01 ♕ Video

[tsarchasm]

So do all French gardens have their own cities or is it just this one?

Either way, I must admit that I am impressed with how realistic it is. In fact, I'm even willing to wager that this crazy-looking device actually works. Unfortunately, as much as I would love to admire the handiwork a little more, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take a

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[za_rodina]

Nyet, This is not Frantsiya. Though I must admit that the decor is rather like him.

[za_rodina]

Not yet for you at least. But just as the Rossiyskaya Imperiya turned into the Sovietsky Soyuz, so too does the name change into the Rossiyskaya Federatsiya.

[A pause.] Da, but then again I suppose you are not exactly my Grand Duchess.

[tsarchasm]

You lost me. [ because from where she stands, it doesn't look like the communists are going anywhere anytime soon. ]

Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Last time I checked, there was only one of me. [ and even that is more than the world can handle. ] Those impostors don't count. Or is this about one of my sisters?

[za_rodina]

It will take several decades of course.

Nyet, I am not talking about your sisters or the impostors. You are the only Anastasia of your world. Just as there was only one in mine.

[A sad pause.]

I did not think I would get the chance to see you again.

[tsarchasm]

Are you some kind of fortune-teller or are you just putting me on?

Well, that will certainly please that old hag at the orphanage I was raised in after the revolution. I think one Queen of Sheba was more than enough for her; she'd probably have a heart attack if there were two.

I was pretty positive that I was the only Anastasia Nikolaevna of any world, though.

[za_rodina]

No to both? [He blinks owlishly]

Think of it this way: Your world and others are parallel to each other. But they are not the same. That is how our histories could be almost the same-even though I am further along than your timeline is-but have minute differences.

[tsarchasm]

[ time-traveling and parallel worlds and anthropomorphic countries, oh my. ]

Don't tell me you're actually from the future…?

[za_rodina]

Well since it was 2011 where I came from I would assume that's what it means.

[tsarchasm]

2011? That's too bad. I was hoping that the communists would leave during my own lifetime so that I could live in peace, but you can't have everything, I guess.

[za_rodina]

At least you are alive. [There's a sad little glimmer in his eyes as he says that.]

[tsarchasm]

I wish I could say the same for the rest of my family, but it was only me and grandmama.

[za_rodina]

Da, I know. [yup, miserable little note in his voice. It's been decades and it still hurts]

[tsarchasm]

[ she's still unsure about this entire scenario, but it's almost comforting to have someone else who understands exactly how she feels. ]

What … what were they like in your world?

[za_rodina]

Much the same as in yours I suppose. Nicolas I knew the longest, of course, but I knew Alexandra for several years. They were both kind people, good rulers.

[He pauses for a second, smiles a bit.]

Olga and Tatiana were attached at the hip, but they were still so different. Olga caused almost as much trouble as you- my Anastasia that is- caused. So much arguing with her mother. Tatiana, on the other hand was a leader. a little bossy, and just as lovely. Maria was the sweetheart, Nicolas would always say to look to see if she had wings growing. [He laughs fondly.] Alexei was so young, but he was just as kind. If only his parents would have kept from spoiling him, but of course, being the only boy and with his hemophilia that would have been impossible.

And Anastasia. She was...impossible. Such a prankster our Nastenka was. Bossier than Tatiana, lively and mischievous.

[tsarchasm]

Hey. [ she takes offense to that last statement, mister. ] At least I wasn't the one with "The Governess" as a nickname.

The rest of it is almost exactly the same as I remember it, though.

[za_rodina]

True, true. [He laughs at her offense before tilting his head and giving her a curious look.] Do you remember them well? Or just bits and pieces?