Regal music twirled its way through the grand ballroom. Couples dressed in the most elegant, expensive clothing twirled as well; every bit as regal as the music. Anastasia surveyed the surrounding court briefly until she saw the entrance of her beloved grandmother. Her face lit up into a grin reserved for that very grandmother. Just as her grandmother sat down, she saw her friend and partner in crime peek out from behind the doorframe that led to the kitchen. Her grin grew even wider as she stuck out her tongue and made a face at him before her father picked her up and spun her in the air.
"Oh, papa!" she yelled in delight.
The czar smiled as his daughter smiled, feeling the warmth and happiness radiate from her. As he set her down she curtsied swiftly and clumsily as she rushed to greet her grandmother, and hopefully her friend after.
It was strange, she thought, that only she noticed him. Nobody else seemed to care that he was there. But oh, well; maybe for three centuries the royalty had not mixed with servants, but Anastasia was never one to follow protocol.
Unlike her sisters, she preferred to do things differently. That even included drawing-she had seen a new style of art called… what was it? She asked herself, Squarism? No, cubism! And so, being the adventurous girl she was, she embarked on a quest to become a cubist-her first work of art was a picture of her grandmother when she was younger and had dark hair.
As she rushed up the steps to her grandmother, she pulled the picture out and proudly presented it to her. "Look what I made for you, Grandmama!" The Dowager Empress received it with a laugh and a tap on the nose.
"And look what I have for you, dear," replied the Dowager Empress, pulling out an ornate gold music box.
"For me?" questioned Anastasia breathlessly, "Is it a jewelry box?"
While Anastasia was entranced by her Grandmother's gift, her friend was slowly creeping forward from the kitchen, hoping to get a chance to talk to her. He was almost close enough to say 'hi' when one of the formal waiters popped out of nowhere scolding "Dimitri! You're supposed to be in the kitchen!"
Anastasia didn't even notice, to Dimitri's dismay.
"Look," instructed the Dowager Empress as she opened the box with a specially shaped necklace.
As the top opened, softer and sweeter music floated into Anastasia's consciousness. She quickly recognized the tune and with a gasp exclaimed, "It plays our lullabye!"
"You can play it at night before you go to sleep and pretend that it's me singing," said the Dowager Empress in response.
"On the wind, Cross the sea; Hear this song and remember," started the Dowager Empress.
"Soon you'll be home with me; once upon a December." They ended as Anastasia joined in.
The Dowager Empress took the necklace-key she used to open it before and handed it to Anastasia. "Read what is says."
"Together… in… Paris," read Anastasia. As the words sunk in she exclaimed, "Really! Oh, Grandmama!"
Embracing her grandmother and donning the wonderful necklace that held such promise, Anastasia smiled at the thoughts rushing through her mind.. Paris! She had never been there before, come to think of it, she had never been out of the country!
As she stood basking in the warmth of her future visit to Paris, a lone, dark figure made his way through the crowd. His face was a gruesome and terrifying picture to behold; a smile fit for Satan and eyes focused on one thing: Anastasia's father, the Czar of Russia.
"How dare you return to the palace?" accused Nikolas, stepping forward.
"But, I am your confidante!" replied the towering figure, Rasputin.
"Confidante!" replied Nikolas in a scorning voice, "Ha! You are a traitor! Get out!"
Anger and outrage mingled on Rasputin's ghastly face as he thundered, "You think you can banish the Great Rasputin? By the unholy powers vested within me, I banish you! With a curse! Mark my words, you and your family will die within a fortnight!"
The Czar turned to look back at his family members, who were huddled in fear. He saw his mother, his wife, and his beloved children; they meant the world to him, and he could not stand by and allow them to be harmed while he could do something about it.
"I will not rest until I see the end of the Romanov line, forever!" continued Rasputin, holding aloft a glowing green cylinder that Anastasia could not help but think was filled with nothing but pure evil.
A chandelier fell onto the floor of the large ballroom. Men of the court yelled in outrage while their partners screamed in terror. Anastasia looked around the room with her eyes wide, and saw Dimitri, who had snuck back out of the kitchen. Their eyes connected in fear for a moment, until Anastasia looked back to the ballroom to see Rasputin stalking away. Everyone on the dance floor moved out of his way in fear, giving him a clear path to the door.
Nikolas stood rooted to the spot as he watched Rasputin's receding figure. With terror and hatred consuming his senses, he wondered what he could do to save his family.
The children were all put to bed, with strong assurances from both their mother and their father that all would be well; that Rasputin would never be allowed to harm them. None of the children were so naïve as to believe that, and neither were their parents. Guards were posted at each of their doors, as well as at the bedroom door of the Czar and Czarina.
