What is Needed But Unexpected

witch bitch

"Are you sure you're okay?" 

Anne closed her eyes as she tried to block out the shouts of witch that echoed in her mind. Sure, she would admit she could be a bit bitchy but having the word yelled in her face—and by her cousin, no less—Certainly brought back memories that Anne Boleyn definitely didn't want.

"Oh bugger off Aragon. I don't need pity." She grumbled before downing her shot before leaving the table.

"She is definitely not okay." Maria muttered, earning a sigh from everyone else.

"What happened?" Maggie questioned, turning her full attention to the queens who just exchanged looks before Catherine of Aragon spoke again.

"Howard has been in a bit of a strange place lately and for whatever forsaken reason, her mix matched personality and Anne's temper clashed and it ended with Kat calling her a bitch….and Anne's been weird since."

Maggie groaned aloud at the explanation.

"I'll go talk to her. I think I know what's going on."

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"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Katherine offered, watching as Parr prepared dinner.

"I'm sure. How about this, I cook and you can do the dishes?" Parr responded, not even turning to look at the teenager who was sitting on the counter.

"Tonight was Anne's night." Katherine began, only to trail off before correcting herself "Alright. I owe Anne that much."  

An uneasy silence passed over them before Parr spoke again

"Did something happen? I thought you were planning on going with them?" 

Katherine didn't speak for several minutes, gaze gluing itself to the floor as her own words repeated back through her mind. How could she have been so rude to Anne when Anne had gone out of her way to be kind to her? How many nights did she wake Anne up just because she could feel the phantom hands on her?

"Me and Anne got in a fight…And I said some things."

She confessed finally, her voice dropping to almost a whisper as she said things. 

"I'm sure whatever you said, Anne will forgive you. She always does." 

Parr assured although Katherine couldn't be so sure.

"What if she doesn't? What if I…" 

A hand laying across her shoulder stopped her before she could finish her sentence. She half expected the older Catherine to scold her, or to tell her it was her own fault that she messed up. However, none of that came and instead she heard

"Kid, Boleyn loves you and while she is quick tempered, sarcastic and sometimes just plain out mean she would never stay mad at you." 

Katherine wanted to argue, she wanted to remind the woman of all the times she had messed up but the words died in her throat when she risked a glance up at her, seeing compassion in the expression where she had expected to see irritation.

"What if…."

She began but couldn't bring herself to say it. Despite knowing that eventually they would grow tired of her and cast her aside, that she had wanted to at least give them a legitimate reason to do so, but the thought of being alone again—especially in this still unfamiliar world—scared her to death.

"Hey," Parr's voice took on a slightly firm edge as she gingerly lifted the girl's chin to look at her "none of that. No one is going to hate you or whatever is going on in that mind of yours. No matter what, you have people here that care." 

Katherine couldn't keep the tears from stinging her eyes as she hears this. Could it be true? Could they really care so much? She had wanted nothing more but a real friend back then, a real support system, people who cared. Could these women, these former queens actually care? Even after everything she had done that had irritated them?

One part of her couldn't believe it, after all isn't that what everyone else had said? However, another part of her dared to hope that this wasn't so ploy to use her in some way—a way to gain her trust before letting her fall.

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"Annie, are you okay?" 

Anne closed her eyes as she leaned back against the stall, trying to keep her thoughts from running wild. From recalling the sheer look of disgust on her uncle—katherine's father—face as he read the verdict aloud to the courts. People she had believed to have been friends had betrayed her, lied to incriminate her.

Gotten her killed.

She wanted to blame Jane for the whole lot of it but it came down to one thing.

The people who had claimed to care about her had turned on her in the drop of a pin.

"I'm fine Maggie, Just need to collect my thoughts." She managed a response, trying not to throw up as their voices—and some voices shouting at the scaffold—replayed through her mind.

Witch.

Whore.

Royal Prostitute.

Traitor.

She remembered the crowd growing quiet during her execution, how the swordsman even seemed to falter in his task. 

She remembered the pain, white hot and numbing.

She remembered the sound of crying.

Then darkness.

Suddenly her stomach lurched and she collapsed on her knees on the dirty tile in front of the toilet, uncaring about where she was as she tried to contain the contents of her stomach.

Her choker suddenly felt too tight, as if it was choking her and she gasped for air, hands struggling back to remove it.

She didn't hear the bathroom stall open nor did she feel the clasp of the necklace breaking under her hands but she did feel the feather light touch on her arm.

"Annie, it's okay...You're okay. Just breathe with me alright? You're safe. No one is going to hurt you here."

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Katherine knew that something was wrong when everyone came home, Maggie and Aragon leading Anne straight toward the stairs.

"What happened?" She couldn't help but ask, her heart sinking at the retreating, pale form of her older cousin. 

"Whatever you said to her, really set her back." Bessie said bluntly

"W-what?" 

Kaherine felt her heart drop at the words and glanced over at Anna and Jane who exchanged looks.

"I wouldn't say that exactly but she hasn't been herself since." Anna confessed after a few minutes.

Katherine felt like she was going to be sick. She hadn't meant to hurt Anne like that, it had been just an off-hand comment really, nothing more.

Yet she had hurt the only family she had left.