TW: Chaos, this is going to be a recurring thing, the next one being about their chaotic life at school, but for now, we do Araleyn, take a guess at what happens, lock picking and forgery are bad, i do both, but we don't talk about that, or how sad it is that it's super easy to do both, Edward makes a cameo.
Mary and Elizabeth were often described as opposites.
Fire and Ice.
Yin and Yang.
Cat and Dog.
Happy and Sad.
People often thought they didn't get along, and were constantly at odds with each other.
This was incorrect.
Mary and 'Lizzie' were in reality the best of friends, of course they had their fair share of sisterly fights, but for the most part they were as close as two sisters could be.
Edward had the unfortunate title of younger brother, which automatically made him a target. He was not a fan of being constantly told to get out because it's a girl thing and no little brothers aloud.
Mary and Lizzie knew this, and did it more often just to be mean.
But let it be known that they were also very observant, and lately their mother's were acting strange. Specifically around each other.
Mary had noticed her mother become flustered, and continuously stumbled over her words.
Lizzie noticed her mother was neat, not jumping in circles, polite, and put together.
When they convened about this topic, they agreed that they needed to get their mother's together. Then they would be completely sisters.
(Not that in their heads they weren't already. If anyone said otherwise, they'd either be on fire or have their secrets spread throughout the school. You decide who does what.)
Edward tried to help, but when he asked what they were doing he was shooed away.
"Mary, you normally do the planning. Reconvene tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
Maybe Lizzie influenced Mary more than Mary influenced Lizzie.
Maybe.
___________
When they did meet again, they decided that the house wasn't safe.
Edward had given up trying to be on his older sister's team, and just left to see his mother.
They walked around the park, searching for the best place to sit and talk. Once this was acquired they got to work.
The good thing about Yin and Yang is that if Yin doesn't think of something, Yang will. They could work both sides with ease. Yin planned, Yang executed.
In this case, Yin is Mary, and Yang is Lizzie.
Once they'd finally agreed on a plan (Mary never had one choice) Lizzie informed Mary what might happen.
(That had become a requirement after a certain incident with a goat and a boat.)
Then they went their separate ways, both knowing exactly where they were going.
____________
Catherine noticed that her Mary was becoming more and more suspicious.
She almost asked her what she was doing, but at the exact moment she planned on doing so Elizabeth had shown up.
Something that under normal circumstances wouldn't have stopped her, but since Elizabeth was Anne's daughter she shut her mouth. She didn't want her to tell Anne that she was rude.
Not that it was specifically because it would be Anne that was told, simply because she didn't want anyone to think that of her.
(Definitely not because it's Anne, nope. Not. At. All.)
_____________
Anne watches her daughter run to Mary, utterly delighted to see her. Catherine is just behind her, staring curiously after the two half - sisters.
Anne is delighted too.
To see Mary, of course. Her daughter loves her older sister with a ferocity that occasionally scares said older sister. But with Mary, comes Catherine. Always.
It's just a bonus, a happy combination.
When the Aragon's are around the Boleyn's are happy.
_____________
Lizzie latches onto Mary instantly when they make contact. Mary tries to smother the affectionate smile written on her face, but ultimately fails.
"It's worse than I thought."
"I know, they're both pining idiots."
"Mary Aragon using the word idiot? So improperly too? Unheard of."
"Oh ha ha, go ahead and make fun of me, but still - do you think they'll go for it?"
"They have to, it's the only way it'll work."
_____________
Mary would never admit this to anyone except for Elizabeth, but long ago when she was still a child she'd gotten her hands on an old diary of her mothers.
And instead of just reading it to find out what she was thinking, she also learned a new trick.
Forgery.
She learned her handwriting in and out, learned her signature, her preferred words and sentence structures.
So this was relatively easy.
It became far easier after that to learn someone else's handwriting. So Mary asked Lizzie to get something that had a lot of her mother's handwriting on it. Once it was given to her, Mary closed the door and pulled out a notebook.
She looked from Anne's page, to her own. And copied down what it said word for word, Anne's cursive was surprisingly neat and easy to copy. As was her grammar, and word choices. Lizzie, it seemed, emulated her mother in that way as well.
It was a piece of cake for Mary to forge two love notes in the respective womens handwriting.
_____________
Lizzie wasn't like Mary in that sense.
No, instead she was the actor, the believable one when it came to lying which made her all the more dangerous to believe.
She also picked locks, but that's for another time.
Lizzie was the one who delivered the notes, so that on the off chance she was caught she could spin some story as to why she was there and why there was a note on their bed.
Lizzie tried to teach Mary the ways of the actor, but was kind of sad to watch.
It was alright though, she could never have the amount of patience Mary had with forgery.
______________
When Catherine walked into her room right after a strange encounter with Elizabeth she saw a note on her bed.
She naturally picked up to see her Spanish name (Catalina) written in green. When she opened the letter she read through it quickly.
Then read it again and again and again, because it was a confession letter.
From Anne.
Catherine ignored the elated beating of her heart at the note, and ignored the urge to go and find her that instant and kiss her breathless.
