, being technically dead a year and all."
Throwing a look at Roza, she nods her head at me in approval. "Oh, I don't know, Ivan. I think the new King and Queen will be happy to reinstate your titles, among other things." I announce, trying to remain aloof. He has just had one shock; I don't know if he will be ready for another.
"Who's the new King and Queen? I wasn't even aware that we had Kings, and why would they care about me." He asks, looking between everyone with a confused expression, but before I can give any form of response, one of the nurses walks into the bay and immediately falls to her knees when she sees us.
"Your Majesties. I didn't know you were in here. My apologies. May I proceed with my duties?"
I turn to Roza and Roll my eyes, causing her to giggle. This is going to get old really fast.
"You may rise and proceed. A simple curtsy would suffice in future." Roza declares, humour evident in her voice.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The nurse raises and keeps her eyes downcast as she continues with her duties.
Ivan is just looking around at a loss for words. I don't think he gets it. But then he glances between Roza and me about a dozen times as if he's watching a tennis match, his eyes widen even more, and his jaw drops.
"NO FUCKING WAY! Are you shitting me right now?" He yells in complete shock.
"Inside voice Ivan."
"Fuck that shit. You're the King? When the fuck did that happen? How the fuck did that happen? What the fuck? You're fucking a Queen?" When he has finished his tirade, he takes a deep breath before looking back and forth between a very amused looking Roza and me again.
"You Know what, Ivan. I think we are going to get along great. Come on, we will explain everything, just somewhere more private." She starts walking past us towards the door with a permanent smirk on her lips. "Come along, Comrade. You have to explain to your friend how you came to be fucking a Queen." She exits the room with a chuckle carrying behind her, and everyone else follows her shaking their heads in exasperation and amusement.
All except Ivan, whose shocked face remained prominent as he followed after her like a lost little puppy.
Oh, sweet Jesus. Lord, give me strength.
Ok. Got best friend back. Check. Now explain to best friend that everything he knows has changed, and I'm not what he thought I was. Not check. Throwing my head back, I release a loud "Urgh" before I follow after them, a little bewildered about everything that just happened and try to prepare myself for dealing with Ivan.
Help.