Disclaimer: I own nothing of Reign. This work is for entertainment purposes only and makes no profit.

AN: It's about to be 11 PM my time and I'm supposed to tutor math in the morning, but…I had a hankering for some cutesy Catherine and Henry time! Shoutout to Guest Reviewer Alex—here's the winter chapter you wanted! Also: as I AM supposed to tutor in the morning, this is totally gonna be a writing sprint. Bear with me. Catherine's a tad sad, but Henry to the rescue! Huzzah! Kinda like that one chapter in Assurance where Henry's talking about birds haha Enjoy the read my dears!

Out here, the snow muffled the noise of the festivities of the hall inside. The crisp air gave her cheeks chilly kisses as she watched snow fall lightly on the already blanketed ground. It had been so crowded and hot in the hall with the winter holidays in full swing. She needed the quiet wonder of falling snow to help ease her mind. There'd been another reason why she wanted out: she missed Italy. Yes, she was quickly falling in love with France—and a particular prince at that—but Italy would always be a part of her and her heart. She missed the language, she missed the food and arts and music, she even missed that mangy old cat that her aunt's cook insisted on feeding that had swiped her hand when she'd tried to pet it long ago. She missed waking up in the morning to the scent of summer fruits wafting through her bedchamber and golden light dancing across the far wall. She missed Italy and all of her charms and beauties, scars and wounds she missed fitting in. Of course, it didn't matter since she would be Queen one day, but…she missed not having to put effort into expressing herself without translation. What Catherine missed was the ease of being Italian in Italy. You could just be. She was so thankful that her engagement brought her to France and to Henry, but there were times when she just wished things could have been different.

A noise. "Catherine?" Her prince was calling her.

"Yes, I'm here, Henry." She turned to see her handsome fiancé striding confidently toward her with his hands outstretched.

He took her hands in his before kissing her cheek. "There you are, beautiful, I was missing you at the party."

"Oh, were you?" She replied with a sparkle in her eye.

"To be sure!" He nodded the affirmative. "I turned back from speaking to Richard to see that you had disappeared and said to him, 'Have you seen where my little dove has gone?'" Henry had turned to the side to address the wall as if it were Richard.

She smiled at his antics. "And what did Richard say?"

"He said, 'Lost Catherine already?' And then I punched him." Catherine gasped.

"Henry, you didn't?" She wasn't too upset with Richard, she was more concerned for his hand which she then began to examine.

The prince shrugged. "Just lightly, don't worry, darling."

"Is your hand alright?" She couldn't see anything wrong with it, but…

"It's fine, what I'm really worried about is you. Is everything alright with you, Catherine? Why are you out here by yourself?" Henry asked with a gentle smile, playing with her earring and making it jingle.

"I needed some air, it was awfully stuffy in there." Catherine turned away to look once more over the grounds.

"No, it was just the Minister of the Treasury, you know how he is." They shared a laugh before Henry came up behind her, enveloping them both in his cloak.

"Hmm." She hummed from his warmth, settling into his chest as his arms came around to hold her about the waist.

"Catherine?" His voice was so pleasing.

He liked the way she responded almost immediately with, "Yes, dearest?"

"What aren't you telling me?" Catherine tensed in his arms.

"How'd you know?"

"Your eyes are shadowed by something, and I don't know what so you must not be telling me something." He answered honestly.

She smiled in spite of herself. "Henry, you can't even see my eyes right now."

"I don't need to."

Catherine took a moment to absorb the implications of that. "…I was just wondering how our lives would have been different had you actually been born Italian."

"As if I were some sort of Italian prince?" She heard the chuckle in his voice.

"I suppose so, king or commoner, I hadn't really thought of that."

"Well, in a different life, I was probably the stable hand in the house of the most beautiful duchess in all of Italy." Peeking around, he saw the corner of her eye crinkle up in a smile. "I would have loved her from a far, being the first to tend to all of her needs when I could and one day, I might have even had the courage to speak to her."

"What would you have said to me?" Catherine was curious as to how all this would play out.

"Something along the lines of, 'Your Grace, I believe you dropped this.' Then I'd produce a handkerchief or some such and present it to you." Henry extended his hand out as if to deposit said handkerchief.

"And then?" She really did love his fantastical stories.

"You would've said, 'Oh my! That is my most favorite handkerchief, thank you, Stable Boy!'" Catherine laughed as he impersonated her voice in a girlish squeal. "Then you would've kissed me in gratitude and with that kiss you would realize that everything I had done for you was out of respect and adoration for you and would have petitioned your guardians to have us wed."

Catherine twisted slightly to give him a smirk. "Even though in your version in all of this, you're only known to me as, 'Stable Boy'."

"Well, it would've been good enough for a while." A good natured shrug as she turned back to watch the land.

"And I'm sure you would have carried the title proudly."

"Don't I always?"

"Yes, dear, you do."

Now, with his arms wrapped around her and his cheek probably upsetting her hairstyle, there wasn't any other place that she'd rather be. Henry's heart thudded against her back as they watched snowflake after snowflake fall. Reaching his hand out into the open air, he caught one on the tip of his finger before bopping it on the end of her nose. Catherine laughed then sighed as her Henry snuggled her deeper into his chest. For all of her feelings over Italy, she wouldn't trade this life for any other.

AN: YES! DONE IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS! *pats self on back* OKAY. So, things about this chapter: In real life, they were married in October so this TECHNICALLY would've taken place (if we're holding to historical timelines) after they'd been married. HOWEVER. As a writer, I am the overlord of the world I write and so, with the power vested in me by the wondrous authority of myself, I hereby wish to say that in my version of events, she was actually kickin it in France for a while before they get married. According to Gortner, she was in France a day before she was married to Henry so…If that was truly the case, this entire work is off, so…oops. Anyway, I hope you liked it!

To smacked lover 22: Ah, I see you. I felt the same in that sense then! I'm giggling at your review. For all their familiar behavior, I see Catherine as a little shy about ALL THAT so, ya know *shields Catherine's eyes from the sight of Henry shirtless* hahahhaah

To Catherine Woods: MORE BONDING TIME AHHHHHHHHH

To Maya: I had a bit of a hard time with the previous chapter, but I'm glad it turned out okay. Thanks for the review!

To Bella: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

To Lily: Hey there! Thank you bunches for reviewing :) In my version of events, he figures it out himself eventually. Um…in real life, I don't know. I would say…he would know because of evidence? Er…lack of evidence? Heh, I don't know how they would go about all of that myself. I'm interested in history, but never researched THAT bit heh heh

To Kara: Hello, Kara! To answer your question: with every fiber of my being, I believe that Henry loved his wife. He may not have known it due to his pride overshadowing true thought and then with the madness clouding his brain even more, but yes—Henry loved her. I could go on, but…*sniff* it's too painful *eye roll* and don't even get me started on Diane.

To Alex: O_O THAT'S WHAT I AM FERVENTLY HOPING WILL HAPPEN ON THE SHOW THIS SEASON. I imagine Catherine sitting at her desk dressed for mourning and reminiscing about the two of them when they were young. FINGERS CROSSED, PEOPLE! I hope you liked this! I always feel weird writing holiday chapters outside of holiday times, but don't worry, there will be holiday chapters to come, promise :)

THANK YOU FOR READING! HIT ME WITH A PROMPT IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT!