A/N: Hello my loves! I don't have enough words to thank all of you for the support! Thank you to everyone who took the time to follow, favorite or review, you have no idea how much it means to me! As you can see I decided to continue with this story, it turns out it won't leave me alone until I write it. If everything goes as planned I expect to update once a week. Enjoy and let me know what you think! I'm all for hearing your input.

Solitude of Love

"Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do, you will be sorry the rest of your life if you say no." Gabriel García Márquez

Chapter 1

2 years prior, when Anne found out that Henry had started going to Hatfield again, she decided to include in her letters to Lady Bryan the date of her next visits, hoping that the governess would catch the drift and inform Cromwell. It had worked, even though they both visited often, Anne and Henry never crossed paths. Henry had also understood one day when he told his Lord Chancellor to take care of some business for he was going with Jane to Hatfield, and Cromwell told him that the Marquess of Pembroke was visiting the Princess Elizabeth. Ever since, Cromwell warned him and he didn't have to see her, but today he completely forgot to tell Cromwell he was leaving. Jane had suffered a miscarriage a few weeks ago and he was disappointed, it was the first time she got pregnant since giving birth to their son, they had been so excited about having a Duke of York, and she lost him. He expected that visiting Edward would cheer them up and it would remind her that Hatfield was full of rooms waiting for boys to fill them. Swayed by the conviction that Jane would understand, and excited about seeing his son, he surprised her during breakfast by telling her to change into her traveling attire so they could leave as soon as possible, thus he didn't give Cromwell a chance to warn him and they arrived at Hatfield unannounced, taking everyone by surprise.

He knew that Anne was kind to Edward, Lady Bryan had told him so when he asked her if the Marquess of Pembroke had met his son, but never in a million years did he expect to encounter his precious boy sitting happily in Anne's lap as they watched Charles and Elizabeth play. He didn't know what shocked him more, that his son seemed to be completely content with Anne, and she with him, or that his daughter seemed to be having the time of her life with Charles, if he didn't know better he would've thought that the four of them were a family. He wasn't stupid, he had hear the rumors regarding Anne and Charles' relationship, at the time he had paid them no mind, he knew them and he knew that whatever it was between them wasn't going to last, they had always hated each other, it was a matter of time before they realized that they still did. He had to convice himself of that, he couldn't let himself believe that Anne could be happy in Charles' company, that Anne could love any other man that wasn't him.

No one had noticed them yet, and Henry knew that they all had to behave in front of the kids, so he forgot about Anne and Charles and with a clear voice and a smile on his face said "Edward, Elizabeth, aren't you going to greet your papa?"

It was like a spell had been broken, Edward jumped out of Anne's lap and ran towards them, he hugged his mother first, who had gotten down to his level, while Elizabeth ran towards her father. Anne watched as he hugged and kissed her and suddenly their eyes locked.

She felt as if all breath had been knocked out of her, she knew something like this was bound to happen sometime, she just did not expect it to be today. He was here and he was with her. The last time she saw him they had just signed divorce papers, the last time she saw her, Jane was still one of her ladies in waiting. In an ideal world this didn't happen, she wasn't reminded of the fact that she had divorced the man she waited 7 years to marry, she wasn't reminded of the fact that he was happy with his new wife. It wasn't that she regretted divorcing him, at the time it was the only thing left to do, they had hurt each other too much to go back to what they were, and that's what she regretted, that their love had turned so sour. All these years later and she still couldn't believe that the love that created one of the biggest scandals Christendom had ever seen had ended like that, she thought that they were going to grow old together, but then she had been young and a fool, she hadn't yet learned that in marriage love didn't last, you just grew used to the company of the other person, and they couldn't do that. All the fights that in their courtship were full of love, during their marriage were full of bitterness, precisely because they couldn't cope with the fact that they no longer loved each other with the passion of the first days, because the need for a son, the lingering presence of Katherine, the whispers of the courtiers had plagued them with doubts about one another. Sometimes she wondered if they had been happier had she accepted to be his official mistress, after all, she had loved him with every bit of herself, she had done everything for him, and she couldn't say that he didn't do the same for her, there was a time when he would've fought the devil himself just to see her smile. Maybe a love like that was meant to burn out quickly, only lasting a little time, but leaving behind ashes that threatened to reignite the fire again, with all the hurt that came if you got too close to it.

He felt like the first time he watched her, when he thought her eyes held all the secrets of the world, but rather than feeling awed, like he had all those years ago, he felt scared, for he had learned to read her soul trough her eyes and they no longer shined with eagerness for the future, with the confidence of someone who was smart enough to play all her cards right and charm everyone in the process. However, before he could decipher the new mysteries of her soul, she hardened her eyes and looked at Charles, she blocked him out, she had done it many times before, yet he always ended up knowing how she felt and making it all better, but when she needed him the most, during the last year of their marriage, he couldn't bring himself to look into her eyes, for he knew that if he did she was going to charm her way back to him and he would never be able to leave her, he ended up resenting her for that. He noticed the way she looked at Charles, the blink in her eyes when he smiled at her, the relief that showed on her face at watching him getting closer. His heart fell, once upon a while she had looked at him like that, he couldn't stand the fact that that look was no longer reserved for him.

