Over the Rainbow

Disclaimer: I am not a Theologian, a Historian, or a TV Producer; I therefore do not own any thing. I am also not a singer, Judy Garland and The Wizard of Oz own "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Pairing: Thomas Cromwell/ Elizabeth Wyckes Cromwell, Angst.

Summary: 471 Years ago, July 28th, Thomas Cromwell was put to death at leisure of the King.
There is nothing I can write that is a fitting tribute to the man, but I tried.

"Mama, Mama!" The chilled night was split by the pained cries of their youngest – only child. They sounded so like the cries months ago that singled heartbreak and pain that terror flooded Thomas as he followed Elizabeth on winged bare feet as she dashed to comfort her child. The gift God had yet to call to him.

"Gregory, mi fili," she whispered comfortingly, feeling for a fever, her hand visibly shaking. Thomas held his breath, on a knife's edge. "Laus Deo!" all tension in the room dissipated as Elizabeth turned shining blue eyes to her husband weak with relief. He was well.

"Gregory child, what is the matter?" Thomas asked, reaching to feel his son's forehead for himself.

"I miss Dria," he said tearfully, "I miss Alexandria, I miss my sister."

"Oh Gregory," Elizabeth said brokenly. They had not but two months ago laid their beautiful daughter to her final, eternal resting place. She sank on to his bed and cuddled him close, Thomas wrapping them both in his arms. Coping was hard, neither parent understood how God could be so cruel, but they had seen death before. This was Gregory's first taste of sorrow at an age in which he was too young to understand. They were all too young to understand. They would never recover fully from this loss. Thomas could feel Elizabeth taking a deep, trembling breath.

"Alexandria is with God now; she is in a wonderful place. One day we will see her again and we will rejoice."

"Why can't I see her now? Where is she? Where is heaven?" if his heart wasn't breaking Thomas would laugh at how earnest and curious his son was so young, a lawyer for sure.

"Heaven is…." How could Elizabeth respond when she herself was questioning so much.

Somewhere over the Rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
once in a Lullaby

When Elizabeth left him, taken far before her time by some damn daemon disease. It rained nonstop for a month. The sky pouring forth tears a tenth as pained as the sorrow in his heart. He was older now, as was Gregory and he still could not answer 'why'. Why God would take his angel, all the good in his life, his savior, the mother of his children. Why God did not allow him to lay down and die beside her. Why he should live while the most perfect woman in the world went through a pain he could not take away and then wasted away before his eyes until she passed on. Out of pain but out of his life.

Even when the rain stopped and he could stomach food again, gaining back, slowly, the fifteen pounds he lost in his despair, the skies were never blue again. No color was ever vivid again. Without her to experience life with his senses were dull.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
and the dreams that you dare to dream
really do come true

Nights, as he bedded down with all his quills and ink instead of his wife and family he would look to the stars. He would wish, and as he drifted off to sleep he would dream that one day he would be with his complete family again. Every day he would work so that he could lay his head down and in sleep dream. The stress of the day would melt away as by night Elizabeth, Alexandria and Margaret would join him. His daughters beautiful women, like their mother. Elizabeth by his side, helping him make legislation, talking to him – listening to him in a way no one at court did. She made him laugh, if only for a short time in his dreams. He would awake with clarity and a burning desire to return to Nyx. One day, one day it wouldn't be a dream. He just had to work until that day.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

A bluebird landed on his tower window sill. Its singing roused him from his letters and morbid musings. He looked up… the bird looked at him and then flew away, taking with it his last shreds of hope. He was going to die. He sat his quill aside and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Thomas." He looked up and saw Elizabeth sitting regally on his bed. She was as beautiful as ever and so real, her eyes shining in the dim light.

"You did warn me that men went mad in the tower. You're not real. You're not here." He said dryly. Elizabeth threw her golden-haired head back and laughed loudly.

"Sweetheart, I've always been there. I said I would be with you forever; I never left your side. I am here to help you; I don't want you to be afraid. I am with you." He reached out for her, tried to touch her again. Before his eyes she disappeared, in her place a beautiful bluebird, the color of his love's eyes. It chirped and flew by him and out the open window.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then oh why can't I?

Thomas Cromwell ascended the scaffold, his hands bound before him, his heart surprisingly light. He was to die, it was not how he wished to go. How he would have chosen to die. But he would be with Elizabeth again. He would see his daughters again. He was afraid to die and yet as he watched as a bluebird settled on Gregory's shoulder. He knew he was ready.

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why oh why can't I?

"Daddy! Daddy!" Gregory's young son tugged at his sleeve that solemn night. "Daddy, where is Grandpapa?" With a sad sort of smile he lifted Harry into his lap and recalled the words his mother told him so long ago.

… There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby…