Hey! It's me again! I decided to make another one of those Russia/Anastasia fanfictions again, and I don't think it turned out as well as I thought it would, but here it is. This takes place around 1914-1915, just before the Russian Civil War. Anastasia is about 8 in this one, and for more context (which is important if you'd like to understand) at the bottom of the page. I hope this isn't too bad of a fanfiction.
1:32 AM
Alexander Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
"Ой, то не вечер, то не вечер
Ой мне малым малом спалось…
Мне малым малом спалось,
Ой, да во сне привиделось.."
"Оh, the night had passed,
Oh, I've scarcely had any sleep,
I've scarcely had any sleep,
Yes, I dreamed of what was to come…"
Anastasia sobbed into her pillow, wondering why she couldn't have peace.
All she had been experiencing in her life was trouble, worry, pressure, and fear now that her country was in constant turmoil.
She was afraid, more afraid than she had ever been in her life, and she hadn't a clue what to do about it. She just wanted to feel safe and protected, and after having such a violent and heart wrenching nightmare, nobody was there to comfort her. She clutched the soft pillow, trying to pretend that it was Alexei, and that he was okay and he was still there and that they didn't take him away so that she would never see her beloved little brother ever again. Part of her wanted to go over to his room to see if he was alright…the other part of her kept trying to convince her that what happened in her dream was reality and that everyone had truly disappeared off the face of the earth. Continuing to weep softly, she wondered to herself if it would ever really happen.
As she lied awake in the darkness for a little while longer, she wondered what would happen to her country and to her family. Anastasia became more and more fearful as she watched her parents stress over civil unrest. Anastasia, being only 8 years old, hadn't understood what was going on. Whenever she left the palace, she was swarmed by the envying eyes of her people. They were all jealous of the cushiony life she had compared to them. She always felt as if she was the one who had done something wrong, but she couldn't figure out what in particular she did.
"Ой, мне во сне привиделось,
Будто кой мой вороной,
Разыгрался, распласался
Ой, разрезвился подо мной"
"I saw in my dream
As though my black as raven horse
Was raging and dancing
Beneath the saddle"
Anastasia held tightly onto Ivan's hand as they strolled the gardens surrounding the palace. She looked over at some of the plants that were starting to spring up, and admired the architecture of the palace as she happily walked through mostly frozen garden with her favorite person in the whole entire palace. It was nearing the end of winter, and still very cold outside. She was used to it by now though, and it didn't bother Ivan one bit. As they were exiting the gardens, Ivan decided he wanted to walk around some more.
They continued to stroll, sometimes passing people. Mostly mothers and their children, but Anastasia noticed the unforgiving looks they gave as she passed by. She also noticed their lack of proper winter clothing-
Starting to become nervous, she tugged on Ivan's shirt. He looked down at her, "да?"
"Why are those people all looking at me?"
He glanced over at them, and watched them immediately look away after realizing they caught his attention. He quickly looked back down at her….Ivan knew what was going on, and why.
"What people? I don't see any people." He told her, trying to divert her attention away from them.
He knew what was wrong. They were all envious. Envious of her warm coat and scarf, all things they didn't have the means to afford…
"Them, we just walked past them!" she said, becoming more and more anxious by the second.
"Oh, Nastya, они смотрят на тебя, потому что дымают, что ты красивая! Они хотят, чтобы они были такими же красибыми, как вы!" (Oh, Nastya, they are looking at you because you're so pretty. They wish they were as pretty as you!"
He then bent down and picked her up, feeling a strong need to protect her from his own people.
She laid her head down on his shoulder, burying her face in his neck whenever there were other people around, still somewhat afraid of their judging eyes. Ivan gave them dirty looks as they passed by them, only because they were scaring Anastasia and well….they knew it too.
After a little while longer of thinking to herself, she quietly got up from her bed and wiped her tears away. She sniffled quietly as she picked up a small candle on the nightstand beside her bed. She slowly walked over to the door, and pulled the handle, trying to be as silent as possible as to not awake anybody. It was extremely difficult though, as footsteps made such loud noise in a large palace such as this.
Anastasia quietly moved along past the servants rooms and one of the many kitchens in the palace, knowing what would happen to her if she were caught awake by anyone at an "ungodly hour such as this!"
