It shouldn't have surprised either of the girls when they were seperated, even if it was Sunday, it was still daytime for the Moroi and Dhampirs of the School. Lissa was taken by Alberta, straight to her dorm, while Kate was guided by Dimitri to one of the guidance counselors first.

He was an ancient Moroi guy, one that seemed rather annoyed that someone was bothering him, but thankfully the visit took all of five minutes, which allowed the man to ask a few questions about what classes Kate taken in Oregon, which she had replied with "Every AP class there is in high school plus any foreign language I could, can you believe that they still teach Latin. And I went to every training session I could."

To be honest the man looked shocked that Kate had burdened herself with learning foreign languages, and was shocked that she wanted a packed schedule while other teen Dhampirs wanted as much free time as they could get. None the less, he hastily scrawled out a new schedule for the brunette, who took it almost too eagerly, he had also given her her books, some that had been meant for a student that had passed.

From what Dimitri told her as they walked to the school seamstress, Dhampir and Moroi took separate classes during the first half of the day, which meant Kate wouldn't see Lissa until after lunch, that was if they had any afternoon classes together. Most of them were standard senior classes and Slavic art struck the brunette as the kind of elective no one signed up for, so hopefully they'd stuck the blonde in there too.

A part of Kate was glad that she and Lissa weren't thrust into classes right away, she was glad that she had time to gather her thoughts and get used to her new enviroment and as she was having her measurements taken, she found herself looking around. Countless of spare clothes laid around, different sizes.

"Do you make the uniforms for everyone in the Academy?" Kate found herself asking the Seamstress, turning to the older Moroi woman.

"Only this section of the school." The seamstress replied kindly, moving away from Kate, the brunette's measurements written on the back of her hand before she walked over to the area of the room that already had finished uniforms and gym clothes.

Kate nodded, lowering her arms and crossing them over her chest. Dimitri was by the door, waiting, still holding the duffel and backpack that belonged to Kate, silently watching as she interacted with Morois around her.

"I have a few Dhampir uniforms for you, but I have to make new gym clothes." The Seamstress said in an apologetic tone, to which Kate smiled politely and dismissed.

"I have work-out clothes, I'll wear them."

It shocked Dimitri how calmly and politely Kate could be with Morois, and a part of him understood why she didn't have the same need to respect Morois as if they were more important than air. The seamstress smiled appreciatively and cupped Kate's face, showing her old age, Kate smiled in return before it fell to an apologetic look.

"Would you mind giving me trousers instead of skirts." Kate questioned softly, before leaning into the much older woman.

Due to her job as the seamstress for the Academy, the older woman didn't even have to question anything, as she was used to Dhampir women prefering to wear trousers with their uniforms instead of skirts, as it was easier for them to be able to move and protect. With another kind nod, the older woman set the uniforms on one of her work tables and pulled her measuring tape from her neck once more to measure Kate's leg size.

Kate's eyes wandered around the room once more, until they landed on Dimitri, watching him carefully and intently, this of course caught Dimitri's attention, and his haze moved from the windows to Kate in return, their different coloured eyes staring at each other, each attempting to read what the other was thinking.

"Do you need any new clothing, Guardian Belikov?" the seamstress questioned as she returned with a couple of uniform trousers for Kate.

"Нет, спасибо.(No, thank you.), thank you. I have a sewing kit in my room, I'll mend the rips on the clothes." Dimitri replied, moving his eyes from Kate to the older woman, smiling endearingly at her, only for the woman to roll her arms and order him to approach her.

Kate smirked at the defeated look that appeared on Dimitri's face, showing that he was powerless to resist the Seamstress's wishes. As the two of the switched places, Kate tried to take her bags once more, only for Dimitri to sit down an a stool and place the duffel and backpack on the ground between his legs before shrugging off his duster.

Whie his actions did annoy Kate, she couldn't help but lean agains the wall, much in the same manner that Dimitri had been, allowing her forest green eyes to stare at Dimitri's profile, catching his arms flexing under the black turtleneck he was wearing, a turtleneck that clung to his body almost like a second skin.

Kate allowed herself to appreciate the view of a nearly relaxed Guardian, especially on that looked like he was sculpted out of marble. Kate had always been a great admirer of the Arts, her mother painting and sculting in their home before her death, before disaster struck, she remembered the three times she and her family had gone out, away from their home, just because a museum was having a showing of a new exhibition, she remembered wandering around for hours with her brother and aunt while her mother sat on one of the benches just drawing.

"The arts a windows into the minds of people in the past, much in the same manner that books are." Kate's mother used to tell them each time they went to a museum.