Charles approached Anne as she was standing up and they walked the little distance towards Henry and Jane, who were still greeting the children. Once they got there, Charles bowed and Anne curtsied with a chorus of "Your Majesties" Being members of the nobility they didn't wait for the King to tell them to raise. Jane was the one to break the silence with a "Your Grace" directed at Brandon, then she looked at Anne and as confident as possible said "Lady Boleyn", but the four of them heard the quiver in her voice, she had always felt nervous in Anne's presence, she didn't know what it was about her, but she knew that it wasn't because she had been Queen, for she had known Anne since they were both ladies in waiting to Katherine, and even now that she was Queen she felt the same, there was this confidence to Anne, this courage, that she wished she had. Besides, in a way she had taken Henry from her, she had always criticized her for being a home-wrecker yet sometimes she couldn't help but feel like one herself. She didn't delude herself in thinking that she had been the sole reason for Henry and Anne's divorce, sometimes she thought that if it hadn't been her Henry would've still married someone else, and she didn't exactly told him to leave his wife, but still she sometimes felt guilty simply because she was the one with Henry, not someone else.

Edward was in Jane's arms, he turned to her and with a surprised expression asked "Mama, you know Nan?"

Jane couldn't help but wonder if Edward called her that because he couldn't say 'Anne' or because he felt comfortable enough with her to use the term of endearment, she hoped that it was the first one. After thinking for a few seconds about how to answer, Jane said "Of course my darling child, she is Elizabeth's mother" she conveniently left out that Anne was Henry's previous wife, either way, Edward was too young to be confused with stuff like that.

He answered with a small "Oh" of understanding and followed up with "Nan promised to tell me the story of King Arthur today, can we hear it mama?"

Jane looked at Anne for confirmation, not that she didn't believe her son, she was waiting for Anne to signal her if she was willing to do it. She knew that being the Queen she could command her to do anything, but she felt that she needed to know if Anne was okay with it all. Anne nodded at her with a gentle smile directed at Edward and Jane said "Of course darling, let's go seat" she set him on the floor and looked at Henry, who turned to Charles and asked "Well Your Grace, what do you think if I join you and Elizabeth in playing with Bo?"

Charles smiled and gave him the ball he was using before to throw at the dog, Henry smirked and bent down to Elizabeth's level to finish up Charles work in teaching her how to throw better.

Anne and Jane walked towards the bench and sat, Edward sat in the middle of them, but with Jane's arm around him, they both turned in their seat to look at Anne who began telling Edward the story that had been her favorite as a child. Jane could see the way Anne's eyes shined as she spoke, she made astonished faces at the most exciting parts and smiled sadly at the tragic ones, making it more entertaining for Edward. Right then and there Jane started seeing Anne in a different light, she had not expected her to treat her son like this, but it was a pleasant surprise. Seeing that Anne was more than kind to her son she relaxed and focused in the story, halfway through it she was as engrossed as Edward.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had decided to stop throwing the ball and was running behind Bo with a huge smile on her face. Charles and Henry were watching her when Henry turned to look at Charles and said "You did not tell me you were coming to Hatfield today, we could've made the trip together" Charles knew what Henry was doing, he knew that Henry knew that he had left court the day before, not today. So he maintained his façade and calmly answered "Oh no Your Majesty, I went yesterday to Pembroke and escorted Lady Anne here" looking straight to Elizabeth, he couldn't let his eyes betray him at the mention of Anne's name.

Henry nodded and said "I see" he resumed looking at Elizabeth and after a few seconds added "You and Anne seem to be very close" Neither of them missed the way Henry's voice changed when he said Anne's name, nor did Charles miss Henry's lack of title when talking about Anne, the familiarity of it made him jealous.

Charles knew what Henry was implying, anyone with ears knew what Henry was implying. But he couldn't acknowledge it, it would confirm whatever theories Henry had in mind about his relationship with Anne. He refused to play that game, so he said "She is good company outside of court, you know I don't have many friends in the countryside"

Henry's reply was a cold toned "You never needed to have friends in the countryside"

Charles noted how Henry said 'friends' with disdain, but before he could respond Lady Bryan appeared asking for the King's permission to take Elizabeth and Edward to their lessons, even if their parents were there the kids still had to take their lessons, they were royal children. And it gave the parents time to relax before a new round of games.

Henry and Charles made their way to Anne and Jane just in time to hear Anne promising Edward that she would finish telling him the story later. Just after Lady Bryan left with the two kids Henry turned to look at his former wife and with his ever charming smile said "Lady Anne, will you join me for a walk? I haven't seen these gardens in a while"

A/N: What did you guys think? I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but I had to get it out of the way. I'm not going to lie, Henry was hard to write and there are still many layers left to uncover. I want to make these characters as three-dimensional as possible, that's why I tend to write a lot about their thoughts, if you want less of that and more dialogue let me know. Also, Jane's not a main character but I felt like she deserved to have a mind of her own, so you'll be seeing a little bit of what goes on in her head. I know I haven't written enough Charles and Anne so that's coming, along with the awaited Anne and Henry reunion. Wow, I'm a rambler. Until next time my loves!