A/N: This story is set in England, with English characters (unless stated otherwise). I thought it was worth mentioning, given most AUs are set in America.

Anna's theme tune can be found on YouTube using the link provided on my profile page

To my 2 reviewers, 3 favouriters and 6 followers as of my publishing this: Thank you!

Tick, tock.

Anna had barely spoken after the argument with her father, not that she'd had much energy left to do so. Even after her father had dismissed her, she had sat trembling at the dining table, oblivious to the world until her father barked at her to "Move!" in the same booming voice. She shuddered, but her mother finally glided over and placed an arm over her shoulder, looking sternly across at her husband: "She did something wrong; you told her off. Now drop it." Agdar looked at her before grunting and marching off to his study, issuing commands to a maid waiting for him outside the room. Anna looked up with thankful, teary eyes as she was given a small squeeze before finishing her biscuit.

Tick, tock.

The biscuit had sated most of her appetite, leaving her unable to eat the food her mother had prepared for her later. It was her favourite dish, yet neither the smell nor the sight of it induced a reaction from her. She looked up at her parents. Her father held himself oddly, eyes distant except when they flickered over in her direction, his expression changing to one alien to her. Her mother made no contact with either, choosing to simply eat her meal instead of spark a conversation (or heated debate) over an event in her day.

Tick, tock.

Anna had finally been allowed back into her room, the maids having cleared it of the additions she'd made to it. The fact that neither they nor her parents had trusted her to do so herself had sparked a slight feeling of anger in her mind, but she'd chosen not to act upon it, instead helping herself to a plaster for her hip and collapsing on the living room sofa. When, after dinner, she saw that the corridor was abandoned, she'd rushed in, slammed the door, and collapsed in a heap on her bed. The room had seemed emptier than normal and it took her a while to notice that they'd removed a few of her personal effects as well, no doubt as a form of punishment. But they'd left the kitchen roll where she had dropped it on her bed for some reason and she had promptly thrown it against the wall with a sudden burst of energy before lying back down.

Tick, tock.

She'd lain there for hours unable to sleep, instead choosing to gaze at the grandfather clock across from her, eyes tracking the swing of its pendulum. She cast her mind back.

"Do you have any idea who that was?!"

It was the first time she'd messed up her father's career so badly.

"All you care about is - is yourself!"

But it certainly hadn't been the first time she'd ruined something in her parents' lives. A series of accidents from her life flashed before her eyes.

"People are always nice to screw-ups like you!"

Being a "privileged" individual certainly helped, although she was well aware that she always got off lightly and felt horrible for it.

"Could He have given me a shoddier excuse for a spare than you?"

Anna blinked, roused from her reverie as she processed the words. That's a really weird thing to say. Of all the insults he could have used, why that? What does being "a spare" even mean when I'm the only kid he's got? She allowed herself a small smile. Guess he was just rambling again.

Her darker thoughts quickly returned, but she (eventually) fell asleep. In her dreams she saw herself alone, wandering through her large home desperate for attention. She saw the dolls she'd been convinced could talk after watching a movie and remembered how she'd spent days begging them to look up and to lend an ear to the young girl who so desperately needed one. When that hadn't worked, she'd moved on to fully imaginary friends. Her dream formed a montage of those ghostly children who listened to her stories and fears without uttering a single word in response. She remembered a friend so old her face had been silhouetted by light from her window. She'd looked down at her, a few strands of bright hair contrasting with the shadows. She'd held a large blue square (Wonder what that is?) in one hand as she patted her to sleep with the other...

Anna awoke, the sound of her phone's alarm echoing between her ears. She groaned, refusing to open her eyes as she reached out, attempting to grab the offending object. She felt something brush against her fingers before it fell to the ground with a thud, its speaker facing upward and the sound intensifying. She groaned again, rolling her eyes beneath her lids.

Now I have to get up?!

She rolled over, opening her bleary eyes. The phone had fallen on the opposite side of her bedside cabinet, so she had no choice. Grunting in submission and bracing herself with an hand on the wooden surface, she brought her feet to the soft carpet and pulled herself up. She blinked the residue fatigue from her eyes and the phone chose that time to stop ringing.

Are you kidding me with that timing?! I really hate me sometimes.

She grabbed the phone and switched the alarm off before it could cause anymore havoc. She peered at the corner of the display. And of course she was late! She tossed the phone onto her bed as she slipped into her en suite bathroom, washing the drool from her cheeks and the rheum from her eyes with warm water before grabbing her brush, applying a thin layer of paste and cleaning her teeth. She flossed and smiled at her reflection, content. She walked out, checking the time. Actually, she wasn't that hopeless... She opened her wardrobe and again her clothes spilled out at her feet.

Scratch that: I am hopeless.

She kicked them back in, closed the wardrobe and turned before she remembered why she'd opened it in the first place. She yelped and opened it again, bringing a foot down on the pile to stop - some of it - from falling back out.

At least I can sometimes remember my lessons?

Wary of the time, she grabbed a shirt and pair of trousers at random before returning the rest. Slamming the door to her room shut (in case it had somehow become unlocked), she stripped off her night clothes and pulled the new ones on. She sat down at her dressing table and grabbed her brush, wincing as her poor choice in colours was reflected back at her in the mirror before glancing at the mane that was her hair. She turned the brush in her fingers.

I really hate this bit.

