Author's note: I don't own Anastasia. This story will follow the basic plot of the movie, but I will expand on it and hopefully make it a little more historically accurate, although it won't be a hundred percent accurate. I'll also continue the story past where the movie ends. Please enjoy and let me know your opinions!

Loud gunshots filled the hazy room. Smoke was covering everything, except for the screams. The ephemeral screams that pierced through her skull.

Anya woke with a start when she noticed she was the reason the screams sounded so realistic. She shifted to her side to see the younger girls lined up, all on the same mattress. They had their heads buried under each others arms and continued sleeping with out the slightest hesitation at Anya's frantic screeches. They were probably used to it. After living in an orphanage for so long, nightmares become common place.

Anya rose and crossed over the pile of girls to get to the bathroom. Today was the start of her life outside of the orphanage. Phlegmenkoff was going to send Anya off to the fish factory, so she could make an honest living like other orphans who became of age. By the time Anya was finished placing her unruly auburn hair into a bun atop her head, the rest of the children were crowded around the kitchen eating their breakfast.

"Anya darling enjoy your last meal in our wonderful palace. I'm sure her highness will miss oats when she is only eating fish for every meal." The hunched over old woman practically cackled with joy. Since the day Anya was brought to the orphanage Comrade Phlegmenkoff had been displeased with the girl. She was much too skinny to begin with, not well suited for work, and she had practically no skills other than pulling pranks and leading the other children in mischief. Even at the age of departure the girl still had children following her, as if she was some natural born leader.

Anya nodded at the disdainful comment and ate her breakfast while watching two boys fight. It was rather amusing, one was much larger than the other, yet he was losing. Phlegmenkoff rolled her eyes and left the kitchen, saying she would help gather Anya's things. Not that there was much. All Anya really cared about bringing with her was her necklace. It was her key to a family. To her family.

Anya was found wandering the train tracks near what was then St. Petersburg. A man with a thick mustache had taken her hand and dragged her off the train tracks. He had a fire in his eyes, and fiercely drove her to the closest orphanage. In the car he was fidgeting, excessively looking out every window, making sure they were alone. Anya sat in the seat next to him and turned to face the man, "Who am I?" She asked with an edge of panic to her voice. He stopped the car and looked at her intently, observing her as if confirming her identity. He began to talk again when he started the car, "Your name is... Anya." He hesitated then continued, "It's safer for you at the orphanage. Please, never leave the care of the orphanage until you come of age. If you remember anything of your life before this please keep it to yourself. Do you understand, tell no one about your past. Don't seek it out."

He parked outside the street of the orphanage. He yanked her out of her seat and dragged her to the door. "Who are you?!" She asked in a panic while he pounded on the door. "A family friend." He replied while knocking fervently. Anya began to cry "Where's my family? I don't remember them! Bring me to my family!" She stuttered as tears drove from her aegean blue eyes. She began to violently thrash the hand that held her wrist but it was to no avail. The owner opened the door in a slightly awake haze. She immediately perked up when she saw the man. "Hello sir, how may I help you tonight?" She rested her body against the door way.

"I found a girl wandering the streets of St. Petersburg, seems like she has no recollection of her past. Must have hit her head hard." The woman nodded, shifting on the frame, looking at the young girl up and down. "She's much too skinny and small, not much I can do with her." Her eyes then gleaned with a strong appetite and her hand went straight towards Anya's throat. She grasped the necklace and looked it over. "Ah looks like gold. Perhaps I can keep her, so long as she gives me her necklace." At that moment the man grabbed Phelgmenkoff's wrist and stated in a very firm voice, "You take nothing from this girl. You treat her with the highest respect you understand me, or I will contact the government. I will be checking in." With that he turned on his heel and left in his car. Since that day he stayed true to his word, and he visited the orphanage at least once every three months. He never spoke to the children but simply asked to see Anya, and when he saw her and her necklace he was content and left.

Thanks to that mysterious man, Anya was able to keep her most prized possession, and her one clue to the family she was forbidden to seek out. Phlegmenkoff led Anya out of the orphanage in the mid afternoon. The other children were crowding the windows waving to Anya and trying to tell her their words of parting. While Phlegmenkoff directed Anya to her future, Anya mindlessly waved to the other children, until the woman grabbed her scarf and dragged her to the gate, going on and on about how Anya was a thorn in her side and how she was a nameless nobody. Anya sarcastically mimicked the woman when she started to list off how she had helped Anya. Honestly, Anya did feel grateful to the woman. At least she had been fed and kept in a warm house. Yet, the constant berating of the woman had soured that thanks over the years.

Phlegmenkoff opened the gate and asked, "How is it you don't have a clue as to who you were before you came to us, but you can remember all that?" Anya instinctively grabbed her necklace and in defense stated, "Well I do have a clue.." But she was cut off by the woman's harsh cold chuckle. "Ha I know!" She grabbed the necklace and read the inscription in a pathetic voice "Together in Paris. So you want to go to France to find your family huh?" She looked up at Anya with a smirk. Anya smiled and nodded, because that was exactly her plan. She was only going to work at the fish factory in order to gain enough money for her trip to Paris.

"Little Miss Anya, It's time to take your place in life." She shoved Anya toward the gate. "In life and in line and be grateful too." She locked the gate as she began to mimic Anya some more by cackling "Together in Paris" but to Anya's joy the bitter woman began to choke on her cackles.

Anya began to track through the snow towards the fork in the road that lead to the fishing village. She was so shaken by Phlegmenkoff that she too began to mimic. She hunched over and began to scratch her butt which was a frequent activity of the old lady. She began impersonating the woman's voice and her saying, until she happened upon the sign in the road.

Anya peered up at the sign which was only slightly taller than her. The left lead to the fishing village, while the right lead to Petrograd, the once famous St. Petersburg that had been renamed after the revolution. Anya looked at the paths on both sides of the sign, each looked similar, a road blanketed in white snow. She started heading to the left, but continued to think that the outcome of this choice would solidify her status as "Anya the orphan". She then turned right, seeing the vast opportunities that lay ahead that would lead her to Paris. She knew both paths had their advantages and disadvantages, yet she couldn't decide which to take. She continued to pace between the two options, her purple scarf trailing in the snow hanging from her pocket.

Anya yelled to the sky,"Give me a sign! A hint! Anything!" while she plopped down in the middle of the sign, resting her chin on her hand. Her thoughts were disrupted when a pesky mutt took her scarf in its mouth and began to run from her, making a game out of her misfortune. She couldn't help but smile while she chased the dog reprimanding him for stealing. In the game Anya's legs became tangled in her scarf and she fell into the plush snow, facing the dog who sat with a sloppy grin placing the scarf in front of her. She rolled her eyes as she stood and replaced her scarf to its rightful place. "Great," she exclaimed with reluctance, "a dog wants me to go to St. Petersburg."

Sudden realization dawned on Anya, as she started to follow the dog. "Alright, I can take a hint" She murmured as she followed down the old forgotten road to the place she had been found those many years ago.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please leave a review!