A few months later, Dmitri, Nicholas & Alexei headed back to Petrograd to celebrate Christmas. As they embarked from the front, Dmitri told him about all the exciting sights & sounds & smells & tastes, it was enough to make Dmitri's mouth water at the thought. After 5 days, Nicholas, Alexei, & Dmitri arrived in the capital on Christmas Eve. As they went inside the palace, they could see that the Czarina had certainly spared no expense in celebrating the birth of Christ. The rooms were lavishly decorated & the decor was quite exquisite. As Dmitri stood in the main dining room, he saw his beloved Olga come in. She had her hair up & she was wearing a lovely pink dress.
"Mitya!" Olga said as she came running towards him. Dmitri ran up to her & the 2 embraced.
"My God Olga, you look so very beautiful." Dmitri said as they shared a kiss.
Olga blushed & said, "I wanted to look beautiful for you, like a Christmas present."
Dmitri smiled at her, "You are the most beautiful Christmas anyone could ever ask for." Dmitri then looked over & saw a bearded figure dressed in black talking to the Czarina. Alexandra saw Dmitri & beckoned him over.
"Mitya, I'd like to introduce you to father Grigori Rasputin." she said. Rasputin turned around & looked at Dmitri.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Rasputin said, holding out his hand. Dmitri got a weird vibe off of Rasputin but was polite & shook his hand. After this, Dmitri & the imperial household sat down to Christmas dinner. The food was extremely succulent & everyone seemed to be having a good time. As they ate, the Czar & his family discussed trivial matters, thought eventually the war became the topic of discussion. Many of the Czar's family thought that he should step back & let his generals run the army & they had no qualms about saying it to his face. Eventually, they finished dinner & went into the ballroom. As the orchestra started to play, everyone began dancing. Olga & Dmitri danced every single dance together. When they grew tired, they went behind the Romanov's massive Christmas tree to talk.
"How are you, my darling?" Dmitri asked.
"Things have been rough with the recent bread shortages, but the important thing is that I have you back." Olga said as he held her. The 2 shared a kiss before returning to the party. After many of the guests had gone, Dmitri, Olga, & the rest of the Romanov family, including Father Grigori, went into 1 of their living rooms & began to sing Christmas carols. They all sang songs while Olga played the piano quite beautifully. As Dmitri sang along, he thought that he'd never been so happy in all his life. Even though he knew he was not of their world, when he was with Olga & the imperial family, he felt like he belonged. Later on, these memories would give him much needed strength.
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