Whoever decided that fate would pull the cruel joke on the women, bringing them back to walk the earth at the same ages they had been when they found themselves woefully wed to a certain king that all six unanimously agreed would remain nameless, must have laughed their head off about it. But, truthfully, that was far from the weirdest part of the whole reincarnation business. After all, it did not feel as if several hundred years had passed between the time they had each taken their last breath in the Before and their next, way ahead in the previously unfathomable 21st Century of Now, armed with a fresh linguistic lexicon that had managed to find itself present in their minds without having needed to learn it. Thank goodness for it, too, as it was hard enough trying to figure out how the world worked without effectively having to need to learn a functionally entirely new language in the process.
For some of the women, it was hard enough to get accustomed to their returned youthfulness, but Kitty - who had decided relatively quickly that she wanted to mark her new chance at life by going by Kitty, rather than Katheryn, as the name held far too many memories that left her skin crawling horrible if she let it linger for more than a moment. A sentiment that the first, fourth and final queens had agreed with and followed suit - just found that she was stuck being an awkwardly gangly teenager, which was no different from when she died, having yet to have the privilege to age beyond her awkward teenagerhood.
The first week had certainly been a doozy and a half. Everyone managed to be uncomfortable and prickly, if not outright hostile. Catalina - not Catherine, thank you, that could stay in the past where it belonged - had been at Anne's throat until they, by the encouragement of Cathy - who had decided it was only fair to join her fellow K/Catherines in shortening her name - in the name of reconciliation, came to a truce over the agreement that neither of them really had any say in what happened once the king had set eyes on a person and so the second queen did not wear the fault in the matter. Kitty had been delighted to see Anna again - and was more delighted still to see that she had chosen to favour the nickname she had given her, even if she claimed it was to avoid her getting mixed up with Boleyn if they were called for - and she could credit the German queen for her own ability to join the others. She had rather assumed that Cathy was going to resent her for dying and getting her stuck with the king, and so avoided the sixth queen like the plague for the first week and a half, but was delighted to find that the final queen was more understanding than she expected and did not blame her at all. It had taken the majority of the first week for Jane to say anything at all that was not simple agreements or what she had concluded the others wanted her to say, but, as painfully shy as she was, even she was beginning to come out of her shell.
But fortunately that week was over and done with a good month ago, and the early morning sun was shining cheerily through the little kitchen window of the house that had been co-signed under each of their names, and Kitty was feeling particularly pleased with everything after sleeping through the night without even a fleeting hint of a nightmare. She still felt a little out of place among the others, all such interesting and influential women of their time, but after far too many days of getting bored or, worse, getting caught up in her own thoughts as she hid away in her room, Anna had managed to convince her that the others would very much like it if she were to join them if she felt up to it, and so she decided she might as well try. It was not always easy, but she was trying and that counted for something.
It was precisely this reason why Kitty, bundled up cosily in her dressing gown, a pale pink think with rose-pink cat silhouettes that Jane had gifted her - "Because it has kitties on it, like your name!" the third queen had exclaimed, her nervous excitement obvious when she gave the her the gift - drawn about her as if she might be able to drag out lingering scraps of restfulness from the soft fabric, was up and about so early in the morning. Mornings did not necessarily agree with her, though they rarely agreed with anyone, but it had not been so very much of a battle to haul herself out of bed that morning.
She was not the first to awaken, and she never was so that was of no surprise. Regal Catalina of Aragon, who carried herself with the dignity of the queen she was, who led armies to war with grace and poise, at that moment had a blanket draped loosely over her shoulders as she busied herself with the task of boiling an egg to have with toast for breakfast. Gentle Jane Seymour, who seemed the sort anybody would find themselves loving her at least a little, and had taken on the habit of pottering about the garden when the London weather was kind to them, had settled herself at the table with a cup of tea and a book - of a larger than average font so that she could improve her reading in a way she had never had the chance to Before - and still took the time to look up with a perfectly genuine smile gracing her features. It was no surprise that Anne, strong, opinionated and as beautiful Now as she was Before, had yet to emerge from her slumber, quickly having built a bit of a notoriety for sleeping long into the afternoon. Anna, who knew herself and her mind no matter what anyone might say against her, was not in the room, but that was as far as anyone could guess as she was just as likely to be out for an early morning jog as she was to still be asleep. Cathy, intelligent and driven and fascinating, was hopefully asleep at that moment because it would have meant she did actually get some sleep that night, as so was not going to stagger out in search for whatever caffeinated beverage she would get her ink-stained hands on.
