What is Needed But Unexpected

past and present

"I can't believe Katherine would say that. I mean, she seems like a sweet girl." 

Anne sighed as she glanced over at Maggie. Who was sitting on the other side of the bed.

"She is...Usually. besides, I doubt she thought it would bother me that much." Anne answered before closing her eyes, trying not to think about the events of the day or the fact that she had a panic attack in a public bathroom of all places.

"Yeah but she still really hurt you and that isn't right." Maggie responded, earning a sigh.

"I know she didn't mean it. To be honest I shouldn't have let it bother me so much." 

Anne replied, squeezing her eyes shut as she heard the voice of Thomas Howard ringing out as it read her verdict. She could feel her scar burning with phantom pains, however as she moved to run her hands across its raised surface, Maggie grabbed her hands.

"Anne, come on. Focus on me, okay? We're in a flat in twenty first century London, remember? Henry can't hurt you now."

It took several minutes for the tightness in Anne's chest to lessen, or the voices of the crowd to fade from her ears.

"Sorry. You shouldn't be dealing with my shit. I mean, all I did was die. You had to stand there and watch the whole thing." She mumbled, earning a glare from the younger woman.

"Don't. You don't get to downplay what happened to you, Anne. They falsely accused you, made you seem like some kind of devil and had you killed just because of Henry's own damn ego. He didn't even have the nerve to tell his daughter what happened and left that up to her nurse." Maggie responded,  watching as her former mistress's face contorted at the mention of Elizabeth.

"That's the one thing I regret," Anne began, closing her eyes as the tears finally slipped through her resolved "not being able to be there for my daughter. She probably couldn't even remember me...and if she did she must have hated me after what she was taught about me."

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"It's obvious Katherine didn't mean to hurt. I mean did you see the look on her face when Bessie told her what happened?" Jane said, earning a sigh from Aragon.

"Yeah but honestly the girl has been trying our patience for at least a few weeks now. This isn't just a bout of teenage attitude, there is something going on with her that she isn't telling anyone." Aragon sighed, glancing over at Anna and Parr, who both seemed lost in thought.

"You two are the ones closest to her besides Anne, did she tell either of you anything?" 

Anna sighed and shrugged.

"Not really? I mean she seemed kinda jumpy for a while after that whole sneaking out before seven AM that day you were the one who found her but other than that? I've not noticed anything."  Anna answered.

Aragon pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to figure out how to approach this whole topic with the girl. Mary had been far less fragile after all and she wasn't sure if she could handle an emotional teenager.

"I'm going for a walk...Just try not to be too hard on her, she has a good heart underneath everything that she has done lately." Anna said and Aragon could hear the sound of the chair scraping against the tiled floor of the kitchen.

It didn't surprise Catherine that her goddaughter followed do behind the German, although a door upstairs shut a moment later, signalling that she had retreat to her room.

"I'll go talk to her. I can keep myself calm out of the two of us." Jane said after a while, earning a sigh from Aragon.

"Thank you. The less teenage attitude I have to handle, the better."

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What could be bothering Kitty that much? Why is she acting so out of character? Anna wondered as she made her way down the street and toward the empty park, eager to get the farthest away from their flat as she could before the shouting started.

She hadn't gotten very far when suddenly a loud bark came from behind her before she suddenly found herself linens under a massive weight of short black fur and a pink tongue that was lapping at her face.

Dazed, it took her a minute before she realized what had even happened, although thankful she had landed on the grass instead of pavement.

Then she saw the collar the dog wore, so uncommon for the time period and embedded with gold design and she instantly teared up.

"Falk?" 

The dog leaped onto her again, tail going even faster now at the sound of its name.