Sanders Sides One Shots: Volume 2 [COMPLETED]

In A Crowd Of Thousands (Prinxiety)

May 16th, 2019
A/N: Pippin went and saw Anastasia last night and now I'm obsessed with it, specifically Dmitry and Anya's love story. Also this song is absolutely gorgeous and I have to make a Prinxiety AU for this because I just HAVE TO. Roman is Anya and Virgil is Dmitry, but the story probably won't make too much sense if you don't know the story of Anastasia. (also I changed the pronouns and stuff for the song but shhh)

Roman lurched awake from a nightmare, terror filling his voice as he yelled out. "The voices!" he screamed, jumping up from his bed as he trembled with fear. The nightmares had been getting worse. Unfamiliar people he was supposed to know but didn't and then they died, calling for him to remember. His voice broke. "The voices!"

"Roman! Roman, what's wrong?" Virgil rushed in, breathing heavily as he took in his disheveled appearance. He was only in a white tank top and pajama pants, similar to what he was wearing. "Are you alright?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. "The voices keep calling to me and I can't remember," he tried to explain. "The flames and the screams-"

"Roman, Roman, it was just a nightmare, that's how they are," he hurried out, taking him into his arms. "You're alright."

The young prince gripped him tightly. There was something about Virgil that made him feel safe and warm, the way he'd been longing to feel for years. He whimpered into his chest. "I'm frightened, please... please stay with me, Virgil..."

He looked shocked at his request but he nodded, guiding him back to the bed. They sat down together and Roman gripped his hands tightly. The conman squeezed them back, locking eyes with him as he felt his cheeks heat up. "Is that better?" he asked shyly. The prince looked uncertain. "Hey... what's bothering you? Aside from the nightmare?"

"It's just... I don't know who I am, Virgil," Roman said, despair in his voice. "Who do you think I am?"

"Well... I'd like to believe you're the little boy I saw once all those years ago," he replied.

Roman gave him a look of confusion that urged him to elaborate. Sighing a little and smiling slightly at the memory, he began his story. "It was June. I was ten. I still think of that day now and then," he sang softly. "A parade, and a boy, and a crowd of thousands..."

"He sat straight, as a king," Virgil said, smiling a little as the young man next to him straightened his posture subconsciously. A small chuckle escaped his lips before he continued, painting the picture of the young prince he once saw."Only eight but so proud and serene. How they cheered, how I stared, in that crowd of thousands."

The conman stood up as though he was being pulled by a force. "Then I started to run and to call out his name as the crowd on the road went wild," he sang, lost in the memory of that summer day. "I reached out with my hand and looked up... and then he smiled."

Roman found a smile spread across his own lips without realizing it as he listened to the story continue.

"The parade, traveled on... with the sun in my eyes, he was gone," Virgil sang. His voice shook a little with sadness as he recalled it. "But if I... were still ten... in that crowd of thousands, I'd find him again."

"You're making me feel I was there too," the young man said as his voice faded out.

He turned to him, smiling a little. "Maybe you were," he said. He shrugged a little as Roman made an expression of skepticism. He sat down next to him again on the bed, flashing a charismatic smirk. "Make it part of your story."

The prince thought about it and smiled a little. "A parade," he started.

"A parade," Virgil echoed encouragingly.

"Passing by..."

The conman nodded and echoed him once more."Passing by."

"It was hot, not a cloud in the sky," Roman sang, trying to picture being the prince and seeing the young version of Virgil in the crowd. A smile spread across his lips at the image. "Then a boy, caught my eye..."

"In a crowd of thousands," they both sang, sharing smiles.

He tried to picture what Virgil would've looked like back then, having grown up with no one and nothing. "He was thin, not too clean," he continued.

"Hey!" Virgil interrupted indignantly.

Giggling at his protest, he ignored him to focus on the fuzzy image his head was creating of this summer day. "There were guards but he dodged in between. Yes he made himself seen... in that crowd of thousands."

Roman suddenly stood up, eyes flying open as he stepped forward, feeling the images suddenly become clear as though they weren't fabricated by his imagination anymore. "Then he called out my name, and he started to run, through the sun and the heat and the crowd. I tried not to smile, but I smiled..." he sang, eyes widening as it all flooded back. "And then he bowed."

"I-I didn't tell you that," Virgil gasped as he jerked to his feet.

His eyes were wide and his face was one of shock as he looked at the young man in a new light. "You didn't have to," Roman said, voice wavering. "I remember!"

They both fell silent. The seconds stretched on, feeling like hours. They stared at each other, relieving the same day from their childhood.

"The parade, traveled on. With the sun in my eyes, you were gone," they both began to sing as they moved toward each other. They clutched each other's arms tightly and refused to let go. "But I knew, even then, in a crowd of thousands, I'd find you again."

They gaze at each other, feeling their hearts accelerate in time as they leaned closer. Virgil suddenly caught himself, pulling away and stepping back to bow to him. "Your highness."