Heyy you all! I'm back with another chapter. I honestly can't believe that we're already by chapter 7. Yeah well I hope you all like this chapter as much as you liked the previous ones. I also wanted to say that without the help of a lot of music {especially 'Another Love' by Tom Odell, 'Youth' by Daughter and All Gone (no escape) by Gustavo Santaolalla}. Anyways I hope you have fun reading this chapter and I hope you are all excited to see what is in the box from the previous chapter ;). Plus I hope you liked how I protrait Hnery as a Father. I didn't really know how to write him since we saw so little from Hnery as a Father but I still hope that you all like how i wrote him here.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Reign' and I don't make profit out of this Story.

Chapter 7

The sun was setting, the heavy rain that told of the storm they were due to get was now starting to more than occasionally drip onto the roof of the castle, and it eventually got so bad (it was truly coming down at that point) that, after a short amount of time everything was nearly completely dark. Henry, who was on his way to the royal nursery looked briefly out of the several windows on his way to the nursery. He hadn't seen his children since nearly two weeks now. He felt ashamed for not visiting them earlier, he was a terrible father, he really was.

But he wanted to change and with this thought, King Henry II of France went around the last corner and made his way to his little children.

But before entering the nursery, he suddenly stopped, a wave of guilt washed over him. Why did he never care to visit the nursery before? Those where his children and he loved them all, he cared about them but why didn't he visit them more regularly? Was it because he cared more about his mistresses at this time than about his own children? Was he really such a terrible father? And what would his children think if he would enter their rooms so very suddenly? What did Catherine tell them about him, did she tell them about their father? Sure she would...or would she?

Shaking slightly his head Henry tried to forget about the wave of guilt and entered the nursery. He slowly opened the big wooden door and saw his two boys Charles and little Henry playing on the floor with some wooden soldiers, his little princess Margot was currently playing with some of her dolls and his youngest son Hercule seemed to take a nap, he was such an energetic toddler for his age of three.

At first the children didn't see their father standing in the doorway but when Margot decided to look up from her little game, and saw her father she led out a joyful cry and ran to her fathers arms, and with this Charles and little Henry did the same.

" father, did you come to visit us?" asked his blond haired son.

"Yes, my dear.I came to visit you all and play a bit with the three of you if this is okay."

"Yess it's amazing" came the direct reply from them all.

"So what would you like to play!"

And with this the three royal children listed off a whole series of games from tea party to hide and seek. Unfortunately they couldn't go out since it was still raining a lot but the children were all so happy that they forgot about the bad weather and just concentrated about their visiting father.

"What about I spy with my little eye?" Came the question from their father and all three happily said yes. And with this the all begann to play.

—-

At the same time in Catherine's rooms.

Francis and she finished their tea one and a half hour ago and she didn't dare to open the wooden box from Henry yet. She knew it couldn't be something very special since he never did that but on the other hand she hoped that once in her life she was wrong and it was something different than a pretty trinket.

Slowly the queen of France walked over to her office and to her big wooden desk where she placed the box when her golden child Francis gave it to her.

When she reached the desk and sat down and placed the box before her. Sliding with her fingers over her coat of arms that had been carved on the centre of the box's lid. She then took a big breath and slowly opened the box. What she found in it wasn't what she suspected. She was shocked, but also slightly happy that she was indeed wrong and Henry seemed to care a bit more about her than about his damn whores..at least for the time being.

In the box lay a letter, several letters. All by Henry for her, and for her only. She slowly took one of the letters which seemed to be the one she should begin with since it was the only one which started with 'dear Caterina' it was strange to read her original name instead of Catherine. She didn't read nor heard someone saying her birth name since nearly two decades. In their early years of marriage Henry always called her by her birth name but that changed...like so many things that changed over the years. She shook herself out of her wandering thoughts and started reading the beginning of the letter from her beloved husband.

'From the moment I first saw you, my heart beats a thousand times that I could hardly breathe. I still remember very clearly our first meeting and how you took my breath away when you walked out of the carriage. From the first time I spoke to you, I wanted to tell you that I loved you but i didn't because I was too afraid of any rejection...'

She didn't even got through the half of the first letter and she was already shocked. Catherine froze on her spot and couldn't believe what she was reading.

She surely shouldn't be doing this, she chastised herself silently as she sat at the big wooden desk in her office. She really shouldn't be doing this.

Sitting there, the letter from her husband in both of her hands, she didn't know if she wanted to continue to read it, if she would be able to save her heart from him. She loved him, she really did but she could not allow herself to be broken again. She knew if he would leave her again, what he would certainly do since he always did that, she would not survive it this time. He humiliated her more times than she could even count, he broke her heart and he let her go through so much pain but still...she loved him. But it also wasn't everything his fault that their relationship broke in the first place. She too, hurt him by pushing him out of her life and hiding her feelings from him when the pressure of producing an heir, so many years ago, got too big. She drove him away from her in the first place...

