When Guy woke up, it was already night. He knew immediately that he wasn't alone and he opened his eyes, startled.
He saw Robin, sitting near his bed and staring at him.
Guy sat up and returned Robin's gaze.
"What are you doing here?"
"Your sister is sleeping in the other room. I told Thornton to chain me to a leg of your bed if he really had to do it."
"We don't chain you because we enjoy that."
Robin gave him an ironic grin.
"Really, Gisborne?"
Guy didn't smile back.
"You went to the forest to die, didn't you?"
Robin nodded.
"That was the idea. But I met your sister and I had to help her. I guess that she'll never know that I'm still alive just because of her."
Gisborne rubbed his eyes. He felt tired and sad, empty.
"That's why we have to chain you. I can't let you die."
"Why? Why should you care?"
"I just can't."
Robin looked away, almost embarrassed.
"Would my word be enough?"
Guy looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"You've been very clear, earlier. Do you think that I should live and carry my burden?"
Guy nodded.
"We all have to do it, you're no different."
"If I give you my word that I won't try to take my life, would you agree to remove this chain? I can try to live, but not as a prisoner."
Gisborne looked at him, warily.
"What would you stop you from lying to me? I don't want another burden on my soul."
Robin realized that Guy was really afraid that he could die, that he really cared even if he couldn't understand why.
"It's a promise, Gisborne, I won't try it again."
"You wanted to do it. You tried to do it, deceiving Little John and disappearing in the forest. You would be dead by now if it wasn't for a mere chance. Why shouldn't you deceive me?"
"Because I swear that I won't! I'm Robin Hood, I don't lie!"
Guy gave him a glance, surprised by that little outburst of pride, and he found himself believing him, wanting to believe.
"Very well then," Guy said, taking a key from his belt and throwing it at Robin. The other man grinned and he didn't move to pick it up. Instead, he just opened the manacle and dropped it to the floor.
"I'm Robin Hood, I don't need keys."
Gisborne stared at the chain for a moment, and he rolled his eyes.
"You don't need keys, but you wanted my permission to get free. Why?"
The embarrassed look appeared in Robin's eyes again.
"I wanted you to know that it won't happen again."
Guy nodded, ashamed in remembering his breakdown.
"So… what now? I guess that you want me out of Locksley as soon as I can. I tried to manage it better this time, I really tried, but it's not easy..."
"Stay."
Guy looked at him.
"Really, Hood?"
"I said that I will try to live. But I don't think I can be responsible for the people of Locksley again, not after I betrayed them, not after I ruined their lives."
"Still, they would prefer you as their lord rather than me."
"But I can't. You want me to live, very well, but you'll have to manage the village in my place."
Guy recognized the fear in Robin's eyes. He felt it too, but he found out that it was comforting to see that he wasn't alone, that Robin was scared as well.
"You'll have to tell me how to manage it. I'm doing my best, but I'm not always sure I'm doing it in the right way."
Robin nodded, and they were both silent for a while.
"So, what now? Where do you want me to sleep?" Robin asked, a little awkwardly.
"I'm not giving you my bed."
"Actually it's my bed. And your sister took my room."
Guy glared at him, but he stood up, and he made a gesture towards the bed, to leave it to Robin. He grabbed a bunch of blankets, and he went back to the hall, closing the curtain behind his back.
Robin looked at the curtain in surprise: he had wanted to tease Gisborne, but he hadn't expected him to give him the bed without the slightest complaint. Somehow he felt disappointed in finding Gisborne so submissive.
Robin felt suddenly very tired, and he lay on the bed with a sigh. That day he had expected to die, to end his sufferings, but now something had changed. Now he was stuck with his burden and he had promised to keep living, even if he had no idea of how to go on, but he didn't regret helping Isabella.

Isabella woke up with a muffled scream. She bit the sheet of the bed to silence a whimper, then she remembered that she didn't need to do it anymore. Her husband hated to see her scared for her nightmares and more than once he had beaten her, saying that if she woke him up crying, he would give her a real reason to cry.
But now she was away from him, in a place where nobody wished to hurt her.
She burst out in tears, remembering what she had to do to reach that safe shelter. For the first time in her life she had taken two lives, and it had been even too easy. She knew that those men were almost as cruel as her husband and that they had deserved their end, but she was scared because she had actually killed them. In the moment after she had done it, she had felt almost happy, intoxicated with excitement and she got scared because it would be too easy to do it again, to use against the others the same violence that they usually used on her.
She shuddered: the thought that she could kill her husband too and be finally free was terribly wrong, but even so tempting…
Isabella got up from bed, knowing that she couldn't sleep anymore, even if it had been an exhausting day and it wasn't even dawn yet.
She took a candle, and walked out of the room, wondering where Guy and Robin went to sleep. The house was almost a ruin, and most of the rooms still had to be rebuilt. When she entered the hall, she didn't see Robin, so she guessed that he was sleeping behind the thick curtain that closed a corner of the room, but she immediately saw Guy, sleeping on the floor, right in front of the fireplace.
Isabella walked to one of the chairs placed in front of the fire, silently, and she sat down, looking at her brother. She had the chance to see him only briefly earlier, and always in front of other persons.
Now they were alone, as they had been so many years ago when they had to run away from their lands.
