Chapter 24 A Perfect Beginning

After the battle with Rasputin had died down, Anastasia and Katya sat up by Dimitri's side to look over him. The young man laid on the ground, unconscious.

"Oh, no!" Katya gasped with shock. "Dimitri!"

"Dimitri?" Anastasia whispered, gently stroking his cheek.

But Dimitri did not respond. He did not even move, or open his eyes. He just laid there, still as death.

"Oh no. Dimitri? No…" Anastasia just sighed, now more heartbroken than she was when she found out about his original plan to con her grandmother.

Unable to do anything else, Anastasia turned away and quietly began to cry into her skirt.

All Katya could do was come over to her friend and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Dimitri just wanted to help me," Anastasia sobbed.

"Anastasia?" Katya said as her own eyes became moist. "I… I sent Dimitri after you."

The redhead looked at her with a saddened look.

"I was worried about you and Pooka. I… I thought I was doing the right thing."

Pooka did a sad howl as the two girls sat by each other, feeling very sad about the loss of their friend and who helped them throughout their journey.

But just then, Dimitri slowly moved his arm, and groaned softly as he began to stir.

Hearing this, Anastasia and Katya looked up and gasped. Anastasia hastily turned around to him as he started to get up, only to hit him in the face by accident!

"Ow!" Dimitri cried in pain, rubbing his face. Anastasia grimaced at her mistake.

"Dimitri! Oh!" She threw her arms around Dimitri, happy and relieved that he was all right.

Dimitri continued to cry out in pain, from Anastasia's tight embrace after almost being killed. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Let go, let go! Take it easy."

"You durak!" Katya gasped. "You had me and Anastasia worried sick!" However, she then laughed tears of happiness as she hugged him too.

"Oy vey, Katya!" Dimitri muttered as he also moved Katya away from him.

"Oh!" Anastasia released Dimitri, and slowly backed away. "Sorry."

"Yeah," Dimitri assured her. "I know, I know. All men are babies." He groaned again, as he got up on his knees. But Dimitri wasn't complaining that much, as for once, all he cared about was Anastasia.

Anastasia stood up on her own knees, meeting eyes with the young man. "I thought you were going to St. Petersburg…" She started to say.

"I was," The young man said.

"You didn't take the…"

"I couldn't."

"Why?"

"Because, I..." Dimitri didn't finish what he was about to say. He just stared right into the Grand Duchess's blue eyes in realization.

Anastasia could already tell from the look in his own eyes, why he had changed his mind about leaving and came back, and what he was trying to tell her... he loved her. Gently putting one of her hands on his cheek, Dimitri and Anastasia slowly leaned in for a kiss.

Katya watched as she waited for the two to finally share their first kiss.

But both snapped out of their love trance, and looked down to see Pooka was carrying Anastasia's kokoshnik tiara in his mouth.

"Pooka, you silly boy!" Katya said with a giggle.

"Oh," Dimitri took the kokoshnik into his own hands. He looked at it as he and Anastasia got up on their feet. "They're waiting for you," He gave Anastasia the diamond tiara.

The Grand Duchess looked at the crown as she took it.

But Katya looked at Anastasia's dress with worry. "Dimitri, she can't go back in this dress."

The young man looked at her, and then looked back at Anastasia's dress, which was still torn to shreds.

"You saw what Rasputin did earlier – letting his little demons torture that poor girl? I figured that if one person could just go over and stand up to that rotten, wicked, disgusting…"

"Katya, please," Anastasia pleaded. "Take a deep breath."

Katya felt like stamping her foot or crying, remembering how Rasputin's minions cruelly humiliated her friend. But instead, she followed Anastasia's advice by breathing in deep and exhaling it all. "I dunno," Katya said calmly. "What did Rasputin have against your family, anyway?"

"Who knows?" Anastasia said. "But the most important thing is that it's over, and…" She thought for a minute, then smiled as she looked up at Dimitri, finally discovering the truth, and finally making her final decision.

Later that night, Marie was back in her study along with Katya. Katya guided the Empress to bring Anastasia's kokoshnik over to a small table. As she placed it onto the table, she found a note beside it.

"There's a note she wants you to read, your majesty," Katya said, pointing out the piece of paper with a message.

The Dowager Empress picked up the note, and read it:

Dear Grandmamma,

Wish me luck. We'll be together in Paris again soon.

Katya is staying behind so that she may find a job to help her pay off expenses to go to America. She is really good at dancing. I hope she stays in touch with me, too.

