Chapter 4.

Tired.

The first thing Vlad noticed was how purely exhausted Anya looked. He had briefly seen her the last time she'd visited, and she'd simply radiated a glow of life. Now, she looked drained.

There were dark circles under her eyes- she looked weak and pale. As her eyes met his own, it dawned on him that she looked like the orphan he'd met in Russia so long ago, not the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov. Then she smiled at him and her face lit up, that smile revealing the strength he knew was in her.

"Vlad," she said, pulling him into a hug.

"Anya. I've missed you."

As Lily hugged Anya, Dmitry entered the room, and Vlad was struck by the information that Dmitry did not look much better than Anya.

He, too, looked exhausted, but he pulled Vlad into a hug as well. Vlad pulled back and placed his hands on Dmitry's shoulders, shaking him a bit.

"It's good to see you, Dmitry," Vlad told him.

"You too," Dmitry replied.

"I'll take her in now," Lily cut in, and they both nodded.

Lily led Anya into the other room, and the two men were left alone.

"So... how has your elopement been?" Vlad asked.

Dmitry laughed, leaning against the wall.

"Well, we aren't married. Not yet, at least."

"Not yet?" Vlad questioned, raising his eyebrows.

Dmitry shrugged, staring down at the tiled floors. "There hasn't been a right time to ask. It's just... she's royalty, Vlad. I'm a street rat. The least she deserves is a fancy proposal."

"I think it would be reasonable to point out that the one who's royalty chose to run away with you."

Dmitry shook his head. "You're right on that, but I don't think she's happy about it."

Vlad leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

Dmitry sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"I don't know. She's having nightmares, Vlad. Almost every night. She thinks I don't see them, but they've been getting worse. A lot worse, ever since we ran away together."

"Do you know what they're about?"

"The nightmares? I don't know, she says they're about her family, but-"

"I thought you said she doesn't think you see them?" Vlad pointed out.

"Well, she knows I see them sometimes!"

"Alright, continue," Vlad said.

"I just... do you think that she regrets it? Running away with me?" Dmitry asked.

"You think she's having nightmares about having run away with you?" Vlad inquired.

Dmitry scoffed. "No, I think she's having nightmares about her family, and her regretting running away with me is making them worse."

Vlad looked at Dmitry. "No, I don't think those dreams have anything to do with you, nor do I think she regrets going with you, Dmitry. What I do think is that you should talk to her about the nightmares," he insisted.

"Talk with her?" Dmitry asked.

"She's had a hard life. You have no idea what good confiding in someone can do."

"Wow... a month with the press and you're already spouting wisdom?" Dmitry smirked.

"Can't an old man have his own wisdom?" Vlad chuckled.

But Dmitry knew Vlad was right. From this conversation alone, Dmitry felt less anxious, less stressed. As much as Vlad could be terribly wrong on things, Dmitry trusted him on this.

"I've missed you, Vlad," he said.

"I've missed you too, old friend."

...

When Anya entered the room, it took everything she had not to fling herself into Nana's arms. Instead, she took a few steps forward and pulled Nana close, burying her head into her neck. The scent of orange blossoms comforted her beyond words.

"I'll leave you two alone," she heard Lily say.

Nana rubbed her back, then pulled away to look at her, her finger pulling Anya's chin up to look at her.

"Anastasia, what's wrong?" The Dowager asked, her brows furrowing.

Anya sat down on a bench and took a deep breath, her eyes filling with tears. Nana sat beside her, looking at her intently.

"Nana, I've been having nightmares, about- about my family. And that night in the cellar in Yekaterinburg."

The Dowager went pale. "Oh, Anastasia," she said, wrapping an arm around her and tucking her head on top of Anya's chin. She could feel Anya's trembling, so she pulled her into a full hug.

"My darling Anastasia."

Anya's sob's wracked through the both of them, and the Dowager clutched onto her, holding her close. They held on to each other, the Dowager stroking her hair, until she had stopped crying.

Anya released her Nana, and the Dowager rubbed her thumb over Anastasia's cheek.

