Journey To the Past

Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Summary: What if she hadn't died in that bomb attack? She was a girl who knew only of the world she'd been thrust into; every memory of her past seemed to have been erased... but what happens when she finds an old, torn and faded photograph in her parents' desk? Suddenly, everything she thought she knew, everyone she loved, was nothing but a lie. She had a sister to find, a past to discover, and a part of her soul that desperately needed mending. Set in season four. Established MCGIVA. AU.

A/N: Another new one? I hate the muse... I could kill the muse... I think I just might...

A/N: Sorry, I had to delete the lyrics because of this in my e-mail this morning:

'It has come to our attention that you have many stories that contain copyrighted lyrics. Please note that this is against the site guideline. As such, we are requesting you to remove any and all lyrics from your stories or remove the stories all together. Please do so within the next 48 hours. Failure to comply will result in account deletion.

Thank you for your cooperation'

I understand the whole copyright thing, and I'll comply by removing the lyrics, but I've seen several stories on the site in the last few days (not mine, and I don't remember the titles or the writers) that use lyrics in their stories, and yet, they haven't been asked to be removed. At this point, I'm seriously considering checking ArchiveofourOwn's rules on lyrics and posting this to there. I've also got the original drafts on a word document on my laptop, lyrics and all...

"Play it again, sister! Please?" The older girl laughed, and took a seat at the piano.

"Are you sure you want me to play this song and not the other?" She nodded.

"Ken! It is my absolute favorite song! Please?" A moment passed, before the girl took a seat at the piano, and began to play, seemingly from memory. Her voice soon joined in, her soft mezzo building in volume as the lyrics to the Fox animated movie about the missing Russian princess.

The ringing of her alarm clock jarred her suddenly from her dream, and dark eyes snapped open. She groaned softly, reaching out and turning the clock off before she sat up, running a hand through her dark hair. After glancing at her alarm clock and realizing that it was a little after four in the morning, she pushed herself out of bed, heading for the bathroom. "What time is it?" She stopped in the bathroom doorway, turning back to the occupant of the second bed in the room.

"Four-ten."

The other person groaned, grabbing a pillow and pressing it over their face. "Why you get up so early?" The other girl rolled her eyes at the muffled question. With a shake of her head, she headed into the bathroom she shared with her roommate.

"Because I run in the morning. It's called a routine, Emily. And no one's asking you to do it. Go back to sleep. I'll be back before classes start." She got no reply, and shut the door. Quickly, she brushed her teeth and washed her face, figuring she'd take a shower when she returned to the dorm. Unlike most of the dorm rooms on Waverly's campus, the one she and Emily shared was in the newer section of the school- complete with a small kitchenette area and its own, spacious bathroom. She quickly pulled her hair into a high ponytail and then slipped out of the room, going to her closet and changing into her running clothes. Once she'd tied her shoes, she grabbed her iPod and slipped it into the holder on her arm, and then grabbed her room key and her wallet. She always stopped for coffee on her way back from her run- there was this small café, midway between Georgetown and Silver Springs, where Waverly was located- that she always frequented, while on a run or not. "I'm goin' out, Em. Try to wake up before-" She stopped, sighing, realizing that the lump on the bed adjacent her hadn't responded or heard a word she'd said. Sighing in annoyance she reached out, smacking the lump on the thigh.

"Ow! Wha' the hell, T?" Emily pulled her pillow off her head and looked up at her.

"I'm goin' out. Try to wake up before I get back, okay? We have class at seven-thirty, remember? I'll bring coffee." The other girl waved her away, groaning before going back to sleep. Once the door closed behind her, she put her headphones into her ears, turned on her music, and then pulled on her yellow windbreaker, dashing down the steps and out of the building before heading across campus.

Her feet led her down her usual route towards the bridge that spanned the distance between Georgetown and Silver Springs; other runners and joggers were already there, running together or by themselves. Men and women in bright windbreakers so that cars would see them in the darkness. As she picked up her pace, she heard the opening notes of a song that sent her careening to a stop. "Heart, don't fail me now!"

She quickly unzipped her windbreaker and tugged it down, revealing her iPod. Pressing a couple buttons, she pulled up the song title; it was one from an old animated movie that'd come out in the late nineties.

Anastasia.

The fictional story of the missing Russian Grand Duchess, youngest child of the last Tsar. It had been years since she'd seen the movie, but if she remembered correctly, the girl, Anya, had lost her memory, and had gone on a search for her family, falling in love with a conman and stopping an evil sorcerer along the way. For some strange reason, she'd always identified with Anya, though why, she never knew.

She had a loving, wonderful family; a mother and father who lived in Alexandria, in a beautiful little Victorian gingerbread house with three floors, blue trim, and a small wraparound porch that her parents had bought before she was even born. There was a spacious backyard with a tire swing that she loved, and a rose garden that her mother had planted when they were first married.

She had good friends; in fact, Emily wasn't just her roommate, but her best friend- they'd known each other for years, and knew each other so well they could finish each others' sentences or read the other's thoughts. Emily was the closest thing she had to a sister. She'd always wanted a sister, and for years, had hoped that her parents would tell her she had an older sister, gone off to college before she was born, but sadly, she was an only child.

After a moment, she shook herself and pulled her windbreaker back on, continuing on her run. As she entered the park, someone passed by her; they caused her to stop and watch as the person passed. A young woman, maybe a couple years older than her, in a matching yellow windbreaker, hair in a messy ponytail. As she herself stopped, the woman she was watching looked up, meeting her gaze. She possessed the same dark eyes; it was... almost as if she were looking into a mirror. The woman stopped, dark eyes widening in shock-

"Zi! Come on!" Both turned, to see a man waiting near the bridge, dressed in a bright green windbreaker. "We have just enough time to get another lap in before we have to report to Gibbs!" The older woman glanced back at her, before rushing to catch up.

"I'm coming!" And just like that, she was gone, fading away into the distance with her running partner like the last remnants of a dream.