A kiss goodnight,
 Anastasia

The Dowager Empress let Sophie take the note to read for herself, once she finished.

Reading it, tears of joy came from Sophie's eyes. "They've eloped!" She grinned. "Isn't it romantic?" The curvy blonde dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief, still staring at the note. "It's a perfect ending."

Marie looked out his window at the distance, smiling fondly. "No," She said. "It's a perfect beginning."

Katya turned and gave Sophie a hug, and the curvy blonde smiled. "I promise that Vladimir and I will help you somehow, my dear." She looked over at Marie and finished, "And maybe the Empress, too!"

Katya smiled with tears in her eyes, but she still looked a bit sad. She didn't understand why, since Anastasia and Dimitri were finally together, and she was in good hands with the Dowager Empress and other Russian royals.

But that was the thing. Katya missed her siblings in America, and she was also going to miss Anastasia and Dimitri when they head back to Russia.

Katya felt happy that everyone else had their happy ending and perfect beginning, but she also realized what hers was going to be.

As Katya slowly walked over to the window to watch Anastasia and Dimitri leave on a ship, she felt something touch the back of her shoulder. Katya slowly turned around, and couldn't believe her eyes. She saw Aristarkh, Ivan, and Natasha all standing behind her!

"A-Aristarkh?" Katya asked when she saw her oldest brother standing right behind her.

"Yes, Katya?" He asked while nodding his head.

Katya then noticed Ivan and Natasha standing behind him as well. "Ivan? Natasha? Is that you?"

Ivan nodded his head while Natasha gave her younger sister a happy smile. Tears were slowly forming in her eyes. "Yes, Katya. We're all here." Ivan replied.

Katya then smiled happily, and ran to hug all of three of her siblings with tears of happiness running down her face. "Oh, guys! I missed you so much!" She cried.

"We miss you too, Katya," Natasha said while hugging her younger sister tightly. "We thought we'd never see you again."

"I didn't either," Katya said as she broke away from the hug a bit. "But I'm so happy to see you all. I missed you so much."

"We all did too, Katya," Aristarkh said with a smile as he looked out the window Katya was standing in front of. "Are those your friends leaving?" He pointed to the window behind Katya, and she turned around to face it herself.

"Yeah. Did you guys read all my letters?"

"Of course we did," Ivan replied. "How could we not read all the letters you sent us? There were so many, and I bet all those things you wrote in them were true."

"They sure were," Katya said with a sigh. "Don't get mad at me, but I might have gotten into a little trouble coming all the way to Paris!" Katya said with a laugh.

"Oh, don't worry," Natasha replied with a chuckle as well. "We won't!"

The four siblings all began to laugh as Sophie and the Dowager Empress Marie watched with smiles.

Katya finally did get to see her siblings again, after waiting for 10 years of hard work, and never losing hope.

But did she begin to wonder about something. "So, what are you guys even doing here?" She wondered.

Ivan and Natasha stayed silent as Aristarkh approached her. "Well, life in America wasn't as easy as we thought. We had to stay in a run-down apartment for years, and also had to deal with having very little money."

Katya became nervous upon Aristarkh mentioning that when the Dowager Empress was right behind them. However, Marie assured Katya that being poor didn't mean that she would turn her back against her.

"Don't worry, Katya," The Dowager Empress assured her. "After what you have done for my Anastasia after all these years, I can look past where you came from, and appreciate the person you are."

Katya gave the Empress a smile before turning back to her oldest brother. "She's right, Katya. You've been a positive and supportive person and friend to Anastasia whenever things tried to bring you down, and because of that, you never lost hope."

"So because you never lost the dream of being reunited with us," Ivan stepped in to say. "You ended up seeing us again, and we ended up seeing you."

"But we also had to keep having faith, and never letting go of our dreams like you did." Natasha added.

Katya just gave her older siblings happy smiles as she tried to prevent tears from coming down her eyes. "You're right, I did keep having dreams of seeing you again after years of hard work. But…" Her happy expression soon changed to sadness when she remembered Anastasia and Dimitri leaving for Russia.

Katya's siblings could tell she was still upset about something.

"What's wrong, Katya?" Ivan asked her.

Katya then looked back at the window behind her one last time before facing her siblings. "Well, I'm happy to see you again - believe me, I really am. But, my friend Anya, who turned out to be the lost Grand Duchess Anastasia, is leaving Paris tonight to go back to Russia with Dimitri, who also helped me so much."

Katya then held her head down as she became saddened by the fact her friends would be leaving her. The two had done so much for her, and she had done so much for them.