She hated the way she was sometimes treated by servants and assistants, but she thought some of them pleasant people and good company. She looked up at the many paintings taking up the walls of the long hallways, all finding them to very creepy, especially, as her own personal assistant would say, "At an ungodly hour such as this!"
She passed by her little brother's room, and decided to go and make sure he was okay. She slowly opened the door, and saw Alexei sleepy soundly in his own bed.
Anastasia let out a breath of relief as she closed the door, and began making her way down the halls once again. She also passed by all of her sister's rooms, except for Maria's, and finally found the room she had been looking for the whole time.
She stopped in front of the familiar looking door, carved with intricate designs on it, which were meant to signal who stayed there. She managed to see all of it, despite the surrounding darkness. As she opened the door, she silently prayed that she wouldn't be heard by anybody who happened to be awake and then be sent back to her room. Thankfully though, nobody heard her and everything was still and quiet as she entered the room. It was a very large and spacious room, decorated with all sorts of royal gifts and trinkets, specially gifted to him by the kings of old he always had told her about when telling her stories. She remembered them fondly, and even now still asked him sometimes to tell her stories when she wasn't able to fall asleep. She smiled a little bit, but her smile quickly faltered as all her fears and troubles began coming back to her. She started thinking about her terrible dream again and again, it beginning to eat away at her mind once again.
"налетели ветры злые
ой да с восточной стороны
И сорвали чёрну шапку
ой да с моей буйной головы"
Oh, the winds are very angry
Winds from the eastern front
They blew off the black cap
From my brash head
"A eсаул догадлив был
Он сумел сон мой разгадать
Ох, пропадёт он говорил мне
Твоя буйна голова…"
"But my Corporal was very knowledgable
He understood and unriddled my dream
"Oh,' He said, 'Your brash head will not live for long'"
Unsure of herself, and still very afraid, she blew out her candle and climbed into bed with Ivan, scooting as close to him as she possibly could. She wrapped her tiny little arms around his big frame, hoping Ivan wouldn't notice she was there.
He did however, and he was quite frightened as he hadn't a clue who was right next to him.
He cautiously turned around, but upon seeing little Anastasia, let out a breath of relief.
He frowned, as he realized she was crying.
"Anastasia?…"
She only sniffled in response.
"Why are you crying, мой милый?"
She didn't answer, but only began sobbing into his chest
Ivan figured that she either couldn't sleep or had a bad dream, or even both, as she had come to him before whenever things like that happened.
He planted a soft kiss down on her forehead, and pulled her closer, once again feeling the need to protect her from the pains of the world..
She immediately began to calm down, her sobbing reduced only to quiet sniffles and uneven breaths as she felt his warm touch.
He quietly shushed her, while gently stroking her hair.
After a little while of her trying to explain what happened in her dream and what it was about, she started saying less and less and eventually she fell asleep, carefully tucked away in Ivan's arms and many layers of blankets. He kissed her head one last time before he fell asleep, just to let her know he was still there and he wouldn't leave.
"Ой то не вечер, то не вечер
ой мне малым малом спалось
Мне малым малом спалось
Ой, да во сне привиделось…"
"Oh, the night has passed
I've scarcely had any sleep
Oh, I've scarcely had any sleep
Yes, I was dreamed of what was to come..."
"No one will ever hurt you, мой милый, I will always be there for you."
So
Whoever read this
I hope you like it
Like I said above, this story takes place before the Russian Civil War, when Nicholas II was still the Czar of the Russian Empire.
I had Anastasia as eight years old, only because I thought it would fit better.
The very famous Russian song "Ой, то не вечер" (Oy, to ne vecher) (Also called the Cossack's Parable, or Stepan Razin's Dream) was supposedly an interpretation of Stepan Razin's dream.
Stepan Razin was famous during one of Russia's Civil uprisings against the Czar and the bureaucracy of Russia. He had a dream that foretold his death, and a song was written about it.
He was not successful in his uprising, and he was beheaded by an executioner.
I thought of this song as fitting for Anastasia's nightmare, because it would work in the foretelling of her future.
I'm going to make another chapter, if you are interested, about what happens afterwards.
Also, here is a translation for the Russian used in this chapter.
"Мой мылй" - My sweet one
"Да?" Yes?
"они смотрят на тебя, потому что дымают, что ты красивая! Они хотят, чтобы они были такими же красибыми, как вы!"
"Oh, Anastasia, they're looking at you because you're so pretty! They wish they were as pretty as you."
