Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Would you two please stop!”

Shocked silence fell over the living room as five Queens stopped what they were doing and simultaneously turned their heads to stare at Anna, who had suddenly stood in frustration.

“I’m sorry, who are you talking to?” Jane attempted to break the awkward silence. Anna blinked and stared at her for a moment before sitting back down sheepishly.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Well, who were you talking to?” Kitty inquired softly, looking up from the book she was reading.

“I.... sorry, it doesn’t matter.” Anna shook her head.

“Anna, really, it’s okay. You were obviously talking to someone. We won’t be mad.” Anne set down her phone, a recently acquired device that she and Kitty had decided to test out. She was adapting to modern technology much faster than the other Queens.

“I didn’t mean to sound so aggressive, I just... you and Catalina haven’t even looked at each other since I got here, and it’s a little frustrating. And I just want you to stop avoiding each other. I know that there’s probably a lot of history between you two, but still. I’m sorry, just forget it.”

The past week, since Catalina first showed up, the Queens had been quite obviously doing everything in their power to avoid conflict. There were many hostilities that carried over from their past lives, but they all tried to ignore them and anything that would trigger confrontation, and no one was more dedicated to the cause than Anne and Catalina. They had been blatantly ignoring each other, avoiding even being in the same room, although that proved quite impossible, especially at times like these when Jane suggested that all six Queens spend quality time together. And no one wanted to disagree with Jane, or anyone else for that matter, so they would all sit in the living room and try to ignore the tension in the air.

This wasn’t to say that the Queens were not getting along. No, quite the opposite, in fact. For six women whose only real connection was their ex-husband from five hundred years ago, they got along surprisingly well. Although, part of that could be their aversion to conflict. Still, some obvious friendships had started to bloom in the past week. The most prevalent was probably Kitty and Anne, as neither of them really talked to anyone else except each other, although sometimes Kitty could be found sitting with Anna, just appreciating her presence. Catalina and Cathy had gotten close, and could often be found together, having some deep discussion and/or making fun of the Queen’s newest discovery about modern culture. Jane and Anna were all on fairly good terms with all of the Queens, and were the ones who were most assertive about the importance of forming strong relationships.

The household seemed to be resting on a tipping point, between the honeymoon phase that was settling down and adjusting to their surroundings, and building a solid base on which to grow and thrive in this new life, which included forming actual, long-lasting friendships with each other. Kitty and Anne had begun to branch out and talk to the others, especially Anna and Cathy, although Kitty was really beginning to bond with Jane. They seemed to steer clear of Catalina, her stern demeanour apparently a little too intimidating for the free-spirited cousins. Jane, on the other hand, was spending more and more time with Catalina, having sparked a friendship the day they both awoke. In fact, the only people who did not seem to be making any progress in building a relationship were Catalina and Anne.

“I mean, Anna’s right. You two obviously need to sort this out together if we are to be expected to live together for the foreseeable future. We won’t force you to be best friends, but please, just talk to each other.” Jane set down her knitting to look at the two women, who were both very awkwardly avoiding each other’s gaze from across the room. After a moment of silence, though, Catalina sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“That would probably be for the best” Anne’s eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she whipped around to stare directly at the first Queen.

“Wait, what?!” Catalina stared at her in shock, blinking rapidly. The tense silence that followed was broken by Cathy’s dramatic sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank God. They acknowledge each other’s existence.”

This made Kitty laugh a little, which in turn earned her a soft smile from the final Queen. Jane and Anna rolled their eyes but kept their attention on the two women, who were just staring at each other.

“What do you mean?” Catalina asked evenly, voice too cold to fully convey the diplomatic tone she was going for. Anne just crinkled her eyebrows and tilted her head in curiosity.

“What do you mean, ‘what do I mean?’? I don’t know what *you* mean.”

“I mean... What do you mean? With your whole ‘Wait, what?’ ” Catalina mimicked Anne’s voice, which made the second Queen huff and cross her arms in exasperation.

“I don’t sound like that.”

“Yes you do”

“I do not!”

Anne slammed her hands down on the couch, voice raising in pitch greatly, and Catalina looked ready to fire back before Jane intervened.

“Ladies, come on, you sound like schoolchildren.”

Anne looked down at her hands, taking a breath, before relaxing a little and glancing at Jane.

“Sorry, Jane.”

“Yes, I apologize. I shouldn’t have made such a childish taunt. Jane.” Catalina added the last part to make it extra clear who she was apologizing to, because it sure wasn’t the woman who she was still shooting daggers at with her eyes.

Jane waved vaguely into the air with a sigh of exasperation, a clear sign for them to carry on the conversation. Anne turned back to her predecessor.

“You really think we should talk?”

“Well, yeah.” Catalina shrugged half-heartedly. “We can’t live the rest of our lives avoiding each other, now can we?”

“But I thought you hated me?” Anne’s voice had become uncharacteristically timid very quickly, and her tone made the older Queen do a double take.

“Wait, what?”

Anne just shrugged, looking down at her hands.

“I thought YOU hated ME!” Catalina exclaimed, hands waving wildly to emphasize her words. Anne’s head shot up and the two were once again locked in a silent battle, eyes never leaving the other’s. The remaining four Queens suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

“Should we give them space?” Kitty leaned over and questioned Cathy under her breath. The older Queen just shrugged helplessly and looked over at Jane and Anna. Jane seemed to understand the unspoken question and nodded, gesturing to the girls to follow her.

