Prologue:
It was 300th celebration of the Romanov rule, when he first saw her. Dimitri was usually stuck in the kitchens, since he was a kitchen boy and all. It was improper for him to go to the ballroom, especially on a day like that but he was simply too curious. As he peered in, he saw beautiful women in extravagant gowns that cost more than he would ever earn and gentlemen in suits that made them look like spoiled penguins. Dimitri was a very poor boy and all of the glittering gold of the ball room dazzled him. His attention was quickly directed to a young girl, maybe a few years younger than he, talking to an elderly woman of obvious nobility.
"Oh grandmama!" The young girls arms encircled her grandmother and Dimitri became intrigued with the girl. She was beautiful; especially for someone so young. Her hair was a striking auburn red and her eyes contracted her hair with their shining blue shade. She had a heart shaped face and a notable smile. Dimitri's heart rate quickened. His eyebrows furrowed at this reaction to the girl; he had never really been too interested in girls. He had more important things, like trying to survive. This girl was different though, he could tell.
Dimitri nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand grip his shoulder violently tight. He looked up and saw an old, angry butler glaring down at him. "Dimitri! You belong in the kitchen!" The butler growled, jerking Dimitri back towards the kitchen. Dimitri tried fighting the older man but he was eventually picked up, to be taken forcefully back to his duties. Both servants froze when they heard a young, sweet but commanding voice behind them. "And just what do you think you're doing?" It asked. Dimitri looked and his heart stopped. It was the girl. She seemed angry; her hands were on her hips and her smile was pulled down into a frown.
"Well! Put him down, I say!" She demanded, even stomping her foot a bit. Behind her, the Dowager Empress was smiling knowingly but not interfering. The butler quickly set Dimitri down and raced back to his station. Dimitri laughed at the sight of the old bastard running from a little girl. "Who are you?" The girl asked, walking closer to Dimitri. As she circled him, inspecting him, Dimitri answered with a nervous stutter. "My name's Dimitri... er... your Majesty?" He didn't really know how to talk to someone of noble blood. The girl stared at him blankly for a bit before laughing wholeheartedly. "Nice to meet you Dimitri, I'm Anastasia. You can call me Anya if you want though." She replied.
Suddenly, it dawned on him. She was Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov, the Grand Duchess of Russia. She was the Tsar's fourth and final daughter. "Oh man." Dimitri whispered, dumbfounded. Dimitri always did have a taste for the finer things but a puppy crush on the Tsar's daughter? He was officially insane. Anastasia laughed "It's alright, no one's gonna touch you on my watch. I think you're kinda amusing." Oh, so now he was her living, breathing plaything. Great. "Come on!" She smiled and Dimitri felt a blush slip over his cheeks. Anastasia dragged him through the throng of people, towards the table full of hor d'oeuvres.
Anastasia crawled under the table and pulled Dimitri along with her. She giggled as she watched people's feet go by. Her eyes locked onto a women with a particularly nice pair of shoes and as she was passing the table, Anastasia reached out and grabbed her ankle. The women jumped and screamed. When she looked under the table and saw it was a prank pulled by a pair of children, she huffed and stomped off. Dimitri turned to Anastasia with an awed expression. All of his childish affection for her was written plainly on his face. "Where have you been all of my life?" He asked, impressed that a duchess like her could actually pull pranks and get her hands dirty. Anastasia laughed and punched his arm. "You try!" She encouraged.
So the night went on, they pulled a variety of pranks. Anastasia even introduced him to her siblings. Her little brother, Alexei even joined in on a couple of the jokes. At the end of the night and as Anastasia was handing back to her room, she abruptly turned to Dimitri, who was also heading off... back to his duties. "Dimitri? It is official, you are my best friend." She announced and Dimitri paused before nodding. "Alright, you're my best friend too." He agreed. It was odd to think that he was best friends with a girl and a girl of nobility at that but Dimitri was surprised to find that he didn't really mind that much.
"Then be outside my room tomorrow at precisely 8 in the morning. We can play some more!" She stated, well more like demanded. Dimitri nodded his head and grinned. "See you then." He waved and went back to his kitchen work.
The next day Dimitri was outside of Anastasia's room at exactly 8 am. She popped out in a simply dress about ten minutes later. "You're late." Dimitri stated, leaning against the wall. He was slightly annoyed for having to wait outside of her room when she said to meet at 8. Anastasia gave him a sly grin. "I told you to be here at 8, I never said I would be." She stated, walking past him. Dimitri followed after her, shaking his head. "You're such a princess." He muttered but Anastasia heard him and sent him a glare.
They sent the day pulling pranks on the servants, drawing, and playing hide and seek. It was honestly the most fun that Dimitri had ever had, even if Anastasia was a bit bossy sometimes. As they sat, drawing, Dimitri glanced over at Anastasia. She was drawing a girl sitting on a bench but it honestly looked more like a pig. She definitely wasn't very good at art but she didn't seem to really mind. "You know... we're not supposed to be friends..." Dimitri whispered, turning his attention back his drawing. Anastasia paused her coloring and looked over at him. "I know but I don't really care." She replied solemnly.
"It gets pretty lonely being a duchess, honestly. The only kids I get to really play with are my own siblings and they seriously get on my nerves! I sometimes get to socialize with kids closer to my rank but they are all prissy and snobbish. No one around here just wants to have fun..." Anastasia added, pushing her drawing to the side and starting a new one. "I don't really play that much either. My mom is really sick and really poor so I have to work really hard to get her some money for medicine..." Dimitri confided, holding back tears. Images of his deathly ill mother, smiling weakly at him played through his head.
A tiny hand gripped his shoulder and Dimitri looked up. Anastasia offered him a small, pitying smile before giving him a tight hug. "It'll be alright. Now that we have each other... we don't have to be lonely any more!" She proclaimed. Dimitri laughed and nodded. He had a feeling that they were going to be the bestest best friends.
A/n: so this is the new Anastasia fanfiction I am going to try working on. What's supposed to be happening is that Rasputin hasn't yet decided to take down the Romanov family. It's mainly going to be about Anastasia and Dimitri growing up together and falling in love. Hopefully you all like it so far. Please leave me reviews and such. Tell me if you want me to do a couple more chapters with younger Anya and Dimitri or if you want me to move on to their teen years. Anyways, thanks for reading! c: