Trigger Warnings: None I think but if there are, please let me know
"No Anna..." Kat whined from her spot on the couch. "I'm not tired..."
"Uh-huh. Sure you're not. That's not what it looked like when you fell asleep on me." Anna replied, smirking at the last bit.
A small blush covered Kat's face. "It was just a quick nap."
"Yeah, sure. Just another quick nap when I got up for literally three minutes?"
"Yup!" Kat giggled. "Now come back...I'm cold."
Anna smiled at Kat. She sat back down next to the younger queen. Kat climbed onto her lap and rested her head on Anna's chest. Anna played with Kat's hair; she began to braid it when Anne and Cathy came in.
Anne's hair was disheveled like she had just woken up. Cathy was blushing. They sat down on the loveseat. Cathy whispered something to Anne. She got a laugh from the latter.
Kat had jumped at the laugh, being zoned out. Anna pressed a kiss to the top of Kat's head. "It's alright. Just Anne and Cathy."
"Where are Jane and Aragon?" Kat asked, looking around.
"Probably coming. Jane's probably grabbing a few games to torture us with. You just rest. I'll be right here."
"Too loud."
"What's too loud, babe? Anne and Cathy?" She shot the couple a look as she mentioned them.
"Them."
Anna was still somewhat confused as to what was disturbing her girlfriend. She wished that she could be more helpful. "Can I do anything to help?"
"Stay."
"Of course, Kitty. I wouldn't go anywhere." Anna reassured her.
The living room was quiet for a few more minutes. The relative silence and Anna's presence had lulled the youngest queen into a light sleep. Anne was smiling at Cathy, who was talking about one of the books she had been reading.
"Okay! Is everyone in here?" Jane's voice interrupted the silence.
Anna winced as Kat flinched back awake. Kat had tried to play it off as nothing but Anna had noticed. She shot Jane a look.
"Yes, baby. Seems like it." Catherine said to Jane. She set a game down on the coffee table; Candy Land.
(A/N: Apparently there are different ways to play Candy Land so I'm gonna write it how I usually played it.)
Anne and Cathy joined the other two by the coffee table. They helped to set up the game. Soon they realized, however, that there were only four game pieces.
"You guys play. This one is tired, whether she'll admit it or not." Anna said, poking Kat's nose.
"I'm not tired..." Kat protested.
Jane looked over at Kat and the girl froze. "You look tired, love."
" 'M not."
"Alright. Alright. The kid's not tired. Now can I kick someone's ass in Candy Land or not?"
"Anne! Language!" Catherine scolded her with a soft smile. Anne only stuck her tongue out.
The game got off to a good start. Anne had taken an early lead, only to be forced back near the beginning due to a single card. Cathy laughed at the adorable pout on her girlfriend's face. Catherine was actually in last place until she picked up a card that let her go to the top right corner of the map.
The game continued for a while. Catherine managed to win. Anne demanded a rematch so another game was quickly started.
"Anna?"
"Hm?"
"Can we go upstairs?" Kat asked after a while.
"Of course we can." Anna smiled at Kat. "Where do you want to go?"
"That...That one room?"
"Okay, baby. If that's what you want." Anna nodded before slowly getting up off the couch. Kat followed her quickly.
"Kat and I are gonna head upstairs for a little while."
"Alright, loves. We're not being too loud, are we?" Jane asked them. She looked wearily at Kat.
Kat gently shook her head. She grabbed Anna's hand in hers. Anna noted how much Kat's hand was shaking as she let herself be lead up the stairs. Kat stopped dead in front of the door at the end of the hallway.
"We don't need to go in there if you don't want to. We can always go hang out in one of the bedrooms instead." Anna offered.
"No. I need to sleep."
Anna opened the door, casting a concerned look at Kat. "This hasn't been keeping you up, has it?"
The youngest queen shrugged wordlessly. She walked into the room, looking around at everything. Anna remained silent and by the door. She wanted to give her girlfriend as much space as she needed.
Eventually, Kat found herself in front of the castle playset the girls had been playing with. She was holding the small figures in her hand. Anna hesitantly sat down next to her.
"They're cute," Kat said quietly.
"They really are." Anna nodded in agreement. "Not as cute as you, though."
Kat blushed red. Anna didn't comment on it, smiling. Her smile faded away, however, when she noted how Kat tensed as she spoke.
"I'm scared, Anna. It's-It's too good to be real. The music...the other queens...the house...whatever this is..." She motioned around the room. "And you. It's too good. I just don't want to be hurt again."
Anna gently pulled Kat into her side. She rubbed her shoulder. "You know none of us will ever hurt you, Kat, right?"
"I want to but I can't. They all said that too. It's too similar and I can't deal with it anymore. Aragon's so similar to Agnes it scares me sometimes. Anne's my cousin which means she's family and family sticks together but my family has hurt me before. I mean...Agnes didn't even stop Mannox and Francis. She might have tried but they never stopped! And Jane's too nice...She calls me love and I want to think that that's okay but Henry called me that too. Then he got me beheaded! Cathy...Cathy overworks herself. Francis did that too. And-And whenever he got stressed out, I had to help him. What if Cathy does that? I don't wanna, Anna."
Anna could hear the shakiness in Kat's voice. Seeing Kat slowly withdrawing herself whenever someone was even mildly irritated broke her heart. Seeing her sobbing incoherently after a nightmare broke her heart. But seeing her completely afraid of all of them shattered her already broken heart. Before she had time to comfort Kat, the other queen had continued.
"And I don't deserve someone like you. You're just...I don't know." Kat let out a soft whimper. Her hand immediately flew up in front of her mouth in an attempt to muffle it. She moved away from Anna.
Anna could only sit idly on the side for a few minutes as Kat looked utterly miserable. She didn't want to rush her or overstep any boundaries, but it was beginning to be too much. "Kat? Is it okay if I hug you?"
Kat gave her a small nod, which was enough for Anna to cautiously wrap her arms around the youngest queen. Kat cuddled herself into Anna.
Anna began to sing something in German softly. Kat remembered a few of the words. Eventually, she had fallen asleep. Anna, careful not to wake Kat, leaned up against the wall. She tried to stay awake as long as possible for Kat's sake.
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"Do you think they're okay up there?" Anne had asked earlier after Kat and Anna went upstairs. She glanced upwards wearily.
"I'm sure they're fine. Anna will keep her safe." Catherine tried to reassure her.
The game of Uno in front of them was soon forgotten as Anne began to become more and more withdrawn. She worried immensely about her younger cousin. While the green queen trusted Anna with almost her entire being, she was still hesitant when it came to Kitty. She preferred to keep her in her line of sight as much as possible. Kitty always insisted that she was fine; that Anna was safe. But Anne couldn't help but worry.
Wordlessly, Catherine began to pick up the Uno game they had set out. Cathy was collecting the blankets and personal items. Jane looked at Anne.
"Love, would it make you feel better if we went upstairs to check on them?" Jane offered.
Anne nodded and got up. "I swear, if I see or hear them fucking, I'm gonna lose my shit."
"Then I'll owe you big time, now come on. And we both know there's a one in one billion chance that that would actually happen."
Jane and Anne went upstairs. After finding both Kat's and Anna's rooms empty, Anne began to grow even more suspicious. That was, however, until they heard soft snoring coming from the room in the farthest corner.
"Could she have..." Anne trailed off, glancing at Jane, who shrugged.
"She could have, but I highly doubt it. She's still very hesitant to."
Jane opened up the door to the playroom. She almost collapsed from the cuteness at the scene before her. Anna and Kat were both asleep. Anna was half upright and half laying on the ground. Kat was curled up next Anna's side.
"See, love? They're fine. Now quietly go grab the blanket in the closet." Jane said as she took a picture of the two of them.
Anne, still eyeing her sleeping cousin, eventually nodded and went to grab the blanket. She came back with it in a matter of minutes. She draped it over the two of them. Jane took one more photo of them before they both left the room to let them sleep.