Rose's POV

My shaky voice catches his attention.

"Rose?" His eyes widen. Through my tears eyes I rush up to him and jump on him, giving the largest hug I have ever given.

"I missed you so much.." My voice cracks. He hugs me back tighter.

"Me too.." His voice cracks as well. Roman was the one who picked me up out of my depression when Adele died. I stopped eating, began training twice as hard, and hardly ever took breaks. I actually fainted while in school one day due to my lack of nutrition.

He made sure that I ate my meals, he meditated with me, and even got me art supplies so I can paint out my feelings. Everyone tried helping me get better, but Roman was the one to see me at my worst, at my lowest point. I was 12 when he was chosen as a dragon rider during his ceremony.

"Why? Why didn't you come home? We missed you so much and... and I needed you Rome. Colt, Kyle, we all missed you. Did ... did you forget about us?" I ask, looking into his eyes. I have tears streaming down my face from my reunion to my older brother.

"No, no I could never. I am so sorry I didn't visit. I ... I spent the holidays with my boyfriend." Roman trails off. I wipe the tears off his face, I know that there is more to the story than what he is telling me.

"Are you stupid? You could have just brought him to the village. The Olsen's would have loved to meet him, so would everyone else." I tell him.

"I know, I know." He sighs.

"I am just glad that I got to see you. But wouldn't you have already known about me attending this school, because of my placement tests? Oliver too?" I ask.

"I was sick in bed all day, but I am feeling better. Oliver is here too?" Roman asks, perking up.

"Yes, and most of my friends as well." I hug him, pointing behind me to where I know Tony is standing. "You missed out on so much Rome, you haven't even met the twins yet." I sigh, pulling away. I rub my face, ridding it of any tears.

"I know, I'm really sorry." He looks down.

"It's alright, I forgive you. But you will be returning with me this upcoming holiday break, and that's final." I sternly tell him.

"Alright. My boyfriend can join us maybe, with his group too. Speaking of, he should be in this class...." He trails off again. He looks around for someone until his eyes light up. I turn around and see who he is looking at.

"Matisse?" I question. Matisse runs up to me and pulls me into a hug.

"Bestie!!" He yells.

"You already know him?" Roman looks wide eyed.

"We have our nature class together." I reply simply.

"But he's in Level 1." Roman thinks for a moment, then gasps. "I've heard people talking about someone who placed in Level 1 for every element, Rose..." He trails off.

"Level 1 Multi-wielder of all Elements and Dragon Rider." I tell him.

"When my friends were talking about the only girl to attend this school, I didn't know it was you." Roman looks shocked.

"Bestie, you look great! The items are beautiful, especially your water one." Matisse winks at me. I laugh at what he is implying. Roman just grumbles about how he has to protect me from boys and all of that stuff, Tony silently planning Matisse's murder b

"Rose!" I turn my head and see that Joel was the one who called my name.

"Hey blondie!" I smile. He, Aiden, and Clay approach me.

"I see you've met our other best friend." Aiden chuckles. I turn my head to Roman.

"You are the one who complained about Latin!" I gasp. I go to pounce on him but Matisse holds me back.

"We wouldn't want you to mess up that beautiful face of his now would we?" Matisse pouts. I don't answer him, turning back to Roman to release all of my pent of frustration.

"Iam eras fluens. Heck, nos una didici. Quomodo ausus est draco lingua insultet tibi? Igitur amd boyfriend est van Gogh. Castellum ad cognoscendum illum diligere. Serio, quare reversi estis?" I rant, tears threatening to fall at the end. [ T : You were already fluent. Heck, we learned together. How dare you insult the dragon language? And then your boyfriend is Matisse. Knowing him, he would love to visit our village. Seriously, why didn't you come back? ]

"Non vis ad bene ad defectum a villa? Scio te respice ad me Rose, ut dicas mihi quod volo, si non etiam a villa ad Level I equitem draco." He tells me. [ T : Because I didn't want to return to the village a failure okay? I know you look up to me Rose, so tell me why I would go back to the village if I am not even a Level 1 dragon rider. ]

"Do you think anyone would care? We missed you so much Rome, I missed you. I needed you and you never came home. What was I supposed to tell the others? I'm sorry your brother doesn't want to come back home to visit us?" I practically shout. I take a deep breath before continuing, "I couldn't be prouder of you than I am right now. But I am disappointed that you thought we would love you any less." I tell him.

"I really am sorry." Roman tells me, a single tear makes it's way down his face.

"It's okay, just don't disappear on me again." I pull him into another hug. I can feel him nod against my neck. When we depart, I notice that everyone is kind of just awkwardly standing there.

"Sorry guys, we had to talk through some stuff." I chuckle. Clay bursts out laughing, it doesn't take much for us to follow.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side." Clay remarks.

"Noted." I smile. I hear a whistle and everyone gathers around. I follow my brothers and friends to the middle of the training field.

"Alright everyone. I am Mr.Howard, the instructor of this class. You have 10 less minutes with me a day, so prepare to work hard. If I see great potential in some of you, I will make you work harder than the others. Because you are Level 1, you have the ability to apply for jobs at the blacksmith. It is very competitive, and I can influence your acceptance, so do your best not to piss me off. Now that that's been said, give me 10 laps." He barks. We scurry off to the track and begin running.

I see some people trying to impress Mr.Howard by starting off fast, that will only burn them out. I am on my last lap now and I haven't even broken a sweat. Tony is the only one running next to me, but we don't engage in conversation. I finish alongside him boy when Mr.Howard comes to me.