"You're still as stubborn as you were when you were a boy." The Seamstress told Dimitri, "Твоя бабушка прикрыла бы тебя сзади, если бы услышала, что ты молчишь о травмах. (Your grandmother would have your behind, if she heard you were being quiet about having injuries.)"

Dimitri looked away from the woman, moving his eyes back to the Dhampir girl, just to make sure that she hadn't ran away, instead catching the soft smile on her lips, showing that she'd understood what the Seamstress told him.

Something that for him was another clue to aid him in finding out who Katherine Alistair was.

The Seamstress flicked Dimitri's ear when she noticed that he wasn't looking at her, but instead looking at the smiling girl. "Не пугай девочку, Дмитрий, она такая милая. (Don't scare the girl, Dimitri, she looks like a sweet one.)" she told Dimitri in a motherly tone, which given the fact she mentioned Dimitri's grandmother, meant that she'd known Dimitri since he was a young boy.

Dimitri made a sound of complaint as he turned his head to the Seamstress, muttering under his breath soemthing that Kate couldn't decipher.

"Спасибо. (Thank you.)" Kate replied in Russian, her accent not that of a native Russian, but not fully English either, the older Moroi turned to Kate with wide and surprised eyes, although she knew that most Morois were forced to learn Slavic languages in the Academy.

"You speak Russian, my dear?" The question was soft and curious.

"I understand it better than I speak it." Kate confessed, beaming proudly, looking truly innocent and unlike the deadly Dhampir that killed a Strigoi less than two hours prior.

Dimitri couldn't help but watch the exchange, analizing every bit of it until he felt the sewing needle make contact with his skin, which made him hiss involuntarily. The Seamstress rolled her eyes at Dimitri's hiss and gently tapped him on the head as a reprimand, before actually paying attention to what she was doing.

"I never asked you your name." Kate spoke, from her spot on the wall, Dimitri's previous spot.

"Anya Szelsky." Dimitri answered for Anya, making the older woman smile softly.

Soon enough the two Dhampirs, Kate with her new clothes and Dimitri with his clothing fixed, continued to make their way to Kate's new room. Dimitri still leading, with Kate a few steps behind, the older Dhampir still carrying the bags, a silent insurance that Kate wouldn't try to escape, especially not with the clothes and things that she had packed, and especilly not without her and Lissa's wallets, which Dimitri was still holding hostage.

As they walked, Kate noticed how the few female Dhampir Novices had medium to short hair, while the few female Promised Guardians had their short or nearly shaved. It didn't matter so much to Kate now, since her neck had no tattoos yet, but she didn't want to ever cut her hair, it was yet another thing that she had inherited from her mother and she held it dear. Granted over the years she'd trimmed it, but she loved having her hair long.

"I assume that you'll want to get settled in and sleep, training begins tomorrow." Dimitri told her as they came to a stop at a door with no nameplate on it. But then again not many did if either of them looked down the hall, Kate had noticed while they were walking that the dorms were seperated between men and women, and with Dimitri's earlier reminders that very few female Dhampirs graduated, Kate couldn't help but feel a small sense of heavy duty settle on her shoulders.

"I'm still funtioning on day system, and my wonderful nap on the plane, I won't be going to bed anytime soon." Kate told him, pushing the door open and entering it. The bedroom was bare, simple and more than enough for Kate to live in, she carefully set her uniforms on the bed and her new books on the desk, before turning to Dimitri.

"How about we start my extra training tonight? Unless you're too tired." she questioned, unable to stop herself from taunting the older Dhampir.

Dimitri found himself smiling as he looked at Kate, seeing his sisters in her words and actions, while finding Kate a surprising breath of fresh air. From the moment he saw her at the window of the apartment, she'd never failed to surprise him, from her need to take down everyone in order to protect the Princess and her witty and amusing quips, to her mysterious background and willingness to die for the Princess.

Each time he believed that there was nothing that Kate could do to surprise him, she always found new ways, and in that moment, her willingness to train after having come face to face with death surprised him. Because he knew that most of the current Novices, that he was helping to train, would need at least 3 to 5 days to process the events of the past hours, to deal with the realization that they weren't invincible and could've just as easily died.

Yet, despite being battered and bruised, Kate was more than willing, no- she was adamant in starting her training that very night.

Author's note:

-> This chapter is less so a rewrite as it is fleshing out Kate and giving background on both her and Dimitri. I also had to change it almost completely as with this rewrite Kate and Lissa arrive at the Academy on a Sunday night, and there's no post on Sunday..... jk there's no classes on sunday.