Gleb snuck onto the property easily - in the passing years of peace the security grew lax. The inhabitants figured that since they'd lasted this long, the rest of life would be lived with ease. He wasn't sure if he was happy to disturb this illusion, but it was certainly what he was going to do.

They assumed that since the revolution had passed and they had emerged as unscathed as a target could, no one would circle back for them. Well, Gleb knew he couldn't leave survivors for that long. He climbed through the gardens, moving slowly and staying low, lest someone decide to wise up.

Creeping, he spotted a neglected back door with rubbish discarded nearby. He heard a voice yelling from one side, and the door opened, with a young woman emerging. Gleb moved quickly as soon as the door shut, grabbing her and wrapping his arm around her neck and putting a hand over her mouth.

"If you scream, I will kill you. If you try and move before I let you, I will kill you. Does that make sense? Close your eyes if it does."

The woman closed her eyes, scrunching them shut as tears rolled.

"Good. Now, I'm going to take my hand off your mouth in a second. Are you able to answer only my questions, without alerting others? Keep your eyes closed if yes."

The woman kept her eyes closed.

"Good. Now, you can still get out of this in one piece. Keep that in mind when you answer these questions." Gleb took his hand off her mouth. She was crying, but tried to keep that as quiet as possible. She did not open her mouth, and kept her eyes scrunched shut.

"My first question - does the Princess Anastasia still live here?"

…

"How am I supposed to know?" Ana objected, clamping her hand to her chest. "I've been the one driving every step here. I was the one who asked you to run with me, I was the one who kept us together, I was the one turning down my own marriage!"

"Ana!" Daniel stepped closer. "I've been with you every step of this way. I've followed you across the land with no backup plan or remorse. If we get caught, you go back to your family and their support. I will be fired and lose everything."

"All you do is think of the consequences!" Ana clenched her fists. "If you hate this so much, why don't you just go home?"

"And what? Leave you out here? Alone?"

"I can fend for myself!"

"I'm not going to do that!"

"Why not? I'm a strong person, I can take care of myself!"

Daniel steeled himself, grabbing Ana by her hips and pulling her up against him. "Because I love you!"

He kissed her fiercely, sliding his hands up her body to cup her face. Ana melted into him for just a second, closing her eyes as he moved to kiss her cheek, her jaw, her neck-

"Oh!" Anya stepped back suddenly, pushing Victor off her.

She waited for Victor to say something, to apologize for going too far, but he stood there, looking at her.

"Are you alright?" Victor asked, looking genuinely confused as to her reaction. "There's more of the scene."

Anya touched her lips. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Victor stepped closer to her. "Are you ready to continue-"

"No!" Anya said, with a little more vigor than was needed. "I'm getting tired. I think that's enough for one night, at least."

Victor smiled a little at her. "As you wish, then." He laughed a little as Anya scrambled to grab her things and leave the theater.

...

Over stew, Anya ruminated on whether or not she should tell Dimitri what had happened at rehearsal.

"Are you alright?" Dimitri eventually asked. "You're pretty quiet."

"Oh, yeah." Anya said. "I just," she clenched her fist. "really love stew. Focusing on that."

Dimitri laughed. But he noticed that Anya was not just dozing or daydreaming. "C'mon, you can tell me. I know you don't have that strong of a passion or hatred for stew."

"That is true." Anya conceded.

"You can tell me anything, you know."

Anya bit her lip. There wasn't anything really to tell him. Victor had kissed her, but that was the role as she wrote it. She knew it was coming. It just felt like...too much. But how could she tell Dimitri that?

"What if...what if I rewrote some of the play?"

Dimitri furrowed his brow. "But we've already started rehearsing. I think it's a great play, if that's what you're worried about."

"I still like the idea, but I might want to rework the relationship between Ana and Daniel."

Dimitri felt his heart drop into his stomach. He knew those characters were self-inserts for him and Anya, and now she wanted to change their relationship? What had happened? He calmed himself down quickly. He was probably just overthinking this, he did that sometimes.

"Okay, what did you want to change?"

"Well, what if instead of a romance they were just really good friends?"

"Anya, you wrote it as a romance. And why would Daniel care if Ana was getting married if he was just a really good friend?"

"Well I still have to work on it." Anya said quickly.

"Well, why do you want to change it at all?"

"I just don't think that it feels like a relationship." Anya said, still not looking at Dimitri, which made him feel worse.

"Why don't you just leave it how it is, and write a different relationship for the next play? We're going onstage very soon, that's a pretty major change."

Anya bit her lip. "I suppose", she sighed. She didn't know how to press the issue further, so she just didn't.

...

