I hit a wall with "In My Dreams, Shadows Call" and "Dreams of my Past (Rewrite)" and when I can't write, I'm stressed. Then I had this idea for an Anastasia AU in my head for a while and since then, my mind has been weaving it into a fanfic. I just sat down and tried writing it and finished this chapter within a few days. This is more than I've written in the past few weeks!
This is an Anastasia AU which will mostly follow the musical but I'll throw in a few easter eggs from the 1997 movie and a few changes would be made to better suit the characters in the story. We're starting with a prologue of Christine at 7 years old. Comments, kudos and words of encouragement are appreciated. I hope you enjoy!
"Why must you go?" Christine asked as her godmother, the Dowager Empress Madame Valerius, gently fixed the bow in her hair.
"I've stayed too long here," The old woman smiled sadly, she was set to leave for Manhattan the next morning and had visited the royal family during their stay in the holiday palace in Paris… The parting would be very difficult for her youngest granddaughter, Christine Daae. The two of them had always been close…
"Take me to Manhattan with you!" the girl turned to face Madame Valerius as she finished tying the ribbon.
"You'll visit me with your sisters and brother… and we'll cross the bridge together and we'll go see the ballet every year on your birthday!"
"Take me with you now!" The dowager couldn't help but smile at her granddaughter's infectious excitement and hope at the prospect… Christine's grin was as radiant as the sun as she said those words…
"I already have my darling Christine Daae, wherever I go, you'll always be with me" the child's eyes lit up as she saw her godmother pull out a music box "I have a special gift for you to make the separation easier…"
"For me?" she looked at the object.
"Our little secret…" the old woman twisted the gears underneath three times and it opened as a beautiful melody played…
"It plays our lullaby!" she whispered, awestruck.
"You can play it at night before you go to sleep. And pretend that it's me singing."
Christine smiled shyly as she started to hum softly to herself:
"Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Things it yearns to remember"
The two finished the song as the music box slowly stopped playing its melody "And a song, someone sings… Once Upon a December…"
That was when Madame Valerius pulled out a locket and put the chain around her granddaughter's neck, showing her the engraving on the back of the locket "Read it…"
"My Christine, you will always be in my heart…" she looked up to see her grandmother stand up to leave "Thank you, I'll always keep it with me!"
Little did they know that the happiness they shared together would be short-lived after a fateful event…
In the next chapter, we'll see Christine at 16 years old… and things might get dark… please review!