"Talk to me about it," she requested.

"Nana, I don't know if I should."

"You should. Trust me, if it's troubling you, you should tell me," the Dowager commanded.

Anya looked at her, then dropped her eyes to her lap, where she fiddled with her thumb.

"The nightmares- they've come almost every night. They used to be just the family, every night, when I didn't know who I was. I couldn't remember them, and it tortured me. And then... I found you, and they stopped. But now that I remember you, I remember that night, too. That night in the cellar. And..." Anya stopped, a sob breaking through her words.

Nana took her hands and held them tight, patiently waiting for her to continue.

"And now I see them," she continued. "I see the guards, I see the smoke, I see the gunfire. I hear the screams. Oh god," she sobbed, and the Dowager once again wrapped her up in her arms. This time, Anya gently pulled away and continued through her tears.

"They used to be nightmares, just nightmares, but now it's like it's replaying my memories of that night." She took a shaky breath. "Do you... do you ever have things like that?"

The Dowager sighed, squeezing Anya's hand.

"I did. Your family used to visit me every night."

"What happened?" Anya asked.

"I talked about it to someone. I found someone I trusted with the information, and I told them everything."

"Lily?"

"The Dowager nodded. "Lily and I may not always get along, but she was there to listen to me. The more I talked about them, the less they came. Until one day, they stopped."

Anya hesitated. "So you think that this... me talking to you, will have helped?" she questioned.

The Dowager nodded, her mouth curving into a soft smile. "I do. I also think that talking to Dmitry about them will help."

"Dmitry?" Anya asked.

"He loves you. Talking to him about what happened will be difficult, but he'll listen, and that will help," the Dowager insisted.

Anya's mouth set in a hard line, but she nodded, and hugged her Nana once more.

Then they talked of Paris, of her life with Dmitry.

Nana gave her recommendations of hidden places that brought her pleasure, and Anya promised to shop with her the next day, and to go to the ballet with her at the end of the week.

Finally, they walked out of the room, arm in arm, to find Vlad and Dmitry playing chess, Lily watching the two of them.

"W- hey! That's cheating!" Dmitry was saying.

"No it wasn't! That was a perfectly fair turn," Vlad responded. Dmitry sighed but moved a pawn forward. Vlad studied the board then moved a knight, taking off one of Dmitry's pieces. Anya watched as Dmitry overlooked the board, then moved his pawn again.

"Nice move," Vlad remarked, then moved a piece and took out Dmitry's pawn. "Except, it really wasn't."

Dmitry rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Really? You're quitting?" Vlad asked.

"Yeah! I hate this game!" Dmitry replied.

Vlad sighed and started to clear the board, putting away the pieces.

Dmitry smiled at Anya, then his eyes crossed over to the Dowager, and he hesitated before starting to bow. The Dowager stopped him.

"Oh, please, young man, we don't need that in here."

Dmitry awkwardly stood in silence, then suddenly said, "Your majesty, I should apologize for that night-"

The Dowager cut him off once again with a motion of her hand.

"All is forgiven. After all, if it weren't for you, Anastasia and I would not be reunited."

Dmitry cleared his throat and nodded. Taking pity on his awkwardness, Anya squeezed Nana's hand.

"We'd better be going, Nana. I'll meet you and Lily tomorrow?"

"Yes, my love," the Dowager agreed, placing a loss on Anya's forehead.

The Dowager, Lily, and Vlad all walked Anya and Dmitry to the exit.

"Goodbye, Anastasia. I love you," the Dowager said. Anya pulled her Nana in for one more hug.

"I love you too, Nana."

She and Dmitry exited, and as they walked down the road, Anya noticed that she felt strangely free, as if a weight had lifted off of her shoulders.

Then she remembered Nana's words- "He loves you. Talking to him about what happened will be difficult, but he'll listen, and that will help."

As Anya looked over at Dmitry, she could almost feel those words pressuring her to talk to him.

I will talk to him, she decided.

Soon, she told herself.

Soon.