"Rose, you are not sweating." He states. "I don't accept slackers on my field. Give me 10 more laps now!" He shouts in my face. I nod, going back to the track, glancing back at Tony for a brief second. I know that I wasn't really slacking, I was just maintaining my pace. I guess this is what he means when he said he will push those he sees potential in, well, that's what I am assuming. I run into the boys while I am on my extra laps.

"Rose, you were in the front. Why are you back here?" Matisse asks me, panting.

"I already finished the initial 10. Mr.Howard told me to run 10 more because I was not sweating." I tell him. He dramatically gasps but doesn't reply. I am soon left on the track alone, doing my extra laps. I finish the other laps in less than 15 minutes.

I am slightly out of breath, but I am stabilizing them as we speak. There is small layer of sweat glistening on my forehead, reflecting the sun's rays. I touch all of my items to make sure that they are secure before I head in Mr.Howard's direction. He sees me approaching.

"You are not sweating enough, which means you aren't putting in all of your effort. Put on these weights and run another 20 laps." He hands me two 5 lb ankle weights. I attach them and get used to the weight before I take off for the track. I start out at a good pace, but the extra weight is troubling me. With an extra 10 ponds weighing me down, I grow tired quicker. I am on my 13th lap when I am beginning to struggle to maintain my breathing. I continue on at the same pace, getting even more worn out than before. I finally finish my laps and put my hands on my knees, attempting to get some oxygen to my lungs.

"Rose!" I can hear Mr.Howard yell my name. "I didn't tell you that you could have a break! Drop down and give me 150." He orders. I nod, still doing my best to catch my breath. I begin my push ups. I can normally do around 100 good ones, then my arms start getting shaky. But with me already this tired, my arms begin shaking around number 80. I don't give Mr.Howard the satisfaction of stopping, so I push through my fatigue and finish doing the treacherous punishment, albeit a little slow.

"We only have about 5 minutes left of class. I want you to alternate between sprinting, burpees, and squats when ever I blow my whistle. Do either of the three until my whistle blows, then begin a different choice. Now start!" Mr.Howard instructs. I start with squats, knowing that it will be the easier of the three. Usually I do not go for the easier option, but I want to stabilize my breathing patterns somewhat before I begin sprinting. I hear his whistle blow and I begin running. I am running at a good pace but still the ankle weights are throwing me off. About a minute passes until I hear a whistle blow. I stop where I am on the track and begin doing my burpees.

The burpees are the hardest in my opinion because I have to jump with the ankle weights on, drop into a push up, then repeat the process. I am at a loss of breath when I hear a whistle blow. I stop doing my burpees and begin doing my squats. I can't believe how hard doing squats are out of breath, it is truly eye opening to see how an easy task can become hard.

Another whistle blow, another round of sprints. Running on the track, I usually enjoy the time. Most times I will look around my surroundings, maybe even stop to meditate somewhere. But now, all I can think of is not passing out. In my peripheral vision, I can see many people leaving the field, but I don't dare stop. I am sweating buckets by the time I hear a whistle blow again, please let this be my last rep. I drop down and do my best to do the burpees well. I am wheezing out of breath by the time I can sense Mr.Howard coming near.

"You may stop." He tells me. Immediately I stop what I am doing and sit down on the track. My chest is rapidly moving up and down, but I maintain eye contact with my instructor.

"I want you to wear these ankle weights to every one of your classes until I tell you that you can take them off. If you don't wear them, you will be wishing you stayed in your village by the time you finish your punishment. Be prepared to work hard tomorrow, you did not pass out today." He leaves abruptly after that. I guess that's his way of a compliment. I am still trying to not sound like a dying cat when my friends approach me. Roman and Joel bombard me with questions, Tony just sitting down behind me so I can lean my weight on him.

"That was brutal, you had to run 40 laps. For twenty of them you were wearing ankle weights. You ran a total of 10 miles Rose, in less than an hour too." Joel states concerned.

"Are you alright? I surely would have passed out if he had put me when he put you through." Roman tells me.

"I am fine." I say, trying to stand up. As I am rising I feel dizzy and start descending. Roman catches me from hitting the floor and asks me what I ate today. I don't answer, already knowing what his reaction will be.

"She ate a salad, soup, and a piece of bread for lunch. And I think she had a few pieces of toast for breakfast." Joel replies for me. Roman snaps his head to me.

"Rose .." His voice breaks.

"You weren't there. Even if it was just for the holidays, you didn't come back." My voice cracks, my head down in shame. It's been hard trying to find time to eat with everything I did in my village, especially when I have to portion out my food. Rome lifts me up bridal style and tells everyone else that we will see them tomorrow. I squeeze Tony's hand to reassure him, saying goodbye to Joel and promising to feel better. I rest my head on my brother's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Just try and eat a little more okay? For me?" He asks, breaking the silence.

"I will try." I respond. I lead him to my dorm hallway and tell him to wait. I knock on Oliver's door waiting for him to answer. Oliver opens the door looking at me confused, until he sees who's behind me.

"Roman?" He gasps, tears already forming in his eyes. They embrace in a tight hug.

"Hey bud." Roman laughs, with his eyes showing a hint of sadness. I leave my brothers to talk it out themselves, entering my dorm. I strip off all of my clothes, take off all of my items and jewelry, only leaving my aura crystal on and naval piercing. I enter my shower scrubbing off all of today's sweat and grime, then wash my hair.

When I dry off, I throw on a large oversized red sweater with some green compression shorts. I throw my hair up in a messy bun, putting on my air item after cleaning it. Completing my look with my signature combat boots, I gather all of my supplies that I will need to clean Belvedere and head out the door.







I admire my surroundings as I walk towards the stables. I enter the large holding area, greeting many dragons with a smile. I approach the back section for larger dragon stables.

'Belvedere, oh Belvedere.' I smile through my words.

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