A/N: Greenfield again, but this is the last one for now, honest! Another George and Elizabeth. Please review!
She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child, but she's always a woman to me
His memories of Elizabeth could sustain him a lifetime. George considered this as he sat alone in the Tower. The loneliness was driving him insane, making his thoughts spin and whirr uselessly inside his head. He wanted company; he wanted Elizabeth. They had rarely ever spent a night apart, and he longed for her now more than ever.
But she could not come. So he conjured her, like a magician, like a witch, from his memory. His Elizabeth.
He recalled the first time that she had smiled at him after their five years apart, making him fall in love with her all over again. She had stepped down from her carriage and smiled the smile that could start a war, and he had melted. Her bright eyes had widened, almost imperceptibly, at the sight of him, and although she would not admit it for another whole year, he had known on that day that she loved him too. She had changed him for the better, he knew that, and he admired her for it. He could still remember the light in her eyes that day she had handed him her ill-gotten copy of William Tyndale's New Testament and told him that she was a heretic. Within days, he was one too. She had always had an influence over him, even when they were children playing hide and seek in the fields of Hever.
She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth, but she'll never believe you
And she'll take what you give her as long it's free
Yeah, She steals like a thief, but she's always a woman to me
He loved her so much, and after tomorrow he would never see her again. His beautiful rose, his angel, his jewel. He recalled all the times that she had rejected such nicknames, calling them silly. He knew that it was really because it embarrassed her, so he did it more often, their secret notes to each other becoming so flamboyant that eventually a whole page of parchment could be filled when only a simple yes or no had been required. He remembered her once inquiring as to whether he had ever called another woman such names, and how surprised and sceptical she was when he replied with a no. She only relented after he spent hours persuading her that night in bed, until she screamed her forgiveness with her nails clawing at his chest.
Ohhh... she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants, she's ahead of her time
Ohhh... and she never gives out
And she never gives in, she just changes her mind
He thought that maybe in the future – maybe when his little niece Elizabeth was Queen of England – all women would be like his Elizabeth. All women would one day be clever and witty and sparkling and beautiful. All women would stand their ground and fight back whenever something angered them or hurt them, and maybe one day women would learn to protect themselves more from harm – the one thing his Elizabeth had never achieved.
And she'll promise you more than the garden of Eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you and laugh while you're bleeding
But she'll bring out the best and the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself 'cause she's always a woman to me
During the year that he had wanted her, desired her, dreamed of taking her every night for the rest of his life, she had seemed like an exotic flower straight from the garden of Eden. With most women, after the chase, they became dull and wifely. But not his Elizabeth. She was even more exotic than he had expected, she was bold and fierce and completely shameless. She had bought out the animal in him, and, more surprisingly, the poet and the romantic. Of course they argued, what self-respecting couple did not? But they could never be angry for long. They loved each other too much to be angry for long.
God, he was going to miss her.
Ohhh... she takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants, she's ahead of her time
Ohhh... and she never gives out
And she never gives in, she just changes her mind
She's frequently kind and she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool
And she can't be convicted, she's earned her degree
And the most she will do is throw shadows at you,
But she's always a woman to me