Guy was sleeping on the floor, wrapped in a few thick blankets, and that reminded her of their travel even more.
How many times did they have to sleep on the ground? How many times had they to hide in a stable for the night, cold and hungry, so tired that they fell asleep even if they felt miserable?
She looked at her brother's face, examining him closely, to find out how much he had changed.
He was a man now, so different from the boy she remembered.
I wonder how different I look to his eyes as well.
But still, she could find in him traits of the brother she remembered, especially now, while he was sleeping. The expression of his face was the same, worried even in his sleep and apparently innocent, when he was not. She knew that he had horrible faults, that he had done things which she could probably never forgive, but she also found out that she had missed him and that she was glad to see him alive and in good health.
I hate him, but I also can't stop loving him.
Slowly she knelt to the floor, and then she lay down at his side, silently crawling under the blanket, and leaning her head on her brother's shoulder, like she used to do when they were little and she felt scared for something.
Guy didn't wake up, but his arm moved and encircled her, protective.
Isabella closed her eyes, tired, and she realized that now she could go back to sleep, and that for once she could feel safe again.

Guy opened his eyes and he was surprised to see his sister huddled at his side, peacefully sleeping in his arms. A lock of her hair was tickling his nose, and he lifted a hand to move it away from his face, remembering that he once had to do that same gesture often, every time that he and Isabella had to sleep together, close to warm each other at winter.
His little sister wasn't so little anymore, but some things hadn't changed.
He gave a gentle pull at the lock of hair and Isabella opened her eyes, lifting her face to look at him.
"Guy?" She whispered.
Gisborne grinned.
"Robin took my bed because he gave his room to you and you are here, sleeping on the floor… What's the point of this?"
Isabella stared at him, a little surprised, then she grinned back at him.
"Did you get your senses back, brother? Or are you going to run away again?"
Both Guy and Isabella sat up on the floor, looking at each other.
"It was a shock to see you..."
"Because you felt guilty for abandoning me when I was a child. Or at least you should."
Guy sighed.
"I didn't abandon you, I tried to give you a good chance in life."
Isabella slapped him, so quick that Guy couldn't react in time to stop her hand. The slap was hard and painful, but Isabella's expression hurt him even more. She was looking at him with rage and hatred.
"A good chance in life?! For who?! You sent me straight into hell! I was only thirteen and you gave me to a monster!"
Guy stared at her.
"What?"
Isabella wiped away her tears, with rage, and she looked at her brother.
"My husband beats me, he had always done it, and he does everything he can think to make my life a hell."
Gisborne didn't move, unable to say a single word, to accept the horror of Isabella's words.
"Guy?" She called after a while, and her brother jumped, startled, hiding the face in his hands.
Isabella realized that he was crying, and she touched his shoulder, worried.
When they were children, her brother rarely wept, not even in the worst moments, hiding every sorrow behind a wall of ice. Once she had thought him heartless, and it was unsettling to see him so emotional now.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry..." Guy whispered.
"You really didn't know that he was so cruel, did you?"
Guy shook his head.
"No, but I should have. He offered me a good price to marry you and I accepted… I didn't even try to get information on him, I just wanted to be free from the responsibility of taking care of you, I wanted to have the hope of a better life… But doing so I sacrificed yours!"
"You sold me to him?!"
Guy nodded, and Isabella was about to slap him again, but her rage suddenly vanished and she found herself hugging her brother.
"Are you apologizing, Guy?"
"I don't deserve your forgiveness..."
Isabella sighed, and she gave him a little kiss on his cheek.
"I might forgive you all the same. But stop crying, it's too strange to see you like this. You never apologized when we were kids, never, not even when you knew perfectly well that it was your fault." Isabella grinned. "But now you said you are sorry, and I never though I'd hear these words coming from your lips. I think I'll remind them to you very often from now on."
Guy looked at her, and he smiled between the tears.
"You always loved to tease me."
"Well, you gave me many reasons to do it. You used to wet the bed until you were twelve..."
"I hope you don't anymore, Gisborne," Robin said, pulling aside the curtain with a grin, "or I should consider sleeping somewhere else."
Guy jumped to his feet, red in his face, and he glared at his sister.
"Isabella, shut up!"
The woman stifled a little laughter, but she stood up too, and she grabbed her brother's wrist to stop him from fleeing from the room, then she turned to Robin, pointing a finger at him.
"You shouldn't eavesdrop! And don't dare to laugh at Guy, I can tease him, but you can't. Stop grinning, or I'll tell everyone of the time when you ate so many apples and you got so ill that you didn't make to the chamberpot in time. Twice."
Robin blushed and gave a shocked look at her.
"How..."
"How do I know?" Isabella answered with a grin. "I overheard your father telling it to our mother so she could prepare a remedy for you. He also said that you threw up all over your bed."
Guy chuckled and Robin gave him an annoyed glance, but they were both startled when the door opened and Thornton entered the manor.
The man noticed that both Robin and Guy looked to be embarrassed, while Isabella was grinning.
"Good morning, Robin. Sir Guy, lady Isabella." he said, impassive. "You are up very early. Do you wish me to serve the breakfast now, my lord?"
Robin and Guy traded a look, uncertain on who of them had to answer, but Isabella preceded them both.
"Yes, please, I'm starving!"