Dimitri didn't get too much sleep that night, focusing on what Anya had said - and what she hadn't. Anya, for all her spitfire, was still a very kind person at heart. She wouldn't want to hurt him, even if she didn't love him anymore. And, yes he knew that she never said anything that meant he wasn't being a good fiance, and yes she had agreed to marry him, and it was all very possible he was just being insecure but that was the issue! He was insecure. No matter how much time was between them and imperial Russia, the simple truth remained: princesses don't marry kitchen boys. To whatever degree, she would always be a princess. And he would always be a kitchen boy.

He pulled himself out of bed and went downstairs to where he belongs. At the very least, he could fix them breakfast. As he pulled out flour and eggs, he wondered why on earth Anya gave up Parisian chefs and a fine estate to have pancakes in the south of France with him. She had it all, she had a chance to get it back, and she turned it down.

Anya was adventurous and impulsive, and he worried that, somehow, he may've just been another impulse. What if she grew tired of him once he ran out of adventures for her?

"Dima?" Anya stepped into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yes." Anya moaned, putting her face down on the counter.

Dimitri laughed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back up to a standing position. "I'm going to need that space to make your breakfast."

"You can fight me for it." Anya yawned.

"You can go lay down again, I'll wake you when it's done."

"No, I'm up, I'm up." Anya insisted, sitting down and leaning against the cabinet.

"Well, who am I to argue with that?" Dimitri snorted.

"What're we having?"

"Pancakes!"

"Oh I love pancakes." Anya slid down a little bit, smiling.

"They're all for me. You get one egg, raw."

"All that protein will make me strong, and then I will kick your ass." Anya said, standing up.

"Yeah? I'd like to see you try!" Dimitri poured the batter into the pan and then pulled Anya in for a kiss. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

She broke the kiss, looking up at him. "The pancakes are burning."

"I love you." Dimitri breathed. "But you still have to eat the burnt ones."

Anya laughed and swatted him. And the morning spun off into a relaxing day.

...

"Good evening, everyone!" Anya called out, waving with one hand and holding Dimitri's hand with the other.

The group called out salutations and everyone settled in.

"Alright, I know this is a bit of a later rehearsal, so we'll try to have you all out by dinner." Dimitri said. "So, we must get a move on! Let's open on Act II." he clapped a couple times and people moved onto the stage. The act opened on the parents discussing the departure of their eldest daughter, and cut to the scene Victor and Anya had rehearsed, where they finally confess the fulness of their feelings for each other.

Anya faced Victor and began to move through their lines, focusing on what was written as opposed to what had happened last night. Everyone was here now, he wouldn't try anything, it was a mistake, besides. She had overreacted. That was all. Everything was fine.

"All you do is think of the consequences!" Ana clenched her fists. "If you hate this so much, why don't you just go home?"

"And what? Leave you out here? Alone?"

"I can fend for myself!"

"I'm not going to do that!"

"Why not? I'm a strong person, I can take care of myself!"

Daniel steeled himself, grabbing Ana by her hips and pulling her up against him. "Because I love you!"

Anya thought that Victor would tone it down this time; that he had picked up on the discomfort she felt or processed the impropriety of what he had done. He did not. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as tight as he could. His tongue forced her mouth open and Anya, in her shock stood there before pushing herself off of Victor and staggering back.

"Oh, fuck you!" Dimitri yelled, and the next thing Anya heard was the cracking of Dimitri's fist colliding with Victor's jaw.

"Dimitri!" Anya yelled.

Victor staggered back and hit the ground, splaying out and staying down.

"You hurt him!" Anya wheeled around. "Why did you do this?"

Dimitir looked at Anya, incredulous. "Why?! Anya he-"

"It was in the script she wrote." Victor spat, before grabbing and rubbing his jaw.

Dimitri looked down at the script

[DANIEL kisses ANA softly, though it is clear that he's been waiting to do this for a while.]

"Softly!" Dimitri insisted, still very much wanting to kick Victor while he was down.

"Semantics, Dimitri!" Anya offered Victor her hand, pulling him up. She put a hand tenderly to his jaw to evaluate the damage. She turned out to the group. "Everyone go home! We'll figure this all out tomorrow!"

The crowd dissipated slowly as Anya inspected Victor and Dimitri stood afar, holding his injured hand.

"I don't think you have any serious damage. No broken bones, no missing teeth." Anya said softly. "You better go home and put some ice on that."

"Thank you." Victor said softly, looking down at her and putting his hand to where she had touched him.

Anya stepped off to grab her wrap.

Victor looked at Dimitri for the first time as he passed him on the way out. He paused just for a second, turning back to say. "You know, that's not the first time I've done that.", and left.

Dimitri jumped him.