Aristarkh, Ivan, and Natasha all looked at their younger sister sympathetically, and wished there was something they could do to help her.

But Aristarkh knew that there was.

As Katya turned back to face the window she could see her friends leaving in, Aristarkh put his hand on Katya's shoulder in a comforting way, and gave her a smile. "If you really want to be with your friends, then go ahead."

Katya turned around, and looked at her siblings in shock. Were they really willing to let her do this? "Wait, really?"

Even Ivan and Natasha agreed with the idea, as both of them nodded their heads along with Aristarkh.

"Yes. We know we're all still tight on money, and that you needed to work at the palace to earn some. But me, Ivan, and Natasha can do that while you're away in Russia, and we can all meet you again in Russia someday, just as long as you believe."

Katya gave her oldest brother a teary smile as she looked out the window one last time. If she wanted to be with Anastasia and Dimitri, and go back to Russia, her siblings would allow her to do it.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Katya asked as she approached her older siblings closer.

"Yes, we'll still love you, and be with you no matter what your decision is." Natasha assured her.

"She's right, because no matter what, we'll always be in your heart." Ivan said while pointing at his youngest sister's heart.

Katya then threw herself onto Ivan as he almost fell down, and Aristarkh and Natasha both laughed as everyone pulled in for a group hug.

Just like what Ivan said, they would always be with Katya no matter where she went, and would meet her again someday in a place where she could finally be happy.

Sophie watched the four siblings embrace with tears in her eyes as she blew her nose in another tissue.

Marie also smiled as well, and knew Katya will still make the perfect friend for her granddaughter, Anastasia no matter where they went.

Katya then waved goodbye to her siblings as she left to go back outside where Anastasia and Dimitri were, and the three siblings watched out the windows with smiles and waves of goodbye of their own.

Marie kept her smile on, and blew a kiss out to the distance.

Meanwhile, on the deck of a boat, riding on the Seine, Dimitri and Anastasia were dancing the waltz they practiced before arriving in Paris.

After Dimitri spun her around, Anastasia began to wonder about Katya. "You think Katya will be okay?"

"She'll be fine," Dimitri assured. "Besides, she also played her part in returning you to your family and helping you. She was a true friend. She stayed loyal and never left your side for a minute – and she will always be with you, no matter what."

"You sure about that?" Called out a familiar voice.

Both Anastasia and Dimitri looked ahead to see Katya on the deck of the boat as well.

"Katya? You came back!" Anastasia happily cried when she saw her friend.

"I sure did!" Katya replied as she ran to give her friend a hug.

Dimitri then noticed her. "I knew you'd come back, kid!" He said as Katya ran to give him a hug as well.

"Of course I did," She said as broke away from Dimitri as she smiled along with him and Anastasia. "You know I couldn't leave my friends like that, especially now that it's a perfect beginning."

After seeing those words, Anastasia and Dimitri happily continued their waltz. Then, they began to slow down as they stared deep into each other's eyes. Anastasia placed both hands on Dimitri's face, as the former con-artist and princess leaned in, and shared a passionate kiss.

Pooka just blushed and covered his face with his big ears.

After parting from their first kiss, Dimitri grinned again. He playfully swept Anastasia off her feet in princess-style and spun her around, making her laugh as Katya giggled and clapped her hands upon seeing this.

On the railing of a nearby building, Bartok was also watching the scene dreamily, and danced along.

Just then, a pink female bat came to see the albino bat.

Bartok stopped dancing, and turned around and saw the female bat. "Oh!" He said, with surprise. "Ah, hello."

The female bat pulled Bartok close to her wing, and gave it a kiss.

Bartok blushed. He spun around a bit, before the female bat caught and hugged him.

"Wow!" The albino bat said with a grin, "I tell ya what, wow!"

As the female bat kissed his cheek, he pulled down a blank black "curtain" over the scene.

"So long, everybody!"

THE END

Well, another story has come to an end! I'm so happy that I've finally finished it, and you wanna know something? I might continue it! Now, when I say I might continue it, that means I might write short stories involving Katya, Anastasia, and Dimitri after the events of the film and maybe one of those stories could be Katya's siblings reuniting with her in Russia. However, one story I do have planned with Katya and her siblings will be them adttending Anastasia and Dimitri's wedding, so stay tuned and let me know if you wanna see that, because I do have other stories planned at the moment, and I'm unsure when I'm going to write that. But anyway, thank you all who read this story and stay in touch because more is to come!