A/N: Seriously, Showtime owns the Tudors, history owns the historical facts, and I just own Elisabeth, her kids and my plot.
Summary: she who died before her time.

Isabella

Isabella always thought Mother needed more joy in her life. Yes, she did smile, and laugh, and joke, and everything in between, but most of the time, her mind was taken up with her duties. She felt fortunate being last in line to inherit.

It was in this everyone said she was more like her Aunt Maria. Even from a young age, they explained, her mother was a very serious person, who took her work as a top priority. Then again, Bella supposed being named heir to the throne with all it entails at six, and becoming Queen at eleven had to have some kind of impact on her nature.

Harry, though reckless, was also serious; some said it was his inherent nature, gotten from Mother. She thought it was just the crown's burden. And thanked God everyday that she did not inherit anything unless terrible tragedy struck.

It was for this she was considered her mother's 'joy'.

But she'd also been sickly as a babe, easily catching chills that meant she had to be very much pampered until she was at least four.

Bella was only six at the time of the Bedfordshire Plot and preferred sticking to her aunt's skirts when Mother doled out the punishments. It was scary, to think that her mother and siblings and she herself were to be killed, that her grandmother was killed, all because of Bessie Blount wanting her son to inherit the throne, the former Duke of Buckingham wanting to be King, and was stopped because Amy Blount was not a willing participant. Her six-year-old mind couldn't truly understand why Mother had suddenly turned so terrifying, but when they were alone, the relieved smiles and tight hugs took away all that fear she had.

It was her name, she was told, that held a lot of weight on her shoulders.

"Your name is Isabella, after your great-grandmother." Lady Anne explained, "Isabella of Castile was one of the greatest queens in history."

"Like Mother?" she asked.

"Somewhat. Your grandmother, Queen Mother Katherine, had always longed to make her proud, and your mother, as a child, had strived to be just like her. Queen Isabella was bestowed with the title of 'the Catholic' by His Holiness, Pope Alexander VI, and had to fight tooth and nail to keep her throne and let others know she was worthy of it; and she won in that quest. She even conquered Granada with her husband and co-ruler, King Ferdinand II."

She had run immediately to her grandmother then, and questioned her on everything about her namesake. Of course, as it were, asking Queen Isabella's daughter about her would obviously give Bella a partial perspective, but then, when it came to ancestors, what royal family didn't give partial perspectives?

And, after that particular conversation, as far as the princess was concerned, Queen Isabel of Castile was one of the greatest queens of history – after Mother, of course. No one could beat Mother in that department, just as Tori and all her other siblings told her. So what if the woman herself didn't like agreeing to the point? That was her own modesty, like Aunt Maria taught her.

Being the so-called 'baby' of the family (though Bella always insisted she was a 'big girl'), Mother was loathe to betroth her and tried to put it off as much as possible. Though, with the habit of eavesdropping that the Tudor children had developed (their grandmother had blamed the late Princess Mary, younger sister of their grandfather), Isabella had overheard talks of a marriage within the Low Countries – something her mother dismissed for herself in favour of Portugal.

Not that she was very favourable to getting married: she wanted to stay here in England, with her family, all her life. At least they didn't expect her to follow this rule or speak that way, like all the ambassadors did. A stark example was what happened one time the children came from Hatfield for Yuletide celebrations:

"Mother!" forgetting every single royal protocol ever created, Isabella ran to her mother, dark hair flying. A testament to Mother's strength even after so many years and children was that she managed to pick the princess up.

"Now," she chided, though there was a small smile on her face, "What have I told you about running?"

"To not run in the halls..." Isabella mumbled.

"And what did you do?"

"Run in the halls...?"

Mother sighed; "I am not cross, Isa. It is only that I worry,"

Responding to this, Isabella apologized for worrying her. The girl didn't really understand why her father was trying to cover his laughs or why her mother rolled her eyes.

Elisabeth

Everyone said that it was just stomach flu, and that she'd recover.

But being from the future had certain drawbacks (or my opinion considered it a drawback), so I knew better. I had never been a medical student, I'll admit to that. In fact, I was only mediocre at biology – it was arts that I could say that yes, I was satisfactory at it (my copied music and plays were evidence), but the place where I excelled at was business and entrepreneurship. Maybe that was why I managed to do an okay job at ruling. Who knows?

Even then, basic signs and symptoms were easy to recognize.

Without being asked to, the Spanish flu entered my mind. It really was ironic how my daughter was named after a Spanish Queen and got infected by what would be known as the Spanish flu. Damn this time period.

I could conquer more than half of France, I could save a dynasty from its own fate, I could modernize (at least partially) 16th century England, I could be written down in history as one of the greatest English monarchs, but I couldn't save my own daughter from death by influenza because of lack of proper treatment.

Changing the world, I could do, I did do, regularly. But stopping death? No. That just wasn't in my power, apparently.

Father, Aunt Mary, Mother, and now Isabella...

(I don't know how long I sat crying in my study).

Damn you, Melusina.

3rd Person

Here lies Isabella,
Ninth child of Elisabeth Queen of England, Ireland and France, and the most noble Prince Edward her consort,
Who was born on the fifth day of the month of August in the year of Our Lord 1537,
And who died on the eighth day of the month of July in the year of Our Lord 1545,
Upon whose soul may God have mercy.
Amen.

And yet, in death, her wish of staying with her family all her life was granted, though that life was cut too short.

A/N: Okay, fine, I'll admit it got depressing, or at least sad towards the end, but well, we have to acknowledge the lack of medical knowledge in that time as well as the mortality rates. If one searches a lot, there are a bunch of royal kids who died early due to diseases, and I can't just make Lisa magically lucky – hardships in her 'line of work' so to speak are expected.

In other news, yes, I'm alive! Yay! I know it's been more than two months, and I am really, really sorry about that! Hey- hey, stop throwing tomatoes at me- no, no, don't pelt me with banana peels-! *hides behind a door and starts speaking from a hole, for a chance at relative safety* I love this story with all my heart, and I'm not going to abandon it, I swear! Thank you for bearing with me, you're all awesome.

Over and out

~ Arty