Instead she opted to wait until later.
_____________
When Anne read the note from Catherine she almost passed out from pure relief that her feelings were returned.
Then she had to muffle her screams of joy in her pillow.
Because Catalina liked her back.
She wouldn't go and find her, she was probably out with Mary anyways, but she would talk to her later after dinner.
_____________
Mary and Lizzie sat next to each other at dinner, simply observing the scene in front of them. Anne and Catherine had been glancing at each other with grins on their faces, unfortunately they hadn't looked at the same time yet, so there weren't any flushed faces and sudden jerks.
But they had faith it would happen eventually.
And it did, because not even a minute later they caught each other staring and promptly freaked out about it, causing Mary to have to shush Lizzie because her giggles were getting out of control. Not that Mary was doing any better.
Catherine sat right next to Anne, much to both Anne's delight and distaste.
Delight because well, she was under the impression that Catherine had written her a love note.
And Distaste because she wanted to be able to focus on eating instead of the warmth next to her.
Mary was the one who had to be quieted this time.
______________
Lizzie buried her face in Mary's shoulder in an attempt to stop herself from full blown laughing at her mother's awkwardness. She was stiffer than Lizzie had ever seen, and trying to flirt like normal but failing so hard.
Catherine seemed to be charmed by her failed attempts at flirting with her, constantly biting back a smile. And Lizzie finally realized how badly this plan could go.
"What if they're pissed that the note wasn't real?"
"Then we're all going to die painful deaths. Me by chores, and you by pure rage alone. Anne's rage is actually really scary."
"You don't have to tell me that, I'm well aware of it."
Catherine leaned forward and tucked a strand of Anne's hair behind her ear, rendering her useless due to the fact that she was now red as a tomato and struggling to speak.
"Although, I think it'll work out." Mary mused after seeing this interaction.
____________
"Hey." Catherine said, leaning against Anne's doorway.
"Hey." Anne squeaked, already flushed.
"So, I think you know what I'm here to talk to you about."
"Yeah, but can I go first?"
"Sure."
Anne took a breath and began to speak.
____________
"So I thought a lot about what you said and I really, really like you too. And I know we're incredibly complicated - shared husband and all - but I really want to try this. Because I've kind of been crushing on you since the 1500's."
Catherine laughed at the last part, then frowned.
"What I said?"
"Yeah, the note."
"No, you wrote me a note."
They stared in silence at each other before horror dawned on Anne's face.
"I'm so sorry, I thought that you felt the same and -"
Anne paused to hold back tears of humiliation, until Catherine walked forward and tilted her face up.
"No, I do like you, but I thought you wrote me the note."
"Well then who did?"
______________
Mary knew it was over the moment Anne and Catherine came storming down the stairs.
"Shit." She cursed, eliciting a laugh from Lizzie who then cussed herself at the sight of their mothers.
"Hi." She waved awkwardly.
"Which one of you forged these notes."
Mary raised her hand, biting back a smile.
"Which one of them?" Her mother asked.
"Both of them." Mary responded quietly, already sensing punishment in her future.
"Both - when did you learn my handwriting?!"
Mary looked up in fake though. "Uhhhh, about 8 years ago."
"You learned how to forge when you were 9?!"
"Yep, I've got your signature down too."
Anne showed Catherine the note, "She's even got your delivery right, all the patterns and spacing. This is exactly how you would write a note."
Then she turned to face Mary, "When did you learn my writing stuff? Because you've got mine down too."
"Yesterday."
Lizzie spoke up at that point, "That's true, she asked me to get her something with alot of your handwriting on it, and your signature."
"You talk like Lizzie, and your handwriting is neat, which made it a lot easier to copy."
"I -" Anne shook her head in shock then promptly gave up trying.
"What was your part in this Bessie?" Anne asked her daughter.
"I delivered them and snooped in your rooms for specific things to make it more realistic."
"I keep my room locked." Catherine said slowly, already fearing the response.
"I picked the lock."
Anne looked torn on whether or not to jump for joy that her daughter was just as chaotic as her, or to scold her for snooping.
"Mary, you're doing the dishes for a month."
"Bessie, weeding."
Their groans were loud enough to bring Edward and Jane downstairs.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Your sisters are being punished for conspiring against their mothers."
He laughed, "Karma for not letting me talk to you guys, Mary got the dishes?"
"Yes?"
"I'm gonna make some pizza, and heat up the leftovers."
"Wha - you jerk!"
"Good thing he can't create weeds out of thin air."
"Shut up Lizzie."
"No, you shut up!"
Yin and Yang.
Fire and Ice.
Cat and Dog.
Happy and Sad.
They got along well, almost perfectly.
But even the best of us get into fights, more specifically some of us go out and buy dandelion seeds and throw them out in the yard as payback for helping their little brother dirty as many dishes as possible then drink lemonade and watch as their little sister grumbled about it.
Even the best of us.
I think they're the best, let me write happy sister stuff okay?
Next up:
Mary & Lizzie: School Shenanigans
-AraleynTrash