Anne and Catalina didn’t seem to notice as the four other Queens quietly slipped from the room and into the kitchen. Anna paused in front of the steps and turned to the other three,

“They won’t, like, throttle each other, right?” Her words sounded almost like a joke, but her tone was deadly serious. Jane shook her head.

“No, they don’t actually hate each other.” Kitty turned to the third Queen and tilted her head questioningly.

“They don’t?”

“No” Cathy scoffed slightly. “Catalina told me that she was sure Anne hated her, but she didn’t really blame her for the divorce. She just didn’t want to make Anne uncomfortable.”

“Wait, that’s basically what Anne said.” Kitty laughed softly.

“Exactly.” Jane nodded. “They just needed to talk.”

“Plus,” Cathy added “I doubt The Mysterious Force would let us waste this second chance by dying so soon.”

The ‘Mysterious Force’ was how the Queens had begun to describe whatever had reincarnated them and formed this house, specifically designed for six Tudor Queens. Most of the women were religious, so they associated the Force with God, but, in respect for the more atheistic Queens, the ‘Force’ became the moniker that they referred to when discussing the strange happenings behind their reincarnation.

It had also become the base explanation for anything weird that happened, like when they found a box full of paperwork, birth certificates, passports, and other formalities, on the dining room table one morning. Because of this, Anna just nodded at Cathy’s words, accepting the explanation, and continued upstairs. The other three followed quickly, Jane stopping for a moment to glance back at the two Queens in the living room. She dearly hoped that this would not end in disaster.

Chapter Text

“So... you don’t hate me?”

Anne sounded more nervous than Catalina had ever heard her, this life or the last, nothing like the rambunctious, extroverted woman that got on the first Queen’s nerves more than anyone else in the world.

“No, of course not. Strongly dislike, yes, but not hate.”

“Then why do you always look at me like you would rather be anywhere else but with me.” Anne finally broke eye contact, voice growing cold, unfeeling.

“ ‘Cause I would rather be anywhere else but with you.” Catalina drawled, rolling her eyes. “Perceptive, are we?”

“But you don’t hate me?”

“Doesn’t mean I have to enjoy your presence. You really are incredibly annoying, both now and in the past.” The older woman leaned back and crossed her arms, trying to mask the sudden vulnerability she felt. Despite being the one to agree to this conversation, it still wasn’t pleasant.

“Oh I’m the annoying one?” Anne’s voice rose as she sat up straighter.

“You’re always so sure of yourself, confident that everyone in the room wants you to be there, without taking into account anyone else’s opinions.”

“Funny. I could say the same thing about you.”

“Which one of us waltzed into court, stole another woman’s husband, separated her from her daughter, and ruined her life?” Catalina spat, rising from her chair.

“You think I wanted to marry Henry? Don’t tell me you really believe all those accusations of me being a temptress, a witch!”

The genuine hurt in Anne’s tone caused Catalina to pause. Of course she didn’t believe that. In all honesty, she never thought that Anne purposefully ruined her life. Although, that didn’t stop her from being mad about it.

“Of course not.”

Anne was taken aback at the older woman’s suddenly soft tone, and she stood as well, studying Catalina.

“Good.”

A moment of silence, before-

“Wait, why did you think I hated you?”

Catalina just shrugged, looking away.

“I mean, I obviously don’t like you either. But you’ve never actually done anything to me, not like I did to you, besides sending me death-glares. So I don’t hate you.”

“Good.”

“Good.” Anne echoed.

Another awkward silence.

Eventually, Catalina sighed and sat down on the couch next to Anne. Anne, a little confused, sat back down, but with a large amount of space between her and the other Queen.

“I think there was a lot of miscommunication and assumptions that happened here.”

“Yeah” Anna agreed softly, turning and pulling her legs under her so she could face Catalina.

“Maybe we should just be honest with each other, clear the air, just so we know where we stand.”

“That would probably be for the best.”

Catalina nodded in satisfaction, immensely relieved that they were finally having a civil conversation after all these years.

“I hated you for a short time, back then. All those years I spent contesting the divorce, I blamed you. But once I moved out and had some distance from the situation, I realised that I needed to forgive you.” Catalina shifted so she was looking at Anne, who was listening intently.

“Religiously, I believe I should forgive those who wronged me, and I felt bad, knowing that I hadn’t for so many years. But also, logically, there was nothing I could do. There was a point, I’m not sure when, that I stopped blaming you and started blaming Henry.”

“Me too” Anne sighed. Catalina gave her a questioning look, so she continued. “I just meant, I blamed myself for a long time. I didn’t like that I had taken Mary’s mother away, or that I upset your entire life.”

“Well, I guess we can both agree that it wasn’t your fault, then.” Catalina joked lightly, which, thankfully, got a small smile from Anne.

“Yeah.”

“But, you are still incredibly annoying.”

“Oh, you too.”

The two finally fell into a comfortable silence, mulling over the new information they both just learned. After a few minutes, Catalina spoke again.

“You know, Cathy told me that the reason that we don’t get along is because we are so similar.”

“Really?” Anne scoffed, although there was no malice in her tone.

“Really. And I’ve learned to not doubt Cathy. I kind of see it, too. We are both incredibly, incredibly headstrong and stubborn.” Anne nodded, looking quite proud of this fact.

“But there’s also the fact that you're like a stern, overbearing mother and I’m the outgoing teenage daughter who wants to make your life a living hell, in the best way.”

“She also said something along those lines too, actually.” Catalina laughed, and Anne joined in soon after.

“So, truce?” Anne reached her hand out over the middle of the couch. Catalina looked at it, then back at the younger girl, before reaching it out and accepting the firm, but gentle handshake.

“Truce”