Unable to sit any longer Catherine stood up from her desk, the letters still in her hand, and walked towards the window.

She'd arrived at her window, looking outside, wondering how she'd come here. Just a few months or in better words weeks ago, Henry was ignoring her most of the time. He had his plaything Kenna, and he had Diane...he even wanted to kill her a few months before, he threw her into the tower and let her be humiliated by so many people, not only he himself humiliated her, also Mary and her lady's in waiting, she even brought disgrace over her own family...and now she was here, wondering if maybe this time his motives could be sincere and true. Wondering if maybe this time he would stay by her side and only by her side as a faithful husband and father. Slowly she looked again at the letter.

For a woman who's spent literally countless hours of her life reading, it was difficult to simply 'turn off' the comprehension of words.

'I know how hard it is to put things like this in the past.' ... That was the first phrase her eyes had caught again, and it rather bluntly set the tone. That couldn't be true or could it?

... he didn't want her back? Did he?

... ... But if yes...why wouldn't he just come to her? Well maybe because he knew she wouldn't let him into her room at first but...what were his intentions with this letter

... ... It was the pull of the latter that won, and her eyes began a rapid, superficial scan of the paper.

She should not have been doing it. Not when she, of all people, knew she couldn't allow herself to fall for him again. She couldn't do it, she wouldn't allow herself to do it. That's why she tried so hard to both read, and 'not' read. Trying to see the words without digesting them, until she found something that would truly set off an alarm.

And in the end, by the time she reached the second and third sheets, there were other phrases that forced their way into her comprehension. ... ...

... ... 'I was an terrible husband. I humiliated you and hurt you so many times. When you read this you probably won't believe my words but truly, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything.' ... ...

... ... 'I want you to be happy again. I want you to smile again, the way you used to smile when we were younger.' ... ...

... ... 'Maybe you were right when I asked you to stay with me and you said that I shouldn't ruin it. I don't deserve you or your forgiveness.' ... ...

... ... 'That's when it hurts too much to continue.' ... ...

... ...

She was beginning to feel a bit ill herself.

In theory, this "could"be many things. But it also "could" be a letter of farewell. It was bordering dangerously close to that, and how could she not question his own chances of being the potential recipient? But why?

Was this why he wanted to talk to her since over a week now?

Wanted he to annul their marriage? Now after more than two decades of hurting each other...

Was that why he'd been so glum since their last real conversation which ended in this fight? Neither grogginess, nor impending sickness, but rather ... ...

Her eyes began to speed, though were still reluctant to actually read - - she didn't care if someone could come into her room and spare her privacy, she just wanted to be wrong. Relief, or at least the beginnings of it, came only when she latched onto one specific, and rather surprising, mention.

- - 'I don't mean this as an farewell even though it may seem so. Caterina, my beautiful Italian wife with her furious temper and her stubborn mind'

And she took a breath ... deep and controlled ... chastising herself this time for jumping to conclusions. This letter was not an farewell. Well but...It did, however, raise the next obvious question: What did he mean with this letter? What were his motives and intentions?

"That", in her opinion, validated her concern, and she flipped to the first sheet, intending to read the letter outright. She would find out what was wrong, ascertain if she could be of any assistance.

'My heart pounds with hope every time I see you. It leads to disappointment, always. But I cannot…no, I refuse to give up.

I don't know what it takes. The more days that pass by, the more I feel at wit's end. What does it take to get you to understand in the subtlest way? How do I save face for us both if we ever do get the right words, the proper feelings out? I was a horrible husband over the last two decades. I humiliated and hurt you and now I see how much pain I gave you...I was blind because I was hurt when you pushed me away and I wanted to give you pain as well because you gave me pain. I was such a child back then...and now I regret everything. And I know that now I'm probably too late..

