Author's Note: I do apologise for how long this took, but I am sure you will enjoy this one.

"But Elizabeth was yours. Watch her as she grows. She's yours - she's a Tudor! Get yourself a son on that sweet, pale girl if you can and hope that it will live, but Elizabeth shall reign after you. Yes! Elizabeth, child of Anne the whore and Henry the blood-stained lecher, shall be Queen! …And think of this, Henry: Elizabeth shall be a greater queen than any king of yours. She shall rule a greater England than you could ever have built. Yes! My Elizabeth shall be Queen, and my blood will have been well spent."
-Queen Anne Boleyn
-Anne of the Thousand Days

Death was a strange experience, so bizarre that Anne was convinced that even if she had access to an infinite number of ways of thought she would never be able to explain it. At first, she knew only peace and in the initial wave of tranquility she felt sure that she had not died, that the executioner had not done his deed. Perhaps Henry has intervened on my behalf? she remembered thinking. Perhaps, for the sake of our daughter and the love we once knew, he has decided I'm to go to a nunnery instead? Is he at last showing mercy? She knew at the time she was only having such thoughts because those were the thoughts she wished to have, but she could not bring herself to not think them. So lost in her silent musings, Anne had still not opened her eyes.

"You may rise, Lady Anne."

Two things occurred to her all at once. Firstly, she was stilling kneeling as she had been before the sword had hit her, if it even had; and, secondly, the accented voice that had spoken was certainly the last that she had expected to hear, whether she still be alive or not. Daringly, she opened her eyes and what she saw was enough to make her heart drop into her stomach. Standing before her, in the regal composure that she always seemed to possess, was Katherine of Aragon, Princess Dowager of Wales. She appeared to be much younger than she was the day of her death, and certainly had regained her youthful beauty. Apparently, in death, one regained the looks they possessed in their prime. Anne stared at her in trepidation, hardly bemused that she should spend her afterlife with the woman she'd shared a mutual hatred with for so long. For a brief moment, she allowed herself the dramatic thought that she was in Hell.

"Lady Anne, has death proved detrimental to your hearing? I said you may rise," the Princess Dowager reiterated haughtily. Anne flickered a glare in her direction, partially bemused that in death Katherine had finally obtained some wit, and slowly stood to be level with the Spanish Princess.

Anne smirked, retaliating, "My hearing remains just as efficient as it was the day of my birth, but I see death has done nothing for your stubbornness. I should hardly think a Princess would have the authority to give orders to a Queen."

"Your marriage to the King was annulled, was it not, Lady Anne?"

At first, Anne was a bit shocked by Katherine's comment, but she did not let it show. "The annulment was unwarranted; I remain the King's wife."

Katherine raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly, "It is ironic that your fate should be similar to my own. Tell me, did you not realise that in usurping my throne, you cleared a path for other women to do the same to you?"

"I did not usurp your throne. It was never yours to claim. You were not his wife!"

"Oh, yes! I seem to have forgotten you seduced my husband into believing my marriage to his brother was consummated and I was not a true maid when he first came to my bed!"

Anne laughed, knowing full and well that she'd caught the stubborn Princess in a lie. "Save your breath, Your Highness." she retorted, refusing to call Katherine by a queen's title. "I saw the blood-stained sheets with my own eyes! Lying will do you no good now."

Katherine seemed to be at a loss for words. She shut her eyes, her lips forming a thin line. Finally, she seemed to be able to speak, "Go! Leave me!"

"I will not! You haven't the authority to send me away! You're a Princess, I'm a Que - "

"You are not a Queen! Your marriage to the King was annulled, and you are nothing more than a Marquess! You will leave me, Lady Pembroke," the Princess Dowager shouted, interrupting her before she could finish her statement.

"You were never truly the Queen of England," Anne said flatly.

"And neither were you, apparently."

Utterly angry, Anne stormed off without another word.

Throughout her afterlife, Anne kept watch over her daughter from the heavens. She watched her grow and develop into a young woman, and even watched as her daughter proclaimed that she would never marry. It was difficult to watch her daughter grow into a beautiful young woman and not be able to touch or guide. But finally - finally! - she was able to see her daughter, touch her daughter and praise her in front of her father, even if the visage of Elizabeth was not Elizabeth in the flesh, but a vision comprised by God's powers to present a form of judgment to the lion who had learned too much power, too much strength.

Henry had been preparing a tonic for himself to drink - to prolong his life, no doubt - when she appeared. He did not even seem shocked by her arrival, it was almost as if he had been expecting her.

"Why are you here?"

His voice showed that he had aged greatly since the last time they'd spoken, the last time they'd been face to face. She'd had Elizabeth with her then, and she was pleading with him for another chance - a chance she was never granted. She would now, if asked, openly admit that she had hoped bringing Elizabeth with her to plead with Henry would sway his heart back to her and their daughter, though she had known then that the chances of Henry changing his mind were scarce. Thinking back to that day, she became uncomfortably nervous and almost found herself unable to give her message.

Despite the anxiety that was building within her, Anne responded calmly, "To see my daughter. She was the only pure thing in my life and in my life I neglected her, since she was only a girl and I wanted so much to give you a son. But now I am so proud of her. Fiercely proud! She is so clever."

Elizabeth appeared at her side then, and Anne gestured to her daughter, her metaphorical heart quickening in her chest. She was so beautiful, possessing a kind of angelic beauty that Anne had never seen before. Elizabeth was undeniably the daughter of Henry Tudor and Anne Boleyn, the daughter of the lion and the falcon.

"And though she is like me in so many ways, she is not intemperate as I was. You must be proud of her too, Henry," she continued, her blue eyes baring deep into his soul, forcing an honest answer.

It pained him to admit it, she could tell, but he agreed, "I am. I am very proud of her. And I know how clever she is, and I wish that I could love her more. But from time to time, she reminds me of you - "

Henry looked at her then and she could easily see that life had been cruel to his aging and that he had not the pleasure of aging gracefully. Without delay, he continued, " - and of what you did to me."

Anne's demeanor was broken then as she became angry over his last words and she began to approach him quickly. Her tone displaying the hurt she felt from the fact that he would dare accuse her of actually betraying him all those years ago, she responded, "I did nothing to you. I was innocent. All the accusations against me were false."

Then she became sombre and said, "I thought you knew." She thought of her cousin who had been also charged with adultery but, unlike Anne, was actually guilty, and continued, "Poor Katherine Howard. She lies in the cold ground next to me. Poor child; it was not her fault either, but we were like two moths drawn to the flame…and burned."

She turned away from him, her message complete, and giving him a sad smile, her gaze settled on her daughter for one final time. She barely even heard him beg her to stay, "Anne, please don't!"