AN: Italics are Eleanor's POV, normal text is Henry's. Hope you like it because it's the first time I've tried getting into Henry's head. Set around August 1537, just after they've come home from Alnwick.

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete

Moonlight's strong sure strides thudded on the ground beneath me, eating it up and breaking the silence as she did so.

I was glad of it, because it convinced me that I was still alive, that I hadn't died of pain and grief, died of a broken heart as so many heroines in old tales did.

Yet, even though I was glad of it, I drew rein by the river. Drew rein and slid from the saddle to sit down by its crystalline depths, heedless of the harm it would do to the skirts of my gown.

Well. Not quite heedless of it. The moment I sat down, her voice started up in my head, chiding me.

"Get up, Eleanor. You're ruining your gown. I thought I'd taught you better than that, ma petite soeur."

"I don't care, Anne! I don't care! What does any of it matter now, anyway? I'm not the Queen's sister any more. I'm not Lady Eleanor Brandon nee Boleyn, Sister to the Queen!"

"Yes you are! You are and you always will be!"

"How can I be, when you're...when you're...?" I broke down into floods of tears, unable to say the terrible word.

Suddenly, it was as though her arms slipped around me. I felt the warmth of another body close to mine and inhaled her familiar scent. I tipped my head back to where I expected her to be, but met nothing but air. Still, her voice was there and the feel of her hold. That in itself was enough to soothe me.

"You can because you are a Boleyn and a Howard. We never give up. Never, do you hear me? You can because you were born my little sister, ma petite soeur, and nothing, not even death, will change that. I promise. And thirdly, you can because you have a husband who loves you more than anything. More than life itself."

"But I've pushed him away. I haven't let Henry near me since Alnwick. Since Henry Percy. I wouldn't be surprised if he's taken a mistress."

"He hasn't. I can assure you of that, sweetheart. Look, come."

Anne's voice drifted away and I followed blindly.

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

I saw Eleanor's horse disappear down the path from the gates to the woods and sighed. She'd been like this for over a month, ever since Henry Percy died and we'd come home. She hadn't spoken to me since then; spending all her time either with the children in the nursery or riding out over the fields.

I'd let her get away with it because she was missing both a dear friend and her brother and sister, but I knew it couldn't go on much longer. The children were starting to notice.

Margaret, Elizabeth and George had all asked me separately why we never talked any more. And that was despite my best efforts to keep them from noticing anything.

Suddenly determined to talk to her, I called for my horse and rode after Eleanor.

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

The next time I took in my surroundings, I was in a clearing with a fallen tree lying across it. I recognised the place instantly. Henry and I had come here countless times when were newly married.

We'd laughed and raced each other across the clearing, dared each other to jump the fallen tree and once, when we'd been unable to sleep, we'd ridden out here and danced a Volta in the moonlight.

God, we'd been so young then. So young, innocent and in love. I wished we could go back to that.

But we couldn't. I knew we couldn't. The world was too cruel for that.

Exhaling, I slid to the ground and rested my head against the rough bark of the tree behind me, revelling in the silence.

All of a sudden, a noise made me turn my head. Henry stood there, holding the reins of a horse in each hand.

"Henry" I rose to greet him.

"Eleanor". He nodded and turned to tie our horses up before twisting around to face me again and dropping to his knees in front of me.

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?

A branch snapped under my feet and she turned her head, rising when she saw me.

"Henry."

"Eleanor."

The pain was evident in her voice even as we greeted each other and I had to busy myself with the horses so as not to wrench her into my arms and crush my lips to heras in an attempt to offer her solace.

All at once, I found I could bear it no longer. My knees buckled and I half-fell before her as I began to speak; speak a torrent of words that I only just realised I had been holding back for weeks.

"Eleanor, please! Can't you see what this is doing to you, to me, to all of us? I know you miss your brother and sister; that Henry Percy was your last link to the past, but this is not grieving. This is destroying yourself, destroying all of us! I'm trying to hold our family together; oh, I'm trying so hard, but I can't do it alone any more. I need something from you. I need you. I need my Duchess, my Duchess of the Summer Sun. I need you to help me. I need you to give the children hope. They're worried sick because we're not speaking. Don't do that to them. I'm not asking you to be perfect, I'm just asking you to be yourself. To be Eleanor Brandon nee Boleyn."

"And my sister? My brother? If I don't grieve for them, who will?"

Her voice was hollow, but at least she was speaking. Looking me in the eye and speaking to me.

"I'm not asking you to forget them, love. I know that's impossible. But it's been a year. It's killing me. I love you and it's killing me to see you like this. I'm asking you to live. For my sake. For the children's. Please. Live."

Heartfelt plea over, I risked getting up. I'd said all I had to say. I could do no more. It was up to Eleanor now.

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

So if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
So why don't we go

Henry's words rang in my ears as he straightened up. "It's killing me. I love you and it's killing me to see you like this."

And, as I looked at him properly for the first time in a long time, I realised it was true. He had suffered both alongside me and because of me ever since my sister died.

"Oh Henry, I'm so sorry!"

I jumped up and sprang at him, throwing my arms around his neck.

He half-staggered, but caught me securely enough, holding me tight around the waist.

"It's all right, love. I understand. I understand."

Nothing more needed to be said. I tightened my legs around his hips, silently thanking both God and my sister for making this reconciliation possible.

One last whisper in the wind; "I told you. I told you, Nora. Farewell, little sister." and then Henry carried me away, bearing me as a hunter bears his prey.

This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?