My attention is always on you, one way or another. It gets to the point where I forget everyone else, Caterina, it's you I choose over everyone. I will always choose you. I don't care about Diane or any other woman. I just care about you..and this since the first time i met you. I wrote an letter to Diane, informing her that i end our relationship and that she is not allowed to come back to court only if you approve that she is allowed to come. I'd love to work our own relationship out somehow. My life would suddenly become the perfect picture if I could just have you by my side, no questions asked. It goes to the point where I could relent any conquest desires I have; our kingdom is strong enough and if giving up my plans to rule over all, meant us being together—happiness—I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Yes, conquest. As I said, it's all for you. I act like a vicious ruler so no one can see my tender side, my vulnerabilities. In truth, I would probably make a very normal, if not boring, empire. I still lay often awake at night wondering how it could have been if we wouldn't have pushed each other away. A part of me wishes that we could get lost out there, just the two of us. It could never work though; we have too many responsibilities. Our kingdom, our people; there's so much to keep up with. So much that keeps us apart. But That's the point of total conquest for me, no more opposition. No more sides. You would be with me. There would be no more acting. I wouldn't need to make an excuse to see you or work with you. You would be mine and I would become yours. We could rule, both of us, together as King and Queen, side by side, without consant fighting and ignoring each other. The people would think you'd do it to keep me in check, to stop any further forms of my infamous evil domination. We could laugh in privacy, mock the idea that I did it for any power hungry ambitions. Power is a tool, an extension of oneself to accomplish goals. Mine is simply to have you. It's dramatic, sure, but worthwhile, I'm certain. If you could tell me of alternatives, I'm more than willing to listen.

If you would tell me anything intimate, I'm desperately waiting to hear. Do you remember two weeks after our wedding, when we lay near the the sea and I kissed all of your freckles in the moonlight?

I delude myself with how much I want from this. Could we engage in romance with one another again? Would we be so compatible again? I don't know. I like to think so, but I realize that we need to actually get there first.

I wonder, again and again, if there could be a perfect world for us. I could wish on all the stars for us to be together. Is there a possible way for everything to go right? You know that I've tried. You've stopped me without knowing why, but if you knew, would you let me? Or do you stop me because it isn't right? Would it be so unnatural to create our own world from scratch?

If you knew, would you let me? Would you help me? Would we agree?

There's so much that I wish to know.

But there are no answers to all these questions. Only fantasies.

My heart bleeds and, more than anything, I fear that we will never be together again. Caterina, I need you by my side. I want so much from you, from myself. I'm not brave, not like you. I'm afraid. I'm insecure. I need you, your guidance, to let me know if I'm right. I need to know if you want what I want.

Caterina, you are everything to me. No, you will never know, but you are everything that I could ask for, all that I pine for.

But as I've said, you should know by now:

I will never give up.

Eternally yours,

Henri

AN: And how do you feel? Did I do a acceptable job? I hope you all liked the letter. I tried my best not to make it too strange haha. But really I tried. And what do you think about my protrait from Henry as a father? was it good? I also wantd to thank you all for the lovely reviews I recieved after the last Chapter. They really gave me a lot of inspiration and motivation to write this chapter here.

To .fan: Heyy my dear! I'm soo incredibly happy that you liked my previous chapter! And I hope my idea with the content in the box pleased you. What do you think of this Chapter? Do you like it as well? And what do you think about how I wrote Henry as a Father? Plus are you ready for what happens next?

To Elle Rose Maltz: Hellooo :)) I'm so glad that you liked my previous chapter! and i hope that i pleased you with the content that was in the box. Your lovely reviews always make me smile and makes me wanna continue to write even though I don't have a lot of time to write anymore since i'm in school again and i have to prepare for my exams in may. But anyways i hope you like this chapter as well and i'm sending you a virtual hug my dear!

To Yogurtime: I'm glad that you accepted my cookies and hugs though ;) and yes it can't be and it will not be that easy for Henry to win Catherine back. I agree with you on the fact that he has done her so many wrongs, he really was an asshole sometimes but now he tries to be beter :) what do you think about my version of Henry as a better father? i read in some books that historical Henry really a good father was sometimes and that he really cared about his children and even visited the nursery very regulary, so i wanted to bring this fact in, in my story especially since we didn't get enough from this in Reign. I mean really just imagine Henry playing with Charles, little Henry and Margot :) yeah i really can't get that imagine out of my head haha. However i also hope you are pleased with the content that was in the box. I really didn't try to make it arkward but I truly believe that Henry could be able to write some sort of letters, plus did you read the part where he wrote that he banished Diane ftom court ;) when i wrote that i was like "OHHH YESSS we need that" hahah anyways I hope you liked this chapter as well.

To WhitmanFrostFiend: Yeah well I can't really decide hahah i love both couples so much and it's really always a game with my heart and my mind with those two couples (ships). Yeah Henry was a bad husband and he really inflicted a lot of pain into Catherine but their dynamic and how they do care for each other and love each other even if they don't really show it gets me. And with Catcisse, i really love their attraction though! and i do think they did love each other but well i don't know. Both ships are amazing own their own in my opinion and so far I can't decide which one I would choose. Anyways I promise you that there will be another Catcisse chapter, i even have some plans how to bring this whole love triangle a bit forward ;) anyways I still hope you liked this chapter :)

AN: To all my readers, i hope you liked this chapter and feel free to leave a review. They always warm my heart and motivate me so much to continue writing this story. Stay safe and healthy you all and i send you all virtual hugs and cookies!