"Good morning, Kitty. The kettle's not long boiled if you wanted tea." Jane greeted, raising her own teacup as if to prove this.
"Thank you," the youngest queen returned, brushing the straying hair, tips a bright pink from an impulsive dye job that left her and Anne with remarkably unnatural colours all throughout their hair, "It feels the sort of morning for a good cup of tea, doesn't it?"
"Yes, I thought so too," Jane returned, "I must say, I am rather glad it has not been quite so cold these last few days, it was awfully nippy, wasn't it?"
"Oh! It was dreadful," Kitty returned, not bothering to hide the smile that crossed her lips when she noticed her teacup was not on its place on its hook, but rather sitting inconspicuously alongside Catalina who had plopped a teabag in alongside an excess of sugar and hot water, "Anna and I went to the park the other day and I was sure I was going to end up a Kitty-scle by the time we got home."
As the third queen let out a soft laugh at the joke, despite it rather being the quality of humour that one would expect someone who had yet to shake off the alluring grips of sleep, Kitty meandered her way over to fetch her tea. She offered the first queen a grateful nod of her head as she clasped her beverage, though the older woman just smiled, offering a wave of the hand to the stovetop as if to say she was there already so she more than happy to help. Or at least that was what Kitty assumed the wave of the woman's hand meant, and she rather liked her conclusion so she did not want to question it too much.
"Did you sleep well?" Catalina asked, perfectly casual and conversational.
It was subtle, but after the first time she had woken up the household while in the throws of a particularly awful nightmare - which she found absolutely mortifying until each of the other queens, entirely independently of the others, admitted to her that they were also plagued with the occasional nightmare of the Before and so they could rely on each other to get through them - the Spanish queen had taken it upon herself to inquire about her rest. She never made it a big thing, which the young lass was very grateful for, but it was nice to know that there was someone looking out for her. That was something that was very much missing from her life Before, so it felt a little like she was making up for lost time Now.
"Apart from the fact someone decided our street was perfect to practice for a car race," said she with an exaggerated sigh, "It was fine."
"Yes, I heard that," Catalina replied with a tsk, "Dreadful. I cannot imagine who they were hoping to impress with their antics, but it certainly was not me."
The youngest queen let out a little giggle, her cup raised to her lips to test the temperature. As the beverage was still a smidge too warm to drink comfortably, she wandered back over to the dining room table, setting the cup down before claiming a seat for herself. When they first found themselves there, she had been quite sure it would be impossible for her to do so, the risk of bumping elbows, or, worse, someone's leg brushing her own had been more than enough to leave her breath caught in her throat even just in theory, so she was a little proud of herself for the way she flopped herself down across from Jane without even the slightest impulse to make a dash back to her room.
"I think they're just showing off, really." Jane agreed, raising an eyebrow conspiratorially.
"Some things never change, do they?" Catalina agreed, though there was something equally good humoured in the way she shook her head as there was an exasperation.
All determined to continue on with their new lives rather than getting bogged down in the Before, this was typically the extent of a reference to then that any of them ever really allowed for. It was inevitable, of course, as they all had a great deal more experience - for better or for worse - Before than they did Now, but that did not mean they did not try to avoid anything more than the bare minimum.
Kitty's own response to this came in the way of a small, noncommittal hum. One could not blame her for hoping that, just maybe, something did in fact change in all that time but she could not deny the woman had a point.
"I hope they've gotten it out of their system now." Jane responded, "It seems a terribly rude thing to do, really, at all hours of the morning. Don't they know people were hoping to go to bed then?"
"But how could they be as annoying as they can be if they don't do it after everyone's gone to bed?" the youngest remarked as she make a pointed sip of her tea. A sip that did not completely hide the smile that graced her already perpetually too-tired features when this won a snort of amused agreement from the first queen.
All things considered, the time the queens had together was comparatively small and yet it already felt so easy to chat with them about nothing and everything. Friends, real and genuine friends at least, were few and far between for her Before, and sometimes Kitty found herself wondering if she was truly deserving of their kindness but as she sat there, sipping the tea Catalina made for her for no reason beyond wanting to do something nice, alongside a cousin that she had not had the chance to meet until Now, she felt it was all right. Things were moving forward Now, she was moving forward, more so than she ever had the chance to do Before and it frightened her less and less the more it excited her.
It might have been impossible, but sitting there in the company of people she cared for and cared for her in return, Kitty found herself feeling impossibly content with life, and that was all that really mattered to her just then.