As Nikolas entered the room, he found his dear wife sitting on their bed, staring blankly into the distance. She looked how her husband felt, although he did not show it. He let out a shaky breath as he sat down next to her, looked her in the eyes and said "I will do all I can to save our family."
Alexandra looked back up at him and replied, "I know."
And for the moment, all really was well.
"Come, children!"
Thunder rumbled and reverberated through the halls, accompanied by screams and yells as the royal family ran through the halls to the basement. The Dowager Empress was pulling along Anastasia to make sure they did not lose her when in a moment of pure childlike action, Anastasia screamed, "My music box!" and took of toward her room.
"Anastasia!" yelled the Dowager Empress as she turned to run after her, "Come back! Come back!"
Panting, Anastasia made it back to her room and crouched down to pick up her music box. The Dowager Empress quickly followed her in and closed the door. "Anastasia!" she cried in desperation.
Hearing someone enter the room, Dimitri opened the servants' door and peeked out. Seeing his friend and the Dowager Empress, he gasped and herded them through the door.
Anastasia turned as she dropped the precious music box that she had risked so much for, albeit unknowingly. "No! My music box!"
"Go! GO!" yelled Dimitri, pushing her through the door and closing it behind them.
A group of the rebelling soldiers opened the bedroom door just as Dimitri closed the hidden one. He looked upon their vicious faces and felt nothing more than pure hatred. Who were these people to try and hurt the royal family? "Where are they, boy?" growled one of them. Dimitri knew in the back of his mind that he had already done what he could do, but in a final act of defiance he threw a glass object from the mantel above him. The soldiers glared at him with contempt as one hit Dimitri with the butt of his gun.
As the hard metal struck his head, Dimitri collapsed to the ground, seeing no more but darkness. The last thought to pass through his mind was that at least he had done what he could to help his friend.
Anastasia's fight, however, was far from over. As she and the Dowager Empress rushed outside, she felt nothing but fear; pure adrenaline. The Dowager Empress looked back at the palace that was once such a happy place, knowing that no fate but death awaited her dear son and the rest of his family.
It was with this crushing sentiment that the pair continued running across the ice.
"Grandmama!" cried Anastasia.
"Keep up with me, darling" she replied, trying to stay strong for her dear Anastasia.
Down from the bridge above jumped the now ghoulish Rasputin. Anastasia let out a heart-wrenching scream as he grabbed her foot and pulled her down. "Rasputin!" cried the Dowager Empress in shock.
"Lemme go! Please!" shrieked Anastasia.
"You'll never escape me, child! Never…" he growled.
Just as the Dowager Empress was losing all hope of escape, a cracking sound reverberated under the bridge. "Augh!" grunted Rasputin as the ice beneath him cracked and collapsed. With no other choice, he released Anastasia to desperately claw for a handhold to pull himself back up, but to no avail.
The Dowager Empress heaved Anastasia back to her feet and continued running, running and running. She ran with no particular destination; just away from the terror that remained behind them.
Her tired feet eventually brought them to the train station, but only just as the train was leaving. Summoning her last remaining energy, the tired Empress sprinted to the back of the train commanding "Anastasia, hurry!" She knew this was their only hope.
She reached the attendant, who quickly pulled her up onto the train. Anastasia, with small legs and no energy left gasped, "Grandmama!"
Running solely on desperation the Dowager Empress reached out over the rail. "Here! Take my hand! Hold onto me!"
"Don't let go!" demanded Anastasia.
Her hand slipped out of her grandmother's as she shrieked. Time stopped for the Empress who was engulfed in fear; time stopped, but the train did not. Anastasia was lost-and her grandmother could help her no more. The last view of her beloved granddaughter that the Empress could catch was Anastasia's terror-filled blue eyes falling as the train quickly and methodically built up speed and distance.
As Anastasia fell to the ground, those beautiful blue eyes closed and like her friend back in the palace, she saw no more but darkness.
A/N-So this is my first fanfic. I've been writing stuff for a while (not fanfics) but I figured I'd try my hand. Obviously this part is based on the first scene of the movie, the Bolsheviks storming the castle and killing the royal family. I'll be doing a lot of research, and I'll try to stick as close to historical facts as possible (which will be hard, given that they've already proven that Anastasia was in fact killed in 1916 by the Bolsheviks. But ignoring that tiny little snitch…) and stick as close to the characters and how they are portrayed in the movie as possible. Wish me luck! We'll see how this goes.