Anastasia x Dimitri

Anastasia x Dimitri is the het ship between Anastasia and Dimitri from the Anastasia fandom.

Canon
Anastasia and Dimitri have known each other since they were children. Anastasia was a duchess, and the youngest daughter of the Tsar Nicholas Romanov, Emperor of Russia. Meanwhile, Dimitri was the servant of her family. When Rasputin interrupts the party the Tsar and his family were having at the palace, all of Anastasia's family have to escape the place. When Anastasia realizes she forgot the music box her grandmother gave her, she parts ways with her to collect her music box from her room. Her grandmother goes after her, but the two of them get caught up in the chaos and can't get out. So that's when they are both rescued by little Dimitri, who puts his life at risk to help them escape through a secret passageway. Some soldiers knock Dimitri unconscious, and he falls next to the fallen music box. But Marie and Anastasia manage to escape and arrive at the train station, where Marie manages to board. Anastasia tries to climb up holding her hand, but she ends up falling on the platform, hitting her head and becoming amnesiac.

Ten years later, since Anastasia is still missing, her grandmother, established in Paris, has offered a reward of ten million rubles to whoever brings back her granddaughter alive. Dimitri is already twenty years old and has become a con man with his colleague, Vlad. He still keeps the music box with him and plans to find a person who looks like Anastasia, to bring her to Marie with the music box as evidence, so that he can collect the reward. Anastasia has just turned eighteen, is still amnesiac and goes by the name Anya. The only memento that she still keeps with her is the key to the music box, plus the phrase “together in Paris” that she still remembers. She must leave the orphanage where she has lived, and decides to follow the clues she has to Paris. However, she cannot leave Russia without a visa, and an old woman recommends that she goes to Dimitri who lives in the abandoned Palace. There, Dimitri is auditioning to select the imposter to pose as Anastasia, but with no luck.

Dimitri finds her and notices Anya's resemblance to Anastasia, and discovering her amnesia, he encourages her to come with them to Paris, provided she is willing to accept the possibility that she is actually Anastasia. So the two of them, alongside Vlad, leave for Paris by train, and on the way there, the train gets attacked so they have to jump off the train before it crashes when the bridge gets destroyed. The three continue to Germany to catch a ship to France, and Anastasia discovers their plan to introduce her to the Dowager Empress Marie (her grandmother) as Anastasia. Anastasia is firmly against this at first, but Vlad makes her see that she has nothing to lose by trying, so she undergoes history and protocol lessons to give the right image of "the real Anastasia." After taking the boat to Paris, Vlad realizes that Dimitri and Anastasia have begun to fall in love. In the cabin, Anya spots the music box, which both Dimitri and Vlad consider to be a jewelry box. Anastasia gets hypnotized into jumping the ship during a storm, but Dimitri manages to get there in time to save her.

Once they arrive in Paris, Vlad manages to introduce Anya as Anastasia. Sophie, Marie's cousin, subjects her to a harsh interview, during which Anya recalls how a boy helped her escape through a wall. Hearing this, Dimitri realizes that Anya is really Anastasia. Sophie takes them shopping in Paris, and then arranges a meeting with Marie at the opera. Before entering, Dimitri explains to Vlad that they have accompanied the real Anastasia the entire trip, but that she will leave her life, since servants do not marry Princesses. When Marie refuses to see Anya, she reveals that she has heard of Dimitri, since rumors have reached her that he was looking for someone similar to Anastasia in Saint Petersburg. Anastasia listens to the conversation and discovers that she has been used. Dimitri tries to convince her to no avail, revealing that he was the boy who helped her escape. But Anastasia leaves, so Dimitri steals Marie's car from her chauffeur to drive her to Anastasia, showing her the music box she has kept. Marie introduces herself to Anastasia, who surprises her with a personal memory of her. Anastasia then opens the music box with her key and retrieves her memories.

Marie is hosting a party to introduce Anastasia to the public, and recognizes Dimitri as the young man who saved them. So she offers him the promised reward and her gratitude, but Dimitri decides not to accept the money. Marie realizes that Dimitri has fallen in love with Anastasia, as they coldly say goodbye to each other. During the party, Marie reveals to Anastasia that Dimitri did not accept the reward, and assures her that she will always love her, whatever she chooses. Not knowing what to do, Anastasia falls into a trap set by Rasputin, who is about to kill her by collapsing the bridge where she is. Dimitri appears at that moment to save her. After this, Anastasia choses to elope with Dimitri rather than attend her grandmother's celebration. While departing on a boat, the two finally have their moment together, dancing and kissing.

Fanon
is the most popular ship in the Anastasia fandom. Fans of the ship love the fresh way their relationship develops throughout the movie. They often compare this ship to other Disney ships, commenting about how this ship is portrayed "in a better way." Fans of this ship have also found similarities between this ship and Jack and Rose's relationship in Titanic. The ship currently has 400+ works on AO3.

Fandom
FAN FICTION