But forcing her hair into line consumed her conscious thought, allowing the images she'd seen overnight to re-emerge. Anna's expression of concentration gave way to a pensive one as she mulled over her dream. She looked at her reflection, for once not immediately recoiling at what on her head. "I really am lonely, aren't I?" She asked. The other Anna asked the same question and answered with her own sad smile.

"I mean... I know I'm not an orphan," satisfied with the hair on the right side of her head, she moved onto her left, "and I know that, with Kai and all the other servants I'm actually better off than most in terms of company, but - ow!" She'd inadvertently tugged at a knot. She spent a few seconds trying to unravel it. "But that doesn't mean they keep good company, right? And it's not like I have absolutely no friends either, but they're all various shades of snooty and they really get on my nerves sometimes and - OUCH! Where are all these knots coming from?!" After apologizing to her scalp, she unraveled the offending obstruction. "I'd just really like someone who thinks like me." She finished lamely. Her reflection agreed. Her hair fully tamed, she began to braid it, before pausing. Tugging her hair to her side she looked her reflection in the eye. "What if I just kept this short?"

The two Annas shrugged.

Anna's grin left her face as she left her room, only to face a huge portrait of her parents hung up on the wall across from her. She walked slowly towards it, drinking in the various details on their faces she never had a chance to look at in person.

Why am I so unlike you?

She looked at her father. Tall and proud, but with a light in his eyes that shone through whatever lens the camera had used to look out at whoever passed by. Her gaze moved up to his familiar red hair, then moved down to the freckles dotted around his nose. She looked across at her mother, equally elegant, with a smile on her lips. Anna focused on her eyes and facial structure in particular.

I am related to you after all.

Brushing the sinking feeling off she made her way back to the kitchen. Her mother looked up. Anna mumbled a greeting before helping herself to her cereal and milk. She tried to eat quietly to not disrupt her father who was busy reading the newspaper, glancing up at him whenever she brought her spoon down too fast or she felt she was chewing too loudly, painfully aware that she was still shaken from the previous night.

It took her a few moments to realise he was doing the same thing. Every few seconds he would look up at her, his expression unknowable, but as if he was trying to read her mind, before slipping his nose back into the paper. When Anna's surprised stare lingered for too long and he noticed, he simply nodded at her and stopped altogether. Puzzled, she looked over to her mother who she just noticed was trying to avoid her gaze completely.

Odd. Wonder what's up with them? I mean, I was half expecting dad to start shouting again... Maybe something happened? Maybe he was right about that man promising to not come back? Oh no! But wait, then he would be shouting at me, so it can't be that, can it? Maybe something else went wrong? That would explain it but -

She quickly ducked her head as her father looked up once more, but not before catching his expression again. Something clicked and when her mother failed to look at her again, the thought solidified.

It's like they're scared of me!

Anna had no clue why she would be scaring them. It wasn't as if she knew some dark secret she could sell to the highest bidder or anything, right? Actually, there was one in particular, but it was far too late to act on now, not that anyone would do anything if she did and besides, it had to have been something that happened overnight. She racked her brain for an answer but all she could think of was "the argument". She chuckled to herself. Maybe this is his way of apologising? It'd certainly be a first!

She had a strange feeling she'd forgotten something, but let the issue slide for a few days until she'd had another dream. It wasn't much of one, but it stayed in her mind nonetheless. In the dream she felt small, like a baby, and everything seemed hazy. She was trying to sleep but kept tossing and turning. How could she? There was so much fun to be had! A hand had pressed down on her stomach and she felt herself being lowered onto a bed. The hand traced a pattern over her torso that was both soothing and ticklish. She felt at ease as the owner of the hand rested whatever she was holding in the other on her lap, still gripping it prevent it from slipping, before looking down at her as she began to sing. Anna couldn't hear the words, but the tune was enough for her eyes to grow heavy. She felt herself drift off to sleep with a smile on her lips.

And she'd awoken in the present.

She closed her eyes again. What was that all about?

"Mum?"

"Yes dear?"

Anna had gotten washed, brushed her hair (with much less fuss this time) and had pulled on some clothes (that were a much better match) before skipping downstairs for her breakfast. As she'd somehow managed to be early; it was just the two of them in the living room, Anna curled up on one end of a couch, her mother perfectly poised on the other.

"Does the song 'Hush, Little Baby' mean anything to you?"

After humming the rhythm to herself a dozen times Anna had realised that she actually knew the song. It had taken a few guesses and a few fumbles as her half asleep fingers stumbled across the surface of her phone, but she'd finally been able to pin a name on it.

"It's an old lullaby, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I know this sounds silly, but... have you ever sung it to me? You know, as a kid?"

"No, why would you ask that?" Anna blushed at the frown on the older woman's face.

"Oh, I, uh, I heard it - recently - and it... it rang a bell?" She shrugged. "And because you've never let a maid put me to sleep I wondered if I'd heard it from you."

"Is that so?" There was a pause. "Your father will be down in a minute. Do you want to help me set the table for breakfast?"

"Yeah, why not?" Her mother hadn't even bothered to wait for the response before hurrying off. A second question echoed in her mind. And why are you biting your lip?

As she followed her, she went over the reasoning that had prompted her to ask the question, then scoffed at herself. She'd probably just heard the song on some show and it had stuck in her mind. Besides, the singer in her dream may have shared some of her mother's features, but she was far younger (even younger than she would have been during Anna's youth) and her smile had been much wider (her own mother would never open her mouth. It was a serious problem Anna had so far been unable to fix).

And of course her mother had never been blonde.